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yslkook · 4 years ago

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good years (1)

mind of mine masterlist

summary: you arrive at hobi’s birthday party, along with some of your other friends. pairing: “badboy” jk x “shy/reserved” oc warnings: alcohol, cursing, excessive use of pet names...bc its me

Being late to events, especially events in honor of your friends, was your least favorite thing. Punctuality was one of your top three favorite things about yourself, and yet here you were- nearly sprinting through the streets in heels because you were an idiot and had gotten the name of the bar wrong.

Instead of the Silver Spoon, you’d ended up at the Silver Tongue. That’s what happens when you don’t check your text messages for confirmation and operate on autopilot. So now, you were about an hour and a half late (as if the absence of the birthday boy and his merry band of friends at the Silver Spoon didn’t tell you enough).

Oh well.

By the time you arrive about twelve blocks away to the Silver Spoon, you quickly make sure that not a hair is out of place before walking into the bar to try to blend in, as if you’d been there the whole time.

“Hobi!” You chirp, finding your friend in the middle of all of the chaos, “Happy birthday, Hobi-”

Hobi turns to greet you, a big (drunk) smile plastered across his face. “You’re late! Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

“Well, I-uh, this is gonna sound dumb, but-”

You’re interrupted by a few of the guys walking into the bar, causing a ruckus and nearly screeching Hobi’s name. At least you’re not the only one who’s late. And you quickly see Sora in your line of sight, entering in behind the guys.

Sora, your best friend of several years since college. She’s been with you since the beginning, taking you under her wing when you were both young and in college. She had brought you out of your shell a bit, inviting you to parties and inviting you to have dinner with her in the dining hall. The slow convenience of college had blossomed into something real, something that could stand the test of time- also known as the test of post-graduate life.

Her friendship was an adventure to say the least.

“Hey,” You beam at her with drinks for both of you in your hands, “Fancy seeing you here-”

“Hey,” She grins, pulling you in for a hug, “Work was so shitty, like, I had to stay late today. Of all days! I can’t wait to have a fuckin’ drink.”

“Yeah, here’s something funny-” But your words are cut off yet again, by the arrival of more friends. It looks like Sora had invited some of her own friends, friends that you weren’t quite sure liked you very much.

But you don’t dwell on that, instead sipping on your drink and settling on people watching. Settings like this unnerve you- being in a place where you’re not quite friendly with everyone in attendance makes you feel self-conscious. It’s easier to just stay in the background, blend into the walls, so as to not upset yourself-

“Hey, you,” Comes a familiar voice to your right. It’s Yoongi, one of your fellow people watcher enthusiasts. He stands next to you, shoulder brushing against yours.

“Hey, you,” You repeat, flashing him a smile and a playful shove to his shoulder, “How have you been? It’s been a while, Yoongi.”

“You’re the one who’s been hiding,” Yoongi teases, “All cooped up at home.”

“So have you! In your studio,” You protest, poking his shoulder.

“I guess I can’t argue there.”

“No, you really can’t,” You say, “So tell me then, what’s new? What’s coming out of the studio these days?”

You enjoy hearing him speak, the way his passion for his craft pouring through his words. He invites you (again) to stop by the studio if you ever want to. You promise to stop by soon, with his favorite snacks. You usually try to stop by his studio at least once a month to catch up with him. He’s also one of your oldest friends, along with Hobi.

“Hey,” Comes another voice to your left this time. It’s a voice you definitely recognize, a voice that makes you tense up immediately.

Jeon Jungkook has always had a way of making you stammer over your words, ever since Yoongi and Hobi had introduced you to him years ago. He’s tall, nearly always dressed in all black, tattoos and piercings coloring his frame, and something sweet and sinful swirls in his dark eyes.

You don’t know if it’s a look that is reserved for you or if he looks at everyone like this, but honestly, your brain short circuits every time he glances your way.

“H-hi,” You mumble, taking a sip of your drink to ease your jumpy nerves. Jungkook only grins at you, his bunny smile a stark contrast to the rest of his aura.

“Been a while, huh?” Jungkook says, voice smooth and sweet like molasses.

“Y-yeah, been busy,” You mutter. You watch in mild panic as Yoongi walks away, being called away by Namjoon and Taehyung.

“Missed you, baby,” Jungkook winks at you. Somehow, he always gravitates to you at these types of events. Not that you’ll particularly complain- his attention makes you feel warm, even if it’s all for jokes and fun.

As Sora repeatedly has told you.

According to her, he’s the worst- a player, a fuckboy (when he was apparently too old to be one, her words not yours) and this is how he treats any pretty girl. So you don’t take it too seriously, only indulging him a bit and keeping him out of your periphery.

But you won’t deny that his recent use of the pet name might make you swoon a little bit.

“Oh, stop,” You wave him off with heat rising in your cheeks. And he knows it, too, from the self-assured smirk he throws you.

“How’s work been? They got you crunching numbers and all that?” Jungkook asks, ordering himself a beer and a drink for you.

“That’s literally my job, but right now, we just got access to a new database so I’m excited to see what kinds of visualizations and insights we can bring forward. We’re moving forward to proactive analysis, but you know, we’re still a ways away from that, we still react to problems so reactively. Like we’re just putting out fires all the time, it’s kinda tiring but I’m excited-” You cut yourself off at your rambling, sheepishly laughing, “Oh, you should’ve stopped me. I know it’s boring.”

“It’s not boring, not if it’s important to you,” Jungkook shrugs, “Besides, I like hearing you talk.”

“Really? You really wanna hear about the latest and greatest happening in the data world?”

“I wanna hear about anything you have to say, baby,” Jungkook says easily. You squeeze your drink in your hand tightly to ground yourself.

This is why he intimidates you- his affections have only increased in the last few months. It’s like he’s playing a game with you, trying to see how long it takes for you to crack. You don’t know how sincere he is when he turns the charm on- is this how he talks to everyone, or is it just you?

You like to think it’s just you (because you at least dare to call him a friend of yours), but he could get anyone he sets his eyes on. Rather than spiralling down that train of thought, you bask in his flirtations, his gentle affections hidden under his very many layers of black.

Before you can reply to ask him about the tattoo parlor and about his newly purchased motorcycle, Sora interrupts you both. You’re oblivious to the deadly glare that Jungkook shoots her, and the glare that she shoots right back at him.

She whisks you away, an arm tight around your shoulders. You turn your head and look back at Jungkook apologetically.

This is how it always is, especially for the last few months. As soon as Sora sees Jungkook and you speaking, she’ll immediately do anything to intervene. It’s fucking annoying and Jungkook is beginning to dislike Sora more and more each time he has the misfortune of coming in contact with her. He doesn’t really care about whatever personal vendetta your best friend has for him.

He’s always thought Sora was a conniving woman, full of manipulation and tricks up her sleeve. Ever since Yoongi and Hobi had introduced you to their friend group (and you had brought Sora along as well). His instincts are hardly ever wrong, but he hates to see you spiral with her.

But he’s powerless to stop you from walking away from him. Yet again.

tags: @kookdbean

#jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #jungkook x you #jeon jungkook x you

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transdemigod · 3 years ago

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Cutting Yourself Off from the Entities: A Comprehensive Guide

I am once again overanalyzing the Magnus Archives for fun. This topic is super interesting to me, and I haven’t seen it explored as much as other theories, so here we go.

So, you’ve pledged yourself to one of the Dread Powers, but decided that you’ve had enough of terrorizing others. Not to worry, there is a way out. Melanie King did it and lived all the way to the end of the series!

Here is the summary, though I’m sure a full explanation will be more satisfying:

To escape the Buried, lose yourself to the emptiness. To escape the Corruption, kill what loves you. To escape the Dark, give yourself to the sunlight. To escape the Desolation, choose kindness. To escape the End, cut yourself off from dreams. To escape the Eye, blind yourself. To escape the Flesh, give up control of your body. To escape the Hunt, tear out your teeth and claws. To escape the Lonely, bind yourself to others. To escape the Slaughter, remove your emotions. To escape the Spiral, destroy your voice. To escape the Stranger, make yourself known. To escape the Vast, trap yourself in a small place. To escape the Web, give up your autonomy.

The rest is under the cut. Let me know if you have any ideas that you think I missed, I would love to discuss theories.

We know for sure that the way to escape the Eye is to gouge your own eyes out. The other entities have less information, but we get a few clues here and there. In the season 4 Q&A, Jonny and Alex joke about leaving the service of the Stranger by running naked through the streets. They also mention that the Desolation can be left by an act of true altruism. With these details, as well as other details in the rest of the canon, we can make a list of criteria that must be satisfied for an act that will cut someone off from each of the 14 Entities.

Firstly, it isn’t enough to just stop feeding your god. Daisy and Jon both tried to abstain and ended up wasting away, and it is implied that they would have died if they had continued. Dying is certainly one possible way to escape the service of a Fear, but we’re going for living out the rest of your natural life here.

Secondly, there has to be some sacrifice made that relates to the specific power. This is where the Desolation’s explanation kind of falls apart; doing one good act doesn’t stop you from just continuing to be destructive, so the act must also include giving up the thing that ties you to your Entity. In the Stranger’s case, one could argue that exposing yourself does count as giving up your anonymity, and there are several Stranger avatars that seem to thrive on being unknown. My theory is that each Entity has a draw of some kind, a power that it gives its followers, which you would have to completely give up if you are to leave it for good. Jon mentioned that the blinding has to be permanent, so I’m assuming this applies to the others as well. Basically, the avatar who wishes to leave must give up something that one who does not wish to leave would never want to.

Third, the change can be physical or symbolic. Obviously blinding yourself is a very physical change, while committing acts of altruism or making yourself known are less so. Some of the Entities will have pretty clear parts of the body that connect you to the power, others will need a bit more of an explanation. In special cases where a person gets their power from an artifact or a Leitner, destroying the thing would probably be enough to cut them off from that power. And of course, if you are as lucky as Georgie Barker and manage to completely get rid of your fear, that would probably be enough to cut you off from them as well.

So, here are my explanations for what you would have to do to cut yourself off from each of the 14. I’m basing it on examples we get in the series, the few rules I have decided to set, and what would seem thematically or symbolically appropriate. Realistically, each individual would have their own personal journey and each avatar is different, but it’s more fun this way.

The Buried- The draw of the Buried is a little difficult to narrow down, we’ve heard about restfulness, the comfort of enclosed spaces, the desire to be a part of the earth, etc. The thing Buried avatars seem to dislike the most is wide open spaces, though I don’t know how that would translate to something you can change about yourself. How would a person cut themselves off from the earth? You could move to a place that is very open, but you could also just leave. I’m not sure if there is a way a person could give up the concept of space, so I’m probably going to have this same problem when I get to the Vast. Probably the only thing you could give up that makes sense is the type of space the Buried is tied to, so you’d have to keep away from enclosed spaces. However you’re supposed to do that, I have no idea. This one is just going to have to be a less satisfying answer, unless I find another idea later.

To escape the Buried, lose yourself to the emptiness.

The Corruption- Most people who get into the Corruption get filled with bugs, and we know from Jane that it is appealing because you have a sense of belonging and purpose. The Corruption focuses a lot on toxic love, and I think communities specifically because the things we think of as infections are multitudinous: insect hives, bacteria, fungal colonies, etc. Even in the case of that one guy with the beetle wife, it was implied that there would soon be many more beetles. So, I think to stop being fed by the Corruption, you have to get rid of the infection in whatever form it takes. The one woman in the statement about the cult ended up leaving, but she wasn’t a full avatar, so I think that would require a bit more drastic action. If Jane had wanted to leave, she would probably have had to kill every worm inside of her. Knowing what we know about her, she would never want to do that, but she also had no regrets about becoming the Hive. Someone like John Amherst would have to get rid of all the diseases inside of him, so it might be as simple as a hospital visit and getting pumped full of antibiotics. If you got hollowed out by bugs, you might have to fill in the space somehow to be able to move, but I’m sure you could find a way. Maybe some help from the Flesh? It does seems to be in opposition to the Corruption in many ways, so that would work thematically.

To escape the Corruption, kill what loves you.

The Dark- Another abstract one. What’s the opposite of blinding yourself? The Dark, aside from the literal definition, includes things like weird science and unknowable things that lurk in the dark. Seeking knowledge would be a good opposite to darkness, but that’s not making a sacrifice or a permanent change. It’s not very clear what avatars of the Dark would hate to lose. Manuela Dominguez describes hating the light, how traditional divinity and knowledge are unnatural as opposed to the dark state of the world. This might be another location based one. Apparently, the sunniest places in the world are in northern Africa and the southwest parts of America, so moving there might do it. There isn’t an easy permanent change to make, but committing yourself to being in the sunlight as much as possible would probably work. Change your sleep schedule, move somewhere sunny, just avoid the dark in general. Maybe even start worshipping the sun; that would be in opposition to the cult following the Dark has.

To escape the Dark, give yourself to the sunlight.

The Desolation- We know it’s an act of altruism. I think it might need some adjusting, though, to make it more of a sacrifice by the person who serves the Desolation. This fear is all about sacrifice and loss, so it’s a bit tricky to think of something a Desolation avatar could give up when they’ve already committed to giving up everything. Well, everything except themselves. Many avatars, like Jude Perry, have shown themselves to be selfish, but I don’t think even they would be opposed to going out in a blaze of glory. No, the hardest thing for them would be to settle down and live a prosperous life. This one probably would have to be continuous effort instead of one grand sacrifice. It doesn’t fit with the others, but it does fit the theme of the Desolation. Yeah, I’ve just gone in a big circle. Altruism does make the most sense. Just make sure that selfless gesture counts. It’s not a real choice if you don’t mean it. I guess that would be really difficult if you’re used to burning everything around you, so maybe it’s more of a sacrifice than I thought.

To escape the Desolation, choose kindness.

The End- We actually already have a canon answer for this one: lobotomize yourself. Adelard Dekker found an End avatar that was killing people with carbon monoxide through their dreams, and he stopped him by cutting through his pre-frontal cortex- the part of the brain that lets you dream. It’s implied that this didn’t completely work, but I think the reason for that is that the avatar was not the one to make the choice. It’s emphasized again and again that serving the fears is all about personal choice, so it makes sense that any attempt to cut someone off wouldn’t take if the person hasn’t decided to give up their connection. The End is associated with dreams in most appearances, so I believe that a person who chooses not to dream would no longer be bound to it. Oliver Banks could see those whose deaths were coming in his dreams, which directly led to him becoming an avatar, so if he had decided to stop dreaming, that would be it. This procedure might be a bit difficult, I can’t imagine performing your own lobotomy would go very well, but I’m sure getting someone else to do it would count if you were the one to make the decision. Of course, Terminus would still have you in the end, but that will happen no matter what you do.

To escape the End, cut yourself off from dreams.

The Eye- This one is already answered. The draw of the Eye is the power to watch, so you have to give that ability up. Simple, straightforward, and definitely fits the theme.

To escape the Eye, blind yourself.

The Flesh- Oh boy, this is a weird one. We have dysphoria, consumption, body horror, I can’t say this one sounds very appealing. But it must be, or else it wouldn’t have people serving it. A lot of the draw to serve the fears could be interpreted as dishing out what you can’t take. You don’t have to be afraid of being watched if you do the watching, you don’t have to fear harm if you harm them first. Maybe the appeal of Flesh is making others share that fear that you are nothing but meat. I don’t think it’s really possible for people to give up their corporeal form, unless it’s metaphorical but I have no idea what that could mean. I think those who serve the Flesh thrive on being “more” than others. More body parts, more mass in general. You could go on a diet or become a vegetarian, which I think the writers may have joked about once? I want a more concrete solution, though. Diets are easy to break. You can’t fully give up food without dying, so I guess you could give up the control of food. Giving up your sense of taste would be interesting, but I’m going to keep it more general. No easy answer for this one either.

To escape the Flesh, give up control of your body.

The Hunt- People are drawn to the Hunt by that deep, primal desire to chase and attack. Humans have both predator and prey instincts inside of us, so you would have to completely leave the predator behind to escape the Hunt. I think a good way to do this would be the get rid of your teeth, or nails, whichever you use to cause harm. Daisy was able to temporarily leave behind her power in the Buried, but as soon as she got out, she started starving. I think this is a good argument that you could partially cut off your power by using a power that opposes it in some way, but you would have to give up a part of yourself to make it stick. As soon as she had the freedom and ability to hunt again, that was when the urge came back, and she eventually succumbed to it. Getting rid of the parts of your body that do harm wouldn’t completely stop you if you were dedicated enough, but it’s the choice to do so that matters. This one is a bit more of a symbolic choice, and you could probably do something else to your body that would prevent it from hunting, but I am going with the cooler option.

To escape the Hunt, tear out your teeth and claws.

The Lonely- Probably all you have to do to escape the Lonely is just…be around other people. I’m sure this is easier said than done, but there are lots of ways to commit to other humans. Get married, join a club, make a blood pact and permanently bind yourself to another human. The possibilities are endless! This one, I think more than the others, would require a bit more of a continued effort. I know that the whole point is to make one drastic, permanent change, but the Lonely feels like something that’s easy to relapse into. Maybe it’s the depression metaphor, I don’t know, but I don’t think this one has as easy a solution as the others. It’s hard work forcing yourself to stay connected to others, and it’s something most people in real life struggle with. Giving up any of these powers is a difficult choice, which is the whole point. Life is hard, and we have to make tough decisions. Anyway, I’m okay letting this one be a bit more abstract.

To escape the Lonely, bind yourself to others.

The Slaughter- This one is very similar to the Hunt in terms of actions, so I think the solution might be similar as well. Destroying your weapon would fit well, but it is just way too easy to pick up something else and continue hacking and slashing away. To give up violence entirely, you might have to destroy a significant part of your body. For the Slaughter, I think we should go with a less physical act. The opposite of violence is healing, so maybe become a doctor? You would have to really commit to helping others instead of hurting them, and that is too easy to go back on. I think the sacrifice made here would have to be emotion. Anger and the desire to hurt would go away if you couldn’t feel anymore. I don’t know how you would do this, except through drugs, but that isn’t permanent. There is probably a part of the brain you could destroy that causes emotion. It’s not the same as the prefrontal cortex, which we destroyed back in the End section, so at least it’s not the same solution twice. Honestly, the drugs could work if you did them long term, it’s about the choice anyway. However you do it:

To escape the Slaughter, remove your emotions.

The Spiral- The draw of the Spiral is the power to lie and deceive. There are many ways to do this, and there are probably just as many ways to stop yourself from doing it. However, there is one way that I think fits very well and is absolutely a permanent change: destroy your voice. This is actually the first one I thought of because even though it’s not technically the only way to stop yourself from lying, it fits very well thematically. Michael as the Distortion calls itself the Throat of Delusion Incarnate, so what better way to break yourself off from the same power then by tearing out your throat? It’s not perfect, but I like it so much that I’m going to pick it. I don’t know how one would go about destroying one’s voice, except with very careful surgery. Or screaming for a very long time.

To escape the Spiral, destroy your voice.

The Stranger- We got our answer to this one in the Q&A. Run naked through the streets, and make sure to engage with everyone who talks to you so that you can’t hide. Utterly terrifying. It makes perfect sense though; we heard from the Not!Them that beings of the Stranger hate losing their anonymity. Whether by switching skins, tricking the mind, or looking so generic that no one can remember your face, being known is antithetical to the Stranger. There are probably other ways to go about losing your anonymity then running around naked. You could get up on a stage somewhere and pour your heart out, or publish an autobiography. Basically anything the Eye would like. As long as you are putting yourself out there in a way that you can’t take back, you should be able to successfully cut yourself off from that uncanny fear.

To escape the Stranger, make yourself known.

The Vast- This one might actually be easier than the Buried, because it’s not purely spatial. It includes things like longevity, our insignificance in the face of a massive universe, and large scary things in general. A Vast avatar would hate to be enclosed, but they would also hate to be made responsible. They enjoy making others afraid of their insignificance, but what if they were important to the universe? What if the world was actually very small, and they fit neatly into it instead of being lost? There’s a lot of different ways to go here, so narrowing down one sacrifice might not be the best answer. I can’t really think of any one action that makes a person feel as though the world is small and trapping them. Giving themselves to the Buried would, probably. A direct contrast is the easiest answer.

To escape the Vast, trap yourself in a small place.

The Web- Avatars of the Web are manipulators, through and through. There are so many ways to manipulate a person that no one action could prevent you from doing that, so this one would likely vary a lot between individuals. That movie director who had people puppet him in his own house comes to mind, I think giving up your freedom like that is a good way to do it. Being paralyzed wouldn’t stop you if you used your voice to control others, and giving up both would suck, but if that’s what you need to do, then I guess it’s your choice to make. Maybe all you would need to do is let someone else tell you what to do, and fully trust them. That would be difficult, coming from the Web where everything is tied together and you know how easy it is to manipulate you.

To escape the Web, give up your autonomy.

#tma #the magnus archives #the buried #the corruption #the dark #the desolation #the end #the eye #the flesh #the hunt #the lonely #the slaughter #the spiral #the stranger #the vast #the web #tma entities #tma analysis

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pigeonp0st · 4 years ago

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Agatha x reader where Agatha steals Wanda's girlfriend??? like in Westview wanda and reader are fighting a lot and Agatha steals reader so she can hurt wanda but also falls in love with reader

Agatha Harkness x Reader #1

Words: 4,772

Warnings: All Wandavision TW’s apply here...also...kidnapping occurs

Notes:

Big thanks to @gaytrashgoblin for editing (I’m sorry for not capitalizing my ‘I’ in things lmao...and it should be Westveiw!! I despise Westview. I don’t care if it makes sense), and big thanks to the anon that requested. This was fun to write and is now my longest fic so that’s cool. Hope you peeps enjoy!

————

Ever since you and Wanda came to Westview she’s been...cruel. Not to you, not really, but to others. She’s so wrapped in her grief that she’s not seeing the people she’s hurting because of it.

She lost Vision, her best friend, and she lost Natasha, and Tony, and—

and too many people. But you lost them too.

So when she invited you to go on a vacation with her to Westview, you said yes...you needed the break from reality...you weren’t expecting to enter a whole other one. You weren’t expecting to get trapped inside of some sitcom where she has control of literally everything around you.

So naturally, you two argue. Constantly. Loudly. Wanda doesn’t seem to think she’s doing it, and you honestly aren’t sure anymore if you believe her. Maybe at first it wasn’t on purpose, but now it is, and that’s all that matters.

You just want the arguing to stop, you just want to help everyone, you just want to go home.

When you tell Wanda this her face scrunches up in anger and she stands up from her seat roughly enough to send the coffee she was drinking flying to the floor. “I have nothing out there anymore,” Wanda yells, her powers shaking the café the two of you are in. “Don’t you understand? I’ve already done what I’ve done, and even if I take this all down now nothing will change that. I’m already a monster.”

There’s silence for a brief moment...you aren’t sure what to say to that, but then you look around the café and see everyone talking and chatting like Wanda isn’t even doing the things she’s doing, and you shake your head.

“That isn’t true, Wanda,” you whisper, meeting her glowing eyes. “You weren’t a monster when you created this, but you will be if you keep living in this little fantasy at the expense of everyone else— when you know what’s happening.”

Wanda pauses, eyes turning down. “They aren’t in pain,” she whispers quietly, like she’s trying to convince herself. “But if you don’t like it then you can leave. Especially if you continue to argue with me about this.”

Leave. Leave and leave Wanda here alone. She created Westveiw to stop feeling pain, she created it to be some sort of fantasy land, and you aren’t a part of that anymore for her. In her dream world you aren’t there if you aren’t compliant.

Or maybe you aren’t there if you aren’t happy.

Honestly, she’d probably just create the version of you that she actually wants the second you leave.

When Wanda winces you know that she’s in your head. She looks to be about to protest but you don’t need her to. This is all beside the point.

You can’t leave when people are suffering.

“Wanda, that’s not the point. If you keep hurting people—”

Agnes. Agnes pops her head up behind Wanda, all cheery smiles and good (nosy) neighbor vibes. She always seems to be around to interrupt you and Wanda. Usually you’re thankful, now not so much.

Sighing you slump into your chair, expecting Agnes to ignore you and chat with Wanda the way she always seems to. You’re surprised when that doesn’t happen though.

Agnes looks straight at you. “Y’know...i’ve been wondering for a while now. Are you and Wanda a couple?”

You blink at her, shocked and hesitant. “Uh…”

“Yes,” Wanda cuts in. A flash of hurt in her eyes. “Y/N’s my girlfriend.” The way she says it sounds...used. She says it so dispassionately now, when it used to be filled with too much admiration and even more love.

She says it like she’s tired of saying it. Like it doesn’t mean a whole lot anymore, and you hadn’t realized when that started but it hurts like a stab wound. It hurts realizing that this now, this isn’t the beginning to the end, you and Wanda had already started that a long time ago.

Agnes doesn’t seem to notice either of your turmoil, she just keeps talking, and talking, asking question after question to Wanda and letting you sit in silence and get enveloped by thoughts that you’re only allowing yourself to have because Wanda is distracted by Agnes and can’t read your thoughts.

When had that started up again anyways? She always used to say she wouldn’t do that without permission. It’s just another nail in an already full coffin, you suppose bitterly.

————

When Agnes leaves, you and Wanda silently decide to go home. Your thoughts are spiraling and you’re spiraling, and everything is spiraling but when Wanda kisses you in the doorway of your fake home, in this fake town, you let her.

You let her because even though she hurts you so much, even though you know that she’s only kissing you because she’s attempting to distract you and have you forget about the argument, right now she’s your only tether to reality.

She’s the only thing that’s real. She’s the only thing that’s real, but when she pulls away and notices you’re crying she just sighs heavily and walks away, and you’re left to wonder why the only time she won’t read your mind is the only time you’re begging her to.

You’re left to wonder if the relationship the two of you have is even real anymore either, or if it’s been destroyed and altered by grief.

You’re left to shout in your head angrily and desperately, begging her to listen; “If you leave now we’re over, Wanda. Wanda, listen to me. Wanda, I’m here. I’m here still, for you. You’re all I have. You’re all I...fuck you’re all I have here. Please.”

The bedroom door shuts. The door shuts and the echoes of it feel like it’s breaking your heart.

You leave. You stumble out of the door, gasping and sobbing, and angry. So, so angry. She wasn’t reading your mind, she hadn’t heard, but she left you. She didn’t need to read your mind to know that you were falling apart, to know that you have been since the second you entered this stupid fucking town.

You want to run. Your body is begging you to. You want to run to the corner of this godforsaken town and pound on the barriers like you wish you had the courage to pound on Wanda’s door. You want to yell at the world, to let it know that you’re tired, and you’re alone, and that the weight on your shoulders has been too heavy, the grief on your shoulders weighs too much.

Someone up there in the clouds made a mistake. Someone overestimated what you could take and gave you too much, and now you’re crumbling.

Your heart is crumbling, you’re crumbling on the sidewalk outside of Agne’s home, and her door is opening, and she’s coming out, purple magic surrounding her and a devilishly smirk on her face, and you don’t care.

You just don’t care.

————

When you come to consciousness again, you wish you could just go back asleep. You’re tied to a chair in some dark area—it looks like a cave or some type of labyrinth but you know it can’t be—and it’s not even your biggest concern. You’re not thinking about escaping, you’re thinking about whether Wanda will care enough to come and find you.

Agnes appears out of the darkest corners of the room. You look at her tiredly, then turn away, lost in thought once again.

You’re only pulled out of it when she roughly grabs your chin and forces you to meet her eyes, a pout on her lips. “I’ve never had a prisoner so...relaxed. Get kidnapped often?” Agnes asks, laughing afterwards as if she’s said something funny.

“I’m not relaxed,” you growl, deciding to stop wallowing in your own self pity for now. Whatever’s going on with you and Wanda, she isn’t going to turn you into her. You still have to believe you still have fight in you. You still have to fight when you're faced with (possibly) death. It’s not okay not to. “I just had a really fucking shitty day.”

Agnes raises an eyebrow, stroking your face with amusement. When you attempt to bite her she pulls her hand back roughly, sighing like a disappointed owner. “Yes, yes, I saw you hyperventilating in front of my house. What was that about anyways? Get in a fight with the mistress? You can tell your dear neighbor Agatha.”

You narrow your eyes at her. If anyone is the mistress here it’s definitely Agnes—Agatha? “Agatha?” You repeat out loud, tilting your head.

Agatha nods her head, sticking out her hand. “Yep! Agatha Harkness. Pleased to formally meet cha’.” She pauses, glancing down at your tied down arms. “Whoops. Sorry about that. I forgot.”

Agatha—Anges—whatever, she seems like a total asshole, you decide fairly quickly. She seems like a person that’s only out to entertain herself...it would be amusing or charming if she hadn’t had you tied up in her basement (You assume it’s her basement. That’s where people get tied up in shows), but unfortunately she does.

You pause suddenly. Shocked and broken. “Wanda,” you stutter, “is she...is she controlling you, is she doing this?” The fact that you’re unsure if this is something she would do says a lot.

Agatha pauses too, studying you closely. “Are you two really together?” She asks, ignoring your question completely. “You seem utterly miserable. It’s actually quite depressing.”

You shake your head, eyes wide and tear rimmed. You don’t care about this, you just need to know— “please. Agn- Agatha. Please, tell me,” you croak out, desperate.

You need to know how much of an idiot you’ve been. You need to know if you are worth it. If you have ever been worth it to her. You need to know if the woman you’ve loved for too long—if your miserable grief ridden redhead— would do this.

You need to know if this is the type of person you weren’t able to prevent her from becoming by just being there.

“No,” Agatha says, hesitant sounding and with pity in her eyes. “No dear, I am not under her mind control. Now I need you to tell me if she would search for you, okay? Would she look for you?”

You sag into your restraints, utterly spent and exhausted again. “Is that why you kidnapped me. To get her here?” You ask, letting out a bitter laugh and closing your eyes. “You would have had better luck kidnapping the fucking dog.”

When you open your eyes again Agatha is gone with a cloud of purple smoke left in her absence, and you’re alone.

You’re tired of being alone.

————-

It’s been a week or two since you’ve been kidnapped. It’s not really all that bad. You wallow in depression, Agatha gives you some pretty good food, and when you ask nicely enough she’ll even give you some of her baking. She claims to be very bored.

Because of that she comes down to the basement often (she confirmed you were indeed in the basement) and you two talk. At first it was just Agatha talking. She’d rant on and on about all of her evil plans, and everything she’s been up to. She’d talk about Wanda, try to get some information out of you (she learned quickly that you’re not willing to help her), but after the third day she started asking you a lot of personal questions too.

She’s very good at comforting people, and at getting them to open up. “And when I think about it, like really, actually think about it, I realize that I haven’t loved Wanda romantically for quite some time,” you reveal wobbly, more vulnerable than usual today. “I’ve just...I’ve lost a lot too, and I don’t want to be alone. I can’t be.”

You don’t realize you’re crying until Agatha tenderly wipes a falling tear from your cheek. Her own expression shows more real emotion than she’s ever seemed to allow herself to show in front of you. “It sucks,” Agatha says. “Being alone I mean. I would know. But what sucks even more is forcing yourself to be with people that make you feel alone anyways, just because you’re scared of it possibly being worse without them.”

Agatha says that, years full of loneliness written on her face, but then she just sighs, unties one of your hands, gives you a muffin, and leaves.

You could escape. You could free yourself from your bindings and leave, but instead you grab your muffin, ignoring your tears, and eat.

You eat and you stay. You stay because this woman kidnapped you in her home, and she’s opened up to you. Not because she trusts you necessarily, but because you’ve probably been the only one she’s had around to be honest with for a very long time. Because she kidnapped you, and she hadn’t had to pretend she was something she was not, because she was finally allowed to be real with someone.

And then, even after finally having someone for a little while, she’s decided to free you. Even though it could potentially ruin all of her plans if you went back to Wanda.

You stay because Agatha is the only thing that’s been real in this very fake town, and because Wanda…

Wanda keeps you here, Wanda keeps everyone in this town here because she is terrified, because she is alone, because she has always just wanted normal, and Agatha, who longs for someone to talk to, for someone to be around, let’s you go anyway.

You stay for now because Agatha deserves someone to stay for her.

————

When you see Agatha enter the room the next day you realize that she doesn’t think you’re there. She looks at your empty seat with gritted teeth and sad eyes, and picks up the muffin wrapper you left on the seat with resignation.

“Can I have more?” You ask from the corner of the room, deciding to not leave Agatha in her sadness any longer.

Agatha whips around so fast you think she might need to go to the chiropractor for that later. She looks at you and her eyes soften, and her shoulders sag with her relief, and her hand lets go of the muffin wrapper, and she’s happy you’re there. She’s happy you’re there, and that means something to you.

You don’t know what.

She doesn’t say anything for a long moment. Neither do you. But then, finally; “don’t touch, Wanda,” you ask quietly, but loud enough for her to hear. “I want to stay, but I can’t if I know you’re going to hurt her.”

You don’t expect her to agree. You don’t expect for her to give up her plans. You don’t expect to be enough, but Agatha nods like you are.

You told her, “you don’t need to be alone anymore” when you stayed, and she told you, “you’re enough” when she agreed.

That realization feels like getting hit by a truck. A very nice truck.

“Wanda’s been looking for you,” Agatha says, like she’s reading your thoughts. It’s still so odd to see her hesitant, but that’s exactly what she is right now. “She has been since the morning after you were kidnapped. She’s terrified, and lashing out at everyone to find you. She has everyone looking for you.”

Your breath catches in your throat, shocked, and Agatha winces in the same instant, stepping away. You hadn’t even considered the possibility that Wanda would look for you.

“I need to see her,” you decide. Agatha does nothing but nod, turning to leave again, but you run to catch her by the arm before she goes.

She blinks at you, and then at your hand. You realize it’s the first time you’ve ever touched her. The first time you’ve ever stood beside her.

“Wanda is my family. The entirety of the Avengers are. I think she’d accept it pretty well if I told her I’d like to be friends,” you say, talking to yourself more than her. “I’d like to be her friend, but more importantly I need to take down this...illusion she has going on before we can work things out.”

“Work things out,” Agatha repeats, snapping you out of your thoughts again.

For some reason you keep feeling this need to clarify what Wanda will be to you. Perhaps it’s because of the closed off look Agatha gets whenever you even allude to getting back with Wanda. “As friends.”

Agatha nods again, then narrows her eyes right after. “I’ve never asked…” she says quietly, a venom entering her tone in an instant. “Has Wanda ever hurt you?”

Your eyes widen comically at that. “No,” you say quickly, watching as Agatha’s shoulders drop in relief.

“But she was still a bitch,” Agatha mumbles. You’re not necessarily fond of Agatha talking about Wanda like that…despite everything, one word you would describe Wanda as is ‘trying’, and that’s what she’s doing now. The things she’s doing in grief is not who she is, and it doesn’t excuse what she’s done but it means something profound anyways.

Wanda is a good person. A deep, lost, trying person. She needs someone there for her too. You fell out of love, you realize, before coming to Westview, but it was here that you realized that to be true— during Wanda’s lowest point. And that’s really what this is. Wanda’s lowest point. She’s buried by grief.

So yeah. You want to try and be her friend.

——-

Surprisingly when Wanda sees you the hex falls immediately. On the way here you noticed everyone watching you, and you realize now that it was actually Wanda watching. She’s been using everyone to find you, and now that she has she doesn’t need to manipulate people anymore…that’s what she rushes out quietly in shock when you ask.

She hugs you tightly like she’s afraid of letting go and realizing that you’re just another illusion. You hug her back, thankful and wondering if the hex would have fallen sooner if you had come home sooner.

But you’re surrounded in mere moments, and none of that seems to matter. You’re surrounded by angry townsfolk and people with guns alike.

Just as soon as the guns appear though so does Agatha, surrounded by her magic and glaring at everyone menacingly and with a look on her face that suggests she knows she’s ten times better than them.

“Agatha just floof us out of here!” You yell, staring with wide eyes at the red dot on your chest “or Wanda, SOMEBODY, please!”

Wanda pulls away from you, looking at Agatha, you, the angry townspeople—she looks at them with sorrow for a long moment—and then at the government goons.

“It’s called teleportation, darling! Try to be more articulate,” Agatha sighs, teleporting the three of you out of there a moment after Wanda waves a hand and has them pointing their guns at each other.

———-

Agatha teleported you to a cabin in the middle of nowhere (she said it’s actually only about an hour away from Westview) a little over a week ago.

During that time you’ve managed to end your relationship with Wanda pretty peacefully. She seemed to agree that it was better if you two broke it off...she thinks that she needs time to reevaluate who she is with all of her grief, but mentioned that she’d be willing to get back together again.

When Agatha stops pretending to read her book and glares at Wanda fiercely, Wanda sighs and adds that she understands if that won’t be something you want.

She’s dealing with what she did to the people of Westview very badly, so other than deep conversations and both of you trying to help each other figure out what your futures will look like, she mostly stays in the room she’s staying in and only leaves to get fresh air on the porch and to look for you to cry with and apologize to constantly.

You wonder if there will ever be a day Wanda isn’t apologizing to you.

You also wonder if there will ever be a day Wanda and Agatha don’t hate each other so profusely.

Wanda learned what Agatha did to you and why a few days after staying in the cabin again (she was scared to ask for quite a while), and since then she doesn’t hold the same kindness towards her.

Agatha hadn’t even tried to pretend to like Wanda since the moment they entered the cabin together.

When you ask about it Agatha huffs and rolls her eyes. “Wanda is stupid,” she explains simply.

When you give her a deadpan look she smirks and tries to explain better. “She is. She has no real concept of the power she holds, but more importantly she hurt someone I am fond of very deeply. She made the sweetest woman I know question if she was enough, and that...that is simply unforgivable.”

You don’t know what to say to that. There aren't proper words to describe how much Agatha’s care means to you.

Agatha seems to understand, because she gives you a gentle soft smile and gets up to leave.

“Wait,” you stop her. “Why do you always leave after you show some amount of care for me?” It’s something you’ve been beginning to wonder. Agatha says something incredibly sweet, becomes incredibly vulnerable, and then she leaves. “Where do you go?”

Agatha looks shocked by the question. “I am not sure you are ready for that answer.”

You blink. “Which...one exactly?”

“The why,” Agatha clarifies, studying your face. She’s always so calculating and you don’t want her to think she needs to be with you.

“I am not ready for a lot of things in life, but i’m ready for you.” When the words register in your head you flush up immediately, turning into a blundering mess.

That is also another common occurrence in the cabin. You’ve realized that you have a...crush on Agatha. Though you worry it’s deeper than that.

According to Google it takes three months to fall in love with someone. You’ve done it in three and a half weeks. It’s ridiculous.

“I mean...I mean i’m ready for the things that come with you, y’know? I’m ready for your honesty and—”

Agatha kisses you.

She kisses you, and it’s nothing like you imagined. You expected her to be rough and demanding. You expected her kisses to be a little like her, unrelenting and passionate, but they aren’t.

She kisses you and she’s soft and hesitant. She kisses you and she’s loving. She kisses you, and it’s like she is worshiping you, and breathing you into all of the empty places in her heart.

She kisses you like she is decades old, and yet she’s only just now found her way home.

And then she pulls back, and she’s unrelenting and passionate again, a spark of both mischief and something softer and deeper than you can understand in her eyes.

“At first I left because I was scared of caring for you, and thought that if I left after being vulnerable then maybe I could pretend I never was at all,” Agatha admits, brushing a thumb over your cheek. You remember the first time she did that—and your attempts at biting her.

You try and bite her now too, though not as hard, just to remind her and share in the moment together again. She doesn’t move away so you just end up gently nipping at her palm.

She smiles at you, laughing quietly. It’s not often Agatha releases this type of adoring laugh and you’re left to marvel in it.

“And then me leaving was because,” she pauses, her eyes wavering for a moment, and then she’s pulling you into a tight hug and you can’t see her eyes at all. “Because I wasn’t sure if you were ready to move on from Wanda, and I was scared that if you realized my feelings for you sooner than you were ready you would reject me...and I couldn’t take that.”

She was scared that by being vulnerable with you she was giving herself away, you realize, and as you think it you notice that she sort of has been. Even Wanda has probably noticed…

“So I leave. I leave before you can reject me, because each time I say or do something, I wonder if it’ll be the moment you realize that I lov- that I care for you a great deal.”

Love. That’s what Agatha was about to say. You love her too but she’s right in assuming you aren’t ready to hear it or admit it yet. But you will be, and even if she does admit it sooner than you’re ready the last thing you’ll do is reject her.

“I care for you a great deal, too,” you whisper, pulling away from your hug to meet Agatha’s eyes and smile. It isn’t ‘I love you, too’, but that’s what it's supposed to be...and Agatha seems to understand, because of course she does.

“Thank you,” she says quietly, and then adds with a smirk; “for caring for me a ‘great deal.’ What an honor.”

“You’re the one that said it first,” you smile, rolling your eyes. “You’re cheesier than me.”

Agatha’s eyes narrow menacingly but before she can say anything Wanda’s voice cuts in through the living room. “If you two are done fucking there’s a bear out side of the fucking cabin and I need fucking help!”

“See,” Agatha whispers, a growl in her voice . “I told you she’s an idiot. The only world she knows is ‘fucking’”

You can only roll your eyes again, dragging Agatha by the sleeve into the living room. What you both come to find is Wanda trying to fend off a bear with a wooden spoon. You ignore the snort behind you, only focused on the way Wanda’s eyes zero in on your lips.

Oh. You must have smeared lipstick on.

“Wow,” Wanda breathes, forgetting the bear. “You too really were fucking,” she smiles when she says it to let you know that she’s fine, and that the two of you are good... but you still feel a bit of guilt.

Agatha doesn’t. “You are a greater fool than I thought. Did you forget you have magical abilities?”

Wanda frowns, gaze immediately snapping back to the growling bear. “I didn’t want to risk hurting it. I’m kinda tired of hurting things.”

And with that Agatha and Wanda begin their bickering again...you end up having to be the one to get the bear out and you nearly die from the effort.

“It’s a twisted ankle,” Agatha says, amused. “I took care of it before it could bite off your arm.” When Wanda— full of concern—hands you a pack of ice though...well Agatha’s stance changes fairly quickly.

“You are dying. Come with me. You need bed rest.”

It is all very amusing, you think, despite the pain you’re in. You’re sure in the future when all of this is behind them Agatha and Wanda will be very good friends…but for now, in this cabin, supposedly not actually in the middle of nowhere, they both can be your entertainment.

You loved Wanda (you still do, though not in the same way), and now you love Agatha. It’s the best outcome you could’ve hoped for when you came to Westview...it’s the best outcome you could’ve hoped for when Agatha found you sobbing on the pavement in front of her house and kidnapped you.

It’s not happily ever after, there is a whole lot the three of you need to heal from—individually, but maybe together too— and this isn’t where your stories end...

But it’s the closest you’ve been to happy in a very long time and you’re going to bask in it.

“You’re thinking a lot again,” Agatha notices, tilting her head. “If you would rather do something more fun, could you help me get this poison in Wanda’s drink?”

“Agatha!”

“What? It was just a joke…” she looks down at the vile of liquid she’s holding in her hand when she notices you glaring at it. “hey, really? This is something for the cough Wanda’s developed. Don’t be so untrusting.” Agatha sighs.

“Oh, wait, really?”

“Yes...I wouldn’t actually poison her. This is only going to make her cough worse.”

“Agatha!”

“What?” Agatha huffs. “She messed with my books.”

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diavolosthots · 4 years ago

Note

Request are opeeeeeen yay

Oh, well, could you please do a comforting scenario with Belphie and a depressed MC that's usually very cheerful but not right now (y'know, because of✨ Seasonal depression✨) with a lot of fluff and love?

Thank you in advance, and thank you also for all the things you write! It is amazing!!!

Requests are not open, this is from last time. Also i love how you go to emo boy for seasonal depression haha

Warning: mentions of seasonal depression

As the Seasons Change (BELPHEGOR X GN!READER)

As if life wasn’t already complicated enough as it is, it also just had to throw yearly change at you. The warm, fun, light, bright, and outdoors-y stuff was suddenly replaced by cold, long nights and tons of darkness. Now, for some people, this was great. Who doesn’t prefer shorter days and more sleep? But to people like you, this just put you into a spiral of moodiness. Everything that you looked forward to in Spring and Summer suddenly got taken away and it wasn’t… it just made you feel bad, you know? Things are dying, animals go into hibernation, and people are dressing more darkly. It’s almost as if the world decided to be emo for 6 months out of the year and as much as that is okay, it really isn't. You liked the sunshine and warm days with the softest of breezes. The beautiful flowers and trees and animals that come out to play. Of course, people also just seemed happier. It’s beautiful, to you. Besides, the Devildom already gave you a shock with its constant darkness but you somewhat got used to it, up until Diavolo decided that he needed to “keep up with the human realm” and decided to bring winter down here. So now instead of dark and hot as hell, it was dark and cold as hell. Seriously, it may not be affecting the demons too much but how did he think his two human and two angel exchange students would react?

Still, you can’t blame it all on Diavolo. The guy was trying to do something nice by bringing a little bit of human into the Devildom, probably forgetting that not all humans react the same way to sudden change and or dark and cold dynamics in general. Bottom line is, you were less than pleased. Your moods spun out of control ranging from sadness to anger to not feeling worthy. It was a confusing time and right now, the most you could feel was ‘okay’. “Lucifer, why don’t demons get weirded out by the sudden change in temperature?” You hoped that the eldest could give you some type of explanation or maybe even a little bit of sympathy so you didn’t think you were the only one, but he only shrugged. “Demons adapt easily. We have to, otherwise we’d be tormented by our own minds.” It wasn’t exactly the answer you were looking for and Lucifer could tell, but it didn’t take away from the fact that that was the only answer you would be getting out of him.

You hated this, genuinely. You even tried talking to Diavolo about it but it seemed to fly right over the guy’s head. “Haha isn’t this fun? I forgot what the cold feels like!” No, Diavolo, it’s not fun. Did you know that some people prefer the cold and get depressed over summer too??? No??? Well, then don’t assume! Of course, you didn’t say that to the Demon Lord because although he himself never scared you, you were terrified of what Barbatos may do had you disrespected the future King like that. You felt alone because even Solomon preferred the dark and although the angels are being of light, they didn’t seem to be affected much by this either. Was it just a human thing? Maybe just a you thing? The more you thought about it, the lonelier you felt and the brothers began to notice your change in behavior. How couldn’t they? They felt bad for you. Beel tried to cheer you up with food, which usually made you laugh, but now you’re just turning away from him.

Belphegor is the only one who somewhat seemed indifferent, although his looks at you lasted a little longer than usual. Usually you’d annoy him with your constant happiness and ability to jump around everywhere, so now that it’s gone, it’s weird that he actually kind of misses it. “Come cuddle with me.” “Belphie I do---!” But he didn’t even care. He just grabbed you and then dragged you up into the attic with him. That’s probably the most exercise he’s done in a while: dragging someone up the stairs, but it was worth it. Kinda. Maybe. “I didn’t ask. I told you.” You rolled your eyes at him because when does he ever ask? He just does his thing and seems endlessly happy with that, although something told you that was the biggest lie.

“I don’t want to cuddle.” Now he’s rolling his eyes, falling down onto the bed in the attic and holding out his arms to you. “Maybe you don’t want it, but you definitely need it. Stop fighting with me.” you groaned but gave in, falling down beside him, trying to keep at least some space between the two of you, but Belphie didn’t care and immediately rolled closer, putting his head on your chest. “Stroke my hair and tell me what’s wrong.” What? See this is why you and Belphie rarely ever hang out. He’s so demanding, so needy, and you swore he rivaled Leviathan at times. Levi would beg you to stay until you would, though, and Belphie would just have a death grip on you. Right now you didn’t know which was worse. “Belphie I don’t… I don’t want to.” “Fine then just hold me, but talk to me.” You sighed, wrapping your arms around him because that seemed like a fair compromise and he was already half on top of you so what’s the point of arguing?

“I just… my emotions are all over the place. I’m sad and then I’m angry. I get annoyed and then I get lonely… it’s because Diavolo changed the damn weather…” You felt stupid for saying that out loud and you could almost guarantee that Belphie thought the same thing, but he didn’t say anything, instead waiting for you to go on. “I just got used to the dark and the hot of the Devildom and now it’s… it’s dark and cold and it feels lonely and empty and I can’t cope with that. He did it to be ‘hip’ or whatever with the human world but he fails to realize that just because it happens naturally up there, doesn’t mean people like that.” “So you got seasonal depression.” You nodded, slowly beginning to let your fingers run over his back while he wrapped himself around you. Well, he more so climbed fully on top of you and snuggled his face into your neck. It tickled a bit so you managed to let out a little giggle, but it disappeared just as quickly.

“Yeah… I was… you know I could’ve gotten used to just having dark and hot all year around but then he goes and does this and I can’t feel happy right now… everything is just so sad and gloomy. Spring just started in the human world and yet Diavolo decides to start late and extend winter…” Belphie snorted, finding amusement in your words. He has his own opinions about his Demon Lord, including the fact that that guy is a huge himbo, but he could never voice that out loud. Not when he knows Lucifer lives under the same roof as him. “He sucks. But you know… this does give you an excuse to just lay with me all day.” And yes, he truly believes that’s a good thing. Why wouldn’t it be? No expectations, just sleep and cuddles. He pulls his head out of your neck and leans up a bit, kissing your forehead before looking at you. “Just stay with me. I can make you sleep until Lord Diavolo decides winter is done. He’s going to get tired of it sooner or later.”

You laughed softly at his proposal, shaking your head a bit. “I don’t know if you’re aware but humans need to eat and drink and you’d have me play sleeping beauty, meaning I’d die due to the lack of food and water in my body.” Belphie only shrugged, laying his head back down and snuggling closer. He was behaving like a baby right now, but a cute baby, who wouldn’t let you go. “I don’t see the issue, but suit yourself.” Of course the Avatar of Sloth wouldn’t see the issue. You rolled your eyes again and then poked his sides before holding him tightly. “You’re warm….” “I know.” Another eye roll but you also couldn’t help but smile. He’s such an idiot but at least you’re not alone right now. “Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer… for just a little bit.”

Belphie smiled into your neck, kissing it gently before closing his eyes, “I thought so.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me scenarios #belphegor x reader #belphegor x mc #belphegor obey me #belphegor avatar of sloth #mc x belphegor #belphie x reader #obey me belphegor x reader #tw mentions of depression

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red1culous · 4 years ago

Text

Oh part 1

Part 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

Standing in front of that imposing building you felt your resolve falter slightly. It looked as though nothing had changed in years. Even the grove of trees that lined the driveway, tall and graceful, seemed to be frozen in time.

One foot in front of the other, you coax yourself.

You suck in a laboured breath and walk into the large courtyard stopping once again as you take in your surroundings. You had hoped to be able to come and go without notice but the gravel covering the courtyard was doing a great job in announcing your arrival.

This is new, you think to yourself slightly amused at your naivety thinking things would have stood still just because you left.

You hadn’t been back in over a decade after that little incident and if anyone had told you you would be standing where you were right now, you would have laughed in their faces before smacking them across it.

You walk through a smaller sylvan courtyard of blooming orange trees. In its centre you see a fish pond. Smiling you look into it and search for the red and gold koi you had put there when you built the pond as a birthday present for Tony. It swims up to the surface as if it recognises you and if it weren’t for the boxes you were lugging about you might have even bent down to poke at its mouth.

For a split second you consider turning around and walking, no, running away. Screw the freshly baked muffins that were precariously balanced on you. You could just head back to the shop and sell them off at half price. You didn’t need the huge commission that the Avengers had agreed to pay for them. No you definitely didn’t need it…

…you also definitely did not need your business partner chewing off your ear about passing off said commission.

Think of all the rich people eating your food? you can hear her clawing voice bounce about in your head.

In truth you knew that the Avengers could easily afford a better baker. The best pastry chefs this side of the globe would happily saw off their left foot to be able to cater for them. But Pepper rings your mobile phone, claiming she meant to actually dial the shop, to place an order…a significantly large one…one she knew you would not be able to resist.

“Shit…” you mumble under your breath seeing the cause of your stress marching towards you a huge smile on her face.

“Is that how you greet an old friend?” Pepper says holding onto your upper arms and leaning in to place air kisses on your cheeks.

“No of course not…it’s just…umm…” you stutter as your heart thumps so hard it rattles its ribcage.

“I know…it’s a little weird being back” she says hands still holding you in place as if she knew you were about to bolt right out of there.

You shrug chuckling a little. “It’s stupid isn’t it?” you adopt a wide smile which had always been effective when dealing with difficult customers.

“Don’t give me that look” she swipes at your chin, “and it’s not stupid either. Just so you know, we’re all on your side.” She adds giving you a sympathetic look and you calm slightly at her words.

“Thanks Pep.”

“Ok you head in. I’ll meet you inside in a bit, you don’t mind do you? Tony ordered a grand piano and it’s just arrived…” she trails off.

“Sure, I know my way around” you say smiling as she squeezes your arms before letting you go. Of course you knew your way around. After all, this had been your home too for over 5 years.

5 years of bliss with her.

You mentally chide yourself. Nope, not gonna go back there.

As you climb the white marbled steps that led to the main door of the mansion you steal a glance at the silent looming windows glinting in the early morning light. You hesitate a little seeing a shadow pass quickly across one of them.

Shit.

Shaking your head, yet again, you finally reach the large oak doors. The bright and zesty scent of your lemon muffins waft into the air and as you are about to ring the doorbell the solid doors open revealing a tanned and muscled man in a shirt way too small for his body.

“STEVEN!” you shout whisper as his face splits into a wide grin.

“Y/N! Wh-what are you doing here?” he almost engulfs you in a hug stopping at the very last moment realising your arms were occupied.

“I-I…umm, muffins?” you return his grin looking down at your packages.

His eyes widen a little before taking some of the boxes from you. He balances 3 with ease in one hand as he pulls you inside. “No I mean I knew we had ordered from you…,” he says walking with you towards the kitchen, “…but I thought you said you were going to send a runner or something.”

“Well I was but our regular guy called in sick” you say gently placing the boxes onto the kitchen island.

“Well isn’t that unfortunate” he eyes you winking when you catch his gaze.

You roll your eyes at him. “No Steve, it’s the very opposite of what you mean.”

“Oh come on Y/N,” he shuffles up beside you to bump your shoulder, “it’s been so long.”

“It has...but hey! I get to see you again!” you bump his shoulder back and he pretends like it hurts him. “Ok so these need to be consumed within 3 days…”

“Woah woah woah now…” he cuts you off, “…you’re talking like you’re about to leave.”

He gives you a sad pouting face. His crisply parted hair makes him look like a choirboy albeit a very well built one. You almost feel sorry for him.

“Steve you know I don’t belong here” you say fingering the hem of your shirt.

Your answer seems to baffle him. He straightens up and stares at you for a moment narrowing his eyes slightly. “I’m skipping my morning run just to hang out with you, so you can at least spend some time with me.”

“Steve…” you protest before he cuts you off again.

He raises a hand in your face. “Not hearing any of it” he says grabbing yours and leading you out of the kitchen, “…we’re going to take a walk and you’re going to meet some of your family.”

You knew there was no use arguing with him. The death grip he had on you meant that you couldn’t even try to make a dash for it. “Steve if she…” you add and he cuts you off. Third one in a row. This was getting ridiculous.

“Shh!” and that was final. He leads you into the giant library where that vapid painting by Albert Ryder still hung on the wall. You hated that massive eye sore and always wandered what Tony liked about it. You’d always pegged him for the colourful extravagant type and this painting was just so out of character.

“Sam! Look who’s here?” Steve’s voice bellows out interrupting your thoughts. Your eyes trail up the curving mahogany spiral stairs that Steve is looking at and onto another floor of bookcases that were bathed in sunlight pouring in through a round skylight on the ceiling.

“OMG Y/N?!” Sam almost shrieks as he bounds down the steps at a dangerous pace to collect you in a massive bear hug. “What are you doing here?!” he adds still crushing you in his arms.

“I came with the cupcakes…” you giggle as he picks you up and twirls you around. “Th-They brought me as their plus one.”

He puts you down to really look at you as if committing you to memory. A large smile sits on his face. “I see the sass is still there?”

“It never really left, big guy” you raise an eyebrow smirking as he hugs you one more time.

“Pleaseee tell me you’re here for the party?” he groans wrapping an arm around your shoulders looking at you hopefully. “Parties here have been so sad since you’ve been gone.”

You hum about to answer as out of nowhere two slender arms wrap around you. It knocks the wind out of you and you instinctively hug back letting the smell of cinnamon and spice invade your senses. “Wanda!” you yelp.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming” she squeals smacking you across the arm.

You giggle at her pout. “I didn’t know I was coming, malyshka.”

She grins at your use of the word. “Ok let’s go” she says to a chorus of groans.

“Excuse me! You are not taking her any where!” Sam blurts out grabbing your free hand.

“Sorry guys but I found her first” Steve adds standing in front of you and placing an authoritative hand on your shoulder his fingernails biting into the flesh there.

“Guys…” you cough nervously, “how about we take a walk…together” you say quietly and sigh in relief as everyone starts smiling and pestering you with questions again.

I guess nothing’s really changed after all.

---

Tagging: @thewidowintheweb @natasharomanoffismywife @imnotasuperhero @cybeleceto @silverwing2522 @thelastavenger-3000 @peggycarter-steverogers @rooskaya-yelena @blackwidowromonoff @lesbian-x-blackwidow @nowthisisliving27 @izalesbean @aaron-despair @marvelfansince08love @rileigh519 @wannabe-fic-reader @hcartbyheart @marvel-randomness @thewitchandtheassassin @username23345 @xixxiixx @rebeliz777 @summergeezburr @frostedfavesmain @higherfurther-romanova @sapphicluxanna

#oh #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #black widow #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #redfic

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mca-attack21 · 4 years ago

Text

The Case of the Killer Lightbulbs

Hi guys! This mini-series is based off an episode of criminal minds called ‘Amplification’. You can find more of my writing on my Masterlist here.

Working alongside Sherlock and John had put you in numerous compromising and even dangerous situations. It was not a rare occurrence to find yourself in harm’s way, but that never discouraged you. The way you had always viewed it was that John and Sherlock had gotten on fine before you, and they would continue in that fashion if for some reason you were incapacitated. Furthermore, you felt that there was no nobler way to die than saving/protecting the lives of others, especially those you cared about. This mindset of yours never faltered, even during “The Case of the Killer Lightbulbs” as John named it on his blog.

You were at the market when you got the call informing you to stop what you were doing and go outside where a car would be waiting for you. You were used to it by now, Mycroft was known to be the dramatic type. The ride was long and you wondered what the nature if thus case would be: Murder? Blackmail? Theft? National Security? Or, was it just Mycroft trying to get information on his little brother again? Whatever your thought process was during that car ride, it did not prepare you for what was coming next.

You were taken to Scotland yard which was swarming with various officials from detectives, to the military, to the CDC. You were led through to a room where Mycroft, John, and Sherlock sat.

“Okay, you may go now, shut the door on the way out,” Mycroft said to your escort.

As she did, he passed a folder to you, Sherlock, and John and began debriefing, “Yesterday 24 people checked into local area hospitals, all of them with the same symptoms, all of them had been at the same park around 4 pm yesterday. Now at just after 8 am, 14 of the 24 are dead. Lung failure and black legions among a myriad of other symptoms.”

“Anthrax?” John asked.

“Anthrax doesn’t kill this fast,” you replied.

“Unless it has been genetically altered,” Sherlock surmised, “What do we know about this strain?”

“The spores are weaponized, reduced to a spiral ideal that attacks deep in the lungs. They are both odorless and invisible. The normal antidote is not effective against this strain,” Mycroft explained.

“Why exactly are we here?” John asked.

“We believe that this was a trial run, but don’t know what for. An outbreak in London would be detrimental, so we’ve called you lot in,” Mycroft replied, “You have full access to any resources you deem necessary,” he added handed you special badges, “Finally, here is Cipro, we don’t know if it’s effective against this strain, but it’s worth a shot. I wish you the best of luck.”

You, Sherlock, and John downed the pills and were left alone in the office as Mycroft had to step out.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” you said, still trying to get your head around the idea.

“It isn’t the first time, and most definitely won’t be the last,” Sherlock replied.

“So, where do we even start?” John asked.

Over the next two days, the three of you visited the hospital and spoke with remaining victims, analyzed the strain in the lab, located a second but smaller attack that happened weeks ago but only affected 4 people, and started to narrow in on a suspect list. You also created a list of possible targets, however it was too large to do any good. The three of you had come to realize that you were looking for someone with a significant background concerning biological agents. You knew that the person you were looking for most likely was in cohorts with the military or CDC and had a relation with the bookstore that was the target of the first attack. It wasn’t long before Sherlock had discovered who was behind it all.

This led you and Sherlock along with a team from the CDC to the home of Alfred Wilson to further investigate. John was at the hospital lending his medical assistance. And Mycroft and his men went to Wilson’s workplace and other known frequented locations. You and Sherlock stood outside as you waited for the all-clear.

“While they are doing that we should probably take a look around,” Sherlock decided.

The two of you walked towards the back of the house looking for anything out of the ordinary. Sherlock was distracted by a phone call from Mycroft explaining that the lab was clean and Wilson was still MIA. Sherlock turned to inform you of this news but realized that you had wandered off.

“Y/n?” he called and looked for you. He found the path that you must have followed. “Y/n,” he called again. He saw the shack and darted towards it, “Y/n!”

That is when you came into his line of vision, “Sherlock get back! Get back, get out of here!” you shouted frantically locking the door.

“Y/n? What are you doing? I don’t-” he started, but then he saw the broken container of white powder and the ventilation system. This was where Wilson had developed and even tested the strains. And you had already been exposed, which meant that if the Cipros was ineffective as it most likely would be against this mutated strain, you had less than 24 hours.

He called Mycroft who got the necessary people there. They wanted to get you out and to the hospital as soon as possible, that was not your plan though.

“Y/n, the CDC is here, they are preparing to extract you,” Sherlock explained through the phone.

“There’s no point, I’ve already been infected, I might as well work to solve the case,” you argued.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Mycroft interjected.

“Sherlock, take me off of speakerphone,” you ordered.

“Alright, tell me what you see,” Sherlock humored you.

“Alright, well first off Dr. Wilson is dead, so we can rule him out. There are two workspaces and two sets of handwriting on the papers. So he either had a partner or protege,” you paused as a fit of coughing took over, “I’ve read through everything in here, the cure isn’t here. But maybe they can take the spores and reverse engineer them.”

“Okay, Y/n. Is there anything else that sticks out to you?” he asked.

You were going to continue but the coughing took over again. You hung up the phone to spare Sherlock. By the time you caught your breath John was entering in an orange hazmat suit.

“Orange is not your color,” you joked, “On a serious note how are the patients at the hospital?”

“Right now, let’s focus on you,” he redirected, “how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” you replied.

“Are you sure? I could give you something to ease the pain,” he explained.

“I’m fine and I don’t want to take any narcotics,” you snapped.

“Okay, no narcotics, got it,” he confirmed, “how can I help?” he asked.

“I read through all of the papers and none of them talk about the cure, but I think that it has to be in here somewhere. Probably hidden considering that Dr. Wilson was a former military scientist. He was paranoid and most likely tried to protect the cure from his partner. So look for something innocuous, something that you wouldn’t expect,” you explained, starting to feel slightly light-headed. That is when your phone rang again.

“Yes Sherlock?” you answered.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“That is irrelevant, why’d you call?”

“Mycroft said that Wilson’s co-workers were unaware of him having a partner. Is there anything else you can tell me about him?”

You went over to the desk again scanning for what you missed. It was like it was on the tip of your tongue, but your brain was too foggy to see it.

“Just list off everything that is on their desks,” Sherlock said wishing that he was in there with you.

“Wait, I’ve got it,” you replied, “Dr. Wilson was a professor. He has syllabi and a framed picture of him teaching. I even read a paper that he graded, or so I thought. He wouldn’t let just anyone into his lab but clearly,” you started before being interrupted by a wave of painful coughing, “he valued himself as an educator. What if the second desk wasn’t a partner, but a student? And the paper, it was formatted like a thesis. See if Mycroft can crossmatch the list of Wilson’s students and/or students at the university that Wilson taught at with past employees or customers of the bookstore.”

“Okay, will do,” he said hanging up.

“Y/n, you did good, now we need to get you to the hospital,” John tried.

“Okay,” you conceded knowing that there wasn’t anything else you could do there. A couple of CDC workers came and took you to a decontamination shower that they had set up, with John close behind.

“John, go help Sherlock,” you instructed.

“I’m gonna stay here and see you off to the hospital,” he insisted.

“I am about to be stripped down and bathed, my pride can’t take the thought of you witnessing that. Besides the way I see it, you can either stay here and watch me die or go out and prevent it from happening.”

“If you’re sure,” John replied, feeling torn.

“Go on,” you reassured him.

———————

Tags: @fanfictionsilove @delightfulheartdream

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list :)

#Sherlock Holmes #Sherlock #sherlock x reader #sherlock x you #sherlock x y/n #sherlock imagine #sherlock imagines #bbc sherlock imagines #bbc sherlock imagine #bbc sherlock #sherlock fic #sherlock holmes imagine

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tundrainafrica · 4 years ago

Note

i ship levihan but one thing that always irked me was that hanji saved Levi's life twice. and i just feel levi let her go too easily ( i mean i am not saying he shouldn't have let her go, the war and duty is more important but the pacing was too rushed) like even erwin's death got more buildup. for hanji it was like levi didn't resist really.

I get what you mean anon, that’s one of the issues I had with her death. I definitely knew Hange deserved better. I mean when you think about it Levi was eventually gonna let her go. When he was facing her, what else would he have done to stop her right?

The giants were coming, they needed to get on a plane, the world was being trampled by colossal giants, what leeway did Levi have to argue with Hange or let her go? Even without considering the time, the urgency or the circumstances which made Levi’s reaction to it a little rushed, I want to talk about Levi’s personality and the parallels of Erwin and Hange’s death.

Levi letting Erwin go and Levi letting Hange go had SOME parallels.

Parallels which could be used to explain why Levi went about their deaths the way he did.

1. He didn’t explicitly go against their decision to sacrifice themselves.

If you think about Erwin’s death as well, Levi didn’t actually fight Erwin’s decision to kill himself, In fact Levi was the one who said the words himself. This is similar to Hange’s death, the only attempt we ever seen of Levi trying to stop her was forcing himself to stop her and “hey four eyes...” which was quickly interrupted anyway.

The difference with Erwin’s death is that we had some hope in the form of that titan serum to bring someone back which made Erwin’s death all the more built up. Season 3 Part 2 was relatively still kinda hopeful though. The final season of Attack on Titan and the manga at the point where Hange died is literally just a wasteland barren of hope and I think both Levi and Hange’s outlook towards the world literally went downhill with the later chapters of the manga, especially with Eren’s betrayal and the start of the rumbling.

And remember with Erwin’s death, it was proven that Levi is capable of making that type of a difficult choice. And we saw it when he let go of Erwin. And why did Levi make that choice for Erwin? Did he go about that same thought process with Hange?

2. Both Hange’s and Erwin’s death were a form of atonement and Levi understood that.

I won’t go into too much detail here but we all know that Erwin had selfish motivations all the way until season 3 part 2 which lead to the death of many soldiers. The charge he was to make was the ‘atonement.’

For Hange, we’ve seen Hange’s psyche get the beating of the century post time skip (read about my analysis on that here )

Hange’s ‘atonement’ was for the incompetence she saw in herself and the lack of capability she saw in herself as a leader.

Levi saw the downward spiral of Hange’s psyche. With his decision to let Hange go, Levi wanted her to get the atonement she has been looking for for so long. With Eren’s betrayal, with Sasha’s death, with the splitting up of the survey corps into factions, Hange was definitely wracked to the bone with guilt over her own failures.

Levi made the choice to let her atone for it just like he did with Erwin.

But Levi should have recognized that it wasn’t her fault right?

Levi probably did recognize that it wasn’t her fault. Possibly one thing which kept him still considering letting her go on top of that was a need to let her rest? Just like Erwin? And Maybe he understood that Hange would have never rested until she found a chance to make up for it and he understood as he saw her make that decision that that was the only way she could rest.

And we got this dream sequence only confirming what Levi had suspected letting her go like that.

Hange only rested and she only felt like she had ‘done her duty’ when she sacrificed herself.

And here is one glaring difference between Erwin and Hange’s death which made Levi all the more certain of his decision, even if he probably did not agree that everything that happened was Hange’s fault.

Erwin still wanted to see the basement and he explicitly told Levi that. That’s why Levi was still vacillitating between injecting Erwin or injecting Armin. Erwin may have still wanted to live, he just wasn’t conscious enough to tell Levi.

With Hange’s death, we had this exchange.

Hange made the choice for him. She begged him to let her go.

On the other hand, Erwin never begged Levi to let him go. He needed Levi to make that decision for him because somehow, he still wanted to live for that selfish reason..

And since we all know, Levi is capable of making this decision, Hange’s words only made him decide on letting her go, all the more quickly (on top of the circumstances)

I also think we could see hints that Levi had already prepared himself to let her go a long time ago, especially with the exchange below. That exchange down there is some character development for Levi. Levi recognizes Hange’s drive to atone for her actions, her drive to fight till the end and not to run away. He recognized that something like that could eventually happen.

Levi has been watching the people he love drop like flies since even before the series even started. And every single time, we have seen his development from ‘stopping Isabel and Farlan from going on a mission with him’ to ‘threaten to break Erwin’s legs’ to ‘I’ll inject Armin instead of Erwin’ to ‘you know what, I give up we’re probably all gonna die.’ And I think the bleakness of the situation just made letting go just a quicker and quicker process for Levi every time as he saw the hopelessness of each situation and the inevitability of death with every comrade who left him.

Anyway, I hope this meta helps you cope with 132. I mean it’s been 4 chapters but we’re all still crying.

But hey, at least she made it that far right? I mean she could have died in the first fifty chapters am i right? :’)

#hange zoe #hanji zoe #levihan #commander hange #meta

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wordsfromthesol · 5 years ago

Text

Research Paper

Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Tim Drake x Reader Summary: You and Tim get assigned to complete a research paper together. The two of you end up spending way more time together than originally planned. Warnings: Cursing and balls of fluff Word Count: 2k A/N: I still have a few requests, they are coming I just haven’t had too much time to write new stuff...so I’ve been posting old stories I’ve already completed.

The two of you sat at your dining room table, typing away at various research sites and scribbling down miscellaneous notes that could be helpful later. Finally, you looked up at your silent partner.

“So, why the rush to get this research paper done?”

“I’m busy. This is when I have time to do it.”

“Hm –” Before you could continue the thought, Tim cut you off.

“Look, I know you don’t want to be paired with the weird kid. Let’s just finish this and you don’t have to talk to me anymore.”

“Woah there Tim, relax. I don’t know anything about you. Especially not enough to qualify you as the weird kid.” You watched his face turn a slight shade of crimson. “Ya’know, there’s only 20 kids in this class. I bet if you actually talked to some of them you would make friends.” You got up from your seat and sauntered into the kitchen. “So weird kid, you want something to drink?”

“Oh…uhm…I’m fine.” You chuckled to yourself as he stuttered through his response.

“Well, if you insist on completing this in one night, I need some wine. Sure you don’t want a glass?”

“Okay…” Tim hesitantly responded.

The bottle was gone and you began to spiral down a YouTube worm hole. Clicking video after video, ending up on the ever popular topic of vigilantes. “Why do you think they do it?” You mumbled out loud, forgetting your research partner was still sitting across from you.

“Why does…” Tim tugged at your computer and glared at the screen before him. The video was paused on an image of Nightwing and Red Robin. He remembered that night. Mr. Freeze had armed some kind of mass freeze ray in the subway system. There were 5 casualties that night. His voice echoed throughout the room. “Sometimes the police aren’t enough. They have too much red tape or not enough training to handle certain criminals.”

“There’s just so many of them…”

“I think they need each other. Each one making sure the others don’t cross a line they can’t come back from. Keeping them responsible for their actions.”

“You think they aren’t just inherent do-gooders running around?”

“No. I don’t. This city is a toxin, no one born of it is inherently good. Everyone comes to a crossroads, some chose to go left and others, right. Once one goes to the left, you may never go back. However, those who chose to go right are always tempted to take a shortcut to the left. Even knowing they could never return.”

“Dang…you should write a book or something Tim.”

“Just a lot of experience I suppose?” You furrowed your brows and shot him a questioning look. “I was…uhm…rescued by Batman awhile back. Though not before my parents were poisoned.”

“I’m so sorry…” Your eyes cast to the ground as your hand reached across the table, landing atop of his. “I didn’t know.”

Tim brushed it off, “I didn’t expect you to know. I don’t advertise it. Anyways, how’s the ACTUAL research coming along.” You rolled your eyes and turned back towards your computer.

Tim realized he hadn’t heard from you in awhile, so he glanced up from his computer. You were asleep at the table. His eyes shot over to the clock, 4:07am. “Shit.” He mumbled under his breath. Tim then sat there debating what to do for several minutes before pushing his chair back and taking you up in his arms. He laid you on your bed, draping the covers over you, before heading back into the dining room. Almost as soon as Tim sat back at his computer, his phone buzzed.

Don’t forget to get some sleep tonight, baby bird.

Dick had started sending reminders almost every night. Tim debated ignoring it, until more messages came in. Jason, Damian, Barbara, Stephanie, even Cassandra had texted him. Dick truly went all out tonight.

I swear if I have to listen to Dick complain about you not sleeping one more time, I will lose it. Go the fuck to sleep, replacement.

Drake, I was just informed to remind you to sleep tonight. May this serve as that reminder.

Dick just let me know you haven’t slept the past two nights. The body can only properly survive without three nights of sleep. Please sleep.

Timothy Jackson Drake. If you do not sleep tonight, I will be forced to take drastic action. One word: computer.

Don’t make me come knock you out.

Tim quickly sent a group message to everyone. Everyone calm down. It’s only been a day and a half. I’m going to sleep now. And Steph, don’t even look at my fucking computer. Tim sighed and threw himself on your couch, welcoming some much-needed sleep.

You woke up very confused. You glanced around your room, you definitely did not remember going to bed. You threw your legs over the side and noticed you were still completely dressed. What the fuck. Hesitantly, you opened your bedroom door. Your eyes darted around the room, noting the two computer still at the dining room table. Tip-toeing over to the living room, you saw Tim passed out on the couch, his phone buzzing beside him. You attempted to end the call, but it answered instead. Shit shit shit. You leapt as far from Tim as you could before whispering into the phone.

“Look I didn’t mean to answer this, but Tim is asleep…and he strikes me as the kind of person who doesn’t get much –” The man on the other end cut you off.

“I’m sorry, who is this? Why do you have my brother’s phone?”

“Oh…uhm…I’m in class with him. We were partnered on a research paper. He slept…is sleeping here.” You heard the man sigh before he continued.

“Do me a favor and try not to wake him, but tell him Dick called when he does get up.”

“Uh…sure…”

“Oh and put his phone on silent…actually I’ll just block the calls from here. Oh and thanks...I didn’t actually get your name.”

“Y/N.”

“Right, thanks again Y/N.”

You hung up the phone on the weirdest conversation ever and set it next to his computer. You snatched yours up and went back into your bedroom. Might as well get some work done while you waited for Tim to wake up. A few more hours passed and you heard footsteps coming from your living room. Thank god, I so need coffee. You threw open the door and saw Tim standing over his computer.

“Oh, uhm, sorry I slept here last night.”

You waved off the apology, “No problem. What time did we stop?”

“I noticed you were asleep at like 4 in the morning. So I…” Tim ran his finger through his hair, “I just figured the bed was more comfortable.” You smirked as you watched his face turn crimson. Stronger than he looks apparently. “Then I thought it was probably best not to leave that late…so I just crashed on the couch.”

“So we didn’t finish then? As in you better not have finished it without me.”

Tim held up his hands in defense. “No no, I stopped once I saw you were asleep.”

“Well…want coffee and some...” you glanced at the clock. It was nearly noon, “brunch I guess.”

“Oh, uh…if you’re offering? Then sure, I guess.”

“Great, then we can just finish up today.” You made your way to the kitchen, “Oh your brother called.”

Tim’s eyebrows furrowed, “which one?”

“You have multiple? Uh…Dick, I think he said.”

“Yeah, three of them. Do you mind if I call him back?”

You shook your head as you put on the coffee. Tim grabbed the phone from the table and went into your bathroom.

“Dick? Is something wrong?”

“Nah, Alfred just told me you hadn’t been back to the Manor yet. Wanted to make sure we didn’t need to send search and rescue.”

“I’m fine. Listen, do you mind if you cover my patrol tonight?”

“Oh, hot date with Y/N?”

“How do you – nevermind. No, we are finishing a project.”

“Hm, whatever you want to tell yourself Timmy. She seemed sweet on you though.”

“How – who even says that anymore? Are you 60 years old?”

“Awe, look who’s deflecting.”

“Bye Dick!” Tim screamed into the phone before hanging up on his brother.

After brunch was had, the two of you got back to work. However, it didn’t take long for you to get sidetracked.

“Alright, if I sit in this damn chair for another minute I’m going to have permanent back problems. I’m moving to the couch.” You huffed out, before scooping up your computer and plopping down sideways with your back against the armrest. Surprisingly, Tim joined you, propping is feet up on the coffee table. Once the two of you moved to the couch, no more work got done.

“So you close with your family?” You began the barrage of questions. People often called you out for being nosy, but you still couldn’t help it.

“Oh,” Tim glanced up from his computer. “Yeah, I suppose. Too close sometimes.”

“Eh, they wouldn’t be family otherwise. I gather you have a big one?”

“What are we playing 20 questions?”

“Just curious…”

Tim huffed, but began to answer your question anyways. “Yeah, I guess. Though it’s a family forged from bonds, not blood.”

“I’d say that’s the better kind. You chose to stay with and support them, as opposed to being guilted into it because they’re family.”

“Well that clearly struck a chord.”

You shrugged it off, “So three brothers. Blood or bond?”

“Well…a forced bond? Bruce adopted all of us, except Damian I guess.”

You continued to pose questions to your newfound friend, though you found getting most answers was like pulling teeth. Eventually, you made progress and after a few hours you closed your laptop, which had been long since asleep, and tossed it to the floor. “I vote take away and a movie.”

“But we haven’t finished.” Tim argued.

“And I don’t think we are going to tonight. Come on, we still have a month. Relax a little, we’re like 75% done anyways.”

“I –” Before he could protest further you pulled yourself off the couch and reached for your phone.

“I vote Thai.”

You heard a sigh come from the other end of the couch, “Sounds good.” A smile grazed your face as you placed the order and settled comfortably back on the couch. You turned on the movie and didn’t realize you were laying half on Tim until the doorbell roused you. This time it was your turn to don a shade of red. Thankfully, it was too dark for Tim to see.

The food was gone and the movie continued to play in the background, but the two of you were fast asleep laying against each other. That was, until Tim heard a knock on the window. He looked up to see the familiar costumes of his older brothers. He gently held you in place with one arm, while stretching to grab his phone with the other. Tim quickly typed a message.

I’m clearly alive. Leave me the fuck alone.

Tim saw Dick smirk through the window just before a bright white light shone through. Tim’s phone buzzed.

Look Timbers found someone to put up with him.

Of course Jason just had to send that in the group message. Tim typed out his response.

I’m muting this conversation until further notice. Also I’m never telling you guys where I am ever again.

That’s alright, I’m sure Y/N won’t mind telling me. We had a great conversation earlier.

Tim ignored the baited message Dick sent and threw his phone to the other side of the couch before settling back into the comfortable position at your side.

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theyreonlynoodlesmike · 5 years ago

Note

Hi, I just eondered, what could be the reasons for fighting with boys and how they generally feel about this? Are they waiting for the first step, or are they making amends on their own? How do they choose to make up? Do they provoke serious fights?

So, I’ve done like one fic where I mention a fight with them, but this is definitely something I have some headcanons about. I’m gonna do this separate, because I think each boy is different when it comes to fights

The Lost Boys x Fighting with their S/O

David

Fights with David don’t happen often. David picked you because he needs someone to be the submissive to his dominant personality, and that includes letting him get his way 99% of the time. David likes control, and he doesn’t like being questioned. Because he’s the main decision maker, most of your fights happen when you disagree with him.

David doesn’t mean to be an ass (okay, sometimes he does), but he genuinely doesn’t think that whenever you argue with him you’re being serious. He’s the one in charge. He’s the one that gets to make decisions. He’s the one that when he says jump you ask how high. So, if you disagree with him enough to actually start an argument about it, David won’t take you seriously. He’ll think that maybe he just needs to convince you, because letting you have your way isn’t really even a thought in his head. He might even coo at you at how cute you are for thinking that you have any say in how this goes. If the fight continues and you give him sass, you’re in trouble

With a flip of a switch, he’s as cold as ice. The mood will change at the drop of a hat, and all the teasing from before will seem like a lifetime away. He’ll stare down at you, and say in an unnervingly calm voice, “Now, listen here, kitten. I don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but it ain’t me.”

David won’t necessarily yell during major fights, but he definitely won’t hold back from saying whatever he wants to say. His tongue can cut like a razor, and he refuses to apologize for anything that he said later on. If you two do end up having a major fight, he’ll send one of the boys to talk to you for him. This can either go the route of you coming to him and choosing to let water flow under the bridge (the two of you will pretend it never happened) or you refusing to talk to him. If you choose the latter, he’ll come talk to you after about a week has past. He still considers you his and he doesn’t want to lose you, but you’re aware any apologies said by him first probably aren’t genuine. If you talk to him about it, he’ll explain why he felt the way he did and he’ll allow you to explain the same. The two of you will come to a compromise (one that usually sways just a little bit more in his favor) and then you two can go back as if nothing happened

If you want to get through to him (which is like trying to get through a brick wall once his mind is made up) without a major fight occuring, you either have to have some major (most likely sexual) leverage or be 100% respectful. You have to carefully explain why you feel the way that you do, and why you don’t want to do the thing that he wants. He’ll stare at you the entire time, and he will actually listen! He just might not change his mind anyways. This is where leverage comes in. David isn’t completely unreasonable. He’s not Max. He can be swayed. He just needs there to be something in it for him that is considered more desirable than the pleasure he gets from getting his way. Sexual favors are a really easy substitute

If Davids the one that’s mad at you, all you have to do is agree to what he wants and let him be as dominating as he wants in the bedroom afterwards. Your legs may be sore, but your vampire boyfriend is definitely happier

Dwayne

Dwayne doesn’t like fighting. It doesn’t matter if they happen often or not, fighting with Dwayne is completely one-sided. He believes in talking things out rather than letting things fester, and you have his full trust. He’s a ‘fix-it’ type of guy. The minute he feels something is wrong, he’ll talk to you about it. He’ll get your point of view and he’ll try to adjust accordingly. So ‘fights’ are on you

That doesn’t mean Dwayne doesn’t ever get angry. He’s a pretty physical guy when it comes to his anger, but he’ll never direct it at you. When he’s upset, he may break a few things just to get the stress out of his system. He never does that in front of you, however. He would never want you to be scared of him, and he keeps those feelings bottled up until you’re gone. Rip to the boys if they decide to tease him when you two are fighting

You can cry, scream, and even throw things at him. It doesn’t matter how much you try to egg him on. He’ll stand there like a statue until you get everything out of your system, and then he’ll just pull you to his chest and ask you if you’re ready to talk. He’d rather you be explosive with your anger than shut him out. He’s not the best with his words, so confronting someone that doesn’t want to talk can be extremely hard for him.

Dwayne will definitely make amends on his own. Even if he doesn’t understand why you’re upset, he’ll still be the one that comes to you first. He doesn’t want you to be angry at him for long, and confronting you is the easiest way to get it over with.

If you block him out, Dwayne won’t know what to do. He’ll try to give you space and wait for you to come to him, but Dwayne wouldn’t be able to stand not talking to you for a few days. Especially since you’re the one that’s mad at him. He’d come to your window and knock on it, and he wouldn’t care if you greeted him with a smile or a glare. He’s just happy to see you. He may even bring you a gift to try to get you to lighten up, and it can anything from a bracelet he made himself or something he stole for you from the boardwalk

Once you let him inside, expect a long conversation about what’s wrong, why, and what he can do to fix it. Even if it’s something he can’t necessarily change (like girls coming up to him at the boardwalk or something), he’ll still promise to do his best to stop it. He’ll come up with a detailed plan as to how you two can go about the problem, and you two may even develop a system where you can tell him when you’re feeling upset about that specific issue

If it’s a reoccurring issue, you two will have to address that perhaps it’s a little out of his control. If so, unfortunately, you’ll just have to get over it. He’ll still try his best to stop it from happening, but there’s so much that he can do

Dwayne will make up through cuddling. He’s just happy to have you back in his arms again, and he may need some reassurance that you still love him just as much as you did before. He takes fights to heart, and that’s why he doesn’t like them or want them to spiral out of control

Marko

Marko is a complete wildcard. Every fight with him is for different, and it’s a coin toss on how he’s going to react. Somethings that you think will piss him off, won’t. Somethings that you never imagined would annoy him, will. It’s a guessing game with him, and your fights are pretty fifty-fifty in terms of who starts them.

Usually, he’ll retreat into his own head and he’ll try to be calm at first. He’s scarily good at suddenly putting up an unreadable front, but he’s boiling on the inside. You have one chance to put out the fire before it completely takes over, and this has to be done rather quickly.

You can succeed by immediately apologizing or by explaining what made you so upset. He’s usually quick to accept your apology and give you a kiss, letting everything settle back to normal. If he realizes that he really did do something wrong, then he’ll genuinely apologize and do whatever he needs to for you to forgive him.

If he still thinks that you did something wrong and that he can’t forgive you just yet or refuses to accept responsibility for his actions, it’s uh-oh spaghetti-o’s. But one things for sure. When you two get into a fight-fight, it gets ugly

Sometimes, he’ll annoy you on accident with his lack of care towards something that’s important to you. Sometimes, you’ll say or do something small and he’ll turn it into a much bigger deal.

There can be harsh words, refusals to apologize or consider how you feel, or even him kicking over barrels (lit or unlit). You two can yell and scream all you like, but you’re only really in trouble if he falls silent. That’s when he’s really mad

His eyes will flash yellow and his vampiric features will start to slip out, and if you keep the fight going then he’ll have to walk away to stop himself from doing something he’ll regret later. He would never try to kill you in the fit of a rage, but his vampire instincts are hardest for him to control

If you’re a vampire like he is, all bets are off. He’ll snarl and snap his teeth at you, falling back on his most basic vampire instincts. He’ll get in your face until you submit and agree to end the fight, and then he’ll start to calm down. It may take some physical affection on your part (a hug, kiss, or some petting), but eventually he’ll sigh and the two of you can start moving on to making amends

It’s rare that after a fight-fight he’ll be the one that tries to make amends first. You have to wait until he calms down, usually after a quick meal or some affection, and then you two can talk it out. Once you’re done figuring out the issue, Marko only has one thing on his mind. Make up sex. Much like jealous sex, he lets his vampiric side come out during these times. Expect to be bitten. It’s his way of marking you, of making you his again. To him, it gets rid of any distance that may have appeared between the two of you during your fight and brings you back to being as thick as thieves

Paul

Pauls usually a pretty happy guy. Fights with him are extremely rare, as he’s usually too stoned to really be bothered by anything 90% of the time. But, unlike the rest of the boys, a lot of the fights are his fault in one way or another. It’s usually because he does something wrong or something stupid, and he doesn’t realize how he may have hurt you until he already has

This boy is a bit of an idiot, so when you tell him that he did something he’ll genuinely look at you with confusion. A big reason most of your fights escalate is because Paul has a big fucking mouth. It may have started off as something small, but Paul just had to have the stupidest response and now you’re even more ticked off

Your fights involve tempers flaring and his big mouth making things a million times worse. He doesn’t even mean for half the things he says to come out the way that they do! He just says the first thing that comes to mind, and his brain is currently on autopilot

Expect tears from both parties. The two of you will completely be in eachothers faces, screaming at the top of your lungs, and waterworks are definitely going to start when either one of you gets too into it. Expect his vampire face to be out, but he won’t fall back on his vampire instincts. He’s too busy thinking of arguments to say to really focus on how his instincts are driving him to act

Paul is the only one of the boys who would pause mid-fight to have hate sex with you. He’s so heated and you’re so cute when you’re mad that he’ll grab you and crash his lips onto yours. Fangs and all. If this occurs, the fight is over by the time the two of you have finished.

Otherwise, you two either have to be broken up by the others, or one of you will have to walk away. It’s a toss up on who it is, but either way don’t expect Paul to shut up. He’ll either angrily mutter things the entire time he walks away or he’ll call after you as you take a break from the situation.

Paul will try to be stubborn at first. He won’t want to talk to you and fix things. He’s perfectly content with acting like the big pouty baby that he is and sitting in a corner in the cave. But if almost an hour has passed and you’re still not coming over to apologize? He’ll march right up to you and start the fight all over again. Just because he wants to talk to you

If you refuse and give him the silent treatment, he’ll scoff and walk away. Only to be back five minutes later. He’ll sit down next to you and just grumble, “I miss you.” with a pout on his face. And then he’ll do his best to get you to talk to him again. He doesn’t care what he has to do. He can’t stand you giving him the silent treatment, and it’s enough to make him ready to tear the hair right out of his head. Paul hates being ignored, and he’ll whine and beg for your attention

He’ll make up by promising whatever you want him to promise. He’ll even hold himself to his word. Then, as soon as you two are back on good terms, he’s back to being the handsy ball of sunshine that he is. He’ll probably want make up sex right afterwards, mainly because he feels all pent up and frustrated with nowhere to put it. He’s as cool as a cucumber after everything, and won’t hold a single grudge. To be honest, he’s already forgotten what you two were even arguing about

#marko the lost boys #paul the lost boys #the lost boys david #the lost boys #the lost boys dwayne #the lost boys 1987 #the lost boys x reader #the lost boys imagines #the lost boys marko #the lost boys paul #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys

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anxiouslyfred · 4 years ago

Text

Mold on Me

for @dukexietyweek‘s prompt High School, I have no clue how american schools work so I’m just going with what I know.

Summary: Virgil had only heard about Remus as a kid who annoyed his friends in their classes but after finally seeing what the other student looks like and meeting him is torn between hiding away or trying to get to know Remus better. Remus is already decided on meeting the snarky student again, if only to learn his name.

Warnings: Knife mentions, Food mentions?, unsafe science lab practices mentioned,

/\/\/\/\/\

Virgil had been bullied badly when he was younger. It was why he hated being around the more populated areas of the school and now basically lived in the Library as much as he could. That didn’t mean he was against making friends, just that they’d usually be the ones deciding to make friends and he just wouldn’t question it at all.

“He almost blew up the lab today. Why did I have to get partnered with someone who clearly has no regard for any form of safety? Even when I stopped him and tried to correct the experiment from where he’d mixed all the chemicals up he was literally taking the ones I was trying to return to mix together again!” Logan had been ranting for most of their breaktime by this point. Virgil didn’t really mind, and actually was kind of curious about the student in question.

He hadn’t had a class with Remus King before but already knew plenty of views about him, just because his 2 friends shared different classes with him. Logan’s complaints were always regarding some form of danger or safety protocol but Patton’s were where his interest came from.

The food technology class that Patton shared with Remus did have a lot of interesting assignments getting set at various times, including making savoury ice creams near the time of the open evenings so they could, essentially, prank the children wondering if this would be a good school for them to come to next. Patton had somehow managed to make one that tasted delicious but Virgil still couldn’t work out if the flavour combination he’d been told Remus made only sounded disgusting or actually tasted horrible too.

“Dude, surely the teach would have stopped him if it was that dangerous.” Virgil just couldn’t be bothered to add something more to his list of reasons not to trust the teachers. It was already too long for his comfort and Logan was never one to help.

Patton at least caught onto that and came up with a subject to divert their conversation onto for the rest of their break.

/\/\

The next time Virgil thought about Remus was a few days later as their lunch break ended and he was heading into the science block for his physics class. Patton hadn’t made it out to lunch that day since his food technology class was either side of it so they’d have more time for the practical lessons.

It at least made the corridor Virgil was passing down smell delightfully of chocolate but he was far more interested in, and slightly terrified by, the boy kicking the door of the food tech classroom open, storming down the classroom, yelling “It’s knife work! What about that can’t be turned into uses for a weapon? What planet are you from that blades and any work from them isn’t two steps from a use to attack or torture another!”

One last thought Virgil had about Remus was that his friends were disasters at describing what any human looked like. According to Logan, the boy had obviously dyed his hair and ignored any attempt his parents or brother made to teach him personal hygiene. Patton was a little kinder, saying Remus had a lovely wide grin and energetic eyes, although Virgil was still trying to figure out just what that meant.

His mental image so far had been of some slightly crossed-eyed younger version of the Joker from Batman, but the boy fitting all the stories he’d heard of Remus looked nothing less than gorgeous.

“They’re from the Health and Safety state, Dude. We’re meant to have forgotten the threatening uses of knives we use in cooking unless we are the ones being threatened by them.” Virgil muttered his reply, to anxious about being noticed to say it any louder.

He still got noticed and the boy halting in front of him. “Someone in this damn school gets it! Come join us in class!” Virgil didn’t have much of a choice to disagree as his arm was grabbed and he got dragged into the classroom, sheepishly waving to Patton when the other students turned to look at the rapid return.

“Mr King, I’ve told you before that you cannot drag your friends into here even on a lunch break.” the teacher sighed, confirming Virgil’s assumption over who it was.

“I actually was heading to class anyway. There’s only like 2 minutes left before...” Virgil began explaining, tugging on his arm to get it released just as the bell went off to officially end the lunch period. “Yeah. I guess I’ll have to properly meet you some other time, Remus.”

He ducked out of the classroom before anything else could be said, letting the flow of other students heading to class calm the spiralling emotions and only just hearing “No fair, I’ll learn your name next time, Stachybotrys.” yelled after him.

If only the insane boy wasn’t proving to be exactly Virgil’s type perhaps he’d have learnt something about physics that day.

/\/\

Logan was not amused when he reached their table today. “Do either of you know if Remus means a person or the mold when he mentions Stachbotrys? I have had to argue constantly to get any progress on our study for the entirity of our class.”

“I met him for like two minutes. That should not be enough time for him to have anything to say about me.” Virgil growled, hunching back into his hoodie.

“He met Virgil while trying to storm out of food tech yesterday. Apparently our anxious bean muttered something in agreement of what he was yelling about knives.” Patton added what more he could at Logan’s raised eyebrow.

At least amusement was replacing Logan’s frustration now, a smile clearly being held back. “At least I didn’t try suggesting he locates the mold on rice then. Remus does seem rather insistent that and I’m paraphrasing here, he’s going to find and make his the Stachbotrys that is all he could think of last night.”

There aren’t quite words for everything Virgil wanted to say to that, so in the attempt he let out a rather strangled noise, burying his head in his arms. He could take having a crush on a complete whirlwind maniac who seemed to drive both his friends up the wall but having even the merest suggestion the affections could be returned was too much to understand.

“If he brings it up next time we share class I’ll suggest visiting the library to look up the subject, shall I?” Logan offered. Virgil made a mental note that there had now been 3 instances of teasing pushed too much by the boy who insisted he only ever acted logically.

/\/\

“I don’t need to read about mold but my science partner has decided if I’m going to talk about my Stachybotrys so much our experiments can easily be adjusted to focus on mold.” Remus’s voice was loud as he marched over to the helpdesk in the library and Virgil was just grateful he had decided to read at one of the tables hidden among the shelves while waiting for his lift to arrive. “Apparently that means I do need books to source the information I already know so which shelves am I looking for?”

Definitely not the area Virgil was in. The shelves near him included cultures of the world, and how to books for various creative hobbies. The only thing that seemed even remotely likely to interest Remus were the history of war books near the end of the isle but they didn’t connect to mold at all.

Virgil’s reasoning and frantic checking that he could hopefully avoid the other boy distracted him enough that he didn’t realise Remus looking through the shelves opposite him. “Stachybotrys! I found you again!” He couldn’t miss the exclamation though.

“Didn’t realise we were playing hide and seek. I thought I was writing an essay for English Lit.” Virgil hissed back, really not wanting to give the librarian any cause to kick him out.

“Ooh, what’s it on? And what’s your name? You’ve been on my mind like a mold and it would be nice to have the right name for the newest mold I’ve encountered.” Remus clearly didn’t care about making some noise although he did quiet down dramatically when he saw how uncomfortable the noise was making Virgil.

“I’m Virgil though I’m fairly sure you’ve already got my friends convinced Stachybotrys should just be a nickname for me now.” He was actually annoyed at that.

Patton always butchered the word, and would only try to use it when mentioning how besotted he thought Remus was since the only diversion of subject in their food tech class recently had been how the molds of different foods could make people sick or kill them.

Logan on the other hand would just randomly use the name for Virgil in the hopes Remus would be somewhere close by to hear him. That had never worked since Virgil was either in class, outside to eat or in the library.

Remus peered at him a little. “Still fits though. You definitely appear like a threat but ultimately leaving the world undecided over how dangerous you are. So assuming Logan’s one of your friends, who is the other I’ve got calling you it? And do they think I have a chance at dating you?”

“Patton and are you seriously asking me if my friends think you should ask me out? Dude, if you want to date me just ask me if I want to go on a date. Or is being ridiculously convoluted a game of yours?” Virgil scolded, shaking his head, trying to decide if there was some kind of mind game happening in the moment or not.

“Okay then, Date me, Emo kid! We can go ravage a farm search for signs of mold and decay among all their crops and end with a picnic of snacks I invented recipes for in class!” Remus just shrugged at the tone, moving on to what was requested of him,

That was even further from Virgil’s expectations of the response than Logan saying Remus was set on finding him had been. Most people were at least a little put off by how harshly he reacted whe uncertain of situations. “Can we start with the food? My brain will just panic over how I could die from being close to mold and then eating if we do it your way round.”

“Of course we can. Let’s meet at Gorse Hill farm at like 2pm on Saturday for our date then!” Remus jumped up from his spot then, a wild grin on his face as he waved, heading off. “Can’t wait for it, Stachbotrys.”

#dukexietyweek2020 #dukexiety #remus sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #high school au

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dragonologist-in-the-making · 5 years ago

Text

Transfer Student

Pairing: Sirius x reader (Ilvermorny transfer)

Request: hello, wanted to say i really enjoy your writing!! can i request a sirius blac x ilvermorny transfer student!reader in the marauder's era? a kind of enemies to lovers type fic where the reader's new and sorted into slytherin and is already getting a lot of attention and popularity for being american and outgoing but sirius doesn't get the hype lmao so he teases about her accent and other american things and she bickers back but deep down they're just fighting bc they like each other. thank you!

A/N: Thank you! And thanks for the request! I hope you like it, sorry if it seems a little short or not developed fully. Just a note about requests, as it stands I think I have seven to do, but they’re all Sirius x reader so I think I’ll space them out a little for the sake of being able to write about someone else too. I’m dying to write some James, Charlie and Newt.

Wordcount: 1.3k

Warnings: None!!

She approached the castle with apprehension. Transferring schools was never easy, but especially not so when she had also moved continents and had no friends to speak of. Her parents had moved to Britain from America for their work, and although they didn’t want to pull her out of her old school, Ilvermorny, but knew they had no choice but to make the move and take her with them. She walked up the steps and into a large entrance hall, which was mainly empty, other than the odd student, and a woman stood with a velvet green cloak and a pointy hat.

“Miss (y/l/n).” She greeted the girl, extending her hand which was shaken hastily. “My name is Professor McGonagall, I’m deputy headmistress here at Hogwarts and the Head of Gryffindor House.” She explained, waving her wand as (y/n)’s trunk floated up next to her, as the professor gestured to be followed. “I usually oversee the sorting ceremony at the start of each year for the first years, and so I will be escorting you to Professor Dumbledore’s office so we can sort you into a house now.” The young witch nodded, only half paying attention to the words being spoken to her, trying to familiarise herself with the castle and push away the anxiety that was rising in her chest. They stopped in front of a stone gargoyle, which promptly spun around to reveal a spiral staircase once McGonagall had whispered the password. As they stepped onto the stairs and began to move towards the office, (y/n) steeled herself, ready to face her new future.

A few weeks had passed since her arrival, and (y/n) (y/l/n) was settling in as well as she could at Hogwarts. The sorting hat had sorted her into Slytherin house, and the girls in her dormitory were kind and more than happy to include her in their activities, as well as helping her to catch up on what they had been learning in their classes. Being an American transfer, she seemed like the shiny new toy of the school – it had taken a while for the whispers and the stares to die down as she walked through the corridors in the first week. Now, though, most people were treating her normally, they had gotten used to her accent, mostly, and they realised she was just as normal as everyone else. Most people, because a certain Sirius Black was definitely not used to her yet, and took every opportunity he could to tease her.

“Hey America!” He shouted at her as she walked through the entrance hall. “Come on, let us hear that pretty accent of yours.” He pleaded – from the moment she had first opened her mouth he had found delight in mocking her accent, in pulling apart the different words she used or the way she would pronounce certain words differently.

Refusing to give into his antics, feeling a flash of anger through her chest, wishing she knew why he refused to accept her, her only response to the raven haired boy with the stormy grey eyes was to flip him off, smiling triumphantly to herself a little as his friends laughed behind her at his failed attempt.

Sirius’ attention refused to waver as the school year continued, but realising that he could never catch your attention for long with his snide remarks (“Obviously she’s not going to give you the time of day with the way you speak to her.” Had been James’ remark, complete with a roll of his eyes), he had turned instead to light hearted teasing and flirting, although most of the time this descended into bickering.

Although she wouldn’t admit it, and she more than happy to complain about his antics, secretly she adored the attention he would give her. She knew his reputation, that hadn’t been a hard piece of gossip to pick up on, she knew that his attention on a girl never lasted more than a few days. Except for her. His attention had expanded further than the classroom too, now when she was studying alone in the library, he always seemed to ‘accidentally’ stumble upon her, sitting next to her and making joking remarks the whole time, which she was happy to retort. These hours in his company made her understand him much more, and rarely, in between the teasing and the bickering, they would have a real conversation, about their families, friends, lives. When he wasn’t there, she had started to strain her eyes looking for him, hoping that he would come and bother her again. She had realised too late that she had started falling for Sirius Black.

She was in the library again, it was a free period and she couldn’t study very well in her dim common room. She was studying a transfiguration textbook very closely, trying to complete the essay McGonagall had set them the day before, when she heard the scraping of chair legs beside her, and smiled slightly, knowing who had approached her.

“Do they not teach you in Slytherin that you won’t need to know this stuff once you’ve joined the dark side?” He whispered, pointing to the essay she had been working on as she huffed and rolled her eyes. Picking on her about being in Slytherin was one of his favourite things to do, but (y/n) knew enough of his story to understand why, which helped lessen her anger to mild irritation at his words.

“I’m ambitious, Sirius, not evil. I know what I want and I’ll work hard to make sure I get it.” She whispered back, pulling the parchment closer towards her and carrying on writing. “You know full well I don’t agree with blood purity and all that nonsense. Talent is talent, take it where you can get it.” She responded, looking up at his eyes which she was surprised to see already looking at her, with what she thought was a hint of… pride? Satisfaction? She searched his grey orbs with her own, trying to see what they held and getting slightly lost in the process.

“Found a new appreciation for pretty faces?” He asked, snapping her out of it as she turned away from him with a scoff, letting her hair fall over her shoulder to hide the embarrassment at being caught.

“Oh, is James here?” She asked without too much thought, knowing that teasing him about his best friend was bound to strike a nerve. She was right, he huffed and crossed his arms in front of him. She was able to work in silence for a few more minutes, until he piped up again.

“Why do you argue with me so much?” He asked. She turned to look at him, incredulous at his words.

“Why do I argue with you?” she asked, shaking her head very slightly in disbelief. “You’re the one who’s been picking on me since the day I got here.”

“But I stopped that, I tried to be nice to you!” He argued back, the both of them standing up by this point, her essay long forgotten on the table.

“By teasing me incessantly and bickering?” She countered.

“If it meant actually getting you to talk to me, yes!” By this point, they were stood chest to chest, both staring intensely into each other’s eyes. Before either one of them knew what was happening, his hands were cupping her cheeks and her lips were on his, hands in his hair and the both of them channelling everything they had been trying but couldn’t say into the kiss, one that was so full of emotion it was overwhelming. They broke away abruptly when Madame Pince caught them and shouted at them, causing them both to laugh as they looked up at each other again, happy that they had finally embraced their feelings for each other.

#sirius x reader #ilvermorny #slytherin reader #sirius black #sirius black x reader #padfoot #harry potter #harry potter fic #sirius x slytherin!reader #sirius x american!reader

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phoebehalliwell · 4 years ago

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Pls write mini essays about phoebe + next gen and paige + next gen!!

word i’d said i’d to this then i forgot i’m doing it now i’m gonna start of with both phoebe & paige + their kids and then i’ll burn through the list

okay so for starters phoebe i think phoebe’s family wins like the “most functional” award it’s not like a landslide win y’know it’s not like piper and paige’s families aren’t function but this family is comprised of an empath advice columnist, a cupid relationship therapist, and three cupid-witches. like, they’re all kinds experts of communication and self-awareness and understanding and relationships and bond blah blah blah they being said of course they have their issues but in general it’s relatively smooth sailing there is of course the flipside when friction usually generate from the kids starts to spiral out of control and phoebe & coop will be like let’s use our words help us to understand you and where you’re coming from do some breathe exercises and the girls would be like no!! can’t we just argue like a normal family!!! can’t you just get angry at something!! but those are um few and far between. and of course like phoebe really really wanted to be a mom we all saw we all didn’t enjoy it but that’s very much canon she really wanted three daughters she got that so i think phoebe was very much like Prepared for motherhood (like as prepared as one could be). like it wasn’t like she thought it was going to be smooth sailing but like she was ready to face any challenges that could be thrown at her she was ready to put all of her love and effort into this one thing and i think for her like Mama Era from pj’s birth in 07 to peyton starting preschool in 2013 i think she really like almost exclusively worked from home she was really hands-in she was in all the mommy groups and the pta and the whatnot but like. y’know that’s like 6 years. and phoebe really loves her job. so i think she’d really have a career renaissance once all of the kids were in school i think she’d slowly start to dive back into column work i think this is when she’d start to write her book after the success of that one i think she wrote another one i think she has a fiction series posted under a pseudonym that is more of a ya magical adventure series (which paige designs all the covers for) i also think she and coop have a podcast together maybe run through the bay mirror maybe independent the point is she’s really popular (i also think she’d be the wealthiest out of the three sisters bc she makes bank and so does coop as a therapist for those not in the states therapy is like really fuckin expensive as i recently learned y’all do not know. it’s a bitch. but yeah they got money. but that’s not the point here. the point is she’s really popular). book tours, doing stuff with the podcast, guest appearances on a variety of tv shows, i think phoebe’s not like. at home a lot. or at least she’s home the least out of piper her and paige. and it’s not like her kids really mind like she is just a beam away and she always makes it to important events (and unimportant ones!) like she takes photos before every school dance and she throws birthday parties and she really dos try to make it to all of the kids soccer games but like. she’s not always just like. home all the time. and i think she’d really love to have a lot of emotional heart-to-hearts with her kids but that doesn’t always happen. if pj needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to her dad. is parker needs an emotional heart-to-heart, she’s gonna talk to pj. is peyton needs and emotional heart-to-heart she’ll position herself on the couch late at night when she knows phoebe will be coming home and just sorta sit there like waiting for phoebe to show up and go oh honey what’s wrong bc uhh peyton will not like. go to someone to talk about their problems. she has to wait to be asked. that’s just the type of person she is. lucky for her, phoebe’s an empath so she can like tell when baby peyton’s in distress but lbr she usually doesn’t need it because like peyton perches in such an Obvious manner like hi mom come comfort me please : ( even tho she’ll never like say it out loud. i think phoebe’s also like proud of her girls and their practicing of the craft bc she remembers how she felt about magic hell how she still feels about magic and she’s always telling them like follow ur heart and love is ur greatest strength (and the power of three will set you free, of course) bc her girls are cupitches y’know it’s more true than ever but like. lowkey tho. it fucking terrifies her. magic like takes, man. a lot of people she knows have died. and she just like. she doesn’t want to tell her kids no bc it was grams controlling nature that made her rebel so much so like she wants them to be able to come to her when they have a magical problem and she knows that if she tries to stop them or tells them they’re out of their league they’ll probably just stop telling her things so she doesn’t she tried to be supportive but jesus fucking christ he gets so scared sometimes. she gets so scared.

paige on the other hand had nowhere near the same experience with motherhood as phoebe bc well i think paige has the most complex relationship with motherhood set aside the fact that her kids are the only unplanned ones out of the entire next gen, she also like. she was a shit child. she was mean and violent and an alcoholic. she had committed so so many crimes before she was even 17. and she had a really good mom!! she had a mom who loved her and tried her hardest to support her and keep her from falling off the deep end who loved her unconditionally she had the best mom and she was still just a little shit! and i think that really fucks her up. like, looking back on it, she can’t imagine half the stuff she put her mom through. she was really cruel. and like!!! her mom was a good mom!! so paige doesn’t know she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do. how she’s supposed to stop her kids from turning out like her. what can she do so she doesn’t have kids who end up exactly like how she was. henry isn’t like a load of help her bc henry Also never knew his parents and he jumped around from foster home to foster home and like never really felt like had a family until paige. and then like in his whole parole schtick he was definitely a hard ass he was definitely an Authority Figure bc hell that was the only way adults could get him to listen to them when he was a kid so he just kinda emulated that. however after meeting paige and really getting a feel for her whitelighter side and how she handled these situations i do think henry switched up his vibes he made the necessary changes. i also think like henry like no he wasn’t planning on having kids but i think he was really excited to become a father like he was gonna have a family like god he always wanted a family he was gonna teach his kids to play catch and he would host birthday parties stupid birthday parties with themes and balloons from safeway and friends there and goody bags the full kit and kaboodle like henry would fuckin go to bed each night dreaming about how he’s gonna do all these familial things he never got to do. bc he didn’t have a family. but paige did. she got all those things. and she was still fucked up!! so i think the conkclooshun paige landed on was that her mom tried to hard to like. like her mom saw her potential and always strived to push her to be that perfect version of paige that she saw her wonderful little angel when paige really wasn’t that paige wanted to be seen for what she was not some vision in her mom’s head and maybe that’s why she would like get drunk and steal a cop car bc she wanted her mom to see the girl standing right in from of her not an angel just paige. so paige was like. okay. i’m no gonna project onto my kids. they’re gonna be like “charmed ones” (there’s only two of them but w/e they’re really powerful witches) but i’m not gonna. i’m not gonna see them as that. i’m going to try to see them as they are and i’m going to be their Mom. i’m not gonna be some distant ethereal figure which is kinda how she felt a lot of the charges she brought to magic school viewed her bc she was this mythic charmed one and she was this she was that i think paige didn’t want to be her daughters’ whitelighter bc she didn’t want a “professional” relationship with them. there was no way she could advise her own kids the way she could advise her charges, she’s simply way too close to the situation. and she doesn’t want her kids to view her like that. she doesn’t want to be their whitelighter, she wants to be their mom. and um this really does work for the most part like she & her kids will like sit on the couch and just like yuck it up you know like the mitchell clan really is a tight knit they do all love spending time with her but. like her method of parenting really works with tamora. not so much with kat. kat’s a lot more witchy than tam is she’ll actively go out and seek out trouble she pursues the craft with a very similar hunger to what we saw in paige s5 and paige kinda hates it. like. god okay she gets it she gets it she really does. but kat’s a kid!! she’s just a kid and if she keeps looking for trouble she’s gonna get herself killed and i think whenever out god knows where doing god knows what paige just remembers that time she had to watch chris bleed out on the bed with nothing she could do. and how she- how if that happened to kat- she- she couldn’t go on anymore. that’s basically the fact of the matter. if she lost a child, she doesn’t know what she would do. give up. probably. and it’s again sorta like the inverse we see with phoebe’s free range demon hunting where paige gets so overprotective about it that kat just stopped telling her things. this gets doubled by the fact that you’re not my whitelighter, so why should you even care! and kat does view it as like a lack of faith from her mother (which is one of the reasons why kat and chris are so close) and she just wants to. she wants to prove herself. she wants her mom to see her for all that she could be, instead of just the place she’s in right now. and i do think as time passes paige learns to sort of let go of this control i think her and kat have the most difficult relationship but paige letting kat leave to take a gap year and explore the world was like a major step and kat acknowledges this to an extend she gets it was difficult for her mom but she really has no idea how much paige panicked how much it took every inch of her self control not to go out and drag kat back home because yes baby birds have to leave the nest eventually but these baby birds have a very high stab rate. um jumping over to her relationship with henry jr i think she does encourage his studying of the craft he is the most well read out of any of the next generation with wyatt taking a close second hell henry jr even knows like a bit of latin this kid is wicked smart And bonus round he’s aware he’s mortal. like yeah paige can kinda sense that it does ruffle his feather, but henry jr knows when to step away. again, henry’s really well-read. he’s brushed up on the family history. he knows the warren line is close friends with death. as a bit of a bonus round but also to give paige some peace of mind, she did give henry a basic charm that grants him the same high resistance that all witches are born with as well as cloaks him from magic bc like paige and henry sr both knew this mortal baby was gonna have a wicked high kidnap rate so they figured y’know best do all they can to Stop That from happening. the enchantment that henry jr has is a necklace it’s the same one paige wore throughout the show. bc i’d like to bring that back.

okay next gen time wyatt i think wyatt likes paige more than phoebe it’s not like a competition or anything it’s just gun to his head that’s who he’d chose bc paige really is like this witchlighter she walks the line between being charmed and being a whitelighter that wyatt can really take a lot of inspiration from he just doesn’t have that with phoebe phoebe’s a little bit more of like a love guru and wyatt’s got a weird relationship with love bc he keeps flinging himself headfirst into it and keeps getting bruiser bc of it what wyatt actually doesn’t know is almost all of the advice that has gotten him out of these troubling times has almost all been sourced from phoebe piper usually goes to her with advice when it comes to all that i mean i don’t think wyatt would like to know that post-breakup wyatt is just like kinda embarrassing he doesn’t want to know that’s being shared with the family of course he already knows he just doesn’t want confirmation

chris surprisingly closer with phoebe probably bc she’s an empath and again she has this whole free range witchcraft style that she has going if chris has a question he needs to ask somebody he’ll usually ask phoebe bc she’s the only one who won’t report back to leo bc again she’s an empath she gets it she knows what’s going on and she knows he just needs time and he and leo need some good honest communication paige also gets that but paige also watched chris die so yeah no she’s gonna snitch

melinda about and even tie melinda gets a lot of witchlightering advice from paige on finding harmony there but she’s also an empath she she spends a lot of time learning her craft from phoebe and how to focus that and apply that power to her witch/whitelighter abilities in ways paige can’t really teach her bc paige’s power is more physical that psychic/emotional. but it is like paige who gives her the groundwork on like. getting it. i think gun to her head if she had to choose she’d choose phoebe just because of those times they’d go out and do “field practice” where they go somewhere interesting and crowded and sense the wave of emotions and go out and try to pick out people from the crown it’s an art of drowning out the din and finding one you need to find a way of not getting lost in the sea of everyone else’s everchurning emotions which is nice bc it grants melinda a much wanted and needy control over empathy but it’s also nice bc it’s like. fun. phoebe always makes it fun they can always have a laugh.

tamora’s not like hella close with phoebe there’s really no reason for her to be however she is baby peyton’s favorite cousin (don’t tell the rest) simply because tamora’s both like studious and cautious and baby peyton’s tired of everyone running around trying to fight demons like what about normal life irl and stuff so i think tamora would definitely like tutor baby peyton this that and the other and so like phoebe really has like a sense of respect for tamora and tamora likes being over at phoebe’s y’know it’s not like peyton’s some snot nosed kid it’s fun she likes the vibes

kat has an appreciation for phoebe bc she definitely knows phoebe had a hand in helping her mom let go of her y’know that being said it’s not like she loves to spend time with phoebe phoebe’s both an empath and paige’s sister so like she knows that anything of note’s gonna be passed onto her mom (which isn’t like. entirely true. but it is kinda true). if kat’s gonna hang out with an empath she wants it to be one on her side so she’ll always pick melinda

henry jr okay so phoebe’s actually the opposite with henry it’s kinda like her and paige swapped places here bc paige trusts her son she knows he’s really well versed in magic blah blah blah and that he’s got y’know. common sense. he’s not gonna run into some situation half cocked and get himself killed he’s aware of his mortality. phoebe on the other hand did not raise henry so she doesn’t get him the way paige gets him; a large part of her free range ideology is the fact that her kids are basically little power loaded god their charmed and as an added boost they’re also half cupid they’ve been raised in the craft they’re insanely well trained so like. she knows that they’re capable. henry does not have their advantages. so i think phoebe really tries to hold him back isn’t quite the right word but like. it kind is. she doesn’t want him doing anything magical.

pj’s in the 07 baby squad even though she’d at the younger end of the scale so she was a grade behind mellie kat and tam but that little barbershop quartet’s p tight knit i don’t think she has like insane exposure to paige as i think cupids and whitelighter work very differently like at the most basic magical level and therefore paige’s halfling experience really doesn’t do that much to help her i think she likes paige alright but like. it’s nothing compared to like wyatt relationship with paige

parker always like runs towards danger she’s got an insane amount of energy and like a fire within her i think she’s always trying to push boundaries and break the rules eg with her cupid ring becoming an athame i don’t think she straight up asked paige bc like parker definitely views all adults as narcs but with this of that ilk parker bounces questions off paige which paige just always answers like really honestly like if parker asks a question that’s like really complex and strange paige won’t give her a roundabout answer she’ll just tell her what’s up and for that parker respects paige

peyton i think sees paige the most through tam i think she likes paige i think she’s definitely privy of the whole paige/kat situation bc like who is the family isn’t but i think she really kinda takes paige’s side her peyton thinks the real worlds insanely dangerous she doesn’t like looking for trouble and her heart lowkey goes out to paige bc she knows the whole thing with kat is a matter of love it’s just something that’s hard to work with

#wallah #next gen #charmed #charmed next generation #phoebe halliwell #paige matthews #💌#margaretsminiessays #wyatt halliwell #chris halliwell #melinda halliwell #tamora mitchell #kat mitchell #henry mitchell jr #pj halliwell #parker halliwell #peyton halliwell

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tjlikesprettythings · 4 years ago

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Joshua Tree Playlist-A Macriley Fic

So I’ve done it again, not sure what’s wrong with me or where this came from but enjoy my obsession. Thanks for the motivation and support from my other posts. I’m still waiting for my invite from Ao3 but wanted to share this monster with you guys.

This fic was inspired by music that I thought fit the general tone of this story, so I decided to make a spotify playlist linked Joshua Tree Playlist hence the name. Now of course you guys don’t have to listen to it, I know we all have different preferences, but I would recommend listening to the last song by Dylan Schneider “Wannabe” so you get the full context of what I was trying to write. I also mention the songs that I recommend listening to. Well anyways Enjoy and do let me know what you think!

This is very long, just a heads up! Please let me know if I should continue writing.

Joshua Tree Playlist

Chapter 1: Day 1

Mac sat on the deck after his run, another sleepless night. The nightmares felt more and more real each day. Looking out on the early morning LA skyline he felt like a stranger in his own life. There was so much anger in him that he didn’t know what to do with himself. The loss, the tragedy that was his life felt like a weight he couldn’t bear. He’d give anything to go back to that pressure chamber in Georgia again instead of this, at least things made sense then. He was spiralling, he was aware. Scrubbing his hands across his face he let another breath pass. He didn’t hear her coming but saw her shapely bronze legs standing in front of him dressed in khaki shorts and a black singlet one hand holding a backpack and the other on her hip. It was definitely early for her to be up, especially on an off day.

He raised an eyebrow at her, “what’s up Riles?”

“Get up, we’re going on a trip.” She simply said swinging the backpack at his feet.

“What?” he was confused by the situation unfolding in front of him, maybe he was dreaming?

She turned to walk back into the house, “You heard me Macgyver, get your ass in the car in 5!”

He stood up and swiped the backpack off the floor and chased after her. She was already in the truck sunglasses pulled down with her arm out of the window, fingers drumming against the door. “Riley.”

She nodded her head in the direction of the car, “come on, we haven’t got all day! Get in!”

He could have stood his ground but honestly, he was too tired to argue with her. So he threw his backpack in the back and got into the passenger seat. She started the car and connect her phone to the Bluetooth, a playlist called Joshua Tree Playlist that was curated by Riley Davis came on the on-screen deck. He discovered that Riley didn’t just listen to Beyonce, old school rap, and rock. Her music like her was multifaceted and ranged from what you’d expect to complete surprises. He even walked in on her listening to Harry Styles to which she had just shrugged and simply said “I’m confident in myself to like what I like, besides watermelon sugar is a tune.” But currently, she quickly scrolled and threw on Mumm-ra’s “Summer” the indie rock song had a classic indie bass and guitar combo as the intro, she shimmed her shoulders to the music. He couldn’t help but actually crack a smile at her antics.

Her head turned to him then as she bopped to the music and gave him that brilliant smile lipping the words to the song “I’m only happy in the summer...I’m only happy with you, lover...” She was like a prism, all clear but as soon the light hit her she was vibrant colors and sounds. “Now that’s more like the Mac I know. Nice to have you back for a second.”

Her words hit him fully, leave it to Riley to bring him back down to earth. To notice that he was struggling. He didn’t know what to say, so he opted for the next best thing. “Are you going to tell me where this semi-voluntary kidnapping is going?”

“Hey, no kidnapping vibes here. We’re taking a couple of days and chilling out. Matty already approved it. We have four days to ourselves. So we’re going on a road trip! Next stop Joshua Tree.” She simply stated as she drove down the hill and towards I-10E.

He widened his eyes and gave his head a shake, letting loose a chuckle he threw up his hand and let them slap his highs. “Ok! I’ll bite.” the brilliance of her smile made him feel like he made the right choice, the breeze already warm blew in through the open windows, the loose strands from her bun floating around her face.

“Yea! Bozer is going to meet up with us there, he has an errand to run before. Unfortunately, Desi can’t make it, she’s on a mission.” she said sparing him a glance.

He shifted in his seat if he were honest, he was now just looking forward to spending time with her and Boz. “Yea, probably for the best.”

She didn’t say anything waiting for him to continue if he wanted to. The great thing about Riley was she pushed when there was something worth pushing for but otherwise gave him space to talk to her on his own time. Without saying it, he could feel her body asking him if he and Desi were ok.

“I’m not sure I’m what she needs right now.” He simply stated and the unstated that he probably didn’t need their complicated and messy relationship right now either. They were too volatile and while that gave spark to great sex, it left everything else scorched and untouchable. It wasn’t fair for Desi to be stuck with him while he was stuck in his head.

He watched Riley shift in her seat, lately, he noticed there was a strange distance between them but then here she was stealing him away as the old Riley would. Maybe four days would give him the answers to why he felt like she was slipping away slowly, the thought put such a tight feeling in his throat, he couldn’t lose one more person. Especially not Riley, not his amazing, smart, loyal, beautiful friend singing along to a cover of Billy Joel’s “Vienna”. Suddenly it was easy to smile again, it didn’t take all of his efforts. “Hey, did you pack my bag for me? Or am I gonna have to survive in these running clothes for four days?”

He didn’t think to change when she gave him 5 minutes to meet her at his truck.

“I got you, Mac, everything you need is in there boy! Why would I give you an empty backpack?” she tapped on with the music and threw him another smile. If the next few days were going to be filled with smiling Riley he was already glad she kidnapped him voluntarily.

“Did you go through my underwear and sock drawers?!” He asked narrowing his eyes and laughing as a soft blush spread across her cheeks, Riley Davis can be bashful what do you know.

“I mean we’re all adults here, no need for this juvenile behaviour. Yes, I packed your undies and socks.” He could see her rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses, but he was amused by the blush that graced her face. Mac always thought Riley was attractive, men and women constantly commented on her beauty. Her looks helped them with countless ops. He wasn’t blind, just looked past the obvious. She was his friend, Jack’s daughter, and a relationship he couldn’t sacrifice. But these moments when they’re alone and he could look at her and steal glances he saw just how gorgeous she was as a being.

They had become closer the past couple of years for sure, he felt completely at ease with her. Could talk to her about anything, seek her counsel about things that were on his mind. She usually could read him already ready to jump into whatever stupid situations he got himself into. Even now he couldn’t believe that she followed him into Codex. She had told him she trusted him, and he felt like he could breathe just from those words. Knowing she stood with him gave him the strength to follow through.

They stopped for coffee and bagels, laughing about the guy in front of them that took ages to order. They made fun of a couple of housewives of Beverly hills type and how Bozer would’ve recognized who they are. It was just easy his mind kept saying to him. When he pointed to a smidge of cream cheese in the corner of her mouth, she attempted to licked it away with her tongue, he couldn’t help but gulp down some of his iced coffee and watch her miss it. Reaching over he brushed the side of her lips and without thinking licked his thumb clean. She froze for a second and looked at him with an intensity that he couldn’t read. “You were struggling” he shrugged.

“Thanks,” was all she said with an almost shy smile, unaware of course of how that small act sent fire all over her. She was thankful that she was on her last bite and he was already finished with his bagel, now casually leaning back in his chair letting the sun warm his face, his golden hair casting a halo around him. She needed to run away, “ready to start the journey again?”

Smiling he stood, they took their unfinished coffee and bottles of water with them. For the next 15 minutes, they joked about the new episodes of Rick and Morty, as more of her playlist played in the background, glancing at the screen he saw the current song was “Good Life” by Randell Kent. The lyrics washing over him as they finally pulled into the expressway. This could be a good life, at least it felt that way right now.

They passed the next 15 minutes in silence, but it was the kind they had often where it was just comfortable. They didn’t feel the need to fill the void. They just listened to music and watched the road and let their minds wander.

She hummed along with the new song that came on, he never noticed that she had a pretty nice singing voice. “...don’t overthink it...just surround me...hmm” LÉON's "Surround Me" played in the car. He leaned against his window and watched her quietly. “Why don’t you take a nap, I know you didn’t sleep much last night. We’ve got another 2-hour drive ahead of us.” She finally says to him softly turning the music down a bit and rolling up the windows opting for the ac.

Of course, she noticed, it wasn’t a big secret that he had been spiralling out of control. He wasn’t sleeping or eating well, his mind obsessing over Codex. But now there was nothing but a jumbled mess of things and just pure grief and exhaustion left behind in the aftermath. Strangely enough, he actually felt ok enough to take her up on the offer, she made him feel safe. Knowing she was going to be here when he opened his eyes brought a feeling of comfort and peace he was struggling to have, it was like the darkness couldn’t get to him. “Yeah ok.”

He drifted and for the first time in a long time found sleep came quickly and a dreamless sleep took him over. No nightmares, just soft hum engulfed him. It was when he felt warm fingers on his cheek brushing back some hair did he open his eyes and came face to face with Riley’s hazel eyes and full lips. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light. “Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey, are we here already?” He asked sitting up, it didn’t escape his mind that he didn’t mind that Riley was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, it never did but he filed it away with any other thoughts that ever came into his mind about her that seemed more than friendly behaviour.

She stepped away from him and cleared her throat and nodded, “yea, we’re here. I’m glad you got some sleep” she smiled again. She was entranced with watching him sleep, she almost didn’t want to wake him, he was beautiful, soft and so vulnerable in this moment. She knew how much he was struggling, which made her predicament even more complicated. How could she tell him she would be moving out? Instead, her brilliant idea was to steal him away for a few days. She was playing with fire, but she also knew that as strong as he was, any more change might send him over the edge. She decided she’ll tell him about her move after this trip, but her priority will always be to protect him, her heart can deal with it.

His own faced turned up, “yeah I guess I needed it, and who knew what I needed was you humming off-key to songs in the background to fall asleep.” She swallowed and told her heart to stop its stupid summersaults.

“I’ll make you some tracks and make sure they’re extra off-key! I’ll be your white noise” she said quickly teasing back.

“My very own ghost.” his eyes crinkling in the corners. This was the most she’s seen him smile in a while.

Rolling her eyes and doing a mock laugh “careful or I will haunt your ass for real” to which she got full dimples, this was going to be four long days.

“Ok so I got us a house actually” she cheekily said pointing at the well-maintained terra cotta colored house they were parked in front of on top of a hill surrounded by sky and desert landscapes with cacti and boulders, the house faced the road below that brought them into town. The front porch had a couple of lounge chairs, a table for four, a couple of lanterns neatly hung around the arches and a small pathway that led to a circular covering what he deduced was the hot tub. There were shrubs and succulents neatly planted around the house giving some green to the otherwise very warm hue of the area.

Mac looked around and already his head felt lighter under the sky that just seemed bluer here, probably because the air pollution was nonexistent here. He sheepishly said, “I kinda thought we’d be camping,” rubbing the back of his neck, “but the house looks nice.”

“Listen, we can camp I bought everything, but we can also stay in this awesome house with a hot tub, pool, and functioning toilets and showers.” she shrugged tucking her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. “What can I say, I’m a city gal and honestly we do ‘camp’ a lot for work.”

He shook his head lightly, “yeah I guess you got a point there,” thinking of all of the times they did camp out without any real equipments. “You thought of everything huh?” He asked softly taking her in fully. “Thanks, Riles.” watching her smile and nod made his heart feel warm, a feeling he’s been missing for a while.

As if on cue Bozer pulled up behind them. Riley’s smiled widen. Mac turned towards the car and he thought he was seeing a ghost. Then he heard the familiar sound of a Texan drawl. He turned to Riley wide-eyed and then back at where Bozer stepped out of the car with a shit-eating grin and next to him was none other than Jack Dalton.

“How’s it going hoss!” He waved with a laugh as he approached Mac and took his hand and pulled him into a hug.

“Jack! Man, it’s so good to see you.” Mac said hugging the older man hard, he felt his eyes water just a bit.

Jack pat his back and pulled away smiling, “it’s good to see you too, kid.”

“Yeah, the OG gang is back together” Bozer claimed jumping with excitement.

Jack turned to Riley and embraced her, “Hey baby girl!” Pulling her off the ground as she shrieked with laughter. Riley held onto Jack for a moment longer before releasing him and smiling, she didn’t hide the tears that were softly rolling down her face now.

“I’m so glad to have you back.” She said softly. Jack brushed away tears from her cheek and nodded.

“Me too.” he turned to look at his crew and smiled at the kids that somehow came to mean the world to him. “So we ready for this crazy weekend or what?!” his arm still around Riley.

“Hell yeah!” exclaimed Bozer already heading to the trunk of his car to grab his and Jack’s bags.

Mac just stood dumbfounded for a second taking in the 3 most important people in his life and finally feeling something, he’s been so scared that something in him was shifting but seeing them here smiling at him brought back the warmth he felt has been slowly seeping away. “Thank you, guys.”

“Come on man, we’re family,” Bozer said squeezing his shoulder.

“You always got us,” Jack added a giant grin. “Alright now, let’s get settled and decide what we’re doing. I’m craving a cold one for sure!” He said picking up his bag.

Riley on cue walked over to the door and pressed in the security code into the door handle and opened up the door. “Welcome to the digs boys, we’ve got the living room” pointing to the right, “the master bedroom just past there as well as the second bedroom. Just ahead is the dining room and kitchen, around the hall to the left we have the other two bedrooms and bathroom. Laundry room and back porch with the grill AND pool. You saw the fire pit and hot tub in the front of the house.” she said sweeping both her arms around the house that was meant to be their home for the next four days.

“Damn Riley! You did good!” Bozer said as he scanned the house, decorated with a mix of modern and country house feel. Walking over to the kitchen he hummed in approval, “I can work with this! I’m gonna grab the groceries!” he bounced back out the door.

Jack gave a whistle of approval, “man, after the places I’ve been sleeping in, I’m gonna sleep like a baby!” as he went around ducking into rooms and giving his approval.

Mac didn’t care much about the house but did agree it was a nice one with all the comforts of home.

Riley suddenly stood in front of him and gave him a warning “Macgyver don’t use any part of this house, I would like to get my deposit back.” He laughed holding up both hands in agreement.

Jack turned the attention back to the group, “ok kids whose taking what room?”

“Riley should have the master,” Mac said right away. Jack did jokingly protest that he’s the one who’s been sleeping on rubbles and jungle floors. Bozer bounced into one of the bedrooms to the right, jack decided to take the bedroom next to Bozer. Which left him and Riley to the right side of the house. “Masters all yours.”

She smiled, “umm you sure you don’t want it?” to which he shook his head, all of the bedrooms where sizeable with queen beds and dressers, it honestly didn’t matter and being the only girl they didn’t mind giving her the room with space and vanity table so she can paint her face as jack put it to which she rolled her eyes. “So there is the bathroom down the hall next to the other bedrooms but one here on our side the bathroom is actually in the master, so feel free to use it if you need it. The shower in there looks amazing!” She said nervously.

He smiled “yea ok.” He helped her unpack the car and bring her bag into her bedroom. He looked around “maybe I should take this room,” which earned him a light shove at his shoulder and he chuckled.

“Too late it’s mine now. Ok! So I say we get changed grab some lunch and chill for a bit while we plan the next few days.” She laid out the plans looking up at him both hands on her hips and she stretched forward towards him. That familiar hammering came back in her chest, the next thing she knows he’s embracing her. “Mac…”

He just needed to be close to her just for a second, releasing her from the embrace he softly said, “I just...I know I said thank you, but really, thank you.”

She held onto his biceps and squeezed them, ignoring the way that made her feel she just smiled at him “hey what are friends for if not to kinda kidnap you for a mini-vacation.” He laughed and she decided that was her favorite sound. Letting her hands fall to her side, “go get settled, I’m sure Boz will make us something to eat, I’m starving.”

He smiled once more and left her standing in the middle of her room feeling so many things. The next four days were going to be the hardest four days of her life she reminded herself again. She survived two years in prison, she’ll be fine, she hoped. Taking a deep breath she walked into the kitchen where she could already hear Jack and Bozer.

Bozer was laying out sandwich meats and cheese he had picked up while swatting Jack’s hands away from stealing slices of the cold cuts. She felt a bit emotional seeing them goofing around, something about Jack being home made her feel like everything was going to be ok, that Mac would be ok and she would have the strength to get over what was currently happening to her in regards to Mac.

“Some things never change.” She heard Mac say softly now changed into a pair of trousers t-shirt and button-down. “Thanks for the clothes you picked out, I don’t think I could have picked better.”

Again she felt her face warm, what the hell was wrong with her. She couldn’t recall a time that she felt this affected. Usually, with guys she had found attractive, it was always coyness and subtle flirting but never did something so simple trigger this kind of response. She chalked it up to the heat even though the state of the art thermostat read a cool 70°. “Yea, of course, you’re welcome. And I’m glad that some things don’t change.”

Mac looked down at her, he agreed but maybe some things changing wouldn’t be too bad. Pulling up the chair at the kitchen island, they took the beers Jack handed them one by one raising his bottle “it’s good to be home, cheer!” They all clinked the bottles together and shouted cheers. Jack took a long swig off his beer, “Damn that’s good.”

Mac couldn’t help but feel like he was transported back to a couple of years ago when things were simple and good. They saved lives and had fun. Everything seemed so much heavier and complicated these days. But right now at this moment, he felt the most present he’s felt in a year.

“What are we having Boz, I’m starving!” Riley whined softly.

“Girl I got you covered. I’m making a medley of sandwiches, you got a Cuban, prosciutto and mozzarella with balsamic vinegar and basil, and a BLT coming at you with my homemade mayo,” he said already working on prepping the bread with condiments.

“Damn Bozer, have I missed your cooking!” said Jack with an excited glint in his eyes.

“So I was thinking we take it easy for today don’t know about you guys but I could take a dip in that pool, we’ll start early morning for the hikes, if we want to camp tomorrow night we can, day 3 and 4 are open for whatever you guys want to do. We need to be back in LA by noon on monday.” Riley laid out the plans.

“Pool party, I’m in,” Jack said nodded seriously.

“Me too! I can’t remember the last time I just had a day to do whatever I wanted.” Bozer said thoughtfully while working on their lunch.

“Yea, it’s been a lot going on hasn’t it.” He said picking at the beer bottle label. The room fell into silence for a moment, each reviewing the events of the past year if not longer. They lost so much as a collective but Mac and the most.

Jack took another sip finishing off his beer and shook his head, “Nah, we’re here to have fun, let’s focus on that.” grabbing one of the pickles that Boze laid out, Bozer gave him a side-eye but said nothing. “This weekend we’re gonna unwind and be thankful for this beautifully weird place. Nothing is blowing up, no one is shooting at us, the worst thing will be the hangovers and food comas,”

Riley and Bozer both collectively knocked on the wood of the kitchen island, “don’t jinx it!”

To which Mac proceeded to explain that ‘jinx’ wasn’t a scientifically proven, and went into a ramble about logic. It wasn’t until he noticed all three of his friends smiling affectionately at him that he stopped dropped him head mouth curving into a smile. He knocked on the wood too just in case.

Twenty minutes later Bozer served them his masterpieces as he called them, and they all agreed that they were works of art. Jack had caught them up as much as he could on his mission with the deltas and catching Kovac, leaving the classified information out. It seems so natural that they wouldn’t give details, that they understood that somethings they could never talk about again.

Finishing off his third sandwich Jack stood to plug his phone to charge “can you believe this phone lasted me almost 2 years?!”

To which Mac rolled his eyes but his mouth still twitched upwards. “I can’t help that a phone has key components for most builds.”

“Yeah you left and it became either me or Riley. I feel like it was mostly me though.” Bozer said pouting.

“Appreciate you picking up the slack, I already upgraded my insurance just in case.” Jack pointed at Mac. To which Boze and Riley hollered.

Mac held up his hand and shook his head, “hey man I promise if I don’t need it, I won’t ask for it.”

“Alright, Alright let’s get to the pool!” Jack said already pulling his shirt over his head. “Riley throw on some tunes, preferably something country or rock or close to my generation that we can all enjoy.”

It was Riley’s turn to roll her eyes, “don’t worry old man, I got us all covered. A bit of Brooks and Dunn, a bit of Ozzy, a bit of Technotronic, a little Beyonce, and of course Drake for Bozer.”

Mac’s face squinted into lines. “Wait is Techtronic for me? Or is Beyonce for me?”

She laughed, “guess you’ll just have to find out, though I do recall you know the lyrics to at least one of Techtronic’s’ song.” her own eyes squinting to tease him. “Alright, I’m gonna go change, be right back.”

“Yeah ok fair enough, but only cause it was on the radio…saved your booty,” she heard him mumble as she passed him patting his shoulder.

The guys were already set up by the pool when she walked out. Bozer managed to find a pool floaty from where they didn’t know and mildly suspected he might have packed the one that he was currently laying on and enjoying the sun. Mac and Jack sat next to each other with their feet in the water.

“I’m sorry about your old man.” Jack finally said softly.

Mac’s lips pulled into a line before he sighed and looked down at the beer bottle in his hand “yea, as it turns out its hard to be mad at a guy that always chose the utilitarian method. He sacrificed himself, I wish I could just be sad or just angry but how I feel is just…” he didn’t know himself.

“Hey man, I get it. I know what it’s like to lose a father. No matter who and how he was as a person, he was still your dad.” Jack said placing a hand on Mac’s shoulder and giving a light squeeze. “But you know I‘m here if you gotta sort through all the jumbled mess in your head. I’ll be your sounding board.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that” He did appreciate it, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to, let alone where to start to untangle the mess that his life became. He was brought out of his brooding when Bozer whistled loudly.

“Damnnnnn Riley!” to which Jack knocked him off his floaty, when he resurfaced drawing water away from his face he whined, “I was just paying her the compliment she deserves!”

Mac knew that Riley had an amazing body, her tight jeans and crop tops proved this countless time if not by the countless gowns and tight dresses she had to wear for ops, but they’d never seen her in a bikini in the four years of working together. He swallowed hard and pretended not to stare, but it was hard when she was all bronze and glowing, toned abs and round hips, her smile radiant even if her eyes held a teasing annoyance at the attention. It suddenly felt hotter than 89°.

Jack knew better than to tell her to cover up, and he knew that he could trust these guys but still, he pouted about her lack of clothing. “Jack, what do you want me to wear to the pool, a potato sack?”

“No, but...never mind!” he just mumbled.

She shook her head, but she was trying to distract herself from the fact that Mac had looked at her hard, their eyes locked for a second and she could’ve sworn she saw something there, the way his adam’s apple bobbed make her skin tingle. She decided that she’d read it as a compliment.

The rest of the afternoon passed with a game of pool volleyball, naps here and there or reading, Riley’s playlist playing in the background. Memories being solidified to sounds, smells, and feelings. She chided them to apply sunscreen and even offered to help with their backs.

“Riley not sure if you’re aware but I’m black,” Bozer said to her proudly.

“So? Black people burn too and are you trying to get cancer?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Deflated he shook his head no and sat down. One by the one they gave up the protests as she threw savage shade at them. She applied a boatload of sunscreen just cause they gave her a hard time and decided to snap some pictures as well for blackmail of course.

Mac was last and sat in front of her as she steeled herself and slowly applied the sunscreen to the back of his neck, the hair at his nape tickling her fingers. She worked quickly and ran her fingers between his shoulder blades down his back. She felt him tense and worked faster. As much as she enjoyed being able to touch him like this, it was also inappropriate. He didn’t know about her feelings, and she felt sleazy as if she were taking advantage of a friend. Closing the bottle cap shut, she lightly tapped his shoulders, “done, now you don’t have to be an embarrassing lobster.” She weakly cracked.

He wasn’t new to attraction, or the body’s response to the said attraction. He didn’t expect to be so affected by her fingers running down his back, her nails making a slow trail that left him imagining those nails digging into his back for a completely different reason. He cleared his throat, “thanks, wouldn’t want that.” he managed as he looked over his shoulder. Fuck him, she was adorable as she chewed her bottom lip and nodded. Ok, maybe four days of this Riley was going to be a challenge.

Around later afternoon everyone decides to shower and get ready for the evening, agreeing to head into town and grabbing dinner there. They decided with the drinks they’ve had best to grab an Uber into town. The awkwardness of the poolside sunscreen still fresh as they piled into the car. It was a short ride but felt long as Riley sat squeezed between Mac and Bozer. Bozer just grinned, of course, him knowing her feeling about Mac was going to be her downfall. When they were dropped off, She felt like she had been holding her breath for hours.

“You ok?” Mac asked her to which she nodded.

“Yep, just need a drink!” His brows raised and he seconded that feeling because he definitely could use one.

Walking around the old Pioneer town setup, Mac explained different tools and contraptions that were displayed around the old buildings from the 1800s, Jack dazzled them with stories about Texas that either made no sense or was inaccurate according to Mac, Bozer, and goggle. They decided to have dinner at Pappy and Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, where the smell of barbecue wafted through the warm evening air, They could hear the bustle of music and glasses clinking. Bozer was already rushing in to get them a table saying something about getting his hands on some ribs. Jack hollered that he has to see if this place is as good as Texas barbecue.

Mac looked down at Riley as her eyes sparkled with excitement the earlier awkwardness finally forgotten. Even though they’ve been everywhere in the world, this place had her vibrating. “I never knew you were a fan of the country life.”

She laughed, “I don’t know, I didn’t think that I was either, but there is something about this place that just, I dunno gets me kinda hyped.”

“Hey, guys they have a table for us!” Bozer shouted over the live music and chatter. Apparently they came on open mic night and the local dentist was doing this rendition of Hank Williams’ “all my rowdy friends” and killing it. The energy was just infectious.

They sat down as Bozer rubbed his hands together, “I already know this is gonna be the bomb. I mean can you smell that hickory?!”

“Hell yea I can!” Jack chimed in.

Mac smiled at his best friends, Bozer and Jack were always bouncing off each other in any room the three of them were in, but since Riley came into the picture they’re better behaved. They listen to song after song and the cheers of the crowd as they ate. Jack approved and hummed in appreciation.

“I’ve missed this, the good ole USA, bbq, and country blues.”

“Every song is about beer, a truck, a woman, but man is it catchy” Bozer stood busting out his moves as he called it.

“Jack, it makes sense you should feel right at home at this place.” She said with eyes twinkling.

Mac took a swig of his beer and chuckled, “This whole place is Jack if he were a bar, maybe throw in some Black Sabbath and ACDC in and you have Jack.”

Jack grinned and nodded, “ok, ok, you’re not wrong. I’m totally digging this place.” His eyes finding the eyes of a pretty blonde at the bar.

“Classic...” She agreed, crinkling her nose up in that adorable way when she found something slightly distasteful, thought Mac. For a moment they took the time to acknowledge the man who became a father to them both with affection. If they ever have to thank someone for their sincerity they could claim Jack as one of the big influencers. They’re musing was broken by Bozer shouting,

“Guys come on lets dance, how often do we get to do this anymore?” Bozer ushered them onto the dance floor. He already found himself a couple of dance partners. Ph.D. in partying Bozer was out tonight.

It was true, they didn’t do these things anymore. Things haven’t been the same for a while. It’s only been about a year and yet he felt like his whole world shifted. An avalanche of shit hit him.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Jack jumped up and was already making a beeline for the woman at the bar. They could hear a vague “how you doing?”

Mac and Riley just rolled their eyes and joined Bozer on the dance floor as the new performer of the night decided to sing Shania Twain “Man, I Feel like a woman.” As soon as they joined Bozer, of course, within minutes Riley was stolen away for a dance. Mac was happy to watch her, the joy finally reaching her eyes today. Maybe they all needed this, a moment to stop and appreciate their lives.

He liked seeing her like this, Riley was always fun to be around. But right now she was everything he thought to himself, everything about her made his heart feel full. Finishing his beer off, he decided that he wanted to be the one to dance with his friend. The more he played with the word, somehow it didn’t seem enough anymore to call her that.

“Can I steal her for this dance?” he asked not really waiting for an answer already pulling her close to him. “You good?” looking to make sure he wasn’t misreading the situation.

She looked up at him and nodded, “yeah, I’m good.” looking down at their joined hands, it was this hand-holding that started the thud in her chest in Germany, and here it was hammering away. She was so screwed. There was a part of her mind that asked her, why not? He’s not attached anymore, so why not? But she knew better, he didn’t need this right now. He didn’t need her feelings to complicate his life. Lost in her thoughts or the blues of his eyes she wasn’t sure which, she didn’t realize the music was changing as the next performer took stage and cheers were heard.

The music changed to a slower one, something about it just seemed fitting and he’d watched her dance all night with other people but now it was his turn. He stepped up closer to her, her eyes on him as he took her hand and swayed with her. She laughed softly as they danced to a soft country song about a man who wanted to be a girl’s everything. How ironic.

“If you wanna be with a guy who's gonna bring you flowers A guy who's gonna talk on your phone for hours A guy who's gonna wanna hold the door for you When you wanna walkthrough A guy who's gonna pick you up A guy who's gonna take you out and make you Wanna get a little dressed up and get a little down”

She once told him that she wouldn’t mind a small town, the quiet, after all things they saw daily. He wondered if secretly she wanted to be one of those ‘girl next door’ country girl. He felt her warmth through the shirt she wore, his finger brushing the soft exposed skin of her midriff. It was like an electrical current ran through him, which was of course plausible and probably didn’t mean anything.

“I wanna be the guy with the roses Number on speed dial, ladies first, don't you know that's my style Hop into my truck I got plans We’ll head on down to Jimmy's and we'll do a little dance There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if its by your side for the rest of my life Baby, you can call me, a wannabe (a wannabe) Be be a wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be Be”

She knew how dangerous this was getting, but she couldn’t help herself just for this one song. Couldn’t help giggling when he spun her around and pulled her close. Couldn’t help but let her stupid heart thud at his deep laughter. Where she could touch him for a little while without question, without worry. She can feel the hair at the nape of his neck as she wrapped her arms around him because they were just dancing. This stolen moment getting filed away as one of the best nights she’s had to date.

“If you wanna be with a guy whose gonna give you The whole world from the back of a dirt road farm Scribbled in ink with a big heart a tattoo on my arm I'm talkin' kissin' like crazy, can't shut it down Can't you see how I wanna be the guy that you’re out with Arm that's your names on”

With every sway, he felt like he was taking a step towards where he should be. The person he should be and wanted to be. The doubt that has been clouding over him slowly clearing a little. He felt like he could finally see the light shining through. If someone like Riley could stand next to him as the world ended then life couldn’t possibly be that bad, right? So for now at this moment, he pulls her closer, lets her scent make him dizzy. Lets his hand splay across the small of her back to let each finger feel her.

“Be the lips baby that you wanna put your lips on All-day, all night, moonshine, sunrise, your favorite song There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if it’s by your side for the rest of my life, baby you can call me A wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be be a wannabe (a wannabe) Be Be”

There is a cheer from the crowd and she laughs “This song is fucking catchy,” She says as he dips her, the audible gasp vibrating through her to him. He decided then that he loved dancing with Riley. He loved her laughs, the way her whole face lit up.

“I wanna be the guy you make a life with, picket white fence with Maybe a little later hell even make a baby with Just you and me livin' that life long dream There's a lot of things in a small town a guy can be But if it’s by your side for the rest of my life”

He placed his forehead against hers and held her close. She glances up at him and his eyes hold hers. She’s mystified by their intensity, her body on fire from his breath fanning across her face. They were so close, he could kiss. He wanted to kiss her. As they got lost in each other, they failed to see the silly smile on Bozer’s face as he watched them or Jack who also softly chuckled from where he got distracted from wooing his lady friend Carla. If he was being honest, he can’t believe it took this long for them to get to this point. Well, he supposed he’ll have to have a chat with Mac about what he can expect if he hurts his little girl. Turning back to Carla he spared them one last glance then he was all Dalton, Jack Dalton.

“Baby you can call me, a wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be be You can call me your wannabe (a wannabe) Be Be A wannabe (a wannabe) (a wannabe) Be Be”

The crowd clapped cheered and whistled around them, he held her eyes still in a trance. Something definitely shifted between them. She cleared her throat and let him go smiling. “Thanks for the dance. That was so much fun.” Turning to make her way through the crowd to their table where a fresh bottle of beer was waiting for them courtesy of Bozer she assumed. She didn’t wait to see if he was following.

The heat from the dance coming off her now as if she had a full HIIT workout. She took a sip of the beer and before she could swallow it, he was standing next to her.

“Riley…”

She gulped down the beer and looked at him, she was so fucked.

#macriley #mac x riley #riley x mac #riley davis #angus macgyver #macgyver #fanfiction #music fic #send heeeelp #work in process

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stillness-in-green · 4 years ago

Text

Spinaraki Week, Day 5: Free Day+

Post-canon, Shigaraki and Spinner fight--well, something like the good fight, anyway. For @codenamesazanka, whose endgame wish for Shigaraki can usually be summarized as, “Escapes punishment to go be a vigilante with Spinner somewhere.”

A drabble series using all the week’s prompts I didn’t hit otherwise, and a few blanks, so let’s just call it Free Day.

———– ———– ———– ———–

Shigaraki's grinning when he walks into the alley, an unmistakable sign that he's onto something.

"Got a new target?" Spinner climbs down long enough for Shigaraki to grab hold around his neck before scaling upwards again.

"Better. I picked up the trail on our old friend Tsang." Shigaraki's all lean muscle in a crisp black suit.

"That bastard finally slipped up? Ha!" A light switches on in one of the cheap apartments above them. Spinner crawls easily around a corner, changing directions. "What's our angle?"

"He'll be in town for the Grand Prix next month." Shigaraki chuckles darkly. "Game on."

———–

Spinner stir-fries pork minchee over their ancient stove, adding soy sauce and molasses and listening as Shigaraki, perched on the edge of their ratty sofa, types industriously on his laptop, explaining their new lead. The sound of New Oumun's nightlife drifts in through the window, a jangle of distant music and traffic wrapped in the hum of eight-hundred-thousand people living on an island thirty kilometers square.

Spinner slides the meal onto one big plate, snags two forks, and drops onto the floor between Shigaraki's knees, leaning back comfortably as Shigaraki steals a fork and leans over him to dig in.

———–

Spinner wakes to an empty bed and sighs, standing up and dragging himself over to the window. Unsurprisingly, Shigaraki's sitting on the tin awning below; he doesn't look over as Spinner eases down beside him. He stares out over the city, in the direction of the glittering casino towers but not really at them, expression blank and cool.

His bad hand trembles faintly, barely noticeable save that Spinner knows to look for it.

Shigaraki doesn't speak as Spinner closes his hands over Shigaraki's own, Shigaraki's deft, pale digits curled lightly between Spinner's claws.

He doesn't speak, but he leans closer.

———–

A tip for a successful vigilante career: people never bother hiding much from children. Spinner allows himself to be climbed on by four local brats, even the one with the purple ooze quirk, as Shigaraki carries on a discussion in near unintelligibly rapid Cantonese.

"Do the trick!" the youngest one demands, holding up a box she retrieved from who-knows where, a heavy padlock hanging from the front. Shigaraki rolls his eyes but obediently touches three fingers to the lock; a second later, a blue marble rests in his palm, the box lies open, and the kids are telling him everything.

———–

They get a check-in from Toga a week before the Prix. She chatters happily away on video-call, firing periodic barbs over her shoulder at an annoyed-looking Skeptic.

"So you guys have a new thing going down?"

"Yeah. That bastard from Hong Kong who tried that rice extortion racket last year."

"Hah! He deserves you two. Oh! Kurogiri says to say hello!"

"Does that detective know you've been visiting?" Shigaraki drawls. He doesn't even tense, Spinner marvels, as Toga peals laughter at the suggestion.

"Duh, no. I'll tell him you say hi too," she pronounces sagely, and Shigaraki doesn't argue.

———–

"Hey, Shigaraki! It's almost time; what's taking you?"

"'S gotta look right."

"You're gonna be in and out in minutes; you--blue?"

"Getting bored of black all the time."

"....Why do I have a hard time believing that."

"Believe what you want. But I thought you liked blue, Spinner."

"What are you--why are you grinning like that?"

"Haha."

"...This is about my old vest, isn't it?"

"It's fine. You even got Re-Destro on polka dots for a while."

"Look, you KNOW I had to--"

"Trendsetting for the whole army. So fashionable."

"I swear, I'm gonna--mmg."

"..."

"...Shigaraki..."

"..Heh. Save it for after."

———–

Shigaraki leaves the casino with a tail. Several tails, actually, and at least one of them has some experience, because he doesn't just watch Shigaraki or the street around him; he looks up, up and around, at the skies, the roofs of buildings, parking garages, all the usual spots.

A fire-user, a man with a maw full of jagged teeth and big moon-pale fish eyes, and the experienced one, whose quirk they haven't been able to figure out.

Spinner tucks up tighter beside a wheezing air conditioner unit as they pass below him.

In the distance, high-powered car engines scream.

———–

Third guy had a blindness-inducing quirk.

Had.

Now he has Spinner's machete driven into his neck, no vital signs, and Shigaraki writhes on the ground, growling through his agonized groaning. A fissure opens up in his neck as he claws at the cement, another across his temple and down the side of his face.

"No pulse on any of them!" Spinner says frantically, dropping down beside him.

"Haaah. We're too good at this, Spinner." Shigaraki grins horribly, wounds beginning to trickle blood. "S'okay. We've still got Tsang."

"But I thought we were gonna--"

"Yeah. You just gotta get me there."

———–

It's not as neat as they planned it, Tsang tossed into the path of a bunch of race cars still marbleized, then loosed with a snap.

Instead, they have to free him long enough for Shigaraki to off-load the blindness quirk and Spinner just bodily tosses him into the oncoming headlights. Messier, all around, and there are probably already blurry new pictures of them getting around social media.

But by the time they shake most of New Oumun's “heroes” and bribe or blackmail the rest, Shigaraki's wounds have closed up, he's back on his feet, and they make it home clean.

———–

Spinner gets Shigaraki into the shower with only minimal bullying; afterward, the two of them settle back on the window awning.

Shigaraki tucks himself between Spinner's legs and leans back against his chest, arranging his broad arms around his own shoulders with an air of sated possessiveness.

They watch the downtown spotlights of the district swing across the clouds in comfortable silence.

"There's probably gonna be some people calling us villains again," Spinner says at last.

Shigaraki hums in disinterest, eyes half-closed.

"League of Villains’ leader has nothing to say, huh?"

"He's on vacation. No comment."

Spinner chuckles and welcomes in the quiet.

———– ———– ———– ———–

Points of Note:

-New Oumun is Macau 200 years in the future. Here’s all the mental image you need. The Grand Prix is a famous street racing event that, by this point in time, probably includes some pretty wild allowances for quirk use.

-Tsang is from a Hong Kong crime family; pretty much all of Macau’s imports--including all of its food--come shipped via Hong Kong. My thought is that the two islands have, if not quite merged together, definitely grown in each others’ direction somewhat in the time since quirks Happened to the world.

-Shigaraki mostly burned out All for One (the quirk) in his final battle with Deku. His 75% complete status combined with the damaged AFO quirk, over-used super-regeneration, and the strain of the last fight has left him a somewhat precarious existence, with his enhancements spiraling into breakdown if he disrupts his balance overmuch. That said, he definitely did not burn out as much as Midoriya thinks he did, a fact Shigaraki is perfectly content to keep to himself, not least because returning to his role as supervillain is not entirely off the table if Midoriya and his classmates don’t follow through on promises to improve the state of their society.

--Mr. Compress is in the wind. Shigaraki has his quirk, but by arrangement--he's laying low, but will want his quirk back eventually, once he's established his new identity.

-Toga has shacked up with a rogue faction of the MLA and is reconnecting to her quirk in a way that tells her it's okay, it's always been okay. She's handling it with Skeptic and Geten; the three of them have developed a relationship that seems to consist almost entirely of bile and spite, but they close ranks terrifyingly well.

-Kurogiri is overseeing the treatment of the remaining Noumu. He's in a somewhat delicate honor-bound arrangement overseen by Tsukauchi--he doesn't try to run away as long as Tsukauchi doesn't try to cage him--but he's keeping to his word so far, periodically in communication with Aizawa, though Shigaraki is pointedly incommunicado. There are issues there that will need to be resolved eventually, but Shigaraki's in no hurry to do so.

-Trumpet becomes instrumental to the MLA ideology surviving and its sounder points being addressed--he does some prison time, but the Commission is completely unable to stop him from turning his trial into a media circus the likes of which the country hasn't seen in decades. It helps him sleep better at night, anyway.

-All for One, Dabi, and Re-Destro are dead. -AFO was killed in the Tartarus jailbreak--NOT by Shigaraki, but rather by a guard who realized what was about to happen and made the call, just before Decay got him, to pull the trigger on all the guns aimed at the Lord of Evil’s head. This was unsatisfying for pretty much everyone. -Dabi was, one way or another, lost to The Todoroki Plotline. -Re-Destro almost certainly dies at some point during the "war", protecting his savior and liberator, and willing him to carry on towards tearing down all the systems that entrap people.

#spinarakiweek2020 #shigaraki tomura #iguchi shuuichi #boku no hero academia #bnha #my hero academia #my writing #ficcing

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