#dude my eyes popped out of my head this is the one of the scariest he's ever been. i heard the yoshikage kira theme

[ebitenpura]

Eight: stars you are extremely fucking selfish. die

Colonel Korrd: I am 32 years old

Korrd was quaking in his boots here which was incredibly satisfying given that it looked like he was seconds from shitting his pants, but to rub it in further, Eight chose to blackmail him. Not in the 'give me all your stuff' way, but the subtle veiled threat that said I will collect. I'm really mad I didn't get any screenshots of that moment because Eight's look was outright murder.

Honestly Eight was so intimidating here that I thought Korrd was about to cry when he said he understood, lol. Like his voice was so trembly and lightheaded, kudos to the VA who got across his sheer terror underneath his Imperial restraint.

It's no secret that Eight hates wastefulness, but my god does he really love putting the screws to people and making them sleep with one eye open.

^ Eight when Korrd asks if he did it out of the goodness of his heart

[cockslutpadalecki]

Say You Won’t Let Go

Summary: After a bad experience at a haunted house attraction when you were a kid, you promised never to step foot in one again, but Dean helps you to overcome your fear.

Characters: Dean Winchester x F!Reader.

Words: 1.2K.

Warnings: mostly fluff.

A/N: Written a very long time ago for a Halloween Patron. Thank you to my pre-readers @winchest09 and @deanwanddamons ❤️ While likes are gold, feedback is golden. Please support our content creators by sharing and reblogging our work.

Dean does nothing but complain the entire time you’re standing in the queue waiting to enter the haunted house. “Lame” and “predictable” are his preferred choice of words as he begins to repeat himself once he’s run out of reasons as to why they’re so crap.

You know he’s doing it in part to help calm your unease— after confiding in him that ever since you’ve been scared at one when you were a little girl, you’ve stayed well clear of anything remotely resembling a haunted house at Halloween. You feel ridiculous considering the things he and Sam fight for a living, but he’s never made you feel embarrassed for your childhood fear and instead tries to help you overcome it.

Last year in Beloit failed spectacularly when you were met at the door by a man dressed like Ash from The Evil Dead wielding a chainsaw and the year before that, in Sioux Falls, you hadn’t even made it out of the Impala. Just the sight of the spooky house peering through the fog��� which you hoped to god had been intentional— was enough for you to plead with Dean to drive you back to the bunker and let you sit out the rest of the night under a blanket fort with a mountain of candy.

After two failed attempts, you’ve almost lost faith you’ll ever surmount your phobia, but the idea of Dean being there to, in some way, protect you from the phony ghosts and monsters waiting to pop out at you has helped to ease your apprehension. And so far, the scariest thing you’ve come up against are the poor attitudes of the kids standing in the queue behind you.

You can see Dean’s jaw tightening with every passing minute and the interruption of the guy monitoring the door couldn’t have come at a better time: “Hey leather jacket dude! Your turn!”

You step forward with trepidation, and Dean mouths at you to ask if you’re alright. You nod silently, sucking in a deep breath amidst the cotton-wool dry texture your mouth has suddenly formed as you step towards the entrance, mentally trying to prepare yourself for the fright no doubt waiting for you on the other side.

-

Dean’s hand finds yours as soon as you pass over the threshold. It’s almost pitch black inside which almost helps to stifle your fears a little, the darkness swallowing the images of the scariest things your mind can conjure up. Yet at the same time, the darkness isn’t a comfort. Who knows what could be lurking in the shadows ready to snatch you away from Dean’s warm grip?

Your chest starts to slowly constrict and you can feel your fingers slipping from Dean’s as the sweat in your palm makes it hard to keep hold of him. Once you round the first corner, the strobe lighting coming from a doorway off to your left illuminates the hallway just enough to make out the fake cobwebs hanging from the ceiling, and the almost juvenile decorations covering the walls. The overwhelming urge to run subsides as you study the place through squinted eyes, the detail in the decorating incredibly lacklustre compared to what you’re used to.

Who decorated this place? A ten year old? Your inner thoughts jibe taking on the sound of Dean’s voice which instantly calms you.

“Well that’s fake,” he mutters, pointing at a severed arm laid out on a surgical table amongst blood-spattered weapons. You glance down and scoff a little— it almost looks like it’s made out of papier-mâché and smothered in corn syrup.

Who made that? A second grader? There it is again. With every passing moment, you head deeper into the house and with your eyes on the cheaply made scares, you start to feel less and less on edge.

Turning the last corner, you know you’re nearly home free when you notice the fire exit sign with its eerie green glow looming in the distance as your gaze is distracted by movement coming from a curtain below and to the left of it. Through the dim light, you can just make out the shape of a person hiding poorly behind it in what you think is a Jason Voorhees mask and as you head closer, you brace yourself for the impending scare.

Any minute now. Any minute now. Any minute now.

Dean’s distracted by a mannequin dressed as a poor imitation of Leatherface, chuckling to himself as ‘Jason’ jumps out with the least convincing yell you’ve ever heard, wielding what looked like a kid’s prop knife. It’s… boring. You actually smile, expecting to hear Dean’s laugh from beside you, but instead he screams at the figure ahead of you and squeezes your fingers so tight, you think he’s going to snap them off.

“Ow Dean!” You chastise sharply, trying to pull your hand from his grip as you stifle a giggle.

“So— sorry,” he mumbles, a hint of humiliation in his tone as he lifts your hand to his mouth and gives your knuckles a gentle kiss. “C’mon, this dump blows. Let’s get outta here,” he adds with a little more bravado.

You nod. “Let’s.”

Dean’s hand holds yours a little tighter than before and by the time you reach the exit, you’ve never felt less scared in your life.

-

The entire ride back to the bunker, you talk animatedly, unable to hide your excitement that you may be on your way to overcoming your phobia. You know it’s premature to assume such things, considering that that particular haunted house wouldn’t have even scared a bunch of kindergarten kids, but you take it as a win nonetheless. You can tell Dean is happy for you, but you know he’s pissed he’s $20 out of pocket for admission, and trying his best to hide the fact he got more scared than you.

“Sorry that was such a bust,” you say softly as Dean pulls up outside the bunker, shifting the Impala into park.

He glances at you with a sincere smile. “Don’t be sorry, I’m just glad it helped.”

“So,” you smirk, “that lame Jason was really something, huh?”

“Yeah, totally,” he shrugs, looking away to concentrate a little too closely on turning off the ignition. “So lame.”

“You scream like a girl.”

Dean snaps his head to glare at you. “I do not.”

“Oh please, you were totally crapping yourself in there.”

“Was not.”

“Was too.” Dean narrows his eyes with a pout and huffs loudly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell Sam,” you laugh gently, beaming at him.

“You better not, or I’ll hunt you down.”

“Ooh, don’t tease me like that,” you flirt, sliding across the front seat to snuggle up next to Dean. “So, now we’ve done my thing, wanna snuggle up in bed, eat our weight in popcorn and watch some movies?”

“That sounds perfect. Any preferences?”

“I hear My Bloody Valentine is pretty poor, but the lead guy is supposed to be super hot,” you gush.

He pretends to act offended. “Lead guy, huh? Is he hotter than me?”

You lean in with a timid smile and press your lips gently against his. “Nobody’s hotter than you, Dean Winchester.”

[heraldofcrow]

Hey Crow! I'm sending this to you since I wanna talk about the Crowmen from Gloomwood! And I think you'd like them. For obvious reasons.

The Crowmen are probably the scariest enemy in the game by far, and the strongest. They can crawl through vents, jump across gaps, spit acid, and rend you with their claws. Plus, they can peck you which I find funny. They also take 4 revolver shots or 2 shotgun shells to take out, the most out of any regular enemy so far (other than the Goatman but that's a boss in my eyes). This is a problem since ammo is rare and the shotgun only holds 5 shells at a time (you can guess how many bullets the revolver holds), and reloading takes a while. Running isn't really an option either since they outpace you. Even worse, you can't see them in the dark, and holding out the lantern means you can't hold the shotgun. You can't even backstab them due to their spines being made of steel! They got baby versions called Baby Crowmen which will pop out of eggs on the ground, if you go near said eggs. They don't do much. They look funny when you hold them after killing them though.

Finally is the Crowking! They don't have clothes and resemble the Crow babies more. They take 3 shotgun shells and do the same things as a regular Crowman, but they also vomit up eggs and can screech to hatch all nearby eggs. They only appear in the deepest regions of The Hive, in a weird ancient city. As I send this image, I just realized they seem to have eyes? I can't exactly tell if those are eyes or eggs in the skull. Likely eyes.

The Hive is full of some weird green mucus/webbing, which I assume comes from the Crowmen.

We have no clue what the life cycle is but I think it starts with the Baby Crowmen digging into the body of a human host, and when they mature, they then break open the skull like a chick pecking out of an egg, replacing the head with their own. Maybe the spine is replaced too or something, since the spine is steel and looks to pop out of the back. I imagine the mutation of the legs and hands comes soon after. I assume the Crowkings are either the very end of the life cycle, or are some form of sexual dimorphism. I have no clue. One thing about the Crowmen is that they seem to eat everything and anything, even the corpses of eachother, or the corpses of their infants!

If there's something edible around and they're not actively attacking you, the Crowmen will drop everything they're doing to consume it. They seem to be focused on nothing but eating, since you can walk right next to them without even needing to sneak when they're gorging. Strangely, we never see them attack each other, so I can only assume that Crowman 'culture' is first come first serve and they all respect that for some reason.

And that's what I've to say about our dapper little corvid monstrousities.

DUDE I FUCKING LOVE THEM OMG?!?? DAPPER CROW MONSTERS?!!! I AM SIMPING!! I GOTTA PLAY THIS GAME THANK YOU FOR THE CROWMEN PROPAGANDA!!

[kaashikuroo]

When you meet your abusive ex -Haikyuu Scenarios

Characters: Kuroo and Akaashi

Genre: Angst, comfort.

Warnings: Mentions of abusive ex, strong language, minors dni (even tho it’s sfw).

Part 2: Iwaizumi and Bokuto | Part 3: Ushijima | Part 4: Oikawa

MASTERLIST

Requests? Send ‘em here!

Kuroo:

You and Kuroo were on a date. You guys went to this new café that had just opened up. Despite being new, it became pretty famous pretty fast. After getting tons of recommendations from your friends to go to this café, you guys finally went there.

It was surprising that there was such a long queue to order food. The café was pretty big and you picked a table by the corner where no one could see you guys.

After deciding on what you guys wanted to eat, Kuroo insisted on ordering at the counter saying that your feet will hurt while waiting in the queue.

Realizing you couldn’t win the argument against him, you let him order.

He went off as you took out your phone, trying to find something interesting to do.

This is until, 5 minutes later, you you heard someone sit down on the chair infront of you.

“That was fast. Wasn’t the queue long?” You asked without looking up.

Big mistake.

“I see you’ve moved on.”

The way your head snapped up.

This was the man that you never wanted to see ever again. All the horrible things he did to you came crashing back, making you back away from him.

Just as you were about to get up and run away, he grabben onto your wrist, shooting you a glare.

“Another move and you’re gonna get it.”

You stilled. You refused to let him know that he still had control over you. But the way the situation was turning out, you didn’t know what to do. Being scared out of your wits was not helping.

“Have a new boyfriend or something? Does he treat you like I did? Does he use you for your body? ‘Cause that’s the only thing you got going for you.” He laughed.

You felt like throwing up.

“Why are you here?” You finally croaked out.

“Oh? So the bitch can talk!” He exclaimed, amused.

“Well, This is where I normally sit so when I saw you here I thought it was fate.”

He grabbed your chin, making you look into those disgusting, ruthless eyes of his.

“I know you still want me, Y/n~~”

You knew if you didn’t get away from him as soon as possible, history will repeat itself.

You could already feel him crushing your wrist and jaw with his hold.

Thank goodness you were at a public place, ‘cause he wouldn’t limit himself to only those.

You felt tears build up from the pain and the flashbacks.

Suddenly, you saw a shadow hover your table as a hand was placed on your asshole of an ex’s shoulder.

“I don’t believe anyone would be comfortable with that kind of a hold, sir. Please let my s/o go.” He said in the most polite voice he could muster, with that forced smile.

You could see how he was holding back the urge to turn him into mashed potatoes.

“Ah, so you’re the unlucky dude. Damn, Y/n. How’d you score this? Must’ve slept with him, am I right?”

Kuroo didn’t know whomst the fuck this was, but he certainly did not like him.

“I’d prefer if you kept your thoughts to yourself, sir. Now kindly unhand my s/o.”

When he saw that your ex didn’t show any signs of letting go, the tiniest bit of patience he had, slipped.

He grabbed both of his hands and yanked them away from you, before landing one square on his jaw. You swear, you saw a tooth pop out of his mouth.

“I asked you nicely, man. Apparently, you don’t seem to realize that patiance isn’t an everlasting element.”

He grabbed his collar and pulled him up to his feet.

You knew Kuroo was smart enough to not throw in another blow; so you just stayed seated in your seat, observing your boyfriend deal with your ex.

“Now kindly leave and never come in my line of sight again before i rearrange your pathetic face. And don’t ever make anyone feel uncomfortable ever again.” He said with the scariest glare you’ve ever seen him throw at anyone.

Your ex just nodded and ran out.

Kuroo sighed and took a seat infront of you.

He held your hands, careful not to touch your bruise.

“Are you okay, kitten?” Worry in his eyes were evident.

You nodded. “I’m fine, Tetsu. Thank you. If you hadn’t have come, idk what he would’ve done.”

“None of that.” He caressed the back of your hands with his thumbs. “I’m here now.”

His voice gave you a sense of comfort.

“Who even was that?” He asked you, curiously.

“My ex.” As soon as those words left your mouth, he tensed up immediately.

“Want me to send him to the hospital, princess? You know I don’t fear prison.”

This caused you to chuckle. You could feel his relax a little. A small smile plartered on both your faces.

“Don’t even bother, Tetsu. He might piss his pants.” You laughed.

“Stay by me, always, princess. We don’t want this incident to take place again in the future. Ever.” He said seriously.

“I won’t leave you, baby.” You smiled at him.

“Sorry for not being there when he was hurting you.” His gaze dropped.

“At least you came.” You smiled at him, forgetting about the events that just took place.

“So, how about a cuddle session after lunch?” He fluttered his eyelashes at you, comically.

“Hmm…no.” You faked a disgusted expression.

He started fake crying, taking your unharmed hand into his mouth.

yeah, i don’t even know what goes on in his mind anymore. 🧍🏻‍♀️

“Tetsu! Wtf!” You pulled out your hand to see a string of saliva connecting your hand to his mouth.

“If you’re gonna act disgusted, might as well make it look real.” He winked at you.

“You’re disgusting.”

You both laughed as you wiped your hand.

He asked for an ice pack when your food arrived.

The couple beside your table: 👁👄👁

Akaashi:

You were at your city’s local library, surfing through some books trying to find something to help you understand a topic better for your upcoming finals.

You, of course, told your loving boyfriend that you’d be here. He didn’t mind you going to the library. Why would he 😤

You always liked to sit at a secluded part in the library where people wouldn’t be able to see you. You didn’t like to engage in pointless conversations when you could be doing something productive. All bets are off for Akaashi tho-

So you were barely spotted at the library.

This was the one time you wished you’d have stayed home.

There your ex was. Staring at you from the aisle.

You desperately tried to pack up your things and leave before he could reach you, remembering all the emotional and physical abuse he put you through. You still have scars left by him.

Just as you were about to get up to leave, you were pushed back down on your seat.

He took a seat right beside you, wrapping an arm around your waist.

You were already uncomfortable from his gaze, his touch adding a cherry on the top.

You were practly shaking, trying to prepare yourself for the worst of situations.

“Didn’t expect to meet you here out of all people, yy/nnn~~” He whispered in your ear, making you shudder.

“P-please take your hands off of me.” You mentally scolded yourself for stuttering. You didn’t know he still had this much of an impact on you. After all Akaashi did to make sure he wouldn’t dare hurt you and that you don’t deserve to be hurt, it was all a waste the second your ex laid his eyes on you. You mentally apologised to Akaashi for being so weak.

“Oh? Finally grew a voice, I see. So, how’ve you been?”

You knew he was toying with you.

“What do you want?”

“Heeeehh? That’s no way to talk to someone above you!” He blinked at you before smaking you across the face.

“Try again.”

You took out your phone to dial the police, but he saw that.

“I don’t recall giving you the ‘phone a friend’ option, now did I?” He said, taking your phone.

“I think you’re trying to get on my nerves.” He smiled at you, pulling your hair.

You knew you couldn’t make any noise. That would only mean more torture.

“Please stop.” Your voice was small. But you didn’t know how to get out of that horrible situation.

No one could even see you from where you were.

“Begging for forgiveness? Now that’s what I like.” He smirked at you, letting your hair go. I wanna 😃🔪

Tears flooded your eyes as you cupped your aching scalp. You were scared for what was about to come next.

“What do you want from me?” You finally managed to keep your voice steady.

“I want you to come back. My other bitches don’t satisfy me like you do.” He said nonchalantly.

“No.” You said bluntly, not fearing death anymore. You wanted to stand up for yourself.

“Excuse you?” He laughed out loud. “I should’ve recorded that. Oh my god.”

He got dangerously close to your face before raising a fist in the air.

You closed your eyes, bracing for the impact.

But it never came.

You opened your eyes to see your ex on the floor a bit away from you.

——

Akaashi saw your text pop up. He smiled thinking about you. He also smiled at the fact that you remembered him.

When he saw that you informed him that you were going to the library, he replied with something motivating.

After a while, Akaashi thought he could read some new books. He decided to pay a quick visit to the library, thinking he would be able to say a brief ‘hello’ to you. So he wore his jacket and headed out.

Upon reaching the library, he first took his required book then went searching for you.

He headed to your usual corner. Except, he could hear some muffled sounds and some laughter.

Now this was very strange.

He was used to you being alone in that corner. And normally you wouldn’t engage in any conversations in a library with anyone other than him. To top all of that, it was a man’s laughter. So he became suspicious of your activities.

However, as soon as he peeked over to your table, he felt his blood run cold.

There you were; tear-stained face, bruised cheek, messy hair, eyes closed bracing for impact of this man’s palm.

When I tell you he ran, this man ran. mans could even win a gold in the olympics now😩✋

Now, normally my mans is really chill and relaxed. But when he saw that fear stricken expression of yours, not only did it break his heart. It sparked something in him. He didn’t know he could feel so much hatred towards a person. But all he knew was that you needed to get away from this person as soon as possible.

Mans really yeeted your ex on the floor. 🥴✋

He stepped on his chest just to keep him down.

He looked over to you to see that you were already looking at him.

“K-Keiji..” A shaky smile made its way to your face.

“Hey! What the hell, man? I was just talking to them!”

“If your brain cannot comprehend common sense then let me explain to you that that was definitely not just ‘talking’. It was assult. I can and I will call the cops on you.”

When Akaashi took a closer look at the guy, he recognised him as the guy who tainted your mental state with his sick actions.

All the countless nights of you crying in his arms, talking about how horribly he treated you, about all the scars he gave you physical and mental, came flooding in his mind.

If he wasn’t angry then, he’s livid now.

Before he could get down to pummel the living shit out of him, he saw you desperately trying to get up and make your way to him from the corner of his eye.

He saw how wobbly your legs were, making him clench his jaw.

He motioned you to sit down and take deep breaths.

He took out his phone and called the cops, despite you’re ex’s cries for him to stop.

No way on Earth was Akaashi gonna give up the chance of handing over your bastard of an ex over to the police.

Your ex’s strength couldn’t even compare to that if Akaashi’s. So he couldn’t run away.

Soon after, the police came and took him away. They also offered you first aid medication.

After all that commotion, it was just you and Akaashi.

“Keiji..?”

He said nothing. He just took a seat beside you, cradling you against his chest.

“I’m here, love. I’m here.” His voice broke.

“Th-thank you.” You said, letting your tears go. He held you tighter.

“I hope he never gets out of there. He should just rot in there. H-how dare he…?” He said, raising you a bit higher so he could place his head in the crook of you neck.

You felt your shoulder dampen.

“It’s okay now. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ll never let anything like this happen to you ever again. I swaer.” He said reassuring the both of you.

He knew you were still pretty shaken up from the encounter.

“Love? I can call up Bokuto-san and ask him to drop us off at my place. I’m sure you don’t want to be alone tonight.”

“Please.” You pleaded, gripping onto the fabric of his jacket. “Please don’t hurt me. I’ll be good. Please.”

It was muscles memory and he knew it. But that didn’t prevent his heart from completely shattering and making his stomach twist uncomfortably.

He stiffened as he sat up straight, taking your facing gently into your arms.

“Hey, no no no. I’m not him. I’m not like him. Baby please, it’s me. Keiji. Your love. I’d never dream of hurting you.”

He caressed you cheeks with his thumbs.

“Keiji…?” You sniffled.

“Yes, love? It’s me.”

You pulled him into you just wanting to be in his embrace.

“Please, Keiji. I don’t want to be here.” You sobbed.

He shot a quick text to Bokuto over your shoulder. which he responded to immediately cuz- it’s AGHAASHEE

“Bokuto-san’s coming to pick us up, love. Can you bear with this place for a few minutes, love?” He asked, rubbing your back.

my bois rlly worried. 🥺🥺

You nodded, not wanting to cause him any more toruble.

“I’ll read you books and even dress up for you. Whatever you want. What do you say?” He whispered gently into your ear.

You chuckled a little, imagining him in a maid outfit.

“I would definitely like that.” This caused him to chuckle too.

“You never change.”

He smiled a little as he pecked your head.

He knew you’d take some time coming down from that.

And he’d be with you every step of the way.

Character Request? Send it here!

[enluv]

#2 – Choi Yeonjun? He's delusional.

wc; 1,464! (I am so sorry)

genre: non-idol!au, mystery/thriller, angst, romance

warnings: profanity, mentions of arrest/police, angst, yeonjun and the other txt boys don't get along so they use mean words when talking about each other!

"Yes. Thank you officer. I'll let you know if I find anything of the sort. Yep, okay, yes sir, bye."

"What was that about?" asks Taehyun as he sits on the kitchen island.

"What else would it be about? It's about her crazy ex boyfriend who robbed a bank."

"Beomgyu shut up and let her talk. And stop calling him crazy. Yeonjun wasn't crazy"

"Thank you Kai, it's okay. Yes it was about Yeonjun, they think I know where he hid the money. As if he would tell me something like that. I haven't seen him in two weeks. Also Beomgyu we weren't ever really together so I don't think he can count as an ex boyfriend."

Silence overtakes you four once again. The boys have been staying with you for the last few days upon Soobin's orders. College is far from everyone's minds as the officers in town have all but forced you to stay within the town borders. They need to find the money and "fast". No one is sure how much Yeonjun took but if found and returned safely to the bank, they've promised you'll get half of it as a reward and because of this the entire town is in frenzy looking for it. Money, any kind for the matter, is like gold to a small town because so many don't have it. It's a luxury everyone could use.

"Y/N can I ask you something kind of personal?" asks a soft spoken Hueningkai.

"Yeah of course, what is it Kai?"

"What did Yeonjun whisper to you before the officers took him away?"

The question makes confusion bubble up in your mind before your eyes widen remembering his words. He'd told you to check his car trunk. But why?

"Dude why did we have to come at night? I just heard a frog croak and it was the second scariest shit I've ever heard. Y/N couldn't we have come to the impound lot in the morning like normal people?"

You shake your head, the town was on high alert. Hiding indoors wasn't just because Soobin told you to, it was because you literally had eyes watching your every move. From neighbors to people who lived halfway across town, their eyes followed you. The people talked and everyone who was anyone knew that the big named Kim's eldest daughter ran around with the town delinquent. It was now a firm belief throughout the town that you had the money he stole stashed away somewhere, and that's why you were so eager to flee to "college".

"If we'd come in the morning people would follow us. No doubt someone probably already did," replies Soobin as he stands holding his phone's flashlight and a baseball bat.

"We just need to get into the trunk. I don't know what he meant by it but obviously something important is in it. Beomgyu and Taehyun please stay and keep watch. Soobin, Huening, and I are going to go check it out. We'll let you guys know what we find, okay?"

A course of quiet "okays" are said as you all take your places. One outside the gate of the lot, another inside not too far from it, and the rest of you are searching for the car.

It feels like hours before you finally find the all too familiar grey van hidden away between two other vehicles. It's easy to spot with it's washed out color, splotchy paint job, and beaten backside.

"Is this it?" asks Soobin as you all stand a few meters in front of it.

"This is it," you nod with confirmation, "but I don't have the keys to open it."

"I can open it," offers up a delighted Hueningkai, "before the you know, fight and all that, Yeonjun had to help me unlock my dads car because I locked the keys in it. He told me I'd probably do it again someday so he just taught me then."

Soobin's shoulders tense at the mention of the fight but he pulls at your lower arm to move you aside as Hueningkai gets to work.

With a pop of the door, Hueningkai's in after a relentless five minutes of trying to pry the door open. He hits the switch upto open the truck and walks back towards you and Soobin.

"All he said was to check the trunk of the car? Nothing more useful?"

"All he said was check the trunk Soobin, he didn't exactly have much time to tell me anything else, he was a bit tied up."

Hueningkai's signature laugh follows your comeback to Soobin from the side of the van. You've been arguing for ten minutes now, apparently Soobin thought Yeonjun was sending you all on a wild goose chase but you, ever so smitten with the man believed otherwise. His laughter dies down just as you reach to pick at the dusty black carpet lining the trunk floor.

"Wait a second," your words fall short as you reach for Soobin's hand that's holding the flashlight, pulling it gently to shine on the area of the floor your hand is fiddling with, "Hueningkai, Soobin, help me pull this up, I think somethings under here."

"I can't believe they left us here to just sit and watch like some kind of dogs. Frankly, I think this means Y/N has to buy us pizza."

"Beomgyu please hush and just keep a lookout."

"No I don't think I will! If anything I should be out searching with them, I have a good eye, I could totally help and find whatever the fuck Yeonjun was on about."

"I thought you hated Yeonjun. Why help him?"

"Taehyun, I don't hate him, I just dislike him he had no right to do what he did all those years back. Plus I'm not helping him, I'd technically be helping Y/N, who I adore and love."

Taehyun nods in understanding, all the boys adored you, albeit some more than others but they always saw you as one of them, didn't matter your social status or surname. You were their friend and if you needed help on some random ass treasure hunt then they'd be there to help.

"I can't believe Yeonjun would leave us a fucking treasure map. He's delusional."

"I mean you don't have to believe he did but this is definitely a treasure map Soobin," taunts Hueningkai as he takes the worn out envelope and small rusty key from your hand.

"Guys come on, it's not a treasure map, it's probably just a letter and an extra key to his apartment. We'll read it later. For now let's just clean up and leave before anyone realizes we're here."

"Um I think we're too late," Hueningkai's voice raises an octave as he lifts his hand to point out two large men making their way towards you, just as Beomgyu and Taehyun come running full force, hands thrown up in the air yelling to run quickly.

Out of breath and minds going haywire at the thought of being caught the boys are quick on their feet, dragging you along with them in attempts at making a safe escape from the men calling at you all to stop.

"I KNEW WE SHOULDN'T HAVE LISTENED TO CHOI FREAKING YEONJUN. HE ALWAYS DOES THIS TO US! I KNEW IT. DID I NOT TELL YOU GUYS SOMETHING LIKE THIS WOULD HAPPEN?"

"BEOMGYU SHUT UP AND RUN WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS I'M ALWAYS RIGHT BULL CRAP."

"WELL I AM ALWAYS RIGHT! EVEN NOW! IF WE SURVIVE I WANT YOU ALL TO SAY BEOMGYU IS ALWAYS RIGHT."

"Beomgyu I promise we will say it so can you please shut up and run so that we can get to the car and you know, not die."

Parking Soobin's black jeep farthest from the entrance of the lot proved to be the worst idea any of you had had, not expecting to be chased down by men you'd all decided it was the best place to park in order to not get caught but little did you know it'd backfire immensely.

Breaths raged and loud from running you all sit and try to calm yourselves.

"I can't believe we almost just died, and all for you to get some busted key and a useless envelope."

"Maybe the envelope says something about the key? Try opening it Y/N."

"Before I open the letter can we please go back home, I don't want to risk what just happened happening again."

All the boys nod along as if saying they too don't want to deal with being targeted once again, and just like that you all set off to Soobin's, deemed now one of the only two places safe enough for you to go.

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[taetaespeaches]

“I’m so sorry I dared you to do that, caroling looks humiliating.”

namjoon x reader (oc) genre: fluff word count: 1.6K

a/n: Hi lovelies! So this may be one of the most random fics I’ve ever written lol. Idk where I was going with it, but I think that’s why I kind of like it. It’s Joon and Daisy/reader hanging out on a December night and conversation leads to more random conversation and Joon ends up doing some caroling. You know, normal things... I hope you all enjoy and thank you for reading! :))

HE was animated and glowing as he told you the story of the time he burned Santa’s cookies on Christmas Eve when he was a young boy. He sat next to you on the sofa, a bottle of beer in one hand as his other moved in accordance to his story as if he was conducting it like a musical arrangement.

His skin was bright and golden in the Christmas tree light, his bare face as stunning as ever, the dimples in his cheeks drawing you into the story even more as he laughed at himself. And you were laughing too. Gasping for air, you clutched your stomach as he continued talking, his inflections moving up and down melodically. If you were a linguist, you would study his cadences in pure fascination, the rhythm of his story flexing the skills he’s made a career with.

“My mom came in,” he paused, his eyes wide. “I’m sitting there in the chair in front of the oven, my nose in the comic book, I don’t even know she’s there yet,” he edges you on, you hanging on his words as he led into the climax of the story. “And she scolds sharply, ‘Kim Namjoon!’”

Jumping slightly at his sudden exclamation, you put your hand over your mouth to conceal your giggles.

“And I look up at her in shock. She’s pissed,” he emphasized.

The smile on your face slowly grew wider as he continued with the hilarious tragedy of that fateful Christmas Eve. “And she goes, ‘why does it smell like burning food in here?’ and my heart dropped into my stomach,” he reveals, you breathing out, shaking your head.

“You forgot the cookies,” you spoke, Namjoon nodding slowly.

“I forgot the cookies,” he repeated your words in confirmation, you snorting in laughter. “I got so distracted by the comic that I completely forgot I was supposed to take them out after a certain amount of time.”

“I’m picturing your mom right now, and I’m terrified,” you giggled, Namjoon’s lips spreading into a wide smile, dimples on full display for your eyes only.

“One of the scariest moments of my life,” he admitted through a chuckle. “But anyway, I ruined Christmas because Santa didn’t get any cookies.”

Your jaw dropping, you stared at him. “Did he even bring you presents?”

“Well, you see, he already bought the presents,” he told you through a smirk, causing you to laugh. “And my parents-I mean, Santa,” he corrected, you nodding at him with a smile, “weren’t going to go through the hassle of returning them, so yeah, we got the presents,” he chuckled. “My sister was worried though, my dad told us that Santa wouldn’t leave gifts without cookies.”

“He’s kind of a greedy old bastard,” you said just before taking a sip of your own beer. Swallowing the drink, your eyes widened. “Santa,” you clarified, “not your dad.”

Squeezing his eyes shut in amusement, Namjoon put his hand over his mouth as he laughed at you.

“Fuck, not your dad,” you continued through a bashful giggle. “Santa, because he expects cookies,” you overexplained, as Namjoon leaned forward and placed his beer on the coffee table. “That’s greedy, just leave the gifts dude,” you continued as you watched Namjoon turn toward you, coming closer to you. “It’s your job,” you finished your rant, just as Namjoon placed a hand to the side of your face, bringing his lips to yours. The kiss was sweet and slow, his lips lingering before he pulled away just enough to look at you.

“Santa is a greedy old bastard,” he agreed, you giggling as you leaned forward to kiss him once more. Pulling away once again, you watched as his smile widened, the expression stunning.  

“Have you ever been caroling?” You asked, Namjoon’s eyes popping wide open for a moment as he looked at you curiously. You weren’t sure where the question came from, but Namjoon didn’t seem to mind the randomness.

“I never have, no,” he replied fondly. “Have you?”

Thinking for a moment, you shook your head. “No,” you said simply.

“I always wanted to though,” he told you, his hand finding your knee. “I thought it looked fun when I was a kid.”

“You should do it,” you encouraged, the man shooting you a questioning look. “Right now,” you added with a smirk.

“You want me to go caroling right now?” He asked.

“Just outside my apartment door,” you said, already giggling at your idea. “I dare you,” you added with a teasing whisper, Namjoon sighing.

“You know you can’t just dare people to do things and expect them to do it,” he argued, you groaning in response.

“Come on, please,” you pouted. “I’ve never had a Christmas caroler serenade me before,” you said in feigned sadness.

Namjoon stared at you for a moment before standing up and heading to your front door without an ounce of hesitation. “Joon,” you giggled, watching him stride across your apartment, “I was kidding.”

“No, I’m gonna do it,” he called back to you before turning around to look at you. “Because you deserve to be serenaded.”

His expression was sweet, his eyes soft and kind, full of love. “Oh, babe, you’re drunker than I thought,” you told him, holding back a smile as he chuckled.

“Well,” he thought for a moment, “Maybe,” he confirmed, you both laughing. “But drunk or not, I’m singing for you,” he told you before turning back to the door and opening it quickly, disappearing outside as he closed it behind him.

Jumping up from the couch, you quickly jogged to the door, opening it just as he started belting ‘Last Christmas’ by Wham! using his entire frame to sing the song. He even had a little bit of choreography to go along with the song in the form of hip thrusts, wiggles, and twinkly fingers.

Smiling fondly at him, you leaned against the door frame as you watched him. The longer his act when on, the more in love you felt, your chest swollen with affection as you admired this gorgeous man singing for you, simply because he thought you should be serenaded and he wanted to make you happy. Who even does that?

“I only know the chorus,” he called out just before circling right back into the chorus on the song, causing you to laugh loudly at his antics. Your focus on the man was only broken when your neighbor, an older woman who had a bit of a distaste for you ever since you picked some of the daisies from her garden, stepped out onto her porch to inspect the noise coming from your boyfriend.

“Joon,” you called out to him in a hushed tone, fighting back a smile. His eyes widened as he stopped singing for a moment, looking to you curiously as you nodded toward your neighbor.

“Oh,” he said in realization, an adorably bashful smile overtaking his face as he laughed at himself. However, instead of stopping under her glare, he slowly worked back into the song and choreography, continuing his performance for you.

Throwing your head back in laughter, you covered your mouth with your hands as you watched your boyfriend sing and dance. You snuck one more glance at your neighbor, just as she was shaking her head in disapproval before returning back inside, closing the door on your boyfriend’s disturbance.  

You didn’t even have time to process your neighbor’s reaction as Namjoon cleared his throat dramatically. “Are you ready, Daisy the Menace?” He suddenly asked, slowing his dancing into a hip sway. “That song was for your entertainment, be now, it’s time for you to be serenaded.”

Cocking your head at him, you pouted as soon as he started singing ‘Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas’.

Namjoon would tell anyone that he couldn’t sing, but you loved his voice. And you appreciated the effort he was putting into his impromptu vocal performance of Christmas songs just for you.

Giving him your undivided attention as he sang about letting your heart be light and your troubles being out of sight, you didn’t realize your emotions were bubbling until a tear slid down your cheek, Namjoon’s eyes catching it at the same time you felt it. Wiping it away as Namjoon bounded up your steps to get to you quickly, you giggled at yourself.

“Are you ok?” He asked in concern, his hands meeting the sides of your face as he peered at your features intently.

“I’m fine,” you laughed, though more tears welled up in your eyes. “I just love you so much,” you whined, Namjoon smiling softly as he breathed out a sigh of relief. His arms wrapped around your shoulders, pulling you against his chest, his body rumbling in an amused laughter.

“You’re drunker than I thought too,” he teased, causing you to laugh against his body.

“Shush,” you sassed through a chuckle. “I’m so sorry I dared you to do that,” you apologized, “caroling looks humiliating.”

“It wasn’t my proudest moment,” he confirmed, both of you laughing. “I’d do it again though. For you,” he added cheesily, you scrunching your nose as you pulled away from his body slightly to look at him.

“I don’t think our friend next door appreciated it too much,” you commented, Namjoon looking to the woman’s apartment.

“Yeah, I would say it definitely didn’t help us win her over at all, that’s for sure,” he smiled, you feigning a pout to express your pretend disappointment. “I love you,” he told you sincerely.

The comment took you by surprise, but you accepted the confession easily. “That’s very obvious,” you told him with a smile, Namjoon squeezing his eyes shut as he chuckled lightly. “I love you more, Joon.”

And fuck, you did. More than anything.

[mtherhino]

One Side, Two lives

Chapter seven

YOU WHAT?!

First Previous Next

Warnings: cursing, suggestive comments, Remus

Remus was freaking out. He liked the fucking nerd of all people! The stupid tie wearing stick up his ass nerd! But he is smart, and he’s willing to explore the undiscovered weirdness of the world. Remus blushed slightly at his own thoughts.

“Dam you Logan Sanders, I did not need this today but apparently emotions say otherwise.” Remus grumbled to himself. He was currently sitting upside down on his bed in his room. Everything in his room had been hit by his mace at least once, so there were scratches on the bed post and a thousand holes in the fabrics of, well, everything.

           The duke grumbled and threw a dagger across the room at a target that was barely hanging on. The dagger struck the middle, just like all the others he had thrown that day. The duke sighed heavily.

Remus wasn’t one who really knew how to deal with emotions. He understood them pretty well, a nice thing about being intrusive thoughts is that he could understand situations and people pretty well since his mind never stoped for one second.

           So, taking that into consideration, the only way he knew how to deal with emotions was by destroying things, but he knew that wasn’t going to work this time, no matter how freaking frustrating that was for him. Its not like he can destroy his feelings or kill Logan. Though that would be easier, Remus grumbled in his mind.

           “Gah, stupid fucking feelings.” Remus groaned as he slipped of the bed, hitting his head on the floor. He laid there on the floor trying to figure out how to deal with this. He knew that Deceit wouldnt be any hep in this situation, he would probably just tell him to get over his feeling or that there was nothing to gain from these feelings. So that only left one option on who to talk to. Remus flipped over easily, and walked to his door, having to jump over the many random items on his floor.

           He waked though the door that led to the light sides corridor and went to Roman’s door, seeing Virgil along the way.

Well, might as well screw with someone while I’m here, Remus thought with a smirk. He snuck up behind the other side who was looking at Tumbler on his phone. Remus was pretty good at being quiet when he wanted to, so he was able to get right next to the shorter of the two without him knowing.

“What are you looking at emo?”Virgil jumped a foot in the air and screeched when he heard him. Remus fell on the ground laughing as Virgil turned to him, still looking like he’d seen a ghost or something. Once he recognized the threat as the duke, his startled expression turned into a scowl.

           “Really Remus?” The anxious side said. Remus was still dying of laughter on the ground.

“Dude what was that?! I literally just asked you a question and you practically flew into the air! HAHAHA!” Remus said, its been a while since he’s scared someone that badly.

           The smaller rolled his eyes, he didn’t find it very funny to scare people.

“What are you even doing here? I swear if you are here to give Thomas more nightmares-!” He didn’t get to finish as he jumped back as Remus jumped up, already holding his hands up in a surrendering manner.

“Chill Virge, I just came here to cause a little bit of chaos.” Remus gave a shrug, trying to sell the lie. “What can I say, I got bored bothering Deceit so I decided to come here and bother all of you.”  He smirked at the end of his sentence and Virgil narrowed his eyes at him.

           “You can’t honestly think I’ll let you get away with that.” Virgil said, trying to look intimidating, though it was pretty hard when the other person was a head taller than you. Remus grinned, coming up with an impromptu plan.

“Fine emo, if you can find me in the next 15 minutes, then I’ll leave. Ready? Go!” As Remus yelled the last word he popped out of the hallway and into Roman’s room, startling his brother half to death.

“Re?! What the hell are you doing here?!” Remus was about to answer him when Roman interrupted. “You know what, I don’t even care, I need to talk to you” Roman said, getting off of his bed. He had been panicking the entire day on what to do about his feelings and was actually planning on leaving his room to find Remus before he showed up.

           “Ok in a minute, my matter is more important!” Remus said. Roman completely understood, but all logical thinking was thrown out the window as soon as he had woken up that morning.

“Remus! I’m having a crisis right now!”

“Well so am I asshole! I’m having a gay crisis and I don’t know how to freaking handle it!” Remus said, now pacing around the room, his hands buried in his hair.

“Well I guess that puts us in the same boat since I’m also having a gay crisis!” Roman said, throwing his arms in the air. It took a minute for the words to sink in for both brothers, but once they did they turned to each other with incredulous looked on their faces.

“YOU WHAT?!”

“My brother, who thinks love is stupid and will gag at any romantic scene has a crush?!?!” Roman said disbelief evident in his voice.

“Um, my brother who barely leaves his room? Liking someone?! Why was I not informed of this immediately?!”

“What did you think I wanted to talk about? But that can wait, who do you have a crush on!” Roman said, his eyes practically shining because he got the chance to play matchmaker.

           Remus blushed, he hadn’t told anyone about his feelings, hell he had never even referred to his feeling for Logan as a crush until now. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

“Um well, uh.” Dammit why am I nervous talking about this! I can literally talk about any freaking topic but this!The duke covered his face with his hands, now feeling like he had a hundred eyes on him, when in reality it was just one pair of eyes. He looked and saw his brother, practically jumping up and down.

           Remus sighed heavily, knowing that he had to actually tell Roman who his crush is if he wanted his help.

“It’s uh, its Logan” Remus mumbled the last part, nearly making it impossible for anyone to hear, but somehow the prince heard. To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

“Come again?” He asked his brother.

“It’s Logan!” Remus nearly shouted, his cheeks just ever so slightly pink. Roman thought this over for a second.

“Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting, but now that I think about it it kinda makes sense.” Roman said, his hand under his chin as he tried to figure out why he didn’t try to set the two up earlier.

           Remus on the other hand was kinda taken back.

“What?! How does it make sense?! I can’t even figure out why I like that dam nerd!” Remus said, wanting some kind of explanation. Roman looked over at his brother with a bit of a smile, figured that he wouldn’t be able to figure out why he would like someone. That was just Remus being, well, Remus.

“Well you both have this bit of,” Roman gestured to his brother, “weirdness to you.” After he finished his sentence Remus summoned a green pillow and nocked his brother in the face so that he fell on the bed.

           “What? It true you know, your both fascinated by the strange and disturbing.” Roman shrugged. Although it may have sounded like an insult, neither brother had ever had anything against the others interest, so Remus knew that Roman meant it as a joke.

           The green side sighed loudly, though he couldn’t really refute Roman’s point.

“Still, I didn’t even know I could feel,” Remus gestured widely in an amusing manner, making Roman snort, “feelings.” Remus was disgruntled and sat on Roman’s bed, a small scowl on his face. Roman noticed, it wasn’t like his brother to get upset about, well, anything. To be honest, he wasn’t sure on how to handle this, he usually wasn’t the one people came to for advice.

           Roman hummed slightly, as he sat up on the bed, grabbing one of the pillow to hold and lean his head on.

“How do you feel about, liking him” he asked his brother, carefully wording his question, though it still sounded stupid to him. Remus’s thought for a moment, he wasn’t sure how he felt.

“Confused. I’ve never liked someone before Ro, so this is kinda just confusing and I don’t know how to make sense of it.” The prince nodded, and although it wasn’t shown in any way, Remus knew he was telling him to continue. What could he say, they do have a tiny bit of that twin telepathy bullshit.

“Well I can see why I like Logan, he’s great! He likes learning about everything, and he’s able to keep up with my random stream of thoughts.” Although he didn’t know it, Remus had a soft smile on his face while he thought about Logan. “Like you said, he’s, weird.” The duke finished, thinking about how he and Logan had discussed what aliens would look like and why they would evolve to be that way. Almost everyone would have said that it didn’t matter to think of all the what ifs of the universe, but Logan seemed to disagree. Meanwhile, Roman was so very happy for his brother. He had never heard Re talk like that, there was clear admiration in his eyes and fondness in his voice.

“Ok, I never thought that I would say this, but you are adorable.” Roman said. Remus turned red from embarrassment and anger.

“Hey! No I’m not! I’m the scariest thing you will ever meet! I am in no way adorable!” Remus said, well, more like shouted. He pounded his fist onto the bed, making Roman go into a fit of laughter.

“You, you look like, hahaha! You look like a little kid that didn’t get a popsicle! Hahaha!” Roman said in between fits of laughter.

           Remus pouted a little bit and summoned a popsicle from the light sides fridge just to mess with Roman. Did it take a good bit of energy and make him kinda tired? Yes. Was it worth it to see the annoyed face of his brother? Also yes. Without a doubt. He smirked and chomped into the popsicle, smirking when he saw Roman’s horrified face.

           “How the hell did you just bite into literal ice!” Roman yelled, looking almost disgusted. Remus shrugged.

“You can create glitter whenever you want, I can bite into ice with no consequences.” Roman shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

“Where getting off track, back onto the subject of you and Logan’s love life.” Remus was so startled by how his brother had phrased that that he fell of the bed.  However he quickly jumped back his feet.

“Why must you phrase it like that!” Roman shrugged.

“I’m just speaking the truth dear brother.” Remus groaned and threw himself back onto the bad.

           “This still doesn’t help my problem.” Remus said, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow. He turned his head to face his brother. “What do I do with these feelings” Roman took a minute to think. Although Roman was the romantic side, that didn’t mean he was actually good with how to get a significant other. That being said, he did have a small idea of what people naturally like and their emotions, especially when it involved the other sides.

           “Well, are you trying to get him to eventually go on a date with you?” Roman asked, it was an important thing to know if he was going to help. Remus blushed a little and rubbed the back of his neck. He hated not feeling like his usual cocky and invincible self.

“I mean, I’m not against the idea in any way.” He said. Roman smiled, completely understanding his brother. They where both clueless morons when it came to expressing feelings, so over the years they learned how to read each other better so that words weren’t the only way they could communicate.

“In that case, I would try to take it slow, maybe leave a lot of hints so that Logan can figure out that you like him on his own. I mean it’s clear how much that man likes puzzles so I think that might be the best way to go about it.” The red side said. “On the other hand, you could be direct about it. Logan, as smart as he is, doesn’t easily understand feelings. If you wanted to, you could try to do a bit of both.” Roman suggested, wanting to help. Remus had helped him out more times in the past than he could count, (although the prince had helped the duke many times as well) and he wanted to pay back that debt.

Remus considered all of this, trying to think off a plan.

“So I should try to show Logan how I feel about him, but tell him my feelings sooner rather than latter because, as you put it, he can be an idiot when it comes to feelings?” Roman laughed a bit, imagining his friends reaction if he knew that they had said he wasn’t the all knowing being that he thought he was.

“Pretty much, I just think that could work, but of course you don’t have to if you don’t think it will work.”  The duke shook his head.

“No I think that is the best plan. It better than the one I came up with anyways.” Roman raised an eyebrow at that.

“What was your plan?”            The dark side shrugged.

“To throw sharp objects and run out of the room whenever I see him.” Roman looked like he had seen a book that told a story by smell instead of actual words

“I can’t even tell if your being serious or not.” Remus smiles at that.

“Isn’t that the best thing about me”. Roman was about to give a retort when they both heard footsteps running towards Roman’s room. Remus quickly hid under the bed in case the whoever it was didn’t want to have a dark side around. Just as he was hidden form view the princes’s door flew open, the anxious side standing in the doorway.

           “Roman! Have you seen Remus! I lost a bet and now I can’t find him anywhere! Who knows what chaos he could be causing!” The purple side shouted frantically. Well that’s rather rude, Remus thought, I haven’t even caused an ounce of chaos since I’ve been here!  Roman got off the bed and walked over to Virgil, feigning  concern. It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried for the smaller side, its just that he knew for a fact that Remus hadn’t done anything so there was no real reason to be scared.

“Woah Virgil calm down.” Roman said as he put a hand on the hooded sides shoulders, easing the anxiety in Virgil just a little bit. “What kind of bet did you make?” Roman asked, wondering what Remus must have done.

“He said that if I could find him in 15 minutes then he would leave, but I don’t even know how long its been since then and I’ve searched the entire light sides area and I cant find a trace of him!” Virgil said, putting his hands in his hair. He was clearly frustrated that he couldn’t find the other creative side and stop whatever mayhem that he could cause. Remus chuckled in his mind, it was kinda funny that Virgil had search nearly everywhere looking for him when he was barely even hiding.

           Roman grumbled in his head and quickly formed a plan, smiling a bit when he thought of one.

“Um, couldn’t he have just gone back to the dark side and left you searching for no reason? That just seems like something Remus would do is all.” Roman said with a shrug. A look of realization hit Virgil’s face before he face palmed and groaned.

“God dang it he probably did. It seems just up his alley to make me worried and anxious for no reason. He probably can’t even cause a lot of damage if I called for Logan.” Roman laughed a bit, thinking about his brother under the bed being thoroughly offended that someone thought he couldn’t cause trouble for everyone.

“Yah, Logan is pretty good at handling Remus.” Roman said. Virgil nodded.

“Sorry for disturbing you Princy, thanks for the help.” Virgil said before giving the prince a warm smile. Roman was caught off guard and blushed as he laughed a bit awkwardly.

“No problem Virgil! I’m, uh, I’m glad I could help.” Roman said, returning the smile. Virgil waved and walked away, the creative side not seeing his bright red ears.

           As Roman closed the door and faced the bed he saw his brother with a smug grin on his face.

“Soooo~” Remus said in an almost mocking manner. “Virgil’s the one you have crush on. I didn’t take you for the type that likes angsty and emo guys.” Remus smile only grew when his brothers face lit up red.

“Well, um, yes Virgil is who I have a crush on but one annoying word and you’ll wish you had never been born.” Roman said while glaring at his brother. The creative side raised his hands in a form of surrender.

“Fine fine, but its still surprising. Didn’t you used to hate him or something?” Remus said, raising an eyebrow.

           Roman grumbled lightly and crossed his arms.

“I never hated him, I just used to find him annoying since he always shot down my ideas, but now..” Roman wasn’t sure how to finish. His brother raised an eyebrow, clearly wanting some sort of explanation.

“I don’t know, he’s just a lot more open and kinder now. He’s really considerate and overall just a good person.” Roman said.

“Bleh! Your so sappy Ro.” Remus said, pretending to gag.

“Oh don’t you even go there Mr. ‘I think Logan is amazing and the greatest person in the universe’.” Roman said. Remus threw a pillow at him.

“I didn’t say any of that!”

“But you we’re thinking it.” Roman said with a smirk.

“Careful there Roman, you know I’m more creative than you when it comes to teasing, especially with relationships.”Remus said, a sinister smile on his face. “I could easily just make you think about you and Virgil-“ he was quickly interrupted by Roman smacking him in the face with a pillow and smothering the rest of the sentence.

“Nope! One word out of you about Virgil and I will cover your room with so much glitter you will go blind.” Roman threatened.

“Alright alright I won’t say anything just get off me.” Roman gave his brother a glare before he got off him, punching him in the arm one time for good measure. Remus got up and dusted himself for no reason.

“Well, I should probably head back, its lunchtime and there’s some meat that just expired two weeks ago that I’ve been meaning to eat.” The prince gave the duke a disgusted look and shook his head.

“How in the world are you able to eat stuff like that?!” Roman asked, Remus gave a very helpful shrug. Remus walked out the door, his brother behind him.

“Well, see yah brother.” Remus said as he started down the hallway. “Good luck with your BOYFRIEND!” before he disappeared he saw his brother turn bright red and start to scream but he got away before his eardrums busted.

Remus chuckled to himself as he walked down the hallway back to his room. As he opened his door only for something heavy to fall on his head.

“What the fuck!?” The duke lifted the item off his head. A bucket?! He thought to himself. He looked down at at his outfit and saw that it was covered in. Hot. Pink. Glitter. He looked at the rest of his room and saw that it was in the same state. There wasn’t one thing that wasn’t pink at this point.

“Oh that fucking bartered is so dead.”

I’m so sorry this took so long! I have had a lot of testing lately and a big project to deal with. I still have a few test to finish but I’m going to try and get the next chapter out earlier. Thank you for reading this, have a good day humans, bye!

Tag list

@lovelivingmydreams

[reineyday]

bnha characters as volleyball players (au headcanons)

i have never in my life played volleyball outside of gym class and the occasional beach jaunt, so this is all based off of what i learned from haikyuu LOL

anyways, this started as tags from this fanart by @syblatortue​ of deku, kacchan, kiri, sero, iida and shouto as vball players, and then it got away from me so if you wanna read 2.9k worth of headcanons about powerhouse athletics high school UA then go ahead and press “read more” :)

deku's the calculating setter like kenma and he fanboys over stats from the international to the national to the high school

kacchan used to make fun of him and look down on him bc he used to think too much on court to move properly, and as a kid kacchan used to think that it was spiking or bust so he always gave deku grief and bullied him over being slow and weak

in middle school kacchan was a starter since first year and eventually became the ace but deku was always second string setter

his athleticism was nothing to write home about but he was just good enough to make the bench

in their middle school tournament their starting setter got injured and deku had to step in to set for a match for the first time ever

powerhouse volleyball high school coach yagi toshinori is watching and he sees all the aborted plans in deku's setting choices

he sees the gutsy sets that miss and the one successful dump he did that threw everyone off-guard (even deku himself), and yagi remembers what it was like to be hungry for volleyball seeing the look in this kid's eyes and he recognizes the brain on him

their team loses there though bc the fact is that deku wasnt athletic enough to do it and kacchan is yelling and deku's crying

but yagi approaches deku (who freaks out bc all might is THE legendary vball player of their country, and the nation was SHOOK when after getting severely injured by a malicious spike in the wrong place he chose to coach high school vball, even if the school was a powerhouse school and also his alma mater lol)

but anyways deku babbles and fanboys even through his tears and says he got into UA but he's not sure he can make the vball team, and yagi says he sees the potential in deku's plays and if he trains hard every. single. day. from now until the tryouts at UA, he might make at least the bench

(cue montage)

kacchan is angry to see deku at tryouts and fuckn RAGING when deku more or less keeps up bc deku got buff since their last high school match

unfortunately for kacchan he is actually the one most familiar with deku's playing since they trained together in middle school too, and he almost pops a blood vessel just thinking it but ever since deku started actually being able to get to the ball in time, vball has been more fun ‘cuz the things deku ends up doing are fucking batshit crazy and his sets are begrudgingly his favourite to hit

deku sets right where kacchan can just hit the ball as violently as he can, and it sounds like a bomb goes off when the spike hits the ground

(kacchan also obviously has the best serves and he mixes it up with the power ones like his ap shots, or floaters when he's strategic; he knows how to read the opposing team and either wait or serve really fast and serves up high to blind them like his flashbomb explosions, and he’s really arrogant about his serves but at least he can back it up as per classic kacchan)

anyways they become a really intimidating duo, apart but especially together, because despite the way deku still occasionally cowers from kacchan’s rage and kacchan is often yelling and antagonizing deku, they can read each other really smoothly on court and they match each other really easily, and they both go for the really gutsy shit no one else would think to try (like samu and tsumu going for the freak quick with samu setting kind of gutsy)

kacchan is also antagonizing af and calls the other team extras lol

but yeah, those two along with renown olympic vball player todoroki enji's son shouto are the three most intimidating first years at UA

enji has a very aggressive playing style and where he targets people on the opposing team specifically to make them sweat, makes them feel like he’s hot on their heels even from the other side of the net, always glaring, always strong

shouto hates it and hates the way his dad made him train day in and day out just because he had a good reaction time and instincts for the ball when he was young

fuyumi and natsuo were slow as kids and got immediately dismissed bc of it bc to enji if they werent athletic enough for the ideal vball playing style as children then theyd never be athletic enough to beat all might’s vball career and metrics in the future

touya was fast enough but he overtrained and strained his knees and then continued straining them to play anyways till they were permanently damaged, and by the time he graduated middle school, his doctor put him on orders to never ever ever do anything that might be overly strenuous for his knees ever again

anyways, shouto plays very cool and detached, like even when he spikes the ball right into your face you’ll feel like he wasn’t looking; he’s a middle blocker like suna, stays calm but uses his whole body

deku eventually convinces him that playing with fire every once in a while, especially when he spikes, can be a good thing because at the end of the day, his dad may have taught him the tricks but it’s shouto himself who’s playing, and so it’s not his dad’s style, it’s his own

also the spikes just aren’t as good or as psychologically effective if shouto’s not 100p IN it when he goes to spike one of deku’s demanding sets

and im gonna say shouto is ambidextrous but more comfortable with his left hand in this volleyball au because shouto’s left side is his fire side, and it’s more parallel to the character to make his more aggressive spiking hand his left one but still have him be able to use his left hand for spikes too (it’s also SO stressful for opponents bc angles)

also yes he does indeed only play with his right hand (his ice side) when he gets into UA, and is initially very hellbent on proving to his father that he can become a pro vball player without being as aggressive as enji on court and without using his more dominant hand, the hand that his dad’s been focusing on whenever they trained at home, the hand he’s spent hours and hours spiking and serving with since he was like five years old

one day deku notices shouto’s writing with his left hand and then connects the dots and sort of badgers him into spiking one of his sets with his left hand too and then yeah shouto tells him his life story and deku manages to emotionally coerce him into being okay with his left-handed spikes

(shouto also feels better about it when deku points out the left-handed angles thing)

so yeah that’s the big three scary first year starters: calculating and gutsy deku, who occasionally makes plays so gutsy he’s at risk of twisting one of his limbs in a very scary way (he’s always bruised in weird ass places from volleyball); raging, aggressive but also cunning kacchan, who is undoubtedly the loudest on any court he’s on, and ambidextrous hot and cold shouto, who does a pretty solid general defense with little holes but has scary aggressive spikes

btw shouto’s got a fanclub and they call him the volleyball prince

also at one point they totally play a practice match against shiketsu and UA loses bc inasa starts antagonizing shouto for being exactly like his father (inasa asked for enji’s autograph after a match once when he was a kid and got rudely blown off) and shouto gets offended and starts targeting inasa and then they get outplayed (it was a close match though ‘cuz both of them couldnt get their heads out of their asses and both their teams were suffering as a result)

alrighty, the other players in that fanart lmao!

kirishimaaaaa my dude my bro, super solid libero, always pumps up the team, and his defense is unbreakable! will receive even the scariest, most powerful spikes and smile cheerfully through it; will always insist that you’re manly for playing with everything you have and never letting fear get in the way of going for it

his middle school had a huge and scary substitute gym teacher who didn’t have mercy and spiked hard right to the faces of the students, and kiri really wanted to run forward to receive the spike and yell about how unfair this teacher was but he froze because the spike seemed unforgiving and if he received it wrong, what if his nose broke? what if he fell and broke something from the impact? mina didnt pause though and she received the spike and told off their substitute teacher and then reported it to their homeroom teacher and it was so manly of her, he promised himself he would never hesitate just bc of a scary spike again

btw mina’s all-around athletic and could probably make it onto the girls vball team but she’s probably on the UA dance team (UA is a powerhouse school for many sports, and theyre famous for their athletics department bc they often hire (former) pro-athletes to teach and coach)

iida comes from a family of sprint runners and he’s the one they trust for the most running; he’s their first year decoy and he’s fast af for such a big guy, and he often also provides extra block support from zooming left and right

also enjoys helping out the managers and corralling his team into being good students; he’d offer to tutor kirishima but kiri seems to have fun trying to be friends with bakugou lol; he makes it known that he’s there if kiri wants some extra patience to go along with his studies though

sero guess blocks so accurately people like to say that he’s got tape coming from his elbows, bringing the ball straight to his arms so that he can block; actually he’s pretty known for having weirdly accurate control bumping the ball back from places other than his hands (esp his elbows though), like he’s just so aware of his body, and he uses everything he can to keep the ball off the ground so he’s good at general defense

some other people i wanna mention:

aizawa’s their supervising teacher and the first year homeroom teacher (he gets to hear bakugou explode both first thing in the morning AND right at the end of the day, oh joy); all might just coaches ‘cuz he does other former pro stuff during class time, so he somehow ended up in charge of the volleyball club after the previous teacher stopped being able to

he never went pro but he’s a black belt mixed martial artist, and he still does those parent-child karate classes with hitoshi (who is now close to black belt and on the demo team, since they’ve been doing this since hitoshi was like five) and eri (who just got her yellow belt! aizawa is soft)

only hizashi, nemuri, oboro and his kids know this but he’s also REALLY good at doing aerial silk and he looks graceful af when he does it

hitoshi started kinda learning aerial silk when hizashi took him to a rock climbing place that had the silks on the ceiling (dont at me, there’s a place EXACTLY like this where i used to live lmao) and found out they offer classes there, and hizashi laughed and said “yknow your dad is pro at those right”

ochako is their first year manager, and when everyone is confused about kacchan continuing to call deku something so mean, she talks about how the nickname is cute and gives off the impression that he’s trying his best and when deku grins and blushes and seems to be happy with it, the whole team starts calling him deku with the same intentions and fondness behind it

every time other people hear UA calling their starting setter “deku” theyre so confused

nejire is the third year manager leaving and she does gymnastics and dance outside of school

mirio is the ace and his thing is that he is very strong and very precise, and he moves like he phases through the other players

tamaki is a middle blocker that can adapt all kinds of playing strategies pretty fast as long as he’s got time to digest them and decent food in his stomach—he’s a great decoy ‘cuz his spikes are hard and he’s pretty fast too, and while he prefers read blocking, there are a few times he guess blocks and it’s accurate af and kinda scary honestly

tamaki and mirio are also pretty fearsome ‘cuz people start off scared of mirio’s power spikes and serves (btw his goal is to spike a million service aces LOL), and then tamaki kind of surprises them ‘cuz he seems to be able to just? do everything??? (and theyre extra surprised bc no doubt he’ll be talking himself down and doubting himself before the match and the opponents will think like “oh good he’s mentally weak” and he kind of is but also holy shit??? we got blocked AGAIN???) and so they sort of only keep a peripheral eye on mirio while they start focusing on tamaki, and then all of a sudden mirio’s not where you thought he was and how’d he get there so fast and there other players in the way??? and then mirio spikes one in

this isn’t really related to anything else but you BET mirio can bend low and do insanely accurate bump receives from pretty close to the ground like! his thighs and knees are legend

we don’t really know any second year bnha students, but i’d like to think their starting team isn’t just first years, so i’d say like… hm or mb tamaki is starting setter (all the stuff about adapting and easily digesting strategies still applies, as well as his flexible skillset, it just now includes setting) and mirio is his ace, but all might puts deku in a lot more than you’d expect a bench player to be subbed in not only ‘cuz it shakes up the other team to see such a meek-looking kid do these gutsy-ass sets, but also bc it’s good for tamaki’s mental health that he feels like he’s got a really great setter right there supporting him as well, even though he knows (objectively) that he can hold the fort on his own

so yeah, id say tamaki and mirio for sure starters (mirio is captain), kirishima’s a starter (he’s always been really good, he just used to get a little scared off in matches sometimes, but since the thing with mina, he’s been really gunning for it, and also conveniently their last really good libero graduated the year before and they didn’t really have a good backup), shouto’s a starter (he’s lowkey mad about it bc it feels like he’s fulfilling his dad’s legacy and he doesnt want to be), and probably two second years, that feels fair

bakugou’s benched bc his temper’s still a little too unwieldy for the court (much to his dismay), sero’s still patching up holes in his defense, and deku could stand to watch other people’s playing styles, but u bet theyre all fearsome af when theyre on court: deku seems to be the only one that seems to be able to bring out shouto’s terrifying spikes for now; after their first qualifiers, rumours fly around the vball circuit about his angry pinch server that’s so mad he’s not a regular, he takes it all out on his serves and rip the team that has to try and receive them

well okay, so bakugou is the only that i can qualify as actually fearsome bc even when he’s being intimidating sero is a pretty chill dude, and deku looks too nice to really be scary so the opponents usually arent scared until he starts playing and then for them it’s just this internal monologue of “what the fuck? what the FUCK???”

and sero, while chill, is the type to be aggressively cheerful and grin really wide after he blocks and gives you, the opponent, really supportive feedback that sort of still offends you but in a way you cant refute because every word he said was nice and his demeanour was nice too and yet? you kinda wanna strangle him??? and then he laughs winsomely and blocks your next spike too (like, “awh i noticed you have a tendency to follow here when xyz happens, but better luck next time right? that’s usually a pretty good play”)

and of COURSE their school banner says “plus ultra”

ANYWAYS i went OFF lmao i can’t believe i really wrote 2.9k of headcanons for this

i have waaaay more ideas about what the rest of the class and other characters are up to in this au that is powerhouse athletics high school UA so if for some reason you got all the way to the end then thank you and please interact if you wanna talk more about it!!!

[creativeskullcreations]

HTaHHQ episode 4: Unarmed part 1

Whoops, sorry, no new Outside chapter this week, or the next. Wanted to get this posted too so I could start getting more episodes written. Don't worry though, it will return next month! :D

"I don't see why we have to come here today. Can't you just do this at home?" Stacy complained as Mary led them into the Studio. It was a dark, stormy Saturday, perfect for staying inside. Instead, her and Danny had to go to "work" with Mary.

"Stacy, honey, I would love to just stay home but Nick's stupid edits to my script mean I have to come in. All of us writers have to." She sighed irritably.

"Yeah, but why can't Danny and I just stay home? I can watch him." She tried desperately.

"Because... it's illegal." Mary swept her unbrushed hair back. "Besides, I thought you liked Scout. You told me you wanted to spend the weekend with her."

"Yeah. At home. Not here." The thirteen year old deadpanned as Mary moved towards the offices. The woman sighed in response, reaching the end of her patience.

"Look, why don't you take your brother and go find her? It'll be a lot more interesting than what I'm doing."

"You mean tearing Nick a new one?" She asked, sounding interested. "Cause I want to watch that."

"You don't get to watch that. Go find Scout." Were the last words Mary said before towards the offices.

"Fine." Stacy groaned as her stepmother went into her office. She grabbed Danny's arm with her left and led him in the direction of the Sound Stage. He followed her eagerly, just excited to be there at a time he normally wasn't.

Her intent was to find Daisy and have her let them into the elevator to go upstairs. If they couldn't find her, she was planning on using the vents to get into the playroom instead. She remembered the way, mostly, and it'd be easier than trying to work up the courage to ask someone else.

Unfortunately, Daisy was nowhere to be found. They looked all over the Sound Stage, checked her House Set, and then looked in the cafeteria. But, sadly, no Daisy. Which meant Stacy had to pick the lock on one of the prop closets to reach the vents.

"Hmm, two children where they're not supposed to be." Stacy froze mid break in as Danny ran over to the Puppet, who sighed and leaned down to ruffle his hair. "Yes yes, it's nice to see you too, Danny."

Stacy struggled to keep her voice even. "Uh, w-where's Daisy?" She stowed the picks back under her glove as she stood up and turned to face the scientist.

She wasn't the scariest looking Puppet(poor Nick held that title, even among the other staff). But, Stacy had always held a fear of doctors, dentists, anyone who wore scrubs and a lab coat basically. Which Riley did, unfortunately, and it made the girl more nervous than the others did.

Well, that, and the forums talking about how she must be doing unethical experiments to get a dog as big as the Rosco puppet. But Stacy was pretty sure that was for in the show, not real life. Probably.

Riley let out a huff of annoyance. "In the writer's room with our annoying brat of a brother. His edits to the script have caused her scenes to be quite a bother." She sighed. "What do you need her for, anyway? And why are you two here on this day?"

"... Mary's the head writer." Stacy told her, clenching her sleeves in her fists. "And it's, like, illegal to leave us home alone or something. I don't know."

"Ah, I see, but you only answered question number two." She pointed out in a matter-of-fact sort of way. "What for you, could Daisy do?"

Stacy thought that rhyme was a little bit of a stretch, with the wording and all. But, before she could respond Danny clapped his hands, and pointed towards the ceiling. "Scout!" He told her excitedly. "We're here to see Scout!"

"Ah, I understand now." She did not look happy about it either. Stacy wondered why. "Fine then, I'll call the elevator down."

She led the two kids to the elevator doors and inserted her own key-card, unlocking them. Stacy waited uncomfortably as it slowly descended, trying to keep between her brother and Riley. It was difficult, as he kept leaning around her to talk at the Puppet, who listened politely.

When the elevator arrived, Stacy pulled Danny into it with a quickly muttered "Thanks". It took everything in her to not button mash the floor number she wanted. She did her best not to stare at the Puppet as the doors closed, but it was difficult when she could feel her weird wooden eyes piercing into her soul.

When they reached the upper floor, Stacy practically dragged her brother out of the elevator. It started to go back down almost immediately, so she hurried to the playroom, rushing through Daisy's sewing room to get to it. She didn't knock, but did ease the door open slowly so as not to startle them. When she got it fully opened, Scout flung herself and landed on her face.

"Stacy!" She screamed, and the girl almost had to peel her off her face. She lifted the small Puppet up to let her rest on top of her head.

"Hi, Scout. Mom's here to deal with some... script issues, I guess, and she brought me and Danny." Danny waved, and Scout waved back. "So I brought some movies for us all to watch."

"Yay, movies!" Bonzai latched onto her backpack, working the zipper open so he could climb inside. Stacy put the bag on the floor and he burst out a second later, with a video in his hands. "Terminatooooor!" He yelled, and Canon facepalmed.

"Yeah, we can watch that one first." Stacy told them and grabbed the tape, going over to put it in the player. She put it in and turned on the TV, hitting play once it had booted up. They sat back to watch, most of the Puppets migrating to sit on the human children.

Surprisingly, they managed to watch in silence, though Stacy and Danny did have their own commentary in sign language. Only Scout really understood it, but she didn't understand much. She had only just started to learn, after all, and was looking at the signs backwards.

The movie ended, and Bonzai immediately dove back into the backpack with Bit. Together they searched for another action movie while Stacy rewound the Terminator.

"Hey, how come there are only baby movies in here?" Bit asked angrily, popping out of the bag with a tape in her arms.

"I'd hardly call Shrek or Spirited Away 'baby' movies." Stacy frowned, picking up the anime movie. "Mom wouldn't even let me watch this one until just last year."

"But they're cartoons, and cartoons are so boring!" Bonzai complained.

"What kind of cartoons are you watching?" She muttered as she took the film out of it's box and crouched by the player. Louder, she said "I promise, Spirited Away isn't boring. Anime is awesome."

"Mom never lets us watch anime. She says it's inappropriate for kids." Canon told her, and Stacy sighed.

"Well, she's wrong. Sailor Moon and Digimon and Pokemon are all for kids." She told the Puppets, with Danny nodding along beside her. "And there's a lot more than just that. I'll record some episodes to bring next time."

"Okay but we can't tell Mom." A pause as Canon raised her voice so her siblings could hear. "Nobody tell Mom Stacy's showing us anime."

"Okay!"

"Sure!"

"Whatever."

Were the three answers she got, which she called good enough for now. At least she knew nobody would tell Mom, if only for the promise of Forbidden Goods.

While they watched the movie, Stacy sat with her arms full of Handpuppets. It was like holding a litter of puppies, as they never stopped moving and sometimes crawled away to do other stuff. At one point, Bonzai pulled out a couple of magnets to play with. As he pulled them apart to let them fly back together, he was startled when they instead attached themselves to Stacy's right arm.

"Stacy's a terminator!" He shrieked, and immediately teleported away.

"What?! No I-!" She jolted when a small, stuffed bear hit her on the head. "Dude!"

"Bonzai, what the heck?!" Canon followed him onto the bookcase he'd hidden on top of.

"She's an evil robot! The magnets are sticking to her arm!" He cried, and when Stacy looked there were two small magnets caught on her. She pulled them off and tossed them aside while Canon tried to calm her brother down.

"Hey! Stacy's not a robot!" Scout angrily shouted up at her siblings.

"Then what is she?" Bit asked, having picked up a small stick. Scout opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.

"I... can't tell you that." She finally said. "But I swear she's not a robot."

A long pause of silence, and then Canon figured it out and smacked Bonzai off the bookshelf. "It's a prosthetic, you idiot!"

"Oh." Was all the fallen Puppet said as he laid limply where he'd landed. Canon face-palmed, followed by Bit, while Stitch went to check on their brother.

"Can we see it?" Bit asked excitedly, already trying to pull back her sleeve. Stacy yanked her arm up and away from the Puppet.

"No! You can't see it!" She snapped.

"Yeah, it's not that interesting anyways." Scout tried to help, very unhelpfully.

"You've seen it?! That's not fair!" Bit complained, and Bonzai Jumped over too.

"Yeah! You can't just show Scout! She's lame!" He insisted, to the human teen's unamused look.

"Scout's my favorite." Stacy told them bluntly, to two offended gasps while Scout cheered and then mocked them.

"Yeah, I'm her favorite! Who's lame now? Losers. Ow!" Canon smacked her head, turning on her eye lights.

"Don't be smug about it!" She scolded her younger sister, who grumbled and retreated to the top of Stacy's head.

"Hey, no hitting." Stacy tried to scold, then just gave a tired sigh. "Look. let's just go back to the movie, it's fine."

"No! I wanna see the robot arm!" Bonzai lunged for her, but Stacy yanked her arm away again and he landed on the carpet instead. "Come on! You showed it to Scout!"

"Yeah, and I'm not showing it to anybody else!" She retorted, while Danny picked up Bonzai. The puppet struggled against the five year old's hold, but ultimately failed to escape.

"I'm helping!" Danny pipped up happily as he sat back down to finish the movie.

"Yep. You are." His sister muttered. They managed about five more minutes of movie before Bonzai managed to escape Danny's grasp. He instantly went back over to her, draping himself over her arm.

"I still wanna see the arm." He said, and Stacy groaned as she fell back against the carpet, hands pressed against her face.

"Noooooo." She moaned out. "I. Don't. Wanna. Show you."

"Please! We all wanna see!" Bit piped up. Stacy uncovered her face and looked over at Stitch, who nodded. Her gaze turned to Canon, who looked away sheepishly.

"I mean, it's not like I don't want to see it..." She admitted quietly, and Stacy gave an irritated sigh.

"Fine! Fine. But you only get one look! And none of you get to ask me again!" She waited until they all nodded, before starting to roll up her sleeve, revealing just how long her glove really was. Carefully, she pulled it off, revealing gleaming silver metal that ended just above her elbow. The flesh that met the metal was scarred, rough and pale against the smooth brown that was the rest of her skin.

"Oooooh, so shiny..." Bonzai muttered. The four Puppets that hadn't seen it yet stared, transfixed, at the limb. Scout, who had also reacted that same way, just rolled her eyes.

"Weirdos." She muttered, though she also couldn't help but watch as Stacy flexed her hand and showed off the arm.

"It's really advanced, and really expensive." She told them. "And I'm supposed to go in for upgrades in a few months due to growth spurts."

"Why are you even hiding this? It makes you so much cooler than anyone else." Bit told her, and she shrugged, pulling the glove back on.

"Because I don't want them to know about it." Stacy said bluntly, letting her sleeve drop back down. "Now can we please go back to the movie? It's one of my favorites."

"Yeah, we can do that." Canon said, and then forced her siblings to turn back to the screen, which had been playing the movie the whole time. Giving a relieved sigh, Stacy did the same, settling in as she made sure her glove was on straight.

They watched the movie silently, the small Puppets getting way too into it in Stacy's opinion. But, at least they liked it, and that was all she really cared about. By the end of it, however, most of them were still riled up, including Danny, so Stacy put in Barbie Swan Lake instead.

"But that's a girls movie!" Bonzai complained, to which Stitch shushed him.

"You should give the movie a chance. The story is about a rather interesting dance." She told him, to which he groaned louder.

"Stacy can dance!" Danny piped up, to which Stacy internally sighed.

'Great word association there. Does everything have to come back to me?' She shook her head slightly, trying to keep from sounding resentful.

"You can?!" That was Scout, now staring up at her with wide eyes. "You never told me that!"

"That's because I can't do it anymore. The weight distribution is off with my arm." She told her.

"Can you still show us some moves? Please?" Five Puppets, and one younger brother, stared up at her, begging with surprisingly good puppy-dog-eyes. She could feel her resolve wavering,even as she focused on the TV.

"Ugh..." She hated being the oldest. Why did all the younger kids think she was cool? "Fine. I'll do a dance. But don't ask me for anything else today."

"Yay!" Everyone, including Danny, cheered, as Stacy moved to get ready. Lucky her, they were dancing on the movie, so she could just do what they were doing. It wasn't terribly complicated, as she'd been in a production of Swan Lake before, though not as Odette. The moves that were a little too complex, were easy to fake with a bit of effort.

It was easy to lose herself in it, just like she used to. Easy enough that she stopped looking at the screen, and simply did the dance from memory.

And thus, it was easy enough to misstep and slide on a piece of paper during a spin. A yell, and a loud, sharp thud as she landed, and things went black.

[ithehellisbucky]

Alpine

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Request: None

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: Fluff fluff fluff. Mentions of someone being hurt and brief discussion about the mistreatment of a cat.

Author’s Note: I haven’t written in so long, I’m so sorry. I suck at fluff apparently, which is a good note. It’s pretty short, sorry about that. Enjoy!

~

James Buchanan Barnes. The Winter Soldier. The White Wolf. Deadly assassin. Cat person.

This was a secret if you've ever seen one. A shame, constantly hanging over Bucky's head. But you honestly thought it was cute as hell. 

I mean, come on, he's the scariest dude you'll ever meet; but once you break through his surface he's the opposite of terrifying. He's like a burnt marshmallow, rough on the outside and soft on the inside.

So, when you saw his face light up as you walked by a pet store, you set your plan in motion. You are going to get Bucky a cat for his birthday, even if it kills you.

~

It was March 3rd, exactly a week before his birthday when your plan was set in motion. Presents were wrapped, plans were made, and all for the incredible payoff of jack shit.

A pair of socks and a new shirt, absolutely nothing. But the cat, the cat was everything. It was going to seal the deal. It was going to make this the best birthday ever.

His name was Alpine. The cat that Bucky had looked at every day when you passed the glass window. Alpine. A white, scrawny, orphan cat. Not a kitten, but a cat. A cat that would at least make Bucky's day, if not his year.

In the days leading up to Bucky's birthday, you slowly got everything in order. Bought more towels, blankets, and even cat food. Everything was in order, now, and all you needed was the cat.

~

March 10th. Bucky's birthday. The day he simultaneously loved and hated. In one way it reminded him of his life in the 30s, and in the other wasy it did the same, yet only it shone light on a different perspective.

You snuck out of bed at 8 AM. You were positive that Bucky would probably freak out if he woke up to an empty bed, so you wrote him a sweet note that said you were picking up a last-minute gift for him.

It was like something out of a spy movie; you wore a hoodie and sunglasses, in case Bucky went out on a morning run and spotted you (definitely not for the thrill of pretending you were in a James Bond movie).

First, you went to the pet store, not the shop where Alpine stayed, but at a giant pet store. You bought all the things that you couldn't easily smuggle into your apartment. Kitty litter, a crate, a collar, and a tiny little cat toothbrush that was far cuter than a toothbrush had any right to be.

After picking up all of the necessities, you drove to the pet shop. A smile spread onto your cheeks when you saw who was at the window.

It was Bucky, sweating like a pig from what you assumed was his early morning run. He was peering into the window and had a giant smile on his face as his lips formed baby talk (or cat talk I guess, but you assumed it sounded the same).

Waiting for a few minutes to enter the store was no problem, it would all be worth it to see Bucky have that same smile on his face, all day long. 

Once Bucky left the window, you instantly rushed into the store. The woman at the counter had a cheery (if not enthusiastic) look on her face, and you hoped that her service would be as great as her smile.

"Hi, I'm (y/n) Barnes, we spoke on the phone." You exclaim to the woman with a smile.

"Of course, you were seeking to adopt Alpine the cat; correct?" She returned with a grin.

"Yes, that is me," you pull out your ID to show her. 

"Great, it seems like you have most of the paperwork already filled out, if you could just fill out these few forms you'll be all set to take Alpine home." She cheerfully responded.

"Thank you so much." You reply, taking the clipboard she was handing you into your clutches.

It only took about 10 minutes to fill out the forms, and once you handed them to the woman at the counter she looked over them and then said: "Congratulations Mrs. Barnes, you are now a proud pet parent. Do you have a crate to take home Alpine, or would you like to purchase one."

"I have one, if you wouldn't mind that I pop into my car and go grab it." You could barely contain your excitement, just because this gift was for Bucky’s birthday it doesn’t mean that it wasn’t a present for you as well.

You ran to your car at an almost lightning-fast speed, practically walking on sunshine the whole way there.

Once you got back into the store, the clerk was standing right next to the window. On your side of the glass, there were boxes with all the cats and dogs. It was positioned in a way where the side facing the street and the side facing you was glass. The two adjacent walls were made out of wood painted grass green, and the top was open.

There were several pillows and a water bowl in there, and he seemed slightly malnourished. "He was a rescue." The woman exclaims.

"Hm?" You ask, you were too busy looking at Alpine to register what she was saying.

"His old home abused him, eventually animal control found out and rescued him. They put him in a shelter for a couple of weeks, but he was too scared to eat or interact with any of the other cats, so we thought it would be much safer and healthier to have him live here until he got adopted."He's a pretty traumatized cat; we've only had him in for about a month, and he's not a great eater. If you do decide to adopt him, you're going to have to do a lot of work to keep him happy and healthy. I would completely understand if you didn't want to adopt him now, we have several other kittens that would be great for you and your husband."

You didn't have to think at all, you already knew your response. "No thank you, my husband walks past this shop at least once every day, and he loves Alpine. Every time he comes here, his mood instantly brightens. He's been through some shit, and so has Alpine. I think that they could help each other."

Your gaze averted from the woman and down to the white cat in front of you. 

"Alright then, I'll open the crate and you can pick him up and put him there." She exclaimed. 

The moment your fingers touched his fur, the entire world became bleached in sunshine. His fur wasn't soft by any means, but that didn't matter to you. It was obvious that he wasn't taken care of that well, and you felt yourself developing more and more resentment for anyone who helped this beautiful cat become as scared and hurt as he was.

You carefully picked Alpine up and wrapped your arms around him in a way that you hoped made him feel protected. Half-expecting him to freak out and scratch you through your shirt, you were pleasantly surprised when he did none of those things. He just simply cuddled himself closer to your chest.

"He's perfect." You whispered under your breath, just enough to make the women smile lightly.

Gently placing Alpine in the crate, you smile at his small paws prodding around the new space. He mews, and your eyes light up even more.

"Thank you so much," You exclaim with a smile to the shopkeeper.

"No problem, give me a call if you have any problems." You grin, and shake her hand.

You pick up the crate, and Alpine starts mewling at the shaking space around him. "It's okay," Reaching down to put your hand at the opening you smile when he rubs his face against your fingers.

When you walk out the door you wave at the shopkeeper. The two of you make eye contact and exchange a smile. 

As you walk back to your car you try to move as carefully as you can to not swing around the crate too much. When you reach the car you gently put the crate in the back seat. Even though you may want for him to sit next to you in the passenger seat, you know that he could get hurt.

~

When you got home, you asked the old lady named Cynthia in the apartment next to yours to watch Alpine for a little while, just long enough for you to keep Bucky's surprise going.

"Hey baby," You exclaimed as soon as you walked in through the door to your apartment.

Bucky was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book as he ate cereal. You internally winced when you realized that in your haste you had forgotten to make him a special breakfast, or at least picked up some donuts from Krispy Kreme. Bucky would never expect you to cook for him, but it still made you feel bad that he was eating cereal on his birthday.

"Hey doll, how are you doing today." You smile and walk up to him, scooting his chair back and moving to straddle his lap. 

"I'm doing okay, how about you?" You ask, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"I'm doing great now." He says with a chuckle. "I was a little bit concerned when I came home and you weren't here, but it's all good."

"Sorry, I was picking you up a present." You kiss him on the lips again.

"Can I open it right now?" He asks, moving in to kiss your neck.

You laugh, and simply respond with, "I'm not your present Bucky, I think you'll like the one I am getting you a whole lot more."

"Nonsense, you being here with me is a gift of itself, everything else is just confetti."

"Awww, baby." You tilt your head to get a better look at the adorable fluffball in front of you. "I am getting you a real present though, and I think you'll like it a lot.

"So... Do you want to unwrap presents now?" 

"Sure, sounds fun." Bucky is trying to play cool, but you can see through his eyes that he’s excited.

"Alright, I'm gonna run into the bedroom and grab them really fast, then we can open them. We'll open the rest of the presents tonight at Pepper's house."

Inside of the closet where you stashed the shirt and socks you giggle thinking about the stunt that you're about to pull on Bucky.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Bucky, happy birthday to you!" You walk in carrying the two presents in your hand, and Bucky looks almost happier than you've ever seen him before. 

Once you set both of the presents down on the ground, Bucky eagerly rips open one of the neatly wrapped packages. The second he sees that there is only a red henley inside, his face falls slightly, but he quickly picks it back up to keep the appearance of excitement on for you.

"It's great Doll, I needed another one." He reaches over and kisses you on the forehead.

He opens the second present, more slowly this time, and pulls it out carefully. His face immediately droops when seeing that it's socks. He puts on a happy face and says, "great, I love it." With as much enthusiasm as he can muster.

You let out a chuckle, even though you feel guilty for making Bucky feel bad. "I'm just kidding Baby, close your eyes and I'll have your real present in a minute."

Bucky lets out a sigh of relief, and he immediately looks guilty the second after.

"C'mon baby, did you think I would play you like that?" You respond with a small chuckle. "I'll be back in a couple of minutes," you exclaim as you lean down to kiss him on the cheek.

After you leave the apartment, you pretend to stomp down the hallway, when in reality all you’re doing is going next door. You carefully knock on the door, and Cynthia opens it up almost immediately.

"Hi, is he doing alright?" You ask with genuine concern.

"Oh lovely, you're very lucky to have him, he's sweet as sugar. My cat, Vera, has taken a liking to him, perhaps you could bring him over some time for a play date?" Even though you had never heard of a cat play date, you were open to the idea.

"Sounds great!" You reply with a smile.

"Splendid, I'll go get him now." She walks back into her apartment only to shortly return with the crate.

She hands you Alpine, and you quickly respond with: "Thank you so much, Cynthia, have a great day!" She then smiles and closes the door.

You walk the few feet back to your apartment, and you open it to a crack. "Hey baby, could you close your eyes for a minute?" Bucky doesn't say anything, and just simply puts a hand over his eyes.

As you open the door, Alpine lets out a meow. You frantically look over at Bucky, but he’s none the wiser.

Once you're fully inside and have the door closed, you set the crate on the ground and open the latch, pulling Alpine out. 

"Keep 'em closed, and let your arms out." Bucky does as you told him to, and you gently place Alpine in his arms.

"You can open them now."

Bucky looks down at the white ball of fur that he's holding, and a smile immediately erupts on his face. "Is it-"

"Yeah, baby, it is." A grin spreads on your features.

Bucky doesn't say anything, just carefully plays with Alpine. He turns him to face him and smiles even more when he sees his cute little whiskers. He begins to talk baby talk to Alpine, and you can't help but giggle at this adorable display.

"His name is Alpine." Bucky looks up at you, and then back at Alpine.

"Well isn't that the perfect name for the perfect cat." He exclaims with the biggest smile you've ever seen him wear. 

He reaches towards you and pulls you closer towards him. You move from facing him, to sitting next to him, and he wraps his human arm around you.

"I love you, sweetheart." He says as he kisses you on the forehead. 

You smile and respond with, "And I love you." As you move your lips towards him to give him a kiss, which he eagerly returns.

After you finish your sweet embrace he turns down to look at the white cat that had cuddled himself into Bucky's arm. "And I love you too, Alpine."

Requests are open!

Prompt List

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Marvel:

[platypanthewriter]

Yuletide fic 3/5

Part One/Two/Three/Four/Five Read them as I post here, or all at once in Ao3 under peterqpan

As everyone stared at the trays and trays of popcorn balls, then down at their caramelly fingers, Joyce drew Hopper away.  

Billy watched her wave her hands around as she talked to him in a low voice, and he frowned at Steve, then, for some reason, at Billy.  Billy set his jaw, glaring back, and Hopper laughed, shaking his head.  Steve stared Billy in the eye and slid one of his caramel fingers in his mouth, and Billy swiveled away to wash his hands as Hopper braced his feet to yell.

“Who wants to make Christmas cookies,” he called out.  “El!”

“Me!” she shouted back, from the front room, and then there came a rapid thumping as she ran back to the kitchen.  

“What’s happening,” Steve whispered again, as Dustin grabbed their popcorn balls, and trotted into the front room.

Billy thought of a few responses, like everybody’s trying to decorate your damn tree, and you bought so many groceries Mrs. Henderson screamed into her hands, and bit his lips together.  “They’re having a good time,” he said finally.  “Max put on the Jackson 5, Will’s making snowflakes.”

Steve watched his face uncertainly, and Billy sighed, elbowing him.  

“They don’t have to be here.”

“Yeah,” Steve nodded, laughing unsteadily.  

“They want to be here,” Billy stressed, and Steve nodded, biting back a smile.

“You two delinquents helping us make cookies?” Joyce said, stepping between their chairs.  She hugged both their heads to her stomach, while Steve stared into Billy’s eyes like he was having a heart attack.  “Say cheese,” she said, and Billy felt himself flush at the idea of a photo of he and Steve with Joyce Byers’ arms around their heads.  Jonathan took a few, and Joyce let go and yanked them up by the shoulders to mix, and measure, and get two separate mixing bowls of cookies going, while Hopper and Mrs. Henderson made frosting.  

“I haven’t got any cutting-out thingies,” Steve confessed suddenly, and Hopper snorted.  

“That’s what knives are for,” said Mrs. Henderson, her cheer making the line even creepier, and Billy rolled his eyes, and started cutting out fold-and-cut paper doll chains to use as stencils.  

“Oh, leave those two together,” said Joyce, leaning over Billy’s shoulder, as he started to cut two gingerbread men apart.  “They’re friends.  We’ll put them up as pairs.  Let them hold hands.  You boys can each decorate your own set.”

Billy froze, his cheeks flushing, and Steve dropped the bowl he was mixing, so it clattered against the counter.  “O-okay,” Billy whispered, under his breath, and she patted his shoulder, shouting for the kids to all come and cut out cookies.  

The kitchen turned into a stampede, so Billy tugged Steve out, pulling him into the front room where the TV was playing static in front of a stack of Christmas videotapes, and the enormous tree was actually looking good, decked out with yards of paper chain in alternating red and white, gleaming popcorn balls bigger than Billy’s fists, and Will’s intricate snowflakes.  

“Holy shit,” Steve mumbled, staring up at it, and sliding his fingers between Billy’s to give them a squeeze.  “It...it looks so good.”  He looked a little...adrift, Billy thought, and he glanced back towards the kitchen to make sure they had no witnesses before pulling Steve and his sweater closer, and giving him a tight hug and soft kiss under the Christmas tree.  

He was squishier than usual, in the sweater, and Billy squeezed harder, until Steve huffed a laugh, humming tunelessly against Billy’s lips.  “Love you so much,” Steve whispered, still sounding a little bewildered, and Billy gave him one last squeeze before tugging his hand away, and clearing his throat.  It felt raw.  

“You—you wanna put on one of your Christmas movies,” Billy asked, and Steve grimaced down at the pile.  

“Uh,” he said, and Billy bent to pick up Silent Night, Bloody Night, The Little Drummer Boy, and Black Christmas, subtitled If This Picture Doesn’t Make Your Skin Crawl...It’s On Too Tight.  “Honestly the scariest one there is Little Drummer Boy,” Steve said, sliding an arm around Billy’s waist.  “He hates all humans and wants them to die.”

“Is it because they keep making him play that damn song?” Billy asked, eyeing it, and Steve pressed a warm kiss to his cheek.  Billy heard a click, and spun them in their socks on the hardwood floor to look at the door to the kitchen.  

Jonathan was standing there.  He opened his mouth just as Dustin walked in, humming, and Jonathan swallowed, and grabbed the light-up snowman off the floor.  “Thought I’d...put this by the door,” he mumbled, and Billy narrowed his eyes.

“Did he take a picture?” Billy asked under his breath.  

Steve bit his lips, clenching his hands on Billy’s arms.  “...even if he doesn’t tell anyone, he’ll probably leave it around the photo lab for anyone to see, just like he fucking did with Nancy.”

“I can only carry so many popcorn balls,” Dustin yelled into the kitchen, from around the other side of the tree, and more feet followed.

“I can go feed him his camera,” Billy offered in a whisper.  “Shove it down his—”

“No, no,” Steve groaned.  “He’s dating Nancy, I can’t—and he’s here for Christmas, we can’t kill him.”

“You always act like I murder six guys before breakfast,” Billy muttered, and Steve snorted a laugh.

“That’s on the sixth day of Christmas,” he whispered back, and Billy covered a snigger, trying to lean and see into the kitchen.

“On the first day of murder, my true love gave to me/a dead camera creep shoved into my tree.  On the second day of murder—”

“See if you can get him alone,” Billy said under his breath, just as Will popped up next to him, and Steve backed away.

“I’m sleeping under the tree,” Will breathed, dwarfed by the massive pillar of lights and ornaments.  

“Me too,” El announced, and Hopper frowned.  

“Oh, are you, now?” he asked her, and she nodded firmly, eyes wide and pleading.

“I wanna stay too,” Dustin said, throwing an arm around Will.  He then stuck his tongue out at Lucas.  “You gotta get home, I bet?”

“Shut up,” said Lucas, folding his arms and setting his jaw.  

“I’m...staying too,” said Max, and Billy turned to see her glaring at the tree, her fists clenched at her sides.  

“Good thing there’re enough sleeping bags,” Steve said, squeezing Billy’s shoulder, and Billy wondered what face he’d made, at the news his step-sister wanted to spend Christmas at Steve Harrington’s, without Lucas.  

“Are there?” Dustin’s mom asked.  “Maybe we should go home, honey, I didn’t bring all the—”

“I’ll sleep naked!” Dustin declared, and everyone yelled “ew”, and “gross”, and “dude!”  

“...let’s get our pajamas,” his mom told him, and he blinked at her, then beamed.  

“Pajama party!” yelled El, high-fiving Will, and Billy glanced at Steve to see him nearly hovering off the floor with excitement.  

“There’s hot chocolate,” Billy’s dingus boyfriend shouted over the noise.  “We can stay up and tell stories!” 

“Bring more sleeping bags,” Billy whispered to Dustin, who grinned up at him—and then Billy saw Max creeping off to the phone, and dialling, turning her body away and plugging her ear to listen to the receiver.  

“Man,” Lucas sighed, folding his arms behind his head.  “I wanna stay, too.”

“You should,” Steve told him, and Billy rolled his eyes.  

 “Okay!” said Joyce, “Um, Hopper, and Steve, and Billy, and uh, Jonathan, um—”

Mrs. Henderson laughed, following Joyce and all the non-children into the garage.  

“Everyone’s very excited,” Joyce said, grimacing at Steve, “—but are there enough places to sleep?”

“You and Mrs. Henderson could sleep in my parent’s room,” Steve told her, squeezing Billy’s wrist with both hands.  “And there’s a guest room, and my room.  We can use sleeping bags—”

“The kids can zip them together,” suggested Hopper.  “Sardine a few of ‘em in there.”

“I brought the Santa presents for Will,” Joyce whispered, as Billy closed the door after the crowd of grown-ups.  “I’ll set those up tonight, if—if they ever go to sleep—”

“I brought El’s,” Hopper nodded, and Mrs. Henderson shrugged.  

“I’ll pick Dustin’s up.”

“Max?” Steve asked, looking at Billy, and he shrugged.  

“No clue, she said she was staying with Lucas.”

“We can’t ask Lucas,” Steve hissed, like Santa secrecy was an issue of national defense, and Billy held his breath for a second, afraid of what he might say, he so desperately wanted to kiss Steve Harrington’s stupid face.

“Max, uh, she called somebody,” Billy told them.  “She’s probably...figuring it out.”

“Where are your presents,” Steve asked, suddenly, and Billy snorted, grinning at him.

“The fuck are yours, genius?”

They both realized at the same time they were surrounded by parents, and looked back at the wide-eyed, frowning faces of Hopper, Mrs. Henderson, and Joyce Byers, who all looked tongue-tied, and Jonathan Byers, who looked like he was feeling awkward as hell.

“Look,” Steve said to them, “—you cooked my food and decorated my tree—”

“You brought Christmas to this lonely house,” Billy intoned, pressing his hands together in prayer, his eyes raised to the roof of the garage, and Steve elbowed him hard in the side as Jonathan covered a laugh.  “Blessings on you, every one,” Billy wheezed, clutching his side, and Steve smacked his head, laughing.  

“Shut up!  I’m serious—”

“You could let him dress up as Santa,” Billy threw out the suggestion, eyeing his boyfriend dryly.  “I bet he’d cry from happiness.”

“I would not,” Steve hissed.  “They’d recognize me.  And that hat would cover my best feature.”

“Thank you for having us,” said Joyce, grabbing Steve’s hands.  

“Uh, no problem!” he laughed a little too jovially, his eyes wide and startled.  “Uh, ho ho ho!”

“Oh my god,” Billy sighed.  “Idiot.”

“If we’re upstairs, we might need them to put the Santa presents out,” Hopper said, and Steve brightened.  

“We could do that.”

“El’s old for it,” Hopper grimaced, clearing his throat, “—but I was thinking of the whole thing, the—leave the note for Santa, and the...you know, the cookie crumbs.”  He looked kind of...depressed about it, but he smiled back at the garage door and El.  

Steve made a noise like an over-full teakettle, spewing steam, and Billy smacked his back, hard.   “No, no no, she’s not,” Steve coughed, glaring at Billy, and steepled his hands, eyes narrowed.  “She’s not too old, she’s never had Christmas, right?  I knew somebody that rang bells outside.  For Santa.  Those kids were convinced—”

“Oh my god,” Billy groaned into his hands, feeling his tired smile muscles protest again.   Dingus, he thought, helplessly.  He reached out, then pulled his arm back, remembering that in front of everyone wasn’t the time to yank Steve into a kiss.  

He left the rest of them whispering about presents, and wandered back into the kitchen, face-first into a wall of cookie smells, to find the whole scout troop eating peanut butter with spoons, staring into the oven.  

“F’mell fo good,” El whispered, and Dustin, Lucas, and Will started telling her about their Christmases.

Max was leaning well back, in the doorway to the front room, and she shot a glance at Billy, then glanced at them, raising her eyebrows.  

Billy snorted, sidling up so she was just out of arm’s reach.  She relaxed when he stopped, and he folded his arms, turning to lean against the wall.  “...you know if these idiots believe in Santa Claus?” he asked, under his breath.

She turned her head to stare witheringly.  “They’re not babies,” she hissed back.

“Yeah,” Billy nodded.  “...the sheriff wants to do a little-kid Santa thing for El.  Y’know, cookie crumbs.”

Max squinted at him, wrinkling her nose for emphasis.  “...the fuck do you care,” she asked in a low voice, and Billy licked his teeth, slowly, thinking.  “...Steve’s into it,” Max guessed, and he felt his cheeks heat, and wanted to tell her to shut the hell up, but he took a deep breath.  

“You gonna help, or what,” he asked, keeping his eyes on Lucas, who was talking about his then-toddler sister telling a white girl that she was just sugar and flour, instead of being brown and spicy like gingerbread, and Will was laughing, while El looked a little confused.  

“You wanna trick El into believing in Santa,” Max said, raising her eyebrows at Billy.  “You want her to get beat up in school?”

“No,” Billy winced.  “No, no, just…”

“Fine,” she sighed.  “I’ll tell the guys.  We can be Santa...agnostic.  Make it good, though, I’m not looking like a moron over some half-eaten carrots.”

“Right,” Billy nodded, turned away—he could feel Max’s stare between his shoulder blades, and felt his shoulders hunching—and he slipped back into the garage.  “Max will help,” he said, and everybody frowned at him.  He felt his cheeks heating, and desperately wanted to turn back around and leave, or maybe get in his car, and drive to California.  “...help you to...convince El there’s a...Santa,” he forced out, and Steve lit up as Hopper blinked and smirked, and Joyce and Claudia Henderson grinned.

“Wait, what,” said Jonathan.

“She says to make it good, she’s not gonna look dumb over half-eaten carrots,” Billy repeated dutifully, and Joyce covered what looked like a snicker.  

Fuck you, he thought, but Steve was already turning to Hopper with a serious expression.  “What about the woodstove?  How’s Santa gonna get down the—”  

“Knew a guy once,” Hopper said, crossing his arms with a frown, “—he took his biggest boots, stuck ‘em in the ashes, and made some prints in front of the stove.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Steve breathed.  “We gotta get that thing lit.”

Billy stared over, listening with disbelief to his boyfriend trying to figure out how Santa managed stovepipes.  He was beginning to wonder if Steve Harrington believed in Santa.

“I can tell Will,” said Jonathan, shooting a suspicious glance at Billy, who shrugged, stepping away from the door to let him get by.  

 “There are jingly bells in one of the boxes,” Steve announced.  “Shake them outside—”

“Y’know, if you tossed those car chains on the roof,” Billy said, “—let ‘em slide down, it’d sound like a sleigh, maybe.  Get it down with a ladder later.  They’d never know in the dark.”

Joyce looked a little bewildered, but Hopper’s eyes widened, and he clapped a hand on Billy’s shoulder.  “Keep talking,” he said intently.  Billy wanted to flinch away, and knew he was supposed to stay still, so he kept his knees locked, swallowing.  His ears rang a little.

“The—the chains,” he repeated numbly.  “Sir,” and Hopper lifted his hand away, then patted Billy's arm, frowning.  Steve came up and threw an arm around him, and Billy tried not lean into him too obviously.

"...actually, I got something else you could help me with, kiddo," Hopper said, and Billy nodded automatically.  Joyce reached out and squeezed his arm, and he wondered how obvious he was, him sweating like a pussy in the cold air of the garage.  "The kids are gonna know all our handwriting.  I need a Santa note for El."

"Yeah," Billy nodded, trying to focus on Hopper's words, and not the garage, where the crowbar was so close to Hopper's hand. 

"I want Santa to apologize for not finding her at the labs," said Hopper, his jaw working, and Steve's hand on Billy's arm jerked as Claudia and Joyce winced.  "Tell her he tried."

"Oh shit, yeah," Billy snorted.  "Where the hell has he been, if he's not a shithead."  Steve squeezed him, smirking, and Billy took a deep breath.  "Just tell me what you want me to write."

"Atta kid," said Hopper, and Billy shoved down the stupidest part of him, the part that wanted to write Hopper thirty notes in a row, and hear 'Atta kid' every time.

"Sure," Billy said, thickly.

 “I think we can make it pretty, uh, pretty believable,” Steve said, his eyes sparkling in a way Billy resented.  Not for the first time, he wished he could kiss him when he looked like that, no matter who was watching.  “Billy and me can put the stockings up, and the presents out, and then make some noise.”

“We should encourage a snowball fight,” said Mrs. Henderson craftily.  “Get them all tuckered out.”

“Ohhhh,” said Joyce and Hopper, nodding, and Steve beamed at Billy.

He nodded back, feeling a temptation to salute, but instead he just smiled back, trying not to look too tense next to the Sheriff.  Steve came over and threw an arm around him again, squeezing him around the shoulders, and Billy looked away from his mouth before he did anything catastrophic.

“Are—” he cleared his throat, and Steve smirked.  “Are the pellets in here?  For the stove?”

“Oh," said Jonathan.  “On it.”

Just then, the door to the garage opened, and Dustin stuck his head in.  “The cookies are done!  The hell are you all doing, anyway?!”

“Figuring out where you all sleep!” Billy yelled back, and Dustin snorted, raising his eyebrows.  “Come on, Steve,” Dustin called.  “We got frosting and everything.”

Steve hauled Billy along into the kitchen, and Joyce presented them with two baked cookies from Billy’s unfolding paper doll pattern—two boys each, linked like they were holding hands.  “I want friend cookies!” El said, staring at them, and started helping Hopper roll out another batch of dough, her jaw set with concentration.

Mrs. Henderson packed some white frosting into a sandwich baggie and cut off the corner, tapping Steve on the arm and showing him how to squeeze it through in a line.  

“Whoa,” he whispered.

“I need blue for jeans,” Billy said, feeling his cheeks heat, and his heart pounding, wondering if they could honest-to-god get away with decorating boyfriend cookies in the kitchen with everyone they knew.  

“On it,” said Steve, as Dustin—apparently a Christmas cookie pro—showed Will how to do Joyce’s plaid flannel shirt.  

Billy watched Max stare at he and Steve, and then their cookies, and then look at Lucas, and roll up her sleeves, when something soft landed in his hand.  He looked down at a bag of pale blue frosting, and up to see Steve studying Billy’s mostly-unbuttoned blue button-down with a smile.  “Just a little darker,” he decided, as Billy shook his head, and began outlining the pants on his boyfriend cookie.  

Claudia and Joyce were laughing at Joyce trying to do plaid on a plain round one, and making a mess, and Steve leaned in next to Billy and started his own cookie, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth in concentration.  

It made his lips glisten, and Billy tore his eyes away, clearing his throat, to finish filling in his jean lines, drawing frosting over Steve’s naked cookie thigh, as Steve started brown curls on one of the cookie heads.  

“...gonna have to eat ‘em carefully so the hands don’t break apart,” said Mrs. Henderson, between their heads, and they both jumped half out of their skins, but she grinned, a hand on each of their outside shoulders.  “I did wait until you lifted your frosting bags,” she pointed out, and Billy nodded, wondering whether his mom’s family was prone to heart failure, because he was pretty sure he’d almost died, thinking about slipping his boyfriend slowly into his mouth as he filled blue frosting in the fly of Steve’s cookie jeans.

“Y-yeah,” Billy mumbled, and she put her hands on their heads, ruffling their hair before going to help Will do his mom’s face.  

“Put me in a yellow sweater,” Steve whispered.  “I’m hot as hell in yellow.”

“Do it yourself,” Billy muttered, squeezing green food coloring from an old, easter-themed box they’d found next to the pipe over the stove vent.  “You’re wearing green, I’m piping it green.”  He filled it in slowly down Steve’s cookie stomach, covering where Steve shivered when Billy slid his hands up his boyfriend’s clothes.  Next to him, the sweater on the actual Steve Harrington still smelled like the Christmas tree lot, and like he’d been kissing Billy in the garage against a car.

Joyce wandered up next to him, leaning in, and Billy stopped, waiting for her assessment.  “Very nice,” she said, smiling, and Billy registered Hopper watching them, frowning down at the cookies, and narrowing his eyes.  He stared back, feeling his heart start pounding again, but Hopper gave his head a quick jerky shake and turned back to El.  Billy leaned against the counter, trembling, and Joyce put an arm around him.  

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” she whispered, glancing over her shoulder, and Billy shook his head, stepping a little further from where Steve’s jeans pressed against his side.  

Billy shook his head again, wishing he wasn’t such a pussy, jumping at every noise.  He started filling in Steve’s sweatered cookie arms.  He wanted to drag Steve back in the garage and feel them again, squeezing him until he felt...better, but there were a million people in the house that could burst in on them, and find out, so he worked on his cookie, and remembered to breathe.  

He slowed down as he filled in Steve’s cookie sneakers.  He’d never thought much about Steve’s shoes before, but he imagined touching them too, maybe dragging Steve around the house, and laughing at his yells.  Dragging him under the Christmas tree, and peeling him out of the jeans, and the sweater, and feeling his skin as he breathed.

Billy tried to turn his body so nobody’d see how hard he was in his jeans, frosting cookies.  He grabbed the brown Steve had used—there was plenty—and tried to do the swoopy thing Steve’s hair did, as Steve carefully drew the crooked line down Billy’s cookie-chest that his shirt made, open nearly to his bellybutton.  He glanced up with a smirk that said he knew exactly what Billy was thinking, and ran the frosting up Billy’s cookie sides, smiling, as Billy wondered what was wrong with you if you jizzed in your pants making cookies.  

Lucas and Max were cutting out hand-holding cookies of each other too, and Billy set his jaw, but Max threw an arm around El, and said “Let’s do friend cookies, like them,” and El nodded.  Max didn’t look over, but Billy took a slow relieved breath.

Billy’s cookie-self on his own cookie was naked, and if they’d been alone, he’d have frosted on hair and a big cock, but he sighed, and put on pants and a shirt.  His frosting hair made him look like a poodle, but he shrugged at the final result, risking a glance at Steve’s.  

Steve glanced up, smiling, and drew a heart in his yellow frosting sweater, then filled in around and inside it to blend it in.  Billy bit back a smile, shaking his head, and watched him—his frown of concentration, the smear of green on his cheek, even though he hadn’t even used the green, and his forearms bared by his rolled-up sleeves, his hands gentle on the frosting bag.  It was squishing out the back of the bag over his thumb, and Billy reached over and wiped it away before it landed and messed up Steve’s cookie, sticking it in his mouth without thinking.  He swished the buttery sweetness around in his mouth, and thought about what it would taste like to kiss.

Will’s Joyce cookie had a cute face, so Billy leaned back to hiss at Claudia Henderson, and she did the faces for him too.  Cookie-Billy was looking at Steve, and Billy glanced at her face, but she just hummed along with John Denver and the Muppets and drew Steve’s face in, smiling back at Billy.  

“...thanks,” Billy told her, and she smiled and patted his hand, wandering over to help Max with an overabundance of cookie candy canes.

“They’re cute,” Steve whispered, at their two sets of boyfriends.  He’d done his own faces, and Billy had a goofy little frown on his face that cookie-Steve was smiling at, but then Billy felt Steve’s fingers locking with his between their thighs and the cupboard, and he took a shaky breath, squeezing back.

“Next year we’ll do a lil’ heart between them,” Steve said under his breath, and Billy laughed, a little too loud and uneven.

“Kid,” said Hopper, dropping a heavy hand on his shoulder.  “Smoke break.”

 Hopper led the way out of the kitchen, noisily grabbing his coat and yanking his boots on in the hall, and Billy thought for a moment he might piss himself right there in the kitchen, unable to walk or breathe.  

“I’ll help Steve put ribbons on them to hang,” Joyce said cheerily, and Steve frowned from her to Billy, biting his lip, as Billy stood, staring at his cookie, his gorge rising.  

Hopper leaned back in the kitchen.  “Come on, son,” he said, and Billy kept his knees locked, and then forced himself a step around, and another towards the door.  

“...best spot is right there by the windows,” said Steve, pointing, and leaning to lock eyes with Billy.  “You can see the tree!  Where I can see you.”

Billy nodded, a little of the weight he felt lessening at the thought of Steve watching him from the window.  Somebody shoved him forward, and he staggered out to the entryway, and pulled on his shoes.  He ducked around Hopper and jogged outside, blowing on his fingers and staying at least ten feet ahead as he trotted around to where Steve had pointed, and Steve knocked on the window, waving.  The chill air felt even colder against the sweat suddenly sheening his whole body, and he clenched his moist hands, shivering.

“Talked to your dad a few times when you folks moved to town,” said Hopper, and Billy made a weird noise in his throat, and shut his mouth.  Hopper pulled a cigarette out and lit up, but he didn’t come any closer, and Billy realized he hadn’t remembered his smokes.  

“Shit,” he muttered, patting his back pocket, then rubbing his arms.  “Sir.  Yeah?”

“He said you were a troublemaker,” said Hopper, and Billy wondered what to do, if Hopper warned him off Steve.  He was thinking so hard about where to hide his car, he missed some of what Hopper was saying.  “...started fights, drove drunk.”

“Yes sir,” Billy whispered, automatically, and Hopper took a long drag off his cigarette.

“That’s not the kid I’m seeing,” he said, and Billy swallowed, shifting his feet.  Both ‘yes’ and ‘no’ sounded like he was arguing, somehow, and while he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say, Hopper went on.  “Helping Steve put up his tree.  Heard you rescued Joyce Byers.”

“I just found her,” Billy said, the possible things Hopper might do whirling a little less in front of his mind’s eye the longer they stood.  His brain couldn’t help spiralling a little at the idea of Hopper grabbing him by the shirt, and shoving him just a few feet away into the deep end of the empty pool.   It has a shallow end, he told himself.   I could get out.  The snow crunched under his feet, and he glanced back at the house to see Steve watching, and in the front room, Will and Lucas hanging cookies on the tree.  “She, uh, Mrs. Byers.  She said she didn’t have power.”

“You’re helping with El,” Hopper said, and Billy waited, raising his eyebrows.  “...I think you’re an alright kid,” Hopper went on, and Billy nearly burst out laughing in disbelief, when Hopper said “—you and Steve,” with weird emphasis, and Billy froze again, his eyes stinging from more than the cold wind.  “I think you and Steve are okay,” he said again, stressing it, as the light from the house illuminated his intent face.  “I don’t think anybody should be giving you a hard time.”

“What,” Billy croaked, stumbling back a step, only able to parse that Hopper knew, he’d seen, and Hopper sighed, and blew out a cloud of smoke.  

“Take a breath,” Hopper told him, and Billy did, shakily.  “I don’t care what your dad or anybody else says,” he said, and Billy nodded, swallowing hard.  “You’re an alright kid, in my book.  You and Steve.”

“Okay,” Billy said, a weird creak, because his voice wasn’t working.  

“Atta kid,” said Hopper, holding his hand out, and Billy slowly stepped towards him, feeling stupid, like a curious cat.  Hopper squeezed his arm when he got close enough, patting his back.  “Let’s get inside.  Let your friend Steve give you the damn heart cookie he cut out.”

“He made me a damn heart cookie,” Billy repeated, numbly, and Hopper patted his shoulder again, pushing him towards the house.  

“Yep.  Get inside, sport.”

“Jesus,” Billy whispered under his breath, and Hopper’s big hand tapped his back again as they walked through the door, and squeezed his shoulder, but it was gentle.  Careful, Billy thought, glancing back to see Hopper’s tired frown.  

“You need anything, you let me know,” he said, and Billy nodded like a marionette, his head bobbing on its own.  

Steve grabbed his hand before he even got his shoes all the way off, and drug him over to hang their big, fragile, hand-holding cookies on the tree, and Billy hung his way up, out of the reach of the kids.  “You okay?” Steve whispered, and Billy nodded, wiping his eyes.  

“He said, uh,” he cleared his throat again.  “It’s fine.  He knows.  It’s fine.  Jesus.”  Steve blinked, and put at arm around him, leaning their heads together.

The room was warm, with the pellet stove finally kicking in, and Steve’s sweatered arm around his shoulders.  Steve bumped their shoulders together, smiling up at the tree, and Billy reached over and wiped the frosting off his boyfriend’s chin with his thumb.  He stuck it in his mouth, and Steve watched, biting his lips together.  

Somebody knocked, and Billy pulled away to get the front door, reminding himself not to lean in, and let Steve Harrington kiss him until no taste of frosting remained.  He cleared his throat, opening the door on a tiny person in a pink coat and braids sticking out everywhere.  “Where’s Lucas,” she asked bluntly, glaring up at him, and Billy felt his lips thin.  

“Lucas!” he yelled.  “There’s an elf here for you!”

“What?!” Lucas yelled back, leaning his head around the corner with the stove, and the little girl sighed, putting her hands on her hips.  

“Mom wants you back home, unless you got a good bribe.”

“...I got cookies,” he said, brightening, and her eyes narrowed.  

“Buy you maybe an hour,” she said, arms crossed in the open doorway, and Billy covered a laugh.  

“Get out of the door,” he told her, and she sighed melodramatically, stomping out of the doorway to pull her boots off.  

“Better be good cookies!” she hollered, fingers cupped around her mouth.

“There are a bunch that broke,” Max said, popping an arm in her mouth.  Dustin and Will were decorating the body parts and hanging them on the tree, but every so often Max slid a hand down and grabbed one.  She grabbed a “bloodied” frosted torso as Billy walked in, and stuck it in Lucas’ mouth, and he grinned around it as she hugged him from behind.

Next chapter

[shuswife]

Diabolik Lovers Tag 2

Awww thank you so much @vampiretsuki for the tag and for creating these fun questions! You’re so sweet! <3 If you guys don’t follow them yet, please do! Their blog is a literal goldmine for DL fans and it’s literally one of my favorites! :)

1.- Would you rather wear Carla’s Scarf or Shin’s eyepatch? 

I would definitely choose Carla’s scarf! I attempted to cover one eye for medical reasons once and it was...not fun. :(

2.- Which moments has been the most shocking to you? (Game, Manga, CD Drama, Stage Play, Anime) 

Hmmm probably when I first listened to Shu’s first HDB drama cd! I started with the anime which was relatively tame, so I was kind of surprised at how horrible his attitude really was! Not that it was enough to scare me away though, apparently. LOL

3.- Have you had a Diaboy whom you hated (or had very little interest) and now you love him? 

To be fair, everyone. Haha! I actually really disliked the anime when I first watched it but I don’t know what happened. If I had to choose one though, maybe Laito? I don’t know why but I really hate those types of hats, and I was annoyed at how gross he was towards Yui in the beginning! But in the end, playing MB made me really sad for him. :( I mean... I don’t excuse his actions but I do really feel bad for him and love him now!

4.- Which moments (Game, Manga, etc) has made you laugh the most? 

Oooo so many! The first one that popped up in my head though was [CHAOS LINEAGE SPOILER ALERT, SKIP IF YOU HAVEN’T PLAYED] that one time Reiji splashed tea in Ayato’s and Kanato’s faces when they tried to break into the Scarlet mansion. I don’t know why but that was absolutely hilarious to me! Lmao! Especially Kanato’s yelling!  

5.- Which moments has made you cry the most? 

I think I only cried once of sadness while playing MB. It was during an angsty part in Shu’s route but there have been sadder parts in other games and routes so I’m not sure why I even cried then tbh.

6.-Which moments has been the scariest for you? 

Whenever one of them strangles you! Running out of air is a scary thought. :( Oh, also Shu’s Brute Ending in Dark Fate! I really hate that kind of thing.

7.- Which moments has made you the angriest? 

Ooooo probably any time Cordelia shows up in general. LOL Let’s just say I’m kind of glad she’s gone.

8.- Would you like to be a student at their nocturnal school? Would you stalk/see what the Diaboys are up to? Who? (Only pick 3 diaboys!)

That would be a cool thing to try out! I’m more of a night owl anyways! Though they’d probably be annoyed, I would go and try to hang out with Shu, Yuma, and Azusa since they’re my favorite boys! <3 

9.- Have you had any DL Dreams? if so… Tell us your favorite or your most recent~!

I had only one ever and even though it wasn’t dirty or anything, it’s too embarrassing to admit still. lmao

10.- Is there something/habit a diaboy does that bothers/annoys you?

Some people dig it, but I’m not a huge fan of the jealousy thing. When they don’t allow you to talk to male teachers or even to their own brothers, I’m like “come on, dude!” I won’t cheat. Your brothers are practically my brothers-in-law. :)

11.- Is there something/habit a diaboy does that makes your heart flutter/melt? 

OH FOR SURE! You know that little “heh~?” thing Shu does all the time when he’s teasing? SO CUTE SO CUTEEE! My heart is really gon melt!! <333

I tag:

@raburabusama @ayatoswife @milk-pocky @ceylonandcyanide @dlenthusiaist @diabolikloversdrankalltheteacups @lovleyyuikomori @starstruckpeachwombat @bloody-croissant (if you guys haven’t done it yet and want to ofc! also, hello to those I haven’t talked to but have seen around in my notes! <3)

[captain-mcdavid]

word count: 2.9k

smut: yes | no

warnings: swearing, angst, angst, and more angst, alcohol

You’re frantically searching the bar for Emma, but you’re coming up empty amidst your panic. All you can think about is getting the hell out of here but you can’t leave without her. You’re about to pull out your phone when a gentle hand lands on your arm, and you flip to find Seth behind you. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, and you shake your head. 

“I need to get out of here, but I can’t find Emma.” You tell him, and he nods, rubbing his hand over your back while he looks around. 

“Why don’t we go outside and you can phone her from out there, yeah? It’s quieter.” He says, and you nod following him through the crowd. The cold air hits you like a brick wall, and you pull your phone out again, clicking on Emma’s contact for the fourth time while you raise the phone to your ear. 

Seth waits patiently while you wait for her to pick up, but once again, nothing. With an annoyed sigh you shove it back into your pocket. “I don’t know where she is,” You whisper, biting the inside of your cheek with annoyance. The last thing in the world that you want is to go back in there and look for her. 

“I can give you a ride home if you want?” Seth offers, and your first instinct is to say no, but you just want to leave, so you nod, and he smiles gently, leading you to his car. 

He pulls out of the parking lot and you rest your head against the window, happy to be off your feet. The ride is silent for the first few minutes, but then Seth is looking over at you with concerned eyes. 

“What’d he do in there?” He asks, and you look the other way, not wanting him to notice how choked up you are. “Do I wanna know? Or is it just gonna make me wanna knock him out?” 

“Probably the latter,” You mumble and Seth groans. 

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” He sounds exasperated and you meet his eyes.

“Seth don’t apologize,” You state, words strong. “You have nothing to be sorry for, it’s my fault. I dragged you into all of this, I’m the reason he punched you.” 

He chuckles, surprisingly enough. “To be honest, the punch didn’t really hurt.” 

You raise your eyebrows with disbelief and Seth grins, “I think he was holding back. I’ve seen him wind up for a big hit before, and it wasn’t anything like that. I literally think he flinched before he did it,” This has you both laughing, grinning like idiots at each other because it sounds so unrealistic. “Believe me, I saw his fist go up and I was fully prepared to go through concussion protocol, but after it was done I was kinda just thinking like, ‘really? is that it?’” 

When your laughter dies down you look over at the sweet guy sitting next to you, and you quietly whisper, “He still shouldn’t have done it.” 

The light hearted feeling goes away almost instantly and Seth shrugs. “It’s whatever, it’s in the past.”  The half smile he gives you so Seth that you almost melt. He legitimately doesn’t care that his best friend punched him, or that you dragged him in to this thing in the first place, because all of it is past tense to him. You find yourself wishing for that ability that he has, the ability to let things go, because neither Josh nor you seem to be able to do that. 

His phone rings in the cup holder and like the gentleman he is, he apologizes to you quickly before picking it up and holding it to his ear. Ironically enough, a few seconds later your phone starts to ring as well. 

Laura, one of your friends that was also out with you tonight, is popping up on the screen and you answer quickly, trying to stay somewhat quiet so you don’t interrupt Seth. “Laura? Hey, everything alright?” 

“Y/N, thank god,” The voice that responds isn’t Laura though, and you find yourself breathing out a sigh of relief. 

“Em, where have you been? I called you hundreds of times.” You scold, but you’re not really mad, you’re just glad she’s okay. 

“I”m sorry, I lost my phone, I’ve looked everywhere but I can’t find it.”She explains, “Where are you?”

“Seth is taking me home,” You tell her, “I’m sorry I thought you left without me, I can come back and we can go together?” You suggest, but she’s already hushing you. 

“No, no. You needed to get out of here, I understand it’s okay. I’ll go home with Laura,” She insists, and you smile, murmuring a thank you. 

“Are you alright though? Do you wanna talk about it?” She asks quietly, and you shake your head even though she can’t see you. 

“Can I call you in the morning? I just need some time to process,” 

“Of course,” She says, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I love you,” 

“Get home safe, I love you too.” Ending the call with a sigh, you turn to Seth, “Good news,” You chirp, “Emma’s alive, she just lost her phone.”

Seth doesn't respond, looking less than pleased while he forces out a response, “That’s great, I have some not so great news though.” 

His words send your stomach down to the ground and you feel your skin go pale. From the severity of Seth’s reaction, you know this is bad. 

“What?” You ask, but you’re not sure if you really want him to answer. “What happened?”

“Boone just phoned, Josh saw us leave together apparently, and he’s pissed.”

Your head falls into your hands, endless curses running through your mind while you try to think of what that could possibly mean. “We have to talk to him,” You say, and Seth nods. 

“Yeah, we can’t let him think that something is going on again,” He agrees, “Cause if he does he might not hold back on that punch this time,” 

You snort a little, but Seth’s cute jokes aren’t enough to lighten the mood. “Boone said he went home, should we just meet him there?” 

You nod, and the closer you get to their building, the more nervous you get. You’ve dealt with so many different sides to Josh, but you never got the same reaction twice, so you honestly have no idea what’s to come, and that’s the scariest part of all. 

Seth parks the car, and you barely have the guts to get out, and it’s like Seth can sense your nerves, cause he smiles gently and says, “I’ll go with you. I feel like maybe we should both talk to him,” 

“Yeah, that might be a good idea.” You give him a soft smile, before you both get out of the car and head up, stomachs churning with nerves when you make it to his door. 

You decide to just rip off the band-aid, knocking quickly, head spinning when you hear movement on the other side. But when someone you’re not expecting opens the door, your blood runs cold. 

“Oh, god. Seriously?” She starts, “Is this still a thing?” 

“Lindsay, what the fuck are you doing here?” The animosity in your voice surprises even you, and she raises her brows with a cocky smirk. 

“Do you actually have to ask?” She says the words just as Josh appears from behind the door, jaw clenching when he locks eyes with you.

“You called her?” You ask, and Josh just shrugs. “I can’t believe you,” You say incredulously. 

“Oh, thought you two would be busy.” He chirps, and you’re about to say something back when Seth jumps in. 

“Are you fucking serious, dude?”  

“Stay-” Josh starts but Seth is venomously cutting him off. 

“No, I’m not gonna stay out of it. I did that before but I’m not gonna stand around and watch while you treat her like shit.” 

“Dude, you literally have no idea what’s going on,” Josh tries, but Seth is scoffing sarcastically.

“I know exactly what’s going on cause you two dragged me into the middle of it!” You’ve never seen Seth like this, even on the ice he always looks so calm, but this is a different side to him, one that would put up a fight against the angry Josh that punched him months ago. “And I know that you’re hiding a shit ton of stuff, including the way that you feel about her.” Seth points to you as he says it, pausing while Josh’s jaw clenches. 

“Stop fucking with each others heads and just admit what everyone knows,” They have a stare down for a moment, Seth looking at Josh like he knows something the rest of you don’t. Josh shakes his head quickly but Seth ignores him, “You heard her message, you know how she feels, all you gotta do is say it back.” 

Your heart stops and Josh’s eyes fall the the ground. You had completely forgotten about the message you left on his answering machine the night he went home. The one where you told him you loved him... You honestly didn’t think he’d ever hear it, but according to Seth, he had. 

Why didn’t he say anything?

An immediate feeling of dread sets in when you think that question over. Why wouldn’t he say something? Because obviously he doesn’t feel the same way you do. 

On the phone, at the bar... He’s said it so many times but you ignored it every time, you fought it, you believed he felt something back but it’s clear now that he doesn’t, and that he never has. 

And suddenly you feel like you’re back at square one. When this whole thing started your main goal was to be the player, not the played. And you’re standing here, looking like a fool again, because you fell for his tricks, and you fell for Lindsay’s tricks. Both of them are here, realizing how much of an idiot you are, and your whole body is burning with embarrassment. 

You continue to stare at Josh, tears welling in your eyes, and when he finally looks up at you, you feel completely broken. He rubs at the back of his neck and looks sheepishly at Seth. 

“I’m gonna go. And let you guys figure your shit out. And Josh, unless you want me to return that right hook, you better step the fuck up.” 

But you can’t be left alone with the two of them, you don’t even want to be alone with Josh, You want to leave and go home and cry and then move on. You just want out. 

“Take me home, Seth.”

All eyes in the room are on you now, but your gaze remains trained on the floor. 

“Y/N,” Josh says, but you just shake your head, reaching for Seth’s arm while you try to contain your emotions. You’re already embarrassed enough, they don’t need to see you cry too. 

“Seth please,” You beg, “I want to go home,”

He takes a step closer to you, tone softening while he whispers, speaking only to you in a hushed, careful tone, “Are you sure you don’t wanna stay and talk things out?”

You shake your head, sucking in a shaky breath, biting your lips like it’ll help keep the tears at bay. 

“Y/N,” Josh says again, but you step in this time. 

“I’m so tired of being hurt,” Your voice flutters, but you managed to actually get it out. “I can’t do this anymore.”

Josh opens his mouth like he wants to say something else, but you just shake your head. “I’m done, Josh.”

The words are final, and you take one last look at him before turning to Seth. He just nods once, and then ushers you away. He wraps a strong arm around you, and you wish it was enough to hold together your shattered heart, but it’s not even close. 

[lightningbugqueen]

Legends Never Die

Yet another one of my Destiel fics, this time at a Hunter Bar

“Dude, I told you she wouldn’t be here!” Trevor complained, but Gary just shook his head, he knew better. No matter what his friend told him, Claire had to be at one of these bars. There were only so many places a hunter could be. Correction, an hunter could be literally anywhere, but hunter bars were the only places he could think to look. Gary just sat back in his seat and remained silent, eyes peeled. He had to find Claire, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her in months and it was driving Trevor up the wall. Back in June the pair had been on a simple vampire hunt, but the case had hit a snag in the form of a larger nest than they thought. A vamp had been inches away from sucking him dry when a mysterious woman had chopped off its head. All he had gotten was her name, Claire, and that she had been nearby at the time. In the months since, Gary had dragged Trevor to every hunter bar in a four state radius, and had come up empty handed. Sure, there were the occasional rumors, but who could believe those. Hunters had a knack for blowing stories way out of proportion. Hell, they had invented a mysterious duo named the Winchesters who had supposedly stopped the apocalypse multiple times and went traipsing around the country with an angel. Who would believe that? 

“Listen,” he finally said, “we don’t have to stay here all night, just humor me for a couple more hours, okay?” Trevor grunted his assent, and they settled back into a comfortable silence. It wasn’t like they had anywhere to be. Gary shifted on the cool leather beneath him and observed the bar around them. It was similar to many of the hunter bars he had been to recently. Grungy, oak walls, with generic booths and some wooden tables mixed in. A bar took up most of the space, selling everything from beer to hard liquors, all made with holy water. There were a couple pool tables in the back, along with an old jukebox that was currently playing some ACDC crap. Trevor and Gary were tucked into a corner near the exit, prime real estate for someone with a hunter’s training. It was a sea of plaid inside, everyone with obvious weapon bulges and twitchy fingers. The bartender was a pretty woman, long dark hair, green eyes, and tan skin. Normally Gary would be flirting up a storm with her, but today he could only keep his eyes on the people milling around, searching for a flash of blonde hair or black eyeliner. Rumors were abundant in the bar, he could hear talk of a Wendigo down in Missouri, and yet another Winchester story. A guy named Garth swore up and down he had met them, and that one was as tall as a mountain with long hair, while the other was the scariest guy you would ever meet. There were less rumors about their supposed angel, but there were many stories of angelic encounters nowadays, so Gary wasn’t as quick to write that one off. 

Gary was drawn out of his thoughts by the ringing of a bell, and in seconds he was out of his seat and rushing towards the entrance, Trevor slowly trailing behind. There she was! Claire! A grim and almost embarrassed look on her face, Claire stepped through the entryway, but before Gary could sprint up to her, he pulled up short. Behind her towered two giants of a man, one with bright green eyes and a scowl on his face, the other excitedly pushing his long hair back from his eyes. 

“Garth!” The shorter one yelled, startling the scrawny man from his story. The second he caught sight of who had called his name, however, his face split with a grin and he turned back to his table. 

“See!” he practically yelled, “There they are! I told you they were real!” As the shorter man and Claire stalked towards Garth, the tallest of the group made his way to the bar to order drinks. 

“Dude,” said the man who went with Claire, “You said there was a rugaru up here. I don’t see any monsters, just a bunch of idiots drinking beer.” 

“Yeah, I know Dean, but none of them believed me!” the man, Dean, just grunted. “Listen, you don’t have to stay long, just confirm your existence to all these nice hunters, and you can be on your way. Anyways, Sammy seems pretty happy to be here.” Dean looked around and caught sight of the tall man’s face, flushed and grinning wildly. 

“Only I get to call him Sammy” was all Dean said, then he grabbed Claire’s shoulder and headed towards Gary’s table. Trevor caught one look at Dean’s face and scrambled out of his seat. Everyone could tell these were seasoned hunters, though few knew just how well learned they were. But once Garth got back to talking, mutters of “Winchesters”, “Hell”, “Lucifer”, and “Angels” started to circulate the bar. Trevor and Gary found new seats, and though he wanted to immediately go start up a conversation with Claire, Gary sat back and watched what happened next before he did so. Slowly, the first brave soul got up the courage to go talk to Sam, Dean, and Claire. One of the women who was sitting with Garth rose from her seat and made her way to the three. 

“Are you guys actually the Winchesters?” It was a simple question, and to be expected, but Sam’s eyes got big when she asked it. 

“Um, yeah. Why? Is it important? And why did Garth say you didn’t believe we exist?” the woman seemed shocked, and she stumbled over her words as she talked. 

“Um, well, you’re kinda like legends around here. I mean, with the whole Lucifer thing, and the, uh, dying and coming back, and we heard what happened up in Canada, so, we, just, kinda didn’t really think you existed, but Garth swore, so uh, yeah.” Sam smiled when he heard how nervous she was, but Dean grumbled something about “Asa Fox” and “Stupid demons” into his beer and left it at that. He was obviously a man of few words. 

“Well,” Sam said, “I guess we should clear the air. I’m Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean,” Dean grunted. He seemed to do that a lot, “and this is our....” 

“Daughter” Claire interjected, earning a warm smile from Sam and even a little grin and blush from Dean. 

“Our daughter Claire” Shit, Gary thought, looking down, How am I supposed to flirt with her with those two around? How is she even their daughter? Suddenly, Gary was jerked out of his thoughts by the sound of Led Zeppelin coming from the direction of the WInchester’s table, which had now drawn a sizable crowd. Dean stood up, holding up his phone to Sam, and stepped towards a corner only a few feet from Gary. 

“Yeah?” Dean said gruffly into the phone, but surprisingly the second he heard whoever was on the phone’s reply, the biggest smile Gary had ever seen him make spread across his face. 

“Hiya Cas,” he said, still smiling, “What’s up?” though Gary could only hear Dean’s side of the conversation, he assumed this ‘Cas’ had said something humorous, because Dean gave a low chuckle and confirmed Gary’s theory with his reply. 

“Yeah Cas, I know the ceiling is up, I meant what are you doing. Although I’m pretty sure I’ve explained that to you before.” Gary continued to watch him, though he felt a bit stalker-ish. It was interesting, however, because not even Sam or Claire had managed to make Dean this happy. Cas must be someone special. Gary paid close attention as the phone call went on. 

“Yeah, everything’s fine, turns out it wasn’t a rugaru, Garth just wanted us to come hang out with him at some hunter bar.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, that’s what I said. To be honest though, if he had told us the truth in the first place, Sam might have made me come anyway. He’s having the time of his life.” It was true, Sam was enjoying talking to the other hunters, recounting stories of the many people he had met on his travels, but staying mysteriously silent when asked about dying or fighting the devil. 

“Yeah, I mean I guess you could come, but I don’t want them to barrage you with a bunch of questions too,”

“No no, I know you could just smite them all, babe, I just meant it might make you uncomfortable.” Babe? So this Cas was Dean’s girlfriend? And smite? Was he dating the angel that was said to hang out with the brothers?

“Okay, okay, Cas, yes you can come. I’ll wait outside for you, no need to make the entire bar pull their guns on you.”

“Love you too, bye” With that, Dean clicked off his cell, mouthed the words Cas coming, be back in a sec to Sam, and stepped out the door. Gary, ever the curious man, crept to the front of the room and peeked out the window. Dean was just standing in the parking lot, idly milling around. Suddenly, a figure popped into existence out of nowhere, causing Gary to jump. It was a strong looking man, with dark hair and a five o’ clock shadow dressed in a suit with a blue tie and a tan trench coat. He looked nothing like an angel, or a hunter at that, and Gary was very confused as to why he popped up and not Dean’s girlfriend. Until, that it, Dean leaned forward and pecked him on the lips before leading him back to the bar. Oh. Boyfriend then. Would not have expected that. Gary scurried back towards his corner as Dean pushed the door open, and when the bell rang Sam looked up with a smile. When Claire saw who had stepped through, she jumped up and gave Cas a big hug. Dean and Cas situated themselves across from Sam and Claire in the booth, and Cas turned to looked at the crowd of people staring at him. Gary noticed that his eyes were startlingly blue. 

“Um, hi” he said, his voice at least an active deeper than Gary would have expected. 

“Who are you?” asked the same woman who had broken the ice with Sam, and Cas turned to Dean with a questioning look on his face. Dean leaned forward and whispered something in his ear, and when Cas turned back to the group he had a determined look in his eyes. 

“My named is Castiel. I am an angel of the Lord.” Both Dean and Sam snorted for some reason, though several people in the crowd gasped. 

“Really?” Trevor asked, incredulous. Gary, however, believed him wholeheartedly. He had seen Castiel appear in the parking lot, few monsters could do that. 

“Yep,” Dean said, “Now, as much as we love answering all of your questions, I would really like to eat a burger and then get a good nights sleep.” As several people grumbled and turned away, Gary saw Castiel lean over and whisper something in Dean’s ear that caused the hunter to flush bright pink. Gary could guess that it wasn’t something exactly child-friendly. Sam got up with a pointed look at the two and headed towards the bar, Claire following him. Gary decided to take a chance and try and talk to them. He quickly moved forward and slid into the recently vacated seat. 

“Listen buddy, I don’t really feel like kicking your ass right now, but I will if I need to,” Gary just nodded and said what he knew would catch their attention. 

“So, you two are like, dating?” Dean choked on his burger.

“Yes,” said Castiel, “But I am unclear on how you know that. Did Dean tell you?” 

“No, I didn’t. I’m curious too Cas, how do you know?” he glared at Gary, still chewing on his food, which took the scare factor down a notch. 

“Um, yeah, I saw you kiss him in the parking lot, and you called him ‘babe’ on the phone.” Dean erupted. 

“Were you spying on me? Dude! Get out of here or I swear I will knock your ass into next week!” Gary scrambled out of his seat right as Sam got back, who just rolled his eyes at Dean like this was a common occurrence, and handed him another burger. Dean smile at Sam around the food stuffed in his mouth, and finally swallowed. He glowered one last time at Gary, muttered “What the hell?”, and finally turned and gave Castiel a sloppy kiss on the lips. After a shocked moment, Cas returned the kiss wholeheartedly, and they continued to make out until a loud aggravated cough came from Sam. Yet again, it seemed like this happened pretty often. Dean pulled away, shot another glare at the shocked bar, as if to say, “Anyone got a problem with it?”, and dragged Castiel out the door by the hand. The crowd of hunters remained silent for a moment, then erupted in conversation. Everyone had an opinion, though they all knew they could do nothing to act on it. The Winchesters were the stuff of legends, there was no way anyone could hope to beat them in a fight, let alone kill someone they loved. Sam and Claire soon stood and walked out as well, and though Gary wished for a chance to talk with Claire, he doubted he would have gotten anywhere, what with her three overprotective dads. He ended up sitting beside Trevor again, barraged by question about his short conversation with the the two. 

Few saw the Winchesters from that day on. The rumors continued, and Gary doubted them less now, but he never did see the hunters and their angel again. He heard rumors of a fourth added to their group, a young boy with untold powers, and how Lucifer had returned and they fought him again. The boys never returned to that old bar, and it got much more business nowadays. Garth disappeared about a year after that night, and a few people said he settled down with a family, while others said he had been killed by a werewolf. Hunters still gossiped, people still died, monsters were always out there, but something changed after that night at the bar. Gary found it harder to dismiss rumors as false, and soon it got easier to find lore on monsters. Some said they could call a mysterious number being passed around, and a gruff voice would answer them with knowledge on anything they were facing. Others told of a group of women, traveling the country like many hunters, but far more experienced than many they had met. But all Gary knew was that the Winchesters had changed the world, and though many may have never heard their name, the legend of the Hunters and their Angel would never die. 

[beanfic]

Simple Mistake - Ch.4

Pairing: Tyler Joseph x reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: angst

Author’s note: chapter 4! second to last chapter :) this is going by so quickly!! hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3 || next chapter 

Tylers POV

“Tyler, bro, what in the name of God did you do?” Josh shouted. I flinched at his harsh words after the apartment door slammed with a thud.

“Oh my god,” I groaned into my hands. “Josh, I screwed up.”

“Yeah, you did!” Josh gestured to the door with the spatula he was holding in his hand.

“I told her I don’t have feelings for her,” I admitted. It sounded like a good idea at the time, but now I realized that I had just, yet again, lied to Y/N.

“Idiot!” Josh slapped my stomach with the same spatula. 

“I need to tell Jen, right?” I looked over at my best friend with pleading eyes. I needed to hear his advice. “Josh?”

He sucked in a breath, “I think you should do the right thing.” 

I wrinkled my eyebrows as I tried to make sense of his answer. “What?”

“You know exactly what I mean, now eat some breakfast or I’m never cooking again!” Josh threw the spatula dramatically onto the kitchen counter and walked into the living room. 

I wanted to do the right thing. I really did, but I just didn’t know what the right thing was. Well, I think I had an idea but it was going to be difficult. You never wanted to hurt someone, especially someone he cares about.

I headed back to my room and grabbed my phone. I scrolled through my contacts until her name popped up, the picture of us together as the contact ID. I softly clicked on it, and brought it up to my ear. The familiar ring rang in my ears until a soft voice chirped up.

“Ty?”

“Hi, Jen,” you sighed. 

“What happened?” she sounded distressed.

“I need to be honest with you right now, Jen.”

“Okay.”

“I’m sorry because I know this is going to hurt you and please believe me that i never meant to hurt you.”

“Tyler, just tell me,” she snapped, interrupting your rambling. 

“I kissed Y/N, last night, and I first thought it was a drunken kiss that didn’t mean anything but now I realized it’s because I still have feelings for them, but I don’t want to be lying to myself anymore, or lying to you. You deserve someone who will love you unconditionally because Jen, you truly are a wonderful woman and I do love you but I am not in love with you. I’m really sorry.” I waited anxiously for her reply as all I could hear was her soft breaths on the other side of the phone.

“Tyler, I know,” she sputtered.

“What?” I was confused.

“I know you are in love with Y/N. I knew before we got together, and I know you said you were over her, but I could still sense those feelings for her. I thought maybe I was helping you get over her, but I guess I was wrong.”

It’s not like that, I thought I did get over her, but I think I was just lying to myself.”

“Exactly, Tyler,” Jen sniffled. “You need to go be with her.”

“Jen, I’m sorry.”

“No, Tyler it’s okay. I’d rather be broken up with than being lied to and wasting time.” Her voice was a mixture of disappointment and relief. 

“We can still be friends right? I don’t want to lose you.” 

“Yes, Ty, we can still be friends. Thank you for being honest with me. I’m not upset, maybe a little disappointed, but it’s okay.” Her tone sounded genuine.

“Thank you, Jen. Again I’m really sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

“Bye, Jen.”

“Bye, Tyler.” I held the phone to my ear for a few seconds after the buzzing came. That was one of the most difficult things i’ve ever had to do, but now I have to go to what might be the scariest thing of my life. Confess to Y/N.

I don’t know what is going to happen because I lied to them, and what if they do not want to be with me because I am a liar? What if I just lost two important people in my life?

I decided that it would be a good idea to explain to Josh what I just did, and get his input on how I should tell Y/N. Josh always knew what to do.

“I broke things off with Jen. I told her the truth,” I admitted as I sat next to him on the couch. I could feel his gaze, but I kept my eyes down. 

“I knew you knew what the right thing was. You’re going to tell Y/N the truth as well, right?” 

I nodded, “I just don’t know how. I don’t feel like it should be over the phone. Breaking up with Jen on the phone was already crappy enough.”

Josh hummed, “Yeah, you should go over to her place and tell her exactly how you feel and then see what happens from there.”

“I’m worried about rejection because I lied to her.” I picked at a hangnail.

“That’s why you should never ever lie, not to yourself and not to anyone.”

“Thank you, Josh. For always being there and giving me advice.” I patted his knee and then grabbed my keys on the coffee table. 

“I’ll always have your back, dude. I love you.” 

“I love you too, Josh. I think I need to go tell someone else I love them too,” and with that, I headed out to my car and drove over to Y/N’s house. My hands never stopped sweating. 

Your POV

“Boys are so stupid!” you spoke over the phone to Y/F/N.

“Not all boys,” they giggled. “You just need to find the right person, Y/N!”

“But Tyler is the right person. If he wasn’t then I would have been able to get over him years ago.” You gnawed on your bottom lip. You really wish that you were able to get over Tyler Joseph, but he was your best friend, and you had fallen in love with him. If you had been able to get over him like he got over you, then the kiss would have never happened.

“There is a reason why that kiss happened and both of you haven’t gotten over each other. Don’t you understand? You two have feelings for each other.”

“But that doesn’t mean we should do something about them!” you argued. “He lied to my face, and he also kissed another person while in a committed relationship. They say once a cheater always a cheater.”

“You’re being dramatic, Y/N, but I’m just a person and I can only tell you advice. It’s up to you if you listen.”

“Hm,” you thought for a second. Y/F/N had a point, but everything was still cloudy. You barely have gotten over the excitement of kissing Tyler in the first place. 

“I need to go, Y/N, but text me if you need anything at all, okay?”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

You hung up your phone and placed it on the charger. Your screensaver flashed and you looked at the picture of you, Josh and Tyler at one of their shows. You took a second to focus on the details of Tyler. The way his eyes almost seemed to twinkle when he flashed a smile, and his hair stood up on it’s own despite the fact he doesn’t wear any product in it. You could practically remember the smell of the cologne he was wearing that exact night. He always smells good.

A honk from outside your bedroom window woke you from your daydreams. You shuffled over and pulled back the curtains to reveal a car. A car that you recognized as Tyler’s. 

What was he doing here?

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Tag list: @nonsenseverses​ @patdsinner33​ @heythereitm3​

[jubilantwriter]

Jaspvid Week 2020: Day 3 - Summer

fuck it at this rate i’m just gonna be posting late never get a night shift job y’all

(AO3)   @jaspvid-week​

You Can't be Traumatized if You Don't Go to Summer Camp

Summary:  They met by an ice cream truck as children.  And since then, it’s been a tradition for them to meet up and buy ice cream together.

Word Count: 5088

Jasper loves summer.  Summer means no school, no homework, and no teachers to be bummed out by!  Since he's eleven now, he thinks that maybe his mom will let him go to the community pool more often, since he can totally swim by himself without her worrying that he'll go to the deep end and drown.  

He's too rad for that anyways!  And since summer vacation started, he's been having fun watching the Saturday morning cartoons and hanging out with his friends whenever they want to come over and play.  With the heat bringing it's A game this year though, more and more of his time is spent just lounging inside his house, trying to beat the heat with his mom's rotating fan.

In fact, here he sits, mouth wide open as he makes a long "ahhhh" sound at it, giggling as the fan messes with his voice.  Although summer isn't always about having fun and playing with his mom's fan and going swimming at the pool.  He keeps his ears perked as he waits for a special kind of song to start making its rounds around the block.

And sure enough, the musical notes of a familiar tune rings throughout the neighborhood, and Jasper is already making a mad dash to his mom for some sweet, sweet cash.

"Mom!"  He waves his hands back and forth to get her attention.  "Mom, the ice cream truck!"

His mom smiles, having already heard the tune and pulling her wallet out of her purse.  "Alright, hold on."  A few dollars bills are handed over as Jasper grabs them eagerly.

"Rad!"

"But only buy one, okay?  Dinner's coming up soon."

"Okay!"  He dashes out the door just in time to see the ice cream turn the corner onto his street.  "Hey!"  He waves his hand in the air, flagging down the ice cream truck as it continues past his house.  It slows to a stop as he chases after it when he notices another kid peek his head out.

Red hair.

Green eyes.

And the scariest frown he's seen.

He smiles as he waves at his neighbor.

"Hi, Davey!"

"Don't call me that!"  David yells as he slams his front door shut, disappearing back into his house.

"Jeepers, man."  Normally, all the other kids would feel put out by having their neighbor slam a door shut at them, but Jasper was used to it.  It was pretty rude yeah, but as long as Jasper kept his distance, David wouldn't start throwing rocks at him!  It's a good thing Jasper is a quick learner, otherwise there would have been a lot more rocks in his future.

"Hey, kid."  A man with a scraggly looking face rolls down the window.  The ice cream man!  "You wanted somethin'?"

"Sure do, mister!"  Jasper looks over the ice cream choices on the side of the truck.  There were ice cream sandwiches, drumsticks, those push pop thingies, the faces with bubblegum eyes, that frozen lemonade stuff in a cup that tastes okay he supposes, and-  "One bomb pop!  Please!"

"Sure, which flavor?"

"The one that looks like a rocket!"

"Red, white, and blue, comin' up."  Jasper waits patiently as the ice cream man disappears for a minute before reappearing with the cold treat.  "Here ya go.  One American ice cream."

"Is it really called that?"

"Nah.  That's a dollar."  Jasper hands over the dollar and grabs the frosty treat from the man as he sits on the sidewalk.  As he unwraps the popsicle, the ice cream man grunts in surprise.

"You want somethin' too?"  Jasper looks up and sees David standing not too far from him.  He's biting his lip, fists buried deep in his pockets as he glares at the ice cream on the truck.  "Gotta pay up, kid."

"...Not if I take it first!"  Jasper watches as David runs and leaps at the truck's window, grabbing onto the ledge as the ice cream man looks unimpressed.

"Nice try, kid."  He flicks off every single one of his tiny fingers, making David land on the ground with a soft "oof!".  "Maybe come back with a dollar, and I'll give ya what your bratty heart so desires."

"Whatever!"  David stands up quickly and stomps his foot.  "Ice cream is for squares anyways!"  As the ginger stomps off, Jasper wonders how many times David's tried to pull that off.  He gets up and walks back to the truck.

"Hey, mister?"

"Whatcha want, kid?"  The ice cream man eyes him from the window.  "You better eat that quick 'fore the sun melts it."  

"Oh I will!  It's just, um," he digs around in his pocket and pulls out another dollar, "can I have another one?"

The ice cream man takes it slowly, looking between Jasper and a door that slams shut yet again.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."  Technically, Jasper wasn't breaking any rules.  He grins up at the man brightly.  "Umm, can I have..."

Actually, which one WOULD he like?  It's not like Jasper knows enough about David to make a good guess.  All he knows is that David is grumpy, hates people, sasses adults, and is an overall menace to everyone around him.

But he's also seen David out in the rain, with no umbrella or raincoat to speak of, just picking worms off the sidewalk and tossing them into the grass.  He's seen David yell at bullies, aim only for the legs in dodgeball, and even sit next to a crying kid silently just so he wouldn't be alone.  

Jasper points at the vanilla bar with the hard outside.

"Can I have that one?"

"Sure, kid."  The ice cream man disappears and comes back with the wrapped treat, but he looks hesitant to give it to him.  "Are ya sure...?"

"Totally man!  My mom says that if I treat people the way I wanna be treated, I can make friends way faster like that!"

"That's one way to do it, I guess."  The ice cream man shrugs as he hands over the treat.  "Better give it to him before it melts then."

"Will do!  Thanks, mister!"

The ice cream man waves as Jasper runs to David's house, sticking his melting popsicle in his mouth as he knocks on the door.  The door creaks open slowly, a single green eye peeking out suspiciously before he spies Jasper standing on his doorstep.  Jasper pops his popsicle out and grins.

"Heya, broski!"

"Oh, it's you."  Ouch.  "What do you want?"  Jasper waves the wrapped treat in front of David.

"I did something totally wack and got an extra by accident!  And I'm only supposed to have one ice cream before dinner or else my mom will totally wig out, so I thought maybe you'd like it?"  David stares at the ice cream with a suspicious squint.

"...Why are you giving it to me?"

"Because you're the only kid I know in this neighborhood!"

"Liar."

"Okay, maybe I know a few other kids, but you were closer!"

"What's the catch?"  David glares at Jasper, holding onto his door tight.  "I take the ice cream and then what?  I gotta give you my allowance?  Beat the snot outta someone?  Be your friend because you're a weird loner?"  

Well, Jasper's not exactly a loner, but he wouldn't mind being friends with David if he'd just stop being mean for a second.

"It's just ice cream, dude.  Take it or leave it."

David swipes the bar from his hand and slams the door in Jasper's face.

"Nice!"  The ice cream man calls, laughing as Jasper walks away with a huff.

Well.

At least he took the dang thing. 

////

The ice cream truck comes again, and this time, the man grins as Jasper points at an ice cream sandwich.

"Gonna get a second one too while you're at it?"  He points to a door cracking open, and a familiar tuft of red hair peeking out.

"...I dunno, maybe."  Last time didn't work out so hot.  Maybe David just doesn't want friends.  Maybe he's the loner.

And Jasper's fine with that.  It's not like he has to be friends with David anyways.

"Who knows, kid?  Maybe he's like a stray cat.  Gotta be nice to 'im and bait 'im 'til he comes out."

"You just want my mom's money."

"Absolutely, now are you gonna buy another one or not?"

"I said I dunno."  Jasper huffs as he waits for the ice cream man to give him his sandwich.  As he takes it, he hears the door shut and he turns to find David no longer hiding by his door.

"Looks like the runt went back into hiding."  The ice cream man hums to himself as Jasper unwraps his treat and starts to munch away.  A bright look comes across the man's face as he ducks into his truck as Jasper watches curiously.  When the ice cream man resurfaces from his searching, a yellowish cup is held in his hand as he shoves it at Jasper's face.  "Here, kid."

Jasper scrunches up his face.

"I don't want it."

"Nah, kid, it's free."

"I still don't want it."

"Look, I got a whole bunch of these laying around 'cause kids don't want 'em as much as the other stuff I got.  So why not throw it at that kid's face so you're not wasting your ma's money and I'm gettin' rida stock I don't need?"

"I don't want him to hate me more than he already does!"

"Can't get any lower than rock bottom, kid."

Oh, he'd beg to differ.

But the ice cream man tosses him what was essentially frozen lemonade, but not like, the good lemonade, but the lemonade that was just pure lemon juice with some water, maybe even too much water, mixed in, and then they put it in the freezer, and then put that ice block into a blender, turned it on high, and poured the goop into a cup to be sold to children who actually knew what good lemonade tasted like.

And this was not good lemonade.

Jasper barely manages to catch it as it smacks into his chest.

"Good luck, kid!"  The ice cream man salutes him before rushing off into the driver's seat to drive away.

"But I said I didn't want it!"  Fruitlessly, he yells at the disappearing ice cream truck, groaning loudly as he clutches this awful excuse for a lemony treat.  What was he supposed to do with it?  

...

Well, he could actually give it to David.

Maybe he was into this sort of stuff.

Frozen, bad lemonade.  That was kind of like shaved ice, but not really.  The outside of the cup sweats in his hand, reminding him of the hot temperature.

Maybe he wouldn't care?  Maybe he'll take it because it's so hot out and use it as a, like, ice pack or something.

His feet are already walking him to David's door, and after cramming the ice cream sandwich in his mouth, he once again knocks on the door, but with less enthusiasm this time.  David opens the door, but he looks only a little surprised.

"What do you want, Jasper?"

Oh, he knows his name?  

"Uh, here."  His words are muffled around the sandwich, but David takes the cup regardless.

And scrunches up his face when he sees it.

"Ugh!  I don't want this!"

"Me neither!"

"It sucks!"

"I know!"

David blinks, as if registering that Jasper was actually agreeing with him.

"So why are you giving this to me?"  Jasper swallows a bite of his sandwich and shrugs.

"I dunno, maybe you can like, use it as an ice pack?"

"Pfft."  David snorts, which makes Jasper perk up a bit.  "As if.  This thing'll only last for a few minutes."  

"What are you gonna do then?"  Jasper watches as David wipes the sweat from his brow, frowning as he stares down at the cup.

And sighs dramatically.

"Guess I'll eat the dang thing."

"...You sure?"

"Well it's not like I have a choice."  Jasper expects more bite to his words, but the ginger merely says it with a tired reluctance he doesn't expect.  "Thanks, though."

"Oh uh, sure, duderino."  He expects David to slam the door in his face but the boy just... keeps it open.  "Guess I'll see you around?"

"Whatever."  David shrugs as he pops the lid open.  "See ya."  

He walks away from David's house and doesn't hear the door close.  When he makes it to his own house, he looks over to where David's house is and sees the boy sitting there.  Quietly eating his treat in the open doorway.

And Jasper swears.

He's eating it with a smile.

////

When Jasper approaches the familiar ice cream truck, he can hear two voices yelling at each other near the truck's window.

"You tellin' me this is all two dollars?!"

"I said count 'em, you gigantic square!"

"Uhh...?"  Jasper walks up to find David gripping the edge of the window from where he hangs with a snarl.  The ice cream man glares back down at David as he holds a fist full of coins.  Oh.

"It's two dollars!"

"Quit jerkin' my chain!  As if I'd believe you!"

"Can I count?"  The two of them turn their heads to Jasper as he sheepishly rubs his arm.  "I mean, if I count them in front of you, it'd save you the trouble and prove Dave- David's telling the truth."  The ice cream man rolls his eyes but hands the change over to Jasper regardless.  And so the brunette carefully sorts out the assortment of change, and holy cow, he can see why the ice cream man was angry at first.  It's a big mess of nickels and pennies and dimes, with maybe one quarter in the mix, but he counts out the change dutifully, carefully, and out loud so that the ice cream man can see his work.

"...and two dollars."  He gathers up the change and holds it up to the ice cream man.  "David was telling the truth."

"I told you, you big doofus."

"Watch it, kid, or else I'm taking your money and drivin' away."

"That's stealing!"

"As if you haven't tried stealin' from me before."  But the ice cream man disappears and comes back with two drumsticks.  "Here, your ice cream."

"Yessss!"  David takes them both, before turning to Jasper and handing him a stick.

"...Huh?"

"Here."  He shoves it into Jasper's hand and looks away.  "For the other times you got me ice cream."

"Oh!  You didn't have to-"

"Later, nerd!"  David runs off and into his house, slamming the door shut as he leaves Jasper in the dust.

"...Are you two friends now?"

"Uhh."  Jasper looks down at the drumstick in his hand.  It's the usual kind - vanilla, coated with chocolate and nuts.  He unwraps it and gnaws on the outer shell.

Sweet.

"...Maybe."

"Huh."  The ice cream man sounds amused as he reclines against his window.  "That was quick."

////

It becomes a routine.

Everyday, the ice cream man comes.  Sometimes it'll be Jasper who meets him first.  And sometimes it's David.

But there's an unspoken rule between them.

They have to wait until the other shows up before leaving.

It's like a meeting place, but with a guy who brings the meeting place to them.

Normally, they just buy the ice cream and part ways back to their houses.  

But sometimes...

"Doesn't it hurt?"

"What?"

Jasper and David sit on the curb, the ice cream man already driving away as they eat.  It's too hot to stay indoors, so they find themselves having a rare moment outside in the sun.  Jasper wouldn't mind staying quiet, if only for the fact that David bites down on the bomb pop like it's candy and crunching away at it in his mouth.

Just watching him eat it makes Jasper's teeth ache.

"Biting down on it!"

"No it doesn't."  David chomps down on it again, making Jasper cringe. 

"My mom says that biting ice cream like that can hurt your teeth."

David snorts.

"You're just a chicken."

"Am not!"

"Then do it, chicken."

Jasper looks at his own popsicle.  He doesn't want to hurt his teeth, but he also doesn't want to be called a chicken.  David grins slyly as he nudges Jasper.

"Chiiiickeeeeen," he goads.

"I'm not a chicken!"  Without a second thought, Jasper bites down on his popsicle and crunches down on the block of flavored ice.  It feels as though the ice is freezing his teeth all the way down to his gums, and it sort of hurts, and sort of doesn't.

It's still not pleasant though, so he chews through it quickly.

"See?"  David nudges him again with a lighter grin as he goes back to polishing off the popsicle.  "It's not that bad."

"Ugh."  He determines not to do that again.  "I think I'll pass on eating popsicles like that ever again."

David snickers but doesn't push him.  Instead, they both kick at the asphalt beneath their feet and take in the rays.

////

Summer comes, and summer goes.  They go back to school, pretend they don't know each other asides from a neighborly nod, before continuing on with their lives.

But when summer returns, they find themselves meeting up back at the ice cream truck.

"Wanna try these ones?!"  Jasper excitedly points at the pastel-looking ice cream bars on the truck.

"Are you getting it only for the colors?"

"Why not!"  

"That's dumb.  You're dumb."  

"You just don't wanna admit you wanna try the cotton candy one."  Jasper teases the ginger as David rolls his eyes.

"Whatever.  I'll just take the watermelon one."  

"Well, I'm taking the cotton candy one, 'cause I'm not a chicken."

"You take that back."

"Are you kids gonna pay or what?"

"Here you go, mister!"  As the ice cream man hands them their treats, the two of them sit back on the curb, kicking at the asphalt as they get used to each other yet again.

"You think his menu ever changes?"

"Nah, he seems too lazy to do that."

"But what if something new comes out?  Like a tubular kind of ice cream."

"He already has a tube-y ice cream."

"No, like tubular!  Like wicked?  Gnarly?"

"...I hate you so much.  Just speak like a human!"

"But I am??"  David yells as Jasper laughs.  "Take a chill pill, man!  It's how everyone speaks nowadays!"

"That's a lie.  A big, dumb lie that only a square would make."

"Calling people a square is sooo outdated, Davey."  The nickname slips out before Jasper can stop himself, and he slaps his hand over his mouth in shock.  "Oh, no, I'm sorry!  I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine."

And he blinks.

"...Huh?"

"I said it's fine."  David kicks at the asphalt, keeping his eyes away from Jasper's as he bites into his ice cream.  "...I'm okay with you calling me 'Davey'."

"Are.  Are you sure?"

"Yeah."  David shrugs before turning to face Jasper.  He looks uncertain, nervous even as he twirls the melting treating between his fingers.  "I mean, we're friends, right?"

And he blinks again.

Mouth slightly agape. 

He must have taken too long to respond because suddenly David's ears are bright red as he stands up abruptly.  "Wh-whatever!  If we're not friends, just say it-!"

"We are!"  Jasper stands up just as quickly, a giddy grin making it onto his face as he makes to hug David, only to remember the sticky ice cream in their hands.  "We're friends!"

It's David's turn to blink as he registers the words Jasper says.  And then.

He smiles.

A real, genuine smile.

"...Cool!"

And when summer inevitably ends, he hopes he'll get more than a nod from David as they pass each other in the halls.

////

Summers come, and summers go.  As they pass each other in the halls, Jasper goes for a high-five that David avoids, only to punch Jasper (lightly) in the arm later.

They sit next to each other at lunch, Jasper sharing his snacks with David as the latter pours over Jasper's homework as Jasper explains each problem to him.

They become an odd pair, the two of them.  David's bristly exterior is immediately softened when Jasper is nearby, and Jasper's mood lightens considerably no matter the problem he has to face as long as David is there with him.

People often ask him if he hopes to make David a more cheery person by sticking with him.  After all, Jasper is all smiles and bright colors.  But Jasper just shrugs, saying he likes David the way he is.

If David changes, then he'll still like him.

Because David is David.

Just like how Jasper is Jasper.

Some things about them will change, Jasper knows that's inevitable.  Habits change, opinions change, outlooks change.

But some routines never change.

They're fourteen as they wait for the ice cream truck together, sitting on Jasper's front lawn as the cool grass stains their shorts.

"Aren't we too old for ice cream trucks?"  David is lying down besides Jasper, his eyes closed as Jasper drops torn up grass onto his face.  Jasper giggles as David swats halfheartedly at his hand.

"Nah."  

"We could be doing something else.  Like playing games.  Or eating ice."

"Only you would eat ice."

"Yeah well, maybe if you didn't think your teeth were so fragile-"

Jasper rolls David over, the other boy squeaking indignantly as his words are muffled by the dirt and grass. 

"UGH!  JASP-"  And then a familiar jingle rounds the corner.

"Oh it's Mr. Kevin!"  Jasper bounces to his feet and dashes away to meet the familiar driver.  "What's up-!"

David comes up from behind Jasper and grabs him in a headlock, already yelling at the amused man as he pulls out a few bills.

"HE WANTS THE LEMON ICE!"

"HEY-"

"Whatever my loyal customers want."

"HEY-"

////

A few more summers come and go.  Puberty is wack.  High school is wack.  Preparing for college is super bogus wack.  But David isn't wack.

If time could stop for just a moment, just so Jasper could have more seconds in the day to relish those moments of happiness that escape them more often than not, then maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't feel as though everything was falling through his fingers so quickly.

Things change too quickly.

Times change too quickly.

Even old routines, that one routine he'd grown to depend on every summer.

That began to change too.

As the two of them wait for the ice cream man, a man who has slowly begun to fade from their lives as the times change, Jasper finds himself clutching desperately to the past as his feet tap nervously against the grass.  He can feel David's eyes on him, watching as his best friend slowly unravels before him.  With a sigh, David leans against him, forcing Jasper to a halt as he forces the teen to lay down in the grass.

Up above them, the clouds roll by peacefully, completely unbothered and untethered to any sorts of worries.

"...You think he's gonna come by?"

"I don't think he's got enough customers to justify it, Jasp."

"...Bummer."

"Hm."

They continue to watch the clouds for a while, Jasper's disappointment settling on his face as he wonders if he took his childhood for granted yet again.  A finger prods his cheek, and he turns to see David's green eyes.  Calm.  Relaxed, even.  He's mellowed out throughout the years, but he still wears a frown most days.  He's grown up a lot since he was that mean, bratty kid next door.

"You want ice cream that bad?"

"It's not that."  Jasper bites his lip.  He's kind of embarrassed actually, wanting to stick to this routine for so long.  David's probably long since gotten tired of waiting for the ice cream truck, especially during these recent years as the man showed up less and less.  But he never complains or goes against Jasper's wants, and instead plays along patiently as Jasper continues to cling.  

"Then what is it?"

Is it hard to explain?  Or is it just embarrassing to say?  He looks over to David, and there's understanding in his eyes as he props himself up, waiting for Jasper to choose his words without any rush.

How lucky was he to keep a friend like David for so long?

"We stuck together because of the ice cream truck."  David's eyes widen as the words sink in.  Jasper laughs, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he looks away.  "I dunno it just- I'm probably just tripping over this for no reason, dude, sorry-"

"It's important to you."  Jasper feels David lean against him as he thinks out loud.  "I don't think it's wrong that you're upset about it."

"...But it's a dumb thing to cling to."

"Not really.  We became friends because we kept buying ice cream together.  I think that's pretty meaningful."  David rests his chin on Jasper's shoulder as they continue to sit, waiting for nothing to arrive. 

"Is it bad that I miss it?"

"Nah."  

The breeze ruffles their hair.

"...What do you think Kevin is up to?"

"Probably selling drugs."

"Davey!"

"What?"  The ginger laughs, puffs of warm brushing against Jasper's neck as he gradually calms down.  "I'm right."

"You don't know that."

"Maybe."  

Jasper closes his eyes.  It's hot out, but he doesn't mind David sticking so close by.  It's comforting, actually, feeling his warmth like this.  Like, no matter what, even if the ice cream truck doesn't come by anymore, David doesn't really need a reason to just come by and sit next to Jasper and do nothing together.

At least that won't change.

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"Let's do something next year."

"Like what?"

"Something new."  David turns his attention back to the sky and reaches out towards it.  He tries to grab a cloud, but it floats away from his hand.  "I've always wanted to go camping."

"But we don't know anything about camping."

"We can practice."  David pulls back just enough to look Jasper in the eye, bright eyed at the prospect.  "We got a whole year to prepare, and we'll be graduating soon anyways.  Why not do something special for that summer?"

No more ice cream trucks.  No more sitting around.  But something new to fill in the void.

It couldn't hurt, right?

"Yeah."  He smiles as David returns with his own grin.  "Let's try that out."

\\\\

Summers come as they are wont to do.  And they leave as they tend to do.  The ice cream truck never comes back.

But that's okay.

David brightens up significantly as they begin camping, and Jasper wonders if he'd been holding his friend back for so long, making him wait for trucks to come when it was clear they needed to move on.

And yet.

He stood by him the entire time, waiting until Jasper was ready to let go.

An unspoken trust.  With unwavering understanding.

Camping is alright, he supposes, but David loves how the trees surround them, how the birds sing above them, the way they come across streams and rivers as though they were new discoveries.

Camping is alright.  But David's happiness is worth so much more.

"Jasp!"  David pulls him along to the nearby clearing, their campfire crackling softly as he points up to the sky.  "You don't get to see stars like this often!"

"...Yeah."  He watches as David stares up at the night sky, so unlike the boy he grew up with.  It's a side of him he's rarely seen before.

And he thinks that it's a shame that they never got to explore this side of him sooner.

Wouldn't that have made David happier?

David turns to Jasper, head tilted to the side as he catches his friend staring.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, uh, nothing."  He looks away with a blush, scratching at his cheek as he looks for something to distract David with.  "Oh yeah, we should make sure the campfire doesn't burn down anything, right?"

"Oh- yeah!"  David rushes back, already worried as Jasper laughs.

This.

This is different.

But it's a good kind of different.

"Hey."

"Huh?"  David looks up from where he sits by the fire, watching as Jasper plops down besides him.

"Why do you like camping so much?"

"...I dunno it just."  He shrugs, smiling wistfully as he watches the fire.  "I mean, I used to camp a lot with my dad.  Before he left."  

Ah, right.

"Wouldn't you hate camping then?"

"I mean, I did.  For a long time, I did."  David laughs, a light blush dusting his cheeks as he talks.  "But then, you became my friend.  And we grew closer and.  I just wanted to do something with you.  Something that we could claim as our own.  Sure, there was that whole ice cream thing but.  That could only last for so long, and when it ran its course, I saw how you were struggling to just.  Wrap your mind around losing something that was so us.  And I wanted to do something.  Make a new something.  And.  Camping was the only thing I could think of."  He shrugs as he turns to face Jasper, the brunette wide eyed as the ginger grins.  "It just felt... right, you know?"

"...God."  Jasper shakes his head, laughing as he does so.  "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Only because you stuck by long enough for me to be amazing."  David nudges his shoulder playfully.  "...Hey."

"Hm?"

"Thanks.  For actually, um.  Being my friend."  David looks down as he speaks.  "It couldn't have been easy."

"...Nah, thanks for letting me stick to that ice cream schtick for so long."  Jasper bonks his head gently against David's.  "That couldn't have been easy."

"It's whatever."  David bonks back with a smile.  "I mean, as long as I got to spend time with you, it was worth it."

...Yeah.

It was, wasn't it?

He smiles as their fingers brush together.

Yeah, maybe camping was just alright.  If it'd been with anyone else, he'd be pretty indifferent and distant throughout the whole affair.

But.

With David?

Like when they were waiting for the ice cream truck together, the sun beaming down above them, feet kicking playfully at asphalt as they listened to the sounds of the birds chirping in the distance.

Sitting here, by an open fire, underneath the stars and listening to the songs of the crickets and the hoots of the owls.

Just like then.

Just.  Existing next to each other.

It just.

Feels.

Right.