#fic: pink bean fever

[jeonqkooks]

Congratulations once again on the milestone Jen! You are amazing and deserve every big milestone coming your way! For the request can I please get prompt 19-“i’ve never seen anyone look so cute and ridiculous at the same time.” with Jin? Thank you in advance and I hope you have fun writing it!

pink bean fever | ksj

pairing: seokjin x reader

genre/warnings: best friend's roommate to ??, college au, fluff, swearing, mentions of pink bean but they're 1000% inaccurate bc i know nothing about maple story pls don't come for me, unedited !!

word count: 1.8k

note: jiya !! thank you so much for requesting this :') i had fun with it and i hope you like it too!! also, it's still jinnie's birthday somewhere so i will still consider this a birthday fic lol

— as always, i’d appreciate any thoughts or comments you may have, and please drop a like and/or reblog if you enjoy reading ♡

Kim Namjoon, you’re going to kill him.

Kim fucking Namjoon.

Forty five minutes ago, you were getting ready to walk to your best friend's dorm so you two could go get dinner together somewhere nearby. Now, you're sitting on his bed, Namjoon nowhere in sight, just a few feet from his roommate Seokjin.

The guy that you have the biggest, fattest crush on.

You swear Namjoon did this on purpose. That motherfucker.

You watch Seokjin as he practically screams into the mic attached to his headset, his fingers skillfully bouncing on the keyboard of the laptop in front of him, playing a game you know nothing about.

"Jungkook ah! Where the fuck were you?! I almost got killed!"

This has been going on for almost twenty minutes now - you awkwardly perched on Namjoon's bed while Seokjin either screeches in excitement when he wins, or wails in agony when he loses the game. This is the fucking worst way to spend a Saturday evening.

You glance at your phone, praying to every god to make Namjoon reply to your hundredth text message cursing him out and asking where he is. You never should've told him about your crush on his roommate. He even had the audacity to laugh when you finally revealed who the object of your affection was. That fucking guy.

Objectively speaking, Seokjin is pretty lame. From what you can tell, he basically has no social life. He doesn't party, doesn't go out, doesn't take an interest in anything that doesn't have the words "Maple Story", "Super Mario", or "League of Legends" in it. All he does is play video games all day with his friends, whom you assume are the same people he's yelling at now. Namjoon told you that once, Seokjin forgot to eat anything for two days straight because he was on his computer the entire time.

That begs the question: If Seokjin was so lame, why are you so enamored with him? The answer is very simple. Seokjin is as cute as he is lame, which is to say that he is very fucking cute. When you met him earlier in the semester when Namjoon got assigned a new roommate, it was love at first sight.

However, you don't think you've ever held a one-on-one conversation with him before. Tonight might be the first time, when he opened the door for you and said you could wait for Namjoon here. You had squeaked out a shy Yes and followed him into the room where he offered you a glass of water before he returned to his computer, leaving you to wait around for a person you knew had left you to fend for yourself in the wilderness. This is exactly why Namjoon is doing this, you think. He's been telling you for a couple weeks now to just talk to Seokjin like a normal person instead of tripping over your words like a lovestruck idiot.

Occassionally, he looks over his shoulder at you, and you have to whip your head to the other side of the room so quickly you're surprised you didn't pull a muscle, just to not make it obvious that you've been staring at him like a weirdo.

After a while, Seokjin takes off his headset only to replace it with a hat. A... cap? You don't even know what it is. It's got a face of something pink with big round eyes and purple horns, and looks like it should be a plushie instead of something to wear on one's head. His friends have probably gone elsewhere, because he turns off the shooter game he was previously engaged in to play something else by himself.

"Sorry," he says. "I was pretty loud, wasn't I?"

"No, it's fine. I didn't mind," you tell him sheepishly. "Did Joon, uh, tell you when he'd be back?"

Seokjin shrugs. "No. He just said he was going for a quick walk. Went out right before you got here, actually."

Someone give you strength.

He turns back to his screen when you give a hum in acknowledgement. You go back to sitting in silence again, only this time, you notice that when he curses at the game, he makes an effort to lower his volume. Seokjin has a really nice voice, you think. Even when he's cussing, you just want to put it on a tape and listen to it for hours on end.

Okay, that is one thought that you should probably never say aloud. Especially not to Kim fucking Namjoon.

Another 15 minutes pass until Seokjin pauses the game to down the glass of water on the table in front of you - the one between his and Namjoon's bed. You pretend to look around the room even though you've got it memorized at this point. It's pretty small, and the guys don't really have a lot of decorations. Aside from a couple of Namjoon's art prints on the wall and a few of Seokjin's stuffed animals - how fucking cute is that? Jesus Christ, you are so whipped - the room doesn't have that much personality.

You can feel him looking at you as he gulps down his water, clearly not knowing what to say either. You could pass out from the sheer awkwardness that's suffocating the space.

You clear your throat. "Can I, uhm, can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What is that on your head?"

Seokjin puts down the glass and takes off his cap, holding it out so you can see it better. "Pink Bean!" he says with a grin. Goddamn, he is beautiful.

"Is that a character?"

He gasps, running a hand through his hair - which looks so, so soft that you want nothing more than to just run your fingers through it. His eyes widen until they're almost as big as the ones on the strange Bean creature. "You don't know what Pink Bean is?!"

"Should I?" you ask, unconsciously making yourself smaller as he stares at you. Seokjin looks equally as excited as he looks offended, shooting up from his chair to bounce onto Namjoon's bed, right next to you.

Your chest almost explodes. In your head, there's a series of question marks floating around; in your heart, there's a bunch of exclamation points detonating like fireworks. Oh god, what is happening?

"Uhm, yes! It's just one of my favorite characters of all time, duh! Okay, okay, so-"

Seokjin launches straight into a whole TED talk on Pink Bean, giving you its extensive backstory and just about everything in the universe that's related to Pink Bean - the quests, its powers, something called a Chaos Pink Bean? Every word he's saying is going into one ear and out the other. To you, he might as well be speaking a different language because you understand none of it and frankly, you don't even care.

But holy moly, he is so passionate about it. He talks about this stuff like Pink Bean is the love of his life and he's gonna marry it one day. Even though you're retaining about zero percent of all this information, watching him ramble is so endearing. His eyes are so bright, and throughout this impromptu presentation of his, he has to pause for a few seconds to catch his breath from all the talking.

You stifle a laugh, and he stops. Seokjin scratches his neck, putting the cap on his head again and looking at you with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I didn't mean to talk your ears off."

"No, no, it's just-" You shake your head with a chuckle. "I've never seen anyone look so cute and ridiculous at the same time."

As soon as the words leave your mouth, you freeze. He freezes. You want the ground to open up so you could fall into that chasm and never be seen again. Life does not have any meaning anymore. Fuck Namjoon, you're not staying here anymore.

"I mean- Not that I think you're cute, it's just- Well, wait, no, I do think you're cute, but it's not-"

You could see a deep blush painting Seokjin's face, from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. You tear your eyes away from him like the idiot that you are. Your lips part, but no words come out because your brain is just blank at this point. You knew you would say something dumb and now you're knee-deep in embarrassment in front of your crush. Stupid, stupid, stupid-

Seokjin clears his throat. "Do you and Namjoon have plans tonight?"

You purse your lips and nod, though you're not sure if he's still looking at you because you're suddenly so keen on not looking at him. "We're just getting dinner," you say with faux nonchalance, as if you hadn't just called him cute two seconds ago and both of you seemed to have absolutely no idea what to do about it. "Joon said there's a new ramen place or something near campus."

"Is it the place where they have ramen sliders? I told him about that place. I've been meaning to go too but, uhm, I don't have anyone to go with."

Oh, hell no. You are not going to invite him to join you and Namjoon after that comment. In fact, you're not going to see Seokjin ever again. You're going to make Namjoon apply for a room reassignment just so you don't have to cross paths with Seokjin. Welp, this silly crush has been fun and miserable. Goodbye forever-

"If Namjoon ditches you, we can probably go together. Or something. Maybe. I don't know."

Your body stiffens, and you know he can probably tell since he's still sitting so close to you and you're not exactly being subtle. Heat creeps up your neck and splatters color onto your cheeks. You're thankful that your hair can cover some of it to preserve what little dignity you have left.

"It's okay. You don't have to. I'll probably- I should, no-" you stammer, "I'll just go home."

"Y/N," Seokjin says, "it's dinner. I'm pretty sure we'll survive a meal together."

"No, I know. It's-"

"Okay. Then let's go."

Before you can say anything, he's standing up. Your panicked eyes follow him as he moves to his side of the room to grab his jacket and ditch the Pink Bean hat. You rush to your feet, spluttering out every polite variation of No, please don't make me do this. I'm practically in love with you and this will only kill me dead that you could think off, but Seokjin is already ushering you out the door.

When he stops by the entryway to grab his keys on bowl next to the door, you could feel his chest pressed against your back. You're going insane with nerves and butterflies and mortification and anticipation and infatuation with this man and this is not fucking helping.

Behind you, Seokjin's low voice sends shivers down your spine with what he tells you next.

"For the record, I think you're cute too."

— all rights reserved © jeonqkooks. reposting, translating and/or modifying is not permitted by any means. [posted 05/12/22]

[piedpiperslists]

KSJ: College / University AU [J-Z]

List of all Seokjin fics under 'College / University' AU with titles starting with 'J-Z':

* s - contains smut sm - social media format

* Last updated: 03/12/2023

D R A B B L E S

Like You Care by meowachi FWB

Little of Your Love by yoongiphoria med student!Seokjin, med student!reader Summary: Sometimes, you wonder if that entire night was just a dream, a wild figment of your imagination. You wonder if the perfect guy you'd gotten to know that evening exists at all.

Love You a Latte by kitsutaes barista!Seokjin, coffee shop au Summary: Finding the campus prince working as the barista at your local coffeeshop wasn’t just the only surprise you got that day.

Past the Frames by jimlingss Summary: “You’re cute in glasses.”

Pink Bean Fever by jeonqkooks Summary: One lovestruck idiot + one pink bean enthusiast = ramen sliders.

Silent Night by bangtanstanst established relationship Summary: It’s one of those nights where you can’t quite concentrate on the school work you really should be doing and, as an experienced student, you’ll manage to find a way to procrastinate.

Wash ‘n Dry by seokoloqy RA!Seokjin Summary: The one where Seokjin is the cute RA who catches you doing laundry at 1 AM and you both have time to kill.

You’re So Creepy by whatifyoulivelikethat Summary: Seokjin is pretty sure his creepy girl is a witch. He’s totally not into that. Well. Unless…?

You’re So Creepy Part II by whatifyoulivelikethat Summary: Alright, Seokjin, Yoongi’s the only one who knows anything happened (argh). If Seokjin literally runs away from any situation of him being with the creepy girl, then it never happened, right? Wrong.

O N E S H O T S

Just Say Goodnight and Go by vanaera wc~4.2k / neighbors au Summary: The spirit of Christmas is yet to be felt as a blackout on a chilly December night becomes the icing on the cake of your horribly shitty day. You just really want to sleep tonight but your neighbor seems to have lost his mind again when he comes knocking on your door to demand for an uncalled sleepover. Said neighbor is Kim Seokjin, the famed crush of the university, and no, he’s not your friend. He’s most definitely not your crush and he’s absolutely not the reason why warmth invades your chest when it’s not even summer

Kiss Me by minisugakoobies s wc~5.9k / friends to lovers Summary: Somehow all the videos you've taken all year star no one but Kim Seokjin. When did you fall in love with your best friend?

Level Up by donewithjeon wc~30k / friends to lovers

* Meet Me at the Bar by eoieopda s wc~7.5k / friends to lovers, law school au Summary: You're supposed to be staring down the barrel of the last — and most important — examination of your life, but you only have eyes for your study buddy.

My Type by floralseokjin s wc~6.1k / PWP Summary: You take the college nerd’s virginity.

On a Cold Summer Day by threeletterslife wc~7.2k Summary: Maybe deciding to leave California to attend uni in New York was the dumbest decision you’ve ever made. It’s fucking freezing here! You don’t think you can survive without the beach twenty minutes away from your living space. At least you have a native New Yorker Kim Seokjin to help you adjust. Kinda.

Secrets by itskimtaehyung s wc~10.1k / fratboy!Seokjin, secret relationship Summary: Sneaking around and keeping secrets is nothing new to you. When Jin asks you to keep your relationship under wraps because he doesn’t want his frat brothers to make a big deal out of it, you have no problem agreeing. But as time goes on you start to think that maybe he isn’t trying to keep a secret from them, but rather keep a secret from you.

Small Tuna Fish by floralseokjin s wc~17.7k Summary: Kim Seokjin is a really nice guy. (Not to be confused with a ‘Nice Guy’). Too nice for someone like you, you’re sure. Which is why you’ve been attempting to ignore what’s going on between you. He couldn’t possibly be flirting with you. He couldn’t possibly like you. Could he? It the end, it takes one charity car wash event and one – or two, depending on how dirty your mind is – soakings to make things very clear.

Something Stupid by knjsagustd wc~2k / friends to lovers Summary: “I just want to do something stupid!” “I know something stupid you could do.”

The Age of Romance by winetae s wc~13.2k / exes au Summary: Navigating through heartbreak becomes more complicated than expected when you agree to go on a two week long overseas trip with your ex-boyfriend.

Ugly Sweater Weather by army-author wc~4.2k / strangers to lovers, high school au Summary: Kim Seokjin is the most popular boy at your school. You think he’s stuck up and entitled, until you run into him at the clothing store you work at, and find him purchasing an unholy amount of ugly Christmas sweaters…

Very Punny by army-author wc~7.6k Summary: You sign up for a Christmas pen pal project to keep the boredom at bay over the holidays… but your pen pal partner might be a lot closer to you than you think…

Want Some F*ck? by borathae s wc~5.2k / fuckboy!Seokjin, PWP Summary: Seokjin is the college fuckboy. You are angry and annoyed at your ex. When you stumble into a supposed empty bedroom at your friends houseparty and meet Seokjin there, things take their natural path… Alternatively: The college fuckboy offers you TLC to cure your frustration, whatever that may be (spoiler alert some good ol’ fuck)

Wet & Wild by jamaisjoons s wc~10k / friends to lovers, PWP Summary: After a long night of revising for finals, and somehow being caught in the rain, Seokjin decides to warm you up in the best way possible.

You Leave Me Restless (and Breathless) by jinjikook s wc~11k / friends to lovers Summary: Seokjin was a pretty good best friend, that is until he starts sabotaging every date and chance you have with another guy. Though you only find out when he really royally fucks things up for you and everything after that is history.

You Will Feel a Flash of Red by vanaera wc~2.7k Summary: Seokjin colors your life with his outrageous ideas and unnecessarily wild adventures, along with his stupid mission to always scare you whenever you run into each other. Against your better judgment, you’ve already started to entertain foreign feelings in your heart concerning the certain boy. And it doesn’t help you already get scared easily without him adding his shenanigans in the mix. You just want Seokjin to stop…making you feel too much all at once.

T W O S H O T S / S E R I E S

Off Limits by floralseokjin s brother’s best friend au Summary: You’ve been lusting after your brother’s best friend for a while now, ever since you met him at a house party, flirting it up a storm as you failed to realise who the other was. That was months ago now and things are still awkward, but you can’t ignore the sexual tension that’s simmers between the two of you…and it keeps getting worse…

Show Me Yours, I'll Show You Mine by ktheist s brother's best friend au Summary: You’re a horny bunny yet Kim Seokjin always seems to manage to slide out of your grasps like a fox every time. Follow these two as they embark on a sexual adventure whilst keeping their relationship on the low from Kim Taehyung who may or may not just pull out the (your) best friend and (Seokjin’s) brother card to call a time-off on them for good.

Sugar Free by kimnjss s sm rich boy!Seokjin Summary: Rich, spoiled and a bit of a womanizer. But underneath all of that, there’s a heart of gold. And no matter how determined she is to reject him, he won’t stop trying until she sees he’s kinda sweet.

The Platonic Collection by joheunsaram s friends to lovers, FWB Summary: A collection of one shots and drabbles about two idiot best friends turned fwbs turned lovers

[snorlaxlovesme]

wishing for a shadow

Did anyone ask for a fix-it fic that actually addressed how fucked up it was to make a 15 year-old girl fight naked?

We really don’t talk about Hagakure Toru enough. I know that invisibility is a pretty well-used superpower by now, but Toru has been invisible ALL HER LIFE, ALL THE TIME. There’s so much good story potential there and Horikoshi is like, let’s have her do peace signs in the back of class 1-A pictures sometimes or whatever.

So here’s 8k words of Hagakure actually having a personality and searching for a way to have a hero costume. Cheers!

(Content warning for nudity, obviously, and implications of nonconsensual groping due to the invisible nudity. Did I mention that fighting and rescuing people naked as a teenage girl is really fucked up?)

                                --------------------------------------

Toru hated her hero costume.

Or maybe it was fairer to say she hated her quirk. While everyone else had a special power that they could turn on and off at will, Toru had to deal with her quirk all. The. Time. And it was exhausting. Wearing special clothes on the train so she wouldn’t be sat on or shoved against a wall. Flicking on a designated lamp in her parent’s house so they’d know when she was home. Making just enough noise in class so that people remember she existed. 

Being invisible had so many unnecessary drawbacks that early on in Toru’s life she decided there must have been a reason she was given this quirk. And maybe the reason was that she was meant to be a hero.

After all, it was the only real way to practically apply her quirk, wasn’t it? The choice was either to use her unique ability for good or fade into the background of her own life. So she chose to stand out, and what better way to do that than to apply to UA, the best hero school in all of Japan?

Newsflash: Hero school was hard. And even though no one could see them, coming back to the dorms every day covered in bruises and scrapes was not how Toru had planned to live out her teenage years.

What Toru really wanted was to be a normal girl. To go to the mall with her girl friends for make-overs and stay up way too late texting each other about which boy would ask them to the next school dance. She wanted to wear her hair in goofy styles and cry about zits and not worry about a building crushing her during her midterm exams. It was a simple dream, but Toru didn’t have a simple life. She’d thought by now she’d be over these silly fantasies, but when she saw her classmates’ modifications to their hero costumes the feeling hit her again before she could stuff it into that part inside of her where she kept her lost dreams.

Midoriya was testing out kicks at Ground Beta with his newly armored boots while Uraraka laughed a few feet in the air, marveling at her lack-of-queasiness from her new electromagnetic helmet. Toru stared forlornly at the new pair of gloves she’d received, with new colorful stitching. Her costume was….

Well, it wasn’t. The whole point of an invisibility quirk meant that she couldn’t wear a costume. It would kind of defeat the whole point then, wouldn’t it? To remain transparent, she couldn’t have any floating garments or gadgets attached to her body. Even the gloves themselves were technically a hindrance, but she needed some object to orient herself with her setting, otherwise her depth perception would suffer. It was a lot easier getting her bearings if she could tell whereabout her body was, and without her gloves she tended to move slower, not entirely sure where the rest of her body was while she moved.

Practically speaking, not having a costume for someone with a quirk like Toru’s made sense. Reasonably speaking—

“Oh! Hagakure-san, is that you?” Iida asked, embarrassed. She was lucky it was him who had run into her. His hero costume was made of bulky armor, so she doubted he felt it when he had brushed his arm against the side of her naked boob. She shrunk away.

“It’s not your fault, Iida-kun,” she said, hoping he could hear the smile in her voice and not the fakeness of it. “I’ll be more careful.”

It was hard, though. To be careful. The students of 1-A were gathered in a loose crowd in front of Aizawa-sensei, ready to hear what their mission was for today’s exercise. Toru was used to standing on the outskirts of groups to avoid being bumped into, but today she had gotten swept up in the middle. She held her gloved hands out at her sides, her default position to show everyone how much space she was taking up, but she still jumped when she felt Ojiro’s tail brush the small of her bare back. He flinched too, and sent an apologetic smile in her general direction, though nowhere near where her face actually was. She apologized again.

She hated her hero costume.

-

When class 1-A returned to the dorms, Toru made a beeline for her room, not that anyone noticed until her door slammed shut. She dug through her closet frantically until she found her warmest, fluffiest pink robe, and through it over her shivering body. She was so sick of this.

Aizawa-sensei was known as one of the toughest teachers of UA. He was also known for not playing favorites. But would it have killed him to warn her that they were doing underwater exercises today? While everyone else had at least some form of pants and a shirt to do their rescue dives in, Toru had to swim through the freezing-cold pool completely naked. It might have been an advantage if she didn’t have to spend most of her mental energy trying not to touch her rescue victim (Sato) with most of her body. 

And coming out of the water? That was a treat. The water droplets that clung to her transparent body made her look like a sex-shop mannequin, perked nipples and all. She had no choice but to leave the training grounds immediately, nothing but wet footprints in the cement to prove she was even there to begin with. Toru waited until she had dried off before returning to class, making up a lie to Aizawa-sensei that she felt sick and hoping no one but Sato saw her dripping wet figure before she’d fled.

How come no one else had to deal with this? She’d tried to talk to Momo about it once, feeling like she of all people would understand Toru’s pain. After all, she had a quirk that required her to show a lot of skin as well. But ironically enough, Momo had responded that her quirk wasn’t so bad. And besides Mineta, all the other boys in their class were very respectful about not looking at her while she pulled back her hero costume to use her Creation quirk. Using it in public was hard, but certainly not impossible. Besides, Momo had pointed out, in the heat of hero-ing she barely had time to think about modesty. She was too focused on saving people.

Toru had left that conversation at that. Any further discussion would make her sound jaded, and that’s not the type of image she liked to project to the world. She didn’t have an actual image, so to others Toru’s attitude was all she had. So she kept quiet about how frustrating it was to have to constantly avoid being sexually harassed while saving people, all while hoping that others didn’t think she was sexually harassing them. Toru, the fifteen year old girl with a very unfortunate quirk, didn’t want to be made out to be a villain for something she simply could not help. But what was the right answer?

Toru searched the floor of her messy dorm room until she found a terry-cloth towel and then began to scrub her head with it, trying to dry off as quickly as possible and maybe just scrub the rest of this awful day off of her. The type of towel she was using would cause her hair to frizz (she watched enough beauty gurus online to know), but it made no difference to someone like Toru. The world didn’t know the incredible condition she normally kept her hair in. 

Sometimes it felt like everything about her was a secret.

-

“Just hot soba again, Toru-chan?” Tsuyu asked her the following week at school as they grabbed their lunch trays. Even though her voice was even as she said it, Toru could tell there was concern in it. Even at lunchtime, Toru could always be found with either bread or a sweet on her tray. It had been quite a while since she’d eaten a red bean bun. She just wasn’t in the mood lately.

“Yeah, I’m just not very hungry today,” Toru told her friend, trying to sound chipper. She didn’t want to concern anyone, not in the least, but it was getting harder and harder to keep up her upbeat attitude when everything about her quirk just seemed to be bothering her lately.

Tsuyu nodded, though she didn’t look convinced. But thankfully she wasn’t the type to pry, so she led them to an empty table in the cafeteria. Toru sat across from Tsuyu and removed her face mask, a plain black one that she had bought online a few months back when she had hay fever. Lately she’d been feeling very self-conscious of people constantly talking to her chest, so she started wearing the mask to give people something on her face to focus on when they spoke to her.

She slurped her soba noodles in silence, not having much to say, when Midoriya and Todoroki passed by.

“Are these seats taken?” Todoroki asked. Toru glanced around to make sure they were talking about actual empty seats, not hers.  But there were two vacant seats next to Tsuyu, who gestured to the boys that they could join them when she continued peeling an apple for herself.

“Have they bothered trying to see if Eri’s quirk would work on him?” Todoroki asked, continuing a conversation they must have started while getting their food.

Midoriya shrugged. “I haven’t asked lately. I think they’re still scared that Eri wouldn’t be able to control her quirk and would rewind him too far. She’s still so young.”

“When would be an appropriate age for her to finally use it on him, then?”

“Are you talking about Togata-senpai, ribbet?” Tsuyu asked.

Midoriya nodded, looking pained. “I don’t know, Todoroki-kun. He’s still coming to school, at least, but not full-time. Without his quirk he doesn’t have much use for the hero courses he was taking.”

Toru had vaguely heard about this from Tsuyu and Ochako. Apparently the third-year who had done a fight demonstration for class 1-A after the provisional exam was injured during the Shie Hassaikai raid.  He’d been hit by one of the darts manufactured to take away people’s quirks while rescuing a child. Toru, in one of her darker moments, had selfishly wondered what would happen if she had gotten hit by a dart like that. Would all of her problems be solved? If her quirk was erased would she be visible? Could she finally live her life like a normal girl?

But then she had passed by the hospital wing shortly after, to get some bandages for Kaminari. Togata Mirio sat alone in a hospital bed with a bandage wrapped around his waist and the blankest expression she had ever seen on the normally-cheerful upperclassmen’s face. She was thankful for her quirk in the moment, so Togata didn’t have to see the shame written all over her.

The feeling still burned through her at the mention of his name, so Toru kept to herself as she ate her lunch, seamlessly blending with the background as she often did.

“Le Million isn’t gone just because Togata-senpai doesn’t have his quirk,” Tsuyu told the boys insightfully. “He’s still plenty heroic without his Permeation.” 

“He could always just be a citizen for a few years until Eri gets older, I suppose,” Todoroki said idly. “Or he could be a police officer. Quirks aren’t required to be a part of the force.”

Midoriya stared off into the distance. “I guess. I just can’t imagine him in a police uniform instead of his hero costume. It’s too hard to think about.”

Toru slurped her noodles a bit too loudly at that, and all at once all eyes were on her. Well, her chopsticks.

“Hagakure-san?” Midoriya said.

Toru cleared her throat delicately before speaking. “Hero costume? I thought that Togata-senpai couldn’t wear clothes while using his quirk.”

“Oh!” Midoriya said cheerfully, understanding her surprise. “The only time you saw him fight was in his P.E. uniform, wasn’t it? No, Le Million’s hero costume is this really awesome full-body suit with a cape and the number one million written across the chest! I think he got the inspiration from—”

“But how does it stay on him?” Toru asked, cutting Midoriya off before he could start rambling.

If Midoriya was put off by her interruption, he was kind enough not to show it. “It’s woven out of some specially-made fabric,” Midoriya said. “The inspiration appears to be from—”

And for the second time that day, Toru cut Midoriya off. But this time it was to abruptly leave the table, leaving the rest of her soba and her friends behind.

-

Toru hoped all the work she had put in making friends with her classmates for the past few months would make up for her rudeness at lunchtime. But after hearing that there was a specially-woven fabric that could form to quirks, Toru could no longer sit idly by.

This could have been her solution! Not the one she had secretly, selfishly wished for, that her quirk would one day disappear and she would wake up a normal, visible civilian. But the more attainable goal, that she could find a way to make a costume that wasn’t so revealing. Something that gave her more coverage while still allowing her to maintain the one advantage that her quirk gave her in the field.

She had run immediately to the Principal Nezu’s office and requested Togata Mirio’s contact information, saying that it was urgent and related to education. The principal gave it to her with little hesitation, perhaps seeing an outcome to their meeting that she couldn’t fathom with her human brain. But Toru didn’t care, so long as she was able to talk to Togata about the nature of his costume.

Texting him had been a little nerve-wracking, especially since her senpai probably didn’t even know she was alive, but after explaining through text that she was a student from 1-A with some hero questions, Togata seemed perfectly happy to meet her in the courtyard on campus and chat with her.

Feeling better than she had in weeks, Toru made an effort in her appearance. Wearing a form-fitting black turtleneck, checkered skirt, and thigh-high stockings, she was feeling more like herself than she had in a very long time. Another girl would probably style her hair or apply make-up for a meeting with an upperclassmen boy, but Toru didn’t. She brushed her transparent hair and let it hang down straight, not that anyone else would know the difference. She did choose a more stylish mask today, looping a purple one with a bedazzled kitty face on it around her ears before heading away from the dorms to their meeting spot.

She sat on a bench in the courtyard, a few minutes early, and anxiously tapped on her thighs as she waited. Now that she was here, she was starting to get nervous. As excited as she was to talk about hero costumes, it was now occurring to her that her blank-faced senpai might not actually want to talk about hero work now that he had been forcefully relegated to civilian status. He’d gone through a traumatizing ordeal and had his whole life ripped away from him only a few months ago. Was she being incredibly selfish again?

“Hagakure-san?” Toru heard, and leapt to her feet awkwardly as Togata entered the courtyard.

“S-senpai! I’m glad you could come on such short notice!” she squeaked. She shouldn’t have asked him to come, what was she thinking—

“I like your mask,” he said with a sunny smile, coming to sit beside her on the stone bench. He didn’t look upset in the slightest. “I really love cats.”

“Really?” Toru asked stupidly.

“Yeah!” he said enthusiastically. “The way their tails swish back and forth, their rough tongues, their little toe beans? Cats are the best. If I could spend a day in a pile of cats, that would be the best day ever.”

Toru….did not know how to respond to that. The last time she saw him he had looked so depressed. She didn’t think that he would come here to talk to her and look so happy. Togata was sitting beside her, all six-foot-something of him, with his broad shoulders and his perfect hair and he was talking to her about cats. What did she call him here for again? 

Thankfully, Togata could not see the way she was gaping at him and just took her silence as a means to continue. He went on a Midoriya-like ramble for the next few minutes or so about his favorite breed (Singapura) before Toru finally found the will to speak.

“Togata-senpai?” she said gently, trying to make up for her earlier rudeness with her friends by at least interrupting this boy kindly. He stopped talking to look at her curiously. “I actually didn’t come here to talk about cats. I was hoping to talk to you about hero work…if that’s okay,” she tacked on lamely, hoping not to offend him.

He looked unbothered, smiling at her kindly. “Sure! I have a lot of experience out in the field, so I’m sure I could offer you some advice if you need it. Is something bothering you?”

“Well,” Toru said, looking down at her lap. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to bare her soul so openly to someone who was basically a stranger to her, so he kept her explanation brief. “Due to my quirk,” she splayed her arms out to gesture to her invisible form, “I don’t have a lot of options, costume-wise. Midoriya told me that your Le Million costume was constructed of a special fabric so that you could wear it while using your Permeation quirk, and I was just wondering if the same material might work for my quirk as well?”

Togata looked on thoughtfully. “Well, you see. My costume was made from my own hair.”

Toru blinked. 

“Your hair?”

He nodded. “With Permeation, I phase through every solid object around me when I use my quirk. You saw me fight your class, I could barely keep my P.E. uniform on,” he said with a bashful chuckle. “But if my costume is made from me, I can use my quirk on it so both me and my clothes permeate. You see?”

“Oh,” Toru murmured. 

She really didn’t realize how much hope she had in this plan until it was dashed right in front of her eyes. There wasn’t some special all-in-one fabric swatch she could use to make her own full-body suit with a cape. She was Hagakare Toru, and life did not treat her that kindly. She would spend the rest of her hero days either shivering from the cold or being unintentionally (or even worse, intentionally ) groped by every person she attempted to save.

Her vision swam from disappointment, and when the tears started beading in the corners of her eyes, she did nothing to stop them.

“Hagakure-san! What’s wrong?” her senpai asked, flapping his hands wildly in concern when he saw the water drip down the invisible contours of her cheeks.

“I just thought—I just hoped I could have a costume like yours, Senpai,” she sniffed miserably. “I can’t stand doing hero work with no clothes on. I don’t want to want to be a hero if I have to be naked for it.”

Togata seemed to finally understand what she was here for, and the sympathy in his eyes showed it. While the pity was appreciated, she wasn’t sure she wanted to be around anyone right now. She stood to leave, but before she could turn away from him Togata touched her very gently at the elbow. She stopped and looked down at his hand, and he immediately took it away. 

“Wait, don’t go yet. I understand completely what you mean. I spent so much of my first year at UA forced to laugh it off whenever my clothes would fall off while training with my classmates. I know how it must feel for you, to an extent.”

Toru thought of her classmates, who brushed off her concerns dismissively. “You do?”

That constant smile returned to his face, though there was a sad twist to it. “Embarrassing. Vulnerable. Incredibly lonely.”

She blinked a few more tears away and nodded.

Togata continued. “It’s hard when you have a quirk with such a unique drawback. No one wants to think too much about how hard it might be for you. Especially since you’re so cheery; you can’t possibly be bothered by it. Sound familiar?”

To a tee. 

“It sucks having to be the positive one all the time,” she said, brushing her cheeks with the palm of her hand. “It means no one likes you when you act truly unhappy.”

Togata swallowed and nodded. She wondered what it must be like for him now, to have lost his quirk and still keep that sunny smile on his face. She wondered how genuine he was when he first showed up here, or if he was putting on an act just like she did every day.

She thought to ask him. “Togata-senpai—?”

But Togata was already pressing on. “But I do think there’s something we can do for you. While the material for my suit won’t be usable for you, there’s no reason why the same method of costume production won’t work for you, Hagakure-san.”

“My hair?”

Togata shrugged. “If it worked for me, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work for you. It’s worth a shot, anyway. How long is your hair?”

Without asking, his hand reached out. Toru never got used to this. It was always worse because of how horrible people were at guessing body position. You’d think that after looking at so many humans on a day-to-day basis that people would be able to reasonably guess where certain body parts were, but Toru was often unpleasantly surprised by where people grabbed her first. 

She closed her eyes and waited for it to be over, but his hand never fell. She cracked open one eye and saw Togata’s hand, suspended a few inches above the crown of her head. Her eyes then flicked to his face, where he waited patiently for her.

The saltwater didn’t seem to have fully left her eyes as she reached up her hand and took hold of his own, before guiding it gently down the length of her hair. His fingertips grazed the very ends of the strands for a moment before letting it fall back to her shoulders. He smiled again.

“That should be plenty to start.”

-

“Shouldn’t we be going to the Costumes Department?” Toru asked as she followed Togata’s lead, walking towards a wing of UA that she’d never needed to enter before today. 

“Nah, they’d take too long to make it. They’re always backed up. But the Support Class students are always itching for new projects,” Togata said like the wise senpai he was. “No one is more Plus Ultra than UA students themselves, after all,” he said with a wink.

Toru took this logic in stride as she stood before the Support Class Workshop, but admittedly she was a little nervous. They were still students, after all.

“What if they mess up?” she asked. She’d be foolish to not voice her fears now, before it was too late.

Togata seemed unfazed. “Then we try again. Hair isn’t a finite resource after all. It grows back. And if you can find someone with a helpful quirk, your costume material could grow back faster than you think!”

Toru supposed she couldn’t argue with that, so she steeled herself for whatever was to come and opened the door.

A drone zipped past her head and out the door, so quick Toru didn’t even have time to duck.

“Don’t leave the door open!” a student covered in grime yelled from on top of an incredibly tall ladder. “My babies will escape!”

“Babies?” Toru asked curiously. Togata closed the metal door behind them and caught another drone flying their way before it could smack into the wall. The student who had yelled at them before was already focusing her attention elsewhere, picking up an electric tool that Toru couldn’t identify and hopping inside of the cabin of a giant mech.

“That’s Hatsume Mei,” Togata told her. “She’s a first-year, but she’s already at the top of the Support Class. If anyone can help you, it’s her.”

“Is that praise I hear?” Hatsume Mei called out, poking her head out of the robot and grinning wildly. “Le Millioni! It’s been ages. What can I do for you?

“We’re actually here for Hagakure-san today.” Togata explained the situation to her while she worked, undeterred when Hatsume climbed back in her machine and continued working on her invention. He told her of Toru’s unique problem as impersonally as possible, only telling her the necessary details, which Toru was grateful for. Her fingers fiddled with the hem of her skirt as she waited until Togata ended his explanation, wondering if Hatsume could fashion a costume for her out of her own hair.

“So you said it was mid-back, right?” Hatsume Mei yelled over the sound of a drill. She was back inside the robot and sparks were shooting out of it at rapid intervals. Toru and Togata ducked their heads in tandem as some shot their way.

“Closer to my lower back, actually!” Toru shouted back. 

Toru had always been incredibly proud of her hair. It was a personal thing, obviously, since no one could see it, but that didn’t stop Toru from meticulously maintaining it from a young age. Even if it wasn’t visible, Toru could still feel it, so she’d always gone out of her way to treat her hair properly so she could at least revel in the sleek texture of it. She’d followed beauty influencers online for years to discover the perfect balance of shampoos, conditioners, leave-ins, and other miracle products to keep her hair in perfect condition. Hair length like hers could only be achieved through proper care of healthy hair.

The drilling noise cut off suddenly and Hatsume pulled herself out of the robot and climbed down the ladder. She flipped up her grease-smudged goggles to eye Toru curiously. Toru, used to this reaction, let herself be scrutinized. 

“I can work with that,” she said finally. “Though there is the caveat of it being invisible. I need to be able to see my materials in order to make a beautiful baby out of them.”

There was always something, wasn’t there? Every time Toru thought she was taking a step in the right direction, the rug was pulled right out from under her—

“That’s an easy fix, though,” Togata said. “Temporary hair dye will help you cut it off of her and work it into usable fabric. Then you can wash the dye out when you’re all done.”

And just like that, there was hope again. Toru looked at Togata in amazement.

Hatsume smiled grandly at Togata. “Look at that! Beauty and brains. What don’t you have, Le Million?”

A quirk , Toru thought glumly. But Togata didn’t miss a beat. “Time to waste, Hatsume. Toru needs this costume done as soon as possible, okay?”

“Don’t they all,” Hatsume said flippantly, tossing her tool on a desk behind her. “Alright, cutie,” she said, addressing Toru this time. “If you want support gear from me ASAP then I’m going to need you to come back to me as quick as you can with dyed hair, got it? Then I’ll get to work on turning it into something usable for you.”

“Do you really think you can do it?” Toru asked. All of this hoping was exhausting her.

“Ye of little faith. I perform miracles in this workshop every day!” she shouted, extending her arms out widely to gesture to the room of junked parts. “Now, begone until you’ve returned with dyed hair. I have schematics to work up.”

And just like that, they were kicked out of Hatsume Mei’s workshop of miracles, something Toru believed in for the first time in a long while.

-

Two days later, Toru walked out of the Workshop of Miracles feeling lighter than she had in all the time she’d been a student at UA. Most of that was due to the 13 inches of hair cut from her head, but she couldn’t deny that optimism had something to do with it too.

“I like the haircut,” Togata told her as he met up with her outside of the workshop. He was smiling that same sunny smile, but Toru didn’t have it in her to question it after feeling so high. 

She shook her head from side to side, reveling in the feeling of the tips of her hair hitting her face. The other night she had approached the girls of 1-A with a proposition: make-over night. Thrilled beyond all belief, they were incredibly eager to follow her to the drugstore for a night of fun, picking out nail polish and facial masks and of course, hair dye. After mixing it with care, Ochako had taken a specially purchased paintbrush to apply the dye evenly and consistently to her hair, making sure every strand was fully coated. The morning after, she had sent an email to Aizawa-sensei saying she wouldn’t be able to participate in Stealth training for a week and then took the day to bask in the feeling of being truly seen.

“It’s a shame I didn’t get to see it while it was still long,” he said as he walked beside her, matching his pace with hers as they made their way to the cafeteria. Despite the fact that she had a freshly-cut, lilac-colored bob swishing on her head, he still made the effort to focus his gaze on the space between her hairline and her mask, a white one with rainbow-colored cat whiskers. Toru smiled widely.

“It’s alright, Senpai. You didn’t miss anything,” she said genuinely. 

What he wouldn’t want to miss was still yet to come.

-

This was, perhaps, the one time Toru truly allowed herself to be manhandled. Even the word “allow” felt a little strong, for Hatsume Mei had come to her with an eagerness that couldn’t be denied, but with Toru being just as ecstatic as the engineer was, she didn’t push back too much when Hatsume insisted that she blindfold Toru for the reveal of her new costume. So after tying a UA uniform-standard tie around her eyes, Hatsume set to work dressing Toru, making easy work of her and not once misplacing where certain body parts might be.

“Are you guys almost done in there?” Togata asked from outside of the crudely-made fitting room. It wasn’t more than some strategically placed Support Pieces and a curtain draped between the stacks, but it was more privacy than Toru usually got when she undressed, so she was grateful.

“Al-moooooost,” Hatsume sang, in an extraordinary mood, which only made Toru’s spirits climb higher. After the rustling of fabric and a few tugs later, Toru felt herself being spun in a circle and led to the outside of the fitting room. Togata remained quiet as Hatsume untied the tie and pulled it from Toru’s eyes in a grand flourish.

Before Toru was a large full-length mirror, with Togata off to the side, watching with quiet awe. She almost couldn’t understand his expression at first, until she turned her body slightly and saw her hair catch the light, a purple shimmer still tinting parts of it even after she’d washed it several times.

But that’s all she saw.

Toru walked forward and touched her hand to the mirror before pulling it away. The glass felt cool and smooth beneath her palm, but she had not seen her approach the entire time she’d walked towards it. Only Togata and Hatsume’s giant smiles as they stood behind her.

Togata’s expression started to dip when he saw the tears rolling down Toru’s cheeks, a similar sight to what he had seen the day he first met her, except now they were suspended alone in midair.

“Oh, no. Hagakure-san, if you don’t like it—”

A little laugh bubbled out of her before she could stop herself, then another, until Toru found herself crying and laughing in equal parts.

Togata looked confused until Hatsume, who had never stopped grinning, handed over her goggles to him.

“Click the right button twice for thermal imaging, Beauty,” she whispered to him.

And then Togata was able to see Toru as she truly stood, a smile practically splitting her face in two as her hands roved up and down her body. Just her 13 inches of hair had made enough material for a shirt the length of a crop top, with spaghetti straps crossed behind her back. Her bikini-cut bottoms covered her front and backside completely, and there was even a tiny bit of material left over to make a tie for Toru’s hair, so the longer strands of her bob could be pulled back into a small ponytail at the back of her head. She was invisible, but she was covered , for the first time in her life, and Toru couldn’t stop crying as she clung to the feeling of security around all her most intimate parts.

“Now once your hair grows back, I’ll be able to add more to it, of course. This is just the prototype stage. If you take your vitamins or, if you’re like our senpai over here, you find someone with a hair-growth quirk, we’ll be able to add all sorts of pieces to it, such as—”

Hatsume couldn’t get any more words out, crushed as she was in Toru’s vice grip embrace.

“Thank you,” she cried into the engineer’s neck. “Thank you so much.”

Hatsume hummed and patted her back. “All in a day’s work. Glad I could help.” She rubbed Toru’s bare shoulder for a moment before jumping back. “Oh! Wait, I didn’t show you the best part.”

She extracted herself from Toru to head back to the makeshift dressing room, where she brought out the briefcase that all UA students carried their costumes in. Toru’s had previously only contained her white striped gloves. But when Hatsume opened it up, she saw much more.

It almost looked like a miniaturized closet, a rod going across the top of it and a tech-y looking hanger dangling from the middle. On the bottom of the velvet-lined case were a bunch of black discs the size of silver dollars, each with a blinking red light.

“This—” Hatsume said as she pointed to the hanger “—is where you put your costume after you’re done wearing it. The hanger is weight sensitive, so when your costume is on it, it will light up green so you know that it’s there even if you can’t see it. Should it not be in your case and you need to try and locate it—” Hatsume picked up one of the small discs “—use one of these sensors to track it. Your costume gives off a signal that can be registered on one of these from up to 500 meters away. There’s a tiny twist of wires in both pieces that act as a homing beacon. I made them as small as possible so they’re barely visible to the human eye unless you’re dancing in front of a stark white background. Otherwise you should be good.”

Toru twisted and turned about, patting down her sides, unable to even feel the wires Hatsume was talking about. The engineer was good. 

“Why are there so many sensors?” she asked.

“Ah, yes. These also double as tools to be given to your team when you go out on assignment for hero work. Now your teammates can locate you even if you can’t respond to them aloud. Helps with rescue ops and things like that.”

Toru didn’t know what to say. 

“You put a tracking device in my suit so my friends can find me?”

“Yes, essentially.”

Toru swallowed, the emotion in her throat coming close to clawing out of her. How did Hatsume know? How could she have known that Toru was terrified of getting lost or injured during her hero work? Of no one knowing where to look? She’d never told anyone that. She was Hagakure Toru, the upbeat attitude of 1-A, the comic relief when everyone else was feeling overwhelmed. How did she know Toru was petrified that a stealth operation would turn into a mission where she’d be lost forever?

“I can’t take the credit for that idea,” Hatsume continued good-naturedly. “Brains here came up with that one.”

Toru turned to her senpai, who had been standing back the entire time and staying out of the girls’ way as they discussed the details of the costume. He was still wearing Hatsume’s ridiculous-looking goggles, which meant he could still see Toru, though it seemed like he didn’t need the goggles at all for that to be possible. Maybe he’d been the one person truly seeing her this whole time.

She stepped toward him, not at all feeling self-conscious for perhaps the first time in her life and took his hands in hers.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me, Togata-senpai,” she said, her voice packed with sincerity.

She’d seen so many smiles from him in these past two weeks, but the crooked one that climbed up his face now felt the most genuine out of all of them.

“I’m always here to help,” he told her.

-

No, this was the most genuine smile she’d seen him wear in weeks.

“I can’t believe it! I can’t believe it!”

She laughed good-naturedly as the former-hero Le Million lay on the floor of a cat café, covered in kittens. He’d been shrieking with joy for the past half hour while she sipped her coffee and watched him. This was the least she could do for her upperclassmen after all he’d done for her lately. A small orange kitten crawled over his chest and flicked its tail at Togata’s nose, and he looked like he just won the lottery.

“This is the best day,” he said happily, his hands patting at the floor while an older striped cat batted at his fingers. “I feel like now I owe you something, Hagakure-san. You didn’t have to do this.”

“I absolutely did,” she said, setting down her cup. A cat sitting on the chair across from her scurried away at the noise, not being able to comprehend how the cup had seemingly moved on its own.  “And frankly I owe you about a thousand more cat cafés after all you’ve done for me.”

Togata sat up, holding the striped cat up to his face to give her forehead a kiss before setting her down to run away. He looked at Toru, eyes still full of light. “Now that’s just silly.”

Maybe so, but Toru felt he deserved it nonetheless. She wouldn’t be feeling as happy, as safe, as she felt now without his help. And the trackers…she really couldn’t thank him enough. He’d done so much for her despite barely knowing her. 

She wished she had been able to do the same when she saw him in that hospital bed all those months ago. When he was feeling lost, who had helped out Le Million? Back then, Toru had seen the pain on his face and had only thought of herself. Toru felt the venomous shame coursing through her veins again. Underneath all the smiles and child-like exuberance was a boy who was suffering without his quirk. The fact that she’d envied someone who’d been hurt so deeply still made her stomach twist. The cat café could provide him temporary happiness, but she could see that saving people was the thing that caused him real joy. 

“Togata-senpai?” 

Togata, who’d been dangling a feathered toy in front of an uninterested black cat’s face, looked up.

She was going to ruin his good mood, but she felt like she had to say it. 

“I’m sorry you lost your quirk.”

For once, Togata didn’t plaster an automatic smile to his face. “Why do you say that?”

Toru fiddled with the hem of her uniform skirt awkwardly, unable to look him in the eye. “You seem like a really kind person. I know that you would have made an amazing hero.” She cleared her throat awkwardly. “The fact that you lost your quirk is really unfair.”

Togata remained quiet. Toru did as well, not knowing if she should continue or change the subject to lighten the mood. Hagakure Toru, known for her cheery attitude, was not known for her grace when it came to serious topics. She probably shouldn’t have brought it up. It was out of her own guilt that she felt the need to mention it, and now she was forcing Togata to think about it—

Togata stood up, leaving the bell toy in front of the cat, and sat at the table with her. His voice was uncharacteristically somber when he spoke.

“I won’t lie to you. When I lost my quirk, I thought it was unfair too. I’ve worked hard my entire life to be able to turn my quirk into something useful, and having all that hard work taken from me so suddenly felt like a slap in the face. Like a part of me was taken, you know?”

Toru nodded sympathetically.

“But you know what?” Togata said. “After a while I began to realize that no one can control what is or isn’t fair in their lives. We can only control how we react to it.” 

There was truth in the simplicity of his statement. Toru felt it in her bones every time she’d been dismissed, ignored by people who often forgot about her if she didn’t work so hard to take up space. Life was unfair, and the bitterness she felt in her heart about her own quirk probably wouldn’t go away for a long time. But stewing in hate wasn’t going to help her move forward either.

Togata continued, “I lost my quirk, maybe permanently, but that doesn’t change my purpose. Le Million’s goal is to save a million people. I don’t need to be a hero to do that. Every day that I help someone in need is another person saved, and I use that reminder to stay focused on the future.”

Toru thought about that. “Does that mean I’m another person you saved?”

Togata hummed pensively. “Maybe. But I think that asking for help means that you already did half the work for me. And now that you can do hero work more comfortably, you can save lots of people too!”

The smile forming on his face was infectious. She felt the corners of her lips turning up, hope lighting a fire in her heart that hadn’t been there a month ago. 

Toru put her hands on her hips, but kept a teasing edge to her voice.. “Don’t think that you can use my rescues towards your count, Le Million!” Toru retorted playfully. “If you want to save a million people you need to do it fair and square!”

Togata laughed at her joke—a full, exuberant sound that Toru found she quite liked. The conversation tapered off from there as her senpai located a lone Singapura cat basking in the sunlight a few tables down, but Toru was fine with that. Something told her that this was the beginning of a new chapter for both of them. 

The future was looking brighter for her already, and with a new costume and a new friend, she was excited to see the kind of hero she’d turn out to be.

[riotfuckery]

Class teddy bear

lzuku Midoriya x super affectionate f!reader

A/N: Hello my beautiful readers! It’s your friendly neighborhood big tiddy goth gf and lowkey weeb 💖Here we have a slight crack/fluff fic featuring reader loving on the sweet broccoli headed boy. This fic was especially inspired by @birds-have-teeth and their blog so go check them out! My affectionate/nurturing side goes haywire whenever I see him. Yes I know people don’t like him but I have the insatiable urge to wrap him in my arms and tell him what a good boi he is so here we go. Shoutout to writing senpais who gave my last fic lots of love and thank you for the support 💖🥺💖 @trafalgar-temptress @queensynderella @kingtamakimurder 

You were always affectionate. Always ready to give hugs and hold hands if someone needed it. You had open arms for anyone (besides that nasty grape bastard) and everyone was used to it, the girls of class 1-A being extra affectionate with you. You were most thankful for Mina, Kirishima, and Tooru who especially seemed to share your joy in being close with others.

You never pushed your affections on anyone while always asking for permission the first few times. You slowly got the entire class used to it. You even got Iida used to it, which is a mystery in itself. Platonic cuddle sessions were common between your friends, even the male ones. But you could never get one certain green curly haired boy used to it.

It annoyed the hell out of you but you were blind to the fact he wasn’t used to affections from girls, much less pretty girls. Pulling him in for a hug made him freeze for a few seconds or even passing out on a few occasions. He never complained or rejected your actions so that confused you even more.

You were early as usual and made your way to class. Suddenly you saw the sharp toothed unbreakable sweetheart in the halls walking next to the always yelling angry explosive blonde. Your heart raced excitingly and you called out to your favorite red headed cuddle buddy to indulge in your daily routine.

“KIRIIIIIIII~” you sang as you sprinted toward him in the mostly empty hall. Ignoring the weird looks you always got with smile, you ran with open arms and a bright smile. He turned and smiled brighter than the sun at you, bracing himself for impact with his own open arms. You launched yourself at him and he caught you with a laugh, wrapping his arms around your waist and squeezing you in a bear hug that made your day just so much brighter.

You latched yourself to him like a koala, nuzzling your cheek against his and holding onto his strong broad shoulders. “Good morning Kiri!” You sang, giggling softly in pure glee as he held you. “Good morning teddy bear!” He greeted back happily, showing off his sharp teeth with a blinding smile. You heard a very aggravated “Tch” next to you and you turned to look at the angry hedgehog.

“You can get a hug too Bakugo, I know you’re jealous cause you’re secretly a cuddle bug too~” you smiled cheekily at him. He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away with a small blush on his cheeks. You giggled once again. Kiri put you down and you readjusted your uniform before walking right up to Bakugo.

You looked up at him with an excited twinkle in your eyes for a moment before you pulled him for a short hug. You wrapped your arms around his thin waist and nuzzled your face in his chest. (Damn Bakugo, what you doing out here lookin like a whole ass snack???)

He froze before a moment and then hugged you back, wrapping his strong arms around you while resting his chin on top of your head. All with a bright pink blush on his cheeks and his ears, his signature scowl still stuck on his face. You pulled away and gave him a playful smile. “See? I knew you were secretly a cuddle bug, takes one to know one. But I’ll keep it a secret tough guy.” You shot him a flirty wink before running to the classroom. The distant screaming of Bakugo combined with Kirishima laughing and the popping of his explosions making you yourself laugh.

You made it to the classroom, and were greeted by Mina and Tooru who immediately took you by the hands and pulled you down to your desk, where you set your stuff. You gave a bright good morning to Iida and Todoroki and received a polite good morning and nod respectively from the boys. You knew they weren’t big on affection even though you had a feeling if you got Todoroki used to it, he would be the biggest cuddle monster in the world.

The next person who came into the classroom was the target of your affections and long time crush. None other than the greenette with wild curly hair, cute freckles and big green eyes that made your loving side go into an almost violent frenzy. Your eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and gave a girls a knowing look. They gave a small nod and went back to talking to whatever they were discussing. They were used to your loving antics by now and shared a hushed giggle with one another. You shot up from your seat and parkoured over several desks from your seat in the back of the room.

You got to him and immediately pulled him into the room and grabbed a hold of his hand, interlacing your fingers together while guiding him to his desk. You then pulled him into a tight hug. You pressed his face in your chest and softly pet his hair.

“Good morning, my sweet green bean! How’s the cutest sweetie in the world today?” You cooed at him. Ignoring the giggles from your friends, you released him when you realized he probably couldn’t breathe. You said a small sorry and took a good look at him, he was full body blushing and was trying to stutter out a good morning back. Poor boy was so overwhelmed he froze in place while his mind was racing a billion miles an hour.

You were confused as to why he was so red and you thought he had a fever. So you checked, taking his cute face into your hands while you looked at him, your thumbs rubbing comforting circles on those chubby freckled cheeks automatically. Your actions soothed his panicking and he just silently enjoyed your affections.

Poor broccoli boy thought he would melt into a puddle. Seeing you so focused on him made his heart race. He admired your face silently, looking carefully at your beautiful sparking eyes and the slight pink tint on your soft lips. He wondered if your lips tasted as good as they looked.

What you did next almost made his heart stop. You gently pulled his face to yours and brushed your nose with his, all while smiling so happily he thought dying like this wasn’t the worst way to go out. His heart was beating against his ribcage so violently it almost hurt. He snapped out his haze when he realized he had to reply.

He blinked a few times and tried to clear up the heat radiating off of him with a deep breath. His face turned from fully red to just a bright pink blush on his cheeks and ears. He took in another deep breath and focused his train of thought to forming a response.

“G-g-goodmorning Y/N-chan! I’m doing great!” was all he could manage to get out in his wild state of mind. He cursed himself internally for stuttering in front of you and wishing he was smooth enough to make YOU blush.

You still hadn’t let go of his impossibly cute face, thinking of how cute it was that he was resting his face in your smaller hands like a tired puppy. You internally squealed in delight. He was so cute that you wanted to kiss him but it took every ounce of your self restraint to not to when you realized you both were in class. You quickly glanced at the clock and reluctantly let go of his face.

“Oh my, class is about to start! I’ll see you in a bit cutie pie!~” you beamed at him before you left, walking away to your own desk with an extra pep in your step. He froze for a moment, trying to process the interaction with you. He placed his stuff under the small table and sat down at his desk. He took a few moments to collect himself and then pulled out his hero journal.

He scribbled down your actions and his thoughts on what you did this morning. He willed away his blush somehow when everyone else filed in. He was trying to figure out why you were as affectionate as you are not that he disliked it. All throughout the school day, he would sneak quick glances at you.

He couldn’t fully pay attention in class. It was a rare chill day so he didn’t have to worry about trying to form a coherent thought while you’re in your hero costume. He tried to focus on his lessons, but his train of thought always led back to you. He was quite smitten with you, little to your knowledge.

He recalled how soft your hands were and how gentle you were with him. He was daydreaming about you and your life together, if he was so lucky to get to spend his life with you. You were warm and inviting, always smiling and befriending anyone and everyone. You even got Kacchan to give you hugs. KACCHAN!

That in itself was no easy task, heavenly beings knows Izuku tried to make peace with the ash blonde. But you seemed to do it so easily. You were smart, unbelievably beautiful, friendly and so KIND. He was struck with a wave of insecurity.

What if you didn’t like him the same way he liked you? He got help and got lucky, inheriting one for all and a spot in UA. What if his luck ran out before it got to you? What if he couldn’t make you happy? Did he even deserve you? What if you found someone that suited you better? Could he take it?

His thoughts were interrupted by a cold hand placed on his shoulder. He jumped about 10ft in the air from shock before he whipped his head to look at who broke him out of his thoughts. It was Todoroki thankfully, he sighed in relief. The half and half boy spoke first.

“Class just ended. I saw you couldn’t pay attention in classes today, so I took notes for you. You like her don’t you? Y/N?” Izuku gave him a surprised look with a light pink on his cheeks and then nodded once. He’s been friends with Shouto for awhile but his observational skills and blunt tone always surprised him.

“You should tell her, she likes you quite a bit you know? She coddles you more than anyone else in class. Just ask her out.” Todoroki stated as both boys were walking back to the dorms to change and do their homework in the peace of their rooms. Izuku was filled with determination as he and Todoroki walked. He made a plan to ask you out on a date in your room later that night.

You arrived at your room, opening the door then shutting it and plopping your things down roughly after taking off your shoes. You loudly groaned at the amount of homework that was assigned as you took off your uniform and bra before making your way to the dresser to pick out something comfortable to wear.

A green pair of sleep shorts and black oversized t shirt with all might on the front of it is what you chose. You smiled at color combo, thinking about the cute greenette and his wild curls. You quickly pulled them on and went to grab your bag to take out your insane amount of homework. ‘I know we had a chill day but going plus ultra on the amount of homework is a bit ridiculous isn’t it?’

You tied your hair up in a messy bun and set everything up before getting to work. You did your math first, just to get it out of the way. (I hate math, bruh id rather write a thesis on zuko from avatar the last airbender’s character arc.) Then onto English, then social studies, then hero studies.

More than a few hours later, everything was done. You dragged your hand down your face before harshly rubbing your eyes. ‘Fuck I finally finished’ you internally groaned as you looked at the digital clock on your desk. It was 8pm. You packed up your stuff and then flopped down on your bed like a ragdoll.

Before you could get a full chance to fully relax you heard someone knock at your door. You got up and looked through the peephole, just to see your crush. You panicked, not wanting him to wait at your door but you also thought you looked like a mess. (You didn’t you beautiful thing 😘) You quickly opened your door just to come face to face with the shy boy.

“H-hey, cutie pie! What’s up?” You cringed at your stutter. His body language was trying to be confident but nervous to say the least. Not that you were any better. He was anxiously playing with his fingers but looked you dead in the eye for second before shutting them tightly. A bright blush overtook his face as he glanced at your outfit, the shirt was so big that made it look like you weren’t wearing pants. Before his R rated thoughts could take over he spoke.

“I-I LIKE YOU A LOT Y/N-CHAN AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU W-WANTED TO GO ON A D-DATE WITH ME THIS SATURDAY!” He nearly yelled. Eyes still squeezed tight in embarrassment as he gripped his scarred hand together. Saying you were caught off guard was an understatement.

Your crush, the cute green bean? The sweet shy boy who could barely look you in the eye sometimes and passed out during your hugs, just asked you out on a date????? You were overjoyed of course but also taken aback by him nearly yelling his love for you.

You were stunned for a moment, mostly because you didn’t expect this. You snapped out of your confusion while a bright smile took over your face. While you were silent, Izuku was waiting for your rejection. His heart was racing out of nervousness and he started to sweat lightly. Your response stopped his self doubt and anxiety from spiraling out of control.

“Of course, Izu-kun! I would love to go on a date with you! I’ve liked you since the beginning of the year and you always seemed so nervous around me so I was just a bit surprised.” You replied brightly. His eyes opened in shock and he stopped shaking. When did he start shaking?

“I’ll uhh- pick you up here on Saturday at 6? Is that alright?” He was talking normally now albeit still nervous. You nodded at him with a bright smile before you took a step foreword and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. You felt him freeze. He stared at you in amazement and with the all the love he could offer. When you stepped back you saw he had placed a hand on the cheek that you had kissed, with the blush on his face still on his cute cheeks.

“See you then cutie~!” You sang as you stepped back into your room and gently shut the door. He broke out in a bright smile while he walked back toward his dorm. He was so excited and happy that he was practically vibrating. Not only did you say you’d love to go out with him but you confessed that you’ve liked him since the beginning of the year? He was overjoyed to say the least.

When he got back to his room, he flopped down on the bed with a bright smile on his face while staring at the ceiling. He pulled a pillow to his face and let out an excited squeal into it. The first step was taken and now he just needed to gather up the courage to take the rest of them with you.

Izuku‘s was heart racing and his cheeks hurting from how hard he smiled. He couldn’t wait till Saturday.

[whumphoarder]

Morgan Stark, M.D.

Summary: While playing doctor at the lake house, the five-year-old decides to break out the big bandaids for Peter’s injuries.

Word count: 1,180

Genre: fluff, humor

Link to read on Ao3

A/N: Thanks to @awesomesockes for beta-reading and ideas :D

“I can hear your heartbeat,” Morgan informs, pressing the bell of her pink plastic stethoscope to the middle of Peter’s chest.

“Oh yeah?” Peter grins at the five-year-old, who is currently wearing one of Tony’s white button-downs as a lab coat. “What’s it sound like, doc?”

“Like”—Morgan rapidly taps her hand over his heart, adding a sound effect between each pat for emphasis—“badumbadumbadumbadumbadum!”

Peter laughs lightly. “That’s pretty fast. Might have a problem there.”

“Nope,” Morgan says knowingly. “It’s perfect.” She pulls the stethoscope out from her ears and shoves it back into the purple Doc McStuffins bag, exchanging it for a thermometer. “Here,” she says, thrusting it at Peter’s closed mouth, causing him to flinch backwards in surprise. “We gotta take your temperature now.”

Peter takes the device from her and holds it as close to his lips as he can without actually touching them. Prior to Tony and Pepper leaving for their date night earlier that evening, both had warned him of their daughter’s newfound medical obsession. Apparently, she’s been giving out check-ups to every toy, doll, and family member who’s crossed her path the past week.

(Gerald the alpaca was less than pleased about this.)

After about three seconds, Morgan pulls it away again and glances at the number display before letting out a little shriek. “You got a fever!” she cries.

“Oh no!” Peter gasps, pressing the back of his hand to his own forehead in a dramatic swoon. “How high is it?”

She shakes her head back and forth solemnly and lets out a sigh. “Sixty-two percent.”

Peter has to bite the inside of his mouth to keep his face straight. “Sixty-two percent?” he clarifies, raising an eyebrow. “Pretty sure if it hits seventy, I’m toast.”

“Not if I give you the medicine!” she exclaims. “It’s, um…” She whips a plastic syringe out of her kit. “It’s five hundred shots!”

Peter sticks his lip out in a pout. “Aw man, but I don’t like shots...”

“That’s silly,” she says simply, and immediately jabs the bony part of his elbow with the point of her plastic needle, eliciting a yelp that was only partly faked. “You need to get better or you’ll die.”

“Fair enough,” Peter allows, grimacing. “So… only four hundred and ninety-nine more to go?”

Giggling, Morgan proceeds to poke him with the syringe a few dozen more times in quick succession until she declares him cured.

“Now you need a bandaid,” she says, grabbing the box of Doc McStuffins sticker ‘bandages’ from her kit. She opens it and then frowns. “Aw, they’re all gone.”

Peter laughs a bit, recalling the picture Tony texted him yesterday of a rather grumpy-looking Happy covered in colorful stickers. “Guess I’ll just bleed out then.”

“No you won’t! I know where Mommy keeps more!” she exclaims, jumping up.

Peter frowns. “Well, you probably shouldn’t use the real ones…” he begins, starting to get up from Morgan’s pink bean bag chair, but she pushes him back down quickly.

“No no you can’t move!” she insists. “You’re really sick.”

At the little girl’s stern look, Peter settles back down into the bean bag. “Alright, alright, I’ll stay here. But don’t use too many, okay? They’re supposed to be for real owies.”

“Okay,” she agrees, scurrying off down the hall.

While he waits, Peter checks his phone. There’s a Baby Yoda meme from Ned, along with a two-paragraph rant from MJ about pigeons being soulless creatures that he’s just started to skim when Morgan bounds back into the room.

“I got them!” she cries happily. “I got the big bandaids.”

Peter glances up to see the five-year-old run over and dump an armful of colorful square-shaped items out onto the floor in front of him. His eyes widen as realization dawns.

“Wait, uh, Morgan? I don’t think those are—” he stammers. “I mean, uh… where did you find those?”

Morgan is already tearing open one of the pastel floral wrappers. “In Mommy’s bathroom drawer,” she reports as she unfolds the white pad inside.

Peter feels his cheeks flush. “Right, but, uh, I don’t think they’re really, um…”

As he speaks, Morgan peels off the final strip of paper over the adhesive and sticks it to his elbow. “They’re for big owies.”

“No, Morgan, listen,” Peter protests, starting to take it back off. “These aren’t—”

“Hey!” She swats his hand away. “You need to keep that on! Or it’s gonna bleed!” she emphasizes.

Covering his face with his hands, Peter blows out a deep exhale. “Morgan…”

“Oh no!” she gasps, causing Peter to lower his hands to look up at her. “You got another owie!” From the pile of pads on the ground, she produces another and tears the wrapper off.

Peter holds up a hand. “Wait, wait, we can’t use all your mom’s…” he trails off when Morgan tilts her head to the side questioningly, “uh, supplies.”

“She’s got more,” Morgan says with a shrug, peeling off the paper. “There’s lots in the bathroom. And more in her purse.” Adhering the pad to his opposite arm, she explains, “You got another owie there.”

Peter glances down at the new pad-bandage the little girl is wrapping around his elbow. “Oh. Bummer,” he sighs. “Guess I should be more careful.”

“Don’t worry,” she assures him, leaning forward to press a quick kiss to the top of the pad. “I’m gonna make you all better.”

X

Ten minutes later, Peter has just crunched his way through at least ten tablets of SweetTart “medicine” and is sipping room temperature water from one of Morgan’s tiny plastic tea set cups when the bedroom door creaks open to reveal a surprised-looking Tony standing in the entryway.

Peter’s eyes widen in horror. “Mr. Stark! I can explain!” he blurts.

Tony blinks at him. “Please don’t.”

“Hi Daddy,” Morgan says, waving at him.

Tony inclines his head in the direction of his giggling daughter. “Morgan,” he greets. Then shifting his gaze to the red-faced teenager—on which every exposed area of skin is covered by sanitary napkins—he gives him a solemn nod. “Pad-Man. You two having fun?”

“Uh huh!” Morgan says brightly. Gesturing to Peter, she says, “We’re playing hospital. He’s the sick guy, but he’s all better now.”

“Oh yeah?” Tony chuckles and Peter's face flushes. “What was the diagnosis, doc?”

“He had...”—her expression screws up in thought—“broken everything.”

Tony winces. “Ooh. That’s rough.” He steps over and gestures to the pad stuck across Peter’s forehead. “And these are…?”

“Big bandaids!” Morgan says cheerfully.

“Ah. Got it.” Tony nods, the corners of his mouth turning up into a grin. “For all the blood. Of course.”

Feeling his cheeks burn, Peter mutters, “Just kill me now.”

“But you just got better,” Morgan complains.

Tony smirks. “You know, Pete, if you ask Pepper really nicely, she might share her chocolate stash with you. That always makes her feel better.”

Morgan lets out an excited whoop at the prospect of candy, while Peter just covers his face and groans.

X

Link to all my fics

If you liked this story, you might also like: 

Dad Level: 3000

Lemon Eyes, All Mine

Long Distance Dadding

[its-pronounced-quoassoint]

Power Rangers AU-Chapter 5

Pairings: romantic Logicality, Prinxiety, Demus, Remile

This Chapter Features: Remus centric storyline-ish, lots of exposition, think of it as a filler episode I guess

This Chapter Warnings: brief angst, mentions of death, mentions of blood, mentions of Mountian Dew, talks about Reddie fanfiction, sympathetic Deceit and Remus

Credit for this AU goes to @when-day-met-the-knight (specifically this post)

If you would like to be added to the taglist for this fic please let me know in reply!

First Previous Next

Chapter 5-Downright

Remus was sick of going through the whole 'this-is-who-we're-fighting-and-a-boring-explanation' speech. The first time was bad enough. He was so unbelievably bored. How could anyone sit there and listen to Thomas talk on and on like that. The second time was a little entertaining because Roman liked to add his little spin and Thomas didn't appreciate it as much as Roman thought he did. The third time was no fun at all. Patton, though he knew about the fight a decade ago that had ended with only one Ranger surviving, he still didn't exactly know who this new 'Prince Virgilius' was.

Now, it was the fourth time around and Remus felt he could recite it to Dee himself without any help. He didn't want to do that because he was still pissed at Dee-leave it to Remus to hold grudges-but he still could explain it by memory nonetheless.

"The Dragon Witch." Thomas began.

The Rangers plus Thomas were sat in Thomas's basement that doubled as a little hideout for the Rangers. It was decorated like an old 90's dream club house. Patton and Roman sat in paw print patterned bean bags, sharing a chocolate bar. Logan stood at his conspiracy wall-he didn't call it that, but Remus knew all too well it was a conspiracy wall. And Dee was sat down on the pink inflatable couch.

"She began her attack on Earth hundreds of years ago. This you know from your average history class. Back then Power Rangers were all over the globe. Essentially one Ranger per continent. Though Antarctica didn't quite need to be covered."

"No one messes with penguins!" Patton chimed in goofily. This got a laugh out of Roman and a small smile from Thomas.

"Then the Power Rangers disappeared for a century. No explanation, no help for the public, nothing." Thomas tried to continue.

"The Red Century." Logan said plainly from where he stood.

"Yes. That's when the Red Century began. The Red Century however, abruptly ended when the Dragon Witch pulled her armies and stopped her attack all together." Thomas stated. "That was until the early 1900s when she began to specifically attack America. Then centralizing Florida, then our town. We didn't quite know why, until the Rangers of the 30s began to fight back."

"Since then, the Rangers have been chosen from generation to generation." Thomas moved over to stand by Logan's timeline. "A little over 20 years ago, my friends and I became the Rangers you knew as a child."

"Valerie, Red Ranger. Dominic, Green Ranger. Terrence, Yellow Ranger. Joan, Blue Ranger. Talyn, Pink Ranger. And Thomas, the Black Ranger." Logan pointed to pictures of each of the Rangers as he says their name.

"Until ten years ago, when, uhm-" Thomas's voice wavered.Remus saw him look to Patton who gave a small smile and turned to Dee, getting out of his bean bag and walking to the fridge by Logan's conspiracy board.

"Do you remember ten years ago when the Rangers disappeared?" Patton asked. "Everyone thought the Red Century was starting again."

"Of course. It was chaos," Dee sat back on the couch. "until the Black Ranger, or Thomas I guess, started fighting again."

"I was in recovery for a few months after we battled the Dragon Witch herself. The others didn't uh. . . di-didn't make it. I was the only Ranger until, well Roman and Remus." Thomas gestured to the twins.

Dee was avoiding Remus's eye. It was so deliberate Remus just wanted to shout 'You're really bad at this! It's so pathetic you're making me feel sorry for you. Just say something! Coward.'

"And now I'm-" Dee took a breath. "The Yellow Ranger."

"Whoop!!" Patton raised a Mountain Dew from the fridge in the air in a cheer.

"Mountain Dew?" Logan asked. "Should you be drinking that, when was the last time the drinks in there were replenished?"

"I'm sorry, but Mountain Dew from forever ago? Does there happen to be any red Mountain Dew in there?"

"Is this another The Prom reference?" Logan asked in an annoyed tone.

"No, Be More Chill, but good for you, guessing a Broadway show." Roman smiled.

"Well you don't talk about much other than Broadway so one can only assume." Logan mumbled and turned back to the board.

"What else in the world is worth talking about?!" Roman exclaimed. "Other than Lizzo and/or Zendaya."

"Cheers to that!" Patton lightly threw a Red Mountain Dew to Roman who missed the catch but snatched it off the floor with a bit of a deflated look.

"And this, Prince, that we're fighting he-"

"Prince Virgilius. He started leading the Dragon Witch's armies two years ago. I'm honestly not sure where he came from or what his true powers are. The teleportation has been something he's always had, but the fire, is new as of a few months ago." Thomas informed him.

"So far, no idea as to where he came from-"

"Where he'll go!" Roman cut in.

"Where he's come from Cotton Eye Joe." Patton finished.

"I feel this should be a more serious discussion." Logan said plainly to Thomas.

"Lo-Lo, we're sitting on inflatable furniture in a decked out, early 90s, fever dream." Remus pointed out. "You're not gonna get serious while down here. Throw me a soda Pat?"

"Please never call me that." Logan rolled his eyes.

Patton chuckled and threw a Mountain Dew to Remus. His ability to catch was no better than Roman's, so the soda hit him in the chest as his arms fumbled to catch it.

"Sorry Remus." Patton recoiled and apologized.

"How are you guys Power Rangers? You can't catch a thing! At least Patton can throw." Dee scoffed.

"Dee, please, we're gay, we can't catch for anything." Roman sighed.

"Bet! I can catch hands!" Remus opened his soda and took a long sip.

"Alright bet!" Roman stood.

"Well this isn't a very hero-like conversation." Emile giggled from the stairs.

"What are you doing down here? You shouldn't be listening to this." Thomas crosses his arms.

"Yeah well, you're all loud." Emile stated cheerfully. "Besides, I don't see why I can't listen. I already know everything."

"It's true he does." Patton shrugged. "However, Emile, you shouldn't really have to worry about any of this."

"You knew all of this when you were younger than me." Emile argued.

"Yeah, um, how's that?" Dee asked.

Patton walked back to his bean bag and sat down. "Talyn was my adoptive parent. My birth mother in South Korea was unable to keep me. So, a while after I was born, Talyn adopted me. I grew up around the Rangers."

"Patton dreamed of being a Ranger. For years that was all you would hear about." Thomas chuckled fondly.

"Six years after Talyn got Patton, my dad here, got me." Emile sat next to Patton on the bean bag.

"Then, after the Rangers fought the Dragon Witch, and Talyn didn't make it," Patton's voice broke a little, but he recovered quickly. "I was put in foster care."

"Luckily I was able to make a deal with the FBI about Patton's foster family." Thomas said.

"FBI?"

"What?" Thomas turned back around to see everyone in the room looking at him confused. "Did you all really think we were some group of hero's that reported to no one? It's a bit like the Avengers, they reported to shield who had to follow special guidelines set by the government. The Rangers are in contact with the government to protect our identities and to keep track of us."

It was silent. Remus looked around, Roman and Patton seemed to be having a silent conversation while Logan looked like the human version of a computer trying to calculate some weird math thing. Dee just looked a little overwhelmed by all of what was happening. But Remus wouldn't really know what that expression looks like on Dee. He definitely wasn't reading Dee like a picture book.

"If we're the avengers then Logan is Tony Stark and Patton is Steve." Emile said softly, attempting to relieve a little bit of the tension.

"Oh my god!" Roman looked to Emile. "And you're their son Peter Parker."

"Yes!" Emile pointed to Roman in agreement.

"What?" Logan squeaked.

"I love it!" Patton said suddenly, eyes bright. He moved to Emile and wrapped him in a hug.

"Logan look at our beautiful son!"

Remus burst into laughter. "Logan looks like a malfunctioning computer! Oh my god!!" Logan's ears turned bright pink and he turned away. However, this only resulted in Remus laughing more. He laughed so hard he fell to the floor, almost in tears. Roman was clearly having a hard time holding in his laughter while Dee shamelessly snorted at Logan's expression.

"Now don't be mean." Patton scolded jokingly.

"I will never understand you kids." Thomas shook his head.

"You're a guidance counselor." Emile pointed out.

"Doesn't mean I'm any good." Thomas shrugged turning back to Logan's board.

The laughter died down, but Remus for the life of him couldn't wipe his smile off his face. It felt good to smile with everyone.

. . .

Remus still didn't talk to Dee that much and he stopped interacting with Kayley all together because of it. The only tome he really felt sorry about it was when he overheard Kayley lashing out at Dee for messing up so she couldn't get her stuff any more. Remus didn't really feel much remorse for him though. It was Dee's fault after all, right? He figured Dee would say something sooner or later, so it was best to just get on with his life. Besides, he already was forced to see Dee more than he would have liked, what with their weekly Power Ranger meetings.

It had been a few weeks since Dee joined the team, and Remus had to admit, they worked together well enough. In that time Logan had decided there must be a pattern to Virgilius's attacks. It would seem random to anyone just casually observing, but Logan was convinced there was something behind it. The most likely theory was posed by Patton, he thought it had something to do with the moon rotation, but that still didn't sit well with Logan.

Surprising to everyone including himself, Remus discovered a pattern.

"The last attack on the upper east side of the town," Logan pointed to that side of a map of the town. "was September 14th."

"Mhm." Patton nodded along.

"Then he once again attacked the upper east side on September 30th." Logan stated. "However, the most recent attack was on the west side of town, two weeks ago on the 3rd."

Remus sighed. He pulled out his phone and stopped paying attention. He never contributed to these strategy talks anyway. This was for the others really. They were the ones who knew stuff. Remus just punched stuff.

As Dee joined the conversation, proposing the location of attacks could be the real pattern, Remus looked up to see Logan making a list. One column was dated of attacks and the other was where in the town the attacks took place. Remus looked back down at his phone, popping in a blue tooth ear bud and listening to a few of the more recent chapters of a fan fiction he was following.

Then, it hit him.

"I know the pattern!!!" Remus jumped up. "I know it! I know what his pattern is!!"

"Wh-what?" Dee asked.

"Remus, explain." Logan looked at his skeptical.

"Preferable less yelling next time kiddo."

"Yeah Pat, sure." Remus gave Patton a nod and walked up to the three at Logan's conspiracy board. "Here, there's this really popular fan fiction-"

Dee and Roman snorted before Patton and Remus shot them both dirty looks.

"Anyway! There's this really popular fanfic called Downright. It's about reddie, ya know Richie and Eddie from It." Remus went on. "I don't really read it, I listen to the audio version on YouTube."

"Get to the point please." Dee rolled his eyes.

Remus scoffed but did so anyway. "Look, here, since August, every attack has been a day after a new chapter is posted. I mean, this can't be a coincidence."

Remus handed Logan his phone who went to reaffirm Remus's hypotheses. Logan mumbled each chapter title posted since August and the date they were posted. Then matched it with an attack.

"Here, look, the author had been trying for a few months to post regularly, but took a break here." Remus pointed on the phone. "Then that Prince dude stopped."

"Around the time I became a Ranger." Patton noted, writing on the board.

"Then she posts another chapter and boom! A day after he's back at it!" Remus pointed to the place Logan had marked on his map of the town that corresponded to the attack Remus was talking about.

"So what does this mean, the Prince is some kind of fanboy?" Roman asked from his seat.

"Well, from this information we can assume that not only does our general study humans but takes interest in human things, to the point where he's, um, reading fanfiction about it." Logan began. "We can start a profile of Virgilius. If we have an idea of who he is, then predicting what he'll do next will only be easier."

"Ooo, this is like an episode of Sherlock!" Patton beamed.

"You watch Sherlock?" Logan questioned.

"I'm getting into it." Patton shrugged. "I can relate to Watson a lot."

"He's the bi one!" Roman declared. "Right? Sherlock's gay and Watson's bi?"

"Well, I've never posed that question. However! Not the topic of conversation we should be focusing on." Logan turned to Remus, handing him back the phone. "What can you tell us about people who typically read this, uh, fanfiction?"

"Well, to be honest, most of them are repressed gays. Definitely has a Tumblr blog, that's likely where he found the fic. Um, a horror fan but not classic horror, modern horror, and is probably pretty progressive. Because he's reading this fic it means he wasn't happy with the ending of It Chapter 2." Remus started.

"Meaning he had to somehow see the movie!" Patton continued jotting stuff down.

"Really, there's not much. It's not like other fandoms. He's definitely not in Thomas's generation because they aren't exactly fans of Reddie." Remus looked away. "He could either be a younger millennial or older gen-z. But other than that I can't say much else. People in the It fandom don't have any stereotypes like other fandoms. I mean some of them are insane 12 year olds."

"We can rule that one out." Logan dismissed. "However, Remus, what you said is more helpful than you think. We've got a rough profile of what he's like. We can use that to predict his moves. Granted, it's not the best information, but something is better than nothing."

"Plus, we've got Remus." Roman got up and walked over with the others. "You can tell us when the author uploads a chapter and we'll be prepared for the next day."

"Yeah, but she's almost done with the work. Like three chapters left at the most." Remus said, abruptly killing the mood.

It was quiet for a beat too long.

"Well, in the time we have, we've just gotta try our best to learn as much as we can about him!" Patton smiled through it.

"Besides, since we know he bases his attacks off of when something he likes is released, we can find another thing he might be interested in and use that as a predictor." Logan looked to his board, now adorning a list of attributes the Rangers know about Virgilius.

"Hey kids! I've got pizza bagels." Thomas yelled from the kitchen.

Patton and Roman cheered and raced up the stairs. Logan chuckled and followed the two with a fond expression. Remus watched them go. He couldn't help but feel a smile on his face. It felt kinda nice to help them. Granted they still were losers-well, not Patton-but Remus had to admit, having more than Dee to care about him felt good.

"Remus?"

Speak of the devil.

Remus peered at Dee from the side of his eye before moving to the stairs.

"Remus, hang on okay! This is so childish." Dee scoffed.

"What's childish? Me? You can add that to your list." Remus sneered and Dee flinched from his comment.

"No-I. . ." Dee looked away, Remus wondered if he was deciding whether he was annoyed or sorry. "I'm sorry I said those things."

Sorry it is.

"I mean it, I am. I should have know how hurt they would make you feel." Dee admitted. "I've never really apologized to anyone so I'm not too good at this-"

"But you're trying." Remus cut him off. "Look, Patton and I have been talking. He's trying to help me get into the college I like."

"That one for design and fashion?" Dee asked hesitantly.

"Yeah." Remus smiles a little when he said that. "You remembered."

"Mhm." Dee nodded.

"Well, yeah. I don't exactly have the chance of getting in if I keep doing," Remus gestured to himself. "this. So, I'm gonna forgive you. You don't deserve it frankly, cause I know you've said even worse stuff about me in the past, I just never said anything. But, Patton is certain that if I act all nice and stuff like this, then I'll have an easier time getting in. So, it's fine. I forgive you and everything."

"Oh. Well, okay. So, we're cool?" Dee looked a little dumbfounded. Remus wished he could take a picture.

"Yeah sure." Remus shrugged.

If you asked Remus why he lied to Dee he wouldn't be able to give you an answer. He could say that he didn't lie, but he had. There was no talk with Patton about being nice. The two did talk about college because Patton has an insufferable habit of helping people, but Patton had never mentioned Remus forgiving Dee. So, why would he say that? Simply put, Remus doesn't know. He doesn't know why he forgave Dee for saying those things. He's sure he shouldn't have, that Dee didn't truly care and forgiving him would be a mistake.

Then he saw Dee's face. He had just looked so disappointed. Though, not in Remus. Remus really didn't know why that struck him so hard, but he forgave the boy and moved on. Letting it go. Why he lied and said Patton told him too? Well, a boy must keep up his reputation.

Taglist: 

@tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors@maddarc@pheonix-inside-reblogs@thisismysanderssidesblog@almost-all-my-ships-are-gay@mostpeopleannoyme@the-smol-est@i-sexually-identify-as-a-mistake@nadja-chamack16@too-bi-too-function@rainbowbowtie@mistypelt1234@tricksterangel25@authorized-trash@echocw

[alloveroliver]

Gavin x MC “I Had A Dream You Were Mine.”

Rating: Smut

WC: 6,088

A|N: This fic has a confession, then establishing a relationship, first-time sex, shower sex, and some fluffy moments.

Summary: Gavin's AC goes out, and you're the first person he calls. He asks if he can come over, but there seems to be something weighing on his mind. As he finally opens up to you, your day off takes a wholly unexpected turn. 

Mr. Love Queen’s Choice Fanfic

The coffee machine roared to life. It spurted hot water over the freshly ground coffee beans nestled in the filter. You yawned, stepped back, and relaxed your hip against the countertop. Arms crossed over your chest, you felt your mind start to wander. Relaxing, you allowed yourself to wake up gradually. The window in the back of your studio apartment spilled rays of sunlight onto the plush carpet below. You watched the white chiffon curtains flutter as the AC circulated cooled air into the room.

The vibration of your phone made a harsh buzzing sound. A text came in brandishing the phone against the tiles of the kitchen surface. The unexpected noise made you blink out of your sleepy stare to eye who the text was from.

Gavin (10:45 AM): Are you home?

Your left brow rose at his blunt question. You hoped he wasn’t waiting downstairs again to whisk you away somewhere so early in the morning. You peaked at the clock and pretended you didn’t see the numbers 10:45 AM. 

‘Oversleeping was a form of self-care,’ You recited to yourself like a mantra as you typed back.

You (10:46 AM): Good Morning. 😊

You(10:46 AM): Yes I am. Why?

Gavin: [...is typing…]

You waited for the three dots to stop bouncing, but his text was taking far longer than it should.

You were quickly losing a bit of patience with the dots stopping and going on the screen. Setting down your phone, you walked over to the cabinet. A larger than average mug stared you straight between the eyes. You were compelled to grab the monstrosity for your own overindulgence. It could have been misconstrued for a small cereal bowl, but you weren’t the type to judge yourself. Consuming copious amounts of coffee was welcome on days like this where you took time off work.

The tips of your slippers drug across the linoleum, making your way to the brewing coffee machine. The scent of warm grounds permeated the kitchen, sending you to your happy place. However, the happy place was quickly shattered when you assessed the kitchen. Seeing some of the dishes piled in the sink along with a full trash bag you needed to take out was all a massive buzz kill.

Trading the giant mug for your phone, you check Gavin’s text.

Gavin(10:47 AM): Can I come over?

Gavin (10:49 AM): My AC went out last night, and the heat index is rising.

You (10:50 AM): Sure, that’s not a problem.

You (10:50 AM): Do you have a mechanic going over to fix it?

Gavin (10:50 AM): Okay. I’m actually already downstairs.

“I knew it.” You murmur to yourself with a sly smile.

You (10:51 AM): Give me a minute to change. 🙏

You darted off to your bedroom at once. Throwing your phone onto the bed, you kicked off your slippers and took off your oversize t-shirt. Tossing them to the floor, you didn't care where they landed.  You hopped out of your drawstring shorts and hobbled over to your closet. Without turning on the light, you tug a red flower printed dress from its hanger and pull it down over your head. Your heart raced faster than usual. You tried to excuse it with the sudden running you did in your sleepy state, and not correlate it to the hot guy making his way over to your house this very moment.

Dating Gavin had been an adventure in it of itself. He still seemed unreadable between those planned occurrences. It was beginning to get hard to tell how much he truly liked you. Today was obviously a meeting out of necessity, right?

Having your AC go out here, in the middle of the summer, was brutal. Your car seat belt felt like it would give you 3rd-degree burns if you let it touch your skin. Just walking outside was hell. No clouds in the sky meant you were an egg, and the world was a frying pan. You recalled seeing on the news that AC units all over town were going out. Their hardware was unable to keep up with the sudden heatwave.

Shaking your head out of a sudden yawn, you run your fingers through your hair to smooth down flyaways. A few loud bangs against the front door made you wince. He was already off the elevator that fast? You rush to the living room, transferring all your hair to one side.

Scanning through the peephole, you spot Gavin ruffling his hair. He pushed up the sweaty locks then, shaking his head, pushed it back down. You crack to door open and smile at him.

“Please tell me you weren’t just waiting in the hallway this whole time.”

“Okay. I won't.” His face remained unreadable as he locked eyes with you. You let the words sink in as you imagined him sitting against your front door for the past five minutes waiting on your text back. 

You sigh. “Alright well come in. It’s cooler in here.”

Gavin held his motorcycle helmet under his left arm. He then picked up a duffel bag off the floor and carried it in his right. The black bag was adorned with his police unit logo and looked sturdy enough to last a lifetime. He passed the threshold, moving ahead of you. The back of his light blue shirt was dark down the center, slick with sweat from the scorching heat.

“What’s the bag for? You planning on staying the night.” You laugh, but the chuckle got caught in your throat. “You’re not trying to stay the night are you?!”

“No.” He plopped the bag in the entryway and hung his helmet up on the coat rack. A smile touched his lips, and he fluffed up his hair again. “This is a change of civilian clothes and work clothes if I get called in.”

“Oh, are you on-call today?” You shut the door and locked the deadbolt before walking Gavin into the central area of your home.

“I’m sort of always on call, actually. Due to the nature of the department I work for.” Gavin stuffed his hands in his pockets as he made his way to the kitchen.

“That kind of sucks. Never knowing if you are going to have a whole day to yourself or not.” You remembered how this was supposed to be your day off, but this turn of events wasn’t as bad as being called into work unexpectantly.

“It’s my duty. I don’t mind helping people that are in need. Even if it takes away from my free time.”

“Of course. I admire that about you...” You bite your lip and gesture to the coffee pot. “Do you want some coffee? Freshly brewed.”

“Um,” He paused under the vent. The faint breeze from the AC unit tousled his hair, making the sweaty ends shimmer around his face.

“Wait, that was a dumb question.” You let out a small chuckle. “How about a glass of ice water?”

“Yes. That sounds amazing.”

Grabbing a glass, you mull over the past few minutes in your head. What a strange day this has turned out to be, and it’s only begun.

“Was there nowhere else you could have gone? No other friends or family?” You blurt out, making small talk as you pull open the freezer.

“I-” He placed his hand on his hip and shuffled his feet. “I had to see you.”

“Oh?” 

The ice clinked into the empty glass, filling the dead silence.

“I had a dream about you. It was, well I think it was a fever dream but-”

“Fever dream? Are you sick?” Your tone was full of worry. You couldn’t let him get sick if he was going to be called into work at any moment. 

You filled the cup with filtered water from the refrigerator and handed him the glass.

“No, The air conditioner went out while I was asleep this morning. It got so hot, and my dreams became so vivid…”

He took a long gulp of water. The ice rearranged as he tipped the glass up, downing half of it in one breath.

“What was your dream about?” You watched him wipe his mouth with the back of his hand after coming up for air. 

He looked off to the side with a thoughtful pause. Gavin set the drink down on the countertop, and his gaze followed the sweat from the glass dripping down to the side

“I had a dream you were mine.”

“What?! Yours? What do you mean.” Your heart went from resting to sprinting in one second flat. You could feel the tips of your ears begin to heat up.

Gavin closed his eyes and turned towards your form. “That you were my girlfriend and that we were happy.”

You brows shot up but couldn’t stop the smile that spread over your face even if you wanted to.

“Oh like that…” You bit your lip, failing to hide the grin that lit up your features.

“I know I’ve taken you out on many dates, yet we’ve never really solidified anything.” He nodded, locking his amber eyes with yours, and taking a step closer towards you.

With his sudden proximity, you took a step back, pressing your lower back into the countertop. However, you reached out for him at the same time receptively. Gavin’s cheeks were pink from the heat, but they grew rosier with every inch he neared.

“Does that upset you? That I never told you how I feel?”

His salty scent permeated the space. His hands rested on either side of your hips while he brought his forehead down to yours.

“I’ve not been upset, no. I just didn’t think you were ready to take a more… serious step.”

“You don’t think I'm the kind of man that can be serious with the women he cares for?” He spoke softly, not accusatory in any way.

“I don’t know what kind of man you are entirely.” You confessed, and Gavin narrowed his eyes down to you. “But I do know that I’d like to learn.”

He seemed to like this answer. His hand moved up to tangle in your hair while the other rotated your hip against him. Beads of sweat from his nose tickled yours. This wasn’t the first time you two had ever been this close. Each date you’d been on, there was some type of hand holding or, more rarely, a goodnight kiss. But, after every date, there was also the radio silence.

Gavin would be caught up on a new mission, or too exhausted to call you back. You didn’t blame him, though. His job was hard on him, mentally and physically. It was amazing that he was still alive after all the dangerous shit he’d put himself through.

In typical Gavin fashion, he wasn’t waiting for your time together to grow comfortable. In his sudden closeness, he wore his emotions on his sleeve. He inched closer at a snail's pace, making sure there were no signs of you wishing to run away. You wondered how much your heart could take as it sped up double time.

The warmth of his lips was surprising. You didn’t realize just how cold you were in the apartment all alone. Compared to his temperature, you were an ice cube. Gavin’s hand drifted to the back of your head and pressed his lips firmly against yours in a blistering kiss. He held you to him, slanting his lips over your dumbfounded ones.

You were so shocked by his display of affection that you stood there grasping at his t-shirt, eyes wide. His fingers drew patterns on your hip, tiny heart shapes you noted.

“Gavin.” You whispered between his lips. He paused with his mouth hovering just above yours to hear you out. Heat flared in the pit of your stomach. His touch filled the lonely void in your heart, and all you could do was stand there like a deer in headlights. “Oh, Gavin.”

You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and pressed your lips back into his. Gavin made the kiss more demanding as if he were asking you to feel what he felt in equal measure. His heart was bared to you, yours for the taking if you were to choose to accept.

Gavin’s hand trailed up the line of your spine, curling you against him with every heated second that passed. The tip of his tongue preyed on the smallest part in your lips. He teased the seam while entering slowly. His warm tongue mingled with yours, minty from the toothpaste you used minutes ago. It was a slow, searing kiss that made your head spin and knees weak.

His hair began to tickle your face the further he bent you under him. Your heart slammed against your ribcage. It beat against his firm chest while your skin tingled with giddy excitement. Gavin inhaled, turning his head to the opposite side to kiss you deeper. Your hands move up his neck, tousling his sweaty hair, cold to the touch from the short time in the AC.

The coffee machine spurt and drained the rest of the water reservoir onto the grounds. The machine made a short jingle signaling its completed its brewing process. With an audible click, it shut off automatically. Gavin broke the kiss and stood you up, clearing his throat.

He turned on his heel and stole his glass of water off the countertop. The cup emptied down his throat in an instant. He took another breath and placed his hand on his hip.

“Can I take a shower here?” He ran his hand through his hair again, making it stand in all directions.

You licked your lips and nodded slowly. “Of course. Um, let me show you where the towels are.”

Absently, you began to twirl a piece of hair between your fingers trying to will your red cheeks away. Gavin rushed off to the walkway and picked up his duffel bag while you walked to your bedroom. Your hands were shaking as you twisted the knob to the on-suite bathroom.

“Right. I got it. Thanks.” You heard Gavin’s voice from the other room, then the quiet beep of him ending a phone call.

“Is everything okay?” You call out.

“Yes. Everything is fine. That was the AC repairman.” His calm voice filled your bedroom. The implications of him being inside your private space were enough to keep the blush on your cheeks fresh. He tossed his cell phone onto your bed next to yours then dropped his duffel at the end.

“The towels are under the sink.” You whisper, stopping when you notice his hands begin to pull at his collar. “And….” He tugged the damp fabric up his frame, revealing the taut muscles of his lower abdomen. “Soap…”

“Soap is under the sink?” He asked candidly, removing the shirt from his sweaty body.

“Uh.”

He tossed it to the floor and unzipped the duffel bag. You watched his back muscles constrict and flex as he dug through the items. His shoulder blades moved under his skin, rippling the back muscles. His side obliques stretched and flexed deliciously as he shuffled around.

“No, in the shower.”

Gavin pulled out a folded shirt from the bottom of the bag. He turned to look at you over his perfectly carved shoulder. You were ogling, how could you not, and Gavin caught you in the act. You pulled your finger out of your mouth and hid your hand behind your back. Rubbing your thumb over the jagged nail you just bit to shreds you gazed back at him.

“Does it smell like you?” The softness in his voice caught you off guard.

“The soap? Err, I guess it would. Yeah.”

Gavin’s face lit up with a smile. “Okay then.”

He took out another folded item and stood to his feet. He slipped off his shoes next to his bag, balancing himself on the mattress. Gavin walked past you with a calm smile and leaned toward you.

“Oh-” You squeaked before he planted a wholesome kiss right on your unsuspecting lips.

His stance seemed to have meant it to be a quick peck, but the kiss lingered. The longer your lips where locked, the harder it was to excuse yourself and step away.

Your hand slipped up his bicep, not so subtly feeling him up. The man was so tempting it was downright sinful. Did he know what he was doing to you? Did he care? It seemed you also did things for him that you didn’t quite understand. Gavin hadn’t said what he thought was so alluring about you, in fact, he kept his crush on you a secret for almost a decade.

He moved his clothes to one arm and wrapped his other around your waist. He nibbled on your bottom lip, then pressed many kisses along the line of your jaw. You held your breath, resting your hands on his shoulders. Gavin kissed your ear, and you jerked, biting your lip to stave off a moan. 

“Ah- I’m sensitive there.” You warned, pushing your shoulder up to defend yourself. Gavin made a noise and moved to your neck instead. You realized he was laughing, but the chuckle shortly dissipated into breathlessness.

The room was a blur as your feet left the floor. You were soon in your bathroom being placed atop the counter next to the sink.  Gavin tossed his clean clothes to your side. The sunlight poured through the small window in the shower, and the afternoon glow highlighted his handsome features. He had a boyish charm about him yet the body that someone godlike chiseled out of marble.

Gavin pushed you against the mirror, moving his body between your legs with ease. He let out a quiet frustrated groan, and a pang of fear ran through your chest.

“Are you okay?” You ask, cupping his cheeks. You waited for a response, but there wasn’t one for a long moment. “Gavin?”

“Is this-” He started, then paused. He screwed his eyes shut and took a breath. “Are we together now?”

“I, I, I-” You stuttered, embarrassed by his oddly timed question. “Are you asking me to be your... girlfriend?”

He nodded expectantly. His eyes searched your face while he swallowed thickly. “Yes. Will you?” His voice was lower, more soothing as he asked his question again.

You blinked many times, wondering if this wasn’t some elaborate dream your mind came up with and you’d yet to leave your bed today. But, his warmth was real, his tender eyes were real, and all his kisses were very real.

“I’d love to be, Gavin.”

The warm moment shared in the small room swelled your heart. Gavin’s eyes lit up with a huge smile. He moved to hold you in an embrace, crashing his lips into yours in celebration. The kiss was playful, with a nip here and a nuzzle there. However, the giggling and smiles soon melted away, and passion replaced them.

A roll of warmth lit up inside you as his hands began to roam your torso. It wasn’t until his fingers flexed over your breast that you realized you forgot to put on a bra. There was a moment where he froze, but then he continued, and Gavin didn’t seem to mind. Soon the lack of undergarment proved to be more pleasurable than realized. A happy accident you noted. The silky fabric felt good against your skin as Gavin’s fingers tantalized you.

It became clear he knew precisely what he was doing. Gavin pinched the erect nipple, gently rolling it between his fingers. A light gasp escaped you, and he kissed you with quirked up lips. He looked pleased with himself, happy to pleasure you. 

You held him close, running your fingers through his hair. Your tongues swirled together playfully fighting for dominance. Gavin’s lips tore from yours and moved down the line of your neck. He kissed the dip in your shoulder then proceeded to nibble the lobe of your ear. This time you moaned unabashedly, and he sighed with contentment. As he latched on to the skin under your ear, his thumb circled faster over your sensitive nipple.

Gavin began adding pressure. He sucked on your delicate skin before you realized what was happening. A small sizzle of pain registered in your head the moment Gavin removed his lips from your neck. He’d left a small hickey beneath your ear, easily hidden from others by a curtain of your hair.

He groped your chest, moving his lips to your mouth. His other hand resting on your hip began to move down towards your knee. The kisses came faster and faster until lips smacked and gasps escaped.

Trembling fingers moved beneath your skirt. Gavin began retracing patterns, this time on your inner knee. You weren’t sure if it was a silent question, Gavin asking how far you were willing to go. Or if it was that he was setting boundaries for himself. Either way, you tossed all fucks out the window and parted your leg further. This invited him to move closer to your center if that was what he wished.

He moved his hand quickly down your leg and squeezed your thigh in delight. He exhaled like a weight was lifted from his mind. The kissing picked up again, and you didn’t know how much more of this you could take before it was no longer deliberate. Was he trying to rile you up like this? Or were all his movements due to the heat of the moment?

You broke the kiss, hoping to cool off for a second to gain clarity. Gavin rested his forehead on yours, puffing air. You took in a deep breath, hoping to pause long enough to make sure this was what he wanted. His hand continued to caress the bare skin of your parted thigh.

With a gulp, you clear your throat. “A-are you going to take a shower now?”

The low hum of the vent rumbled behind you. The sun slowly lifted in the sky as time passed. Gentle rays of light began to spill into the tiny bathroom, reflecting off the white subway tiles. There was no need to turn on the light switch since the sun lit the room plenty.

“Are you going to join me?” Gavin narrowed his gaze quizzically.

All the air in the room became thick, hard to breathe. You sat there, eyes wide and mouth hung open at his question. A notable booming filled your ears as your heart pounding out of control.

“What.”

What, indeed. What was he saying? Join him? You shook your head and closed your mouth to not drool all over the place.

“Join me in the shower.” Gavin proposed quietly. His heart rate escalating was proven by deep red tinge that spread over his cheeks and burned the tips of his ears.

You were frozen. Words died on your tongue with any retort you jumbled together in your brain as thoughts raced a mile a minute. Could you manage hand gestures? Mime your answer?

In your mind, you threw together an elaborate performance full of over exaggerated facial expressions and hand movements to express your absolute agreement when words failed you. But, a simple nod was all it took to give Gavin the answer he needed. He moved quickly towards the bathtub and pulled the faucet nozzle. Water began to spray over the shower curtain, making a loud enough noise to force a jump from you. The nervous excitement was the one to blame. It awoke the butterflies in your stomach and set your heart of in a runaway beat.

Gavin turned and approached you, sporting some stray water droplets on his bare shoulders. He scooped you off the countertop surface and sat you gently atop the plush rug. His hands lingered over your hips while his lips met the crook of your neck, kissing the fresh hickey he gifted you. Your body swayed with his, curving around his warm touch.

Your breathing picked up as you looked towards to running water. Was Gavin really going to see you naked this soon? You’d just agreed to be his girlfriend and Gavin was all for taking it to the next level. You weren’t going to complain. You’d dated long enough that this was something that was past due. Yet, it still felt exhilarating all the same.

Another rush of heat engulfed your body, something more than the simple jitters. Excitement, nervousness, a hint of rebelliousness all mixed together making your blood pressure spike. He stood behind you and trailed his fingertips up the center of your spine. It felt nice while his nails scratching the part of your back you could never reach, bringing chilled bumps to the surface of your skin.

Gavin found the zipper to your garment and pulled. Soon the fabric covering your shoulders went slack and the dress easily pooled at your feet. Gavin gulped close to your ear before kissing your newly exposed shoulder. He was keeping his cool quite well, except the fact that his hands were trembling as they cupped your bare breasts.

A resounding sigh fell from your lips as you twisted in his grip. Gavin’s amber eyes drank you in before capturing your lips in a heated kiss. Your feet shuffled, and your dress rustled around your ankles. The question of whether to help him out of his clothes or not came to mind. He did relinquish you of your main garment. It was only fair that you help him, was it not?

Decidedly, you ran your hands down his firm stomach towards his jeans. His muscles flexed, reacting to your soft touch as you met the band of his pants. Gavin didn’t speak as you began pulling the button loose from the slit. His chest seemed to rise and fall exponentially faster than before.

The button came loose, and Gavin took over. He moved back and pushed the pants down to his feet along with the boxers he wore. His eyes looked up and down as he stood against you again. He kissed you while walking you back to the tub. Gavin swallowed thickly and pushed the band of your panties down the roundness of your ass with lightning speed. They fell to your ankles, and he lifted you out of them and set you in the shower basin. Your arms wrapped around his neck just as he tugged the white shower curtain closed. 

He let the water pour over the two of you while your lips were locked. Your fingers ran along his scalp, helping the water soak through his sweaty tresses. Your heart still raced, but the warm water soothed your muscles, helping you to relax. Despite being entirely bare with Gavin for the first time, it was a welcome calming sensation. He twirled you around to allow the brunt of the water to soak through your hair next.

His hands began to roam the curves of your body and you, in turn, did the same to him. His skin was soft, pulled tightly over solid muscles. His body was sculpted and rigid in every place you could get your hands on. A droplet of water fell from your hair and ran along the crease of your eye. You broke the kiss to wipe your face to prevent discomfort. Gavin helped by angling you away from the shower-head and moving your wet hair out of your face.

The starfish-shaped grips on the bottom of the tub proved viable at this moment. They kept both of you from slipping and sliding around the slick wet surface. Gavin moved your back against the wall, bending to kiss down the side of your neck towards your chest.

His lips felt electric over your tender skin. He kept his arm around your waist and captured your nipple between his sensual lips. The swirl of his tongue over the delicate nub brought the first sound out of you in several minutes. A gasped turned exclamation when he used his teeth to tug lightly.

A wash of pleasure flooded your body, heightening the touch of his hand that held you close. Water droplets ran down his cheek as he switched sides. He lapped at the other nipple greedily, more aggressively than the prior. Gavin’s hand moved from your waist to grasp your ass. It was too much, but not enough all at once. His hot mouth ran along your chest, up towards your lips again.

He moved his hand from your ass to your thigh and pulled your leg up to wrap around his waist. It wasn’t until his moment that you realized just how turned on he was. Gavin's erection slid along your core as he rubbed himself against your sex. His tongue delved between your lips while his hips bucked. Pushing his solid cock against your helpless clit, he groaned,

“Oh my god,” You moaned between kisses. Gavin rotated his hips, pulling your leg up further to spread your center apart more. “Oh- fuck.” Words left you in sensual cries.

You felt your core heat with each jut of his hips. You essence doubled, coating his cock as it ran along the center slit of your puffy lips. Gavin’s throat flexed, holding back sounds that leaped to his lips. He breathed laboriously into the kisses, moving faster between your slickening thighs.

The warm water was hitting the cooled air making pillars of smog that rolled over the small room. The humid air kept your skin warm enough to be out of the direct spray from the faucet. The temperature was perfect for you, especially in Gavin’s warm embrace. Your hands ran through his hair affectionately, teasing the back of his neck.

Your eye peaked open while kissing when a guttural sound made its way from his throat. The angle of his jawline was sharp and handsome, even this close up. His cock slipped effortlessly along your core, coated in your combined desires. His hips wavered with each of your answering thrusts.

A blush deepened in your cheek as you brought words to your lips. “I’m ready.” You managed a tone just above a whisper.

Gavin’s deep honey eyes shot open as he looked down at you. He nodded, then left a sweet, lingering kiss to your temple. It was a stark feeling compared to the heated kisses he had been giving you. But the docile kiss was just as desired as the rest. His fingertips moved along your skin lovingly and longingly. The small gestures swelled your heart, making you feel safer with him than you did before. You knew you were special to him and he didn’t even have to say it.

His hand stroked your thigh before he moved it up his hip an inch and angled himself downward. His cock prodded your entrance, moving with the rhythm of his hips to ease himself inside you gently. You pressed up on your tippy toe and took in a deep breath in anticipation.

The intrusion felt like a pinch for an instant, then bliss the deeper he pushed in. Your walls desperately clenched against him, eagerly accepting him into your needy cunt. Moans from you both echoed off the tile walls. His voice rang true in each grunt and mewl. Your lips begin to seek one another as if you were in perfect darkness.

He crashed his lips into yours and held them there unbreakingly as he sped up his hip thrusts. The feeling of fullness was intoxicating. Each time he pulled his length out of you, you yeared for him again, bucking your hips toward him anxiously. Gavin’s arms wrapped around you protectively as he let his inhibitions go.

His pumping increased along with his ragged breaths. Gavin broke the kiss and cradled your writhing form closer to him in a tight embrace. He nuzzled his nose against your ear, pushing your wet hair out of the way. He gained speed with his new position, moaning louder into the crevasse of your neck.

Your nails dug into his back, leaving tiny marks in his skin. The pressure built within your core and you didn’t know how much longer you could outlast him. Your leg slipped on his hip, but he held you tight with his large hand. The water washed away the sweat that coated him. It left behind a gentle scent of his unadulterated musk. His touch, scent, and the sounds he relinquished helped aid your impending release. The coil in your core began to tighten impossibly tight.

“Gavin-” You mewled his name, making his hips falter. “I’m close, I think…”

It was hard to tell how much more it would take for your body to snap. Either way, letting him know that he was doing a great job at bringing you there was what was important.

He hissed through a groan, pushing you hard against the wall. His hand came up and cupped your chest, rolling his thumb over your pert nipple. The sensation shot straight to your sex, making your hips jerk. Gavin filled you deep with every stroke, stretching your pussy deliciously to the brim.

Once, then twice his thumb teased your chest before a rapid heat engulfed you. It began in your core, making you clench your walls helplessly around his girth. Your volume increased to a loud strangled version of his name.

“I’m- I’m… cuming.” You managed to gasp to beg him not to stop. “Keep going-” 

You moved your hand behind you and patted along the wall. As your back arched towards him, your hand found the sill of the tiny window. You used the ledge to brace yourself as your body pulsated with each surge of pleasure.

His hips swayed, but he never ceased his thrusting. He let out a low groan from deep in his chest, pressing his head into the side of your neck. It wasn’t long after your initial pulsing you felt his heat fill your body. Gavin’s dick throbbed hard against your clenching walls. Then sensation transmitted a wave of pleasure straight through your entire being. Your jaw slackened as you closed your eyes and let his powerful arms become the only thing holding you up.

It was a defining moment between you two. Both were giving your all to the other in a moment of absolute confidence that the other would cherish it. The ripples of pleasure soon stopped, leaving you in an afterglow of emotion and ecstasy. Gavin caught his breath, pulling out of you gradually before letting your leg drop back to the ground.

He held you tight still, giving you a moment to let your leg muscle stretch out. You shifted your weight, testing the stability of your other leg. A sticky warmth began to trickle down your thigh, making you somehow more bashful than before. It was proof that what just happened wasn’t some kind of fever dream and you, in fact, made love to the man of your dreams.

Gavin let out a long sigh and stood up straight. He smiled down at you and stretched his arms above his head, walking back under the shower head. His muscles were more defined than earlier, having gone through a sort of work-out to activate them. Once rinsed off, he gestured to where you relaxed against the wall in a blissed out state.

“Get over here. Let me help you.” His voice was a considerate command.

With a grin, you walked toward him. You and Gavin began taking turns cleaning one another. He washed your hair for you, giving you a scalp massage in the process. He flirted a bit, mentioning the gorgeous speckles of color your eyes. It reminded him of the night sky and calmed him every time he was frustrated.

You reached up as far as you could and washed his hair with your lilac shampoo. Gavin bent down due to the height difference so you could gain access to the rest of his head. He kissed your forehead, tip of the nose and lips in the process. He was far goofier than you’d ever seen him, but it was a welcome sight to behold. The loofa filled with scented coconut soap was passed between the two of you as the shower continued. The water ran cold long before either of you brought up getting out.

.

.

.

Thanks for reading! I appreciate you all!

Also, holy shit that word count intimidated me. This is my longest fic to date! I hope you guys enjoyed the read!

Masterlist is at the top of my blog~

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC: Almost Finished My Tasks

---

The incomprehensible scream that ran through every other headset before Charlie’s tirade began to reach higher and higher pitches, a fever pitch of frustration and accusations, as the discussion time slowly counted down.

“Oh that-” “Don’t you dare!” “That was so unfortu-” “NO! NO! You can’t do this again!” “-nate! Right as I walked in! Right as I walked in!”

“Don’t you dare do it again, you blonde bitch-” Charlie hissed harshly, as the count down entered voting time and then there was a sharp intake of breath. “OH YOU FUCKING WHIPPED ASSHOLE!”

Grey hissed back quietly for a second as he unmuted his mic for a moment. “Everyone knows the rules, Charlie-”

“You mean your self-imposed one that anyone dares suggest your gal who just vented in front of me is an imposter gets voted?” Charlie snapped back, and the sound of a can of pop opening came through the speakers. “She vented!”

“Oh no no no,” Jo’s voice cut through over Sam and the Ghostfacer boys chiming up with queries to cover over them.  “How are you about to spin this?”

"Spin what?! You fucking vented!" "Uh huh, and tell us all what I did next will ya, Charles?" "You chased me to the button!!!"

Jo's noncommittal hum echoed into the quiet that came after Charlie's screech, before the bemused tone bounced through to everyone again. "So, good summation of exactly what happened except for how you were the one that vented and chased me."

The clock ticked down, and the questions continued to flow as Charlie raged on an on until the last vote was cast and she'd successfully infuriated, annoyed or unconvinced everyone into voting for her - only for her fury to be justified just five minutes later when the announcement of a crewmate failure and the success of Jo's White and Ombre's Pink imposters winning the round.

---

“Harry~” Shada’s voice carried over Dean and Garth’s back and forth trying to decipher where everyone’s locations had been against what they’d seen, to get a surprised ‘huh’ from the researcher. “Do you have any tasks in Electrical to do? I don’t want to go in alone. It’s scary~.”

“Uh, I don’t-” “Well, could you come with me and watch my back, and then we’ll go to your tasks the round after?” “Um, I guess so?”

“Thaaaanks~!” Shada’s singsong cut over as the progress time ticked down after no one had been ejected and most except for the odd suspicious vote was skipped.

The fact that Brown was found the round after murdered in Communications and Shada cried tearfully that she lost him during the lights down wasn’t noted until it was Garth, Shada, Dean and Grey left at the end. The imposter win when Dean refused to believe the deadly purple-bean and found himself and Garth dead before the end of the next round was of explosive arguments afterwards.

---

“How the fuck was it you two?” “Fucking Ghostfacer bullshit-” “That was such a good game!”

“Hell yeah, Team Ghostfacer!” Ed’s cheer came through loudly as the Imposter win for both him and Harry was clearly displayed. “Thanks Spruce for being third-”

There was a deep chuckle and the sound of a beer can cracking before the ‘third imposter’ cut through. “Hey, if it is a Ghostfacer win then I get to share in it. That’s fine by me.”

“That’s cause youre six beers in-” Charlie’s quip cut through before there was a bunch of laughter coming through from the rest of the group as they reset to the lobby. “Ah well, at least we know that the three of you are in cahoots next time.”

That the next round was a crewmate win with Spruce’s Orange and Ed’s Yellow missing while Harry’s Brown had been killed in the very first round brought about it’s own round of angry screaming about how dare the Ghostfacers break up again.

---

The report came in, and while the silence settled as the graphics faded and showed the reporter and the only dead crewmate of the game - it stretched out for a long five seconds.

“Um-” Dean’s voice came through first as the tension continued to build, before being cut off by a darkened growl.

As the sound tailed off, Grey cleared his throat quietly before speaking. His tone deadly serious. “So, which of you killed my girlfriend?”

“Where did you find her?” Dean asked, the only one willing to speak up at the looming threat that had been echoing through the other’s tone. “I was in Admin and had seen people in-”

“I found her in Medbay.” Grey’s tone was grumbled and angry, before there was a shift to a sadness that made all the others cringe quietly. “She was just... lying there...on the scanner. She was doing her job and someone got her killed.” There was a pause, and then an accusatory tone began to bleed into the words. “Perhaps we start with-”

“Brother! It’s a game.” Shada cut over him, and then the awkward, uncomfortable giggle came over the top. “But lets start with who was where. I was in Navigation with Harry and Ombre.”

“Yep! I was doing the zoomies-” “She means charting the course.” “Yeah, the zoomies!” “And I was on wires while Shada was doing them as well.”

“I was up in O2.” Garth said quietly, before adding, “And I had been in weapons just before doing my download.”

“I saw him there, and also Ed.” Spruce chimed in, the sound of a drink being taken before he added. “We were in Cafeteria and then went to Weapons.”

“Stupid garbage, right? I went to asteroids and then Spruce was doing download as well.” Ed said as well, and then there sounded a drumming of fingers and scratching papers before he added suspiciously. “Charlie?”

“I was in Cafeteria doing the first garbage after Ed and then went down to Storage!” Charlie chirped up, before there was a pause and then. “Dean... Where were you?”

“I said I was in Admin.”

“Doing what?” Grey snapped as the clock ticked down. “Watching where everyone was to vent your way in and kill her when she was in the midst of a scan? Vented leaving me to find her body?!”

“Where were you-” “That sounds mighty suspicious, Dean-” “I think it must have been him.” “Wouldn’t be the first time-”

As the votes came in and Dean was ejected, the next round started.

“So... who did it?” He asked with a growl as Dean’s ghost circled around Jo’s and the rest of the team started up again. “I bet it was Shada-”

“Nope!” Jo chirped back with a laugh. “Grey saw the perfect opportunity to get us both out of the way!”

---

“I just saw pink vent, I just saw pink vent, pink vented pink vented pink vented!”

The second the Emergency Meeting started, Harry started screeching the words through. The group as a whole fell into an array of laughter as the chant of ‘pink vented’ continued while the girl in question made surprised sounding gasps and quiet attempts to answer to the crime.

“Harry, let her talk!” Shada cut over the other’s chanting, backed up by Sam’s quiet but sleepy voice chiming in as well. “Harry, c’mon man, you gotta say more than that and let her defend herself.”

“No I do not!” Harry snapped back with a laugh, and everyone laughed along as Ombre’s giggle came in high and uncertain over the top. “I walked straight into Security and she popped right up and stood there staring at me for a moment before we ran for the button.”

“I... I-I-I... No I-I-I didn’t! I wasn’t running f-for the button! I-I-I don’t know what-”

“Ombre, sis, what happened?” Grey asked calmly as the group continued to laugh quietly as the blonde mumbled and stuttered anxiously as she spoke. “What do you say happened? Did you walk in and Harry not see right? Or what happened?”

“I...I... I was in Electrical watching...” Ombre’s words mumbled uncertainly, and she would be biting her lip, chewing on it cautiously as she told her story. “I was...was watching white and cyan and orange doing tasks-”

“That’s true, she was in Electrical as I was doing wires.” Spruce said, and Jo chimed up in agreement.

“And then?” Grey encouraged gently as the time started ticking down in the voting.

There was a pause, and then a surprised tone came through as Ombre exclaimed, “Wait! Is pressing on the button where it usually says Sabotage but then said Vent when I walked up to the wall how you Vent?!”

In the face of the childlike wonder, the laughter was utterly uncontrollable, and everyone felt bad clicking to vote pink out as Ombre giggled loudly and even Harry found himself saying “Okay guys, lets not vote her out! At least we know one of them! Let the baby play!”

---

“It has to be Jo. Come on guys, the sheer good of the plays? This has to be her.” Spruce’s voice was both determined and slurring at the same time - clearly more than a few beers in.

There was a pause before Harry chimed in, equally drunk and more than a bit giggly. “You’re right! Has to be her!”

“Totally. Team Ghostfacer wiping out the bad bit-” “Hey!” “-ch! Grey, you’re fucking dead, dude, dead people can’t talk to interject.”

Ed’s agreeing and bantering came through just as clear, and the votes came casted in from the three ex-Ghostfacers as Grey re-muted himself and Jo’s voice reached a high pitch as she squawked.

“Oh my god! No! You two!” Jo cried, hitting the table with a fist that reverberated through the mic, the drunken whine echoing through as they were the final four players left. “No no no no no, oh how could you two, you’re absolute morons, it’s not me, please!”

“Sorry Jo, but it’s totally you.” “You always murder this swiftly.” “And there were three bodies hidden in Specimen back when your-” “-fellow imposter, Garth, were body camping down there.”

“No, no no no, but it’s not me. I swear it’s not me!” Jo whined more, giving a quiet hiccup as she smacked her laptop repeatedly. “No, no-” Watching the time count down as it got towards the end, she cried some more as it appeared she was in the last seconds of count down and her body was thrown into the lava. “Nooo I’m a good bean, I promise! I was a good bean!”

Spruce’s last kill was right on the left seismic reactor, and the laughter from Garth as the game finished to the imposter win was even louder than Jo’s cries that ‘dammit I was a good fuckin’ bean!’

---

The utter demolition and destruction of the game was fierce, fast and bloody.

At the first dead body report, the gasps of shock seeing five out of ten players killed before even the first body had been found had the group as a whole stunned into silence. They couldn’t even work out who had been targeted first, and it was very quick for the group with tear at one another as soon as Jo and Ed decided that the stacking of bodies absolutely meant that the other one had to be the Imposter.

Sam’s Blue and Garth’s Red flashed up right as Ed’s body was ejected and the utter eruption at the deadly duo was beyond the expected.

---

“I cann’t believe it’s Batman.” The cry from Jo as they all joined the meeting at her reporting the body was too genuine, too distraught and too perfectly upset as the group followed her cry to throw Dean out the airlock on nothing but her cries about him living long enough to become the villain.

That the game ended showing White standing and Black’s ghost beside it - and to Dean’s screaming about Jo being a backstabbing, self-imploding Imposter did nothing but make the win all the more hilarious as Jo had continued to cry throughout the whole game about how heart broken she was, how her faith had been shaken and how Gotham was left without a light left in the dark any more.

“I just... I couldn’t believe it was Batman.” Jo sniffed quietly under Dean’s ranting as the group returned to the lobby, and Grey had already gone to get himself a drink from the kitchen and walked in to see her sniffing dramatically - even wiping away a tear despite no one else being able to see her, lips curling up into a smile at his own grin. “I couldn’t let him destroy us all. He had to die, you all know that. Die as a hero before he could kill anyone - besides, it was so much more fun killin’ all of you myself!”

---

[themandylion]

[fic] Questhook (3)

Please enjoy this short installment of my smol dragon AU! I thiiiink this may be the concluding section of the “Questhook” portion of this AU? Which means I may be gathering them up on my AO3 soon, we’ll see.

—

He doesn't see Tim around for a week, which is strange because they generally run into each other on the stairs at least once a day, Jason on his way up after closing the shop, Tim sleepily trudging up after working late designing tiny computers or whatever it is he does. At first he doesn't think anything about, but after a bout of very loud coughing interrupts his train of thought on his way up Wednesday evening, he comes back an hour later with a container of freshly made chicken soup and a thermos of the peppermint-elderflower tea that the ladies at Adventure Thyme swear by.

A knock at the door prompts another round of coughing, then absolute silence. He knocks again. "Tim? It's Jason from upstairs; I know you're in there. I brought you some soup and tea, if you want to open up."

This earns a series of unfortunate-sounding thumps and crashes, before the door finally creeks open to show Tim, completely bundled up in a blanket to the point that only his face is visible. "Soup?"

"And tea." Jason rases the thermos. "Something Pam mixed up for me special when I had a bad cold last spring."

"Tea?" Tim grimaces and eyes the thermos with bleary-eyed suspicion. "It doesn't have shrimp, does it? I can't eat shrimp."

"No, I didn't put shrimp in the herb tea or the chicken noodle soup," Jason says, not even trying to hide it when he rolls his eyes. Glancing over Tim's shoulder into the apartment, he frowns. "You alright in there? Looks like a tornado hit. Can't even see your bed."

"Bed…? Oh, yeah, I think I have a futon somewhere," Tim says vaguely before erupting in a flurry of sneezes.

"You think—? What have you been sleeping on?" Jason demands, pushing his way inside.

"Oh, you know," Tim says with a shrug, like that explains anything.

"You moved in months ago. How are you still living out of boxes?"

"I don't need much space," Tim grumbles.

Sighing, Jason sets the thermos on the floor out of the way (since somehow there's not even a table) and shoves the container of soup at Tim. "You, sit over there," he says, pointing to the squashy bean bag chair that's the only visible piece of furniture even close to resembling a bed. "Eat your soup. I'll see if I can't put all this away."

"You don't have to," Tim protests, though he's already grabbing a spoon from an open box and picking his way across the room.

—

It's a good thing Jason didn't have any evening plans, since unpacking takes nearly three hours, even with Tim stopping him from touching various boxes on the grounds that they contain "items of a highly personal nature"—this said with bright pink cheeks. Taking into consideration Tim's admitted interest in nerdy high fantasy, that probably means an extensive collection of dragon dildos, which, hey, Jason's not going to judge.

Still, he managed to do an alright job of it, getting clothes into the closet, cutlery and cookware into the kitchenette area, books onto shelves, and nearly all the boxes collapsed and stashed away in crawlspace under the eaves. There's now enough space to move around without Jason feeling feeling vaguely claustrophobic and like a someone's going to come knocking at the door at any moment for half a dozen fire code violations.

It took some doing, but he even unearthed the rumored futon and made up the bed, only to later discover a box containing the frame, still in pieces and clearly never opened, though no doubt bought at the same time as the mattress. Since Jason had already tucked Tim away by that point, he chose to leave the box in the corner, a project for a later date, when Tim isn't so under the weather.

Tim stirs and glances sleepily in his direction while Jason's in the midst of sneaking out. "Hey," he says groggily. "Y'r leaving?"

"Some of us have to get up early to accept shipments tomorrow morning," Jason explains, feeling inexplicably guilty that he's dodging out now. It makes no sense, it's not like the two of them are really friends, just neighbors. Tim has actual room to move now, he'll be fine. He definitely doesn't need Jason sticking around, making sure he stays in bed and behaves like a proper adult. "I really only meant to stop by the soup and tea, not organize your whole life."

"When 'm better, we should… get together. Thank you for this. Lemme fix you…" Tim pauses to first yawn hugely, then cough several times. "Dinner?"

He doesn't mean to—the poor guy looks miserable, this cold really has him beat and he doesn't need anyone passing judgement on him now—but Jason grimaces automatically. "Tim. Buddy. You don't even have a table, let alone cookware that's ever been used. I think dinner's a bit beyond you even when you aren't actively hacking up a lung."

"Oh." Tim visibly deflates, tugging the covers up over his nose as his fever-flush goes redder and creeps even higher up his cheeks. It's a testament to just how tired Jason is, because for one brief moment he could swear a tendril of smoke rises as well, Tim's blushing so hard.

God, the guy is a serious walking disaster, and all Jason wants to do is pull him close and apologize. This is horrible, the Thursday night ladies can never know. "Hey, it's cool. There are plenty of good places to eat around here if you know where to look. I'll introduce you to some of my favorites."

"I'd like that," Tim says, the words slightly muffled by the blankets he has yet to remove from his face.

"It's a date," Jason agrees, and then quickly exits, shutting the door behind him in a rush before he can question himself as to why the hell he phrased it like that.

[justawaywardwinchester]

The Littlest Winchester

Author: @justawaywardwinchester

Description: Y/N and Dean prepare for the newest member of the Winchester family. Little do they know, she was closer than they thought.

Characters: Dean Winchester, Reader, Baby Winchester

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Warnings: swearing, mentions of pregnancy, birth, labor pain. And SO. MUCH. FLUFF.

Word Count: 1621

A/N: This is my first fic! Domestic Dean is my JAM, and my baby fever has been off the charts lately (I’m getting married in a couple months, don’t judge me). So come wallow with me! Thank you so much to my wonderful Sammy #jensenyourdeanisshowing and my beautiful twin @team-free-will-you-idjits-67 for the beta!!!! 💜💜💜💜💜

You felt like a whale. No, not even. A blimp. A fucking Goodyear blimp at a football game.

Looking down at your gigantic belly wondering if you would ever see your feet again, you felt your insides move. “Woah there, little one. Watch where you stretch those legs!”, you chuckled to yourself.

Nesting mode was in full overdrive. You couldn’t help yourself but arrange and then rearrange everything in her room. The blankets always seemed out of place, the clothes needed to be organized in the closet, and the stuffed animals needed to placed perfectly in her crib. And the house would never be clean enough.

———

Dean had never seen you look more beautiful than you did in this moment, while you were humming to yourself and folding onesies, using your beach ball of a belly as a makeshift table. He leaned against the door frame to watch you, a warm smile coming across his face. The subtle hue of sundown only accentuated your pregnancy glow. Every now and then, you would place your hand on your belly reactively as she squirmed around inside you. You had been carrying his daughter for what seemed like a lifetime and he was so incredibly anxious to meet her.

“Hey, baby.” His soothingly deep voice made your heart flutter.

“Dean! What are you doing home?! I thought you were spending the week with Sam?” You set down the clothes and practically ran to him. He was only gone for a couple of days, but you missed him much more than you thought you would. He was trying to get in one last run with his brother before the baby came and your social lives vanished.

“I couldn’t stay away from you two any longer. Sam understood. He may have laughed at me first, but he understood. After all, it is kind of a big deal.” He smirked. He pulled you to his chest and kissed the top of your head. Then he stepped back and crouched down in front of you. With both hands on the sides of your belly, he gently rested his forehead against you and spoke in a low, velvet tone. “Hey, baby girl. Daddy missed you.”

You beamed down at him and ran your hand through his hair. “Well, you’re just in time to help. Will you hang the last of these clothes in the closet?”

He rolled his eyes playfully as he grabbed a few outfits and started to put them on hangers. You asked him about his time with Sam during the last, albeit short, retreat. He told you they took the Impala out to the lake and spent some time fishing. Taking another handful of adorably small newborn clothes, he told you how Sam kept tangling up his line on some reeds. You threw your head back with laughter, picturing the giant moose of a man grappling with a silly fishing rod. He turned back toward the closet, boasting about a whopper of a fish he almost snagged, when he heard you cry out.

“HOLY MOTHER OF…!” you exclaimed. A monster contraction rocked through you like lightning.

“Y/N?!? Are you alright?!? Talk to me!” Dean was panicking while you remained silent, trying to breathe through the pain.

After it passed, you started counting. Dean just stood there watching you. Ten minutes later another one came, crashing through you and causing you to double over.

Your tall, gruff, and let’s be honest, Adonis of a husband was turning to mush right in front of you. “Sweetheart! Please tell me what’s happening! What can I do?!”

“I’m fine babe” you assured him once you came down from the scorching pain. “It was just a contraction. They’re only ten minutes apart, but I think it’s almost show time.”

“Are you sure?! We can head to the hospital right now!” He started to scramble for his keys and your hospital bag that was already by the door.

You just stood there for a second, amused at him running around like a headless chicken. “Dean.” You rolled your eyes. “I. am. fine. I promise.” you insisted. You tried reaching out to him as he rushed by you. “Dean, please stop.” The man was a tornado, trying to pack his own bag and make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything. “WINCHESTER!” you hollered to break him from his daze. He halted, staring at you like he was waiting for you to combust. You brought your hands up to his face and stared into those emerald green eyes that sent you over the edge every single time. “Aren’t you supposed to be the fearless one?” you teased. “We are going to be relaxed and calm and fine.” You took a deep breath in, giving him a look that he should follow suit. You both exhaled and regrouped.

You went to pick up your bag, but he reached it first. “Nope. No way you’re carrying that.” You glared at him for his reprimand. The Impala was already running. He threw the bag into the backseat and you slowly lowered yourself into the front seat.

God, you were huge.

———

With vision blurry and beads of sweat rolling down your face, you took a deep breath and pushed as hard as you possibly could. “You’re doing great, sweetheart. We’re almost there.” He said quietly trying to ease you through the pain. He was cradling you while you labored to bring his daughter into the world, not even flinching when you squeezed his hand with all your might. In between your contractions, he marveled at you, mystified by your feminine power. A goddess of strength. He was in absolute awe over you and how you were a freaking warrior; more so than when you were hunting all those years ago, and that was saying something.

One final push brought the sweetest sound you had ever heard. Her cries pierced your heart and the tears began to flow. They placed her on your chest, still messy from birth, but you didn’t even notice. You kissed her head and sobbed quietly as the hormones consumed you. Dean watched you with his own tears falling, thanking his lucky stars a thousand times over for giving him this life.

The nurse took her away to be cleaned up and you whimpered after her. “I’ll bring her right back, Mrs. Winchester.” She was back after what seemed like far too long and placed her in your arms. She was warm and smelled like heaven. Her pink beanie and hospital blanket swaddled around her was almost too much. You were sure your heart was going to explode.

“Baby,” you said, looking up at your husband, “Are you ready to meet your girl?” The tears spilling from his eyes silently answered your question. “Daddy, meet Piper. Piper Isabel Winchester.”

Dean tore himself from staring at her face to look at you, still stunned that she was actually here. The miracle you had both been waiting on for nine long months was really here and finally in his arms. “Piper?” He asked. His eyes sparkled with adoration as he looked back at his new baby girl, who had begun to stir. Without looking up, a large smile spread across his face. “Awesome.” he whispered, not wanting to wake her.

------

It had been barely a month since you returned home as a family of three. Sleep was all but a distant memory. You felt like your head had just hit the pillow when your daughter’s cries came from the bassinet once again. “Dean.” you mumbled. “Get her so I can feed her.”

He buried his head deeper into his pillow and groaned. Nothing. She kept wailing. You grabbed your pillow and smacked him with it. “Okay! I’m up!” he growled. He got up and reached over next to him, gently cradling her as he came back to bed. He placed her in yours arms so you could nurse her.

“Thanks babe. You can go back to sleep now. I’ll put her back when I’m done.” You could see what no sleep had done to Dean and it was not pretty. “Really, it’s fine. Go back to bed. At least one of us should get it while we can” you chuckled quietly.

“Nah, it’s alright. I’ll keep you company” his warm smile melted you on the spot. You nursed Piper as he beamed at you, his heart overflowing with the sight of his two favorite girls together. He never imagined having one woman who held his heart, let alone two, and never one that he would have made with his love.

You aimlessly chatted and reminisced about the old days, voices low as to not wake her.

Once she was done, you placed her back in her bassinet. Feeling absolutely drained, you climbed back into bed and snuggled up into Dean’s chest. His muscled arms wrapped around your waist. “Y/N?” You felt his voice rumble in his chest.

“Yeah, babe?” Your eyes were closed, already half asleep.

“I love you” he murmured.

You opened your eyes and pulled away to look into his. “I love you, Dean. More than anything.”

With a kiss on your forehead, he pulled you back into his chest and rested his head on the pillow. Soon, he was softly snoring.

You closed your eyes and focused on Dean’s chest, rising and falling with every breath. Your heart was unconditionally full. It was going to be a steep learning curve, settling in with a newborn. After all, she was a Winchester. You knew you were going to have a troublemaker on your hands.

You couldn’t wait to see where this new adventure took you, Dean, and now the littlest Winchester.

My tumblr fam

@jensenyourdeanisshowing-deactiv @team-free-will-you-idjits-67 @get-out-of-hell-free-card @dean-the-smol-bean @spnfamily-alwayskeepfighting @curly-haired-disaster @supernaturalsammy01

If anyone wants to be tagged in this, let me know!