#fic: the agile fox

[yoonia]

hey, where can I read: “to trap a wolf”? I loved the “agile fox” and would really like to read the rest.

Hi there! You will be able to read To Trap a Wolf here on Tumblr, but not so soon. The story is set within the timeline that coincides with the ending of Blood Moon Rising and will contain many spoilers, so I won't be releasing that part so soon. The trio will appear in Blood Moon Rising, though. Since the scene that you saw at the end of The Agile Fox is set near the end of the story in BMR.

Thank you for reading The Agile Fox. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope you'll venture through the rest of the stories in the series to get the complete experience :)

[star-girl69]

Sad Girl

Clarisse La Rue x Fem!Demigod!Reader

—-

synopsis: being a mistress on the side might not appeal to fools like you…

a/n: i love this song i love this fic i love this idea and most importantly i love my brain you are all very welcome <3

Sad Girl - Lana Del Rey

warnings: not proofread, secret relationship, player!clarisse, possessive!clarisse, kinda asshole!clarisse, she’s such a BITCH like you are not all that…. (i’m lying.), the usual swearing and demigod stuff, kinda like lmlylaw friends w benefits kinda thing except they’re both actually in love with each other, again NO SMUT!!!!! THERE IS NO SMUT!!!!!! THEY JUST MAKE OUT AND LIKE SLEEP IN THE SAME BED, again… i’m sorry the nightmare trope you can’t escape it. you can’t….., tell me if i missed anything!!

—-

Her hands are always everywhere.

She’s fast and agile, quick like a fox you sometimes see roaming around the woods, so she can jump from one spot to another. You’re supposed to have specific spots on your body, pressure points or whatever, that make you feel good.

When you’re with Clarisse, wherever her hands are lights on fire. You crave her all the time, the burn she makes you feel, the burn you know you make her feel- you’re pretty sure if she hovered her hand over your arm, your skin would find someway to grow and touch her.

You crave her, like a cigarette and the smell of the smoke, no matter how sad she makes you.

How can you be sad that you’re just one of her girls when at least you’re her girl?

How can you be sad when you get to wrap your hands around her forearms, feelings her muscles flex with the effort of moving to your waist, your hips, behind, the sides of your chest- everywhere.

How can you be sad when her lips are on yours, when your teeth are clashing together? Clarisse doesn’t kiss you slow. Clarisse doesn’t savor you. She eats you like you’re the first course of 12, a kiss full of greed and gluttony. Clarisse doesn’t kiss you like it might be the last time, because you both know you’ll always come running back to each other.

You’re the only girl she runs back to, out of all the flings that last a few days, the one nights kissing between cabins at bonfires- you’re the only one she lets into her room, into her bed. You don’t know why she comes back to you. Maybe it’s the way you bite your fingers to keep from moaning, maybe it’s the way you do moan when you’re finally away from everyone else, maybe it’s the way you thread your fingers in her hair or trace your nails along her muscles.

You don’t know why, but you know you love it, so you keep doing what you’re doing and say a prayer each time she leaves.

You don’t know why Clarisse keeps coming back. You don’t know why you keep coming back. You may be a sad girl, but at least you’re her sad girl.

“Gods, you’re such a pretty fuckin’ thing,” she mumbles, finally pulling away to catch her breath. You don’t really care about breathing right now, just her, so you bite your lip and resist the urge to pout.

“I know,” you say back. “But thank you.”

She chuckles, shaking her head lightly, her hand cupping your face as she kisses your jaw, her other hand holding up the leg that’s wrapped around her waist. You lean back against the bathroom stall until she’s breathing in your mouth again, drawing you back down to her with a hand around your neck.

She kisses you slow, hard and deep, finally giving you what you want- a glimpse of what could be. It’s bittersweet, because she kisses you like she really cares about you for just for second- and then you’re left waiting for her until she calls again. She kisses you for a long time like this.

But still, you resist the urge to chase her as she pulls away.

You breathe out, standing on your own two feet again, smoothing down your outfit and fixing your hair. She clicks open the door, hand against the small of your back as she urges you out of the stall.

There’s no one in here- this bathroom is always empty at this time of day, facts you’ve come to know due to your secret meetings.

You walk over to the sink, turning it on and running your hands under the cold water. You bring them up to your hot cheeks, trying in vain to pretend you’re not so affected by her, even when she was just pressing her hand against your cheek a second ago.

Maybe the reason Clarisse comes back to you is because you don’t ask when you’re going to see her again. You won’t say “see you tomorrow?” with a sheepish, hopeful smile on your face like you’re sure the other girls do.

“Bye,” you smile, and she hums, she doesn’t stop you from leaving.

—-

Clarisse moves like she has complete trust in the air.

She’s bold, especially when she fights, jabs forward and somehow manages to catch herself each time, even if she throws all her weight into a particularly hard thrust of her spear. The ground is often littered with holes from either ends of her spears, constantly putting it out to catch herself.

But it’s more than that.

She moves like she just won’t allow herself to fall, like she knows it’s simply impossible for her to fall.

You watch her now, admiring, really, the way she moves so confidently, so sure, so proud- she’s an unstoppable force, and there’s no object she can’t move.

She moves you, biting your lip as the muscles in her arm tense, fingertips drumming against the length of her spear.

She moves her sibling to the ground with a kick to their chest, and they slam down with a groan. She laughs, smiling triumphantly at another easy win- she hasn’t even broken a sweat.

“I hate you, Clarisse,” her sibling groans, but accepts her hand and let’s her tug them up. She grins, wiping dirt off of her spear.

“What’s that? Win number… 8,000? Somewhere around there.”

“Oh, fuck off, we both know you don’t have the brain power to keep track.”

“Oh, you’re so mean,” she says, rolling her eyes and hitting her sibling’s shoulder.

Someone taps your leg.

“You’re drooling.”

“No, ‘m not,” you huff.

“You are,” your best friend and half-sibling, Kaelyn, reaffirms. She pokes at your chin. “Right there.”

You resist the urge to wipe your chin.

“You just don’t get her like I do.”

“I don’t,” Kaelyn laughs, and the two of you watch as Clarisse winks at another girl. “Does it not bother you? You’re, like, literally just her toy.”

“Bitch,” you mumble, slamming your leg into hers. “It’s not that, though. Besides, why would I care? You help me sneak out almost every other night, Kay. I’m going to see her, because she asked.”

“Okay, so, if Clarisse started making out with that girl right now- you wouldn’t mind?”

“We’re not actually dating, so I don’t have any right to be jealous.”

“But you still are?” Kaelyn probes. “Just because you aren’t dating doesn’t mean you don’t still care about her like you are.”

You think about Clarisse so much you’re surprised the image of her isn’t branded behind your eyelids. You think about the way she touches you, the way she kisses you, but you also think about the way it could be. You think about the way that sometimes, just for a second, her hands will linger and she’ll breathe in deeply like you are all she’s ever wanted in life.

Of course you’re in love with Clarisse- she has a fire inside of her, some part of her soul that matches with yours, and you’re inexplicably drawn to her and everything about her.

But Clarisse doesn’t want you like that. She just wants the fun- and maybe you should wait for someone else who will actually love you, but she’s the best you’ve ever had. You haven’t even had anyone else, but you already know. You know no one else can make you feel the way she does.

You sit up straighter, ignoring the feeling of Kaelyn’s eyes burning holes into you.

“She’s ridiculously hot, a great kisser, and she gives me the time of day. That’s all I care about.”

“Okay,” Kaelyn hums, mercifully deciding to drop the subject.

And when your eyes inevitably roll back over to Clarisse and the other girl- she’s looking at you.

—-

You love Fridays.

You associate Fridays with the weekly camp bonfire, the smell of smoke and the laughter of your friends, marshmallows and the promise of a late morning the next day.

More importantly, you associate Friday nights with Clarisse’s bed.

She confessed to you once that she doesn’t really like the campfire and just goes to keep up appearances, maybe find someone, but now she has you. You come every Friday with no intention of staying long, wearing shirts you know will make Clarisse look at you- until she meets your eyes and silently demands you meet her at her cabin, or she just comes up behind you and grabs you.

However you end up there, you end up in her bed.

You’re sure tonight will be no different- you hope it’s no different, because you’re still a girl with needs and you haven’t seen her all week.

She’s the first thing you see when you get there.

Her and her siblings always occupy the best spot by the fire, so the flames dance along her face, and you can’t help but frown when you realize she’s already scanning the crowd.

“I assume you need me to cover for you tonight?” Kaelyn asks, arm linked with yours.

“I don’t know,” you mutter, feeling slightly dejected. She was probably looking for someone else- she doesn’t want you tonight, even though it’s become an unspoken tradition.

This is your mistake. Expecting something from Clarisse. You can’t do that, not when you know her, not if you don’t want this arrangement to wreck you.

And when you find the strength to look back towards her, her spot on the log is empty. She must have found someone else she likes the look of.

“Hey,” Kaelyn says, nothing the way you cross your arms over the shirt you wore for Clarisse- it feels worthless now. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you breathe. “It’s fine. Just sucks, y’know.”

Kaelyn presses her lips into a thin line. “Yeah, I guess.”

She wants to say more. Ask why you do this to yourself, you know she wants to knock some sense into you- but you know that as much as this moment hurts, it will feel 10 times better to have her in your arms again when she comes back.

“Babe,” Kaelyn sighs, putting her arm on your shoulder-

“Y/N.”

Clarisse’s arm slides around your waist, moving you into her and away from Kaelyn with enough force so her hand slides off of you.

Kaelyn looks at you with wide eyes, and you have to bite your lip to keep from squealing. Her arm feels so good around you, so perfect, like it was made to be there.

“Thanks… Kayla,” Clarisse fake smiles, her fingertips digging into your sides. “I’ll take it from here.”

“O-okay,” Kaelyn says, sort of blankly, like she’s in shock- this is probably the first time she’s talked to Clarisse, or even seen her up close.

Clarisse drags you off, squeezing your waist tightly once- almost enough to hurt.

“What’s wrong, Clarisse?” you ask, putting your hand over hers- feeling like her nails might rip holes into your shirt.

“Sorry,” she breathes after a second, taking her arm completely away from you- a loss you mourn heavily. “My siblings were annoying me all fuckin’ day. And then they forced me to come early, and I was waiting for you and you came late.”

The sun only just started it’s descent 30 minutes ago, but you can tell there’s something more going on with Clarisse, so you choose to just placate her dramatics.

You loop both of your arms through hers, pressing close so your hip-to-hip, leaning your head onto her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” you say, simply.

“‘S okay,” she mutters, and you resist the urge to kiss her pouty face.

—-

At the back of each cabin, built into the wall right next to the bathroom, there’s a separate room for the camp counselor. It’s small, but private- a regular bed, a small dresser, and a desk. Some decorate, Clarisse left hers plain except for spots for her spear and other weapons to hang proudly on the wall.

You’ve come to love the sight of the four beige walls, grown used to the feeling of sneaking out the window, thanking the Gods it’s on the first floor.

The door shuts behind you, Clarisse pressing her back against it. Immediately, you slip off your shoes, crossing the room to sit on her bed.

“Come here and tell me your woes,” you joke, but her face is twisted into something painful, so the smile on your face falls as well. “Hey? Did something seriously happen, Clarisse?”

She locks the door and walks over to you, standing in between your legs, tilting your chin up so she can stare into your eyes.

“You can tell me,” you say, knowing you would feel like an asshole if you didn’t at least try. But you know she won’t talk to you- sometimes you talk, one Friday nights, sometimes you just lay next to each other and ask each other random questions- but you know tonight is not one of those nights.

“No,” she mutters. “I can’t.”

She leans down, her lips millimeters from yours. She’s so close it’s like she’s filling up all of your senses, until all you can think about is her. But you’re used to feeling like this around her. You love it. You let your guard down and you let it in, you welcome it.

“Why?” you ask, curiosity getting the best of you.

She smiles, her lip quirking up just slightly.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” she breathes, before her lips finally crash down onto yours.

The rest of the night is exactly what you expected. You roll around and she touches you everywhere, touches you in places you didn’t even know could feel so good. She lights you up, she makes you feel black and white. She makes you feel so simple, it all narrows down to her and her body, her lips.

And when it’s over, when you fix your messy hair and lay your head on her pillow- you don’t know what she’ll do.

You’re both too tired to sneak out, and you like to think that Clarisse secretly likes the sleepovers. Sometimes she doesn’t even touch you, seems repulsed- usually the nights when you kiss slow and then you talk.

But tonight was all fury and desire, fire in your stomach and in her eyes. So she holds you against her, chest pressed to your back. You play with her long fingers, she lets you crack them and stretch them- it’s the one time she lets someone else move her around, you think. Her arm is limp around you, her hand totally at your will.

“Do you ever think about the future?” you ask her. It’s fun to ask her real questions like this. It’s fun to get a glimpse inside of her mind, small moments like this when she holds you. “Not, like, tomorrow, but after camp. College. After college.”

She hums.

“No. I don’t.”

“Why?” you’re pushing, now, but you don’t care.

“I don’t think I’ll have much of a future, really. Ares kids go on big quests and they die horribly. That’s what’ll probably happen to me.”

“That’s morbid,” you chuckle. “There’s people who would miss you, though. I would miss you. Who else would kiss me in the smelly bathrooms?”

“You don’t want anyone else to kiss you in the smelly bathrooms.”

She tenses, like she didn’t mean to say that and she just blurted it out.

“Yeah, I don’t,” you whisper, voice small. But it’s true. You don’t.

She relaxes back against you and you don’t push anymore, you let her drift off, her breathing slow.

Eventually, after you get bored of staring at the moon in the window, you turn around so you’re facing her. She shuffles a bit, but you just move her arm back around you, thinking she’s asleep.

And after a few minutes of you laying there silently, you feel her move. You’re so close to her you can hear her eyelashes flutter.

She makes an appreciative sound in the back of her throat, tightening her arm around you and drawing you closer. When you unwillingly flinch at the feeling of her warm hand sliding under your shirt, she shushes you.

“Don’t wake up,” she whispers, the softest you’ve ever heard her speak. You don’t wake up. You pretend you’re asleep, you pretend you don’t feel her, pretend you don’t care about the connotation of her softness. You pretend it doesn’t make your heart squeeze in what will never be, in what now is only the fruition of sleep and the comfort and privacy of darkness. “Mhm, stay asleep, baby.”

She kisses your nose, her hand scratches your back, the bare skin.

“Always so cold,” she breathes, “Always so pretty.”

And suddenly her breathing evens out and she’s asleep again.

—-

The next few days you pretend nothing is different. You pretend you didn’t hear her call you pretty and baby, feel her kiss your nose. You chalk it up to her frustration from the day finally disappearing in your arms and the fact she was half asleep.

She’s called you pretty before. She’s called you baby before. You’re sure she’s kissed your nose before and commented on the fact you run so cold compared to her running hot.

You don’t even tell Kaelyn about it, although you’re sure she notices a difference in you- it feels like you’re constantly removed. Constantly thinking about that one minute where she thought you were asleep.

Maybe the reason you don’t tell Kaelyn is because you know what she would say. You know that you’ve always been different then the rest of the girls Clarisse messes around with, but this is different. It’s different, the way she kissed you softer for longer last week, what she did Friday night- yesterday when she pulled you into the stables and sat on a hale of hay, guiding you to sit on her lap.

She said she couldn’t have her pretty girl getting covered in hay. And she had picked off the pieces that has attached themselves to your pant legs, holding your ankle as you stood there awkwardly.

And yesterday, she has kissed you not like she usually does, but slow and soft and so sweet. Mumbling against your lips about how perfect and pretty you are, about how good you make her feel.

When she slips you the note, you don’t expect it’s her calling you to her bed again. The second night this week, and it’s written in her slightly messy handwriting- but you wouldn’t call it chicken scratch.

Come over tonight

Please

-C

—-

Kaelyn seems skeptical over the fact that you’re going to the Ares cabin again, but she can also tell you don’t want to talk about it, so she just helps you.

You lay in your bed for a long time, waiting for it to get dark enough that you can sneak over undetected. And strangely, you imagine your pillow is her chest.

—-

You wake up in a panic. It’s late, later than you would have liked to visit her. You usually come around 12- it’s probably around 2, if you had to guess.

You slip your shoes on and fix your pillows to look like someone, tip toe out the door, into the pale moonlight. You feel on fire, excited to see her, cursing yourself for sleeping- wondering if she’ll be angry with you.

You practically run past the other cabins, checking down the numbers in your head until you finally reach cabin 5. You tug your sleeves over your hands, feeling the cold summer night a lot.

You run around to the back, feet sinking into the soft grass, climbing onto the little step stool Clarisse left for you and knocking extra loud four times on the window- so she knows it’s you.

You suddenly realize there’s light peeking out from behind the curtains- is she awake?

She opens the curtains and then the window, her eyes wide. She rips the window open with such force you almost fall back, throwing your hands inside to catch yourself.

“I’m sorry,” you start, prepared to worship the ground at her feet- but you don’t get the chance too.

She hooks her hands under your arms and practically drags you into her room, you have to scramble to keep up with how fast she sets you onto your feet, her hands pressing against your face-

“Why are you late?” she breathes.

You feel sort of starstruck. Like Friday, something is obviously wrong with her.

You look around the room- notice the fact she has one shoe on, and her spear is on the bed and not hung up on the wall- like she was preparing to go somewhere.

“I’m sorry,” you gasp, slightly out of breath from running, from the fact both of her hands are on your face and she’s staring into your eyes. “I-I fell asleep. Are you going somewhere?” you joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“I was coming to get you,” she whispers.

“Oh.”

She lets you go, sitting on her bed and taking off the one boot she had managed to get on.

“With your spear?” you chuckle, careful to avoid it as you sit next to her.

“No,” she lies, boot hitting the floor, she stands and returns the spear to the wall. “I just… thought something happened to you. It was stupid. I didn’t sleep well last night, I’m not thinking straight.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” you say. She stares pointedly at the floor. “I didn’t mean to scare you. I was fine, just asleep in my bed.”

Her eyes finally meet yours and she sighs, heavily, tension fading from her shoulders. She turns off the light and you kick off your shoes, watching as she circles you like a lion watching over its cub. You lay down on your back, prepared fo shuffle over to give you room- and you choke on air when she just climbs on top of you.

She presses her head against your chest, breathes in and out deeply.

And in the darkness, where your inhibitions are lowered- she presses a kiss to your bare chest. It takes you a moment, but you’ve learned to take what you can get with Clarisse. You don’t expect to get it again, but you enjoy it when it happens.

You wrap your arms around her and breathe in the scent of her shampoo.

“I’m fine,” you reassure her, and she nods.

You lay like that for a while, eventually you start to trace circles on her back- just soaking up the moment while it lasts, letting her listen to your heartbeat.

You pretend for this one night.

And when she’s almost asleep, her voice breaks the comfortable silence.

“Can I tell you a secret?” she asks.

“Yeah, ‘course.”

“You’re my only girl. I don’t… don’t wanna see anyone else anymore. I don’t.”

This is all you never allowed yourself to want from her. The one rule you have with Clarisse is to not expect anything, to not get your hopes up. But Clarisse is clearly abandoning all her rules tonight, so you abandon yours.

“Does that mean anything different?” you whisper.

“I just want you to come here every night,” she whispers. “I get scared when you’re not here, ‘cause I think about you so much I don’t know what I would do if you were gone.”

“I know, Clarisse. I know.” You hold your breath, feeling like a dam might spill over any second. “I know how you feel.”

“I jus’ want you to be here with me all the time. I don’t wanna… make out in the bathroom anymore.”

“Well, I do,” you huff, and she laughs, truly laughs and it’s possibly the sweetest sound you’ve ever heard.

“I wanna do other things in addition to that, okay?”

“I’ll be whatever you want me to be, Clarisse. We both know that.”

“But do you know I feel that way about you?”

“Do you?”

“You are… everything to me, Y/N. My pretty girl, my funny girl, my perfect girl.” She doesn’t look at you when she talks, but you let her speak anyway, you let her put one of her hands in your hair. “I had a dream,” she starts, mumbling, but it’s just you and her so it’s like she’s whispering in your ear. “That I lost you last night. That’s why I was so embarrassingly freaked out.”

“It’s sweet,” you whisper. “I thought it was really sweet. I was really confused, but I liked it.”

She breathes in your scent and it makes your head feel dizzy.

“I like it too,” she says.

She doesn’t say what you’re both thinking. You don’t either. Neither of you can promise that this will work, that you won’t run back to the safety of making out and Friday nights. But at least you’re both willing to try.

You’re willing to try, for Clarisse, because she has something about her that you know you’ll never find again. She has the fire, it seeps out of her in every aspect of her personality, the way she carrie’s herself.

She has a fire that has been burning with yours for a long time, before you were even born. And you were separated into two different brazers, but now you’re back, and it might not be good, but it feels right.

She sits up and kisses you quickly, her hand on your face, and it feels like she’s everywhere.

You may be Clarisse’s sad girl, but you could grow to be her everything girl.

—-

i just love them so lovey dovey and cute and aw i don’t really have anything to say just

shoutout to clarisse’s muscles, to the way she kisses, to the pet names, to the way she loves when she thinks y/n is sleeping……. yeah.

—-

bonus: the reason clarisse had the revelation and was all don’t worry your pretty little head was bc her siblings were teasing her abt how different y/n is and she was like oh no i’m in love w this bitch

—-

taglist:

@lvrue @t-wylia @laughingcheese037 @kroumi @urdeadpoet @colezb @rey26 @harmzilla @elliewilliamsbae @amberfreemansburntface @kyuupidwrites @neverwaakeme-up @shark1008 @liballer @heyimadison @nvirskies @pnsteblnme @mar2ss @restellsss @ravisinghs-wife @marsconer @evangelinexo @randomhoex @luvrrish @rebecca37 @saltair-and-palemoonlight @ace-spades-1

@hyejusdiary

[bangtanwritershq]

BangtanWritersHQ Presents: “By The Fates” Masterlist

For November 2024, we put together a collection of fics to celebrate fate!

We asked our members to share all of their soulmates, fated lovers, mates, and everything in between fics with us so that we could share them with you!

So, if you are in a fateful mood, this masterlist is for you!

In this post, you’ll find fics from our network members that feature a variety of BTS members as the main character(s) with various AU types and tropes!

Browse at your leisure and ENJOY!

KEY:

🔞 - nsfw (mature themes) ✅ - sfw (no warnings) 💖 - smut ⚠️ - other warnings

SET UP - emojis: Title (if link is to another platform) | Author [parts] pairings, genre/aus, rating, word count

🔞💖⚠️ Make You Mine | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Alpha!Jungkook x Omega!f.Reader AU/Genre: A/B/O, Soulmates, Enemies to Lovers Rating: MA WC: 11,231

🔞💖⚠️ Flowers of Fate | @colormepurplex2 [4/4] Pairing: UnseeliePrince!Yoongi x Human!f.Reader (ft. x UnseelieGuard!Jungkook x SeeliePrince!Jimin x WoodNymph!Namjoon) AU/Genre: Strangers to Bonded Mates, Fantasy, Fae/Magick Rating: MA WC: 56,072

🔞💖⚠️ Bound By Magic | @downbad4yoongi [3/3] Pairing: Wizard!Namjoon x Witch!f.Reader AU/Genre: Witch/Wizard, Magic, Soulmates Rating: MA WC: 11,698

🔞💖⚠️ Seeds | @downbad4yoongi [1/1] Pairing: Hades!Hoseok x Persephone!Yoongi AU/Genre: Mafia, Modern Mythology, Fate Rating: MA WC: 7,902

🔞💖 Merry and Mended | @downbad4yoongi [1/1] Pairing: Alpha!Yoongi x Omega!Taehyung AU/Genre: A/B/O, Holiday Fluff Rating: MA WC: 8,540

🔞💖⚠️ If it's our last | @moonleeai [1/1] Pairing: Pistil!Jimin x Stamen!Jungkook AU/Genre: Pistilverse AU, Strangers to Lovers, Almost Romeo and Juliet Rating: MA WC: 2,404

🔞💖⚠️ Now I'm Yours | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Alpha!Jungkook x Omega!f.Reader AU/Genre: A/B/O, Reluctant Mates to Lovers Rating: MA WC: 14,064

🔞💖⚠️ As Fate Would Have It | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Yoongi x Jungkook AU/Genre: Soulmates, Fated Lovers, Strangers to Lovers Rating: MA WC: 15,436

🔞💖⚠️ Golden Cufflinks | @colormepurplex2 [1/1] Pairing: Alpha!Jungkook x Omega!f.Reader AU/Genre: A/B/O, Best Friend's Fiance, Strangers to Mates Rating: MA WC: 11,742

🔞💖⚠️ Slow Dancing | @yoonia [13/13] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader | Namjoon x Reader AU/Genre: Soulmates, Second Chances Rating: MA WC: 125,602

🔞💖⚠️ The Agile Fox | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x OFC x Yoongi AU/Genre: Shifters, Werewolves, Mates Rating: MA WC: 51,966

🔞💖⚠️ Of Bears and Bonds | @yoonia [3/3] Pairing: Seokjin x Reader AU/Genre: Shifters, Witches, Mates Rating: MA WC: 68k

🔞💖⚠️ The Half-Lycan | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Werewolf!Taehyung x Human!Reader AU/Genre: Werewolves, Mates Rating: MA WC: 42k

🔞💖⚠️ We Are All Dreamers | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU/Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Soulmates Rating: MA WC: 16,526

🔞💖⚠️ Beneath The Boughs | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Namjoon x f.Reader AU/Genre: Robinhood Retelling, Soulmates Rating: MA WC: 15,548

🔞💖⚠️ Curse of The Serpent | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Perseus!Namjoon x Medusa!Jimin AU/Genre: Gods and Monsters, Greek Mythology Retelling, Enemies to Fated Lovers Rating: MA WC: 12,024

🔞💖⚠️ Dream For Us | @colormepurplex2 [3/3] Pairing: Hyung Line x f.Reader AU/Genre: Demi-Gods, String of Fate Rating: MA WC: 15,255

🔞⚠️ Umbra (Part 1) | @pars-ley [1/1] Pairing: Jimin x f.Reader AU/Genre: Soulmates, Fantasy, Demons and Angels Rating: MA WC: 1,585

🔞💖⚠️ Red Thread of Fate | @pars-ley [1/1] Pairing: Seokin x f.Reader AU/Genre: Vampires, Soulmates, Fantasy Rating: MA WC: 6,668

✅⚠️ Serendipity's Path | @mrsparkjimin18 [4/4] Pairing: Jimin x f.Reader AU/Genre: Soulmates, Strangers to Lovers Rating: PG-13 WC: 8,912

All stories copywritten of the specified author. The authors provided consent for their stories to the network to be shared by submitting their stories. Stories posted in the order of submission to the event.

[thecircularlibrary]

can you make a fic of Hawthorne game night will all the boys and their girls/wife

enjoy these excerpts from their game night!! sorry if it's a little short :/ fun fact: the cards against humanity game is inspired by a real one i played the other day

is that legal?

a hawthorne game night

word count: 894

warnings: cursing (they play cards against humanity for goodness sake)

pairings: all of them (except averygrayson fuck off)

As soon as Avery picked up the black card in their Cards Against Humanity game, she knew that she was screwed. There was no possible way she could come out of this alive and well. She needed to accept that. She looked down at the card to read it aloud and visibly cringed.

“Well if ______ is a crime, then lock me up!” She read, crying internally. “Please don’t make me say something stupid.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Heiress,” Jameson said next to her, smirking in a way that completely contradicted his statement. Avery looked around the circle to see everyone excitedly putting down their white cards.

Once everyone had placed them, Avery picked them up and shuffled all seven of them in her hand. She read them one by one.

“Changing people’s minds with logic and facts,” Lyra.

“Getting drugs off the streets and into my body,” Jameson.

“These hoes,” Libby. “Are you serious? That isn’t even grammatically correct.” 

“The Blood of Christ,” Grayson.

“White privilege,” Xander.

“Existing as a person of color,” Max.

“Lumberjack fantasies,” Nash.

Avery picked Jameson’s card. She wasn’t going to touch Xander and Max’s.

The next person to draw a black card was Lyra. “Why is Brett so sweaty?”

Avery looked at her hand and sighed. Her cards were awful. She slid “Fox News” into the deck and called it a day. As Lyra read the submissions, there were a few standouts that were not Avery’s.

Jameson’s card: “Fucking my sister” and Max’s card: “Our mutual friend, Brad.”

Max won. The whole game.

⤨☾⚝✯❁✯⚝☽⤪

“We either play Sushi GO, Throw-Throw-Burrito, Apples to Apples, or Uno. While I know it’s a hard choice, it can be decided easily if we have a fair vote and keep it civil, okay?”

Avery rolled her eyes from the kitchen at the sound of Xander’s voice trying to gaslight everyone into playing Throw-Throw-Burrito, which was confusing. Especially since there was no possible way it would work, considering he was the only one who liked the game. As she came back into the living room with a cheese board for his “vote” she laughed to herself.

“All for Apples to Apples, the kid version of the game we just played?” Xander asked. Max’s hand went up.

“Now Max, you know you can only vote once, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then. All for the card game involving raw fish toppings?” No hands went up.

“Anyone for the greatest game of all time, involving calculated risk, accurate aim, and speed/agility? Also known as Throw-Throw-Burrito?” Xander’s hand was the only one that went up.

“I thought he was describing Uno for a second,” Jameson whispered in her ear as he grabbed a piece of cheese from the board on her lap. She grinned at him.

“Fine,” Xander exhaled. “Who wants to play Uno?”

⤨☾⚝✯❁✯⚝☽⤪

Playing Uno was a mistake, unfortunately. They should’ve just fumbled their way through Throw-Throw-Burrito. Because now that the game was down to Avery, Jameson, Lyra, and Grayson, it was getting aggressive. Specifically between Lyra and Jameson.

“I skipped you. Just like your dad,” Lyra said after playing the card. Grayson’s eyes widened.

“I don’t know how on Earth you think you can talk?” Jameson inquired as Avery and Grayson played their cards and it came back to Lyra. She played a reverse. “Because I’m the one who can actually place cards.”

“I refuse to argue with someone who started an online relationship,” Jameson mumbled. Avery elbowed him. He threw her a very specific look that had her giggling at the situation that was hilarious to her, considering she and Grayson both had two cards since Lyra kept dodging Jameson’s turn. When Grayson won, Jameson had to walk out of the room. Avery expected him not to return. The thing about a sore winner like Jameson, is that they tended to be sore losers too. To everyone’s surprise, he returned in the middle of their movie break, in which they watched Little Women, with a deck of cards.

“Let’s play Blackjack,” he grinned.

⤨☾⚝✯❁✯⚝☽⤪

They did not play Blackjack. They did play Slapjack.

“Ow!!” Xander’s yell rang out in the living room as he collected the cards he’d slapped. 

“My bad,” uttered Nash, who hadn’t quite gotten to the deck fast enough and landed a full force slap onto Xander’s hand. This was the eighth time he’d done this. He was three cards from being out of the game, leaving Avery, Xander, and Libby in the lead. Libby was winning.

The card pile quickly grew to over twenty cards. Nash was long out of the game and everybody but the final three was hoping to slap back in. Avery and Xander were running out of cards. They almost didn’t see the hand that slapped the next Jack. They did, however, see Max’s celebratory dance.

Soon, Xander was out of the game but Avery had replenished her deck and was in the lead. When the next Jack hit, she managed to secure it, hoping to secure at least one win at this game night that wasn’t chess. She and Jameson were the only ones who ever played chess.

When she did win, it was when Libby’s last card was a Jack and Avery slapped it before she could or before anyone else could slap back in. It might’ve been the sweetest victory she’d ever tasted.

[thegoldendoorknob]

I decided to compile a list of art prompts for my friends based on my past history of drawing and working with classes.

Feel free to use any ideas you like for yourself!

Have you drawn:

[Original Characters: OCs] [Canon is also fine] -oc crack -Date Start! (Any fanfic tag applicable) -oc family eating together or other any homely activity -ocs fighting -oc sharing their craft -ocs interacting with animal -oc trusting someone with a secret -ocs swimming (beach day/lake day/tubing/diving) -oc preening/with eachother -oc 'final boss' doing cool or evil stuff -ocs performing a feat of strength magic or agility -ocs hiking or traveling any landscape -oc sick day -Species swap/Outfit swap -ocs in clothes they would NEVER wear -If their outfit is inspired from a specific culture, depict with an outfit from a different one (The more details you research, the better) -The Flashback Episode | The Tragic Backstory -The Montage -ocs but child/adult -ocs but animal -ocs but furry/furry but oc -ocs but they're in the wrong genre -oc or your own dream -Young oc participating in an activity you once had and miss -Draw how your parents/extended family/guardian would perceive your oc -Draw how your oc perceives themself -ocs expressing with Animal Crossing emotions [X] -Your friends ocs/interacting with yours -ocs interacting with canon characters [Perhaps who inspired them?] -ocs in a style of your choosing -In silhouette

[Visualization] -Your inner/sleep paralysis demon personified -Your art block personified out of spite -The Hyperfixation -The game you last played -The media you last laughed or cried at -The last book, fic, podcast, or audio skit you liked drawn with characters -Draw a frame of your own music video of a song you've never seen one for -Depict your likes/dislikes -'Mary Sue' yourself -Caricature of what you hate about your art -Doodle what you like about other people's art that you want to learn -Chibify/Cartoonify your favorite foods -Give an inanimate object of your choice googly eyes -Draw yourself as a… -Combine two or three animals you like [Actual art advice I got from elementary]

[Analyzation]

Draw Any: -A Flower, Vine, Tree, Stump, Moss, Fern, Vegetable, Fruit, Mushroom, Rock, Shell, Cloud, Slime -A Cat, Dog, Bird, Bunny, Mouse, Horse, Deer, Goat, Giraffe, Cow, Yak, Elephant, Rhino, Lion, Tiger, Fox, Bat, Snake, Gecko, Monitor, Eel, Seal, Swordfish, Ray, Shrimp, Crab, Lobster, Shark, Sunfish, Manta, Flounder, Whale, Cephalopod, Frog, Butterfly/Moth, Beetle, Stickbug, Mantis, Bagworm, Millipede, Anteater, Coral, East style Dragon, West style Dragon, Hydra, Phoenix, Unicorn, Jackalope, Griffon, Manticore, Hippocampus [add 'myth' before searching], Kirin, Tanuki, Nekomata, Tengu, Kitsune -3 Different subspecies of any of these animals or plants -Depict them overweight or underweight -Turn them into an animal sidekick -Take a small piece of one of these and try to texture it -Shrink or Enlarge -Emphasize what you like most about the animal to a ridiculous degree. If you like whiskers, draw them extremely long. If you like tails, draw a super floppy tail. If the wings, draw them huge or add multiple. If you like a dragon's fire breath, draw Trogdor The Burninator -Depict how you think the previous prompt's animals would survive or struggle with these new traits

[Technique] -Shade with only dots -Shade with only hatched lines -Digitally shade with only 3 different colors -Color using one of the random pallets online [X] -Draw swirlies, rainbows, and zigzags with different colored crayons -If digital, Hue-slide [Hue and Saturation] an existing landscape or character and doodle them in the changed colors -Paint/Digitally on top of a real-life picture using it's own colors below -Draw or paint in a medium you are unfamiliar with -Mix paints until they match the colors in a reference (Basics|Sheet) -Draw in mspaint/crayon (badly or not is your choice) -Draw without lifting the pencil or erasing -Draw with your eyes closed -Draw with your nondominant hand -Draw basic 3d shapes -Draw 3d shapes connecting with one another -Draw basic 3d shapes aligned on a 1, 2, 3 point perspective -Draw an organism from memory, trace it 3-10 times, then try to draw it again -Draw any skeleton -Draw The Meatman (Muscular System) -Draw skelly muscled or visible version of hands, feet, elbows, legs -Noses, eyes, ears, lips, eyebrows -Booty, Genitals -The back -Draw Gestures with a time limit of your choosing [X] -Coat an entire sheet in charcoal, then erase a picture into it. For digital, use the eraser to draw a picture into a fill-tooled canvas -Draw a character without using a solid outline -Acquire a bunch of stickers or some stamps, then try to cover up an entire piece of paper or object in them with as little empty space left as possible without overlapping -Take a piece of paper and create as many differently drawn lines or shapes as you can manage. Make sure to fill the page with them.

Ummmm I guess feel free to tag me if you really liked drawing one of these?

[whitedarkmoonflower]

Ficback Friday Saturday Tuesday

Rules: Share (one of) your first Ao3 bookmark(s) then tag others to join 📚

Thanks for the tag @lord-aldhelm @errruvande @freddie-foxs

First AO3 bookmark on 27 Jan 2024

Wolf-Heart (TLK Finan x OC) by Gemini_Mama

Fandoms: The Last Kingdom (TV)  

This story starts around the middle of season 2, and features an OC warrior woman who may or may not end up in a relationship with a certain agile Irishman. ;) Faoladhean is part of one of the last groups of traditional pagan Picts who are struggling to maintain their autonomy as generations of kings rise and fall in the aim of a creating a unified Alba (Scotland). After her kin group is ambushed by Danes, Faoladhean is taken captive in Northumbria. Determined to escape and return home to protect her family, Faoladhean finds herself farther from home than she'd ever dreamed, and in the company of a group of warriors led by Uhtred Ragnarsson. Faced with difficult choices, Faoladhean must decide whether her assumed destiny or the unknown is the path she will follow.

Wordcount: 165,473

This fic was the sole reason I actually signed up for AO3. Just for you to know I think of you @gemini-mama as my AO3 godmother 😅

No pressure tags: @alexagirlie @holy3cake @ladyinred2248 @kingslionheart

[boneyardbob]

YESSS OUR MIDNS ARE INTERLINKING YOU DONT UNDERSTAND HOW LONG IVE WAITED AND SEARCHED TO FIND SOMEONE WHO THINKS THE SAME ABOUT THE CREEPS!!!

LIKE NINA MAKING A FOX SCREAM TO LURE IN HUNTERS AND MAKING THEM GET LOST AND LETTING TOBY FINISH IT OFF WITH HIS AXES LET ME GO INTO A LONG MOST DEFINITELY UNCOORDINATED AND DUMB RAMBLE ABOUT WHAT ANIMALISTIC TRAIT EACH CREEP HAS PLS AND THANK YOU!!

Nina traits : 1. She can mimic a variety of sounds 2. She’s inhumanly agile and fast on her feet 3. Has an amazing ability to play with peoples minds but lets get onto the animalistic type of traits 1. Her teeth are razor sharp and her jaw and open up wide like a snake allowing her to be able to bite and rip off massive chunk of flesh when in a pinch (Ej,Jeff and Toby can also do this) 2. Her nails grow at an alarming rate she keeps them trimmed and put into a point (they grow like snake fangs with small holes in the middle of which she uses snake venom or other chemicals to hurt,kill or slow down her prey) 3. She and most if not all the other creeps have a prey drive this increases when they stalking someone/get and adrenaline rush

Toby’s traits: like Nina he can copy sounds but only deer,birds and foxs (some wolves too) 2. Because of the gash on his face he can kinda unhinge his jaw like a snake to bite people (I remember reading he also has some cannibalistic tendencies that’s why his mask is actually a muzzle) 3. He’s a scary good climber and uses the fact that the forest is full of really tall trees to his full advantage when chasing his own victims letting them have a false sense of security before jumping down behind them and spooking them before killing them (I hc he uses his goggles to protect his eyes because of this jumping and climbing trees leaves his eyes as a weak point moving onto the 4 trait) he has scarily good eye sigh like a hawk he’s able to see someone from a great distance 5. He has really good ears since you mentioned he learned/likes animals I think he learned alot about how they act and sound like this also means he can hear danger so the moment he so muchs as makes a slight tilt a slight the smallest of tells that he’s listening for something someone everyone shuts up

Masky and Hoodie: since most of their traits kinda match up I’m putting them together. They work kinda like wolves in the sense that they step in each others steps (wolves tend to follow each step the one in front does this makes hard for hunters to gage how many there are) 2. They both are really good as keeping quiet dont let anyone know theyre there unless they want anyone to know this makes them stalking their victim alot scarier despite the fact they both stand out in the forest people don’t really see them (out of sight out of mind type of thing) 3. They both whistle as a means of communication and somewhat like bats using echo location (Toby is able to hear people and gage how far they are for miles on end but can’t gage where they are exactly Masky and Hoodie can gage where a persons exact location is with the whistling but only for a few meters/miles (this is where Toby comes in he can kinda use echo location but once again can’t gage where they are specifically as I said so he contacts Masky and hoodie giving them info on what he knows)

(Jesus that’s alot…I’m so sorry once again)

These are all so fucking good dude I’m stealing some of these headcanons if you don’t mind. If I include them in fics I’ll make sure to give you a shout out cause these are so creative and accurate. The fucking WALKING IN EACH OTHERS FOOT STEPS RAAAA thats so COOL!!!! Also the whistling is great too I should seriously have them whistle more. And I’m so glad someone agrees with me about all the creeps having a prey drive

[junkydrawr]

Snively fic shite! Just a silly little scene, this is how Snively gets stuck having to cook for Antoine (a brief scene I posted earlier) I still have to decide what Sniv's going to cook. Lol

Sniv is training with Antoine (or watching him train).

"Clear away, Snipley! Hi-yah!"

Antoine barraged the bag with furious kicks and punches. It swung wildly back and forth.

"I see you are impress-ed. After I was nearly eaten by a group of terrible hyenas, I began to train seriously!"

Snively wasn't sure what surprised him most - Antoine landing most of his blows, or a gang of cannibalistic Mobians.

He decided on the former, and smirked.

Suddenly Antoine whacked the bag with no warning, sending it careening into Snively's gut. It knocked him down and he gagged for breath.

"Ow. Watch where you're hitting that!"

Antoine pulled him up, his sharp teeth inches from Snively's ear. "I have not forgotten...your mistreatment of the escargot..."

Snively pulled away, one hand on his stomach as he laughed. "Are you serious?"

"Oui." The fox glared daggers.

Another laugh. "I must say, that was the most amusing interrogation I've ever done."

Antoine whacked the bag again, and Snively shoved it away, still chuckling.

"To think, I didn't spill a single drop of blood...didn't threaten you in the least...and you nearly caved in. I've had children more resistant than you."

The bag came his way again, hard. He calmly stepped back. Antoine's fur was bristling now.

"Oui? But did you not say you never question-ed zee little ones?"

"Ah, I didn't. That was rhetorical speech. If I had questioned childen...they would have..."

"Menteur! Monster."

It wasn't the bag coming at him now, but Antoine. Snively dodged a punch, only to get kicked on the left side of his jaw. He stumbled, got socked in the chest and knocked on his rear. His recently healed fingers twinged painfully.

Still the foppish fox advanced. The small human sprang up, exhaling like a bull. "No way...no bloody way am I going to get beaten up by the likes of you!"

Antoine was more agile, but Snively's pain tolerance was far higher, and he shrugged off a whack to the face - and consequently bloody nose - to get in close. He grabbed the fox by the shoulders and threw him down.

"You little frog. How's this for training?" Straddling the fox, he struck him repeatedly in the face. Antoine sputtered, trying to shove him away.

"Fuel, terrible fuel! Get off!"

A blur of blue came between them, knocking them apart. Sonic came to a stop, one hand on each chest. "Yo, yo, what's going on here?! Training getting a little too serious, huh?"

Antoine growled. Sonic looked over at Snively and the blood oozing over his lips. He shook his head. "Sally's gonna be mondo angry that you two are fighting like this."

Antoine brushed off his uniform. "Oui. Perhaps I got harried away."

"Uh, that's carried, Ant. Look, lunch is ready. Why don't we all cool off and have a snack?"

Snively brushed his arm under his nose. "Sounds splendid. Do you have any toast?"

"Uh..." Sonic gave him an odd look. "No, but I guess you could make some-"

Snively looked sidelong at Antoine as they began to walk. "Good," he sneered. "Because I do love a thick slab of toast slathered with margarine."

"Hey!" Sonic yelled as Antoine lunged at Snively again.

----

Sally handed Tails a chilidog.

“I can't wait until I can eat this in one gulp, like Sonic does!”

She shook her head. “That's not something to aspire to! One of these days, Sonic is going to choke! Besides, it might upset your tummy-” She trailed off as Sonic came blazing up. Under each arm, he held two buffoons.

He dropped Antoine to the ground and Snively followed a second later.

She set her hands on her hips. “What is going on here?” She took a closer look as Snively stood up, indignantly brushing off his uniform. He had dried blood crusted under his nose. “Sonic!”

“These two were fighting,” he said. “And I don't mean the training. Real fighting.”

Antoine snarled. “The fuel... he shows no remorse! No egrets at all!”

“That's regrets...” Sally sighed. “Don't we already know that about Snively?”

“I'm right here...” The small human said darkly, but his eyes were gleaming in a manner she didn't like. “And he's not talking about my vast crimes agaisnt Mobi-anity. He's talking about my culinary cruelness.”

Sally groaned. Behind her, Tails sloppily made himself another chilidog.

“Antoine...are you really still going on about the slugs...or whatever they were? You have to drop it.”

“I will drop it...when Snipley prepares a proper meal. To make up for his deeds.”

“With or without poison?”

“Snively, stop it.” Sally put a hand to her face, musing. “Ok. That sounds fine, Antoine. With Bunnie supervising...we'll have Snively make you a nice meal. Right, Snively?”

He scowled. “No.”

“It wasn't a request.”

“With saliva, then,” he hissed. “Got it.”

---

A/n: hey Sniv's a good cook when he tries. Lol. Anyway I'm trying to finish up a little flashback of Snively in Mobian school and another of he and his father. *is lazy*

[yoonia]

Lol there is a perfect explanation for that. I promise. But for now, I’m just going to let you wait :))) 

@yoonia i fucked up and decided to read all of agile fox its now 4am and i have not slept its really good tho and im a teeny bit LIKE HOW COME WE GET JOONS STORY BEFORE THE FINISHING OF THIS ONE but its fine. ignore me and my ramblings

[yoonia]

The way I just spent the last couple of hours reading The Agile Fox only to let out a scream at the end when I reached the cliffhanger, immediately tried to find To Catch a Wolf only to realize it’s not posted T^T AHHHHH IM OBSESSED THE WRITING IS SOOO GOOD I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT PLEASE

Ahhh I'm so sorry!! I'm currently working on the next instalment. It's a slow process because I'm writing it together with Blood Moon Rising as the timeline between the two stories are aligned T^T

In the meantime, here's a little spoiler of what's happening next!

Thank you for reading <3333

[bangtanwritershq]

BangtanWritersHQ Presents: “Golden Works of Art" Masterlist

For November 2023, we assembled a masterlist collection of fics to showcase the number 7 for Bangtan and Jeon Jungkook, and the release of Golden, Jungkook’s first album! There are many different AUs, genres, and pairings featured! So, if you're in the mood for all things SEVEN & GOLDEN, this masterlist is for you! Note: All fics are OVER 7k in length, and many feature Jungkook as their focal point but are not limited to being Jungkook-centric

Browse at your leisure and ENJOY!

KEY:

🔞 - nsfw (mature themes) ✅ - sfw (no warnings) 💖 - smut ⚠️ - other warnings

SET UP - emojis: Title (if link is to another platform) | Author [parts] pairings, genre/aus, rating, word count

🔞💖⚠️ Promises, Promises (Ao3) | @downbad4yoongi [1/1] Pairing: Jimin x Jeongguk AU Type: Mail Order Husband, S2L | fluff, angst, mild smut Rating: MA WC: 11,280

🔞💖⚠️ Make You Mine | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Alpha!Jungkook x Omega!f.Reader AU Type: A/B/O, E2L | angst, smut Rating: MA WC: 11,231

🔞💖⚠️ Lights, Camera, Action | @colormepurplex2 [3/3] Pairing: Actor!Jungkook x Artist!Reader (ft. Director!Namjoon x Artist!Reader) AU Type: Poly/3way Relationship, Coworkers/Strangers to Lovers | smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 22,484

🔞💖⚠️ Slow and Steady | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x female reader/Jungkook x female OC AU Type: Art | smut, angst Rating: MA WC: 7,137

🔞💖⚠️ Mirrors: What Becomes of Us | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x f.Reader AU Type: Friends w/Benefits to Lovers | smut, angst Rating: MA WC: 8,454

🔞💖⚠️ In Motion | @yoonia [14/14] Pairing: Jungkook x f.Reader AU Type: Sex Club | smut Rating: MA WC: 175,587

🔞💖⚠️ Song of You | @bethschamberoftales [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: 1930-40s Romance | smut, angst, fluff Rating: MA WC: 8k

🔞💖⚠️ Let Me Heal You | @bethschamberoftales [1/1] Pairing: ex!bf Jungkook x reader x lawyer! Taehyung AU Type: Coming of Age, Infidelity, Crime, Thriller | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 26k

🔞💖⚠️ I Put A Spell On You | @colormepurplex2 [2/2] Pairing: Demon!Jimin x Witch!f.Reader x Vampire!Jungkook AU Type: Demon/Witch/Vampire Halloween | angst, smut Rating: MA WC: 9,257

🔞💖⚠️ Chasing Shadows | @colormepurplex2 [4/4] Pairing: Sherlock!Jungkook x Journalist!f.Reader AU Type: Modern Day Sherlock Holmes | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 21,511

🔞💖⚠️ Flowers of Fate | @colormepurplex2 [4/4] Pairing: UnseeliePrince!Yoongi x Human!f.Reader (ft. x UnseelieGuard!Jungkook x SeeliePrince!Jimin x WoodNymph!Namjoon) AU Type: Strangers to Bonded Mates | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 56,072

🔞💖⚠️ On Wings of Mist & Memories | @colormepurplex2 [3/3] Pairing: DragonRider!Jungkook x FieldScribe!f.Reader AU Type: Enemies to Lovers, Exiled Royalty, Fantasy | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 39,753

🔞💖⚠️ Seeds | @downbad4yoongi [1/1] Pairing: Persephone!Yoongi x Hades!Hoseok AU Type: Modern Greek Mythology, Strangers to Lovers, Mafia | angst, smut Rating: MA WC: 7,902

🔞💖⚠️ Lifeline | @downbad4yoongi [1/1] Pairing: Namjoon x Reader AU Type: First Responder | smut, light fluff Rating: MA WC: 7,157

🔞💖⚠️ The Agile Fox | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x OC (named female character) x Yoongi AU Type: Shifters, Werewolf | fluff, angst, smut Rating: MA WC: 51,966

🔞💖⚠️ Bad For You | @yoonia [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x f.Reader AU Type: Stripper | smut, angst Rating: MA WC: 11,340

🔞💖⚠️ To All The Men I’ve Fucked Before | @hisunshiine [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: tatbilb!au fake dating!au | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 30,586

🔞💖 Laundry Love | @hisunshiine [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: s2l, non-idol au | smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 9,983

🔞💖⚠️ Bangtan Scouts | @hisunshiine [20/20] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: sailor moon au | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 48,937

🔞💖⚠️ College Nights, Diner Fights | @hisunshiine [1/1] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: e2l, diner au, college au | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 9,841

🔞💖⚠️ Seven Days | @hisunshiine [7/7] Pairing: Jungkook x Reader AU Type: f2l au, fwb au | angst, smut, fluff Rating: MA WC: 34,607

All stories copywritten of the specified author. The authors provided consent for their stories to the network to be shared by submitting their stories. Stories posted in the order of submission to the event.

[kabira]

05 | job hunting

pairing — spider-man!vernon x ofc

featuring — joshua, yeji (itzy), felix (skz), yangyang (nct)

word count — 2.9k

genres — spider-man au, marvel au, fluff, action, angst, humor

warnings — none

note — so...you might have noticed some changes to the pairing. i’ve decided to go ahead and convert this to an x ofc fic because when it’s a 3rd person pov thing the ‘you’ pronoun kind of jumps out at you and it just sounds really unnatural lol. she’s been left race-ambiguous in the description, and she’s pretty cool, so i hope you like her !! even though she doesn’t show up very often djskalskjs

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Vernon stepped out into the open, finding himself on the highest level of the Helicarrier—not the top floor, but the deck itself.

The wind was strong, pushed by the rotator blades keeping the carrier in the air, and he shivered on feeling the sudden chill descend upon him. He hesitated, resting his palm against the side of one of the structures containing the blades, and glanced around. The aircraft was massive, big enough that despite being right next to the Quinjet runway, he couldn’t see any of the city beneath.

When he finally spotted White Tiger, she was sitting near the edge, mask in hand. At first, he was apprehensive about her being spotted, but when he got close enough, he realized they were way to high for anyone on the ground to be able to make out her features.

New York was easily a couple thousand feet below them, the tallest buildings looking like toy figurines from the high vantage point. The harbor glittered a dark blue-green underneath them, catching the dying light of the sunshine like little stars contained in the water. It was a breathtaking sight, so beautiful that it washed away Vernon’s initial fear as easily as a wave clearing away dug letters on a sandy beach.

He glanced at Yeji, pressing his teeth against his lower lip. She had her back to him, shoulders tensed—of course she would have heard him approach. Her hair was still up in a ponytail, but swayed lightly with the breeze. Even as he stood behind her, she said nothing, remaining silent and stony as she stared down at the view below.

“It’s nice up here,” he murmured. “Unless you have a crippling fear of heights, that is.”

Silence.

Vernon sighed to himself, slowly taking a seat next to her on the sun-heated deck, and pulled off his mask. The air was cool against his sweat-soaked skin, but did nothing to set his heart at ease. That was the hard part, one he had to figure out himself.

“So, White Tiger, huh?” he asked, scrunching up his nose as he looked at her sideways. Her chin rested on her folded forearms, which were balanced against her knees, legs crossed at the ankles. It should have been a relaxed posture, but her muscles were too tense, standing out like steel cables on her arms and sides. “Do your powers have anything to do with that jade amulet you wear?”

She unfolded herself, unconsciously touching the amulet that hung from one side of her gray belt. It was a vibrant green color, looking fragile like glass, but despite her generally offensive style of fighting, there wasn’t a single scratch on it. “It was my father’s,” she answered dully. “And my grandfather’s before him. The amulet is a family heirloom that passed down to me when the rest of my family died, and with it, the powers it bestows upon the bearer.”

“Oh,” he said, a little surprised. He hadn’t expected her to speak, but she had opened up, despite the still guarded tone of her voice. He pulled his knees up to his chest and looked out at the view, feeling calmer than before, but also a lot more awkward. “Are you afraid of the water?”

She glanced over at him, a confused scowl on her face. “What?”

“The water,” he repeated, indicating the harbor with a tilt of his head. “Aren’t cats supposed to be scared of water or something?”

Her eyes narrowed, but not before he caught the glimmer of amusement in them. “I’m not a cat,” she said. “The amulet gives me the agility and tenacity of a white tiger, but not all its fears. Are you afraid of house lizards, spider boy?”

“Well, one in particular.” He half-smiled. “But he’s back to human now, so I guess not really.”

She gave him a small smile back, one that indicated she got the joke. It wasn’t a big gesture, but it made him feel a bit better—which was funny, since he was the one supposed to be comforting her. He recalled Luce’s words from their earlier conversation. There’s no harm in being decent.

“Look,” he started, reaching up to rub the side of his neck, “I’m sorry about what I said back there. You said you knew I didn’t like you guys, but that’s not true. It’s just—it’s a sudden change,” he mumbled. “To have a whole team of supers in the school, and so soon after the—incident, it just set me off.”

She said nothing, waiting for him to continue. He shook his head. “You probably don’t know what happened a few weeks ago, and what happened, it’s not your fault. Heck, it doesn’t even have anything to do with you.” He laughed weakly. “The incident that took place, it followed a regular pattern I already should have known. When superhero stuff and real life mix, nothing good comes out of it. I wasn’t prepared for you guys, and I took it badly. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

Yeji hummed. For a few moments, they sat in silence, but it was a comfortable sort of silence. For Vernon, it felt good to get all of that off his chest. It was hard to admit to something because of his pride, but putting it out there made him feel a bit better. No one liked seeing their faults, but to him, it was better than hurting someone he didn’t really want to hurt. In a way, even the superheroes around him were innocent people who could become collateral damage.

“What incident?” she asked.

He glanced at her, a little confused. She stared back at him with her eyebrows arched, as if expecting him to say something. “Sorry, what?”

“I told you about my family, how I came to be in possession of my powers,” she said. “Your turn. What incident were you talking about?”

He bit the inside of his cheek, staring at her thoughtfully. “Do you know Harry Osborn?” he asked at length.

She nodded. “The Goblin—I mean, Norman Osborn’s son.” She gave him a curious look. “Wasn’t he at Midtown with you?”

“Yeah.” He looked away again, studying the lenses of his mask. Speaking about it was difficult, and he wasn’t too sure about instantly opening up about such a horrific incident to someone he had met two days ago, but his instinct told him he could trust White Tiger. Either way, there was no harm in talking about that day, at least not the general aspects of it. “And you probably also know about how Norman Osborn was taken down.”

She nodded again, slower this time, looking thoughtful. “Wasn’t there a bargaining chip of some kind involved?” she asked. “Wait, sorry. I meant a human hostage.”

“Yeah,” Vernon murmured. He hung his head, running his spandex-covered fingers over the cloth of his mask, swallowing hard against the sudden dryness in his throat, but it hurt to do that, like there was a thorn stuck in his flesh. “Long story short, Harry Osborn…well.”

Yeji glanced at him in surprised concern, and he looked away, avoiding her gaze. Now would come the pitying glance, the awkward condolences, the unsure silence. He had had enough of that in the past few weeks.

“I get it,” she said, to his immense surprise. When he looked back at her, her eyes were sad, but there was a firmness beneath them, like stable ground at the bottom of the river. Even if she didn’t quite know all the details, they both spoke the language of loss, and it didn’t need words to be understood.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he said.

“I won’t.” She turned her face away, towards the sky, and he followed suit. The silence this time was more than comfortable, it was comforting. “No more details?”

Despite himself, he smiled. “Not yet,” he replied. “You have to get past level twenty first.”

She snorted a laugh. “I don’t really play video games,” she answered. “It’s a little difficult to fit in when you live in the same quarters as a couple of teenage boys, but I can’t do anything about it.”

“Really? You can drop by after school sometimes and I’ll show you.” He grinned, then grimaced. “Or maybe Aunt May can. I’m not the best at them, she kicks my butt on Night game night every time.”

“She sounds amazing already. I can’t wait to meet her,” Yeji said, smiling. “And while we’re on the subject of family—argh, I’m totally going to sound like Agent Fox, but here’s the thing.” She shifted her weight, sitting with her legs crisscrossed. “I know it’s hard to deal with loss, and that it’s different for everybody, but protectors feel guilt on a different level than everybody else—and you can’t carry that kind of weight around with you.”

Vernon picked at a small cut on the leg of his costume. “Agent Fox,” he repeated. “You too, huh?”

Yeji winced. “Therapists aren’t really equipped to deal with our kind of experiences,” she said. “I mean, what do you say to someone who had to physically fight their best friend’s dad because he turned into a genetically enhanced green monster?”

He laughed.

“Agent Fox might not be your best bet, but there are other things you can try,” she continued. “I know you probably don’t want some kind of preachy advice, but for me, being White Tiger helped.” She ran her fingers along the grooves of her amulet again, as if deriving comfort through its touch. “Doing something, even little things that just keep your mind off the past, it helps.”

He thought back to Luce’s words. “Like getting a job?”

Yeji frowned. “I guess,” she said. “If it doesn’t take over your time as Spider-Man, that is.”

“That’s twice in a day someone’s advised me to get a job,” he said. “Maybe I really should go ahead and get one.”

“Maybe you should,” she agreed. “But I have a feeling most normal jobs won’t interest you. If you’re going to work, might as well work on something you’ll enjoy.”

“Don’t worry,” he said, the gears of his brain already having been kicked into action. “I think I already have something in mind.”

The last time Vernon had met Dr. Curt Connors, it had been as Spider-Man.

It was not an experience he had particularly enjoyed, since it had been one of his bigger fights had had left him with a hairline fracture and a few bruised ribs, holed up in his room for a week to nurse himself. Gym had been worse than usual that Tuesday.

As he pushed through the revolving doors at the entrance of Roxxon Industries, he was already beginning to regret his decision a little bit. Sure, there was no way that Dr. Connors could know his secret alter ego, but the knowledge didn’t help his nervousness one bit.

Plus, with Oscorp pretty much in ruins, the research scientist had shifted his work to a different corporation, and Vernon didn’t know his way around the new building at all. It was a tiny thing to be so worried about, especially for a person who had faced Doc Ock at the age of sixteen, but even the little things seemed big now that he was out job hunting.

Vernon clutched his father’s briefcase tighter, taking his visitor’s pass from the front desk and heading up the escalator to the designated room. Dr. Connors had met Vernon Parker exactly once before, when the latter had shown up at his old laboratory asking about his father, Richard Parker, Connors’s former colleague.

Back then, their conversation had been cut short by a Spidey emergency, and after that the only time he’d been able to see the doctor was while battling him as the Lizard. Vernon had been too afraid to go back afterwards, scared of the decades old formula Connors had developed which turned him into the monster, and what he might discover about his father’s work.

But Dr. Connors had made him a proposal that the boy remembered three months later—that Vernon was always welcome to come work at his lab. Now, the idea of being a simple research assistant didn’t sound very great, especially when the project was so controversial that its funding had been hanging by a thread even at Oscorp, where they weren’t exactly known for their safe experiments. However, biophysics had always been fascinating to him, not to mention the fact that it was his father’s legacy.

He guessed it was about time he went back to claim it.

Vernon stood in front of the door awkwardly, unsure what he was going to say. But he lifted his hand, and he knocked.

“Come in,” came the doctor’s voice from behind the door, and Vernon took a deep breath before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

The room was bigger than he had expected it to be. It definitely wasn’t just an office, with multiple tables and various small instruments and charts held down by random objects acting as paper weights spread across them. Tall shelves lined the wall behind the main desk and the one opposite it, stuffed with old and new volumes. The doctor’s table itself was pushed into a corner to make way for everything else, but despite the packed space, everything was organized. It was a pattern Vernon knew from his own room: order in chaos.

Dr. Connors was standing behind his desk, reading through a paper on a clipboard in his hand. He looked up as Vernon entered, and a range of emotions flashed through his eyes when he saw him—first confusion, then recognition, then fear, then guilt. Finally, the doctor smiled, straightening as he placed the board back on his table.

“Vernon,” he said, and Vernon felt a thrill upon seeing that he remembered his name. “A face I haven’t seen in a long time.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Vernon tried to press his lips into a smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace. “I would have come by earlier, but what with midterms and everything happening in the city…” He hesitated. “I was just a little afraid, I guess.”

“I understand,” Dr. Connors said, and it wasn’t just an empty phrase, like he actually understood Vernon’s fear of facing his father’s past. But then, maybe he did. “I would have liked to see you again after our conversation was cut short, but perhaps a few months’ lapse in between was necessary.”

Vernon thought back to the Lizard incident a couple of months ago, when Dr. Connors had injected himself with an underdeveloped serum, turning himself into a giant lizard. “I read your recent article on the lizard formula,” he said slowly.

The doctor’s hand froze on the table for a moment, but relaxed just as quickly. He looked up at Vernon with a gentle sort of intelligence in his eyes, a look so different from the Lizard’s that he had trouble believing they could be the same person. “Did you, now?” he asked. “And what did you think of it?”

“Genius,” he breathed, and Dr. Connors’s eyes lit up even more. “I looked through my dad’s old papers, and cross-checked the changes with your research.” He opened his mouth and closed it again. Better get this over with quickly. “I know this must seem abrupt, but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go on.” Dr. Connors inclined his head, gesturing at a seat with his good arm. The other one ended up to just above the elbow—a sight that reminded Vernon that it was the doctor himself who had been the first human trial for his cross-species grafting formula.

“The last time we met, you asked me to come work with you in your lab,” Vernon spoke slowly, hesitating between words. “And when I read your paper, I saw that you would continue to research further on the gene splicing and the, uh, the blood-brain barrier and—” He cut himself off, realizing that he had begun to ramble. “I was wondering, after last time, if you could—”

“Take you on in my lab for the research?” Dr. Connors completed his question for him, positively beaming. “Of course! Your father was a genius, and you follow in his stead. It would be a great advantage to have you on the team.” His smile faltered a little. “And then, even after all these years, I owe him my life and its work,” he added in a lower voice. “I’d be glad to have you.”

“Really?” Vernon looked at him with rounded eyes, clutching the case tightly enough that the skin of his knuckles paled. “I—wow. Thanks, Dr. Connors.”

Dr. Connors shook his head. “There will always be a place for Richard Parker’s son at my lab,” he said. “If you’re free, I could show you around the lab now, just so you get the feel of the place. Unless, of course, you’re busy right now, in which case you could swing by later.”

Vernon laughed, relieved and gratified and ridiculously happy. “I have all the time in the world.”

“Great,” Dr. Connors said. “When can you start?”

[thenixkat]

Fatgum agency Sidekicks and Support:

A list of sidekick ocs for my BnHA fic(s). Characters pretty much would be the same regardless of AU I use. I’m throwing magic, cyborgs, and lab experiments into shit b/c its a fucking superhero universe and  why not have it be kitchen sink?

-Shifter- Nami Dumas- (Quirk) Animorph- mutation quirk that can partially or fully transform into any animal. Requires touching an animal for a few seconds for her quirk to save a ‘scan’ of it to use later. Cannot use multiple animal forms at once and cannot hybridize things that can’t naturally produce living hybrids. This limitation is bypassed when using quirk enhancers at the cost of her hybrid forms being extremely difficult to control. Can scan and transform into people, even able to use their quirk tho she’d have to actually learn the quirk and does not get the donor’s knowledge. Has an easier time with smaller transformations than bigger ones. --> A classmate and close friend of Taishiro, who is one of the few reasons she’s not simply become a villain/vigilante by now. --> Mentors Tamaki on his quirk. Especially in the area of knowing what animals/plants he’s using, their potential applications, and the control of and appearance of his manifesting. Is training him on using enhanced senses and herteromorph hand-to-hand combat. --> True appearance has a vantablack face with the only actively visible features being orange eyes, orange teeth with blue forked tongue and blue gums when the mouth is open. Extremities darken to the same light-absorbing black with the rest of the skin being a medium brown. Default form tends to be a wolverine or ratel transformation that is at least a foot or more shorter than her true form and much more thickly muscled. --> Uses wolverine/ratel for strength and courage (in these forms she can easily lift Fatgum which makes him feel… emotions). Prefers peregrine falcon or pigeon for flight with the former for speed and later for endurance (is faster than Hawks but never acknowledged by the media). Various sharks and crocodilians for water-related missions. Wolf for endurance + speed. Fox for agility. Dragon (Trigger transformation) for nuking a site from orbit. --> Is a rescue hero who refuses to engage with arrests if a villain/criminal hasn’t done anything she considers to be worth it. Is the most likely member of the agency with a hero license to kill. --> Is very good at scent and sight-based tracking. As well as stealth. --> Can impersonate anyone in the agency rather effectively given proximity and practice. --> Was created artificially by a foreign scientist and was initially planned to be used as a prototype bioweapon. A practical demonstration she was dosed with Trigger at the graduation ceremony for her class and proceeded to cause destruction. Because of their friendship, Taishiro was able to drag her out of the monster she’d turned into and regain control of herself. --> Tends to come off as rude to strangers. Doesn’t care about her public image so long as the job gets done. Is openly critical of the hero system to the point that she’s on at least two different government watch lists. --> Vanished for a year after graduation to travel the world and learn more. Came back with Flash and Thunder in tow. --> Full title is The Wild Hero: Shifter

- Leech- Kaichu Yakushimaru- (Quirk) Blood Pressure- A mutation type quirk that gives the user the appearance of a humanoid leech/lamprey. Gives the user an extremely flexible and muscular boneless body controlled by muscle and fluid pressure. Gives the user the ability to detect heat signatures as well as an incredibly powerful hunger for blood.  --> When relaxed is around 6 ft tall and plumper looking than Fatgum. When flexed is around 10 ft tall (not including their antennas) and has a more traditionally ‘muscular’ looking appearance. --> Can pick up and throw Fatgum. Which tends to either annoy Fatgum or make him feel emotions that are likely not appropriate for an employer to feel towards an employee. Leech knows this and teases Fatgum. --> Worked as a janitor in a hospital until they were set up for a murder they didn’t commit and driven into a feral state by the real murderer. Was rescued by Fatgum who investigated and found the real culprit. Fatgum later offered Leech a job with his agency when discrimination made it impossible for them to get another job regardless of being innocent. --> Was the first person to become a hero by going through Fatgum’s trade school for heroism. --> Their costume involves a piece of support gear that’s primary purpose is satiating their thirst for blood by feeding them a steady stream of it through a mouthpiece. This allows them to fight more effectively without the distraction of hunger or fear of losing control. --> Has a pair of antenna as a vestigial mutation from a parent with an insectoid appearance that gives them an excellent sense of smell/taste. Is primarily an underground hero but has worked with Fatgum on more public missions. Is terrifyingly good at stealth considering their size. --> Is much much faster than they look. --> Is ranked higher than Gang Orca on the list of heroes who look like villains list. --> Is the head of an outreach program funded jointly by the Fatgum agency and Toyomitsu family that helps people with dangerous or difficult to control quirks and quirks with gross or dangerous side effects. Is fucking furious about what happened to Himiko Toga and has offered to help rehabilitate her if she was ever captured. --> Leech’s diet is pretty much entirely carnivorous with blood being the major component. Raw meat provides all the vitamins they really need. Uses blood as an egg substitute when cooking food and knows several foreign blood-based dishes. The majority of blood in their diet is from cows or pigs. --> Fully known as The Worm Hero: Leech

- Flash- ‘Wally Dumas’- (Quirk) None technically. A nonhuman and nonorganic being found by Shifter on her travels. Can move at super-speed and recover from nearly any form of physical damage up to and including decapitation. Is capable of discharging surges of electricity close to his skin. Charges power through physical contact with his twin, especially if they rub their hands together to create friction. When in physical contact with his brother they can teleport themselves and others and generally rearrange the orientation and location of any object they know the location of in 3D space. --> The thinner brother. Keeps his hair short and is more likely to get into trouble. Both brothers are approximately 7’8”. --> The more hyper brother. Both of them get excitable, especially when charged up, but he’s more likely to stay hyper longer. --> Is loyal only to Shifter but since she respects Fatgum he’ll take orders from him. --> Loves gaining new friends. --> Has next to no sense of morality. Will follow the rules Shifter set down but doesn’t understand why they exist. --> Alongside his brother, they have a part-time job as bouncers for the extradimensional nightclub/community center known as Pandemonium. --> Thinks Fatgum and Leech make great perches. --> Assists in Tamaki training with speedy takedowns. If Tamaki can catch a speedster then he can catch anyone else. - Thunder- ‘Boomer Dumas’- (Quirk) None technically. A nonhuman and nonorganic being found by Shifter on her travels. Charges power through physical contact with his twin, especially if they rub their hands together to create friction. Can fly, manipulate his own density, and has superbreath as well as recover from nearly all forms of physical harm. When in physical contact with his brother they can teleport themselves and others and generally rearrange the orientation and location of any object they know the location of in 3D space. --> The chubbier brother. Has longer hair and is a bit scruffier. -->Tends to be calmer than Flash and calms down more quickly after being amped. --> Also the smarter brother. While he also has no sense of morality, he’s figured out how human people tend to react/want to be treated based on the rules Shifter placed. Also more likely to figure out what an enemy is planning. --> Is slightly more willing to let scientists take samples and test him due to his own curiosity about what the hell he and his brother are. --> Refers to Nedzu as an ‘experiment buddy’. --> Got a provisional license well b4 his brother got one. To the frustration of Flash who had to work very hard to put together what he needed to do to pass. --> Likes kids b/c they ask questions. --> Like his brother he doesn’t need to eat physical food, both get everything they need from electricity and sunlight, he just likes the experience. The extra energy he gets from doing so is why he’s chubbier. --> Also doesn’t need to sleep but enjoys doing so as well. - Eyes/Eyespy- ???- (Quirk) None. An extremely skilled hacker, tech expert, and witch. Her body has cybernetic enhancements, the extent of which is unknown. She can interface with most forms of technology and spy on people. Her magic allows her to see through any eye or representation of an eye. She’s working on a warp system utilizing both advanced tech and complicated spellwork. She is very good at sharpshooting and sniping. --> Every single name she’s ever given as well as the ones on her many licenses are fake. --> A small and slim woman who pretty much fades into any crowd. --> Not a hero but is licensed in hero support. Went to Seiai Academy and lied her ass off about having an intelligence quirk. She’s just that fucking smart. Is the main DJ of Pandemonium and oversees the surveillance and warp gate system. --> The warp gate system is based on Flash & Thunder’s teleportation power and she hopes to get it implemented for general public use to help people who can’t afford public transportation, disabled individuals, and giants/mutants who can’t ride on public transportation due to size or bodyshape constraints. --> Was first an online friend of Taishio met on a quirkless server. Kept in touch with him even after he found out he had a quirk. --> Helped Tai and Nami sneak their friend Lee into Shiketsu by faking his documents and fucking with the school’s computers and records. Tai, Nami, and Lee did the rest by lying their asses off to the other students and teachers. --> Helps fund things by robbing rich people’s bank accounts. --> Has several warrants out for her arrest under various fake identities but Tai hasn’t ratted her out yet or taken her in himself since… she’s not really hurting anyone. --> Her girlfriend is a villain working for the Devil’s Market. They do mad science together. --> Moderates Fatgum’s fansite. --> Drinks a lot of coffee. - Wildstyle- Cassandra Wei- (Quirk) None. Is skilled with improvised weapons and the infinite permutations of carfu. Is friends with a living shapeshifting magical sentient vehicle she calls Leviathan. More of a scrappy street fighter than a disciplined martial artist. --> Is essentially a reformed villain/vigilante. --> Listen this is just female Casey Jones TMNT. --> Was arrested for so many driving violations. Also b/c she rammed into Fatgum with a sports car going 200 mph out of curiosity. Fatgum was furious. --> She’s 6’4” and a wall of muscle. Is almost always wearing a hockey mask. Hair kept in a pony tail, often laced with barbed wire to discourage grabbing. --> Most likely to use a crowbar to beat the shit out of people. --> Leviathan communicates via morse code and snippets of radio broadcasts. Leviathan is the more stable person in their duo even tho it is a near literal speed demon. The only person Leviathan allows to drive/pilot them is Wildstyle. --> Wildstyle legitimately has up-to-date licenses to drive/pilot pretty much anything. --> Is the designated driver for the group if they need to transport people or things. --> Leviathan CAN turn into things that Fatgum and Leech can ride in but it can’t go FAST while carrying them. Mostly b/c Fatgum won’t let them go fast b/c of traffic laws. --> Wildstyle is very good at getting from point A to point B and this terrifies pretty much anyone not invulnerable or near-immortal who rides with her. --> Can and does ride Leviathan indoors. Especially to a fight. --> Is technically not a hero yet. Is working on it. --> Has several cousins who are in the racing profession. Hates her wimpy older brother and loves her adorable delinquent niece. --> Migrated to Japan after a very big family argument. - The Immortal- Lee Watari- (Quirk) None. Is incredibly skilled with numerous weapons and forms of martial arts. Has levels of speed and reflexes close to those of speedsters after years of intense training. --> Taishiro’s oldest non-family friend. --> Tops out at 6’8”. Has a wiry frame and has a broad collection of scars. --> An orphan taken in by the Devil’s Market. Showed an aptitude for weapons and fighting. Was assigned to be young Taishiro’s bodyguard and initially had no intention of compromising his duty with a friendship with his charge. Taishiro did not give up on trying to be friends and eventually, Lee gave in. He doesn’t regret it. --> Is the quirkless friend that Taishiro, Nami, and Eyes got into Shiketsu. Managed to become the number 2 in class b4 the faculty figured out he wasn’t actually a student. Was promptly kicked out and Tai and Nami nearly got expelled. --> After that did more jobs for the Devil’s Market and was an assassin for a while. --> Was the first person to find out that Fatgum was starving on his tiny paycheck post-graduation. The two of them got into a fight over him continuing to be a hero, trying to make it without help from his family/Tai being a stubborn jackass. Tai refused to ask his family for help so Lee took it upon himself to try and make sure Fatgum was eating a little better b/c being as skinny as 19 yr old Fatgum got reduced to had to be terrible for his health. --> Joined Fatgum in the underground fighting rings where they earned a nice little nest egg of money. Wasn’t captured by the cops during the raid but Fatgum was. --> Would murder people that Tai doesn’t like if Tai’d let him. --> Is almost certainly the best martial artist of his generation. --> It takes a while but he eventually does become the first quirkless hero in Japan. --> Fully known as The Unbeatable Hero: The Immortal.

[neil-jortson]

Y’all I can’t get over the idea of the foxes being MMA fighters with Wymack as their coach.

Imagine Neil being at a constant disadvantage cause he’s so small but he’s fast as hell.

Matt being an absolute beast with speed agility and strength.

Andrew fights like a man made of steel. Not only does he hit hard, he can truly take a punch.

Aaron fighting as a way to release his anger.

Kevin for years being forced to submit to Riko, now finally fighting to his fullest capabilities.

Dan starting out as a fighter because there were some rounds outside her strip joint and eventually she got real good and found she made more money that way.

Allison choosing the one thing her parents would have hated for her the most. Showing up to gala events with a face all cut up from fighting would be a “disgrace” to her family.

Renee tapping into her dark side when a fight gets real deep and she needs a win. She started street fighting for cash before Stephanie got her to move on and fight in a legal way for the MMA.

Seth being so angry at the world and needing the release of the punch.

Nicky being tired of beaten down and finally learning to fight back.

Wymack having a legend behind him of having fighters that are bat shit crazy but going down in the history books.

Neil bearing Riko in a head to head. Kevin becoming middleweight champion of the world.

The possibilities are limitless.

Before a big tournament Wymack gives his “fight because you don’t know how to die quietly” and it has a completely different connotation.

Abby being the on staff nurse to treat all of the injuries they would face on the daily.

Aaron and Andrew duking it out as a form of therapy before they’re ready to talk to each other.

Kevin teaches Neil to fight by fighting him so Neil gets really good at defeating people who are bigger than he is.

Neil would never get taken by his fathers people because they wouldn’t stand a chance against at least three different mma fighters in the room.

The foxes all cheering each other on during fights. Making bets as to who will win when they duke it out between each other.

Ah if I knew more about fighting I would almost make this a fic.

[christinesficrecs]

Hello! If you don't mind, could you please give me a list of the top werefox!stiles fics? Thanks a bunch! And, totally ok if you don't have the time for this!

Sure! Take a look at the fox!stiles tags here and here. Also, for the more canon compliant fics you asked about try these ones. (x) (x) (x)

The Way You Changed My Life by yodasyoyo | 2.1K 

So, have lonely, shy, alpha Derek who stumbles across injured werefox Stiles in the forest, and is immediately smitten with him (but fails hard at social interaction).

Running From Foxes by LadyDrace | 4K

Derek and Stiles have a lot of mutually enjoyable casual sex. Only problem is that Derek has issues, and also some feelings, and Stiles really wants to cuddle.

Wolves and Foxes Don’t Get Along by Lissadiane | 14.5K

The first werewolf Stiles ever sees is a goofy looking dude with floppy brown hair and a crooked smile, leaning up against a black camaro outside the high school, wearing an oversized leather jacket, surrounded by half a dozen other preternaturally beautiful girls and guys, also in leather. Also probably werewolves.

They look like they stepped right out of Twilight and it’s not subtle.

The Undisclosed by Taila_Tai | 109.4K | Mature

For once the pack doesn't panic when a new hunter arrives. The gleefully sadistic man has labelled himself a collector of all things rare in the supernatural world and wants one of the rarest creatures; a werefox. Content that the pack is safe, the wolves focus on why their human member is acting so strange, ignoring the fact that Stiles only started once learning who the man wanted...

That Depends On How You Define Werewolf by janonny | 16.6K  | Mature

“I didn’t shoot him if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Stiles’ dad. Then he smiled wryly. “Though I did push him against the wall and threaten to strangle him with my bare hands.”

Stiles gaped at his dad, because Derek…was Derek. And the Stilinski men weren’t exactly buff. They were built more slender and agile, though Stiles was still waiting for the agile part to kick in.

Do Not Go Gently by MojoFlower | 195.8K | Explicit

Derek Hale, Beacon Hills Alpha and Dom, wakes up in a dark cell already housing another captive – a mute, traumatized sub with a cruel collar around his neck. His only goal is to get them both free of their brutal circumstances; but even as he tries to get his young companion home, a bond between them grows. Nothing comes easily: danger and harrowing echoes of their ordeal shadow every step they take.

[xlady-saya]

this red is for you [fic]

Relationships: aaron/katelyn, andrew/neil

Summary: Katelyn never considered herself capable of doling out violence.

It has always been a far away thought, dampened by college courses and late night dates with her boyfriend. She lives a stereotypical life, despite everything she's been through with Aaron. Aside from her growing connection with the notoriously troublesome Foxes, nothing much about her life has changed.

Even then, she's learning she's still able to surprise herself. When Katelyn witnesses Neil defending Andrew, her own protective rage rears its head, ready to be explored.

And maybe that's a good thing.

Tags: katelyn pov, discussions of tilda/past abuse, fluff, protective neil, protective katelyn

Read on ao3! 

The sound of a pipe shattering on the ground dislodges something inside Katelyn; it's unexpected, but not entirely unfamiliar. She'd felt the inklings of this...feeling during Aaron's trial, when he cried in her arms, and even back when she first heard the name Tilda.

She'd never been able to coax it fully out into the light, but she supposes it had to happen eventually. Maybe she only sees it now because she's stepped too far into the dark.

And of course, Neil is the spark to ignite the flames of realization.

The look in Neil's eyes is nothing short of menacing, like the feeling that comes from being cornered, or from realizing you're in danger a little too late to do anything about it. It stops Katelyn in an instant, her hair standing on end.

See, Katelyn is not deluded enough to think she exists in a safe world. She's especially not deluded enough to think she surrounds herself with safe people either.

That's just how it worked out, and at this point she's so deep in the fox den she couldn't fathom clawing her way out. It's cozy here anyways...warm...

But from other people's points of view, she should've never been the type to venture here. She knows it's easy to label her as naive, or in over her head. She's, by all definitions, a good girl. Good girl. Whatever that means.

It's funny—after spending such a long time around her boyfriend and his family, she's not sure the concepts of good and bad can ever be so straightforward in her mind again.

But she still gets called that when she visits home. That always made her embarrassed; it's how the people at church referred to her, how her mother's friends gushed over her.

And she took it with a smile, because well, what else was there to do? It became a broken record statement, reiterated so many times she hardly noticed. But it made her parents happy, and it had gotten her far in life.

Perfect grades, a put together family, and a cheeriness that couldn't be beaten out of her. It's a brand of resilience that's often overlooked, but she's never resented the judgement passed on her for it. She's well aware of the checklists people run through when they see her; it's second nature to cross off every box to match her up with the stereotype. Even Aaron did it, when they first met.

And that's fine.

She's never had a problem occupying those boxes in people's minds, because in her own, she always ran through an infinite plane with no walls, no end.

It's a privileged way of thinking, and a little ridiculous, but she's proud that she's never become trapped by those boxes in her own head. She's happy Aaron now sees the real her, a fully fleshed out person who defied everything Aaron expected of her.

She's proud of that, but if she's being honest, she never had any doubts when it came to the two of them.

The truth is she's always done whatever she wanted, and she's never allowed herself to be ruled by expectations. She walks her own path, and she'll continue to do so, it's just...

For a long time, everything she wanted just so happened to fall in line with what everyone else wanted, so no one ever thought to notice how headstrong and stubborn she could truly be. How brave she could be in the face of a world she now knows can be hideous.

Get good grades, make friends, pick a successful field of study. No problem. Katelyn loves being a cheerleader, and she's dreamed of being a physician since middle school. She likes being nice, and positive. She doesn't care that she can't shut up.

It had all fallen into place, it had all equaled good girl.

Until Aaron, until everything that came with him.

And see, for a lot of people that's an issue, it doesn't compute. Someone like Katelyn, who in their eyes has followed all the rules, is not supposed to be with someone like Aaron, with their perception of him.

Because he follows no rules; there's blood on his hands and bruises on his skin which will never fade. There's dulled track marks and a broken family, barely mended. He is not what anyone wanted for her.

But Katelyn...she wouldn't trade this life with him for anything. That feeling, that love, singes so deep Katelyn sometimes thinks her autopsy will show third degree burns on every part of her, charred into the bone and marrow.

And honestly, (and not to be rude), fuck those people. At the end of the day she knows Aaron, not them. It had not been an accident, an unfortunate case of 'can't help who you love,' and she hates when it's seen that way.

She'd embraced everything, because he'd done the same for her. And not just Aaron, but the Foxes accepted her too.

For the entire summer leading up to her freshman year and all the way through her schooling, she's heard the rumors, the whispers. The Foxes are notorious for their roughness, their almost animalistic drive to fight through blood and bone to survive. They have records, and a penchant for violence. They've lived through so much.

Unspeakable, brutal horrors. They still keep Katelyn up at night sometimes, holding Aaron so close to her he wakes up with a start. That's the real naive part of her, the part Andrew might scoff or glare at her for.

She doesn't care; no one deserves the things the Foxes went through. Anyone who tries to disagree with her goes immediately on her shit list.

Because even Andrew, with his initial hatred of her, sees what others do not. The Foxes protect their own, and they accept those who lend a hand to do the same. They'd welcomed her because of her love for Aaron, and eventually because of her love for his family. For all of them.

So again, Katelyn knows she doesn't run with a safe crowd.

But they make her feel safe, and accepted, and that's always what has mattered most to her.

That being said, as much as she's part of them, she's not one of them. She never believed she had that edge, that ruthlessness and impulsivity which could make her snap in the blink of an eye.

She was naive about that too, it seems.

The end of the pipe breaks off the moment Neil strikes it against the nearest railing, and before Katelyn can so much as blink, he has it against the football player's throat.

The rusted piece of metal is sharp and ribbed at the edge now, at the part closest to the vulnerable expanse of the player's neck. Katelyn is good at anatomy, better than Aaron. She knows exactly where the jugular is, and she's sure Neil does too. He can't be that precise on accident.

Katelyn's limbs lock up, not out of fear or concern, but out of pure shock. They're behind the gym, no one else around due to the late hour. The forgotten pieces of the school's construction project are strewn around the back entrance, and well...that explains where Neil got the pipe.

Katelyn hadn't even noticed, hadn't even comprehended Neil's sharp movements until the pipe was already in his hand. Neil's fast, but this isn't the normal agility, the sprints he employs on the Exy court.

This was unadulterated instinct, and the look in his eyes...

Television doesn't do it justice, but it's there. It's murder, packaged prettily in pools of blue. The football player doesn't dare to move his hands even in surrender— they're pinned at his side and locked up so hard, Katelyn's own muscles ache. He's trembling up at Neil, whose cleat is pressed firmly into his sternum. "H-hey man, calm down, I didn't mean--"

He wheezes next, and Katelyn realizes Neil must be pressing harder with each breath.

She doesn't move, doesn't even think to. At some point she dropped her gym bag, and shivers at the mood shift. Just a few minutes ago, Neil was laughing in that reserved way of his, trying to mimic Katelyn's cheer moves while she snapped pictures.

Because Andrew would appreciate them, deep down, she thought.

She wonders if Andrew would appreciate this Neil too, the one who is now devoid of any emotion. His face is a blank slate, ire bleeding through the edges.

Katelyn has no idea what the football player said as he passed them, and she's glad she didn't. All she heard was the clipped mumble, Andrew's name.

And then Neil was no longer next to her.

She can only guess how ugly the statement was, and that's the first thing that scares her about herself. She has no desire to stop Neil, and she knows deep down she won't.

It's the first crack in her delusion.

"You didn't mean it?" Neil states, barely questioning. His voice walks the line of a whisper, and his head tilt reminds Katelyn more of a rabid dog than a fox for a moment. Like Neil is gauging what angle is best to go for the throat. "Are you saying that because I could kill you right now, or do you always have changes of heart at such convenient times?"

The football player pales, but even he doesn't truly know. Despite all of Neil's history coming out to the general public, he can't possibly know how serious Neil is.

But Katelyn does, and she wraps her arms around herself from the chill. Still, she does nothing.

It's more fascinating than anything to her; Neil's impulsive arguments are always loud, full of sass, snarky...

This is not that.

Neil presses the pipe securely into the man's flesh, and doesn't look surprised when that's the moment the pleading starts. "Wait, ple--"

That, Neil flinches at. "Shut up," he says, quietly, but it's loud in the narrow space. Katelyn even steps back from the force of it. And oh, she gets it, and sadness unfurls in her chest. "Just shut up."

Then, it happens.

Now, Katelyn has never actually seen Neil do this. She's only heard stories from Aaron. To her, Neil's smile is a reserved, rare thing, but sweet nonetheless. It's always a win when she can cause one—even if it’s the wry, sardonic kind. They make her feel accomplished, happy.

Neil's smile now is one Katelyn hopes to never see again. It's so slow, it almost reminds her of a mask; the jagged teeth don't quite fit together. She's heard the rumors of the Butcher's Smile, and she's seen Neil cringe every time.

But in her mind, that's all bullshit; this is all Neil's rage, cold and cutting. It could never belong to anyone else.

Neil takes his leg off the player's chest, dropping down so they're eye level. He takes the pipe away, and the football player doesn't move, doesn't do anything. It's arrogant, in a way; Neil is very clearly saying he can hinder this man with this look alone, this single threat.

Neil's smile grows. "Now listen, okay? You can trade insults with me all day, I don't give half a shit. But don't you ever fucking talk to me about Andrew again. Do you understand me?"

Katelyn winces at the same moment the football player jumps away from Neil. Well, if he doesn't understand from that, there's no getting through to him.

He stumbles as he runs away, kicking over some stray pipes in the process as he calls back over his shoulder. "Freak!"

Neil snorts as he stands, throwing the pipe with disinterest to the side. "How original."

And just like that, a switch is flipped. Neil turns back to her, hands in his hoodie, and the traces of the forbidden smile are wiped away as he drags a hand over his face to correct the muscles there. Then it's back to his neutral facade, with a dash of wariness mixed in as he approaches her.

She hasn't moved.

"Katelyn." Neil snaps his fingers in front of her face, and Katelyn glares as she bats his hand away.

Her other hand flies to her chest, trying to tamper down the beating of her heart. She knows Neil is protective, that Andrew is too. It's obvious, given how they are, but that...that was—

"How...you—" she begins, but can't find the words. She huffs, and watches as Neil picks up her duffel and shoves it into her arms without care.

He's never been particularly gentle, and Katelyn's always appreciated it. Neil's not a liar anymore, though he's a damn good one. He'll give her his genuine reactions, no matter how callous they are.

"Yes," he agrees, which makes her glare harder. The only thing that gives her some satisfaction is the light blush on his face. Interesting. "Don't make a big deal out of it."

"But...why?" she tries, dropping her bag again. Neil tracks it, in that infuriating way he always does. In retaliation, Katelyn snaps right in his face until he's staring at her again, just as done as he looks when she talks about The Bachelor. "If you can protect yourself like that, why...?"

Why does everyone talk about Neil like he can barely throw a punch? In fact, Katelyn's pretty sure everyone thinks he's got an addiction to starting fights with no way of winning them.

That’s quite obviously not the case.

But Neil just shrugs, shouldering Katelyn's bag for her. Neil fidgets then, shifting his weight, and his blush grows. "I like when Andrew protects me," he whispers, staring at his shoes. It's such a sweet, innocent confession, Katelyn nearly can't believe it.

But in reality, and just from seeing Neil's soft smile as he thinks of Andrew, she totally can.

This piece of work...

Katelyn huffs, throwing her hands up. "That's a lot of faith to put in someone."

It gets her the rise she wants. Neil glares at her, pouting. "Andrew might not have every fighting skill in the book but he's strong," he says, head held high. They're the same height, so it barely works. "And he's powered by pure force of will. It doesn't matter who he's fighting, or how bad he's hurt, Andrew will do significant damage."

Katelyn waves him off, taking her bag back. She doesn't doubt it; she was almost on the receiving end of such damage, and Neil was a witness.

She thinks that's the end of it when Neil turns around to grab his own bag, but something uneasy and restless still churns inside her. She's not sure why it's such a catalyst, but she feels the seams of something splitting open.

Neil hadn't even hesitated to go on the offensive for Andrew, something he usually avoids. A situation he'd normally attack verbally collided with the urge for bloodshed, the protective instinct spiking in him until it overflowed.

Like there was no choice, no other decision to make.

Can the need to protect really be so strong, the consequences of murder don't even matter?

Oh, no, no. She throws that thought out right away, admonishing herself for her own stupidity. The answer is yes—a deafening, resounding yes. She thinks of a car crash, a bloody exy racquet.

In her mind, in the smallest, darkest corners...she always regarded those moments as essential.

The churning in her stomach gets worse; it feels wrong, and ugly, to say certain people deserve to die. She's always been taught that wishing that level of ill on someone was a sin itself, but here she is, thinking it anyways.

Because they did deserve to die. She shudders, the guilt immense, because she doesn't feel bad but she knows she should.

And then it becomes so clear what her hang up is.

Would she ever do that? Could she spill blood for Aaron, and wipe her hands afterwards? Would she be alright, just knowing she'd kept him safe?

The answer is yelling, clawing to break through, but she stuffs it down. She's a coward sometimes; she doesn't know how to handle the reality of that answer.

Neil's voice snaps her out of it, but in typical Neil fashion, he rips the problem open all the way so she can see it. So she can't escape it.

"Andrew doesn't ever protect himself against words. Boundaries, lines...he knows how to handle those. But he doesn't care what people say, no matter how putrid the shit out of their mouths is," Neil says when he turns back to her, half shrouded. There's a tremble in his voice, one only rage can produce. There's not an ounce of doubt in his face. "So I will."

'I will fight the world for this person.'

Katelyn knows the feeling well. Too well, even. It terrifies her, how much she understands. Her hand clenches around her heart, and she thinks of how that feeling surged whenever Aaron cried in her arms after the trial. Whenever she heard the rumors, the whispers...

She would just see red, splashed on walls in flashes, painted in thick stripes. And she clamped that feeling down, tamed it into something nicer and prettier. She applied it in other ways, in sharp glares and acts of affection. Giving Aaron what he deserves: unconditional love, instead of heavy hands and insults.

She disguised the wild dog inside her, too. Good girl.

But when Neil smirks at her, the lingering ghost of that smile hidden beneath, it lets the beast loose.

"I know what everyone thinks of Andrew, and they're right. He can be dangerous when it's required," Neil hums, fond and icy all at once. "But believe me, when it comes down to it, I'm the scary one."

Even if no one else realizes it, Katelyn will never doubt that again. She feels the ring of thorns around her throat, pressing tighter as she forces out the question. She needs to know, or she needs to hear it.

"You'd kill?" Katelyn asks, small and childish. It's not even a complete question, but Neil's eyes darken enough for her to know he get its. You'd kill for him? For the person you love...

Neil gives her that expression—not judging, but slightly amused. "Wouldn't you?"

It knocks the air out of her, and well...she has no response to that yet. Not one she's willing to speak aloud. But there's no use now; her mind is latched onto it.

Neil doesn't give her a chance to respond before he starts walking away, trusting her to either catch up or be left behind. But then he stops, shoulders tense. It's enough to snap Katelyn out of her crisis momentarily, especially when Neil turns around with an almost sheepish look on his face. The flush is back, painting his scarred cheeks with a different red than the one behind Katelyn's eyes.

"Uh, Katelyn, do you think you could maybe keep this to yourself?" Neil says, looking behind him as if another person will materialize out of nowhere. "Like...don't tell Andrew."

Katelyn's mouth opens and closes too many times for her to count, before she settles on a majestic: "Huh?"

Neil winces, kicking the gravel at his feet. She was always under the impression that Neil and Andrew don't keep anything from each other. Neil seems to know this, and he deflates even more. "It's just...it's not that big of a secret, okay? It's embarrassing is all!"

And Katelyn can't help it: she laughs, long and borderline hysterical. It's probably mixed with relief after seeing Neil nearly kill a man, but whatever, it's a release nonetheless.

She slides up to Neil, pausing to give him time to move away, but he simply nods. She throws her arms around his shoulders, dragging him forward. She has a lot to think about, but for now...their boyfriends are probably waiting. "Don't worry, I got you."

Neil's smile is rueful. "I owe you one."

Katelyn tenses up, and is already shaking her head. No, no. She and Andrew might not be best friends yet, but she knows enough to know Neil shouldn't have to owe her anything if she wants to escape the blond's wrath. "Uh, no, Neil, really it's--"

"Believe me, Katelyn," Neil interrupts, hip checking her gently. "It's not something I give out often. Take it. Trust me."

So Katelyn doesn't question it. She's sure it'll come in handy, one of these days.

She laughs again, her charm bracelet jingling against her wrist. It reminds her of what's important. Her crisis could be worse, and there's at least one thing she knows for sure.

It's founded in love.

She'll figure it out, because the beast running free gives her no choice. Even knowing that, she sleeps peacefully later that night, bundled into Aaron's side, and the red behind her eyes waits for a new day to paint with vengeance.

--

However, she comes to find that such a passionate color doesn't wash out so easily. It's always there, whether as a sheen or in all its vibrance.

She's lying naked in her bed with Aaron staring at the smooth expanse of her abdomen; there's a satisfied ache deep and heavy in her bones, and when she stretches her joints pop loud enough to make Aaron smirk. She can vaguely remember a time where she wasn't able to feel so comfortable being completely bare in front of him. There was a pressure to be desirable, to angle herself a certain way and be covered quickly after. It was shared, mutual, their hyperawareness of one another. That time gets murkier and murkier with each passing day, and she smiles at the ticklish feeling of Aaron's fingers grazing her skin. Her roommates are out for the weekend, and she's doing that thing where she hogs all the blankets but only covers her legs. She runs hot, go figure, but the blanket is too cozy to not use. It's one of those fancy, overhyped crochet quilts—a gift from Nicky for her birthday.

It's a deep burgundy color, and she might scoff if it weren't for the thoughts in her head. This feeling here, she knows, is the purest definition of contentment. Despite her sweaty skin and dry hands, the heaviness to her limbs...

She can't imagine being without it, or having it stripped away. She wouldn't let that happen.

She suppresses the huff that threatens to escape her. Closing her eyes briefly, she turns over; her back protests, and Aaron lazily wipes the frizzy hair from her forehead. He's not even looking at her when she opens her eyes, face tired and staring into the void that is the mole on her hip. He just...he knows where she is, where her face is; Aaron touches her because he loves to, and there's no ulterior motive. Katelyn smiles brighter, because she doubts he's even aware he did it.

But the gentle touch is so familiar, nurturing in ways Aaron never received himself. But he learned them, and he gives his 110% into applying them.

And oh, Katelyn's hands fist into the deep red fabric; sometimes a feeling is so overwhelming she can't help but feel her eyes get watery, and she doesn't even know why. She's not sure it's safe to touch Aaron when she's this full of anger, choked up with wariness for the world around them.

She doesn't want to be like her, but when she finally works up the courage to brush her hand through Aaron's hair, the touch is featherlight. Soft.

Safe here, in her arms.

Her lower lip trembles, and she scolds herself for it. She's not good at holding back tears, at holding back anything. Her fingers graze the scar on Aaron's scalp, almost undetectable with his blond hair. She's memorized the feel of it though, the groove where something hit him too hard.

She pulls her hand away with a shaky breath, and Aaron's eyes finally snap up to meet her. They bore into her, his brow furrowing before widening in panic once he sees the tears in her eyes.

It's the last straw for her, he cares so much it shreds her composure. Aaron, you didn't deserve what happened. I wish I had been there, I wish I could've--

'There's no deserve, there just is.'

Andrew's words had been something she brushed off on a particularly awkward double date, back when their care ride was nothing but an impossible fantasy.

But again, she has to disagree.

What is she supposed to do about this?

For the first time, she falls into a box. She's a good girl, right? She's not supposed to think about blood and flesh, of bashing in the faces of people who hurt Aaron. Past, present, future. Doesn't matter, they'd all deserve it.

"Kate, what is it?" Aaron asks, sitting up to drape himself over her. His eyes flit over her, moving the blanket aside. She's not sure why, but it's always Aaron's first instinct to look for signs of violence. No, scratch that. She knows why. She swallows down the lump in her throat with a smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes, and tilts Aaron's chin until he's staring right at her again. Gold eyes, flecks of green...

"I'm just...happy you're here with me," she whispers, pressing her nose to his cheek. It's stupid, but she tries to press the feeling into him. She means it. She's never meant anything so strongly. He lets her, falling back into bed and opening his arms so she can move closer. The medical ID bracelet she gifted him slides down his wrist; it had been a gag gift at first, a play on their majors and the fact Katelyn wanted them to have matching jewelry. It was a hint, a push so he'd buy something subtle instead, a ring or chain maybe...

Aaron never liked to stand out, to be flashy. But he had rolled with the gift completely, and from the moment he clipped it on, she'd only seen him remove it for Exy.

She sniffles again, grabbing his wrist and keeping her hand there, feeling his pulse. Alive, breathing.

"Aaron..." she says, before she can take the urge and bottle it back up. She looks right at him, trying to communicate as much of the heat as she can. "I wouldn't let anything happen to you, I swear."

It comes out more pathetic than she intended; it's worse than the randomness. What is she supposed to do in the face of a threat? She's never had to deal with one. She's a short college student who has never had to throw a punch, has never thought about it before. But still...but still, she'd do whatever she could; she'd bite and thrash until she couldn't anymore.

Because Aaron would do the same for her, because maybe that feeling is...normal, when it comes to loving someone. And she loves, she loves so much it apparently still has the ability to turn her world upside down.

Aaron's eyes widen, but thankfully he doesn't ask. She likes to think it's because she said it confidently enough he wouldn't dream of questioning it, but she smiles wider from the truth. Sometimes Aaron doesn't get it and doesn't know where to start; she would giggle, if she wasn't so close to sobbing. Aaron can be slow, can take a few days to catch up. But he will, and hopefully by then she can better explain it.

She's past questioning why the feeling exists at all. She's proud of it.

So instead of asking, Aaron nods, slow and sure. He trusts her, he believes her, and Katelyn lets a few tears wet Aaron's shoulder when he pulls her in tight. "Come here," he says when she hesitates, like she wants to make sure it's alright, and he accepts all of her. She melts against him, pouring every unspoken promise into the embrace. Katelyn knows Aaron can't read her mind, but it doesn't stop him from kissing her forehead, from whispering: "I know that, I know."

And Katelyn truly hopes he does.

--

The first time she and Aaron fought, it was something insignificant.

Katelyn can barely remember it now, something trivial like class schedules or a project. It seems so far away, and it’s ridiculous to care about something so silly, but they're only human. Frustrations had been high, and it had felt almost like a rite of passage.

'You aren't in a real relationship if you don't argue,' her father had told her once. She now knows that's mostly bullshit people tell themselves so they can justify their screaming matches.

Disagreements yes, bickering, disgruntlement...

Normal; so, in a way, it was a milestone, but not in the way her parents would’ve thought. The fight revealed more things to learn about each other, to make sure and be considerate of.

I don't like when you do this.

I appreciated this.

Please be more aware of this other thing.

I know this was unavoidable, but it still bothered me.

In hindsight, that's what all those little quarrels got her: experience, patience.

But in the moment, she'd just been annoyed. Aaron mumbled something under his breath when she turned away, and she'd been too petty to let it go.

Their 'fight' had been normal, until it wasn't.

Katelyn heard the clipped tone and turned around sharply, jaw clenched, and took a deliberate step toward him to tell him exactly how rude he was being.

And Aaron flinched.

Full body, he moved back a step, expecting a strike. They'd both frozen once they realized; it had been an instinctual movement, and guilt clouded Aaron's eyes a second later. But Katelyn had seen it; there had been this brief flash of terror there, but not surprise.

Like being slapped across the face would've been completely acceptable. The old normal.

Even if it had just been a second, Aaron had been afraid. Of her. Or some remnant of a ghost always lurking in the corner of Aaron's life.

She's not sure, but it didn't matter.

Katelyn remembers the irritation flooding right out of her, her body deflating as Aaron tried to offer up some kind of apology. By that point in time, Katelyn knew enough about Tilda. They'd been at the stage where confiding in each other was easy, but up until that point her rage over it had been quite shallow. It was in the past, Tilda was gone. Why linger on something painful?

She hadn't seen the effects, but here they were, staring her down.

That day, Katelyn decided she'd never despised someone more in her entire life, and probably never would again. Respect for the dead and all that...something she'd believed in before that no longer applied.

Whatever Aaron was trying to apologize for, she didn't care. She swept him up in her arms until all his weight collapsed onto her, and she let him sob into her shoulder. They were both sorry for different things, maybe things they shouldn't have been. The fight from moments before became inconsequential, and they both owned up to their faults in it.

They'd even laughed through their tears, nonsense about how they'd both just retake the class, or how the professor sucked anyways. Katelyn cried through the night, and probably looked unrecognizable in the morning with her puffy eyes and gnawed lip.

Aaron had helped put spoons in the freezer to help the swelling go down, probably the sloppiest pre-med care he'd ever done, because they had no ice packs.

And naturally, they'd talked about the rest. They exhausted the topic until Katelyn made sure Aaron knew...

"I would never hurt you," she whispered, partly to herself. A promise, an oath.

"I know you wouldn't."

Her eyes were ablaze when she looked at him again. "You never deserved to be hurt."

That one hadn't gotten her a response, but she kept repeating it. She'd keep repeating it.

The night had passed, fading into the background of anniversaries, finals, and sports.

But she never forgot. It had lurked in her, adding to the beast which she'd been confronting the past few days.

It's actually Andrew who calls it back to the forefront of her mind.

They're in the dorm, the four of them, and she's gone through at least two boxes of Raisinets (which Andrew had called a sin) and a liter of soda. The television is blaring with sounds of gunfire and distorted radio effects, which none of the boys seem to mind.

She's watched Aaron play (and fail) at this game so many times over the past few years, that it no longer bothers her. Her eyes drift over the room, fondly lingering over where Aaron is trying to not pull his hair out while he’s teaching Neil how to play.

Neil is holding the controller wrong, but she's pretty sure he's doing it on purpose, and she stifles a giggle into her soda cup.

And then...there's Andrew. He's sitting against the far wall, a watchful eye to the end. He tilts his head every now and again as Neil smirks and scowls, and Katelyn doesn't try to parse those thoughts. She's pretty sure either too much goes on in Andrew's head or nothing at all, but either way Neil ends up being a point of clarity.

He's not doing anything attention-grabbing, but Andrew rarely is. But the memory guided Katelyn's attention to him, to the curl of his hands. It's not that she's afraid to approach him for the old reasons; she does it on occasion, though she's better with the rules now. It's only necessary to talk to Andrew when she has something to say, something that matters.

This...definitely mattered.

And the thing is, she's sure he'll agree. He'll at least lift his head. He had nodded at her when she walked into their dorm, a more common occurrence now that still makes Aaron falter each time. It still feels like a beginning, but it feels nice all the same.

Andrew gets up, footsteps loud as he walks past where Neil is sitting in one of the beanbag chairs. His hand grazes the back of Neil's neck while the other opens the soda next to him, pushing it into Neil's hands in place of the controller. It's such a familiar dance that neither of them linger on it. Neil's glare at Aaron doesn't falter even as Andrew walks out of the room for a smoke break.

Katelyn stares after him, lingering on Andrew's back as he leans against the outside railing. It's been awhile since she's seen Andrew truly tense; he looks how he feels for once. Calm, in the moment. Katelyn wonders if it's a feeling he takes for granted, or one he refuses to acknowledge. Either way, it just makes her more hesitant to approach him.

She doesn't want to break this peace they both have, here with their people on a cool summer night.

But if she doesn't say it...no. She's not sure it's avoidable at this point. It pushes on her vocal chords and claws at her pressed lips, prying them apart. Katelyn thinks of Aaron next to her in bed, or in her arms, safe and sound. She realizes she's wanted to say this for a long time.

Katelyn stands quietly, though she doesn't have to. Aaron and Neil are glued to the game, and any sound she makes is drowned out by explosions and gunfire.

"Josten, you can't be this much of an idiot," Aaron says, more agonized than annoyed at this point. He jabs his fingers over his own controller, like he can take it out on the plastic instead of Neil's brain.

"Oh yeah? Bet," Neil answers, because at least he's self-aware. "And what the hell? I did the combo right that time."

"No you didn't! You just keep smashing the buttons in a random order!" Aaron mimics it, and in true form, is killed on screen. "Shit. You're destroying my rankings."

"Don't blame me because you suck at this."

Neil is correct. Aaron has never successfully beaten either Andrew or Nicky. Once, while drunk, he cried about it.

"I do not," Aaron grumbles, and he starts the next round. "Here. Watch."

Katelyn doesn't wait to hear Neil's snippy response; her smile fades as she steps out onto the balcony, the cool air hitting her flushed cheeks. She laughs at herself, nothing more than a light huff; to think part of her is actually fired up over this, a little proud. Like it's about time.

She's sure she should feel ashamed of that, ugly. But she doesn't.

The sound makes Andrew whip his head around, the softness stripped away to reveal sharp edges, pulling her apart. The hand holding Andrew's cigarette pauses in mid-air, and he waits, because why would Andrew speak first?

Katelyn smiles wryly before she hardens, grip so tight on the door column that the old paint chips. She's learned there's no reason to lead in with anything when it comes to Andrew; he doesn't care about niceties, or fronts.

She only has one thing to say, and she's going to say it regardless of whether or not she gets a response. She turns to check on Aaron one last time, and he's oblivious. As he should be, for this.

That's Katelyn's only source of guilt. But she knows, maybe as well as Andrew, that Aaron is not ready to hear this. He probably never will be.

Katelyn takes one step forward, right where Andrew's boundary ends, and makes sure there's zero room for him to doubt her.

"I'm glad you killed her."

It comes out a lot more serious than she thought; it was what she was going for, but she expected some quiver to her tone, a weakness.

There is none. Her voice is devoid of any regret, any sympathy, and that's everything she ever wanted. That's what Tilda deserved, at the bare minimum.

And if it's all Katelyn can give, she'll do it. She'll thank the person who did whatever he could.

She clasps a hand over her mouth when she realizes she's smiling, an inkling of that coldness bleeding through, but it's too late.

Andrew saw.

She guesses that's fair though; she tries to wipe the smile away but it sticks, it pulls open her lips like rusted gates, releasing those words she craved. Andrew lowers his cigarette as he takes this in, and Katelyn's not sure what he finds.

She hopes it's something good.

Katelyn doesn't wait for Andrew to respond before she walks back into the dorm, nothing more to say. She feels Andrew's gaze on her back, and she trusts it. When had that happened?

When had she stopped expecting a threat? When had she realized there was no need to flinch?

The warmth fills her to the brim. She climbs into Aaron's chair as he mopes over his loss, nuzzling his cheek. His hand finds hers like a moth to the flame before he stands up to switch the game to Mario Party so they can all play. Her smile from before morphs into something full and colorful. Bright.

She claps excitedly, rummaging through the tangled basket below the entertainment system for her controller. She's already challenging and throwing jabs at Neil, who is her biggest rival in this game. The twins always lose.

She's vaguely aware of Neil calling Andrew back into the room, but then there's Andrew's hand in front of her face, untangling the chord for her. She gasps as he frees the pink controller from its confines, dangling it in front of her.

She reaches for it on instinct, but hesitates when she glances up at him. She's...in his bubble. It's only for a moment, but it closes up her throat.

"Well?" He says when she freezes, unmoving for too long. Katelyn notices, with no shortage of joy, that Andrew's shoulders are still relaxed. He's comfortable. Accepting.

She blinks away the shock behind her eyes and grips the controller, smiling up at him. The moment ends in an instant, Andrew's bored expression already focused elsewhere. He turns away from her as he plops down by Neil, and she avoids the smug smile Neil sends her.

Whether it's due to the game or his own weird intuition, Katelyn doesn't know.

All she knows in that moment is that she's going to smoke them all.

Katelyn jumps up, and the lightness in her heart threatens to steer her into the ceiling. She takes her place beside Aaron and lets the shit talking begin.

--

Granted, there parts of Katelyn that are still naive. It comes with the territory, with pretty cookie cutter houses and neighborhood watch meetings.

See, as much as she was ready to acknowledge her protectiveness, she never thought she'd have to resort to actual violence...ever. She assumed those times were behind them, that life would be boring and wonderful from here on out.

Most things should seem boring anyways, after everything they’ve been through.

You've always have to be the optimist.

What she didn't know was just how prepared her mind was for reality, lying in wait behind the scope of her conscious thought. And come to think of it, that was naive of her too, to think feelings take a vacation just because you accept them.

Her pom-poms hit the floor with a clatter as she jumps up, high as she can. She's cheering, trying to be heard over the rest of her squad while her coach tries to calm them down. It never works.

Katelyn is taking off from the cheer section despite the teasing from the other girls, but they should be used to this by now.

She has a flair for the dramatic, and she's on the court soon after the final buzzer rings. The score is in the Foxes' favor tonight, promising an excessive party later on. She wonders if she can convince the girls to give her the room for a few hours...

The crowd roars behind her as she and the rest of the cheerleaders rush onto the court, but her excitement is her own and twice as powerful.

It's tradition now for her to seek Aaron out, to leap into his arms after every game won. Sue her, she's cheesy like that. And after being deprived of it for so long...she's gotten greedy. Andrew barely bats an eye anymore, comically side stepping them.

She's confused though, because normally they meet halfway. She runs to center court and can't see Aaron anywhere, and her confusion only doubles when she sees a mass of people forming up ahead.

There's a sizable crowd around where the Foxes' huddle should be, a mix of referees and substitute players, and she pushes through them to get a better look. She doesn't realize her body is already buzzing, alive with nervous energy and dread. It knows something she hasn't quite figured out yet.

That's why she's not just nudging people out of the way, she's shoving them, elbowing them as the yelling gets louder. It's normally her personality that bulldozes, but today it's every last inch of her.

Her blood feels like it ignites. Her body is thrown into fight or flight mode, and fight is definitely preferred.

It happens fast.

Aaron has never let his height deter him, and as neutral as he can be in most situations, he's got a short fuse at times and a fighting spirit to match. His anger is explosive. It happens in short bursts, but can raze fields in its wake. It gets him into a lot of trouble; he can say things he doesn't mean or things he absolutely means, which are typically worse. Today it's the latter.

Aaron is face to face with a player from the other team, and the words roar in Katelyn's ears. They're murky and muddled, like her brain has deemed the meaning and context irrelevant. All she needs to know is they're unkind, provoking. The backliner towers over Aaron, trading his own insults. 'Murderer' and 'inbred' and a slew of other original things hit Aaron point blank, but he's heard it all before. Whatever Aaron says in return must be cutting, and while Katelyn can't differentiate the words from curses, she knows they land.

Her heart jumps to her throat and the crowd gets louder around her; it's static in nature, too much at once, and everything in her stands on end. Poised to strike.

She doesn't care what they're arguing about, or who she's with, or what she's doing. She just sees the backliner's fist fly back, half the size of Aaron's head, and she simply reacts. She almost wants to blame the beast, that dark corner of her mind, for what happens next.

But it's all her, and it's always been all her.

Andrew moves out of the corner of her eye, sensing the same violent outcome. Their deal might be over, but the promise isn't. Andrew's instinct to protect his own will always be there.

But for once, Katelyn is faster.

Nicky is standing nearby, or maybe she ran to him...she's not sure, and it doesn't matter. Her blood is rushing into her ears and her heartbeat has drowned out the crowd. She wrenches the racquet from Nicky's hands before he even sees her.

There's no chance of her comprehending it, of stopping, so she doesn't. She brings the racquet back in the fiercest swing she can manage given her noodle arms, and punches the air out of the bastard's lungs with it. It hits him right in the stomach, and Katelyn makes sure not to break anything.

Again, she's good at anatomy.

It's a painful, underhanded hit, and she hopes it leaves a bruise. Nicky's racquet creaks a bit from the force of it, but it did its job well. Katelyn watches with a wicked satisfaction as the guy goes down with a groan, clutching his gut.

There's still anger in his eyes, a bitterness, but it pales in comparison to her own.

And it's in that moment she thinks she understands Neil best. 'I'm the scary one.'

Yes, yes, Katelyn thinks that's more than appropriate. She didn't understand then that it was simply an observation based on a feeling. It's the same feeling she's feeling now, and she supposes she has changed quite a lot from even that initial conversation.

Because she doesn't dwell on the feeling, or worry about what ugly things it says about her. It just is, and it's in the name of the emotion she loves so much. The person she loves so much.

So, her arm goes back with less force this time, less power, but it still goes back. Ready to deal another blow, ready to fight as much as she needs to if it means protecting Aaron.

It's not quite bloodlust, but it would get her the same result to call it that, so oh well.

She doesn't get the chance to find out how far she's willing to go; she's barely begun to swing forward when someone grabs the handle of the racquet, stopping her cold. She gasps then, realizing what's she doing, and again there's no regret. There is concern for the witnesses, though.

Heat rushes to her face as her eyes dart around, waiting for the vilification that's sure to come. But no. Everyone's eyes are glued to the groaning mess on the floor. Baby.

Katelyn takes a moment to catch her breath and get her shit together, because she can't believe she was that ready to maim someone in the middle of their stadium, and then turns to see the person who did notice.

Of course it's Neil. Of course.

His face is trying very hard to remain the default, completely blank, but Katelyn catches the edge of amusement playing at his lips. He'd know better than anyone, right? How close she'd come to going full apeshit, and she's sure she'll never hear the end of it. As she realizes that, Neil's smile blooms, and she tenses. Oh, shut up. Neil huffs a laugh, yanking the racquet from her hands. "I'll take that, thanks."

Katelyn tries to glare, but she can't help but smile all the same.

"Katelyn..." a voice says off to her side, and she turns to find Aaron paused midstep, worry battling with something else entirely on his face. She reaches for his hand, curling tight, and the blush on his face intensifies until it's wrapped around his ears and choking him by the neck. "Uh...you...wow."

Katelyn smirks.

Ah. Interesting. She could definitely get used to this.

"Ha," Andrew deadpans from behind Aaron, and wow, Katelyn doesn't think she's ever seen him jump so high.

"Y-you just shut up."

Katelyn's giggle is interrupted by another groan a few feet away, and the backliner glares at her with what's supposed to be pure contempt. Somehow, she's not fazed. Maybe it's the fact he's tried to get up twice now to no avail. Aaron scowls down at him, hand tight in Katelyn's, and she's never felt safer.

"Fucking bit--"

Neil leans down to his eye level in an instant, oddly reminiscent of the first time. The ire in his blue eyes is extinguished though, replaced with lazy satisfaction. Katelyn's pride in herself swells. "Hey, want me to pick up where she left off?" Neil asks, spinning the racquet in his hand. "I hit a lot harder than she does."

Katelyn really laughs then, when the backliner's face pales and Aaron smirks. Wymack starts saying something about 'restraint' and 'discipline' in Neil's face, but it hardly makes a difference.

She would've kept going. That's on her, and she's better for it. She knows she won't hesitate, that what lies dormant in her is the same as what thrashes daily inside most of the Foxes. That's enough for her, and she returns all their smiles as they pat her on the back.

It's a backwards congratulations, but the Foxes have never looked down on a protective impulse, no matter how small or rare. Even Wymack gives her a long look before shaking his head. '"These kids...I swear."

She will never be like the rest of them, not in full, but what drives her is the same. She knows that deep down, and doesn't let it scare her. Instead she leans into Aaron, kissing his cheek to congratulate him on his good game, his skin still hot as the school blacktop.

The coaches and referees clear the field, and Katelyn wishes she could bottle this lightness, this certainty.

Andrew nods at her as she passes, imperceptible, and Neil is beaming next to him. Neil shares a look of understanding with her, smugness palpable. 'Told ya so.'

Katelyn only gets a little satisfaction at the way Neil avoids Andrew's gaze a second later. Their dance is amusing, natural. Neil sidesteps to hide his face, and Andrew blocks his path, corralling him effectively.

Neil huffs in Andrew's face, all too used to it.

The words come back to the front of Katelyn's mind from that day. Her own voice echoes: you'd kill?

"Neil," she calls after him, a touch too cheerful, and he turns lazily. Like he expects it. She'll never say she understands Neil. It's frankly not possible to know how much he's aware of and how much goes completely over his head. In this case, she knows he'll hear and comprehend everything.

"I would," she says, and ignores the confused look the twins exchange. Neil's smile sharpens, a mirror of her own, before he's dragging Andrew to the locker room. Hmm. Katelyn wonders if Neil would have a good cackle. She'll have to ask.

"I'm not ever going to know what that was about, am I?" Aaron asks, but he's less pouty about it than normal. He's accepted their weird friendships, the uniquely cultivated bonds between each of them. Mostly.

He smiles at her as she leans down, stealing a kiss. "Definitely not."

She giggles when he dips her, indulging her dramatic side, and the sound bounces off the stadium walls.

--

++bonus

Neil assumes this is his punishment, though Andrew doesn't explicitly say it is.

The mall is slow on the following Tuesday afternoon, which is specifically why they always schedule their mall excursions (Andrew refuses to call them dates) during the week.

He's glad, because most of the time it means there’s not a lot of people shopping, which means more stolen kisses for him. It's also good for times like this, so people don't have to see his suffering.

Neil watches with dread as Andrew opens the blue and white Cinnabon box, revealing the gooey, overly iced monstrosity inside. Neil feels his taste buds protest already as he watches Andrew cut off a particularly big chunk.

Neil should've known something was off when Andrew didn't even complain once about ordering Neil a large smoothie.

Betrayed.

Gently, too gently for how awful this punishment is, Andrew cups Neil's chin with his hand, pressing down just enough to make his cheeks puff up. His face is a blank void, out of the ordinary these days when it's just the two of them, and Neil sighs internally. There really is no getting out of this. Andrew quirks a brow, holding the nauseating dessert up to Neil's mouth. "Say ‘ah.’"

Neil glares, but does so begrudgingly. If it's something Andrew knows he truly hates, he wouldn't even offer it, but Neil's never actually had one of these things before. The overabundance of cinnamon leaves him grimacing as he chews, and Andrew's expression still gives nothing away. Not even the signature 'you're so dramatic' tilt of his head. Neil knows the taste is enough to stain for at least twenty minutes, and the urge to wash it down with his strawberry smoothie is fierce.

But he waits, because he doubts it's over.

Andrew watches him swallow pitifully before turning back to the rest of the cinnamon roll, cutting himself a piece and then dousing it in the extra icing he paid for.

Neil's feelings are unconditional, truly.

When he's done consuming the sinful piece of overly fluffy sugar, Neil tracks the leftover icing on Andrew's lips. He's weak, he'll admit, but he knows kissing Andrew would be twice as sweet as the dessert itself.

And ah, that's when it all makes sense.

Andrew sets his fork and knife down very deliberately before spinning to face Neil, tilting his head in the closest thing to innocent Andrew can manage. "Kiss me?"

Neil nearly whimpers. It's incredibly unfair. Andrew rarely asks for kisses anymore—neither of them do. So now it's just endearing as hell, and Andrew never phrases it like that.

And well, Neil always wants to kiss Andrew, no matter how sugary the consequences. He nods excitedly, scooting forward on the bench. It gets him a crack in the mask finally, as Andrew's gaze softens, warm and...wow.

"Stop it," Andrew mumbles, and then his lips are on Neil's. Neil sighs into it, latching onto Andrew's sleeves when he feels him start to pull away. He typically understands short kisses when they're in public, but today it feels especially petty, so he swipes his tongue to catch some of the icing at the corner of Andrew's mouth.

But when Andrew is set on something, he's set. He pulls away, and Neil huffs, grabbing his smoothie with impressive petulancy.

"None of that, rabbit," Andrew says, digging back in. Even with his particular methods of cutting up his food, he'll most likely demolish the dessert in the next two minutes. "You know what you did."

And at that, Neil can't help but smirk. He feigns innocence as best he can as he sips on his smoothie, chewing on the straw to suppress the joy. He gets the memory of wind whistling through racquet strings, the image of the backliner on his ass and the feral look in Katelyn's eyes.

He's proud, but really, how is any of that his fault?

"I haven't done anything," he replies as Andrew chucks the box into the nearest trash can. "If my life were a factory, it would say at least fifty days have passed since the last accident."

Andrew pauses midstep, unamused.

Neil holds out his hand expectantly, ready to be led through the mall wherever Andrew sees fit. They have a system, though Andrew refuses to admit it.

They start off with Neil's stores simply because Andrew wants to get them over with, but he doesn't rush Neil as he browses the two athletic stores and rants about the minuscule differences in sneakers. Then they stop for sushi, and Andrew will attempt in vain to teach Neil to use chopsticks.

Neil might mess up more on purpose, just so Andrew has to touch his hands more.

Andrew's stores are more for dressing up Neil than Andrew buying anything for himself, though he'll occasionally indulge in buying a new watch or jacket. Especially if Neil picks them out and tells him how good they'd look.

It's a skill Neil has picked up happily, and participates in often. It's not like they're lies, because Andrew always looks good to him.

Mostly, though, he watches his boyfriend browse racks of clothes, holding up shirts and accessories to Neil's body until he's narrowed it down.

It's not hard for Neil to coax him into the dressing room with him after that.

After both forms of dessert, the last stop is the one that perplexes Neil to this day. Despite the confusion, he follows Andrew hand in hand to the overly glitzed up monstrosity that is Claire's.

It's an experience.

It's usually empty apart from one poor soul getting their ears pierced and a few teenagers picking out matching necklaces, but no one is ever phased when Andrew and Neil walk in. They look the opposite of people who should and would shop here, but Claire's is a lawless place with no rules and no judgement.

Neil once joked about Andrew writing a paper on it, since he's fairly certain time is a construct in this place. According to Andrew, however, they have the widest selection of the kind of earrings Andrew likes on Neil: the dangly ones. Perfect for Eden's. They're so cheap Andrew doesn't let him wear them any other time, or for more than a few weekends, but it just means they have to come back often to get new ones.

They should have a membership, but that's the line Andrew won't cross.

Today, Andrew is eyeing a pair with fake gems, and he holds it up to Neil's ear, squeezing his earlobe as he debates. Meanwhile, Neil's eyes float over the nearby costume merchandise and mood-themed jewelry.

There's a pair of chokers that have 'best friends' charms hanging from them, and Neil squints. It's something so cheery and colorful, he's sure Katelyn would be all over it. Probably Matt too.

But the reminder of Katelyn has Neil wincing before he can stop himself.

Andrew follows his gaze to the necklaces, throwing them in the basket a moment later without saying anything. Neil thinks that's the end of it when Andrew moves them to the next display of earrings, but of course it's not.

Andrew doesn't give up digging for answers when it comes to Neil, not that Neil fights him much anymore. It's just...with this...

Ugh.

Andrew's words tell him they're on the same page.

"You're a terrible influence," Andrew voices, throwing in a few more pairs. There's a sale today.

Neil shrugs. He has to play it cool, but it's almost funny how they've come to this discussion. Andrew isn't aware of Neil's moment behind the gym, pipe pressed to some asshole's throat, but he can still read through Neil enough to know he must've done something.

So, Neil sighs, and doesn't bother denying it.

"I'm not responsible for what other people do," he reiterates, holding up a pair of black rings. It's unusual for anything in this place to match Andrew's aesthetic, so Neil can't pass it up. He tosses it into the basket.

"Oh, captain who goes down with the ship," Andrew chides, tilting Neil's chin just so. There's a warmth in Andrew's eyes regardless of his words, and Neil stuffs his hands in his hoodie to keep from leaning forward. "Your penchant for leadership means people follow you anyways, even if your decisions are stupid."

Andrew lets go of him to assess his haul, but Neil's not done making his case.

"I'm not Katelyn's leader." Far from it. He knows Katelyn and Andrew generally get along better now, but Andrew can still be under the impression that Katelyn isn’t a force in her own way. No...Neil didn't inspire shit. If anything, Katelyn had...an awakening of sorts.

Neil brings a hand up to cover his smug smile. Ah, it's always so satisfying when people get what they deserve. He can only hope Katelyn doesn’t get addicted to the feeling.

He doubts it, though. Her goals are only ever to protect Aaron. Outside of that she's harmless, unless you count the gossip she hoards.

So what? He made Katelyn realize going for the throat is all too necessary when it comes to the people they hold dear. He stopped her before it could go further, and that should've been her lesson to not lose herself in the future.

Past that, Neil isn't responsible.

"Do you have fun, missing the point all the time?" Andrew asks, backing Neil against one of the columns in the store. Neil is quite familiar with this spot, because it means kisses, and he's a simple man nowadays.

He smirks, reaching over to grab one of the headbands hanging from the metal hooks. This one has animal ears on it, and he plops it on, catching the way Andrew's face twitches.

"If it gets you to talk to me like that, a little."

Andrew rips off the ears so fast Neil gasps, and an employee glares at the projectile when it lands in the far corner. Neil snorts, pulling Andrew completely behind the column with him. It's his favorite part of the store, because it faces an empty wall. They're hidden.

"You're insufferable," Andrew chides, but doesn't move away. Neil's content, knowing his warmth and weight has become a comfort.

That's why...that's why he really doesn't feel bad. He'd protect Andrew with everything he had, and Andrew would do the same for him. Through blood and any measure of brutality.

Neil is not naive. His life is a lot different now, and he'll try as hard as he can to make sure things are more peaceful from here on. It's unrealistic in some cases; both of them will always be plagued by nightmares, a mix of paranoia and too many boundaries. But...but the past is so much easier to navigate when the present is peaceful.

Life is not set in stone, and neither is this peace. It's possible there will be more fights, more war. And they'll both be ready, because there's no other choice where one another is concerned.

Even if Andrew won't say it, Neil knows it with bone deep certainty.

And now Katelyn will be prepared too. Neil can't possibly feel an inch of regret for causing that.

Neil sighs when Andrew's hand grips the back of his neck, grazing Neil's ear on the way there, the ghost of a touch.

Come to think of it, that employee sees them here every week...she most certainly knows what they're doing behind this column. Neil sighs a laugh, drowsy all of a sudden. He wants to nap when they get home, Andrew pressed against him. Safe.

"Yes, that's true, I'm pretty bad," Neil whispers, hand resting on Andrew's shoulder. "Don't act like you're not relieved, though."

Andrew tilts his head, pausing just before stealing a kiss.

"Elaborate."

"You've been demoted," Neil says with a smirk, chasing Andrew's lips when he moves back. It's the one direction he runs to consistently now. "Aaron has someone else to protect him."

There's a moment Andrew pauses, letting the words wash over him. It would not have been possible, Neil thinks, even a year ago. But Katelyn isn't just a fixture Andrew ignores now, she's permanent, present.

Andrew's tiny laugh sends a shiver down Neil's spine. "Was that the plan all along, then?"

Neil squints, confused, and Andrew's smile is small but there, something that's becoming increasingly common.

Andrew shrugs, a mocking mirror of Neil's default response. Despite this, he finally crowds Neil in, and he can feel the light press of Andrew's lips sticking to his. Andrew drops the basket when Neil hums in question, the moment private and sealed up just for them. "Now I can put all my efforts towards you," Andrew breathes into Neil's mouth, like a binding spell before the kiss seals them, and it wasn't the plan but...

Neil will gladly take it.