#figuring out how i want to attach the headphones on the other hand

[red-dyed-sarumane]

WOOOOOO YEAAHHHH WOOO

[writing-mlm]

If you don't mind me asking

Could you please write Wally west x reader? (If not that's alright!)

I absolutely love your writing and there's so little Wally west x m!reader fanfics

Hope you have a lovely rest of your Day/Night or Evening :)

Everyone but you

Summary: Wally notices the newest addition and his quirks, quickly finding himself attached to his hip. Pretty soon, they're attached at the hips and his best friend can't seem to notice. Or After joining The Team, Wally worms his little redhead into your life. Pairing: Wally West x male reader WC: 12.2k TW: religious trauma, implied sex, references to child neglect, lowkey yj slander if you squint a/n: i was close to making this longer but Im p sure tumblr has a word limit LOL

Wally saw the little things, how could he not? Life was in slow motion for him, he’d be the worst speedster to ever exist if he didn’t naturally have faster reaction times. 

They’re practical, both off and on the field. Off the field, he notices when his food is about to drop onto the floor when a bird is about to swoop in and steal his food— it's good for saving his food. And you. 

He remembers when you joined the team. One month after The Team was officially recognized by the JLA Bruce and Diana had shown up with you nestled in between the two of them. You were almost bored, twiddling with your phone as he could faintly hear the music through your chunky headphones as Batman explained you were the ward of Doctor Light— not the bad guy, the woman with the super cool light powers. 

He’d made a stupid joke, calling you Nurse Light, not thinking you’d actually hear him over but for a millisecond he saw you smile. And a millisecond was enough for him.

The others weren’t too sure about a new team member, especially after learning that your powers were a lot like Enchantress. Powers via possession weren’t all that popular, go figure. Especially when you hardly ever spoke to anyone but your reflection. 

Needless to say, your introduction to The Team was rough, especially after your first mission. It was difficult but extremely successful and everyone was going to celebrate by having a pizza party. Wally had picked them up in a minute flat, it would’ve taken less time but he had to pay in cash and when he returned everyone was still on their way to the kitchen. 

But as everyone dipped inside the kitchen, you kept walking. 

“You don’t want pizza?” M'gann asks, the first to notice your absence. You don’t look back as you’re giving her a thumbs down that the others frown at. 

“I’ll save him a slice,” Wally was the only one to notice how your hand kept twitching as you were walking away. Rightfully assuming that you didn’t want the others to know about the quirk, he hurriedly sets out the pizza boxes on the large kitchen island. 

While the others are talking over their pizza, he grabs a plate and guesses what you’d like. He ends up on one extra cheese and one pepperoni; he could always go back if you wanted more or anything else. He also grabs one of the drinks and makes his way to the dorms of Mount Justice. 

Knocking once and then twice, his eyes flicker about. Unsure of what to do, he leans closer to the door. 

“Ah, hey, (Y/n). It’s me, Wally, I brought you pizza.” He says, just below a shout. The door opens before he walks away and you stand there, a little frazzled. He catches several things in the span of a second. He sees how your breathing evens out, how you try and block his view of the mess you made, and how your eyes twitch. They do that whenever the woman possessing you, whom you’ve only referred to as Sculk, talks to you. 

“Thank you,” But you don’t move to grab the plate until he hands it to you. He catches that the tips of your nails are suddenly sharp and a deep black color. 

“I wasn’t sure what you’d like but—“ He trails, his eyes finding yours again. 

“It’s fine,” You nod, the smile on your face short and fleeting. “But you should return to the others. They’d like your presence more.” He doesn’t take it in a serious manner. Truly he doesn’t think you meant harm by your words, he understands that now simply isn’t a good time and you need to be alone. 

“Okay, if you want more, just send down a message.” He doesn’t wait for you to respond before he’s in the elevator. You don’t look to see him, favoring having your door closed again. 

—

Sculk, as no one has pointed out, is named from Minecraft, and appears to you as a bioluminescent blue ghost, covered in a fog of black smoke. She’s nice enough, aside from the constant chatter you have to endure from her. But the trade-off is good, you never get peace and quiet but you get super cool powers.

Like June Moone, finding Sculk was nothing short of an accident. You’d been young, inside the Appalachian Mountains when you stumbled across a cool-looking rock. It was black with crackles of an unnatural blue, seemingly carved to look like a fallen leaf. It wasn’t until you had returned to the car that it broke, releasing Sculk into you. 

While it was cool that you had powers and spoke to someone only you could see, your family didn’t see it as such. Small-town churchgoers didn’t seem to take to the idea of possession and after almost two months you’d run away. 

Self-isolation was tough, but was harder was introducing yourself back into groups of people. 

“Down for a game?” Dick asks, waving a spare controller as you exit the kitchen, digging into a bowl of fruit covered in chocolate syrup. Looking at the game, you see it’s some first-person shooter game, and then down at your bowl. Your fingers are already covered in the sauce and sticking together. 

“No.” You’ve never played that game, and besides, you wouldn’t want chocolate syrup on their belongings. Dick frowns at your bluntness while Conner shares a look with Artemis. 

“You can just watch,” Wally offers, grabbing the remote Dick grabbed. “Or watch me.” He adds with a wink. Only his eyes catch your lips turning up into a smile before you look off for a moment. 

He takes that as a win, even if you once again say no before disappearing. 

—

It takes about three months after that incident for you to join the others on their game nights. That night in particular was another game you’d never seen before; you were more acquainted with board games and whatever games were on a Gameboy you found in the woods. 

Admittedly, you’re frustrated that you don’t understand the controls, that your grip isn’t quite right on the controller, and that you don’t even know what’s happening. It’s a multiplayer game with one point of view, you’d picked some random character that made Wally laugh. Some blue animal with a pair of red shoes. He picked a small pink thing. 

“You’re worse than M’gann!” Dick laughs, nudging your shoulder as you’re the first to die again. Everyone else laughs (was it at you or with Dick?) and you swallow your words, staring at your controller. Your eyes burn and you aren’t sure why. 

It’s a learning curve, kid. Sculk reassures you and you feel her petting your head. 

You felt like shit whenever you denied the others, you wanted to hang out with them. It seemed like fun. But you clearly weren’t the best company. The others are doing good, encouraging each other while also doing their best to win. They’re cheering and laughing, having side conversations in between their shouting and groaning. No one seems to notice your lack of mental attendance, you suppose it’s hardly different from when you’re there or not. 

Fuck it, you should’ve just said no again. Saved yourself the embarrassment. 

When you’re about to get up and leave, Wally places a hand on your arm. It was risky, in his eyes. No one has actually come into physical contact with you, as strange as it sounds. 

“Pick Mewtwo next time,” Wally whispers when his character dies for the second time. “I’ll teach you the controls, just hang on.” Nodding, you watch as he throws himself off the platform and the others don’t question it. One less person to fight against. With his character officially dead, he turns his attention onto you. 

“You gotta hold it like this,” He grins but doesn’t laugh at the way you hold the controller. “For max efficiency, most people hold it like this.” Following the way he’s holding it, he nods and sets his controller down. He then tells you the basic moves you need to know, explaining that for now, you need to focus on getting a grip on that before he moves on special moves. 

It takes maybe four rounds before you finally win. 

“You did it!” You grin when you realize that Mewtwo is the final one on the platform. Wally will never admit that he had spent the entire game making sure you didn’t die, he swears that to himself when he sees you smiling for more than a split second. How you’re much more relaxed than before, enjoying the company of everyone as they congratulate you. 

The games continue, you play several others but your favorite is the volleyball game. You won that one all by yourself. Nearly undefeated, the others were fighting each other to be on your team. 

“You should join us more often,” Artemis tells you as everyone decides it’s time to go to bed. Dick is in charge of putting everything up since apparently, everyone else breaks the consoles when they do. Hell, Conner had broken the controller ten times throughout the night. 

“I know, right!” Wally grins, slinging his arm over her shoulder. She shrugs him off but he doesn’t seem to mind. 

“Perhaps,” You nod. “Peaceful night, all.” And then you’re gone. 

When Wally is inside of his room he sees something on his pillow. 

Thank you for teaching me how to properly play, Wallace. 

-(Y/n) 

He grins at the note and sets it on his desk before he pauses. 

How the fuck did you put that there? 

—

Admittedly, you’re much closer with Wally than the others on The Team. For whatever reason, they don’t seem to like you. Perhaps it’s a natural thing, they’ve instinctively kept their distance. Your nature scares them, perhaps. Maybe Wally’s instincts weren’t as tuned in as the others, perhaps he hadn’t looked the gifted horse in the mouth. 

In truth, you wanted nothing more than to be a part of their group. But you’d missed a key part of growing up, without much time spent around others, perhaps… you came off strange. You’ve read about it before, stunted emotional growth. The inability to interact with peers. 

Not with Wally, though. 

He basks in the fact that he’s the only one you’ve willingly allowed into your room. It’s dark, just as your room was in the cabin somewhere in the middle of the woods. For some reason, he just knows that you hate the large overhanging lights, how you prefer the natural light of the sun but living inside of the mountain doesn’t allow for that. 

Instead, his eyes flicker to the lamps around your room. Placed in odd spots that lit up the room wonderfully when they were on. 

“Dick wants everyone downstairs,” He struggles to tell you, hating the fact that he’s ripping you away from your solace. That you’d been engrossed in creating a paper mache sun and moon. You look up at him, glue dripping from your hands. “There’s a mission request from Batman.” He explains when he sees that look on your face. It’s hard to explain but he knows your expressions by now. 

Call him an expert or whatever, it’s just a little something- something he can do that no one else can. Not that he’s bragging. 

“Thank you, Wallace.” Standing up, he watches as you use your magic to clean the mess from your hands. 

“What’re you making?” He asks as the two of you walk out of your room. 

“I heard that Raquel’s birthday was coming up,” You explain, picking at the skin around your nails. “Everyone likes the sun and moon, no?” It’s not intentional, at least Wally doesn’t think it is. But you’re admitting, in your own way, that you don't know much about her and you’d like to. And if they permit, the others, too. 

“They’re pretty important,” He agrees, smiling over at you. “Just so you know, my birthday is January 16th and I love food.” 

“Noted.” 

—

Raquel’s birthday had come and passed, she was surprised by your gift but accepted it all the same. You’d given it to her when the party was over, feeling there was no proper time to give it. No one else had, so you weren’t sure what to do. 

For Wally’s birthday only two weeks later, he’d been the opposite. He had a small table dedicated purely to gifts, his eyes shining brightly when he had seen a neatly wrapped box in your arms. 

He’d wanted a simple cake, but it was weird. A pink cake with a white border and rainbow sprinkles everywhere, on the edge was a large dollop of green icing with what you assumed were two arms and legs, and the black icing used for the eyes was sliding off. Behind the small creature was the word Forg. He does know it’s spelled frog, right?

That’s the joke. Sculk tells you as you stare at the word with disbelief. Oh, that makes more sense. It’s funny, now that you think about it. Such a silly little icing frog. 

Basking in the attention on himself, Wally dances along to the Happy Birthday song. Although he almost missed it, he caught how you watched him with a smile that lasted longer than a millisecond. 

When it’s time for him to open his gift, he loves everything. The food, the gear, and the tech. For some reason, he’d waited to open yours last and for some stranger reason, you were nervous. Anxious, even. 

“What is it?” He grins, ripping open the paper. Glancing at you, he winks and opens the box. Staring for a moment you worry you’ve done the wrong thing. His reaction is minimal compared to what it had been for the others. “Holy shit!” He gasps, pulling out a set of plates. There are five there and he only looks at the top one; designed to look like an orange slice. He then pulls out the plates that could also be bowls, and then the bowls. 

“Where’d you find these?” He grins, looking through all of the designs. He especially loves the silly little smiley faces on some of the items. 

“I made them,” You correct. “There’s more inside.” Digging inside, he pulls out various utensils. Each of them has their own design, like the alligator knife and the shell spoon. He thinks he likes the Nunchuck chopsticks the most, though. 

“You know me so well!” He gushes, pulling you into a tight hug. For a moment, you freeze. Your whole body tenses but there’s something about the hug, something about him that makes you relax and hug him back. 

Oh no. Sculk mutters but doesn’t explain further. 

—

The moment Wally knows, without a shadow of a doubt, that you like him back is when there’s a fan flirting with him. The two of you were walking together, forced to pair up by Dick and look around for possible leads. The girl, who Wally would admit is his type (everyone is if he’s being honest), clearly meant no harm by the flirting. If he was her, he’d definitely flirt with himself, too. 

But all he could focus on was the fact that your nostrils flared, you looked her up and down, picking apart her appearance in your head before looking away, and then looked at Wally, trying to see if he was showing signs that he was interested. 

A part of him wanted to entertain her; just to see your reaction but he didn’t. He was happy enough that you were jealous. 

“I’m sorry,” Wally stops the girl mid-sentence. “It was nice meeting you but we need to get back to work.” Testing the waters, Wally places his arm across your shoulder. When you don’t move, he takes that as another win. 

“I’m sorry,” The girl tucks her hair behind her ear, shrinking away. “Have a good day, Kid Flash, Ward.” Nodding, you watch as she leaves before looking at Wally. 

“I don’t like her,” He says and your face nearly lights up before you relax again. 

“How’d you know I was going to ask?” You ask, walking ahead to continue your search. He, of course, keeps pace and mindlessly plays with the ends of your hair.  

“There’s someone better for me.” He grins, awfully close to your face. You frown, that wasn’t your question. Sculk groans loudly and you roll your eyes. 

The kid is flirting fuck the question, kid! 

She screams into your ear and you wince. She’s never really yelled that loud before. Is he, though? She groans louder at that thought and you feel the wind smack your head. 

Wally, feeling the harsh breeze, looks behind the two of you. 

“It was Sculk,” You admit and he raises his eyebrows.

“How can she use her powers without you?” He asks. “I know June Moone has control until she says Enchantress, but you don’t?” Nodding, the two of you turn a corner. 

  “We’re partners.” Sculk awes inside your head. “She gets to experience human life, I get powers.”

“Seems a little unfair,” He admits. “Couldn’t she just take over?” 

“She can,” Nodding, you look down at your hand and flex it. It feels as if she’s tugging your hand around, moving each of your fingers. “But she’s not like the witch. She takes over if it’s needed or if I use too much at once and need her rapid assistance.”

“Like that time with the pizza…” The black nails, that’s probably the curse of her true form. He sorta hopes it’s the curse. 

“Yes. Her powers are a curse that I have built up a solid immunity to, but sometimes it’s too much for me.” Your hands flicker with the reddish-purple magic Wally has grown accustomed to seeing. In the magic, he sees a bird forming and watches as it flies away when it’s fully formed. 

“And if she takes over completely?” Wally looks back at you, worried about your answer. As cool as the idea seemed, he knows he’d hate it if he had to fight a possessed you. If Sculk decides she is done with Earth and tries to end it like Enchantress had done before. 

“I wouldn’t know,” You admit as if it’s nothing. “Full control means the other goes dormant until the other sees fit.” It doesn’t ease his fears but he lets it go. 

The main focus for him is that he’s finally gotten more than a sentence out of you. 

Score! 

—

“He’s so in love with me,” Wally grins to Dick, dragging out the ‘so’ while he’s working on his science homework. They’re both in Dick’s room, Wally laying on Dick’s bed while Dick is working on his laptop. Something about detective work for a case he’s working; boring with a capital B-O-R-I-N-and-G. 

“Is he?” Dick asks, sparing Wally a glance. As the team leader Dick swears that he knows his teammates pretty well and you… he seriously doubts Wally is your type. He’s loud, outspoken, adventurous, and quite frankly, Dick couldn’t imagine the two of you together. When he tried to picture you dating someone, he imagined that you’d end up with someone like his father. Not his best friend.

“He told me ‘Don’t eat so fast, you’ll choke’! That’s an admission of love,” Despite hearing his own words out loud, Wally stands by his statement. Huffing, Wally officially puts his homework on pause. “He made me a full kitchen set for my birthday. He learned all the characters of Mario Kart for me. Who does he like being paired with? Me. I get him, he gets me,” He says, his voice a little smaller in the end. He doesn’t understand why it’s so hard for Dick and the others to understand that you’re not some type of robot or a time traveler from 1703. 

It’s been a year since Wally was sure of your feelings, a year of him hopelessly falling deeper for you. A year of pure torture, honestly! 

“I just want to make sure you aren’t reading into this,” Dick sighs, facing his friend. His expression is sullen, hurt that Dick doesn’t believe him. Believe that you’re capable of loving him. “I mean, how often do you talk to him? Does he talk back? More than a one-word response, I mean.” He rolls his shoulders back, trying to alleviate the tension building in them. 

“Oh my god,” Wally sighs as if he’s had this conversation a million times. “Is being quiet suddenly a crime? And you never took the time to talk to him, I did. He’s very funny,” He says that last part the same way a child tells an adult that they know a secret that the adult doesn’t know. 

Dick goes to talk but someone knocks on the door. 

“Come in,” He sighs, their conversation officially put on pause. The door opens and Dick nearly swears you’d been listening through the vents because you stand at the door. 

“Hello, Robin, Wallace,” You call, your eyes cast towards the floor. “Can we talk, in private?” Wally nods, closes his notebook, and follows after you. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks as the two of you enter your room. It’s the same dark that it always is, but it’s a mess. Things are thrown about and there are burn marks surrounding an outline of someone kneeling. The door closes and you stand in front of him, eyes bleary and lip quivering. 

“I read that men shouldn’t cry,” You tell him, unable to look at him as you speak. “Sculk tells me that I should cry.” You add, barely catching Wally’s eyebrows furrow. 

“I cry,” He offers, guiding you to your bed. “Superman cries! Batman cries… plenty of men cry. Why are you…?” Sitting down, you scoot back until your entire body is on the bed. 

“I found out my parents died.” As you say it, your face twists and you scrub your face. He frowns and hugs you. It doesn’t take more than a second before you hug back. “I hated them, they abandoned me. Called me names, vicious and foul. I shouldn’t be crying,” You ramble into his shoulder, your head shaking and his shirt getting damp. 

“It’s normal to mourn,” He coos, rubbing your back. “You loved them, even if it was a long time ago.” 

“I do not wish to feel this,” You admit and he nods. In truth, he doesn’t know how to help you. But he tried his best. 

“When my grandfather died I hadn’t been on the best terms with him. He’d… I found out that he ran a… blog of sorts that spoke about his hatred for heroes. For the speedsters. He called us names and I broke. I stopped talking to him and yelled at him whenever he tried to talk to me. The man I knew had died that day. But when he died for real,” He sighs, staring at the wall. “I knew there was no going back,” His voice goes soft as he tries not to think about him too much. 

“They should’ve loved me, he should’ve loved you.” You mutter, removing yourself from the hug. “Why weren’t they capable of loving us?” Frowning, he shrugs and wipes the tears from your face. 

“It’s better that we don’t know. But you are capable of being loved. Sculk loves you, and Dr. Light loves you. I like you, Artemis likes you—“

“I doubt that,” You huff, fixing yourself before looking around your room. “I apologize for my appearance and the mess of my room. The sudden despondency caused my actions to become rash,” With a spell, your room fixed itself. 

“You should see my room,” He laughs, nudging your shoulder with his. Staring at him, you smile and look away. “And don’t worry, I won’t tell the others.” Not that you thought he would’ve. 

“Thank you, Wallace. You’re a great company, your grandfather was wrong about whatever he had talked out his ass about.”

“You cursed?” He belts out a laugh and you raise an eyebrow, snickering at his reaction. 

“I am grown enough to curse, Wallace! This isn’t the Regency era!” Never did you think you’d have to defend the fact that you cursed. And yet, here you are. 

“Isn’t it?” He grins. “If you had a British accent, you’d make the perfect actor for Bridgerton!” 

“What is that?” 

Wally, having deemed that a crime, insists that you have to watch the show. He drags you out of your room and into his. It isn’t as messy as he had led you to believe. Some thrown-around items, an unnamed bed, and empty bottles on the desk. But he quickly fixed the bed and grabbed his laptop before placing it in between his two pillows. 

“Wall or open?” He asks, pointing to the two available spots. You look between them before pointing to the wall. “Hurry! You gotta watch the show!” Tugging you over to his bed, you climb in and sit with your legs crossed. He doesn’t comment on it, aside from saying your back is going to hurt if you stay like that and he lays next to you.

“What is this show about?” You ask, watching as he logs into his Netflix account. 

“Uhhh,” He drags out as he’s finding the show. “During the Regency era in England, eight close-knit siblings of the powerful Bridgerton family attempt to find love.” He reads. “Season one is about one of the daughters, Daphne.” He further explains as the show starts.

Three episodes in, you somehow found yourself on your stomach, unable to look away from the screen. You’re completely engrossed in the show, the two of you missing the call for dinner as you’re on the final two episodes. 

“I am Daphne and you are Simon,” You whisper as they have sex during their honeymoon. He glances over at you, a smile spreading across his face.

“I’m Daphne,” He shakes his head, his voice an equal whisper. 

“Ah, yes,” Grinning, you look at him. “The red hair, my mistake.” Bowing his head into his arm, he snorts and leans into you. 

“So we’re married?” He asks. 

“Dating, perhaps,” You settle on. Play it cool, he tells himself and nods, skipping the rest of the sex scene. “Dating, totally?”

“Dating, officially.” You agree. 

Suck it, Dick. Haha, get it? 

—

Surely, Wally would be the one with dating experience, you tell yourself as you prepare for your first-ever date. He’d given vague details about the date, telling you to wear something comfortable but to also bring a sweater because he expects the date to last well into the night. 

What even is comfortable dress wear? Wally's comfortable wear is shorts and a graphic design shirt but your comfortable wear is a good button-down and slacks. 

Groaning, you settle on jeans and a white shirt. That’ll have to do. Yes. Grabbing a pair of jeans from the depths of your closet, you try to not second guess yourself again.

Tucking and untucking the shirt, you stare at yourself in the mirror. 

“Sculk,” You whine, throwing yourself onto the bed. “I do not appreciate this anxiety I am feeling, please take it away.” 

“No,” She laughs and you stare at her in the mirror. “This is fun, my baby's first date!” Rolling your eyes, you fix yourself again before smelling your breath. “You’ve brushed ten times. Give your human mouth a rest,” She groans and pulls you towards the door. Clinging to the wall, you feel the metal bending before she nearly tossed you out of the room and to where Wally was waiting at the elevator. 

“Nervous?” He grins as you stumble next to him. 

“Truly,” You laugh, trying to shake your nerves out. Looking him over, you see that he has a woven basket in his non-dominant hand. Ah, a picnic. The jeans were appropriate.

“Hi to you, too, Sculk.” He adds as the doors open. 

“She says hello and that she’ll go dormant soon. Something about privacy,” 

Outside, you feel the warm breeze that signals the start of summer and Wally nearly basks in it. Like a plant. 

“Get on my back,” He grins, lowering himself in front of you. 

“Whatever for?” You ask while climbing on. He stands up and holds onto each of your calves, his mind immediately catching that he’s never noticed your calves are built. Swallowing, he clears his throat and looks back towards you. 

“You’ll see! Hold on tight,” Bracing yourself, you feel the wind nearly punching you with how fast he’s moving. In fear of losing an eye, you close your eyes and hide your head behind his. It gets a bit chilly and you can tell he’s crossing the ocean because of the sound of water being hit. 

Soon enough, he stops and lets you down. When you open your eyes you find yourself on the shores of a beach with tall rocks and tall trees. 

“Google said Anse Source D’Argent is the best beach in the whole world,” He explains, guiding you toward a patch of sand large enough for the blanket he had stuffed into the basket. 

“It is lovely,” You agree, looking around. There’s no one around for miles. The sound of the water was damn near hypnotic and you bet you could climb those rocks in less than three seconds. 

“And I know that you’ve never been to a beach before… so why not bring you to the best beach ever?” He grins, grabbing your hands to pull you over to the blanket. It’s large enough that the two of you can comfortably lie down and have space for the food and drinks. 

“Thank you,” Settling on your knees, your eyes scan over the water. Watching the water roll in and get pulled back into the ocean. 

“Wanna swim?” He asks and you hurriedly nod, rushing up and leaving him in your dust. He calls for you, calling you a cheater, and rushes into the water, splashing you in his wake. Diving after him, he laughs at your puffed-out cheeks and barely open eyes. Pulling you deeper into the water, you watch as the fish swim away from the two of you. Surfacing for air, you see Wally do the same, his hair clinging to his face as you’re sure your hair does the same. 

“Why do you do that?” He asks, mimicking your puffed-out cheeks and closed eyes. 

“What else am I supposed to do?” You ask back and he shakes his head as if to say rookie before showing you. He inhales, his cheeks never puffing out, and then dives back down, looking at you with his eyes open. Copying him, you do as he did and feel the sting in your eyes almost immediately. 

After a few seconds, you get used to it and he nods, giving you a thumbs up. Giving one back, the two of you continue swimming. 

Sometime later, you’re floating on your back as Wally dives back down for a while. When he comes back up, he carefully places a couple of shells and pebbles on your shirt. 

“They reminded me of you,” He grins, the lack of air clear on his face. Lifting your head, you look at the rocks and shells. It’s hard to see them, but you smile all the same. “Let’s go eat, you can look at them on the sand!” He suggests and collects the items again. 

On the sand, you’re shaking yourself dry, suddenly realizing that swimming in jeans wasn’t the best idea. Waking Sculk up, you dry yourself off and she goes back to sleep. 

Wally is already dry, something about super speed and running laps. 

“I love this one,” You tell him, picking up the nearly intact knobbed whelk shell. With various shades of pink and beige on it, you hold up to Wally’s face and grin. “You match!” Rolling his eyes, he grabs a piece of foggy sea glass similar to the color of your eye. When he finds it, he grabs his phone and you watch as he opens his camera, placing the sea glass next to your eye. 

“Smile,” He urges and you do, hearing him take at least a dozen pictures, he shows you the ones he deems the best. Doing the same with him, you have him hold the shell to the side of his face and take three pictures. He does something with his phone before he opens up the basket to pull out the food. 

The rest of the date was spent with cloud gazing, building sand castles, and talking each other's ears off until you were interrupted by a call from Dick. He frowns but the both of you understand and pack up, quickly heading back to the others. 

—

Five months into dating, Wally mentions the idea of you meeting his family. Thanksgiving is coming up and the others agreed to go home and spend time with someone other than the team for a change. Your plans were to go back to your cabin or with Doctor Light for the weekend but…

“Would they like me?” You ask from your spot on his bed. He looks up at you, his face once firmly planted on your chest. “I mean, you’re the only person who enjoys my company thus far. I’d hate to make them uncomfortable,” Sitting up, Wally pulls you up with him and holds your face firmly in his hands. 

“I’ve told my family all about you and they’re dying to meet you, smokey!” He explains and the stupid nickname makes your eyes roll. “Besides, we’re pretty serious, right?” Nodding, he nods back. “So why not meet my family?” 

“If you’re sure… I don’t see the harm. But I’d need them to approve of it first,” 

And that’s how you ended up at the West house the day before Thanksgiving. Dressed in a brown sweater with thin white stripes, a pair of Wally’s baggy jeans, and your dress shoes; you stand next to Wally as he spam rings the bell. 

“I think they’ve heard it,” You slowly tell him, lowering his arm. 

“You think?” He grins, sliding his arm through your hand until you’re holding his hand. He’s dressed in a simple button-down and jeans, the best you’d get him to wear to the event.

“Wally!” A woman with darker red hair than Wally greets as she opens the door. “And you must be (Y/n),” Nodding, you fumble your hands before extending the hand that Wally wasn’t holding as he chuckles. 

“Hello, Mrs. West, thank you for having me.” She smiles and shakes your hand. 

“Please, call me Mary. Come on in, it’s chilly out.” Following Wally inside the home you see various pictures of him and his family hanging up. Baby pictures, first day of school, major events like weddings. 

“He pooped himself that day,” Barry tells you as you’re staring at a picture of Wally when he was in middle school, holding a science trophy. First place. 

“Barry!” Wally groans. “He’s lying,” He tells you and ushers you away as you’re waving at Barry. Barry laughs and heads towards the kitchen where you see Iris. 

“That’s Jay and Joan. He was the first Flash,” He whispers as the two of you enter the living room. 

“So,” Rudy says from behind you and you nearly jump out of your skin, spinning around to look at Wally’s father. “You’re the boy my son is dating?” He asks, his eyes scanning over you. Letting go of Wally’s hand, your nails mess with the thread of your sweater, pulling and picking at it. 

“Yes, sir,” You nod, swallowing your fear. With his eyebrows raised, he rubs his mustache. Lord, that’s a big mustache. 

Do not focus on his mustache! Sculk shouts. 

“You do drugs?”

“No, sir.”

“Drink?”

“No, sir.” You shake your head, feeling your chest tighten and suddenly your heart is in your throat. 

“Dad,” Wally almost scolds before his father can ask another question. “How about I show you my old room?” Nodding, you wave to the others and hurriedly follow Wally up to his room. 

“I cannot breathe,” You admit once the door closes. “I have never felt this nervous before, perhaps this was a bad idea.” Helping you to the bed, Wally opens the two windows of his old room. 

“It’s normal to be nervous,” He reassures you as he sits next to you. “Plus, you’re super powerful! They can’t hurt you,” As he’s speaking, he’s drawing chemical bonds on the back of your hand. Each of their names pops into your head, but it does nothing to take your attention away from your fear. 

“I do not wish to harm your family!” You bark, covering your face. “But what if they go astray? Wallace,” Looking at him, he frowns and rubs your back. 

“Ask Sculk to go to sleep if you’re worried. How about we stay for an hour if you still want to go and then we can. I promise,” Slowly, you nod. 

“I need to use the bathroom, but I’ll be right back, okay?” He stands up and you go to stop him, about to beg him to stay but nod. He smiles softly and slowly kisses you. “Sit and breathe, maybe look at my embarrassing pictures.” He points to a shelf with various pictures and a picture book mixed in with textbooks and comics. Nodding, he pecks your forehead and leaves. 

Laying flat on his bed, you hold your hands over your chest. Feeling yourself breathing and your heart stop beating so fast. Once it’s calm enough, you walk over to the window and sit out on the porch roof. Watching as cars drive past and as families greet each other around the block, you frown. 

Maybe if you hadn’t picked up the stone that held Sculk, those kids could’ve been you. You could’ve seen your family again. You could’ve grown up being loved by your family, and seeing your siblings grow up. Go to school, graduate. 

Sighing, you lay your head on the wall behind you, now staring at the sky. 

In truth, it probably was always going to end up this way. With you away from your family, shunned and cast out. But this was probably the best outcome because now you have Dr. Light and Wally. You have Sculk, too. 

“Hey, babe,” Wally climbs out of the window. He knows how you find the word odd, but he loves your reaction to it. “Ready to go back down?” He asks, sitting next to you. 

“Not yet,” You mutter, laying your head on his shoulder. He nods, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and the two of you stare at the clouds together until your legs go numb and you’re forced inside. 

“I promise, they’ll love you.” 

Downstairs, everyone is seated in the living room and watching some show. Unsure if you should greet them, you wave once again and sit next to Wally on the couch. While you’re nervous and unable to watch the courtroom show, you try your best. 

“Oh,” Iris says as she checks her phone. “I hope it’s okay but I invited my friend and her husband over; her parents just died and I didn’t want her to be alone.”

“That’s fine, hun,” Rudy nods and everyone tunes back into the show until Wally suggests playing Just Dance. 

“(Y/n), partners?” He grins as his father loads the game. You’ve played the game before, maybe three times but Wally is infinitely better than you. 

“Sure,” You agree and the two of you pick a song. Apparently, they play in teams, and whoever scores the most wins. He picks Kesha’s C’mon. 

“You always pick this,” You chide, standing next to him. 

“I gotta show off,” He shrugs. 

After three rounds, it’s decided that Jay and Joan got last place, Rudy and Mary got third, Barry and Iris got second, while you and Wally got first. He cheers, of course, holding up the Wii controllers as if it was a trophy. 

“I’d like to dedicate this win to my amazing boyfriend! His support means everything!” He says as if he’s at the Oscars, accepting an award. Grinning, you laugh alongside the others. “And as the winners, we’re deciding on Salvadoran food for dinner!” 

“Are you sure there are Salvadoran restaurants nearby? I’d hate for the food to get cold,” As you finish, Wally and Barry stare at you blinking before staring at each other. “What?” You ask and Wally chuckles, leaning down and kisses the top of your head. 

“Babe, you’re asking the Flash and Kid Flash if a place is nearby.” He explains and you feel stupid, shaking your head. 

“Forgive me for being concerned,” Rolling his eyes, he sits next to you.

“(Y/n) loves Salvadoran food,” He explains. “I don’t think they’ve ever had some, so you’d have to give recommendations.” He tells you and your eyes widen. No way, what if you give them food they hate? “Baby, they love all foods.” 

“You say every time it’s my turn to pick dinner,” 

“And I’m always right,” He grins. “Right, guys?” He looks at his family, silently urging them to agree. 

“I’m sure we’ll love whatever you pick,” Mary nods. Sighing, you agree. Explaining various foods and drinks, they all pick their food and Barry says he’ll pick some up whenever Iris’s friends text back what they’d like to eat. In the meantime, Wally drags you up to his room. 

“See!” He basically cheers as he closes the door. “They love you!” Sitting on his bed, you nod and watch as he dances around his room. Doing his victory dance. 

“For once I was wrong,” You admit and he nods, still dancing around. “Your family is truly nice.” Scooting back in his bed, he closes the windows and the curtains before joining you. On his way to the bed, he grabs his old picture book. 

“Prepare to see the most amazing baby ever!” He grins, his twin-size mattress hardly big enough to hold the two of you. The two of you must’ve stared at pictures for an hour before he puts the book back and the two of you just lay in the bed. 

“Yknow something I always wanted to do?” He grins over at you. Looking away from your phone, you hum and look at him. “Make out in my childhood room.” He winks. 

“Sure,” You grin and climb on top of him. He giggles and you raise an eyebrow, your hands trailing along his jawline. 

“I’m excited,” He huffs, his hands finding their place at your hips. “Sue me.” 

Kissing him, you move your right arm down to the small of his back, pulling him closer to you. He hums and wraps his arms around your neck, mindlessly playing with the hair at the base of your neck. Feeling his nails drag along your scalp, you relax against him. Your left hand gently holds his jaw, keeping his head tilted high enough for you. Your lips mesh against each other, pressing and gliding with each turn of your heads. Eventually, his tongue slips past his lips and you let yours do the same. 

He sighs out of the kiss, staring at you with barely open eyes and a spit-covered grin before leaning back in. Biting your lower lip, Wally picks back up where the two of you left off. Whatever chapstick he had used is fading at this point but he can taste it on your lips, quickly deciding he’ll buy more of it before he loses it. Cupping his neck, you press his lower body deeper into the bed while he makes a move for your belt. 

Shifting his left leg higher, you start breaking the kiss, leaving slowly kisses trailing down his neck when the door swings open. 

“I was right!” Barry shouts, laughing at your expressions. “Come on, dinners ready and Iris’s friends are here.” He closes the door, still laughing as you and Wally fix yourself. 

“That part wasn’t on my bucket list,” He jokes, wiping your mouth of spit as you fix your shirt. 

“Your family knows we kiss,” You groan. “Your dad knows I’ve kissed you! In his house!” He’s going to try and kill you, get Barry to create a tornado, and deprive you of oxygen. 

“My dad knows I tried to have sex in his house!” He groans back. “We can still leave with our dignity.” 

“No,” You huff, kicking the air. “That would be worse. Let’s just go downstairs and act as though Barry never caught us.” It takes him a second but he agrees and the two of you start your walk of shame down to where the rest of his family are. 

“There’s the lovebirds!” Barry cheers when the two of you finally emerge.  Wally rolls his eyes while you stare at the carpet. It’s too late, you can never look any of them in the eyes again. “Sorry, I interrupted your little make-out session,” 

“Babe,” Iris scolds, putting her hand on his knee. He holds his hands up and Iris clears her throat. Wally guides you to a smaller couch than the one you sat on earlier and you finally look somewhere other than the carpet. “Mary this is my brother, Wally, and his boyfriend—“

“(Y/n)?” Mary finished for her. Looking over at Mary, she seems familiar but you can’t tell from where. 

“I apologize, but do I know you?” You ask and she frowns. Everyone looks between the two of you but her husband seems to have already placed it. He grabs her hand, giving her his silent support. 

“It’s me, Mary,” She says and you’re still no closer to knowing who she was. Her frown grows deeper when she figures that nothing is clicking for you. 

“Your sister.” 

“Oh,” You breathe. Wiping your hands on your pants, you lick your lips. 

“Where’ve you been all these years?” She asks, scooting closer to the edge of the couch. When you look at her, you hate how you don’t feel anything. There’s no connection with her, she’s just another stranger to you. 

“I don’t believe right now is the most appropriate place for this conversation,” You tell her with a tight smile. 

“We tried to get ahold of you for the funeral. Mom and Dad would’ve loved to see you—“

“No.” You tell her. Now it’s Wally’s turn to offer you moral support. “They wouldn’t have. If they didn’t want me in their life then they wouldn’t have wanted me in their death. As I've said before, now is hardly the time or place to be having this conversation. I believe you’re making the hosts uncomfortable.” 

“Can we talk outside?” She begs. “Please, I haven’t seen you in a decade. (N/n).” The name stings. It stings more than any injury you’ve ever gotten. The name sounds like nails on a chalkboard. It reminds you of everything you’ve lost, it reminds you that you’ll never be that child again. But maybe, she’s different. Mary might not be like your parents, she could love you again. 

“Fine.” You coincide. “Wallace will join us, though.” She nods, anything to get to talk to you. Wally is up before you are, guiding the three of you out to the backyard as his family awkwardly eats their food. 

“Why did you leave?” She asks once everyone is settled in the deck chairs his father had set out earlier in the day. 

“That’s far from the truth,” Shaking your head, you stare at the moon. “I was kicked out. They’d given up their rights to me, tried to get me sent to a wilderness camp.” 

“Mom never would’ve done that!” Mary’s eyes narrow and you huff, looking back at her. 

“Mary, what use is lying now? If I ran away wouldn’t they have looked for me? Reported me missing— tried to get me home?” It settles on her, how your mother and father only cried for you and prayed during church for you. But they never asked for you back. Her eyes lower, almost ashamed of her actions. 

“Where were you?” She reaches for your hand but you move it away on instinct. 

“A cabin in the woods. I lived there until recently,” 

“Your father,” Mary’s husband started after silence had fallen over the group. “He always told stories about you being possessed. A she-demon who took over your body,” 

“I guess he meant you being gay…” Mary trails before she sighs. “(N/n), I’m so sorry I didn’t help you. That I didn’t fight for you. I’ve missed your entire life, all because I believed our parents without question. But God has brought us back together, God is letting us be a family again.”

“I don’t believe in such a cruel man,” You tell her and she falters. “Your god and his cruel ways are what led to me being abandoned. It’s what led to me living in a broken-down cabin until I was found almost ten years later. Your god isn’t someone deserving of my love and my devotion. He’s never helped me,” You spit. “I helped myself. I found solace, I found joy, I found love. Look, Mary,” Wiping your face, you grab Wally’s hand, giving it squeezes to comfort yourself. 

“I will not tell you that you’re wrong for choosing that god, I will not tell you that your religion is cruel. I’m sure you’ve heard it a thousand times over. What I am telling you is that your god played no role in my life. I am here because I am meeting my boyfriend's family. I met Wallace because the woman who found me is friends with Barry’s friends. I am still alive no thanks to god, no thanks to your mother and father. If you wish to have some sort of relationship with me, you’ll need to understand that.” It was awkward, saying that in front of Wally’s family and all but clearly Mary wasn’t going to let the situation go. 

“I understand,” She nods, her hand rising to press against her cross. “I’m sure our other siblings would love to see you again. I know your birthday is coming up—“

“It is?” Wally gasps, effectively changing the whole conversation. “You’ve never told me your birthday!” The realization hits him like a truck and he gasps, clutching his chest. “Babe!” Mary stifles her laughter, watching the two of you. 

“I haven’t celebrated my birthday in years, Wallace,” 

“We’re celebrating!” He shakes his head. “I’m already planning the best surprise birthday for you,” He grins, leaning closer to you. 

“Please, look up the definition of a surprise.”

“My dad told me the same thing,” 

—

December arrives faster than you’d like. You know Wally and your sister have been texting about your surprise party. You’ve seen their messages— and the subsequent group chat with all of the people who are going. It’s Wally, his family, your sister, your family, Kimiyo and her kids. No one from the team, though. Wally understood well enough that you’d hate to have them there. They know next to nothing about your biological family and you’d hate to have them learn in that way. 

Sculk isn’t the happiest with this. She’s against the idea of you rekindling things with your family but you’ve explained that nothing is set in stone. You’re testing the waters, unable to let yourself get hurt like that again. 

“Happy birthday!” Wally cheers as you enter the training room. Everyone else is already there, starting their warm-ups. 

Thank you, Wallace,” Nodding towards him, you start your warm-up. He watches you, a stupid grin on his face because he doesn’t think you know his plans. He’s already created a great cover story. Barry and Kimiyo are going to call the two of you away for a mission. It’ll do two things, create a reason for you two to leave and ensure that the two of you aren’t called back for an emergency. 

Double win! 

“Happy birthday,” The others rush out and you thank them all the same. 

Around twelve, Wally tells you to put on something nice. He says nothing fancy, but not jeans either. Essentially, your version of comfortable wear. Surprisingly, he’s dressed up. 

He’s wearing a new shirt and pants, a black turtleneck, and a pair of brown plaid pants. Of course, he puts on his usual shoes. 

“Ehh!” He says, gesturing to his outfit. 

    “We could skip it and I could enjoy this outfit in my room,” You offer, slowly trailing your eyes over him. For a moment he genuinely considers it. His eyes flicker something almost desperate, yearning, but he shakes his head. 

“I have an amazing day, plus backups planned,” He tells you, smoothing out your collar. “We can do what you said when we come back, yeah?”

“If you can wait that long,” You chide. His eyebrows raise, seeing that as a challenge he is more than willing to accept. 

The two of you leave Mount Justice with help from Sculk. Appearing in the backseat of Barry’s car that’s parked outside of the venue Mary had rented out, he looks back at the two of you. You’ve spent more time with Barry and Iris since Thanksgiving, actually enjoying their company. Iris often invites you out for coffee on the weekends. 

“No getting freaky—“

“Shut up!” Wally groans, covering his ears before loudly repeating lalalalala. You just stare at him, unblinking. That’s the guy you’ve fallen for. 

“You ready?” Iris asks as she looks back towards you. “Because you can always leave.” Her hand reaches for her knee and Wally catches that for once, you don’t jerk away from the sudden touch. His eyes twinkle as he stares at you, even if you’re unaware of the shine in them. 

“I’m sure I’ll be prepared for most of the possible outcomes,” You reassure. 

Heading inside, you see faces with features that you see in yourself. You see your hair color, your eye shape, your skin tone. Your family. They’re all so foreign to you, you know their names and their relation to you but you don’t know them. They’re like an urban legend in your mind; except you’ve always figured the Moth Man was more real than you reuniting with Thomas again. 

“(Y/n),” He smiles at you, his height matching your own. Thomas was your twin growing up, he was born a week after you to your mother's brother. You’d been inseparable since birth. Damn near identical, too. 

“Thomas,” You greet him. “Wallace, this is my cousin. Thomas, this is my boyfriend, Wallace.” 

“Call me Wally,” He introduces himself with a handshake. “He’s a stickler for full names.” He smiles back at you and you smile back. Thomas laughs before patting your shoulder. 

“Glad to see that hasn’t changed! Come on, Pop is dying to see you again.”

And thus begins an hour of reuniting with family. Having Wally hear whatever stories they’ve retained over the years, small pieces of your childhood that Wally never thought he’d get to hear. 

“You had a stutter?” He whispers to you as the two of you look to find Mary. 

“Used to,” Humming, you spot Mary talking to her husband near the drinks table. “It stopped when I merged with Sculk.” Who, just for the record, is hating every second of this. She hates when they greet you, when they talk fondly of you. when they hug you. She hates the way they act as if you’ve been off to a different country to study and not cast out from their family entirely. 

She hates how the elephant is being ignored.  

You find it amusing how not only are you meeting your family, but so is Wally. Although, he’s much less nervous than you were. He’s chatting away, doing most of the speaking for you (bless him, honestly), and mingling enough for the two of you. 

“(Y/n)!” A woman smiles as she pulls you and Wally over. Removing your arm from her grip, she looks down at it but doesn’t vocalize her thoughts. “I was just telling Imani how you’ve grown into a strong young man.” She grins, beckoning her daughter over. Imani, who you remember through Thomas, is his neighbor. But they’re considered family by the older generations. 

“I remember him crying over a trapped mouse,” Imani grins, nudging her shoulder with yours. Rolling your eyes, you see Wally grin and lean his head on your shoulder. 

“You cried over a mouse?” Wally asks and you nod. 

“I had just read the Crime of Being Small poem. It was cruel to let the creature starve in the trap when I could simply release it. But my father never permitted me,” You explain. “It never stopped me though,” 

“What a hero,” Imani remarks, a lighthearted smile on her face as she watches her mother leave. It drops once she’s out of earshot. “I can’t believe you came back,” She frowns and you frown back. Was she not happy to see you? You understood you were never that close but, damn. “No offense, but you’re better off.” She quickly adds and guides you over to seats. 

“Before you went on that mountain trip, our parents were thinking of setting us up,” She explains, scratching her neck. “They started up that betrothal shit again; I’m actually engaged.” 

“We could help you get out,” Wally immediately offers and you nod. She sighs, wringing her hands together. 

“I don’t have my diploma… I don’t have anything,” She admits and Wally glances at you, urging you to take the lead. 

“Neither did I,” She looks at you as if she remembered that you’d been alone, without any documentation for years. “But I can set you up with someone; get a place to live while you get your GED and raise enough money to support yourself.”

“Really?” She breathes and you nod, offering a smile. 

“Give me your number or…” Thinking about it. “I could ask them to collect your belongings now and we can leave once the party is over.”

“That quick?”

“That quick.” 

Connections, connections, connections. That’s the name of the game, at least that’s what Kimiyo tells you. Getting into contact with Bruce was easy, he’d prepared a safe house in Central City until Imani picked a different one. Clark and Doctor Fate collected Imani’s things, setting them up in the safe house. 

All the while, you and Wally are hanging amongst everyone at the party, eating snacks and drinking fruit punch. Imani is nervous, having to excuse herself to the bathroom enough that her mother starts to worry. So, the two of you bring her into your group and talk until Mary says it’s time to sing Happy Birthday. 

You’re reluctant. But you can’t say no, it is your party. 

It’s a tower of a cake, covered in your favorite color with small white details. There are little emblems and when you look at them, you see Lady Whistledown. The gossiper in Bridgerton. 

Everyone sings Happy Birthday, recording videos with obnoxious flashlights and trying to get you to smile. 

The song ends and you’re handed the knife, everyone waiting for you to make the first cut. Hand the first slice to someone incredibly important to you. You know Mary wishes it was for her, she stands next to your other siblings, watching as you cut the slice and carefully plate it. Her hands almost reach for the plate instinctively, but you hand it to Wally. 

He doesn’t know the meaning of the plate. He doesn’t understand that you’re basically declaring your love for him. He doesn’t get why everyone is stunned when he’s handed the slice. But you smile at him and wipe frosting from the knife onto his nose. The same thing he’d done to you for your birthday. 

Barry takes over cutting the other slices, handing you the second slice so the two of you could sit in peace for a little bit. 

“Did you enjoy it?” Wally asks as the two of you make your way to the outside area. 

“More than I thought I would,” The cake is lovely. It tastes good but you’re sure Wally has incredible tastes for these sorts of things. “Thank you, Wallace.” 

It’s too early for an ‘I love you’, but both of you can feel the words lingering in the air. Your feelings are mutual, trying to outshine the other but you match his love in your own ways. 

To be loved is to be seen. To be loved is to be changed. To be loved is to be known. 

You love Wally. You love how he catches your moods, how he knows when you need a break, when you need a push. You love how you’ve slowly noticed his little quirks becoming your own. His eye rolls, his laugh, his gaze. You love how he knows your favorite color, your favorite flavor, and your favorite food. How he knows certain things would never be something you’d enjoy. 

Laying your head on his shoulder, you stare at his free hand. He’s since finished his cake, the empty plate left on the ledge next to him. 

Saying I love you feels right. Saying I love you would be like saying the sky is blue. Of course, it is, of course you do. But you’ve heard it’s too soon in the relationship. It’s too soon to feel that strongly about someone. But in truth, you think this is only the beginning. 

—

“How're you holding up?” Wally asks as he rushes over to you, watching your back as you fight against two of the zombie soldiers. He attacks the third zombie that had slipped behind you. 

“Good,” You huff, using Sculk’s powers to rip one of the zombie’s heads from its body. “I broke one of their jaws and used it as a shovel.” He makes a noise akin to that’s good and you hum. 

“Can you two focus?” Conner grunts, having five zombies on top of him. Flinging them off of him, you roll your eyes and pull the zombies to the center of the room. There’s about a dozen or so left and Dick had wanted to get some in to see what spell or curse they were under. It was a little difficult to knock out a zombie, they didn’t have a stream of consciousness or any sort of pain receptors. 

It was a matter of switching off their mobility, essentially paralyzing them. 

“Thanks, Ward,” Dick sighs, wiping his face of zombie flesh. Nodding, you check over Wally. He’s fine, talking to Artemis. His hair is messy and his black suit is working wonders for his body. Damn, runner's ass was a real thing. 

Snapping out of it, you clear your throat and head over to M’Gann and Zatanna, helping with the magic side of everything. 

“I want Ward and Miss Martian with me to dissect them,” Dick tells everyone as Zatanna binds them together. “Zatanna, could you make sure that nothing follows us back?” She nods and scans the area as you help M’Gann load up the zombies. It makes the jet smell horrid, surprise, dead things without ventilation smell horrible!

On the way home, you can’t help but stare at Wally. His black suit really is nice, but when he switches back to the yellow and red, you shift in your seat. 

“Zombies moving!” Conner shouts and you whip your head around, seeing the twelve zombies surrounded by a magical sort of aura. 

The Witches doing. Sculk sneers as she helps you put them back down. This time, she encases them in a magical prison. Cool, totally cool. 

“It’s Enchantress,” You tell them. “Someone needs to alert Batman that June has lost control of her.” Dick nods and calls his father. With Enchantress, you know you’re in for a long night of undoing spells and magical traps. So long that you’ll overuse Sculk’s magic and probably do something stupid. 

Dammit. 

—

Looking up from his phone, Wally gets up at the rapid knocks on his door. It opens and he smiles when he sees you, about to greet you before you start speaking. 

“I want you,” You tell Wally as you stand in front of his door, covered in sweat. He stares at you, confused. He hasn’t even known that you returned from the dissection room. 

“You have me…?” He trails, letting you in, and checks the hallway to see if anyone else is awake and in the hallway. It’s the middle of the night, he’d thought about going to sleep so it’s probably around two in the morning. 

“No, I want you sexually.” You groan as he closes his door, although you’ve come close more than a dozen times, nothing has gone past a couple of hickeys. “Ever since this—“ You gesture between the two of you. “I’ve been feeling weird shit. Horny shit. And fuck your suit? It’s really doing things to me, man!” You admit and he has to pause. Never has he heard you say any of those words before. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, putting his hand on your forehead. When he does, you start giggling and hold his hand in yours. 

“Yes— Sculk thinks I should mention I get weird when I overuse her powers— but I’ve been jacking it like a pre-teen for months to the idea of you. So, can we fuck? That sounds so rude.” You frown and drop his hand. “I’m willing to have sex if you are. Like so willing,” You rephrase your sentence. 

“Yes, please,” He laughs, already discarding his shirt as you grin and start to do the same. “Wait— are you sure you want this? I feel like this should wait until you’re clear-headed,” He says as he places a hand on your chest, keeping you away from him. 

“Ugh, you’re too nice. And sure, Sculk is about to knock me out, anyway,” In preparation you go to sit on his bed but your body gives out and you collapse. Wally even with his amazing sight can’t tell when your body changes from you to Sculk. Black and blue cover takes your body like moss on a tree and Sculk sits up. 

“This’ll be short,” She says, her voice like that of an audiobook for children. “Yes, he’s in a clear state of mind. Too clear, it’s basically anti-lying drugs when he overuses my powers. So, good luck. I will not be here for when you two…” She makes a face. “You know. I’ll be locked away, trust. That’s my son, I already hear his thoughts about you.” She gags at the mention and he doesn’t know if he should feel insulted. 

“Son?” He echos and she laughs. It makes him feel warm, like a child again. 

“I’ve raised the kid, that’s my son. He really likes you, by the way,” She smiles. “Thank you, for that. But I’ll kill you if need be.” And just like that, your body is back on his bed and he’s left trying to grasp with the knowledge he’s been bestowed.

—

With much encouragement from Wally, you agreed to hang out with the others for dinner. He thinks it’s the perfect time to have dinner with the team. With summer approaching again, he’s hoping for a weekend vacation with the team. You wanted to stay inside his room, perhaps continue your activities from the morning. But this was fine, too, you supposed. 

Everyone is in the kitchen, discussing what to get. 

“I’m tired of pizza,” Artemis says, immediately cutting Wally off when his lips press to make the P sound. “We should branch out for once! How about Salvadoran food?” Nodding in agreement, you can already picture what you’re going to eat. 

“My boyfriend loves Salvadoran food!” Wally beams, pulling you into a sideways hug. The others pause their conversation and look at the two of you. 

“Boyfriend?” Dick echos, looking between the two of you. “You’re his boyfriend?” He asks you. 

“I do enjoy Salvadoran food,” You nod. His eye nearly twitched, technically yes, that answered the question but it totally didn’t at the same time. 

“How long have you been dating?” M’Gann smiles, her arm wrapping around Conner’s shoulder. 

“One year and one month,” Wally happily tells them. “I’m surprised you haven’t noticed. (Y/n)’s been super touchy, it’s cute.” He grins before kissing your cheek. “And my lock screen is him.” As proof, he shows them the picture of you smiling with the sea glass next to your eye. Yours is a picture of you and Wally on a date to the local fair where he ate too many deep-fried Oreos. 

“They don’t notice me,” You shrug, just wanting to eat. “It isn’t surprising that they haven’t taken notice.” Frowning, Wally rubs your arm and looks at the others with an accusing glare. 

“That’s not true,” Klaudr shakes his head. “You’re a valuable teammate, we notice you.” The others nod but do not offer anything of value. 

“I don’t mind,” Shaking your head, you lean away from Wally. “I understand I am not the most approachable or the most… friendly person on this team. There’s no ill intent nor malice.” 

Before anyone can speak again, your phone buzzes and you see it’s a call from Doctor Light. 

“I am needed elsewhere,” Excusing yourself, you kiss the corner of Wally’s mouth. “Enjoy your dinner.” He nods and sees you off, but doesn’t return to the others for dinner. Instead, he makes a bowl of cereal and heads towards his room. Only, the elevator door won’t open. 

He tries every door and nothing works, he’s stuck in the common area until you or Zatanna returns to fix it. Great. He’ll just eat his food in the living room. 

The others don’t eat much before heading to the living room. 

“Wally,” Dick starts but Wally doesn’t listen. With his back to everyone, Wally lays down on one of the shorter couches, making sure no one could sit next to him or talk to him. For extra measure, he puts on your pair of headphones that he stashed in the living room and immediately, the sound around him drops to nothing but his own breathing. 

Dramatic, probably. But he would’ve thought that the team, his friends— supposedly your friends, were still excusing you. He’d straight up told Dick that he basically ignored you, surely he would’ve thought ‘Hmm, my teammate is being excluded, we should include him especially since he was alone since he was five until four years ago’ but no. He thinks it especially hurts because Dick is his best friend— his best friend can’t be bothered to take the time to be friends with his boyfriend. 

That shit really stings. 

He must’ve watched videos for three hours before he saw the mist of your powers roll over him. Pushing one of the headphones away from his ear, he looks back at you and smiles. You’re dropping your hero outfit on the ground, revealing your daily clothes and your tired expression. He catches the signs that you’ve overworked yourself and frowns. That mission must’ve been tough, but you’re not injured. 

“Aw, babe,” He draws out as he scoots back, offering space between him and the back of the couch. “Wanna cuddle?” The offer is met with a simple nod and he lets you crawl over him. He smiles as you lay in front of him, throwing one leg over his legs to pull him closer. 

“Thanks, ‘missed you,” You mumble, digging your head into his shirt. With barely open eyes, you stare at him. He can basically see the heart eyes you’re making and he smiles, tracing chemical bonds on your cheek. 

“I missed you, too,” He whispers, pulling the headphones off with his free hand. 

“Nah,” You laugh and his eyebrows raise. “I missed you so much more!” You tell him, running your fingers up and down his arm. 

“How much?” He asks, just to milk the situation. 

“Oh,” You sigh, eyes wide. “Like so much! Ugh, Kimiyo wouldn’t let me leave to come and see you!” He fake gasps and you nod, acting as if that was going to get her in trouble. 

“She didn’t?” Wally shakes his head. 

“She did, baby!” You whine, cupping his face. “I was so lonely and I kept thinking about you and me and you kissing, us having se— Sculk is telling me to shut up.” You laugh into his chin and he knows the party is over. “She says I’m gonna regret this when I wake up— oh, she’s making me fall asleep. Night,” Immediately, your head falls onto the pillow and your hands drop into your face. He fixes you, of course, laying on his back with you on top of him. 

When he flips onto his back he catches the others staring and stares back. 

“We’re sorry,” Dick speaks first, looking amongst the others. “We should’ve made more of an effort with (Y/n).” He nods, carefully fixing your hair. 

“Our normality and judgment blocked out any potential interactions,” Kaldur adds. “We understand that looking from the outside doesn’t provide the full story, especially regarding Ward.” 

“Who knew he was so cuddly,” Artemis adds, making Wally chuckle.

“I did,” He speaks softly despite knowing Canary’s screams won’t wake you up in that state. 

[meatonfork]

Wondering how grim would react to meeting König and being absolutely flabbergasted from how huge this man is

New Best Friend

————————————————————————————————————————

pairings: p!könig x grim, platonic 141 x grim

warnings: none!

summary: grim finally meets the big man

————————————————————————————————————————

you had seen him around before, but you were always rushed off to the next mission before you could get acquainted with the behemoth of a man

finally, months later, you finally got to say hi.

well, that was the idea.

you’d just finished dinner in the cafeteria with your force and decided to head in for the night

könig had been across the room, eyes fleeting to your laughing figure

it wasn’t until much later that you’d snuck off to get a snack

washing your plate off in the sink, you listened to music flowing through your headphones, humming softly

a tap on your shoulder made you turn, dropping the plate from how soapy it was

it shattered, literally just glass all over the floor

you didn’t have shoes

könig immediately starts apologizing

“oh mein Gott! i am so sorry!”

his voice pulled you out of your stupor and you start calming him down

“it’s okay! i swear! shit happens, man. you mind helping me around the glass? i don’t have shoes” you offered him a sweet smile

without hesitation, he helped you around the glass by lifting your smaller figure and plopping you away from the glass

“thanks, big guy. let me go grab a broom!”

you left him there

he kinda just stood there like this 🧍

he felt awful

definitely beating himself up over this

he was also caught up on “big guy”

he’d heard it before, but it was nice coming from you

you came back quickly, dustpan and broom in tow

you two cleaned up the glass in relative silence

it wasn’t until you dumped the glass in the garbage did you finally say something to nervous giant

“so, uh.. did you need something?”

“what?”

“when you came in. did you need something?”

“oh. no, i wanted to say hi. i didn’t know you couldn’t hear me. i’m sorry.”

“stop apologizing- it’s okay, i promise!”

“uh, can i get your name, Maus?”

a subtle blush sets on your face and you answer him before asking the same

“König”

“ah, King. seems fitting”

since that night you guys are attached at the hip

ghost and soap are so jealous

you reassure them they have no need to be

sometimes you’ll come back from a day out with könig and soap will be sulking on your bed

if you guys end up on missions together, you both go out of your way to make sure the other is okay

so many piggyback rides

he manhandles you

just throws you around

he buys you flowers a lot bc he knows you like them

after knowing each other a while, hand holding is a must in public with him

you know he has social anxiety, so instead of babying him, you just leave lingering touches to let him know you’re there and you leave it at that unless he initiates it

you guys are best friends.

grim + könig = besties for the resties

————————————————————————————————————————

a/n: thank you for reading!! there will definitely be more of these two <3

[wormdebut]

JUNE MICROFIC - YOU CAN HAVE MY ISOLATION

@steddiemicrofic | PROMPT: stuff | WORD COUNT: 483 | Rated: E | CW: Steve having a wild parasocial relationship with a voice. Steve Harrington is a needy needy boy. Master Kink…I guess?

This one got wild. I—

Minors, get the fuck out of here.

——

Should Steve feel shame for getting off this way? Probably. Did he? Absolutely not.

He hadn’t meant to get so…attached. When he had first found the recordings, he just wasn’t finding any porn worth watching, and when he had come across MasterEM’s profile, boasting a quite impressive backlog of audio clips he figured he would give it a try—and now?

Now he was ass up on his bed, dildo stuffed in his hole begging for this perfect fucking voice to fuck him silly.

‘God, you’re such a fucking slut for me aren’t you baby boy?’ MasterEM is growling through Steve’s ear buds. ‘You take my cock like you were made for it.’

“Please! Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me.” Steve pleads.

Steve is a sweaty whimpering mess, he pushes back on the toy he’s fucking himself with, moaning like the whore that he is for this man.

This fucking voice.

Steve would do just about anything to find the man that it belongs to. He would let this guy tear him to pieces.

He had tried to actually go out and get laid, but nobody really does it for him anymore. Not like Master does.

‘God, you look so pretty when I stuff you so full, precious. Who do you belong to baby?’ The voice purrs out and Steve mewls as his toy hits his prostate.

“You master!” He cries, doing his best to hit that spot over and over again, “I belong to you.”

MasterEM pants into his ear. God, this isn’t the first time Steve has wished this man was real. Fucking into him, owning him.

‘Fuck yeah you do, baby boy. Touch your pretty cock for me. I want you to come all over yourself when I come in this tight little ass.’

Steve shivers at the deep strong voice. He keeps the toy moving with one hand, groaning as he strips his cock with the other.

‘You’re such a perfect little slut for me, aren’t you?’

“Yes yes yes!” Steve whimpers as his cock jumps in his hand. He’s so fucking close.

‘Who are you such a dirty fucking slut for?’ MasterEM questions through his headphones and Steve cries out.

“You! You Master, I’m such a fucking slut for you—it’s only you.” He feels delirous as tears prick at his eyes. No one gets him off the way this guys voice does.

MasterEM laughs over the audio clip and his voice drops quiet, a rumbling whisper. Steve swears he can feel it in his soul. ‘Be a good boy and come for me, baby. Come for your Master.’ MasterEM bite, and Steve does, seeing fucking stars as he spills all over his sheets.

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Steve huffs, his body shaking as he comes down. He is panting and trying to process how it all came to this one man. This anonymous fucking voice.

‘Thats my good fucking boy.’

[plush-rabbit]

Johnathan Ohnn Headcanons

Request: Hi! If its okay, can you make HCs of Johnathan Ohnn with a partner who likes walking around as a stim? They're only comfortable doing it around at home/their room since they feel like its embarrassing. They literally just get up and start shuffling about. Spinning around. Like. Circling a table as if they were a hawk. Doing laps. In a silly manner. Thank you! 💞

A/N: I like to hc he has this stim because when he meets miles he does little steps and im like !!! (i also added a bit more of some other moving stims)

When you start to talk about things that interest you, Johnathan takes notice of how your whole body seems to become animated. Your hands will move around, fingers spreading open and curling over into claws, as you tell him about a new television show that you’ve recently gotten into. Slowly, your legs start to bounce, and he can see just how stimulated you are. Your legs will kick out, the tips of your feet tapping against the floor, and soon you’re up and walking around. Your voice is raised, and you stutter over your words, and he’s interested in it all, clinging to every word and nodding along as you speak without a filter. When you smile at him, bright and with teeth glinting under the light, he knows he would listen to you rant about anything as long as it’s you. 

There are moments where he can tell you’re getting nervous at how much you pace, and you’ll retreat somewhere private for a moment. He’s figured it out that you might feel embarrassed about how you stim, so he tries to make his presence aware before visiting you or giving you the space you need. Even if he does have a key to your home, he always makes sure to knock or at least give you a heads up of when he’s going to arrive. He doesn’t ever want you to feel ashamed about your stims, so he makes sure that whatever boundaries have been placed- such as you preferring your privacy- he’ll respect it without questioning it. He understands the boundaries that are placed, and he never wants to feel as if he’s trying to be privy to your every inner thought.

He’s taken into account of your spinning chair in your room with the faux leather peeled and the chair clicking when you turn. Whether he knows spinning is one of your stims or not, he takes it upon himself to get you a new spinning chair. He can see how much you like yours- how you roll around your room, how you prefer to stay seated at your desk, and the fact of how worn it is. The new chair is similar to your old one, and he doesn’t expect you to use it if you’re still clearly attached to your old one, but he does give it to you as an alternative to when your old chair starts to leave pieces of leather stuck to the back of your thighs. 

With your chair, he’s also gifted you a nice pair of headphones. Music seems to help stimulate you, and he notices that when the two of you ride in a car together, you like to replay songs or tap along with the beat. He might not know the full extent of your stimming, so he’ll try to give you things that might help in putting you in a more relaxed state. Music is common interest for most people, so he’ll make you playlists or give you access to his, to listen to when you feel energy just build up without having any sort of outlet for it to express itself in. 

If time allows for it, he likes to take walks with you. He knows how stimulated you can get and can relate to the bursts of energy, so the two of you will go on walks together to burn off the energy. You have this skip in your step, and he can tell how you want to just run by the way you jog to the nearest tree and point out a root to him, bouncing in your step and waving at him to catch up to you. While walking is a nice leisure activity for the two of you, he gets that you just need to run, so he’ll sit at a bench with a notebook on his lap as you jog around the park.

Joining you for the occasional walk brings him joy. He likes how you’ll hold his hand in yours, keeping a tight grip on it and pulling him along to everything interesting that you see. You shuffle along, slowly growing closer to him, that the two of you bump against each other, your arms wrapping around one of his, desperate to keep him close to you. Your body builds up its own tension and you pull him along, begging for him to quicken his pace, only to be met with defiance as he stands still. You slap playfully at his arm and pull forward, and he watches your back, watches as you find something that catches your gaze and steadily, he approaches you.

Being so close to you, he’s gotten better at picking up when you’re starting to have bursts of energy. Your legs will bounce, and you’ll tap at the ground, and your hands will flap. It’s easy to tell when you’re enjoying your time somewhere with him because of how much you beam. It’s written so clearly, and he can tell that you need to do something, and when the table shakes and you talk about a series that you’re watching, he’s invested in hearing your words. He latches onto every thought, nodding and asking questions, enraptured by how animated and lively you are. 

If your pacing is more of an anxiety response, he tries to take notice of what is causing you to become so anxious. You pace around, and he’ll watch, asking you questions to help bring you back down to reality. He tries to help ground you- to get you to voice your worries, but it only worsens them, and your pacing has become more rapid, more unorganized as you worry at your bottom lip. When you finally sit down, only to stand again a few moments later, he just sits there, letting you vent to him.

It’s when you're anxious does he get worried. You pace and pace, and you can’t seem to stop moving. You talk, words slurring and stuttering against one another, that it makes it difficult to keep up with your train of thought. You pace around the coffee table, and you hide yourself in the kitchen, walking back out with a bit more of a rush in your step. He tries to talk to you, to get you to calm down, but when it seems that you’re only growing more anxious, he kisses the top of your head, and motions for you to go relax in your room, to stimulate yourself until you can finally hear your thoughts. 

With Johnathan becoming The Spot, it’s gotten difficult to take walks with you. He can cover up in jackets and hats, but he still feels the stares that people give him. You rationalize that most people probably think it’s those skin-tight costumes, and while he’ll agree with a wordless nod, he still doesn’t like the stares. While he’s understood your need to walk when stimming, and has even indulged in it himself, he never got the euphoria from doing paces until then. Holding your hand in his, he likes to just run with you as if there’s something that the two of you are running from. And when the two of you are sat on the ground, grass plucked between your fingertips and your head on his shoulder, he wishes that he had run with you more, that he had taken your hand earlier and just ran until his legs gave out and until he was far away.

[babygirl-riley]

Shy Guy

You and this mysterious man have been slowly sitting next to each other, over the years, at the local coffee shop. Finally one day he spoke to you.

simon x reader guide

simon x reader fluff/angst

Simon “Ghost” Riley x Male Reader

Warnings: Fluff and Swearing

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You love the little cafe that you go to in the London area. For years you tried and tried to find a good little coffee/tea place with no avail. Until this hole in the wall place called ‘The Bag Shop.’ You have been loving the vibe of it, woods type theme.

You would go to the shop and work on assignments for school. Headphones over your ears. It would help you be calm on being able to focus on the tasks. On the 3rd week there was a man that brought your attention, it was a large man. Broad shoulders, at least 6 feet tall, the thing that drew your attention towards this man, was that he wore a mask and a hoodie.

He would stare for a while, you wanted to go up to him but…you are definitely an introvert. You were so interested yet so terrified, how he stared at you made your stomach do flips. He would sip his drink, his mask up to his nose and watch. He also had a laptop with him occasionally.

One time he didn’t show up for days, weeks, or even months. At first you were little disappointed how he wasn’t there for a while. In time you even forgot about him until you saw a cup being put in front of you. You looked passed you laptop to see a much larger hand than yours.

You took your headphones off and looked up. The masked man…Your heart started to race. “I didn’t know what you exactly liked but I got ya a cup of tea.”

Tea? You never tried tea but it was too nice of an offer to say no. You just stared for a moment. You looked back up to see him staring intensely at you. “Thanks.” You whispered.

He nodded then walked away. You looked back down at the to go cup. It had a number wrote on the cup, his number? You pulled out your phone and typed the number out. You stared at the screen for a moment twiddling your thumbs, thinking about what to say.

You sat back in the chair before biting your inner cheek. It shouldn’t be this bloody fucking hard. You groaned and sent “Hey this is the guy in the coffee shop”

You rolled your eyes of course he knew but you sent it anyway. You went about your day, got groceries done. Even talked to your mom about your day. Didn’t bring up the man in the coffee shop. You grew up in a Christian home with you being gay it was frowned upon. Your family knew, accepted but didn’t agree. So you never brought up a crush or significant other unless they ask.

It was almost night and he never responded at first you thought he gave you the wrong number. Until it hit 10:30PM, that is what the bright red light said. It stated: “Hey.”

Your heart leaped as you replied: “Hey.”

You chewed you thumbnail (a horrible habit.) as you stared at the texts. The bubbles popped up then disappeared then reappeared. You anxiously waited until the response came back.

“You gonna be at the shop tomorrow?”

“Yeah, homework. You?”

… … … “Yeah, gonna sit by you yeah?”

You couldn’t help but smile and giggle from that response. When tomorrow happened you put on your favorite outfit, did your hair the best way you could, and went about your day. Work couldn't go by quickly, your job was slow that day, and all you can think about was finally meeting the hooded man. You bite at your nails waiting and watching your watch. You rushed out the door once the clock hit the end time for you. You never been excited to at least start you homework and wait for you masked knight. When you got there, you sat where you usually sat and waited. It was getting later, people leaving and coming in, the world was continuing while you stayed on what you were...waiting...waiting...waiting. At first you didn't think he would be showing up until you heard the bell that was attached to the door. You snapped your head up to see that figure you been wanting to talk to. You thought your heart would burst out of your chest as he strode over. "Sorry I was late." His thick accent met your ears like it was a melody.

"No worries." You said as he sat down.

It was quiet for the moment as it rained outside, you could hear the small chatter around the both of you. You chuckled and watched how anxious the man felt. “Is this your first date?” You asked as he flinched.

The man hummed and shook his head. “No just don’t know how to really.”

You smiled before getting up. “Well how about we walk around, we can see things and talk outside instead,” The man’s eyes never lost the sight of yours. “Or are you scared if the rain.”

His eyes squinted a bit, indicated he smiled before nodding. “Rain don’t scare me.”

As he stood, you forgot how tall he was compared to you, how big he is. You pushed his head up to look at him smiling. “We will see.”

That night you will not forget, how close you both walked together. The quiet not being too awkward, or anything. The small chats. It all led into this moment, the moment of the wedding bells rung. Family and friends smiling at the both of you. Never in your life you would have thought that Simon Riley would actually be smiling the way the first date was.

[malii-the-bonehead]

The Other Woman pt4

Slow burn

Summary: Chris, a popular hockey player at school where Y/n went, found himself falling for the beautiful, shy girl. As time went on he found out who Y/n truly was as a person and ultimately, he had to make the choice, his girlfriend, or the other woman.

Part 4

Chris ended up never texting me last night. He probably fell asleep. I don’t blame him. I wish I was sleeping early last night. I’m worried about whether he'll pass his calculus exam. He didn’t text this morning either.

I wasn’t worried. I mean we only texted once I’m not attached or anything. 

And not to mention how distracted I am with work. Maybe it is better that he didn't pull my focus away from the important things. 

“Good morning,” my mom stumbled into the kitchen

“Good morning mom,” I responded. She rubbed her eyes and sat at the island in our kitchen. “How’d you sleep?”

“Fine, I guess. I have a throbbing headache though,” She rubbed her temples with both hands, shutting her eyes and sighing. 

I walked over to the medicine cabinet and grabbed some advil. I filled a glass with some tap water and gave the pills and water to her. She mumbled a quiet “thank you” when she grabbed the water from my hand. I put the pills on the counter and grabbed my bag off the chair next to her.

“I’m about to leave for school. Do you need anything before I go?” 

She replied, “When you get out of school can you go to the store and buy me some new socks? I can’t seem to find any.”

“Yeah, mom I’ll get you some. But just so you know they have some clean socks in the basket on the dryer.” I kissed the top of her head, spinning around and heading towards the front door. 

“Thank you, Y/n. I love you, be safe.”

I looked back at her. “I love you too, mom.” 

I opened the front door, stepping outside into the cool air. 

–

I'm sitting in the parking lot, waiting for the first school bell to ring. I decided I’d smoke the rest of my joint before going into the building. It wasn’t much, just a little less than half. I’m not super lightweight with weed, thankfully. 

The clock on my car hit 6:50, meaning it was time to go inside before the late bell rings. I grabbed my stuff from the backseat and shut off my car, locking it and walking into the school building.

To be honest, I’ve been thinking about Chris most of the morning. I really hope he does well on his calculus test today.

Time for gym class. The most dreaded class of the day. But, at least I didn’t have to do it sober, right?

–

First and second hour seemed to pass by really quickly. It is now third hour and I’m sitting at my desk. I have so many butterflies in my stomach. I feel like I’m going to throw up, like something is going to happen. I don’t know why I feel like this. I might be hungry.. Or nervous. My high wore off midway through the second period meaning I was now sober again. A few people told me I needed perfume this morning. I hope I masked the smell well. I didn’t need anyone knowing I did such crazy activities in my down time. 

I looked up from my phone, seeing Chris walk in the room. His hair was a mess and his eyes looked droopy like he didn’t get enough sleep last night. He looked at me. I slightly smiled at him, pulling my headphones down to my shoulders. He trudged slowly over to my desk, rubbing his eyes with his fingers before blinking down at me. 

“Good morning, Christopher.” Something in my stomach just turned. I did feel nervous. But not just nervous, nervous to be around him. 

“Good morning,” he grunted out. He sat down on top of my desk, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

“Did you get to study for your calculus test?” I asked him cautiously. I didn’t know how tired Chris would react, if he would be cranky or calm. 

“I did. All night, actually. I was going to text you but I figured you’d be exhausted. You needed the rest.”

He cared about how much I rested? So he didn’t call me, not because he was asleep but because he didn’t want to bother me. 

“Oh, silly I didn’t mind. Honestly, I was worried about whether you had been able to study.” I picked at my thumb nail, feeling his gaze on me. “How did that go by the way?”

“I think I got it all crammed into my head. I don’t get most of it but I know the basics. I’m so tired though. I slept through first and second hour.” He let out a light chuckle. A chuckle that made my insides tingle. 

“I can tell, your hair is a mess.” I brought my hand up to his head, carefully fixing his hair. His face went bright pink and he looked away from me. 

“Yeah, it’s tough to sleep with your head on a desk.” If Chris wasn’t next to me I probably wouldn’t have heard him. 

“Trust me, I know. I used to sleep in my classes a lot last year.” He turned to look at me, his face back to its original color. He was really pretty in this lighting. Classroom lighting isn’t the best, but somehow he makes it work. 

“Y/n,” he looked at me with a puzzled expression. I looked up at him, nodding my head slightly. “Do you smell weed in here?”

I shut my eyes. Shit, it’s still lingering on my clothes.

I quickly opened my eyes and reached into my bag, grabbing perfume for the fourth time today. 

“Sorry.” I stated to no one in particular. I sprayed my jacket with the perfume before placing it back into my bag. 

He had slightly wide eyes when I looked back at him.

“You smoke?” Chris was now staring at me waiting for my answer. 

“Um, every now and then I do. Is that a problem?” It didn’t come out as rude or harsh but more like a genuine question. He quickly shook his head.

“No, not at all. I just- You don’t seem like the type, you know?” I giggled quietly.

“Thanks?” I replied. The bell rang as he opened his mouth to speak. A man walked into the class. A man who’s not our teacher. Chris looked dead into my eyes and mumbled a quiet, “I’ll see you in a few,” before getting up from the top of my desk and moving to his in the back. 

“As you can see, your teacher isn’t here today. I won't be a substitute. I have a paper I will put on this desk. You all need to come look at the room you need to go to for this class period. As far as I know, your teacher will be back on Monday. Don’t push, shove, or act like wild animals when you come up here to check the paper. When you find your name and room number, sign your initials and go to that class. You don’t go to your assigned class and you will be marked as skipped, everyone understands?” The teacher looked around the class, making sure everyone knew what he was explaining. He nodded his head to himself,  “Good, you may go check your rooms.”

I got up, slowly walking to the paper on the empty desk in the front of the class. I waited for a few people before grabbing the paper, finding my name and room number. 

“What room did you get?” I felt Chris’s presence was too close to me. I turned my head slightly to see him practically leaning over me. I felt my legs start to give out a little bit, but I stood strong.

“I have to go to room 962. Yours says 240. Do you want me to sign your name for you?” I looked back at him once again, showing him the paper.

“Yes, thank you. It sucks that we have to go across the school from each other. Would you mind if I walked you there?” My eyes opened slightly. I quickly shifted, turning to face him.

“No, you don’t have to do that. I have to walk up 2 flights of stairs. Don’t waste energy you don’t have, Chris.” He looked kind of sad when I said that. 

“Trust me, I’ll be fine. Just let me walk you this one time?” I sighed. The paper was now out of my hand and on the desk. Chris was bent over the desk, signing my initials first, then his own. I rolled my eyes, went back to my desk, and grabbed my things. Chris did the same thing before we both walked out of the double doors to exit the class. 

Walking seemed like it took forever. Those stairs killed me, and Chris hasn’t said much to me. We walked close, but not too close. When we arrived at my class, I thanked him for walking me.

“Thank you, Chris. I’m sorry you had to walk me all the way over here,”

“No, don’t worry, I don't mind. I guess I should start going back down, huh?” He chuckled a little, pulling his hair out of his eyes once again. Then, he suddenly had a look on his face like he was the smartest man in the world.  “Hey, why don’t you text me?”

I smiled up at him. “Sure, Chris, I’ll text you.”

He smiled back before slowly turning around and walking to his class, across the school. I blew the hair out of my face before walking into the classroom and finding an empty desk at the back. 

–

It’s been about 30 minutes since I’ve been in class with no one I know. I had put my music on and started reading before I remembered to text Chris. I pulled out my phone and put my book away on the desk in front of me.

Hey, Chris. I pressed send. Before I could even put my phone down, I felt it vibrate in my hand. I looked down at it, reading the new message that popped up on my phone. 

Hola Y/n. He waited a second before sending another text. Sorry, I’m in a Spanish class right now. I smiled down at my phone. 

You’re silly. I’m in an art class. I don’t know anyone here. I found myself waiting for his next response. I know he read it, read receipts were on. I saw the message bubble pop up. It was an image.

I know a few people here. Class is boring as hell though. I smiled again, pressing on the picture and finding Madi and his brother Matt in the picture as well as someone I didn’t recognize.

Lucky, I’m all by myself. But I don’t mind it. Now, I can read in peace:) He responded fast.

I like how you just read all the time. Not many people do. It’s cool. What are you reading by the way?

I looked at the book, now closed, on my desk. I took a picture and sent it to him. 

Is that the giant book you carry everywhere with you? I didn’t know you were into poetry. I felt heat rush to my face. He noticed the book because I carried it around. He looked at me enough to realize that it was in my hand all the time. The message bubble popped up again. I sat and waited for his text to be sent.  A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Its loveliness increases, it will never. Pass into nothingness, but still will keep. A bower quiet for us, and a sleep. I looked down at the poem he sent. A poem by John Keats from 1956. A poem I was fond of. How’d he know that?

Did you google that? He took a second to respond. 

No, it may not seem like it, but I actually enjoy poetry. Reading isn’t my thing but I have a soft spot for anything poetic. 

He’s poetic, I thought to myself. I shook my head to myself softly.

Yeah, I didn’t take you as the type to like that kind of stuff. But it’s really nice to know, Chris. He sent a smiley face. I placed my phone down, thinking the conversation was over. Then, I felt my phone vibrate again on the desk. I picked it up and read the message. 

So, are you free tonight? I shut my eyes. I was off work Fridays and Sundays. I typed a quick message.

Yes, why?

Wanna hang out? I could still use some help on my calculus even though my test is next hour. Just to prepare me for the next one, yk? I felt my stomach turn a little. 

Sure, Chris. That sounds perfect. And just to let you know, I don’t have work on Fridays and Sundays. Sundays I'm usually pretty busy though. I pressed send waiting, once again. 

Ok, good. What time do you think we should do this? And where? Depending if my mom was home and how clean the house was, then definitely not my house. I didn’t want him to see how we lived. I mean we have a decent house, but it for sure isn’t a big beautiful house. 

I sent him a response after pondering for a while. I have to run to the store after school so probably not until later in the day. 5 maybe? And you can pick the place to meet at.

I made sure to put meet at so he didn’t suggest mine, or his house. 

5 is good. And how about we meet at the cafe near the library. That was a perfect answer, Chris. I needed a new book anyways so after I help him, I can go get the few books I need. 

Perfect. I’ll see you there. Or do you want me to pick you up? 

No no don't worry about that. I’ll get Matt to bring me. 

Chris and I sent a few texts back and forth. The bell rang, signaling the 4th hour was about to start. I sent him a quick, good luck on your calculus test, Chris. Just do your best and don’t stress over it. I picked up my things and made my way to my next class.

[spotsupstuff]

What was your favorite Slugcat to play and your favorite Iterator to draw?

(i haven't played Saint yet) i suppooooooose it might be actually a tie between Spearmaster, Rivulet and Artificer? the movement of the latter two was a lot of fun, but i'm too attached to Spearmaster that i don't wanna leave it out. constant supply of spears took one of my main worries away for the whole game

and favorite Iterator to draw?? oh boy, i don't think i can choose... i do draw my own designs which i did my best to cater specifically to my enjoyment from drawing. it'd be easier to say what i like drawing the most out of their singular designs, so i'll do that (AND i get to ramble about that i love doin that)

originally i talked about like. all iterators i've ever really drawn but then i fucked up n what i had written was deleted so i guess we are doin only few. the main five i think of when trying to figure out which i like drawing the best:

• Pebbles: everything about his head is a joy to me. the shape of it, his marks, antennas.. the shape of his feet is a lot of fun and something about the combination of the Gen 3 skeletal body type and hanfu just... fits for him. along with his angry expression. it's like... a certain regal beauty but there's sharp teeth hiding within it. i like to try my best to imbue certain feelings into my designs and then how i draw them (especially on my own time- when i draw for asks i feel like... this important essence, the characterization, gets muddled at least a tad). with Pebbles i'm going for something like "small flame, burning bright- a fighter, yet so soft and fragile, sharp and divinely glorious, determined yet still so damn scared. i want to hold your hands, understand what the time has done to them and say that i'm very sorry. you shouldn't have had to become so rageful. they made you to be alive and didn't let you live." • Nish: of course *he's* here. from the scarf to the general loosenes of his fit (even though he should be more of a Tube, i'm not doin the kimono inspiration justice n i am sorry) is a lot of fun. the looser the clothes are, the more i enjoy drawing them!! i really like drawing his mark and i'm very proud of my design for his headphone audial things this time around. unlike last time, they are meant to be bigger than others' and they are red instead of dark green. the three holes in them? Especially proud of those. he's specifically high up there with my favorite iterators to draw because of his attitude, though • Boreas: he's so stupid big it makes me giggle. drawing him next to Gen 3s is so??? sir please come down we need to have a chat- hello? do u hear me???- okay but seriously, i'm very happy that i've settled on a chlamys for him. the sort of like. collar that i've decided the cloth will make for him compliments his personality well and i like drawing my collars a ton. it's not visible here because it isn't colored, but his antennas go from dark dark blue to vibrant red thru a gradient and i LOVE it so much. combined with the aggressive shape of them? mwah. also the leaf-like things on his audials are so simple to draw and add so much to his vibes that i always look forward to drawin them. revisiting his design and giving him the warranted love made him so so strong and dear to me... p sure he's currently my favorite from my ocs • Notos: a perfect example of why "less is more" is a saying. i like drawing it specifically cuz it's literally just. a bitch playing on a ghost with a bedsheet except when u look under that hood there are some Feckin yaoguai teeth waiting there. Those are a bitch to draw but i did this specifically to learn to draw teeth like that better. also. special shout out to the interaction of Iterator antennas and a bedsheet over the head. shkika keeps bein weak for those "cat ears" in our dms, it's funny to see Notos out of all my kids get those kind of reactions jglkdscmlksdmlk

• Fish: FISH IS FISH. he has big dumb round glasses what more could i possibly need to enjoy drawing a man. but also those antennas... they make him a lot of fun to draw n i look forward to drawin them each time. my thanks to @/w1ngw0ng and @/medi-bee for bettering them just by being themselves

special shout outs go to Zephyr for being challenging to represent properly (physically relatively weak, fragile, yet burning blindingly bright, sharp, determined and brave- just being a leader of a revolution even though her physical form doesn't really fit it), FAM (@/medi-bee) for bein an absolute freak (i love him. i love Nips even more)

and NRD (@/splynter) for being different yet familiar and for being colored like a dead body. Very Cool Of Them 👍

[give-grian-rights]

I joined an frc team

-GRABS YOU-

hello and welcome to the first day of the rest of your life . first robotics competition CHANGES YOUR BRAIN CHEMICALS

you want to survive? LETS DO THIS

1: NO MATTER WHAT try and stick it out. Get the grades, get the hours, get the permission to travel to at least ONE competition- especially one that stays in a hotel, since I know some teams will skip out on hotels for events close to them. I don't think ANYONE, in any scenario, should say "this isn't for me" until they go and experience one full event.

2: if you don't use deodorant YOU WILL BE EXECUTED . no matter what your job is, there is going to be at least ONE point throughout the day where you are shoulder-to-shoulder with someone . if theres a time to be self conscious its then . use Convention rules as reference

3:you will be tempted to fucking come out of the closet at least at one point . you do NOT KNOW how much it hurt to skip out on a cool write-your-own-pronouns pin because i refused to use she/her and wasn't comfortable writing any. proceed with caution as you see fit.

4: are you surprised by number four? YOU SHOULDNT BE the women. ohh the women are so pretty. my entire high school (aka: less than a year ago) was me being OUTRAGOUSLY STUPID whenever i saw a fem presenting person . oh my god. oh my god they are all so hot. and then those hot students become hot volunteers and alumni and the gay never leaves. there was a trans woman mentor at one competition she rocked we talked with her for like an hour

5: if your team. goes to far competitions. TAKE A BLANKET AND PILLOW. new kids sometimes do NOT get this memo. do it. get silly with it, to what your team permits. our team, being older than me myself, gave up . . most rules. involving the bus. for better or worse.

6: bring a hoodie. i dont care where you go. bring not just a blanket, but a hoodie. so worse comes to worse you can put it on the floor and sleep. that was a fun 8 hour bus ride.

7: if you have a remotely decent team. you will be killed on site if you cuss at a competition. one kid's "bad" or immature behavior can lead to your entire team being disqualified to any award not related to robot performance.

8: LEARN HOW TO EAT AT LEAST ONE BASIC FOOD. this one might be silly but it could've killed me (dramatic). eat pizza. even if you have to take off the cheese just. figure out a way its worth it. FIND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR BREAKFAST. at least one breakfast food, for if you're at a hotel that serves you. experiment a little. find something that works for you.

9: exercise what free stuff you take with caution . i have probably ten-fifteen pounds of buttons and pins, and i do not. genuinely do not. think thats an exaggeration.

10: headphones . soft, subtle earbuds. battery packs. and a BACKPACK. my senior year, i composed myself of:

fanny pack, attached to it my wallet which had a buckle, so i could easily access my money. a change purse also attachable, so i have somewhere for coins obviously.

reusable, collapsing drinking cup

a folded up draw-string bag, for hoodies, or eccentric amount of free stuff

one to two battery packs with a charger. if you have friends (or want to make some), consider having other types of chargers too!

wall outlet plug, incase i need to charge at a venue

miniature hairbrush

hand sanitizer

gum. a great way to make friends

a folded up sandwich bag with various medicines, and a piece of paper that describe which each medicine is (ibuprofen, anxiety meds, etc).

i genuinely considered wearing two fannypacks at the same time. also, tying your hoodie around your waist for extra storage works too.

AND MY PERSONAL FAVORITE HACK:

tampon box . your venue bans outside food or drink? tampon box with pads and tampons on top. contraband inside. almost NEVER looks. better to put it with team stuff like scouting equipment and spirit gear but a worthy inclusion. Same goes for if you have a backpack with pockets!

put food/drinks at the bottom, menstrual products on top. doesn't matter what you present as. lie. say your girlfriend needed it since she doesn't carry a bag with her to competitions. putting SOFT STUFF that mumbles wrappers crinkling also helps, like an extra hoodie. though I personally wouldn't matter to much about that, since competitions are LOUD especially when you're entering the venue when the doors first open.

a lot of the time though, security aren't too bothered. especially if you dont make it obvious.

this is my first robotics season as a college student. i don't like my team enough to go back, but god. god do i fucking love this program.

[mentallyshattered]

This is part 22 of the "What if Yuu didn't want to go back?" Series!

(I, the author of this work, do not consent to this work being crossposted/translated without my knowledge or used to train an AI, ever.)

Masterlist

Sam's shop. I've never been there before, but it's about time to change that, I'd say. We need the distraction. Grim is enjoying it fully, probably thinking about the tuna he's sure to get.

And here we are! Admittedly, I'm not sure if we can afford anything that's not on sale, but it's worth a shot, right?

The shelves are stocked high, but not too high- many students are a bit short, so the items are only about two and a half meters off the ground at the highest. Despite that, there are stools along the ends of the rows, magically attached to their paths along the edges of the isles. I don't need them.

"Okay, Grim, can you smell the tuna or anything? I don't know where to look."

"No need, dear customers! I'll show you, just follow me."

Grim and I follow the man in the patchwork top hat through the expanse of items and prices, recognizing him as Sam, the owner. As he leads us, an odd feeling settles itself into my being. What is it? Oh, that's it- though the shelves are short, the store is vast, stretching onward like a neverending maze. Following Sam through all this feels a lot like I'm walking through a limnal space, guided by a supernatural entity of unknown origin.

"Here we are!" In front of us, Sam is motioning to a shelf with stout cans of tuna stacked one atop another. Sure enough, the price tag on the edge of the suspiciously strong plastic reads "SALE" and is followed by a slashed-out price displayed above a price that's worth half the original, written in larger font. I don't need to look to know Grim's reaction.

"Thank you!" I wave to Sam, grab some tuna, and turn back. He's gone by then, so I just move Grim to my other shoulder and walk to the counter. Sam is waiting there, smiling as usual, and sends us off with an enthusiastic "Thank you!" When we pay and leave.

How unusual. Oh, well. I'll let Grim have a can of this now, and the rest can be saved. Now, where's a trash can?..oh, over there!

...huh. There's a spot in the trash bags over here that's cleared out, about the size of a first-year student. Why? I can't see any reason someone would clear this out. Other than boredom, but this looks like it's been here for a while now. How odd. Meh.

I trash the lid and walk away. We have better things to do. Say, for example, hiding pencil erasers in Ace's bag until he notices and says something, or trying to figure out what the hell is up with Korrak.

"Myeeh, do you hear that?" I stop walking, merely two steps from the indent, and attempt to fine-tune my ears. When I hold my breath, I hear it. Music.

I'm a sin, but I'm half of the hourglass, glass, glass

I don't recognize the song, but I hear it. There is definitely some kind of music playing. But from where? A quick glance at Grim's ears tell me it's toward the pile of trash.

I turn around, slowly, silently, and look a little closer. The music is decently loud now, but I can't see its source.

"Hold my can." I take the half-eaten can of tuna from Grim with one hand and lower the other to allow him to jump down. He ignores the platform entirely and jumps down without my help, landing on concrete and quickly deciding he'd rather move the bags with magic than with his paws or face. The one right in front of him glows somewhat, rises, and reveals a pair of beaten-up headphones plugged into a strange, once-white rectangle.

Grim looks at me. I reach in with my free hand, grab the headphones, and Grim releases the trash bag the instant nothing is under it anymore in favor of hopping onto my arm. When I'm fully upright again, I pass Grim his tuna.

"Myeeh, thanks." He returns to eating. I try and examine the device. It resembles a rectangle when viewed from the front or back, but looking at the top gives it a more almond shape- if almonds were pointed at two ends and not rounded at one. It's very thin, too, much thinner than an almond.

The music still plays. I can't identify the song, but this is probably on a playlist, so I wait for the song to end. It loops.

Dah dah dah dah, da-dah dah dah, dah dah dah dah dah dah dah dah

The music kicks up. I still don't recognize the song. The headphones don't fit over my head, but, in my endeavors to put them on, I see him, on the edge of my vision. Barely visible.

Korrak. I don't see Rook. Why is he here?

Ok, Yuu, hold on. You don't want to sound suspicious. That's your roommate and friend. He doesn't know I've seen him yet. So...

I turn to face him and ask, "Hey, are these yours?" He startles. Okay, maybe that wasn't the right move. Still, he attempts to reply- a series of quiet chitters and chirps I can't understand, yet still too loud to miss for my now cat-level hearing, even over the wind and faint music.

"Yeah," Mandible nods, presumably translating for Korrak, "those are ours. Thanks for finding them." I can't be sure as to why Korrak stutters and Mandible doesn't.

"Well, here you go. Your song is still playing." Indeed it is, the singer's voice calling out to be remembered for hundreds of years. Korrak, upon seeing my outstretched hand, visibly relaxes and reaches out to take it.

I've seen that reaction before, on videos, in photos, and in the mirror- not the magic one- when I realized something I saw as precious hadn't been stolen or lost, but was being returned to me.

I saw it in Grim's eyes, reflected from my own when I saw him before the entrance ceremony.

These must be important to them. They've probably had them for years and years, a persistent source of comfort through tough and easy times alike.

Grim was like that for me.

"Thanks," speaks Mandible. It takes me a moment to register his words as his, momentary confusion clouding my judgment of Korrak's voice vs. Mandible's jaws moving. The confusion clears with a single word rushing into my mind: ventriloquism.

Another question rises from the ashes of my puzzlement, burning like a Phoenix: why doesn't Mandible stutter?

Just as quickly, the question abandons me, and nothing more comes of the interaction- rather, a new one begins at the moment's end, with Rook walking up and playing a hand on Korrak's unoccupied shoulder. Korrak briefly panics, a flash of intense fear taking root in his eyes, but that fear is pulled up when he realizes whose wrist the black-gloved hand is attached to.

"Monseurs," Rook begins, nodding at me and Grim as well as Korrak and Mandible, "Come with me. You are going to brew potions in class soon, and I have been instructed to ensure that you all know the basics and how to apply them."

I approach when Rook motions with his free- well, not really, he's holding his bow with that one- hand for me and Grim to follow his lead. A short-feeling walk later, we're back at Pomefiore's main building, through the lounge, down a flight of stairs, and standing in a dark, basementy room that reminds me of medieval castles- if they were cleaned and the atmosphere of a damp, uneven-floored chamber were intentionally crafted. Rook leads us over to a cauldron, and I see the nearby bench against the wall. Epel is sitting there, head slumped a little to his right like he's drowsy, but not yet asleep.

Rook snaps his fingers. Epel jolts upright, his head turning rapidly from side to side until he spots us and hurries from his seat to a spot beside the cauldron. He's in his labwear, and, with a flick of his magic pen, so is Rook. Korrak follows suit, swapping his neatly-buttoned jacket, dress shirt, and Pomefiore-purple vest for a dull white lab coat and a pair of the goggles every Pomefiore student has. Mandible chitters something I don't know at him, and, a moment later, me and Grim are the only ones not in labwear- a fact soon made false. Clearly, my practice is paying off.

Rook waves his magic pen again, filling the cauldron with a shimmering liquid I initially fail to recognize as water in the opalescent lighting of the room. Epel looks at us all, moving his goggles down his face to sit over his eyes once Grim taps the clear frame of the cat-adjacent familiar's protective eyewear.

"Now, then," the vice housewarden speaks up, his voice steadfast, "Every Pomefiore student worth their salt needs a flawless pharmalogical grounding." He briefly moves away to fetch a cart with three levels, the upper two of which are covered in a thick, single layer of small glass vials with corks. The top jars look to contain herbs, judging by the faded green and slightly-wilted brown reflected and refracted by the smooth, light-bending surface of their containers. The ones on the middle level, however, appear to contain a collective rainbow of various spices, rocks, furs, and everything else Crewel hasn't let us touch yet, with the exception of equipment.

I squint at the sudden, unmistakable scent of mint wafting off the cart, in spite of the fact that it's on Rook's right and I'm on his left. Grim moves to cover his nose with his paws, but stops when he remembers he's wearing lab gloves and that might not be a bright idea. Looking over, Mandible's nose is twitching like mad- he and Korrak must be getting the brunt of it.

In asingle half-second, I realize Rook is holding his breath, his chest steady instead of slowly moving with his lungs, and then he pushes the cork down onto a vial I hadn't noticed him reaching for, closing it. The aggressive scent of mint wanes and blows away. Rook exhales and inhales, clearly relived. He's a hunter; his sense of smell is sharp. Too-strong oders must be overwhelming to him- they are to me.

A memory surfaces in my mind- falling asleep in a bed of mint, wild mint, dug up and moved to one spot, with Grim in my arms, and then it fades, vanishing like clear gel tossed into the sea. Another event rises into the forefront of my attention, more solid and vivid than the last. The mix of disappointment and sorrow that rose then comes with it, soon yet gradualy overtaken by the sense of apathy that settled into my being back then. That numbness stuck around for years until fate dragged me into this school to reunite with Grim and feel again.

Why did that particular memory surface? What is it that ties then to now, only now? Laying in a bed of mint- oh! My nose is sharper now, much sharper. Back then, I could lie in a bed of it and rest well, but now a meter and a half away is too close.

My familiar stands on all fours and stretches straight up, claws digging ever-so-slightly into the surface of my skin and coat. I snap back to the present. That's right, I'm busy. Busy doing what? Oh, that's right, Rook's helping with upcoming potionology work.

"Now, then..." Rook doesn't talk too much, evidently favoring the act of guiding us by our hands and arms, only commenting when the herbs become involved. Contrawise, he hums near-constantly, one of the melodies bringing the earlier encounter with Korrak and Mandible to my immediate attention. It's the same song.

Rook was there. Good. That means Korrak had some other company. I was a little worried, but now that I know Rook was there to keep an eye on them, some tension I was previously unaware of dissapates like smoke set free from a jar and into the cool evening breeze.

Soon, though, we are back upstairs, in the Backstage Room, discussing as we usually do. I hear someone say the time and our roommates leave me to complete my last two steps with ease, choosing to brush Grim until we're both off to bed. Korrak is asleep by the time we get there, and, soon, Grim curls up in his cat bed as I curl up in my human bed, and then we both close our eyes for the night. My dreams are a single, simple phrase:

"Memory Lane"

[shadowwolflady]

Shadow Intern Part 1

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

Hawks originally denied having Tokoyami as an intern. But the kid's quirk was familiar. He knows of another shadow weaver that may have some insight.

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

Hawks needed some fresh air; leaping out of the agency building, he took a flight to where he could think clearly. The sky always helped to clear his head. He wasn’t tethered down and could float freely among the clouds, without a care. This wasn’t the case for this flight. His blood pumped through his body faster, providing fresh oxygen to his brain to help him think. Now that his brain was cleared, he could focus on the problem posed before him. A file he had read on his computer about a possible intern from U.A. named Tokoyami Fumikage.

Hawks had the teen tag along for a weekend, which wasn’t too bad. But for an entire internship?

Originally, when approached about the offer, Hawks turned it away when handed the paperwork and file. He hated paperwork, always more paperwork. It was mainly the paperwork that told him ‘No’, on top of him not wanting to drag around an extra body, asking questions, not keeping up, and getting in the way. This had been going on for several days this week, with phone calls and more files being delivered to his agency. Another notification pinged in his inbox, he read at the heading ‘Intern’ and the sender, Nezu from UA.

“What does that damn rat want now?” He muttered as he opened the email. Several attachments automatically opened in separate windows on the monitor, one pulling up information on the potential intern and the other the form to fill out for the intern’s shadow days. “Shadow quirk, huh?” He muttered as he leaned his elbow onto the desk and placed his head into his hand. Shadow. A chuckle escaped his throat as he leaned back in his chair before standing up and closing the laptop in front of him. “Looks like I’m going to need some fresh air.” He muttered, adjusting his headphones back onto his ears and pulling down his glasses over his eyes.

Now, he was flying high above Kyushu, heading northeast towards Kyoto. A gloved hand went into a pocket on his jacket, finding the familiar form of his cellphone, he carefully grasped it and pulled it out. Not even bothering to look at the screen, his thumb put in the security code and went into his contacts once the phone opened up. Bringing the device up to eye level, his amber gaze filtered through the names and emojis on the screen as he scrolled through it, until it came upon a black dot along with the word “Shadow” in the name. Amber eyes narrowed at the name for two seconds before his thumb tapped the screen and name, selecting it and making a call. Once the screen switched to the outgoing call, he brought the cellular device up to his right ear, pushing the one earpiece of his headset back.

And it rang.

And another.

And another.

And…

Someone picked up, there was no noise on the other side, just silence. He flapped his wings and slowed his trajectory; this was so he could hear the recipient better over the wind rushing past him. One corner of his mouth lifted up in a lopsided smile, “Hey, little lady. How’s it hangin’? Haven’t heard from you in some time. Just figured I’d give you a heads up before I popped by.”

A scuff came across the earpiece, “Hawks, to what do I owe the pleasure?” A female voice came across the line. She didn’t sound at all impressed to be talking to the man.

“Awe, can’t I give my Commission’s buddy a call?” He asked in a teasing tone. Closing his eyes, a small sweat drop formed on his temple. “You know we haven’t seen each other since I moved out to Kyushu.” Though this was true, he wanted to sugar coat it a little to not make it sound like he was going to just ask for a favor.

“Not without wanting something, usually.” Her voice was monotone, almost as if she had stated from experience. She had figured him out that quickly. There was several seconds of silence. “What is it?” Her tone dropped and held an edge that told him she may have been slightly annoyed.

Hawks’ face turned serious as he scanned the city below him. “I have something to ask of you. I have an intern-“

“No.” A firm decline came across the line crystal clear, cutting him off.

“Now, now. Hear me out.” He sighed.

“I don’t work with kids.” The tone her voice held, made it clear that was the end of their conversation.

He sighed again. “Look, I wouldn’t be calling you if-“

“No.”

Another wing flap as silence engulfed their conversation. About 15 seconds went by before he spoke quietly into the receiver. “He has a shadow quirk.” There was no response on the other end for several seconds. The brief thought that she hung up on him graced his mind. A sigh was heard, disproving his theory. “Just think about it for a bit. I’ll be over Kyoto after sunset.”

“I’m not going to be able to stop you, am I?” She sounded a little irritated.

A triumphant grin spread across his features. “I knew you’d see it my way. See ya.” Pulling the phone from his ear, he hung up on her. Fidgeting more with his phone, he went into his email and responded back to Nezu, ‘Intern. Accepting, on one condition…’ His thumb paused as he thought of how to word the email. Once he formulated a nicely worded email, he hit the send button before placing the phone back into his pocket.

Adjusting his headphones to the correct position, he propelled himself forward. The wind whipped through his messy blonde hair as he raced time.

A buzz and vibration came from his coat pocket. A hand fished his phone out again, eyes glanced at the screen. “That was fast.” He muttered as he opened his phone again. Nezu had responded to his email almost instantly.

ACCEPTED! Was in the header of the response. The corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk as he read the contents of the message.

Just as he said, he crested the skyline of Kyoto just after the sun sank below the western horizon. He descended into Kyoto city. Flying low along the suburban outskirts of the city, his sharp eyes scanned the shadows for a figure. The dwindling light played tricks on his eyes as he scanned the shadows. He circled back, another sweep of the lower rooftops. Amber glinted as he spied a figure on a dark roof of a 3-story building.

“Found you,” Hawks chuckled to himself as he descended swiftly and quietly. He barely made any sound as he landed, his scarlet wings folding elegantly behind him. Stretching his arms over his head, “Hey there, sorry to keep you waiting.” The yellow-tinted glasses were pulled up to rest on top of his head before his hands were shoved back into his pockets.

“You? Keep me waiting? Never.” The female voice came from a black-cloaked figure standing a meter away from the corner of the building. Her voice held a sarcastic tone. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her forearms were covered in black leather arm guards with straps. The front of her hooded cloak split open to reveal her whole attire was black; black leather boots with straps, black leggings, black shirt, black gloves, and black belt. The hood cast a shadow over her face, however, the bottom half of her face was covered with a black mask. The only skin showing was on her face, above the mask that covered her mouth and nose. Pale flesh contrasted against the black fabric, brown eyes, and brown bangs were the only other colors that seemed different among her features. The fringe framed above her eyes and around the side of her face, barely brushing the mask by her cheeks.

Amber took in her dark figure before locking with her brown, “Good to see you, Rogue.”

“Likewise,” She said as Hawks gave her a little bow, bringing his arm across his torso in a flamboyant gesture. “Quit being a show-off.” Rogue’s tone was sharp. Hawks stood up straight and assessed her demeanor. “My answer is still ‘No’.”

Hawks let out a sigh, “Still as cold as ever.” ‘Still an Ice Queen,’ crossed his mind. Digging into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and bypassed the security screen. Opening the email app, he went to the attachments on the email Nezu sent to him, describing Tokoyami. “He has a shadow quirk.”

“I don’t work with kids.” She reiterated as he moved closer to her and held out his phone for her to take. She glanced at his phone. “No.” Was her answer when she looked back up at him. She wasn’t dumb, she knew what the internship was entitled to. She was not allowed to go on any record. She was supposed to be nonexistent. HPSC was going to reem her when they found out.

Looking off to the side, he lowered his voice a little. “Nezu will keep him under my name. You won’t even be mentioned in the reports.” After several seconds, he looked back to his commission senpai. “Did you think I forgot?” His black-gloved hand moved a little, gesturing for her to take the phone. “Don’t worry, you’ll stay in the shadows just as the HPSC wanted.”

Brown eyes analyzed him, flicking down to the device, her arms uncrossed as she reached one hand out to take the phone. A black leather-gloved hand grasped the phone, the leather missing off the fingertips. The calloused skin on her fingertips shifted the images and documents around on the screen as she read over them. Rogue didn’t go into details; she just took in a brief summary of the kid. “I don’t know if I can help him.”

“Oh come on, Shadow Queen, you have to have something up your sleeve.” Hawks gave his best charming grin. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

Rogue shook her head, “I’m afraid you are overestimating me.” That grin doesn’t work on her, and he knows it.

“His weakness is the dark.” Hawks’ voice lowered several notes and the smile left his face. He thought carefully about how to say this, to try to not trigger both of their past horrors from being trained by the Commission. “I’m sure, with your training, you should be able to have some ideas.”

Brown eyes darkened at the mention of her training. Ah, yes. The Commission. Complete and utter hell for them. Her mind’s eye playing a nasty trick and rerunning scenes like a slideshow through her consciousness. She blinked hard, bringing herself back from the dark corners of her mind. “You’re going to try and pawn him off on me, aren’t you?” Rogue’s voice was cold and sharp.

“Now, I didn’t say that.” Hawks looked off to the right as he scratched the back of his neck.

Rogue let out a frustrated sigh. She knew him too well. “You’d rather lay about than inconvenience yourself with an intern.” She scrolled through the document one last time. Once she reached the end, she held the phone out at arm’s length for him to take.

Looking down at his phone, he extended his hand out and retrieved it. Making sure the phone was in sleep mode, he placed it back into his pocket.

She let out another sigh, “I won’t train him, but I can offer some advice.”

A huge grin spread across Hawks’ face, “I’ll take that as a ‘Yes’.”

Rogue quickly pointed her index finger at him, just to get her point across. “I am NOT training him. I am just giving advice. AND you’re paying for my ticket. Got it?”

Hawks adjusted his glasses back over his eyes as his wings started to unfurl. “Gotcha, little lady.” His wings extended fully and gave one strong down stroke to get him hovering off the ground. He gave her a two-fingered salute, “See ya in two weeks, Shadow.” And with that, he turned and took off.

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

2 Weeks Later

Rogue and Hawks stayed in touch through texts mostly.

Feathers- Purchased your tickets! Sent them to your email. (Smiling chibi Hawks and star emojis.)

Shadow- I will check when I get home.

Got it.

Feathers- Let me know when you get on the train and get here. (Followed by a heart emoji.)

Shadow- Boarding now.

Here.

Feathers- Glad to see you made it, little lady! (Followed by a heart emoji.)

Sorry I couldn’t meet ya, but duty calls! (Peace sign chibi Hawks emoji.)

Shadow- Where are you?

Feathers- My agency.

Shadow- I will be around.

Feathers- K! (Peace sign chibi Hawks emoji.)

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

Rogue, in civilian clothes, scuffed as she reread the messages on her phone. She had left the Shinkansen platform and made her way out of the station, dragging a small suitcase behind her. Following the flow of traffic, she made her way to a small Tokyo Inn not even a 5-minute walk from the station.

Once she settled in, she made her way out of the room by her patio, melting into the shadows clothed in her hero outfit. Now, she stayed in a dark alleyway, avoiding the lights as they began to turn on for the night.

It took a while for her to find them, but the unmistakable red and yellow blur in the sky led her straight to them. Using her quirk, she hid among the shadows, teleporting among the alleys and buildings as she kept up with the duo.

In typical Hawks fashion, he sped away from his intern, leaving him way behind.

3 hours went by, Rogue didn’t need to be there, but within the first couple of minutes, she was able to pick out the main problem.

Rogue stood near the corner of another 3-story building as a red and yellow blur shot past her before arching back and landing on the ledge of the building next to her. It was Hawks.

“So, what do you think?” Hawks said.

“You’re lucky you’re cute, or else I wouldn’t have agreed to this. It’s not going to be easy to make him realize that he is the one keeping himself back.” Rogue had a finger curled around her chin as she put the pieces together.

Hawks put on his charm, acting bashful as he folded his arms behind his head and smiled at her, “Awe, thanks! I love you, too!”

Brown eyes darted to her right and glared at him as she scuffed in disgust. Rogue turned her attention back to the black-clad teen running towards them on the street below. Tokoyami stopped below them and looked up and down the street, panting heavily while Dark Shadow swiveled around trying to find Hawks as well.

“Well, what do you think?” Hawks looked down to the lamp-lit street.

“I think,” Rogue turned to look at Hawks, crossing her arms over her chest, “you’re right. He’s similar to you. However, he needs to have those training wheels ripped off.”

With her comment, Hawks leaped off the ledge and dove down to the street below, picking the kid up and flying off to one of the tallest towers with a radio antenna on top of it.

Rogue couldn’t help but watch with her mouth slack as they took off. Once she noticed where they were going, she broke line of sight. “Nope, nope. Not me. I’m not going up there. Nope.” She turned and stepped into a dark black fire that engulfed her, teleporting her to the street below.

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

Please note. Rogue has Hawks' contact under Feathers in her phone. While Hawks has her under Shadow.

Part 2

[taruchinator]

💭 General Audiences

💭 3k Words

💭 For the #TWEWYSecretSanta2022 event!

A small platform was incorporated into the box as a stand for the plushies, which were all aligned perfectly next to each other and attached by yarn so that they wouldn't fall. Rhyme stared wide eyed at the variety, with Beat taking a few peeks here and there.

What immediately caught his attention was a particular doll at the very back.

The cat plushie wore a sleeveless purple tank top, white cargo shorts and a yellow wristband around it's tiny paw. But most telling of all, was what was placed on its head— felt-made purple headphones.

“Yo, Shiki. Is that supposed to be Phones?”

Greetings once more, dear friends! 👋

You'll be seeing lots of me in these few days all thanks to my love for joining events, even during the Holidays— such as this wonderful TWEWY Secret Santa! ❄

This story was created for @stumblynn, who wanted some BeatNeku and I'm always happy to deliver on that~ I really hope you like this one, since I had lots of fun with it!

Thank you to the mods of @twewysecretsanta for organizing this!

If there was one thing Beat didn't understand, it was fashion.

He was the type of guy who would stick to the basics and simply wear whatever he found most comfortable, not really caring for the way it looked. Sure, he had favorite shirts or sneakers with cool designs on them, but that was about it.

The entire industry from different brands, to what was ‘trending’, or what was considered fashionable was completely beyond him.

But considering that one of his best friends was a successful fashion designer, he figured he could always give it his best whenever she needed help. And this was one of those instances, even though technically he wasn't the one who was asked for assistance.

A few days earlier, his little sister Rhyme had gotten a text from Shiki asking if she could come to her home to give her opinion on a new line of toys she was working on— an exclusive lineup only available for the holidays.

Why would Shiki be making toys of all things? Because these would be Mr. Mew character themed plushies, and the brunette was mostly working on designing the clothes and accessories for each little cat doll.

Rhyme happily agreed, feeling excited to see Mr. Mew again along with other adorable doppelgangers. The only issue was that the brunette was only available in the evenings due to her tight working schedule, and Beat still had his reservations about letting his sister go out alone at night. The Reapers' Game was something that really helped in making one more paranoid than usual, after all.

Because of this, the youngest sibling asked Shiki if it would be alright for Beat to tag along, to which the Gatto Nero founder had agreed on instantly.

And so, that's how they ended up in their friend's apartment waiting for a Mr. Mew runway.

“Oh Shiki, this is so exciting! I can't wait to see what you came up with!” Rhyme's voice dripped with glee as she kept swinging her legs back and forth from the chair she was sitting on.

Beat couldn't stop the soft smile that spread across his face as he chuckled lightly. “Is good to know my little sister still likes this sorta stuff.”

A blush spread across the blonde girl's cheeks as she rolled her eyes and lightly punched her older brother's arm. “Of course I do! Shiki makes amazing things, plus I'm trying to be an objective customer here!”

The oldest chuckled once more as he raised his hands in defense. “Whateva you say, sis!”

“Alright you two, I appreciate the liveliness you bring to my home, but I believe someone is all set and ready for you!” Shiki's voice cut between the siblings as she finally returned from her sewing room, holding a large box with a white curtain covering the front and placing it as gently as she could on top of the coffee table.

Rhyme's attention was quickly brought back to the task at hand as she started clapping and smiling like a child on Christmas morning. “Yes! Let's do it!”

Both Beat and Shiki chuckled at the girl's enthusiasm. It was always so infectious. After a moment, the brunette proceeded to adjust her glasses and give a quick bow before her guests as she proudly presented the cardboard box. “Miss and gentleman! May I present Gatto Nero's very first and one of a kind— Mr. Mew Plush Winter Collection!”

As soon as the words left Shiki's mouth, she pulled back the curtain to reveal the dolls inside.

The inside of the box was decorated to look like an actual runway, adorned with wintery items such as snowmen and mistletoe in the background in the form of drawings. A small platform was incorporated as a stand for the plushies, which were all aligned perfectly next to each other and attached by yarn so that they wouldn't fall.

Rhyme stared wide eyed at the variety, with Beat taking a few peeks here and there.

He recognized some of the figures the cat was dressed as. A few from what he'd seen around Shibuya and others based on some of Rhyme's interests— he was also pretty sure he recognized a character from that one game Rindo liked thrown into the mix.

What immediately caught Beat's attention however, was a pair of plushies that remained in the back of the display.

These weren't as detailed as the ones on the front, most likely earlier versions of what Shiki had actually intended to do with the plush doll idea.

The first doll had a black beanie with a large skull imprint on the front. It's clothes consisted of a simple sleeveless white tank with loose light brown cargo pants, as well as what seemed to be tiny accessories like a chain necklace and spiky wristbands.

If he didn't know any better, Beat would think that Mr. Mew was dressed like him from a few years ago.

It was the second doll however, that made him stop and have to do a double take.

The cat plushie wore a sleeveless purple tank top, white cargo shorts and a yellow wristband around it's tiny paw. But most telling of all, was what was placed on its head— felt-made purple headphones.

“Yo, Shiki. Is that supposed to be Phones?” The blonde stood from his seat on the couch and pointed at the Neku lookalike with wide eyes.

Shiki was caught off-guard for a moment— a confused look on her face, until she turned to where her friend was pointing, and a blush quickly spread across her cheeks as she giggled. “Oh! That's where I left those! Yeah, they're actually meant to be you and Neku.”

Rhyme leaned in to take a closer look, and let a smile grace her lips as she saw the dolls. “Aww, I can totally see the resemblance! The expressions are so on point, too~”

“Haha, I'm glad you think so! To get used to sewing clothes on a smaller scale, I tried starting with patterns I was familiar with.” The older girl picked up the Mr. Neku doll and tugged at the small wristband while giving a little wave. “Beat and Neku's outfits back then kinda got imprinted in my head, so it was a no brainer. Plus they were lots of fun to do as a warm up!”

“Well I think these look great for being warm ups!” Rhyme picked up the Mr. Beat plush and wiggled its arms around with a smile on her face, which in turn brought a smile to the teen's own face.

“You guys can have them, if you want! I was planning on you taking one as a thank you for your troubles, anyway.” Turning towards the older sibling, Shiki raised a questioning eyebrow as she held the Neku plush. “Not sure if you'd want this one though, so feel free to pick another, Beat!”

Taking one final look at the plushie in her hands, the blonde couldn't help but agree with his sister's earlier statement. The expressions were quite uncanny.

As he stared at the familiar grumpy face of Mr. Neku, Beat chuckled and gratefully took the doll from his friend's hands. “Nah, 'is cool! Wouldn't wanna ruin the set. He a cute little fella, anyway!”

Both Rhyme and Shiki exchanged looks at that statement, causing Beat to raise an eyebrow in confusion, until the words replayed in his head and red immediately covered his face. “I-I'm talkin' 'bout the doll, yo!”

“Sure you are, big brother~” Rhyme said in a sing-song voice, to which the brunette couldn't contain her giggles as Beat huffed in annoyance, cheeks still dusted with a hint of pink.

Moments like these really reminded him of the glory days from when he was an only child.

The Mr. Neku doll had come in handy more times than Beat cared to admit.

After searching for his best friend in the confines of the UG for more than two years, the blonde still had his fair share of nightmares recalling the traumatic experience of not only seeing him die in front of him over and over, but also picture scenarios in which he never found him in the first place and was still out there looking.

He tried keeping these to himself, especially from Rhyme since he didn't want to worry her— although he had a hunch that she already knew to some extent.

One night however, after waking up in cold sweat from one of these regular night terrors, the teen's hand instinctively reached for the feline plushie and held it against him as he tried to calm his rapid heartbeat. In a matter of minutes, Beat was sound asleep, with nothing but pleasant dreams filling his subconscious.

It didn't take long for the boy to notice the pattern of how whenever he'd sleep with the Mr. Neku doll he'd have good dreams, while if he slept without it, the nightmares would come back full force. As such, it became a habit to never go to sleep without his good luck charm by his side.

Why was this method effective? Maybe because having a physical reminder that his friend was back safe and sound was exactly what his mind needed to find peace. Maybe it was also because the doll was just too darn cute and resembled Neku in more ways than one, and only intensified the blonde's feelings for the other boy even more.

But he would rather die and go through the entire Reaper's Game again than admitting that out loud.

“I'm heading out! We need more milk. Do you want anything?”

Rhyme broke through the silence that was her older brother's thoughts as he sat down for dinner, scrolling aimlessly through his DMs after answering back to some of their friends about a meet up the following week. He raised his eyebrows in question. “What'cha goin' out for? We can just call mom and pops if somethin's missin'.”

The teenage girl reached for her backpack hanging by the entrance and turned to the boy with a smile. “Kaie messaged me to meet up. Something about a new app he's developing that he wants my thoughts on. So, I figured I could just stop by on the way.”

Beat chuckled as he pushed his almost empty bowl of rice to the side. “Looks like my little sister's turning into a real big shot programmer someday! Don't forget about the little guys like us when that happens, 'kay?”

Rhyme rolled her eyes, but smirked in her brother's direction as she unlocked the door. “I won't, don't worry. I wouldn't be able to forget you even if I wanted to~”

“Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!”

“I think it means you're good at leaving an impression.”

The third voice caught the siblings off-guard for a moment, until they realized who the figure at the door was. Rhyme smiled and went for a hug instantly. “Hey Neku!”

“Hey, you guys! Sorry for barging in, the door was open so…” Neku chuckled as he returned the younger blonde's embrace. After that, he turned upwards to address the oldest sibling on the far end of the room, waving a couple of notebooks in his hand. “Thought I should stop by and return these.”

“Dang, you done already? Took me weeks to learn all that algebra shit for the test!” Beat chuckled as he stood from his seat and walked towards the duo.

After returning to the RG, both he and Neku had lots of catching up to do, and among those matters was the dreaded subject of school. Beat was lucky enough to have an incredibly talented genius sister who had taken notes from all his classes thanks to the permission given to her by the principal.

Neku however, wasn't as fortunate. Because of this, the blonde had insisted that the other boy copy his notes to get up to speed on all subjects. That was a mere two weeks ago.

“As much as I'd love to sit here and listen to how copying my poor brother's notes went, I have somewhere to be. It was nice seeing you, Neku!” Rhyme chimed in and quickly headed for the open door. Reaching for her pocket, she pulled out her keys and phone for Beat to see. “And yes, my phone is fully charged.”

Before either boy could say anything, she closed the door behind her with a soft click.

“Can't believe how grown up she is. Not like she and Shiki weren't more mature than us back then too, right?” Neku broke the silence as he turned to his best friend with a small smile.

Beat couldn't help but nod and stare at the door with a hint of melancholy in his eyes. “You can say that again, dawg. Rhyme's always been independent, but now 'is like she's goin' at her own rhythm, ya know? Makes me wonder when she won't be needing me anymore…”

Neku sighed at that statement, and quickly placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder. It was a… comforting touch. “Like she said, she couldn't get rid of you even if she wanted to. And something tells me she doesn't want to, especially when she's got someone like you caring so much for her.”

In another circumstance, the blonde might've blushed at such a comment, but he tried his best to keep it cool and just return a smile instead despite the increasing sound of his heartbeat. “Thanks man. That means a lot coming from you.”

“Anytime. Anyway, should I just leave these in your room?” The red head smiled but then changed the subject as he pointed at the notebooks that were still in his hand.

Beat nodded and quickly made his way back into the kitchen as he replied. “Yeah, fo' sure! I'ma heat you up some rice to take home, too. We gots too much left over, so it shouldn't go to waste!”

Neku grinned and headed for the room he had been to many times before. “Very thoughtful of you. Your mom told you to say that to any guests that come by?”

The blonde merely huffed. “So what if she did?”

Another chuckle resonated as Neku disappeared from Beat's field of vision. The blonde rolled his eyes, but still grabbed a small container from the clean dishes and began scooping chunks of rice until it was full. Once he closed it off, he reached for a plastic bag and gently placed the container inside for easy travel.

His mother would definitely be proud of the handiwork.

Taking the bag with one hand, the older boy headed for his room and placed it on one of the drawers with a grin decorating his features. “Trust me man, if anyone knows how to do some good rice, 'is my mom! You gonna be beggin' for more once-”

The words were immediately caught in Beat's throat as he saw Neku standing by his bedside, holding a very familiar plushie between his hands. His mind went blank as he began mentally kicking himself over not remembering the furry companion that now lived with him.

There was just no logical explanation for either how or why Beat had something like this in his room, but all he could do was try to save any dignity he had left as he began mumbling his story. “O-Oh, that! Yeah so um, Shiki was workin' on some weird dolls a-and she asked Rhyme for help on how they were goin' and this one was one of 'em! S-She gave it to me and well, I just, I-”

After rambling for what felt like ages, Neku silenced the blonde in one of the most bizarre ways he could've imagined— by placing Mr. Neku's muzzle against Beat's lips.

Beat's eyes widened in confusion, until the other boy turned to him from behind the doll and smiled softly. “If you wanted me as a cuddle buddy, all you had to do was ask.”

At that statement, the implication behind the innocent gesture finally clicked in his brain and the blonde's cheeks lit aflame as he scrambled backwards. Neku chuckled at the other's expression and started rubbing at the back of his head sheepishly. “Guess I'm gonna have to ask Shiki when that Mr. Beat doll is gonna be ready, cause after seeing this guy, I really want mine too.”

Beat stared as the blush began to subside. “A-A doll? Fo' you?!”

It was Neku's turn to blush as he adverted his gaze to the floor. “What can I say? The idea just sounded really comforting when she suggested it. Although, I'm sure it wouldn't compare to the real deal…”

The blonde stared for a long time, until eventually the thought of Neku sleeping with a Mr. Beat doll was far too cute to pass up. He smiled sheepishly too— scratching at the back of his neck as he stared at the boy he grew to be so very fond of. “Well… why not test it out?”

It was safe to say that the duo had a wonderful rest that night, with Rhyme having to tiptoe around the house to prevent the sleepy teens from waking up. Not before taking a picture to share with her brother later, of course.

Neku was right. Cuddling next to the one he loved was a far cry from doing so with his plushie doll.

And even though Beat would be keeping Mr. Neku, along with Mr. Beat once he was complete, the blonde was glad to know that he could reach out to the real deal in times of need, even more so after realizing that perhaps they were more similar than they had previously thought.

If the next day was filled with embarrassing comments and unstoppable teasing from his sister along with their friends who she gossiped to, he would just have to handle it.

After surviving a Reaper's Game, everything else seemed a little less scary, especially when he wasn't at it alone.

✧ TWITTER ✧ INSTAGRAM ✧ AO3 ✧

✧ WATTPAD ✧ KO-FI ✧

[finniestoncrane]

I’m gonna put in one more request before your 1k celebration is over. Which you definitely deserve!! You are absolutely amazing! But can I also get number 9 pretty please.

Ok! I’m American specifically from the south. I’m gender-fluid and most days dress either like a stereotypical professor or I look like I just crawled outta bed. I come off as a grump because I get uncomfortable easy and shut down. I’m currently working towards a dual degree in history and art. I play video games, collect comics and action figures. I like to build model tanks and things. I get extremely emotionally attached to my things and hate when people touch them. I like to read but only physical books. I really like tea and don’t care for coffee. I’ll eat and or try just about anything any thing I won’t eat usually comes down to texture. I am extremely excitable, and often have a hard time controlling my volume in most situations. Once you brake through my grumpy mask I’m a goofball. I like to learn about others interests. I heavily dislike being in public and usually wear my headphones so I don’t get overwhelmed. I’m always down to do anything with my friends. I get frustrated easily, especially when I know I can do better. I will stand up for anyone and everyone but myself. I swing very heavily between states of hyperfocus and dissociation. I have anxiety and depression along with adhd. I’m the oldest of three siblings and I’m very close with both my brother and sister. I’m a very touchy person with most people I’m comfortable with. Touchy to an absurd degree actually. Once I like you I have no concept of personal space. I also make people 10x mean to me in my head. I love animals and have a single fur baby. A cat named catness. A chronic migraine haver.

I’m so sorry this is so long. And nothing is in order. My brain just ran with it. But keep up the amazing work finnie!! I appreciate you so so much my friend!! 💚💚

🎀 No.9: Ever Fallen In Love With Someone 🎀

tell me a little bit about yourself and i'll give you a rogue pairing a/n: ok yep giving it to the cutest little obssessive bean (and i'm so sorry there are so few images of her ;-;) 1k milestone info! 🔞minors dni🔞 • kofi • tag: finnie1k

right first of all fluidity and adaptability? super key to this harley. like i don't know she seems ready to flip her whole self up on a whim and be who she wants to be on that specific day

she might seem a tad grumpy too, or maybe rage-filled, but it's just because she's so determined and outgoing so you're like opposites attract in that sense, which would be good for grounding each other!

cutesie nerd couple vibes honestly, i think she'd be a comic book nerd and i can see you both layign on your stomachs kicking your legs and giggling at dumb superheroes together

this harley is super patient, like she'll wait for something and/or work out how to get it exactly and i know from experience this is key when it comes to model building cos those fuckers require a steady hand and the patience of a saint

hello hammer, hello joker, hello you. harley knows a thing or two about being emotional attachment

trying new things is everythign to her, how else are you going to stumble upon brand new favourites or a new arch-nemesis??? so she'd be down to go to different restaurants with you and do that disgustingly romantic, cutesie thing of ordering four dishes and sharing them all while you feed each other with linked arms

harley is the most exciteable little thing to ever walk the planet, and i think the two of you would both be volume control-less wonders together because she can go from 0 to 60 on the volume scale for literally no other reason than she saw something that she wanted to squish with love

same with the grumpy mask hiding a goofball. yeah she might seem terrifyign and quick to rage, but she's just a little clown, just a little harlequin, just looking for a good and fun and silly time

ok so don't worry about standing up for yourself, because harley is 100% there for you on that front, and that includes in public when you're overwhelmed and you need someone to barge through the crowd and make a path for you to safety

literally you're almost the same person here, the touchy thing? very physical attention focused. will squish cheeks, pat heads, grab butts, smoosh tummies, hold hands constantly and go out of her way to not have to let go, she's touching you in some way at most times if you're one of her people

she's definitely an animal lover, anything cutesie that she can hold and pet (you included) are top tier in her world

and hey she might not be the healthiest person in terms of her mind, but she'll try her damndest to make sure you feel supported and at your happiest when you're ready to feel that emotion, otherwise, she'll wallow right there with you until you feel like getting up again

[jimmy-valmer-official]

Hi I am a really old man...I donot know how to use "TUMBLR"...but can u writ e astory about how "JIMMY VALMER" get KIDNAPPED by "NATHAN" and then there is...Epic fight Battle scene

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Lmao sure! Tbh the only way I could envision this happening was if there were like, some sort of hero/villain dynamic, so… superhero au!

i dunno if i’d call this fight scene “epic,” but it’s certainly something…

posting it here too v

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The sound of a clock ticked on softly, the gentle tick’s of the second hand merging into each other, the pacing not quite right.

Or maybe Jimmy was just too dazed to process it right, only half awake as he laid on what he could only assume was hard tile in the middle of a cold bedroom, yawning and scrubbing his eyes with the edge of his palm. He had been unconscious just a few minutes prior, and now he was struggling to keep his eyes open to figure out where he was.

He could feel the familiar weight of his headphones attached securely to his head, and in his foggy awareness, he clumsily reached up to touch them with his fingers. He racked his sluggish mind and tried to figure out what he could have possibly been doing before this that required him to be in uniform, but nothing immediately came to mind.

He blinked a few times, and just then, a shadow cast over his face and a familiar voice called his name from above him. It admittedly startled him a bit.

“Oh, you woke up.” His voice was on the slower side, as if every word was deliberately being planned out, and his words were pronounced in a way that was just slightly off. It was deeply familiar, and for a fraction of a second, Jimmy was reminded of summer camp. “I was kind of hoping you were dead.”

His vision focused gradually, and as it did, he finally recognized the person standing above him. His uneasiness fizzled out in a matter of seconds. “Oh… Nathan? Is that you?”

“Who else would it be?”

Jimmy squinted at him for a moment and then slowly propped himself up on his elbow before sitting up, a confused expression settling on his face as he looked around. The bedroom was… simple, really. There was a small bed in one corner and some miscellaneous movie posters with rugged looking people on them scattered around the walls. A few pieces of trash were on the ground.

But it certainly wasn’t his bedroom. It must have been Nathan’s— the posters fit him rather well, after all. And, well, Nathan was standing right there.

Why was he at Nathan’s house, anyway…?

“Why’d- why- why did you… What's going on?” He asked. “I don’t remember coming over.”

“Well of course you don’t,” Nathan said with annoyance, stepping back a little and giving him an odd look. “I had to drag you over here myself. It was hard with so many people around.” He looked away, distantly watching the ceiling. “I had to sneak around in the alleyways... It was dirty work. But I managed.”

Jimmy tilted his head after a moment, confused. “Why?”

“What?”

“Why?” He repeated, wondering if Nathan hadn’t heard him correctly. “If you wanted to hang out, th- then you could’ve just asked. I’m free on Fridays.”

For some reason, Nathan seemed to ripple at this, scowling slightly. “What? No, that’s not what I meant! I don’t want to hang out with you! I— Ugh…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. “I took you to my house because I want to eliminate you. You’ve ruined my life enough times already, and I am so… fucking tired of it.”

“Um…” Jimmy scratched his head, trying to decipher the meaning of his words. “I don’t quite follow.”

“I’m going to kill you, Jimmy,” he said bluntly.

A beat of silence passed, and then Jimmy slightly smiled at him. “Oh, yeah? Wow, thu- thh… that’s pretty funny, Nathan. I didn’t know you liked jokes.”

Nathan gritted his teeth with frustration. “Damn it, this isn’t a joke! Ugh, you’re just as stupid as Mimsy… I hate you so much.”

“Your acting is fantastic,” Jimmy responded passively. “Have you ever considered joining th- the theater department?”

Nathan shot him a sharp glare that lasted a lot longer than necessary, and then he wiped his hands on his shirt and turned towards his closet. “I’m not about to deal with this right now. Just shut up and let me grab my murder weapon.”

“Murder weapon…?” Jimmy watched him carefully, and the sense of ease in his body flickered like a dying candle. “What do you mean? You wuh- you weren’t actually being serious, were you?”

Nathan glanced back at him as he wrapped his fingers around the closet handle. “Are you an idiot? Of course I was being serious. I’m going to kill you.”

Realization struck Jimmy like an electric shock as the dots connected in his head. His jaw dropped. “Hold on. Nathan, are you a bad guy…?”

“I’ve been a bad guy this whole time!” Nathan turned to him fully, his voice slightly raised now. “What part of that did you not understand?”

Jimmy frowned, thinking back to all of his previous encounters with him. It just didn’t make any sense. “…Really? I thought we were friends… R- really?”

“… I hate you so much.”

“Huh…” He glanced down, a little disappointed now. How had he not noticed before that Nathan disliked him? He could’ve sworn that he was just really competitive…

He scanned the room once more. Well… he didn’t really feel like dying today. He finally remembered what he had been doing before he got here— him and a few of the other heroes were searching for a gang of thieves, and then they got caught up in a fight with them in a parking lot. Jimmy remembered getting thrown into a wall, and then… well, he wasn’t sure what happened afterwards. Where had Nathan even come from?

And… Wait…

“…Hey, wh- where are my crutches?”

Nathan scoffed and turned back around, getting back on task and pulling open his closet. “Oh, those are long gone already. I threw them into a lake on the wau here.”

“You what?”

Silence.

Jimmy stared at Nathan for a long moment as he shuffled through a worn out looking box under some hung up clothing. He pushed things around for quite a while until he stopped, huffed, and then straightened up empty-handed. “Damn it… where is it?”

Jimmy was still stuck on the fact that his crutches were at the bottom of some lake.

“Hey, Nathan, come here for a second,” he said after a minute, and then his blank countenance became friendly. “It was a n- nh… it was a knife, wasn't it?”

To his relief, Nathan looked at him again, wide-eyed, and hesitated. “How the fuck did you know?”

“It’s right over here, next to me. You m- might’ve dropped it.”

Though he seemed distrustful at first, Nathan reluctantly separated from his closet and slowly walked over to him again. When he was close enough, he leaned over slightly to look at the empty spot at Jimmy’s side. “Where?”

And then Jimmy lurched forward, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and punched him square in the jaw.

Nathan cursed, staggering backwards for a moment from the impact as his hand shot up to grab his chin. Jimmy retracted his fist and glared at him, propping himself up slightly with his other arm.

“What the hell??” Nathan hissed after stumbling around for a few long seconds.

“You deserved that!” Jimmy exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how much those co—”

Before he could finish his sentence, Nathan ran forward and practically barreled into him in a furious retaliation, crouching a bit to push him over with his momentum. Jimmy startled as he crashed into the ground, his back painfully slamming onto the solid floor. Nathan’s knees pressed into his legs as he clambered on top of him and grabbed him by the shoulders.

“That fucking hurt!” He said angrily, and before Jimmy could respond, he punched him back, slamming his fist into his cheek.

And he punched hard.

Jimmy was only dazed for a second or two, and then the adrenaline kicked in.

Before Nathan could attack him again, Jimmy reached up and pushed against his chest with as much force as he could muster, successfully shoving him off. Nathan landed on his chest beside him, and Jimmy swiftly got off of his back and crawled over to him. Nathan tried to lift himself up with shaky arms, and when Jimmy tried to push him back down with his own body weight, pressing his hand against his back to try and get him on the ground again, Nathan twisted slightly and tightly grabbed his wrist.

They wrestled with each other for a good minute or so, pushing at each other and occasionally trying to land hits on each other. At some point, Jimmy’s headphones were knocked off of his head, and they clattered against the ground beside them. They both managed to get a few nasty punches in, but neither of them dared to call it quits.

But when the abrupt sound of the window opening cut through the air, they froze, the sounds of their scuffle instantly halting. They both looked towards the window in a perfectly preserved position of violence— Nathan’s hand was clutching Jimmy’s sleeve and his nose was bleeding, and Jimmy’s fist poised just inches away from Nathan’s face.

The intruders, unsurprisingly, were none other than three of Jimmy’s trusted teammates, Mysterion, Mosquito, and Human Kite, each in their respective uniforms; they all took in the picture in front of them with evident surprise, staring for a long time, seemingly frozen as well.

Nathan was the first to break the awkwars silence, letting go of Jimmy in an instant and quickly pulling away from him. Jimmy landed flat on his stomach with a quiet ‘oof’ as a result. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.”

With that, the others snapped out of their trance and quickly bustled into the room. Human Kite lingered behind as Mysterion quickly went and stood between Jimmy and Nathan, facing the latter with his hands slightly raised as if prepared to take action if Nathan were to try to fight him. But Nathan only stood there with a somewhat cautious yet annoyed expression, backing away slightly in reluctant surrender.

Mosquito urgently scurried over to Jimmy and gently lifted him to help him sit up, resting a hand on his back and shoulder to support him. “Woah, hey, are you alright, Ji— Fastpass?”

Right. They were supposed to be undercover. Nathan knew who Jimmy was, but he didn’t know the identity of any of the other heroes. Jimmy had almost forgotten that.

“Y- yeah,” he muttered, rubbing his cheek. He could feel his adrenaline rush quickly receding, but his heart was still pounding. “I’m fine...”

“What the fuck happened?” Human Kite asked from the back, looking from Jimmy to Nathan and then back again. “We were all fighting together and then you just disappeared, dude. We were really worried.”

“Yeah, we only found you because you had your headphones’ signal on,” Mosquito said. One of his wings twitched behind him, fueled solely by nerves. “But it cut off a few minutes before we got here. Thank god Mysterion’s memory is so reliable, bzzt.”

Mysterion’s tone was much more serious than the other two’s, almost threateningly so. “I’m guessing this guy abducted you since you were both fighting, right?” He kept his attention fixated on Nathan. “I can take care of him if you want. It’ll be easy.”

Jimmy couldn’t see Mysterion’s expression, but he could tell by the shift from agitation to slight uneasiness on Nathan’s face that it wasn’t a pleasant one. Although Jimmy was still upset with him, something in his gut twisted, and a pang of sympathy shot through him.

He locked eyes with Nathan for a single moment, but the silent message that passed between them was far too complicated to understand.

The smartest thing to do would be to tell Mysterion to have at it, but…

Maybe a part of him still saw him as a friend, or maybe he just felt bad for him. But for whatever reason, Jimmy slouched slightly and his gaze drifted away from Nathan as he shook his head.

“N- no, Mysterion, it’s okay. I came here on my own to settle… pu- personal matters with him. Leave him alone.”

Mysterion looked at him and his stance faltered. “Wait, what? Are you sure?”

Jimmy nodded. A mixture of utter confusion, relief, and something much more ambiguous settled on Nathan’s features, and it filled Jimmy with an odd sense of satisfaction.

His heart stopped pounding so fast. Everything seemed to settle.

A powerful sense of fatigue settled in his aching body, and he leaned a bit more into Mosquito with a huff. In response to the added weight, Mosquito jumped slightly and quickly scrambled to get a better hold on him.

“Jesus…” Jimmy began. “Who- who knew that f- fuh- fucking people up would be so taxing.”

Human Kite approached him and crouched down in front of him, looking him over carefully, likely checking his injuries. “Well yeah, what did you expect?” He asked sarcastically. His gaze lingered on a spot on the side of Jimmy’s face that Nathan had punched with a notable amount of vigor.

Human Kite lifted a finger and gently pressed on it, and Jimmy stiffened with discomfort, ducking his head away. The other hummed thoughtfully. “We’ll have to patch you up at the base. Come on, we should go… Or, uh. Huh.”

He looked around for a moment, clearly puzzled.

“Where are your crutches?”

Mysterion watched him curiously now, Nathan awkwardly looking up at the ceiling again. Mosquito buzzed quietly behind him.

Jimmy hesitated, and then he awkwardly laughed.

“Broke ‘em.”

[le-stickynote]

Bi - Weekly Plant Update !! [00]

(Just a little series where I update everyone on how my plants are doing and yap about them in general :3🙏)

((Sorry in advance for any typos/bad punctuation💀🙏))

Okay!! So, I figured that a good way to begin this series would be by introducing my plants and their lore! (Dun dun duuun!!) ((Basically just how I got em)) :33

So, around the start of my Freshman year, I signed up to be apart of this STEM group where we learned to code, connected with nature or something, and learned how to use power tools 💪💪

During one of our meetings, we were tasked to build a greenhouse, which we'd then attach a sensor to monitor the humidity inside of said greenhouse, thus making it easier to gauge when to water whatever plant would end up inside of it.

Sadly, the computers never ended up connecting, so we just moved on to the next thing :(

Cut to sometime around,, January? By this point the program was over and we'd "graduated" from it. We had a small party where we drove water boats or something around this pool, got to eat food while the staff congratulated us for going to all of the meetings, and at the end they gave us a little gift (I got headphones ^_^), as well as the greenhouses we built and a small plant to go in it !!

And that's how my plant collection started, with my first baby,, Tennis Ball !! (The name my friend recommended ;P)

Look at him!! Look at my baby boy!! :D

But of course, after having Tennis Ball for a few weeks, I couldn't just,,, not get another plant,,

So that's how I got this cool baby !!

Around my family, he's Stan A. But around my friends, he's Stank ass 🙏 (No, he doesn't smell, ((I don't think he does atleast)), I just thought it was a funny name ^_^)

Then, a couple weeks later at a flea market with my grandparents, we found this lady selling plants, and that's how I got this fella:

This little guy here is Basketball !! :33

At some point I actually did forget his name and would refer to him as "little orphan boy" because he came in a square container, thus meaning he was an outcast amongst the others (no, I will not expand upon this-).

Then, maybe like, a week later(?) Me and my dad were at a Lowes so he could buy cow manure or something for his plants, and he pointed out the little shelf of succulents and was like, ",,do you want another one? Maybe one of the ones that look like an actual cactus?"

So me, having already three plants by this point, looked at all the succulents, at all the colorful flowers with cool dye, and said, "ykw,,, why not,," and grabbed the only one that wasnt full-grown,,

And that's how I got Bob!! The only cactus that didn't have a flower ^_^

He also came with a cool little plastic thing on top that I could hold him by :3

All of these photos are from last year, so here's a recent photo I took about two(?) days ago so you guys can compare them and see how far they've come!! :D

As you can see, they've all been moved into terracotta pots !! This is because (as you can see with Stank Ass) they were getting too big for their containers, as well as the fact that my dad thought it'd be good for them because their dirt wasn't exactly the best.

And don't they just look so nice? :]

They’ve all actually come a pretty long way since when I first gotten them- and I've come a pretty long way in terms of caring for them as well!!

Admittedly, leaving a plant in the hands of someone who forgets to eat unless reminded isn't the best idea, but I'm pretty glad I've got them !!

They're my babies and I love them as if I birthed them 🙏🙏 <33

Anyways,,, if you've gotten to this point then congrats!! And thanks for reading all this too ^_^ Even if you clicked on this and skimmed it, I'm just happy to be able to share my love of succulents with someone else !! :D

[yoongifis]

strawberries and so many kisses and tongues with yoongi please 🥺

thank you for sending in a prompt!! thought it was cute and instantly thought of something hehe! :D

~

💌 | myg drabble 02

pairing: idol!yoongi x female!reader

genre: fluff

warnings: nothing really! just some cute content :’) (when is it my turn to be happy ;___;)

a/n: didn’t proofread much, so i apologize for any mistakes in advance!! hope you enjoy <33

-

As usual, he’s cooped up in his little office that he has in the apartment you two share. Yoongi didn’t really want to have one in the first place when you guys were looking at apartments, but it couldn’t be helped as his work kept piling on.

Him and the boys have gotten bigger now in terms of popularity. He’s been reached out by western artists, asking him if he could produce something for them, and is even helping with the production of some of the newer groups of hybe.

He’s a workaholic, practically married to what he loves to do. (nevertheless, you’re still his one and only love and first priority.)

It doesn't bother you too much whenever he does things like this. It only does when he stays there for the whole day, only coming out a couple times—which doesn’t happen often. You do your best in keeping quiet, allowing him to have that time to focus, especially when it’s crucial. Yoongi, on the other hand, insists that you stay in the room with him “to keep him on track”, but we know how that would turn out.

You hum to yourself, cutting up fruits to give to Yoongi since he passed on having breakfast. You figured that some fresh fruit would give him more energy—very light and sweet! You pop a strawberry into your mouth, scrunching your nose at the taste.

…Ah…sour.

You brush it off, hoping that the rest of the fruits end up being sweet.

-

“Yoongi?” You peek your head into the room, slowly pushing the door open as you make your way in, only to come face-to-face with his back. Headphones on top of his messy black hair, a baggy white t-shirt on paired with his grey sweatpants. You know you could never get tired of looking at your boyfriend. He’s insanely handsome, and he already knows that because you remind him about it every chance you get.

Your eyes wander around his room as you walk closer to him. His set up is similar to how his studio is. Piano to his left, a couch (which he specifically wanted for you) to his right, and his desk in between. It’s a small space, but it does the job for him. You stand on his right side, watching him. When you start to slowly slide the plate filled with fruit to him, his attention moves over to it, then to your arm, which eventually leads him to seeing your face. He immediately removes his headphones, turning his whole chair so that he can face you with the biggest smile on his face.

“Babyy,” he mumbles, arms instantly wrapping around your lower back to pull you towards him. You’re now trapped in between his legs while he’s trying to hug you, softly chuckling at his reaction to seeing you.

You take your hand and rake your fingers through his hair.

“Doing okay?”

He nods the side of his head against the space underneath your chest before he pulls away. He tugs you more towards him, impatiently waiting for you to take a seat on one of his thighs like you usually do—and you, of course, do it.

He’s got an arm loosely wrapped around you, fingertips grazing upon the soft, bare skin of the side of your thigh. You turn to him when you feel his other hand, thumb and index finger under your chin, gently moving your head so that you’re facing him. He attaches his lips onto yours to kiss you desperately. You pull back from him, but he lifts his arm up higher to your waist to pull you closer to him and leans in even more to your face to steal a couple more kisses, continuously pecking your lips.

“Ah~, Yoongi stop it,” you whine with a laugh, placing a hand on his chest and gently pushing him away from you.

He groans lowly, pulling himself back from you.

“You cut some fruit up for me, baby? What a treat.” He mumbles, reaching out to snatch a peeled orange and plopping it into his mouth.

You hum, “I tried a strawberry earlier. It was sour and I’m worried if the rest will be the same.”

He slightly chuckles, a small smirk playing on his lips. Yoongi doesn’t hesitate to reach over to the plate again, take a strawberry, and throw it into his mouth. Just like how you did, his nose scrunches at how slightly sour it is.

“Sour, right?”

He shakes his head, now taking a grape to “cleanse his palette.”

“What a liar,” you laugh, “I just saw you makee a face when you ate it.”

He scoffs with a smile on his face, gums out and all.

“Maybe we picked the wrong one. I can taste test it again, okay baby?”

You nod your head, watching him take another strawberry and toss it into his mouth. Not even after a couple bites, his eyes widen as he looks at you. You furrow your eyebrows, curious about his expression.

“The one I just picked was super sweet!”

“Really?!”

“Here, say ah~,” he’s already grabbing another strawberry to feed you. You laugh, opening your mouth enough to fit the sliced strawberry. He’s about to place it into your mouth until moves it away and steals an open mouthed kiss.

You moan into his mouth in shock, pushing him away even though he’s already doing so.

“Yoongi!” You scold, “I wanted to taste the strawberry.”

“Oh, was I supposed to give you it? I completely forgot,” he jokes.

You scoff with a smile on your face. Watching him wave the strawberry in front of you to feed it to you again.

You raise an eyebrow, hesitant to open your mouth again.

“I won’t try anything, baby,” is all he says to you.

Knowing him and his love for you and kissing you, you knew that he’s definitely got other tricks up his sleeve that he’s hiding. However, you give in and decide to believe him, opening your mouth once again. This time he actually feeds you the strawberry, carefully watching your face.

“It’s sour, you liar,” you scrunch your face at him, a slight pout on your face.

He laughs again at you, gums all out on display and his shoulders moving up and down. He grabs your face with his hand, squishing your cheeks together so that your lips are puckered. Immediately, he attaches his lips again to yours. He takes his time, and you let him as you keep up with the pace he’s going. As he’s pulling back, he keeps pecking your lips until you’re a giggling mess.

He’s mumbling words like “so sweet” or “all mine” (and more that you can’t seem to decipher) in between each kiss he plants on you, the vibrations tickling your skin.

“Yoongi, quit it~,” you whine as he lets go of your face.

“Your lips are sweeter than those strawberries, y’know?”

“You’re annoying,” you laugh at his remark.

“No seriously,” his hand trails back down to your bare thigh, fingers gently caressing it once again, “but I think I know a place that tastes even sweeter.”

You swallow hard, knowing where this is leading to.

“I think you yourself is a better treat for me than those fruits, baby. So how about I take a little taste of you on the couch, hm?”

With no hesitation, you follow his instructions. You hop off his thigh, moving towards the couch until he grabs your arms to spin you around. He wraps his arms around your waist, scattering kisses around the exposed skin on your neck. He’s walking toward the couch, but it’s making you have to walk backwards.

Once your back hits the soft cushions of his couch, Yoongi moves himself back to the place he seems to never have enough of—your lips.

…There goes his time to focus on work.

-

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