#fingers crossed that this wasn't a fluke this evening

[deepwoundsandfadedscars]

.

[dollfacefantasy]

strip poker that leads to threesome with death island older boyfriend leon and his best friend chris?! reader keeps on losing and ends up half naked and left in her panties while leon and chris are both fully clothed 🥹. + degration and daddy kink (for leon) !

pairing: leon kennedy x fem!reader x chris redfield

summary: a game of strip poker with your boyfriend and his friend ends exactly how you'd expect would

cw: nsfw (18+), smut, threesome, oral sex (both m and f receiving), fingering, daddy kink

word count: 3k

a/n + tags: thank you so much for the request babe! i don't really know how to play poker so forgive any errors 🙏 also consider this to be sharing is caring chris & leon. i hope you enjoy how this turned out <3 @nexysworld @gor3-hound @pupthepokemonenthusiast

"That's not fair!" you whine and gesture at the older man sitting to your left at the table.

When your boyfriend had told you he wanted to invite Chris over to hang out this evening, you'd been completely supportive. You were certain this meant they were wanting a replay of the explicit activities that had transpired between the three of you a few weeks prior. You imagined yourself sitting between them at dinner, feeling their lingering gazes, hearing their hinting words. They'd guide you off to the bedroom or even spread you out right there on the table and have their way with you. 

You fantasized about all the possibilities, but one thing that never crossed your mind was that they'd want to play a game of poker. Let alone a game of strip poker.

When Leon pulled out the deck of cards, you'd raised your eyebrows but tentatively agreed. They'd told you that whoever lost a hand would have to remove an article of clothing. You were interested, believing it wouldn't be too long before all three of you were naked and going at it. How wrong you had been though because in reality, it seemed this game did anything but speed things along.

It'd been over an hour, and Chris & Leon were both still fully clothed while you sat in your bra and panties.

What had prompted your outburst of whining was for the first time tonight, someone that wasn't you had lost a hand. You were excited that some progress was being made as Chris stood up to remove a piece of his clothing. But all he did was unbuckle his belt and slip it from between the loops on his jeans.

Both men chuckle at your frustration, and Leon smirks at you.

"Oh, calm down," he says, "Don't be a sore loser."

"It's not being a sore loser when you guys are like openly cheating!" you insist and lean back in your chair.

"How is he cheating, honey? He's removing his clothes isn't he?" he asks you.

"A belt isn't a piece of clothing! You didn't count my necklace when I picked that to take off," you say.

"Chris has to take off his belt to eventually get to his pants. If he had to take off both right now, that wouldn't really be fair," he says, obviously taunting you, "You didn't need to take off that necklace to get to any of your clothes."

"You made me take off both my shoes in one turn," you point out.

"Shoes are in a pair, princess. I only have one belt," Chris adds.

You huff and cross your arms, shooting the both of them with dirty looks. Despite your complaining, the three of you were all on an even playing field at the start of the game. You all had the same amount of items to lose. For the night, you had on your shoes and socks, shirt and skirt, and bra and panties. The guys on the other sides of the table had their shoes and socks, shirt and pants, and belt and underwear. You'd already lost four to put you at your remaining two.

You roll your eyes as Leon deals again, but you sit up to play. As it turns out, Chris coming up short before was a fluke because this time the bad luck was back on you. They both laugh as you throw your cards down and rub your eyes.

"You know, Leon, if you wanted me to take my clothes off, you could've just asked instead of drawing it out with this stupid game," you say.

"But it's so much more fun this way," he grins.

You glare at him while standing up to remove your clothing.

"C'mon, sweetheart. What's it gonna be? That cute ass or those gorgeous tits?" Chris taunts, lowering his tone as his words become lecherous.

You can already feel the heat starting to creep into your face. Without a word you reach behind yourself and unclasp your bra, letting the straps slip over your shoulders as you slide the lacy garment down your arms. Your breasts bounce free from their confines, and you drop it to the floor with your other things.

You're met with a whistle from Leon that cements a flustered expression on your face. Chris wears a smug look, but you can see in his eyes how he enjoys taking in your figure. Your nipples begin to pebble when exposed to the cool air.

"No need to be shy, honey. It's nothing we haven't seen before," your boyfriend teases.

"Just deal again, so we can get this over with," you say.

Sitting down inadvertently pushing your breasts together, making them stand out a bit more as if crying out for attention from either of the sets of hands in the room. It's Chris's turn to deal, but he takes a moment longer to shuffle the cards up since his eyes linger on your chest.

Another round goes by, and it's another round you lose. At least you were out of the game now, but you weren't sure what that meant. The thought of being sent off to your and Leon's room with no reward spun you out of sorts.

"Bullshit! You guys are cheating," you exclaim and drop your cards for the final time.

Both of them laugh at you. Chris shakes his head and takes his winnings from the round while Leon looks over at you.

"Watch your mouth," he says. He's teasing, but he uses a stern tone that zaps arousal right through you, "Remember whose money you're playing with, angel."

You look down when he says that. It was true that you didn't lose anything but your dignity by playing this game. Leon put up the money for the both of you.

"Your money or not, that doesn't change how many times I lost. That's like unnatural amounts of bad luck," you pout.

"Have you ever considered you might just have the worst poker face in the world?" he goads.

"I do not," you respond instantly.

"Oh yes you do," Chris interjects, "You bite your lip whenever you think you can win. Your eyes dart around whenever you feel like you're gonna lose. We can basically read your cards just from hearing your voice."

You scoff at that, but you don't really have a defense. You'd never been a good liar, especially with Leon. He chuckles at the defeat written all over you before leaning a bit closer.

"How about you come sit with me, babydoll? You can be on daddy's team," he says and pats his lap.

The rush that goes through you pulls you from your chair and over to his. He holds your hips, smiling up at you and planting a gentle kiss right above your navel.

"You still lost last round though. Gotta take these off before we can continue," he says and snaps the elastic of your panties.

You drop them to the floor and kick them to the pile of clothing next to your chair. He then takes you in his arms and gets you situated on his thighs. You lean back against his chest while he deals himself and his friend back in.

The first game without you in it is uneventful. You sit with Leon and he occasionally lays a small smooch on your cheekbone, but that's about it. You just watch him play, but at least you're getting some sort of physical contact.

He ends up winning, and Chris slips off his shoes. In a gesture of celebration, his hands come to cover your breasts and give them a squeeze. His fingers dig into the plump flesh, his palms brushing against your hardened nipples.

"You paying attention? Maybe you can learn a thing or two about winning," he murmurs against the skin of your neck.

The next game starts up as Chris sets the deck down between them. This time is a lot more interesting for you. Leon sits there, stoic as ever, but his hand drifts downward. It finds its place between your thighs, his middle digit seeking out the familiar location of your clit.

The invasion causes you to squirm slightly, but a quick pinch to your inner thigh halts your movements. Chris's eyes are switching between his cards and your increasingly aroused appearance. Your boyfriend pays his leering no mind though. The rough pad of his fingertip swirls around your bundle of nerves.

You spread your legs a little to give him more room, and you can feel his face convey his amusement against your head. His fingers rub down over your entrance, dragging some slick up over your clit. His digits slide over it with ease now, flicking back and forth over the tiny bud with lazy precision. You purse your lips to try and stifle your whimpers but little squeaks make it through now and again.

"You don't have to keep quiet, sweetheart," he whispers in your ear, "I think those pretty noises might help daddy win."

He could tell from the way Chris was shifting in his seat that he was starting to get a boner. He was getting aroused himself, but he got you all the time. He had more control. He could stave off a full erection for a little while. His friend on the other hand - he was eager to try you again.

Your head tilts back with permission and a longing breath leaves your lungs. Your breasts rise and fall with the motion, those perky nipples bobbing in a way that nearly hypnotizes Chris. All the while Leon's hand remains dedicated at the apex of your thighs. He strokes you just you like before moving his finger down to your entrance and sliding it in, grinding his palm on your swollen nub simultaneously.

"Fuck daddy," you whimper and roll your hips.

"What is it, baby? Looks like daddy's gonna win, doesn't it?" he purrs.

You nod mindlessly, not paying attention at all to the game. But whatever daddy says goes. That much you knew.

Chris is so enthralled with the sight of you unraveling on his friend's lap that he folds without a second glance at his cards. Your boyfriend chuckles at him while working his finger to the knuckle within you.

"You must have had a pretty rough hand, man," Leon jokes.

Chris's eyes flit to him. "I'm just in the mood for a different kind of fun now," he says.

"You are?" he says. He then turns his gaze to you. "What about you, dolly? You wanna have some fun with daddy's friend now?"

"Yes," you choke out as your back arches away from his chest, his digit pushing up against your internal sweet spot.

"Yeah?" he coos, "What kind? You want Chris in your pussy again? Or something else?"

Decision making isn't your strongest skill while in this frame of mind. You try to come up with an answer. As usual, Leon swoops in for you and makes the save.

"How about you use that pretty mouth on Chris?" he murmurs in your ear, "Suck on his cock while daddy gets his prize for winning."

Chris stands up once the plan is set, his bulge visible at the front of his pants. Leon gestures for him to wait though. Instead of having the older man come to the two of you, he pulls his fingers out of you and spins you around, boosting you back onto the table. You push some of the cards behind you out of the way on your way down. You end up spread across the table, happy that part of your earlier fantasy was now coming true.

Now both men stand, looking down on your nude form and taking in every curve and crux. Leon reaches forward to grope one of your tits again. He gives it a good feel before cupping it and leaning down to press some kisses around the nipple. He kisses from there over to the valley between your breasts and down your tummy. All the affection gives Chris time to shed his pants and boxers and give his cock a few languid tugs.

Leon sits in his chair again, pushing your thighs apart and looking at your glistening cunt. He leans in and kisses your clit with a feather light touch.

"Look at Chris, baby. He's got your treat waiting for you," he mumbles as he wraps his arms around your thighs and delves into his favorite luxury in the world.

You mewl but do as he tells you and turn your head. Waiting for you is Chris's heavy, flushed cock, dripping precum from the swollen tip. Your mouth waters. You'd wanted it bad last time, and now it was all yours. He reaches down to pet your head.

"That look good, princess?" he coos in a low voice.

You nod lazily, your brain fogging up with the mist of lust. Your lips part, and he pushes his hips forward, slotting his length in your mouth. You moan around the shaft, your tongue laving against the veins. His cock was thicker than your boyfriends. The difference thrilled you. You have to stretch your jaw a bit to accommodate him as he works it into your mouth. Your fingers wrap around the part you can't take.

He groans and tilts his head back. He sinks as deep as he can, unable to get enough of that soft, wet orifice.

"Fuck, honey. You're a two for one. Perfect mouth to go with that perfect pussy," he grunts.

You nod lazily and begin bobbing your head best you can while laying on your back. Chris was kind of impressed by your dedication and focus considering Leon was between your legs devouring you as if you were his final meal.

His tongue slides from his mouth and delves into your awaiting entrance. He moans as he tastes you; sweet and rich, completely addictive. As natural as sucking cock came to you, Leon's propensity to eat pussy seemed to be innate. He keeps you pressed against his face, eating you out like you're the finest delicacy he's ever tasted.

The intensity of his efforts have you whining and drooling on Chris's dick, but you keep sucking. The older man's fingers soothingly rub the back of your neck and help to guide you and pace you. Pulling back a bit, you suckle on the tip and kitten lick the head, making him grit his teeth and will himself not to blow his load right there.

"Your daddy's taught you well, babydoll," he pants before pushing you forward again till his tip nudges the back of your throat.

Both you and Leon moan when you hear that. He laps at your cunt with increased fervor now. He flattens his tongue and laves it over your throbbing clit before wrapping his lips around the little bud. You jolt and your legs jerk, but his hold on you is firm.

"Let daddy have his prize, sweet girl. Wanna taste that cum," he mutters before returning all of his attention back to your pussy.

Your whole body shudders, but you keep going for Chris. He runs his free hand through his hair and wipes at the sweat beading on his brow.

"Don't think I'm gonna last too much longer, Leon," he informs the other man.

"She won't either," he tells him, indirectly giving him the go ahead to do as he pleases.

Chris moans while beginning to rock his hips back and forth. His thrusts stay gentle, but they're just what he needs to start working him to the edge. Meanwhile Leon has your hips and legs squirming as if they're running from the release destined to catch them. He keeps you in place and keeps twirling his tongue against you.

It's Chris who cums first. His eyes flutter closed and his hips sputter, making sure he's nice and deep in your mouth when ropes of cum fire out of him. He moans and fucks it all into your awaiting throat. It's warm and sticky, and you swallow it like the good girl you are.

His eyes are hazy as he looks down at you. He's slow to pull out. When he finally does, the tip rests against your lips and you give it a few kisses. A string of saliva connects the two things when he backs away for a moment to catch his breath.

As he calms down, you spiral further into the pits of euphoria. Your back arches off the table and you claw at it so much you feel like there's gonna be scratch marks when you're finished. Leon keeps on with his task like he's being paid. He strikes the perfect balance between playing with your clit and teasing your insides that has you cumming minutes later.

Chris watches from above as you yelp. He takes in every little switch of expression on your face. Leaning down from behind you, he kisses your forehead, then your nose, then finally your lips. He captures all your lewd moans and whimpers. His nose brushes against your chin as his lips move with yours.

He cups and rubs your cheeks as you come down. Leon's movements slow down until he gives your cunt one last sloppy, lingering kiss and pulls away. Your slick covers his chin. He doesn't wipe it away before standing up and bending over to kiss you himself. You taste your pleasure on him.

Your head is still spinning as the men help you sit up on the table. Gentle touches come from all directions it seems, and you're barely able to discern who's who. It's a blissful confusion, and you wouldn't trade the feeling for anything. 

When your eyes refocus, your boyfriend's gaze back into yours. Chris's lips are on your neck, laying tender kisses up the column of your throat. Leon smirks at you as his finger runs down his jawline.

"Let's go upstairs, baby. I haven't fully enjoyed my winnings yet," he whispers before carting you off to the bedroom with Chris following behind.

[mysecretlittlelibrary]

Make It Worth It

Pairing: Moonknight trio x Reader

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: So many okay; body worship, HEAVY praise, multiple orgasms, oral (f,m receiving) unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it <3), creampie, hella petnames, fingering, kinda marking too, oh and cockwarming, a lil bit of a jealousy thing going, vague mentions of injuries

Genre: fluff & smut

Summary: The idea of you going on a date makes your friend confess feelings you didn't know they had

***

Meeting Marc Spector was something you'd consider a total fluke. A mishap with his suit had him limping down the street hardly able to hold himself up. Against... probably your better judgment, you brought him to your apartment- patched him up, got him some food, and let him crash on your couch. He was gone before you woke up in the morning and you honestly expected never to see him again. A couple of weeks later though he popped by to say thank you and introduce himself, you told him he could stop by if he needed help again. You didn't think he'd take you up on the offer but you were fast friends as you became his only confidante. Apparently, the vigilante life is not conducive to friendships, especially when you share your life with another; Steven Grant.

It was a while before Marc told you about Steven and you liked to call him Marc's best kept secret, considering Steven doesn't even know about it. It took even longer for you to meet Steven. Another mishap with Marc's suit had him frantically banging on your balcony door one night. You pulled open the door and he'd practically fallen into your apartment.

"Y/n! Hey!" He groaned.

"Jeez! I thought that stupid bird was meant to protect you Marc!" You crossed your arms.

"Help now, be mad later. Oh! And if I wake up and I'm not me, lie." He barely got the last bit out before he practically fell on you.

"Heavens above you still haven't told him the truth?" You groaned technically to yourself as you shoved a now unconscious Marc onto your couch. Even with him passed out you'd gotten more than enough practice patching him up that you had it so down that you were quick and efficient. He was out for quite some time afterwards, you even made dinner before he suddenly startled awake.

"Who are you? Where am I? What are you doing here?" The unfamiliar British accent immediately told you that night that Steven had woken up instead of Marc.

"Um- this is my apartment so that's where you are, I live here so that's what I'm doing here and my name is y/n. You're Steven right?"

"How did you know my name?" He'd looked at you suspiciously.

"I- I looked at your wallet for ID?" He does have his wallet on him so that lie was totally believable.

"Well why am I here?" 

That was the question you were dreading from the moment Marc passed out on you.

"You were hurt so I brought you here."

"Hurt? Hurt how?"

"I- I didn't see it happen. You were hurt when I got to you." You shrugged. It wasn't technically a lie. You didn't see Marc get hurt. The answer seemed to satisfy Steven at the time but maintaining separate friendships with Marc and Steven wasn't something you wanted to keep up long term. Hence, with some gentle nudging, Marc eventually revealed himself to Steven and you ended up having to help the duo navigate the new dynamic.

However, where you thought Steven was Marc's best kept secret; a new player had him beaten. A secret so well kept Marc didn't even know until after you did. And his name was Jake Lockley. Meeting him had actually happened intentionally on his end. Apparently tired of watching the back and forth between you and his alters he stepped in to meet you himself. You'll admit you and Marc toed the line pretty much since you met, flirting with each other but not obvious enough to change your dynamic, and once Steven got comfortable with you it was only too fun to tease him. So in came Jake; the hidden protector, questioning you and ultimately deciding you were safe for them to be around. He even trusted you enough to facilitate his introduction to the other two. Now you've got the whole trio you can call friends and they often tell you how instrumental they consider you in maintaining stability in their shared life. You really enjoy having them around most of the time even with how chaotic it can be covering for, patching up, and keeping track of their system.

Tonight, while you're finishing your makeup for a date, you hear a knock from the living room. You're not expecting anyone right now so when you leave your room and find Moonknight on your balcony you're not exactly surprised. You open the door and the suit disappears as he walks into your apartment.

"What're you all dressed up for?" Marc asks taking in your outfit.

"Hello to you too Marc." You roll your eyes.

"Hello. What're you all dressed up for?"

"I have a date tonight." You say with a shrug heading back to your room knowing Marc will follow you.

"A date? What date? You didn't tell me about any date."

"I don't have to tell you about dates."

"Why wouldn't you tell me though?"

"It's a first date Marc I'm not getting married. You're making it a much bigger deal than it is."

"It is a huge deal. You haven't been on a date since we met!"

"Thank you for pointing out that Marc yes this is my first date in a while. Did you come here for a reason? Doesn't that bird of yours have errands for you?"

"I always come here when I'm done with Khonshu's stuff. This is why it's a big deal you didn't tell me about this date. It throws off our routine!"

"Marc you coming here to eat my food after running around for skelo-bird is not set in stone."

"It is set in stone. If it wasn't we wouldn't do it every time."

"Well it's still early, so when I finish my date I'll text you and you can come back over and your routine will be fine."

"That's not the same."

"I dunno what to tell you sweetie, I have to leave, I'm meeting this guy in like 10 minutes."

"Don't go."

"Marc!"

"Come ooon I'm way more fun than whoever this random guy is anyway."

"You don't even know him."

"Neither do you. So stay."

"Let me get this straight, you want me to cancel my first date in over a year because it's more important that we watch a movie while you eat leftovers? Call me crazy but I'd personally rank those a little differently."

"I want you to cancel your first date in over a year because I don't want you to go on a date."

"Okay I know we're close but I feel like that's crossing a line a little bit. That's not really up to you."

"Princessa, are you intentionally misunderstanding him?" Jake's sudden appearance only further confuses you.

"No Jake. I genuinely have no idea what the deal is here and at this rate, I'm going to be late so one of you better start talking straight."

"He's jealous. He doesn't want you going on a date with anyone that's not... us, really. None of us do."

"All of this is about a crush? Bring Marc back out here." You roll your eyes.

"Look I did not send Jake out here to speak for me!"

"You are such a dunce." You smack his chest lightly.

"What?!"

"You don't want me to go on this date because you three like me and you couldn't just say that?"

"I dunno I guess I just didn't want to risk what we've already got, as friends." He says sheepishly.

"Say the words."

"What?"

"Say exactly why you don't want me going on this date and I'll cancel."

"I don't want you to go on this date because I have feelings for you. Stay home. I can make it worth it in any way you ask."

"Any way that I ask?"

"I'll worship you like a god if you want me to."

"Won't that make that silly old bird of yours a little jealous?"

"Let him be if he is. All that matters is you not going on this date and me showing you my gratitude."

"Alright, I'll call and cancel the date."

"Don't bother. Who cares if he gets ghosted?"

"First of all, I'm nice so I care; secondly that's the shit that gets women stalked."

"Oh please, as if he'd ever be able to hurt you with us around." Marc scoffs.

"Okay, bodyguard. The call will take less than two minutes and you'll have my attention the rest of the night." You say grabbing your phone and stepping into the living room. You notice Marc following you as you call your date.

"Hello?" 

"Lewis! Hi, I'm sorry to do this so last minute but something has come up and I'm not going to be able to make it to dinner."

"Oh. Is everything alright? Do you need anything?"

"Uh- thanks but I'll be fine! I just gotta take care of a thing and I didn't wanna leave you sitting there waiting."

"Yeah no, thanks for letting me know. We can reschedule."

"Sure! Soon as I get a handle on things I'll reach out to reschedule." You say, ignoring the look Marc gives you.

"Alright no problem. Good luck with your thing." Lewis says before hanging up.

"You aren't actually rescheduling with him, are you?" Marc asks you.

"Probably not." You shrug.

"Probably?!"

"I already canceled the date for you once."

"You making this hard for me on purpose sweetheart?"

"Not at all. Just not sure how things are gonna go." You smile.

"How things are gonna go? I'm gonna show you that canceling that silly date was the right idea and that you don't need anyone other than us."

"Us? Steven and Jake are in on this too?"

"Of course they are."

"Well, that's a big promise Marc, how do you plan to show me all of that?"

"I'm going to start by kissing you. Is that okay?" Marc asks, pulling you towards him with an arm around your waist.

"Absolutely." You say draping your arms over his shoulder. Marc's free hand comes up behind your head as he kisses you hard. You gasp against his lips and he uses the opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth. Without warning, Marc lifts you into his arms and easily carries you back to your room, not even phased when you pull away from the kiss to squeal. He tosses you onto your bed and climbs over you with a smile.

"You have no idea how crazy we are about you." Marc breathes out, trailing kisses down to your neck.

"Crazy about me? Is that right?" You ask, a moan punctuating your question as Marc latches onto a particularly sensitive spot to turn purple.

"Completely." He says softly, staring at you so intently you pull him towards you for another kiss to escape the look in his eyes. Marc pulls away to tug your already bunched up dress over your head, leaving you in your bra and panties as he looks you over. "Fucking hell you're even more gorgeous than I could've imagined." Marc groans.

"You spend a lot of time thinking about me naked darling?" You can't help but chuckle at the thought as you take the moment of silence on his end to pull his shirt over his head and drag your nails down his chest appreciatively.

"I plead the fifth." Marc groans and moves to litter your chest in more patches of red and purple as he reaches under you to unhook your bra. His hands cover your breasts as soon as they're free, palms kneading the flesh while fingers toy with nipples. The sudden onslaught of stimulation has little whimpers falling from your lips that Marc decides he can't get enough of. He pulls one of your nipples between his lips, sucking, nipping, and tonguing at it to test your reactions, discovering all the sounds you make from this alone. "You make such cute little noises." He chuckles switching from one nipple to the other, pulling all the same sounds from you. Eventually, Marc trails his kisses down your stomach, soft and slow, like he has all the time in the world. "So pretty." He whispers. He pulls your panties down your legs, kissing your thighs on the way down and back up. "I'm so going to enjoy this." Marc says before burying his head between your legs. He licks a hard stripe between your folds that makes you moan and his arms wrap around your thighs before you can even squirm. Marc's tongue swirls around your clit as he watches you, testing what pulls the best reaction from you. When a certain rhythm has your fingers tugging at his hair he settles into it, intent on making you cum like that. Whimpers and cries fall from your lips in quick succession as he sucks and laps at your sensitive bundle of nerves. You writhe and grind against him, although his grip on your thighs restricts your movement as he works you quickly towards an orgasm.

"Holy fuck Marc!" You groan, throwing your head back and pulling almost too hard at his curls but the man between your legs only lets out a pleased growl at the action. "Fuck I'm close." You pant out and Marc wraps his lips securely around your clit, sucking harshly until your legs tense and your orgasm crashes into you with a silent scream. Marc doesn't even let you fully ride out the high before his fingers slide into your opening. He curls the two digits just right and you can feel the pull in your abdomen when he brushes the spot inside you. Your back arches into him as he works you open with his fingers, his tongue still lapping at your clit, determined to pull another orgasm from you. Your second orgasm hits you faster than the first your entire body twitching while you let out the prettiest whine Marc's ever heard.

"My goodness." Although the voice is muted in your pleasure fogged brain, you don't miss the accent in his words.

"Steven?!" You blink at him, chest still heaving slightly as you try to catch your breath. His eyes are as wide as saucers as he takes in the situation he's just been thrown into.

"Hi. I can't imagine Marc did this on purpose I-" Steven's words trail as his head snaps to the mirror hanging on your closet door. "He did this on purpose." Steven looks at you and then back at the mirror. "Why would you do that Marc?!" You pull his gaze back to you by grabbing his chin,

"Steven, calm down." You say.

"Clearly I've missed a lot because how did you two even end up like this?" Steven asks and your giggle at his confusion quickly turns into a whimper when the action makes you distinctly aware of his fingers still buried inside you. "My god, help me." Steven breathes out at the sound from your lips. "If this was your act of gratitude why am I here?!" Steven asks to the mirror and you suppose Marc told him how you, in his words, ended up like this. Steven makes a face at whatever Marc says next and then turns to you with a look you can only describe as curious. Before you can question it, his fingers inside you move tentatively, making you moan. He's less sure of himself than Marc had been but he watches intently as he slowly strokes your inner walls, enjoying the way you react to him. "You're absolutely breathtaking."

"And you, are simply adorable." You say bringing him down to kiss him. Steven is obviously much more nervous than Marc was and you take the lead in the kiss. You can taste yourself on his lips as you explore his mouth with your tongue. It seems your reactions feed his confidence as his fingers gain speed the longer you kiss him and soon you're moaning too much to actually do it properly.

"I love the sounds you make." Steven sighs. You pull his fingers from you before he can make you cum again and he pouts at you until you guide the fingers between your lips. You suck them clean, enjoying the way Steven takes a shaky breath at the action. You use one hand to undo his jeans and pull them down his legs, pulling his fingers out of his mouth for him to get up and shove them the rest of the way down with his boxers. You lean forward and take Steven into your mouth, swallowing him down as far as you can.

"Oh god." Steven groans and his eyes roll as he tosses his head back. You bob your head up and down his length, swirling your tongue as you go, enjoying the way he moans and shivers.

"I love the sounds you make too darling." You hum dragging your tongue along the vein that runs the underside length of his dick. Steven hisses and you wrap your lips around him again.

"Holy hell you're... really good at this." Steven's praise is breathy and stuttery. You take him all the way into your mouth, feeling him in the back of your throat. Rather suddenly, you feel his fingers in your hair tugging you off of him.

"Now, it was my understanding that we were meant to be showing you gratitude." Your ears perk up hearing the accent change.

"Jake, yeah so I've been told." You hum.

"And yet here you are pleasing Steven instead of him worshiping you." Jake's thumb rubs along your bottom lip.

"Steven is just so much fun to tease." You smile.

"Tease him later princessa, tonight is about you. How lucky we are to have you in our life. How much of an honor it is to kiss you, to touch you, to please you." Jake intentionally speaks slowly, staring at you intently.

"You are... very good with words." You muse.

"Have our actions not supported them?"

"Marc definitely, and Steven- before I got my hands on him, yes. You however haven't done anything but talk." You smirk at him.

"Tell me what you want from me and it's yours. Anything you ask." Jake says.

"In other circumstances that would be... a dangerous promise to make. But tonight, I just want you inside me. I want you to make me cum on your dick."

"With pleasure." Jake pushes you onto your back and tugs your legs to pull you towards him. He wastes no time lining himself up with your entrance and thrusting into you. Your back immediately arches at the fullness of Jake bottoming out and you can't help but moan. "Fuck you're so wet." He groans dropping his head to your shoulder for a moment. Jake sets a rhythm of sharp thrusts, deep but quick.

"Sh-shit Jake! Feels so good." You whine, dragging your nails down his back. He hisses at the sting and his thrusts pick up speed.

"God y/n you're perfect. So gorgeous. Taking this dick like you were made for us." Jake huffs out. One of his hands reaches between your bodies, finding your clit with ease. You squirm against his ministrations moaning as he drives into you repeatedly. "That's it princessa, moan for me, sounds so nice." He grits out, rubbing circles against your bundle of nerves. You grind against him, trying to bring your orgasm on quicker. "Cum for me sweetheart, let me feel you let go around me. Please mi vida." Jake sweetly kisses you as he practically begs for your orgasm and a few thrusts later you're falling over the edge, nails digging into his back as he watches the way pleasure washes over your face. Once your eyes slowly peel open, Jake tightens his grip on your hips and changes the pace of his thrusts, slowing down now.

"You're gonna cum inside me aren't you Jake?" You ask with a pout specifically to get what you want.

"Mierda." Jake's eyes close for a moment. "Is that what you want princessa?"

"Yes Jake, please."

"I told you I'd give you whatever you ask me for." Jake shifts slightly before picking up the pace of his thrusts, they're sloppier now as he focuses on chasing his own release. "I'll pump you so fucking full, you'll be leaking. Fuck you'll look even prettier dripping like that."

"Please Jake, give it to me. Fill me up baby." You whine, grinding against him. His hips stutter and stop buried inside you and you the warmth of his orgasm inside you makes you moan. Before Jake can twist to lay beside you, you pull him onto you comfortable with the weight of him on you. "Don't move yet, let's just- lay like this for a bit, please." You say.

"Thank fuck you didn't go on that stupid date." Jake mutters and you giggle a little.

"Thank fuck you said something or I would've."

"Well, did we make it worth the stay?" "I'd say so." "Good. After a nap you can discuss the details, probably with Steven, he'll have the most to say." Jake mumbles into your neck.

"I'll have to talk to each of you ya know." You say.

"Sure but start with him. All I have to say is I think you're perfect, and we'd be lucky if you date us."

"You're not the only lucky ones." You say kissing the side of his face. Yeah. It might have been by pure chance that you crossed paths with Marc over a year ago but you're glad the rest of your decisions landed you here. Even if it's not the trajectory you saw that first interaction leading to, definitely worth it.

***

[dotster001]

Those are the Eyes...

Summary: Jack Howl x gn! Reader. Jack discovers a new magic that will finally free you from those who wish to use you. (It's not that serious. He's just being Jack)

CW: Crowley is an ass, but what else is new, silly fic, nothing serious

This fic was sponsored, for the Fics for Gaza Project! Find out how you can sponsor a fic here.

Jack was sick of you getting pulled into terrible situations by your other friends. When the two of you had started dating, he had hoped he would have a little more sway when it came to your decisions of whether to listen to an ADeuce idea or not, but he had had no such luck so far. 

And it wasn't just them. You were too kind to everyone in this school often at the expense of your own well being.

"Y/N! We haaaave to add more money to the tuna budget."

You looked exasperated. "Grim, I've already told you, we've put all the money we can into the tuna budget."

Grim pouted and crossed his arms. "Do we really need to fix the stairwell this month? I think it's fine the way it is."

It wasn't. Honestly, Ramshackle should have been condemned in the shape it was in.

"Yes, Grim, we really do," you sighed.

Grim suddenly held a paw to his forehead. "Oh! The Great Grim feels faint!" He fell backwards and whimpered. "I'm starving because of my cruel Hench human. I may die right here."

"You're not starving Grim, your tuna budget is fine," Jack finally cut in. But when he looked over at you, he could see that you were going to cave.

And then it happened. It came from deep down inside of him, like a second unique magic. His pupils expanded, his eyebrows rose ever so slightly, and his bottom lip stuck out in a little pout.

Suddenly, the look on your face changed. You looked at him with concern.

"Aw, c'mon Jack, don't give me those puppy dog eyes!"

But his face held his expression, and now his tail was drooping for good measure. "It would just tear me up inside if you weren't able to live in a safe environment, Y/N."

That did it for you. You placed your hands on his cheeks and hastily exclaimed, "If it means that much to you, I won't change the tuna budget." You hugged him and nuzzled into his chest whispering a "sorry". Which was fine, because it meant you didn't see his tail wagging up a storm.

He had thought maybe it was a fluke. But after running a few experiments, he realized you were weak for what you called his "puppy dog eyes". No longer could Ace get you to paint the roses for him. No longer could Ruggie get you to give him some of your lunch for nothing. No longer could Grim guilt you into buying more tuna than you needed. Finally, the two of you didn't have to play parents to everyone and you could spend time together.

But with great power comes great responsibility.

He was sitting in Azul's office, sizing him up across the desk.

"What did you want from me?" He asked finally.

Azul gestured dramatically. "There's a rumor going around that you can make a certain prefect do whatever you want."

He snapped his fingers and Jade pulled out a contract.

"I am prepared to offer you…."

But before he could even finish the offer, Jack was leaving the room.

It wasn't a one off thing.

"Ay, Jack!" Ruggie sidled up next to him on the way to class. "You think you can do me a solid? See, I have a lot of chores to do for Leona, and I was hoping you could ask Y/N to…"

And Jack was gone again.

The headmage had summoned Jack to his office. He placed a plate of delicious food in front of him, and was staring at him with a serene smile on his face.

Jack did not trust that one bit.

The headmage leaned back in his chair, simply watching Jack. Jack stared back, not touching his plate.

“Mr. Howl, I was hoping you could help me with a situation. I, and the entirety of the student body, will be eternally grateful.”

Jack said nothing, continuing to stare. Normally, he would assist the headmage in any way, his sense of honor always looking for a way to help the school. But, with the recent attempts to use his new ability for selfish ends, he was extremely suspicious.

“I have called the prefect in for a meeting. You see, it's the time of year where the dark mirror provides us a list of names for potential incoming students. I need a secretary, who will write down the list of names, compile the addresses, send out the acceptance letters, etc. etc. You understand, surely.”

Crowley leaned in conspiratorially, a sly grin on his face.

“You will help me convince them to take on this task, for the sake of our esteemed university, won't you?”

Jack stood angrily, slamming his hands on the table as he leaned into Crowley's face.

“This power I have been given is strong. And if I waste it on things that are to the detriment of my partner, then I do not deserve to even be with them.”

Crowley's smirk turned down right sinister.

“A shame, truly. Too bad. Because they are already here.”

A knock rang from the door, and Jack's head whipped over in time to see you walk in. Your eyes lit up when you saw him, and Jack had to fight off the embarrassment of not having anywhere to hide his wagging tail.

“Perfect, welcome! Have a seat!” Crowley said, and Jack felt a guilty sense of pride as the light left your eyes upon hearing his voice.

You walked to the empty seat next to where Jack was standing, taking it. You raised a brow expectantly.

“What do you want, headmage?” You asked tiredly.

And Jack knew he couldn't simply be a witness. If he couldn't protect you from one crow, then what was his new magic ability for?

“I need you to be my full time secretary until the end of the school year-”

“Am I getting paid?” You asked, bluntly.

“No, but-”

“Then no.”

At that moment, Jack realized he was not the only one with a secondary unique magic that was capable of manipulating you. Crowley's expression shifted into one of a cruel, terrifying, debt collector.

“Night Raven College is an esteemed university, one that is exclusive to only the best mages. And yet we have provided you with a home, and an invaluable education. All for free. The least repayment you can give is selflessly serving our university.”

He watched as you deflated. The truth was, you'd become invaluable to NRC. There was no reason Crowley would logically kick you out, especially for a job he had done alone for years before you had popped into this world. He was bluffing.

But the move was working. You were opening your mouth to accept the job, when Jack knelt before you, placing his hands on your leg to get your attention. Then he activated his power.

Your mouth instantly closed, your expression shifting to one of distracted adoration at his “puppy dog eyes”. 

“The budget we would need to hire a secretary will, unfortunately, have to come out of the renovation budget for Ramshackle.”

Your face immediately flicked back up to Crowley. Jack had underestimated how strong Crowley's powers were. The crow had had years to grow his abilities, while Jack had only had a few months.

Jack pawed at your leg, forcing his ears to droop as he intensified his “magic”.  Your look of dejection melted, your lips parting in a silent “aw”. 

“We may even have to get rid of an extra student. Providing for two of you is an unnecessary expense, to the board.”

You whipped back to Crowley, but Jack knew that was his last card. But if he smiled smugly now, he would lose. So he dug deep within himself, pulling at an inner supply of strength.

His pupils expanded even further, glitter and hearts filled the air, and he watched your face split into a dopey grin, your hand moving on it's own to scratch behind his ears.

“Sorry headmage, I don't think I can,” you said, your voice sounding loopy and lovesick.

The headmage scowled, but Jack held firm, the sparkles and hearts floating in the air twirling for good measure.

“Fine. You win this round Howl. But, next time, I'll be prepared for you! Mark my words!” Crowley shouted.

Luckily, you were too caught in Jack's spell to even hear his words, as he escorted you from the room.

You were halfway to the mirror chamber to return to Ramshackle, when you turned to him, cupping his cheeks, and exclaiming,

“Sevens! You just look so cute!” Then you kissed the tip of his nose.

His embarrassment caused him to drop the puppy eyes spell. He looked away, rubbing his neck for something to distract himself. When he looked up, you were blinking in confusion.

“Where am I? I thought I was in Crowley's office. How did I get out here?”

Now he was more embarrassed. He'd gone too hard, too quickly, with his magic.

He was about to apologize, when you smiled at him sweetly.

“Wait, it was my perfect, handsome wolf who protected me, right?”

Oh.

Oh no.

He wasn't the only one with magic to make someone lovesick.

....

Tag list- @eccedentesiast-sapphic @leoll @strawberrystepmom

Lemme know if you want to be added to my regular tag list. I lost my original list, so this is just the one I could find.

[imagine-knowing-a-name]

memories feel like weapons

Summary: after your brief reunion with Wanda at the gym, you both overthink what it means

Word Count: 984 Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x Reader Warnings: not really any? Wanda and R being bad at conversations. Part 2 of 'half of my hometown' series masterlist <- previous part | next part ->

»»————-　★　————-««

Wanda curses herself as she shuts her bedroom door, immediately leaning back to rest her head against it. She questions all her actions that night: why had she said that? Why had she run away? Her plan had always been to leave the gym if someone entered, that was the case day or night, hence why she goes at 2 am, because who else would be in the gym at 2 am? You; that’s apparently the answer.

Either way, she’d already been fleeing from the moment the door creaked open. Seeing your face again after so many years stalled the exit, but, in her disoriented state, her legs carried her back to her room before she could even think of changing her plan.

“Shit,” she mutters softly, debating whether she can go back and fix her mistake, though she assumes by now you'll be gone. Streams of different conversations flow through her mind: she should have asked you how you were, how your life had been, whether you wanted to catch up… hell, she doesn't even know if you recognised her. It has taken her long enough to realise it was you, and she knows the past 13 years have changed her even more.

02:30 flashes from the corner of the room, catching Wanda's eye. She sighs, knowing that she should sleep before her 9 am training the next day. The Sokovian prepares for bed and eventually drifts off, but, until she does, all her thoughts are on you, and whether she'll have the opportunity to see you again.

»»————-　★　————-««

Unbeknownst to the Avenger, you take action into your own hands, not wanting to go another 13 years before you stumble into her again. You promised yourself that you'd give her space, but that vow doesn't stop you from routinely circling back to the gym whenever you work the night shift, hoping that the one thing you know about this present-day Wanda is part of a routine, and not just a fluke nighttime visit.

It works, and, only a few nights later, Wanda is the one to stumble into you.

You pass by the gym, disappointed by the darkness and silence you find within and ready to turn away into the next corridor, when Wanda quite literally stumbles into you. The two of you turn the corner at the same time and collide with a force strong enough to send Wanda teetering back; your instincts kick in and you rush forward to catch her before she could tumble to the floor.

“I'm so sorry,” you both say, before breaking into nervous smiles at the action. You help her stabilise herself back on her feet again then draw back, attempting to speak once again.

“Hi,” is all you manage.

She smiles widely, “Hi.”

“So… you come here at 2 am often then?” the line comes out before you can even think about it, and you do your best to hide how you cringe at your own words.

You know you've hidden it poorly though because Wanda laughs, such a free-flowing sound which, even when you last saw each other, had been sorely missing from your life. She nods though, and ducks her head down to watch her fingers twirl the rings on her hands; you follow her gaze and furrow your eyebrows as you recognise one of them.

“I live here now, so, yeah,” she replies, snapping your attention back to the conversation you'd been having.

“The new superhero of the Avengers, so I heard. You're the talk of the Compound. Though it wasn't until I saw you the other night that I realised ‘Wanda the Avenger’ and ‘Wanda, the girl next door from Sokovia’ were one and the same.”

“The first one is still in progress. The second one is still who I am,” she mutters; the previous amusement is gone from her voice and you realise you've crossed into a topic she'd rather avoid. Unlike the others you've met, Wanda shows no indication of pride in her Avengers status, so you hurry to change the topic.

“Since you live here, I guess it's more ‘Wanda, the girl across the building from me’ now,” you chuckle, a smile spreading when you see the creases reforming around Wanda's eyes.

“You live here too?” she questions, and this time it's your turn to nod.

“Live here, work here, hardly leave here. I'm over on the East side of the building with the other agents.”

“Agent Y/L/N…”

“That's me, reporting for duty,” you joke with a fake salute until you remember that you are meant to be on duty. “I should probably get back to my patrol,” you tell Wanda, not missing the way her smile falters temporarily.

“Yes, I'm sorry, don't let me keep you.”

“It was nice seeing you, Wanda,” you begin, “and catching up a bit after so long. Uh, maybe I'll see you around here at another 2 am.”

Wanda smiles back at you; if you waited just a little longer, you would have seen her mouth hang open ready to stop you, a question dying on her tongue. Maybe then you would encourage her to speak it and hear what she wants to ask. 

But, instead, you turn away as soon as you finish speaking, cheeks burning after the implication that you'd meet her again, that she'd stay up and walk around the Compound at 2 am just to meet you. If you were bolder, you would have asked the question you wanted to ask; you wouldn't have turned away so fast. Living on the outskirts of friendship groups in your adult years has instilled fear into you though, so you leave quickly and bluntly, choosing to dwell on memories of the strongest friendship you had rather than face rejection from the girl you used to know. The girl who you feel sure has better friends than you by now.

next part ->

»»————-　★　————-««

General Taglist: @canvascoloredin @fxckmiup @wizardofstories

Series Taglist: @family-house-of-m @emiliaisdead

First part didn't do so well so idk if I'll get any suggestions, but what do you think should happen next 👀

[raggydraws]

This Reminds me of College

Surya and Tabatha attempting to teach themselves Merikih to varying degrees of success Tags: Surya & Farmer, Potentially OOC, Tabatha has ADHD and is HYPERFOCUSED on Merfolk, Surya and Tabby are best friends, Author doesn't write often please be nice, HC: Surya knows about the Merfolk because that lab is small and there's no way he doesn't, an attempt at Indonesian words, Gen Fic, Surya and Tabby are both smart individuals but hanging out with your friends can and will kill brain cells for the lols, No Beta we die like Pufferfish, Merikih is italicized

If Dr. Jiang had tried to keep the existence of merfolk from Surya; she hadn’t tried very hard. Given the fact he’d been standing right behind her, also looking through the monitor eyes of Kibble, when Tabatha had stumbled upon two of them didn’t help.

Of course he immediately swore himself to secrecy about them, Dr. Jiang, er, Ling as she insisted, hadn’t even gotten the chance to argue why they shouldn’t go blathering about it to the whole island. It just made sense not to. Her entire research basis, the solar pillars and the super corals, hells, the oil spill itself and the presence of the monstrous company that caused it in his new home alone kept his mouth shut.

Talk and innocent people would probably die. Morbid.

Plus it would’ve really put a dent into the bet about Dr. Ling he had going with Tabatha.

The farmer in question had also resurfaced and crossed town in record time to come yell their own arguments about keeping a closed lid on the existence of merfolk. How they had done so when Surya had seen them get winded walking upstairs would forever be a mystery to him.

But they’d all gotten through it, swore themselves to never speak of it again, especially if this were a one off thing, although Dr. Ling took Tabatha’s diving suit in for an upgrade in the off chance this wasn't a fluke. 

Which eventually led to Surya standing on his friend’s porch with a pot of lodeh and his old college textbook on dead languages. He let himself look over their garden plots as he waited for the brunet to answer the door, marveling at how much automation they’d managed to set up in such little time. Six plots with small, albeit makeshift, sprinklers with two much larger plots that Tabatha likely had to water by hand themselves, all with little budding plants just waiting to grow and be harvested. Surya was impressed, remembering his Paman Joko mentioning that their neighbor had either already had a hand in farming or at the least had gardened quite a bit before moving here. He mentally took note of the plot with young melon vines just beginning to sprout, wondering if he could convince Tabatha to part with one or two once they were fully ripe, before the door to the cabin swung open.

“Surya! Welcome, welcome, come in watch your step-” Tabatha ushered him inside with a bright smile, quickly shutting the door behind him. “Sorry, don’t want all the cold air getting out.”

“Oh, did your walls not get re-insulated when Bibi and Paman gutted the place?” Surya asked, setting his pot of lodeh onto the rickety fold out table set up in their small living space.

“Oh no I’m sure they did, it’s just a habit from living in shitty Pokyo apartments.” 

“Ah.”

Tabatha locked the door, likely another habit from previously living in a crowded metropolitan area, and joined him at the table with an eager grin.

“Thanks for bringing food by the way, I would’ve made something but,” They gesture sheepishly and vaguely to their barebones cabin. “I still don’t have a lot to work with at the moment.”

“Of course, it’s no trouble. Hopefully Bibi can get a kitchen set up for you soon.”

“Fingers crossed.”

The two sat down to eat, exchanging pleasantries and talking about their days apart. Tabatha only volunteered part time at the lab, carving out time for cleaning sights around coral reefs between their farm and also getting used to their new community. Surya would go days without seeing the tall brunet, only for them to show up to the lab soaking wet and with enough kelp to power a small generator, and the two would easily slip back into jokes and banter before disappearing from sight again. It was safe to say that Tabatha was one of the two friends that he had, and he was honestly all the more glad to have them. Soon enough they finished their dinner and tucked away any leftovers in whatever tubberware Tabatha had laying around, finally moving onto the actual reason Surya had come over in the first place.

Teaching themselves a presumably dead language, because Dr. Ling refused to do so.

Because it would be useful! Because you never knew what could happen and what if Surya needed to dive with Tabatha one day and didn’t have a built-in translator? What if the merfolk came to them? It totally wasn't because this was the most unbelievable thing that's ever happened to anyone, ever. Or the fact that Dr. Ling knew way more than she was letting on but wouldn’t tell them.

And it definitely wasn’t because Surya was a man of science and Tabatha was riddled with ADHD and this was their new, shared hyperfixation. 

It wasn’t.

Neither of them knew what the language was actually called yet, and Surya hesitated to dub it “Atlantis” due to their location, which spurred Tabatha into giving a surprisingly informed rant about how Atlantis was actually more likely to be based on a mix of a volcanic event in the Mediterranean and Plato spouting bullshit than a real civilization that fell below the waves. It reminded him that Tabatha was a lot more smart than they let on, somewhat downplaying their intelligence for the sake of their self imposed title of ‘Lab Thembo’.

Tabatha retrieved the regulator mask of their diving suit, strapping it into place as Surya began flipping through his old textbook and getting out a fresh, blank notebook. They wouldn’t be able to write down any actual words or an alphabet, as all the pictures they did have of the language were on Kibble’s hard drive and the little robot was sitting in the lab at the moment. But they would write down similar vowels or repeating patterns and also have it for the excuse that this was for science and not shits n giggles, should Dr. Ling happen to stumble upon it.

“Alright, you ready Suri?” Tabatha asked, fitting the regulator over their mouth as Surya gave them the go ahead. The brunet breathed deeply, making sure the gear didn’t interrupt their airways while not attached to any tanks before speaking as clearly as they could.

“Can you hear me?” Their voice cycled through the speaker with a warm crackle, and Surya frowned in disappointment.

“Loud and clear…in English.”

Tabatha grimaced in confusion and removed the regulator, eyebrows lifting into their hairline once they realized that they had forgotten to turn the translator on. Flipping the slider to ‘ON’ the brunet put their gear back into place and Surya eagerly waited to hear the elusive language of real life merfolk.

“What about now?”

The words were strung together in a lilting, rhythmic pattern and it made Surya pause, blinking in surprise at how pretty it sounded. It also almost sounded familiar somehow, his first thought being something akin to Latin or even his own native language. It definitely was different enough for him not to pick it up right away but close enough that it pinged in his brain as something he should recognize.

“Oh wow.” 

“Is it working, Surya?” 

“No idea what you just said!” He cheered, practically beaming as he scribbled down their first new findings. Tabatha cheered as well, their voice coming out of the translator as a bright, elongated tone akin to a lofty held note in a song. 

They sat on Tabatha’s floor for what felt like hours, simply babbling sing-song like words back and forth between themselves. At some point the young man found himself sprawled across the wood floor to stretch out his legs, while Tabatha happily rambled on about something he couldn’t understand, only the occasional word standing out as it went untranslated. Surya recorded some of the basic sentences, sending them to Tabatha’s phone for the two to practice later when the mask started hurting for the brunet to continue wearing. They shook their head after peeling it off, huffing in annoyance as fluffy brown hair fell into their eyes. Surya snorted.

“I need a damn haircut.” Tabatha said, blowing a raspberry at Surya while simultaneously spitting hair out of their mouth. Their eyes then widened for a second, scrambling to their feet in haste and practically running over to their wardrobe. Surya lifted himself off the floor, leaning back on his hands with a laugh at his friend.

“Dude, what are you doing?”

“I got an idea!” They exclaimed, pulling the rest of the diving suit from the sparsely occupied dresser. “Did you bring a swimsuit or anything?”

“Uh, no?” Now sitting cross-legged and watching with a bit of worry as Tabatha ran into their tiny bathroom. “Why?” The plan had just been to see if they could glean anything from the translator and hang out while doing so. The thought of needing his swimming trunks or his own diving suit hadn’t crossed his mind once.

“You’ll see!” Came the muffled reply from the bathroom. A minute or two passed and Surya used the time to pick up the small mess of paper and pens they’d made on the floor. “Alright get in here! Bring the mask too!”

“Uh,” Surya lifted himself from the floor, scooping up the regulator as he did and reluctantly walked over to the bathroom door. “Are you decent?” He felt silly for asking and sillier for the probably obvious flush creeping up his neck.

This was probably why his Bibi Dinda and Paman Joko kept throwing him ‘looks’ every time he went to hang out with Tabatha. The farmer had no time or formality with social cues or implications. It was impulses and ‘I’ll deal with it later’ all the way down with this one.

The door opened and Tabatha’s head poked out from the threshold with a wry grin.

“No, I'm completely naked Suri.” They deadpanned as they spread out an obviously full covered arm from the doorway. Surya threw his hands up in mock surrender.

“Hey, I’m trying to be a gentleman here.” 

“Be a gentleman somewhere else we don’t have time for that,” Tabatha grabbed the mask from him and disappeared back into the bathroom. “Now. Get. In. Here.”

Surya rolled his eyes fondly and stepped into the bathroom.

He burst out laughing immediately.

Tabatha stood in their small, honestly kind of sad, shower in their full diving suit, sans air tanks, with their hand on the faucet. Surya immediately knew what they were going to do. He’d seen an old college roommate do the same thing to clean his diving suit after accidentally swimming into a cloud of algae.

Tabatha’s eyes crinkled with a tell-tell sign of them grinning, as well as they could, with the regulator covering their mouth and turned the faucet on.

Surya couldn’t fucking breathe.

“W-wha-what are you doing??” He managed to gasp out between bursts of laughter, wiping the tears forming in his eyes at the sight before him. Tabatha shrugged, answering in that sing-song language again that now sounded a little like they were gargling with the shower head on. Surya gasped for air, intermittently broken up by short fits of giggles as he tried to calm himself down. The brunet turned the faucet off and pulled the regulator away from their face, spitting out any stray water that had found its way past the haphazardly put-on mechanism.

“So,” They asked after giving Surya another moment to gasp down air. “Did that sound any different?”

“Is THAT what you were doing?”

“Duh!” The brunet gasped, absentmindedly tossing a hand out and covering Surya’s feet in water. “I remember it sounding different when I was fully submerged.”

“So you got into your shower to test that?”

“...I might’ve only just now remembered that I have a pond…”

“Oh my goddess Tabby,” Surya looked down forlornly at his now wet socks. “Is that why you asked if I brought my swim trunks?”

“...yes.”

“And you immediately got into your shower??”

“YES, SHUT UP!”

Surya was very lucky he was near the door when he started laughing again as Tabatha flung as much water at him as they could. After calming down again and much apologies, the two gathered up some gear and wandered outside to the closest pond on Tabatha's property. The summer evening was warm enough to be comfortable even without a proper wetsuit on, but Surya still lamented that his socks were now uncomfortably squishy. Tabatha offered to hang them out to dry and he declined, deciding that if he stepped on something hard then that was just how it had to be.

With towels, water-proof recording gear, an old pair of swim trunks Tabatha let him barrow and the brunet all put shoving their diver’s goggles over his head, the two sat on the small wooden platform that hung over the nearest pond. Even though it was attached to one of the many streams that ran through Coral Island, they determined that current wouldn’t be strong enough to pull himself or Tabatha in and therefore deemed it safe enough for a little free diving. 

Surya let Tabatha fall backwards into the pond first and followed suit when a thumbs up broke the surface. The water was cool against his skin and the pond, while small, was big enough and deep enough that the two of them could stand with only having to squat a little bit. He sat for a moment to enjoy it before Tabatha called over to him with the sing-song language.

“Hello! Fancy seeing you here~” Their eyes crinkled, smiling under the mask as Surya recognized the ‘Hello’ but not the rest.

“Hello!” He replied back clumsily, water filling his mouth briefly. The language carried through the water just as well, if not better, than it did in the air and still with the same pretty, melodic tone. They both resurfaced briefly, Surya to spit the water out of his mouth and Tabatha mostly to gather more air and ask if he was alright before they submerged again.

Once again they swapped words back and forth, practicing simple ‘hellos’ and ‘goodbyes’, ‘how are you’ ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re welcome’ until they could repeat the words without having to think about strange rising and falling of the vowels. Eventually they resurfaced for the last time, as the sun began to fully set and their muscles ached from keeping themselves in place under the water. But they continued without the translator, practicing their tone and pronunciation without the safety net of Dr. Ling’s mysterious handiwork. By the time the two saw fit to finally towel themselves dry and head back to Tabatha’s cabin, it was late and Surya felt fairly confident in his barebones basics of the merfolk language.

“Did you wanna take the rest of the lodeh home with you?”

“No, that's for you! I don’t want my friend starving before they get a kitchen.” 

Tabatha huffed a small laugh, wrapping their arms around his middle and squeezing him tightly, butting their head gently against his shoulder. Surya returned the hug, patting them on the back before stepping away and heading towards his Bibi’s and Paman’s home in the forest. He’d return home later than intended with still damp hair, wet socks and borrowed board shorts, staving off Archie’s questions for the next morning and rolling his eyes at another one of his Bibi’s ‘looks’ before heading to his room and collapsing into bed.

He dreams of song-like languages and fish-tailed people below the waves.

[jinx-on-mars-19xx]

Sharp Secrets and Bloody Blades

Not Natural ✨ The Devil's Trap ✨ Holy Water ✨ The Demon's Altar ✨ Midnight Meeting ✨ The Hunter's Trap

Dom x Colson (Yungblud x Machine Gun Kelly)

Warnings: Supernatural inspired, ABO (knots, slick, heats), demon Kells, hunter Dom, case talks, mentions of death, mentions of brutal murder, talks about their pasts, drug use, drinking, PTSD, one quick mention of animal abuse (Dom saw a frog killed as a boy), mentions of being drugged and attempted date rape, implications of being a prostitute, a small fight between them, teasing, emotions, feels, fingering, almost blowjob, interrupted sex, graphic descriptions of them getting attacked, monster fight, blood, magic, healing, thinking the other is dead, fear, almost love confessions, secrets ⚰️ rating: explicit

They didn't talk about the new lines they crossed in bed together and they definitely didn't talk about the way Dom was mostly healed by the time he woke up. The human wrote it off to the wounds not being as bad as he thought they would be and the demon told himself it was a magical fluke. Darkness didn't heal and that was all that he was made up of. He refused to think anything else. Maybe it was the blood he kept sharing with his lover- demon blood made a human strong and resilient. That's all it was, the Hunter kept drinking from him and complaining about it later. He'd lament he was being roofied but the moment he saw red on Kells he licked his lips.

The kid went right back to his job after he woke, researching into the early hours and only taking breaks for food or a few quick and dirty make out sessions. The room was thick with smoke from his cigarettes and the beast's pot by the time the sun rose. The scent of coffee, smoke, cheap booze, and old sex was stuck to their skin. Kells was exhausted just watching his lover but he wasn't the best at helping. He knew he could find out what and where the monster was in two seconds flat but he didn't want Dominic running off and facing someone that powerful with one of his many pig stickers.

"Tha's fucking it. I can't even see straight anymore." The boy grumbled as he shut his laptop and laid his head on the perpetually sticky table. "I can't find any'fin tha' fits. No 'ex bags, no sulphur, no nuffin." He whined. "A god maybe?"

Kells stood from his spot sprawled out on the bed and walked behind his boy. His long fingers found their way to Dom's tense shoulders and he tried to massage the decade old knots out. His lip rolled between his teeth, his mind tripping over itself to think of literally anything that might make him cut the trip short and move on but he knew better. He wouldn't leave when there were humans in danger. "Any link between the vics?" He tried to stall, his gaze flicking to the bed as he wondered if he could use sex to distract.

"Teen boys. Pretty. Not really any'fin else. 'Onestly I took it cause I fhought it might be…" He trailed off and shrugged, tapping his forehead against the table. Kells cringed but he tried not to control the kid out of bed. If he wanted to catch something from the furniture that was his choice.

"He doesn't normally kill them so bloody. He tries to make a deal." The demon sighed, rubbing his thumbs deeper into the rock hard muscles under his touch. The punk shuddered, whether from memory or the massage he wasn't sure but it made him ease up just in case.

"Exactly. So why… Fuck, it's disgusting Kells. I saw the last kill. I remember seeing a boy shove firecrackers into a frog once… it reminded me of tha'. No piece is distinguishable as a person."

The monster wished he could say that sounded like hell but he'd spent so much time there that he knew you could find so much worse. "Dude sounds like a psycho." He hummed instead and his bitch chuckled dryly.

"Yeah. He was in prison last I 'eard but tha's from another life." Dom sighed, pushing up and out of his seat and away from the demon's touch. He wandered off to pick through his clothes, his boxer's wet. Even the chair had freshly spilled slick and the scent almost brought Kells to his knees. He'd just mentally made fun of the boy for touching the furniture though, he would not bury his face against the cushion when he had Dom's pussy so close.

He took a deep breath and stepped closer to the omega. He knew Dom was just trying to escape the conversation and his past but Kells had found something to distract them from the hunt at hand and sometimes he could be like a hellhound with a femur. Persistent as fuck. "You don't really talk about England."

"God save the queen, keep calm, carry on, bangers and mash and all tha'. Better? I talked about it." Dom's accent got thicker as he mocked his homeland but it was all real and something about it drove the beast a little insane. "You wanna talk about your past? Yeah, didn't fink so."

Kells rolled his eyes and took a seat on the mattress. He was still naked, he didn't see a reason to dress unless they were going out and it kept the boy's eyes on him. Parts of him. "I've lost count of all the bad shit I've done. I've lived all over, done every drug imaginable and some I made up. Ya know, I discovered weed." He smirked and Dom scoffed. He honestly wasn't even sure if that was true, he'd lived too long but it was a damn good story either way. "I've killed more than I saved, I've never hurt an animal like that fucker though. I think animals were where the fucker up there went right. I don't- I don't know my mom. My dad's a fucking asshole. Was- I mean. I didn't back Lucifer which kind of got me blackballed. Uhhh… I might like a human a little too much for the first time ever."

"Tha's not your past dumbarse." Dom huffed, twisting the shirt he was holding between his fingers. His belly flipped, his nerves were a little too shot to play that game. The beast was teasing him. He had to be.

"Are you fucking kidding me dude?" He tried to keep his voice level but it dropped a little, he didn't want to fight. He wasn't supposed to care about the boy's life but he couldn't help it. He wanted to know him better than anyone else ever had.

"Me parents fought. I wanted out. A pretty boy seduced me and told me he'd take care of it for a price. I got 'ung up in the wrong bloody crowd and I ran Kells. He killed em all jus' to try and get me back. He said it was a gift. A gift. Me family is dead and I've got a fucking womb because I looked at the wrong boy. Cause I was… fuck if I know. I didn't say yes but he claimed me anyway! It's been ten years. Do you 'ave any idea 'ow-" His voice was going high and breathy and before he could finish his rant the demon was holding him, pressing his face into his inked chest to breathe his scent deep. "He wants me soul Kells. He-"

"No. You didn't make a deal. Astaroth is a psychopath but you didn't say yes. He has no right to your soul. Killing your family was the bastard's idea of flowers. He probably thought it was romantic. He doesn't want your soul baby. If he did he wouldn't have cursed you. Besides he's not a fucking crossroads demon." Keliphos tried to soothe as he pressed kisses to Dom's hair and rubbed up and down his back. He had wanted the kid to open up but he hadn't meant for it to open Pandora's box. His lover held the world's sorrows and it broke his heart. Well… it would if he thought he had one.

"Wha' you mean? Wha' does he want?" Dom whimpered, his voice as pitiful as any young pup.

Kells swallowed hard, his eyes closing as he swayed them gently. He wasn't exactly trying to rock his bitch but maybe. Anything to comfort him. "Astaroth… he's real fucking old. Like… one of the originals kind of old. Like… He was something else before he was a demon but no one knows exactly what. Not human. Some think he was an angel that followed Luce down. He doesn't care about much but he's spent his existence trying to make more of what he is. He can never get the pairing quite right. He must have thought you weren't just human." The beast sighed. He was terrified to say so much, demons didn't spill other demons secrets. If they did then everyone would fuck each other over but he didn't like Dom being so terrified. So confused.

"Well tha's bloody stupid. Course I'm 'uman. Wha' else would I be?" Dom sniffled but with every breath in he could scent the man holding him and it soothed the fear. Fuck he needed some distance from the demon before he got too close. Too reliant on him. That was dangerous for them both. Everyone Dom got close to died.

"Hey, I'm okay. Don't worry about me." The devil accidentally let slip but the boy was too worked up to notice. Thank fuck. "I don't know what you could be. Maybe you are just human but that's not what matters. What matters is that he's out there and obsessed with you. We'll kill him though. There isn't some ten year contract on your life coming up, he doesn't make those so please stop worrying. But he is out there."

Dom huffed, leaning back enough he could look up at his lover. Those blue eyes were surprisingly kind and he knew he could easily be fooled by them. Kells didn't want him like that, they were just having fun while they hunted. That was all. "I ain't seen 'im in years. I want revenge for me sisters but… I don't fink he cares about me anymore. Too old." The human shrugged and Kells had to bite his cheek not to let slip that he talked to the fucker the first night they made love. Fucked around. Damnit.

"He still wants you. Trust me. He doesn't let people escape so the fact that you did? Yeah… he wants you. Plus… he never got you right?" His voice dropped to almost a whisper. He was scared to ask but Dom was so obviously a virgin their first night. He just wanted to make sure the monster hadn't done something else.

"No. God Kells- never. He tried. He tried real 'ard. Even drugged me but I went 'ome. Woke up wiv a cunt and a dead family. Me friend got me out and got me 'ere. I guess it must've looked… bad for me. No…" He sighed and watched as he traced tattoos on the demon's chest. "You me first. Only. Messed around wiv a few people once I got 'ere. 'Ad to make money some'ow but no… no actual sex. Before you." He was almost annoyed at the way his stomach buzzed at the thought, at the way his thighs felt wet, and his lips tugged into a smile. He shouldn't let anyone effect him so much.

Kells stepped back, his gaze snapping away from the beautiful boy in front of him. Nerves got the better of him. He ran a hand through his hair and down his face. He didn't mean to stop soothing his- the omega but those words made him anxious. "We didn't have sex. We haven't had- I haven't fucked you yet. Believe me you'd know."

Jade eyes rolled and Dom almost laughed. Almost. "I fink me pussy would beg to differ Kells. Maybe we ain't gone at it like rabbits or nuffin yet but…" He trailed off, stepping closer to his demon lover because Kells was that. His lover.

"We've talked about this. Personal space Dom."

"You the one who crowded me. I'm jus' returning the favor." The boy purred as he wrapped his hand around the demon's and led his touch between his legs. His gentle grip directed Kells to slide his boxers over and bend his fingers before he pushed two between his surprisingly wet folds. "You the only one to ever be inside me. Don't you feel it? You put your cock right 'ere. Right inside me tight, wet, warm pussy. Few inches still counts luv, tha's all some men 'ave. But you been blessed ain't yas? Big boy."

The beast swallowed fast and hard, trying to push the lump in his throat down. He wasn't sure how he lost control of the situation so badly but had to bite his tongue not to stop it in a mean way. He almost asked if this was the whore side of him but he knew Dom was being genuine. That's why it was working on him. It felt innocent and seductive at the same time. "I haven't fucked you yet." He tried again but Dom just smiled.

"Tha's strange tha' cause I seem to remember your cum spilling outta me all night."

"Doesn't count. Was just trying to soothe your heat." He whimpered back, his knees threatening to buckle.

"Me 'eat?"

"Yeah. The way you felt. Feel- I guess. You're in heat. Happens with omegas. It's safe though cause I'm not really an alpha." Kells shrugged and Dom sighed, letting go of his hand but he couldn't stop touching. The kid was right, he was warm and tight and so fucking wet.

"Oh. Sweet of yas. Definitely weren't for you at all right? Like you ain't 'ard for me now? I shouldn't jus'-" The kid teased, pulling the demon's touch free and making him growl. He dropped to his knees and smirked up at him as he leaned forward and licked playfully over the tip of his cock. Shit. Kells hadn't realized how hard he was. He'd been so focused on his lover but now the strain was all he could feel.

"Fuck yes- please?" He rasped, his voice dropping to gravel as his pussy wet fingers tangled in Dom's messy hair.

Dom smirked and nodded, he wasn't ashamed to admit he'd been desperate to try this but the moment he pressed forward again and let his eyes close so he could savor the taste of his beast the devil disappeared.

"I felt a Hunter after me and I thought to explain myself but to find you fornicating with a demon? They're no better than the beasts of the land." A stern male voice sounded from behind him and his eyes flew open as he threw his body into a drop and roll, searching out the blade stashed under his bed.

Dom could take in a few things with his adrenaline kicked into overdrive. His senses were certainly stronger with his lover's blood pumping fast through his veins. There was a strange being in their room- a young man it seemed, dressed in a gray blue suit speckled with blood. The creature- whatever it was- had enough power to get passed their wards, go undetected by them both, and summon a strong demon to his hands. The wanker had his lover by the neck and Kells looked frozen. Hopefully not passed out or dead. Dom couldn't think like that.

His fingers closed around his blade and he jumped to his feet, keeping a good distance between them but obviously the fucker didn't need to move to hurt them. "Astaroth?" He asked, the form matched his normal meatsuit and the magic level seemed right but it seemed incredibly offended by the name.

"Do I look like a demon? Do you know where Astaroth is?" It hissed and Dom shrugged.

"Well, ya got blood on ya nice suit and you wearing a 'uman so… yeah a bit. Put Kells down and we can talk." He teased the beast, he couldn't help it. He always had a sharp tongue when hunting and it often got him in more trouble but he couldn't seem to help it. He tended to blame it on his ADHD but the truth was that he was a smart ass and loved it. Sometimes it threw them off kilter that he wasn't scared but this one didn't seem to care. When it gripped his lover tighter he did the same with his knife and wondered if he could throw it before the fucker killed Kells.

"No. I came to talk to you. I've heard you're a good boy. I wanted to explain that I was hunting the same thing as you. You shouldn't get mixed up with demons. Let me help." It's voice held a hint of madness that made Dom's insides cringe. Monster was one thing, crazy monster could prove almost impossible. He wouldn't let someone else he cared about be taken from him.

When he caught sight of it's nails digging into his demon's throat he jumped forward, his heart racing in his chest. The more blood that spilled the more nauseous he felt. He didn't mean to but he kept praying for Kells to wake up. Wake up and fight. Wake the fuck up! "Wait! Let's talk yeah? Fank you for caring but… let me 'elp you kill 'im. You right. He seduced me. Right monster he is. I should be the one to do it!" He tried to keep his voice level as he attempted to lie to the newcomer but he was sure he was filled with fear. "Please, you saved me. Tell me ya name?"

The wild eyes of the intruder locked on his as he stepped closer and it's head jerked as if it were trying to nod. "Raziel. I've been after Astaroth for centuries but he only surfaces long enough to steal a few boys before he takes them to hell. I followed his stench here but I find only this beast. I am happy to save you from the fate of my brother."

Dom took a deep shuddering breath. Raziel was an angel name. They didn't have many on earth since the new ruler stepped up but he wasn't surprised there were a few stragglers. A mad angel? Why was an angel mixed up in all that? "Oh? Your brother? Wha' 'appened?" His gaze flicked between the crazy winged wanker and his still unconscious lover. He was hoping it was a tactic but he knew better. Kells had a buzz about him like the air after a lightning strike and he couldn't feel it anymore.

"He… well… he. It's not my story to tell but he too was seduced by darkness. Astaroth. He used my brother and left him broken. Ramiel left heaven with the traitor and never returned. I believe him dead." There was true pain in the angel's blue eyes and Dom almost hurt for him. If the fucker had just come to him calmly he might have welcomed the help. As it was he was wondering if he could stab him but he didn't have an angel blade. Fuck. "Why does it feel like Astaroth?" He spat, his fingers digging deeper into the demon's throat. Before long he would rip part of it out whether he meant to or not and Dom couldn't allow that. Raziel shook Kells hard and the Hunter had to act. He had to do something to save him.

"I don't know! They're both demons. Strong! Please! Drop 'im? I want to kill it me'self."

Raziel seemed to think about that before he nodded and threw the limp devil on the bed. Dom's heart dropped. He was more terrified than he cared to admit. His lover already looked dead but he had to believe he wasn't. He had to. How had the angel knocked him out? Raziel grumbled at the blood on his hand and he seemed to be unnerved by it. The human picked up a towel from the floor and tossed it to him before he turned to the bed and prone beast, walking close and crawling on top of him.

"Here boy." The feathery fuck offered, throwing him a blade he hadn't seen before. He was tempted to turn and stab the stranger just to test if it would work on him but he knew the angel was mental and close to killing him anyway so instead he took it and tried to act grateful.

"'Ow bloody dare you come 'ere and seduce me. You tried to give me blood and- and you tried to fuck me. You jus' wanted me 'eart didn't you? 'Ow dare you!" Dom sniffled as he rambled off half true feelings. He wanted to buy a moment as he worked. He only knew one other thing that worked on Raziel's kind and he had to work fast, he was just terrified Kells would get hurt in the process. He sliced a cut in his arm where the angel couldn't see and he started drawing on his lover's chest. To keep the lie going with his other hand he held the blade over the demon's heart and he prayed it was still beating for him. The bastard had to live. He needed him.

"Fuck you and your blue eyes and monster cock and- and ya every'fin. You shouldn't 'ave come 'ere Kells! Look wha' 'appened! 'Ow dare you make me love you!" His voice broke when he accidentally let that slip out. He heard the angel mutter something and step closer but it didn't matter. The banishing symbol was complete and stood out on the beast's inked skin. Dom sliced his palm as Raziel came up behind him and he closed his eyes tight as he slammed his hand to the bloody mark.

Kells woke to a bright light and someone screaming and as he tried to gasp for air he realized half his throat was ripped out. It was healing fast but he couldn't figure out what was happening until something dropped heavy on his chest.

The room cleared of its brightness and he blinked his gaze to its true form. Not many creatures could stare into heaven's light and not have their eyes burned out but he was special he supposed. "Dom?" He tried to call out but his vocal cords were still healing and his brain was still catching up. He remembered his omega about to blow him before someone else appeared in the room and- the rest was blank. Shit.

A scent hit his nose and his mouth watered, Dom's blood was strong in the room but- "Oh fuck baby?" He moved too fast but he didn't care about himself. Dominic was limp on his chest and he crawled out from under him. There was an angel banishing symbol painted over the ink on his chest but that wasn't the only place the smell was coming from. His heart raced as he looked over the kid. There was an angel blade in his hands but a knife in his back. It looked like one of his own. Oh fuck.

"Dom?" His voice was broken and wet and not just from the bubbling blood. He could feel his eyes brimming with tears but he couldn't stop to question himself and his feelings. He rushed to straighten the human out before he pressed one palm around the wound and the other gripped the hilt tight. "Fucking told you. Less fucking knives. Get a gun damnit. They look cooler. Stupid bitch. You're such a stupid-" His voice caught on a sob as he pulled the knife free and let it fall. He made sure to slice his own hand so he bled straight into the wound but that was only back up.

His eyes closed and he focused inside himself for power he hadn't tried to touch in so long. He thought it was long gone but just hours before he'd healed the human. He had to do it again. "Get your ass back here. You can't fucking leave me. We have to kill dad together. Please baby? Wake the fuck up!" He begged. "Anyone up there, if you're listening… I know I have no right to ask but please? Just let me heal him? I get why you shut it off- I get I don't deserve to use that power but please? Domie hasn't done anything bad. He's a good Hunter. I love him. He makes me want to be better! Please? I love him-" His palms felt warm and from behind his eyelids he could see a bright light. A wet laugh escaped him but he tried to keep focused. "Thank you! Fuck me thank you!" He didn't know if it was heaven or himself but when he opened his eyes he could see the Hunter healing. He would be okay. He had to be.

Dom gasped for air like he hadn't had it in too long as his pulse thundered through him. One moment he was bathed in light and the next he was staring up at his demon lover. "Kells, you're alive?" He whimpered, trying to surge up to touch his throat but the monster met him halfway.

"Shut the fuck up, of course I am. Don't try and get yourself killed for me. Fuck you. Dom- shit…" Yeah... he was still crying and he couldn't stop. Their arms wrapped around each other and they shared desperate messy crimson kisses.

"I know. Fuck you." If Dom didn't know better he'd swear it sounded more like 'I love you' but he couldn't focus on anything besides the way Kells was staring at him and holding him. "Kells, I need you."

The demon knew it was more a demand than a question. They'd both almost just died and they obviously had a lot to talk about but at the moment all he could think about was that he'd mentally vowed before to make love to Dom in a puddle of blood. Why couldn't it be their own? "I need you too."

Author's Note/Tags: @iamnotanearthlingmotherfucker @hollywoodxwhore @jaxbreaker @fenoy7 @cole-way-iero28 🖤

Holy shit that was long 😅 I hope you enjoy it! I know it's a lot to take in but I'm sure they'll talk it through at some point. Probably a little porn first though. They deserve it after that. Did Kells say 'dad'? Who is Raziel and Ramiel? How does Kells have angel powers? Is Dom just human? Keep reading to find out! I hope you're loving this as much as I am! ⚰️🖤

[bitacrytic]

I think why it is so difficult for me to let go of kp is because this truly is my first and last bl. Idk if you remember me, but you used to get a lot of anons on the seedier side of bl industry. That was me. I tried to give bl a chance many many years ago, but certain tropes didn't really sit comfortable with me. Now you might say well the relationships in kp aren't healthy either ( and I am a vp shipper😅) but I felt there was something here that was missing from all those years earlier, and I fell so deeply into the brainrot. And now it is gone and I don't have anything else ( I mean I am sure the other queer love stories are made with just as much care but still...). Nothing.

Anon, I feel you, 100%. Long time no see.

As someone who spent years deconstructing my love for M&Bs, it is so ironic that some of my favorite bls are Tharntype and Kinnporsche.

To me, I fell in love with Kinnporsche for two reasons.

It was very obvious about its bad behavior. The first thing I saw n the trailer was the main character coming out to SMOKE!!!! and then he fell in love with his rude boss... and then his boss was parading other partners in front of him. Not to mention the hinting at the sexual torture. I was sold. I was ready for a show that wasn't going to pretend to be about fun and love, all the while parading toxic behaviors as good behavior.

I was sold on Porsche being a bad ass. This was something Type from Tharntype gave me a bit of, but I was upset with him sometimes because he was the abuser. I was happy to see the "bottom" character being given a backbone because too many times those characters are made spineless. But that trailer with Porsche gave me hope.

I went in to Kinnporsche expecting these two things and yes, I will admit that they let me down because Porsche became a little spineless and the show tried to portray Kinn's fuckery as good behavior.

But the beauty of it all was that while I didn't get exactly what I wanted, I got other things. I got intruige. I got action sequences in a bl. I got shenanigans. And best of all, I didn't have to spend 90% of the time staring at school uniforms. I cannot explain how much the adultness of this story appeals to me. I love that they weren't children. At least, they tried to make us forget that Porsche, Jom and Tem were in school but that was so fine by me.

And best of all, KINNPORSCHE KILLED EVERY SINGLE SEXUAL SCENE. The kisses, the sex, the handjobs. Oh Lord. they did it better than everyone who came before and anyone who has come after. Even down to that crying scene in the bar where that silly bartender strolled out and ruined the vegaspete moment, anyone can admit that we were hoping for some wall action. And if they'd done it, the show would have killed it.

Right now, I'm judging western sex scenes using Kinnporsche as my metric. Anything less is cringe, as far as I'm concerned.

So yes, Anon. I understand completely. other bls are trying their best to live up to the legacy of Kinnporsche, but to me, they're not succeeding. I've found some nice ones with good acting/storytelling, but... it's just not it. At least not yet.

I'm waiting with crossed fingers to see if BOC can replicate that magic or if Kinnporsce was a fluke. GMMTV and the others have been pretty consistent but BOC doesn't have a record to track so I want to wait. If another show comes out, I will give it a chance. I'm praying for Man Suang to quench this thirst in my spirit.

Honestly, in my head, I doubt that anything can top Kinnporsche right now. Especially with the cast separating and doing different things. I loved them all together. I got so used to seeing them all as a unit that it's going to be hard to watch something with one or to people. But I will try because I need my fix.

Like I said, my fingers are crossed TIGHT!

[jadeyharls]

=> Jade: Investigate

It takes you a while to calm down, but you finally manage. At first, you thought that maybe this was all a fluke. A trick of the imagination brought about your frustration. However, as you try to calm yourself, Gilligan continues to flutter around you. Eventually landing on another monitor, triggering a similar glitch to before.

Something you figure out quite quickly is that now that he has a way of communicating, the bite-size bot doesn't want to stop. So much for your imagination.

Eventually, you manage to convince him to settle down and allow you to plug him back into the computer. Other than this recent development, he seems to be functioning fairly normally. He hasn't overheated and malfunctioned again at the very least. Well, this whole ordeal was technically an entirely different kind of malfunction, but you were more concerned about why this was happening than anything. Namely, because no matter what explanation you tried to come up with, this didn't make sense.

The problem was, that even if Gilligan wasn't designed to have higher functionality like what he was displaying at the moment, he was a fairly complex machine. You had to give your alt credit where it was due, and you liked to think your little additions only improved his design.

You just never thought those additions would come back to bite quite like this.

The point was that combing through all this code could take a while. You guess it was good that you've become a bit of a late owl recently, even by your own standards.

So you dig. You dig, and you dig, and you dig. Still nothing. That was... until you noticed something out of place. Admittedly, you weren't familiar with the entirety of Gilligan's code as you generally stayed away from his core program, but you knew it well enough to know Nova's handiwork from your own. Even if you two were technically the same person, code was like a fingerprint. There were ways to tell one person's work from another's, and you knew darn well that the code you were looking at now wasn't yours or your alts.

Someone else had put their greasy fingers on your bot.

The longer you looked, the more familiar the coding signature you were looking at became, and your blood began to boil. He didn't. He did not tamper with YOUR little guy. Constantly using your lab equipment without asking was one thing, but this was crossing a line. This was goddamn personal.

You are about to kick Strider's fucking ass.

[mitigatingacademics]

{9.19.24}

I have a co-worker who gets questionably upset, for someone who has lived his entire life in an area that experiences all four seasons every year, at the end of summer.

He makes FB post after FB about how the whole world is dark and everything is dying. If I wasn't familiar with his dramatics, I might actually be concerned for him.

As it is, fav co-worker and I start muting him 30 days at a time around this time of year. He's in good company with my Aunt who gets muted for her bad political takes that I just don't have the patience for.

I say all of this to offer a different perspective.

Autumn brings my soul to life.

This is the time of year where I'm inspired in all things.

See: My return to accountability here.

...and there's nothing like a trip to the pumpkin farm to kick-off the seasonal festivities.

🍂🍁🧡🎃☕🍂🍁🧡🎃☕🍂🍁🧡🎃☕🍂🍁🧡🎃☕🍂🍁

Since we last met, I have taken the LSAT twice.

The first time, in February, with logic games. The goal, at that point, was just to do my best and get a score on my record.

I ended up scoring three points (at least) above the median of every school I intend on applying to.

This was achieved leaving out one of the logic games in its entirety. I don't remember the details after all this time but there were multiple variables to account for and I could not, for the life of me, figure out how to set it up. I tried two different ways before giving up.

That being the case, I figured I'd probably be able to score better without the games section - and might be able to garner additional scholarship funding. So, I set about studying for August. And I *was* PTing higher.

When it came to actually taking the August exam, however, I'm not sure what it was, perhaps the fear of scoring worse and indicating that my first score was a fluke, but when I time-checked and found myself a bit behind on the first section I panicked to the point that I very seriously considered getting up and walking out.

I managed to talk myself down, but the time and focus required for that cost me, in my estimation, the equivalent of two logic games.

When scores were posted in August and I received the exact same score as in February... 🤣🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

It's a sign, y'all.

I'm done with the LSAT.

I read somewhere that it's best to have applications in by Halloween.

I'm currently waiting on a Letter of Recommendation from my manager. I've asked for it by the end of the month and have promised myself that I won't...ask her how it's going...until at least the 25th.

The Train Master, who is not my direct supervisor, and I was unsure about even asking for a letter, got so excited for me when I told him I was applying that he said he got chills. He had his letter in within a week of receiving the official notice. Bless.

My Personal Statement is written. I continue to edit it in bits and pieces, but for the most part, it's done.

I'm leaving for vacation on October 14.

Ideally I'll have everything submitted by then.

Fingers crossed. 🤞🏻

This law school thing is kinda sorta really happening.

[suganovakawa]

i have been holding this idea to myself for an entire MONTH AHAHA but here we are , i’m a big gorl now and i really wanted to share the angst — along with finally starting a blog on tumblr . so yeah ! i’m new , pls be kind to me , i have food 👉🏼👈🏼 i hope you enjoy my first story !

𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐄 .

PAIRINGS : tooru oikawa x fem! reader

GENRE : angst , romance

TRIGGERS : bits of cursing here n there , ig ?

SYNOPSIS : tooru doesn’t understand how special you are to him until he comes close to losing you forever . as he struggles to comes to grips with his feelings and balance it with his future , you still have to recover from your own injuries , but without your memories to assist you .

[ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 ] > 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 .

the beginning of a storm ; why was tooru at seijoh so late ?

word count : 1.9k .

saudade masterlist.

SAUDADE

( 𝐧 . ) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant , or that has been loved and then lost ; “ the love that remains ”

⠀"tooru? i've tried calling you for almost an hour now... what are you still doing here?" the janitor had allowed you an entrance inside seijoh, your light jacket pressed against your body as you scuffled through the gym doors, your tongue clicking as you eyed a certain brunette captain serving his god-knows-how-many time of deadly top-spin serves.

⠀his eyes darted in your direction the moment your voice filled the echoey gym walls, your concerned tone ringing back and forth as his brown irises glared at you through narrow eyelids. a nervous lump grew in your throat, your stomach understanding the regret in the decision you made. oikawa was in one of his moods again; you should've known better than to barge in during his serving practice.

⠀still, even with your boyfriend acting the way he was - without saying a single word - there was no use in just leaving aoba johsai as quickly as you arrived. you came to check on tooru, and that was exactly what you were going to do. "it's late, tooru. we still have school tomorrow! you need your rest, please give yourself a break, it'll do more harm than good for you."

⠀"you say that every time, y/n." oikawa rolled his eyes as he bent down to grab a nearby volleyball rolling at his feet, palming it in his right hand and pointing it at the net. his focus was intent - you knew exactly what he was doing. for the past couple of weeks, the captain focused his practice on serving, locking in and applying all of his power to one spot on the court only. it was a feat not many could accomplish, but tooru was scarily coming close to mastering such a challenge. it required extra practice, of course, but certainly not to this extent.

⠀"as your girlfriend and as the manager of the aoba johsai volleyball team, i'm worried about you, you know?" taking a deep, brave breath, you stepped further into the gym, your footsteps creating more echoes for the two of you to listen to as you approached the sweat-covered third year, who had paused his serving practice to watch you come to him. his lips were pursed - and not in a way that sent your heart aflutter. oikawa hated when you disturbed him and tried talking him out of practicing; he'd give any reason and excuse to avoid it.

⠀"just one more serve, alright? then you can drag me out, whatever. i don't really want to listen to your self-health lectures right now." his free hand rested on his hips, the volleyball now resting between his waist and underneath his arm, interrupting you as your mouth opened to say something more. you had grown accustomed to tooru's mood swings as time went on; he didn't mean much by it, and you understood his position. his passion towards the sport was what originally captivated you towards the captain in the first place. you weren't exactly part of his fanclub, per se, but you sure as hell were close enough as a member. the only difference between you and the other girls was that you were lucky enough to snag the job as the volleyball club manager.

⠀"one serve, tooru." your arms crossed as you bit back his nasty glare with one of your own. most of the time, it worked. "push your luck and i'll call iwaizumi here to drag you out of the gym himself." you and hajime were always a tag team whenever it came to putting an iron fist down on tooru, though the stubborn male usually only listened to iwa, since he was the one who packed a nasty punch. oikawa did listen to you occasionally, just not as much as you would've liked.

⠀he rolled his eyes and turned away from you in place of a reply, holding the ball out in front of him. he was silent, and so were you. this was his routine for practice, all of his dirty talk could wait for the matches. you moved to his sports bag, sighing to yourself as you saw his cellphone plopped on top of his club jacket like a cherry on top. he must've had his ringer off, which would explain why he didn't pick up any of your calls. crossing your arms lightly over your chest, you watched with intent eyes as your boyfriend tossed his ball into the air, his gaze directly focused on nothing else but the flying object. he began his standard approach, your breath held as the gym exploded with the sound of his palm coming in contact with the volleyball. your eyes could hardly follow its path; you blinked once, and the ball was already bouncing against the wall.

⠀"damn, another fluke." you were about to compliment tooru's killer serve before you listened to him reprimand himself - you could tell this wasn't the first time he scolded himself for a mistake only he could identify. you noticed him walking to grab another ball, but you ran out to him, kicking his targeted ball out of reach before looking up at him and pressing a finger to his chest lightly.

⠀"enough, tooru. you promised me only one more serve. you've done that already, pack up so we can leave already. you have tomorrow to continue."

⠀"what the hell, y/n? i was just going to-"

⠀you knew him way too well to believe his next lie. "don't even try and say you were going to start picking up volleyballs. i see that look in your eyes, as clear as a cloudless day. you were intent on serving again, tooru; you can't lie to me. you-"

⠀"could you just stop already? who are you, my mother?" he clenched his jaw as he swatted your finger away from his chest, storming away from you as he bent down to pick up another ball, just right behind the boundary line. "i know you care, y/n. you make that very clear. but i can take care of myself, okay? just go home."

⠀"tooru-"

⠀"go, y/n."

⠀oh hell no you weren't.

⠀not without him leaving too.

⠀you turned the corner and pretended to leave seijoh, your face faking its exasperation. leaning against the wall right outside of the gym doors, you reached into your front pocket, your phone warm in your hand. unlocking the screen and searching through your contacts, you tapped the call button for the one person that had the ability to drag oikawa out of the gymnasium.

⠀"hello?"

⠀"iwa! thank goodness you answered."

⠀"it's so late, y/n. do you need help burying a body or something?"

⠀"i wish. i hope this isn't too much to ask, but could you please come to seijoh? tooru refuses to stop practicing, and he won't listen to me."

⠀"god, again?" a sigh could be heard from the other line. "yeah, i'll be right there. open the door for me, will you?"

⠀"thank you so much, iwa. i'll be at the door."

⠀you hung up the call, your eyes gazing at the doors as you waited for your friend to appear. you bit down on the side of your cheek and listened to every sound of contact tooru made with every serve. nothing could get him out of his moods - at least, not anything verbal. you'd need physical force to actually get him to step out of the gym doors. hence, why you needed hajime here.

⠀you heard a knock at the door a few minutes later, and you just about sprinted, a gracious smile stretched upon your lips as you allowed iwaizumi into the school. he looked like he rolled out of bed, his mouth in his natrual scowl. when his eyes laid upon you, his glare softened when he looked at your smile. "alright, where is he?"

⠀"in the gym, where he always is."

⠀"allow me." rolling up his own sleeves, the spiky-haired ace marched through the gym doors with you in line behind him, peering over him to look at oikawa's face the moment he was in the setter's line of vision.

⠀"oh, it's iwa. i'm not surprised, y/n is too stubborn to listen to me."

⠀"you're one to talk, shittykawa. don't you know what time it is?" taking out his phone and shaking it to make a point, he wasted no time in walking towards the brunette. you were nervous; usually oikawa would falter at the sight of hajime alone, but tonight seemed to be different. instead of giving in, he merely gave his new company a dirty glare. "go home already. it's late, we have school tomorrow, and the playoffs are soon. you're just going to tire yourself out, and i'll beat your ass if we don't face the other teams at our best." he then chuckled. "i've pulled you out of here myself multiple times, don't think i won't do it again."

⠀oikawa turned his icy stare at you, before glancing back at hajime with a bored yawn. "fine, fine," he retorted, throwing his calloused hands up in mock surrender, "you win, y/n. happy? i'm leaving the gym now, so don't be any more pushy than you have been tonight. it's giving me a headache."

⠀those words hurt more than you thought they would, tooru antagonizing the fact that you were only trying to care for him. your eyes rested at your feet, letting your hair rest in front of your face as you listened to tooru's volleyball shoes walk across the gym. you could hear iwa's as well; the two of them were picking up the volleyballs around the court, but your legs were in no position to help, not with how fragile they felt.

⠀you looked up on time to see oikawa slinging his bag over his shoulder, his nasty little glare plastered all over his face as he began to walk out of the gym. "goodnight," was the only thing he muttered as he brushed against your shoulder with his own on his way out. your head whirled around as you watched your boyfriend walk away without another word. you didn't have it in you to reply.

⠀"are you sure you two are in a relationship?" you jumped at iwa's voice, just noticing him standing beside you. "he didn't even bother asking to drive you home. some boyfriend he is."

⠀"ah, don't be like that, iwa." you forced yourself to laugh at the situation in a desperate attempt to make light of it, but the effort was futile, and utterly pathetic. "tooru's a good boyfriend! he just gets in his moods sometimes, but it happens to the best of us. nothing i can't handle. after a good night's rest, i'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time."

⠀"i hope you're right." he turned to face you, peering down at you before placing both of his hands in his pockets. "do you need a ride home? i know you live close by, but it's gotten colder now, and we can't have our manager catching a cold on us."

⠀this time a real laugh left your system, shrugging your shoulders as you looked to the outside, before back at hajime. he looked pretty serious, despite looking fatigued. "are you sure, iwa? i don't want to bother you with it."

⠀"nonsense." he shook his head. "since your boyfriend couldn't do his job in taking care of you, i'll just drive you home tonight. okay?"

⠀your heart dropped at his words.

⠀your boyfriend couldn't do his job in taking care of you.

⠀"... yeah, okay."

a / n : JFJSJFJFJF i wrote just a wee bit much , usually i’ll aim for around 1k , maybe a lil less on lazy days . anywho ! ty for reading , i hope you enjoyed part one 🥺

[nothingbutfangirlsmut]

The Girl out of Time

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Background: Willow Roffe was born and raised in Brooklyn. She lived her life as happily as she could with her two childhood best friends Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers. When they both left her to join the military she tried to continue with life but that didn't get to happen for her for the simple fact that she meant something to James Buchanan Barnes.

Rating: Story will be overall MATURE but not every chapter. There will be strong language, talk of both mental and physical abuse, some good ole angst, and smut. There will be a warning at the beginning of the chapter when it includes smut.

Chapter 39

*Two Years Later*

It's been a total of five years since the snap and half the universe turned to dust. Five long years that Steve, Nat, and the remaining avengers have been trying everything to fix what happened. The only one not invested in fixing things was Tony. I couldn't blame him though. He had everything he ever wanted. He had a nice quiet simple life with Pepper and their daughter. He hasn't lost what he loved most like some of us.

As much as Steve wanted me to keep faith in him it had slowly slipped away. I trust Steve with my life and my daughters life but I don't believe he can fix what happened. The people we lost in the snap are gone forever. Everyone just needs to accept that so the universe can try to move on.

"Uncle Stevie!" Sarah shouted as she ran through the complex.

I noticed it wasn't an entirely playful shout or run. She seemed to have an actual purpose. I got up and followed swiftly behind her into the office where Nat and Steve were clearly in the midst of something.

"Uncle Stevie!" Sarah shouted to get his attention.

"Yes little soldier" he sounded exhausted.

"Someone's here" she said matter of factly.

"What?" We all questioned her at the same time.

"Someone's here. I saw the van driving up the road." She said sweetly.

Just then the speaker crackled. The monitor lit up showing us a view of the front door. A man appeared on screen. He looked familiar but I couldn't place him.

"Oh! Hi! Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang! We met a few years ago! At the airport! Germany. Antman!" The man shouted towards the camera.

Nat, Steve, and I all shared a confused look. Steve took off towards the door while Nat and I stayed back with Sarah. Sarah tugged at my shirt until I looked down at her.

"Who's the funny man?" She asked.

"He's another friend of ours from work." I told her simply.

"Another superhero?" She asked perking up instantly.

"Yea, apparently he's Antman." I shrugged glancing at Nat.

We met up with Steve and Scott in the lab of the complex. The guy looked completely lost and kind of out of it. He mumbled to himself as he paced back and forth. Steve and I shared a confused look.

"Scott, are you okay?" Steve finally asked.

Scott rubbed his hands together as he turned to look at us. He looked completely freaked out.

"Yea" he rubbed his face.

"Have any of you guys ever studied quantum physics?" He asked suddenly serious.

"Only to make conversation." Nat answered.

"Okay, so, five years ago, right before, Thanos. I was in a place called the quantum realm. The quantum realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my, uh, she was my, uh, she was suppose to pull me out. And then Thanos happened and I got stuck in there." Scott explained

"I'm sorry that must have been a very long five years." Nat said softly.

"Yea, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me it was five hours. See the rules of the quantum realm aren't like they are out here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich?" Scott suddenly stepped over to the desk and grabbed the half of sandwich laying there.

"I'm starving" he added.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve asked him.

"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the quantum realm. The only problem is, right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what is we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow control the chaos? What if we could navigate it? What if there was a way that we could enter the quantum realm at a certain point in time then exit the quantum realm at another point in time? Like before Thanos." Scott explained quickly.

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" Steve asked.

"No, no, of course not. No not a time machine. It's more like, um, yea, like a time machine. I know it's crazy. It's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some- it's crazy." He stopped shaking his head like he was defeated.

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon. So, nothing sounds crazy anymore." Nat said simply.

"So who do we talk to about this?" Scott asked.

“Tony?” I asked turning to Steve and Nat.

“Definitely” Steve nodded.

I gathered up Sarah to put her in the car. By the time I had her buckled in the others were coming out. Steve drove us to Tony’s cabin which he now called home with Pepper and their daughter Morgan. It would be nice for Sarah to get at least a few minutes with another kid.

When we pulled up Tony was stepping up onto the porch with Morgan in his arms. He turned around knowing who was here immediately. I unbuckled Sarah then stepped back letting her run over to Morgan.

“Sarah!” Morgan cheered happily.

The two girls collided in a hug and giggles.

“Why don’t you take Sarah inside and show her all your toys.” Tony told Morgan.

The two girls nodded then ran hand in hand into the cabin. We stepped up on the porch to talk to Tony. There was a moment of tense silence that was broken by Pepper bringing out a tray of glasses and a pitcher of what looked like tea. Once Pepper was inside Scott instantly started explaining the time travel scenario to Tony.

“We know what it sounds like.” Scott finished when he saw Tony’s face.

“Tony, after everything you’ve seen, is anything really impossible?” Steve asked.

“Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutschland Proposition. Can we agree on that?” Thank asked as he poured a cup of tea.

He handed the cup to Steve.

“Thank you” Steve said softly.

“In layman’s terms, it means you’re not coming home.” Tony said flatly.

“I did” Scott pointed out.

“No. You accidentally survived. It’s a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a.. What do you call it?” Tony asked Scott.

“A time heist?” Scott said as a question.

“Yea, a time heist. Of course. Why didn’t we think of this before? Oh, because it’s laughable. Because it’s a pipe dream.” Tony said in disbelief as he sat in one of the wicker chairs.

“The stones are in the past. We could go back, we could get them.” Steve told him.

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back.” Nat told them.

“Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?” Tony corrected.

“I don’t believe we would.” Steve said crossing his arms over his chest.

“Gotta say it. I sometimes miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won’t help if there’s no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.” Tony explained.

“This is ridiculous there has to be a way to do this.” I told Tony.

Scott turned to speak directly to Tony.

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. All right? It means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events.” Scott started to explain.

Tony put his hand up.

“I’m going to stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?” Tony asked him in disbelief.

“No” Scott said slowly.

I rolled my eyes. This is ridiculous.

“Good, you had me worried there. Cause that would be horseshit. That’s not how quantum physics works.” Tony told him like that was a fact everyone knew.

“Tony, we have to take a stand.” Nat told him.

“We did stand. And yet, here we are.” Tony told her.

“I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lotta people did.” Scott told him softly.

“Like a husband and father. You have no idea how hard it is to tell your child that her father was turned to dust trying to be a hero.” I said interrupting Scott.

“Now we have a chance to bring her and him back. To bring everyone back, and you’re telling me that you won’t even-“ Scott’s voice started to rise.

Tony sat up instantly cutting Scott off.

“That’s right, Scott. I won’t even. I can’t.” Tony told him sternly.

I heard the door open and close followed by two sets of tiny feet. Morgan ran to Tony jumping into his lap. Sarah came to sand next to me.

“Mommy told me to come and save you.” Morgan told her dad.

“Good job. I’m saved.” Tony said then hugged her.

He stood from his seat holding Morgan in his arms.

“I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. Anything else. I’m honestly happy to see you guys, I just, oh, look, the table’s set for eight.” Tony said softly.

“Tony, I get it. And I’m happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance.” Steve glanced at me.

“I got my second chance right here, Cap. Can’t roll the dice on it. If you don’t talk shop, you can stay for lunch.” Tony said then walked into the cabin.

We all sighed collectively then slowly went back to the car.

“He’s scared” Nat said.

“He’s not wrong.” Steve admitted.

“Yeah, but, I mean, what are we gonna do? We need him. What, are we gonna stop?” Scott asked in disbelief.

“No, I wanna do it right. We’re gonna need a really big brain.” Steve said with a small smile.

“Bigger than his?” Scott asked clearly confused.

I patted his shoulder.

“We know a guy.” I told him.

—

[mystery-moose]

FIC: Angus McDonald and the Flight of the Flying V (24/24)

[AO3 link]

They’ve come a long way, but even ten years after the world was saved, they’re still not quite where they should be. A whim, a missing painting, and a handful of near-death experiences help a flip wizard and his apprentice bridge the gap.

Taako does his best. Angus takes some risks. Introductions are made, bonds are tested, and lessons are learned — better late than never.

a/n: Thanks to everyone who read this far, who read from the beginning, who left kudos or a comment or just enjoyed this over-long self-indulgent nonsense. Y'all have gotten me through some tough times, and I appreciate it more than I can say.

And thanks most of all to @orchidcactus, without whom this fic would never have been finished, let alone been any damn good whatsoever. You are the shiniest diamond, and there is no better beta (or friend) in the world. <3

As he woke from a dreamless sleep, Taako reflected that for someone who didn’t particularly need it, he spent a lot of time unconscious. He’d wondered in the past if that was something common to elves, or if he was a particularly lazy example of one. Though to be fair, a good portion of that unconsciousness wasn’t exactly voluntary.

Alright, that’s enough introspection. Where the hell are we?

Taako wasn’t in pain, exactly, but he was sore literally everywhere, from toe to tip and skin to bone. He flexed his fingers and his toes (all accounted for) and tilted his head to work out a kink in his neck before he bothered opening his eyes.

Clean bed, with white sheets. Clean room, with no real furniture. Single window looking out at the city. Taako didn’t have to be a fancy detective to know what a hospital looked like, though this one didn’t look as fancy as the last one he’d woken up in.

He looked to his right, and found Angus asleep in a high-backed chair by his side. His arm was in a sling, and he was wearing his old glasses; Taako still recognized the places where eleven-year-old Angus’ makeshift mending spells had put them back together just a little bit bent.

Taako smiled and took a slow, leisurely breath.

Everything’s okay.

Then he turned to his left, and found Kravitz sitting in the opposite chair. Arms crossed. Glaring at him.

Or not.

Taako swallowed and chuckled nervously. “Hey, rabbit.”

Kravitz leaned over and twisted Taako’s ear.

“Ow ow ow ow—”

“Do not rabbit me,” Kravitz growled. “You nearly died.”

He let go and Taako rubbed gingerly at his ear. “Yeah, but… I didn’t? So—”

“I get a call from Angus, out of the blue. He put me on with a healer. I had to listen to them detail your extensive injuries, and the likelihood of your recovery, all while I was sitting in our living room reading Fantasy Home and Garden thinking everything’s fine because you didn’t call me!”

“Hey—”

“You should have called me,” he hissed, anger mixed with hurt. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Taako grumbled, noncommittal. “Didn’t really think about it.”

Kravitz scoffed and leaned back in his chair, looking away.

The sad part was, for once, Taako wasn’t bullshitting; he’d never considered calling Kravitz for help. Not once.

“It wasn't—” —your business, is what he had been about to say, but Taako cut himself off before he said something he might actually regret. “—I felt like I could handle it.”

“Handle it?” Kravitz whispered in disbelief.

“Yeah. Handle it.” Taako frowned. “I can take care of myself. Been doing it a long time.”

“Again.” Kravitz leaned in and tweaked his ear again. Taako winced and swatted his hand away. “You. Nearly. Died.”

“So I made a bad call!” he said quietly, holding his hands out. “It happens from time to time!”

“And what happens when you make another ‘bad call’?”

“Jeezy creezy, my dude, what is your damage?” he hissed back. “Even if I died, it’s not exactly 'so long and farewell,’ is it? It’d be like moving to another county for you.”

Kravitz looked actually offended, and for a second, Taako was legitimately confused as to why.

“You think this is about me?”

Oh.

Taako turned. Angus was still fast asleep. Thankfully.

“Contrary to what you may think, there are people in the material world who give a damn about your continued presence in it.” Kravitz crossed his arms again. “Think about that the next time you decide to do something monumentally stupid.”

Taako turned back with a sneer. “I’m not exactly in the habit of rushing in, Krav.”

“Oh, so this was a fluke, then?” Kravitz asked. “And what caused it?”

Taako opened his mouth to respond and Kravitz cut him off.

“I can’t believe you sometimes.” He raised a hand and gestured emphatically between the two of them. “You could have talked to me, could have tried to say something clearly for once in your life. Instead you go off and nearly get yourself killed because running away is apparently the only way you know how to communicate! And then when something happens to you, I have to live with knowing it was my fault—”

Taako reached out and grabbed his hand. Tight.

“Listen,” he whispered firmly, glaring at Kravitz. “Because this is important. Any stupid, callous, selfish decision I make? That’s on me. Not you. Not Angus. Not anyone. No one, and I mean no one, runs Taako’s life but Taako. Capisce?”

He let go and looked away with a scowl.

“Nothing I do is anyone’s fault but mine.”

Silence. Taako hated this kind of silence. It was absolutely miserable. Maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to say, or the kindest. But it was the truth. That ought to be enough.

“You really are very self-absorbed,” Kravitz said flatly. “You know that.”

Taako nodded, staring at the wall. “Yup.”

Kravitz sighed. Taako chanced a glance in his direction. He was resting his head in his hand, rubbing his forehead. He straightened and leaned back in his chair.

“Just call next time,” he mumbled wearily. “Talk to me. Please.”

Taako was about to insist there wouldn’t be a 'next time’ if he had anything to say about it, but decided against it. Instead, he nodded, eyes drifting down to the blanket.

“Sorry,” he said softly. “I know I’m… me. And that’s… it can be rough.”

“Yes. It can.”

Taako gritted his teeth. When he looked up, Kravitz wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning, either. He simply reached over and held Taako’s hand, ran his cold thumb across along the knuckles.

“But I don’t have any regrets.”

Taako felt his mouth twitch into a smile as he leaned back into his pillow.

“Cool.”

Taako dozed off again; he didn’t feel at a hundred percent yet, and didn’t feel like waking Angus if he didn’t have to. He blinked his eyes open to find the boy standing by the door, arm out of the sling and talking to Silvia.

“'Sup?” Taako groaned as he sat up. “What’d I miss?”

Angus rushed over and hugged him immediately. Taako winced.

“Okay, okay, still sore, thanks.”

“Sorry,” said Angus, pulling away. He looked beyond relieved. “Kravitz went to get food, you’ve been out for nearly a day and we were starting to get worried.”

“You kidding?” Taako rolled his shoulder. “I’m the picture of heal — ow.”

Angus laughed — it felt like an age since he’d last heard that — and rested his hand on Taako’s shoulder. “I’m just glad you’re okay, sir.” Taako smiled and pat his hand. “Likewise, boychik.”

He looked over and saw Silvia standing by the foot of the bed, hugging her elbows and smiling nervously.

“Angus filled me in on everything that happened,” she said. “Pretty crazy week you’ve had.”

“Eh.” Taako shrugged dismissively. “I’ve had crazier.”

“That’s… actually true,” Angus said, somewhat reluctantly.

“Oh, hey, uh.” Taako gestured vaguely in Silvia’s direction. “Sorry for, y'know. Thinking you were evil and shit.”

Silvia brushed it off. “It’s cool. I mean, I would have thought I was evil too.”

Taako nodded towards Angus. “He didn’t.”

She blinked. Angus quietly cleared his throat and looked away.

“Nope,” Taako said flatly, propping his elbows on his knees. “Never a doubt in his mind. Should have trusted him to begin with, but I’m a real stubborn asshole, y'know?”

Angus blushed and gently pushed his shoulder. “Taako.”

“What? It’s the truth, ain’t it?” He turned to Silvia. “Boychik’s always been an excellent judge of character. You’d think I’d know that by now, but here we are.”

He extended a hand.

“We cool?”

Silvia smiled and shook his hand. “We cool.”

“Good.”

Taako didn’t let go.

“You break his heart and I’ll destroy everything you hold dear.”

Angus’ eyebrows shot to the top of his head and his mouth fell open.

Silvia didn’t flinch. She leaned in closer.

“Likewise.”

Taako grinned and nodded, satisfied. He let go and turned to Angus.

“You should put a ring on it.”

Angus sputtered helplessly. Silvia started laughing.

Just then, the door opened and Kravitz walked in. He held up two large paper bags and grinned.

“Who wants Fantasy Panera?”

“Oh, hell yes!” Taako clapped his hands together. “Garbage food! Let’s go!”

Taako was halfway through his roughly-adequate approximation of a chicken club sandwich when the door opened again, and a tall woman in plate armor stepped inside. Silvia dropped her sandwich and shot to her feet with a salute.

“Lord-Commander!”

“Oh, sure, come on in,” Taako said through a mouthful of dry bread. “Not like I’m recuperating or anything.”

“At ease, Lieutenant,” the tall woman said to Silvia, amused. “You’re off-duty, remember?”

Silvia shuffled nervously, then sat back down. Her sandwich lay forgotten on the bed.

“Is something the matter, ma'am?” Angus asked curiously.

The woman shook her head. “Not at all. Simply an informal debriefing.”

She turned to Kravitz, still seated by Taako’s side, roast beef on rye in his hands. “Sir, if you’d excuse us?”

Taako reached over and rested his hand on Kravitz’s wrist. “Like hell.”

The tall woman frowned slightly, and opened her mouth to speak before she was interrupted.

“It’s fine, Dierdre. They’re all owed some answers.”

Lady Blisk walked in and closed the door behind her. This time, Silvia and Angus both shot to their feet.

“My Lady!”

“Lieutenant.” Lady Blisk nodded to her. “Dierdre explained how quickly you and your captain acted in the face of a, shall we say, reluctant chain of command. She’s recommending you for a civil commendation. You should be very proud.”

Silvia looked like you could knock her over with a feather. Taako sneered — both at her thrill at validation and at what he saw as a thoroughly inadequate reward — while Lady Blisk conjured a small floating disk upon which she sat. Silvia and Angus both returned to their seats. Kravitz, to Taako’s silent appreciation, had done nothing during all this but continue to eat his sandwich; working directly for a goddess made you a lot harder to impress.

“Captain Yates and his cadre have been sworn to secrecy about what little they know regarding the context of all this,” Blisk explained. “The only ones who know the full truth about the Door and its Key are the people in this room. I’d like very much to keep it that way.”

Angus nodded. “Of course, ma'am.”

“Yes, my Lady,” Silvia said.

“Sure, fine, whatever,” Taako mumbled, taking another bite.

“Where’s the Key now?” Angus asked. “Destroyed?”

“Sadly, the enchantment is too powerful to ever fully destroy,” Blisk said with a sigh. “But you have my assurance that the Flying V is as far from anyone who might use it as is possible.”

“And the Door?”

“Locked. Hopefully for good, this time.” Blisk crossed her legs and rested her cane in her lap. “Of course, this means that the Museum has been informed you were unable to recover the painting — its theft and subsequent destruction have finally made the news.”

Angus nodded. “Figured.”

“Rest assured, however, that the city of Neverwinter recognizes and honors your valor, and will richly compensate you for services rendered.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary—”

Taako slapped Angus hard across the shoulder.

“…but I’ll accept it graciously, ma'am,” Angus said, rubbing his arm. “Thank you.”

Blisk smiled. “It’s the least we could do. Truly.”

“What about Gavin?” Silvia asked. When all eyes turned to her, she shrank a bit. “I mean… what’ll happen to him?”

“'Gavin’ is an alias,” Dierdre explained. “His real name is Gabriel Vincent Stanton. Lady Blisk expelled him from the Guild of Magi some years ago after repeated offenses regarding misuse of magic and unauthorized experimentation. Apparently, he’d been operating under a number of different names before he arrived at your door, Mr. McDonald.”

Angus grimaced. “He was very thorough. I checked his background myself when I hired him, and didn’t find anything out of place.”

Blisk shook her head. “You couldn’t have known. I doubt anyone would have suspected.”

“Mr. Stanton will be spending the rest of his life in a cell,” Dierdre said sternly. “Somewhere isolated and very, very quiet.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold the fucking stone.” Taako set his sandwich down. “He’s still alive?”

Everyone looked at him. Blisk and Dierdre nodded.

“What the fuck?” Taako threw his hands up. “I went through all that shit and he’s not even dead?! Fuck this!”

Angus closed his eyes, amused. “Sir.”

“No, for real! I am very upset! That bitch-ass piece of shit should be in the ground!”

“Death would be preferable, yes.”

Everyone turned to look at Dierdre, including Blisk.

She shrugged, nonplussed. “Well it would.”

Blisk gently patted Dierdre’s arm, and turned back to the group.

“Well then. Any other questions?”

No one spoke. Kravitz set down his roast beef and extended a hand towards her.

“Pickle?”

She considered it for a moment, then plucked it from his hand and took a bite, humming appreciatively.

“I suppose that’s that, then,” Dierdre said with a chuckle.

“Oh!” Blisk said suddenly, swallowing quickly and reaching into a small purse on her belt. “I nearly forgot. There is one last thing. More of a formality, really, though I’ll spare you the ceremony…”

“Y'know, I didn’t really think they gave these out anymore?” Taako said as he adjusted his hat and admired the large ornate key in his hand. It was as long as his umbrella and twice as heavy, made of pure gold that caught the sunlight as they left the hospital.

“They were meant to go to the city gates, originally,” Angus explained, hefting his own key in his arms. “But since the gates are always open these days, it’s more of a ceremonial thing.”

“Could fetch a lot of dough if we melted 'em down.”

Angus looked at him knowingly. “Or make a nice piece of statement jewelry.”

Taako’s eyebrows rose. While he reexamined the key in this new light, Silvia came up alongside Angus.

“So what’s the first thing you’re gonna do, now that you’re out of the hospital?” she asked.

Angus looked up thoughtfully. “I guess put an ad in the paper. 'Help wanted. Light office work. No murderers need apply.’”

“Make sure to underline that last part,” said Kravitz.

“Double underline,” Silvia added. “In bold.”

“Yeah, because the last guy was so forthcoming about his personal history,” Taako said sardonically.

Angus laughed. “Maybe I’ll swing it solo for a while.”

Silvia quirked an eyebrow. “Solo?”

He turned to her and grinned. “Well, not all the time.”

While the two of them made goo-goo eyes at each other, Taako slipped his wrist through the key and let it dangle from his forearm beside his umbrella. He leaned against Kravitz’s shoulder. Kravitz stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back.

“Young love, Krav,” he drawled. “Ain’t it sweet?”

“Sickly so, dear.”

A loud horn sounded from the down the street. All of them turned to stare at the very large, very fancy wagon with the ornate side-plating and silver-capped wheels puttering down the street. It came to a stop in front of the hospital doors, and the driver, clad in fancy longcoat, goggles, and driving gloves, jumped down onto the sidewalk.

“A gift from the Lord High Steward,” he said, bowing to Taako. “With much appreciation to you, sir.”

Taako stared at the driver and blinked. He looked at the wagon and blinked again.

“You know,” he said, “I’m really starting to come around on that chick.”

“Brilliant,” Kravitz sighed. “Now we have to take the long way home.”

“Who said anything about home?” Taako wrapped an arm around his neck. “We need to take this baby on the road!”

“Taako, please. I’d really prefer to—”

“We could head to Goldcliff,” Taako suggested, wiggling his eyebrows, and drumming his fingers against his husband’s shoulder. “It’s not more than a week out. There’s nice hotels, fancy restaurants—”

“Really, dear?” Kravitz said flatly, unimpressed. “Restaurants?”

“—and a casiiiiinooo,” Taako finished in a sing-song tone.

Kravitz opened his mouth and froze. Nothing about his expression changed, but Taako saw the red in his eyes light up.

“You know, it has been a while since we’ve had a proper vacation.”

“Hell yes it has!” Taako stepped back and pushed Kravitz forward. “Now go and figure out how to drive that thing. I’ll be right there.”

He turned around. Angus had stepped back with Silvia, and was stowing his key in a bag of holding on his belt. As Taako sauntered over, Silvia touched Angus’ shoulder.

“I’ll, uh. Wait over here.”

Angus smiled and squeezed her hand. She turned away and walked back towards the hospital.

“Well, Ango,” Taako said with a tip of his hat. “Wish I could say it’s been fun.”

“Yeah,” Angus replied with a chuckle. “Me too.”

“Was good to see you, though.”

“You too, sir.”

They stood across from each other, within arm’s reach. Taako felt like there was something else he should say, but he wasn’t quite sure what.

“I told you I’m proud of you, right?” he asked, stroking his chin.

“Yes, sir.” Angus smiled and adjusted his glasses nervously. “It meant a lot.”

He nodded absently. “Right. Good.”

“And I’m glad you came. I… don’t know if I could have done this without you.”

Taako scoffed. “Please. This idiot wizard? All I do is drag you down.”

“That’s not true, sir,” Angus said firmly, shaking his head. “Not at all.”

Taako ignored him and waved dismissively. “C'mon, boychik. Don’t play. We both know it’s the truth. I taught you a few tricks, sure, kept you fed and clothed and shit, but everything you are now — every good thing, at least — that’s all you. Don’t know where you got it from, but it wasn’t me.” “Sir!” Angus exclaimed, gently taking Taako by the shoulders. “Stop.”

Taako shut his mouth and looked away for a moment — the boy’s gaze had gotten very intense. When he looked back, Angus was fighting tears. Taako felt a tightness build in his chest.

“Sir.” Angus spoke firmly, squeezing his shoulders. “You didn’t just teach me how to cook and cast spells. You taught me how to look after myself. You taught me about loyalty, and responsibility, and how there’s meaning in our mistakes. You were there when I needed you, every time. And all that because an eleven-year-old kid asked to come with you, and you didn’t hesitate for a second. I wouldn’t be half the person I am if it wasn’t for you.”

Taako stared at him. The tightness in his chest got worse. He blinked. Blinked again. His lip began to quiver. He sniffled, looked away, looked back. There was no escape.

Angus blinked back tears, smiled, and said, “I couldn’t have wished for a better dad.”

Ah, fuck.

Taako sobbed. Angus pulled him into a hug and held him as he cried into his shoulder. Taako shuddered and shook, clutching tightly at the back of Angus’ jacket as he rode out this despicably visible display of emotion.

“I love you,” Angus said quietly.

Taako sniffed loudly, and so softly he barely heard it himself, whispered, “Love you too.”

He spent a minute there, sobbing into the boy’s shoulder. As he got a hold of himself, he took long, shuddering breaths. Taako gently extricated himself from Angus’ embrace, and shook his head.

“Fuck you,” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Ruined my makeup, you little twerp.”

Angus reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. Taako snatched it from his hands with a scoff.

“Of course you have a handkerchief,” he said snidely, drying his face. “What are you, eighty?”

Angus grinned. “Next time you can conjure one yourself, Mr. Wizard.”

Taako laughed, brief and watery. He wiped his cheeks and then pocketed the handkerchief without offering it back. Angus chuckled and pushed him gently in the shoulder.

“So,” Taako said, avoiding eye contact. “See you at Candlenights?”

In his periphery, Angus nodded. “Absolutely.”

“Cool… cool.”

He sniffed loudly and exhaled, forcing himself to look at Angus one last time. He looked as upsettingly vulnerable as Taako felt, but he was smiling, and that made Taako smile back.

“Take care, kiddo,” he said.

“You too.”

Taako tipped his hat, and turned away. He climbed up into the driver’s bench alongside Kravitz, who rubbed a hand across Taako’s back.

“We good to go?” Taako asked.

“Good to go,” Kravitz replied slowly. “Unless… you’d rather stay?”

Taako barked out a humorless laugh. “Hell no. I’ve had more than enough of this fuckin’ town. Let’s get goin’.”

He looked back while Kravitz started the arcane engine. Angus and Silvia stood on the sidewalk outside Neverwinter General, holding hands. Taako took off his hat and waved it.

“Adios!”

The wagon kicked on and started puttering down the street. Angus and Silvia smiled and waved as they left. As they turned a corner, Taako sighed and leaned against Kravitz’s shoulder.

“Good kid.”

Kravitz kept one hand on the controls and wrapped the other around Taako’s shoulders.

“That he is.”

Taako closed his eyes and smiled privately.

I did good.

“So when’s the ceremony?”

“We’re not getting married, sir.”

“Really? Because it sounds pretty serious to me, is the thing.”

“Sir.”

“Alright, alright, jeez. She’s coming up for Candlenights, though, right?”

“Yeah. She’s excited about it. So am I, actually.”

“She hasn’t met any of the Bureau before?”

“Nope.”

“Poor maydl.”

“I don’t know, I think she’ll get along great with everyone. Especially Magnus.”

“Yeah, sure, him and his rustic fuckin’ hospitality. But you know he’s gonna be asking about that ring too.”

“…shit.”

“Yep. Done fucked yourself, boychik.”

“…well, at least Merle will be there to preach about the evils of marriage.”

“Ha! If you’re lucky, he’ll be half-cut on Redcheek cider before dinner.”

“You’re cooking, right?”

“No, I’ll be there cheering Magnus on — of course I’m cooking! What kind of question is that?”

“Just asking! Thought I’d get there early and help. Make sure I’m not getting rusty, y'know?”

“I wouldn’t turn down my faithful assistant.”

“Apprentice.”

“Sure, sure, that’s what I meant.” “Right. Well, I’ll call again before we leave.”

“Cool. Keep it real, Angarang.”

“You know it. Love you!”

“…yeah, yeah, you too.”

[suganovakawa]

𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐀𝐃𝐄 .

PAIRINGS : tooru oikawa x fem! reader

GENRE : angst , romance

WARNINGS : bits of cursing here and there

SYNOPSIS : tooru doesn’t understand how special you are to him until he comes close to losing you forever . as he struggles to comes to grips with his feelings and balance it with his future , you still have to recover from your own injuries , but without your memories to assist you .

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 < [ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 ] > 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 .

the playoffs are soon ; why is it so hard to please tooru ?

word count : 1.4k

saudade masterlist.

SAUDADE

( 𝐧 . ) a nostalgic longing to be near again to something or someone that is distant , or that has been loved and then lost ; “ the love that remains ”

⠀just how many girls has he waved at today? you huffed to yourself as tooru continuously paid attention to girl after girl, giving them a soft smile and wishing them a good day as they stood by, simply waiting for their presence. you could've stood around for a tissue for some of them, they looked like they were about to start drooling at any given moment.

⠀jealousy travelled through your body, as shameful as it was to admit. oikawa was walking next to you, but that was as far as interaction was between the two of you. he hardly even looked down in your direction, mindlessly giving his fans the attention they craved. iwaizumi was right, it was hard to tell if you and the popular third year were dating or not. you shook the thought away subtly, just a shake of your head, rendering such worries as selfish.

⠀after all, you knew exactly what you were getting into when you confessed your feelings to tooru.

⠀it just would've been nice if he tried harder to give you some attention too, you know?

⠀your gut could tell oikawa kept a minor grudge from the other night, when you and iwaizumi just about dragged him out of the place. you apologized to him - multiple times, actually - and he even said he was fine, that your care for him was completely understable. hell, he even solidified it with a kiss to your forehead.

⠀so why did it feel like there was a wall separating you from him?

⠀you opened your mouth to say something to him as you and him approached your lunch table, but stopped abruptly when approaching the others. the volleyball team ate together, but today was a special occasion: tooru had some last minute things to discuss with the rest of the team regarding the upcoming playoffs.

⠀their main focus was to just get through the other teams in the way, then to give it their all against shiratorizawa. on multiple occasions seijoh kept a steady lead against that all-star team, only to be thwarted by that damn ushiwaka. watching shiratorizawa steal the victory from aoba johsai's hands was infuriating to say the least, and having to repeat the process over and over again was just insanity.

⠀you were just the manager, so there wasn't much you could do to contribute to their discussion. volleyball wasn't your forte. but for the sake of the others, you tagged along alongside tooru so you could at least listen to the conversation. it wasn't like you could sit anywhere else, anyway. most of the girls slowly began to shun you when you began to date the brunette.

⠀hanamaki was the first to acknowledge your guys' presence, signaling for the others to pull your seats out so the two of you could sit down. tooru, surprisingly, let you sit down first, placing a hand on your back as you slid down into your chair. he soon followed with his own, his hands folded and perched on the table. he waited for the other guys to stop and pay attention, that same scheming glint in his eyes he always has before and during a game.

⠀"this is our last chance this year to win against shiratorizawa." you could see tooru's fists clench at the name itself, tension rising by the second. "we have to do something to guarantee a win. altogether have the potential to beat ushiwaka, it's just a matter of putting such actions into motion to prove it." he looked to hajime, sat in between kindaichi and matsukawa. "any ideas, iwa?"

⠀"me?" the ace shot tooru a confused glance, an eyebrow cocked upwards as he watched the captain lean back in his chair. "why would you want to hear something from me?"

⠀"well, you and him are both aces. i figure if you think hard enough, there's something you could give us that could give us a shot against ushiwaka." he then laughed. "or is your brain not big enough to come up with such thoughts, dear iwa-chan?"

⠀you pressed your lips together as you watched the spiky-haired male visibly show his irritation towards the setter. the others hadn't bothered to say anything, either too busy eating or just caught up with the tension. maybe even a little bit of both. since there was nothing you could do, you tried to mainly focus on your own lunch, but the discussion was becoming too interesting to ignore.

⠀"what even is there to know about ushijima?" iwaizumi placed a hand on the back of his own neck, letting out a sigh as he shrugged lightly. "he's a crazy powerful guy, if that wasn't obvious enough. the main problem is stopping his hits, nothing technical. if we strengthen our defenses we may just have a better shot at beating shiratorizawa. we know they rely on him to rack up the points when they're in a pinch; and he damn well delivers."

⠀tooru clenched his jaw when hajime finished speaking, the gears spinning in his brain as he tried to figure out a way to better their chances. what the ace said was far from incorrect. the playoffs were in two days; it wasn't like they could practice enough in such a short time to surpass the defense levels of date tech, but it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

⠀"you're too focused on shiratorizawa, oikawa." issei crossed his arms, earning a head whip from the captain. "don't invest all of your time on that school, just because you have a score to settle with one of the players. there are other schools, too."

⠀"like what?" oikawa scoffed at his comment, waving it off with his hand. "we've not had any trouble with other teams, so i'm not concerned about them. it's shiratorizawa that-"

⠀"karasuno put up a pretty good fight the last time you guys played them, you know."

⠀your mouth opened before you could even process what you were going to say, and before you could stop yourself, your voice had already laid itself out on the table. your mouth shut up completely as tooru turned his attention to you, his eyes growing agitated that you even mentioned that school.

⠀"karasuno? karasuno?" he spat out, his head fully facing in your direction as his sharp brown eyes narrowed, almost intimidatingly. "don't make me laugh. what they pulled the last time we played them was nothing but a fluke. their strongest weapon is that quick attack that tobio and shrimpy have. and from what happened last game," he sneered, "they won't be much of a problem."

⠀"but they're practicing too, tooru." you've heard of karasuno before, the wingless crows. from what you witnessed at the interhighs, however, their current team could not be referred to such a title anymore. their first years were a force to be reckoned with - even an idiot could see that. "obviously they're not going to be better than our team, but it doesn't hurt to be wary of them, right?"

⠀"y/n." tooru was clearly getting annoyed with you, but you ignored that dropping feeling in your stomach. "we know karasuno has tricks up their sleeve, but it's nothing we can't handle. they have their strengths, and we have ours. it just so happens that our strengths are more superior to theirs." he poked your nose with his index finger before continuing. "believe me, my darling, they are not a threat. they can only pull so many tricks up their sleeve, and all we have to do is stuff each of them, one by one."

⠀the first and second years appeared mildly concerned as oikawa lectured you for your measly suggestion, yahaba and watari giving each other side glances. mattsun and makki were sharing the same looks, but they didn't dare interrupt the captain, for fear that they, too, would get the same treatment.

⠀there was no winning against tooru.

⠀"sorry, tooru." you muttered, looking down at your lap, giving up whatever reason left.

⠀you felt an arm wrap around your shoulders, looking up slightly as your boyfriend pulled you closer to his chest, giving you a side hug - since both of you were still sitting in chairs. he didn't look happy, but his irritation had lessened. "just leave the volleyball stuff to me, y/n. alright? just be our cute little manager, and we'll go from there."

⠀"sure, tooru." even with the lack of enthusiasm, your head instinctively rested against his chest, taking a deep breath and quietly listening to his heartbeat. your ears blocked out whatever tooru said to the others after that, since you surely didn't have a reason to listen in.

⠀still, that sinking feeling in your stomach refused to go away.