#game grumps big bang

[trensu]

The third chapter to Hawkins Halfway House: Tradition is here! I posted it earlier on ao3 if you prefer to read it there. if you prefer tumblr reading, then you can catch up with this specific fic through my hhh: tradition tag or the overall series in my hawkins halfway house for homeless horros tag.

The week after dinner at House, Eddie went to Billy’s apartment for a family dinner and met Max for the first time. There wasn’t much of a family resemblance, Eddie noted, but Billy had mentioned she was from his father’s second marriage so he hadn’t thought much of it at the time. Max was small, pale, and quiet. Billy had to nudge her to introduce herself. She stumbled a bit under his hand, before righting herself.

“Hi, I’m Max,” Max mumbled in a sullen tone. Billy rolled his eyes and scrubbed his hand roughly over her hair. She winced, and endured it.

“This one, I tell you,” Billy said. His smile was wide and gleaming as always. “Maxine Hargrove. Don’t take her mood personally, babe. She’s just a cute little grump, aren’t you Maxine?”

Her wince morphed to a scowl, but said nothing.

“That’s alright,” Eddie reassured. He stuck out his hand to shake. “Hey, Max. I’m Eddie.”

Max blinked in surprise. She made no move to take Eddie’s hand.

“Maxine,” Billy said, annoyed. “Manners.” 

She glared at Billy but took Eddie’s hand and muttered, “Nice to meet you.”

“Go wash up for dinner, but be fast about it,” Billy told her. “Don’t make Eddie wait.”

Dinner was awkward, but Eddie had been expecting that, so he happily chatted about anything and everything. He figured eventually he’d stumble on a topic that would interest the kid. He wanted Billy’s sister to like him. He didn’t have much luck on that front during their first dinner. Or their second, or even their third.

Eddie had tried not to feel discouraged by Max’s ambivalence. Kids normally took to him more easily than that so it was a bit of a blow to his ego, but nothing that would keep him from trying again. That being said, he really didn’t know how long it would’ve taken if it hadn’t been for the feathers.

Eddie insisted their next date be a trip to the arcade with Max. Billy had grumbled but conceded when Eddie hammed it up by batting his eyes at him. Eddie whooped in victory and he could’ve sworn Max had smiled at his antics for a split second.

The arcade had been noisy and full of flashy lights like any other arcade. Eddie had eagerly led Billy and Max to his favorite games and taught them how to play. Billy went along with it but it had been obvious he was bored. Max, on the other hand, took to it like a duck to water. She all but glued herself to Dig Dug.

“We should hit up the skeeball in the back, next,” Eddie said excitedly when Max finally lost the game. “Jeff and I used to play against each other and I lost to him almost every time. It’s still mega fun!”

Max had ignored him to add another quarter to Dig Dug and continue her game. 

“Maxine,” Billy said with obvious annoyance, “Listen to you betters and stop acting like a brat.”

He grabbed Max to yank her roughly away from the game. Max yelped in either surprise or pain but did not struggle in Billy’s grasp. Eddie was startled enough by the exchange to intervene

“Billy,” he’d said, unconsciously putting himself between the two siblings. “You and I can play some pinball instead and keep an eye on her. It’s not a big deal.”

Eddie gave Max some more quarters, and placed a calming hand to Billy’s chest to maneuver him to the pinball machine two consoles down from Dig Dug. For a while, it hadn’t been a big deal. They each played their own games with Eddie looking over at Max every once in a while to make sure she was still safe and happy. 

Then one of the other kids in the arcade got impatient waiting for her to lose at Dig Dug. They started to squabble when he sabotaged her game, and it escalated to shoving. It was rough enough that she banged up against the game opposite them. 

Max picked herself up furiously. That was when Eddie saw it. Dark red feathers had sprouted along her hairline. She raised a hand to strike the kid, who had already turned away to start playing Dig Dug. Her hand had dark, wickedly curved claws. 

Eddie reacted quickly. He slipped off his jacket and threw it over Max. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and started to speak soothingly to her as he guided her away from the noise and the crowd. Max squirmed under his arm but he held firm to keep her steady without hurting her. Eddie had been herding them to a secluded booth. Billy showed up at his elbow.

“To the car,” Billy growled, eyes darting around to see if anyone was watching them. 

Eddie nodded and the three of them ended up in Billy’s Camaro. Billy slammed the driver’s door closed behind him, but Eddie paid it no attention as he slid into the backseat with Max. Eddie carefully unbundled Max from his jacket. Max scooted as far from Eddie as possible the moment she was free. Eddie didn’t try to stop her.

“You’re safe,” Eddie reassured her. “I got to you before anyone could see.”

“That was stupid, Maxine,” Billy said with a scowl. “You know what happens when you do shit like that.”

Max hunched her shoulders defensively.

“I didn’t do it on purpose,” she glowered.

“Billy, c’mon, man,” Eddie said. “She’s a kid. Kids can’t always keep their human faces on. It’s not her fault.”

“You’re taking this well, Eddie,” Billy said, eyes flicking up to look at Eddie through the rearview mirror. 

Eddie had been so caught up in damage control, he was only now struck with the implications of the entire situation. Max wasn’t human. Billy was aware of this. Was he something other than human as well?

“I’ve seen weirder stuff,” Eddie said cautiously. “Are you two…phoenixes?”

“I’m a hundred percent human,” Billy replied with a gleaming grin.

“So Max is a phoenix? From her mother’s side, I assume?”

Max glances up to the rearview mirror to meet Billy’s eye. Eddie figured she was trying to gauge if Billy thought Eddie was safe to know their secret. At the time, he didn’t question the act of silent communication between the siblings. He’d even thought it was sweet that they could rely on each other. Whatever she read in Billy’s expression made her glare at Eddie.

“So what?” 

Eddie met her scowl with his most dazzling grin.

“So nothing! I’ve never met a phoenix before,” Eddie said cheerfully. “I thought you were all extinct. It’s awesome that you aren't.”

Max clearly hadn’t expected such a positive reaction. She didn’t appear to know how to respond. Eddie carried most of the conversation, with Max contributing occasionally but only after checking with Billy. He learned that they didn’t know any other phoenixes. Max had been home-schooled for her safety so she hadn’t been given the opportunity to interact with other children much. Going to the arcade had been one of the few times Billy deemed it safe enough to go in crowds with her.

“And look how that turned out,” Billy had said stiltedly. 

“We had fun and no one saw anything,” Eddie replied affably. “I’d say it went great.”

By the time they reached Billy’s apartment, Max was less wary but still not completely at ease which Eddie thought was reasonable. Her feathers and claws had disappeared which had been Eddie’s primary goal anyway. Max ran to her room the minute they got into the apartment, slamming her door loudly behind her. Eddie lingered at the apartment door.

“I should probably go home,” Eddie said. “Give you guys a chance to wind down from all that.”

“I’m sorry our date got ruined, baby,” Billy said, leaning close and tucking Eddie’s hair behind his ear. His hand cupped Eddie’s cheek. Eddie leaned into the touch.

“It’s fine,” Eddie quickly reassured him. Then he did the stupidest thing of all. “You know, if you’d like to give Max a chance to spend time with kids her age, maybe you two can come over to mine. I know a couple of kids who’d love to meet her and won’t freak out over some feathers.”

The hand at his cheek trailed down to grip his jaw. Eddie found himself pulled into a bruising, close-lipped kiss. When Billy pulled back, a slow triumphant smile graced his features, making him all the more beautiful. Eddie’s heart skipped a beat as it always did when Billy smiled at him.

“You’re too good to us, Eddie,” Billy said. Eddie melted at his words because he was a smitten moron.

Over the next few weeks, Billy and Max came over to visit Eddie several times. House didn’t hide from fellow supernatural creatures so the Hargroves got to see it in all its splendor from their very first visit together. To Eddie’s delight, Max quickly befriended El and Dustin. El hadn’t quite mastered her human form yet, so more often than not she’d piggyback Max in her black, sludge-like form, speaking quietly as they went about their games. Max would act bored and exasperated whenever Dustin espoused his myriad animal facts but she would make snarky comments that showed she'd paid attention and remembered all the stuff Dustin told her.

Eddie only ever had Billy and Max visit when he knew Jeff wasn’t around. Chrissy would make herself scarce whenever they came over. Uncle Wayne treated Max as kindly as he did any of the other kids, but he kept conversations with Billy short and distant. Eddie didn't let himself get too bothered by this; he knew they'd come around once they got to know Billy better.

While the children entertained themselves, Eddie would cuddle up close to Billy to watch TV in the living room. If the kids were playing outside, they’d spend long quiet moments kissing deeply. Eddie almost always ended up pulling Billy down on top of him to enjoy the solid weight of Billy’s warm body pressing him into the couch. It was nice. Good. Eddie was the happiest he’d ever been in a relationship.

He should have known something was wrong. House never kicked them out, but if Eddie hadn’t been so enamored, he would have noticed that whenever the Hargroves were there, doors tended to stick a little, and the TV and radio would get occasional flares of static. House reacted to their presence, even if it wasn’t as aggressive and loud as it had been with visitors it didn’t like. He never thought anything of it.

It went out of his mind entirely when Billy asked him to watch Max. It was the first time he’d asked Eddie to spend time alone with Max. Eddie was thrilled.

“My buddies invited me camping next weekend. I wasn’t planning on going. I didn’t want to leave Max alone and obviously I can’t bring her along,” Billy explained. “But I haven't seen them in a long time. I thought since she likes spending time with the kids here so much and you’re so good with her, maybe…”

“Yeah,” Eddie blurted. “Yeah, of course! El and Dustin will be stoked to spend the weekend with Max.”

Billy flashed him his bright white grin. 

“I knew I could count on you, babe.”

The week leading up to it, he spent nearly every evening with the Hargrove siblings. He ran by his ideas for weekend activities with both of them. He suggested movies, crafts, and even some physical activities like a swim in a pond Eddie liked in particular. He really wanted the weekend to be fun for all the kids.

Max got quieter as the week progressed. Her responses became more curt. She retreated to her room earlier and earlier. Eddie assumed she was nervous to be away from her brother for so long.

“Kid, you'll be having so much fun, you won't even notice Billy’s gone,” Eddie insisted cheerfully. 

She shrugged off his attempts at comfort, and clenched her jaw shut against any response Eddie may have wanted to hear. So Eddie backed off. He convinced himself she would be fine once the weekend came around. 

Eddie hated himself for his self-delusion.

[thekuraning]

Could I please have 7, 9, 16, 24 and 27 for the fic writer ask? 💙

HFDUAIGHRQHG WOW THATS SO MANY thank you aria!!!!

as always... kura talk lots.... read more time!

7. your preferred writing fonts

For the longest time it was Arial, then basically from Covid lockdowns to maybe about a year ago I was a Comic Sans truther. But recently I've been using Optima and Trebuchet! There is something very delightfully round about them... they are soft like bunnies.... Bonus points, they're a bit of larger, thicker fonts, which makes is much easier for me to read. I have no idea if I'm dyslexic because I've never been tested but reading--while fun and one of my favorite pass-times--is like. So hard. And it feels like the longer I've been out of Lit classes the harder and harder reading gets. :') I've got a mountain of fics and books I'd like to read but it takes a lot of energy to keep track of what line im on that i gotta save it all up for writing... ive had city of dogs open in a tab for like months now bro i just wanna read.... TAT

But yeah I love me them thicker rounder weighted sort of fonts.

9. start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

so the last finished one-shot i posted was Who We Don't Expect to See, which took probably about six months to a year wrestling to get the dialogue to behave. The last complete multi-chapter fic was the Baristsa on Autumnal Avenue, which took about nine months!

As for unfinished works, I'm expecting Maelstrom to probably take another year , maybe year and a half at this pace! Ideally, I'd love to have it done by December which would mean a year and two months total, but we'll have to see thinking emoji

16. favorite place to write

I'm usually either at my desk in my office or on my couch lol and that's just a question of whether I feel more like writing on my desktop or my laptop! But since I started back at my local community college, I've found INSANE productivity at the campus cafe!! I don't know what it is, but as soon as my ass is sitting at the table with a coffee I'm like fucking sonic the hedgehog the way I start pumping chapters out. Probably about 80% of Maelstrom fic's been written in that little cafe!!

24. how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

banging my head against the wall until im creative again :( or until i knock myself out, whichever comes first

actually lol I spend a lot of my recharge time watching youtube or playing video games. I'm big into Splatoon and Phasmophobia! I used to be really into Fall Guys until Epic bought the game out. but mostly it's just youtube these days lolll cause once im out of creative juice thats like. it. my energy's gone and i tend to spiral, so I'll end up just snuggling my kitty and watching gamegrumps or something (i dont know why, he just really likes watching game grumps)

>:( we used to watch a lot of netflix together too but since they cracked down on account sharing and my parents managed the family account we can only get in on the desktop now... how are we supposed to snuggle like this!!! cozy kitty economy is in shambles smdh

27. your favorite part of the writing process

answered over here winky kissy face emoji

[sinkat-arts]

9 people you'd like to know better

tagged by: @wewindondowntheroad

last song: Praying by Kesha

favorite color: Teal-y blue

currently watching: Haaa, the closest thing to something I'm regularly watching is hitting play on a Game Grumps playlist to keep me company while drawing. Just finished (re-watching) Doki Doki Literature Club.

currently reading: -hangs head in shame-

sweet/spicy/savory: Savory, usually. But I do love to bake lil treats;;;

relationship status: Single. Big Sigh. The irony that I spend most of my time writing or drawing my blorbos falling in love is not lost on me.

current obsession: Daisuga and figuring out how I can gently subvert commonly held fanon tropes without breaking character or alienating myself.

last thing I googled: how much weight can a horse pull? (for a fic)

currently working on: Getting started on my HQ Sword and Sorcery bang fic and a little Cowboy Monster Hunter AU on the side.

I suck at tagging folks, so if you see this and you wanna do the thing... please do the thing! You can even say I tagged ya!

[sonic06apologist]

never watched breaking bad. never watched better call sal. never watched game of thrones. never watched umbrella academy. never watched queens gambit. never watched mandalorion. never watched book of boba fett. never watched endgame. never watched spider verse. never watched glee. never watched big bang theory. NEVER watched big bang theory. never watched game grumps. never watched rwby. never watched naruto. never watched avatar. never watched the other avatar. never watched the last of us. nev

Whatever rock ur living under scoot over I’m moving in and just bringing my Nintendo DS Lite

[soulguana]

I have decided to introduce my seven ocs:

Min, Wren, Harriet, Ace, Rocket, Po, and Frode

I also made collages for my ocs as well. Each collage has six pictures of fictional characters that my oc is based on. Can you guess the personality of each oc based on the pictures?

Min:

* Shigeo "Mob" Kageyama (Mob Psycho 100)

* Charlie Morningstar (Hazbin Hotel)

* Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars The Clone Wars)

* Luz Noceda (The Owl House)

* Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Ms. Marvel series)

* Adorabat (Mao Mao Heroes Of Pure Heart)

Wren:

* Jack Frost (Rise Of The Guardians)

* Peter B. Parker (Spider-Man Into The Spider-Verse)

* Leonardo (Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

* Iron Man (Iron Man movies)

* Arin Hanson (Game Grumps)

* Han Solo (Star Wars Original Trilogy)

Harriet:

* Medusa (Marvel comics)

* Millie (Helluva Boss)

* Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

* Wammawink (Centaurworld)

* April O'Neil (Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

* Leslie Knope (Parks And Recreation)

Ace:

* Scott Lang/Ant Man (Ant Man movies)

* Cyborg (Teen Titans)

* Raphael (Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

* Dan Avidan (Game Grumps)

* Joe Gardner (Pixar Soul)

* Christopher Turk (Scrubs)

Rocket:

* Jubilee (X-Men The Animated Series)

* Barney (Dead End Paranormal Park)

* Howard Wolowitz (The Big Bang Theory)

* Donatello (Rise Of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)

* Junkrat (Overwatch)

* Andy Dwyer (Parks And Recreation)

Po:

* Silver Surfer (Marvel comics)

* Allister (Pokemon Sword And Shield)

* Angus Delaney (Night In The Woods)

* Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

* Damien Wayne/Robin (DC animated movies)

* Puppycat (Bee And Puppycat)

Frode:

* Bruno Madrigal (Encanto)

* Garnet (Steven Universe)

* Michael Scott (The Office)

* Mr. Fischoeder (Bob's Burgers)

* Blitzo (Helluva Boss)

* Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars Original Trilogy)

Someday I'll draw these characters...

Just not today 😅

[gaygrumpart]

💖💖💖I PARTICIPATED IN GAME GRUMPS BIG BANG 2018 AND DREW THIS FOR @orgyforone’s AMAZING FIC.💖💖💖

You’ll know this moment when you read it; it just stuck with me hardcore. Like, the whole fic did, honestly. #blessed 

READ THE FIC :D

[cinnamon-grump]

Here it is! My finished piece for the GGBB project.

This goes with @sweetieships’ fic, which you can find right over here!

[trashmammal-lee]

Hey guys! It's finally finished: My GGBB fic! This was a fucking challenge to say the least but I'm pretty proud of what I've done here. There's gonna be another post coming around soon that has the art that was made (which was fucking AMAZING, let me tell you) but for now, enjoy!

[egoraptors]

we will grow old (won’t be alone again)

GAME GRUMPS BIG BANG 2018 MIX

I got the pleasure of being involved in the GGBB again this year!! @sweetieships wrote an absolutely adorable flapbang/polygrumps soulmate au which you should definitely read when she posts it tomorrow!!! 

hope you enjoy the playlist ♡

LISTEN ON SPOTIFY | LISTEN ON YOUTUBE

[eliwoods-eyes-edits]

[tmntxthings]

Rise!Leo falling in love Pt. 7

author’s note: did I say plot last time? I meant next next time… more brother moments, more character development, <3 hope you all enjoy

warnings: fluff, lil jealousy, angst? cursing

previous - next?

—————————————————————————

previously. . .

“I can’t believe it!!” You laughed happily, “I told you, you’re a natural! All you needed was a little practice,” Raph set Mikey down and Mikey then let you go, both beaming prideful smiles down at you.

Leo hadn’t heard from you in hours and he wondered if maybe you were just busy.. or perhaps texting wasn’t your thing? He didn’t know! But he was feeling pretty restless. The comics weren’t as interesting anymore and he kept looking over at where his phone lay on the bed hoping for it to flash with a notification.

He sighed looking back at the Jupiter Jim comic in his hands, eyes glazing over not really reading as he started to overthink. Maybe he should call you? Would that be too needy? Surely you had to be thinking of him even if you were occupied? Leo dropped the comic on his bed, grabbed his phone, and headed to his twin’s lab. Donnie was always there and if anyone could help with this dilemma it would be his smarter than average (but not a genius bc let’s be honest his ego’s already too big) brother!

“Donniee open up, it’s your favorite brother!” An intercom sounded from the door, “you don’t sound like Mikey..” and Leo put a hand to his plastron, “you wound me brother, now open up!” He started banging louder and an irritated groan was heard before the door unlocked and slid open. “Thank youuu” Leo said as he entered, the lab door closing behind him immediately. Donnie turned in his swivel chair, “What is it now Nardo?” his arms already crossing. “Can’t I just come hang out with my own twin without being questioned about my motives?!”

Donatello’s eyes narrowed, “Alright alright, can you tell me if Y/n’s at their house? They haven’t responded to me all day and I just wanna make sure they are okay,” Donnie shook his head, “or maybe they are busy?” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Look can you do it or not?” Leo grumped not wanting to argue or be forced to think that yes you probably were just doing something super cool without him and not thinking about him at all! “fine but the next last slice of pizza-“

“Is yours, yes yes yes yes yes” Leonardo agreed and Donnie turned to the big screen. Leo didn’t know what his brother did but after some keyboard typing and a few passwords a map appeared, then color coordinated circles. The purple and blue were together, yellow and orange were together- oh April is here! That must’ve been the commotion Leo thought to himself. “Looks like they’re with Raph in the arcade,” Donnie zoomed in on the red dot that was next to a dark blue one.

Leo blinked and then blinked again, okay one more blink he needed to process this fully. You were here in the lair, hanging out with his older brother Raph. Without. Him. “Uh Leo you just gonna stand there dumbfounded or?” Donnie asked as he swiveled in circles. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous again are you?” Donnie smirked totally knowing his words hit a mark. Because as soon as they were out Leo grabbed his swords and portaled, straight to the arcade.

。・゜・( pov change: y/n )・゜・。

“Seriously this place just keeps getting better and better!” You gushed as you took a seat at the ‘Ultimate Racing Machine.’ Mikey and April went off to the kitchen earlier on and that left Raph to continue showing you around. He thought the next best place besides the ramp room would be the arcade. You had lit up like a light at the idea, you loved video games even if you weren’t a master at them. Raph got in the player 2 chair and that was all you needed to start steering the wheel getting a game setup. “So who’s got the highscore?” You asked curiously, it was pretty high up there, “that’d be Donnie” Raph said but added on, “I’m really close to beating him one of these days!”

“Well I’m sure you’ll kick my ass!” You laughed as the count down began. The two of you tensed and readied as the screens went green ‘GO!’ and the match was on. Three laps winner takes all! “AHA! Found you!” You lurched back in surprise as a blue bandanna came into view blocking the video game. “Leo!! I was in the lead!!” You said as you moved your head around trying to see the screen. Raph laughed in victory as he passed you up reaching the finish line for the first lap. “Haven’t you checked your phone?? I’ve been wondering what you were doing, where you’ve been, and here you are!” Leo said moving his face in front of you whenever you tried to look past him.

“I thought you knew I was here! Mikey invited me and I just guessed you were busy, plus I haven’t exactly gotten to know your brothers that well, and today has been going great so far,” you were talking but still not looking at him, you had hopes you could maybe pull out a win somehow but Raph was still in the lead by the second lap. “Leo! I’m gonna lose!!” You said in despair, as Raph said “Maybe next time Y/n,” you thought to yourself if only you didn’t have such a big blue distraction maybe you’d have a fighting chance! Leo crossed his arms, thinking over what you said and immediately zoning in on solely the fact that you’ve been having such a great time without him practically all day. He needed a plan, so you would see how much fun you were missing out on by not hanging out with him.

The third lap came into view and ‘LOSER’ came across your screen and you slumped back into the chair while Raph next to you hopped up and stood with both hands in the air full of victory. “Yes!! Leo thanks for your somewhat assistance but that was still all me babyyy!” Raph struck a pose, flexing and you finally tore your gaze away from the red screen to see Leo looking at you deep in thought. “Alright you two, I’m getting hungry, lemme go see if April and Mikey figured something out yet,” you listened to Raph’s footsteps fade as you acknowledged what he said. It got quiet, electronic video game music in the background. “Leo I think you’re overthinking,” you said to him as he seemed to be snapped out of his thoughts when he felt your eyes on him, finally.

“Pshhhh me? Overthinking? Hardly!” He retorted as he leaned back glancing at the red screen. It made him think of Raph’s red dot with yours. He rolled his eyes, going over to sit in the player 2 seat. “Wanna go against the master?” Leo questioned raising a cocky nonexistent eyebrow. “I thought Donnie had the high score?” You asked curiously. “What?! Hell no I’m the record holder here, who’s filling your head with lies?” You laughed, “okay okay almighty master, let’s see it then!” Ready to play, and this time hopefully with no more distractions. “Oh you don’t know what you’ve just summoned!” Leo remarked as the two of you chose your separate cars. “Let’s goooo” Leo said getting hyped as the count down began.

‘GO!’ The green screen flashed and you were sucked in, music getting louder as you leaned in unconsciously closer to the screen. “Yes, take a good close look at how I’ma leave you in my dust!” Leo trash-talked teasingly and your mouth twisted wracking your brain for a reply, “We’ll see about that..” your tongue sticking out slightly in concentration. Leo was so cocky of his assured victory that he stole glances towards you just to see your reactions to his supreme skills. So cute! He thought seeing your pink tongue, and that was all it took for you to suddenly take the lead on the second lap! “YES!” You exclaimed as Leo turned back to the screen focusing up. It had been a close race, Leo coming back at the last second and you threw yourself out of the seat as the red screen appeared yet again. “NO!!!” You cried, feeling pretty bitter at how you lost, “Who’s the racing master? I’m the racing master! Oh yeah!!” Leo gloated with the glow of the green celebratory screen shining on his face. “Ugh,” you groaned pitifully as Leo snickered. You were such a sore loser.

“Alright gaming aside, what else have I missed today?” Leo hummed, wanting to know everything. You clambered back into the chair, turning to face him as he looked over at you waiting, “Well, Mikey invited me over with April to watch a skateboarding competition in the ramp room!” And you were off going into detail and then gushing at how they had took the time to teach you how to board and even manage to survive the ramp. Leo listened intently, a small smile on his face, you talked so animatedly, and even though he wished he had been with you he was happy to hear how well you got along with his brothers, and vice versa.

“Not to brag but I’m also like the greatest at skateboarding too if you want a real pro to give you lessons,” he offered with a big smirking smile and you rolled your eyes smiling too, he always seemed to be an expert at everything. It didn’t seem possible but you didn’t feel like knocking down his incredibly large ego at the moment. “I’ll have to fit that into my schedule,” you teased. Leo stood, “how about an addition to the lair tour? You up for it?” You nodded and followed after him as he led the way.

“Woah,” you said as you approached the subway, walking with Leo to an open doorway, “Ta-da!” He said giving you jazz hands, “welcome to my room” he showed you his comic book collection and the posters on his wall then all the other knickknacks. You smiled listening to everything, “and yeah that’s about it! I’m kinda proud of the collection heh,” he became a little sheepish towards the end because he really meant it. “It’s amazing Leo! It must’ve taken a long time to collect,” you noted as you sat on the edge of his bed. He sat beside you smiling and nodding. You pulled out your phone and saw a couple of text messages and one missed call. Two messages and the call from Leo, you smiled softly to yourself, “I’m sorry I didn’t check my phone sooner Leo,” you admitted you felt guilty because it had been a couple of hours. He waved his hand dismissively, “it’s cool I was overreacting” he shrugged.

He wanted to be a cool boyfriend. A laid back boyfriend. You reached over grabbing his hand, “are you sure?” You wanted him to be honest, with you and himself. He nodded slowly, then tilted his head as he thought over his feelings. “Maybe a teensy bit worried” Leo admitted nonchalantly. “But Donnie’s got a tracker on your phone so I probably won’t be feeling that way again,” you raised an eyebrow, “really?” You deadpanned. “Uh what I mean to say is he used his genius brain powers to shoot a text to Mikey who ended up telling us that you were here!” A bright fake smile dashed onto Leo’s features. You crossed your arms, scooting over on the bed away from him.

“Aw c’mon what was a turtle supposed to do?” He whined, “when you’ve got a whiz kid of a twin brother you use him when you’re worried about-” you sighed, effectively shutting him up without having to say anything. Now he was the one reaching for your hand, “how about..” you started but remembered how you had basically ignored your phone for a couple of hours… “I don’t know, a full day going by before the tracking comes into play?” Leo stared at you seriously, “and if I’m really really worried?” You looked into his eyes, he looked to be thinking back to the noodle shop situation. With the crazy psycho with the gun. “Okay,” you agreed only because you didn’t want him to stress needlessly. “But I don’t think you’ll need to, I’ll pay more attention to my phone” you said confidently.

“Pizza’s here!” Three voices rang out throughout the lair. “Hungry?” Leo asked squeezing the hand that was resting in his palm. You squeezed back, “starving!” you said dramatically and he couldn’t help himself any longer. He scooped you up into his arms and nuzzled your neck before planting a kiss on your surprised lips. “Leo!” You squeaked, “whattttt? I’ve been waiting all day to do that!”

[gallifrey1sburning]

Hi 👋 a prompt you can take or leave: Draco is very unsure whether he is being flirted with or this is an extension of their office rivalry that he doesn't understand (or the reverse!) Ty!

@skeptiquex and @ihavesomeideawhatimdoinghere, I read both of your prompts back to back, and they worked really well together, so I squished them into one. I hope you enjoy! Thank you both for sending me things, and thanks to @mxmaneater for the fast beta ❤️

—

The Tally

“One more for me!” Harry crowed, scratching a new tally mark next to his name on the chalkboard behind Draco’s head. “Better luck next time, Malfoy.” The board had a partner behind Harry’s desk, and the tallies recorded on one would reflect on the other, but Harry took great joy in invading Draco’s space and rubbing his victories in his face at every opportunity. Not that Draco was any better. It was part of the fun.

“Please, that one hardly counted,” Draco objected reflexively. “You only caught him because you tripped, for Merlin’s sake. Hardly an impressive arrest.” 

Harry shrugged and grinned, perching on the edge of Draco’s desk. “An arrest is an arrest.”

“Whatever,” Draco grumped. He and Harry had been playing this game for over a year now, and the margin was always extremely close. Harry was just barely ahead, at the moment, but Draco would catch up to him soon. He and Parvati had a potions ring bust coming up that Harry and Weasley weren’t involved in. Once that was done, he’d have overtaken him, and the smug expression currently gracing his colleague’s face would disappear along with his lead.

“So, any big weekend plans?” Harry asked, ignoring Draco’s pout.

Draco dropped the expression when it failed to produce the desired reaction. “Nothing too exciting. Yourself?”

“I’ve got tickets for the Puddlemere game on Saturday, actually. Ron was supposed to come, but something came up, so I’m trying to find someone else who might want to go. It would be a shame for the ticket to go to waste.” Harry was biting his lip and looking hopeful, and for just a moment, Draco thought— but no. If he’d wanted to ask, he would have asked, he told himself firmly. 

Taking care to keep his expression light, Draco pondered for a moment before saying. “I think McCutcheon is a Puddlemere fan. Maybe try him?”

“Oh, right.” Draco almost thought that Harry looked disappointed for a moment, but on second glance, his expression was clear and friendly. “Thanks for the tip. I’ll see if he’s free. Have a great weekend, Draco. Parvati.” He knocked his knuckles against the desktop twice before straightening and walking off, hands in pockets. Draco watched him go, sighing as he rounded the corner. It really was a pleasure watching him walk away.

He was brought back to reality by his partner smacking him in the back of the head with a stack of paperwork. “Ow! What the fuck, Patil?”  

“What the hell is wrong with you?” she hissed, looking even more exasperated with him than usual. “Every time he’s over here, you spend the rest of the day mooning, and he finally asks you out, and you say NO?!” 

“I do not moon!” He did moon, and he knew it, but he wasn’t about to say so. He still had his pride. “And he didn’t ask me out, either.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“He didn’t! He just said he had an available ticket! He very clearly had an opening to invite me, if he wanted to, and he very clearly didn’t.” There had been a number of moments like this, in recent months, and Parvati kept insisting that Harry was flirting with Draco. For his part, Draco kept insisting that she mind her own business, because she obviously could not read Harry Potter at all if she thought he was interested in Draco.

“You are an absolute moron.” Parvati shook her head in disbelief, but let it drop.

— 

They made the bust on Tuesday. Monday had been a rush of preparations and contingency planning and final logistics, and the stakeout had lasted all day, but in the end, it had been worth it—they’d brought in six players in one sweep and were confident that at least one of them would give up the rest in exchange for sentencing leniency. Draco had dropped into bed exhausted but elated.

He was still riding high when he sauntered into Harry and Weasley’s office on Wednesday. He leaned ostentatiously over Harry’s desk, stretching almost directly over his perpetually-tousled head to grab a piece of chalk and carefully add six perfectly straight tally marks to his own side of the board, giving him the lead by three. 

“And that’s how you do it,” he gloated as he straightened, smirking smugly down at Harry. “Suck it, Potter.”

Across the office, he heard Weasley groan and mumble something that sounded suspiciously like ‘he wishes’ under his breath. Harry looked a bit pink, but still smirked right back up at Draco, so it was probably just the heat. “Played that one close to the chest, didn’t you? But don’t worry, I’ve got something in the pipeline. I’ll be back on top before you know it.”

In Draco’s peripheral vision, he saw Weasley bang his head against his desk. “I’m getting tea,” he announced, stalking out of the office. Draco raised an eyebrow at Potter, who shrugged. 

Now that he was here, Draco didn’t quite want to leave yet, so he searched for something else to talk about. “How was the game?” he finally asked.

“Huh? Oh, the Quidditch game. Yeah, I didn’t end up going, actually.” Harry rubbed the back of his neck, not making eye contact. “Wasn’t really in the mood.” 

Draco wrinkled his brow, not really sure what to make of that, but then Harry asked a question about the potions bust, and Draco forgot about it, instead focusing on a dramatic retelling of his glorious victory.

— 

Harry’s next arrest came after a particularly brutal double homicide. It was all anyone was talking about when he arrived that morning, but, despite Draco’s expectations (and perhaps anticipation), Harry didn’t appear at his desk to brag about it. He was feeling a bit anxious by the time he finally saw him passing by his door in the late afternoon, and the feeling only grew when he did. Harry had bags under his eyes, and his usually confident posture was slumped. He didn’t look as though he had slept. He also didn’t look like he was going to stop.

“Hey,” Draco said, rising from his desk to catch him before he passed by completely. “Haven’t seen you today.” Are you okay?, he didn’t say, but he thought it was probably audible in his tone anyway.

“Oh. Hey, Draco.” Harry looked up at him, seeming a little lost. He looked hollow behind his eyes, and Draco could feel his eyebrows furrowing in concern. “Yeah, I’ve been…” he trailed off and glanced past Draco, into his office, to where the chalkboard hung prominently on the back wall. He seemed to curl even further in on himself. “I don’t want to count this one, okay?” he said, finally. “It doesn’t really feel like a victory.”

“Yeah, of course,” Draco said immediately, and he suddenly felt completely helpless. “Can I—” he hesitated, and then put a tentative hand on Harry’s slumped shoulder. “Do you need anything?”

He was half sure that Harry would pull away from his touch, but he didn’t. If anything, he seemed almost to relax into it. “I’m okay,” he said, and it wasn’t convincing, but Draco didn’t want to push it. “Thanks, though.” He reached up and gripped Draco’s hand where it lay on his shoulder, so briefly that his hand was gone before Draco could even fully register it, and then stepped back, continuing on his way.

Draco stood and stared at the chalkboard for a while when he got back to his desk. Then, he picked up his eraser and carefully removed one tally from his own side.

— 

Their next bust, they were on together. A small Neo-Death Eater group that the department had been keeping an eye on, but who hadn’t done much of anything until now, had suddenly decided to make a grand statement by threatening a large-scale attack on Diagon Alley if their (entirely insane) demands weren’t met. Needless to say, the Ministry was not interested in negotiation, and the whole Auror force had been called out en masse. 

Somehow, Harry and Weasley had ended up working in tandem with Draco and Parvati, and now Harry and Draco were back to back in a dead-end alley, dueling a pair that seemed to be the last desperate stragglers, while Parvati watched the street, ready to block anyone who might try to interfere, and Weasley stood to the side, clutching his ribs and sweating but still managing to hold a fairly steady shield charm. There was an unconscious, Incarcerous-ed body on the ground near him; his Stunner’s aim had been true, but the assailant had gotten off one last hex before it hit. He wasn’t in imminent danger—Draco had been hit by the same spell before, and it was extremely painful but didn’t cause any lasting damage once reversed—and although that would be easy enough to do, they didn’t have a wand to spare at the moment.

Harry and Draco worked together like they’d been born to it, and if their respective partnerships hadn’t been working so well for so long, Draco might have considered it a waste that they weren’t paired together. Spells flew around them like fireworks, and they cast and dodged and shielded and attacked without speaking, without pause, until, suddenly, it was over. 

“Ron!” Harry cried as soon as his wand dropped, but Parvati was already by his side, countering the spell, and Ron’s body relaxed almost immediately.

“I’m fine, mate. Great work.” 

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief and then turned to Draco, chest still heaving with exertion. Draco couldn’t help the grin that spread across his face even as he tried to catch his breath. He could feel sweat tracking down his face, his neck, his back, and he was streaked with dirt and—he suspected—blood; but they had won, and no one had died, and he was almost high on the rush of it. “I’m not sure who those count for,” he said, half laughing. “It happened too fast. Did you catch who took them down?”

Harry was grinning now, too, the buzzing energy of their win almost visibly coursing through him. He beamed at Draco, and he looked so fucking beautiful, even though he was just as dirty and dishevled as Draco was, that Draco couldn’t help but glance, just for a second, at those lips that he’d surreptitiously observed for so long as they stretched wide with joy. When he snapped his eyes back up, however, it was clear that Harry had seen, because the smile had morphed into something that Draco couldn’t put a name to, and his eyes were searching Draco’s for something. And then— 

“Fuck it,” he heard Harry say, and then there were hands on either side of his head and he was being—quite thoroughly—kissed, right there in the alley. He melted into it immediately, pulling Harry closer to himself almost instinctively. There was an iron tang of blood as their tongues met, and Draco wasn’t sure whose it was, but he didn’t particularly care. He didn’t care about much of anything, right now, besides Harry’s hands, and Harry’s lips, and the press of Harry’s chest and hips against his own, and whether Harry might want to reenact this moment later but somewhere with a bed and a lot less clothes.

“I TOLD YOU!” Parvati yelled triumphantly in the background.

“Fucking finally.” Ron sounded both amused and exasperated.

Draco ignored them in favor of sliding his hands into Harry’s birdsnest of hair, pulling lightly and making him groan into the kiss. He supposed this one counted as a win for both of them.

Also on AO3

[viviennes-tears]

Playing mind games (Loki and X Reader one shot)

18+ blog: It is YOUR responsibility, as a reader, to think about the content that you consume at your own discretion. 

A/N: This was requested by a friend of mine and has taken months for us to put together. We collaborated a lot on it, back and forth with ideas when we both had a lot going on as well. Now it’s officially finished after all the hard work put into it! Enjoy 😊

(In this particular one shot you will be given an undercover name due to the context of the story, but you will still be able to insert your name in it too)

~

Summary: You've been undercover working for SHIELD for some time getting close to the enemy. However your cover has been blown and now you have to seek protection, as well as taking on another new identity. Fury gathers the best of his Avengers for the job, but things don't go according to plan. You end up at the safe location with Thor Odinson and Loki Laufeyson. Can you cope living with the Gods? Will you be able to resist the trickster God's mind games?

Warnings: manipulation, mind games, smut, explicit sex, oral sex, unprotected sex, rough sex, swearing, mentions of killing and Dom Loki

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

It's been over a year since Loki was forced to live at the Avengers tower as punishment for his crimes in New York. He loathes the place as it's filled with insufferable beings. A Billionaire Playboy, an ex Assassin, a Witch, a Bossy Scientist and her Blabbermouth Assistant, an Old Man who doesn't like swearing, a Man who was once a Machine, a Grump Guy who has a family, another Scientist who you don't want to piss off. Of course not forgetting his Big Oaf of a brother The God of Thunder. Despite how he feels about everyone and being cooped up inside the tower 24/7, yet it still seemed like a better option compared to an Asgardian Dungeon.

What he didn't plan on was a new resident.

One late morning Bruce entered the living room followed by Tony but at a much slower pace. Tony was far too busy muttering some equations to himself, whilst carrying some sort of tech device and a screwdriver in his hands to care how long he took to arrive. He'd been working on the new device since his insomnia kept him from his night of rest. His reasoning for leaving the confinements of his lab was because Wanda had called him and Bruce up to welcome their new arrival. Although Tony didn't like being summoned whilst he was working and kept ignoring the calls, until he gave up after Natasha threatened to cut off his manhood, along with Bruce's coaxing too. Loki had heard about the threat and snickered, lighting up his own mood, as he'd been dragged away from reading quietly in his room.

Once everybody settled down Nick Fury and someone else, someone new came into their view. You. You are the stranger in the tower. Everybody's attention was drawn to you instantly, as you entered with a slight limp. You could see some questions flashing across their faces as yourself and Fury stopped in front of them.

"This is Willow Johnson, she's had a run in with the wrong crowd so to speak." Fury introduced you and gestured with his hand towards you.

"That's an understatement." You scoffed. "I've been investigating a huge lead on a SHIELD case and I was recruited especially for it given my skill set. Whilst being an agent undercover for this case the asshole I've been in close proximity with for the past year and a half...he got the upper hand. My cover has been blown wide open no thanks to a great look-alike leading me down the wrong path. He certainly could throw a decent punch too."

"Johnson has been given a Nano Mask already to help protect her true identity." This tad bit of information from Fury helped them understand how serious the situation actually is. Plus the Nano Mask hid your banged up black eye and a cut lip for the time being.

"Your real pretty face must have really gotten banged up to cover it up with that face. Or that one could be an improvement." Tony said mockingly, now that he abandoned his project for the time being. Not that he had the right to make such a rude remark this early in the game, he doesn't even know you or what you are capable of.

"What I think Tony is trying to say is, why come here now your cover is blown? All due respects." Bruce said and tried to defuse a possible bad situation before it truly began.

"While Johnson is under protection watch she'll be here for a couple of days until we can relocate her to a more remote and safe location." Fury explained in his no nonsense voice. "Romanoff, I expect you to help Johnson with her new disguise. Go over the file with her." He added and handed over said file that he pulled out of his leather coat. After all he knew she'd be best suited for the job to be beside you during the next stages.

"So, Willow Johnson isn't your real name?" Loki asked curiously from his place far from the others. He's leaning against the wall on the other side of the room with his arms crossed in front of his chest. And the others have his attention, seemingly wanting to know what he's up to due to his usual lack of interest in most ongoings.

"Fury gave me Willow Johnson as part of my new identity, yes." You confirmed.

"And while Johnson's real identity will be classified, those who are to be involved besides Romanoff will be as follows...Stark, Barton and Laufeyson." Upon Loki hearing his name being called out it actually stunned him. He'd never been chosen to participate in anything before as no one trusted him before now in all honesty, and rightly so after everything he'd done before being forced to live with them. "You will each brush up on your files and remember Johnson is now your current priority, and details on the guy in the case are listed too. SHIELD is counting on you and your help." Fury said authoritatively, as he passed out the rest of the files.

"No way, am I allowing my brother to be alone on a mission!" Thor stood up abruptly from his seat in protest.

"He won't be alone, not with Stark, Barton and Romanoff present too." Fury replied and returned to your side.

"You know what I mean, Fury." Thor raised a brow as he stared at Fury seriously.

"Point Break has a point. We'll need an extra pair of eyes on Reindeer Games over there." Tony agreed, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards Loki. While Jane and the rest all nodded as well in agreement.

Fury sighed heavily despite knowing already that there would be some form of protest. "Fine. Thor you're in." Then he pulled out the back up final file (just in case of the protest) from his coat and handed it to Thor. Once Thor took it Fury was called away to SHIELD's base and left them to it, until they got word of the new location.

"What's the rest of us meant to do?!" Darcy whined and huffed, as Jane gave her a petty pat on her back. Darcy had a right to complain as she too hadn't been given a huge opportunity to prove herself worth around here. Her job still entailed running out for errands and handing out the coffee to everyone, not just Jane.

"Just sit around and look pretty." Loki used the very same insult he'd received on multiple occasions in the past topped with a smug grin.

"Miss Lewis, I am sure Mr Fury has chosen the right team for this mission, even if I have my own doubts towards Mr Laufeyson's participation in all of this." Vision spoke for the first time after logically pondering over the situation.

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

Two hours later

F.R.I.D.A.Y announced that Tony expected you, Clint, Natasha, Thor and Loki to gather in the meeting room immediately. By now Tony thought everyone should have had enough time to read over their files and get their bearings together. Once you were all seated with Tony remaining on his feet at the head of the table the meeting began.

"This Ferguson guy doesn't seem all that threatening. We've faced far worse." Tony said and looked towards Loki as an example.

"Hey, I had my reasons!" Loki argued, as Tony pulled up files from F.R.I.D.A.Y's database.

"Yeah, reasons which had my brains scrambled!" Clint complained angrily.

"Watch your tongue mortal!" Loki spat at him and pointed a finger his way.

"Enough!" Natasha complained and rolled her eyes, while the entire time you just sat there looking between them all. You'd heard about what happened here in New York on the news at the time and clearly no one was going to be over it any time soon. Not that you could blame them.

The meeting carried on more smoothly and it seemed like you were finally getting somewhere with the plan. Although, keeping the peace between everyone clearly wasn't going to last long, especially because Loki had to speak up again due to Thor's lack of incapability to follow along.

"Yes, all well and good, but what does it mean?" Thor asked, looking very puzzled.

"In simple terms brother, we beat him at his own game." Loki belittled his older brother and mocked his lack of intelligence as usual.

"Oi, watch your mouth!" Thor objected.

You rubbed your temples a bit trying to ease the tension in your mind. Also you felt as though the rest of the Avengers already began to regret Thor being on their team, as the dreaded thoughts of the brothers bickering will no doubt be a common reoccurrence. Although, it wasn't to say the entire team up will be argument free with or without Thor and Loki's bickering, you imagined nothing would be pain sailing with anyone.

"Be quiet, the pair of you until the end of the meeting!" Natasha said firmly.

"I am a God and I'll do as I please." Loki felt the need to have one up on them again.

"For fuck sake, don't pull that card out again for another bloody week. No make that four." Tony said and caused a snigger to come from Clint.

Despite Loki's internal voice screamed at him to interrupt again any further stupid comments from Thor or jeer him further, he decided to keep quiet all together. Not because they told him to, but because he wanted to be quiet. There's a difference. However he was intently listening and paying close attention to every detail, while the clogs were turning in his brain as he analysed everything. Occasionally you caught a glimpse of him staring at you, which you tried to brush off and focus on the meeting instead.

However, as the meeting just got into full swing an overpowering blast disrupted everything and F.R.I.D.A.Y confirmed an attack on the tower. Then Steve barged into the meeting room breathlessly commanding you all to get out and fast. Ferguson had found you, you hadn't a doubt about it, but how? He had no idea what your new disguise looked like. Then again he has connections and he knows now that you've been working for SHIELD all this time. This means obviously he had someone check out any leads that could tell him of your whereabouts.

Steve soon returned to helping the others to ensure yourself, Tony, Nat, Clint, Thor and Loki would escape. Due to the haste speed everyone was running around at Tony and the others grabbed everything they possibly could carry in such short notice. Meanwhile you struggled with your limp while trying to keep up and dodge any oncoming attacks. In fact along Your way behind the others you tripped up because your damn limp failed you. Loki managed to quickly react with his magic to block an oncoming piece of the tower's structure from crushing you while you were down. Then with a groan and a swipe of his hands at a force the piece of the tower was flung over your head and away from you. But before you could even attempt to get up Loki scooped you up in his arms and carried you out of there.

Loki and yourself were the last to board the quinjet and with Tony's impatient attitude Loki tossed you carelessly into a seat before seating himself down opposite you. Once everyone was buckled in Natasha got the quinjet up into the air to flee from the crumbling tower. As the sight of the tower grew smaller the further away you got, Tony massaged his temples as he tried to suppress his anger. It didn't feel long ago since the tower had been rebuilt after Loki and his Chitauri army wreaked havoc on it, including the other resounding buildings, because in all reality it wasn't long at all.

Suddenly an incoming call alerted everyone in the quinjet, but no one seemed to be bothered about answering it. That was until Clint ended up unbuckling himself from his seat to answer the call. Not that he could blame Natasha, as she was too busy trying to swerve past buildings and trying to lose another craft, which was vastly approaching from behind. Albeit Tony could have easily answered as he was close enough to the controls, and yet neither yourself or the Gods would answer, as the three of you were arguing over who's fault it was about being chased. Also arguing who's fault it was as to why you and Loki were late getting onboard.

"Looks like the tower wasn't a good place after all." Came Fury's voice over the sound system.

"You think!?" Tony spat angrily.

"Not now Stark! Get Johnson to safety, that's all that matters...." an explosion behind the quinjet disrupted the connection for a brief moment and it ceased the arguing. "We're sending encrypted coordinates to the safe site." Fury said.

"How secure is this place?" Thor asked on Tony's behalf.

"More than enough compared to where you are now, and any other radio communications will be cut off once you pass the threshold in-listed in the encryption. Any information will be sent by hand due to the circumstances. Remember to stick to the plan......." the connection between Fury was cut off abruptly mid sentence.

"Perfect, just perfect!" Tony yelled whilst hitting his closed fists into the controls and pressing several buttons.

The random button pressing set off alarms and several blinking lights began to go on and off like crazy right across the control panel. Then to add salt to the wound just as Natasha flew them over the edge of Manhattan the quinjet was hit badly. The forcefield was down no thanks to Tony's childish move, while the impact caused Clint to fall to the hard floor, you and the others jolted forwards in your seats. Luckily your seatbelts saved you from the worst, but you seemed to be the only one to suffer from whiplash. You cursed under your breath as you held your hand to the back of your neck, you clearly couldn't catch a break.

"Hold onto something, I've got to put her into the water!" Natasha yelled over the now blaring sounds of the alarms and the sounds of the quinjet ripping apart, along with the blazing fire to one of the jet's engines.

Clint couldn't make it back to his seat on time, so he grabbed onto anything solid he could within reach. You had to let go of your neck and grip your seatbelt tightly with one hand, and the other onto the side of your chair, as well as closing your eyes to await the impending landing. Both Thor and Loki did the same as you expect, their eyes are open, whereas Tony gripped onto a handle above his head with one hand and the edge of the control panel with the other. Meanwhile Natasha was doing her best to land safely.

The quinjet was plummeting down fast, nose first, but the craft that had fired at you just sent off another shell. It ended up causing more damage which ultimately smashed through the other engine. There wasn't anything else left to do other than to press the emergency eject button, because Natasha could no longer keep the quinjet in enough control for a safe landing. So she slammed on the eject seat button and everyone was shot up and out of the quinjet. The upward force of the ejection made you scream and as the parachute opened on the way down was when you finally stopped screaming. It was only then that you felt brave enough to open your eyes. As you looked around you got to see the quinjet collide into the Statue of Liberty where it remained lodged inside from the waist point of Lady Liberty. The others seemed to be lower to the water than you. Yet you got to see the other craft land safely nearby.

As your ejected seat reaches the water you unbuckle your seatbelt and get right into the freezing cold water. You had to keep your head above the water the best you could, because you couldn't allow your Nano Mask to short circuit, especially not this early in the game. While you struggled to swim with the pain in your leg and the coldness of the water, you knew you had to push through and get on dry land. The water was too much of a venerable place to be and whilst being out in the open. When you were nearly on land you could see Natasha fighting off some of Ferguson's men, with Clint closely behind her with his arrows on hand. Whereas Tony was scrambling to duck for cover for the time being, until he could call out another suit, because the water damaged the one he bought with him. Of course Thor was acting as Tony's backup and holding off against Ferguson's men. Although you couldn't see Loki at all, it was as if he'd disappeared.

After you got on land you joined in with the fight the best you could, coming face to face with some of the tough guys who used to be your bodyguards. They were your body guards because of your once 'delicate flower' persona you embraced while you worked undercover on the inside. Ferguson likes women who are the stereotypical damsel in distress and needs to be protected, your bargaining chip to get in and do your job. However you're the complete opposite to a delicate flower, it took a lot of commitment to keep up the facade, only in the end there were too many cracks to cover up. Despite what happened when you were on the inside you actually learnt a fair few things including all of their weaknesses, where it hurt the most with each of the men you came up against. However one of the men you came up against managed to punch you in the face before you could dodge the blow.

"Johnson, get out of here!" Tony yelled, as he rose into the air with his newly called suit and joined in with the fight.

You obeyed Tony's instructions as you felt the Nano Mask start to glitch, which to any onlooker it just thankfully looked like facial tics. Thanks to Tony and the others you manage to escape even though you were still moving around uneasy. You soon managed to slip down an abandoned alleyway filled with industrial sized bins and other crap. It made do for now so you could check over your Nano Mask. You had to remove it to be able to see the full extent of the damage, luckily it wasn't all that bad, and you managed to fix it temporarily by hand. It would need a much more thorough look over along with the right tools once out of this alleyway. At least the glitch stopped for now temporally and you quickly reapplied the mask back over your face. Also, this time gave you a chance to rest until you all could get to the safe location. A little while later you began to hear a rustling and you jumped up into a fighting pose.

"At ease Johnson." Loki chuckled at your fighting pose.

"Loki....where are the others?" You ask, as you lower your balled up fists.

"They are indisposed at the moment. Come, we can't stay here." He demanded you to follow him.

"Where did you go? After we reached land you disappeared." You asked, as you came into step with him.

"I went to retrieve something." He said bluntly.

"Specifically what?" You ask snootily, as you've not liked his attitude since you've known him, which hasn't been for very long.

"That's none of your concern right now...we have to keep moving." He replied.

"It is of my concern...."

"Fine!" Loki grumbles and stops walking to face you. "I went to collect this..." he then holds up his hand palm facing upwards, and a precious Cherry Blossom brooch appears in the center of his palm from his pocket dimension. The floral design was made of pink gold and glass enamel, with Akoya pearls. "It belonged to my Mother. She had the flower cast in this form after it landed on my leg when I was a child. I sat in her lap under the tree while she read to me. A keepsake, a memory we shared." You were surprised by his story and by how honest he was being considering you hadn't known him for very long.

"Why would you bring it with you?" You asked curiously, as you tried to reach for it, but Loki was quick to return it to his pocket dimension.

"I always carry it with me. Now I must insist that we move." Loki then pushes past you and continues walking ahead at a fast pace.

"Why did you lose it in the first place? I mean you just puffed that out of thin air." You ask, as you catch up with him again.

"Stop asking questions, you're beginning to irritate me." He growled with annoyance.

"I'm irritating?! You're an ass!" You snapped back.

As yourself and Loki exit the abandoned alleyway and begin walking down the street in silence Ferguson himself suddenly begins running down the street towards you both. You felt a tug on your wrist and then you were being dragged in the opposite direction. You tried your best to keep up but your limp was slowing you down. Loki knew that too and he couldn't afford to waste more time. So once he knew there was enough distance between you two and Ferguson, Loki stopped abruptly, then he threw you over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. Despite your protests he carried you as he ran. However, Ferguson pulled out a handgun and began firing as he kept running on behind, causing Loki to cast a protection spell around the pair of you. As Loki rounded the next turn he saw Thor was at the other end with Mjolnir spinning fast just before release. Luckily Thor noticed Loki approaching and met with him halfway. Loki forced you into Thor before he turned to face Ferguson with his magic glowing around his hands.

"GO!" Loki yelled, as he wielded his magic and sent Ferguson flying to the ground for now at least.

Thor only nodded his head in response, yet he didn't give you any time to even catch a breath before he scooped you up with one arm and used Mjolnir to fly you both out of there. It wasn't until much later when Loki turned up at the safe location (where Thor took you alone), he looked a bit disheveled and worn out. The extent of his injuries were scares as far as you could tell, apart from the cut above his right brow. Well from now on it was just the three of you, as Tony thought you had a better chance getting there with Thor as your escort. Not that he ever thought Loki would carry on with the mission and take pride in being a part of something.

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

Two months later

You and Loki are at it again. His big mouth could not be kept closed, hence why you began this dance of skilled movements and weapons clanging together. He purposely said and did things just to piss you off for his entertainment, most of the time you gave him smart mouth right back, only getting physical in the training room. Living with Loki wasn't easy, actually living with him and Thor wasn't easy, but Loki pushed your buttons the most.

"You're terrible when it comes to most basic Midgardian things. " Loki smirked.

"Shut your gob!" You hissed only to receive a sly grin in return, almost like a promise that there is more where that came from.

You pushed your sword against his and forced him back a few steps, until both your blades met once more in a metal clang. You both then continued to move strategically about the space. Loki's graceful but powerful at the same time, an interesting opponent, but he has a weakness just the same as anyone. The simple thought about finding out what Loki's weakness might be made you all the more determined to find out, after all this wasn't the first fight you've gotten into with the devious God.

"Honestly, how does one expect to function properly on this dreadful planet?" Loki dared to provoke the bear again, as swords kept swinging and swishing through the air, before being followed by more clanging sounds as they met.

"You don't know when to shut up, do you?" You say, as you duck out of the way and swerve around him, but he's quick on the up keep of your foot work.

"If I were to be silent you'd only be bored of the sound of my brother's voice, trust me, after hearing the same stories for the thousandth time it gets tedious." He said with a tiresome tone and mock yawned in the moment of rest in the fight.

"At least he doesn't insult me." You replied before going back in for another attack.

Loki anticipated your move and gained the upper hand by blocking your attack. Your sword went under his arm and it didn't harm him in any way, then he swiftly swiped his right leg and knocked you off balance, his action barely gave any lean way for you to stop him. The next thing you knew was he had you pinned to the ground under the weight of his body. His dagger appeared in his hand suddenly then he pressed its cool blade firmly to your throat, as his other hand kept your sword at bay above your head. "You never learn," he chuckled darkly.

You sigh and roll your (e/c) eyes dramatically at the God of Mischief. A good enough distraction for you to free a leg from under him, allowing yourself the space to knee him hard in his crown jewels. The instant impact of your knee caused Loki to groan and roll off of you. He lay there clutching at the pain between his legs while you got back up onto your feet.

"When will you learn not to gloat so much?" You said triumphantly.

Only your victory didn't last long as Loki dissipated quickly into a shimmer of green, which made you realise at some point without your knowledge Loki had you fighting against a clone of himself. However you weren't quick enough to get out of the real Loki's way, as he came up from behind you. He trapped you with his left arm tightly holding you against his firm frame and like his clone he held a dagger to your throat with the other hand.

"Maybe one day you will beat me or at the very least beg for my mercy." Loki whispered seductively which sent a shiver down your spine. You weren't sure if it was the pleasurable way he spoke or simply that the breeze swept in through the open window. Although if you had more time to think about it you would have gone with the latter.

Before you could form a coherent argument his breath fanned across the back of your neck, as he tried to calm his breathing after your fight, before he disappeared all together. He left you covered in sweat from your fight and a strange warm feeling in the pit of your stomach that threatened to travel downwards. So you took a moment to compose yourself, albeit you failed to keep yourself in control of your body. These feelings made you angry at yourself, but more importantly angry at Loki. Shortly thereafter you stomped over to the sword rack and disarmed yourself, before you stripped yourself of your training gear. Once you left the training room with your gear in your arms Thor came strolling along the hall with his large heavy foot fall.

"Did my brother bother you again?" Thor asked, after pulling on your arm to get you to stop to speak to him. His grip was rather tight around your upper arm, without meaning to be because sometimes his gifted strength doesn't always occur to him when it comes to manhandling mortals.

"He's such a prick!" You complained and yanked your arm in order to get Thor to release you. He did without hesitation and hoped he didn't hurt you.

"Surely the two of you can find some common ground?" He asked optimistically.

"Unlikely." You huffed and carried on your way.

Once you were in the confinements of your room you slammed the door closed and kept your hands against the wood, as you took a few calming breaths to calm your nerves and gain some control over yourself. Despite Loki getting on your nerves it didn't help matters when there's been no news from SHIELD for over three and a half weeks. No news on Ferguson's whereabouts, no news about how long you're going have to live with the bickering brothers.

When you consider yourself to be reasonably calmer you pushed off from the door and began to strip off your sweat covered clothes. You needed to be rid of them as they also smelt of Loki, and you couldn't stand the feeling of the material clinging to your body any longer. As you were stripped down to your knickers and bra you headed to your en-suite where you ran yourself a hot bath. You added more than a generous amount of bubble bath to the water as the tub filled up. After the bath was full and the taps were off the remaining items of clothing soon hit the titled flooring. Then you process to climb in and you snack down into the delightful warmth, even some of the water spilt over the top as you got in, due to you letting it get dangerously full to the top. You felt engulfed by the warm bubbly water which began to loosen and destress your limbs. You allowed the feeling to over take and you closed your eyes to enjoy it.

"You look peaceful, my dear." Loki's dark sinful voice jolted you up from your sloughed position and your eyes flew open too. You felt grateful for the amount of bubbles there were as they kept you covered, and it was lucky you hadn't yet removed your Nano Mask either, because still to this day no one had seen you without it, just like they shouldn't for everyone's safety.

"What the fuck, Loki?!" You chastised.

He let out a chuckle that matched his dark sinful voice, as he gazed down at you from where he sat on the edge of the bath, and had one leg crossed over the other. His clothes had changed to a simple black v neck t shirt and tight dark blue jeans. You could even smell how refreshed he in fact is after your fight. His scent was strong, that was for sure.

"I merely came to apologise for provoking you. Although I did find it rather amusing." He said with a slight upwards curl to one side of his mouth.

"Couldn't your lame apology have waited until I was out and dressed?" You hissed.

"Nope! I would have missed this delightful sight." He chuckled and ducked his head down in perfect timing, right before the bottle of bubble bath could hit him in the head.

"GET OUT!" You yelled and used your foot to kick water up at him, which caused his amused face to get wiped away with the water. However he was quick to grab hold of your ankle and you slid down almost completely under the water, while the bubbles still did their job of covering all your intimate parts. Also the water is just about a hair's width away from short circuiting your Nano Mask.

"Honestly after I came to apologise this is what I get for my troubles." He scoffed and his grip on your ankle became tighter. "You're lucky that's all my intentions were, Johnson." Loki then disappeared again in a shimmer of green, and your leg dropped back into the bath with a splash once his grip on your ankle was gone.

Something about his words made you shiver again and the bath no longer felt as warm as it once did either. So you made quick work of bathing before you pulled the plug and dried off. You slipped on some comfy grey joggers and matching hoodie forgoing any knickers or bra, as you did not care enough to do so. Comfort was what you needed right now. Then you lay back on your bed staring up at the ceiling and trying to pretend like Loki hadn't made you shiver, while trying to deny the delightfulness that came from the way he spoke.

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

The following afternoon you found Loki lounging on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea on the coffee table. Whilst Thor wore headphones with a mic included, as he held his controller firmly with his thumbs briskly and furiously battling against the enemy in his game. Nothing unusual. Of course Thor didn't acknowledge your presents as you walked to the kitchen, he was too busy anyway with his game. Yet Loki did glance up at you for a second before his eyes returned to his page. It didn't bother you in the slightest though, as to be quite honest you preferred it that way anyway.

"No you bloody imbecile....get the sword....NO,NO!" Thor complained into the mic to his online teammate.

"Thor, what did I say about talking while I'm reading?" Loki grumbled.

"Then leave brother.....NO! Thanks a lot Loki he just killed me, now I have to restart this level. Oh shut up you little weasel!" Thor split talks between Loki and shrilly complained to his online teammate.

"I'm not joking, Thor! Cut it out!" Loki shouted and sat up abruptly, then with a flick of his wrist a frying pan flew past you without you noticing and across the living room, then it struck Thor across the back of the head. Although it wasn't hard enough to knock him out. Luckily.

What seemed at first like a nice family setting soon turned upside down as Thor abandoned his place, controller and headphones just before launching at Loki. Due to his head on attack and the brute force the sofa tipped up, causing both himself and Loki to topple back with the sofa. The sound of the commotion startled you and you ran towards it to find the brothers wrestling on the floor, the sofa collapsed on its side, tea seeping into the rug while its once resided cup now lies cracked and chipped, torn pages from Loki's book and that didn't even begin to cover the chaos the room is in now.

"STOP IT, STOP IT!" You yelled, but neither of them stopped. Seeing them fight was a regular occurrence and more violently compared to when you fought with Loki in the training room.

Usually they would stop when you yelled at them, but not today. They just ignored you and continued to spit out insults at each other, as they wrestled and made more of a mess, you realised for once you'd have to get physically involved too. So you quickly ran over to the tv to unplug everything and make Thor lose his unsaved place in the game. A gamer's worst nightmare.

"Nooooo!" Thor breathlessly groaned, as he recognised the sound of the tv giving out power when it was unplugged. His attack on Loki had stopped finally and allowed Loki to wiggle himself free from underneath him.

"Serves you right." Loki said breathlessly, as tidied himself up from their wrestling match once he got back onto his feet.

"Why?" Thor said, as he slumped down onto his knees in front of the tv and his hands reaching up and around to hug the inanimate object.

"Why?! Why don't you act your age and not your shoe size? Both of you? Clean up this mess right now. You're lucky that your punishment isn't worse." You said angrily and you wondered why Princes of Asgard didn't know discipline as well as they ought to know.

Loki left Thor to do all the work as usual, blaming it all on him for the mess in the first place. Despite how firm you were you couldn't make Loki do anything, it had to be on his terms and his alone, thus annoying you to no end. Immediately after vacating the room and leaving Thor to the cleaning, you returned to making your cup of tea.

"Hmmmm...I do like this authoritative side of you darling." Loki's voice huskily whispered in your ear from behind you suddenly, whilst his hands lightly brushed up and down your bare arms. You felt your body tremor from his touch which you didn't like how easily your body was betraying you. Then again it has been a long time since you were touched so intermittently. Even if his touch was barely intermit compared to how and where you ached to be touched.

"I know it's not easy living under the same roof, but I'd appreciate it if we could keep the house orderly." You said in a reasonably collective voice, and you elbowed him in the ribs to get him to stop, which he did but he didn't step back.

"It's not like we don't ever fight." Loki's voice seemingly unchanging.

"That's different." You say defensively, as you spin around to face him, his face close to your own.

"In what way is it different?" He asked with an eyebrow raised curiously.

"Well for one we only physically fight in the training room, and two we don't have the many years of baggage you undoubtedly have with Thor." You shrug.

"True, but you have to admit you enjoy our little fights." He says before pressing himself against you, causing you to be caged between his arms and your back pressed against the kitchen worktop. You even had to crane your head back to look him in the eye because of how close he is."Nor can you deny the thrill of it running through your entire body."

"What's thrilling about being insulted nearly on a daily basis, and being treated as inferrer just because there's a God who needs an attitude adjustment under the same roof?" You refuse to give up so easily as it's not in your nature, despite how much your body wants to give in.

"It is merely...how do you mortals say? Banter? Banter to pass the time." His voice is playful yet still a husky whisper and his eyes never weaving away from yours. Although, you hold your breath as Loki tucks your hair behind one ear, and he allows his middle finger to follow the outline of your face.

"Lo-"

"Willow!" Thor suddenly yelled and caused Loki to disappear from right under your nose.

You sighed heavily with relief. These feelings inside you were becoming stronger and you were unsure how long he'd play this game, because that's all you could call this between you two. After all he said it's banter to pass the time.

As you went to see what Thor was up to now you realised it was an undercover SHIELD agent heading towards the house. You knew it was a SHIELD agent because of the distinct red suit they wore that was mentioned would be worn according to the last letter. The agent dropped off the letter and sat in the living room with a glass of water and waited until the letter was read. Thor and yourself took it in turns reading the letter. It stated that Ferguson had fallen off SHIELD's radar and expressed concern that the three of you keep your eyes peeled.

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

Three weeks later

For one night you wanted to have a normal sit down family meal, even though you aren't Thor and Loki's family. You just missed the idea of having a proper sit down at a dining table with a home cooked meal. So you spent a good portion of the afternoon trying and failing to make an edible meal. Loki was alerted to the kitchen because of the blaring sound of the fire alarm, along with the smoke and burnt smell wafting out. As he stepped in he found you cursing and screaming at the burnt food that you pulled out of the oven. He chuckled at your misfortune as he walked over to you, but he stopped short a few steps when you glared at him.

"I told you, you're terrible when it comes to most basic Midgardian things." Loki said cheekily.

"I suppose you can do better?" You ask with your hands on your hips. Loki smiled and flicked his wrist. All of your hard failed work vanished and was replaced by a delicious spread. You shoved him out of annoyance, but you thanked him anyway under your breath.

Despite how irritably Loki still got under your skin, you knew since getting to know him you developed some admiration for him, more specifically his fighting skills inspired you, as did his intelligence challenge your own. On the other hand it was clear something had shifted between you both, whatever this might be and in such a short time. Not that your mind would allow you to admit anything, again regardless of how much your body was fighting against your rational thoughts. Then again innocuously you'd been teasing him with the subtle ways you walked or bent over as he walked in on you. Although, he kept messing with your mind with his silver tongue speaking of naughty and explicit things he wanted to do to you.

It wasn't long until the three of you sat at the dining table ready for the 'family meal.' Loki sat opposite you, the perfect place to keep his eyes on you, and throughout the entire meal he made inappropriate gestures/innuendoes towards you. Gestures/innuendoes that Thor was oblivious to thankfully. However, Loki knew what it was doing to you, to your body without even touching you. You silently cursed him in your mind for lightening the fire in your belly and the ache between your thighs. What you didn't know was Loki could hear your thoughts and it made him chuckle to himself.

After the meal you felt Loki following you to your room, but you weren't sure what his intentions were this time. However, you didn't have to wait long as he soon caught up to you with his long legs. Then you felt his hands on your waist within seconds of him approaching from behind. He quickly spun you around and pushed you against the wall, his body firmly keeping you against it with his hands on either side of your head.

"You wore my colours to dinner." Loki said seductively.

"You were being inappropriate at dinner." You replied cockily and poked his chest.

"What did you expect, darling? Seeing you in such a sexy little number and in my colours..." he trailed off as he bit into the side of your neck which caused you to gasp. "You keep teasing me with your voluptuous curves of late." He added before licking at the bite mark left on your skin and made you feel a little tingly, more so as he began to suck and open mouth kiss your neck and shoulder. His hands on your waist and digging his fingers into you.

"And you keep talking sinfully to me." You say breathlessly.

"Hummm...what kind of sinful things do I say?" Loki asks, as he abandons his attack on your neck and shoulder to look you in the eyes. He knows full well that you enjoy these moments you have together, as things have been heating up more and more recently.

"You say things like, I want to feast upon you until you milk my face." You reply, as Loki lightly traces his fingertips over your collarbone while his other hand remains on your waist.

"Perhaps you'll like this one too...I want you on your knees sucking my godly sized cock, until I'm teetering on the edge of orgasmic bliss. At that point I would force you onto my bed, tear away your clothing, leaving you vulnerable underneath me and let my hands explore every inch of your gorgeous body. I would attack you with my mouth and make you beg for more." Loki knew how to paint a picture for you.

"Then what?" You dared to ask. Your mind turning to mush and slowly caving to his wicked tongue, to his will.

"Then my dear I will fuck your brains out, even after you pass out from being overstimulated I will keep fucking you. I will keep using your pretty body until I am done, spurting my load into your little cunt before I plug it up inside you. You won't be able to remove it until I say so, because when you come to I want you to feel every drop of my seed inside of you, and to feel how much I've been saving up for you." Loki's words made you tremble and your breathing became shallow. Also, you could feel pressed up against your thigh just how much he was enjoying being close to you.

"I want you." You say and grab hold of the front of his shirt.

"Not tonight." You wanted to whine in protest, but Loki put his index finger over your lips to hush you before you could let out even a small sound. He has you where he wants you.

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

The next morning you find Loki sitting comfortably at the control panel, as he monitors the ongoings within a 15 mile radius of the house and its surroundings. You spot an empty cup that has a small trace of what was his tea nearby. Although, you don't stand by the door for long before slipping into the room unnoticed, or so you thought you had. However Loki heard you nonetheless with his sharp hearing, albeit he still acted surprised, as you 'made your presents known.' Then you begin to massage his shoulders and you could feel him relax under your touch, more so as he leans back into the chair and closes his eyes.

"Loki?" You ask softly, as you continue to massage his shoulders.

"Hum?" He hums deeply.

"There-there's been this constant back and forth thing between us, so what is it exactly?" You were dying to know what this all means. How he feels.

"What do you mean?" Loki asks, as he opens his eyes to look up to you.

"I mean..." you stop massaging him and come around the chair as he follows you around with his eyes. "What are we to each other?" You gesture between the two of you with your hand.

"Have I been contemplating about there being an us, if that's what you're asking?" He asked with ease. You simply nod your head in response. "At first...at first I could never have imagined being in a relationship with a mortal, a Midgardian of all things. Now I am surrounded by Midgardians on a daily basis, I have grown accustomed to some of your strange ways....what I am saying is...you were a test."

"A what?!" You asked laced in anger.

"A test. I wanted to see what works best when wooing a Midgardian. I mean you're not the only female I see since being at this safe location. All of us have gone out from time to time in our disguises for food and other essentials, of course you've only been out whenever Thor or I have been present....but what I am saying is I've met someone. I like her a lot and if it wasn't for this other girl it would be you." Loki explains.

You slap Loki hard across his beautiful face. "You son of a bitch! Don't ever test your wooing theories on me ever again!" You then storm out and leave Loki in a bad mood.

You'd finally let your guard completely down and that's when you find that your mind was right all along. You shouldn't have let him get close.

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

As frustrated as you are after what Loki had said earlier to you, you decided to get revenge. Revenge for all those times Loki made you weak at the knees and for allowing him to mess with your mind. As if making you believe he wanted more, that he wanted a relationship with you. In the end you came up with the idea of inviting Thor on a date to the local restaurant. You'd been there before with the brothers as a ploy to make the locals believe you're a normal group of people. So tonight you hoped would go well in order to take your mind off of Loki. Despite how hesitant Thor was when you asked, as it would be his first date since Jane dumped him, he felt flattered nonetheless that you asked.

Once you were ready to go out you grabbed Thor's hand and snuck out as quietly as you could. Only thing was Loki was in fact on his way back from his walk when he heard footsteps up ahead. He hid behind a nearby tree and watched you hand in hand with Thor walking up the long driveway, before becoming small dots disappearing from his sight altogether. Seeing you with his brother made Loki angry and he ended up sitting on the sofa in the dark until your return.

Later Thor kissed you goodnight at the bottom of the stairs before he left for his room alone. The date went fine, but you hadn't forgotten about Loki. He was constantly on your mind, not just tonight but 24/7. He had some sort of spell on you without the use of magic. Just like you'd said the night before to Loki, you wanted him and revenge wasn't so sweet. The problem now was Loki didn't want you. He used you.

Slowly out from the shadows Loki appears from where he'd been sitting since you left. His hands shoved into his dark blue jeans and a hurt expression on his face. You never expected to see such an expression on his face nor for it to tug at your heart strings. The pair of you just stood there for a while without exchanging any words.

"Thor is courting you now?" Loki eventually asked in a small voice with his head hung low.

"I-I wouldn't say courting, no. It was one date." You replied in the same small voice.

"Will there be another date though?" His brows frown and his eyes look up at you, almost as if he was a puppy who was trying to look cute after getting into trouble.

"I-I don't know, maybe?" You shrug and Loki nods his head once in understanding.

"Right well...goodnight Willow." Loki said and began to pass you heading for the stairs behind you. He'd never called you Willow before, only ever Johnson not that it was your name, but it was the only one he knew.

"Loki, wait!" You catch his wrist before he can ascend the stairs. He pauses in his tracks, but he doesn't turn to face you. "Did you really mean it when you said you met someone and I was a test?" Your voice was a little shaky by this point.

"What if I did and you were?" He said, as he felt your fingers slip away from his wrist.

"Then congratulations, you've-you've made me feel something for you and you hurt me in the process. If you lied then you're a coward and you're nothing like the man-God who takes what he wants." You felt tears pricking your eyes and you will yourself to keep it together.

Loki swallowed hard then turned to look at you finally. "Fine, I-I did lie to you. I am a coward. I lied because-because I was scared. Scared I could never be good enough for you. I killed your kind, their blood is on my hands. For what I have done hasn't been forgotten by me nor anyone else. This mission is meant to prove some sort of point of my rehabilitation and a chance to prove that I am worthy enough like Thor and the others. I am trying to change...I don't enjoy hurting people. I-I don't enjoy it. I do it because I have to, because I've had to. Least of all I didn't want to hurt you, but I did to protect myself from being hurt first." This was only the second time he'd been completely honest with you since you'd met.

"At first I was protecting myself from you because deep down I knew you'd hurt me, but I let you do it anyway....everything you said made me feel things I haven't in a long time, feeling your caresses made me crave more and I do. I meant it when I said I wanted you...what happened in New York is not who you are now. You've not killed anyone since. It wasn't your fault. In time they will see who you really are...but you're not the only one who's had to hurt people, had to kill. I don't enjoy it either. Ferguson made me. I haven't felt like myself in a long time, being in his company made me forget my true self. I had to blow my cover. I knew what I was doing when I followed his look-alike. I'm not stupid, I had to get out." You confessed and finally allowed yourself to cry. Your Nano Mask glitched a little from your tears.

Loki breaches the small distance between you both to cup your face in his hands and wipe away your tears with his thumbs. Your confession only proved the fact he has more in common with you than he thought, and with the new information makes him only want to protect you. Sure it's been his job, but now he wants to protect you not because he has to. He gently presses his forehead to yours and he smiles at you. In return you stop crying and you smile back at him.

Suddenly you feel light, if only for a short moment. As you pull away slightly you notice Loki has teleported you to his bedroom. Then you feel his lips crash against yours, his eyes closed as he kisses you gently, and he holds you tightly by your waist. You soon follow suit, closing your eyes and kissing Loki back in the same manner.

"What's your real name?" Loki asks after your lips part.

"Y/N," you reply without hesitation. You want to be yourself again more than anything in this world, you want to be honest with him and to be with him. So much so you remove your Nano Mask. Now he can finally see you.

"Y/N," he repeats and pulls you closer, tightening his arms around you and kisses you. "My dearest Y/N. Y/N, my love, I promise I will never hurt you again." You kiss him back harder than before and he is quick to return the passion.

Soon thereafter Loki walks you back towards his bed where he falls down on top of you, because you pull him down onto the bed with you. He groans into your mouth as you massage his scalp and nape of his neck. Yet he doesn't let you for very long, as he rips open your dress and kisses across your collarbone, then down to the top of your cupped breasts. Next he unclips your bra from the front then he trails his hand down the channel between your breasts, and stops at cupping your left breast. He looks you in the eyes as if to see if there's any hesitation behind them, but he finds none. You pull him back down to kiss his lips, already haven proven he kisses better than his brother.

Then you rub your foot up and down his leg underneath his jeans, before you pull his hand away from your breast, in order for you to sit up and rip his shirt open. Buttons went flying everywhere, both of you breathing heavily now too. Both of you close your eyes and kiss harder, tongues finally getting to explore each other's mouth in the process. As you're both kneeling on the bed kissing, you feel his hands squeeze your bum, causing you to moan and wanting him to keep touching you. His fingers soon hooked around the waistband of your knickers, then ripped them clean off and threw the pieces over the side of the bed. Then he removes the scraps of your dress and bra completely off of your body to join the torn knickers. You're quick to fiddle with his belt and eagerly get into his jeans and reach inside. You gasp upon feeling his semi hard-on in your hand. You already knew he was big from when he was pressed against your thigh the night before, but you had to see exactly how big. Loki chuckled as you yanked his jeans and boxers down to his knees. Your comical eyes staring at his assets was delightful.

As Loki kissed you again he pushed you back down. He then struggled but eventually kicked off his jeans completely. Both of you explored the other's body with hands and mouths, tangling up your limbs in a different way to when you both fought together in the training room. When Loki kissed down the length of your body again you couldn't help but tremor, you were his entirely. You gasped as he latched onto your clit with his hot mouth. He then hooked your legs over his shoulders and kissed each thigh before licking your wet folds. He was finally feasting upon you as he said he would, all you had to do was let him until you milked his face. Which as it turns out wasn't long until you came on his face. Loki groaned and slurped up as much of your juices as he could and continued to push you over the edge again.

After you cum twice on his tongue and face he let you have a break and he relaxed his jaw. When you were ready you turned on your side and used two fingers to walk down his chest, then followed the hairy trail from his navel downwards, taking his length into your hand. You began to pump his length at a steady rhyme and enjoyed the feeling of him hardening further in your hand. Then you straddled over his legs, giving yourself plenty of room to work with, as you kitten licked the tip of his cock. As you take the head into your mouth Loki hisses and grabs the bed cover tightly. He watches you suck and hollow your cheeks around him, a beautiful sight to behold before his eyes roll back. You bob up and down on his cock right up until he's teetering on the edge of orgasmic bliss. At which point he pushes you off and pins you down. You see his lust hooded eyes stare at you, while both of you breath heavily, you end up beckoning him closer with a swipe of your tongue over your lips. He kisses you and his grip tightens around your wrists. You feel his cock teasing your pussy lips as his tongue dives into your mouth. Luckily you manage to free a leg and push your heel into his arse to force him inside your warm wet quim. The kiss broke instantly and you both groaned at the feeling of Loki being inside of you. He waits for you as you accommodate to his godly size, once you nod your approval he begins to move.

At first Loki's rhyme is steady and loving, that is until you snap your hips up, causing both of you to moan in time and it sets him off. Loki picks up the pace at a rapid speed, his heavy balls slapping against you and you feel the blood start to cut off in your wrists. Ever so slightly he then changes up the angle and you find him deeper than before, almost as if you could feel him in your stomach. But the feeling of him repeatedly hitting your g-spot made your toes curl. The sounds from both of you bounced off the walls while the bed rocked and hits against the wall repeatedly.

"OH GOD! LOKIIIII, YES, YES, YES! FUCK ME!" You yelled before cumming hard, squeezing him for all he's worth and your whole body shook.

"AH, Y/N! Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!" Loki cried your name like a mantra as he came deep inside of you. His seed thickly coating your walls as he kept spurting into you.

Eventually you both collapsed in a sweaty heap of limbs and bedsheets. You didn't care about him crushing you under his weight while temporarily cutting off your breath. When he did roll over he pulled you with him and held you closely to his body. You could breathe again thankfully. He kissed your temple a couple of times as you traced your fingers around his nipple, before he kissed your swollen red lips once more.

Unfortunately neither of you could enjoy the after bliss for very long as Ferguson forced the door to break inwards. Loki held onto you possessively, while trying to keep your modesty not that he cared all that much about how indecent he appeared to be. He only cared about protecting you. 

Loki Masterlist

Source: @viviennes-tears​

[upwiththekai]

Tag Masterlist A - I

A guide to my blog’s A to I tags, for my own and your convenience! More tags will be added as time goes on.

Please feel free to let me know if any of the links are broken.

Number

♡ 19 Days

A

♡  Abingdong Boys School (Band) ♡  Ace Attorney ♡  Addams Family ♡  Adventure Time ♡  Aesthetic  ♡  Aggretsuko ♡  Air Gear ♡  Alien (Movie) ♡  Alundra (Game) ♡  America’s Next Top Model ♡  Amnesia the Dark Descent ♡  Animal Crossing ♡  Animal gif ♡  Animals ♡  Animal Video ♡  Anime ♡  Anime figures ♡  Anime food ♡  Anime gif ♡  Anime scenery ♡  Anonymous ♡  Antman ♡  Ape Escape ♡  Aristocats ♡  Art Reference (Tutorials) ♡  Arthur (Cartoon) ♡  Asian food ♡  Assassin’s Creed ♡  Attack on Titan ♡  Audio ♡  Avatar (Cartoon) ♡  Azumanga Daioh ♡  Azur Lane

B

♡  Bad Art ♡  Bad Dub ♡  Banana Fish ♡  BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! ♡  Banjo & Kazooie ♡  Barbie ♡  Bastion (Game) ♡  Batman ♡  Beetlejuice ♡  Berserk (Manga) ♡  Beyblade ♡  Big Hero 6 ♡  Bioshock ♡  Birds ♡  BL (Boys Love) ♡  BlazBlue ♡  BLEACH (Anime) ♡  BloodBorne ♡  Blue Flag (Manga) ♡  Bob’s Burgers ♡  Book of Life ♡  Bootleg ♡  Bravely Default ♡  Breaking Bad ♡  Brett Dalton (Actor) ♡  Bungou Stray dogs ♡  Bunnies

C

♡  Captain America ♡  Captain Harlock ♡  Cardcaptor Sakura ♡  Cartoon gif ♡  Castlevania ♡  Cats ♡  Celebrities ♡  Chainsaw Man ♡  Chappie ♡  Cheating Craft (Anime) ♡  Chrono Crusade ♡  Chuunibyou Demo Koi Ga Shitai! ♡  Classic posts ♡  Clive Barker’s Undying (Game) ♡  Code Geass ♡  Codename STEAM ♡  Colin Farrell (Actor) ♡  Colour Reference (Tutorials) ♡  Concept art ♡  Cooking Mama ♡  Cosplay ♡  Courage the Cowardly Dog ♡  Cowboy Bebop ♡  Crayon Shin-chan ♡  Creepy ♡  Critikal (YouTuber) ♡  CrossOvers ♡  CyberPunk (Game)

D

♡  Dad Jokes ♡  Daft Punk ♡  DaiOuji (Vocalouji/UTAU) ♡  Dall-E ♡  Dancing ♡  DanganRonpa ♡  DC Comics ♡  Deadpool ♡  Death Note ♡  Deltarune ♡  Derpy Animals ♡  Detective Conan ♡  Detroit Become Human ♡  Dexter’s laboratory ♡  D.Gray-Man ♡  Digimon ♡  Dir En Grey ♡  Disney ♡  Doctor Strange ♡  Dogs ♡  Dogs Bullets and Carnage ♡  Doko Demo Issyo ♡  Dolls ♡  Donkey Kong ♡  Don’t Starve ♡  DOOM ♡  Dragalia Lost ♡  Dragon Ball ♡  Dragon Quest ♡  Drake & Josh ♡  Dramatical Murder (Series) ♡  Drawing challenges ♡  Drawn animals ♡  Drawn food ♡  Durarara

E

♡  E3 (Event) ♡  Ed, Edd and Eddy ♡  Elvira (Actress) ♡  Emofuri (Software) ♡  Eurovision Song Contest ♡  Evil or Live (Series) ♡  Eyeshield 21 ♡  Ezra Miller (Actor)

F

♡  Facebook posts ♡  Fairly Odd Parents ♡  Fallout (Game) ♡  Fanfiction ♡  Fanworks for me! -> [Fanart] - [Fansongs] - [Cosplay] ♡  Fashion ♡  Fate series ♡  Final Fantasy ♡  Final Fight ♡  Fire Emblem ♡  Firewatch ♡  Five Nights at Freddy’s ♡  Flowers ♡  Food ♡  Foxes ♡  Free! (Anime) ♡  Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ♡  F.R.I.E.N.D.S ♡  Friend’s art ♡  Friend’s work ♡  Fruits Basket ♡  Fullmetal Alchemist

G

♡  Gackt ♡  Gadgets ♡  Game Grumps ♡  Game gif ♡  Game of Thrones ♡  Garfield ♡  Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun ♡  Genderswap ♡  Genshin Impact ♡  Ghibli Studio ♡  Gif ♡  Gijinka ♡  Gintama ♡  GL (Girls Love) ♡  Glitches ♡  Godzilla ♡  Good Omens ♡  Google ♡  Gordon Ramsay ♡  Green Lantern ♡  Guilty Gear

H

♡  HADES ♡  Haikyuu!! ♡  Hair (Fashion) ♡  Hakuoki ♡  Hamsters ♡  Hamtaro ♡  Hannibal ♡  Harry Potter ♡  Hawkeye ♡  Headlines ♡  Heman ♡  Hetalia ♡  Highschool Musical ♡  Hiroshi Kamiya (Voice Actor) ♡  Historical ♡  Homestuck ♡  Hozuki no Reitetsu ♡  Horror ♡  Hugh Dancy (Actor) ♡  HunterXHunter ♡  Hyouka

I

♡  Ian McKellen (Actor) ♡  Ib (Game) ♡  Illusions ♡  InuYasha ♡  Interview with the vampire ♡  Iron Man

[aswallowssong]

I’m Fine

In which Spencer is once again hiding the fact that he doesn’t feel well. The Big Kid Squad conspires to play a sneaky game from James’s “nerd-camp” to get their youngest to cooperate, but as most things do when you’re seventeen, it blows up in their faces. It’s okay though. James Blake is the dad no one expected him to be.

This drabble is based in @themetaphorgirl‘s Patron Saints AU (Patron Saint of Lost Causes), which is AMAZING and YOU SHOULD READ.

Read on AO3

------

In retrospect, they all should have seen it coming. It tended to start the same way. The eye rubbing always came first, as if the nine year old was trying to physically remove the discomfort sprouting there. Then there was the lack of chatter; the quiet that was so unlike their youngest member that even Emily and Dave started to get uneasy, instead of enjoying the fleeing silence.

By the time he hit the stage of general grumpiness and irritability, everyone knew exactly what was going on.

Spencer got sick all the time. It wasn’t new. It wasn’t surprising.

It was, however, really starting to bother the Big Kids that he would vehemently deny, deny, deny until he was melting down, and someone was physically scraping him off the floor.

And that was how they found themselves having a pre-movie night “Big Kids” meeting in the lounge while Derek, Penelope, and JJ kept Spencer distracted. Their youngest had almost thrown a fit when Hotch had said that no, he couldn’t stay with them, and no, they couldn’t just pretend he wasn’t there. He’d been assured that Penelope needed him for a very special craft, and while he’d pouted and grumbled, he hadn’t melted down. Not yet.

“I can’t do this,” Emily said, toying with the bracelets on her arms. “I can’t tiptoe like this all the time.”

“It’s not all the time,” Hotch said defensively from his spot on the floor, “It’s just when he’s being… you know.”  He gestured vaguely, making it very apparent he didn’t quite know himself.

“When he doesn’t feel well,” Alex said gently, shifting her position on the couch to press closer to James. She hated when Spencer struggled, and judging by the way he’d become more and more irritable over the last two days, the weekend would be a struggle in and of itself.

“He’s literally sick all the time!” Emily shot back. “I love him, you guys know I do, but really? He could say something before he’s a ticking time bomb of grumpy, crying illness.”

“I don't know,” Dave said from his place in the armchair, “He’s made it pretty clear he just wants to be left alone.”

“Yeah, and we see how well that goes,” she countered.

Hotch sighed loudly, running a hand down his face. Spencer had ended up in his bed the night before, sometime around three in the morning, and he’d been too tired to confront the issue then. He’d have done it once he woke up, but by that time the child was gone.

It was made very clear at breakfast when Spencer denied that it had even happened that they were really in for it.

There was quiet between the five of them for a minute before James said thoughtfully, “Well. We could have him play.”

“Absolutely not,” Alex said as Dave quickly shook his head and said, “Not a chance.”

Hotch and Emily exchanged a look before Hotch looked to James.

“I’m lost. Play what?”

“There’s this game the three of us play called I’m Fine-”

“Spencer is way too smart for I’m Fine, Jamie.” Alex said, shifting away from him to look him full in the face.

James raised an eyebrow.

“You and Dave and I play I’m Fine. We have for years. He might be a genius, but no one is too smart for I’m Fine.”

“What the fuck are you all going on about?” Emily asked, arms crossing over her chest.

Dave chuckled quietly. “I’m Fine is a game James made us start playing Sophomore year that he learned from some girl at his nerd summer camp.”

“Hey!” James said, though he didn’t look offended. He was grinning. “Going to HOSA camp was cool! Kit taught it to our whole camp crew, and you guys like I’m Fine, so don’t bash.”

“Please,” Hotch said, just a bit loudly. “Will someone explain this game? And how you think it’s going to help with the Spencer issue?”

The three seniors looked at each other for a moment before Alex gestured, sighing quietly.

“Go ahead, Jamie, but I don’t think it’s going to work.”

James already had a grin on his face.

“Okay! When I was at HOSA camp between Freshman and Sophomore year - shut up, Dave! - I was on a crew with the girl named Kit from Vermont. She was in the healthcare pathways track at her high school, and none of that is really all that important, but she taught us this game they play in her cadre.”

“Which,” Dave said, one finger held in the air to cut off James mid-thought, “Is objectively not actually a game.”

“It is a game!” James defended. “There is a winner and there’s a loser. And there’s rules. How is it not a game?”

“I don’t care!” Emily said, hands gesturing wildly in the air as she grew more agitated. “Just keep going. We aren’t going to have them distracted very much longer.”

“Okay, okay,” James said, “so basically here’s what you do.”

It took a few minutes, but once James had laid out the rules, Alex shook her head gently.

“It only works for the three of us because we all agree to play. We’ve all agreed to play for years now. It’s more of a pleasantry anyway. Spencer’s too smart, he’ll see right through us.”

“I don’t know,” Hotch said, “Spencer is really competitive. And, he’s nine. He’ll probably miss the part where it’s only sort-of a game-”

“Hey!”

“And he’ll think he can trick us.”

“Or he’ll think he’s smarter than us,” Emily said, “He already does most of my homework. There’s no way he’ll be willing to admit we can outsmart him. And he’s been saying he’s fine for days, it’ll be easy to get him to say it again.”

They all looked to Alex, and after a moment she nodded, fiddling with the bow that had started to slip out of her hair.

“Okay. We can try, but if this doesn’t work, you all need to figure out another way to get him to admit he feels terrible. I don’t want this to end with a meltdown.”

James grinned, squeezing her upper arm gently, victory already in his eyes.

“Oh, this is going to work. You’ll see.”

-----

“I don’t wanna watch Toy Story,” Spencer whined. His voice was raspy, as if it physically pained him to grumble about the offending Disney movie.

They’d only gotten the Baby Squad back ten minutes before, and Spencer was in full-grump mode. He had pouted when Alex suggested he cuddle with her on the couch, insisting that he “wasn’t a baby” and “I want to sit on the floor!”

That’s exactly where he was, back pressed against Dave's armchair. His blanket had been retrieved by Alex and was on the couch, but when Hotch had offered it to him he’d nearly taken the older boy’s head off.

“It’s JJ’s turn to pick, and she wants to watch Toy Story,” Alex said patiently, frowning while looking at how pale he was under the harsh fluorescent lighting of the seventh floor lounge.

“But we watched Toy Story twenty three days ago!” He whined, louder than before. Dave noticeably winced at the sound.

A piece of popcorn flew across the room and hit Spencer just above his left eye. “Then when it’s your turn after JJ, don’t pick Toy Story,” Derek said, smirking just slightly at his own joke.

“But I don’t want to watch it at all!”

JJ rolled her eyes, but otherwise seemed unbothered by what was happening. She knew Spencer was sick. She knew the Big Kids would fix it. And she knew that Buzz and Woody didn’t really care about the grumbling nine year old behind her.

Hotch, however, raised an eyebrow, watching Spencer with new intensity.

He did genuinely look terrible. It wasn’t them being overprotective, or Emily being agitated. Spencer had been avoiding them all day, and now that they had a good look at him, it was easy to see why.

The baby of their group was as white as a sheet, save for the fever red flush across his cheeks. He was shaking too, though it was unsure if that was from the grumpy rage he was sending towards the TV, or because he was trembling as fever chills snaked up his spine.  How the shadows under his eyes were so dark, considering he was out like a light when Hotch had found them sharing the older boy’s mattress, could be anyone’s guess.

There were probably things the others didn’t notice that James would, what with him so desperately and intentionally trying to become a doctor someday. That’s why James was the cornerstone of their plan. They just had to get all the right conditions.

“Spencer,” Hotch warned gently as the younger boy whined about Toy Story for probably the seventeenth time, “You’re being rude. JJ is allowed to pick whatever she wants.”

“I’m not! Toy Story is a stupid pick! She picked it last time!”

Hotch sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. He turned to make eye contact with Alex, and when he nodded, she got up from her spot on the couch.

She quietly knelt next to Spencer, right at the foot of Dave’s chair, and spoke just a bit louder than she normally would when she was trying to calm him down.

“Baby, are you sure you don’t want to come sit on the couch?”

“I’m not a baby, Alex!” Spencer whined, like a baby. “I wanna sit here on the floor! Like everyone else! You aren’t bothering anyone else!”

She worried at her lip for a second before sighing, turning to face James, and finally nodding.

“Spencer…” She said even more gently, pressing further when James nodded back, and moving to push his bangs off of his forehead, “are you feeling okay?”

“I’m fine!” He shrieked, trying to swat her hand away.

Bingo.

Alex backed off as James leaned forward from his position on the couch.

“Hey, Spence,” he said gently.

James had a totally different approach to Spencer than the rest of the Big Kids. Alex had agitated him, but when he turned to look at James, his body language softened. James was goofy and usually didn’t treat Spencer like a baby, so he was the perfect candidate for their pseudo-intervention.

“What?” Spencer asked, though his tone was still harsh. It wasn’t as aggressive as it had been with Alex, though, so James pressed on.

“Do you want to play a game?”

There was a moment in which Spencer was quiet before his nose scrunched, squinting up at James with suspicion.

“I… I don’t…” He started, resolve almost cracking before any plan needed to be enacted at all. Then, there was a loud yell from the offending movie. Spencer sighed angrily, rubbing at his eyes fervently. “Anything is better than Toy Story.”

“Great,” James said evenly, “so you’ll play?”

“What game?”

The Big Kids seemed to collectively hold their breath, waiting for James to explain and hoping it wouldn’t all blow up in their faces.

Penelope and Derek had lost interest in the television, much more interested in what was going to happen now between Spencer and the Big Kids. JJ didn't seem to mind that no one else was watching, shoving handfuls of popcorn in her face and minding her own business as Woody and Buzz bantered back and forth.

"It's called I'm Fine,” James said simply.

Spencer squinted further, as if the glasses were doing nothing for him.

"That sounds stupid,” came his raspy whine, and Hotch audibly sighed.

Emily's eyes widened a bit, glancing to where Dave was sitting, and then to Penelope, who was swatting at JJ’s arm in an attempt to pry her attention away from the movie and onto the battle that was clearly unfolding right in their very lounge.

Alex's arms were crossed, lips pursed. She wore an expression that showed exactly how happy she was about the whole situation, and she was only going to be satisfied once it was all over and Spencer was cuddled in her arms.

"You haven't heard the rules yet. It's... a brain game," James offered, not at all affected by Spencer's tone and demeanor. If anything, he seemed to soften more to it.

Spencer shifted on the floor, clearly uncomfortable but not willing to move from his defiant choice.

"It is?"

"Sure. I'll tell you the rules and you can decide if you want to play me."

Now Spencer sat forward on his haunches.

"I'm gonna play you? In a brain game?" He sounded unimpressed as he rasped his skepticism.

Dave snorted from behind Spencer, not trying very hard to mask his amusement, but James still sat, unphased, and simply nodded at the grumpy nine year old in front of him.

"Yeah, you're gonna play me in a brain game."

"Okay, I like winning. Tell me the rules."

James sat back a little, biding his time. He knew the longer he waited Spencer out, the more tired he would get, and the easier the game would be.

"Well, the game usually starts when someone says "I'm fine," after someone else asks if they're feeling okay."

Spencer's eyes flashed with suspicion again.

"But I am fine."

"Right. That's what you said. So now, the game starts. Normally the person who asks if you're sick get's to play with you, and that's Alex, but I figured you'd maybe want to play with me instead. Is that what you want?"

Spencer looked up at Alex for a moment, seemingly weighing their intelligence against one another in his mushy, grumpy fever brain.

"I'd rather play you."

"You wanna play me?"

Spencer's eyebrows tugged together.

"I just said that."

"You have to say it officially. No take-backsies."

Spencer stared at him for a moment with the sort of incredible distaste that can only come from an ill child.

"That's stupid."

"Spencer. Rude," Hotch reprimanded gently, but James held a hand up.

"No, it's fine. Those are the rules, Spence, stupid or not."

Spencer rolled his eyes and sighed in a huff.

"Fine, yes, James , I want to play you and not Alex."

James grinned, nodding and humming quietly.

"Great. So here's how we play. I get to guess up to five symptoms you might be having, you know, because I think you're feeling pretty crummy."

"I'm-"

"I know, you're fine. That's what you said, anyway. So I get to guess, and if I get three right, you have to give in, and let mama over there in on how you're really feeling."

Spencer seemed to deflate, arms crossing around his midsection, paling further if possible.

"But I'm... fine." He frowned, seeming to not quite understand what was going on.

"Right. So that's the other part. If I get three or more wrong, we'll all leave you alone. You're fine. We'll let you be."

James sat back fully on the couch now, done with his part. Now it was up to Spencer to take the bait.

All eyes were on the nine year old, even JJ's, as he fidgeted and rubbed at his eyes roughly. He finally looked up at James and said, "You have to get three?"

"Yep. More than half."

"And if I win... you'll all leave me alone?"

The question was clearly more directed at Alex and Hotch, his eyes even darting up to the older girl nervously.

Alex nodded, head dipping towards James.

"If you win, we'll all leave you alone. But if Jamie wins, you have to let go, baby," she said gently, words feather light on the top of the thick, tense air that now blanketed the room.

Spencer now narrowed his eyes not at James, but Alex.

"I'm not a baby," he said with an air of finality that would have been intimidating if it wasn't obvious now that he was most certainly trembling.

"Great," James said, "ready to start?"

"Start?"

"Well, ready for me to guess, I guess."

James tilted his head in a way that was searching, but not confrontational. It took a minute, but Spencer gave the smallest nod.

Hotch, was quite frankly, amazed that Spencer was so competitive that he was about to let himself be called out. He also took a small moment to be thankful that Spencer was nine years old, and not fourteen, and that even though he was a genius, he really only had the processing power a nine year old's brain development could offer.

"Okay, so I'm going to guess that you have a fever, based on flush and shaking alone. If you don't, I’ll be more concerned, actually.”

When Spencer frowned and curled into himself slightly, eyes downcast, James offered a small smile. He shifted on the couch and patted the spot next to him. “You can come up here if you want.”

Spencer shook his head quickly, and then stopped with just as much force. Everything was too bright and the carpet was too scratchy on his fever-sensitive skin. He was cold, too, even though he was already wearing a sweater of Hotch's that absolutely dwarfed him. His stomach hurt and his head hurt and everything hurt and he just wanted to be held.

But he wasn't a baby. They always treated him like a baby and he could handle himself just fine. He was fine.

He shut his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath before he spoke in a weak voice.

“No. I want… I want to be on the floor. I’m not a baby.”

“I’m not a baby, and I’m not on the floor,” Emily offered, and Spencer didn’t even open his eyes to respond.

“Emily, you can’t solve basic trigonometric functions, you are a baby.”

Derek masked his laughter by clearing his throat, and Penelope by shoving a handful of popcorn in her mouth, but Dave laughed at Emily’s annoyed glare openly.

James didn't break stride for a second. "I'd also guess you've got a headache. You're rubbing at your eyes."

"I can't see well. I always rub at my eyes," Spencer whined defensively, though it was obvious some of his resolve was starting to crumble.

"Not like that, you don't," James said softly, "How am I doing?"

"I don't want to play anymore," the younger mumbled, tightening the arms he had wrapped around his midsection. It was an obvious attempt to self-soothe, and James shook his head gently.

"I'm going to say my first two guesses were right then."

There was quiet for a moment, everyone trying to decide what the next ten seconds would bring.

What happened was not what they expected.

James got off the couch, moving so that he could sit down cross legged on the floor across from Spencer. He kept his posture open, mouth tugging into a gentle smile.

"Can I have my next guess?" He asked, gently tipping his finger under Spencer’s chin to bring his head up.

Spencer took a shaky breath and looked up to meet James's eyes. Slowly he nodded, eyes already beginning to well with tears.

James gestured to Spencer's arms tightly clasped around his midsection, eyes kind and voice gentle, as if he was apologizing.

"Your stomach’s sick, isn’t it?"

That did it. The tears in Spencer's eyes absolutely poured down his cheeks, a loud wail bubbling up from his chest as he let all the walls he'd tried to keep up crumble around him.

He flung himself not at Alex or Hotch, who were both now standing, ready to move. Instead, he flung himself into James. His thin arms latched around James's neck, face burying in his shoulder as his body was wracked with sobs.

James heard Alex hum behind him, surely wanting to comfort Spencer herself, but holding back. Spencer’s wails were choppy and gasping, those of a much younger child than even he was, and there was nothing the group of teenagers could do as they watched him fall to pieces in James’s arms.

James appeared to be unphased. He simply gathered their youngest more securely against himself and stood up, careful to keep a defensive hold on the hysterical, and very warm child

"Shh, shh," he shushed quietly, falling to a slow rock-bounce he'd seen Alex perform before, one hand gently rubbing across Spencer's bony back. "It's okay, bud. I know.”

There was a moment in which no one moved or made a sound but James and Spencer. JJ had long since turned off her movie, and the fear of agitating Spencer’s meltdown was far too high for anyone to intervene. Alex, who was visibly upset as she watched her baby sob into someone else’s arms, moved to step in, but Hotch’s arm came up across her chest, his head shaking just slightly in order to dissuade her.

“You’re okay,” James was saying quietly, his voice barely audible under Spencer’s shuddering sobs.

He shifted his arms tighter around the child, glancing over to where Alex and Hotch were positioned. Hotch took a step closer.

“Do you want me to-” he started, but James shook his head, giving a weak smile.

“No, no it’s alright. We’re just going to go calm down.”

There was a beat in which he raised an eyebrow, clearly asking a kind of permission of Spencer’s surrogate parents. They both nodded quickly, watching with surprised expressions as James took even steps out of the lounge, Spencer wrapped around him tightly.

The silence continued for almost a minute before Derek said bluntly, “What the fuck was that?”

“I have no idea,” Penelope said, eyes still locked on the door.

“I do,” Emily said, flopping back on the couch and reaching for the popcorn bowl. “Spencer got his meltdown, and I’m Fine just became my favorite game. Give it, Jayje.”

-----

James walked Spencer up and down the hallway for a while, letting him cry and wail himself hoarse while James held him close to his chest. He’d known Spencer hadn’t felt well for a few days, but Emily was right in saying that Spencer was sick all the time. He easily had the worst immune system of anyone James knew. If he’d known the meltdown coming was going to be this catastrophic, he might have made an attempt to intervene sooner.

A few doors in the hallway opened, confused or annoyed faces glancing at James as Spencer cried on. They shut as soon as James set a laser-like glare on them, daring them to say something to either him, or his tiny charge.

“Okay, Spence, okay,” he said gently as soon as the crying lost its angry quality, only left sounding sick and sad and desperate. “Shh, okay kiddo. You’re okay.”

It took a moment for the cries to quiet, not dying entirely, but no longer rupturing his eardrums.

“There you go,” James cooed softly, hand still rubbing along Spencer’s back. He felt the shuttering turn back into trembling as his breathing evened back out. “Good, good job. Good job, Spence. Let’s get you in bed, okay?”

Spencer sluggishly nodded against James’s collarbone, the death grip around his neck slackening. James walked them down to Hotch’s room, knowing that the RA had his own bathroom. Spencer ended up in there a lot of nights anyway, he figured, so Hotch wouldn’t be mad. Hotch couldn’t be mad at Spencer if he tried.

James only let go of Spencer once he set him down on Hotch’s bathroom counter, flicking on the light and taking a small step back to take in the boy in front of him.

There were tear tracks still running down Spencer’s face, which was a color between stark white and pale gray, save for the deepening flush across his cheeks, ears, and crawling down his neck. His eyes were swollen and red from the tears that still fell, even though they had slowed. He was shaking as chills overwhelmed his tiny frame, causing him to gasp quietly every so often.

James frowned with empathy. He hadn’t been that sick since the flu season before, but it was a hard feeling to forget. Plus, he didn’t know if he’d seen Spencer look that awful in a while, either, and the shaking child in front of him was breaking his heart.

“Okay,” he said gently, “what do you say we get you out of your uniform and into… I can go get your pajamas, or, uh,” he thought for a moment, glancing out the door of the small bathroom and into the bedroom, still dark as he hadn’t thought to turn on the light. “I can find you one of Hotch’s shirts?”

Spencer’s hands palmed his eyes and he shook his head slowly.

“D’n le’ve,” he mumbled, his voice barely a whisper, eyes half-lidded.

“Okay, then we’ll do that. Here, stop rubbing at your eyes. Let’s…”

He trailed off, never having been in Hotch’s bathroom, and not knowing what he was going to have to work with. He didn’t think about if Hotch would be upset with him rifling through the tiny medicine cabinet, or taking the washcloth on the counter to wet under the tap.

“Come here, kiddo,” he said gently, pulling Spencer towards him a bit as he gently wiped off the boy’s face, cleaning the tear tracks and hoping to do something immediate for the fever he felt climbing steadily just by being in close proximity again.

In time he got Spencer out of his uniform, into one of Hotch’s large cotton tee shirts, and nestled under the covers of the RA’s dark bedroom. James sat down on the edge of the bed, pressing a palm against Spencer’s forehead.

“So, can we talk about it?” He finally asked. Spencer curled into himself, pressed against James’s side.

“Do we ‘ave to?” he rasped, looking up with glassy eyes.

James nodded a bit, giving Spencer a gentle look. “Yeah, we do. I won, remember?”

Spencer cast his eyes down at the blankets, one hand twisting weakly at the fabric. He sighed before he said weakly, “I d’n feel good.”

James let out one small chuckle. “Yeah, I can see that. Can you be more specific for me?”

He squirmed. “D’n feel good at all .” Little hands twisted in fabric, big tears creating dark spots on the already dark pillowcase. “Since We’sday, I guess.”

James opened his mouth to prod again, but Spencer kept going, voice going in and out and squeaks and rasps in a way that would have been comical if it didn’t sound painful.

“M’ head ‘urts. ‘N my throat ‘n my stomach.”

“Sinuses?” James offered. Spencer was perpetually sniffling.

“No. S’a habit.”

“I know, just checking.”

“I…” he sighed, a sharp tremor shooting through his body and cutting him off in a whimper. “I feel… wrong. ”

James nodded, running his hand gently through Spencer’s short curls. It was the moments that Spencer let himself be vulnerable that James remembered just how young he was. Just how little, and fragile. How much help he really needed.

“I know, kiddo. I know.” He adjusted the washcloth that he’d laid on Spencer’s forehead, not missing the way Spencer leaned into the touch. He took the moment of vulnerability while he had it. “Can we make a deal?”

Spencer’s eyes had flitted closed, but he nodded gently.

“Mhm.”

“I don’t really care if you tell Alex and Hotch when you don’t feel good. Really. I know how they can be, I get it. But I want you to tell me, okay? Maybe if it comes from me, it’ll soften the blow from them, huh?”

For a second, James thought Spencer had fallen asleep. He thought about getting out his phone and calling Alex. She was no doubt pacing the floor until she could gather Spencer in her arms. He reached for his pocket, but found his wrist being grabbed by weak, spindly fingers.

“‘Kay.” Spencer mumbled quietly, shifting so that he was closer to James, nearly in his lap. “Can… not yet.”

James read between the lines, moving his hand from his pocket and shifting back so that Spencer could lay between his legs, his tiny body curled in on itself, head resting just below James’s heart.

It was at least an hour later when the door cracked open, two figures stood in the doorway: one tall and lanky, the other small and dainty.

Hotch and Alex.

Spencer was sleeping, body twitching and shivering ever so slightly as the fever worked its way through his system. James had been counting breaths, wondering when he should find a thermometer or call someone or shift from under the kid. He just hadn’t been able to bring himself to move him at all, even when one of his legs had been asleep at least twenty minutes.

“Hey,” he said quietly.

Alex moved quickly, perched on the edge of the bed in a moment.

“Hey.” She matched his level, eyes wide and worried as she looked at her sleeping boy. “I, um. Can I… I have Blankie.” She held up the blanket that was normally life or death. “I’m surprised he’s sleeping without it.”

“So was I, but you should have heard him in the hallway. Basically screamed himself to exhaustion.”

She shifted, looking down at her lap.

“Trust me,” she said, “I did.”

“Cry?” He asked, knowing her far too well.

“Course I did. Can I have him?”

James nodded quickly, the two of them moving in perfect sync to get Spencer off of James and into the arms of Alex. Spencer seemed to relax further in the arms of his assumed mother, then further still when James draped Blankie over the top of him.

With Alex wrapped in her own world, a hand gently trailing through Spencer’s hair, eyes locked on his small frame, James found himself taking a step away. Letting them have their space.

He turned to look at Hotch, who looked stressed in his own right.

“Sorry I invaded your space,” James said quietly to the other boy, “I just thought, well, this is where he comes at night when something isn’t right.”

“No,” Hotch said, “I’m glad you did. I’ll keep him here tonight so I can watch him. He looks rough.”

“Yeah. I um, I found that washcloth in your bathroom, but I had no idea where anything else might be.”

Hotch shrugged.

“Thermometer’s in the bedside table. We use it enough, you know, so I keep it close…” He tilted his head slightly while peering over at Spencer, a confused look passing over his face. “Is that my shirt?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“Please don’t apologize,” Hotch said quietly. His eyes didn’t move from Spencer. “I should be sorry. You didn’t have to do that. I… thank you for doing that. You were really good with him.”

James looked at Hotch a little closer, really seeing how tired the junior looked. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and in the dark of the bedroom, it showed.

“Hotch, really? Of course. We’re all trying to keep this kid alive. You don’t have to carry it all.”

Hotch hummed, rubbing lightly at his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“Yeah… yeah right.”

James clapped him on the shoulder gently, taking a deep breath of his own. His own eyes turned to watch the way Spencer seemed peaceful now. Sick, but peaceful. He would be alright. They’d take care of him.

“You okay?” Hotch asked.

James gave a humorless chuckle, nodding and glancing at Hotch with a very small smile on his face.

“Yeah,” he said, eyes looking less worried as they flicked back to Spencer. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

[aceychoi]

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