#god does he even know hes my best friend??? is it really lame if i tell him??? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

jujutsukgojo · 22 days ago

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The Baby Project Chapter 4

Izuku Midoriya x reader

Chapter One, chapter two, chapter three

Summary: The Sports Festival is here! Unfortunately, so is the principal. tw: angst, violence, fluff, neglect(?), stress, hate, anxiety(?)

“Alright, alright, number six, seven, and-oh now this isn’t cute at all. Six, seven, eight, nine, ten? So lame.” The table laughs and urges you to. “It’s a good one!”

“It’s stupid. Here.” You begin to lay out the dishes in front of them. The back of Noa’s head lays on your chest. You’re careful not to hurt him.

“You’re doing great, love. It’s okay!”

You thank them and when you have successfully managed to lay them out without bothering the baby, they clap gently. “Thank you, thank you.” You wave the circular tray and head back to the counter.

“Honey love, I was thinking,” Ken appears through the window. The spatula that was in his hand is placed beside him. “How about you stay behind the counter? Let Yona take on the waiting.”

“Ken…” He puts the towel down that was on his broad shoulder. His messy black hair is put in a half bun today. He still needs a haircut though.

“I’m serious. It’d be better to do that than jeopardize him and more importantly, yourself. You could get hurt.” You don’t see how, but the father in Ken apparently can.

“My tips, Ken.” He sighs. “I’ll work on that, okay? Stay behind the counter. You look cute like that.”

“Pfft!” You laugh and unsurprisingly, so does Noa. He’s been doing that a lot lately. Ken smiles at you and Noa. “Yo, Yona! Switch with her!” Ken yells.

“Boo!”

“Shut up, Aoi!” Aoi Sato huffs at Ken and crosses his arms in protest. Yona comes close to the two of you. “Fine, fine, she can take it. Her and Noa’ll be good for business anyway. A pretty girl and a cute baby at the counter may draw people in.”

You snort and the bell above the door rings. “Welc-oh my God.” He comes in and stands there wide eyed. In his hand is an All Might wallet and his body has various mechanical devices. On both of his wrists, around his hips to look like a belt. His shoes are clunky and the red fabric peaks through in some spots. Other than that, it looks like a steel toed heavyweight shoe.

Your mouth drops and your heart stops.

Fucking Deku.

And Noa, the little brat, giggles and reaches for him while saying his first word: papa.

The two of you sit down with Noa in a wooden highchair. The tension is palpable as the two of you stare at each other. Even though this doesn’t involve him, you feel guilty. Like you lied to him personally even though he doesn’t really know you. Yes, he has helped with Noa and has even gained claim to Noa’s milestone of his first word. However, you don’t know each other.

“You gonna snitch?” Your eyes focus on him. He shifts in his seat and tilts his head to get a good look at you. “This is against the rules. Can I know why you’re doing this?”

“I’m broke.” His green eyes soften. “I get that. I have a friend whose finances aren’t the best so I can understand to that degree.”

Good.

“But this is against the rules. Do you think you’re going to get away with it?” you take a deep breath. “I will if you keep your mouth shut. This isn’t for fun. This is important to me.”

“I’m just saying. Lying is wrong, it’s better in the long run to be honest. Maybe U.A. will understand. It’s better to let them know now than it is to let it spring up on them.”

“This is from the man who can do anything. Didn't you lie to literally everyone?” If he wants to go the holier-than-thou route, you can take it there by dragging him by his ear.

He sucks his teeth and looks down at the table. “I'm speaking from experience. Lying damages everything in the long run. That's why I’m encouraging honesty.”

There’s a sudden wash of guilt when you look at his eyes that quickly try to cover up what seems like hurt. However, your pride has always been an issue.

“No.” You say quickly. He licks his lips and gives a cheerless smile. You don't like it. You are not liking how you're snapping at someone who has only been kind to you. “Well, I won't tell.”

Good.

He taps on the table. “Food any good here?” You shake your head no. “Awful, terrible.”

He looks at you warmly. “I'm sure I'll love it. Maybe we can finish that meal we never got to?”

Fucking Deku felt bad about it and came back to pay. The damn goodie goodie. Noa wipes the table. Izuku points to him. “Ah, no wonder where he got it from.”

You scoff and try to fight the smile on your face as the two of you watch Noa. “Yeah, he helps me wait on tables and stuff.”

“Well, at least he’s not in the kitchen.” You suck in your lips. “Right, (Y/n)?”

Izuku leans in. “Right?”

“He’s fine!” You point to a distracted Noa. Izuku’s face is fit for a comic book. He grips the edge of the table. “Why would you do that?!”

You smack the table. “Stop screaming at me!” Noa starts to cry and calls for papa again. The two of you freeze. “Is that what he said? He said-”

“He said mama first!” Noa said dada when Izuku walked in, but Izuku must not have heard him. You have been working with this little punk all this time just for him to say papa? You’re shooting daggers at your robo-son. The audacity, the gall, the disrespect. Disgusting!

Yona pokes her head out. “Lie. Yes, our favorite broccoli boy, you’re daddy.”

Izuku stands and picks Noa up. “Yay, big boy! Say it again!” Noa gives him a kiss. Not a bite like he does you. He repeats his first word. Repulsive!

Izuku rubs his face against Noa’s. Yona, the new retirement home victim, records it then gets close to your face. “Aw, one day the baby boy will say mommy. He just happens to not like you.”

“I have an entire drawer filled with brochures. For you.” You have been collecting nursing home brochures to scare her with and even give them to her kids.

“I am nowhere near retirement age!” Her wings slightly flutter then pin themselves on her back.

“Then why are you scared?” She goes to hit you with the towel.

“Girls, girls, now is not the time to do that. It’s time for a refill, seriously, get off your asses.” Yona shushes one of the customers, Aoi, who waves a cup around.

You go back to studying Izuku and Noa. Both look your way. Noa with a cheesy grin and Izuku with a curious look that settles into one of knowing. “You wouldn’t happen to be jealous, would you?”

“No.”

He does a sharp intake of air and slowly makes his way to you. “Ah, because he really does like me, no?” He slowly makes his way to you. “Noa, say, mama.” Noa doesn’t speak.

“Nope, doesn’t bother me.”

You tap your foot, trying to ignore the inching Izuku who looks disgustingly mischievous. Noa rests on his hip naturally. Izuku leans down with a smirk. “Y’know, I could help you. I’ll teach you on how to speak in ‘Noa language .’”

Your bottom lip sticks out, your leg bouncing. “I speak Noa language just fine, thank you.”

“Say mama!” Noa shakes his head no. You smack the table again. “I don’t deserve this disrespect!” Izuku laughs and places his hand on the back of your neck gently and says, “It’ll happen eventually, my dearest. Or maybe he really doesn’t like you.”

What he called you goes over your head.

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

A week later, it’s time for the Sports Festival. It’s been so awkward and warm between you and Izuku since he found out. For some reason, there is a lightness to it all. It’s that dark cloud hanging over your head that won’t leave that’s making you fail to trust the situation. This cloud has formed over the course of your life. You can't just get rid of it because of one nice person.

Anyway, you promised you’d be there cheering. You sit next to your friends on the stands. Everyone is up and bouncing despite the hard days of studying. Lately, tests and homework have been a challenge since Noa turned one. He’s been even more curious and adventurous. Whenever you try to calm him so you can work, he gets even louder and becomes disruptive. You don’t know how many times you’ve apologized.

Right now, you’re focused on the Sports Festival. It’s the first since Shigaraki. It is one of the things he didn’t ruin. It’s all going good, going smooth. Your mood is upbeat until you spot Kaibara with a smile. He waves at the spectators, spots you then looks away.

Concerning Kaibara, you’ve given up on him. You were lenient to a fault because of him being your partner, but he has shown you that he doesn’t deserve anything. The only thing you include him in is the progress report. You can pat yourself on the back and say that you tried. That you were the one that didn’t fail, it was him.

Halfway into the Sports Festival, Noa squeals in excitement as Izuku is on the screen. He’s allowed to wear only parts of his suit for this. Was there concern about it? During Izuku’s first year, support items were allowed and his suit is a support item too. Then again, it gives him back the power of a god. People may view it as cheating. That alone is reasonable, but it is also a spit in the face for the students. It is as if the people are calling them weak. It has the same quirks he has in the first run, so what’s the difference? Perhaps it is fear more than anything.

Izuku hasn’t explained it but doesn’t he still have some of the quirk left? Maybe that’s a reason too. He has shown superior speed and strength than his peers who don’t have a quirk to aid them in those areas. Would it be fair if he had that and still used a suit? It goes above your head.

After every trial, Izuku finds you and Noa in the stands. He waves at you with a flush to his cheeks every time he does so. At first, your stupid brain made you think it’s because of you and not because of the physical exertion. Thankfully, common sense won out.

He’s doing really well with the scraps of his suit. Carefully planning while he goes around or through his friends’ quirks. Izuku’s speed and strength is still incredible. Not as fast as Iida but definitely second place.

Overall, the hero course is truly something. These two classes alone show promise and there are so many schools that probably hold just as much talent. If another Tomura were to happen, the world will have a better time with it than the first go around.

Noa wiggles on your lap when Izuku stands in the arena. Noa leans forward and tries to reach Izuku. You notice that the green haired boy hasn’t looked up at the two of you this time.

“And back from the dead, Izuku Midoriya! Who will win? Who, who, wh-” Present Mic bounces in his seat.

“Shut up.” Aizawa cuts him off and tells Snipe to start the match since Mic is getting on his nerves again.

The crowd cheers and shouts their names. The babies all have those clunky headphones on to cancel out the noise. Noa has decided that he hates his and keeps trying to take them off. And just when your eyes are off of him so you can stop Noa, Izuku wins this round. You look back up and see class B’s Kendo, flat on the ground. “Damn it.”

Up next is Todoroki and Tetsutetsu. Naturally, you know who to cheer for. You stand up but Riko pulls you down quickly.

“Let’s do it, Tetsu! You got this!”

“You are so obvious, I swear.” Riko rolls her eyes then stands. With loud claps to go with it, she shouts, “Win, Tetsu!”

“I’m obvious but you join in?” Noa frowns and points at her. “I know, Auntie Riko is a mess.”

She gestures to herself. “It’s better when I do it.”

It’s an interesting fight. Apparently, they went against each other in their first year. He had trained his body to withstand extreme temperatures and was able to deliver amazing blows. It ended in a draw but without Tetsu, class B would have lost.

“Whoop his ass, Tetsu!” You and another person shout. You look over and see a girl passionately screaming against Todoroki. In her hands is an infant with her features but familiar dual-colored eyes.

Tetsu punches Todoroki in the face, sending him back. Todoroki catches himself from falling over. “Deadbeat motherfucker!”

Tetsutestu lands another punch. Todoroki shoots out his flames directly at the steel boy. Despite the terrible heat, Real Steel takes it all on.

"Endeavor lover!" Jule screams with his baby on his hip mimicking his hand waves. You’re jumping up and down, completely entertained by the fight. With every hit Tetsu gets in, the general studies shout, “Yes!”

Tetsu dodges one of Todoroki’s hits and lands a kick of his own. What was that Mirko said? Those with long range quirks are usually weak in combat? She definitely hit it on the head. Todoroki is great, but Tetsu is fierce. Each hit is clearly doing some damage. Every punch seems to knock the wind out of Todoroki. If this were anyone else, they'd be flat on their asses.

“You got this, Real Steel!” He’s relentless. Even though he’s stark red from the terrible heat, he doesn’t stop. You know nothing about the heroes' training or fighting, but it looks like his movements are getting more fluid, looser in a good way.

In a strange turn of events, right after Todoroki shoots out a powerful blast, he freezes the stadium, barely missing the onlookers. It immediately stops the cheering for Tetsutestu. You scream as you fall back to your seat. The ice is dangerously close to the audience. Noa shivers and sniffles from the frost. Immediately, you rub him to get some heat.

“Um, Tetsutestu is out! Todoroki wins!”

“Boo!”

Next is, you can’t believe your eyes, Kaibara versus Yaoyorozu. Both stand proudly on the opposite sides. They are ignoring the crowd and focusing on the task.

“Y'all both suck ass!”

“Boo!”

“Deadbeat motherfuckers!” Again, you don’t know who that came from. What you do know is that everyone in general studies are against those who have shown their true colors.

“It’s a death match! Yes!” You scream. Snipe shakes his head and points to you. The camera goes to you. You tense up at the camera and lower yourself.

“Anyway, as you can see, these two are not popular. The majority of the heroes don’t have many fans Eraser…”

“Popularity isn’t necessary. Heroics should have nothing to do with a popularity contest.” Aizawa says sternly. You roll your eyes. With hollowing your hands, you shout, “Boo! You two in the booth suck!”

Riko touches your shoulder. “Sh, let the violence relax you.”

“Begin!”

You see Benio intently watching. He shields Kobeni from the fight. Right then, Kaibara runs to Yaoyorozu who immediately blocks his attack. It’s the same mistake she made in the first year. She got nervous during the one on one and got pushed out. Now, she seems to be doing the same thing. Clearly, she’s more of a support hero than a fighter.

Kaibara drills right through her shield. Surprisingly, she had a gift for him in the shape of a gun with non lethal bullets. Your eyes are glued to the fight. There’s no way he’ll be able to dodge them, right?

Suddenly, as she fires them with excellent precision, he manages to drill his body to protect himself, spinning round and round until the bullets fly away. Whatever the hero course is teaching these students, it is absolutely working because both of them slide and run from the other, one trying to close the distance, the other tries to create it.

Yaoyorozu comes through with a baton that sparks electricity. She charges at him and duels. With every drilling twirl of his, goes through her electric baton, only to be met with another. Finally, Kaibara stops holding back, apparently.

He’s a monster. She’s creating shields and tries to come up with weapons, but in terms of martial arts, he is a savage that Yaoyorozu can’t keep up with. It takes one hit to the face, and she’s thrown back and outside the lines.

That…was exciting. She wasn’t scared or nervous like she was in her first year. Now, she faced her opponent head on. Yaoyorozu seems to need more training in fighting, though. Other than that, Benio's baby mama was amazing.

You peer at Benio who fights a smile then takes a deep breath. He kisses Kobeni’s head and leans back. Is he trying not to be happy?

There are more fights that earn several boos. One had a purple haired boy, Shinsou, that was surprisingly really good. It was quick for him. He went against the antagonistic blond boy, Monoma, and won. You’d think that since Monoma knows about Shinsou's quirk, he'd shut up but no. It’s too much for him. You shake your head and watch as other matches go down. Finally, there is one that catches your attention by far.

“We have Izuku Midoriya, with only parts of his suit, and Sen Kaibara!”

Noa calls out ‘papa’. Izuku looks up and sees Noa shaking his hand at him. “You can do it!” You shout. Kaibara turns around and sees the two of you. The camera zooms up on Izuku who is still excitedly waving, making Noa do the same. Lost in the moment of you cheering, you blow a kiss to him. It goes right over your head. Doing it came naturally.

You don’t look at Kaibara until you for sure feel his eyes on you. You make eye contact and instantly regret it. The more he stares, the more anxious you feel. His expression goes from indifference, annoyance, confusion, and finally to anger. All of these in the span of a few seconds.

You stop cheering and tense up. Noa continues to call Izuku papa, not realizing that the man in front of Izuku is his real father. He is totally unaffected by the look in Kaibara’s eyes. Kaibara moves his jaw and flares his nostrils. He turns around and faces Izuku who does not look happy. Izuku has totally changed his demeanor. You kiss Noa’s face and lower his standing form.

“Are you okay?” Riko asks. You turn to her. “Yeah, yeah, I’m just a little tired.”

What do you say to her? What was that anyway and why did you feel it? He wasn’t near you. “You sure?”

You shake your head at Riko. “I must be feeling off.” It’s the truth. You weren't scared or anything, just unnerved. No way would you ever tell anyone this, though.

Riko hums. Right as she does, Snipe yells, “Begin!”

In an instant, Izuku is on Kaibara without giving the latter a second to drill or block. Kaibara’s face is taking hit after hit. Next, Izuku lowers Kaibara so he can kick him in the chest. Kaibara takes this and flips Izuku over.

“Sweep the leg!” You yell. Following you, Izuku sweeps his leg to hit Kaibara’s knee, leaving a crunch noise behind. You cover Noa’s eyes so he doesn’t see that. Kaibara miraculously fights without thinking about it. How long has that taken him? How much training did he have to do in order to swirl his leg back to its original place with his quirk to keep it still?

Kaibara isn’t done and Izuku’s just getting started. The fight is fast and messy, yet each hit is deliberate and trained. Both are bleeding, from Izuku’s nose to Kaibara’s mouth and cheek. He has a gash that Recovery Girl will need to handle. Kaibara is displaying master artistry in martial arts. Even without using his quirk, he’d be deadly to villains.

Izuku hasn’t used his suit once, though.

Finally, somehow, Izuku gives a powerful kick upward, sending his opponent up. With complete savagery, you see Izuku fling Kaibara around in the air to drop him. They both land with a shake of the ground. Kaibara barely manages to stand while Izuku does it perfectly with power.

With mighty punches and kicks, Kaibara isn’t able to even defend. Izuku hasn’t even used his suit yet. Izuku right hooks Kaibara and is met with cheers with every swing. The crowd shouts his name and his alias, Deku. The energy from the fight is so intense, you can almost see it flow into the air for the audience to absorb it.

“Get it, Deku!” Ema pumps her fist in the air.

“Deadbeat motherfucker!”

You stand and shout, “Grab the bag, rob his wallet, hit the bank, and beat his ass! Yes!”

Riko pats your thigh. “Where did you get that?!”

Izuku grabs Kaibara’s hand. Kaibara uses his quirk in retaliation, making Izuku's skin raw by the rapid spinning. Yet, there’s a smile on Izuku's face. With one squeeze, Izuku completely crushes Kaibara's hand. Immediately, blood gushes out. You are on the edge of your seat when Izuku is flung back in a circle. Kaibara is something else. He hasn’t slowed down and manages to keep his weight off his broken knee.

“He isn’t using it…” You whisper as the fight goes on. Izuku has a suit that could be used against Kaibara’s quirk. Looking at the fight and knowing what Izuku is used to doing, it’s like he’s playing with his food.

“It’s a fist fight for him. The parts of the suit are still incredibly strong and fit to use against those with an offensive quirk,” Riko leans in, “This isn’t a competition for him. It’s an all out brawl.”

Finally, Izuku moves his arms. Immediately, everyone recognizes Gear Shift. Kaibara, for the first time, takes a step back. That is all Izuku needs to land three hits. One punch to the nose, one to the gut, and a kick to send him back. The epic sounds are thunderous seconds after Kaibara is sent flying through the stadium’s wall. The impact affects the entire arena. The vibration is right under your feet and the blast of wind pushes you back into your seat. All of this happened and Kaibara didn't land near you.

Your jaw drops. You’ve never seen Izuku in action. And this is what Shigaraki was dealing with? And Izuku only used the suit for one thing. He has a bruise on his jaw and his hand is bleeding. He’s lowered in a hunched position, ready to strike if Kaibara comes back.

The arena is silent.

Everyone knows that Izuku’s suit is fit for him only. What he has on are his usual arm compressions and shin guards. Each of these give him the ability to use some of his suit’s quirks. And yet, he didn’t need it. In fact, he could have done without the Gear Shift. Riko was right. This was a straight up brawl. If you aren’t mistaken, it looked personal.

“The winner is Izuku Midoriya!”

He straightens up and looks at you, already knowing where you are. You smile warmly, standing again to cheer for the man who can do anything. Noa, of course, has to be the loudest and call for his papa. You stand back up and blow him a kiss. Izuku's eyes shine.

The Sports Festival is an intense event. People you didn’t expect to get far got the farthest, for instance, Jirou absolutely dominated her opponents until she came across Kaminari, whose electricity had knocked her down. At least she tore him up before she got out. Uraraka’s awakening helped tremendously. Honestly, she’s scary as hell. It was amazing to see her and Bakugou go against each other again. It was incredibly close. Bakugou had barely made it. Present Mic of course, the president of her fan club, wasn’t thrilled and made it known. He even wanted a rematch.

Then it came down to Todoroki, Bakugou, and Izuku. This is the fights that people have been waiting to see. Both Bakugou and Todoroki have shown how brutal they are compared to their first year. And no one thought that Izuku would be able to make it this far with or without his suit, yet here he is proving them wrong left and right. His technique, intelligence and natural physical prowess are immaculate. And with his suit, he still bears a striking resemblance to the boy with everything.

Unfortunately, Noa decided to be a boob and knock his headphones off right when Bakugou’s quirk exploded at Todoroki. The sound irritated him so badly, you had to leave and go into the hallway. In true Noa fashion, he stopped and fell asleep with his usual ding, then would wake up with a bird’s hum, then go right back down. Right when the Sports Festival was over. You had missed it.

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

You enter Recovery Girl’s office to find Izuku on the bed. He perks up when he sees you and Noa, who is no longer sleeping.

“How’re you doing?”

“Pretty good! I thought I wasn't going to get far without the suit.” He smiles widely and sits up, still tucked under the covers. You wonder if he's actually okay. Izuku, for the short time you've known him, hides himself away.

You feel so guilty. “I wanted to see-”

“I understand. It’s probably better that way. Kacchan’s quirk is loud so I don’t know if Noa could handle that.”

You sigh and sit on the foot of his bed. “He couldn’t. Right when Kacchan used his quirk, Noa freaked.”

“Kacchan?” He raises his eyebrows in shock.

“That’s his name, right?” Noa rocks himself back and forth in excitement. “It’s my name for him-”

“Are you jealous?” You ask in the same tone he did back at the restaurant. He scoffs. “No. I’m worried for you, that’s all. He might get mad.”

“I do as I please.” He chuckles and leans back. “He’s definitely going to be mad.”

You shrug. “Whatever,” You play with Noa’s face. “Did you win?”

After a moment, Izuku sucks on his teeth and looks at you through his lashes. “We can watch it together some time instead of me telling you. If you want too!”

“I guess? Yeah, keep the suspense up so I’ll be on my toes around you?”

“No!”

“I don’t know Izuku, you’re a brutal fighter.” You smirk and sit on the foot of the bed. “I didn’t think they’d let you use the suit to be honest.” You set Noa down who then crawls to his favorite. Hmph.

You scratch your cheek. Your eyes dart away from his, not really wanting to say what’s to come. It’s surely vain. Quietly, you ask, “Did you know you’d face him?”

“No.”

You haven't looked at him yet. “Um, thanks for punching him in the face then. I know it’s a competition so it can’t be ah, that-”

“For what?” He kisses Noa on the head. You take a deep breath. “I know it wasn’t for me. It’s just nice to see him get hit.”

Izuku gives a closed mouth smile. Even without teeth it’s genuine. “It was both. Yeah, it’s a competition but he deserved it.” He sits up. “I saw how scared you got. (Y/n),”

You’re facing the window, only seeing him from the corner of your eye. “I won't let you be scared. I was happy to beat him for you.”

You turn your face fully to him. “I wasn’t scared.”

“I know.” He says, after a few seconds of staring at you. Even though he agrees, you aren’t dumb enough to believe he meant it. You weren’t scared. Unnerved, yes. But not scared. Sen Kaibara won’t hurt you again. Not when his reputation is still slightly on the rocks. It was the hostility when he looked at you that was unnerving.

You mess with the soft, white cotton blanket. It is warm and comforting. Something to hold you down in this conversation with a boy who is making your heart flutter despite him being annoying. To change the topic, you decide to tease him. “Noa was mimicking you. I don’t know if I like that. You may not be a good influence, Deku.”

You barely know him, but he is someone you’ve come to start welcoming inside your built walls. Even though you hate heroes, this one may be the only one in your grace.

“I think Noa likes me just fine. He’s turning out okay, too.” He shrugs. You squint your eyes and hum. “Mm, it’s me you have to worry about Deku.”

He’s a little flushed. “Well, I’ll just have to win you over, won’t I?”

There’s no way that meant anything, so stop.

You sigh and watch Noa stand up and mess with Izuku’s face. “Y’know, you could teach him some of your moves. For self defense and all.”

“Eh?! That’s too dangerous!” He holds Noa close to him. Izuku bounces the boy a little and asks, “You don’t want to do that, Noa.”

You lean in, ready to antagonize Izuku who is desperately telling Noa to never do it. “Yes you do, buddy! You want to be just like daddy, huh?” Noa squeals and says yes. Izuku gasps. “Where’s my phone? We gotta get this!”

You take out yours and hit record. “Noa, say hi daddy!”

“Hi, daddy.” For the first time, he’s able to pronounce daddy, rather than papa. “Noa, say mama!”

Silence.

“Call me mommy!” He remains silent and just stares at the camera then to you. “Oh my God.”

Izuku bursts out laughing. Noa goes along with him, the little asshole. You sigh and are about to put the camera away until he looks directly at you and says, “Love ya.”

Your breath stops. These robots are said not to have souls and yet he said that with a brightness in his eyes. He said it smoothly like music. You hope Izuku doesn’t notice how you are frozen and warm. You pray that this feeling of fondness and care for Noa goes away. That somehow, you'll be sensible enough to not love him. You won't, no matter how much Noa says he loves you. And how much it sounds like he means it.

“Good job, Noa! Say it for me, please? Say I love you.” Izuku urges. Noa doesn’t do it. It’s your turn to laugh at Izuku’s expense. He tries and tries to get Noa to say it, to the point of tears.

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

You scratch your head at your notes. Recently, Snipe decided that his students weren’t able to do major tests like before. No one could get a hold of studying at the same time, even Ema. So, he decided to give more time to prepare and a study guide everyone went through in class.

However, Noa, in all his wisdom, decided that having a fit that involved throwing himself around was necessary. Snipe was annoyed so rather than listen to him bitch and complain, you excused yourself to the bathroom to calm him.

When you went back, class was over.

Your heart dropped. None of your friends had the energy or hands to do two papers. Snipe stopped you from leaving and gave you a set of them. They were all over the place and sloppy. They were the teacher’s notes. He didn’t say anything other than how cute Noa is in the videos. Without another word, you knew what that meant. So, you left the classroom and went about your day with a smile. Now, here you sit with Noa in front of you playing with Riko’s gifted toys and snacking on banana puffs. He feels the need to show you everything he has in his hand and if you don’t look, he growls. He’s cute but distracting.

Suddenly, a familiar voice calls out, “(Y/n), Noa! I’m here!” Izuku jogs to you with a heavy looking backpack and another bag. At first glance you see more snacks and books.

“I thought he’d like these. It’s the same I grew up with.” He puts the cereal on the table. “I remember those. Not too many, Izuku. That’s a lot of sugar.”

He nods. “Not all of these are for him.” He pops several in his mouth. After swallowing, he asks, “What’re you doing?”

“Remember that test? He gave us a study guide and I’m trying to look at.”

Izuku perks up. “I’ll help! Noa and I both. Ain’t that right bub? We’re gonna help mama?” Noa responds with the awful word, papa.

“Um, can you watch Noa while I study instead? I won’t be long, I promise.”

“That’s a good idea. It’s been a long time since Noa and I bonded.” He ruffles Noa's hair. You blink once then twice. “You just saw him two hours ago.”

“Yeah, I saw him. We didn’t hang out, (Y/n)!”

You rub your eyes. “Alright, then. I’ll be in my room. Call if you need me, okay?” He shoos you away and eats the cereal with Noa, who is equally obsessed with it.

You look around for your boy who was just playing with the colorful blocks that he's obsessed with. Worry starts to creep inside you. You left Izuku and Noa in front of the coffee table in the commons. Now an hour later, the boys are gone. The only thing there on the table is Noa's colorful plate of what looks like sweet potatoes and Izuku's cereal right next to it.

“Have you seen Noa?” Jule shakes his head no.

“Have you seen Noa?” Sakura says no and adds like the little bitch she is, “Lost him already?”

On her hip is Mira, an exact replica of Kacchan but with her mother’s hair color. It isn't as spiked as his either. She is a cute little thing but is so bratty. Even now her arms are crossed and glaring. It is a little scary how much she acts like him for an eight-month-old.

“Have Mira for the first time ever? Actually being useful? Big happenings for both of us.” Sakura gasps and in Mira fashion, the baby laughs at her mother.

Have you seen Noa? Is repeatedly asked in your dorm and every time it is answered with the same word: no. It's practically an echo by now.

“Noa! Noa?” You run through the halls. You call Izuku with no answer. Finally, you run across a large room which was decided by your class to be the movie room. You hear noises in it. Slowly opening it, you gently call out Noa’s name. A weight is lifted off of your chest when you see Izuku laying down on the orange sofa with Noa on his chest. A gory zombie movie plays on the screen which goes ignored with snores.

You walk up to the boys and see that they’re totally fine. It seems that both of them played hard. You poke Izuku several times. He wakes up with a jump, nearly knocking off Noa. “Hey!” You quickly grab the baby before he falls.

“Oh no! No, no, no, is he okay?” You hold Noa protectively while Izuku jumps up and puts his hands out. “He’s fine.”

“I-I’m sorry. I have trouble waking up like that.” Ah, that’s right. The wars. You stop tensing up and slowly release. You totally forgot about them and the effects it might’ve had on him.

“Um, Izuku,” You pat Noa’s back. “I really appreciate you and all but, please don’t take off with him like that. It scared the hell out of me.”

He looks confused for a second then gasps. “Shit-excuse me-I’m sorry for that. I didn’t think about it.”

You smile as the future hero looks panicky. The movie continues to play and gets progressively scarier. “I, ah, want to go outside. You coming with?” Izuku looks around then at the ground. “You sure?”

“Positive. Anything to get away from this movie.” He looks taken back then defends it. “It’s a classic!”

“It’s nasty!” You leave the room and head to yours to get Noa’s bag. Izuku follows you closely. “Zombie movies are imperative to cinema. They’re great monster movies.”

You struggle to get your key from your pocket. As he defends the movie, he takes it from you and opens the door for you. “Whatever. It’s an excuse to watch gory porn.”

“What?!” You can’t help but laugh at his face. He’s growing increasingly offended. “I said what I said. How can anyone watch a movie where people are being eaten if someone isn’t into that kind of stuff?”

“Well, you like slasher films!”

“Barely. Another thing, people are interesting. Why do they kill? Why is the dumb blonde in the woods? Why are they going up the stairs? Not dead humans who eat brains.” He takes Noa’s bag and when you leave your room, he locks it for you. “That is an old stereotype. Zombies eat people, not just brains. And slasher films are not psychological thrillers. They’re just as gory as zombie movies.”

“Agree to disagree. Even though I’m right.” He scoffs and opens the door to the dorms. The sun is bright, and the breeze is perfect. He lets you walk out first. “Whatever! It is not gory porn.”

“I knew you were freaky. What is that saying? Save a horse, ride a zombie.”

“What? Now who’s the freak-” His voice starts to raise to protect his nasty movies. You don't bother to hide your smile. “You watch bloody porn. I don't think you have the right to insult me.”

“I do not watch bloody porn!” A teacher stops and stares. The great hero Deku’s breathing stops. His eyes are blank and unfocused. You don't even try to hold in your laugh. With a proper voice, the hero in purple tights says, “Do what you want on your own time, Deku. But please don't say it out loud.”

The hero walks away. Izuku has yet to get life back in his eyes. Meanwhile, you have the ugliest laugh at his devastation.

The three of you sit on the grass. In Noa’s bag were some toys and his banana puffs. You laid everything out for him to get his hands on. He sits in front of you two and after he picks each of them up, he shows you what it is. Izuku acts incredibly interested. You lie on your back against Izuku’s jacket and rest in the sun. He insisted on you and Noa sitting on it.

“Deku!” The loud and raspy voice annoys the hell out of you. The source stomps along the pavement, heading towards you and Noa, the unsuspecting victims of his voice. Izuku smiles widely and holds Noa up. “Kacchan, he said his first word!”

The spikey haired blonde holds his twin on his hip. Sakura must've tossed Mira to him again. Mira sports the same expression as her dad when she sees Noa, who is totally oblivious.

“Mine’s already done that!” For some reason, perhaps out of sheer possession of evil, he makes this gremlin face. Mira smiles at her dad, clearly amused by it.

“Noa said papa! Isn't he cute?”

“Ain't this drill boy’s kid? And that's his first word?” Kacchan stares down at you. His red eyes aren't judgmental, but genuinely curious. Mira’s identical red eyes however, are totally rude.

“He calls me papa!” Izuku says proudly. Then, with the same smugness as before, he adds, “What was Mira’s first word?”

Kacchan glares at Izuku. Through his gritted teeth he says, “Bitch.”

At first you think he’s insulting Izuku until it sinks in. Mira’s first word is actually bitch. You cover your mouth in an attempt to stop the laughter. Finally, you fall back. “Oh my God!”

Izuku, as you suspected, knew what her first word was. You were upset that Noa has yet to say mama, though after hearing this, you’re happy with what you got. Better that than being called a ‘bitch’.

“Fucking Deku!”

Izuku sets Noa down. “I’ll be right back.”

Some of class A stand at the side next to the tall and healthy trees. A few of them have their dolls, including Kaminari and Todoroki. You rubbed your eyes when you saw them. Your hands turn to fists on the grass as you look at those two in particular. Apparently, Todoroki has been pathetic in this project. And it’s his fault!

Before you can get up to give him a piece of your mind, Noa stands up, gives you a sloppy kiss, and says, “papa.”

Noa, for the first time, starts to walk. “Izuku!”

He turns around and quickly gets his camera. “That’s my boy! Look at him go-here record this!” He hands it to Todoroki and gets on the ground with his arms open. Noa makes a wobbly run for it. You cross your arms. You’re happy Noa’s doing this, but this is some bullshit.

Ema comes up to you without Hana. She points her thumb behind her. “Uh, Nezu and co. want to see you.”

“Alright, after-”

“No, they mean now. Either I went to get you or a teacher.” You freeze then look at Izuku who doesn’t see this. Did he snitch on you?

You get up and call out, “I have to go somewhere.” You don’t look at him again when Ema walks with you to the principal’s office. Your heart is practically coming out of your chest. Wait, who’s to say it’s because of your secret? It could be one of your many outbursts that's finally gotten you in trouble! It could be something different.

Your heart starts to calm down. Thankfully, your knees stop shaking so much. This anxiety could be leading you to something completely false. Izuku knows and said he wouldn’t tell, Kaibara has known for a while and hasn’t said anything either and there were tons of times he could have. So, you’re in the clear. Snipe is probably just mad again.

You open the door and a teacher, what’s her face, thanks Ema and excuses her. All of the general studies teachers are here. Nezu sits at his desk. The movement at your side makes you look over and lo and behold, Kaibara.

Nezu, in a lighthearted voice says, “We have been told that you are working, (L/n).”

Son of a bitch. You stare at Nezu, not breathing. “Don’t deny it, we’ve seen proof. We just want to go over the rules with you.”

“What evide-”

The door opens and Izuku comes in. “Principal Nezu?”

“We’ll keep this short with you Midoriya. Did you know that (L/n) is working at a restaurant?” Since when is he involved? And where's Noa?

Izuku opens his mouth. “Before you lie, know that this is just confirmation that she was seen there.”

Izuku says nothing. His teacher sighs and Nezu excuses him. Izuku doesn’t leave and instead stands between you and Kaibara. “Midor-”

“With all due respect, but this requires more than the insight of the teachers and a bitter partner.”

“Bitter?” Kaibara scoffs. “She stole-”

“It’s not stealing if you participated in the project.” Eraserhead flicks his eyes over to Kaibara. Dracula speaks, “Kaibara, there’s nothing wrong with her asking you to participate financially. What’s wrong is that you kept this from us.”

“How is it his business? Or any of yours?” Your heart rate is racing right now. At the beginning, you were afraid Kaibara would say something. After your talk in the yard, you don't remember if he mentioned it. Part of you, a naive and senseless part, thought he forgot, that maybe he let it slip from his mind.

Of course, he was just waiting to strike. Why? After all of these months he chooses now. Noa is a year old, talking and walking, and you’re doing all of the work! You haven’t asked him for a thing since then. The only request you have for him is to participate in the report and like Benio and Yaoyorzoru, he’s copying your homework. Plus, it’s only once a month!

So, what happened? Why?

Izuku stays by your side even when he is repeatedly dismissed. “(L/n), this job you have, no matter how mundane, has to end.”

Your throat is tight. “This isn’t fair.”

“It doesn’t seem like it, but your scholarship requires your full attention, and your grades are already slippi-”

“Because of this stupid project! You heroes are the laziest sack of shits I’ve ever met.”

Snipe stands up and hisses out your name. “No, no! My stipend is less than others because I’m a scholarship kid. And he-” You point to Kaibara. “Hasn’t done anything! I have to force him to meet up once a month to do the progress report. That’s it! He hasn’t even held Noa!”

“That’s not tr-”

You cut Kaibara off. “Did you know Noa said his first word? He walks? That he likes banana puffs and mashed potatoes? How about rice and Izuku’s katsudon? How about the fact he thinks Izuku Midoriya is his daddy! Because you aren’t there!”

Everyone remains silent. “Yes, I work. I have bills to pay and Noa to provide for. That stipend is just a few bucks that barely covers anything. And Kaibara literally gave me twenty dollars that one time. I paid for the rest and went without.”

“We know-” You interrupt Nezu. “You don’t know. Yes, I work. My job prevents me going from without and now that Noa is added on, I need it more than ever. The project is hurting us except for the future pros. Who not only get paid by you but also by people’s taxes. And I’m in trouble for what? Actually doing something? Managing a job, school, Noa, and that thing right there?” Kaibara scoffs when you point at him. “Where’s Tomura when you need him, oh my God.”

Izuku touches your arm. You move it away. “Nah, this is why the people don’t and never will, trust your asses. I trust Sir Dusty over you people any day of the week.”

Nezu stands on the table with his hands behind his back. Kaibara clears his throat. “With that being said and the slander against me and her clear support of the League, I think it should be noted that she hangs out with villains regularly.”

You turn your head to him so fast. “Kenji Hara is a villain who was a known serial killer a few years back. I'm worried for Noa and even her safety. That’s why I brought this whole thing up.”

“Thank you for bringing it to our attention even though you should’ve said she was violating the rules of the scholarship sooner. If you truly were concerned for her safety, we should've been notified immediately.” Dracula gestures to you.

Your eyes are bulging. He did not just bring Ken into this. “Lord forbid the man had a hobby!"

"Murder is not okay!"

"I never said it was. And he paid his debt!" Kaibara opens his stupid mouth. "He ripped people's bones-"

"He now gets them ethically."

Eraserhead inhales deeply. “Fraternizing with villains isn’t a proper thing to do, (L/n). Especially one of such violence.”

“But killing them is? Need I remind you of the countless human beings you have killed?”

Izuku tenses next to you. Snipe rubs his face under his mask. You take the stage since no one says anything. “I said what I said. This whole thing isn’t fair and for you to judge me for rubbing elbows with someone who made his own choices in life is bullshit. How much sense does that make? He’s killed people and so have you! What’s the difference?”

Eraserhead sighs for the millionth time. He's wearing a facade of indifference, but you can tell you're chiseling it away. “There is a difference. Heroes don’t agree with-”

“Damn, at least Ken takes care of his kids. Can you say the same for yourselves? Not even just the kids. What about us?”

Nezu answers you in his usual annoyingly chipper voice. “I know this is hard. The baby project has its reasons. Although you should be kicked out for violating the rules of your scholarship that was specifically clear and endangering yourself and others by associating with bad influences," You swear your heart stopped. "I won't punish you for it. You made your point, and we'll give you another chance. Don't slip up like this again. You're very bright, (L/n). It'd be a waste to lose you." Nezu always has such a jolly face.

You want to stab everyone’s eyes out. “Thank you for proving me and the League right. You and the fakes you teach have yet to beat the allegations.”

All of them flinch as your words begin to settle. Those words are held with such conviction and anger that could only be called righteous with the promise of wrath.

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

You walk out with your head held high. Izuku stayed behind for some reason and Kaibara has left to the other side of the hallway, not looking back at you. Your breathing is shallow, and your head is spinning. Even still, you march on. You have to find Noa and go to your room. You’ve had enough for today.

Izuku comes up and touches your arm. “Where’s Noa?”

“I’ll get him, I’ll be right back.” Once he leaves, you say to yourself, “I need to call Yona.”

You go to the random chair in the hall. It sits next to the large window and gives a terrible view of the building. No one knows why the window is there or the chair. It’s usually used for when people need to tie their shoes or for phone calls.

“Hey, Yona? Um, they found out.” She’s dead quiet. “What does that mean?”

“I quit, ma’am.” You’ve been around Yona and Ken since the wars. You were one of the ones that weren’t able to get into a shelter. Ken found you and Yona who stayed close to her restaurant. Heroes have done nothing but disappoint you time and time again.

“This is a short notice, bug.” You want to be lighthearted and laugh; find joy in her teasing. “Ma’am, it’s been wonderful and an honor to work for you and Ken.” Your voice starts to shake, warning her that you’re about to cry. You hear her ladybug wings flap in the background. They do that when she's nervous.

Izuku comes up and squats to your level. “I have to go.”

“Not go. We’ll see each other soon, little bug.” Her wings are flapping more. You hang up and put your phone in your pocket. You blink a couple of times and look up into his green eyes. He's holding Noa. He stretches out his hand that you don’t take.

You get up and walk back into your room. “Thanks for helping me back there. It won’t happen again.” You take Noa from him and go to set him in his crib that he’s about to outgrow. You have to look into getting another one. Maybe just get a big kid's bed and hope for the best? Perhaps he can just sleep with you now. These are decisions for later.

Izuku stops you from closing the door. “Wait-”

“I need to do anything that doesn’t involve what happened today, thanks.” He pushes it open anyway. “It’s not good to hold things like this in, (Y/n). Let me help.”

“And I’m sure you’ve dealt with everything right?” In response, he wraps his arms around you. “I hate this, Izuku. Stop hugging me, I don’t need it.”

You understand he wants to comfort you. Why? What does he get out of it? It’s probably to play the hero. The hero that put you through that mess and he’s best friends with the hero that’s putting you through your current predicament. You can’t really blame him for something All Might brought or that Todoroki started. But God, you’re so mad.

“Get away from me.” You push him away; his body is like a brick wall, and he doesn’t stumble. He doesn’t look hurt at all. Why is this? Why do you want him to feel pain? He corrected his mistake back then and took Tomura's fine ass out. Izuku’s quirkless now but God, isn’t this a martyr complex he has? Hero complex? Or just straight up annoying?

That's what this is, isn't it? He views you as a project and something to save. You hate them, all of them. “Leave me and Noa alone.” You finally yank him away. He stumbles to the doorway. It’s only right. The heroes have left you alone with this project. Your doll “son” is going to drive you mad. And you can’t afford to fail, or you’ll lose your scholarship and everything you have ever worked for. And for some reason, this all hurts your heart. Pushing him away hurts too, God, do you hate him. All of them.

You slam your dorm door in his face. You try to keep it quiet. You try to stiffen up your bottom lip and smile instead before you turn around to face Noa. It will be too familiar if you don’t. You’re trying, you’re trying! So, why are you failing? There must be something you’re doing wrong. Your hands are against the door and the tears fall. These damn tears are happening a lot lately and you hate it. You hate them as much as you do everyone else.

Stop it, stop it!

You’re just so angry, disappointed and disgusted. Sen, why? If this is about the stupid Sports Festival, you had nothing to do with it. Did you cheer him on? Hell no. But you were impressed despite everything. If Izuku’s fight triggered this then oh my God. You had nothing to do with that.

Noa gurgles and you turn around with puffy eyes and a forced smile. You rub your face and smack your cheeks. “Hey, Noa.”

He sits up in his crib. His eyes that look full of life and wonder peer up at you, studying. Noa stands up and reaches for you. “Nah, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re getting too used to being held.”

For literally one second he accepts this then takes it all back with a scream. Despite the noise, you’re firm. “You need to learn to be by yourself, y’know.”

His round eyes look up at you. You wonder what he’d say other than papa. Then again, when they start to talk, they become even more annoying. You just stand in front of him, watching his reaction. He’s technically fine and definitely not real.

There is a knock on the door again that goes unanswered. Then again and again. Someone’s probably complaining about the noise again or how Noa’s started a chain reaction and now they’re pissed. It’s always the same, it’s always angry here. And you are fully aware you’re the main contributor.

Another knock and another. Noa cries for papa even though Kaibara got off the hook again. You lost, again. War of words has always been considered your forte, so suffering a loss for the nth time because of heroes breaks your heart. You can’t win here.

Noa is still crying for some reason. How can you comfort him before comforting yourself?

“(Y/n)!” Izuku’s arms sweep Noa up. The doll rubs his face along his shoulder. “I’m here, I’m here.”

How many times have heroes said that and lied? Every time. They’ve never shown a lick of care. Here one is pretending to care about anyone but himself. A boy with everything at his fingertips and has used it to make you miserable. Him and that peppermint thing in his class. If you were to ever see that asshole, you’re punching him in the face.

“Are you ok-” Izuku sees you side eye Noa with a blank expression. Izuku places Noa back in his crib. Your eyes go to Izuku. “Get out.”

“I know you’re upset; I am on your side. Please, don’t take it out on Noa.”

“He’s not real, Midoriya,” With a smirk on your face and malicious intent, you face him. “So don’t worry your green boy scout head. You can’t disappoint him. Unfortunately, you also can’t gain praise. He's just another thing you heroes use to punish us with.”

Izuku glares and walks towards you. “Because of your kind…” You take a deep breath. “I’m stuck here, and I have to deal with this shit. No job, a child, and a venomous boy who bit me for no reason.”

You poke his chest. “What are the worst parts? I get pitied by the boy that did all of this and the thing he’s friends with is still here, sleeping happily. Living and relaxing while the rest of us go through the wringer.” Izuku grabs your offending hand that repeatedly pushes on him. “And that thing in the crib isn’t even real, yet I suffer for it. You heroes should’ve crumbled years ago.” You hear Noa sniffle.

Rather than fight back like you craved for, as you expected, he pulls you in and wraps his arms around you. “You think you don’t want it, that you don’t want my help. But dearest, take it anyway. You will take it."

Why does he keep hugging you? Everything is happening at once. There’s no way you can support Noa with what you get. The only thing left is to give him to Kaibara since he can support him. That means you will be basing your grade, your scholarship, into the hands of someone who hates you. Someone who is spiteful. And the one who is holding you is someone who doesn’t even know you, who pities you, the scholarship kid.

“Let me go.” You growl. He shakes his head no. You growl, struggling to get out of his hold. “I don’t need your pity.”

“I’m not giving it. That’s for people who could have done better and chose not to. You don’t deserve it.” His voice is low in your ear. It feels like vibrations. “You’re too young to be a mother, this is just an assignment, and yet you have a mother’s tears, and I hate it. So, I’ve decided not to pity you. I will help you because I care and understand. I know someone who had the same tears, and I hated it then, too. Do you understand? I will help you whether you like it or not because I care.”

Your breath is shaky. He cradles your body with one arm and his other hand goes to your head, bringing it to him and placing a kiss on it that neither of you will talk about. You pause, no longer crying.

“You want to help, Deku?”

He tenses for a second. “Yes?” He separates himself from you to look at your small smile. “Can you watch Noa for a second? I just need some air. I’ll be back soon, promise.”

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

You charge through the library on a mission. For years, the people have had to play by the heroes' rules and millions of people get left behind. Look at League, who just needed help and when they opened their mouth, it was smacked. Then heroes stomped on them to their death.

You put several old and weathered books in Noa’s stroller that you’re using as a cart. “Bad influence? Ken’s a bad influence? What the hell are you a saint?”

Books fall into the stroller. The librarian comes around and tells you to calm down. You cry out, “You are the bad influence! How many people have to suffer for you to realize that!”

You come across a tall shelf and raise your hand to the person on the ladder. “That one! All of them! Give me the U.A. rule books!” U.A prides itself on innovation and progression. The technology used is state of the art and fits any and all heroes and support. However, they are still traditional and play by the old rules as much as society does.

“To protect a sexual deviant and another who puts his hands on his partner, hell no. A villain is a villain, right? What the fuck does that make you!”

You continue gathering as many books as you can. You struggle to push the stroller to an empty table. “Why’d you call us?” Benio comes in with Kobeni, of course. Because no way is Yaoyorozu helping him.

As you slam books on the table, you ask, “Do you trust me?”

“What?” The rest of your class come in. All of them in various conditions. All of Jule’s eyes have bags under them and Sakura’s usually perfect hair is mussed.

“I’m not going down like this. I lost to these assholes twice, maybe even more, because I wasn’t prepared. This is their turf. You can’t go to someone’s home field without being prepared.” You set books down on the table. “So, do you trust me?”

Benio is the first to realize what you're doing, what you're going to do. “I trust you.”

“I’m not a fucking punk. And none of you are either. I need you to trust me and the move I’ll make for us. I just need your help.”

“With what?” Ema comes forward without Hana.

“I am going to go head to head with them and show them that they are wrong for this. The project, their expectations, the inequality, all of it. But I need proof to do it because our conditions aren’t enough.”

“What do you need?” Benio lifts one brow. “I need eyes, I need study partners who will read with me, I need support. Jule,” You point to the four eyed boy. “I need your camera to document this and the confrontation. The people are going to see every bit of this.”

“Won’t we get in trouble?”

“For what? Posting on social media? As long as you don’t tag the school, we’ll be fine. It’ll spread on its own. Jule, I need you to be in charge of recording and Sakura,” She looks at you with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

“Bakugou does everything with Mira. But this has to be getting in your way and bothering you. You gave up arguing because you knew we couldn’t oppose it at the time. Sakura, you have to be angry too, right?” She nods. “Then I need you to help Jule with posting it. You and Jule will handle the media. Hansuke, when it’s time, you’ll invite the school to the assembly so everyone can see it.”

Hansuke, normally a social butterfly, is naturally charismatic. It’s so crazy that he could charm anyone. He’s the perfect guy to convince people. Without another second of delay, Hansuke smiles and nods. He waves his manicured hand. “Anything for you, pretty.”

“What about me?” Riko’s voice is quiet. She rubs her arm and stares down at her feet. “Do you trust me too, Riko?”

As far as you know, she is going to counseling with the dog hero and has made some progress. However, there are times when she retreats. Now looks like one of those moments. Sometime later you need to see if she’s doing okay. You want to give her space but not so much she gets lost. You don’t know what he did to her, all you can see are the results of it.

She bites her lip. “I have nothing to do with this project.”

“No, but because of this and their negligence, Mineta harassed you. They only got rid of him when it came to your expense. There has to be rules against what they did and if there isn’t, let the people decide.”

Her eyes peer up at you. They’re glossy and scared. “I trust you.”

“Understand, this will take months for justice. We’re taking this to the top, not the principal, not the teachers. No, we’re taking it up with their boss.”

Jule asks, “Hawks? The commissioner, Hawks?”

“Yep. Going to Nezu does fucking nothing. But Hawks? We need ammo, we need all types of shit. Most of all, I need you to trust me to go in front of this man, the most powerful man in this country with everything I got. It will take months. This isn’t something to just throw at the big guy. No,”

You lean in with the most serious expression. “Even if the project ends before I can begin, I am going to burn this school to the ground.”

“Let’s do this.” Benio smiles and sets Kobeni down on the chair and picks up one of the hero law books.

a/n: the library scene is like Bernadine's from Waiting to Exhale. It fit the moment.

tags:

@js-favnanadoongi , @imas1mpp, @bigchungusdrinksspritecranberry, @luvrluvrr

@moodyhuesworld

#izuku midoriya x reader #midoriya izuku x reader #bnha #mha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha izuku #deku x reader #bnha izuku midoriya #midoriya x reader #deku #bnha deku #izuku midoriya #midoriya izuku #bnha fanfic

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wh0re43van · 11 months ago

Text

Just friends- (Peter Maximoff X Reader)

Summary: While staying with the Maximoff family, you admit your feelings to your best friend, and he doesn’t seem to feel the same until you inform him that you’re going on a date with another guy

Word count: 4K

Warnings: angst, sad Peter, a brief mention of Unsolicited groping

I’m so thankful for the Maximoffs. They’re allowing to stay with them for a couple months after getting kicked out of my parents’ home. I’m rooming with my best friend of four years, and I’ve never been happier. As soon as he heard about my situation, he welcomed me into his home- into his bedroom- with open arms.

“Honey, I’m home,” The goofball announces as he walks into our temporally shared room holding two pizzas, a 2 liter of dr. pepper, a bag of breadsticks with all the fixings, and a rented copy of The Exorcist.

“Wow, what’s the occasion?” I giggle, sitting up in our his bed, setting down the book I had been reading.

With a fwp, he’s turned down the lights, popped the movie in and arranged the food at the foot of the bed before sitting beside me, now in his pajamas.

“It’s a party!” he gives me a cheesy grin, popping open the pizza box and pulling out two slices, handing one to me.

“Oh god, Peter are we really so lame that this is what we consider a party?” I laugh before taking a bite of the greasy pizza, still hot since Peter was able to get it here in less than three seconds.

“This is the best kind of party! Hanging with your best friend, piggin’ out on junk food, and watching a bitchin’ horror movie? What else could a dude ask for?” He says as he stuffs his face, licking his greasy fingers. I cant help but laugh at the man child sitting beside me, even though it hurts my heart a bit knowing that he only considers me his friend. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than grateful for Peter (and his mother) being in my life, but I just always hoped for more. It’s been four years and nothing’s escalated despite my many attempts, so I guess it’s time to accept that. I mean, we’re out of high school now, were adults. If he hasn’t shown interest by now then I guess it’s a lost cause. “Besides,” he smacks his lips, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. “The main thing that makes this a party is the fact that you’re here,” he gives a goofy wink, making my cheeks tint pink- but he doesn’t seem to notice.

“How flattering,” I nudge him playfully before opening the 2 liter, taking a sip out of the bottle then handing it to Peter. He mimics my action, then lets out a loud belch.

‘how in the hell does this man have me absolutely smitten over him,’ think to myself as he shoves an entire breadstick into his mouth.

“Whatever,” he chuckles looking away for a second.

“God damn Peter,” my eyes go wide when I see that he’s already eaten half a large pizza.

“What?” he asks as he holds his head up, his arm extended as he lets the cheese slide off the crust into his mouth. “Gotta fuel my metabolism, these rock hard abs don’t just appear overnight,” he snickers before lifting up his shirt, revealing his toned stomach, then takes another gulp out of the soda bottle.

“I guess your body does look pretty good for someone whose diet is 50% carbs and 50% sugar,” I tease, thanking whatever deity it is above us that the lights are too dim for him to see the blush rushing over my face as I stare at his bare stomach.

“You’d think the chicks would be all over this,” he wiggles his eyebrows before deepthroating another breadstick. “They wouldn’t know charm if it bit ‘em in the ass,” he mumbles through a mouth full of bread as marinara sauce drips down his face. “I mean come on, how do I not get girls?” He snickers as he wipes his grubby hands on his pants. I roll my eyes at the messy boy.

“Peter, I know you very well,” I reach for my second slice of pizza. “The reason you don’t get girls is because you can never tell when they’re flirting with you,” I tease, but meaning every word. He’s the dullest guy ever when it comes to picking up on social cues.

“I know,” he chuckles as he turns to look at me. “Real shame too. Sometimes I realize it after they’ve already walked away. Sucks cause I probably coulda’ lost my V-card by now if I understood the first thing about gals. I really can’t pick up on flirting” he says matter-o-factly as he takes a sip of soda.

“Oh, I know all too well, Peter,” I laugh out, my eyes focused on the tv screen. He gives a soft, almost confused laugh, then he’s silent for a minute before speaking up.

“Wait a minute,” he sits up straight in the bed. “Are you implying that even you’ve flirted with me?” he asks with wide eyes full of skepticism. I take a deep breath, sitting up to be eye level with him.

“Peter,” I start, he’s staring intently at me with his brows threaded in confusion. “The only reason I talked to you for the first time was because I thought you were cute,” I laugh out. How can he be so dense?! He stares at me in bewilderment in silence. I can see the gears turning in his head as he thinks back to our first encounter all those years ago.

“Oh my god!” he comes to the realization. “You were flirting with me that summer day in the arcade?” he asks still shocked. It makes my heart happy that he remembers the first time we met. “How did I not realize. God I’m stupid,” he slaps his palm to his forehead.

“Only took ya four years, Quickie,” I tease before taking a sip of Dr. Pepper. “Wasn’t the very first thing that I ever said to you: ‘You’re really good at that, handsome’?” I say and he repeats the quote with me, smiling and nodding. He remembers it word for word. “Come on man, how did you not know?” I chuckle. His eyes are still full of disbelief.

“I was really focused on the game!” his face turns red as he has another epiphany: “That probably wasn’t the only time, was it?” he asks, rubbing his hand on the back of neck, letting out a small laugh.

“God no,” I chuckle, a bit embarrassed but enjoying reminiscing on our friendship none the less. “Remember, two weeks after that, I invited you out to go roller skating?” I ask.

“Yeah of course, you were wearing that limited edition ‘Eagles’ shirt that you still to this day won’t let me touch,” he laughs. I thought that having this conversation would help me get over him, but hearing how well he remembers all our fondest memories together makes me swoon.

“Well, when I asked you, I meant it as a date,” I admit, watching his face once again fill with bewilderment. “But the whole time you were calling me dude and roughhousing me, I just assumed you either didn’t like me that way or you were to dumb to realize it was a date. Lucky for you, I had a lot of fun and chose to ignore it,” I nudge him playfully. He face palms himself again.

“Y/n, I had no idea. I never in a million years thought a girl as rad as you would be interested in me in that way, so the idea of a date never even crossed my mind,” he flops back on the bed, processing all of this new information. “Wait do you still flirt with me? How oblivious have I been? Oh my god am I still missing stuff?” he shoots back up in the bed once again..

“Peter,” I say flatly. “Just last week I changed right Infront of you. I literally stripped into just my bra and panties right next to the tv when you were playing Space Invaders,” I can’t believe this guy. He blushes thinking back to that moment.

“I thought we were just really comfortable with each other! We change infront of each other all the time,” he chuckles nervously. “I still tried not to look out of respect, but I’d be lying if I say I didn’t sneak a glance or two though,” he admits but looks away, avoiding eye contact.

“It’s alright Peter,” I sigh as I close up the pizza box before laying back to watch the movie. “Once a girl comes along that you’re actually interested in, I’m sure you’ll pick up on her signals,” I say not looking at him, accepting my defeat. He’s quiet for a moment.

“Well, how do I know?” he asks genuinely. I look at him, raising my eyebrow, waiting for him to elaborate. “Like, obviously I know a hot chick when I see one, but how do I know when I’m actually interested. I’m clueless y/n,” he lets out a light laugh after the last part, seeming a bit embarrassed as he intently awaits my answer.

“Well,” I prop myself up on my arm to look at him. “I guess it would have to be more than physical attraction. If you’re genuinely interested, then you’ll want more than her body, but also want more than just her friendship. You’ll want to talk to her, to just be in her presence. You’ll care about what she thinks about you. Stuff like that,” I shrug, not sure how to explain what attraction feels like to someone who claims to have never felt it before. He nods silently, absorbing my words. The fact that he hasn’t laughed in my face yet for admitting to liking him is giving me false hope that he could possibly feel the same way. I need this conversation to end soon.

“So it would have to be someone I can see a future with? Someone that I want to impress? Someone that I genuinely care about? But also someone who’s super smokin’?” he asks, wanting a genuine answer. I smile downwardly.

“You’re getting it now,” I sigh. “I’ll be jealous of whatever girl wins your heart over,” I laugh, holding my breath in anticipation for how he’s going to respond to that, preparing to have my hopes crushed so I can move on.

“Oh don’t worry,” he smirks. Here we go. “I’ll make room for the both of you,” he winks. And there it is. My stomach drops, but it’s out now. Now I know that he’s not interested, I know for sure that I’m going on this date tonight. Part of me hoped that Peter would admit his feelings and I could cancel this stupid date, but I have to get out there. “Oh! No, y/n I didn’t mean-” Peters smile drops, and he reaches for my arm.

“No, I get it. It’s cool, man,” I force a smile, standing from his bed, checking my wristwatch. “I gotta get ready for my date anyway. I didn’t even realize what time it was,” I say honestly as I walk over to my suitcase.

“Woah, what?” he zooms in front of me, blocking my bag. “Date?” he asks, a bit of panic in his voice. I scoff, pushing him to the side.

“Yeah, I went to the arcade yesterday while you were out with your mom, now I have a date,” I smile weakly as I strip, then slip into my dress before I walk over to my mirror that I hung on his wall to fix my makeup.

“No- y/n- i- that’s- who… whos your date with?” his words fall out a stumbled mess as if he can’t sort his thoughts from one another.

“Steve. Ya know, the one from the arcade that’s always trying to beat your high scores,” I explain as I brush my hair.

“Steve!?” He shouts in disbelief. “That asshole? Y/n come on, man!,” he almost sounds angry.

“Yeah?” I shrug as I apply some lip gloss. I see Peter pacing behind me in the reflection of the mirror.

“Steve? Really?” he throws his hands up.

“He’s cute. Plus, you know I have a thing for nerds,” I remind him. His face turns red. Why is he acting like this? He just crushed my dream of being with him and now he wants to act jealous?

“Cute?! You mean you’re not just going to be nice?” He sounds so shocked and almost hurt. I turn around to face him.

“I- of course Peter why would I-,” I’m completely flustered. “No.” I say sternly. “No Peter. You don’t get to do this. You had four years man, and just 15 minutes ago I admitted my feelings for you and you said that you didn’t feel the same,” I’m getting frustrated with him, I can feel my blood pressure raising out of anger and embarrassment.

“But that’s not- I didn’t- no you misunderstood!” he starts to raise his voice, laced with panic. “What if I do have feelings for you?” he asks with pleading eyes.

“Do not do this. Peter please don’t do this to me! You can’t suddenly have feelings for me just because I have a date with you nerd enemy!” I shout as my ears burn red with anger. “Don’t be immature,” I poke my finger to his chest, completely irate. He looks like his mind is running a thousand miles a minute. It takes him a couple seconds to rebuttal.

“No! I never said I don’t have feelings! Y/n I didn’t say that!” he shouts, but his voice isn’t angry, it’s worried as he places a hand on my heated cheek.

“No Peter,” I say calmly even though I’m beyond frustrated as I pull away from his touch. “You’re really hurting me right now. You’re the last guy I ever expected to fuck with my emotions like this,” tears well up in my eyes. I can’t believe what he’s doing. My ego was already bruised when he didn’t respond to my confession and now he’s trying to keep me from a date just because the dude plays video games just as well as him. Peter stares at me, his hand still outstretched in the air where he tried to console me. He doesn’t say anything.

Honk! Honk!

Steves car horn sounds from outside the Maximoff home, beckoning me.

“Please don’t go,” his voice is feeble. “Please just give me some time to think. Just five minutes to figure this out,” he pleads with desperate eyes. I almost give in, but I stay strong.

“Peter, there’s a guy outside this house that already has his feelings sorted. You stay here and figure it out. I’m leaving,” I seethe as I stare at his confused and hurt expression, almost making me apologize, but I’m too hurt and embarrassed. He doesn’t say anything, he just grips his fists so tight that his knuckles turn white, his jaw clenches, and I see that he’s holding back tears. I immediately turn to run up the steps because if I look at him for one more second, I would be holding him in my arms, telling him I’m sorry and letting him cry it out. Not today.

•

After Steve picked me up, we went to dinner, then to the drive-in theatre. I’m having… a decent time. He’s a little boring compared to Peter, no one can make me laugh like he can. I’m also a bit distracted at how I left my best friend. I think I may have been too hard on him. Now that I’ve calmed down, I think he really was just trying to sort things out. I know that Peter isn’t the most emotionally mature and definitely doesn’t have a way with words.

‘oh god, what have I done?’ I think to myself in horror.

“What do you say, huh?” Steves deep voice shakes me out of my thoughts.

“I’m sorry,” I smile sweetly. “What was that?” I bat my lashes at him, hoping he doesn’t notice that I’ve been thinking about another guy the whole time he’s been speaking to me.

“I said: Why don’t we move to back?” he smirks motioning towards his back seat.

“Uh,” I know exactly what he’s alluding to. Do I really want to go down that road? “Yeah, okay,” I smile. I guess I do. We get out of the vehicle and hop into the back. He immediately pulls me into his lap. I’m a bit taken back by his sudden grip on my body.

“You ever been touched by a real man?” he asks as he peppers kisses all over my neck as his cold hands slip under my dress without even asking. I’m shocked, disgusted, and confused.

“I-uh- can you stop please?” I pull arm out of his grip and crawl out of his lap.

“Hey, I paid for your food and your ticket. You owe me!” he shouts, grabbing my arm again. I have so much pent up rage from earlier, I didn’t even realize it when my hand shot out to slap him across the face full force. He looked at me stunned before getting out of his car, opening the door and literally throwing me out. He picks me up by shoulders and tosses me onto the dusty, bare, dirt. He drives away without a single word.

“What the fuck,” I mutter to myself as I stand up, brushing the dirt off myself. A young man from the next car over rushes to the scene, asking if I’m okay. I simply thank him for his concern, then take the walk of shame back to Peters house.

Now I remember why I waited for Peter for so long; He’s the only decent guy I’ve ever met. As if the silent, cold, horrifying walk back to the Maximoff house at midnight wasn’t punishment enough, once I arrive and enter his bedroom, the sight I see makes my heart break completely in two. I feel physical pain when I see Peter.

His room is dark as he’s laid on his couch, curled up In a blanket, staring at the starter screen on his Tank video game on the box Television. The flashing light reflects on his blank face, allowing me to see his bloodshot eyes, red nose, and puffy lips from crying. He hasn’t seemed to notice me enter the room. My own eyes immediately fill up with the tears I was trying so hard to hold back.

“Peter,” I let out a somber whisper. He jumps up, looking at me with wide, puffy eyes.

“Are you crying?” he zooms up to me, grabbing my arm. “Did he hurt you?” he asks, putting a hand on my cheek. How can he still care about my feelings after how I left things?

“I’m okay Peter,” I lean into his touch. “I should have listened to you, though. You were right about him,” my tear stained eyes meet his. His face flushes in anger.

“What did he do to you? Is he still here? I swear I’ll kill the guy!” He raises his voice with every sentence, balling his hands into fists.

“It’s- I, uhm, would rather not talk about it,” I look down avoiding his gaze.

“Y/n, did he hurt you, yes or no? That’s all I need to know,” He gently lifts my chin to meet his gaze again but I close my eyes. I can’t look at him with out the guilt from making him cry making me feel sick.

“…Yes,” I Whisper, not wanting to elaborate. With a fwp Peter’s gone. I hear the front door open, I rush out to the sidewalk.

“Where the fuck is he?” Peter screams in a tone that I rarely hear from him. He turns to look at me, his once sad expression now pure unfiltered anger: A look I’ve never seen on him before. I’m almost scared.

“He’s not here Peter, I had to walk home from the drive in,” I sigh. Peter looks at me as if he doesn’t believe what I’m saying. He kicks the neighbor’s trash can in anger. With a loud clang, the metal bin is sent flying down the street, his foot mark now permanently indented in the can.

‘Steve’s lucky he isn’t here right now. Jesus Christ’ I think to myself.

“Let’s just go inside, please. I need to talk to you,” I say softly as I grab his tensed arm. He looks at me, his expression softening before he allows me to lead him inside.

I bring him in and sit him down on the couch, it’s silent for a few beats, neither one of us want to look at the other one.

“I’m sorry,” we both blurt out at the same time, snapping our heads to look at each other. The awkwardness subsides as we smile at each other. We both try to start our apology at the same time, then erupt into giggles.

“Let me go first,” I put a light hand on Peters knee. He shakes his head ‘no’.

“No. I’m going first. I finally got everything sorted out,” he takes a deep breath. “Y/n, I do have feelings for you and I’m sorry. I’m just a stupid boy that never learned how to process emotions. You’re amazing! You’re my best friend and I feel so horrible that I hurt you. When you were explaining what it felt like to be attracted to someone, you just explained word for word how I feel about you. I was just confused, everything happened so fast, and I honestly thought you were joking with me at first. I’ve always kind of had the hots for you, but I never in a million years thought that you could ever be attracted to me, so I locked those thoughts away. I’m sorry that I couldn’t express this sooner. I’m so so sorry,” he says in a rush of words, I almost have trouble keeping up with the words coming out of his mouth. His big brown puppy eyes scan my face for my reaction. I just smile at him, tears once again swelling in my eyes for about the third time tonight.

“Peter, you’re such a sweet guy,” I grin and his face beams with joy. “I was such an asshole to you earlier… I’m sorry. My ego and my heart were hurt and I should not have taken that out on you. The way that you still cared about me when I got back from that awful date even though I had upset you right before I left just shows how amazing of a person you are. You are the best thing in my life,” a tear rolls down my cheek, Peter quickly wipes it away.

“Hey, come here,” he says softly before pulling me into his chest. As he pulls me into his strong arms, the scent of his cologne and the warmth of his body makes me forget about every problem I’ve ever had. The steady rise and fall of his chest and his fingers running though my hair could put me to sleep in an instant. “I don’t blame you for anything. That situion just unfolded really poorly and we both said some things we shouldn’t have, but that’s over now,” he kisses my forehead as I snuggle further into him.

“Thank you, Peter,” I yawn as I wrap my arms around his torso. He continues brushing his fingers through my hair and tracing mindless designs on my back, I feel myself drifting off to sleep, all the stress I had been feeling now completely subsided. I lay in his arms, wrapped in comfort as if he’s a warm towel straight out of the dryer. I hear him whisper,

“Goodnight, beautiful,” as he clicks off the tv with the remote. A small smile creeps onto my lips as I slip off to sleep.

#evan peters #evan peters smut #ahs cult #ahs hotel #jimmy darling smut #kai anderson #kit walker smut #ahs asylum #ahs fandom #ahs murder house #evan peters x reader #peter maximoff smut #peter maximoff #warren lipka smut #warren lipka #tate langdon smut #tate langdon

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suzukiblu · 11 months ago

Note

currently having EMOTIONS abt your 'Billy adopts kon and it goes p good actually'. Billy's there just like oh man I'm rambling they're gonna think I'm so lame...meanwhile I as a reader (and presumably also Kon and possibly the other characters present??) are actually going 'oh my god. oh my god he's known Kon for like one singular minute and already arranged a flat according to his best predictions of Kon's needs/wants, gave Kon FIRST PICK OF BEDROOM, and has freely offered to learn how to cook AND how to drive for the sole purpose of taking better care of Kon'. like. oh my god. oh my god. Billy is so precious and I want to give him a hug. I hope Kon isn't too overwhelmed or suspicious due to Billy's enthusiasm tho lmao. (pls could there be..more? more Billy adopts kon, if possible?) anyway I love ur writing. thank you. idk how to ask from a sidelong but this is tryingahandinholdingapen btw :D

I gotchu, friend, lol. @tryingahandinholdingapen But yeah I love a good unreliable narrator, one way or the other it's just so fun peppering in all the bits of "the actual situation that the narrator is oblivious to", hahaha.

Rich people are weird, Billy decides, then sets the swiss rolls and zebra cakes and rest of the strawberry shortcakes on the counter in case Kid Flash is still hungry or Superboy wants any of them and closes the pantry. Batman’s just doing his best, he guesses. Though Billy hopes he knows how to coupon, if he’s always buying brand-name.

Well, he’s Batman. It’d be weirder if he didn’t know how to coupon, Billy figures.

It looks like Superboy ate all of his snack cake while Billy and Kid Flash were in the pantry, at least, which Billy hopes means he liked it. He doesn’t know how much real food Superboy’s had, but Batman’d said he should be fine eating solid stuff and not just whatever he’d been getting in his cloning pod. Though Billy’d still asked if they could get some bottled smoothies and protein shakes and stuff like that to keep in the fridge, just in case. He figured those might be easier for him to eat and digest, if it came up. Or like, maybe appeal to him more, if nothing else?

Billy has no idea, honestly, he’s just doing his best here. The wisdom of Solomon is pretty useful but it’s not really, like, that much of a parenting guide.

He is not going to cut Superboy in half. Like, ever. Like he understands the idea of that story but also it is an insane and incredibly freaky story and he is just not invoking it, ever. Just no way.

“If it’s alright, Captain, we should get going. We’ve got a bit of a drive to get home,” Mrs. West says, then sighs as Kid Flash empties the boxes of swiss rolls and zebra cakes in lightning-fast succession, though he leaves the strawberry shortcakes alone. Billy checks in the fridge and offers him a couple of the more filling smoothies–peanut butter and banana should be more filling, anyway, even with a speedster’s appetite. He steals those from convenience stores sometimes, when he can. He can’t be Captain Marvel all the time.

Well–maybe he could, he guesses. But he does miss being himself, sometimes.

“Thanks, man,” Kid Flash says eagerly, then immediately shotguns both smoothies.

“Wally,” Mr. West says in exasperation as Mrs. West sighs again. “Don’t eat Captain Marvel out of house and home.”

“It’s okay, we’ve got lots of food!” Billy promises cheerfully. “I work with Flash, I know how hungry he gets. I bet it’s way worse when you still have growth spurts to get through.”

“It is so much worse,” Kid Flash mutters vehemently, eyeing the empty smoothie bottles in his hands accusingly. Billy gets him another peanut butter banana one on principle. He really doesn’t want Kid Flash to be that hungry. It’s . . . not a good feeling.

“We appreciate it, Captain, really, but we’ve got snacks and a cooler in the car,” Mrs. West says.

“Oh, good,” Billy says, relieved. Mr. and Mrs. West both give him strange, inscrutable looks, then glance back to Superboy. Billy wonders if he likes peanut butter banana smoothies. Though if he liked the snack cakes, there’s strawberry banana ones too, so that might be better? And strawberry kiwi, but that’s probably less filling. “Superboy, do you want a smoothie too?”

“No,” Superboy says. Billy pauses again, then gets him a strawberry banana one and tosses it over. Superboy catches it, eyes it, and then opens it and takes a sip.

Okay, Billy thinks he’s getting the hang of this. But also they should probably talk about how “no” needs to actually mean “no”. Like, for Superboy he’s sure it’s just like that phase when toddlers want to say “no” to everything no matter what, but it’s still important for him to understand. Billy doesn’t want to accidentally upset him or overstep because Superboy doesn’t know how to really say “no” to something.

Yeah, they definitely need to talk about that, he decides.

#tryingahandinholdingapen #wip: billy adopts conner and it actually goes pretty good!#long post

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graysonswonder · 1 year ago

Text

Say My Name

pairing: dick grayson x fem!reader

word count: 1,417

warnings: slight angst if you squint? mentions of sex

summary: where dick is the reader’s ex and they went on a date with Jason that ended rather awkwardly…

minors dni !!

“Go away, Dick!”

Her demand is followed by the harsh slam of her bedroom door, which stops the young man in his tracks. Dick lets out an exasperated sigh before resting his head against the door and giving it three light knocks.

“Y/n—”

He’s cut off by a soft thud from what he can only assume is a pillow that she has thrown at the door. Dick rolls his eyes.

“I said go away. I don’t want to talk about it,” she yells from where she lays in her bed, hoping for it to swallow her whole.

“Y/n, we’re friends. You can talk to me about this.”

But that’s the very thing. She can’t talk to him about this. Or rather she won’t. Having a discussion with her ex boyfriend about her failed date with his brother certainly was not on her bingo card for this year. She’s not at all surprised that he wants to know the details. For her to explain what went wrong. She can practically hear the smug look on his face as he pleas for her to open the door.

She wants to vomit.

“I’m not telling you how my date with Jason went.”

“It’s obvious that you’re upset. If you just—”

Y/n groans loudly over the rest of his words. She’s in no mood to hear them, nor does she want to pretend to be. “Yes, I’m upset. Which is why I’d like for you to drop it, and please leave.”

She doesn’t enjoy being so short with him. He’s right. They are friends. Best friends even. At least they were before they became a couple, and to this day she still feels like Dick’s the only person in the world who truly understands her. Who truly sees her. Faults and all.

It was actually her idea to stay friends after things ended, and even though Dick agreed, she could tell he was still torn up over everything. The split was relatively mutual but completely amicable. There weren’t really any hard feelings. They both had a lot on their plate that seemed to be getting in the way of the two of them moving their relationship forward. Dick had started a new Titans team on top of still being the one trying to hold his family together, and Y/n was starting her doctorate program.

The timing just wasn’t right. And why she decided to go on a date with Jason? She has no idea. Maybe it was a lame attempt at trying to move on and get out there and see other people. Granted, other people probably shouldn’t have been Dick’s brother. Or maybe she was trying to mask residual feelings that she still has.

Either way, it didn’t go well for her.

“I’m fine, Dick. You don’t have to worry about me,” she says after she can still hear him breathing on the other side of her door.

She stares up at her ceiling. She watches as the blades of her ceiling fan spin around and around, and she counts the seconds it takes until Dick says something again.

“Y/n?”

It’s twenty.

“Dick,” she sighs.

“Baby, I—” he begins, but immediately stops as he catches himself calling her the pet name he’d use whenever he was being gentle with her. It still slips out so easily. “Listen, I’m not trying to pry. It’s just…this could be my fault, and I want to explain and apologize.”

Her door suddenly flies open, and she stands right in front of him frowning. “What do you mean this is your fault?”

She studies him for a second, waiting to hear his response. What happened with Jason wasn’t his fault. Not technically anyway, but Dick still doesn’t have any of the blame to shoulder. Still, she’s curious as to what he has to say.

“Well…um…you see…the thing is…”

Oh my god, Richard. Please just spit it out, she thinks.

“I might have intentionally given Jason bad advice to ruin your date.”

Y/n quirks a brow. “Like what?”

Dick’s eyes shift around. “Um, like telling him not to take you anywhere nice because you don’t like fancy places. And I told him to be mean because that turns you on,” he confesses, one hand rubbing the back of his neck. He can barely look at her.

Y/n starts to grin, then she’s tilting her head back and full on laughing. Loudly. Uncontrollably. She’s clutching her stomach while Dick is looking at her like she’s crazy.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to laugh,” she says between hiccups of laughter. “I really don’t. That’s just the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Dick smirks a little too, but conceals his laughter. He shoves his hands in his pockets and waits for her to collect herself. Y/n can tell he’s been beating himself up over that. She doesn’t mean to laugh so crudely in his face, but she does find it cute that he was jealous.

“Dick, Jason took me to that little French restaurant downtown,” she tells him once she catches a breath.

“He did?”

She nods. “Yeah, he did. He wore a suit and everything. He wasn’t mean to me at all either, so it’s safe to say he didn’t take your advice.”

Dick’s brows knit together, and Y/n can see the gears beginning to grind in his head. “So you two had a good time then?” He asks, but Y/n knows that isn’t what he really wants an answer about.

“It went alright until…”

“Until?” Dick coaxes.

Y/n shrugs, leaning her weight against the doorframe. “Until things moved to the bedroom.”

There’s a pinched expression on Dick’s face. It’s clear he wants to ask but also isn’t sure he actually wants to know.

“So—”

“We didn’t have sex,” she quickly tells him, and she visibly sees him relax a little. “We were going to. We probably would have if we hadn’t been making out and he said “Mmm, Y/n” and I said “Mmm, Dick” when I was supposed to say his name.”

Dick’s pupils become the size of the moon. “Wait you what?”

“You heard me.”

Dick starts to smirk, and a part of Y/n wants to slam the door in his face again. “Stop it,” she says.

“Stop what?” He feigns innocence.

“It’s not what you think.”

Actually, it’s probably exactly what he thinks. But she isn’t going to so easily admit that.

“Oh, so what am I supposed to think then? That you obviously aren’t still in love with me?”

She folds her arms across her chest, rolling her eyes at him in the process. “Get out of my apartment, Richard.”

“No, no, no. I’m not leaving until you admit that you’re still in love with me,” he says, mirroring the way she’s standing.

She looks at him. Really looks at him. Allows herself a moment to drink all of him in. There’s something swimming in those gorgeous blue eyes of his as he’s looking right back at her, and she recognizes that it’s hope. He’s hoping that she’ll tell him how she truly feels because maybe then he can finally be happy like he was.

She takes a deep breath. “Isn’t it obvious? In the heat of the moment, I said your name.”

“Uh-uh,” Dick tuts. “I wanna hear you say it.”

She desperately wants to slap that smirk off his face. “Fine,” she huffs, “Dick Grayson, after all these miserable months apart, I am still in love with you.”

“Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear,” he says, before he suddenly walks right past her. He grabs hold of her wrist and leads her back into her bedroom.

“Wait, what are you doing?”

Dick guides the two of them over to her bed where he takes a seat and pulls her onto his lap. She straddles him and wraps her arms around his neck while his hands rest on her waist, giving both sides a subtle squeeze.

He can feel wisps of her breath across his cheeks as he says, “I’m still in love with you too.”

“Okay,” she says, nudging his nose with her own, “but what are you doing?”

Dick then flips the two of them over, catching her by surprise as he leans down to leave a trail of kisses up the side of her neck and jaw. A small moan betrays her mouth, and it’s music to Dick’s ears as he slips a hand under her shirt, his fingers dancing lightly over her soft skin.

God he’s missed her.

“We are getting back together,” he tells her, then leans in close to her ear, “and I am going to make you say my name again.”

#my writing #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson #nightwing #dick grayson fic #nightwing x reader #nightwing fic #dick grayson x y/n #dick grayson imagine

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torialefay · 10 months ago

Text

☀️ Everyday Idol 🌙 (Chapter 5)

✨ possible bangchan x reader (f), possible jungkook x reader (f)

✨ head on over to my masterlist if you haven’t checked out the previous chapters!

✨wc: ~6.6k

✨ friends to lovers? possible love triangle? obsession? angst and future smut??? a little fluff.

✨ summary: JYP Entertainment launches a new show and y/n somehow gets recruited. Even though she doesn’t particularly care about the outcome of the show, she does particularly care about one of the artists she met: Chris from Stray Kids. Does Chris feel the same or will a potential relationship with one of his friends overcome what y/n feels for him?

✨ author’s notes: pls pls pls let me know if you’d prefer shorter, more frequent chapters like this one, OR longer chapters posted about once per week. i’m heavily debating lol

✨ warnings: cursing from time to time.

Previous Chapter Recap:

“No need, I already told him!” Felix winked down at you, nudging his elbow into your side. What the hell?

“Oh really? I didn’t know you two were close like that.” Literally not once had you seen any sign that they’d spoken to each other, let alone were good enough friends to keep in touch about girls they were taking to lunch.

“With Chan-hyung? We’re about as close as two people can get,” he laughed. “No way. I knew all along. And you’re welcome by the way. I may or may not have encouraged it hehe.” You watched as his eyes sparkled while they smiled. It would have been adorable if you had any clue what he was talking about.

All you could do was stare blankly at him. A confused expression must have been on your face long enough for Felix to notice.

“We are talking about Chan-hyung, right?”

“No… I got the flowers from Jungkook,” you said sheepishly.

You could see Felix’s eyes shoot open, going into panic mode. Fight or flight, I guess.

“Wait, are you talking about? OHHH those flowers! The ones from today. Ohhh okay, nevermind. Sorry, I was thinking about something completely different,” he rapidly mumbled out. He looked like he could start sweating at any minute, waiting to get your eye of approval.

‘Okay, so 2 possibilities. #1: Felix needs a lot more sleep. Or #2: Chan was going to give me flowers?!?!’

Note: Character relations you can refer back to if needed.

Y/n- Changbin’s mentee

Anna- best friend, Felix’s mentee

Kara- Seungmin’s mentee

Sunnie- Han’s mentee

Mindi- Hyunjin’s mentee

Nisha- Lee Know’s mentee

Alyssa- Jeongin’s mentee

Jenna- Chan’s mentee

——————————————————————————

Y/N’s POV:

You settled back into your usual sphere of friends in the filming room. Just you, Anna, Kara, and Sunnie. Of course some of the boys jumped in on the discourse.

“Alright Hannie, be honest,” Sunnie questioned, still standing in the group. “Who out of us,” she motioned to the rest of the girls in the group’s circle, “do you think will mess up the most during our shoots?” She put a big grin on her face.

“Uhhh, I mean I think you’ll all do really great to be honest so-“ Han tried, but got cut off.

“Kara obviously,” Seungmin interrupted. “As her mentor, I can confidently say that I have trained her to be a menace.” He was joking, of course but GOD he never looked like it. “Well, not as good as me, but she will learn.”

Kara laughed and fake smacked him on the arm.

“No, but really, be honest. What do we need to worry about? You are literally our mentors so you can’t let us look lame,” Sunnie started again. You knew that Changbin proceeded to give a sarcastic response, but the hint of a figure passing by caught your attention instead.

Chan had arrived. He looked so good, but so out of his normal. You realized then that it wasn’t just Changbin who surprised you, but you’d never seen any of the boys dress up before. You and Changbin looked killer- all black, and honestly kinda sexy. You surprised yourself even.

But not Chan. No, he was in soft colors. Pastels. You didn’t know if you’d ever seen him in something like that- just so NOT like him. You silently wondered if he would come to your group to converse with everyone else. You weren’t sure if you wanted him to or not.

You made sure not to turn your head too far in his direction. You didn’t want him to see you glancing over, but you definitely didn’t want any of your friends in the group to notice you looking either. You tried to focus your eyes back on Han who seemed to be the only one who would give actual advice.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Felix shift slightly, lifting his head up. You saw him look in Chan’s direction, then look down to see if you had noticed. You quickly darted your eyes away. Satisfied that you were paying attention elsewhere, he directed his head toward Chan across the room and open his eyes wide. Somehow he had a look of both questioning and embarrassment on his face. You didn’t dare move to look at Chan’s reactions.

After a minute or two of trying to zone in on Han, you gave up. You shifted your weight and crossed your arms, shrugging your shoulders up and rolling your neck around to “try to get a kink out”… if that meant trying to get a secret look at Chan of course.

You found him in your periphery on the other side of the room. He was standing with Jenna and Alyssa, making small talk or prepping them for the filming, you guessed. You could see Jenna’s almost-matching pastel outfit and it made you want to vomit with how sweet it was. And you’d be lying if you said you weren’t a tiny bit jealous that she was matching so well with Chan. You’d be lying even more if you said it didn’t bother you that he’d momentarily rested his hand on her shoulder while talking with them. You’d be lying even more if you said she was too pretty for him. ‘FML.’

Chan had such a wild smile on his face, staring down with his big dimples. You couldn’t believe he was actually getting along with the both of them. They were literally like talking to a wall… Maybe the wall opens up and changes its appearance a little for a cute guy though.

Damn, if this was the shove you needed to move you in Jungkook’s direction, it was definitely working.

Kara, standing a couple people over from you in the circle, must have noticed Chan coming through in his displaced pastels as well. He was a magnet, what could you say?

You noticed her scoffing over. Everyone else noticed as well.

“Kara, everything okay?” Anna asked, being the last to notice but the first to call her out.

“I was just observing,” she smirked, nodding her head in Chan’s direction. Everyone turned to look as Chan lightly nudged an elbow into Jenna’s side.

‘God, please kill me.’

Sunnie fired back with a smug look. “Oooo so *that’s what Felix was talking aboutttt,” she dragged on.

… The guys, including you and Anna, looked around, staring blankly at each other.

“What do you all know that I don’t?” Seungmin asked, staring down both of the girls.

‘Agreed,’ you thought.

“Did you literally not hear Felix at lunch?” Kara looked up at him. All the Stray Kids members looked confused.

Felix looked defensive all of a sudden. “No, no, no, that’s not what I meant! I was just joking I swear!” He tried to force a laugh. “I swear it was just a joke!”

“Yeah rightttt,” Kara scoffed. “It’s so obvious that she’d be that way. It makes so much sense.”

“Okay, what are you guys talking about?” you finally piped up.

“Seriously, what’s going on?” Changbin backed you up.

Felix looked off, like he would just ignore the question forever. Kara ran her eyes across his face, then rolled them back into her head.

“Oh so NOW you are shy?!” she threw at him. “Well Felix kinda let it slip that Chris was crushing on someone who was already accounted for, but that it would all work out.”

The boys all looked at him, wide-eyed.

“Oh my gosh, that’s not how I meant it! I mean I was just joking around!” Felix plead, acting fake hurt. “Literally we were just talking about who YOU ALL found cute, and then yeah, I said that Chris was wanting someone who was already accounted for but, but-“ he started to fumble his words. “I mean I was just messing around! I meant that Chris was into me, but I’m accounted for of course,” he let out a nervous laugh.

“Accounted for? By who? And your mom doesn’t count.” Seungmin smirked.

“No, with Binnie!” Felix put on a fake pout again, grabbing Changbin by the arm. “And don’t you talk about us that way!” Everyone got to laughing, and I guess Felix’s explanation was good enough to put everyone’s mind at rest.

‘Nice cover, Felix.’

Kara wasn’t completely sold though. She motioned for everyone to scoot in closer before leaned her head down and began to whisper. “Listen, I’m serious though. I don’t mean to step on any toes, I swear I don’t… But the rumor going around really is that Chan’s got his eye on one of the mentees,” she looked up to see everyone’s reaction. “Now, if you guys say that it isn’t true, then it isn’t true, but that’s what’s been going around. AND word on the street is that she is also fucking Jungkook.”

‘GODDAMN IT. I AM NOT FUCKING JUNGKOOK! HOW IN THE HELL DOES ONE DATE EQUATE TO FUCKING THIS MAN?!’

‘And now, if anyone does see us together, I’m royally fucked… May even get kicked off the show for the bad publicity. I’ve got to find a way to shut that shit down.’

You secretly watched Felix’s face drop. In that moment, he had confirmed his previous theory that you had been seeing Jungkook and rejected Chan.

‘Welp, this is awkward.’

“Alright well if someone’s fucking Jungkook, then they’re fucking Jungkook. None of my business. But if Chan was into someone, he would have told us by now,” Changbin chimed in.

Felix looked to the ground.

“I mean maybe... Unless he was embarrassed. Sure doesn’t seem like it now though,” she glanced back over. You let your eyes follow in that direction. Chan was now propped up with one hand against the wall, smiling down towards Jenna with a smirk on his face.

‘I don’t even care,’ you thought.

But you did. You knew you did.

———————————————————————

Felix’s POV:

Filming was about to start. The directors had each of you pair up into your mentor couples and wait for more instructions.

“Hold on, I have to go find Chan real quick!” Felix told Anna.

“Alright, you know where to find me,” she smiled back.

Felix quickly made his way over to where Chan stood. Next to Jenna of course.

“Hey, can you come here for a second? I have a question,” Felix directed toward Chan, offering a polite smile when Jenna looked his way too.

“Yeah sure,” Chan said, letting Felix lead him toward the back of the room away from everyone else.

Chan was totally on edge. Felix could tell.

“What the fuck happened?” Felix questioned.

“What happened with what?” Chan retorted, pretending he didn’t know what Felix was getting at.

Felix just stared at him, rolling his eyes up. Annoyed. He stood there in silence, not letting himself be the one to give in. Finally Chan did.

“Look, I saw her with Jungkook, bro. He gave her flowers and she looked happy. End of story. Nothing else to talk about,” he huffed, ready to walk back. He was holding it back well, but Felix knew him well enough to know he was hurt.

Chan looked down and shook his head, imagining what Felix must be thinking. Felix had encouraged him early on to message you… but he just never did. Not until he was scared someone else was interested in you that is.

“Whatever mate, but just know this whole look-“ Felix pointed a finger, dragging it across the path to Chan and Jenna, “isn’t a cute one. Almost every other contestant has something bad to say about her.”

“Come on man, she’s not that bad.”

“Literally look at her face right now,” Felix motioned over.

A look of pure boredom and disdain was washed over her. She glanced down to her nails, then back up to her surroundings, almost as if she was trying to size anyone and everyone up. She was off on her own, not attempting to strike up a conversation with any of the 40+ people in the room.

“So she has a hard exterior,” Chan tried to cover. “But she’s actually really nice once you start talking to her.”

“Tell me one nice thing she’s had to say.”

“Well she was talking about how excited she was to see me.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“She was also talking about how I looked good in pastels. Told me that they suited me more than black and that I should switch it up.”

“That doesn’t count either. What is ONE nice thing she’s said that wasn’t about you?”

Chan stood for a moment. “Well, I mean,” he grabbed his neck and looked down. “Like I said, she’s a hard one to crack.”

“Do what you want, but going after your own mentee isn’t a good look. I’ll tell you that if no one else will.”

Felix turned to walk away, but spun right back around on his toes. “By the way, someone is now spreading a rumor that whoever you’re into is fucking Jungkook. Just thought you should know before you made anyone look bad.”

With that, he briskly walked off.

—————————————————————

Y/n’s POV:

Shooting actually went really well. Way better than you’d expected. It wasn’t nearly as scary as you thought it’d be, and you think you actually got some great takes.

They had let you talk about medical school, and what it was like to train in today’s world post-COVID. You got to talk about the reason you were interested in medicine in the first place, and how the 7-year-old you would be so proud to see you now, living out your biggest dream. They asked all the right questions, and you gave all the right answers. You were starting to feel hopeful that you could make a connection with the audience of the show.

Of course, all of the scenes with Changbin were perfect too. You silently thanked the heavens that you got paired with the coolest guy to be your mentor. The banter between the two of you was perfect. One moment that specifically stood out was when they shot a scene of Changbin trying to give you tips and that, as his mentee, you were gonna have to be tough and do some of the heavy lifting to make him proud. He made you practice an example, as he bent himself face-down at his hips and pulled on your arms to rotate your body into the air and land on the other side of his.

“See, easy! Now you try,” he had instructed.

And try you did… But FAIL you also did. You tried your best to keep your legs firmly planted on the ground, but with the weight of Binnie directly over top of you, you couldn’t help but fall to the ground, letting him fall along on top of you. Neither of you got hurt, but you both almost died of laughter, holding onto each other on the floor. You laughed so hard you thought you’d cry.

It may have hurt your ego a little, but damn if it wasn’t gonna make for some cute content for the show.

You felt a quiz buzz coming from your pocket. You took it out to check the screen, showing a text from JK. After the date, you had decided that exchanging numbers was way better than having to talk through instagram.

You smiled at how interested he was in your life.

You shoved your phone back in your pocket, warm feeling still coming on.

“Are you coming to the dinner later?” you turned to Changbin.

His eyes lit up. “I mean I hadn’t really planned on it, but are you going?”

“Honestly, I think it’s mandatory for us to go. But I’m excited anyways. Everyone should be there. Have you been to the restaurant?”

“Which one is it?”

“Nine Mile.”

“Damn, that’s a pretty nice restaurant. Especially if the company is paying.”

“Then you’d *better come with me,” you laughed, nodding your head his way.

“Alright, alright. It’s a date,” he smiled. “Only for the food though.”

“Well of course.”

—————————————--

After a quick trip back to the hotel with Anna to freshen up and get caught up on all of the day’s happenings, you felt exhausted. I mean, today was probably the most eventful day of your life. You went on a date with Jungkook, got blown off by Chan and then had to watch him flirt with another girl, and then get through 3-ish hours of filming for a TV show you didn’t even think you belonged on. You really just wanted to lie in bed and talk with Anna, then pass out for the night.

But you couldn’t. The night must go on. You reminded yourself that you should be grateful for every opportunity, no matter how tired you were.

JK had texted you back, letting you know he also had plans for the night, but to have fun at the dinner with Changbin. The emotions you felt were still extremely mixed, but you decided to just take each moment as it came. Otherwise, you’d be too overwhelmed to even think.

Once you had finished freshening up, you and Anna set out to the restaurant in your normal, everyday clothes. You couldn’t lie, being in medical school made you adopt a new sense of fashion. Corporate baddie? You realized this quickly when you came to Korea and saw the street style that most others wore. You and Anna couldn’t help it though- your closet now consistent of only 2 things: (1) scrubs, (2) trendy oversized blazers. Out of the 2 options, the only one you deemed appropriate to bring was the latter.

You didn’t mind standing out a bit though. Some people in Korea even had similar styles, just a bit more muted than the two of you. It was obvious from the looks you got while walking the street- not bad looks, the reverse actually.

You looked down to examine your black heels and matching black oversized blazer. You made sure to pair it with dark jeans and lots of jewelry to set a more casual tone… and also to stop yourself from looking like you could pull out a reflex hammer and give a full-on neurological exam at any moment. But it was night time after all, and it was freezing. You had to cover up as best you could.

You couldn’t lie, you also had to make sure you spritzed on a couple sprays of your favorite sensual perfume. Just for good measure. You never knew who you would see.

There was a reason you and Anna were besties, you thought as you looked to your bestfriend walking next to you. She complimented both you and your style so well. Business casual, but make it hot.

You finally arrived at the restaurant two minutes early. But to your surprise, the huge reserved section in the back was already almost completely full. Everyone was really making sure they were on time, you guessed.

You both meandered your way in, stopping to say “hi” to some of the other new trainees that you recognized. From a distance, Changbin flagged you down. He motioned for you to come to where he was sat.

“I figured you and Anna would come together. I saved you both a seat!,” he said, standing up out of his chair. He grabbed the chair seated next to his and pulled it out for you to sit down.

‘Too sweet,’ you thought as you took your place. “Thanks Binnie!”

The other seat next to you was presumably for Anna, so you waited for Changbin to pass you and pull it out for her as well.

“Anna,” he caught her attention, instead turning the other way to take his seat. “That seat is for you!,” he smiled, pointing down to it.

It was hard to hear with the loud noises coming from the crowd around you, but she understood what he was saying and took her spot.

Sitting in front of you were a few other trainees that you had met a couple of times before. Both girls and guys- all super nice. You exchanged formal “hello’s” and “how are you doing?”.

You scanned the room to look for the other boys, but only Felix was in sight, standing far in the other corner of the room and talking with some of the new male trainees.

“Binnie, did none of the kids come except Felix?” you looked at him.

“Nah, they were all working on stuff. But don’t worry, I’ll always make time for you!” He spread a loving smile across his face.

You couldn’t believe you were so lucky to get Changbin as your mentor. Hardly any of the mentors were here. You had made sure to carefully check for any sight of Chris, but to your relief, he was nowhere to be found.

———————————————

The rest of the night was filled with plenty of amazing food, fun conversations, and new deep connections made with other contestants.

But if you were being honest, you definitely knew you had a few too many drinks. You were feeling good, yes. But almost past the point of feeling good. You could feel your stomach start to get the tiniest bit queasy and the world around you started to blur the tiniest bit. Your head felt like it was floating.

‘Okay y/n, you are cut off,’ the last ounce of soberness in your brain thought. But that is where the final sober thought ended.

“Binnie, can I be honest?” you leaned into him, almost letting your face touch his chest.

He looked down at you with big eyes. “Of course, what’s up?”

“I’m just…” you trailed off, beginning to look at his lips and then back up to his face. “I’m just really happy you’re here with me.” You smiled.

“I’m happy too. Thank you for inviting me to come.”

“Well you are always invited to come anywhere with me. I want you to know that.”

He blushed.

That should have been your signal. That should have been your warning to stop yourself. In your drunken state, you couldn’t sense that your words would come across as flirty. You didn’t mean it in that way- not in the slightest. You just wanted to express your love and appreciation to your friend. It was innocent, honestly. But Bin couldn’t tell that.

“You’re so sweet, y/n.” He leaned down further into you until his lips were hovering just above your head. “And if I’m honest, I’m really glad that I’m getting to know you better.” He let out a soft smile.

You went in for a hug, burying your face into his chest in the process. His chest was so strong and warm. “I needed to hear that… I wish everyone else felt the same,” you accidentally let slip out. Again, you didn’t even realize what you were saying. You were too far gone and you needed to go home.

“Like who? Is anyone giving you a hard time?” Changbin asked.

“No, it’s- well maybe. I don’t know. It’s nothing…” you paused. “Binnie, I think I’ve done all I can do tonight,” you accidentally leaned over into him. “I think I need to go home.”

“Yeah of course. Stay here for just a second. Let me get Anna.”

He gently got up from his chair, so as not to startle you too much, and walked a few steps toward Anna who had moved into a group of people who were stood chit-chatting.

He returned to you a few seconds later. “Anna is going to stay around for a while. Is it okay if I walk you to your hotel?” He reached his hand out for you to take it.

You happily obliged, using his hand to lift up all your weight in your stupor state. You felt a little unbalanced, but nothing that you couldn’t manage. Nothing that you couldn’t walk off on the way back to the hotel anyway.

Bin swiftly moved behind you, using one arm to stabilize around your waist and the other to reach out in front of you to continue to give your hand the needed stability. This way, he could see you right in front of him as you walked and make sure you didn’t trip over.

You both took slow steps toward the exit, breezily waving goodbye on your way out.

Your eyes caught Felix’s on your way out. You tried to wave, just a simple acknowledgment.

You may have been drunk, but not drunk enough to make out the the panic on Felix’s face. You couldn’t ponder on it for too long though, as a slight step up past the doorframe caught your foot.

You felt yourself lose balance, about to topple over, but Changbin felt your change in positioning and clung onto your tighter. As suddenly as you felt yourself begin to fall, you felt yourself stay stationary in the air.

“Ahhh,” you mumbled.

“Alright, come on. Up, up, up,” Changbin said lowly while pulling your body back to standing.

You giggled once he got you up. “I didn’t know you were that strong!” you said, excitedly, as you collected yourself enough to step forward again and out of the restaurant.

He moved his arm now to link up with yours. “This is why I train up! So I can catch you apparently,” he laughed.

You let out a giggle as you stepped into the cold wind. It caught you off guard, not remembering how cold it had been when you’d arrived. One more step and one huge gust of wind almost knocked you off balance again. You felt your leg start to teeter.

“Woah, woah!” Changbin laughed, catching your body from the side this time. “Be careful or you’re gonna take us both down!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at how ridiculous this was. Was it funny because of the alcohol? Absolutely. Without it, you’d be humiliated beyond belief. But now, you were more amused than you had been in the last week. You couldn’t stop giggling, cueing Changbin to start chuckling back at you.

“Come on, let’s get you home,” he said, once you stabilized.

“Okay, okay,” you took a deep breath in and then snapped your fingers. “I’m good. I’m good! Okay, I’ve got this. Let’s go,” you smiled.

He roped his arm back around yours to give you an anchor as you both walked, now both stepping out past the side of the restaurant, no worries in the world.

——————————————————————

Chan’s POV:

He sat on the couch of his studio for a moment, taking in his surroundings.

He didn’t know why he’d done it. He didn’t know why he’d done any of this. Why he canceled on you, why he brushed you off when you clearly wanted to speak with him, why he tried to make you jealous earlier.

After all, Felix told him that you had something with Jungkook. What did he expect? That it was just a rumor? That if he texted you right then, any plans you had with JK would just magically disappear?

Did he expect you to just drop everything and fall in love with him?

The only reason he got the balls to message you in the first place was because Felix told him you were going to see someone else. So why was he backing out now?

He guessed the stress of ACTUALLY seeing the two of you together- physically present in front of him- set him off. He didn’t even want to think about you being that close to another man, let alone see it.

It should have been him doing that with you. But, like always, he blew his own fucking chance.

He freaked out. He shut himself down and shut you out. He wanted to make you feel the same way he felt seeing you with someone else.

He sat and pondered for a moment.

‘It’s all in your head anyways, Chris. She’s not jealous over what you’re doing. She probably hasn’t even thought twice about you since. All you’re doing is making yourself look like a dick who goes after their own mentee…’

‘And Felix is right, it’s not a good look. Jenna objectively sucks. You don’t want to be associated with that. Hell, the conversations you had today were bone dry. You still have to support her, but from a distance will be fine.’

‘It’s just… ahhh,’ he threw his elbows down to rest over his knees, bringing his head down to his hands and letting them trace through his hair. He started pulling harshly at the strands of hair sliding through his fingers.

‘Why is it so fucking hard for you? Why can’t you just forget about her? You’re not going to, are you?’

‘But it doesn’t matter, you’re too much of a pussy to do anything anyways. You had her literally coming to your studio, and then you backed out like a fucking coward because of what? Because you saw someone else has a crush on her?’

‘Damn right Jungkook has a crush on her- he’d be crazy not to. But she only likes him because she doesn’t know how good YOU could be to her. You haven’t said or done shit!’

‘So why in the fuck are you sitting here moping, when you could actually apologize for being shitty and weird? You’re literally gonna just watch and do nothing and hope that nothing comes of this so you can have your chance?’

‘No, you’ve got to talk to her. So what, she’s been on a date or two with JK? It’s not like they were official or anything- if they were, you would have definitely heard about it.’

‘She could be way more into you than she is into him if you just TRY. Just do it. COME ON.’

Chris jumped up off the couch. This was probably the best timing he was going to get, and it was now or never. He had already checked with Felix, so what was he waiting for?

He looked at his reflection in the camera app on his phone.

He’d looked worse, he thought. He was just grateful to be changed out of those god-awful pastels.

He threw his black fluffy jacket on and grabbed the flowers he had purchased for you this morning, silently thanking himself that he didn’t throw them away earlier in a jealous rage.

Heading out of the company building, he kept the pep talk going in his mind as he quickly dashed toward the Nine Mile restaurant. He silently thanked god that it was only a few minutes away.

‘You’ve got this, Chris.’

‘It’s nothing, it’s nothing! It’s literally nothing.’

‘All you have to say is what you feel. It’s that simple. You want to get to know her more and you’d like to see her sometime, not at the company.’

‘She doesn’t have to know everything else. She doesn’t have to know you saw her earlier. She doesn’t have to know that’s why you canceled on her.’

‘But damn you may have some explaining to do if she brings something up about you and Jenna.’

‘No, she probably didn’t even notice or care.’

‘All you can do is lay it out on the table. If she doesn’t want you, then she doesn’t want you. But at least you can say you tried. You can live with no regrets.’

‘Come on, don’t back out. You can do this. You can do this,’ he repeated to himself as he saw the glow of the restaurant’s sign quickly approaching.

He quickly looked down to check his phone and get the time. He was hoping you hadn’t left yet by the time he got there.

As he went to put the phone away, he heard a familiar voice.

“Chan! Hey, what are you doing?”

Fuck. It couldn’t be.

The voice was recognizable, but the outline, not so much. All black outfit with a black mask. If Chan hadn’t heard him speak, he’d have no clue it was Jungkook. He was just standing there, leaning against the wall of the business directly next to the restaurant. It was a little ominous really, hidden away in the shadow of a street sign- the light of the moon not even able to hit him.

“Hey man, what’s up?” Chan tried to play it off like he wasn’t internally freaking out.

“Ah, I was just about to meet a friend. What about you? Are you headed to the JYP party in there?” He motioned to the restaurant.

‘Okay great, so he’s here to meet a “friend” and just so happened to know that YOU would be here… a SECOND date with him in one goddamn day?!’

Chris got extremely flustered. All of the confidence he once held was now leaving his body entirely.

Did he want to be brave? Yes.

Did he want to prove that he could be better for you? Yes.

Did he idealize in his head how this night was going to go and now that’s all going to shit? Yes.

Chan was officially in panic mode.

“Ah you know what, I was going to head in for a bit, but damn, you just reminded me! I ran off and left my wallet. I’m gonna have to go find it before someone else does. Ah fuck,” he lied through his teeth.

“I’m sorry man, that’s the worst! Do you need me to hold your stuff for you til you get back?” JK said, looking down to the flowers in Chan’s hands.

“Oh these? Yeah, it’s a ... friend’s birthday! So I had picked these up. But uhm… Actually, if you want them you can have them! By the time I walk back and turn everything upside down to find my wallet, I don’t know that I’ll actually make it back here. The flowers are probably gonna die tonight without water anyway, so I’ll have to buy another batch tomorrow. Please feel free to take them off my hands if you think you or someone else could use them. Seriously."

Chris didn’t really know why he said this. He didn’t know why he had lied about so much. He owed NOTHING to JK. Were they friends? Sure, but not close enough to feel bad about liking the same person.

He just needed to be out of this moment quick.

There he was again- a coward. Running away from his feelings, he knew. He knew he was ruining it yet again. But he couldn’t confront this reality. Not now. Not so openly and in front of everyone. He needed to get out fast.

“I mean sure man, I’ll take them if you don’t want them. I’ll find someone to give them to at least,” JK smiled down and took the bouquet into his hands. “Be careful going back in this cold! It’s getting ridiculous.”

All of a sudden, Chan heard it. It was unmistakable. His favorite sound in the world. Your laugh was coming closer.

He looked off a few yards away to see you stumbling out of the restaurant, holding tightly to Changbin.

In that moment, he was cursing his luck that Changbin got to have you as a mentee instead of him.

He knew you'd be searching for Jungkook at any moment. He needed to get out fast.

“Yeah, you too man. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

Chan turned on his heels with his head down and sped away. He didn't dare look back for fear of what he might see. He knew he couldn't take it again.

In that moment, he was thankful for the strong wind chill hitting his face, drying out the singular tear rolling down his cheek.

At least he knew his flowers would get to you somehow.

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

Y/n's POV:

You held on to Binnie for dear life, making small strides so as not to lose the little bit of balance you had.

"I've still got to have a mentee for the show, so we have to get you back in one piece! If not, I'll kill you," Changbin said, letting out a chuckle.

In your drunken state, it made you cackle.

"You couldn't kill anyone Binnnnnnieee. You're too sweet," you smiled and booped him on the nose. You felt yourself lose your footing the slightest bit, but quickly moved your hand back to your side to stabilize.

"I'm sweet, but that doesn't mean I couldn't crush you in two seconds," he teased. "One squeeze while I've got you in a headlock and you're a goner."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try!" you challenged him, stopping mid-stride and taking one step back.

"Oh you're on!" he made quick work to pull your arm around to your side, moving your whole body along with it until you were turned away from him. One swift movement had his bicep around the side of your neck, arm extended around the other half, until his hand reached your opposite shoulder.

Suddenly, you felt yourself working harder to breathe.

He took his other hand and harshly rubbed it as fast as he could on the top of your head. "Noogies just for good measure!" he yelled.

"Okay, OKAY, you win! I give up!" you choked out as best as your could.

Suddenly, he released the pressure off of your neck and you took a deep breath in, your red face trying to tame itself.

As you panted, Changbin teased you. "So what were you saying about me not being able to absolutely destroy you?"

You playfully, lightly shoved into him. "Shut up. Knowing that, I don't know if I want you to walk me back now! Wouldn't want to risk anything, ya know?"

"I promise to not use my skills anymore tonight. Deal?" he laughed and held his extended arm out for you to loop your own into.

"Deal," you smiled and wrapped your arm around his, starting back on the journey to your original destination.

As you went to turn your head, you noticed something in the corner of your eye. A dark figure gently shifted in the shadow behind the restaurant. Fully black clothed, mask on his face. But the shoes- the shoes were a dead giveaway.

'Aren't those the shoes Jungkook was wearing earlier?'

You'd never forget them. Black, but with golden laces and a bit of golden detailing on the slight platform. You'd made a mental note earlier of how nice they were. You could barely make them out in the darkness, but there was no mistaking that they were the same pair.

You were looking back now, trying to make full eye contact. Why wasn't he coming to say hi to you?

His body shifted back further into the unlit cove.

An overwhelming feeling of uneasiness washed over you. You snapped your head back around to the front, focusing now on your walking. You started to pick up the pace as best you could.

"Woahhh, you okay?" Changbin said, noticing the shift.

You honestly didn't know.

'Why would Jungkook be here? Let alone be lurking in the shadows instead of coming to talk to you?'

'He knew you'd be here,' you told yourself. 'And he knew you'd be here with Bin. Is that what this is about? He's jealous already? Jealous enough to freaking follow you around all night? How could he not "trust you" if you weren't even together?'

You felt your heart begin to race inside your chest. Looking down at the ground, you whispered, "Binnie... I may be paranoid but think I might be getting followed."

Your strides were even wider now, as Changbin tried to follow suit.

"Why? Did you see something?!"

"There's this guy I know standing back there at the corner of the building where it was totally dark. I told him earlier that I'd be here with you. He didn't even acknowledge that I was here. Please just get me home!"

You both started moving as quickly as you could toward the end of the street, rounding a corner. You looked back to see if Jungkook was still in site. You didn't see anything, but that didn't mean he wasn't still following.

Changbin flagged down a cab and pushed the both of you inside.

"The JYP Building, please. Quickly." he instructed the cab driver.

"That's the opposite direction of my hotel! Here, it's actually-" you tried to chime in until Changbin cut you off.

"If someone is following you, do you really want them to know which direction to take for your hotel?"

'Good point.'

"JYP Building please!" you yelled toward the cab driver. You clung tight to Changbin's arm, swerving your head frantically to get a view through all of the windows.

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

✨ Continue to ➡️ Chapter 6

✨If you enjoyed, please consider liking, commenting, and/or re-blogging <3

✨author's note: i know the past few chapters have been a bit tough, but i promise the next chapter starts to look up :)

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1starqi · 6 months ago

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Over The Moon

(Part 1: Chicken Scratch) (Part 2: Call On Silent) (Part 3: Easy Talking) (Part 5: No Messing Up) (Part 6: Can We Talk?) (Part 7: Goldilocks)

genre: fluff, college!au

pairing: student!mark x student!m/c ft. haechan

summary: you confer with your friends after your date

wc: ~700

note: your friends still aren't real people. i had a lot of fun writing this one, her friends remind me of mine in some instances which is fun to write. the flowers thing where he asks is also something my bf did which was cute to include

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

“I think I bombed my final, guys." Yunseul announces to your group of three.

“Seriously, what even was the final question? Prof. Park did not prepare us for that at all.” Euna says. You’re lucky, your final was three weeks ago—but the English Department’s was this week, hence why this was your first real hangout in over a month. ‘Ugh, I really can’t think about this right now.” Euna draws you back to reality. You’re on a snack run, walking to the closest convenience store on the brick-paved sidewalk.

The chiming above the door issues your entrance. “On other things…” Euna drags out her words and you feel the soft cotton of her sleeve knock into your arm as she leans into you. She looks expectant, and so does Yunseul.

You already know what they want, “Nothing crazy happened.” You giggle. God, that was so lame, you think. You giggled. You know in the back of your mind that you’re going to tell them every detail as soon as you get back to your dorm.

“Come on, you can't tell us anything?” Yunseul pouts.

“I’ll tell you as soon as we get home, okay?” You can't stop the smile from spreading on your face. You’ve learned your lesson of gossiping in public.

“But it’s Mark! Obviously, we have to know. You can say something here if it’s not too crazy.” Euna adds. She’s dating Haechan, who’s friends with Mark. Since they’re on the same dance team, Euna figures that Haechan would know something and, because it is considered her best friend, would get told.

“It’s not that big a deal! We went on one date.” You cave, you’ve been seeking an opportunity to pour your heart out to them—and there’s almost no one in the convenience store, certainly no one your age. The soles of your shoes stick to the floor of the store as you walk.

“But he brought you flowers! That’s kind of a big deal. Do you think he knew tulips are your favorite?” Yunseul asks. These are all of the same questions you are asking. Something catches your eye in the store: the flower arrangements. Something about them makes you think about your date and it makes you giddy.

“Actually…” Euna pipes up to your right, “He asked me what flowers she likes.”

“And you didn’t tell us?!” Yunseul exclaims as she grabs a lemon-lime soda from the wall of big metal fridges.

“What?!” You and her are shocked in tandem.

“He did his research, I guess?” Euna says as if it doesn’t make your heart race that he cared enough, even before knowing you. You’re impressed.

“I’m jealous,” Yunseul complains and grabs a stack of Reeses—her favorite. As you approach the register you take stock of your purchase: junk food and some strawberries. The middle-aged cashier rings you up.

—

“Okay. Now, tell us everything. No skipping details.” Yunseul is propped up on Euna’s bed, kicking her feet in her pink flowered slippers absentmindedly. Euna is on the desk chair, her hand stuck in a can of sour cream-flavored Pringles.

“He was just easy to talk to, you know? I was like, staring off into the distance and he caught me, but it wasn’t awkward at all. I still can’t believe he called me! Oh, I didn’t tell you guys this, did I?” You ramble, and they’re looking at you expectantly. “He called me during Prof. Im’s class. I faked going to the bathroom to listen to the voicemail, and that’s how he asked me out.”

Ding, ding, ding ding ding. You’re interrupted by Euna’s phone steadily pinging. “It’s Haechan. Oh my gosh, Sora.” She puts a hand to her mouth in surprise. Her eyes slowly meet with yours and you see her smile. She puts the screen of her pink-cased phone in your face and scrolls through a series of texts, going too fast for you to read anything. “It’s Haechan! He’s telling me that Mark is over the moon about your date.”

“Seriously?” You feel the bubble of happiness swelling in your chest.

“Yeah, he was at practice telling Haechan about it, he’s nervous to text you.” Euna’s beaming at you, urging you to say something.

“I’ll text him when he’s done with practice. When is that, by the way?” You figured Euna would know because of Haechan and Mark’s shared schedule.

“17:00.”

#mark lee #mark lee fluff #mark lee x you #haechan feature #haechan #kpop fic #kpop fluff #nct #nct dream #ff #nct u fluff #nct 127 fluff #nct dream fluff #mark is a sweetie here #qiqi writes

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neros-very-first-fiddle · 1 month ago

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BEE’S TOP 20 BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER EPISODES EVER:

20. S4 E1, The Freshman

Sunday and her gang are just so much fun to watch. I wish there were more fun vampire stoner-types in the show. I love the whole college allegory with Giles leaving Buffy to figure things out on her own. especially showing how she goes from being scared to realizing she does actually have the power to survive without an adult watching over her. Also I think about the klimt poster game every time I see a college dorm now.

19. S1 E9, The Puppet Show

The first (and only?) Buffy episode to ever genuinely scare me. I watched it late at night, alone in my room in the dark when no one else was awake. I don’t fuck with doll horror movies. The puppet skittering about Buffy’s room made me tremble. Also I just love anything theatre related and watching Giles very poorly do a magic circle was fun. And! Framing Snyder as a villain was such a good choice. And I think about him saying “I don’t get it” at the end of the ep a lot. Just really fun in general.

18. S1 E12, Prophecy Girl

“I may be dead, but I’m still pretty.” Her outfit is iconic. Her reaction to finding out she’s going to die is heartbreaking and realistic. I love that Xander is the one to revive her, forever cementing him as one of Buffy’s best friends and a crucial part of the gang.

17. S3 E20, The Prom

The class protector award will always make me tear up, like fuck. people in a town that actively ignores the horrors acknowledged that Buffy was keeping them safe from the horrors. she deserved that moment so much.

16. S3 E13, The Zeppo

I am a Xander apologist and I’m not afraid to say it. This episode is so fucking funny. I love getting to see what goes on in the background of every Buffy episode. I think it adds so much more to Xander’s character to know that he gets left out of the main plot and has his own wacky adventures that he doesn’t talk or brag about. He is the epitome of Just A Guy. He knows he isn’t like Buffy and the rest of the scoobies, but he also knows he can be just as brave as them. The moment where he’s in the basement and smiling about the bomb about to go off, “I like the quiet,” shakes me so much. Iconic.

15. S2 E6, Halloween

Ethan Rayne’s first appearance! I love how kitschy it feels. willow’s costume is gorgeous.

14. S6 E16, Hell’s Bells

Jesus fucking christ. The portrayal of dysfunctional families is just spot on. Anya looks stunning the entire time. Xander choosing to walk out because he loves Anya too much to even risk following in his family’s footsteps and abusing her is so heartbreakingly real. Is Xander in the wrong for ever letting their relationship get this far when he had doubts? ABSOLUTELY. Also the scene when Anya walks down the aisle crying makes me want to sob, it’s such a perfect shot. Ughh

13. S6 E8, Tabula Rasa

fun amnesia episode! I love seeing what’s inside the characters when they don’t remember anything about themselves. the loan shark bit is so stupid and funny. Giles and Spike having a father/son relationship is perfect. “RANDY GILES??!?? might as well call me desperate for a shag Giles.” also “a vampire with a soul? God, how lame is that?”

12. S4 E12, A New Man

This was the first Buffy episode I ever saw! Caught it on tv and fell in love. I remember watching willow and tara float the rose and thinking “gay.” Then I saw Giles and ethan laugh together over drinks after he, like pinned Ethan down in a crypt and I thought “gay.” And you know what, I was right on both fronts. Also spike crashing the car is so funny.

11. S2 E7, Lie To Me

Everyone talks about wanting to see more of ford, and we get to see more of the main girl, but all I want is Diego/marvin content. I love his stupid sparkly blue cape. I also love how Buffy reacts to finding out ford has cancer; “I’ll kill you myself.” Being in a horrible situation doesn’t excuse the horrible crime you’re about to commit! He’s just a very well written character

10. S7 E15, Get It Done

After watching this, I had to lie down for a moment because it was so much and I cried (which I rarely do with tv shows). The origins of the slayer just fucking wrecked me. The first slayer was just a girl who was violated and used.

9. S2 E22, Becoming pt. 2

Genuinely just one of the best season finales of all time. They perfectly took away everything Buffy had and brought her to the point of no return. The part when Angel asks her “what’s left?” before attempting to stab her with the sword, but Buffy shuts her eyes and perfectly catches it and says “me” is the most breathtaking, iconic scene ever. Gut wrenching and absolutely devastating.

8. S7 E7, Conversations With Dead People

Willow’s conversation with Cassie is so jarring. Buffy’s conversation is so so great and fun. Also “mommy’s milk is red today” is such an INSANE thing to write.

7. S2 E19, I Only Have Eyes For You

I love the concept that a haunting is just a house re-enacting a terrible night over and over again to try and understand what happened to it. This is extremely similar. Just a guy replaying his greatest and final mistake in an attempt to gain forgiveness, to somehow make everything turn out all right because he can’t live or die with that guilt. And the connection to Buffy and Angel’s relationship is just the cherry on top.

6. S2 E17, Passion

I’m a sucker for Angel’s monologue in this one. The scene where he kills Jenny is just, so. Her death perfectly shows how serious things have gotten. All the fun and games are over. Having Giles find her in his bed is absolutely sickening, but I love how they set up the fact that Giles has never seen Angel’s letters until then, he isn’t aware that’s the paper and handwriting from Angel and not Jenny. Also the shot where Willow and Buffy find out that she’s dead is great. I love that we see it from outside the house, looking in.

5. S4 E10, Hush

Astonishing that one of the greatest episodes has extremely little dialogue. the end from Riley’s perspective is just that his girlfriend screamed and the heads of these demons exploded… did he think she had like a banshee scream ability?? I would’ve. Giles’ drawings are so fun

4. S5 E7, Fool for Love

“I’ve always been bad” -jump cut to spike writing bad poetry. I love the little detail that Halfrek was the girl who turned down spike in 1880. The entire subway scene is perfect. Every slayer has a death wish. Buffy saying “you’re beneath me” is so perfectly cruel, and throwing the money is too. the end with spike going to kill Buffy then seeing her upset and comforting her is just a perfect picture of their entire relationship.

3. S4 E22, Restless

“Props?” “No.” “Props?” “YES!” Death of a salesman should have a cowboy in it, actually. Spike selling himself out as an attraction is so believable. like yeah, he would love to be photographed all the time by admirers.

2. S5 E16, The Body

One of the best portrayals of grief I’ve ever seen.

1. S6 E7, Once More With Feeling

Duh. I rewatch this episode A LOT. Anya and Xander’s song gets stuck in my head pretty regularly. I listen to the music on spotify. Hinton Battle kills. I recently watched this with my friend who does ballet and she said Dawn’s dance was really good! BROADWAY LEGEND HINTON BATTLE!!! Spike and Buffy’s kiss at the end is so perfectly built up and executed. Just an absolute masterpiece.

#add chosen somewhere in here #that ep gives me chills every time #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer

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endgamelukola · 2 months ago

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thoughts on the shape of things (2023)

But first, a quote from Luke Newton's Vanity Fair interview (2024)

When discussing the ways art imitated life, Newton resists the urge to navel-gaze. “There are always weird things that kind of seep in, and I hate that it does, because it sounds just a bit lame,” he says with a sheepish smile. “It just sounds like an actor-y thing to say, but he came back with a sense of confidence and swagger, and I started to feel more confident in myself.”

“The flip side of that,” he says, “is that I then did a play immediately afterwards”—Neil LaBute’s The Shape of Things in London—“and played a really insecure, nerdy library guard. Immediately, that started trickling into my day-to-day life, and I was tripping over things and being awkward when I saw friends. And I was like, ‘God, what’s going on?’ So I need to learn to get better at the detachment there. But it’s also what I love about the job.”

TSOT spoilers below:

In The Shape of Things, Luke Newton plays Adam, a library guard who struggles with his confidence and self-image. One evening, while working a shift at the museum, he meets Evelyn, whom he asks out and with whom he enters a relationship. Evelyn's influence in Adam's life sees him alter his appearance and the way he approaches the world, only with the revelation at the end that Evelyn manipulated Adam for her senior thesis project.

As she explains her thesis project to a crowd of attendees, with Adam in the audience, Evelyn says:

"This was a simple matter of 'Can I instill X amount of change in this creature using only manipulation as my palette knife?' I made sure that nothing was ever forced during our sessions or 'sittings' together. [...] the illusion of 'dating' was imperative and that his free will was always at the forefront of each decision. I coaxed. I made suggestions. I created the illusion of interest and desire, but I never said, 'You must do this.'"

"I found that with the right coaxing of my materials, [...] I was able to hone the inside of my sculpture as well as the surface. I found myself suddenly creating strong moral ambiguity where I had detected the slightest traces before, often...in direct proportion to the amount of external change. This means, as my subject became handsome and firmer and more confident, his actions became more and more questionable. [...] He also started to deceive his friends and myself with greater abandon during this period whilst showing increased interest in other women. Indeed, he had relations with his best friend's fiance and continues to harbor details about the incident from us to this day. Moreover, he was willing to give up those friends when asked, walk away without any further explanation, leading me to an assumption of further wrongdoing with the young woman in question. And, as stated earlier, these universal corrections culminated in an offer of marriage to me. [...] He has then, as I see it, been utterly and totally refashioned as a person. And yet, open any fashion magazine, turn on any television, and the world will you tell you that he's only gotten more interesting, more desirable, more normal. In a word, better.

He is a living, breathing example of our obsession with the surface of things, the shape of them."

Aside from the obvious Biblical allegory going on in the play that I'm still personally chewing on, I think there's a lot to be said here about the Lukola fandom, its percentage of female members, and their perception of Luke Newton as a person offscreen and outside of the Bridgerton sphere.

There's some really interesting parallels here to the way female fans critique Luke for his actions after altering his appearance, as if, with a slimmer body and higher profile, he's suddenly gaining attention of women they don't want to see him with and that makes him a bad guy. But is he, really? Since none of us truly know Luke as an individual, the projection of who the fandom thinks Luke is is a look inside the female mind, in my opinion.

It's all just really fascinating to me.

#luke newton #the shape of things

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2braincellslz · 2 years ago

Note

Hello! Here are some ideas for requests:

- Bucky Barnes with male reader where reader lost his voice after a traumatic event, they both live together to help each other come but one day Bucky has a brutal breakdown or a nightmare, reader tries to calm him/wake him up but nothing works, so he tries to say Bucky's name and that's the only sound that forces Bucky to open his teary eyes.

- Jason Voorhees and male reader where they have this soft moment, Jason still feels a bit weird around reader, because he thinks he's with him bc of fear, pity or Stockholm syndrome, that he's a monster and monster can't be loved by a human and vice versa, reader notices it and does the "I look at you and I see two eyes, like mine, two ears, also like mine, *boop* a nose which I also have, one mouth, here and here as well, and what else, hmmm, two hands *puts their hands against each other and see the huge size difference*, two legs, Jason is still feeling off and reader takes his hand and places it on Jason's chest "One heart. A heart that beats for me and..." *hugs Jason while standing so Jason could hear his heartbeat* "...same heart as yours, that's beating for you".

- Billy Hargrove and male reader where reader gives Billy a necklace for Christmas (reader was on vacation in California and found a sea shell with pearl) and says "One day, you'll find one there for me as well".

Sorry for such lame ideas, you can delete them if you want, totally ok with that. It's also a mess...😬

Anyway hope you'll have a good day/night. 💕

Better Late Then Never

Ship: Billy Hargrove x Male!YN

Notes: probably not my best but whatever lmao.

Billy's birthday had come and gone. He had thrown a big party at one of his friends' houses. The cops were called. It wasn't an awful birthday, like some of the other ones, but it could have been better. It could have been a lot better. Better how? Well, for starters, his boyfriend could have been there.

It wasn't YNs fault, really. His parents had surprised him with a trip not too long ago. They couldn't blame YN parents either. They don't know when Billy's birthday was and they didn't know that it would be important for YN to be there. It was just on a big quicadince.

But that wasn't even the worst part of it all. The worst part, at least for Billy, was that he was going to Cali. he would never tell YN to his face but he was a bit salty that he wasn't in Cali with him. Or just in Cail in general. He really does miss California.

But all of that didn't matter because today was the day. Today was the day that YN was coming home. That YN was coming back to billy.

It felt like it had been years. At least to YN it had. He enjoyed his time in Cali but he was antsy the whole flight back to Hawkens. He and Billy had planned a whole alabrote day to spend together as a kind of “sorry my parents forced me to go to Cali on your birthday.” not only was YN antsy to see his Boyfriend but while in Cali he had found this beautiful necklace. It had a small blue shell on the end of it. It was simple but YN knew that Billy would like it.

The plane ride was never ending. Thank god YNs parents spent the extra money on the first class. It made the trip at least a little bit more bearable.

When the plane finally landed, the worst part was yet to come. Actually getting off the plane. While YN wanted to rush off the plane, his parents held him back. They wanted to wait till everyone was off the plane before they got off.

“You don't want to be shoved off the plane, do you?” YNs mom, who was sitting next to YN in the window seat. “You don't want to be rushed.”

“Mom, Billy is waiting for me…” YN sighed, fidgeting with the box in his pocket.

“I don't understand why you want to spend your first day back with him. I haven't heard great things about him from your brother.” YNs mom sighed, watching the people that left the plane.

“He's kind to me.” YN could see his mom give him an off look out of the corner of his eye.

YN knew that other people, mostly people in his family, had a sneaking suspicion that YN wasn't as entirely straight as he let on. No one said anything but it was kind of obvious.

“And you are going to be with him all day? Are you spending the night?” YNs mom asked. YN trusted their mom. If he was going to tell anyone what was going on between him and Billy, it would be his mom. She coved for him. If YN wanted to spend the night at BIlly's house, though they usually got a hotel so they wouldn't have to deal with Neil, then YNs mom would cover for him.

“Yeah, I'm staying the night.”

“Getting a hotel again?”

“Yep.” YN could see his mom smile. Even if she didn't know what was going on between him and Billy, she was happy for YN. even if Billy was just a friend.

But he wasn't just a friend.

He was more. And his more was waiting for his boyfriend and probably getting irritated.

“Alright, let's go.”

YN and YNs mom stood up, grabbing their book bags from under the chair in front of them.

YN practically ran out of the plane, passing his brothers and dad. He ran past people in the airport and weaving by suitcases. He ran all the way to the baggage claim.

He looked around, panting. It took him a bit but he found him, the man that he ran through a whole airport for.

“Billy!” YN yelled, practically knocking over the basketball player when he lunged at the man.

“Jesus, calm down.” Billy hugged YN back. It was rather quick though so that no one would get any bright ideas.

“Hey.” YN smiled, hands itching at his side to reach back out to Billy.

“Hey.” Billy looked over YN. “You got a tan.”

“Wow, it's almost like I was in the sun for a whole week.”

Billy rolled his eyes. “Shut up, let's go get some food.” he smiled, wrapping an arm over YNs shoulders.

Billy had grabbed YN luggage while he was waiting and, like the gentle man he is, was carrying it for YN.

“Where shall we eat?” Billy asked once you got to the car, throwing your luggage in the backseat of his Chevy.

“It's your day, you pick.”

“Starcourt Mall. We can eat in the food court.”

“Sounds good to me.”

YN slipped into the passenger side as Billy got into the driver's seat. Billy started the car and rock filled the car. The song was easily recognizable. “Love Of My Life.” by Queen. It wasn't Billy's usual music but it was YNs.

“Is this the mixtape I gave you?” Yn asked as Billy pulled out of his spot and drove out of the airport parking lot.

“Maybe. What did you name it? Something sappy, right?”

YN rolled his eyes. It was sappy. It made YN cringe whenever he thought about it. “Melted candy hearts or something.”

“Exactly, really really sappy.”

“Yeah, whatever you say Mr. Tough guy.” YN let his head lul back, closing his eyes as the ballet filled his ears. YN rested his hand on the center console which was quickly held by Billy.

It was one of the few things YN and Billy could do in public, kinda, to show each other affection. No one could really see their hands while in the car so they always took the opportunity to show each other a little bit of affection. Another thing they would do would be walking with Billy's arm around YNs shoulders. To the outsiders, they just saw it as a guy leading his friend somewhere but they knew. Billy and YN knew what it really meant and it was kind of special for them.

Billy pulled into the mall parking lot and shut down the car. He stepped out and waited for YN who quickly followed.

Billy reposished himself back with his arm back around YNs shoulders. The pair walked around a bit before they settled down to eat some shitty Chinese food. Honestly though, it was better than the food they gave YN in first class.

“How was your trip?” Billy asked, shoving some more rice into his mouth.

“Boring. It wasn't any fun without you there to get us into trouble.” YN looked up from his tray with a goofy grin to watch Billy's face shift to fake shock.

“How could you! I thought we were friends!” Billy dramatically placed a hand over his heart.

“You hang around Eddie too much.” YN rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his orange chicken.

Billy just chuckled and turned back to his food, stuffing some more into his mouth.

After the pair was done eating their food, they walked through the mall. Occasionally, entertaining the idea of stopping by Scops Ahoy to see if Steve would let them in the back way.

After everything the Hawkings kids have been through, no one really cared about childish things like popularity causing all rivalries to become unimportant. Sure, people still remembered what Billy has done but they also know he is working on himself. He is becoming better. He has made amends with Max. he is better.

YN took Billy's wrist, pulling him into the ice cream place. They walked up to the counter, interrupting Steve's pitiful attempt at flirting while Robin held up a shigh from the back that read ‘SOS’ in bright red.

“Steve!” YN shouted, drawing Steve's attention away from the two girls who used Steve's moment of being distracted to make their escape.

Steve's face lit up. “YN!” he shouted back.

“Hey! Nimrod. How many kids are you friends with?” Robin asked from the back.

YN knew Robin and Robin knew YN. basically everyone knew everyone in their big group but Robin was not one to pass up a monet to make fun of her friends.

“We are your age.” Billy smiled, slipping through the divider to get to the back with YN close behind.

Steve jumped through the window and closed the shutters. “How was Cali?”

“Not that great. We didn't get to go to the beach or anything, just spent a lot of time at my grandma's house while my parents ran off to have fun or something.”

“Or something?” Robin asked, ignoring the sound of Erica abusting the bell.

“Or something.” YN repeated with a shrug, sitting down at the table.

“So where are your kids, stevie? I thought they always hung around here for the free ice cream?” Billy asked, placing his hands on your shoulders. The two of you could be yourself around the gang, they all knew.

“Well first off, they aren't my kids.”

“Yes, they are.” Robin said, cutting off Steve.

Steve glared at Robin “And secondly, they are at the movies.”

“Speaking of movies…” YN said with a smile.

Steve groaned and rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, sure.” he moved from his spot leaning against the counter and pulled open the door for the couple.

“Pretty sure they are playing Dr. Zhivago.”

YN stood up and walked out the door, thanking Steve on his way out. Billy wasn't too far behind him. As soon as the door shut, their hands were interlocked together. It might not be a long walk but might as well take advantage of one of the few moments they have alone together.

They sat down near the back, no one really sat in the back so they could enjoy their moment together. The movie had already started, about twenty minutes in, but it's not like they could complain, they did get in for free.

YN fidgeted with Billy's hand the whole time. Whether it be rubbing circles into his hand with his thumb, moving YNs promise ring to Billy's hand then back again, or just holding it. It was another one of the few moments they could be affectionate in public. Everyone was watching the movie, anyway.

The movie ended and the pair went on to the next activity and the next. The last thing they did before turning into the hotel was bowling where YN absolutely destroyed Billy.

Settling into the hotel for the night, Billy and YN laid in the massive bed together while watching some random documentary on TV, though neither of them were really paying attention.

Billy had his arms wrapped tightly around YNs waist with YNs head resting on his chest. YN clinged to Billy like a baby otter clinging to its mom.

That's when YN remembered. The necklace.

“Billy?”

“Hmm?” Billy hummed, rubbing YNs back.

“I got you a birthday present.” YN pulled away from the warmth, sitting up on his knees.

“Really?” Billy asked, sitting up.

“Alright, close your eyes.”

Billy closed his eyes, chuckling softly.

“Ok, Now. stick out your hand and open your eyes when you feel the box.”

Billy stuck out his hand. YN fished the box out of his pocket and placed it in Billy's hand. Billy blinked his eyes open, looking from YN to the box in his hand. He pulled off the small lid and looked over the necklace.

YN watched carefully, fidgeting with his hands. He prayed to whatever god there was that Billy liked it.

“Wow… this is perfect…” Billy smiled, leaning forward and placing a kiss on YNs cheek before pulling out the necklace and putting it on.

“Does it look good?” Billy asked, playing with the small blue shell.

“You look good in everything.” Yn said, scooting forward and resting his head on Billys shoulder.

“Someday, when I visit California again, I'll get you a matching one.”

“Vist? Don't you want to move back there? That's your home.”

“My home is wherever you are.” Billy hummed, kissing the top of YNs head.

“That's so sappy.”

“Shut up!”