#got distracted in the middle but aha done!

[fiendfriend]

haha cirice noo dont engage in Gifted Kids discourse in current year youre so sexy aha

I’m going to be real; when I see people describing gifted programs as students being favored and receiving extra attention and extra support/help, I either think “oh, so you went to a Nice school in a Nice neighborhood”, or “you don’t know what you’re talking about and are making assumptions”, depending on the context given. I acknowledge this is unfair and it is absolutely a bitter, knee-jerk reaction. Statistically, gifted kids are most likely to be white and from a higher socioeconomic class/have some other form of privilege compared to their ‘non gifted’ peers - in many places, gifted kids very much are favored and benefit greatly from these programs while their peers are left to struggle or are left with the burden of the adults in their life viewing them as “inadequate” or otherwise “not gifted”.

The student population of my schools were primarily lower middle class or poor, and were non-white. The public school experiences of myself and my friends (both kids I knew during school, and friends I made as an adult) were all largely unsupportive/not conducive to academic success/in some cases abusive, regardless of whether we were in the gifted program, the equivalent behavioral correction program, the special education program, or no program at all. So, obviously my anecdotes don’t reflect The Research and Statistics on the topic. My perception is skewed. Yours probably is too!

This whole spiel is in response to something but it’s not worth reblogging or replying and potentially getting into it. I just feel like there’s absolutely no nuance to the subject whenever it comes around every once in a while. My cousin’s kid is going to middle school next September and this is a thing that’s just been on my mind a lot. I don’t want him to end up in a troubled teen program like I did, and I also don’t want him to end up in a gifted program like I did. They’re both unhelpful wastes of time at best and just… absolutely fucking soul-sucking at worst.

Growing up, our gifted program consisted of being given homework, reading, or schoolwork in either the same difficulty as other kids or harder, and in larger quantities. We’d then either be sent outside of class and into the hallway to do our work, or we were sat at a solo desk on the other side of the classroom/away from the rest of the class. We didn’t have entire “gifted program” classes because our school district considered AP classes and the gifted program to be different things. I don’t know if this is the same for other districts. Sometimes I see them used synonymously which just kind of confuses me.

Anyway, we were often not given help if we didn’t understand something, and were told that we needed to figure it out on our own and self-teach. There wasn’t enough of us to warrant teachers taking the extra time to teach more material when the majority of students needed the “general” lesson. This was the norm in my classes from 5th grade to senior year of high school when I was in my district’s gifted program.

But then, the Bad Worthless Delinquent Kids With Problems program (the behavioral correction program) that I was also enrolled in at the same time, for the same amount of time was... pretty much the exact same. Separated from the gen pop (under the guise of Eliminating Distractions in both cases) and given different work. We weren’t given extra help if we didn’t understand something because this work was “easier” than the general work. Mostly we did more worksheets, sat out in the hallway, or in a makeshift cubicle in the admin building with 5-10 other Troubled Teens. I had nearly straight F’s for the entire time I was in both programs. Never got my homework done, abysmal test scores, etc, etc. I only ever passed gym and the “study hall” period they forced me to take instead of an elective.

(Coincidentally, all the other kids forced into study hall were also in the gifted and/or behavioral programs. It was not a class you could choose to take.)

I very confidently say that both programs were equally detrimental to me and my peers, and they both equally contributed to me dropping out during my senior year. I wish that as a kid I was given the option to at least opt out of the gifted program, cause god knows they would never have let my ass out of the behavioral correction program with the way I was as a kid/teen. They’re all flawed, unhelpful programs. I think they damage everyone, enrolled or not, noticeably or not.

My friends who grew up in special ed programs or no programs at all have… most the same outcome of the experience. Granted we all grew up to be some flavor of neurodivergent and queer - adverse school experiences are kind of par for the course. But I see my experiences in them and they see theirs in me. And even the stuff that we can’t relate to, it’s so easy to see where they’re coming from and think “I can see how that would burn someone out” or whatever.

I don’t know. It’s not like I have solutions to this or anything. Or a way to neatly wrap this all up with a bow. I’ve never met an educational program that I liked, and I just get really frustrated when people are hurting about the way that they were treated in a way that shames people that didn’t have that exact experience. Every post I see it’s “gifted” kids saying “you don’t understand how bad we had it”, and “delinquent” kids saying “you don’t understand how bad we had it”, and “average” kids saying “you don’t understand how bad we had it”. Everyone’s fuckin suffering, might as well commiserate about it.

[seksipomminpurkaja]

hrm, good ol' king and queen, frans + pietro and if you want, band bros?

math problems done, sipping on my peppis, feeling like royalty

(i sincerely hope you meant roo and jules)

Who keeps making puns while the other tries to fall asleep?

Nayden, c’mon hun don’t be like that, laugh with me! Like that yes! just snuggle her ‘till he runs out of puns to make and they get to go to sleep

Frans to cheer Pietro, he knows it’s hard for him to sleep anyway so if he’s still awake why not make it worth the while

I feel like it’s Jules, and Cameron is muffling his laughter into the pillow like stop it but doesn’t really do anything to make him stop

Who likes to snuggle up to the other on the couch?

Nayden, Sharni’s so warm and comfy pillow. her couch is the superior couch and her blanket the superior blankets, she hold him very firmly and he’s a happy little slav in her arms

Pietro, as a mute he really can’t ask to be cuddled other than just going for it, just curl under Frans’ arm and rest there, he doesn’t have to communicate and Frans doesn’t need to ask anything

It has pretty much always been Cameron, he feels safe there, just put on a hoodie or get a pillow first bc he’s bony and his not so pillow is also bony

Do they own any pets together? If so, what are their names and what type of pets?

Four kids are enough to handle, but before them they had a dog, a mixed breed dog from a shelter, didn’t live too long though, he was old  when they got him but they made sure he was happy till the end. his name was Skipper (Maya loved Skipper)

They really don’t have the funds to have a pet, but Frans feeds stray cats and dogs when he runs across them on the streets

Well there’s Macca and Merri, and eventually the third ferret (i forgot their name), Cameron will suggest on getting a guinea pig or a hamster so he gets to name it macklemore

What type of place do they live in?

A flat for a long time, they had both of their stuff in there so it was their little place, when the first kid came they moved to house, not too big though, they liked the little crammed atmosphere, it feels like home

Streets for Pietro and Sarah’s bunker for Frans, then Penelope’s cellar, eventually they found an abandoned flat to bunk in, it wasn’t big but it was dry and mostly clean so it worked

They both have their own flats at this point, possibly not even far away from each other. Both fit for one person to live in

Who is always running late and gives them a quick kiss before they run out the door?

Nayden since he has his job at the attorney office and Sharni’s job begins later in the noon. And he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get to kiss Sharni in the morning

Frans whenever he has a deal to be taken care of, he’s never late though bc that would mean losing the job at hand (ha get it bc he only has one hand). But he still gets to smooch Pietro

Tbh wherever they need to be on time it’s ver possible they both need to be there, like a band practice, they need them both, a gig, both, recording? both, and interview? probably both. They Roo shies on the kisses in public so he’ll do it on the doorway before stepping out

Where do they go to have fun with their friends?

Local small bars, malls, nothing too grand, just a bunch of friends getting together and tell how their weeks have been

Penelope’s shop is a good place for a small meeting, also the pubs, but the pubs are shady and Pietro is a face not all people look kindly on

Bars mostly, after gigs or just regular ol’ weekend, just kick back and have some drinks with Aaron and An, Radu too if he and Jules ever make up

What does their living room look like?

It’s kinda crammed, big couch, a coffee table and tv, surrounded by bookshelf and some plants, very warm colors, shades of brown and some white here and there, pretty oldish style

It has a couch and a radio, then blueprints on the floor, guns propped up against the wall, the wallpaper is cracked and the floorboards are bulging a bit

Just regular living room, cameron’s pretty crammed bc his small apartment but it holds a nicely sized couch, tv and a dinner table (kinda like what my mom’s place had if you remember)

Who walks around in the other person’s sweaters with a sleepy look on their face?

Sharni, she’s tired ok, and in the end their sweaters look pretty much the same and they’re the same size, only difference is that Nayden’s sweaters are more warm and they have his smell on them

Pietro, all his clothes are being washed and it’s the only thing he found

Jules, Cameron own a pretty decent collection of too big sweaters, sure he has some to spare for Jules, he looks pretty adorable in them with all squinted eyes and holding a cup of tea

Who likes to be cuddled before falling asleep?

Nayden without doubt

Pietro

Cameron, (all of these were pretty much the same as the “who comes for snuggles” one)

Who goes to the store and buys their partner something small, but something that they love, to surprise them before coming home from work?

Nayden, man has no self control, if Sharni had sometimes mentioned she’d like something, he’ll make it his mission to get it for her, just a simple pack of sweets is enough reason for him to spend some coin on her

Frans, well he steals more than buys, some parts for Pietro to play with, or something to keep him fed and entertained while he’s working in the city

Jules, just a simple text like ‘hey i’m feeling bad, wanna come over’ and he knows to pick up some chocolate on the way

How do they decide who cooks super?

They take turns, unless one insists, Sharni usually does it on weekends and Nayden on the week

Pietro has more time at their place, and combining a can of beans and some rice is simple enough

They cook at their own places respectfully, and order take-out if both are too lazy, or if Roo is in bad mood Jules treats him some good ol beans and toast 

Who takes the other’s hats to go outside?

Sharni, look she wasn’t raised in bulgaria and their middle land winters, luckily enough Nayden has enough wooly hats for the entire family

Pietro, he doesn’t have the long hair covering his ears and besides, Frans owns a bunch of good looking hats

Cameron doesn’t really use hats, he just pulls up his hood if needed, and Jules has his own hats sooo

[souichioneshots]

Souichi x Farmer!Reader

Souichi goes to visit one of his oldest farmer friends for some straw. In return, he makes her a voodoo doll and things get a litttlleee steamy

ahaha idk lol

Souichi heavily breathed through his mouth as he continued to walk down the treeless path. The summer sun shining down on him was making him sweat bullets, and having a large leather satchel cling to his body was starting to make him feel sick.

“Why does she have to live so far away…” Souichi mumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Passing a couple more rice fields, a large Japanese-style cottage finally came into view. It was surrounded by a couple of mango trees and 2 PVC greenhouses. He could see from the outside that they were once again filled completely with strawberries and tomatoes.

As he approached the house, he realized that all of the cars were gone. He thought for a second that he came all this way for nothing, but then he heard a familiar voice echoing in the distance.

“Kuro! Way to me! Shiro! Lie down! Hairo! Lie down!!” Souichi quickly made his way to the back of the house, where the voice was coming from.

As he pushed past a large bush, he finally saw you. You had been herding a large trip of white-tan goats and your 3 dogs, Kuro, Shiro, and Hairo were also doing their best to keep the goats in place.

“Y/N!” Souichi called out from a distance, getting your attention.

“Hmm? Souichi!!” You turned around and called back, jumping slightly in the air.

Souichi laughed as the goats also turned in his direction and let out a little “meh” sound as a greeting.

“Give me a second. I’ll be done in a bit.”

Souichi watched from under the shade of a tree as you continued to order your dogs to do their job.

You and Souichi had been friends for as long as he could remember. It was actually his grandmother who introduced him to you when he was younger. She used to get straw and other ritualistic material from your family when she practiced magick, and now he was getting stuff from you as well.

Today, he had come for his usual satchel fill of straw, and anything else you would give him as a gift. You loved to give him gifts. From fresh rice, to mangos, and even white strawberries.

Everyone in the town knew your family used magick because there was no way mangos nor white strawberries could grow in the weather conditions this part of Japan had to offer.

“Sorry for the wait!” You held onto your straw hat as you ran up to the boy. “We actually built a new barn last week for the straw. It’s this way.”

Getting up from his spot, Souichi walked with you to a small open barn located on the other side of your house.

“Woah…” Souichi looked up in awe at the massive amount of straw you had stored up this season.

“Pretty impressive, right? It’s the largest haul we’ve had in years. Praise Ninigi.” Turning towards the sun, you bowed once. Souichi quickly turned with you and did the same.

You laughed a bit at his sudden action. You knew that without his grandmother around, he wasn’t sure how to act in these types of situations. So, he mostly just copied you.

Putting your hand out, you gestured for Souichi to give you his satchel.

"Do you need me to tie them up or can I just stuff it in here?" You asked as you walked over to a large pile of loose straw.

"Just like that is fine." Souichi replied.

Picking up a handful of straw, you neatly placed it inside. When it was finally full enough, you closed it up and handed it back to the boy.

Although it was a lot, it still felt surprisingly light. Hopefully, it won't go to waste this time.

Sitting on a large straw stack, you took off your hat. You shook your head side to side as your long hair flowed from inside the hat and down onto the straw you were sitting on. You had been growing your hair out since kindergarten. Never cutting it once. Just the sheer length of it made you look like a goddess yourself. Although it was a big distraction when you worked, you planned on using your ‘virgin uncut hair’ in future rituals. At least, that’s what you told Souichi.

Patting the empty space next to you, you asked Souichi to sit next down.

“Ma actually took away the voodoo doll you made me last time you came over… Think you can you make me a new one…” You said in a sad voice as you looked at the boy.

“Again?” Souichi replied, sighing loudly.

Although your family practiced black magick in order to keep the farming business alive, you were strictly forbidden from practicing curses and other types of voodoo until you turned ○○. In the meanwhile, your mother forced you to tend to the farm and learn how to be a proper worker. That’s why whenever Souichi came over, in exchange for whatever he wanted, he would teach you anything he knew about black magick in secret.

Currently, you were learning how to make straw voodoo dolls.

You didn’t really have anyone in particular that you wanted or needed to curse, but you wanted to be prepared just in case anything happened in the future.

You smiled widely as the raven-haired boy took out a pair of pruning shears and red string from the front pocket of his satchel.

Grabbing a couple handfuls of straw, you placed them on your lap for him to freely use.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re making it by yourself this time.” He sternly said.

“Eh~? But I’m tired from doing chores all morning…I’ll give ya a kilogram of rice if you make this one for me~” Souichi just shook his head no. He would need a better incentive if you wanted him to do this for you again.

“Hmmm…Aha! I’ll give you a whole box of fresh white strawberries as well!” Souichi smiled as you offered him exactly what he wanted. There was a reason your family sold their strawberries for over 20,000 yen a box. Getting them for free from you was one of the best parts of coming over.

“Fine. But this is the last time. And pay attention this time.” Humming happily, you handed him a handful of straw.

“First, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. Then place enough straw to fill it completely. When you get the right amount, you use some string to… Uhh... Hold this.”

Handing you the bundle of straw, he used the shears to cut a couple pieces of string to use.

“…Hold it up straight up…Yeah, like that. You tie up the top end around here. Next, you repeat this with another section of straw. When you finish that, you slide one section into the middle of the other. Then you just tie it up here, and here. Lastly, you part it in the middle for the leg sections… And then you tie up those ends and…Done!”

You let out a small whine as your mind failed to keep up with Souichi's speedy motions and vague explanation. You wanted to ask him to do it again, this time much slower, but you knew he would just go at the same speed again.

Cutting the extra pieces of straw that stuck out from the ends of the voodoo doll, he made it look presentable.

“So, what do you think? Pretty good, right?” Souichi proudly said as he handed it to you.

“Yeah! I think it might even be better than the one you made me last time!" You replied as you examined the doll in awe. "So, all I need in order to curse someone is their picture?” The straw crunched in your fingers as you opened up the chest section a bit.

“You can also use their hair, and at times when your hatred towards them is at its peak, you can just write down their name on a piece of paper, stuff it in the middle there, and it’ll work.”

You hummed in amusement as the boy once again explained to you the way straw voodoo dolls worked.

“Hair, huh…” You said to yourself in a voice so quiet not even Souichi could hear.

Moving closer to him, you spoke in a loving voice. “I never did thank you for the last doll you made me, did I?” Putting the doll down on the empty space next to you, you moved to place a quick kiss on the boy’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Ah! Hehe…I-It was no problem… I can make you more anytime you want really…” Souichi turned his face away from you, trying to hide the blush that had grown on his cheeks.

You were always the affectionate type.

“Then, I should probably thank you in advance~” Bringing your hand to his face, you turned him towards you. Souichi’s body burned with embarrassment as you placed multiple kisses on his cheek again.

“You know, you can also thank me for always giving you so much straw~” You teased as you tapped your own cheek, hinting for him to give you a small kiss back.

Closing his eyes, Souichi moved to plant a kiss on your cheek. However, you also moved back to face him as well.

Souichi’s eyes shot open as you pressed your lips against his.

The remaining straw on your legs fell to the ground as you moved to straddle the blushing boy.

You were perhaps a bit too affectionate really.

But Souichi wasn’t complaining.

Souichi’s eyes fluttered closed as he melted into your kiss. Your hands caressed his face as you quickly deepened the kiss.

Souichi playfully bit your bottom lip as you tried to pull back for air, forcing you to return back to him. He liked to experiment with different ways of teasing you every time you spontaneously kissed him like this.

Slowly, your hands ran through his hair, making it messier than it was before.

"Ow!" Souichi pushed you back and yelled in pain as you suddenly pulled his hair.

Moving to sit up, you gloated.

“Haha! Now that I have your hair, you have to follow everything I say or I’ll curse you to death!” You laughed as you help up a single strand of dark hair. You were expecting Souichi to try to get it back from you, but he didn’t.

Looking back at you with an equally victorious smile, he moved his hands in front of you, showing off the contents it held.

“That makes two of us~ Kekekeke~”

Your smile dropped and your eyes widened in shock as you saw the shears in one hand and a large amount of your hair in another.

Bringing your hands up to your head, you felt the difference in hair length on each side.

“How could you…” Tears ran down your cheeks, making Souichi stop his cackling.

“I hate you!!” Pushing yourself off the boy, you got onto your feet and started to run towards your house. “I’m telling Baphomet!!”

The goats in the barn loudly cried as you mentioned the name of the deity your family religiously worshiped.

“Crap! No!! Y/N!!” Jumping off the straw-stack, Souichi threw your hair and the shears onto the ground.

“Wait!! I’m sorry!!” Souichi exclaimed as he chased after you.

Just before he could grab ahold of you, you ran into the house. You were so upset that you didn’t even bother to take off your shoes.

Souichi slipped on the grass as he tried to stop himself from going any further. He knew he couldn’t enter your house without your given permission.

Souichi felt his mind go into a panic as he saw you approach the large altar in your living room.

The goats in the barn cried even louder and banged their horns against the wooden walls as you pointed towards the boy outside your house.

Just before he could run away for safety, your three dogs surrounded him. Souichi let out a high-pitched cry of fear as the dogs barked and growled, forcing him to stay in place.

He made a big mistake messing with the daughter of the Baphomet worshiping family.

[coryowo]

Serendipity; studying with your boyfriend

prompt: you and thoma are trying to do your classwork together :strained_smile:

genre: fluff, highschool au, modern au 

pairing: thoma x gn!reader 

warnings: none, unedited, lowercase intended

word count: 379

corys notes: cory posting at a regular time and not in the middle of the night gasp. this is to avoid my AP Gov summer assignment LAMO, i really dont wanna do it but its due tomorrow. endings shitty as always. 

thoma ran his fingers through your hair as you shifted your position more comfortably, moving to lay your head further on his thigh. his jade eyes scanned his AP english assignment, twirling a strand of your hair to ground himself when a question stresses him out, he lets out a little ‘aha’ when he gets a question he had a problem with done. you couldn't help but lean up and give him a quick kiss, his eyes widened a little bit in surprise. 

“babe, are you trying to distract me?” he smiled, looking down at you. putting his pencil down he chuckled, leaning down to give you more kisses. as much as you wanted to accept them his paper was due tomorrow and he was nearly finished, he furrowed his brow in confusion when you kept pulling away. 

“finish your assignment darling, you're nearly done.” you moved to get off of his lap and start your AP gov assignment you've been needing to do. the blond whined when you pulled out your notes from your bag and that heavy textbook, he couldn't even hold your hand since you were sitting on his right side. 

“baby. baby i can't hold your hand,” thoma’s pout got worse, he was used to holding your hand while you two worked on assignments together. you glanced over, raising your eyebrows. “thoma i'm not going to move, i already have my stuff set out.” 

at that the male slumped over his work, his head hitting the table making him mutter an “ow” under his breath. you swore your brother was rubbing off on him, they need to stop hanging out so much not that they could help it they are on the same basketball team..but still. shaking your head you stood up, picking up your needed items. 

thoma’s head shot up, smiling gratefully at you. setting up again you put your hand out, unconsciously smiling when he intertwined his hands with yours. after 5 minutes you noticed that he wasn't really progressing and instead was staring at you. “finish the assignment and you get unlimited kisses, even when studying, for two weeks.” 

you let out an amused huff when you saw him suddenly start scribbling stuff down before turning back to your own assignment.

[the-black-birb]

ahh hi ! congrats on 600 omg, that’s such an amazing milestone !! do u think I could get some first time nsfw hcs for kuroo, oiwawa and kageyama? like it’s their s/o’s first time aha, I think I worded that kinda weird I’m sorry alsklssn

Mmm i love first time stories bc they can be dorky and cute!! Nsfw warning <3 also sorry these are very long

Kuroo Tetsurou

Before your relationship, Kuroo has had one other serious partner so he kind of knows the drill

When you to started getting really heated with your make outs and you told him you were a virgin he was completely cool with that! He wanted to make sure the two of you took your time so you'd never feel uncomfortable

You two do plenty of things before sex. You give him handjobs, he eats you out, you help each other get relief

But you haven't gone all the way yet, until the night after a comp

You didn't know if it was the adrenaline rush of winning that had him pumped, or the way he looked playing that had you shifting in your seat, but you two were all over each other

Nekoma was staying at a hotel, the boys were rooming in groups of three. Somehow kuroo convinced yaku and kai to stay with the 2nd years so you and him could have alone time (he has to take them for ramen to make up for it)

Neither of you expected it to escalate. You were all over each other, you straddling his waist and his hands flush over your skin, pushing your shirt up

But you were certain this would just end when you got too nervous about the boys one room away from you

Wrong. Absolutely wrong.

You were grinding against him hard, breaths shallow, getting lost in the heat of the moment

"I-" you choked out in between breaths. "I want you inside me."

Kuroo stopped to stare at you. "Are you sure? Y'know the guys are right there-"

"We'll just be quiet then," you cut him off with a kiss.

Kuroo wasted no time in shedding his clothes, you followed suit

It was only then you realized you'd never seen him fully naked before. You'd gotten him off, but usally his pants stayed on (or at least his shirt did)

Kuroo in his naked glory. Wooh. That was a lot to take in. And the way his eyes looked at you, drinking you up, you felt heat pooling in your core

Ever the gentleman, Kuroo wanted to prep you first (he was impressive). He uses his fingers, making sure to stretch you out nicely

Probably makes you orgasm just on his fingers so he can tease you about it later

And the whole time he's doing it you've got your hands clamped tightly over your mouth, trying to keep quiet. Kuroo delighted in the way your chest heaved and your neck tensed as you swallowed back moans

Once your prepped, he asks you one more time if you're certain you want to lose your virginity at a hotel in the middle of nowhere with his teammates on the other side.

You do, and he wastes no time in entering you (he had condoms with him just in case something like this happened)

He enters you slowly, giving you time to adjust

He likes sex rough and fast, but he knows right know is about you. Once he bottoms out and knows your good, he rocks himself back and forth slowly and gently

His cock is long, so even his little motions have you convulsing with pleasure

But as soon as you adjust, Kuroo starts to speed up. He can't help it, his patience and self control is thin

He's bucking into you fast when you come, but he's focused on riding out his own orgasm

There isn't much he can do for aftercare without the two of you being found out, so he just texts Yaku asking if they'd be able to stay in the 2nd years room for longer than planned

Yaku is like "yeah we can all tell you were going at it please shut up"

No one questions why you're limping the next day

Oikawa Tooru

I don't think Oikawa sleeps around, but he's definitely had a fuck buddy or two, as well as exclusive relationships

Safe to say, he's far more experienced out of the two of you

You're a little intimidated by it, but he assures you he wants nothing more than to treat you right

So with Oikawa you have to tell him when you're ready to have sex

When you do, he plans everything out. Gets his parents out of the house, sets the mood with candles and incense and everything and spoils you silly

Oikawa is a switch, but he likes to be a whiney sub. That being said, you need him right now and he intends to show you how much he can help

Is absolutely a giver. Worships your body, doesn't leave a single inch of skin un-kissed

His lips are all over you, your neck and breasts and stomach and thighs- everywhere

He doesn't leave marks (yet) because he wants to be loving and caring and for you to remeber your first time sweetly

When he finally sees you starting to relax under his touch and loosen up, he starts pressing kisses closer and closer to your core

Eats you out, and he is damn good at it. Eats you out like your pussy is the last meal he'll get to eat and, damn, he is trying to savor it

When you've come for the second time and you're whiney and needy, cheeks wet with tears, only then will he finally fuck you

Probably has flavored condoms, idk why i just need to include that

Oikawa has incredible self control, so he takes his pace incredibly slow. He's pushing into you slowly, and when he's finally all the way in his thrusts are long

The feeling of him inside you lingers, even as he backs away, and has you gasping for more

But even as you're cumming around his cock and squeezing him so damn well he doesn't waver

He keeps his pace slow and consistent, so much so you're going crazy

Praises you as he does it. "You're taking me so well, baby." "You feel so good, love." His words fill you with just as much pleasure as his actions

Doesn't make much noise until he finally comes, at which point he just lets out a low grumble. Frankly, it's uncharacteristic of him but he's doing all he can to keep the attention on you

King of aftercare. Runs you a bath, massages your muslces, and keeps asking you if you're alright

"Was that okay? Are you tired?" He's so insistent you're rolling your eyes

"I dunno, Tooru, I think we'll have to try again to make sure," you say lazily, still tired out from the multiple orgasms he ripped from you

Oikawa just smiles, running an arm up and down your side. "Let's rest for now, love. We can go again in the morning."

You hold him to his word.

Kageyama Tobio

Listen if you havent had sex yet, Kageyama definitely hasn't either

So you're both virgins, you're both clueless, and it ends up being kind of funny

Unlike Oikawa and Kuroo who both know to have a conversation before sex you and Kags are both flustered and confused

It was a pretty typical weekend, your parents weren't home so Kags came over to watch a movie. The two of you got into a heated makeout (again, fairly typical at this point) and as you were adjusting how you were sitting, kags hands tight around your waist and yours flush over his neck, you accidentally push onto his crotch

And Kageyama groans. Loudly. As in, he throws his headback and lets out a noise from the bottom of his chest

You freeze. He's never done that before. Soon, you notice the growing erection in his pants and you, very much a virgin, have no idea what to do

So the two of you sit there in silence, staring at each other, neither of you sure how to talk about this

"Should we-" "Did you-"

...

"I mean-" "we could-"

Finally you've had enough and you burst, going "are we about to have sex?"

And Kageyama is sitting there, straining against his pants like, "um, if you want?" bc he doesn't know how to explain exactly how eager he is although it's certainly almost obvious

"D-do you have condoms?"

Of course not. Neither of you were prepared for this. But if there's a day to lose your virginity, you'd much rather it be a weekend that your parents are out and you can take all the time you want

So you rush to the newest corner store to pick up condoms (but you're embarassed so you buy a bunch of snacks and sneak them in) and leave Kageyama sitting in your bed, with an erection

And Kags is there sitting there thinking "just wait for her to come back, she'll be back soon. Just distract yourself" and he tries to put the movie back on or think about volleyball or anything to calm his raging boner but then he thinks about you again and it all comes crashing back down

By the time you get back to your house, he's red and sweating all over and damn his pants are straining around his cock (he's a grower)

And you'd like to do everything you can to help him, really, but you're still absolutely confident so you walk into the room and go "uh, I've got condoms?"

And Kags is trying not to touch himself before you got there but as soon as he sees you he's feral

"Fuck [Y/N] come here-" and he's pulling you on top of him and ravishing you with his lips

As much as Kags wants to dominate you, he's feeling awfully needy right now so you end up doing all the work, stripping both of you of your clothes while Kageyama admires you and lays kisses all over your collarbone and chest

Finally you get to the underwear and you look at him one last time, settled between his thighs with your face dangerously close to his crotch and go "are you sure, Tobio?" with your big doe eyes

Kageyama thought he was about to cream himself in his boxers right there

He didn't, though, instead insisting you just get on with it and you did, popping out his cock (wincing, slightly, because you've never been this close to a penis and damn they're kinda...ugly...) and rolling a condom onto it

The first condom tore bc you didn't know what you were doing but fortunately you had a whole box to spare

And finally (Kags cannot stress this enough: finally) the both of you are ready (you haven't done much foreplay bc neither of you realized that's an option)

You end up riding him bc Kageyama just wants relief and he's gotten choked up with how hard he's gotten

And while it'd be magnificent to say the penetration was euphoric and you felt yourself fill up so well, it's also unrealistic

You just feel weird with something lodged between your legs. You're not really sure how it's supposed to feel so you just start moving

As it starts to feel good, Kags is bucking up into you at the same time and, fuck, it's just starting to get good-

And Kags cums. It's over way too fast and you've barely even gotten any pleasure but what did you expect?

Kageyama wants to apologize for not being better (even as he's sweating, hair plastered to his forehead and breath shallow and fuck thats hot) but you're just rubbing soothing circles over his shoulders

"It's fine, baby, we'll just have to practice more."

Well, he won't mind that

[anxiouslynumbme]

So, I finally posted chapter 4 of Last Hope. To those who have waited for this, I'm truly sorry. Life sucks, and so do I. Anyway, doubt that many of you care, but a chapter is finally posted and as always, it's poorly edited, so proceed with caution. And I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but everyone in this is 18+ unless stated otherwise.

Read on Ao3.

Last Hope: Chapter 4

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Diagon Alley was less busy than she'd thought it would be. Ginny had agreed to come with Neville when he'd written to her two days ago and had asked her to accompany him, so they could both fetch what they needed before going to Hogwarts. While she had finally come to a decision, going to Diagon Alley to prepare for the upcoming year was too real, she was going back and nothing was entirely in her control. Ginny was terrified about what might actually happen once she set foot on school grounds again.

"Neville." Ginny groaned. "can we please go eat now? I think you got everything you'd ever need for the next ten years!"

"Yeah, and you haven't gotten enough. Are you sure you got - "

"Yes, I'm sure."

"You don't even know what - "

"I. Am. Sure."

"Fine," he said, "where do you wanna go?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Leaky. Where else?"

"You know I don't like it there all that much," Neville whined lowly.

"And you know I don't care." Ginny beamed.

Neville sighed. "I'll let that slide, 'cause I'm just happy you're coming back."

Ginny smiled at the warmth in his voice. She still wasn't fully sure of her decision, but knowing Neville was going to be there with her made all the difference.

Once they reached The Leaky Cauldron, her best friend didn't waste much time before addressing the erumpent in the middle of their space.

"So Luna won't tell me what's going on. Will you?"

"Nothing much to tell. She thinks it's not the best idea to go to Hogwarts."

"What?" Neville asked in shock.

"Yep. I see her point, though. But I'll be fine. Just like everyone else."

His eyes lowered slightly. "You're different, Gin. There are things you - "

"Nev, don't."

"Okay."

They sat in a beat of awkward silence. "How's Padma?"

A smile instantly appeared on his lips. "She's doing better. We've been talking a lot."

"Oh, have you now?" she teased.

"Uh, yeah. Sometimes."

"Aha. I wonder, will you ever tell her?"

He flushed. "Tell her what?"

Ginny let out a small laugh. "It's cute that you think you can actually pretend with me."

Neville looked at Ginny for a second before grumbling loudly and running a hand over his face. "I'm in hell, Gin."

"Come on. Let it out."

"It's bloody torture. I mean, it's always been bad. But at least back then I didn't feel like a shitty person for wanting to kiss her all the time."

Ginny frowned. "Why would you feel like that?"

"Parvati is dead," he replied incredulously.

Ginny's stomach dropped in remembrance. "Yeah, I see how that would be inappropriate. But maybe she'll welcome the distraction, who knows."

"Exactly. I don't want to be that to her. I don't want us to start something based on such a sad, horrible event."

"I get that."

"Plus, I'm - I'm not even sure if she feels the same way," he said nervously.

"Neville, I told you she does."

"Yeah, you always say that. Why are you so sure?"

"I just am."

"That's not - " Neville paused, looking at something behind her with a smile. "Eli."

"What?"

"Eli is here."

Ginny's heart started beating a bit faster. "Did he see us?"

"I don't think - wait, never mind." Neville raised a hand to wave. "he's coming over here."

"Because you waved him over!"

"I swear he was already on the way." Shit. Ginny was not ready to talk to Eli. She'd been ignoring him for a reason. How could he possibly look at her after what she'd done? Guilt traveled over her skin in ripples, crashing her brain and halting her breath.

"Ginny, you all right?"

"I don't think I'm ready to face him, Neville."

"Okay, Ginny, you have to breathe. I'm right here. If you just want to leave, we can leave. Let's go."

"Hey, guys," Eli greeted, suddenly appearing next to their table.

Too late.

"Eli, how've you been, mate?" Neville asked, trying to keep his voice excited while Ginny sat in silence.

"I'm doing quite well," Eli replied, and she could feel his eyes on her. "how about you?"

"Oh, I'm great," Neville said.

"Can I join you?"

"Sure!" Neville said.

Ginny instinctively kicked Neville's leg in panic under the table and he yelped in response, glaring at her.

"Thanks," Eli said, not minding the interaction between the two friends, as he grabbed a seat next to Ginny.

"How are you, Weasley?" he asked her with a smile. A genuine smile, one that she did not deserve. Why was he so forgiving?

Ginny sighed, trying her best to grin back, but she was pretty sure it came across as a grimace. "Can't complain, Rojas."

"Uhm, I forgot to buy this...book," Neville began nervously and Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. The little shit said he was going to be right here. Ginny couldn't handle being alone with Eli right now. "I have to go get it. Now. So, I'll see you in a few."

And then he got up and walked away before Ginny could think of a way out. She needed him for this.

"He really doesn't know how to be subtle," Eli said.

Ginny snorted. "Well, he sort of wants us to be together and all that."

Eli tilted his head. "I mean, I see his point. We are quite electric."

Ginny rolled her eyes, her nerves calming just a bit. That was Eli for you, he just seemed to put people at ease. "In some areas, sure."

Eli shook his head. "Everything is sex with you, Gin."

She gaped, elbowing him. "Look who's talking!"

"I was being the perfect gentlemen and then you brought up our hot, steamy -"

"Oh, Merlin. Shut up."

"I'm quite disappointed, really."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you are."

They both laughed, and Ginny felt a flicker of disbelief at how simple it was, the sound of her own laughter momentarily shocking her. A sense of familiarity she'd been missing. Eli was smiling widely at her as he talked about everything he'd been doing in the past three months. She was hardly listening, though as a wave of nostalgia suddenly hit her. A rare, bright memory of one of their times together was suddenly conjured up.

--------‐---------------------------------------------

Ginny had been waiting for over thirty minutes now. And if Eli didn't show up in the next two minutes, she was definitely leaving.

"Boo!"

If Ginny wasn't so used to loud noises, she would've jumped. She merely winced at the noise, jabbing him in the shoulder.

"You're late."

"Sorry, Snape really got into his speech tonight."

Good, he had some information. "What did he say? Any news? Did he mention Harry? Anything about Voldemort?"

"Whoa, slow down, Ginny. Nothing directly about Potter. Obviously. He's not that dumb." Eli grinned widely. "However, I did eavesdrop on him with one of his minions. Apparently, Voldemort is quite angry about a Horcrux being destroyed."

Joy instantly erupted inside of Ginny, her skin sizzling with the news. He was close. Harry was close to killing that motherfucker. She let out a giddy yelp, hugging Eli. "Yes! Thank you!"

Eli chuckled. "Of course, anytime, love."

Ginny sobered slightly, drawing back and staring at Eli, she wouldn't have half the knowledge she had without his help."Seriously, Eli. You risk your life every time you spy for me."

He shrugged. "It's okay. We all have to help each other in any way we can, right? We have to win this war."

Ginny smiled at him softly. "Are you sure you're not a Gryffindor?"

"Hey! Slytherins are brave, too. I thought you knew better than that, Weasley." he pouted, amusement in his eyes.

"Oh, I do." Ginny winked. "Well, I have to go back and deliver the good news."

Eli stepped quickly in her path with a sly smirk. "You're gonna leave me so soon? I just got here."

Ginny sighed, putting a hand on his chest. "We can't right now."

"Come on." he tugged at her shirt, his eyes imploring as he leaned in closer. "just a little longer."

Excitement was still running through Ginny, she'd just received the first good news she'd heard in a while. Eli's brown eyes were still looking at her, Ginny could see the lust within them and her body reacted in kind. Oh, fuck it.

Grabbing his collar, Ginny pulled him forward and smacked her lips against his. His response was immediate, Ginny let him push her back until her body hit the wall behind her.

"We have to be quick," she commanded against his lips.

"No problem there." he moaned, gripping her thighs and wrapping them around his hips.

It was urgent, their hands rapidly getting rid of their clothes. They were both too wound up, too horny, too scared, and sad. Ginny gasped as his fingers made their way to her core, delving deep and hard. She clutched at him, her own fingers making quick work of his trousers, unfastening his belt. Their breath was lost, anxiety and fear temporarily quietened in the background. And when he finally entered her; Ginny felt utter relief at the momentary pleasure that gripped her, ignoring the world around her for a few minutes before turning back to the chaos.

--------‐---------------------------------------------

Ginny missed that release, she hadn't had any in a long while. She was too sad, Ginny supposed. Not even by herself. She was barely taking showers and eating. Forget masturbation, let alone sex. But seeing Eli again was bringing that part of her back. Ginny was surprised to find desire swirling in her stomach rapidly traveling south, and causing tingles in her sex as she remembered her time together with the handsome bloke sitting opposite her.

"I know that look."

Ginny's gaze snapped up to Eli's, only now noticing that she had been openly checking him out. There was a suggestive smirk on his sharp features, and if she wasn't used to it, she would've probably blushed.

Ginny rolled her eyes once again. "Oh, you do, do you?"

"Mmm, the universal 'fuck-me' eyes."

"Or maybe that's just wishful thinking on your part?"

His lips quirked. "Always."

Once again, Ginny was baffled by his friendly attitude towards her. How could he not hate her? Was it just his good nature, his empathetic spirit? Did he pity her? Because he should hate her. Loathe her.

The shame was storming back, hitting her from all angles, and Ginny hated it. She needed to get away from him. Now.

"Listen, Eli. It was nice catching up, but I've got to go," she announced abruptly.

"Wait, Ginny, I ‐"

"I'll see you later." Ginny was already turning around, throwing her coat on herself haphazardly.

"Please, stop. Ginny, it wasn't your fault, okay? None of it was."

Ginny paused, her back still to him. "You really have to stop saying that."

"It's the truth. It was my choice. Everyone was aware of the consequences. We all made a choice. I do not blame you. None of us does."

"Well, you definitely should. Have a good day, Eli."

And then her legs were sprinting outside, trying to find a place to settle down. Ginny could feel it. Could feel an attack coming. Tremors vibrated her skin in warning, cold sweat dripping down the side of her face. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.

How long was she going to suffer from this? It was payback, she figured. Ginny wasn't sure what to make of her very active panic attacks anymore. She was starting to talk more, go out more, and as a result, her anxiety was taking the biggest toll on her. Ginny needed to pull back, take a thousand steps away from people, and the world in general.

"Ginny?"

Fuck, no, not now. Even through the fog in her vision, and the instability of her breath, Ginny managed to make out Hermione's voice.

Please go away. Let me breathe in peace.

"Ginny, are you all right?"

"Ginny? Oh, my goodness, you look so pale."

"I'm f-f-fine." Ginny gasped, her lungs burning with her need for oxygen. Hermione's voice began to fade further away, her words mixing in with the ringing in Ginny's ears.

"Ginny, take a deep breath. Focus on my voice. Ginny. Merlin, Ginny!"

And then her vision went dark.

"Please, wake up."

Ginny's head was pounding, and she instantly knew she had lost consciousness. Opening her eyes, her brain slowly registered Hermione's worried gaze.

"Oh, thank God! Ginny, are you okay?"

"Shh, you're being so loud."

"Sorry, sorry! Here, let me help you sit up."

Ginny immediately moved away from her reach, standing up quickly. Her body swayed from the sudden motion, and Ginny rapidly rested a hand on the brick wall behind her.

"I can manage on my own just fine, thanks."

Hermione sighed in irritation. "I know that."

Hermione knew her well, and Ginny felt the familiar discomfort that came with that knowledge. "All right, good. Have a nice rest of your day, 'Mione"

Hermione scoffed. Loudly. "Ginny Weasley, you did not just say that to me."

"Hermione - "

"If you think, for even one second, that I'm leaving you right now - "

"I'm fine, stop being ‐ "

"No, you stop!" Hermione snapped. "My God, Ginny, you just passed out! I am not leaving until I make sure you're completely okay."

"I already said I'm ‐ "

"Fine, yeah. "Hermione huffed. "I'll be the judge of that."

Ginny wanted to argue, she really did. But her body was aching viciously, her limbs wanting to give up on holding her up. And they did just that, Ginny leaned against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting on the ground. Bending her knees up, Ginny put her head down between her legs, inhaling sharply, trying to soothe her erratic heartbeats.

Fuck, she was so tired.

"Ginny, what's going on?" Hermione's voice had lost its edge as she seated herself down next to Ginny.

"Nothing is going on."

It was simply quiet for a few minutes. While Ginny appreciated her friend so much at that moment, she was equally confused. It was unlike Hermione to be silent, not to push and push until someone told her to shove it.

Without lifting her head, Ginny shared her thoughts. "What? You're not going to nag me about it."

"No. And for the millionth time, I don't nag. I advise, guide, help."

"And nag."

"And worry," Hermione said meaningfully, her tone soft and filled with questions. "Ginny, I didn't know you were still - "

"Please, Hermione, can we just sit? I'm exhausted."

"But you have to. . . " Hermione paused, obviously trying to stop herself from being, well, herself. "Fine, but I'm not letting this go, Ginny."

"I know."

Ginny was finally starting to gain back her strength, her airways opening up. She slowly raised her head, not looking at her companion. "How long was I out?"

"Just a couple of minutes. One more and I would've apparated you to St. Mungo's," Hermione told her firmly.

Ginny could almost sense her panic coming back at the mere mention of that hospital. "And I would've hexed you into next week as a thank you."

"Aw, how sweet."

Ginny chuckled lightly, finally turning to meet her friend's eyes. A rush of gratitude went through her. Ginny didn't realize how much she'd missed Hermione, they had barely talked since the War had been won, Ginny had even spoken to Harry more.

"Where are your idiots?"

Hermione smiled. "On a Quidditch equipment shopping spree. Actually, they were looking for you all day. But it had gotten so late, they just went for it by themselves."

Good. Because it was beyond bizarre how much Ginny wanted to see Harry, and how much she dreaded it.

"Speaking of, can you not tell them about. . .you know?"

Hermione shot her a sideways glance that said way more than if she had opened her mouth. "Of course. But you have to promise to talk to me, and tell me exactly what's been going on with you."

Before Ginny could even protest, Hermione continued. "I'm not telling anyone anything, either way, Ginny. But I–I just wish you would talk to me. I miss you."

A pang of guilt crawled up Ginny's throat, and her muscles tightened when she saw Hermione's silent tears fall down her cheeks.

"Hermione, don't cry. Come on, you know I miss you, too."

"Do you?"

"Yes! Of course! I've just been‐ " drifting. "coping, you know? I'm sorry if that made you feel like I don't care or something. But of course, I miss you. And I'll try to be a better friend. I promise."

Well, a white lie to appease her friend wasn't the best look in the world. But deep down, Ginny truly wanted to be a better friend. She just wanted to be. . .better.

"Oh, Ginny!" Ginny's face was now covered in Hermione's wild curls.

"All right, don't make me regret being nice now." when Hermione's hold only tightened, Ginny gave it a few more seconds because, in all honesty, it felt really nice. So Ginny hugged her back, reacquainting herself with human contact. The beauty of having this moment with one of her closest friends.

After a minute, Ginny tapped her harder on the back. "Seriously, 'Mione, it's getting a little hard to breathe."

Hermione laughed, pulling back and discreetly wiping her tears. "Sorry, I just really missed you."

Wanting to change the subject towards a lighter, safer one, Ginny teased. "It's a miracle you even remember me, given how much time you spend with your tongue down my brother's throat."

"Ginny! Don't be crass."

"Oh, sorry, should I phrase it more politely, then? How about with your mouth enveloping his and caress ‐ "

"How about you say nothing at all?" Hermione's cheeks were so flushed, that Ginny decided to take pity on her.

"Fine, I'll stop. But can I just say, I'm so happy you two finally got your heads out of your arses long enough to even snog?"

Hermione's smile could only be described as giddy. "Not the most proper way to say congratulations, but I'll allow it."

"Thank you, your highness."

As the sun was going down, Hermione and Ginny sat there, leaning against the wall of the back of an old pub, talking and laughing. And it so was normal, that Ginny had a sudden urge to cry. To leave. Because she wasn't supposed to be comfortable here, laughing with a friend, was she? She needed the solitude again. Deserved it.

"Oh, Gin, I'm simply ecstatic that you're coming back. We're going to be in the same year! How wonderful is that?"

It was wonderful. Weird, but wonderful. "Fair warning, I'm not gonna let you bully me into studying anymore. We're on the same level of education now, 'Mione. So no extra hours spent in the library for me this year."

Hermione's smile was mischievous and almost challenging. "We'll see about that, Head Girl."

Ginny groaned. "Neville?"

"Yes."

"Just can't keep his mouth shut, can he?"

"Oh, come on, Ginny! That is such exciting news. We should be celebrating!"

No. Because she didn't deserve it.

"We both know the title should've gone to you, Hermione." Or anyone else, really.

"Ginny, no."

"Really? Hermione Granger doesn't want to be a Head Girl. What has the world come to?"

With a playful shove on Ginny's shoulder, Hermione grinned softly. "I'm not saying I didn't want it. Once upon a time, it had been, literally, all I could think of becoming. The ultimate dream of how I would finish my journey at Hogwarts.

"But now - I just feel so different. After believing that I wouldn't even have the chance to finish school, my priorities have shifted. I don't care about it as much anymore. I mean, don't get me wrong, it would've been an absolute honor. But it's no longer a dream of mine. Besides, even if I still wanted it, no one deserves that title more than you, Ginny."

Ginny snorted, sending Hermione an incredulous look. "That is not true."

"Ginny, I might not know every single thing that'd happened last year, but just from the stories we've all heard so far; you carried it all on your shoulders. You saved so many lives, you were so - "

"Don't. Please, Hermione. Just don't"

Ginny's tone left no room for an argument or even a slight protest. And what fucking stories they'd been hearing? She was going to murder Neville someday.

"Okay, then." Hermione blew out a breath, visibly trying to shake off the tension that was suddenly surrounding them. "How about we go find our idiots?"

"Oh, please, they're your idiots. Don't dump them on me, too."

Hermione laughed loudly, but her laughter was soon overpowered by Ginny's moron of a brother's boisterous voice.

"There you are, fucking hell!"

"Language, Ronald!"

Ginny's skin awakened with awareness of Harry's presence, and she hated it. Harry's eyes implored her to look at him, and Ginny couldn't hold back her quick reaction as she met his gaze. An immediate worry clouded his expression, which Ginny tried to briskly brush off with, what she hoped, was a genuine smile.

Harry smiled back, uncertain. "We were looking for you all day. We wanted to get new broomsticks"

"Mostly my fault. Sorry, mate," said Neville. Ginny was so focused on Harry, she hadn't noticed her best friend was actually standing right next to her now.

"I'm fine with my broom, anyway," Ginny told them, before starting making her way down the alley. "Don't need a new one."

"I'm sorry, did I just hear you correctly?" Ron said with a hint of disbelief as they all started following behind her. "Ginny! You love shopping for new broomsticks, even when we can't afford them. And, you're the bloody captain this year, you need a new broom!"

"Calm down, Ronnie, it's not that big of a deal," Ginny said, absent-minded, her gaze fixed on the ground, hands so deep in her pockets she felt nothing but warmth. Though, Ginny figured most of the heat she was feeling was due to the burn of green eyes on her back.

"Not that bi - Hermione, say something!"

Ginny could just imagine Hermione's baffled look. "Really, Ron? You're asking me to make a big deal about getting a new broomstick?"

Neville chuckled. "Yeah, whatever are you thinking, Ron?"

"Oh, shut it! I was asking you because you're the most reasonable one here, make her see sense." Ron told Hermione.

"I'll buy a new one if you shut the hell up, Ron. Sound good?" Ginny asked, and she knew her tone came off more tired than biting.

"Sounds great! Quality Quidditch Supplies, here we come again!"

"Oh, no!" was Hermione's whiny response.

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The breeze was nice in the garden behind the Burrow. It was a week after they had all gone to Diagon Alley. They were leaving for Hogwarts soon, and Ginny's parents were an emotional wreck. It was the last year, all their children would be done with school, so Ginny understood. But still, they had to make a fuss about all three meals every day. Right now, they were all sitting outside having dinner, decorations adorned the large table, her parents actually festooned the place as if they were having a special event like it was Bill's wedding all over again.

Which was an event Ginny didn't like to think about, all she remembered from that day was the fight she'd had with Harry, his betrayal of her trust. As if he could read her mind, Harry's eyes snapped to hers. And the resentment itched its way back to her mind so fast, she had to look away.

"Hello, everyone. It looks positively lovely out here."

Luna's delicate voice barely reached Ginny's ears. Ginny knew for a fact that she didn't invite her friend. Not because she didn't want to, but because it honestly slipped her mind. Shooting a glance at Neville beside her, Ginny got her answer when he grinned lightly.

"I told her to come. She was very excited about it, Gin. Don't shut her out."

Ginny frowned. "I'm not shutting her out. I'm glad you invited her. The whole thing was was stupid, anyway."

"Good."

"Hey, Ginny."

Ginny smiled at Luna, gesturing her to the chair closest to hers. Luna beamed dreamily and sat down. "Ginny, I apologize. I didn't mean to ‐ "

"Don't worry about it. We're good, L."

"Really?"

Ginny smiled. "Of course."

"I'm bored," Ron announced. "Let's play some Quidditch."

"No, not again!" Hermione instantly protested. "We already played this morning."

"Yeah, Ron. Once is enough. Oh, could it be that you want a re-match after your humiliating loss?" Ginny teased, sharing a glance with Harry.

"You and Harry were on the same team! It was an unfair game from the start."

It was true. They never stood a chance. "Don't be a sore loser, mate," Harry said, amused.

A light-hearted squabble broke over the group, but Ginny's mind prickled with their laughter, their. . .joy. She felt a tightness in her chest, harsh and visceral. Ginny's eyes roamed the area, thinking only of the two souls missing, one was lost forever, and one was choosing to be away. Ginny hadn't seen George for days. She had woken up a week ago to the sound of loud fighting. Their parents were reprimanding him for always coming home late, for not grieving the 'right way', basically. George shouted that he was going to stay with a friend until he found a place, and then he was gone.

Ginny wished she were with him more than anything, and at the same time she knew she wouldn't be able to meet his eyes for more than a few minutes before completely breaking down. Tears started to gather in Ginny's eyes, and she inhaled sharply, trying to keep it in check. Especially because she knew Harry's eyes were on her. Observing, almost waiting for her meltdown.

"So what happened with Eli after I left?" Neville's question was jarring, to say the least. It abruptly brought Ginny back into the conversation. A conversation that suddenly came to a halt with the strange inquiry.

Ginny glared at Neville, who shrugged in confusion. Before she could open her mouth, Ron chimed in loudly. "Who the hell is Eli?"

Ginny went to answer, but the burn of Harry's stare scratched the back of her throat into silence. And Ginny didn't know why. Why the hell was she so aware of his reaction? Because she definitely shouldn't have been.

"Which Eli? I'm assuming, Eli Rojas?" Hermione asked. "From Slytherin, right? He's a good student."

Ron snorted at that, then looked at Ginny. "And what happened with this Eli, then?"

Ginny huffed a breath, agitated at her brother's non-ending idiotic behavior. "He's a friend, and we ran into him at Diagon Alley. Any more questions?"

"Yeah, actually. Loads."

"Give it a rest, Ron," Hermione chided, before shifting her attention to Ginny. "You probably know him because you're friends with Lynn, but I didn't know you were friends with him, too."

"Well, you don't know all my friends, Hermione." Ginny's tone came out harsher than she'd intended. And when Hermione blushed in embarrassment and surprise, Ginny softened her tone. "Sorry, we've known each other for a while, actually. We just got closer last year, I guess."

Harry's gaze was now a little scorching, almost begging her to look at him, to give answers. Ginny ignored him and dismissed the confusing feelings that were brewing in her heart.

The conversation dwindled after that, idle chatter surrounded Ginny's fatigued brain, her head was starting to really hurt. Before Ginny could excuse herself, her mother was now standing, and Ginny could see the emotions unfurling on her face. There was about to be an emotional speech, and Ginny was in no mood for it.

"I would like to say something, so you lot better shut it and listen," her mother said, quite loud.

The mindless chatting came to halt, everyone's attention on Ginny's mother. Ginny couldn't help the slight smile that cracked her lips, no one could do anything against Molly Weasley. If she said no more noise, then no more bloody noise.

"I could stand here and talk about how difficult it has been–a bit unbearable, I'd say. We could all talk about the loss and grief we have to face every day. But I - I don't think I can do that. We've lost so much. To death and to worse. And when we lost our Fred, I didn't think I'd ever be able to ‐ " her mother's voice broke off on a choking breath.

Ginny's headache began to hammer her skull harder, the mention of her brother's name shooting a familiar dread through her blood. Her father rested a calming hand on her mother's shoulder, and she instantly seemed to find herself again. As usual, Ginny was amazed at her parent's relationship, there wasn't much that Ginny believed in these days, but she sure as hell believed in her parents.

"I think we all have quite a clear idea of what Fred would say right now," her mother continued, not seeming to care about the muted tears running down her cheeks. "'What a sappy, sodding bunch.'"

A very light chuckle traveled around the group, no one knowing exactly how to react.

"Or 'I'm having the time of my life in a much better place than earth, you fools.'" Luna's soft words cut through the air. So unexpected, so utterly peculiar, that after a beat of silence, genuine laughter erupted amongst all of them.

"Oh, you think so?" even though, her mother's question came out light and casual, Molly's eyes spoke volumes as they met Luna's, wanting her reassurance.

Luna smiled serenely at Ginny's mother. "Most definitely."

"Well then," her mother said, briskly wiping away at her tears and raising her glass. "we should celebrate that now, shouldn't we?"

Murmurs of agreements and approval were said, even Ginny felt inclined to join, despite her heart pounding in her chest with sadness.

"To Fred," her father's voice was raspy as he spoke, his eyes red from the silent tears he'd shed. "to his peaceful journey wherever he is. And to finally getting all our children out of the house by the end of this year."

"Arthur!" her mother said, glaring at him playfully. "it's bad enough they're all going off to Hogwarts soon. I don't want to think about what happens after!"

"Well, not Harry, Mum," Ron said. "you can enjoy his brooding company all year until I can get a flat with him."

"Oh, that's right. Harry, have you thought about staying with us, dear? I told you I don't want you all alone at Grimmauld's place."

When Harry didn't answer right away, Ginny glanced at him, only to find him already looking at her, his green eyes intense with purpose and determination.

"Actually," his voice was sharp, challenging, as his eyes stayed glued on Ginny. "I've decided I'm going back to Hogwarts."

Blaring silence fell over them like a thick blanket. Ginny's ears rang, her heart thrusting heavily. No, no, Harry wasn't supposed to go back. He was was supposed to be done with that part of his life. He wasn't supposed to be near her every day for a year. Her blood pumped viciously, her headache thudding through her body even louder, harsher.

No one was talking, because no one really understood why. Why would the great Harry Potter, savior of the Wizarding world, go back to a place that no longer needed him.

"That's brilliant, Harry!" Hermione's voice tore into the quiet. "why didn't you tell us? I can not believe you didn't tell us! But oh, I'm so excited! We have to start thinking about all the things you still have to get. We're going to have to go back to Diagon Alley for some important books you need. I can help with whatever you may - "

"Bloody hell, Hermione, breathe!" said Ron.

"That is wonderful news, darling," Ginny's mother chimed. "the best news, really. You should finish school like everyone else."

Ginny didn't think Harry and herself were aware of anybody's response. Their eyes were attached in a battle, a battle Ginny had no idea they were fighting. She was confused, confused by his decision, but mostly by the fire in his eyes, the defensiveness. It looked like he was gearing up for an argument.

Well, if that was what he wanted.

"Harry, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ginny's question wasn't really a question at all, as she stood up and walked inside briskly. Harry was right on her tail, Ginny could feel the heavy tension simmering around them as they marched into the kitchen. Both of them instinctively raised their wands to cast silencing charms; they looked at each other, and Ginny couldn't help the twinge of warmth that filled her, the nostalgia, or the sadness that followed. They were both always so used to danger, to always being cautious that it was second nature to them, they didn't even think about it.

"What the hell, Harry?" her voice sounded a lot calmer than she felt.

"What do you mean, Ginny?"

She squinted dangerously. "You're going back? Why would you ever do that?"

"Because I want to."

"Since when?"

"Since I decided that I want to."

Ginny rolled her eyes, her whole body agitated and restless. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Being evasive and snarky. The last time I checked, you weren't going. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Harry smirked, not nicely. "I'm allowed to change my mind."

He was throwing her words back in her face. Ginny could almost feel his words crawling under her skin, getting to her, aggravating her temper.

"Stop it! Why did you really change your mind, Harry?"

"I don't know what you want me to say, Ginny!" Harry sniped, his cool, guarded demeanor cracking.

"The truth!"

Did she want the truth? Harry's eyes were daring her with the same question. Do you really want to know the truth, Ginny? Are you ready to hear it? Ginny didn't want to assume, didn't want to think it was her. That he was actually going back for her. It was too much, too confusing, and she really didn't want to sit down and ponder its implications.

"It will be a nightmare, Harry. Everyone there will hound you."

For a second, Ginny could see the tiniest sliver of doubt in his eyes, before he shrugged. "Let them. I don't mind. I've been dealing with prying eyes and unwanted attention my entire life."

Ginny hated it when he was so cavalier about it "Exactly! You don't need that shit. You've done enough, way more than your fair share, actually."

"So what's a little more?"

"There's no more. Hogwarts doesn't need you there any longer!"

Harry blanched at that, and Ginny faltered. She wanted to take it back, she did. But there was something unsaid behind her words, something Ginny hated to admit, that maybe she wasn't only talking about Hogwarts. Maybe Ginny was talking about herself, too. What she really resented, was that she could see from the stiffness in Harry's stance and the stillness in the air that he got the message behind the veil.

"I'm the one who needs it, then." was his soft, quiet reply. His eyes were sad, imploring, and giving away a lot more than they should.

Ginny huffed, turning around and staring out the kitchen window. "You're insufferable," she whispered, unsure if he'd heard, but based on the release of a snort, he had.

Suddenly his presence was edging closer to her space, his quiet footsteps striding closer toward her, slowly, almost fearfully. Harry's palm was on her waist, and try as she might, Ginny couldn't stop her shudder. Couldn't stop the menacing beat of her heart. He was so close, he didn't leave room for anything else, Ginny couldn't even think about why. Why was he was invading her reality, oh, so deliciously?

Ginny was aware of his body more than hers, the slightest of movements alerted her senses, and alarmed her brain. His palm was steady but still uncertain. His breath was labored and shaky.

"Ginny."

The sound of her name leaving his mouth with so much longing, brought her out of her trance. Ginny whipped around, which was a mistake, her eyes slammed into his, and Harry didn't move back. Not an inch.

His hand still placed on her waist with nervousness, the other clenched into a fist by his side.

"Why don't you want me there, Ginny?"

There were so many reasons, she couldn't concentrate on just one. Except for the one, the ultimate reason Ginny would never tell him. Because she wanted him there. Ginny had felt happiness as much as she had felt panic at his decision. And now she just wanted the comfort of loneliness, it was familiar. Hopeless, just like she liked it. There were no disappointments there. No betrayal, no loss. Just loneliness. Good, old, safe isolation. Instead of saying all that, Ginny kept her mouth shut. Because even if she wanted to talk to him, she wasn't ready. And they had already fought about talking and agreed they were on a time-out.

"It's not about what I want."

Harry titled his head in question, and he was so handsome at that moment, that all she wanted was to pull him close or push him away completely.

"It's about what's best for you," Ginny told him.

"Hmm, best for me, huh?

"Yep."

"Liar," Harry retorted, his eyes falling to her lips.

Ginny couldn't focus, her summer dress seemed to catch on fire under his touch and latching on to her skin. If she had thought she felt a glimmer of desire with Eli last week, it was nothing compared to this. Heat, raw, sudden, and visceral bolted within her veins. Feelings and wants that Ginny had worked hard over the years to bury, she'd succeeded, too. Blocking it was such a success that Ginny couldn't fully comprehend what was happening to her body. Well, they were apart for a year, her heart and sex were probably in shock. Overwhelmed by his proximity after being deprived of it for so long.

None of that was registering at the moment. Harry's breath was now harsh as it landed on her mouth teasingly. His eyes were glazed over with desire, and Ginny couldn't deny it, and she really wanted to deny it. His other palm unclenched, lifting to rest on her flushed cheek. Ginny's eyes couldn't depart from his even if she wanted them to.

"You're making a mistake." Ginny wasn't sure if she was talking about Hogwarts or the intimate moment they were having. A moment that could lead to something drastic and huge, if neither of them stopped it before it got there.

"No, it's the best decision I could ever make." his husky words needled their path to her core, both of them now out of breath and flushed. Ginny had missed him so much, it felt like it was another one of her dreams. A vivid, achingly wonderful dream.

His lips were almost on hers now, and that was when clarity hit. No. Ginny pulled away so fast and hard, Harry actually stumbled backward, his eyes still swimming with emotions as he looked at her, his cheeks red, and mouth parted, inviting. Ginny looked away.

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed." It was a miracle how her voice came out steady and distant.

"Ginny, I ‐ "

"Have a good night, Harry. I'll see you later."

In the safety of her bedroom, Ginny put a hand on her chest, her heart was beating so erratically as though it wanted to leave her body. And Ginny wouldn't have minded. Anything to stop the incessant battering that was being inflicted on her. Harry at Hogwarts was a danger, a stupid, tempting, beautiful danger that she didn't need. It was going to be hard enough being there after all she had been through. Dealing with her confusing feelings toward Harry Potter shouldn't be a part of that process. Ginny closed her eyes, willing sleep to come to her fast. Even if all night she had to see the nightmares of her past, Ginny would take on all of it, as long as she didn't dream of Harry.

[rainboq]

Thank you for the prompt! Here's one in return. #3 (kiss on the cheek) pricefield

You asked for a kiss on the cheek, you get an entire date and Chloe being a massive disaster. Enjoy! Apologies in advanced for my nonexistent Spanish skills. I’m going insane. It’s just Max, why the hell am I going insane? Chloe sighs as she sits in her truck, one hand on the wheel while the other hovers over the send button on her phone. Fucking Rachel and her big ideas. Just ask her out Chloe, it’ll be fine Chloe, you’ve known her since you were a little kid Chloe. 

A little traitorous part of her wished that Max had just said no so she could get the rejection over and done with. Instead, her dorky little face with it’s stupidly cute dimpled smile and earnest eyes had light up like Chloe had told her that there was going to be new episodes of Hawt Dawg Man or something. And not, you know, a date with her dumb punk ass.

Just hit the damn button Chloe so you can blow this already and tell Rachel you told her so. There’s no way someone as smart and talented as Max wants anything to do with me. She’s just doing this for old time’s sake.

Her finger taps the button and she locks the screen so she can’t stare at it and ratchet her anxiety up higher.

Ha. As if she has any control over her anxiety right now.

Her phone buzzes with Max’s reply and she takes a few deep breaths to try and steady her nerves. Her usual go to right now would be smoking, but she forgot her damn pack at home like a dumbass in her flurry of getting ready. At least I didn’t fuck up Rachel’s makeup job.

Is Max even going to like me with this much makeup on? She knew me before I ever started wearing any.

She does an impromptu drum solo on her steering wheel to try and get some of her nervous energy out, to mixed success when her eyes spot movement in the lobby of Max’s building. She turns in her seat, gets a look at her and promptly forgets to breathe. Chloe had said to dress up a bit, and Max had taken the liberty of wearing a flowing black dress with some matching leggings. It’s not nearly as showy as the things Rachel wears to parties and events, but there’s something about the way her freckled shoulders look under the straps that makes her heart squeeze. Those damn freckles, why do they have to be so cute?! Dammit, breathe, don’t be a total dweeb in front of Max because she grew up and got hot.

Fuck she is hot though.

I’m so boned.

Max spots her truck as she pushes out through the inner door and a great big dorky smile spreads across her face as she waves enthusiastically. Chloe waves back and scoots across the bench seat to throw the passenger door open. A moment later Max is climbing in, all winning and too god damn adorable smiles. “Hey Chloe!”

“Uh, hey Max! You look… hella great.”

Max’s cheeks go a bit red as she hunches her shoulders forwards, one hand rubbing the back of her neck. “I don’t know about that, but you look amazing.”

There’s no part of Chloe’s stolen blazer and worn black jeans that qualify as amazing to her, but if Max likes it she’s not about to complain. “Thanks,” Chloe tries to say as smoothly as she can muster despite the slight wobble in her tone, “You down for some food?”

“I’m hella starving.” Max replies with a cheeky grin as she shuts her door. “I’m so down for this ‘best taco truck in town’.”

Rolling up to a dumpy taco truck in her old brick with someone as gorgeous as Max suddenly has Chloe feeling like Max really deserves a better first and probably only date, but plans are plans. “Then let your noble steed be off, fair maiden!”

Max breaks out in gigglesnorts as Chloe pulls out of the parking lot. “You did not just use one of William’s lines on me!”

“I so hella did Caulfield, what’re you gonna do about it?” Chloe adds a wink, hoping it’ll cover up how obviously sweaty as hell her palms are right now.

“Oh, I’ve got something in mind.” Max says in a low tone that makes Chloe have to fight to not choke on her own spit.

Oh god, is Max actually flirting with me? I’m so not fucking ready for this. “You down to thrash a bit hippie?”

“As long as your bony elbows don’t hit me!” Max replies with a laugh and Chloe punches the radio on.

The scratchy punk from the local station starts blaring and Chloe internally breathes a sigh of relief at not having to try and deal with Max’s flirting for a moment. Oh god, I can hear Rachel laughing her ass off at me right now.

Max for her part grooves along, and Chloe has to focus to avoid going off the road because of it. God she still dances like a total dork! Fuck, it should be illegal to be this cute or something.

Thankfully they make it to the taco truck without Chloe running into anything, despite her distracted driving, and she pulls them up to the sidewalk. I just hope she likes it or this is going to be a hella lame date.

“Hungry Max?” Chloe asks as she throws her door open after shutting off the radio.

“I’m so hungry, you have no idea.” Max replies as she does the same before sheepishly admitting, “I also kinda skipped lunch.”

Chloe jumps out of her truck and jogs around the front of it as Max clambers out. “Jesus Christ Caulfield, no wonder you ended up so short.”

“What! Hey! Not all of us get to be so freakishly tall.” Max groans and sticks out her tongue.

“Yup, it’s just my burden to bear. Now what do you wanna eat?”

“I mean, you know what’s good here.” Max shrugs as she walks alongside Chloe towards the food truck. “Order for me?”

“Spicy or nah?”

“No way, never spicy.”

Chloe can’t help but laugh at the way Max shakes her head and waves her hands in the air. Yup, still a total dork. “Can do Maximo. Just wait here.”

Chloe skips ahead a few steps and shouts out, “¡Hola Alejandro!”

There’s a clattering sound inside the truck and a middle-aged man’s face appears, “¡Aha! ¡Flaca! ¿Como estas?”

“Muy bien, gracias. ¿Y tú?”

“Bein.” He says with a nod and a big smile.

“Bien, quatro numero doce con polo por favor.” Chloe says, before turning to grin at Max who looks a little stunned.

Alejandro sticks his head out to see what she’s looking at before pulling back in and grinning broadly. “¿Tu amor?”

Chloe shrugs, unable to keep the smile off of her face as she rubs the back of her head. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I forgot how to say that in Spanish. Way to go dumbass.

Alejandro, to his credit, doesn’t need it spelled out for him as he pokes his head back out and calls out to Max, “¡Hola bonita!”

Max freezes up for a moment before doing a little wave back. “H-hola.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.” Alejandro grins at her, before retreating back into the food truck to start working on the order.

Chloe pulls out her wallet from her blazer’s pocket and takes out approximately the right amount of money plus tip and drops it on the counter before jogging back to Max with a big idiot grin on her face. “And that’s the food!”

“I guess I should probably learn some Spanish if I’m going to be living large in LA, huh?” Max asks sheepishly, doing that thing she used to do when they were kids where she’d hold her arm.

“Prolly a good idea,” Chloe says as she moves to stand next to Max. “This shouldn’t take too long.”

“Maybe I should have brought a sweater, I always forget how cold it gets here when the sun goes down.”

“Here, stand next to me, the food should warm you up.” Chloe holds out her arm and Max doesn’t hesitate to tuck into her side.

A sort of silence settles in as Max hums softly to herself and chews on her lip while Chloe watches the window for the food. The pressure of Max against her feels good, great even, but it all feels so surreal. “I can’t believe we’re actually on a date.”

“Oh no?” Max giggles softly as she snakes an arm around Chloe’s waist, “What’s so unbelievable about it?”

“How about the part where you said yes?”

“When I told my parents, my dad announced that Joyce and mom owe him fifty bucks.”

“Wait, what?” Chloe somehow manages to not stammer.

“They all had a bet, our dads bet that we’d date some day.”

Chloe turns her eyes heavenwards, where the few stars visible in LA are starting to poke out as the sun sets. I guess you’re smiling on my dumb ass from up there, huh dad?

“¡Loca!” Alejandro shouts from the truck as he puts their food out.

“That’s us.” Chloe says before reluctantly pulling away from Max, “we’ll eat in the back of my truck, meet me there?”

“Sure thing.”

Chloe trots over, grabs the two trays of food. Damn, dude threw in tortilla chips gratis, I fucking owe him a bigass tip next time I come.

Max waits for her, standing next to the now open tailgate. “After you, mademoiselle.”

“You know French?” Chloe asks with a cocked eyebrow as she slides the trays into the bed before climbing up.

“I picked up a couple things from an ex.” Max shrugs as Chloe turns, offers her a hand and hauls her up into the bed.

They end up sitting together at the far end, their backs resting against the cab as Chloe divides the food between them. “Eat up, short stuff.”

“Oh my god, stop making fun of my height you beanstalk!” Max laughs as she elbows Chloe.

Chloe just cackles as she pulls out her first taco and takes her first bite. Come on Chloe, it’s Max, but it’s still a date so don’t eat like a total fucking slob.

She waits until she’s actually finished her first mouthful and swallowed before turning to Max, “How is it?”

“Oh my god I think I’m in love,” Max mutters as she finishes her first mouthful, “Legit the best taco I’ve ever had.”

“Did I tell you or did I tell you?” Chloe grins in triumph before taking another bite of her taco.

They don’t talk much as they consume their tacos, they’re too tasty. Chloe finishes first and has to resist the urge to shout her victory like they did when they were kids having stupid eating contests. Instead, she starts popping tortilla chips into her mouth and just kind of watching Max while she waits.

Damn, I’ve seen her a bunch since she moved here and I still can’t get over how damn cute she got. Like even her ‘ugly duckling’ pics from high school look great. I can’t believe I missed out on her braces years though, damn, that would have been hilarious to be around for. That or I would have gotten in a lot of fights for jackasses making fun of her, which wouldn’t have been much of a change honestly…

Max finishes her tacos and beams up at Chloe, “That was delicious! Thank you so much Chloe!”

“Hey, you deserve it, also hang on, you got some sour cream on your nose.” Chloe grabs a napkin and wipes it off, prompting a giggle from Max.

“You’re adorable.”

“You’re one to talk.”

Max laughs and steals a chip from Chloe’s basket before grinning at her as she eats it.

“What, hey! Those are my chips! You’ve got your own!”

“Yeah but yours are tastier!”

Oh my god, this old game. “What, you want me to feed them to you?”

Chloe’s heart skips a beat as Max’s cheeks flush red. “I-I mean, I wouldn’t mind…”

“Only if you feed me yours.” Chloe grins as she feels her own cheeks heating up.

“It's a deal then.”

Chloe holds up one of her chips to Max’s face, who promptly devours it before holding up one of her chips for Chloe, who returns the gesture. Before long they’re both grinning at each other like sappy idiots and swapping chips until their baskets run empty. Max makes a little disappointed noise as they run out and Chloe gathers up their baskets.

“I’ll run these back and we’ll hit the road?”

“Sure thing.” Max says, before stifling a yawn. “Man, I didn’t realize how late it’s getting already.”

“Nah, you’re just getting old, the night’s still young.”

Max jabs a finger into Chloe’s side before laughing, “You ass, don’t you know it’s rude to joke about a lady’s age?”

“I’m older than you!”

“I said a lady.” Max retorts with a smirk as they both get to their feet and hop out of the bed.

“You got me there Maximus Wrecked.”

Damn, I think this is actually going pretty well! She thinks to herself as she jogs back to the food stand and drops the baskets off on the outside counter. From inside Alejandro flashes her a double thumbs up and Chloe grins back at him before turning around to head back to her truck.

Max is already in the cab, holding herself and shivering a bit as Chloe gets in. “Definitely should have brought a sweater.”

Thinking fast, Chloe pulls off her blazer and holds it out to Max. “Here, until the heater decides to start working.”

“Thank you so much,” Max says as she puts the blazer on in a hurry, “This has been great.”

“Hey, you’re great so…”

There’s a giggle from Max before she stifles another yawn. “Dork. We should probably head back though. I had a crazy long day.”

Chloe’s heart sinks and her mind immediately starts racing for ways she fucked this up as she starts her truck up. “Oh, okay.”

“I had fun Chloe, seriously.” Max says, reaching out across the bench and laying her hand on Chloe’s forearm as she shifts the truck into gear. “We’ll have to do this again.”

Oh, okay, so I didn’t completely fuck it up. “Second date, huh?”

“Definitely,” Max smiles warmly as they pull out into the street, “Mind if I put some of my tunes on?”

“Sure, knock yourself out.”

Soft indie rock fills the cabin as Chloe drives back to Max’s place. Despite the promise of a second date, she really, really, really doesn’t want this to end. She’d hoped to go walking down the beach or something with max, maybe hit up a bar and get a little crazy.

Can’t you just be happy dumbass? You got the second date, just… take it easy. You know better than to rush Max of all fucking people.

The drive back to Max’s apartment is way too short, or maybe she’s so wrapped up in her thoughts that the usual nightmare of LA traffic barely registers. Either way, she’s sitting in front of Max’s building and wishing she was anywhere else in town with Max.

“So, uh…”

“Thank you, I had a wonderful evening,” Max says softly as she scoots across the bench seat and presses a gentle kiss into Chloe’s cheek, one hand cupping her chin.

It takes Chloe a second to remember what words are, much less how to put them together into sentences, but she does manage, eventually as she turns to look at Max. “You’re, uh, hella welcome.”

Something mischievous that ties Chloe’s guts in a knot sparkles in those brilliant blue eyes of Max as she smiles wide, “Do you hella want to come up to my apartment for some coffee?”

[lorelexi]

hello!! can you please do bakugou x reader where she and bakugou have to team up because they’re surrounded by villains and she ends up confessing and after the fight they get together? tysm💖💖

A/N: aaaghh I'm sorry this took so long🥺 i hope you like it!!💝

---

“Are you sure this is gonna work out for you Mr.Ground Zero sir, wouldn’t want to get in your way here.” you stood back to back with Bakugou when the words left your mouth.

The two of you had been sent on separate patrol units today without partners but ended up having a run-in with a few villains,forcing the two of you to team up, being the only heroes nearby.

“Yknow, you probably would, but I’m not really in the mood to deal with these lowlives and I’d rather get this over with quickly, even if it means teaming up.” Bakugou answered you with a grin, getting ready to lunge at a villain if they came any closer.

There was a teasing undertone to your relationship with Bakugou, but the two of you actually got along fairly well. You’d first met him when you began your internships, often passing him on patrol or in the hallways of the agency. That being said, you had a fat crush on him. I mean, how could you not? Sure he had a bad attitude, and he was brash, and probably didn’t even like you back but you couldn’t help it. You knew that all of those things were just surface features and you knew Bakugou was passionate about being a hero and you knew he cared deeply for his friends. Maybe that’s what drew you to him.

Clearly too distracted by your own thoughts, you nearly dodged an attack from one of the surrounding villains. If it weren’t for Bakugou pushing you out of the way you would have been toast.

As the battle continued, thoughts clouded your mind. You tried to push them out in order to focus on the task at hand but you couldn’t help but wonder when you’d get to team up with Bakugou like this again. You yearned to be around him all the time. You wanted to go on dates with him and have adventures with him, fight beside him. More than anything you just wanted him by your side.

“I gotta tell you something Bakugou.” The words escaped your mouth without you even realizing.

Bakugou huffed between punches.

Nearly all of the villains were taken care of now, but the built up adrenaline had your mind reeling.

“Can’t it wait until we’re done here?” 

“No. If I don’t say it now, I don’t know if I ever will.”

Bakugou proceeded to continue fighting the enemy before him, throwing you a glance n the process to let you know he’d heard you.

“I like this.” you paused to throw a kick to the villain you yourself were fighting. “I like fighting beside you, and I-” you inhaled sharply. Bracing yourself for your next words.” I think I have feelings for you too.”

There was no response from Bakugou and you wondered if he’d even heard you at all.

Hitting your last foe with a final blow, you turned around to face Bakugou, who was already looking at you, just having finished tying up the last of your enemies.

“You’ve got seriously shitty timing y’know.”

You laughed nervously. “Ah aha yeah I guess I do.”

Honestly you kind of expected him to drop it there, especially since he didn’t say anything for the next few minutes while the police force came to round off and carry away all of the defeated villains.

About to give up, and bid a disappointed farewell to Bakugou, you were shocked by what he said next.

“I know you said you liked fighting by me, but I’d consider this a pretty fucking awful first date. You and I are getting dinner later after the patrol reports are turned in.” He shot you a smug grin, already casually walking back to the agency.

So maybe confessing in the middle of a fight wasn’t such a bad idea?

[creativia10]

First Wip: Dukeceit Vs

Summary: Vigilante Janus has to deal with the chaos that is the newest villain wreaking havoc. Yet they both find themselves drawn to one another.

Notes: I decided to go ahead and try posting some of these unfinished wips. This was actually one of the first fics I attempted to write after deciding I wanted to try and participate in Dukeceit week. I actually really liked this one. I think my original intention was for this to be for the Free day (although I ended up getting a lot of Dukeceit ideas that didn't fit into the prompts). I can see myself getting back to it eventually. Sorry for the abrupt cutoff it ends with at the moment.

Pairing: Janus x Remus

Word count: 2014

Warnings: implied background violence? , innuendos (implied kink), sexual tension

Janus nearly had to swerve as he felt his weight shifted into the wall of the building he was next to.

Well this was new.

Once he got his bearings, he carefully righted himself, testing that the ground was no longer shifting underneath him, and carefully made his way out of the alley he had changed in, still using the wall as a railing in case some other natural shift occurred. He peered out of the alley carefully, working into the natural suaveness his vigilante costume normally gave him.

The city…looked like a mess. He almost couldn’t begin to describe it. Roadways were shifted about, all sorts of objects were around in a disarray as though blown there. There were simultaneous evidence of flooding and fires. Janus had never before seen such a catastrophic mess left around. He wouldn’t have believed such a thing was there if he weren’t seeing it with his own eyes.

He sighed, and carefully stepped about to find the source of all this chaos. It didn’t take long for him to hear a maniacal cackle.

“Oh what fun!”

A man dressed in all black with accents in various outlandish neon colors was floating in the middle of the city, over what looked like swirling ground debris?

He was looking about, seeming to laugh at people’s reactions to the mess he had made. Attention at things such as people trying to fix wind ruined hair, and turning around as though dizzy in disbelief. He didn’t even seem to notice Janus at first.

Janus stepped up to him and cleared his throat.

“I’m not sure why I expected anything else, “ Janus said dryly. Of all things to say first to the new chaos.

The source of chaos turned to face Janus, and tilted his head, an unhinged twinkle to his eye before suddenly his earth twister collapsed and he landed right on the ground. There was an unpleasant sound as he landed, but the man didn’t seem phased as he looked over Janus. He had strange vibrant eyes, that gave Janus a radioactive feel.

“Hmm, you the goodie here to kill my buzz?”

Janus scoffed. “Gosh no. Do I look like a bright colored government ken doll? I clearly have way more class than them. I’m just someone who wants to make sure my life doesn’t get swept up in whatever craziness this is, and have the means to do so. I’d liked to see the end of the day, and I surely expected the road being twisted into a column is not going to be helpful to getting me to work tomorrow.”

The other just stared at him for a moment before he snorted.

“Ah, that’s a good one. See…I’m not done so,” He shrugged and went back to pointing around and zapping strange bouts of nature around the city.

“Are you even putting thought into what you’re doing?” Janus asked as he slyly brought himself closer.

“Or are you just doing your best to be an annoying menace to me?”

“Hmm,” he tapped his fingers to his lips, weird bits floating around.

“I mean, I didn’t have a particular plan, but I guess annoying you is a bonus.”

Just before Janus could pull out one of his weapons, a water tentacle slunk up from out of nowhere, and pulled him towards the black clad menace, wrapping him up and restraining him. The other laughed.

“Ah, now let’s have a looksy here.”

He walked around and seemed to be taking in Janus. Janus struggled and tried to get out of the hold, surprised there was such a firm pressure and that it was hard to break hold off. He wrinkled his nose when he got a whiff that suggested this water was not the cleanest.

“Hmm,” the villain was much closer now. Janus continued to struggle, glaring at the other, who simply smiled at him.

“Ok, “

Janus rolled his eyes. He concentrated, and Remus jumped at the unexpected slithering sensation around his ankle, which helped release Janus from the water hold.

Remus looked down to see the yellow and green snake there.

“Ah, you can summon snakes. Neato.” He then reached backward and got hold of Janus’ wrists before he could use the other snake like fanged object and surprisingly brought Janus up against his back, but he held the strength.

“Oh, snakey, if you wanted to wrap me up to bind me so badly, you only needed to ask.”

Janus grimaced and tried to break out of Menace’s hold, who in turn spun him around and pressed Janus back to his front this time. Menace made a sound somewhere between a growl and a purr.

“I say, I rather like you against me.”

Janus’ eyes widened, suddenly very aware of just how warm Menace’s body was against his. He tried to get ahold of his breath, struggling for a comeback.

“What, no quip back?” Menace asked, sounding far too pleased with himself.

Janus huffed out a breath and tried his other trick again.

“Oh, that’s not going to work on me, dear.” Menace said, even when snakes wrapped around his ankles.

“You’re not concerned about them being venomous?”

“You would kill me?”

“I’m a vigilante, I play by my own rules.”

“That wasn’t an answer~,” Menace sang. “And I’m sure this would be less fun if I died.”

“Who said anything about fun? That’s your thing.”

“Mhmm~. Sure.”

He leaned in some to whisper into Janus’ ear,

“Isn’t there a thrill to being close to a rival whose intentions you don’t know?”

For some reason, the way he said that gave Janus shivers. He quickly tried to think of something else he could summon to get him out of this position before he completely lost his composure.

“Aha!” A familiar voice cried.

“Release the snakey villain, you new fiend.”

However, the obnoxious ‘hero’s’ entrance gave Janus the distraction he needed. Janus stamped on Menace’s foot and elbowed him enough to be able to get out of his grasp. He turned to face him, eyes flashing.

Menace simply laughed.

“Oh.”

“Your villainous deeds have now come to an end now that I-“

Janus shot a gag at him.

Menace cackled.

“Didn’t expect you to do that.”

“He’s annoying.”

The hero wrestled the gag out and stamped his foot.

“Hey! I am trying to save the day!”

“Mhm, and I’m trying to cut down a pest, so out of my way.”

“As if I would let the sly likes of you determine your own moral law on how we retain the bads of this city!”

“Oh blah blah blah, gosh, does he always blather on like this?”

“Indeed.”

The hero gasped in offense.

“Anyways, I really did not come here to fight two people today. So if you’re determined, I’m gonna head out. “

“Aww, but you’re probably more fun to fight!”

Janus just stated at Menace for a moment.

“What?”

Menace laughed, and then zoomed away on another earth twister.

“Aren’t you gonna go after him?” Janus asked the hero.

“But first-“ the hero started.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” He threw a smoke bomb and left before the hero could turn that into another needless battle, like he tended to do.

-

Janus wasn’t sure what he expected to come of that, but it wasn’t what ended up happening. For one, apparently Menace, as Janus had mentally dubbed him, was better at getting away than he thought. Janus wouldn’t put it past the hero’s incompetence either though, but it really wasn’t his business as long as the pest was done. Recurring villains, unless they were really powerful, were actually not a common thing where they were. Usually the villain would end up in jail. The hero, despite being annoying and over the top, was powerful, like a more dramatic superman. It was annoying often, say when Janus clearly had it against a villain, or the hero suddenly decided to fight him since his deeds were not always the most legal. Nevertheless, a villain being a child about who they wanted to fight was not common. For one thing, usually it was just the hero who fought the bad guys. Janus didn’t always go out of his way since he didn’t consider himself to be a universal do-gooder or anything like that.

Yet, this ‘Menace’ would show up at different parts of the city, bringing about his usual chaos, and almost actively ignored the hero. It was strange. Janus, begrudgingly, felt he needed to step in. The hero didn’t work well with others, or maybe he was just a nightmare to ‘work’ with.

Janus had barely gotten his costume on in the alleyway when he felt a strong wind pulling him out.

Gosh. That was too close.

Menace was standing in front of him, on the ground this time, with his earthy twister behind him.

“Heyy there, snakey. I’ve been waiting~.”

Janus raised an eyebrow at him, despite it likely being covered by his mask.

“Is that so?”

“Mhmm!” The villain leaned forward on his toes, unnaturally keeping his balance, probably from wind powers or something. Janus couldn’t help but lean back some.

“I was getting bored~.”

“That seems to be your whole ordeal, hm? You get bored. I get tired, yet I’m still here.”

Menace snorted.

“See, this is what I mean. You’re fun to talk to.”

“Yes, because snarky rival banter totally counts as talking.”

“Well, it is for me. “

Remus then spun around in his twister that seemed to stretch away.

“Come and catch me!” His voice rang off.

Janus groaned and started to trudge in that direction, trying to decide what he could summon to assist himself. He hadn’t summoned many large objects of transportation, but maybe he could find something to up his speed.

“You! He-“

“Yeah, I know, sir super hero. He seems to want to play with me, I will have to deal with it.”

The hero paused for a moment. “Is there anything I can do?” He asked hesitantly.

Janus smirked at him. “Not that I can think of. You seem the type to care about protecting the people so” Janus waved his hand, and went back to his task. He didn’t get very far before he was thrust into his next obstacle, a sink hole suddenly sucking him into the ground. Janus quickly summoned a grappling hook and hooked it onto the surface so he was dangling, but no longer falling. There was an echo of Menace’s cackle. Janus sighed as he swung himself up and landed smoothly. He looked around and saw he was in a different part of the city.

“Oo.”

Janus heard little clapping.

“That was a neat trick. I got to see you in many different angles. Very fun for me.”

Janus gave him an unimpressed look, before carefully looking around.

“Where is everybody?”

“Oh, probably deserted. I’m not very quiet.”

He slid up to Janus, on some sort of sliding ground formation.

“I think I’d rather have you all to myself anyways~” He said with a whole body wiggle.

Janus made a face.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“Hmm?”

Menace suddenly got closer.

Janus took a step back, hand curling for something, but he struggled to wrack his mind of something that he could actually use against the walking natural disasters.

“Th-the comments, to me.”

Janus cursed to himself at the stutter.

‘“Hmmm” Menace tilted his head until there was an unpleasant creak.

“Cause. It’s fun, and I like you.”

Janus paused and stared at him in bewilderment.

“What?”

Menace giggled at that and then suddenly they were against a wall. Janus let out an oof, as his back hit a bit roughly. It didn’t help that the other man was against him.

“Ya know, I gotta say, I’m not the type who’s into pain,” Janus croaked before he could stop himself.

Menace frowned and took a small step back.

“Er, sorry…I got ahead of myself. I didn’t actually hurt you did I?”

Janus narrowed his eyes at the other, a bit

[wholesomemendes]

shawn’s girlfriend being a bookworm and Shawn decides to get himself a copy pf her fav book, and when he asks her about it she gushes and then get surprised how he replies that a specific part was his fav too so she’s like “WHEN DID YOU READ IT!!” cute bookworm fluff

Author’s Note: I’m not even joking when I say that I was supposed to post this two hours ago and got caught in a snow storm in the middle of the woods instead for school. But anyways, this is just really cute bookworm fluff and it’s that makes you feel good stuff. That’s all I have to say lol, but as always please tell me what you think! 

“Babe! Can you come here?!”

“Yeah, one second!” you called out, eyes scanning the last page of the chapter in your favorite book. You had read this book cover to cover so many times you could practically recite it word for word, but when you were on the road with Shawn without places to buy new books, it was always a great way to pass the time. “What’s up, bubs?”

“I can’t find my journal and I reallyyyy need to write something down,” Shawn huffed, shuffling through all of his bags trying to find it, “I feel like I’ve looked everywhere. Have you seen it?”

You lightly pushed him aside, searching through the bag he had just opened along with the ones torn apart next to it. “I swore I had just saw it- AHA!” you held up the leather bound journal in question, a wide smile forming on Shawn’s face at its appearance.

“Thanks baby, you’re the best!” he gave you a quick peck on the lips before heading towards the back of the bus with his guitar. “I swore I had looked there. She’s magic,” he mumbled to himself, causing a light giggle to leave your lips as you headed back to your beloved book.

______________

“Whatcha doing, baby?” Shawn slid in next to you on the couch, wrapping his arms around your shoulders, allowing you to lean against his chest.

“Reading,” you mumbled, eyes still concentrated on the words in front of you. This was your favorite part and not even the love of your life was going to distract you from it.

“Whatcha reading?” Without your eyes even leaving the page, you turned, showing him the cover to which he hummed in acknowledgment. “Seems good.”

“Good? It’s my favorite, read it like a hundred times. Absolutely incredible.”

“How can you possibly read the same book over and over again? Doesn’t it get boring?”

“If you just came over here to criticize my reading habits then the bunk is right over there,” you teased, hearing him let out a light-hearted scoff in response.

“Nope, I just wanna hold my girl close,” he pulled you into his lap, moving so that he was leaning against the armrest of the couch with his head on your shoulder, “Just gonna sit here and let you do your thing.” And he did. Letting you sit there comfortably with your favorite book and your favorite boy.

______________

“Bubs, is there anything else you want in here?” Typically while out and about you were known for carrying a backpack full of anything you could ever need. Food, drinks, bandaids, sunglasses, pens, basic medicine, basically anything you could think of. Or anything Shawn could think of because you always tended to carry all of his personal items, even though he had an assistant whose job was literally to carry anything he needed. He always claimed he felt safer if you had them, which you understood especially when it came to his journal. That was the holy grail of untouchable items and you had only been allowed the privilege of seeing inside of it once, and that was when Shawn was drunk writing and scribbled a stick figure portrait of you he wanted you to see.

“Yeah can I put my book in there? We’re supposed to have some extra time between sound check and the q and a today.”

“I already have your journal, bubs, I just put it in there.”

“I know I’m talking about my book.” Suddenly he emerges around the door of the bus, holding a copy of your favorite book out towards you, causing your eyebrows to raise in confusion. You swore you had already put your book inside of your bag and this copy seemed a lot newer, a lot less wrinkled and had a brighter shine to it. 

“I swore I already put my book in my bag.”

“You probably did because it’s not your book it’s mine,” he replied smugly, a proud smirk on his face as he looked at your bewildered face.

“What do you mean it’s your book? Since when do you read?”

“Since I was reading over your shoulder the other night and decided I wanted to know what was going on. I must say, when Rider tells Fiona that he loves her after they get imprisoned together and she had just witnessed him running away from his arranged fiancé is definitely my favorite part too.”

Your jaw dropped open, how could it not? Your adorable curly-headed boyfriend was standing there looking like a teddy bear talking about your favorite book with you. “YOU ALREADY READ IT?! HOW- I”

“Well the other day when you were sleeping in the bus before that interview, I found a local bookshop, looked around until I found the book, which I did not expect to be that hard, but whatever it was worth it,” he chuckled, sitting down on the couch behind you and pulling you into his lap, “And I’ve been reading it every night once you fell asleep. I still have a couple chapters to go and I know you already finished it by the time I was done with one chapter, but I was hoping next time you read it again, maybe you could read it with me?”

“I would love nothing more,” and with that you leaned into him, connecting your lips together while he held you tight to his body. And that night as you laid cuddled up in the hotel bed, Shawn watched with love in his eyes as you read him page after page of now both of yours favorite book, your eyes glimmering with excitement over parts you knew by heart. In that moment, Shawn knew he wanted nothing more than to read books with you every night for the rest of his life.

[lloydskywalkers]

*sweats* yeAH i know the one gbdfjgh. It’s very much a Halloween-centered piece so I was incredibly sad tumblr decided to end its life the one time i actually hit a deadline i’d set for myself, but it’s been kind of just...marinating in my docs folder since then. I might post it formally on FFN eventually, but in the meantime, i’ll post it on here below the cut!

“Guys, you will never guess what’s running around Ninjago City."

Jay’s announcement is met with a distinct lack of reaction, which is pretty disappointing, because it’s the kind you drop for a dramatic pause and reaction. And he did — try to, at least.

However, instead of reacting properly, like anyone in their right minds would, his team is woefully un-reactive. Nya continues to snore into the couch, her face pressed against the couch pillow in a way that’s gonna leave a spectacular mark later, and Cole’s too busy referee-ing Lloyd and Kai, who are in the middle of their sixth round of Dance Dance Ninja Revolution, which Jay can’t really blame him for, because they chose a Rihanna song this round and they’re getting a little too into it.

“How did you get that bonus and I didn’t!”

“You gotta pop your hip on that last move, like this—"

“What, and crack my spine in half?”

“I mean, your bones are pretty fragile.”

“Fragile?!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re so old.”

“I’ll crack your spine, you tiny brat—"

Zane is the only one to actually acknowledge him, even if it’s a slight cock of his head from where he’s video-chatting Pixal, making him the only one of these terrible people Jay actually likes right now, unless Kai manages to make a comeback and beat out Lloyd, in which case he’ll celebrate with him.

But it’s looking unlikely.

“Are you talking about the vampire rumors?” Zane asks.

Jay’s expression sours. Never mind, he retracts his appreciation of Zane now. Way to steal his thunder.

Kai snorts from where he’s waving his arms in a butchered kind of Macarena. “Seriously, Jay? Those rumors crop up every year. There’s no vampire.”

Jay glares at him, mentally switching his loyalties to Lloyd, as it looks like he’s going to wipe the floor with Kai anyways, because he’s just snatched that one difficult bonus Kai usually wins where you hair-flip like a diva.

“This is for real, though,” Jay argues. “It was reported on the police scanner. Someone’s running around biting people!”

“Maybe they’re just into that,” Nya yawns, burrowing her face further into the couch pillows. “Don’t be so judgmental, Jay.”

Jay colors, and Kai chokes. Lloyd gives a triumphant crow of victory, doubling his score at the last minute, leaving Kai solidly in the dust. Kai makes a sour face, collapsing on the couch and crossing his arms.

“You cheated.”

“Not my fault you got distracted,” Lloyd shrugs. He turns to Jay, wiping the sheen of sweat from his forehead and looking curious. “Wait, they’re really reporting that someone’s out there biting people?”

“Or something,” Jay says, quickly seizing on the attention. “Something bloodthirsty that goes around biting people’s necks, which obviously has to be a vampire.”

“It says here it steals their wallets, too,” Zane remarks, scrolling through the news article.

“A wallet-stealing vampire,” Jay amends.

The others look decidedly unimpressed, which is rather insulting and extremely disappointing. Geez, you fight one giant stone titan and a few mythical, apocalypse-bringing monsters and suddenly no one’s impressed by anything anymore.

“Sounds like petty crime, not our thing,” Kai yawns. “Besides, vampires don’t exist.”

Jay sputters. “Are you kidding me?” he exclaims. “They totally exist!”

Cole raises an eyebrow at him. “You know those vampire books are fiction, right?”

Jay presses his lips together tightly. “Are you telling me,” he says, stiffly. “That after everything — everything we’ve seen — which includes and is not limited to warriors made up of tiny snakes, a walking eldritch horror that’s actually another realm, and living skeletons — you don’t believe vampires can exist?”

“Well, yeah,” Kai says, simply. “Because those other things are real. Vampires aren’t.”

“You didn’t even think the Serpentine were real!” Jay accuses, because Kai’s opinion is clearly trash here, and he obviously should’ve started by attacking Cole, or Nya.

“Jay, chill,” Lloyd says, rolling his eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s not a vampire, unless someone stumbled off the set of a B-movie horror film. They don’t exist, Jay."

Jay opens his mouth, prepared to fire back, because of all the people to argue with him, Lloyd has no right at all, he’s a walking eldritch mutant himself — when Lloyd suddenly continues.

“It’s clearly a werewolf, if anything.”

Jay stops, his mouth half-open. He blinks. “Wait,” he narrows his eyes at him. “You don’t believe in vampires, but you’re game for werewolves?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd shrugs. “Werewolves make sense.”

“And vampires don’t?!”

Lloyd shrugs. “I mean, after Akita and the Formlings, you know?” He pauses, eyes widening as he contemplates something. “Wait. Is Akita technically a werewolf?”

Jay seizes the opportunity. “If she counts as one, then Oni count as vampires,” he argues.

Lloyd frowns at him. “What? No. That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Oh yeah?” Jay counters. “Then explain why they both have fangs. And glowing eyes. And drink blood.”

“I don’t drink blood!” Lloyd exclaims, indignantly. “And neither do Oni!”

“How would you know?” Jay challenges. “You’re just a tiny little quarter Oni.”

Lloyd glares at him. “A quarter Oni with teeth that can bite you—"

“Okay, okay!” Cole says hastily, shouldering between them. “No one’s biting anyone, geez. I’m taking this opportunity to declare it time for bed.”

“Aw, but I didn’t get to trash Kai yet,” Nya yawns, waving absently at the still-scrolling game on the television. Zane quickly turns it off.

“We can trash each other tomorrow, after six a.m. practice,” Cole huffs. Everyone groans in unison at the reminder.

“We should start getting skip days,” Kai grumbles into the pillow. “Like, mandated days we get to just sleep in instead.”

“You would use that every day,” Zane sighs, tugging him up. Jay watches as they slowly pack up, preparing to head off to bed.

Unbelievable.

“Wait, so we’re just gonna let this thing run loose?” he exclaims, waving his arms in the air. “Ignore our civic duty for sleep?”

Cole pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Jay, there’s one article about it, and these kinds of things crop up every year,” he sighs. “It’s just some Halloween pranksters using it as an excuse for petty crime. The police can handle it, okay?”

“But a vampire,” Jay bemoans. “What if it’s real?”

“Or werewolf,” Lloyd corrects. Jay would elbow him for that, but — aha. Lloyd has that spark in his eyes, the one that means trouble. Jay’s hooked at least one person then, even if it’s for the totally wrong reason.

“Whatever it is, according to reports, it will still be here tomorrow,” Zane says. “Halloween isn’t for another day, and it usually strikes then. If it means that much to you, we can look for it then.”

Jay squints skeptically at him. Kai and Cole are both wearing expressions that say they will not be helping with that particular excursion, and Nya’s already halfway into her room, clearly writing him off as well. Hmph.

“But by then, we won’t have a sighting to follow,” Lloyd says, hesitantly.

“Good,” Kai grumbles, apparently done with the conversation. “Then we can forget about make-believe monsters.”

Jay is pleased to find that he and Lloyd are still just as effective at giving people the stink-eye in perfect unison as they’ve always been.

“Drop it, guys,” Cole warns, his dark eyes tired. “You can argue over this in the morning. When we’re all dead tired at dawn practice.”

Jay scowls, but he nods. He knows a lost cause when he sees one.

However, he also knows when a cause isn’t lost. He trades looks with Lloyd from the corner of his eyes, and Lloyd gives him a tiny, imperceptible nod. Halfway into their bedroom, Kai suddenly turns on them.

“And you guys better not sneak out to hunt it down by yourselves,” he says, his eyes narrowed. “The police have it covered. There’s no such things as vampires or werewolves, but if I wake up at three a.m. tonight and find out you guys snuck out, you’re gonna wish one had already killed you.”

“Geez, overreact much?” Jay mutters.

Lloyd rolls his eyes. “We’re not gonna sneak out just to chase down a few rumors, Kai,” he scoffs. “We’re not stupid.”

Kai eyes them both. Jay can almost see him mentally scrolling through Lloyd and Jay’s Best Hits, Screwing-Up Edition, in his brain, and he doesn’t like it. Like Kai has room to talk about dumb decisions.

Kai finally shakes his head, sighing as he heads for his bed. “I swear,” he mutters to himself. “If I have to fish you out of a river later…”

“You won’t!” Lloyd promises cheerfully. “Word of honor.”

**************

As it turns out, Lloyd’s word of honor is garbage. But so is Jay’s, so he’s not gonna judge.

“Okay, the reports said it was last sighted over in the east sector in the sewer tunnels, so I vote we start here,” Jay tells him in a hushed voice, as they plot their path from one of the city rooftops, the dim streetlights blinking down below. “There’s a bunch of bars and stuff around, so if I was looking to steal someone’s wallet by biting them, I’d go here. Down for a stakeout?”

“I’m game,” Lloyd says, slightly muffled through his mouth of—

Jay blinks at him incredulously. “Are you eating our garlic bread right now?”

Lloyd freezes, shifting guiltily and quickly swallowing. “No-o?”

“Lloyd!” Jay hisses. “We need that for the vampire!”

“Then you should’ve gotten actual garlic,” Lloyd hisses back. “I got hungry, and we’re carrying around garlic bread! Can you blame me?”

“Hmph.” Jay glares at him, then snatches the bag Lloyd had been hiding behind him. Lloyd makes a face.

“S’not like we need it anyways,” he mutters. “Garlic doesn’t work against werewolves.”

“It’s not a werewolf,” Jay retorts. “And even if it was, it’s not like we have any silver.” He frowns. “Wait, doesn’t silver work against vampires too? Maybe I should’ve gotten us some…”

“Got it covered,” Lloyd says, pulling a small ziplock bag from his sweatshirt pocket. They’ve opted to wear civilian clothes tonight, as one, they’re trying to be inconspicuous, and two, it’ll make it a lot more difficult for Kai to claim that they were out breaking their promise if they aren’t in very distinctive, undeniable gis.

“I snatched a pair of Nya’s earrings earlier,” Lloyd continues. “Sterling silver counts, right? ‘Cause they even have these little bits on the back you can stab people with.”

Jay blinks rapidly. “You snatched her—"

Well, actually, on second thought, it’s not the worst thing they’ve ever stolen from each other. And it’s definitely not the worst purpose for such a theft, either.

“Okay, nice, we got silver,” Jay says instead, trying not to think about what Nya’s reaction to finding out her earrings were used as lethal injections for a vampire is going to be.

“The better prepared, the lower the chances of dying horribly,” Lloyd says, cheerfully.

“Please don’t phrase it that way.”

“You literally said that exact same thing to me last week, on the Metallonia mission—"

“You must’ve had water in your ears,” Jay waves him off, knowing full well he did say that but having zero intent of admitting it. “Anyways, it’s just one vampire. We can handle this, easy.”

“Or one werewolf,” Lloyd says, pointedly.

Jay takes a very long breath, then lets it out. If it were Kai or Cole, maybe he’d pick the fight. But it’s Lloyd, and he’s risking Unholy Big Brother Wrath as it is.

“Fine,” he half-surrenders. “If it’s a werewolf, we can handle that too. But it’s not, because it’s clearly a vampire.”

“That’s what it wants you to think,” Lloyd grouses.

Jay rolls his eyes, shoving the rest of their supplies back in his ratty old backpack. He cranes his head over the edge of building rooftop, watching the evening crowds just beginning to flood into the bars.

“Now what?” Lloyd whispers, materializing next to him.

Jay, with his reflexes as sharp and well-honed as they are, does not nearly jump off the roof at Lloyd’s sudden appearance. He doesn’t squeak, either, the look Lloyd is giving him is just — Lloyd being a terrible gremlin.

“Now,” Jay clears his throat instead, taking on an air of expertise, because he is an expert. “We wait.”

**************

In the excitement, Jay has, tragically, forgotten how absolutely boring stakeouts are.

Really, he should’ve brought a board game or something.

“—somethin’ strange, in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call.”

Jay punches his hand in the air without enthusiasm where he lies on his back, yawning, “Ghostbusters.”

“Dun dun, dun dun, du-du-dun—" Lloyd continues humming the bridge, staring up at the sky where he’s got his arms beneath his head, sprawled out next to Jay.

“You know, I still swear I heard the ghosts playing this back at Styx,” Jay murmurs.

Lloyd’s humming halts, and he snorts. “Maybe they had a sense of humor.”

“Heh. Yeah.” Jay frowns. “So wait, this is your favorite holiday song? The song about ghosts? Really?”

Lloyd nods. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” he sings.

Jay makes a face at him, then shrugs. Well, he guesses he doesn’t have room to judge people’s coping mechanisms. He still deals with spiders by blowing the entire room up. “That’s one way to deal with it, I guess.”

“I like the irony,” Lloyd continues, with a lopsided grin. “Also, like, do any of us deal with our issues?”

“Ye—" Jay pauses, considering. Huh. He knows they’ve all been putting off therapy, but sometimes they, like…cry all over each other? At three in the morning? That counts, right?

He supposes that doesn’t quite equate.

“I stress-baked eight batches of brownies with Cole one night and ate half of them after the Oni thing?” he offers weakly.

Lloyd stuff a fist over his mouth, holding back a laugh. “I ate a whole container of frosting with Nya after the SOG thing.”

“That’s where it all went?” Jay snaps his head up, his eyes accusing. “Lloyd, that was our only cream cheese frosting! I was going to use that for a meltdown!”

“Oops,” Lloyd says, unapologetically. Jay digs his foot into his side, and Lloyd jerks away, giggling.

“You, I’d expect, but Nya…” Jay grumbles, processing this betrayal. “That’s like, cliché teenage heartbreak coping there.”

“Well, I mean,” Lloyd says, his smile suddenly painfully forced. “Kinda…was. A bit.”

Jay frowns. “Wha — oh.”

Oops. Too late, Jay realizes that he has accidentally stumbled into a mine zone. He should know better, seriously — Lloyd probably does not want to talk about teenage heartbreak right now. Or any time…soon, considering his last and only romantic excursion kind of…stabbed him in the back and got crushed by a building. Amongst other things.

“So!” Jay quickly says, trying to cut through the sudden awkwardness and turn the conversation to something better. “How is, uh, your life going, in that…area…?”

Never mind, Jay’s mind screeches at him. Abort, abort, this is going somewhere worse—! Maybe if he’s lucky the vampire will just come attack them now. That would probably go better.

Lloyd’s expression screws up, like Jay’s forced him to eat a lemon, or a ghost pepper, or like, swallow pure Venomari venom. “You mean my love life?” he spits, as if the word love is a personal insult.

“Not necessarily,” Jay says quickly. “I mean, no, but also…yes?”

“Nonexistent as usual, which is probably the best I can hope for,” Lloyd mutters, kicking at the ground.

Jay bites his cheek in sympathy. His poor baby brother. His voice finally stops cracking and he immediately decides to swear off love for life.

“Look,” Jay says tentatively, feeling like he should at least try to impart some wisdom on his kid brother. “Have you thought about like, I dunno, trying to meet new people? Just like, you know, being open to, uh, the idea of trusting someone…like that?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd grinds his teeth. “I’ve also thought about getting ‘love is a joke’ tattooed on my wrist as a nice reminder because that’s about how well it tends to go for me.”

Jay cringes. “Aha,” he breathes. That is — that is bad. Yikes, that’s…bad bad, maybe they should book a therapist. One of these days. Probably sooner than later, going by that statement.

Lloyd sighs, suddenly deflating. “I dunno, Jay. I just…maybe someday? I don’t really wanna think about it.” The edge of his mouth twists wistfully. “It’d be nice to just be a kid again, so I could stuff my face with candy instead.”

“Hey,” Jay says, elbowing him. “Who says you can’t stuff your face with candy now? We can totally hit up the store on the way home, you know. Zane can’t stop us if he’s not here.”

Lloyd cracks a grin, and Jay is infinitely pleased with himself. “After we catch the werewolf?” Lloyd asks.

Jay glares at him. “After we catch the vampire, and I prove all you heathens wrong,” he grinds out. Lloyd snickers.

“You’re fighting a losing—"

A piercing scream rings out from the streets below, and Lloyd and Jay jolt to their feet in well-experienced unison. Jay sweeps his eyes across the street below, his head whipping widely back and forth as he tries to spot—

“There!” Lloyd calls, already sliding down the fire escape. Jay follows his arm, and spots a disheveled man now crumpled in the street, other partygoers crowding around him. Lloyd’s hand is pointing just beyond, though, locked on the shadowed, dark figure fleeing into the alleyway.

Jay grins viciously at him. Lloyd grins back.

Normally, they’d have Zane at their backs, insisting on safety and such nonsense, but tonight it’s just Lloyd and Jay, who gold-medal at being an awful combination of adrenaline junkies. So by the time they’ve finished hurling themselves off the building and surfing down a couple of unfortunate clotheslines, they land in perfect synch just behind the fleeing figure. They immediately break into a sprint, following their quarry down the dark alleyways and gaining rapidly.

One of the few perks to being the smallest on the team — Jay and Lloyd are fast.

The figure jolts, finally realizing it’s being pursued, and suddenly takes a hard left. Jay yelps as he almost overbalances, his momentum nearly toppling him before Lloyd catches his arm, yanking him upright. They follow where the figure’s fled into an abandoned tunnel, one of the ones Jay recognizes leads to the sewer.

“Why in here?!” he gasps between breathes, as their feet splash through dirty rainwater the deeper they go. Ugh, he hates these tunnels — they’re too small and close and dark.

Lloyd doesn’t grace him with a reply, simply lifting his hand up in an eerie, makeshift green flashlight that lights up the tunnels around them.

“They went that way!” He hurls the bright globe of energy down the tunnel, throwing green shadows up all around, and illuminating their prey far ahead.

Darn it, Jay curses to himself. He forgot vampires are supposed to be fast, too. They need a way better plan then just running after it.

“Trap, we need a trap,” Jay pants. “What do they do in Scooby-Doo to catch the vampire?”

Lloyd glances at him incredulously as he runs beside him, his hair dyed a white-green in the eerie light where it bounces around his head. “Scooby-Doo?!” he exclaims. “There aren’t any vampires in Scooby-Doo!”

“Uh, yeah there are,” Jay argues, ducking under a rusted pipe. He almost has to pause to swipe his own hair out of the way before he gets blinded by falling curls. Mental note, book a haircut later. “Remember that movie with the bands and stuff?”

“Oh. Right,” Lloyd huffs, sliding through a puddle of water. “Forgot about that. Don’t they die or something?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you! Come up with a plan, you’re leader!”

“Not right now, I’m not!”

“You can’t do that — you’re our designated team captain, live up to your role!”

“Only in big crisis situations!”

“This is a crisis!”

“Fine! Here’s me leading — I order you to come up with a plan.”

“Oh for — what kind of Green Ninja even are you, huh?”

“Oh yeah, static for brai—agh!”

Their argument is cut short as the floor suddenly decides to take the day off, and drops neatly out from beneath their feet. Jay screams, Lloyd shrieking beside him as they both go tumbling down the sloping sewer tunnel, sliding through broken rock and upturned stone. The sharp slope finally evens out, leaving them to roll to a graceless stop in a heap of limbs and freezing rainwater.

“Ew,” Jay scowls, swiping at his hair as he kneels, supporting himself on one hand. “Sewers are the worst.”

“Ge’off me,” Lloyd wheezes, hitting his shoulder. Jay belatedly realizes that he’s got one elbow and a knee digging into Lloyd’s middle, and pulls back quickly.

“Whoops,” he says, cheerfully. “Hey, no broken bones, at least!”

Lloyd just makes a face, straightening his hoodie. He pushes himself to his feet, offering a hand to Jay and hauling him up. Jay brings a crackle of lightning up in his fingers, squinting around the tunnel they’ve fallen into. Lloyd finally remembers to pull out their actual flashlight, and shines it warily around the tunnel, lighting up the old, molding stone around them.

“D’you think they fell, too?” Lloyd questions, taking a hesitant step forward as he brandishes the flashlight like a weapon.

Jay shrugs. “Vampires aren’t normally clumsy,” he says, starting down the tunnel. “But who knows.”

Lloyd pauses for a moment, reluctant, then quickly hurries to catch up, falling into step beside him.

“Ninja aren’t normally clumsy either,” he huffs.

Jay snorts. “Have you seen us?”

Lloyd eyes him. “I control your training schedule, you know.”

“A heinous abuse of power which never should have been given to you,” Jay sniffs.

Lloyd’s eyes narrow. “I’ll stick you on stair sprints. Endless. Stair sprints.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jay retorts. “You’re too chicken to do that. Too soft.”

“I am not!” Lloyd says, offended. “I’ll make you run a gazillion stair sprints, watch me.”

“Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do when I start tearing up on you, Mr. Marshmallow Heart?”

“My heart is not a marshmallow,” Lloyd grinds out. “It’s—"

“More like cotton candy,” Jay nods. “‘Cause you hit it with one tear and it melts all over the place.”

“I will trip you face-first into sewer water,” Lloyd threatens. “And stop using candy metaphors. I’m starving, and you won’t let me eat the garlic bread.”

“That’s ‘cause we need it for the vampire!” Jay huffs.

“Werewolf.”

Jay throws his hands up.  “Do you need glasses or something? Because tell me, please, if that looked anything like a were—"

Jay cuts off abruptly as he and Lloyd freeze. Directly across from them, a mere ten feet away in the connecting tunnel, the hooded figure they’ve been chasing freezes as well. For a beat, the three stare at each other, the only sound the steady drip-drip of the sewer tunnels around them.

Then—

“It’s the vampire! Grab it!” Jay yells.

He and Lloyd dart forward just as the vampire makes to run, turning for the tunnel. Jay side-steps, using the wall to push himself up and flip neatly over the vampire’s head, landing in the tunnel before them and neatly cutting them off. “Gotcha,” he grins.

The vampire’s eyes widen from beneath their hood, and they backtrack, only to nearly run into Lloyd, who points the flashlight threateningly at them.

“Stand down,” he orders. Jay rolls his eyes. Oh, now he decides to sound like a leader.

The vampire makes a hissing noise of frustration, shaking their head. Lloyd goes to move forward, a familiar green glinting at the edges of his fingertips—

When the vampire suddenly snaps into action, rushing at Lloyd. Before Jay can blink, they snap a leg up to kick the flashlight from Lloyd’s grasp, snag him with their forearm, bare two glinting teeth, and—

Snap. Lloyd gasps sharply, his eyes going wide as the vampire bites right into the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

Jay shrieks. “Lloy—!”

His scream cuts off, trailing into a gaping wheeze.

Jay is not entirely sure what — no, he’s not sure why what happen next happens. Maybe Lloyd panics. Maybe he forgets he’s a god-powered elemental with the capability of blasting people to heck with his hands for a second. Maybe both his Oni and dragon instincts decide to suddenly kick in and overpower the human. Or maybe he’s just so ticked at getting bit in the neck that his childish side comes out with a vengeance.

Either way, not even half a second after the vampire bites him, Lloyd snaps out his own too-sharp teeth and bites right back, firmly chomping down on the forearm pinning him in place.

The vampire gives a muffled scream, releasing Lloyd as they stumble backward, frantically clutching their arm. Jay takes this chance to send a bright bolt of lightning after them, just barely missing as they turn and flee, skittering away down the tunnels. Any other time Jay would give chase, but he’s got a slightly more pressing concern right now, and by that he means a big fat bad concern, because his brother is currently sporting a bleeding neck and trying to hack his own lung up.

“Oh god, the vampire bit you, Lloyd, the vampire bit you,” Jay babbles frantically, dancing around Lloyd as he doubles over, coughing and spitting frantically.

“—freaking — gross—"

“But —but then you bit the vampire,” Jay pauses, eyebrows furrowing. “So does that like — negate it?”

“—need hand sanitizer in m’a mouth—"

“Or does the vampire turn into an Oni?” Jay rubs his head. “Wait, wait no — you both swap, because you bit each other, so—"

“—tastes like battery acid—"

“Either way your neck is bleeding and why didn’t you just use your powers!” Jay shrieks at him.

“I panicked, okay?!” Lloyd cries in defense, wiping his mouth as he sticks his tongue out, clearly trying to rid himself of the taste. “Ugh — gimme that garlic bread, this is awful—"

“No way,” Jay snatches his bag away. “We definitely need it now.” His eyes narrow down on the two sluggishly bleeding marks on Lloyd’s neck, that he should really be patching up, actually, but first—

“Besides, garlic could be toxic for you right now! Since you might be turning into a…a vampire.”

Lloyd turns two smoldering, angry red eyes on him, and Jay swallows. Oh FSM, he’s already turning into a vampire, his eyes are red—

Oh wait, right, Lloyd’s eyes are red anyways.

“I am not turning into a vampire!” Lloyd hisses. He winces, clapping a hand over his neck. “I probably have like, rabies or something though,” he says, half-panicked.

“I don’t think vampires have rabies,” Jay tries to assure him, finally shaking himself into action, pulling his jacket off and pressing one of the sleeves against Lloyd’s bleeding neck. Lloyd jerks away on instinct, before letting Jay examine it.

“I can’t turn into a vampire,” Lloyd says, an edge of fear in his voice. “Kai’ll kill me if I turn into a vampire.”

“That’s your main concern?” Jay exclaims, swiping blood away — the bite doesn’t look too deep, and it seems like it won’t need stitches, or anything. He suddenly pauses, considering Lloyd’s words. “Okay, I will admit you have a valid point there,” he concedes.

Lloyd nods tightly, then makes a face before spitting again.

“So gross.”

Jay watches him, then speaks up hesitantly. “I mean…you have to admit that it’s definitely a vampire now, right, haha? Like, not to say I told you so, but—”

Lloyd turns his head, ever so slowly, his eyes narrowing into slits as he does.

“I will kill you.”

“Duly noted.”

**************

In a noble sacrifice of true brotherly love, Jay lets Lloyd get his weird mutant blood all over his hoodie as he uses it as a makeshift bandage.

“Rude,” Lloyd mutters, sounding wounded.

“Weird mutant blood is cool,” Jay assures him. “You Oni-dragon-hybrid, you.”

“I don’t even get any of the cool stuff, like shapeshifting or wings.”

“Yeah, that is a pretty lame tradeoff,” Jay admits. He pats his hoodie where it’s wrapped around Lloyd’s neck once more, nodding. “There. We’ll just…dump an entire bottle of sanitizer on it when we get home.”

“Can’t wait,” Lloyd sighs. His eyebrows furrow into determination. “After we catch this thing, though. It’s personal now.”

“Agreed,” Jay says. “But we definitely need a plan this time, ‘cause like, the biting thing worked, but it worst-case-scenario worked, you know? We need something a little less primitive, like, say, um…”

“Like this?”

Jay turns to Lloyd where he’s bent over one of the canal drains. He lifts the object he’s fished out, revealing a soaked but intact fishing net, likely abandoned from one of the boats.

A grin spreads across Jay’s face. “I have a plan now,” he says.

“Good,” Lloyd breathes in relief.

“You’re bait.”

Relief successfully obliterated. “Wait—"

**************

Jay’s wristwatch glows a dim 3:30 in the morning by the time their vampire finally takes the bait.

Said bait is very put out at being bait, granted, and is doing a frankly awful job at it, if anyone asked him, but he supposes that’s the best he can ask out of Lloyd when he’s been denying him their garlic bread the whole night.

“Oh no,” Lloyd intones dully, kicking through the tunnel water half-heartedly. “I’ve lost my way, whatever am I going to do with all this money in my wallet.”

“Boo,” Jay hisses at him, where he’s perched atop of a broken sewer pipe. Lloyd pauses his melodramatics to glare at him.

“I’d like to see you do better.”

“Oh no, you’re a much better damsel in distress than I am,” Jay assures him.

Lloyd looks furious. “Listen—"

He might’ve finished, but then the vampire jumps him from the shadows, and they both go tumbling as Lloyd’s voice turns to a shriek.

“Don’t die!” Jay hollers as he jumps down onto the vampire, startling a shriek out of them as he desperately tries to yank them off of Lloyd. “Roll, roll, get out of teeth range!”

“I’m trying!” Lloyd yelps, twisting himself free from the vampire’s grasp. The vampire makes to grab him, but Jay is already pouncing, tossing the net out so they run smack into it and go flailing to the floor, twisting themselves further and further into the rope webbing.

“Oh, thank FSM,” Lloyd mutters into the ground, where he’s yet to move. Jay ignores him, giving a cheer of triumph as he finishes knotting off the net.

“We got it!” he gasps, stepping back and surveying their struggling captive. “We caught the vampire!” He turns to Lloyd, grinning brightly in victory.

“Everyone else is gonna eat their words.” Lloyd nods, and Jay holds his hand out, slapping it against Lloyd’s before knocking their fists together.

Who’s stupid now, Kai? he thinks triumphantly.

Striding forward, he places his hands on his hips, smirking down at the vampire where it writhes against the net they’ve caught it in. He bends over, yanking their hood down.

“No use struggling. We got you now, you malevolent creature of the ni — ight, wait.” Jay blinks rapidly, staring at their quarry. “You’re….not a vampire?”

“No, you ssstupid human.”

Oh. Oh. Jay is incredibly, massively, thoroughly disappointed to realize that the figure on the ground glaring daggers at him, is not, in fact, a vampire. Not unless vampires come in Serpentine flavors.

“A Serpentine?” Lloyd blinks rapidly, looking as colossally disappointed as Jay is. “Aw man, we both lose, then.”

“A weird Serpentine,” Jay frowns, leaning closer. “This one’s got hair. Why do you have hair?”

The Serpentine — who is a she, from the looks of it — rolls her eyes. “I’m part human,” she hisses. “Ssso I do not look like other Ssserpentine. You humansss are just ssstupid enough to think I am a vampire.”

Jay opens his mouth, then shuts it. “Ah,” he says. He then brightens, glancing at Lloyd.  “Oh hey, you have that in common, then! Lloyd’s a freaky mutant anomaly of nature, just like you.”

“Hey!” Lloyd exclaims, looking offended. “A freaky mutant anomaly?”

“I mean it in love, Lloyd.”

“Would you let me out of thissss infuriating net.”

“Uh, yeah, no can do, pal,” Jay replies to the furious Serpentine. “We aren’t letting you off the hook just ‘cause you told us what you were. You’ve been running around and biting people in the neck and stealing their wallets.”

“You bit me,” Lloyd accuses, glaring hotly at her.

“You bit me back,” the Serpentine snarls at him.

“You bit me first!”

“Guys, guys, it’s not a contest,” Jay laughs, a little nervously. “Please. Calm your mutant anomaly selves.”

Lloyd looks as if he’s going to smack him — which he probably should, all honesty, Jay’s been pushing him — but the Serpentine just frowns.

“How issss he one?” she scoffs at Lloyd. “He looksss like a normal human. Maybe with rabiesss.”

Lloyd looks incredibly offended. “Like you can talk.” He shakes his head, sighing. “I’m…part Oni. And dragon. A bit.”

The Serpentine's mouth drops open, and the color leeches from her face. “O-Oni?” She stammers. She looks at the hastily bandaged wound on her arm in alarm. “Did you poissson me?”

“Wha—no!” Lloyd exclaims. “Oni aren’t poisonous!”

He pauses. So do Jay and the Serpentine, leaving the tunnel in silence for a beat.

“I don’t….think?” He turns to Jay, eyebrows furrowed in question.

Jay shrugs. He’s not the one with a bunch of inhuman relatives. “I mean, she hasn’t gone all, y’know — grey-skinned, purple-eyed, turned-to-stone, so?”

This does nothing whatsoever to quell the look of fear on the face of— Jay frowns. “Hey, what’s your name, by the way?”

“What, ssso you can tell the copsss?” their Serpentine hisses dully.

“Well, you’re a criminal, so,” Jay shrugs. “But look at it this way — I won’t call you Elvira Vampira, Terror of the Night, the whole way back instead.”

The Serpentine rolls her eyes, but she does look mildly threatened at being called Vampira for the rest of the evening.

“My name is Sssiri,” she finally admits, looking put out.

“Siri?” Lloyd blinks. “Like the phone voice?”

The Serpentine makes a face as if he’s called her the scum of the earth instead. “I hate that ssstupid company,” she hisses. “And their ssstupid phone voicesss. I hate them.”

“That’s nice,” Jay tells her. He exhales, placing his hands on his hips. He glances at Lloyd, who looks every bit as tired.

“Time to drag her to the police?”

“Time to drag her to the police,” Lloyd sighs, sounding disappointed, if not a bit vindictive.

**************

The cops are nice, at least, and the guy whose wallet got snatched thanks them profusely, so the night doesn’t end up being a total bust. Everyone looks pretty relieved that there isn’t an actual vampire running around, though, which Jay feels a little resentful at, because he’s losing a bet here.

“Hey, cheer up,” Lloyd tells him, elbowing him lightly. “At least no one ever has to know about it.”

“True,” Jay admits. He gives a sigh of melancholy, watching as the cops lead a put-out Siri into the car. He glances at Lloyd, then grins wickedly.

“Hey!” he calls quickly, waving at Siri. He slaps a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder, shaking him. “You don’t have a boyfriend, do you? Because this guy here is a hundred percent single and looking to ack—"

Jay’s idea is immediately torpedoed by Lloyd viciously throttling him in front of the entire crime unit.

“Jay what the heck!” he whisper-shrieks, sounding on the verge of an aneurism.

“I’m trying — to get you — back in the game—" Jay croaks out.

“With a neck-biting criminal?!”

“I wouldn’t be oppossssed,” Siri remarks, cocking her head as she studies Lloyd.

Lloyd goes an odd purple-scarlet color, then immediately turns on heel, marching away and looking not a little bit like his father storming off to destroy a village.

“He’ll call you!” Jay mouths at Siri, before hurrying after Lloyd. “Well, I’d call that a mild success, at least.”

“I am not calling her,” Lloyd grinds out, as he stomps down the street.

“Oh, obviously,” Jay says. He snickers. “Can you imagine Kai’s reaction, though? He’d blow five blood vessels at once.”

Lloyd remains stubbornly stoic, glaring forward. Jay winces. Oops, crossed a line. Still too sensitive. Maybe he can try again in like…a year.

“Hey, on the bright side,” Jay tries. “We can eat the rest of the garlic bread now?”

Lloyd’s pace slows. Jay holds out half of the buttery loaf they have left. Lloyd eyes him for a second, but Jay can see his resolve quickly dying. Lloyd finally snatches it, sighing.

“Tha’ is a bright side,” he says, through a mouthful.

“Garlic bread solves half y’er problems,” Jay nods through his own bite, pleased to find that it’s still good, even if cold.

They walk in silence for a minute, quietly chewing at the rest of the bread. Then Lloyd speaks up.

“Like….can you imagine being a real vampire though? And you couldn’t eat garlic bread?”

“Oh yeah, that would suck.”

“Seriously. I wonder if it’s maybe like, a lactose intolerance thing, where they can have a little bit before breaking into vampire hives or something?”

“Or maybe it’s like a peanut allergy thing, where their throats swell up and they have to use like, vampire Epipens.”

“If I was a vampire, I’d risk it either way.”

“Oh yeah, same. Totally worth it.”

“Totally.”

**************

The thing people tend to overlook about Jay is that, despite how loud he can be — and yeah, he’s admitting it, he can be a big enough person to recognize that he can get a bit worked-up sometimes — anyways, despite how everyone seems to think Jay has one default mode, he is, in fact, one of the best people on the team at sneaking. It’s one of the perks of being small — he’s learned to be light enough on his feet that even Zane can’t pick him up. And everyone expects him to come in all excited and loud anyways, so Jay’s got that advantage. No one expects him to be quiet.

And it is, of course, a trait he’s dutifully passed on to his little brother, who already has experience from sneaking around Darkley’s and lurking in Serpentine tombs, so by the time the alarm is an hour away from going off, Lloyd and Jay are safely back in bed, snoring quietly with the others, who are none the wiser.

Granted, Jay’s got the worst eye-bags ever in the morning, and Lloyd’s running a record for how long he can get around without actually opening his eyes — but Cole doesn’t say anything, and Zane isn’t looking at them suspiciously, so voila! They are off the hook.

Jay supposes he has the usual array of night terrors to thank for that. Always a good cover for sleeplessness, those.

He does have to drag Lloyd to the bathroom first so they can fix his gi collar high enough to hide the rather incriminating bite marks. Jay doesn’t even want to think about explaining those, because any plausible excuses he can come up with for them are just more likely to make Kai barbecue Jay on the spot.

“Good to see you this morning,” Cole tells him pointedly, as he joins the team around the breakfast table. Jay resists the urge to shoot him a gesture, and grabs for the coffee pot instead.

“Did you sleep alright?” Kai is asking Lloyd from across him, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Jay can’t really blame him, seeing as Lloyd keeps falling asleep in his cereal, dark circles vivid beneath his eyes.

“Jus’ tired,” Lloyd yawns. “Didn’t sleep that well."

Kai pats him lightly on the shoulder, looking sympathetic. “Take a nap or something later,” he tells him. “For my sake.”

Lloyd nods, and Jay leans back in his seat, sipping contentedly at his coffee. As he said, no one suspects a thing. All’s well that ends well.

And then Zane turns the radio on.

“—the neck-biting thief was caught early this morning by the Ninjago City Police, with the aid of two accomplices—”

Jay goes pale.

“Huh, isn’t that what you guys were talking about last night?” Nya remarks.

Jay and Lloyd look at each other, their eyes wide. In a desperate grab for survival, Jay dives for the radio, fully prepared to hit it with a lightning bolt if it means turning it off before—

“—special thanks, of course, to the green and blue ninja, looking out for us as always.”

Jay finally smacks the radio off, plunging the kitchen into silence. There is a long, ominous pause of utter dread. Kai slowly turns to look at Lloyd.

“You went after them—"

“We didn’t!” Lloyd says quickly. “That’s not what we were doing!”

“Oh yeah?” Kai says, and uh oh, that’s a scary look. “You’d better have a heck of an excuse, then.”

“We do, we have a really good excuse,” Jay defends quickly. “We were out there for something way more important.”

“Oh?” Cole says, looking close to blowing a gasket. “And what was that, exactly?”

“Well,” Jay says, looking Kai dead in the eye. “We were trying to get Lloyd a hot date.”

Then, before anyone can react, Jay grabs a sputtering Lloyd by the hand and runs.

[lesbianbooradleypsued]

The Etherian Party Bus: Point Zero

Fandom: She-ra and the Princesses of Power Pairing: Adora/Catra  Word Count:  6,898

Summary: As Darla approaches the point of no contact with Etheria, Adora thinks about how they got to this point. Just 7 months ago they'd won the war, and now she doesn't know if her little crew will ever return. Or After the defeat of Hoard Prime, Catra and Hordak were exiled for four years. Adora and Entrapta refused to accept being separated from them for that long, and loaded the two of them on Darla and then set out for parts unknown in space. Adora is currently considering everything that has happened to get them to this point as they are about to leave contact range with Etheria. Catra joins her on the bridge.

Notes: So this is just one part of a series. They'll be posted out of order with the time stamps at the beginning. Haven't written in a long while so have mercy on me. X-posted to AO3 as well. 

Tags: Smut, Porn With Plot, Rough Sex, Biting, Scratching, light bdsm aspects, Top Adora, Bottom Catra, Blow Jobs, Adora Has a Penis, Recreational Drug Use, if i forgot a tag tell me, Fluff, Not Beta Read

Seven Months Out

The rhythmic thump of heavy bass from two floors down on Darla thrummed through Adora's relaxed body like a second heartbeat.

She was shamelessly lounging on the bridge in her Captain's chair in a pair of baggy grey sweatpants, a white tank top, and the comfortable black slip on shoes she wore day to day around Darla. Her right leg was draped over the plush arm of her chair and her left leg was cocked out, resting comfortably on the floor. Her right arm was folded behind her head and her left was lazily holding onto a glass filled with shimmery dark purple liquid that rippled in sync with the bass.

The bridge was dark save for the few ever present blinking red lights on the various dash boards and panels surrounding the six strategically placed seats that now comprised the ship's bridge. All Entrapta and Hordak's designs. It was just those lights and of course the large windows filled with the brilliant kaleidoscope of stars that were reflected in Adora's peaceful hazed over blue eyes.

She was lost in reflection.

In front of her were countless galaxies filled with countless lifeforms and Adora wanted to meet and learn about them all. And hopefully quell that insatiable drive in her that'd been building steadily for the last four months of the exile to just keep going.

Adora finally knew what a passion was now, something not born out of circumstantial upbringing or a sense of duty, but something you do because you want to. She wants to explore further every day just to find out something new, chart new stars, learn about a different species cultures. She wants to see what Catra feels like in her arms there with her through every new experience, so far removed from their prior life. Untethered. She knows very little about the First Ones, most of it not great, but she does know they were explorers. She figures that's where this passion must come from.

Behind her, falling further and further away every second is Etheria. It's so far away now it's no longer visible even at their highest scanning capacity.

After seven months in space, the last four of them spent finally finding out what kind of person she was outside of child soldier/She-ra, Adora's feelings about their abrupt, messy departure from their home planet had managed to settle down between resignation and dull betrayal.

It's still a very tender spot. Her logical brain understands that Catra and Hordak couldn't just escape any type of punishment for their literal war crimes. It wouldn't be fair to the countless lives forever changed by them. She also will begrudgingly concede that it would have been a slap in the face to every citizen of Etheria if Glimmer had just gone against the public demand and pardoned them. She is also begrudgingly grateful that Glimmer had ordered the most minimal punishment she had within her power as Queen.

But four years exile still seemed so long. Too long. Even longer now that she knew what her and Catra actually had. She thought she had loved Catra at seventeen, but that feeling was hardly a single star in the quadrant compared to the way she felt about her now. And she knew that with every day that passed, the feelings were just getting more and more intense. She couldn't imagine going four days without the magicat, four years was absurd.

Less than an hour after the sentencing they had left Etheria in a messy, absolutely traumatic scene on the front lawn of Brightmoon. Two of them were convicted criminals who had just been exiled from Etheria and two of them were Princesses who refused to just accept being parted for four years, the need to rebuild Etheria be damned. And as an extra spicy surprise they found out a couple of months in, that Double Trouble had stole'd away on Darla for reasons Adora was still unclear on. Something about drama and possibly being wanted.

The first few months in space had been a disaster Adora acknowledged, taking a sip of her drink and savoring the smooth herbal flavor. They had been blindly chasing the idea of restoring magic to the universe like it was their assigned mission, and not just a distraction from their current situation.

The immediate space around Etheria, it turned out, was not nice to begin with.

In the month since Prime's demise a power vacuum had opened up in the area. Entire planets were without the resources to rebuild themselves and were more than willing to fight for them, and there were opportunistic ships filled with bandits everywhere. It was chaos.

And they had flown into the middle of all that and loudly pronounced they had killed Prime and were magic.

Que a three month long shit storm.

They all just suffered.

Entrapta retreated into herself, barely coming out of the engine room unless they were under attack or broke down. She had been shaken to the core by her sudden loss of confidence in the friendships she had tentatively built over the last three years. Friendships she thought were built on mutual respect for their unique abilities and qualities. Entrapta knew she was the smart one. But only Adora, Scorpia, Wrong Hordak, and Catra had spoken on Hordak's behalf even though Entrapta provided sufficient evidence that by killing Prime in the way She-ra had, it had changed Hordak in fundamental ways. Yes he was responsible for what he had done, took responsibility for it, but he was also literally a new being.

When She-ra knocked Prime's ass out of Hordak's body and vanquished him, it was like being baptised, exorcised, and reborn simultaneously. All the clones had experienced it. Hoard Prime could not control them even again, could never take control of them again. An order coded into their very DNA that demanded them to conquer all for Prime was obliterated. That drive, an instinct really, had been as deeply ingrained into them as breathing was.

Hordak was not really washed anew like the other clones though. He didn't go from a mindless drone in a hive mind like the others, no, he'd spent thirty years waging war in Prime's name on Etheria. He was now without purpose. He was overwhelmed with emotions he did not know he was capable of that lurched violently from happiness to guilt and more often than not ended up at rage. He spoke very rarely to anyone but Entrapta unless it was to loudly argue with Adora or Catra or both of them.

Adora had spent those first few months just absolutely drenched in anger and bitterness. Her mind circled around all of the hurt that had been caused during the last three years. So much of it was Adora and Catra's. They were hit with traumatic event after traumatic event for three years, after a traumatic as fuck childhood. And against all odds they had escalated and pushed that stalemate of a war to an end where everyone won. And now because apparently they couldn't have nice things, and Adora was not smart, they found themselves in a big galaxy filled with unexpected dangers. And what were they doing? Chasing and dodging said dangers because they were just barreling ahead under her command asking every being they met if they needed their magic topped off. She was being absolutely reckless and every near catastrophe circled back to two thoughts. I'm not good enough and how could Catra love me?

Catra had felt horrible that Adora had just given up her life on Etheria so she could stay with Catra. But she felt downright evil that she had selfishly agreed to it with very little argument. Adora had pointedly told Catra that this was what she wanted. How could she deserve this? After everything that had happened Adora had chosen her? Wanted her by her side to explore this precious thing they'd started? How could she say no? It was hard for anyone but them to understand how much it meant for Adora to say those words aloud. She wanted Catra. She could not actually believe it still. Fought herself against the notion in fact. She spiraled in self hatred and guilt. Which of course meant she lashed out at Adora because that's what she did.

Adora and Catra got stuck in a vicious cycle of fight, avoid, apologize, rinse, and repeat that went on for two months. And then finally after a truly shitty day, even by those early standards, it came to a head. Catra gathered all three of the brain cells aboard Darla and had a big "aha moment". They actually had their first real mostly calm and open discussion about their feelings and baggage in their lives. They also had sex for the first time. It was a really big aha moment.

Adora hadn't thought it was possible to fall more in love with the magicat but she did. After the incident, Catra began opening up in earnest to Adora. She whispered confessions of love and attraction into her ear, began to slowly become more physically affectionate towards her. Adora's focus started to shift from saving the universe to saving them. If Catra was safe, she was calm enough to be vulnerable for Adora, and it turns out Adora needed that vulnerability like fucking oxygen. It made her better, made her feel like she could do anything in the universe she wanted. It made Adora believe that Catra loved her for her, and not for what Adora could do.

So less running around space with her whole ass showing; ending them up in dangerous situations every other day, and more let's just go away from that situation and see what's over there.

But not enough because they all nearly died in a fiery blaze three months in.

Adora had snapped after healing Catra's broken ribs, pointed Darla in the general direction of far away, and gunned it. They'd cleared the small cluster of planets nearest Etheria that they had been nervously darting around for three months, getting their asses handed to them, and just kept going. She just put the whole magical quest on the back burner indefinitely. It wasn't working, was actively endangering them in fact. It was not conducive to a vulnerable safe Catra.

When they were a safe distance away she had hidden the ship in an asteroid field and Meelog cloaked them. And then Adora had turned to Catra and asked her what she thought they should do next. It had been a very wise decision.

Catra had taken control immediately. First she encouraged/ordered Entrapta and Hordak to use their combined intelligence and any means necessary to get Darla up to date and better suited to surviving four years in space. They absolutely ran with it. They'd practically completely redesigned the layout of the ship and had even managed to expand its size over the last four months. Darla was taking on the character of a jigsaw puzzle with all the different colored materials covering her hull now. Double Trouble called it Junker Chic, Adora said she had character.

After that, and another near death experience for Adora, the magicat had proposed becoming diplomats of sorts for Etheria. Space was dangerous Catra pointed out, and that danger would likely come for Etheria again eventually. Having strong ties to planets already established in the quadrant has leaders could only be helpful.

And as her last decision Catra had released Adora from any responsibility except for occasionally parading She-ra out when the situation called for it. Her girlfriend had poked and prodded at the new ember of passion in Adora's heart until it was a raging fire.

It had been an amazing change in their lives.

Still seven months in space and in her heart, Adora was still so raw from the sheer trauma of the entire trial, convictions, and absolutely cataclysmic immediate aftermath. She'd had to carry Catra aboard Darla because the magicat was crying so hard. She felt...betrayed? Somehow used in a way she couldn't express? She had nearly died over and over and over again for Etheria. She nearly lost Catra forever for Etheria. And all they got were two weeks before everything went to absolute shit and strangers who didn't know the full story started demanding Catra's permanent exile. Some had even called for execution despite Etheria not having a death sentence. "Make one" someone had said. Adora had nearly ran them through with her sword.

Adora knows if they are ever gonna return at the end of the exile she's gotta heal more. Has to get to a place where she wants to go back. They all do.

Two decks down, in Darla's expanded cargo bayn the wildest party this side of Etheria was raging on at, what her body believed to be, very very late at night. The beat changed suddenly, becoming more powerful, and it startled Adora out of her musings. The tempo sped up and the bass pounded harder and Adora released a throaty chuckle. Her groin tightened, partly from the vibrations and partly from the effects of the drink coursing through her blood. She took a long swill of her glass and moved to rest her right hand firmly on her lap, rubbing her hardening dick through her pants and sighing in contentment.

The thing Adora lovef most about this aimless explorer diplomatic lifestyle they'd gradually slipped into was the culture they'd shared with scores of different species. The drink in her hand was supplied by the fourteen Chix'eks currently onboard the ship at the moment, who were also supplying the music.

Of all of the species they'd met so far, the Chix'eks are by far Adora's favorite. Tall and willowy bipeds, their shimmery smooth bichromatic scales come in countless color combinations and their facial features remind Adora of a bird of prey. They were also the most sincere, friendly beings Adora has ever met, and their language was beautiful. When Adora had been downstairs with them earlier she had taken her translator earpiece out and just listened to them. It was like glass windchimes in a steady breeze. They also were absolute party animals. Like having a pretty good time was in their specie's nature.

They'd been traveling with this group for the last two weeks for no other reason than they were all going the same direction for a bit.

The Chix'eks were highly intelligent and eager to share their knowledge and learn from Hordak and Entrapta's own wealth of knowledge, Catra and Double Trouble practically fed off of their clever sharp wit and general "we're always at a rave" vibes, and Adora just loves listening to their intricate music and sampling the various mind altering substances they have crafted over several millions of years of inherited knowledge.

Medicine was a specialty craft amongst their species. Their medicine was arguably the furthest advanced in this quadrant of space. The fact that the plants that grew on their home planet could affect every species they had met so far seemed fantastically impossible to Adora. But she had experienced it first hand when she'd contracted some kind of alien plague virus from hell and almost died. It was not a great time. Catra had new nightmares for several weeks. But by chance a group of the scaled beings had happened upon them and saved Adora just cause they could. And then offered to make some introductions to other friendly worlds in that part of space. They'd sparked that explorative vibe.

Oh yeah, and their passion for making addictive free, highly specialized, mind altering substances was a huge bonus.

She was glad they were on board right now providing her strange crew with comrade and the drink in Adora's hand that has allowed her to sit and think in total peace for the last hour. It would probably be one of those nights otherwise. Outside of the moments she spent wrapped up in Catra's arms, where nothing else existed but them, Adora still couldn't ever just relax. It was a little easier these days, maybe because now her mind was usually racing about exciting things, but tense situations brought out her worst self destructive habits.

And they were in a tense situation, party aside.

They were almost at the point in space where they wouldl no longer be able to contact Etheria and Etheria will no longer be able to contact them. Entrapta officially called it Point Zero. As it was, the contact they did have with home had a two week delay. They'd hovered around this point for the last month. They'd even recorded a message telling Etheria they'd be leaving contact range for a while. It was an open-ended goodbye disguised as an update, just in case.

Adora knew the decision to venture out beyond this point was on her shoulders.

Entrapta and Hordak would have loved nothing more than to gain new scientific knowledge so they could continue their shared passion for turning Darla into a flying impenetrable fortress. As well as collecting new tech to bring back to Etheria to modernize the planet.

Double Trouble wad having the time of Their fucking life expanding Their repertoire of mimicry far beyond the limits of Etheria, and raising hell in Their wake for the drama of it all. Their gift for espionage had been especially useful on several occasions as well, either to get them all out of a tight spot, or just to gather information for Adora's research.

And Catra. God Catra had absolutely burst like a supernova away from Etheria. Gone was the self loathing, guilt ridden magicat who was immediately resigned to being torn away from Adora and tossed onto Beast Island because she thought she deserved it.

Catra is thriving in space, completely free of the demons that plagued her on Etheria. She's still as snarky and sharp tongued as ever but nowadays she smiled more often than not. Her eyes were brighter. She purred almost constantly. And they hadn't fought about anything more serious than what to eat for dinner in months.

Catra had slipped into the not exactly legit role of Etherian Ambassador like a second skin. Her skill for strategy and diplomacy were nearly fully responsible for Adora's continued ability to study other species without coming across as some insane space tourist. They'd made real diplomatic ties with other planets because Catra was a strategic genius. All she asked of Adora was to bring out She-ra when the need for "oohs and aware" occasionally arose. A smiling eight foot tall muscled goddess with a sword really topped off a presentation.

Adora had never in her life seen Catra so happy and carefree.

But still all that aside, Catra had made it very clear that where Adora wanted to go, she wanted to go. They were in sync now more than they'd ever been in their lives, more than Adora suspected they could have achieved on Etheria. Their bond seemed impenetrable after seven months of constant reliance on one another, cohabitation, and working through most of their shit. When they moved these days, they moved as one.

Just thinking about her lover made Adora's heart race in her chest and her dick jumped, going from a semi, to rock hard in seconds. She inhaled deeply at the sensation, and downed the last of her drink.

The drink wasn't usually this potent. Adora had been drinking a much lower dosage of it every morning at breakfast for a couple of months. It helped her to concentrate during the day, helped to keep her thoughts from spiraling when things were tense or she felt like she'd messed up. Entrapta had explained brain chemistry to Adora briefly, she got the gist of it. She didn't need to have an in-depth understanding of it to get that it really helped just manage everything.

Tonight's drink though was not about mental health management and all about that really good Chix'ekian time.

She set the empty glass on the small table at her side and shifted so she could pull her hardened cock out of her pants. The drink had a massive effect on her senses and her libido. Everything was so intense. It felt like she perceived time slower.

For example her sense of smell was so heightened now she could smell Catra, knew she was making her way down the hall to the bridge. Her heady earthy aroma was addictive. Adora had only been minutely aware of it growing up, when they were pressed up against each other in their bunk, or claws to sword in battle. She'd never stopped to examine the nature of it, why Catra had such a distinctive scent compared to everyone else. She hadn't understood pheromones. She didn't understand the magicat instinct to mark and claim. She understood now though that Catra was different on a very basic level from Adora. It made Adora love her more.

The door barely made a sound as it opened and closed. Adora stroked herself lazily as she listened to Catra pad softly across the carpeted floor, her eyes still drawn to the wild unexplored space in front of them.

She felt Catra move around her chair and her eyes turned away from the view to watch her girlfriend kneel in front of her lap, rest her head on Adora's thigh, and begin gently running a clawed hand over Adora's exposed stomach, inches away from where Adora was stroking her own dick.

Catra's eyes were wide, pupils blown, and her voice when she spoke was practically sinful. "Hey Adora," she rasped out looking up at Adora as she scent marked her inner thigh. Adora took a deep breath and her lips curled into an absolutely love drunk smile.

"Hey Catra," Adora replied, her free hand immediately going to Catra's cheek and scratching behind her ear.

Her gaze drifted down to Catra's neck, and the thick white collar affixed with a golden o-ring she was wearing. This was a rather recent addition to their relationship and Catra had only ever worn it in their cabin. But she smelt of the woodsy incense the Chix'eks liked to burn and the herbal blend they'd created for Catra to smoke. Which meant Catra was wearing it at the party. Her dick twitched in her hand.

Catra purred at the affection and movedn her hand from the blond's stomach to swat away Adora's hand from her straining dick and began softly stroking it herself. The fine furs on her palms felt amazing to Adora's overly sensitive cock and she groaned with pleasure, head lulling back as she buried her hand in Catra's wild shoulder length hair.

"Those Chix'eks really know their stuff," Catra hummed as she shuffled closer and higher on her knees so she could press a small kiss to the base of the blond's length.

"Feeling good?" Adora asked, chuckling. She tightened her grip on Catra's mane slightly and kept her in place against her dick. She moaned when the corner of Catra's lips pressed momentarily against her balls.

"Feeling great," Catra said before beginning to lick at the hot flesh in front of her face "I'll be bummed when they break off to go home."

"Oh my god same," Adora said laughing and breaking out into a wide smile. Gently she pushed Catra backwards and sat upright in her chair, kicking her shoes off and to the side.

"You know," Catra said as Adora pulled her back towards her lap, "we're about ten minutes till we're out of range."

She might have said it conversationally but Adora knew Carta was nervous about Adora's decision. But Adora was not. Just like she wasn't nervous when she leapt into the darkness in Prime's ship, just like when she chose to spend some well deserved time with the love of her life over "duty", and just like the time she gave Catra control of their situation.

Adora pushed Catra back, leant forwards, and cupped both of Catra's cheeks, fingers immediately curling around her ears. She kissed the magicat on the forehead and deeply inhaled her scent. "Kitten I sent the message and set the course for straight ahead when I came in here an hour ago. I want to see what else is out there." Her blue eyes flitted up hungrily to the stars and then back to Catra before she reclined back into her chair.

Catra didn't look up, but she did release a suspiciously watery chuckle before she shifted forwards and wrapped her perfect lips around the head of Adora's cock suddenly. She took it deep down her throat so fast it seemed effortless. Adora groaned obscenely and buried her hands in Catra's hair, her grip tight and immediately desperate.

Adora's cock wasn't exactly small. Fully erect as she was now it was eight inches long and thick as fuck. And Catra just kept sliding her lips further and further down her length until they were stretched taunt and her breath was coming out in hot, fast puffs against Adora's abdomen.

"Gods, fuck Catra," Adora groaned out as Catra's head began to bob up and down in her lap. The blond watched Catra's throat greedily as the muscles contracted to deep throat her over and over again. They were strained against her collar.

Adora felt a sudden sharp sting at the base of her dick and hissed loudly in pleasure. Occasional knicks on her dick were an unavoidable experience when the woman sucking it regularly had needle sharp fangs. Adora relished in the familiar sting, craved it actually.

Adora's fingers tightened roughly in Catra's hair and when the magicat made to bob up, Adora forced her back down until Catra's claws pressed into her thighs, easily piercing through her sweats and into her skin. The magicat sputtered around the cock firmly blocking her airway.

Catra let out a sound somewhere between a moan and a yowl as she struggled to breath for a second. And when Adora pulled her back up she sucked in a ragged breath before a deep growl rumbled in her chest. Her bi-colored eyes were completely blown and she pulled against Adora's hand, trying to take the blond down her throat again.

"Fuck you're so desperate to choke on my dick, aren't you Kitten?" Adora slurred out. She didn't even wait for a response, just shoved Catra back down as her hips jolted up.

She began fucking Catra's throat in a slow but firm pace. Push Catra down and hold her there for a few long moments and then yank her up. Catra was growling nearly non-stop as she fought to keep her lips firmly wrapped around Adora and the vibrations from it made Adora's toes curl into the carpet.

She could happily cum like this, just release herself into Catra's eager mouth like she'd done plenty of times before, but she was suddenly starving for more. Catra's body was practically writhing on the floor, her hips jerking forwards repeatedly, and her thighs pressed firmly together. The sight of her girlfriend so fucking turned on from sucking her dick made Adora feel godsdamn invincible.

"Up," Adora ordered, not waiting for Catra to respond before she was leaning over and practically ripping the magicat's leggings off. Catra was too far gone for words or to be much help, and Adora practically had to pick her up to get the pants and underwear off her feet. She made quick work of both of their shirts too. "Come on," she growled, pulling her writhing girlfriend into the chair with her.

Adora pulled Catra forwards at the hips, pressing her down until Catra's dripping pussy was pressed against her abs. Immediately Catra started rubbing wantonly against against her, spreading her slick up down Adora's stomach. Her mouth found Adora's neck and she began pressing possessive needy kisses against her.

"Fuck you're so sexy," Adora groaned as she held firmly onto Catra's hips and watched her grind against her. Adora didn't need heightened senses to know even after multiple showers, she was going to smell like Catra for days.

"Mine," Catra growled out territorially as she made new marks to Adora's already colorful neck.

"All yours Kitten," Adora agreed. She loved feeling Catra move against her like this, but her dick was begging for relief.

It was difficult to push the writhing Catra back enough to enter her. Her girlfriend was nearly completely gone, operating on her most base instincts and desires, but Adora managed to grab her hips in a bruising grasp and lower her further down her body.

Her own hips were jerking violently upwards on their own volition and it was a frantic moment as she tried to hold Catra still enough that she could stroke up into her. "Hold still," she ordered, her blunt nails digging into Catra's hips demandingly. Catra let out a frustrated growl but stopped fighting against Adora. Adora grunted as she shifted their bodies, lined up, and slammed her dick hilt deep into her girlfriend.

Catra let out a guttural sound from deep in her chest and her claws raked through Adora's hair, pulling their foreheads together. "S-so good f-fuck Adora," she stuttered through clenched teeth as Adora began slamming up into her roughly.

Their eyes were wild and locked onto one another's. The room was filled with the thumping bass, the lewd wet sounds of their thighs slapping together, Adora's harsh ragged breathing, and a constant rumbling growl from Catra.

Every time she bottomed out in her lover Adora's heart skipped a beat. Catra's pussy was clenching around her cock almost in sync to the music and Adora felt like she would die if she couldn't get further into Catra. She wanted to live inside the woman in her lap.

Catra's head fell to Adora's shoulder and she began rambling out adoration and praise for Adora as she sucked, licked, and bit at Adora's neck repeatedly. "Fuck s-soooo fucking good. You fuck! You're f-fucking me so g-good Adora Fuck." Her body was becoming pliant above Adora, allowing the blonde to drill up at her own pace and pull Catra down on her like a toy.

The praise combined with a bite hard enough to draw blood at the juncture of her neck and shoulders had Adora howling. Adora was like a woman possessed as she heaved both of their bodies up and then down onto the floor. Catra began to scramble up when Adora pulled out of her but frantically got into position when Adora started to forcefully roll her over into her hands and knees.

This was Catra's preferred position to get fucked and Adora wasted no time before slamming back into her girlfriend. She leaned over Catra until her front was flush against the magicats silky back and braced herself on her right arm. Her left hand shot up to Catra's neck and her fingers dug in between her collar and fur.

"Fuck!" Catra howled as Adora began violently rocking against her, pushing her further to the floor each time. Catra's claws were fully extended, digging grooves into the carpet and scraping at the metal beneath it. "I love you," she growled out, giving up any control she had left and just letting Adora pound into her.

"Y-you're my, my fucking whole world," Adora managed to gasp out as she lurched above Catra. "I w-want to be inside you forever."

Catra trilled below her and her pussy began to clench so hard around Adora's cock it felt nearly impossible to pull out. She felt like Catra was sucking her into her. They were almost completely down on the carpet now, with most of Adora's weight fully on Catra.

"Mine," Catra growled desperately, her eyes were clenched shut and her body had begun to violently tremble. Her claws were locked several inches down into the floor beneath them.

"Yours. All yours. Everything I am is for you," Adora gasped out. Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest she felt like it was about to explode and her focus had completely narrowed to the feeling of Catra's pussy gripping her cock like a vice.

She could feel a scream building up in Catra's chest below her and Adora latched onto her shoulder with her teeth. She bit down hard and Catra's head snapped back as she screamed Adora's name and tipped over into her orgasm.

Adora's balls and upper thighs were drenched as Catra's pussy spasmed and squirted below her. The feeling of Catra's white hot release was it for Adora. She slammed down once, twice, a third time, and then her body went rigid as her own orgasm ripped through her. The blond's back arched and her head snapped back, eyes open and wide, her vision filled with porta literal stars as she emptied her balls deep into her girlfriend.

Below her Catra writhed and rubbed up into Adora, her pussy was milking Adora's dick for every last drop of cum it could. Adora felt dizzy from her violent release and she pressed them both down against the floor, barely managing to not rest completely atop Catra's petite frame.

They laid there together like that for a long while. Taking greedy breaths and shaking against each other. Adora was still buried deep inside Catra as the woman's pussy contracted around her. Finally when Adora started to come back to herself she eased out of her lover, chuckling lightly at the disgruntled whine Catra let out.

"Ssh baby," Adora cooed. She kept a hand on the small of Catra's back and stroked her fingers through the thick fur as she straightened up on her knees. Her back gave a satisfying crack at the stretch and she sighed looking down at Carta whose fingers were starting to dig into the floor rhythmically. Her hips were raised trying to get as close as possible to Adora's gently scratching hand. "Come on baby," Adora murmured softly as she picked Catra up.

Catra was practically boneless in her arms but Adora managed to get her knees locked around her waist and her arms over her shoulders before she hoisted both of them up off of the floor. She took a moment to get her bearings and wrapped an arm more securely under Catra's ass.

Catra had almost immediately started purring after Adora picked her up and now it was turning into a loud rumble as she nuzzled her face in Adora's neck and started to scent her. "Bed," she grumbled out against Adora's skin as her claws started to kneed the blond's shoulder.

Adora chuckled and gently butted her head against Catra's. "Yes bed time now," she whispered softly as she spared one last glance to the star filled windows in front of her before focusing on the task at hand.

By Adora's estimate she had about five to ten minutes to get Catra to the privacy of their cabin before the magicat would be forcefully holding Adora down regardless of where they were. Catra's after sex hormone driven instincts were always pretty strong and were Adora's absolute favorite moments to witness. She knew they'd be intense tonight with how hard they'd fucked and Catra still riding the high of that Chix-ekian herbal blend she'd smoked.

"Okay," she murmured taking stock of the situation. This was not her first naked Catra on the bridge rodeo. She knew there was no way she was going to be able to put Catra down long enough to get their clothes back on, the possibility didn't even cross her mind. Still, in an attempt at civility she toed their discarded clothing into a pile and mostly kicked it under her chair.

Adora took a few steps to Catra's chair and grabbed the large fluffy blanket folded up in it. "Hold tight baby," she whispered, waiting a second for Catra to tighten around her body before shaking out the blanket and wrapping it around their bodies.

She grimaced a little at the ten rivets cut into the floor at her feet. Double Trouble would have a field day with that. She shrugged because what could she really do about it now? Quickly she checked Darla's readings before heading off of the bridge. Out in the dim hallways of Darla she could just slightly make out the sounds of music and laughter and it made her smile impossibly wider as she tightened her grip around her purring girlfriend.

She had just reached their door when Entrapta swung around the corner laughing. She just managed to stop herself from running into them and snapped back. Hey smile was sweet as she observed them. "Hi Adora," she managed to whisper out despite her obvious excitement.

"Hi Entrapta," Adora giggled lightly, shifting Catra's weight to her other arm.

"I've noticed we have continued on at our current trajectory Adora," Entrapta whispered, her hair expressing her obvious delight with the way it rolled around her body.

"Indeed," Adora whispered and then smiled widely when Entrapta had to cover her mouth with her hair to keep her excited shriek down.

"Goodnight Adora," Entrapta whispered, and then leant towards Catra and whispered even quieter "goodnight Catra."

Gently Entrapta patted the area between Catra's ears with her hair, and Adora had to push down a delighted gasp when Catra's tail came up and curled around the end of the hair. Adora honestly felt like she could cry at the way Catra's tail intimately held onto Entrapta, swirling around her hair for a few seconds before dropping back down to tuck under the blanket. That gesture from Catra held more meaning than any hug could and it was clear from the happy smile on Entrapta's face that she understood that. The princess waved before barreling back the way she'd come from.

A sharp, pointed nip at her shoulder made Adora chuckle and she turned and walked them into their cabin. She shrugged off the blanket wrapped around them and headed into their little bathroom, Catra still in her arms.

In a clearly practiced routine she ran a washcloth under warm water and brought it up between them to wipe at the sticky mess between Catra's legs. Catra was starting to purr like a skiff motor now and rub her face in earnest against Adora's neck and shoulders.

Satisfied that Catra's fur wouldn't mat Adora headed back into their bedroom and turned out the lights. A light glow from the baseboards was all the light Adora needed to walk the few feet to their bed. She turned around and carefully lowered their bodies down, her muscles tensed to keep them from tipping back. They had picked up the unique bed a few planets ago after Catra had fallen in love with the design. It's sides raised up gradually creating a deep pocketed area in the middle. It was a little tricky to get in and out of, but being nested down in the middle with Catra was absolutely worth it.

After some practiced maneuvering Adora laid down and stretched out her legs, a deep sigh releasing from her chest as Catra wrapped her body around Adora's. A big goofy smile split Adora's face in half as Catra started to rumble on top of her. A moment later her kneading started back up and she began to lick gently at Adora's bruised and scraped neck.

Adora was absolutely blissed out with contentment as she buried her fingers into Catra's furr, one hand right above her tail, the other behind an ear, and started scratching. The rumbling and purring kicked up several notches and Catra began to lick at her skin in earnest.

She'd learned a lot in the last seven months, but the most important lesson had been figuring out all the ways Catra had been saying "I love you" since they were toddlers. She hadn't gotten it before the heart, hadn't thought it was possible because Catra had never said the words out loud. But every purr, nuzzle, and kneed Catra had let out just for Adora had said it for her. Adora was so fucking glad that circumstances aside, she'd finally gotten the chance to figure this out.

The room was absolutely silent but Adora could still feel the light soothing pulse of bass. They laid together for a long time as Catra's rough tongue laved over Adora's neck and upper torso. Adora kept up her diligent scratching, shifting whenever necessary to give Catra easy access to her body. The sounds coming out from Catra were honestly favorite sounds in the universe, a constant deep purr that was laid under a rumbling growl.

Catra was apparently satisfied with her grooming job because she started to settle against Adora, her purr has toned down into a lazy idle as she gently rubbed her scent glands against the splotchy skin of Adora's neck

"I love you so much," Catra murmured, shifting up to press gentle kisses against Adora's face. Her eyes blinked slowly.

"I love you too," Adorab breathed out before pulling Catra down to settle her head on Adora's chest. Adora kept gently stroking behind Catra's ears up until the moment sleep claimed her, warm and content, wrapped completely around her lover.

Darla cruised quietly through space for parts unknown.

[thefantasygirl3]

Negaverse stories: You're gonna have a bed time

Genre/warnings: Comedy, Slice of life, Action.

Word count: 5 287

Summary:  The Darkwing Ducks are having a bit of a family dispute, with half of the team refusing to sleep at a proper time. An argument breaks out but is quickly interrupted by a villain attack. Now they will have to fight crime with only two heroes on top of their game.

Notes:  I decided to continue writing some fun little adventures for my negaverse boys, because I refuse to let this hyper fixation go. I hope it’s a fun little read for you all. Edit: Gonna link my fanfiction.net as well, which might make it easier for some to find my stories.

Night was falling over all of st. Canard as people were already tucked in tight to sleep. Midnight was getting closer and closer. Quackerjack was fast asleep on the couch, snoring and drooling as he laid sprawled out cartoonishly. But as he was snoring loudly, a loud noise suddenly woke him up and he rolled off the couch and face planted on the floor. He let out a low groan and pushed himself up off the ground, his attention directed towards where the noise was heard, which happened to be the workshop. The duck headed over to the door and peeked inside. He saw Megavolt, sitting by the workshop table with the dismantled stereo he had started working on getting fixed earlier that day. Quacks gave away a soft yawn as he entered the room, walking up to the distracted man and stood beside him. "Hey, Sparky. How long have you been working on this?" He asked as he tilted forward to get a peek at his work. Megavolt gave his wrist watch a quick glance before he answered with "since 6 I think". "What?! You've been working for 6 hours?! When were you planning to go to bed?!" He huffed angrily and leaned in close to the rat, making him move away so he could see what he was doing again. He got angry that the stubborn rat just ignored him and kept working. "Sparkyyyy! You can't keep doing this! You need to go to bed at a reasonable hour and actually SLEEP!" He scolded him while he took the tools out of his hands and put them back into his tool box. "Hey! I'm busy, ok!? If I get into the zone, I can't just break my concentration! I need to finish it before I can stop!" He responded frustrated as he tried to take the tool box back, but Quacks moved it out of the way. "No! You need to go to bed! Now!" He demanded and put the tool box on top of his work shelf. "I'm not a kid! You can't make me!" He growled as he walked over and took it back down. "Wanna bet?" Quacks said with an annoyed squint, grabbing a hold of the box as well. 

Meanwhile Bushroot was laying in his bed, sleeping soundly. Until he woke up, muttering under his breath "... I'm thirsty". He pushed himself up from his bed and wandered out into the hallway so he could grab a glass of water. That was until he noticed some light escaping the bottom of Liquidator's door. He cocked his head a bit and decided to take a peek inside to see what was going on. Liquidator was sitting by his computer, editing some ad he was tasked to make. Bushroot slipped inside and walked up beside him. "Hey. Bud. What… um… are you doing there?" He asked him softly, putting a hand on his shoulder. The dog turned his head around and gave him a tired smile. "Ah. Hey Reginald. I'm just finishing this ad before I call it a day" He explained as he looked back at the screen to continue his work. "You know it's almost midnight, right?" The plant asked and looked at him curiously. "... oh. Oops" He muttered as he saw the time in the corner of the screen. 

Bushroot sighed and crossed his arms, shaking his head and muttering "Oh bud. We've discussed this!". "It was a mistake! I swear!" Liquidator tried to excuse himself as he turned around to the other man. "Liste bud. I know how you feel. You want to make sure it's perfect. You want to impress the rest of the guys so they will respect you. It's a totally legit feeling to have. But overworking yourself and tiring yourself out isn't going to solve anything" he told him as he put his hands on the other's shoulders reassuringly. "But… it needs to be good. I can't send in something bad" the water man replied with a frown. "You won't! You're too self critical. It was good the way it was, doesn't need 10 reworks" Bushroot sighed and gave his shoulder a light pat. Liquidator gave a small smile and muttered "you're right. Maybe I should get some rest". "There we go. Now, save your work and get to bed" the other man said with a grin and watched as his friend started turning off the computer, before he quickly added on "Oh! And I'll be taking the power cord". "WHAT?! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" He suddenly yelled as he turned around to face the still calm plant. "It's just to ensure you don't turn it back on in the middle of the night. And don't use the 'what if I need to start early' excuse. You're the only one who's putting that stress on yourself" he told him off with a stern voice, as if speaking to a kid. But they were then interrupted by a loud sound from downstairs. 

The two rushed over to the stairs and saw the other half of the Darkwing Ducks pulling and tugging at a screwdriver. "LET GO OF IT! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME SLEEP!" Megavolt yelled as he struggled to pull the tool loose. "Oh yes I can, if I knock you out cold!" Quackerjack replied as he tightened his grip on it. Then the two noticed the other men by the end of the stairs, staring surprised. "... workaholic refuses to sleep?" Bushroot asked with one raised eyebrow. "Overgrown baby throwing a tantrum" The other duck answered as he got distracted enough for Megavolt to take the screwdriver back, making him give the rat a hard glare. "Alright guys. This is getting ridiculous! You two need to get a hold of yourselves and get working on a proper sleep schedule! These sleeping problems are going to affect our work!" He groaned and put a hand to his face, letting out a big sigh. "Yeah. I agree. You guys can't pull more all-nighters. You need-" before Bushroot could finish, a small alarm went off, signalling that something bad was happening in town. The dog and rat grinned and ran over to the couch that would get them to their secret hideout, taking the opportunity to escape the discussion. "Sorry! No time to discuss this! Justice awaits, chuckles!" Megavolt said with a satisfied grin, plopping himself down onto the couch beside Liquidator. The other two just sighed and walked over to sit down with them, pulling the lever that was disguised as a statue which spun the couch and transported the four to their base.

They emerged from a secret entrance, already dawning their hero outfits as they landed stylishly. Megavolt rushed over to the computer and started to tap away at it. "According to the drones, there is a big collection of police around the tool shop. Though on closer inspection, most of the officers have been knocked out cold. And there appears to be some sort of white smoke coming out of the entrance and windows" he informed the others as he tapped away at the keyboard. "I think those are clouds" Bushroot added as he walked over to get a better look. "Aha! That's it! This must be the work of King Dreamland! He's putting all those cops and security to sleep so he can rob the store undisturbed!" Quackerjack announced as he pointed at the light, soft looking clouds, already rushing towards the van so they could get going to stop the crazed criminal. Liquidator let out a yawn and dragged himself over to the van and hopped into the back, muttering "right. Then let's get dangerous!". Bushroot groaned as he stepped inside it as well, grumbling annoyed about how neither he or the rodent should be doing anything dangerous in their state. Megavolt sat down in the passenger seat beside the clown, glancing over as he got the car started. "You know I can still drive. You don't gotta-" as he tried to convince him he was perfectly fine to drive, the duck gripped the wheel tightly and hissed like an angry cat, shutting up any further argument. He then hit the gas and they drove off downtown. 

They soon reached the store, parking right behind the cluster of police cars and unconscious cops, floating around on soft, fluffy clouds. "Definitely the work of King Dreamland" Megavolt remarked as he watched a sleeping officer drift by the car. "And it seems his work is almost done!" Bushroot exclaimed as he pointed at the figure inside with a big bulky bag of things in his hands. This caused the Darkwing Ducks to hop out of the van and rush the building while pushing clouds out of the way. 

As they got inside, they spotted the hazmat suit wearing villain with cute cartoon stickers of clouds and stars on it, still loading up the bag with wire cutters and a sledge hammer. "We are the terrors that flap in the night! We are the alarm clock that wakes you up one hour late!" Liquidator started talking as purple smoke began to fill the store, causing him to swing around and stared at the cloud of smoke. "Ah! Darkwing Ducks!" King Dreamland yelled in surprise as he backed up from the voice. "Aw come on! At least let us finish our intro!" He groaned frustrated as he reeled back and launched his fist towards the villain, knocking him back into a shelf of nuts and bolts. Quackerjack quickly grabbed a hold of his toy wind-up teeth and threw them at him, causing them to bite down onto the suit sleeve and pinning it to the shelf. He started tugging harshly at the captured sleeve, grunting as he couldn't get it loose. "How dare you?! I'll have your heads for this!" He yelled while using his other hand to pull as hard as he could. "Zip It, snore fest!" Megavolt mumbled as he aimed his finger at him. His view suddenly got a little blurry and he let out a soft groan, feeling a bit of tiredness take over for a short moment until he shook himself back to reality and fired a bolt of lightning. Dreamland gasped and covered his face, but took a peek after he heard the bolt miss him, bounce off of a circle saw and shoot right back at the group and knock Bushroot to the floor. "GHA!" He yelled as he hurt his back upon landing. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry, leafy!" The rat exclaimed in shock as he ran over to help him up. 

King Dreamland took this opportunity, while the hero team was distracted and reached back to his backpack tank and grabbed the hose nozzle on the side. He pointed it at the befuddled green man and whispered "night night" before he fired a white puff of cloud at him. Megavolt heard the noise behind him and suddenly shouted "Watch out!" And pushed his friend out of the way. The cloud then completely engulfed him, making him disappear within it. Quackerjack gasped and covered his beak in disbelief, shouting a weak "No! Megsy!". He soon came back out from the cloud, lying lazily on top of it with a big, relaxed smile. "Hey… this is… pretty nice" He mumbled with a soft yawn. "You terrible tired tyrant! Hope you enjoy the prison beds!" Liquidator growled and ran at the suited man, hardening his hand so it would give him a hard smash. But the villain noticed how slow he was seemingly going and swiftly redirected the punch towards the teeth holding him stuck. As soon as he was freed from the shelf, he hopped back and pointed the nozzle at him. "You seem tired, doggy! Isn't it past your bedtime?" He said in a cocky voice before he fired another cloud at Liquidator, capturing him as well. "Well this has been fun, but I gotta get going. The night is still young!" The villain yelled back as he ran out the door and left the remaining two heroes with their friends now out of commission.

Bushroot ran over to Liquidator and gave him a light shake. While laying on his stomach on the cloud, he curled up into a ball and murmured "just five more minutes please, Reginald". "No! Liquidator! We need to catch that guy! Don't give in to your sleepiness!" The duck yelled while trying to shake him awake. Quackerjack, on the other hand, gave the rat a curious look. "... how are you feeling, smart guy?" He asked with a twist of satisfaction to his voice. "Sooooo… good… I think I'll take a little power nap" he answered his friend as he closed his tired eyes and let his leg dangle lazily over the edge of the cloud.

"Quackerjack! We have to get them off of these clouds! Come on! You've got to have something in your pockets that will help!" Bushroot ran over and shook the jester's shoulders violently. "Oooor! We don't do that! Think about it for a sec, spuds! These two finally WANT to go to sleep! We just got our little domestic issue solved for us! King Dreamland just did us a favour!" He said with a smug grin on his face, removing the leaf hands off of him.

Bushroot lit up from that realization and glanced between the two sleeping heroes. "You're right! They're sleeping like babies! But… what now? How are we going to stop King Dreamland?" He asked with a worried expression. "Pfffff! We've taken down villains separately before! The two of us can take on this one weirdo!" Quackerjack said confidently and put an arm around his fellow duck. "Yeah! You're right! Let the sleepyheads rest while we handle the hard work!" The plant nodded and chuckled, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling him out of the shop, in the general direction of the villain.

King Dreamland was walking down the street, cackling to himself as he flung the bag of tools over his shoulder. "Wow! Those guys were having an off night!" He mused to himself while speeding up his pace. But he was soon caught off guard by a tree branch suddenly appearing in his way and knocking him over. "Good job, tree friend! Now, you better stop whatever you're planning to do with those tools right now!" Bushroot yelled as he and Quackerjack were rounding the corner, starting to approach him. The villain pushed himself up from the ground and rubbed his head, quickly reaching for his nozzle and firing it at the two. The clown duck pushed his friend back and pulled out a gun from his endless supply of toys, firing it at the cloud. It caused an umbrella to pop out of the barrel, blocking the white puff from consuming them whole. "Darn!" Dreamland yelled as he turned right around and escaped the two while they were distracted. "He's getting away! After him!" Jacky said as soon as the umbrella was closed, pulling his co-hero along to give chase.

King Dreamland ran as fast as he could from the heroes, making a sharp turn into the mall. The two chasing him were slowly catching up, spotting him as he dashed into the mall and quickly following after. As they got inside, they scanned the area to determine where he went. "... There!" Quackerjack yelled and pointed at the bad guy, just entering into a sports shop. They ran inside and started looking around for him. They didn't spot him immediately, so they searched around the place. After a second of looking, Bushroot bumped into him. He screamed in fear and began to run. The plant man yelped surprised and started to run after him. "What are you planning to do with those things, you fellon?!" he yelled after him as he was right on his heels. "You'll see! Once my scheme is put into action! Ahahaha!" he laughed diabolically and held up the bag triumphantly. "OOOH! When I catch up, you'll pay for what you did to my friends!" Bushroot growled angrily as he just kept running, starting to pant a bit as he was getting exhausted from running. Quackerjack just stood beside them both, giving a quizzical glance between them. "What are you doing?" he asked as the other two looked at him confused. They then glanced down and saw that they were just running on a treadmill. "Oh. Well that's embarrassing. Anyways, I'm off!" King Dreamland jumped off the treadmill and ran out the shop again. "We got to catch him!" Jacky said and pointed towards the door. "Get me off of this thing first!" his friend yelled as he was still running and panting. "Oh. Right" he muttered and reached over to push the first button he saw, hoping it would turn it off. It just sped the treadmill up and shot Bushroot back into a wall of jump ropes. He was dizzy for a second, until the other duck pulled him up off the ground and dragged him along. 

They ran into the next store, which was a music store, and saw the villain trying to sneak out the back door. Bushroot extended his arms and grabbed a hold of an electric guitar, slamming it into the hazard suited man and launching him into a drum set. He emerged with a big, broken drum around himself. Quackerjack started laughing and pointing at him, finding the slapstick hilarious. Dreamland growled angrily at being humiliated. It was then he spotted where the hero was standing, right underneath a hanging piano. How cliché, but perfect. While bushroot approached to apprehend him, he wriggled his arm loose and sprinted over to the violins, grabbing one of the bows and using it to cut the rope holding the piano and sending it plummeting down onto the jester's head. Bushroot gasped in horror and stared at the broken mess of a musical instrument. The suited man took this opportunity to bolt out the front door with his bag and ran as fast as he could. "Quackerjack?! Are you ok?!" the duck ran over to the piano and asked worriedly, rummaging through the debris until he found him. He sat up straight and swayed slightly, spitting out some piano keys before he could crawl out of the wreck. "Just fine" he muttered before heading out with his friend and pursuing the villain again.

They were soon walking through a hobby store, looking through the isles to find the bad guy. They headed down an isle with different types of paint lining the shelves while darting their eyes all around them. They kept completely quiet as to be able to hear him. It made the entire place eerily silent, like a ghost house. King Dreamland was spying on them from the other side of the shelf, watching them draw closer and closer to his position. As soon as they were near, he gave the shelf a hard shove and made it topple over towards the two. Bushroot looked up at the falling shelf and gasped in shock, giving Quackerjack a push out of the way before he was buried in pain bottles. The other duck yelped surprised before he gave away a growl and looked up at the villain, who ran away and started climbing a shelf. He bolted after him, pulling out a yo-yo from his pants and swinging it around as he got ready to attack. As soon as he reached the bottom of the shelf, Dreamland had already made it up there and picked up a big jug of pink paint, dropping it right down on top of his head. It made a painful indent into his noggin and he fell back onto the floor, getting a thunk on his beak by his own yo-yo, just for some salt in the wounds. "Ha ha ha! Wow! You guys suck! Guess you're nothing without all your team! You better just give up, I can see the bags under your eyes from here! I'm off to blow off some steam… all over town! See ya!" He taunted the two, blowing a raspberry at them, which stained his visor with spit before he hopped down and rushed out the back.

Bushroot managed to wriggle himself out from under the shelf, being completely covered in different splashes of color. He rushed over to Quacks and helped him up off the ground concernedly, looking at the jug that was still lodged into his head. The jester pulled it off of himself and straightened himself out with a proper tug on his hat tails. He then looked over at the plant man, starting to giggle quietly. "Wow. You're looking even more colorful than Megavolt during June!" He joked and snorted into his hands at the rainbow colored duck, who just rolled his eyes and pulled his friend off the floor. "Come on, Quackerjack! We gotta go and find where he went!" He grumbled and rushed both of them out the mall. "But where would he go to "blow of steam", huh?" The other asked as he got no chance to even put back the jug of paint before they were off. "Blow of steam… hmm… all over town! He's going to release his clouds all over town! Probably from a wind turbine! We got to hurry!" Bushroot realized quickly as he pointed towards the nearest wind turbine and headed towards it at top speed.

They arrived at their destination after a bit, immediately noticing that the lock on the door had been cut. "So that's why he got tools!" Bushroot growled angrily and stared at the wide open door, thinking over what their plan of attack was. His head was a little cluttered at that moment, having received a real beating earlier and been running around a lot, so he just shook his head and tried his best to focus. Quacks, on the other hand, just walked right inside. But he then saw the long stairwell leading up to the top and stopped right in his tracks. "... UUUUUUGH! Why STAIRS!? I'm tireeeeed!" He whined and leaned back in defeat. "Come on. We'll make it up there. We need to. For our friends!" The other duck sighed exhausted and began climbing up the stairs, determined to get the bad guy.

A few minutes later, they had reached the top. They were both huffing and puffing heavily, eyes bulging out of their heads as they stopped to catch their breaths. "After this… I'm removing the top floor… of our house!" Jacky groaned and hunched over while leaning on his knees. Bushroot leaned back against the door behind him to rest his tired legs, but was surprised as it started to slowly slide open and make him fall backwards out of the doorway. He looked up with a surprised look until he saw their target a bit away, carrying and setting up a smoke machine. "Hey! Stop right there!" The jester yelled and hopped out beside his friend, pointing at their enemy with a pissed look, mostly because of the pain he had caused them. 

King Dreamland turned around and looked at the two weary heroes, grumbling a flippant "geez, do you guys ever give up?". He then set down the smoke machine and pulled the nozzle from his backpack, aiming it at them both. "Alright. You found out my plan. So now what? What are you planning to do to stop me? I mean look at yourselves! You're going to pass out any second" he spoke casually to them as he lightly waved his weapon around, showing how nonchalant he was about all of it, clearly not taking the whole situation seriously. "Don't underestimate my stubbornness-" "determination" "DETERMINATION! We'll put a stop to you right now!" Quackerjack yelled at him and pointed a firm finger while glaring irritated. "Alright. Put a stop to this" he shrugged and shot a big cloud at them. The jester gave away a shriek and covered his face, preparing for the collision. Bushroot shot up from the floor and extended his arms, wrapping them around the other's waist and janking him out of the way. 

King Dreamland growled in rage and stomped his foot. "Why won't you lay down and die?!" He shouted as he glared at the two with absolute fury. Quackerjack looked down at his pockets and started rummaging through them to find something he could use to stop the villain on a rampage. He then felt something in his pockets that he didn't expect to have. It gave him an idea and he looked over at the plant holding onto him. "You have to toss me!" he told him hurriedly. "Huh?" he just responded to the cooky duck's request, not sure he heard him right. "THROW MY BODY AT HIM!!!" he then shouted, startling his friend into just doing as told and throwing him as hard as he could. Quackerjack flew straight at the villain and before he could fire another cloud, he was tackled and had a crazy clown climbing and scuttling all over his body, like a racoon who was also an expert climber. He stumbled around while he was being jerked left and right from the whirlwind of a hero. "Get… OFF ME YOU TIRED LOON!!!" He shouted as he finally managed to rip him off and toss him towards his co-hero, knocking him to the ground. 

Bushroot quickly pushed Quacks off and got up to rush at the king, ready to whoop his butt. He picked up a sledgehammer from the ground that his enemy brought and swung it at him. But he dodged out of the way and backed out of yet another swing at him, avoiding every attempt at knocking him down. "Man. You guys really suck at this! Can't even land a punch!" He chuckled and grabbed a hold of the hammer, janking it out of his hands and aiming the hose in his face. "Time to visit dreamland."

He shot him right in the face. But he was not greeted by a soft, fluffy, sleep inviting cloud. He was instead splattered in the face by a load of pink. "H-HUH!?!" Dreamland exclaimed, bewildered as he looked into the nozzle and only saw pink. He then looked towards his back to see what went wrong, to discover that his usual tank had been replaced by a jug of pink paint. He then looked up at the other hero and saw him holding up the actual container, giving them both a thumbs up. Dreamland stared at him in shock, unable to believe he was outsmarted by two extremely exhausted dummies. This was unbelievable! He couldn't accept this! But as he was starting to have a breakdown of rage, bushroot looked over at Jacky and yelled "Rubber band!", Which he was tossed quickly and snapped it around the villain, finally capturing him. They both walked up to each other and jumped up and down in joy, cheering about their victory until the tiredness finally started to set in and they fell over onto the ground. "... Let's just get the other two." "Yeah. Let's go" they concluded while laying limply on the ground.

They had finally made it back to where they first had fought King Dreamland and helped the cops wake up before they handed him over to them. They then went inside and spotted their friends, peacefully floating around and sleeping soundly still. They looked so much better than they did earlier, well rested and happy, having these relaxed smiles spread out on their faces. "Ha… They must have had a nice nap" Quackerjack muttered with a fatigued smile as he stared at the sleeping Megavolt, then made the cloud disappear with this tool he took from Dreamland, causing the rat to fall down onto the floor with a thud. "Huh?! Whu?!" he suddenly woke up and looked all around him confused, not sure what had just happened. Quacks handed over the tool to Bushroot, who used it to get rid of the cloud from under Liquidator. But unlike the other duck, he gently caught the dog before he fell onto the floor. "Huh? Hey! How dare you?! I- Uh… Wait. Where did he go?!" he asked puzzled as he looked around, helped back onto his feet by the guy holding him. Megavolt got back up again and rubbed his neck a bit. "Hey… I'm feeling pretty refreshed! Huh!" he pointed out and stretched his arms, letting out a small groan. "Glad to hear it, sparks" Quackerjack grumbled and patted his shoulder. As the rat turned around to him to say something, he immediately stopped himself and looked shocked at his friend. He looked HORRIBLE! Baggy eyes, tired expression, slouchier posture than usual. He was looking absolutely EXHAUSTED! Liquidator thought the same as he got a good look at Bushroot. "Uh… hey… Reginald… Feeling ok?" he asked nervously and put a hand on his shoulder. "You two look like trash!" Megavolt just said, pointing at them both. "Well I was trying to be nice about it, Elmo" he grumbled at the straight forward remark. 

"It's ok! We're fine! We captured King Dreamland and everything is good now!" Bushroot told them while trying to look like he wasn't currently dying. "Yeah! We are totally fine!" Quacks added on and grinned at their friends. "... Clearly you're not. You're zombies!" Megavolt sighed and walked over to them, starting to lead them outside towards the van. "Yeah. You two need to go to bed immediately!" Liquidator added in and opened the back of the van for his friend to hop in. Quackerjack opened the driver side door to get inside, but was pushed to the side by the rat, who sat down in the seat. "No. You are not driving like that. Get in the passenger side!" he demanded, pointing to the other side of the car. The duck grumbled angrily and walked around to the other side. He got in and sat down while glaring at his friend. Bushroot looked at Liquidator and muttered "It seems the sun is starting to rise… I'm worried I won't be able to go back to sleep." "Yeah! I don't even feel that tired! It's so early anyways now, so I probably won't be able to fall asleep anyways!" the jester noted to Megavolt, but was completely ignored by him so he could drive.

As they made it back home, Quackerjack was fast asleep in the passenger seat, snoring and drooling onto his shoulder. Liquidator looked over at Bushroot, who looked like he was about to faint as well. "Hey. We're home. Let me help you inside" he spoke softly as he gently put his arm around his shoulders, helping him out into the garage. Megavolt walked around to the passenger side and opened it up, picking the sleeping duck up and just carrying him inside without complaint or snarky comment. Gosalyn was just walking down the stairs, hearing someone coming home. She was in her pyjamas, holding onto Mr. Banana Brain and rubbing her eyes. "Another mission?" she mumbled sleepily, then noticed her two dads, one half asleep and one completely knocked out. The dog hushed her softly, nodding a little towards Quacks. He let out another gentle snore and leaned his head into Megavolt's chest. She nodded and smiled, walking over to him and laying the doll into his lap. "Night daddy" she whispered to him before she turned around to Bushroot and whispered "Night papa" to him. "Good night, my little apple seed" he murmured sleepily. Liquidator and Megavolt both grinned and started heading upstairs to put both the dorks to bed, finally. 

[hug-kankri]

I hope we can talk again..

Cronkri | Nerd/Dork Cronus | A very in love Kankri | Humanstuck | Familystuck | Sadstuck

*Note: In the beginning they are 7th graders.

『Pov Cronus Ampora』

You’re currently sitting in your local library, reading a book like the nerd you are. But someone is with you. A special someone that would make most people surprised that **you** a nerd has. That person is your delightful boyfriend, Kankri Vantas. He’s sitting next to you and holding your free hand that’s resting on the table while you continue to hold the book in your other hand. Keeping your head in the direction of the book you move your eyes to look at him. He’s just looking at his and your hand that are intertwined together and he looks so happy, blissful, and there’s a lot more adjectives that can explain how he looks right now. Oh gosh he’s so adorable you could kiss him. Wait no you can’t you’ll just screw it up again. Every time you try to kiss him you get all flustered and freeze up. One day, you’ll be able to kiss him without freezing up. Don’t lose hope me! You turn your focus on Kankri agai- wait what’s he doing!? You’re trying your best to not move your head to look at him then you hear a small kiss sound. He..he kissed your hand I- wait omg he’s looking at you! You quickly move your eyes in the direction of the book you’re “reading”. Oh god what do you do? Should I return the kiss? Wait I should it’s what a boyfriend would do in this type of situation..I think? You look at him and gently pulling your hand away from his so you can push up your glasses then kiss him, but while you do that he suddenly looks all sad and worried like he did something wrong. Now you feel bad. Better do this quick so he can stop looking so sad. You push up your glasses and turn to him. You quickly kiss him on the cheek and look back at your book. OMG YOU ACTUALLY KISSED HIM!!! Okay calm down and look cool. You move your eyes to look at him and ask “Yes? Do you need somefin?”. “I-I..uh...” he said. “Vwas that kiss to intimate for you? I’m sorry, I should have asked before hand.”. “N-n9! I mean..n9, n9t at all. Y9u just caught me 9ff guard.”. He’s blushing, it’s so cute. “That’s good to hear. I don’t vwant to make you uncomfortable.”. “W-well what are y9u reading?” he asks. “Vwell it’s about...actually I don’t know. I got distracted.”. “Cr9nus Amp9ra distracted? That’s certainly a first. What g9t y9u s9 distracted may I ask?”. You’ve watched rom coms, you can do this. “You”. I regret saying that. Why did I- wait he’s blushing again? “Cr9nus y9u’re s9 cute especially with that little flirty side.” he smiles and giggles. Never mind he found that cute! I bet I can say another one. “You know vwhat else is cute? You as vwell.” you smile at him. “I- thank y9u.” You nod and look at the time. “Oh vwe should get going.”. “It’s that late already? Time flys when y9u’re with s9me9ne y9u l9ve.” “Y-yeah.” you smile. Both of you get up from your seats and head for the exit while intertwining hands again.

『Timeskip to the front of Kankri’s house』

“I’ll see you on tomorrovw at school.”. “9f c9urse. See y9u t9m9rr9w.”. You turn to your right to start walking to your house, but then someone grabs your arm and pulls you down some then kisses your cheek. “I l♡ve y♡u! 6ye!!!” and he runs inside of his house and shuts the door. You hold your cheek and are blushing a lot. You start walking to your house with a smile on your face.

『Timeskip 2 years. It’s now we’re at their middle school graduation day(they graduate in 8th grade and they just had their graduation, so this happens after grad.)』

『Pov Kankri Vantas』

You just got home from getting ice cream with your father and little brother since you did just grade middle school. You go upstairs to your bedroom to take a shower. After that wonderful shower you sit on your bed and grab a pillow and hug it. You grab your phone and text your wonderful boyfriend.

♡Magic Enthusiast BF♡

You: Hi Cr9nus ^^

♡MEBF♡: Hey cutie pie! „;)

♡MEBF♡: Vwait ignore that emoticon. I’m sorry. That vwas wvery stupid of me.

You: It’s perfectly 9kay Cr9nus and y9u’re n9t stupid. I th9ught it was cute. c:

♡MEBF♡: Really..?

You: Yes! 9f c9urse I am. W9uld I lie?

♡MEBF♡: No, no you vwouldn’t.

♡MEBF♡: um..hey..

♡MEBF♡: Kan, I need to tell you something.

You: Mhm? There’s n9 need t9 6e scared/anxi9us a69ut. I’ll listen t9 whatever y9u have t9 say.

♡MEBF♡: Vwell for the vwhole summer me and my brother are going with our father for a business trip that is sadly happening ovwer the vwhole summer. I’m really sorry vwe aren’t going to able to hangout at all this summer.

9h. That’s rather very disapp9inting to hear, 6ut it’s alright. The 69th 9f y9u can always hang9ut next year since we are g9ing t9 the same high sch99l. We’ll get t9 see each 9ther everyday. Als9 this is a great 9pp9rtunity f9r y9u t9 hang 9ut with y9u’re little 6r9ther.

You: 9h it’s a6s9lutely alright Cr9nus. Y9u deserve t9 spend time with y9ur family. Plus we can hang9ut in and 9ut 9f sch99l t99 c:

♡MEBF♡: You’re right Kan. Still I’m sorry that vwe aren’t able to see each other this summer, but I promise the second I get back vwe’ll be together and for the next summer I’m staying vwith you no matter vwhat! ,,:D

You: Haha I can’t wait! c: and Cr9nus please d9 have fun. D9nt’t w9rry a69ut me. I’m alright with y9u g9ing. It’s n9t like y9u can c9ntr9l these types 9f things t9 happen.

♡MEBF♡: Oh god,,I lowve you so much Kanny. you hawve my heart. (“^▽^)っ♡

Thank you again for understanding and I can’t vwait until we get back from the trip. I just vwant you back in my arms. I hawve to go novw, vwe are about to leawve to go to the airport. Before you start asking wvhy im leaving at such an ungodly hour is because of my father. I’ll text you vwhen I get there! Here’s an until next time hug! (っ˘̩ᴗ˘̩)っ I lowve you tons, I’ll talk to you later my lowve.

You: ⊂(´∇｀)⊂ Hug! Aha y9u’re s9 cute. I can’t wait either and I h9pe Y9u have a safe trip my dear! 9f c9urse have fun as well! Try t9 get s9me rest while 9n the plane. It’s pretty late in the night! I l9ve y9u a l9t t99 and I’ll be awaiting y9ur messages! ('∀'●)♡ G99dnight h9ney.

『Fast forward to the last week of summer』

You are very excited about this week! You remember why correct? Well if you don’t remember this week Cronus is coming back from his father’s business trip! Oh you’re so excited to see him you could just cry. But there’s something that has been going on since about the beginning of summer vacation. Cronus slowly stopped messaging you. In the first month or so he’d text you everyday then slowly stopped texting you only to message you when you texted, but then he suddenly stopped messaging you all together. You’d still sent him ‘good morning’ and ‘goodnight’ texts. But hey! He was probably busy and was having fun with his family and you wouldn’t want to get in between that. Oh look at the time! You’re supposed to go to the store to pick up something’s for your father. You grab your phone, keys, and wallet. Now you are really to go to the store.

『At the store』

You finally make it to the store and grab a basket. You take out your phone to find the list of things you need and start getting the things you need. You’re nearly done when you spot a familiar looking little boy. Eridan? Is that him? No way it is him! That means Cronus..!!! Wait why hasn’t he texted me yet? Oh who cares he’s back! You walk over to Eridan who seems to be alone standing in the check out line. “Hell9 Eridan. It’s w9nderful t9 see y9u! c:

h9w have y9u’ve 6een?”. The little boy freaks out for second and turns around to look at you. He then sighs when he realizes it’s just you. “Kankriiiiiii howw dare you sneak up on me?!?! >:(“ he says. You apologize and you both start talking about how the summer for the both of you went. “Say Eridan when did y9u and y9ur family get 6ack?”. “Oh wwe got back just this wweek. You didn’t knoww? Didn’t Cronus tell you?”. Now you’re confused. On the day Cronus left he promised to tell you the second he’s back and he didn’t...wait Kankri, he’s probably tired and has to unpack everything. Poor guy, it’s better if I don’t question him. “I was n9t made aware 9f this, 6ut that’s alright! I sh9uld get g9ing n9w. 6ye6ye Eri! Say Hi t9 y9ur dad and Cr9nus f9r me please!”. After he responds you leave the store heading back to your house.

『Fast forward to after dinner and shower』

You just finished showered and changing into your nice pjs. You go over to your bed which has a cute cat plush on top of it that Cronus got for you. Cronus is so adorable and nice. You’re so lucky to have him. You go turn off the lights and use your phones light to see your bed. You get to you bed and you get into it. You hug and snuggle the plush and you go to text Cronus.

___♡Magic Enthusiast BF♡___

You: Hi h9ney. I saw Eridan at the st9re t9day and he said y9u’re 6ack fr9m the trip. I’m sure y9u’re tired s9 I’ll just say this real quick. I h9pe y9u had a g99d time. I missed y9u a l9t and I’m s9 glad y9u are 6ack! c: N9w I say g99dnight my dear.

You charge your phone and turn it off. You hug the plush once more and pull your blanket up more to cover more of you. You think about how excited you are to see him and that you’ll finally give him a kiss that he deserves. You’ve been per say shy about kissing on the lips, but you know what. You’re gonna try! You love him and he deserves it. After that thought you start to fall asleep.

♡Magic Enthusiast BF♡

♡MEBF♡ ᴿᴱᴬᴰ

『Fast forward half way into the school year』

He hasn’t texted or called you. You’ve seen him around school and he’s completely different. He has a new look, new friends, and new personality. He isn’t that same guy you knew before, but you’re absolutely sure he’s just busy. High school isn’t easy and plus he has all his new friends too! He’ll call or text soon you just know it! He wouldn’t lie to you. Especially he wouldn’t break a promise. He hates breaking promises. Gosh,,that’s another reason you love him. Oh shoot look at the time you must be going on to class!

『Fast forward (once again) to after school and it’s about 4:30』

You finish your homework even though you had the weekend to finish it all, but it’s not like you’re doing anything so let your weekend be free. Suddenly your phone starts ringing. You’re getting a call. You pick up your phone and look who’s calling..oh my god it’s him. You pick up immediately!

On call with ♡Magic Enthusiast BF♡

You: h-hi! Cr9nus I’ve missed y9u s9 s9 much!

♡MEBF♡: Hey chief. I’wve missed you too aha. Sorry for not texting ya or calling I’wve been busy.

You: 9h Cr9nus that’s 9kay! I c9mpletely understand. Besides that h9w have y9u’ve 6een? It’s 6een s9 l9ng since I’ve heard y9ur v9ice it seems surreal!

♡MEBF♡: aha yeah..I’wve been fine. I have some new pals and stuff...hey Kan I knovw vwe hawven’t been able to go on a date in a long time, but today is a day I’m free and I vwanted to ask if you vwanted to go on a date?

You: ......9h yes yes yes! :D I’d l9ve t9 g9 9n a date! 9h g9sh it’s 6e s9 l9ng,,

♡MEBF♡: haha yeah I knovw and thanks for expecting my date offer babe! I’ll pick you up at 7?

You: ,,,mhm!! 7 is perfect! I cant wait t9 see y9u then! I l♡ve y♡u!!!

♡MEBF♡: Okay, cool. I’ll see you then...love you too

You end the call and now you’re just freaking out, but in a good way of course. You’re going on a date with your boyfriend after so long! He also called you babe,,,switch makes your heart flutter. Now!!!! Time to get ready! You need to look your best! This is the first date after so so long! You head to your bathroom to shower.

『After Kankri finishes getting ready』

You look at yourself in the mirror. You think you look amazing. Your hair and outfit are nice. You look at your freckles the are all over your face. You wish you didn’t have them. People always make fun of you for them..wait Cronus loves them,,so maybe you should start loving them too. You leave your bathroom and go over to your nightstand to grab your phone. You look at the time and it’s 6:45. He should be here soon! You’re getting even more excited! You look out of the window to hopefully see if he came early, but then you got a phone a call. It’s Cronus. You pick up.

On call with ♡Magic Enthusiast BF♡

You: Hi Cr9. Are y9u alm9st here? c:

♡MEBF♡: Hey Kan. I’m not exactly there yet..or even on the vway..I’m so sorry but something important came up and I can’t get out it. I’m really sorry.

You: ........

♡MEBF♡: Kan..?....You there?

ᴬ ᵛᴼᴵᶜᴱ ᶜᴼᴹᴵᴺᴳ ᶠᴿᴼᴹ ᵀᴴᴱ ᴮᴬᶜᴷᴳᴿᴼᵁᴺᴰ: ᴴᴱᵞ! ᶜᴿᴼᴺᵁˢ! ᴳᴱᵀ ᴵᴺˢᴵᴰᴱ! ᴵᵀˢ ᴾᴬᴿᵀᵞ ᵀᴵᴹᴱ!

You: ....yes I am..it’s..9kay..! Y9u d9 what y9u need t9 d9!...y9u have stuff t9 d9 and that’s 9kay. I’ll see y9u later?...

♡MEBF♡: uh huh vwhat? uh yea sure vwhatewver. I gotta go bye!

He hangs up on you. You’re currently frozen in place. You know what you heard. He’s at some party. You start crying hysterically throwing your phone onto your bed. You lean against the wall and slide down it. You have your hands over your eyes still crying your eyes out and your hands are resting on your knees. You can’t believe he lied..he broke a promise. You start to think over everything. Did he really love you back in 7th grade? Was that a lie too..was everything a huge lie?.....

“yeah..it was...I fell into his trap. I fell in l♡ve with him..”

[dragonswithjetpacks]

Pretty Thoughts

Chapter Four: A Hand of Caution

-dragonswithjetpacks

Notes: No summary. Just another chapter to the retell. I did space this out a bit. I got to the point I just wanted to write the conversation and details more than I did the in-betweens. Plus I just finished the bite scene and am really excited to get it up so I’m impatient.

Read here on Ao3.

Ferelith jumped, her feet landing hard on the rock surface below. She felt a shift and a piece crumbled off, rolling down the steep hill toward the river. It was close, but she remained unscathed. Taking another step forward, she felt the ground rumble. Her eyes widened. The front half of the cliff began to roll forward. She jumped backward, sliding to the side and losing balance. She reached up to grab the rock wall behind her. But felt the firm grasp of a hand. She looked up seeing Astarion reaching down with another hand. She grabbed it, feeling the rest of the dirt turn loose under her feet. She kicked up, walking up the wall as he pulled her. It seemed to be safe until she reached the top, rocks tumbling followed by the collapse at the base. She staggered for a moment, only brought back to balance with a hand on her shoulder. Her hand reached out, hitting him in the chest. But he had caught her. And she was stable once again. They looked over the edge, watching the rocks tumble down to the river below.

"You should be more careful," he chided her quietly.

Ferelith's head snapped, feeling the need to lash out from her insecurities. Her strength was not in her hands and she had lost a moment of grace. But she certainly did not recall asking for help. And she was ready to inform him he had caught her a moment to soon when she saw the concern on his face. It made her hesitate, and though he did seem quite distressed, she was fascinated by the idea of Astarion caring. Not that he hadn't put for the effort before. But it always came as a bit of a shock when he did.

"Ferelith!"

She pulled herself with a frustrated groan, much to the satisfaction of her savior. Looking back down, Lae'zel was shouting up the bank. She, along with Gale, had safely made it to the water's edge where Ferelith and Astarion could see them.

"I'm alright," she replied.

"This path is out of commission, I think," Gale called up. "That slide took out any way down from there."

"Shit," Ferelith mumbled under her breath. "Alright. Just... Just wait there. We'll find another way."

"Not a problem," he gave a salute from below.

Ferelith dusted her gloves off on her pants and grumbled as she scraped the mud that had caked on her boots onto a nearby tree. Astarion watched, only grateful that it was her and not him who had slid down the hill.

"I suppose I should thank you," she turned to him when she was finished, still full of irritation.

"I suppose you should," he crossed his arms.

Astarion waited, but the roll of her eyes accompanied by a half smile told him he would not be receiving such gratitude today.

"We should get moving," she stated.

"That didn't sound appreciative at all," he complained, remaining at a standstill.

"It wasn't supposed to."

"Oh, well it's a shame that my hand might just slip the next time you need someone to catch you."

"I don't need you to catch me," she stuck her chin out as she walked by. "Besides, if it wasn't for my footing, I would have drug you into that river with me."

"That would be unwise," he pitched in behind her.

"Little choice you have when taking my hand."

"Yes, I suppose I'll have to remind myself of the never ending uncertainty that follows you."

"Ah, but what fun would it be if you were certain?" she grinned, spinning around with her arms out while taking a few steps backward.

"Aha..." he chuckled, trotting behind her and watching the waves of her hair bounce as she turned her back to him. "That is a fair point. And, say, where does this hand hand take me now?"

"To find a way down. To rejoin the others," she panted while hiking up the steep hillside.

"Just you and I? Through the forest?" he came to a sudden halt.

"Is that a problem?" Ferelith stopped as well when she had gotten solid footing.

"No," he shook his head. "No complaints here."

"Then let's go," she motioned to the forest floor up the hill above them.

With a heavy sigh, he prepared himself for a hike he had not anticipated that morning. "After you... my lady..."

**********************************************************************

"So," Astarion breathed heavily as they had been walking quietly for several minutes through forest. "You're from Baldur's Gate."

"I am," Ferelith replied, walking a good few feet ahead, focused on their trek.

"Any... family?"

She stopped, turning around to look at him curiously. "Are you making small talk to fill the silence?"

"No," he frowned while shaking his head. "Maybe I want to know more about you."

Ferelith scrunched her nose. "No you don't."

"Sure I do," he waved his hands. "We've known each other four at least three days, now. And you've barely said a thing."

"I know very little of you and I don't have any issues with it,"  she waited for him to catch up.

"But you do know a little."

"I'm not that interesting," she replied, still making her way up the hill.

"I disagree. I think you're fascinating. And that you're lying."

She stopped again, turning around so fast he nearly ran into her.

"You think I'm lying?" she followed the question with a laugh before resuming her walk.

"Tell me how boring you are, then. What did you do in Baldur's Gate?"

"I was a book keeper."

"Book keeper?" he responded in a disgusted way. "That does sound boring. Family business?"

"No."

"Do you have family?"

"No."

"Friends?"

"One or two."

"Sweethearts?"

"Definitely not."

"Shame," he muttered under his breath.

"Are you done with your interrogation?"

"If I must," there was a long drawn out sight between his words. "I only thought if we were alone we could make some use of it."

Ferelith came to a stop in the middle of the trail. There was something off to the side in the brush. Something that had been covered poorly. As she approached it, there was something strange about the way it was arranged. She uncovered it to find a boar, perfectly healthy but quite dead.

"That's strange," she looked over it.

Astarion, who approached but remained a bit of distance away, crossed his arms.

"The pig's dead, my friend. Staring at it won't bring it back. Come," he beckoned her, drawing her attention back to himself. "We'll never stop these brainworms if we stop and gawked at every piece of carrion you find."

The change in his tone alarmed her. He did not seem so rushed before. No, he seemed invested. It struck her as odd he would be ushering her along. She looked back down to the boar, noticing it had not been dead for very long. Not even a day. And there were two small marks at it's neck.

"You don't find this remarkably odd... at all?"

"No," he shrugged. "Is it not dead enough for you?"

"Look at the damn boar, Astarion," she motioned in front of her. "Don't you see anything?"

She watched carefully as he stepped closer to her, looking down at the dead beast. His shoulders relaxed. He took a deep breath with a look of defeat.

"It's been drained of blood with wounds it's neck," he pointed out.

The shift in tone. The distracting conversation. Ferelith crossed her arms.

"You're not tell me something."

"I..." he hesitated. "It's been killed by a vampire."

"A vampire?" she rose her brow in disbelief.

"I didn't want to say anything," he said solemnly. "Because I didn't want to worry you. They are ferocious creatures."

"And you know about vampires?" her head tilted to the side.

"I do, unfortunately," he nodded. "But don't worry. I'll keep watch tonight. We won't have to worry about nocturnal visitors. Now please, let's go."

He motioned her forward with his hands.

"Why? Does this bother you?" she asked, looking back down to the boar.

"Not at all," he shook his head with a convincing grin. "I just want to keep moving. Before it gets dark."

Astarion was right. The sun was starting lower itself from the center of the sky. If she wanted to search the forest, she would have to move quickly in order to get to camp before nightfall. She looked over the boar one last time. But saw nothing else unusual. And even though she was unsure of her companion's intentions, she was still not convinced he was guilty of anything at all. While his strange behavior was enough for her to pause, it was not enough at all for accusations to be thrown. She left it to the thought that perhaps there was something more to him he was not yet willing to share. And for that... she did not blame him.

"Alright," she nodded. "Let's find the others."

***********************************************************************

"Still awfully steep, isn't it?" Astarion looked down the path.

"It's not too bad," Gale shrugged. "At least it's not as far down. Or covered in mud."

"I'm tired of waiting," Lae'Zel sighed. "Either get down here or I'm going in the cave alone."

"No need to rush," Astarion sighed.

With a few hops, he managed to climb down the rocky path. The soil was by far more sturdy and he barely felt the rocks shifting beneath his feet at all. It was as if the stones were placed there like stairs for that very purpose. He smiled with a bit of relief, eyeing the stream running nearby. He was glad they found the bridge when they did in order to cross over. Lae'zel wasn't too please with crossing through the river, but it was most amusing listening to her curse as her boots were drenched in the cold water. Ferelith followed behind him shortly, though not as quick as she was not nearly as nimble. She was however, graceful with steps. Her stance was well balanced. And they all watched as she carefully made her way down. Lae'Zel and Gale eventually turned, assuming she would be close behind. As reached the bottom, Astarion held his hand to her to bring onto the bank. She looked at it suspiciously.

"I know you don't need it," he said softly to where she would be the only one to hear. "But with your optimistic promise of uncertainty, I'll gladly offer a hand where it seems fit."

"Strangely charming of you," she eyed his hand carefully. "But what sort of guide would I be if I declined?"

She rested her hand in his, feeling his hand gripping hers, and suddenly, she felt a swirl of old memories. The tadpole was stirring something inside her. She was on a marble staircase. Coming down, she could see the back of someone. They turned, but she couldn't quite make the face. Then they held out their hand. The hand that she was holding... the face that appeared... Astarion... She took it stepping down from the last stair into a room filled with debutantes. But their eyes were only on each other. Reality flashed back into a burst of greenery around her. But he was still there, his brow lowering out of of concern as her eyes filled with bewilderment. He felt the weight of her in his hand and he, too, caught a glimpse of his own life that was once more luxurious. However, the moment her feet touched the ground, their fantasy disappeared. And they stood staring at one another on the bank of unknown forest floor.

"A cautious one," he finally replied as things cleared around them.

She took her hand back, her fingers gliding across his palm, his skin holding onto her warmth for as long as it could. She looked at him a bit longer, wanting to question his statement but unwilling to be left behind. He thought it best to leave her in silence and wait until she was ready to press forward. Ferelith shifted her attention to her other comrades. And they pressed forward once again. She was unsure of what sort of connection had been made. But it the familiarity in the moment was all too disturbing.

[alvacchi]

Phantom Thief Hanako-kun AU Story: Chapter 4 - The Heist

Hey guys! Thanks for your patience! Life gets busy.

Enjoy!

---

-Previously in the last chapter...

-Yashiro and Tsuchigomori discovered Detective Three′s corpse at the crime scene

-Believing Hanako to be innocent, Yashiro took on the case to clear his name

-And a heist note had been delivered. Hanako planned to steal the moon.

-So what happens now?

-Next morning, Yashiro went to Tsuchigomori’s detective agency as usual

-To find Teru and Kou there discussing with Tsuchigomori

-Teru: “We appreciate if you could cooperate, Detective Tsuchigomori. The police force would like all the help we could get.”

Tsuchigomori: “Ugh.”

Yashiro: “What’s going on here?”

Kou: “Ah Senpai! Good morning!”

Yashiro: “Kou-kun! Good morning!”

Kou: “We’re discussing about the heist that’s happening tonight! We’re gathering information to capture Hanako!”

Yashiro: “Ah. Kou-kun, could you come here for a second?”

Kou: “Hm?”

-Yashiro dragged Kou out of earshot from the other two and whispered to him

-Yashiro: “Listen, do you think you could distract your brother during the heist? I don’t want him capturing Hanako. At least not yet.”

-Kou: “What? Why not, Senpai?”

-Yashiro: “Detective Three’s been murdered. Hanako is being suspected but I know it’s not him. If the police gets him, I wouldn’t be able to interrogate him.”

-Kou looked surprised but he understood the situation.

-He didn’t even question why Yashiro was sure. He just believed.

-Kou: “Okay I got it.”

-Yashiro: “Thanks, Kou-kun! It’s a secret between the two of us!”

-”The two of us”

-Those words echoed in Kou’s mind as he got slightly flustered

-Yashiro looked really dazzling to him

-Kou still wanted to ask her though

-Kou: “Is it okay if I let Mitsuba know?”

-Yashiro: “That’s fine! But don’t let him write about it in the papers just yet. It’s supposed to be still under wraps.”

-Kou: “Got it!”

-The two went back to where Tsuchigomori and Teru were.

-They were apparently discussing about the meaning of the heist notice.

-Tsuchigomori: “It’s the moon. Simple. That’s what it says on the letter.”

-Teru: “You don’t think there’s more to this? How does someone steal the moon? I can’t wrap my head around it.”

-Tsuchigomori just shrugged. He looked slightly irritated.

-Yashiro also thought the heist notice was weird.

-Perhaps by the time of the heist, they would understand.

-Teru: “Anyways, we’ll be sure to provide security to Aoi-san’s property again. He notified us about the location. The thief seems to often frequent his places huh.”

-Throughout many heists in the past, Hanako would steal from the gem collector Akane.

-Poor Akane. It was hard for him to trust the police force since they couldn’t protect his jewels each time.

-He wanted to impress Aoi and get a successful love confession

-His outfit even looked like a phantom thief kind since Aoi took a liking to Hanako, which Akane could not understand. He would capture Hanako and show Aoi that he was better! So he wanted to do.

-He hadn’t had much luck there sadly.

-So everyone waited for the time of the heist

-Night time arrived

-Crowds swarmed around the tall building where the heist was going to be as they chanted for Hanako

-Yashiro was among them, trying to get into the building

-Oh gosh she was late

-She should have arrived to the scene earlier

-It was taking her some time to squeeze through the crowds

-Never had she seen and expected so many people before

-Perhaps everyone was wondering how Hanako would steal the moon tonight

-It was all over the news.

-How was she going to get to Hanako before the police did?

-She decided she would but the amount of security was incredible

-Somewhere in the crowd, she spotted Mitsuba who was being interrogated by the news reporters Natsuhiko and Sakura

-Natsuhiko: “Hey boy! What are your thoughts on Hanako stealing the moon?”

-Mitsuba: “M-me? My thoughts...I’m not so sure. I find it absolutely crazy.”

-Natsuhiko: “Right! Hahaha!”

-Well they sure were having fun. Sakura was telling Natsuhiko they should interrogate the others

-Yashiro finally arrived inside the building on the first floor

-She was allowed in since she was part of the capturing team

-Everyone else she knew must be at the rooftop

-That place was heavily guarded since you could see the moon from there

-It was the highest place to the sky

-The heist could start any minute and she wasn’t with the others. Geez.

-She rushed to find the stairs

-But then the lights in the building suddenly blacked out.

-Hanako must have messed with the electricity

-Let the heist begin

-The policemen were in their positions in the building

-They were organized on each floor in case Hanako tried to escape to them

-But the blackout started confusing them

-Thinking they need to at least move around, they set off booby traps they didn’t know were there

-Definitely Hanako’s doing

-Yashiro got lost

-She hadn’t set off any traps thankfully

-She had prepared a flashlight on her just in case to navigate herself

-The building was huge though

-Where were the stairs?

-The elevator wouldn’t be working since the electricity went out and it wasn’t a good idea anyways

-To steal the moon, the one location Hanako should be at would be the rooftop, right?

-Oh why did she have to arrive late?!

-As she was frantically looking around in the dark, a hand grabbed her shoulder from behind

-Yashiro freaked the hell out

-Yashiro: “KYAAAAHHH”

-She heard laughing and immediately recognized it. Hanako.

-She turned around to see him

-Hanako: “Detective, why are you so jumpy? Haha”

-Yashiro: “Hanako! You...! What?!”

-Wait, why was Hanako here?! Where were the others?

-Nevermind that! Wasn’t this what she wanted in the first place?

-Yashiro: “I need to ask you something--”

Hanako: “Hey Detective, do you believe in real magic?”

-What? That just came out of nowhere

-She started pondering

-Real magic? Like a mystical force that defies logic and reason?

-What does this have to do with anything? Why would she go believing that?!

-Yashiro: “If real magic existed, there would be no need for detectives. There’s a reason behind everything, so no.”

-Hanako: “Heh. So that’s your answer. You don’t dream, do you?”

-Yashiro: “Wh- I can totally dream! Wait stop distracting me!”

-There was no time to waste! They’re in the middle of the heist!

-Yashiro was so angry right now though. She wanted to release all her built up stress she’s had

-Yashiro: “You are so reckless! Maybe the most reckless person I’ve ever met! Not only do you steal jewels, you crash into my apartment, take a bullet out of you with a knife, make a risky deal with me, crossdress to meet my friends when you didn’t even need to, and now you’re trying to steal the moon at the most terrible time?! Do you have no sense of danger?! Or is this what thrills you?! HUH?! Don’t steal the moon! It shouldn’t even be possible!”

-Hanako: “Calm down, detective! It’s not good for you to get so angry. Besides, I already accomplished my mission.”

-Yashiro: “YOU ARE THE REASON I--wait what did you say?”

-Hanako showed Yashiro the very thing that he stole. A lunar rock.

-Hanako: “Pretty, isn’t it? I guess people don’t usually consider this as a gem but I do. That gem collector had this as part of his collection here in this building”

-Yashiro’s mind was completely blown

-Yashiro: “WHAT?! I THOUGHT IT WAS THE ENTIRE MOON”

-Hanako: “Oh, so you can dream, detective!”

-Yashiro’s eye twitched

-Oh she’s had it. And she was so worried about him too!

-She went to pin him down in a rage

-A moment soon, Akane and Aoi arrived to where they were.

-Akane: “AHA I KNEW IT! I didn’t give all the information to the police because screw them! I’m going to be the one to capture you--what are you guys doing?”

-Aoi: “Nene-chan...?”

-Yashiro looked up to see them

-Yashiro: “Huh? Akane-kun? Aoi?”

-Yashiro realized the position they were in. She was on top pinning down the thief.

-Hanako: “Oh I didn’t know you had it in you, detective~”

-Hanako just had to tease

-Yashiro’s face blushed completely red and she immediately got off

-Yashiro: “YOU GUYS MISUNDERSTAND!”

-Hanako got up and started running away

-Ah.

-They began the chase

-Akane: “Wait, you thief!”

-Yashiro: “WAIT HANAKO!”

-She hasn’t even asked him her most important question yet!

-Yashiro: “Did you murder Detective Three?!”

-Hanako flinched and stopped running

-The others did too, looking at Yashiro in question

-Yashiro: “Detective Three was murdered a couple days ago! And the police suspect you but I believe it was an imposter! You’ve been framed!”

-Hanako turned his head towards the party

-He looked quite troubled and pale

-Hanako: “And what if it really was me? What if I said I was guilty? Would you charge me right now?”

-Yashiro froze

-Okay, what the hell was he going on about??

-Is he okay??

-Yashiro knows it can’t be him already so why wasn’t he denying it?!

-Suddenly, a whip came forth and Hanako jumped out of the way

-Teru appeared. Looks like Kou couldn’t hold him off any longer

-Teru: “So this is where you are, thief. I should have known. Our battle isn’t over yet.”

-Hanako: “Tch”

-Oh no! What should Yashiro do?!

-Was there no way out of this??

-Aoi:“This way!”

-A smoke bomb exploded and Yashiro and Hanako were pulled along

-Akane followed with Aoi

 -Teru blew the smoke out of the way with his weapon to find them gone

-Teru: "Huh..."

-Back with the group, they appeared to have found a secret passage

-Akane: “Ao-chan...why did you have a smoke bomb? Also, how did you know there was a secret passage here?”

-Aoi: “Hehe I know a lot of stuff, Akane-kun! I’ve done my research on this building and I’ve studied Hanako’s smoke bombs before. I wanted to make one!”

-Akane: “Darn it thief! Stop influencing Ao-chan! But Ao-chan sure is really smart!~”

-As usual, Akane was fawning over Aoi

-Yashiro questioned Aoi’s actions

-Yashiro: “Wait Aoi, you’re helping Hanako?”

-Aoi: “Nene-chan, I know you. You’re trying to clear his name, right?” 

-Yashiro: “Aoi....I’m glad you understand!”

-Akane: “Ao-chan, he’s a phantom thief though...”

-Aoi: “Please Akane-kun. For me.”

-Akane: “Aaaa how could I say no?!”

-They seemed to have forgotten about the stolen lunar rock

-Now focusing on getting out of the building

-Hanako was quiet the whole time

-Which felt really strange

-Once they gotten out safely, Akane and Aoi left Yashiro and Hanako alone

-They were in an alleyway where nobody else was around

-Yashiro confronted Hanako

-Yashiro: “Hanako, I know it can’t be you. Who is the murderer?”

-No response from him

-His expression was unreadable at this point

-Yashiro sighed. She wasn’t getting anywhere 

-Yashiro: “Sorry” 

-She apologized.

-Hanako looked at her confused. Finally some expression she could read

-Yashiro: “I’ve been demanding information from you the whole time. It’s unfair of me to not share any from my side. I haven’t properly introduced myself to you, even though we agreed to get know each other.”

-Yashiro took a stance, pointing at herself smiling

-Yashiro: “I’m Yashiro Nene! A detective’s apprentice from Tsuchigomori’s detective agency. It’s nice to meet you!”

-A second later and Yashiro waved her hands at him

-Yashiro: “Ah you don’t have to tell me anything! Just let me tell you a few things. Back before I began this job, my best friend Aoi was framed for something she didn’t do. Akane-kun tried to bribe the police but it didn’t work. I didn’t know what to do and I was scared. I was crying a lot. And then, Tsuchigomori-sensei stepped into my life. He proved Aoi was innocent and I felt really thankful. That’s when I decided I wanted to become his apprentice and learn from him.”

-Hanako: “It wasn’t because you had a crush on the devil?”

-Yashiro: “Minamoto-senpai isn’t a devil! He means well! That may be partly why but it’s not the main reason.”

-Hanako: “Heh~”

-Yashiro: “I’ve decided. I’m going to call you Hanako-kun from now on! We’re friends now and you’re not allowed to object!” 

-Hanako looked surprised.

-A detective wanting to be friends with a phantom thief? 

-Hanako: “Pff what a weird detective.”

-He smiled a little

-Yashiro: [pouts] “What do you mean by that?” 

-She was relieved that he seemed to be feeling better

-Hanako: “...Actually I do have something I want to say to you.”

-Yashiro: ?

-He embraced her in the alleyway, the moonlight shining so beautifully on them

-Hanako: “I never got to properly thank you for saving me that night. Thank you. Thank you for caring about me.”

---

-Meanwhile on the rooftop

-Kou was talking with Mitsuba, mentioning about his conversation with Yashiro in the morning

-The police had declared the heist was over so Mitsuba was allowed to come over there

-Teru then just came back

-Kou: “Oh Nii-chan! You’re back! Looks like Hanako couldn’t steal the moon after all!”

-Teru: “No, he succeeded. It wasn’t the moon he was after. It was a moon rock.”

-Kou: “Oh why didn’t I think of that! Darn, we’ll get him next time! What do you want for dinner, Nii-chan--”

-Teru: “Kou”

-Kou: “Yes?”

-Teru: “Don’t think I didn’t know you were trying to prevent me from going anywhere. I saw Yashiro-san and her friends behaving oddly.”

-Kou: “Teru-nii...”

-Kou put on his glum face and Teru sighed.

-Teru: “Well...I’ll let it go this time. You guys may have a reason for doing so.”

-Kou: [smiles] “Nii-chan!”

-Mitsuba: “Minamoto-kun...”

-Kou: “Hm?”

-Mitsuba: “There’s something I should tell you...I..Well I think I’m going to go home early”

-Kou: “Oh okay! Get home safely!”

-Mitsuba arrived home, staring at the photos he took and had recently developed in the last couple days

-Mitsuba: “I didn’t tell him in the end...”

---

-Radio (Natsuhiko’s voice): --And so that’s what happened! Wow, what do you know! Phantom Thief Hanako did another successful heist! Thanks for listening folks! Now--

-A hand appeared to turn off the radio