#had another idea for 'a good stretch' but that's.. gonna have to be postponed for Something Else

[reunitedinterlude]

lofi phantasy: the album

tracks 9-12 (x)

[navalcriminalimagines]

Can you write another/the following part of "Oh, you're jealous"?

This is going to become a smut series. There's so much more to come! 👀

Warnings: pure smut, dom!Gibbs, boobjob, fingering, bathroom sex, orgasm denial, anal talk

Tags: @hotch-meeeeeuppppp @madamsnape921 @specialagentastra

NCIS Discord server: https://discord.gg/7YDHXd3q

Yes, sir

You didn't stop the flirting, you actually increased it. Gibbs wasn't really jealous anymore, because he knew why you did it, but he'd play along. It would give him the right to punish you once he took you home and boy, did he have many ideas in mind.

He watched you dance with Tony. Your body was extremely close to his, he could see his Agent enjoying how your hips were swaying against his. It wasn't really fair for Tony, he clearly had a crush on you. But Gibbs also knew the man would have another crush by the following week.

When you walked to the counter to order another drink, you felt Gibbs's body pressing against yours. "You fucking brat." he growled in your ear, causing you to laugh. "After that drink, you're done. I want your head to be clear enough for what will happen when we get home."

"Who said I was coming home with you tonight?" you grabbed your drink that the bartender put in front of you and thanked him. You were discreetly grinding your ass against Gibbs's crotch and you could feel a consequent bulge in his pants. Before you could take a sip of your drink, he grabbed the glass from your hand, drank it all and took your hand in his.

Gibbs didn't care much if people saw the two of you entering the restroom. Actually, he hoped some people did. Especially men, that may think what a damn lucky bastard he was. Cause he fucking was.

He had a plan and he was going to stick with it. He pinned you against the wall and worked on your jeans. He didn't even bother to kiss you. "You're gonna regret everything you did tonight." He looked deep in your eyes, you were sure he could see your soul. You were pouting, waiting for a fierce kiss that never came.

Gibbs slid his hand into your panties and you jolted at the physical contact. "I hope DiNozzo didn't make you this wet." He said, with a husky voice and you shook your head no. "Tell me who's responsible for this." It was an order. You struggled to form words as he was rubbing your sensitive clit. "Y/N." He was still waiting. He wouldn't get further unless you talked.

"You-- That's all you." you finally said, throwing your head back against the wall. You tried to touch him, his arms, his chest, anything but he slapped your hands away.

"Don't make me handcuff you."

You had never been handcuff before and that idea did things to you. But maybe for another time, you weren't sure you could handle it right now. So, you inhaled intensely and kept your arms along your body.

As a reward, Gibbs entered a thick finger in your wet cunt, still rubbing your clit with his thumb. You moaned from the back of your throat and a smirk appeared on Gibbs's face, but you didn't see it as your eyes were closed.

You were so wet, he could easily entered another thick finger inside your core. "Fuck, Jethro--" you moaned and he took it as an invitation to go faster. "Yes! Right there, keep going!"

Gibbs fingerfucked you there in the bathroom of a bar. It didn't matter how loud you were, thanks to the music. He stared at you losing it under his touch and he loved every second of it.

You could feel an orgasm building inside your belly, you wrapped your hand against his wrist, digging your nails in his skin. When you were about to explode, Gibbs completely withdraw his hand from your panties and you let out a loud whine.

He smiled and sucked the fingers that was just inside you, tasting your essence. "I hate you." you complained. You wanted to beg him to keep going but it would be so easy.

"I told you, Y/N. This is just the beginning," he said, before closing the distance between your bodies. He kissed you intensely, allowing you to taste yourself on his lips. "Until I say otherwise, you're not allow to touch yourself. Am I clear?"

"Yes, sir." you swallowed thickly.

"Good girl." he smirked and kissed you again, before exiting the bathroom.

You went back to the dancefloor. An orgasm denial was new to you, and you could feel how sensitive you were just by dancing. You kept looking at Gibbs from the corner of your eyes. The man was sitting with Fornell, talking but he was staring at you all along. "Man, she's not going to disappear, you can stop looking at her."

"Jealous much, Fornell?" Gibbs teased him.

"Well, I do wish I had someone to take to the bathroom. Details?"

*****

The car ride to Gibbs's place felt like an eternity. Before he drove off, he ordered you to open your jeans and touched yourself just lightly. You weren't allow to enter a finger inside your wet cunt, just rubbing your clit. But you were oversensitive already, just waiting to explode. When Gibbs sensed that you were close to cum, he grabbed your wrist - not so gently - to make you stop immediately. You whined again and he laughed.

"Poor thing." he teased.

He held your hand in his, rubbing small circles on your knuckles with his thumb. It was such a tender gesture, it made your heart melt, momentarily forgetting your orgasm denial. "I love you, Jethro." you said, not being able to stop yourself.

Since it's one long seat in his truck, he used his free arm to pull you against him. He took his eyes off the road just enough to kiss your temple. "I love you, too, Y/N." he whispered.

*****

Once inside his house, you didn't waste anytime and jumped in his arms. He chuckled, before responding to your needy kiss.

It required a lot of self control for Gibbs not to fuck you senseless right here, right now. He wanted to make you cum hard on his cock, making you losing control under him but that wasn't the plan.

Still kissing you intensely, he took you to the bedroom. He threw you on the bed nonchalantly. "Strip." he ordered you.

You stood on the bed and undressed yourself right in front of him. He looked at you like a lion looking at its prey. You could feel yourself dripping between your legs. It would only take a bit of stimulation to make you cum hard.

When you were completely naked, Gibbs grabbed your ankles and flipped you on the bed. In a second, you were laying on your back and he pushed on your knees to spread your legs. Your pussy was shiny from wetness and he licked his lips.

He dived in and gently licked your sensitive clit. You jolted immediately and Gibbs smirked. He made himself comfortable between your legs and started to eat you like a starving man. He alternately licked and sucked hard on your clit before putting his tongue inside your core. He tried to push it as far as he could, fucking you with it.

You were completely worked up. Gibbs felt you tensing pretty quickly. "Absolutely delicious." he growled. He had only pulled away for a brief second to talk but you instantly bucked your hips, looking for friction. He chuckled, and buried his tongue inside you again.

"Yes, Jethro! Please, don't stop!" you moaned, ready to cum on his face.

But he pulled away. "Damn you, Gibbs!" you cried.

"You don't deserve to the relief yet. You spent the entire day making me jealous, remember?" He moved to get on top of you and kissed you deeply.

“I’d apologize but I know about Rule 6 and— I do not regret it.”

“You just postponed your relief.” You looked at him with questioning eyes, but he just smirked again.

Laying by your side, he explained the rules for the next days. First, he repeated what he said at the bar: you were not allow to touch yourself in his back. Then, he made sure you remembered the safe word. And he let you what he had planned: he was going to edge you for days, you would be begging him like you never begged before. Meanwhile, he’d use you when he wants, how he wants. “Are you okay with it?”

“Yes. God yes. Use me.” You kissed him. “I’m all yours.” You whispered.

“That’s my good girl.” He kissed you more passionately, grabbing your hips to put you on top of him. You could feel the bulge in his pants, his cock was waiting to be freed and taken care of.

Unfortunately, you may cum uncontrollably if he fucked you. He wanted it. He wanted to bury himself deep inside you and fill you up with his cum and then fucking his load back in you again. But that was too risky for the plan. Especially since you just agreed to it.

Gibbs had never done anything like this. Not that his sex life had been simple or boring, but he always had limits. Probably because he knew his past partners were into all of this. But you were different. You were open-minded, ready to try anything at least once, and damn, you were so needy with him, always wet and ready for him, he felt like a fucking god. He never felt that before.

You loved sex. But sex with Gibbs, that was beyond loving it. You were craving for him, all day everyday. The man turns you on by just existing, it's too much sometimes.

"Ever tried anal?" He asked, as you were grinding against his rock hard cock.

"No... you?"

"Neither. My exes thought it was--" you kissed him to make him shut up.

"I don't give a shit about your exes. I wanna try it."

That thought only almost sent Gibbs over the edge. Thinking about his cock stretching your hole, feeling how tight you are around him, cuming deep inside your ass, and if he added the fact that he'd be the first, that was a lot. He grunted deeply under your touch. "You like that idea, don't you?" you teased him.

"We will go over the ground rules later, but for now, you're going to make me cum on those perfect tits."

"Yes."

"Yes, who?"

"Yes, sir." you smiled and kissed you one more time before going further down.

You took his pants off him, along with his briefs. He was painfully hard, you could see some precum coming out of the head. You licked it just lightly and he moaned. You gave him a few strokes with your hand before placing his cock between your breasts.

You pressed them around his length and started to go up and down. You could tell from the noises Gibbs was making that he wasn't far. You kept going, taking the head in your mouth a few times. "Fuck, you're perfect, sweetheart." he growled. "I'm gonna cum."

You went as fast as you could, until he tensed under you. You felt his hot load on your chest and chin, as he cried your name. You looked at him coming and it was a freaking hot sight. You've never seen him losing it like this before. He looked even more perfect than he already was.

You laid on his side as he was catching his breath. He looked at you with such loving eyes, you wanted this moment to last forever.

He cleaned his mess on your skin with his fingers and brought them to your mouth. You opened it, sticking out your tongue and sucked his fingers clean. "How are you feeling down there?" he teased you.

"Bite me. I need a fucking shower."

Gibbs followed you to the bathroom and you two showered together.

There was some very long days ahead for you.

[calumxkisses]

Us | c.h.

pairing: calum hood x f!reader

genre: fluff

warnings: none

summary: Michael and Crystal take you and Calum along to visit their wedding hall and it's the perfect location for a dance full of love.

a/n: am i obsessed with the idea of dancing with Calum? yes. let me know if you liked it. i'm still not really good at writing fluff imagines but i'm learning and i'll hopefully do better in the future.

you should read this imagine while listening to: us

➳

“So, this is the wedding hall?” Calum asks as he enters looking around the room. The structure is huge, there is still a lot to do but some decorations have already been fixed.

“Yeah, there are a few things we would like to change but it’s pretty much gonna be like this.” Michael responds, walking inside the room and looking around.

“It's lovely, guys. It's like being in a fairy tale.” You whisper while looking around the room. Your fingers are barely intertwined with Calum's as you look at the room, admiring the ceiling and the windows overlooking the sea.

You turn to Crystal and notice a tear running down her face as she admires the room. A smile forms on your face as you see your best friend so happy, her dream is coming true and you couldn't feel more proud of her.

This marriage has overcome the strangest obstacles, the biggest certainly was having to be postponed due to a pandemic, but their love has never stopped in front of these, it has grown more and more and to be able to be among the witnesses of their love is among the things you are most grateful for.

The room is very large, has an oval shape and is surrounded by windows overlooking the sea. Some tables have already been set up and embellished, they are also circular in shape and have floral decorations in the center. The tablecloth is embroidered in lace, it is pearl white but the different colored decorations, which accompany the flowers in the center, make the table look wonderful and original, recalling Crystal's passion for plants.

The chairs that surround them, simple but still elegant, have ribbons that decorate them. They’re gold and white, yet their simple design makes them look gorgeous.

“We are going to talk to the wedding planner to fix some things, in the meantime you can stay here and see if there is something else that we should change.” Crystal's voice grabs your attention, as she approaches Michael and takes his hand in hers. The wedding planner is at the entrance, smilingly waits for the couple and, for a moment, you think that there can’t be a more beautiful job than being able to make the dreams of couples come true.

“Calum, can you check that the stereo is working? They told me they fixed it but I haven't been able to check it yet, you'd be doing me a big favor.” Michael asks as he leaves the room grinning and not leaving time to Calum to reply.

“Gotcha.” Your boyfriend replies, shaking his head in amusement and smiling.

As Calum approaches the speakers, you take another moment to admire the room.

Looking up, your breath locks in your chest as Crystal's gorgeous decorations leave you in awe. The ceiling, which was previously simply white and wooden, is decorated with strips of tulle hanging like waves, giving life to a sense of peace and softness. The stripes extend all over the ceiling, giving the impression of being in the middle of the clouds.

In addition to the tulle, in a delicate way, some threads of small lights descend from the ceiling, romantically illuminating the room and creating an intimate and unobtrusive atmosphere.

A small elegant chandelier hangs in the center of the room, it is gold and its light is not as strong as someone might think, it is ideal to keep the room more illuminated in the most important moments, but its presence is more scenic than functional.

Some leaves and some flowers come down intertwined along the edges of the windows, hiding the window frame and making the atmosphere of the room even more simple and elegant.

The main theme is certainly white and gold, but Crystal and Michael made sure to add a few more hints of color as well, in order to make the room less monotonous and more fairytale.

The light inside the room disappears, leaving only the small lights that descend from the ceiling on. You open your mouth to ask what happened, but the words do not come out as your gaze rests on the sea outside the room, calm as in the best days, while a wonderful sunset is reflecting on the clear water. The sky is painted orange and pink, some clouds are scattered in the sky and you no longer have any doubts on why your friends have chosen this location.

There is a sense of peace in the air and you feel like you are in a different world, in a world of calm and joy, while the land where you have lived in these difficult months seems a distant memory.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” Calum whispers in your ear as his hands rest on your hips from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder and looking outside.

“If it's a dream, please don't wake me up.” You whisper, closing your eyes and letting the sea air coming in through the window on your left, caress your face.

“I could never do that, you are too beautiful when you sleep.” You can see him smile as he whispers those words and, as every time he smiles, you smile too. There is something contagious about his joyful expressions, they warm your heart and you can't help but share them with him.

“Does the stereo system work?” You ask after a few minutes of silence, turning around to face him and leaving a quick kiss on his lips.

“Do you want to try it with me?” he asks with a smile, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and pressing a couple of buttons on the screen.

“What do you mean?” A confused expression forms on your face. The long lilac summer dress moves with every blow of the wind but the summer temperature makes sure that you don't feel cold.

Calum puts the phone back in his pocket and, after a few seconds, the first notes of your favorite love song can be heard throughout the room.

While you smile, your boyfriend clears his throat and, reaching out his hand, asks you: “May I have this dance?”

Your cheeks turn red and the muscles of your face stretch into an even bigger smile as you nod and grab his hand. Calum walks you to the center of the room and holds your hips, bringing you closer to him.

And, as the first words of one of the most beautiful love songs echo in the room, you rest your head on his chest and close your eyes as your feet move to the sweet rhythm of the music.

Sometimes I'm beaten

Sometimes I'm broken

'Cause sometimes this is nothing but smoke

Is there a secret?

Is there a code?

Can we make it better?

'Cause I'm losing hope

Calum had never loved dancing, at least not this much. His footsteps were limited to a few twirls and jumps on stage or some weird movement on the dance floor, when the alcohol level in his body was way too high to be ashamed of anything he was doing. He had always seen dancing as something that did not belong to him, an activity that stressed him more than it should, and he had never imagined that he could love it so much.

But after you arrived in his life, one of the moments he loves the most is to dance with you, at two in the morning, in the kitchen, to the notes of any love song you are obsessed with in that moment, in the peace of the silence and of the sleepless night, while Duke looks at you confused and waits for the right moment to come ask for cuddles.

The way you let him hold you, the way you let yourself be vulnerable in front of him, away from judging eyes, and the way he feels like protecting you, in the darkness of the room, makes him feel a sense of calm that he hasn' t felt for a long time before your presence in his life.

And even if he was the universe's worst dancer and the whole world was watching him, he’d still dance with you.

Tell me how to be in this world

Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt

Tell me how could I believe in something

I believe in us

Calum squeezes your hand tightly as, observing you with eyes full of love, he spins you in front of him. The sunlight lights up your face and the man in front of you is sure he has never seen anything more beautiful. You look like a Greek goddess, the kind you hear in stories and in history books, the goddesses who saved the bravest soldiers and helped them in the toughest feats.

This is how he feels, ever since he saw in you a friend - and then a girlfriend - more than an enemy, he saw his little world in fractions being put back into place, with delicacy and love, and he is ready to sacrifice his most important assets to always have you on his side.

The sun is slowly setting, making room for the moon and all its stars. Yet, with him holding you tight, it seems to you that the world has stopped.

After the wreckage

After the dust

I still hear the howling, I still feel the rush

Over the riots, above all the noise

Through all the worry, I still hear your voice

Calum would be able to describe every single moment he walked into the dark and you led his way out with your light. Whenever he had writer's block, whenever anxiety kept him from getting through his day, whenever his thoughts got too dark and the demons took over, you were there.

Your delicate hands caressing his face or the sweet melody of your voice whispering comforting words, Calum remembers every one of these moments, every single one.

When the world becomes too heavy and distressing, he knows that you will be by his side and that you will help him carry the heavy weight.

And when the insecurities make their way into him, you will always be ready to remind him that he deserves to be loved.

So, tell me how to be in this world

Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt

Tell me how 'cause I believe in something

I believe in us

Tell me when the light goes out

That even in the dark we will find a way out

Tell me now 'cause I believe in something

I believe in us

Between dance steps, Calum lulls you slowly, the song continues to echo in your ears, and even your jaw relaxes. It’s so calming to not feel the weight of the world and the speed of time but to be able to enjoy this moment with a light heart and a head empty of all worries. In a society that runs fast and demands perfection from everything, having the opportunity to be able to stop and be left alone in love and peace is a luxury that cannot always be granted. Especially when your boyfriend is in an internationally famous band and you are trying to make your smaller, yet still of great value, dreams come true.

There is no worry about having to say the right words, having to wear the best clothes or just being yourself and praying to be accepted by millions of people who don't know you but who judge you as being part of your life.

‘She's not good enough for him’ or ‘He deserves someone more beautiful, with a perfect body, with a good mental health’ or even ‘She doesn't really love him, she does it for the money’ And there are also those gorgeous people he meets often, who work in some radio or who know mutual friends, and immediately those words written under your photos get inside you and make every certainty collapse.

You look at yourself into the mirror and you think they're right, that you're not perfect and that he really deserves one of those cover girls or someone who won't make him worry if you don't answer the phone. Insecurities that, however, under the sheets of a now familiar home, Calum makes you forget about.

And the words he whispers to you every day, the way he looks at you as if you were the most beautiful person in the world, the consideration he has of you, the notes he leaves on the table when he goes out or all those details that he pays attention to, they convince you that he doesn't care what size you are, the color of your skin or the negative thoughts that cross your mind, he loves you for your intelligence, for the kindness you carry in your heart and the delicacy with which you treat him, for the funny sound of your laugh and the way you make him feel in heaven, while reminding him to always keep his feet on the ground. And those comments, those ideas, disappear in the blink of an eye.

And now, like every time you’re with him, with your head on his chest and with his arms holding you, with the sea in the background and the lights that illuminate that corner of paradise that Crystal created, everything seems to be in the right place.

Used to be kids living just for kicks

In cinema seats, learning how to kiss

Running through streets that were painted gold

We never believed we'd grow up like this

Calum had never had good words to describe his love life. He had had love stories he was not proud of, toxic or in which he hadn't really felt strong feelings, and of the only good stories he had had, he didn’t like to tell about them because he was ashamed of how he had lived them. He believed that he hadn’t committed enough or that he hadn’t loved in the right ways.

So, he had decided not to try anymore, to put aside that desire to want to create something with someone and the more the people around him fell in love with and the more he thought about the effort he should have made, and all that stress made him forget the meaning to love. He didn’t want to meet anyone anymore, his life was good as it was.

And when you showed up awkwardly, in ruined makeup and wet clothes, Calum had thought of a thousand reasons why he didn't want to deal with you. Who shows up at an event dressed like this? What kind of girls does Crystal meet? And the way you talked about how your umbrella broke halfway and how you were about to be hit by a car didn't interest him. Calum just wanted to eat at that restaurant, pulled there by his best friends after a day spent in the studio.

And when the party moved to a friend’s house, it only bothered him how carefully you made sure you didn't spill your drink as you moved between dancing bodies and wagging dogs. He couldn't stand how you talked about life to Ashton, the love you put into describing the people who were part of it.

And when he saw you a few weeks later, he hated the way you greeted him and the way you worried about how he was doing. All too cheesy, too filmy and unrealistic.

But then, without realizing it, between one hateful look and another, Calum listened with interest to the way you talked about your passions and hobbies, how you described the places you had visited and the cities you dreamed of seeing. He laughed at you dancing and smiled when you paid attention to what people were saying around you, mentally marking down all the information to make sure to always ask the right questions.

And he found himself wanting the same attention from you, to see the smile you gave to others, dedicated to him. And so his answers to you became less and less cold and he had become less good at hiding his sweet eyes from you.

And even though every cell of his body was asking otherwise, to not feel another broken heart, Calum had decided to kiss you in the backstage of the iHeartRadio 2018, while you were wearing his leather jacket and moving his hair from the front of his eyes.

And the rest is history.

So, tell me how to be in this world

Tell me how to breathe in and feel no hurt

Tell me how 'cause I believe in something

I believe in us

Tell me when the light goes out

That even in the dark we will find a way out

Tell me now 'cause I believe in something

I believe in us

And like when Emily Bronte said ‘Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same’, as in the case of your love, there isn't much to do. You cannot go against fate if two hearts are meant to spend the rest of eternity together.

There are no arguments, reasons or strong enough excuses to separate those who are connected by much more than just love. And that’s what makes you this close, that in the darkness of the world, in the hell of fear and anger, that strong feeling resists, and fighting together is always better than doing it alone.

It’s a strong love, ready to defeat everything that tries to divide it, ready to sacrifice the absolute good of one, in order to spend the rest of life in misery together.

Like the rebellious angels, who preferred an earthly love to the eternal glory of God, so you are bound to laugh and cry together, and there is nothing that can make you happier than that.

Calum turns you around one last time, whispering a compliment in your ear and making your laughter echo across the room. The sun has now set and the stars are taking its place, the lights that descend from the ceiling look like little fairies that got lost admiring your love and the room has taken the shape of a magical forest.

Your friends are at the door of the entrance, with eyes full of love they look at the two of you laughing together and their hearts melt to see you so in love and they can’t help but imagine themselves in your place, in a few weeks, ready to dance and share the same love that you and Calum are sharing.

Breaking the peace of that dream, with pride and a grin on his face, is Michael, clapping and laughing at the way your boyfriend is completely in love with you but also feeling happy to see him so positively changed. He takes a few steps toward you and you don't need to hear him speak to imagine the comments he's thinking, making you and Calum shake your heads smiling.

“Just so you know, I expect to see you dance like that at our wedding too.” Your best friend's sweet voice says as she points at you by moving her finger between you and your boyfriend.

You run toward Crystal, her pink hair is tied up in a low ponytail, with a few tufts running down her face. Her smile is big on her face, lighting up her joyful expression. You have a billion questions to ask her, most of them are about the choices they made for the final decorations and your heart is so full at thinking about your best friends getting married.

You’re too caught up in your happiness to notice Calum, just a dozen steps behind you, smiling to his bandmate while whispering: “I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“Well, you know what to do.” Michael responds by nodding with his head and looking proudly at his best friend.

“Will you help me organize the proposal?”

--

[amorevolous-chionophile]

Mommy

❆ Fluff ❆ 5,710 words ❆ dad!Hongjoong x babysitter!reader ❆

@soft-black-teabag​ is the precious mastermind behind this idea 💜

"Yes I understand... Yes... Yes I will be there."  Hongjoong sighed as he hung up the call and mentally cursed. His boss called, saying that he has to jump in to fill a shift urgently to help, as his co-worker called in sick last minute, since he lacks work hours. He glanced to the living room to check up on the reason of his lacking work hours, his little princess and he couldn't help but smile as he saw her happily playing with her designer's kit for children which he somehow managed to afford for her birthday since she proclaimed that she wants to be just like her daddy. Since he was taking care of her alone, he had to miss shifts from time to time as there were instances where none of his friends could fill in for him. He prayed that this wasn't one of those times because his boss warned him that if he doesn't show up to work in two hours he will get fired and he couldn't lose that job. Hongjoong took on a great number of jobs through the years to have his little minion live a nice and happy life. He keeps each of his jobs for as long as the boss is tolerant enough of him being late or missing whole shifts. He hates that he gives them a hard time, but raising a child as a single parent isn't an easy job and he is trying his best, he really is. Hiring a babysitter was an option sure, but Hongjoong couldn't afford one and even if he could, there was no way that he would ever leave his precious child to a complete stranger. He sighed once more before tapping in the message to the group chat, there are seven of them, surely one of them is free, right?

Wooyoung was in the middle of a game when a notification rang, signaling that a message had arrived on his phone. That wouldn't have been a problem if he wasn't in class and the notification didn't echo through the classroom. The college professor gave him a threatening look from above the rim of his glasses to what Wooyoung smiled nervously and pretended to move his phone back to his pocket before muting it and proceeding to read the message as soon as the professor looked away like nothing happened seconds ago. You eyed him judgingly from the seat next to him.  "Wooyoung, you are going to get in trouble." Not that most professors at college care if you are on your phone, laptop, are you listening or not... But this one was a bit of a nitpicking pain that always says that you should respect the time which he is giving to you in order to gift you knowledge by at least listening. He always made it sound like he doesn't get any compensation for what he does, not like he gets paid. Wooyoung looked at you with the most offended face he could make.  "Don't talk in class you'll get us in trouble."  He put a finger to his lips and couldn't help but smile to what you rolled your eyes and smiled as well returning your attention to the professor as Wooyoung returned his gaze to his phone. He entered the group chat to find that everyone already responded. He scrolled to the first message to see what all that was about, just to find Hongjoong's panicked message about needing someone as fast as possible to look over his child. Wooyoung loved that child like he was her uncle, and not just him, all of the boys warmed up to that little ray of sunshine. As he scrolled he noticed that none of the other boys were available, for valid reasons and he mentally sighed as he had to tell Hongjoong that he wasn't either.  Wooyoung: "I have a makeup exam. I must retake it, it's half of my mark. I'm really sorry."  This time he audibly sighed. He had major respect for Hongjoong, the guy was torn on million sides, he sacrificed his college and his free time for the sake of his child. That's why he felt bad for not being able to do anything in this situation.  Seonghwa: "Hongjoong, could you please reconsider all that about the babysitter?"  Yunho: "Yes, please, if money is the problem we can help you with that."  Hongjoong: "I know, but even if I agree, how can I get any babysitter to come in less than an hour? No worries guys, I'll just find another job."  Wooyoung was too preoccupied with his phone and thoughts of how to help to notice the professor eyeing him suspiciously. You however noticed and nudged him to snap out of it or he won't even have the chance to take that makeup exam. He rapidly turned his head to you, his eyes widening and your face crunching from confusion. It was seconds before he returned his attention to his phone.  Wooyoung: "I am a genius. I have solved all of your problems 😇"  Yeosang: "This is gonna be good."  Hongjoong: "?"  Wooyoung: "Y/N!"  Hongjoong: "Who?"  San: "Oooh, nice!👍🏻👍🏻"  Yeosang: "I am disappointed I am not disappointed with that answer. That is your first good idea since...ever."  Jongho: "How come that idea never crossed our minds before."  Mingi: "That would be so adorable to see. Just think of that cuteness duo!😸🥰"  Hongjoong: "Guys, would you please concentrate and tell me who that is."  You had to nudge Wooyoung again, stronger this time because he was visibly testing the professor's patience.  "Wooyoung, leave that phone, the professor is giving you a death stare I think even the room temperature decreased."  You whispered almost inaudibly to what he turned off his screen, nudged the phone to the side of his desk and shifted his gaze up smiling innocently to the professor. You couldn't help but pinch the bridge of your nose letting out a breathy laugh at his carefree attitude.

Hongjoong: "Wooyoung, who's y/n?"  Seonghwa: "Seems like he's not here anymore."  Jongho: "What... who leaves in a moment like that."  San: "I think he and y/n have class with that ice drama queen professor."  Yeosang: "He probably used all of his energy to come up with that idea, his system must have shut down."  San: "Yeosang... Who hurt you young child?"  Yeosang: "Whoever ate my fried chicken the last time we hung out."  Mingi: "But why are you taking it out on Wooyoung when Yunho ate your chicken 😂"  Yunho: "He. Didn't. Know. That."  Mingi: "Oops, I didn't know that."  Yeosang: "Well, it's only important that now I know that."  Yunho: "🙃"  Hongjoong: " G U Y S. I'm kinda running out of time here."  Seonghwa: "You remember how we mentioned Wooyoung's neighbor that hung out with us probably every single time when you weren't there?"  Hongjoong: "Oh yeah, I forgot her name, so y/n... I'm not so sure, how well do you guys know her?"  Mingi: "Wooyoung knows her best since she was his neighbor and classmate from the very start of college."  Jongho: "But since he's not here, your second best options are San, Yeosang and me. Well Yeosang and me."  San: "Hey 🥺"  Yeosang: "Yes, since we attend the same college we meet quite frequently so I assure you that she is a good choice."  San: "Are you all ignoring me now 🥺"  Jongho: " I strongly agree with Yeosang, not once did she leave a bad impression."  San: "..."  Hongjoong: "Well not like I have a choice at this point anyway."  Seonghwa: "Since I sense that you are still unsure, I remember this one time when she got a call from her sister and had to leave to look after her nephews."  Yunho: "So that means she knows with children. I mean you got a winning combo here." Hongjoong: "But I don't know, what if the two of them don't get along, what if something happens"  Jongho: "I just wanna remind you that this was Wooyoung's idea to which even Yeosang agreed"  Mingi: "I think that this is the first time something like this happened 😅"  Seonghwa: "Come on Hongjoong, you know we love your child almost as much as you do. We would never propose something that would be potentially dangerous for her."  Hongjoong: "Alright... Fine"

Finally, for what seemed ten times longer than the original ten minutes it should have lasted, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. You stretched your arms, still sitting down, while Wooyoung rapidly swiped trough his phone to catch up on the conversation that he missed, hoping to run into Hongjoong's agreement. You eyed him suspiciously when he jolted up with an excited "yes". You mirrored his actions and got up as well, gathering your stuff.  "What happened, the makeup exam got postponed?"  He let out a sad whining sound before gathering his stuff as well.  "As if, not even in my dreams."  He swung his backpack on his back and typed something in his phone excitedly.  "Then what is..."  Before you could finish, he grabbed your wrist and started speed walking towards the door and into the hallway, opposite of the direction of where his exam is supposed to be.  "Wait Wooyoung, what is going on?"  But you were not graced by any kind of answer in return. When you exited the building, you were even more puzzled to see Yeosang, San and Jongho there. Before you could ask again, Wooyoung went into medical commercial narrator mode.  "So you remember how we mentioned our friend that has a rainbow sunshine pink sparkly precious child after who he looks after alone and that sometimes we fill in because he has to work and all. Well today we are all busy and if he doesn't go to work he will get fired and he really needs that job and he can't leave the child alone and so we thought that maybe, probably, eventually you could look after her because we don't have much time since he needs to go to work soon and pretty much we don't have any other option...please?"  You blinked trying to process everything you just heard as Wooyoung grabbed your hand and shook it giving you the puppy dog eyes look. You closed your eyes trying to form a coherent question in return to all that.  "Wha..."  But San interrupted you, joining Wooyoung in the hand shaking puppy dog eyes squad. "Pleeease, the child is a sweetheart I swear. I promise you two will get along perfectly, and the cuteness oh God, you two will be the cutest duo ever."  You shook your head, really trying to keep up with the both of them, looking around to find a spot to focus on in order to actually have a chance to think about the proposal, when you noticed Yeosang and Jongho standing on a greater distance from you than when they originally were, talking among themselves, pretending not to know you three. You couldn't blame them. "Wait you two, wait a second. I mean I am free now and I would love to help, but I am not sure about all this? To him I am a stranger and from what I have picked up from your stories he wouldn't leave his child with just anyone so I don't think he will agree to this. Also a child... I'm not sure, it's not the same as looking after my nephews."  Wooyoung let go of your hand in order to swipe through his phone for a brief second before showing you a message of Hongjoong's agreement, more like shoving it in your face.  "He already agreed, it's only left for you to agree so please."  You almost winced from the frequency Wooyoung's voice managed to hit. You were kinda at a dead end in that moment. You had no reasons to refuse, not like you even wanted to refuse an opportunity to help someone in a tight situation so the answer was pretty obvious.  "Okay, just tell me the address and..."  Your proclamation was interrupted with Wooyoung and San squealing and, for the sake of their souls, let's say that those were manly squeals. They ran up to Yeosang and Jongho and excitedly announced that you have agreed before Wooyoung proceeded to run back to the college entrance in his style, shouting.  "I'm late for the makeup exam, I will text you the address before I..."  Was all you managed to hear before his voice became inaudible.  "Wooyoung, I swear to God."  You whispered in your chin before joining the remaining trio in order to say goodbye.

Hongjoong was running around his apartment, grabbing his necessities before a tiny voice called out to him.  "Daddy?"  The young girl was standing underneath the notably larger doorframe, questioningly tilting her head to the side.  "You said you would stay home today."  Her face welcomed a small pout. Hongjoong quickly squatted to her eye level, one hand on her shoulder, while the other caressed the crown of her head.  "I know princess, but they called daddy to come today. I promise I will make it up to you."  He smiled, hoping to reassure her.  "I just miss you."  She proclaimed sadly before wrapping her small arms around his neck. Saying that his heart shattered into million pieces would be an understatement. He sighed heavily and wrapped his hands around her, lifting her up.  "I'm sorry it has to be this way."  He said that more to himself before the melody of the doorbell filled the house. The girl looked in her dad's eyes with newfound interest.  "Which uncle is coming today?"  Hongjoong smiled nervously, not sure how to deliver the news and more importantly not knowing what the reaction will be.  "About that..."  He hesitated as he went towards the door with her still in his arms.  "It's uncle Wooyoung's friend."  He confessed, opening the door, not sure himself what to expect. What greeted him there was a warm, smiling figure, immediately putting him at ease.  "Hello, I'm Wooyoung's classmate, y/n. It's nice to meet you Hongjoong."  You gave a little wave before grinning to the little girl.  "And this must be the princess I have heard so much about."  The girl smiled in return, resting her head on her dad's shoulder, still a bit shy.  "Hello."  Hongjoong motioned you to enter before he closed the door behind you, a faint scent of his shampoo hitting you.  "I should hurry now, thank you for coming on such short notice."  You were in the process of taking off your shoes while you replied.  "Don't worry, it's a pleasure to help."  You rose back up stretching out your arms for Hongjoong to give the girl to you.  "Oh there's no reason for that, she may be too heavy for you, besides she is daddy's big girl, she can walk."  Hongjoong went to put her down, but to his surprise he ran into the girl's resentment, as she stretched her arms out to you in return. You smiled warmly and took the child in your arms, patting her back.  "It's not a problem really."  You reassured Hongjoong as you turned to the girl.  "This way we can assist daddy together while he is getting ready for work, right?"  The girl chimed happily in response. Hongjoong didn't notice or he didn't want to notice how his brain blocked all of his actions for a brief second wanting to absorb that moment and so he continued with tying his shoelaces a moment after as if nothing happened. Hongjoong was about to exit when you noticed a phone on the cupboard next to you, so you quickly stop him. "Hongjoong, I think you forgot your phone."  He checked in all his pockets to check before he accepted the phone from you grasp and thanked you with a warm smile.  "Daddy will be back before you know it princess, be nice to y/n."  He bent down to plant a kiss on the girl's cheek, before her little hands grabbed his face and turned his head in order to do the same. The scene had you internally melting from all the cuteness. Hongjoong went out the door, and you trailed him standing on the doorframe.  "Wave to daddy."  You told the girl who shook her hand smiling from ear to ear, you copying her. There was it again, that moment that Hongjoong felt shoot through his heart and brain.

You caressed the girl's cheek before putting a blanket atop of her, snuggling her to sleep. You put the fairytale book you were reading her a bedtime story from on the shelf. You decided to leave the lamp on, just a bit more dimmed as you were not sure whether or not she was afraid of the dark. She fell asleep pretty quickly, and it was no wonder, for the whole day you were doing all kind of things together, playing pretend, fashion designer, telling stories, watching cartoons, eating. You tried to engage her in everything you could, you really gave it your all, and it was easy because she was indeed a pure angel child. You sat in the living room, lowering the volume of the tv in order to hear if she wakes up. You had time to peacefully look around the apartment which was an interesting fusion of an art and music studio, laced with the essence of a family home. You also noticed that the home was sparkly clean. You didn't know that that was Seonghwa's doing however. He was the last to babysit, just the day before you. He and the girl were playing fashion designer when Seonghwa made the grave mistake of commenting how she put too much glitter on a particular piece of clothing. Second after that he had a child proclaiming that he shouldn't question her fashion sense and glitter pretty much... everywhere. So after putting her to sleep he engaged himself in cleaning all the glitter, and cleaning glitter is not an easy job, not to mention that he himself resembled a disco ball with all the glitter he had in his hair. He somehow ended cleaning even the rest and who knows when he would have stopped if Hongjoong haven't arrived home. You basically absent mindedly gazed into the cartoon on the tv which was muted when your phone buzzed and brought you back to your senses. It was a message from an unknown number, but from the content of the message you figured it was Hongjoong.  Hongjoong: I will be back about 10 minutes.  You saved his contact before replying.  You: Thanks for giving me a notice, I will wait for you. I put her to sleep, so you have nothing to worry about.  And just like that you spent those 10 minutes watching a cartoon on mute before you heard a clatter of keys trying to unlock the door, but being unable to due the keys from the inside of the door.  "I'm coming."  You whisper-yelled, afraid not to wake the girl as you hurried to the door. You turned the keys and opened the door, smiling.  "Welcome home."  It was probably due to not having a chance to hear that often, but his heart slightly fluttered at your welcome and he couldn't help but smile a little.  "As I already mentioned, she is sound asleep..."  You trailed off as you went to pick up your belongings from the living room, not wanting to yell and as soon as you returned you started putting on your shoes.  "She is a wonderful child, you raised her very well."  You gave him a wide smile as you started putting on your coat.  "We made dinner together and left you some in the refrigerator so you can heat it up if you want. You must be tired so I will be going now."  As you took ahold of the knob, he took ahold of your forearm. You turned around, giving him a puzzled look as to which he just took out his wallet.  "No Hongjoong please, I did not do this for money. Besides, that child already repaid me with her smile, I really had a nice time today."  You shook your hands before your face in defense.  "There's no way I can let you leave without anything, you lost your whole day."  He took out his money and was handing it to you, but you were not an easy nut to crack.  "Can we make a deal then? If I happen to look after her again, I will accept, okay?"  He sighed in defeat, dropping the argument as it was leading nowhere. But that idea of you babysitting again, deep down he liked it.  "Alright, alright."  You exited the door waving at him.  "Why don't you at least let me call you a cab? It's pretty dark outside for you to be walking alone."  Shaking your head you turned to him.  "Don't worry about me, go back to that precious little child."  He nodded, closing the door.  "Hongjoong..."  He halted and looked at you expectantly.  "See you."  And like that, you parted.

Little did you know that she would want you to come look after her again and again and again. Hongjoong of course, refused her at first, not wanting to trouble you, but soon he just gave up. And you didn't mind really, that child grew onto you like on anyone she meets. This time you were just going to visit her for no particular reason, you just had free time. You knocked on the door you grew used to and the man you started to develop faint feelings for opened.  "Oh hi, come on in."  He gave you his usual smile and you obliged. Just after barely taking one shoe off you heard your name being shouted from across the hall by a little human who was running to tackle hug you.  "How's my favourite princess doing?"  She smiled from ear to ear, as she always did.  "Good! Daddy and I were just talking about you!"  You rose a brow as you shot a glance at Hongjoong who was smiling nervously.  "Daddy asked me if I would want you..."  She was unable to finish her sentence because Hongjoong interupted, cutting her mid sentence. "You know, we were just planning on going grocery shopping, so you don't have to take off your shoes if you wanna come with us."  You returned your attention to the child, whispering into her ear.  "You'll tell me later."  You smooched her cheek before raising back up nodding at Hongjoong.  "Let's go."

"Hongjoong, you forgot to get the tomatoes... How do you expect that we make the bolognese sauce without tomatoes?"  You waved in front of his face with a wooden spoon threateningly.  "Sorry, I was hindered by a certain small being that strongly wanted a package of gummy bears."  You just chuckled at his troubled expression.  "We can just improvise something then, I guess. At least she got what she wanted."  You nodded in the direction where the previously mentioned small being was eating her gummy bears, her attention on the cartoon playing on the tv.  "I have a weakness for her, what was I supposed to do."  Hongjoong gave you a troubled smile as he was growing scared of that wooden spoon in your grip. You couldn't resist the urge to ruffle his hair.  "Go rest, you were working for the whole day yesterday. Your eye bags are so big, they could be used as bowls."  He shook his head.  "I can't leave everything to you..."  You squinted your eyes and raised the wooden spoon back in his sight.  "We will all rest when we eat, how does that sound?"  You rolled your eyes at him jokingly.  "You were always a tough negotiator, have it your way."  Smiling to your agreement he let out a breathy laugh, not really sure how to react to the given situation. You were gifting him precious moments he could only dream of before. Like having someone to welcome him, see him off, look after him and his baby, make a meal for him, and all that just made him wish that he could do the same for you.

"Hongjoong, I am actually amazed at your cooking skills." You confessed as you plopped yourself on the couch, the little minion automatically manifesting on your side hugging you. Hongjoong went to sit on the other side of the couch before he was stopped by his little girl. "Daddy, I want you to sit here."  She patted the free spot next to her, and Hongjoong just obliged, placing himself next to you two.  "Now I want you two to hug me."  She giggled as if she knew exactly what she was doing. As you put your arms around the little minion and connected them on the small of Hongjoong's back, he did the same. Your head rested on his shoulder, inhaling the same scent from the first day when you met him, his head rested on your shoulder looking longingly at the one person he wished for from the first day he met you, and in-between you two, a brightly smiling child who loved both of you was seated.

And so again, you went to them, they came to you. When Hongjoong was working, you were babysitting and when he was free the three of you just casually spent time together. This one time, when Hongjoong returned from work you were still in the process of putting the minion to sleep. Hongjoong inspected you closely as you ran after the child while taking off his coat and boots and he couldn't help but smile. You halted for a minute to welcome him, while the minion was long gone from sight. As you turned back to go after her you could hear her voice from the room.  "Mommy hurry, I want you to read me a story before I fall asleep."  You froze to the spot and looked to Hongjoong wide eyed as he did the exact same thing. Your face welcomed a shade of pink as you turned around and marched forward, not being able to face him.  "C-coming princess."

"Hey Hongjoong."  You peeked inside the living room, finally mustering up the courage to face him after what happened earlier, but to your luck, or misfortune, he was asleep. You would have let him be and went home as it was that he even gave you the key to his apartment, but you couldn't leave him in such a uncomfortable position. He must have fell asleep while waiting for you. You shook him lightly by the shoulder, afraid not to startle him. Your heart fluttered the same time his tired eyes fluttered open.  "I just didn't want to leave you in an uncomfortable position, I will be leaving now. Get some rest."  You blabbered and were ready to leave.  "Could you stay... a bit longer?"  Originally, it would not have been a problem, but this time around your nerves were getting the better of you. However, not having a proper reason to refuse, you sat on the couch next to Hongjoong, sighing.  "May I?"  He was asking you to lay on your legs. Again, it wasn't the first time, but never before did he ask nor did you feel nervous while his soft features were beneath your reach. However, on instinct your fingers started playing with his hair and he momentarily relaxed. Feeling restless you just had the urge to start a talk about something, anything.  "Hongjoong, you never told me what happened to your...uhm...her real m..."  You found it quite difficult to word the sentence, luckily Hongjoong caught on and saved you the struggle.  "We had my princess when we were nineteen..."

Hongjoong and his girlfriend at the time didn't even plan marriage, a baby? Even less. But she found out she was pregnant and after a lot of negotiations and talking, they decided to keep the baby and promised that they would handle every obstacle on their way. Neither of them ever dreamed that their first and biggest obstacle were their own parents. Both sides gave them the cold shoulder, but not all hope was lost. They believed that when the baby is born, their parents would change their mind. It was a brutal strike to both of them when, even with the birth of their baby girl, nothing changed. They weren't making much and they could barely take care of even themselves. That is when the girl wavered. She was scared for her future and she insisted that they give the baby for adoption. Hongjoong however, didn't want to hear about it. He didn't want to give his precious treasure to some random stranger. He also couldn't care less about his parents rejecting him. They always treated him as if he was a nuisance, so what was the difference now. His girlfriend, however, left and he never blamed her for that. She lied to her parents that she put her child up for adoption, she split up with Hongjoong and broke off every contact with him and the baby out of fear that her parents would kick her out again. Through all that time the only person Hongjoong kept contact with was his brother. Even against Hongjoong's will his brother keeps sending him money from time to time. Hongjoong on the other hand sends him back videos and pictures of the little minion doing whatnot. This is the exact reason why Hongjoong is making sure to make her real uncle a part of her life as much as possible. The number of times the uncle burst into tears after hearing a little voice through the phone calling him to come and meet her is a large one. There was nothing he could do about that as he lived on the other side of Korea. The only thing his brother didn't tell Hongjoong is that their parents greatly regret their choices and want to see their grandchild. But Hongjoong will find out himself when and if they decide to let go of their stupid idea of pride.

"...and that's how the two of us ended up like this."  It was not until your tear fell on his face that he noticed that you were crying.  "Hey, don't cry for that."  He raised his hand in order to wipe away the watery paths that your tears left on your face.  "She now finally has a mum as she said. I can't thank you enough for playing that role for her, no let me take that back, you are not playing that role. After all this time of looking after her you can call yourself her mum."  His comment only turned on the faucet that let more tears fall.  "Thank you for saying so Hongjoong."  He rose from your legs and turned to face you.  "I didn't plan to do it like this but here it goes."  He cupped your chin and leaned into you, his only support being his other hand. Your heart went on a rampage, throwing itself randomly against your rib cage causing irregularities in your breath. Hongjoong softly smiled when he noticed your reaction, feeling reassured to carry on with his confession.  "I started attaching myself to you from the first time you stood on that door. At first I wasn't sure if that was because..."  You cut him off by placing your lips onto his in a sweet kiss unsure if your heart would be able to last through his whole speech. You pulled away shyly forcing yourself to look him in the eye. Now it was official, until now you were practically just a couple without that official stamp. It felt nice, it felt like home.  "You will tell me later, I wasn't sure if I was able to survive through it all."  You grinned and he shook his head, smiling as well before he leaned in again.

"Okay is everyone ready?"  You asked eagerly after hearing Hongjoong approach the door.  "I don't understand why we have to wear this."  Yeosang retorted, not amused in the slightest before Yunho appeared from behind him and pulled him into the room to hide like he was pulling him in a back alley to kidnap him, what made the situation more amusing was Yeosang's uninterested face.  "Come on Yeosang we don't have much time for questions."  Yunho whispered in his ear as they both disappeared into the darkness of the room. You sighed in relief as everyone was finally on their position just as you heard the keys and the door knob. And then there on the door appeared Hongjoong.  "Welcome home, come on sweetie."  You welcomed Hongjoong and guided his, no, both of your child to him.  "Daddy, mommy bought me a minion onesie, look!"  She ran up to Hongjoong and extended her arms up to him.  "It's beautiful love! What does it say here... I'm gonna be a sister..."  Hongjoong's eyes widened as his heart skipped a few beats and he would have jumped to hug you right then and there if he wasn't startled by seven men who ran at him at the same time, wearing a "I'm going to be an uncle (again)" shirts, pink shirts. Hongjoong's eyes widened again before he passed the child to Seonghwa to come and finally hug you.  "So another girl huh?"  You smiled widely back to him, nodding and he returned an even wider smile.  "What week are you?"  He caressed your still unnoticeable bump.  "The doctor said 15th, the stomach is going to start to show from here on."  He hugged you careful not to squish you too much.  "I love you, thank you for giving me everything and making me a happy man."  He pressed his forehead to yours.  "I should be the one thanking you, Joong."  Your lips met again just like they did yesterday and just like they will tomorrow.  "I want to hug with mommy and daddy too!"  And just like that your little intimate moment became a group hug of all the people you considered family.

[marvelstuff-n-buckyfluff]

Avengers on the day your water breaks

This may be totally scientifically inaccurate but oh well here goes

Tony 

You grunted as you stepped down the stairs, careful not to fall. You could barely see the steps over your belly so you were holding tightly to the railing as you took a step at a time. You were about to take the last step when you felt something loosen in your hooha. You looked down and your eyes widened to see a yellowish liquid on the last step. You had no idea what was about to happen next. This was your first child and you sure as hell knew the baby daddy was just as clueless as you.

Tony was in the kitchen, eating and working on some designs for his tech when he heard you call.

“Uhh, Tony?! Come here come here come HERE!” He scrambled off the chair, the sound of papers flying and the chair skidding on the floor, filling the room. He ran around the corner to the sound of your frantic voice and stopped when he saw you bracing your stomach. 

“Please don’t tell me-”

“Tony my water broke! Oh my god, it’s time!” You gulped. Tony remained frozen in place, his mouth gaping and eyes wide as saucers. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING THERE, GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL, GENIUS!!!” You shrieked. Finally, he snapped out of it, only to say something so incredibly stupid.

“C-crap, that was today?! C-C-Can we postpone it??” You froze in your tracks. You almost missed it, and you wish you did, but you heard it. Your head whipped to the side to give him the most murderous glare you’d given anyone. 

With murder on your mind you quickly picked up a stray heel that was laying on the floor and threw it at him, making him flinch and lift up a leg to shield himself as it hit his side. “YOW! OKay okay I’m sorry! I’ll take you to the hospital!” He said, wrapping your arm around his shoulder to help carry you to the car. “Good aim by the way.” You growled at that.

“I was aiming for your neck.”

Steve

Steve had been preparing for this day for monthsss. He had drills, practicing what he’d do when your water broke and already had a list of the closest hospitals to take you to and had even prepared a plan in case you had to deliver the baby at home. You were pretty impressed at how ready he seemed.

Who knew that on the day it counted, all that would just fly out the window.

You were doing your morning stretches when you felt it break. You gasped as you felt the anxiety rise in your chest. Steve was out on his morning run, and the baby wasn’t due for another 2 weeks! You started to hyperventilate but had to calm yourself down and call Steve. This was all going to be fine.

“Hey honey, how are you feeling?”

“Steve, my water broke an I-’‘

“HHAH HHAH HHAH HHAH HHAH IM COH- IM COMING, HHAH HHAH” You winced as you heard lighting fast footsteps, frantic panting, and angry drivers honking their horns, telling Steve to get off the streets.

“St-Steve?” It was obvious that he had forgotten to hang up and was now running at top speed with his phone in his hand. “Steve you can calm down, I’m not in pain ye-”

“*BEEP BEEEEEP SKRRR! PRPHPRHORPHRPD*” You flinched harshly at the sound and your jaw dropped in shock.

“OH MY GOD DID YOU JUST GET RUN OVER?!” You shrieked. You didn’t get a response right away but you heard his footsteps thunder in the speaker again. 

“THAT’S NOT IMPORTANT JUST HANG TIGHT I’LL BE THERE IN 2 MINUTES!”

---

Steve burst through the door, heading straight towards you. He picked you up bridal style and started to run out the door. Everything happened so fast you barely had any time to process it.

‘Wait Steve!!! What are you doing?!?”

“Taking you to the hospital!” He panted. He was already halfway down the street, making your anxiety skyrocket.

“WAIT YOU’RE GONNA RUN ME THERE?!”

“YES THERE’S NO TIME FOR ANYTHING ELSE.” You gasped and started to convulse in his arms to get him to stop.

“OH ABSOLUTELY NOT. WHAT THE HELL, STEVE! WE PLANNED TO TAKE THE CAR. EVERYONE TAKES THE CAR. YOU GOT RAN OVER FOR GOD’S SAKE! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I’M GONNA LET YOU GET US BOTH RAMMED?!”

“Oh god you’re right!” He gasped, turning right back around and getting you settled in the car to be on your way to the hospital.

Bucky

You both had literally been so busy. You didn’t really have much time in the last few months of your pregnancy to talk about plans or anything. Of course, when you both first found out you were expecting, that was all you would talk about. But recently, you didn’t have time to check on him about those things. But you were kind of expecting Bucky to be ready and be doing the homework for this big change you both were about to experience. However as time flew by, you were so caught up in things that you had even forgotten you were 9 months pregnant. So feeling your water break caught the both of you by surprise.

You were silent for a few seconds, just staring at the liquid on the floor. The panic was slowly but surely rising at a gradual pace, feeling yourself getting more and more freaked out.

Bucky was on his phone in the living room, the football game playing on the tv as background noise. You called out to him from the kitchen. “Bucky??” No answer. “BUCKY!” That snapped him back to reality and he turned his head sideways a bit to yell back at you.

“Yeah?” 

“Uhh, my water broke!” You squeaked. Bucky furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged lightly.

“That’s okay doll, you can just sweep it up. Was it glass?” Your face scrunched up in deep confusion and you turned in the general direction of the living room. 

“What!?” 

“Was your cup of water made of glass?” He asked. Your jaw dropped at how oblivious he was to the situation. That alone was enough to make the panic go through the roof.

“BUCKY I’M GIVING BIRTH!” You yelled, stomping your foot on the ground. Bucky’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he leaped off the couch and zoomed into the kitchen. 

“Wait WHAT? NOW!?!” He cried, running his hands through his hair and panicking. He definitely was not helping. “Ok ok ok wait! uhhh wait! just uhhh... Can you just like, hold it in?”

“WHAT THE- BUCKY!” 

“JUST UNTIL WE GET THERE! Maybe we can just like, stuff a towel in there, or like a tampon- I DONT KNOW JUST SOMETHING TO KEEP THE BABY FROM FALLING OUT UNTIL I CAN TAKE YOU TO THE-”

“DID YOU NOT READ ANY OF THE PREGNANCY AND BIRTHING BOOKS I TOLD YOU TO READ?!” You could not believe the words coming out of this man’s mouth right now. 

“I thought they were baby books to read to the baby when it came!” He cried, shrugging helplessly. Your eyes grew wide and your nose flared furiously.

“I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!!!”

“IM SORRY-”

Thor

You were more nervous than most people for your delivery. Any little kick, or discharge you felt, you immediately cried out for the hospital. “The baby’s coming!” stuff like that. Over the course of your pregnancy you have had many false alarms. You felt like the little boy who cried wolf and you felt bad for Thor because you would always set his nerves on fire and make him freak out when you’d say it’s happening, only for it to be a false alarm. But you couldn’t help it! You were just so nervous.

You wanted to be mad at him for not taking you seriously that day, but it was honestly your fault for all those false alarms. You could had yourself to blame.

But you’d never admit that.

---

You were digging in the pantry looking for something to munch on when you heard something splash on the floor. You cringed at the sound, still unaware of the fact that it was you. You looked around for the source of the sound and when you looked directly under you, your heart stopped. It was one of those moments where you panic so much, that you feel and act calm. So with the same stoic face, you speed waddled over to Thor, who was sitting on the couch watching a documentary. You sat next to him and looked at him with wide eyes, never once blinking. 

“Thor? My water broke.” You said. Thor chuckled, keeping his eyes on the screen, not bothering to look at you. 

“It’s fine, darling. Just another false alarm.” He hummed, patting your thigh. You shook your head as you grasped his bicep, hoping to get his attention. 

‘No, not this time, Thor. You need to believe me.” You pleaded. Thor finally looked over at you with an amused smirk. “The baby’s coming.” 

Thor scrunched his nose up and gave you an unsure smile. “Is he though??” He asked in a high pitched voice. You sighed exhasperatedly and shot up from the couch. 

“YES! HE IS! LOOK!” You yelled, grabbing him and leading him to the pantry to show him the liquid on the floor. At the sight of it and the realization of the truth, his face paled and he began to panic as well. 

“T-T-T-T-The BAby’s coming. The baby’s com-THE BABY’S COMING! ODIN’S BEARD, THE BABY’S COMING IT’S ACTUALLY HAPPENING!” He exclaimed, his voice booming through the apartment as he carried you bridal style and took you out to the car. “Uhh, where would you like to give birth, y/n? Asgard, or- or here on Midgard?”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS, THOR? ASGARD?! WHAT, DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GIVE BIRTH ON THE RAINBOW BRIDGE?! I- NO! HERE! I WOULD LIKE TO GIVE BIRTH HERE!”

“Right, of course.”

Loki

You were not expecting your water to break right now. But to be fair, nobody knows when to expect it.

You were having a casual conversation with Loki when it happened. *sigh* 

“Loki, I really don’t see the point in having a statue of yourself built in the backyard. A bit narcissistic, don’t you think?” You asked, raising your eyebrows at him. Loki raised his chin up a bit with a smirk as he continued listing all the reasons why building a “small” 16 foot statue of himself in the center of your already perfect backyard was totally necessary and completely reasonable.

“Well darling, when you’re someone like me, it’s perfectly reasonable to have a statue built in your honor to appreciate your beauty and grace and to.. accentuate the divine-

*splat*

“-dear god, what was that.” Loki asked, horror masking his features as he stared at the thing that just fell out of your hooha. You looked down to see it too and you gasped, feeling nervousness form in the pit of your stomach. You were a week early. “Oh dear. Are you alright?” He asked again, still keeping his distance. “That was.... concerning...?” He continued to ask pointless questions while you sighed, annoyed, grabbing a paper towel and cleaning the spot on the floor. 

“You’re not helping, Loki. This is your child too. Takes 2 to tango.” You reminded. Loki raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“Wait, that was our child? That thing you just wiped up?” He asked, looking horrified at the thought of that possibly being his kid. You dropped your shoulders as you turned to look at him with a dead-eyed look. 

“Are you serious, Loki?” You asked, your eyes narrowed and lips turned in a disappointing frown. Loki raised his hands defensively and raised his eyebrows. 

“Is it? I’ll be here either way, but, just asking.” He shrugged. You stared at him for a full 20 seconds before shaking your head and walking past him. 

“I’ll drive myself to the hospital..” 

Scott

You don’t know how Maggie managed to give birth smoothly with Scott there. You would say you felt bad for her but now you were going through the same exact thing. You would think since Scott already had a daughter, he’d be more experienced and ready for situations like these.

Nope.

You were fixing your hair at the bathroom sink when it happened. You gasped and immediately wobbled out to the kitchen to tell Scott.

“Scott! The baby’s coming!” You yelled as you ran into the kitchen. Scott turned around from the pantry with wide eyes and a cereal box in his hand.

“...what?” He sounded so out of it. 

“The baby! She’s coming! My water broke!” You explained again, waiting for him to act fast and take you to the hospital like you deserved. Instead, you saw his eyes roll back as he fell backwards on the floor, fainting. Cocoa Puffs flying out of the box and into the air. You looked at his place on the ground in shock, your eyes wide and brows furrowed. “Scott?!”

Knocked out. 

You scoffed. “Really Scott?! Really?! This moment is supposed to be about me! And you’re the one who faints? Scott!!” You push on his shoulder to wake him up. You couldn’t believe him right now. When you need him at his best, he just dips from life.

 You groan in annoyance and grab a cup of cold water from the fridge and walk back to him. “Damn it Scott, WAKE UP!” You yell, throwing the water in his face. He immediately wakes up with a gasp and looks around in panic. 

“What! What happened? What’d I miss?” 

“My birth, Idiot! Or you will miss it if you don’t stop fainting!” You growled, helping him up. 

“Oh god, I’m not ready. phewww.” He sighs, playing with his hands nervously. 

“Oh, having second thoughts???” You ask sarcastically, raising your eyebrows at him. He stares at you for a moment, studying your features to see what he should say next that won’t get him a smack on the head. 

“Are you being sarcastic? I feel like you’re being sarcastic.” 

I’m gonna kill this man. “Just get me to the hospital, Scott.” 

“What do you think of the name Ant-tony?”

“Scott... I know you’re not thinking of naming our child after your pet ant.” 

[hanii-rose]

•Hello again, I’m the anon who requested gender neutral s/o! Thank you so much for writing such beautifully-written story between Garou and them. I’ve ended up loving it very much it was very good read, aww big kudos for you! ❤❤

And for the next request, as the fandom still hyped about part-timer Garou, how about of the continuation of the previous story:

The s/o has a stable job already, right? And Garou realized that currently being a freeloader in s/o’s house makes him a bit guilty. So he decided to lessen the s/o’s burden by taking a part-time job.

The s/o actually don’t mind of Garou being a freeloader, but seeing Garou becomes so determinated about it the s/o can’t help but feel very proud and happy for him.

Lots of fluffy moments after both of them finished working, like cooking a simple dinner together at home, resting their tired bodies on the couch while cuddling lovingly, Garou and the s/o sharing a lot of soft kisses during it while the s/o praising Garou’s hardworking, etc.

And as it’s the continuation of “Reunited’, of course the s/o is still a gender neutral.

Thank you so much and have nice days! 💖•

I’m so happy that I finally got to this one. There were a few requests before it so I had to complete those and I also had to write for the story on AO3 (-_-;) Sorry if I made you wait too long hehe I’m glad you enjoyed the first one tho

_________________________________________

Reunited Part 2

Garou x GenderNeutral!Reader

You stepped through your door after returning from your 9-5 job. Your muscles and joints ached and you stretched your body in an effort to wake yourself up, the plastic bag full of groceries crinkling with every move.

"I’m home…” you softly called, unable to produce a louder noise.

You took your work shoes off along with your coat and scarf, discarding them carelessly by the door, too tired to put them away.

You heard footsteps approaching and smiled when the Garou came towards you. You walked up to him and fell into his arms. Loosely wrapping your arms around his neck, you spoke softly.

“I am so tired today. I can’t even walk straight…”

He quirked a brow. His arms slithered around your waist and he picked you up, taking the bag of groceries from you and putting it on the kitchen counter on the way the bathroom down the hall.

“Another rough day, huh?”

Garou questioned softly and you nodded yawning.

“You have no idea…”

Garou set you down onto the stable counter of your bathroom and helped you out of your office pants, sliding then down your legs. You were left in your white shirt and socks.

Garou left after fixing you a warm bath. Undressing completely, you sat yourself down in your tub, the water temperature hot enough to soothe the undeniable ache in your bones from such a hard day of deskwork.

After washing yourself and sitting in the relaxing steam for an hour, you opted to get up and leave. Garou brought you your pajamas and you slipped them on, stretching and walking out of the tiled room with a towel in your hands.

“Ya finally done…?”

Garou asked deeply, sitting on the black couch of your apartment. You sighed and plopped down beside him, resting your head on his shoulder. His fingers came up to massage your sides and you leaned in closer, the two of you now laying on the couch, Garou’s head on the armrest and your body on top of his.

“Mm, this feels good…” you said, slightly drowsy.

“Yeah.”

The two of you laid in silence, the only sound coming from the T.V. opposite from the couch. Garou turned the volume down, setting the mood perfectly. His hands circled your waist, exclusively close to your derrière. His hot breath fanned your ear and you found yourself nuzzling into him even more.

Your eyes slowly shut themselves and you curled up into a comfortable position. Oh boy, this felt so…cozy.

“C'mon, why are you fallin’ asleep on me?”

Garou’s voice rang out and you instantly awoke from your drowsy state.

“Oh, um…sorry. I’m just very sleepy today.”

“Too much work these days…”

You leaned towards his cheek, connecting your lips with it. And with that you wearily stood up and spoke, “I’m just gonna go take a nap. Too tired to function…”

Garou nodded, reluctantly, and let you go. He watched you tiredly carry yourself to your bedroom and fall flat on top of the mattress, immediately falling asleep.

Garou sighed to himself and leaned back onto the armrest of the couch. This had been going on for a number of days. You come home from work, he bathes you and takes care of you, he tries to fuck you and love you but you blow him off for sleep.

It was starting to get infuriating. But why was this happening to you? Things weren’t like this the first month he was here…

In fact, a lot of things had changed since the end of the month. Your fridge used to be stacked with food, you used to have a lot more things around and most importantly, you were livelier.

It was like he turned everything around for you….

Oh, shit.

He did, didn’t he? Fuck!

You were only so tired because you worked harder to support the two of you, you bought the groceries all by yourself, you cooked for him, man he was just taking and taking.

Garou exhaled harshly on the couch, rubbing his face with his hands in a frustrated manner. He’s such an idiot…

Ok ok, think. What do you do when someone lets you freeload in their house, eat their food, lie around all day and be the laziest bum you can be?

Oh, that’s right! You get a job.

He’s made up his mind. He is going to get a job, but there’s no way in hell he’s gonna tell you that. He doesn’t need you gushing over how sweet and cute he is, not wanting to re-experience the time you teased him for trying to make a pancake. He just wanted to be nice without being called a sweetheart, c'mon!

Now, back to the matter at hand. What job can he actually get that doesn’t require any form of experience or education?

>>

You grab a packet of sweetener from the coffee drawer, tearing open the little paper on top and pouring it into the foam cup that held your recently brewed coffee. You silently stirred with the swizzle stick, observing the boring people of your office from the small break room you stood in.

Leaning against the white counter, you sipped the hot substance and sighed in contentment when it travelled down your throat. You slipped your phone out of your pocket and leisurely scrolled through the recent news articles which lined the screen, stopping to read anything important.

And so you spent the next 10 minutes of your 20 minute break just dawdling around on your phone. You threw away the small cup of coffee that had become too cold and bitter for your liking and trekked back to your office, pushing open the pristine glass doors.

Putting your phone away back into your pocket, you took a seat in your office chair, booting up your computer to get back to making spreadsheets and going over the accounts drafted for last month.

You sighed in boredom, correcting some errors made by your ex-deskmates. It feels so good to have your own office, feels so good to get away from those vermin and feels so good being their boss. Yep, getting a promotion was the best. The only down side was that you had way more work now, your underlings tend to make too many mistakes when it comes to balance sheets. You hadn’t told Garou the news yet, you wanted to do it over a cute dinner. It would be way more impactful that way.

Ah, Garou. He always made you feel better after a long day. Just seeing his cute big head relieved you of all the stress that you carried home. Not to mention the amazing feeling of his unexpectedly soft hair between your fingers as you tug and weave or the overwhelming feeling of his strong arms wrapping around your waist, pulling you close and holding your sore body. The touch of his warm mouth on your lips, kissing and worshipping it, invading every intimate part of your form. And the way his tongue felt on your

DING!

Oh, an email from your boss? What’s this about? The she-devil up there never emailed her employees for anything good…

Subject: Executive meeting

Dear D-Wing Employee,

Good Morning. Our company, as you are aware, will be merging with a larger firm, hopefully bringing us larger and more profitable trades.

It has been brought to my attention that many of our business partners and executive directors will be hosting a meeting in the D-Wing of our establishment. It would be most appreciated if all of our D-Wing employees would be willing to postpone their work for a day to enable our higher ups and VIPs to perform the necessary actions in completing this fortunate exchange between two efficient companies, striving to bring better service to the people.

The delay of work shall last from today 10:00 A.M. to tomorrow 12:00 P.M. Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any concerns about this matter, please submit a written letter to the E-Wing, describing your issues.

Best Regards,

Senior Director, Akari Hina

Woah, so you’re basically getting the rest of the day off? And no work at all tomorrow? Hm, maybe your boss isn’t so bad after all.

Packing up and grabbing your coat, you turned off your computer and headed straight for the door, running past all of the other D-Wing employees readying themselves to leave.

>>

Garou sat in the office of a delivery firm, arms crossed and leg bouncing up and down, antsy. He eyed the man in front of him, clad in a suit and tie and looking through the 5 minute resume that Garou printed up.

“So, you’re an expert in ‘being strong’ and 'being cool’. You don’t have much experience, you’re only 18 and you created this resume by yourself?”

Garou nodded, fiddling with the edge of the gray scarf you had gifted him. Ah, another reason to get a job, give you a gift.

“So, did you pass highschool or…? Sorry, I’m confused.”

The man took off his glasses, wiping it with a little cloth that was left on his desk, waiting for an answer.

“Yeah, I left after my third year…”

Garou confirmed, and the man put his glasses back on, and intertwined his fingers on the desk between them.

“That’s good enough. It’ll do. Which department are you looking to work in? We have filing, storage, delivery and cleaning. But you look like a strong kid, storage would be perfect for you.”

Garou thought for a moment, face twisting in confusion. Filing…ugh reading. Storage, hmm not bad. Delivery isn’t hard. He refuses to clean after the slobs here.

“I’m up for anything that has heavy work, no reading or cleaning, thanks.”

He curtly informed his soon to be boss. The suited man huffed and opened up his desk drawer for a notepad.

“Sign these and we’ll get you started. Deliveries should be fine, no?”

Garou picked up a pen and signed away, paper after paper. Who knew FedEx had so many policies?

After providing enough details on the notepad and filling up all of the consent forms, Garou stood up, pushing his chair back slightly. He went to turn the knob of the little office door but was halted by the voice of the man, or should he say, his new boss.

“I’ll have my assistant bring you your uniform, also get rid of the hair. It won’t fit in the hat…”

Garou turned the knob exiting the office and strode out into the garage. A small man walked up to him with a transparent bag of clothes, hiding his face behind it. The only thing he could completely discern about the boy was his name written on the tag near his breast pocket, Ibiki.

“Here is your uniform. When you come back tomorrow, we’ll make a name tag for you.”

The cheery, blushing boy spoke, informing Garou of what he needs to do next. Taking the packet from his hands, Garou asked for a bag to put his new clothes in.

Ibiki scurried off to find a bag and retrieved an empty white one, filling it with the plastic packet.

“Thanks.”

Garou was about to walk out when he heard the kid call out to him.

“Hey Mister! You forgot to take our card. You’ll need the bosses number. See, right here. And this one’s mine!”

Ibiki pointed out the two separate cell numbers and Garou nodded. Ibiki placed a shaky hand on Garou’s shoulder and patted the spot, saying something along the lines of 'you’ll love working with us!’. Whatever, he doesn’t care, all he wanted to do was make your life a little bit easier.

>>

You had arrived home an hour ago, Garou nowhere in sight. You decided to shower and read a book while you waited for him to come home. You had already purchased lunch for the two of you on your way back, deciding that the contents in your fridge weren’t good enough to work with.

After Garou had shown up, things had turned for the better. It seemed like he brought you good luck wherever you went. You could recall the time when Garou wasn’t with you, and frankly, they weren’t the best. He made your life a lot more interesting than what it was before.

Standing up and stretching, you trailed towards your bedroom with your book in hand, opting to lay down comfortably and read. An hour and a half had passed and there was still no sign of Garou. But you had forgotten all about that. You munched on some chips in bed, flipping through the pages of your book, so immersed in it that your ears hadn’t caught the sound of your front door opening.

Garou walked into your shared home, taking off the jacket and scarf and hanging it behind the door. The bag which held his new uniform was hung in the wall closet in the living room. He washed himself up and looked around, expecting you to not be here as usual, but something caught his eye. Your work shoes! Weren’t you wearing these today?

Wait were you home…?

He looked around the house, checking each each and every room when he finally decided to check your bedroom.

Opening the door, he waltzed in, his eyes perceived you on your bed, laying on your stomach with your eyes glued to the book in your hand, potato chip hanging from your lips.

You still hadn’t noticed him in the room and he fully took advantage of that. Creeping around the edge of the bed, he stopped momentarily behind you. He licked his lips at the sight of your butt, clad in tight, black trousers. Without warning, he jumped onto you, his hips landing right on top of your ample behind, rough, trained hands gripping your hips to keep you in place.

You yelped in surprise, book flying across the bed as you jumped, or tried to, out of the way.

“W-where did you come from?!”

Your face twisted in annoyance as you asked.

“I should be asking you that. What are you doing home?”

Garou laid himself on top of you, his sharp chin resting on your head and fingers tightly grasping the mattress under you.

“I have the whole day off today! Now, will you please get off?”

Garou chuckled in excitement at your words, arms coming around to flip you over onto his chest as he turned himself over on his back.

“Never.”

You rolled your eyes and sighed, relaxing down onto him.

“So, where were you this fine morning?”

Your question had not been answered for several seconds and you asked him again.

“Garou, where did you go?”

You turned around, still obove him, your chest to his. You gave him a questioning look, gesturing him to speak.

“Out.”

You quirked a brow, expression unamused.

“I know that!”

He sat up and hugged you, his sharp nose buried between you shoulder and neck, kissing the skin.

“With a friend.”

Garou said, eyes coming up to look at you, waiting for a response.

“Oh really? You have friends?”

He nodded hesitantly, avoiding direct eye contact.

Ok then, he was being weird… But you didn’t want to pry. What he does while he’s out is his business, there’s probably nothing to worry about. Its not like he’s cheating on you or anything, no, he would never do that, he’s not that kind of man.

>>

HE’S THAT KIND OF MAN!

How could he? I-, You- How?! You were just coming home early from work. Turns out your new position didn’t require you to stay for long hours like before, so you just opted to come home. You had to take the long way around this time, passing by all of the urban workshops and postal firms because your normal road was being repaired. You passed by a FedEx warehouse and you could’ve sworn you saw silver hair and a gorgeous body, belonging to none other than Garou.

That was him for sure! Oh, when you get your hands on him…

You stomped your foot in anger at the scene unfolding before you. Garou, undressing in the wide open garage, taking off the clothes you had bought for him, to put on some drab brown and black shirt and pants. A small man hanging off from his shoulder as Garou walked to the desk to…collect something? What is that…?

The fragile looking boy next to him stopped in front of his chest and took what seemed to be a small card and clipped it to the front of Garou’s shirt. He beamed at Garou and your boyfriend turned to pick up the boxes that were strewn around the warehouse and pack them into individual trucks.

Wait a second. Was he working? Garou was working! Ohhh, of course! Yeah, you never doubted him for a second…

You strolled towards them, unknown to the two inside the dark garage, hiding behind the tall stack of boxes. Playfully walking up behind him, the small man gently tapped Garou on the shoulder. He turned around, large boxes still in hand, obscuring his vision.

“What do ya’ want now, Ibiki?!”

Garou’s sudden outburst scared the young man accompanying him, making him jump back frightened.

“The uh… b-boss wanted to umm… know if you could work overtime. Y-you’ll be payed…”

Answered the trembling voice of 'Ibiki’.

“No, I got better things waiting for me at home…”

Garou’s soft answer made you tear up somewhat, and you smiled very gently. Turning your heel, you trecked back home to wait for him. Oh, you might as well set up a surprise for him!

And so, you sneaked away, racing home to start setting up decorations for your hard working man.

>>

It was around 2:00 in the afternoon when Garou had finally walked through the front door of your shared home. He let out a relaxed sigh and carefully hung his hat behind the wooden door rack and stretched. His shows had already been discarded near the doormat as he made his way over to the bathroom, passing by the living room decorated with fairy lights and a blanket fort.

Wait a second, fairy lights and a fort?! Did he walk into the wrong house?

He came closer to the blankets sprawled across the floor, getting on his knees and picking one up to inspect it, not expecting you to be under it waiting for him.

“SURPRISE!”

You jumped out from under all of the pillows and wrapped your arms around his neck, pressing kisses to his cheeks.

“What’s all this? Yer’ home early again?”

Garou questioned, a confused expression on his handsome face.

“A surprise for you, duh…”

He smirked and coyly slid his arms under your legs, picking you up and setting you down onto his lap.

“No, really? What’s the occasion?”

You gave him a look as if saying, 'seriously?’

“Well, I was walking home from work and I couldn’t take my usual route. I walked past a few shops and I saw you…working. I was so surprised…”

Your voice got quieter as it neared the end and you awkwardly twiddled your thumbs, eyes casted downwards.

“Garou, why…why didn’t you just tell me you got a job?”

Garou let out a huff and ran his fingers through your hair. He looked deep into your eyes and cast you a cute little blush.

“W-well, I know how ya’ kinda freak out when I do…anything so I didn’t say nothin’. I just wanted to help out, ya’ get so tired after comin’ home. I ain’t gonna sit around and watch ya’ work yer’ ass off for me…”

Your fingers gently caressed his face, bringing it closer to yours.

“Garou, the reason I’m so tired after coming home is because I’m still adjusting to my new post at the office. I got promoted and I promise, once I get the hang of it, I won’t be tired at all.”

Garou’s mouth enveloped yours in a sweet exchange, hands roaming your hips.

“I’m really proud of you though…”

Garou broke into a genuine smile, no teasing smirk or smug grin. A genuine stretch of his lips.

“And what do you mean I kind of freak out? I do not!”

You pouted on his lap, crossing your arms and looking to the side.

“Ya’ just planned a surprise for me…”

You blushed and pulled his cheeks.

“Hey, this doesn’t count!”

He chuckled and smirked as you climbed off of his lap and onto the ground below.

“Now take off your clothes and get in here!”

>>

The rest of the afternoon was spent in bliss under a large warm blanket. The two of you lovingly cuddling together, watching movies and talking about Garou’s new workmates.

“So, this Ibiki kid follows me around everywhere, it’s kinda annoying to be honest.”

You laughed at his statement and pointed a finger at his chest.

“Well, he probably likes you. You are very handsome…”

He smirked and gave you a suggestive look, pulling your body closer to his under the blanket.

“Too bad I’m not available, right?”

You giggled at his response, snuggling into his warmth.

“Yes, too bad indeed…”

Giving you one last loving look, Garou kissed you passionately, his fingers caressing your cheek. Your own hand laid gently on his cheek, lips tightly locked with his.

Separating, the two of you breathed heavily and smiled.

“I love you…”

Garou softly admitted, giving you another one of his glorious genuine grins.

You happily blushed, hugging him close and whispered.

“I love you too. So much…”

And with that Garou kissed you again, feverishly, pulling the blanket above your heads, ready to take you to heaven.

It really couldn’t get better than this…

_________________________________________

[andsmile]

do you think b/rchie is bad for betty?

I’ve been postponing answering these questions because...welp. I talk about BA too much, but you guys seem to enjoy my discourse, so.

I think I have to be clear that I don’t think that fundamentally Archie and Betty are bad to each other. They’re “good people”, they’ve been friends their whole lives, in a bubble where you have Archie and Betty growing up together with their friend Jughead or without their friend Jughead and they date other people along the way etc, Veronica shows up or doesn’t, but BA end up together, childhood friends to lovers or whatever it is that attracts the shippers, I think it’s whatever. 

It’s just another ship and it’s a valid one. Archie is fundamentally a good character, he’s not gonna hurt her or anything, and Betty is fundamentally a good character, she’s not gonna fuck his life or something. 

Even though the idea of them bores me I think that if written the right way, they can be good and interesting. If you want to write a fic about how their journey went I am pretty sure your fic will be a good, compelling story, and it might even be as in character as possible for characters we met in the pilot...in season one, if I stretch.

H o w e v e r, and my point every time I explain why I don’t like BA, 

These two characters don’t exist in their bubble. They don’t exist in the universe you created. They exist within a certain universe that is already established by four seasons of a certain canon, portrayed in a certain way, and I don’t think some people realize how this universe is established:

In the canon universe, Archie and Betty had childhood crushes on each other. Archie moved on, Betty didn’t. She confessed her feelings and dreams, that are very paralleled to becoming her sister and Jason Blossom. Then, Archie rejects Betty because he doesn’t have feelings for her and even though he says to her that it’s because she’s too perfect for him (and he says that because he feels guilty for hurting her) it’s not what he said to the girl that caught his eye before (I have never felt whatever I’m supposed to feel with Betty is a the line he says to the girl that caught his eye, and yeah okay we could play into the denial narrative but then two seasons later he tells Veronica Ronnie, when I first met you, you were it for me so I think Archie knew exactly what he was supposed to feel) and Betty got sad for a bit, but she moved on and found a connection with Jughead. Who was Archie’s best friend. And even if Archie felt jealous or not (I have said before what I think about his jealousy, and BAs have called me delusional, but anyway), that’s what happened. Betty found in Jughead both a boyfriend and a best friend and became the power couple that had nothing to do with the childhood dream. Archie got with the girl who was “it” for him from the beginning and went through hell and back for her. Every once in a while, they look over their shoulders to each other, especially when things with Jughead and Veronica are shaky -- and boy, they’re often shaky -- and are reminded, in different intensities and timings, of things they could’ve been.

This is the canon narrative, and if you support BA in canon understanding this, that’s probably fine. But most people go by some narrative created by the great majority of the BA fandom that, essentially, says that the story these four seasons of canon is telling us is a bunch of lies. That the Archie has only dated who he did (three woc) because he couldn’t get his hands on the perfect, virginal, white girl-next-door that he wasn’t ready for. That Betty’s main character traits, that have only actually flared up after she got over him, changed her and made her someone insufferable, and that she was better around Archie, even though he didn’t feel anything for her before. A narrative that reduces Betty to a girl who actually found out who she really was so she could “claim her prize”, and that reduces Archie to be “her prize”, because none of his choices matter either. He was just regretting making “the wrong choice” all the time. In the middle of the way, this fan-created narrative still says that the very deep and meaningful relationship Archie has with a latinx is just sexual. It also says that the very deep and meaningful relationship Betty has with Jughead is “rebound”, “incest”, “bland”, just because it’s not sexual enough, according to them. Even though it is. But of course, the main and the latinx woman are all about sex. Betty and Jughead act like siblings, they’re boring. Archie and Betty? The perfect combination of the main and the virginal, perfect girl who can’t do no wrong. But now the main sees that she isn’t perfect! He knows her better than anyone, even better than her boyfriend/bestfriend, even though they haven’t interacted in years. And now that she has proved herself not perfect, not virginal, she can be with him, and she won’t be oversexualized even if she is--they’ll be crazy about each other, romantic! Exciting!

If you support this made-up narrative in the bubble of Riverdale, you are invalidating all the growth and the choices these two characters have done in four seasons of content. That’s why many reviewers that aren’t up on the idea of BA stemming from the comics or in the idea that the show “needs a change”, said “this was so out of character for them”, because it was. You reduce their journey as characters and turn them into each others love interests and that’s all, they’re nothing else. And you do that in the expense of friendships (that aren’t well developed but that we are still meant to believe in), the entire character of Veronica (I will never shut up, if you think Veronica is a bump in the road for Archie you are simply an asshole), the gigantic amount of trauma Archie’s been through, the gigantic amount of change and growth Betty’s been through aaaand---

The comics! That’s an usual argument I see around to be pro-BA in the show, because they stem from the comments, and it always flabbergasts me because...the ARCHIE COMICS? REALLY? Who basically created the girl-next-door stereotype in the 1940′s and numerous Betty’s have been portrayed here and there always taking all the bullshit from their husbands who are often pursuing the “Veronicas” of the world and coming back home where they wait and suffer for them? I can mention at least 10 characters from the media that are made in Betty’s molds and the cathartic moment for all of them are when they finally get the fuck away from their “Archies” who never love them enough, but then you have, in the very AC live action, the actual Betty Cooper’s character who makes a vow with Veronica for boys not come between them, look over her shoulder and stop focusing on Archie for the first time in seven decades to focus on someone else in a cinematic moment that should go to feminism in media (I swear) with how symbolic that shit was, and you want... you really want... her to go through this so soon in her journey so she gets Archie as her prize in the end?

You cannot convince me you are a fan of Betty Cooper in any universe if that’s what you want for her.

So, yeah. I think BA is bad for Betty. I don’t think Archie is bad for Betty, I don’t think Betty is bad for Archie, but I think their ship in the canon context of Riverdale and the ~representation game they play, it’s a menace. You can all send me inboxes again saying people should be able to ship whatever they ship - and they should. And they will. I won’t change that. I am only giving out my opinion, and I stand by it. 

[pi-cat000]

MSA time travel idea (part 39)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Vivi POV, 8, 9, 10, Lewis POV, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Lance POV 18, 19, Lewis POV 2, 21 , 22, Vivi POV 2, 24, 25  Lewis POV 3,  Mystery POV , Vivi POV 3, 29, Lewis POV 4, 31, ViVi POV 4 , 33, 34, Lewis POV 5, Mystery POV 2, Lewis POV 6, Vivi POV 5

Part 40: here

...

LEWIS POV

Lewis comes to welcome the dark interludes which provide a brief reprieve from the parade of fake-Arthur-memories. The cold, empty silence is preferable to the increasingly dour scenes depicting the day-to-day struggles of fake-Arthur and fake-Vivi as they fail at dealing with fake-Lewis’s death. Not that either of them know about his death. Arthur doesn’t remember the cliff or the body snatcher, thinking fake-Lewis is alive and lost somewhere. Vivi doesn’t remember him at all. He’s been erased completely from her mind, leaving her confused and Arthur distraught.  Lewis has no idea how long he’s spent watching them struggle. The scenes come and go at varying lengths and changing levels of detail.  He must have lived through several weeks’ worth of fake-memories now. Months of Arthur’s life flit by, broken up into chunks. 

...

A conversation with Vivi, trying and failing to convince her that the other-Lewis had existed at all.

“Lewis…you know, Lewis. Please remember.”

“I’m sorry, I blanked out for a second there…what were you saying?” 

“Nothing. It’s nothing…”

“Oh shit…I was...how long was I out for this time?”

“An hour...You were gone for an hour.”

 “I’m sorry Arthur.” 

“Don’t worry about it. Was my fault…Mentioned something I shouldn’t have.”

Fights with Lance when the older man attempts to intervene and stop Arthur’s increasingly destructive behaviour.   

“This behaviour isn’t healthy.”

“What am I supposed to do!”

“Maybe, stop and actually think about this…” 

“Lewis is out there somewhere, and you want me to just give up!”

Hours spend online and in police stations trying to convince people to look for the other-Lewis. 

“Kid. You’re friend is listed as missing. We have alerts out in the neighbouring states and so far there’s been no word. Search parties, caving experts, were combing those old mine shafts for six days after you came in. There was nothing there.”

“Something happened there...something bad...if you would just...”

“The cave is just a regular cave. Those old mines are old mines. Nothing weird or spooky about them, just very easy to get lost in. There’s nothing more to be done so go home, eat a hot meal, get some sleep. If your friend shows up you’ll be one of the first to know. ” 

...

 It’s like watching a highlight real, only nothing about these memories is a highlight. He’s almost sure the fake-memories are selected and purposefully skewed towards negative experiences. Surely, even if this were real-it’s not real, it can’t be real-Arthur’s life wouldn’t be this bad without Lewis there.  

When the darkness falls away, transitioning into another memory, Lewis wants to yell out in frustration.

…

…

…

Lewis’s eyes open of their own accord and he’s looking out at the world, experiencing life from his friend’s perspective.

…

…

This memory starts with Arthur staring as a door handle, hesitating to pull it open. Lewis recognises it of course, he’s seen this door serval times, scattered in amongst the most recent lot of fake-memories. It’s the door to Vivi and Arthur’s apartment in Milton, faded green in colour and rusted around the hinges.

Arthur lets out a long breath which tranistions into a yawn, fiddling around with a set of keys with his one, good arm. Lewis tries not to worry when his friend drops the keys to the ground, hand slightly shakier than usual. Arthur probably hasn’t been sleeping properly. Not-sleeping is a running theme for this fake-memory-Arthur.

When the door does finally swing open, it is to reveal an irate Vivi. She is blocking the flat’s narrow entryway, her hands on her hips, expression creased into a scowl.

“In what universe does ‘I’ll be back early’ mean 11:30 pm?”

Arthur winces. Lewis can’t see his expression but his friend is probably grimacing. Most memories that feature both Vivi and Arthur involved an argument of some sort. Another form of torture for him no doubt. Seeing them struggle to come to terms with his disappearance was always a painful viewing experience. Lewis braces himself for some sort of emotionally charged argument, wishing he had the power to intervein. These fake-memories are some of the hardest to sit through.

“A lot of the guys in the lab work late hours.”

Vivi looks unimpressed, “And I suppose they’re all recovering from a recent amputation as well are they?”

“It’s been four months …It’s healed plenty.”

Lewis feels the echo sensation of pain as Arthur drops his bag to the floor, freeing up his remaining arm. Arthur lying to Vivi about his wellbeing is another common theme in these fake-memories. Vivi knows it too, Lewis can already see the tension in her shoulders.

“I’m fine,” Arthur tries to reassure, skirting around Vivi, avoiding eye contact. “The prototype for the new arm is almost done, we’re just waiting on the guys in programming to double-check some of the coding….”

“This new arm isn’t going to be worth much if you’re too exhausted to do anything with it.” Vivi interrupts angrily, following Arthur as he slinks past the small kitchen towards bedrooms at the back of the apartment.  

Lewis feels her grabs the back of Arthur’s shirts, pulling the other up short.

“I said I’m fin….wait.”

 Vivi drags Arthur to the narrow kitchen bench just big enough to fit two bar-chairs, ignoring his objections.

“Sit.” She orders, stopping over to the frig, pulling out a bowl and thrusting it into the microwave. The hum of the microwave makes the following quiet twice as uncomfortable. Even Lewis feels it.

Arthur clears his throat to speak and is cut off when the microwave lets off a loud ping.

Vivi all but slams the streaming bowl down in front of Arthur.

“You really don’t have to…” Arthur tries.

“Oh yeah? What did you eat for dinner?”

Silence.

“Lunch?”

“…”

“Because I only know you ate breakfast because I was there for it.”

More silence hangs between them.  

“Eat.” She instructs and glares until Arthur picks up the spoon. Lewis can feel Arthur shift in awkward discomfort as he starts eating. After living through so many of these fake-memories, Lewis is becoming an Arthur body language expert. 

“How was work?” Arthur breaks the silence, glancing at Vivi. She is sitting with her arms crossed, still upset, still annoyed. Lewis can read the worry fuelling her frustration clear as day. 

Her expression clears as she deliberately puts the issue of Arthur arriving late to one side, “Work was good. Duet is a real character but they’re nice and super knowledgeable when it comes to the occult and other supernatural stuff. They’re helping me research memory-related curses and whatnot. The first person, apart from you, who doesn’t think I’m crazy. So that’s a plus.”

“When my arm is fixed, we can hit the road and follow up on any leads you hear,” Arthur murmurs between mouthfuls and Lewis wishes he could face-palm because that is the exact wrong thing to say. Not for the first time, Lewis longs to be physically present so he can smooth over the sudden tension which spikes in the room.  “Or we could go before that…I mean…I don’t really need two arms.”

“It’s not urgent or anything,” Vivi responds with the forced cheer of someone holding back on speaking their mind. “I bleary notice that the memories are gone most days. Your arm is more important.”

 “Don’t say that,” Arthur stops eating to frown.

“Don’t say what? That I’m fine postponing the search for my memories for however long it takes you to get better?”

“That’s not…what I mean is that your memories are important.”

Vivi’s expression hardens, becoming terse, “Not more important than your health.”

Arthur tenses.

“My missing memories can wait,” She insists. “I’ve been doing fine without them. Especially now we live here and not in Tempo. I haven’t had a blackout since we moved.”

“It’s not just that…” Arthur retorts, frustrated.

“Then what.” Vivi snaps, almost yelling now, “Do you hear yourself speak?  ‘I don’t really need two arms,’…are you kidding me!  What could possibly be more important than your health.”

“You know I can’t tell you.”

Vivi lets out a long, frustrated breath, standing. “You promised, when we moved closer to the hospital labs, you promised that you’d make an effort to actually look after yourself.”

Arthur doesn’t respond as Vivi continues.  “When your arm is finished. When you look like an actual person and not a zombie. When we don’t have to have this conversation every day. Then we’ll go searching.”

The bar stool squeaks on the floor as Vivi pushes it back, “I’m going to bed. I’ve got work early tomorrow. You should sleep as well…when you’ve finished.”

A long silence stretches between his two friends, all the heat gone from the argument. Lewis can’t see Vivi anymore, Arthur’s vision is now fixed on his spoon which is resting on the lip of the bowl.

“I would tell you everything…if I could…” Arthur doesn’t look up. His voice is strained.

Vivi pauses in the doorway. “I know.” She sounds tired. Lewis’s heart aches. “That doesn’t change anything.” 

Arthur flinches.

A sigh and Vivi adds, “I better not find you awake in an hour because I’m going to set my alarm to check.”

“What?” Arthur finally looks up. “You can’t do that.”

“I can and will.”

“…but you just said you have work in the morning.”

“If you’re not gonna sleep then I’m not gonna sleep.”

“But….”

“Just the way it’s gotta be apparently,” Vivi finishes, strolling out of the room, leaving Arthur- and, through him, Lewis- to stare after her.

Arthur slumps, “God…damnit…” rubbing his eyes. There’s no anger to the word.

No matter how many times he’s seen Arthur and Vivi argue in the weeks and months following his counterpart’s death, it never got any easier.  They were both too stubborn for their own good. Arthur’s got a quiet, methodical stubbornness about him while Vivi is loud and abrasive. Mix that with emotional stress and an obvious concern for one another and the result was a whole load of tension. Lewis knows Arthur has low self-esteem and tendency to beat himself up and blame himself for stuff that definitely wasn’t his fault, but he’s never seen him this bad. It never seemed like that big a deal when both him and Vivi had been around to help.  Vivi too, he’s never see her so stressed and angry at seemingly everything.  Or maybe Lewis doesn’t know Vivi or Arthur as well as he thought he did. 

There is movement in the corner of the room and Lewis notices Mystery for the first time. The not-a-dog had been lying in the corner.

“What.”

Mystery just cocks his head to the side.

“I know you can understand me,” Arthur mutters, shifting with discomfort. Mystery doesn’t speak or do much of anything, trotting out of the room after Vivi. Not too surprising. Another trend in these illusions was that Mystery tended to just sit and watch.

Sometimes, Lewis wonders if he just imagined the whole ‘giant fox’ thing. His memories for the car park confrontation are fuzzy, he’d been in a lot of pain at the time and probably suffering a bit of blood loss. He’s lived through so many of these memories that the real would seams so far away. Then he remembers those shinning teeth biting into him, and very real physical pain. That was real. 

The real world was still out there. 

None of these memories were real. He had almost forgotten. 

“I’m not crazy,” Arthur murmurs, eyeing the dog uneasily before turning back to finish what’s left in his bowl. Lewis can’t read Arthur’s thoughts, but he suspects that his friend might be having similar doubts about Mystery’s true identity as well.

“I’ll find you, Lewis…”

For a second, Lewis thinks Arthur is addressing him directly before remembering that that’s impossible. This fake-memory-Arthur is addressing the ghost of a best friend he doesn’t know is dead. Lewis is only a passenger, watching life through Arthur’s eyes, invisible and stranded.

“I’ll find you …no matter what it takes. I’ll find you. And everything will go back to normal…”

…

…

…

The memory fades, darkening and Lewis is once again back in the dark.

...

...

...

“DAMNIT!”

He slams both fists into the ground, watching the darkness ripple under the impact. His yell doesn’t echo, swallowed by the nothing.

“Damnit…DAMNIT…DAMN IT ALL!”

Feelings of frustration and anger smother his hurt and sorrow. He growls, smashing his fist into the ground again. If this were the real world, he’d have to worry about bruising his knuckles or breaking his fingers. The void offers little in the way of resistance. 

“I GET IT, ALL RIGHT! They’re miserable…they’re struggling…I get the point!”

Nothing responds to his shouting. He’s alone. He shouts again, screaming into the void. He’s stopped questioning the motive behind what he was seeing long ago. They were illusions masquerading as his friend’s memories. Designed to hurt him as much as you can hurt a person without touching them.

“Just stop already!” He rages. Nothing responds.

 Fury, white-hot, is better than the creeping sadness threatening to drown him. Sure, being angry about things had never worked well for him in the past. He’d been a very angry child and it was only thanks to his adopted patents and then Vivi and Arthur that he’d put the unpleasant emotion behind him.

None of that mattered here. Here, in the dark, the anger is his only defence against the green bastard’s torture.

Lewis regrets not punching the asshole when he had the chance. He wishes he’d done a lot of things differently. Lewis continues yelling right up until the dark once again fades into another memory.

..

NOTE: Resurrecting this fic in anticipation for a possible new video maybe? One can only dream. Sorry if it reads slightly different, i’m a bit rusty.  

Part 40: here

[yikesharringrove]

maybe? 👉👈 steve taking a really long time with college (like on one year and off one yours year, on, off, on, off) and he still doesn't really know what he wants to do and he gets really frustrated bc billy just did college all in one go and steve is taking forever and he feels down on himself? idk im feeling the whump rn???

Steve had left high school having no idea what he wanted from the rest of his life.

That’s not true, he had some idea.

He knew he wanted to leave Hawkins, follow Billy wherever he was going. He knew he wanted to be with Billy for the rest of his life, he knew he wanted to leave the past behind and make new friends, people who were kind, and fun, and didn’t bat an eye when Billy pulled him into his lap.

But that’s about it.

So when Billy graduates high school, and gets a full ride to UC Berkeley, and they move into a cheap apartment in downtown Oakland, Steve is so happy that he got out.

He gets a job waiting tables at a restaurant down the street, pays half the rent and buys the groceries while Billy’s in class.

But then two years pass, and Billy’s soaring through college, working to his degrees, plural, because he just couldn’t decide between studying English Literature or Biology with a focus in research.

So he’s majoring in both and getting a minor in Italian because then I’ll know what you’re sayin’ when you start horny babblin’.

And Steve was at the same restaurant.

True, he was assistant manager now, and it came with a pretty okay raise, and he even gets dental insurance, but he feels so stuck.

So he enrolls in community college.

He starts with some general classes, still completely unsure of what he wants to study.

Billy said it was okay to just rule out things you don’t want to study, to nearly fail a math course and know that accounting is not for you.

So when Steve finishes his first year, he at least knows what he doesn’t want to pursue.

Meanwhile Billy has an internship at a lab through Kaiser Permanente. And he can read and write Italian than Steve can.

Steve is walking home from his job at the restaurant when it happens. He’s crossing the street, and gets hit by a car.

He’s taken to the hospital, where he’s informed of a fractured spine and another concussion.

He’s told his injury could’ve been much more severe, that he will not experience paralysis, but he needs physical therapy and walking will be difficult for a while.

Their finances take a big hit.

Billy’s internship doesn’t pay super well, and with Steve being unable to work for the foreseeable future, he’s fired.

Billy has insurance through the school, but because on paper, he and Steve have no real relation, Steve’s medical bills come out of pocket.

So Steve is bedridden for months. He can’t work or get groceries, or do fucking anything but lay there.

They can’t afford physical therapy.

But Billy has a friend studying to be a PT, and she comes over every Saturday, and practices her technique on him in exchange for ten bucks and a few beers.

And so the money Steve tucked away for school is rapidly diminishing.

By the time Billy graduates, Steve is a year into recovery. He still gets dizzy at odd intervals, and his back gets stiff when it rains, but Billy gets a job right away, doing research on flu vaccines.

And Steve goes back to work.

He gets a desk job, something he won’t have to be on his feet all day for. He works reception for a message therapist, which comes with free massages, which work wonders on his back.

So in the fall, he decides to give his education another shot.

He learns that history is not for him, and that his nutrition course was fine until they began looking into how the body processes nutrients, and he was fucking lost. He takes a few business classes, thinking, hoping genetics would take over and this is something he could do.

But his dad was right to take away the job opportunity at his own firm. Steve was not cut out for this.

After a year of research, Billy is promoted three times. He ends up working on some extremely important study that Steve does not understand for the fucking life of him.

But he sits and listens every time Billy explains what he did that day, even though Steve gets so sad when Billy mentions having to kill the lab mice to study their bodies.

So Steve is two years into community college, five years into living in Oakland with Billy, and he still is lost.

He takes a semester off, working more hours, trying to save up some money.

Because Billy is beginning to think about grad school, and that shit’s not cheap.

But Billy decides to postpone that, work for a few more years, and besides, he’s caught between studying something to put him in a research field, or just straight up going to medical school to study infectious disease.

Because Billy could. He’s smart enough for medical school, smart enough to research and be a doctor.

And Steve has a smushy spine and half a degree in nothing.

A semester off turns into a year.

A year and a semester.

Two years.

They’ve been in California for seven years, and Billy gets into grad school in San Diego. They move south and Billy spends late nights pursuing a Masters in Immunology.

And Steve works the front desk at a pediatrician’s office.

He’s flipping through a course catalog from the San Diego Community College when Billy comes home from his new job, the position he got after applying to only three labs.

He kissed the top of Steve’s head, moving to grab himself a beer from the fridge.

“You thinkin’ of going back?”

“I don’t know.” Steve slid the catalog closed. “Is it even worth it?”

“That’s something you have to decide.” Billy sat down, sliding the catalog towards him. Steve had crossed off the classes he had already taken, the ones he new he wouldn’t like.  “And you know, going to school isn’t the only option. You could get an apprenticeship, master a trade.”

“I can’t do anything where I need to bend over for really any length of time. So that rules out plumber, and car mechanic, and anything physical like construction, or landscaping or even general contracting is right out.”

Steve could feel the old shame, the doubt and the self hatred crawling up his spine.

“I have nothing to offer. I have no discerning skills, and in seven years I’ve only made it through two years of goddamn community college, and here you are, ripping through grad school like a fourth degree is easy.”

“Stevie, you’ve got a lot to offer. We just gotta find something that suits you.” He took Steve’s pen, turning to the back page of the catalog. “Okay, we’re gonna write down all of you strengths, and think of career paths that could fit those. I’ll go first, you’re extremely caring. You’d be good at any career where you care for people.”

“But I can’t study nursing or something, I barely understood my biology 101 course. Plus, nurses are strong. I can’t lift more than like, thirty pounds.”

“There’re way more caring fields than nursing, Pretty Boy. Although I would love if you were my nurse.” Billy smirked at him, leaning in to plant a sloppy kiss to Steve’s cheek as he rolled his eyes. “Another strength: your emotional intelligence is through the fucking roof.” He wrote it down. “Okay, I’ve said tow, so you say one.”

“Um, I think that I’m good at making people laugh?”

“Yes! You are. Perfect.” Billy scribbled it down. “You’re a good leader.”

“I’m pretty good at reading people.” Billy wrote Intuitive, can smell a douchebag from a mile away.

“You’re good under pressure.”

“Sometimes.”

“Every time I’ve seen. You’re good at keeping calm and keeping others calm.”

“I guess.”

“Nah, Stevie. Positives only. Say a strength.”

“I’m, uh, I’m good at, bilingual?” Billy stared at him. “Like, I’m bilingual.”

“Are you sure? I don’t think that was English, even.” Steve slapped his chest, Billy laughed. “I’m joking. You are bilingual. You’re also really good at making others feel safe.”

“I was always pretty alright at public speaking.”

“You’ve got a great eye for detail.”

“I’m good at teamwork, and delegating.”

“You’re really compassionate, too.” Billy drew a line under the strengths side. “Okay, so now we’ve got some of your strengths, think about what you’d want in a job, and we can match everything up and think about some careers that could fit.” Steve nodded, racking his brain.

“Um, I would want to work with kind people, I would kind of like to do something, you know, worthwhile. I’d like to be in charge of something. Like it’s fine if I have a boss to answer to, but I’d like to be fairly independent.”

“I already have so many ideas.”

“Lay ‘em on me.” Steve sat back, closing his eyes to try and picture everything Billy threw out.

“I’ve actually always thought you’d be a really good teacher. Especially if you did like, kindergarten. Just got to be around little kids all day.” Steve could actually see it. “I also think you’d be a could social worker, like to work with Child Protective Services, or something. Um, you’d be good at even planning. Or I think you’d be really good working at a nonprofit of some kind. Maybe you could be the event planner for a nonprofit.”

And Steve was sitting there, and suddenly, he had four career paths, just sitting right in front of him. Four super attainable career paths.

“Wait, wait those make sense.” Billy beamed at him.

“Yeah, that’s because I know you, Pretty Boy.” Billy opened the catalog. “So, I think if you choose to enroll, you should pick a few classes, like, Intro to Social Work, Early Childhood Education 100, and maybe like, Sociology, and see from there.”

Steve stared at the course descriptions for what Billy circled.

“Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry this has taken me so long.”

“It’s okay. Everyone is on a different timeline. And it’s not like you got to explore options in high school. You were told business until your dad decided that nevermind. So it’s understandable that this took you a minute. Plus, you went through hell with your back.”

Steve sat up straight, stretching out his back.

“But, I mean, the back thing kinda happened to you too, and you still made it through all your schooling.”

“Sure, I watched you go through it, but I was not in the pain you were. And like, emotionally, it fucking sucked to watch the love of my goddamn life go through something, and I couldn’t even afford therapy. Like, I felt so helpless, but that’s nothing to what you went through literally experiencing it.” Steve took Billy’s hand, linking their fingers together, pressing a kiss to his knuckles.

“You did the best you could. Everything was shit for like, that whole year.”

“I cannot telly you how many times I would go into an individual study room in the library and just like, sob for a while.And then I’d get so mad at myself, thinking of you at home, hurting and not even able to get yourself out of bed, and I’d race home feeling like shit.”

Steve scrubbed his fingers through Billy’s hair. He had cut it a while ago, kept it short these days.

“You were doing everything you could for me. I would just sit in bed all day, and think about how amazing you are. Like I would just think about all the good times we’ve had together, and how much I love you.”

“That explains why we didn’t fight for like, that whole year.” Steve laughed. Billy leaned to kiss him softly.

“And you know, even now we’ve done this, there’s still no rush on you. You don’t have to go back to school this year, of this decade, or anytime until you’re ready. Until you want to.”

“Well now, I feel like there’s a fucking light at the end of the tunnel. I’m almost, excited. Is this how you feel? Excited to go to school?”

“Welcome to the nerd life, Sweet Thing.” Billy drained the last of his beer. “You wanna go out tonight? Celebrate?”

“Like, go out to dinner, or go out?”

“Oh, just like dinner. Be home by eight thirty, in bed by nine, missionary with the lights off, and asleep by nine fifteen.”

“Sign me the fuck up.”

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

Black Cloth and Star Systems- Fusion AU

Ao3,   MasterPost,  More of This AU

Legally speaking this is the second installment in my fusion au, and u should definitely read the first one!! but it is not necessary to understand this one.

Relationships: Romantic Analogical, (briefly) mentioned romantic Royality

Warnings: Tooth-rotting fluff, minor insecurity (it is Logan after all), one (1) kiss, excessive cuddling, Virgil and the Logan/Virgil fusion both have monster-like traits (big teef, pointy ears, nocturnal eyes, etc.), the fusion is also agender because I said so, and seriously lots of flowery descriptions cuz I was really having a good time with this one. Oh, and lack of sleep/unhealthy sleep schedules, brief mention of paranoia (very very minor), and I think I accidentally implied that Virgil has ADHD but that’s par for the course. 

Word Count: 3,797

Logan stared at the ceiling of his room, tired eyes tracing over the patterns etched into it. They were irregular, scrawls and lines that bumped up from the plaster and stretched on and on. If he squinted, they could almost look like maps- charting and directing the reader across a very foreign land, and in addition the reader might not be good with following maps, which would explain why this one seemed so vague. Or maybe it wasn’t showing a place at all. Nowhere real, at the very least. 

Oh, what the fuck was he talking about. The ceiling was a goddamn ceiling, and Logan was exhausted.

Sleeping would be the ideal solution, and it was something he definitely wasn’t opposed to, but by this point it was borderline impossible. Logan could shut his eyes, but he knew all he’d see would be that blinding flash of pink light. He could try and try to relax beneath his blanket, but still he would see double-set of eyes, swirling between emerald green and cinnamon brown, set behind big cutesy-framed glasses. He’d picture those two pairs of arms, that staggering display of height, and the body that was decorated with gold and crimson and sky-blue. 

What he was seeing was beyond understanding, and it was all that he could think about. His friends had fused. Patton and Roman, out of pretty much nowhere, had become one being right before everyone’s eyes. One burly, talkative, and endlessly fascinating being.

Like any person who persistently sought knowledge, Logan had taken to investigating the new creature at once. He’d had questions, burning questions, but Patron- as he’d named himself- had requested some alone time in his new form. It was a perfectly reasonable ask, so Logan resolved to postpone his interviewing until Patron was ready. But then, just as he was looking forward to finding out more about him that next morning, he was back to being two sides. Two sickeningly sweet sides who were way too caught up in their new relationship to answer any of Logan’s questions copacetically (All their answers had been full of purple prose, talking about how fusing was just the most amazing thing, and providing no real insight into it at all). 

Logan, presented with bizarre occurrences and offered no explanation, was understandably restless, abuzz with curiosity, and frustrated. And, if he was being honest, he was interested in the topic beyond what could be considered objective study, as well.

Very interested, in fact. He found himself wondering that… perhaps… Was he also capable of fusion?

Yes, the best way to learn about it would be to experience first-hand, so that would solve that problem. But that was hardly Logan’s entire reason for wanting to try it; Patton had soundly reported that forming Patron helped his and Roman’s communication by miles. Specifically vis a vis their more affectionate emotions, which really ended up being the thesis of the whole ordeal. It was, fundamentally, a very affectionate thing. 

Logan sat up abruptly, shooting a glare at his door from across the room. This was getting ridiculous; it would be a horrible idea to try something as significant as fusing with so little information on it. Just because it seemed self-explanatory didn’t mean that it was, and the results could be unstable and catastrophic!

But. 

But it wouldn’t be. There was the side he knew- the side he trusted- well enough to believe that it wouldn’t really go so awry.

Logan was making excuses.

What was there to be explained verbally that wouldn’t be much easier to just experience? Patron had proved two things: 1, fusing could happen, and 2, fusing could un-happen without issue. Any of the specifics would be figured out best by firsthand experience, that was pretty evident.

So Logan was making a few excuses, and maybe he was a bit scared about the whole thing, but so what? It was a moot point anyway, because Virgil would never want to participate in it, anyway. The idea of fusion would only upset the anxious side, maybe send him spiraling, and that was the last thing Logan wanted. 

With a groan, Logan flopped back down onto his bed, resuming his studious observation of the popcorn-patterned ceiling.

… 

Yeah, it wasn’t working.

Logan dragged himself up yet again, flinging the covers off of his legs harshly. He sat, immobile, glaring down just past the foot of his bed for an uncertain amount of time. He then heaved a very over dramatic sigh, kicked his legs over the side of his mattress, and stood. He set his feet down as though the carpet had personally wronged him, trodding across the room and throwing his door open with the same temperament. 

 The hallway was pitch dark, but Logan barely noticed it. He made his way down the stairs, the map of the Mindpalace splaying out in his head and directing him as well as light would. As soon as he hit the bottom of the stairs, his (moody) stomping ceased, for the time being. He tipped his head to one side, confused, as he listened out. 

There was a perfect silence.

An abrupt perfect silence. The very specific type of quiet that was too clearly manufactured. Such a- a tense hush could only be brought about by someone deliberately holding their breath. 

Logan shuffled his feet, peering into the blackness. Something shifted over by the couch, and the gleam of two reflectively-paneled eyes made themselves apparent. Logan yelped in fright, stumbling over his legs and bumping his back into the wall. 

There was a thump from across the room, a curse of ‘oh, shit’, and another shimmer from those eyes, animalistic and narrow. 

“Logan?” A gravelly voice asked, “Is that you?”

Logan blinked, staring at the dark silhouette that had come to stand before him. Animalistic, perhaps, but very very tall, and very very person-shaped. 

“Virgil?”

A lamp clicked on, washing the room in low and orange light, revealing that the creature was indeed Virgil. He looked considerably more human, now that he could be seen past his imposing outline- and he also looked more tired. 

Somehow, despite all of the other oddities in their situation, Logan found himself preoccupied by the smallest detail.

“Your eyes, Dear,” he drew forward for a closer look,  “How haven’t I noticed? They’re reflective!”

Virgil shrugged impassively, leaning down to let Logan hold his head and examine the unusual feature. 

“You can’t really tell unless it’s very dark out, or if you know what you’re looking for. I guess it just never came up.”

“But you can see in the dark, then?” Logan asked, perfectly aware that he sounded more than a little awed. Virgil just snorted, looking endeared. 

“Yup,” he popped the ‘p’, “Is it that big of a surprise?”

Logan turned the question over in his mind, but after a moment he shook his head, no. Virgil already had a multitude of unique attributes- his fangs, his claws, and a few more distinct things that only appeared when he got particularly stressed. (All of the sides had traits like those, actually. Of them, Logan was certainly the most average- the only discrepancy had to be his slightly exaggerated proportions, and even that couldn’t compare to some of the others’.)

Virgil hummed vacantly, shifting his weight a few times over. He kneaded his shoulder, glancing down at Logan with sudden interest. 

“So, what’s up with you? It’s like, three in the morning.” 

Logan stiffened, but tried to disguise the worry. 

“I could ask you the same question,” he deflected, ineffectively. Virgil only smirked in response. 

“I mean, I guess you could: paranoia, pent up energy, general inability to focus- you know, the stuff that keeps me up every night. You, though,” Virgil hovered over him, making him tilt his head back to keep eye-contact with their height difference. Logan felt his face flush, though it was only partially due to embarrassment. “You don’t stay up late, L, like ever.”

“I’ve just been thinking a lot,” he once more evaded. 

“You’re always thinking,” Virgil responded with a laugh, but he stood up straighter and gave Logan his space. Logan glanced up, confused, only to get a shrug by way of reply. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, babe. I’m not gonna, like, interrogate you. I just… wanna make sure you’re okay, is all.”

“Oh,” he smiled, “Yes, I am. Thank you.”

Virgil gestured to the couch, returning the smile.

“Wanna stay up with me? Might help you get your mind off whatever it’s on.”

Logan relaxed at that, nodding a bit sleepily as he followed his partner to the sofa. 

Virgil’s arm was twined around Logan’s waist, holding him into the taller trait’s side as they sat comfortably on the couch. In the near pitch dark, Virgil’s laptop was propped up against the coffee table, the screen lit up by slightly unnerving YouTube animations. 

Truth be told, though, Logan had paid attention to exactly none of them. He had a few reasons for this: one, he was very sleepy. Two, Virgil was warm- much warmer than himself, as Logan had always had strangely cold skin, and the heat was calming. And three, he was still caught up in his own thoughts, albeit less frantic and frightened versions of them by this point.

He knew that Virgil could easily sense his anxiety, but still, Anxiety did not pry. Add that to the many-paged list of reasons why Logan appreciated him as much as he did. 

Appreciate him he did, yes, and he also- he trusted him. Completely. To such a degree that, in the serene partial-silence between the couple, Logan found himself wondering what would happen if he just… told Virgil? If he explained what was on his mind, would it really upset him as much as he feared? The idea of fusing, well, just talking about it couldn’t be too much of a disaster. They were too strong, too stable for that.

“Virge?” Logan didn’t turn to look at him as he spoke. The name was really just a murmur on his lips, uttered noncommittally and with the hope that it might just go unheard.

With a soft click, the video paused, and Virgil shifted. 

“Yeah?”

Oh. He was really doing this.

“Could I ask you about something?” Logan would’ve left it at that, but feeling Virgil tense up beside him, he hurried to elaborate: “It’s nothing bad, my love, I just- it’s what’s been worrying me, this evening.”

“Uh- ask away, I guess..”

Logan took a deep breath, feeling his heart rate increase concerningly. He was thankful for the lack of light in the room; if the embarrassed heat spreading across his face was any indication, he likely looked just as nervous as he felt.

He exhaled, trying to focus on Virgil’s arm around him instead of the worries. Everything would be alright.

“You remember when Patton and Roman fused, I trust?”

There was an almost subtle intake of breath from Virgil. 

“Yeah, I wasn’t about to forget something like that, L.”

“Right, of course,” Logan found Virgil’s hand and wound their fingers together, fiddling with them. “I just wanted to know your thoughts on the situation.”

There was a beat.

“Um. I’m just relieved that they could get back to normal, I guess. I was sorta worried they’d get stuck- which doesn’t make a lot of sense in hindsight, but with how clingy they both are, I mean…” 

Logan hummed, encouraging him to go on, despite the intelligent side’s swiftly fading hope.

“But, like, now that I know they’re okay, I guess it’s not really any of my business?” Hesitation laced Virgil’s voice, as though he wasn’t sure what he was meant to say. “Other than that, though, I just think it’s kind of weird. Like, the whole idea of it. Fusion.”

“‘Weird’ in a negative sense?”

“I don’t know, man,” Virgil huffed, “I mean, I’m not a big fan of cartoons but- it’s weird like it’s interesting, weird like I wanna know more. If that makes any sense.”

Oh. That was promising.

“It does make sense,” Logan whispered, desperately emphatic. The glow of Virgil’s eyes turned to him, wide enough that they looked like little full moons.

“Did you-” he stopped short. Inhaled sharply. Then asked it all in a rush: “Are you asking because you wanted to try it? With me?”

Logan stayed silent, gripping too-tight to his boyfriend’s hand. He sounded… surprised? But maybe not upset? 

Oh, who was he kidding, he’d never been able to read tones, really, and it was too dark to try and figure out Virgil’s body language. He’d just have to go blind on this one.

“Yes,” Logan blurted, immediately holding his breath for a response.

Virgil was as stiff as a board. His hand was frozen in place, his gaze boring into Logan. 

“Are you sure?” 

His tone was soft, sweet, and so so careful. Logic blinked. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected from Virgil, but he knew that it wasn’t something so… gentle.

“I- maybe? It’s not necessary, if you don’t think you’d be comfortable with-”

“That’s not what I was asking,” Virgil interjected, “I wanna know if you’re sure that you want this, not how you think I feel.”

Logan mumbled an apology, feeling oddly chastised. He collected his thoughts and tried again.

“Yes, I’m sure. I- I trust you, Virgil.”

Virgil relaxed considerably, his head dropping to rest in Logan’s hair. 

“Okay. Good.”

And with that, he went quiet again. The show was not unpaused, though. Logan wondered if he was meant to say something, and if so he wondered what it was. But in the end he couldn’t make any sound at all.

Virgil’s hand slipped out of his, instead moving to the back of his neck. Logan instinctively leaned forward with its direction, letting himself be held close. In turn, he wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist, turning sideways into him. He was close enough now to hear the beat of the anxious side’s heart, which was always rather quicker than anyone else's. This time, though, it was like a hummingbird’s, hammering loud and excited.

Logan tilted his head (as much as he could) in confusion. Had the conversation somehow affected Virgil more than it first seemed? Was something about the situation that spiked his anxiety? But that didn’t add up, either, because his breathing was completely even, and he wouldn’t let anyone be this close to him if he really was panicking.

Before Logan could ask what- if anything- was wrong, Virgil nestled his face in his hair, holding him impossibly tighter. And at that point, they were pressed flush together head-to-toe. And that was what made it click. 

Oh, they were doing this now. This- this was Virgil’s way of attempting- 

Logan hooked his ankle around Virgil’s, clumsily attempting to reciprocate the- erm, the Thing That They Were Trying. Heat rose in his cheeks at even the thought of it. 

What was he supposed to do? Was there some way to activate it? Was it enough to simply touch, or was movement required to fuse? What if they couldn’t get it to work at all? That would make plenty of sense, Logan was logic and what was the possibility that he’d follow the same rules as, say, Roman-

“Hey.”

Logan glanced up, his neck straining at the angle. Virgil was gazing down at him, pupils expanded with fondness, his fingers easing through the hairs at the back of Logan’s neck.

“Calm down, okay?” 

Logan might have commented on the irony of that, but Virgil was leaning forward and pressing their lips together oh-so gently, and all his thoughts flew out of the proverbial window as he kissed back. 

It was soft, light, maybe a little clumsy. The touch was barely-there, really, just ghosting. And then it wasn’t there, at all. The feeling faded, as did so many others, but neither of them were moving apart- or at least, they didn’t think that they were. If anything, they seemed to be getting closer, and closer, but-

Closer to what, exactly?

They opened their eyes. Wait, no, they blinked a couple of times- ah, there, they opened all- five?- of their eyes. Not only was it no longer pitch black, but it seemed that lights had been conjured above them, dozens of tiny purple and blue tea lights that cast the living room in a pleasant glow.

Had- had they caused that? Somehow?

Conjuring on accident- how did they manage that? And what else could they do? What couldn’t they do, though, in this new form? Something like them was bound to have limitations.

They stood up sharply, and immediately cracked their head against the ceiling. They yelped in pain, silently amending that standing up straight while indoors was the first limitation to note. They hunched over, managing to keep upright if they just bent their knees and tilted their neck. And that brought on a much more important investigation into themself: their new physical form.

They were obviously very tall, but also sort of- long in general? Their limbs, their fingers, their face, every feature was very narrow, almost spider-like. And, on the topic of spider-like limbs, they had two sets of arms; one in the usual place, but another placed behind that, curving around from just under their shoulder blades. In addition, their fingers, lithe and spindly, were six on each hand. Despite the unordinary length to many of their appendages, though, they were still noticeably muscular. Wide shoulders, a defined abdomen, and sturdy legs.

With a sharp wave of their hand, they conjured a full-body mirror to hang in front of them, promptly leaning over to examine themself.

Their face was made of edges; sharp cheekbones, pointed ears, and blocky glasses that covered all of their eyes but the middle one. They ran their fingers through their shaggy, curled up hair- a good deal of which fluffed forwards past their forehead and into their face. It was mixed colors, swirls of purple and blue blending together in soft, bouncy locks. 

They had interesting features aplenty, but one thing stood out dramatically. One thing that drew their attention at once. 

The mouth.

Their lips were dark- almost black, with hints of color toned under it. They dragged a finger along it, but it didn’t wipe away like makeup. They opened their mouth, revealing long needles of teeth, dozens and dozens of them top and bottom- all except for the upper canines. Those were thick, overly large, and tinted with purple. They ended in dangerous looking points, shoving out past the new side’s lips even when they closed their mouth, appearing much like an arachnid's venomous mandibles. 

They took a step back from the mirror, experimentally poking their big fangs. To their surprise, the teeth moved; just a wiggle, but enough to show that they were mobile, that they could be flexed and retracted. Well, that was...

That was sick as hell.

Now, to investigate their outfit: they were a little monstrous, sure, but also very smartly dressed. They wore a navy blue plaid waistcoat, laid overtop of a pastel purple sweater, which in turn was beneath a plain, black, short-sleeved button-up shirt. Their tie was a simple white with subdued flecks of violet and sapphire, dotted to look intentionally asymmetrical. 

Their lower half also bore a layered aesthetic: sheer lavender leggings beneath strategically ripped black jeans. They also wore a short, tight skirt over it, the color and pattern matching that of their waistcoat. A few chains dangled from the belt loops on their hips, clinking a little as they moved. They had sleek black shoes with small platforms, something vaguely Demonia-style. Altogether, the look was a strange blend of elegant and alternative. Strange, but very, very, very… becoming, to say the least. 

They couldn’t help staring at themself. Actually, ogling might be the more accurate word. They were hot, was that vain to say? If it was, they didn’t particularly care, because it was true. Of all the things they could have been together, confident wasn’t expected, but it was more than welcome. Because- damn.

Five minutes of gawking at their own reflection wound up being enough, in the end, and they forced themself to wave the mirror back out of existence. There were so many more things to consider about themself, after all, and that just couldn’t wait any longer. There were infinite things to know, God, they were a new creature entirely.

It was… it was overwhelming. They had so many questions. They had so many concerns, millions of them, and millions of thoughts that didn’t fit into either of the aforementioned categories, thoughts that existed just to fill up space in a head that suddenly felt overpacked. Too many minds in such a reduced space.

It’s okay, they thought, sucking in a deep, slow breath, One at a time, Dear.

There’s too much. I can’t see it all. I can’t explain all of it.

Which half of them was that? Was it… both? Both of them, comforting and receiving comfort? What an impossible creation they’d become! Wait, no, they had to focus on calming down before they gave that any thought. 

We can’t get to all of it, they agreed with themself, Some of it, though, certainly.

Like what?

They thought for a moment.

We could start with a name?

Oh. That’s probably important.

Yes, just a bit. 

They let their breath out in a laugh, pulling their sleeves past their hands and curling their fingers in the fabric. It took only a second of contemplation before, quite promptly, they knew what they were going to be called from now on. They knew their name, and everything else began to click into place from there.

Livril.

They sighed, contented, and sat back into the corner of the sectional. They didn’t exactly fit, curling up on the couch as they had before, but they were easily flexible enough to find a way. Now that they knew their name, they could really start learning who exactly Livril was.

There was so much they could learn from this, so many things they could enjoy this way. What music did they like? (Probably sad. Most certainly folk punk.) How did they speak? (sharply, they would guess.) How did they move? (Quick, startling, definitely fidgety.)

And that was hardly all, though it was a good start. There was so much more to get to, and they intended to answer all of it as soon as possible.

...But that ‘as soon as possible’ would probably be in the morning, because Livril fell asleep exactly two minutes after their head hit the couch cushion.

Taglist: @shrimp-crockpot @glitter-skeleton-uwu @donnieluvsthings @intruxiety @thefivecalls @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @gayformlessblob 

[doyouever-daydream]

Take me out to the ball game.

A/N So…  This is the result of me being sad over Opening Day being postponed, the MLB livestreaming game 7 of 2016 WS when my Cubs won, and having watched yesterday the episode where Rossi talks about this and puts up the W in his office wall *cries thinking about it* (I thrive everytime David Rossi of Criminal Minds or Nick Miller of New Girl make a reference about the Chicago Cubs lmao) Also in my head the Simmons family are huge Nationals fans just for the sake of the story lmao. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it.

Summary: It’s MLB’s Opening Day and since the Cubs are playing against the Nationals, Rossi invites the whole BAU fam to the Nats Park. (Please remember I suck at summaries)

Pairing: I guess there’s a little Spencer Reid x SSA (y/n) (y/l/n) there but it is mostly bonding time between the BAU fam.

Warnings: None.

Masterlist

“Well, this isn’t Wrigley Field but at least our Cubbies are playing” (y/n) said to David as they got to their seats.

It was MLB’s Opening Day and David had invited everyone to go and see his beloved Cubs playing against the Nationals, he was particularly excited that he finally had another Cubs fan in the team. They were both wearing Cubs jerseys and hats.

“Aren’t you supposed to be on the field playing? There’s enough of you to be a team” Prentiss teased the Simmons family, who were proudly wearing Nationals gear, all six of them had jerseys, even little Rose Mary.

“Very funny, Em, but actually we’re incomplete, there are nine team members on the diamond” Matt said with a laugh.

“Better start working on triplets then” Will said while he and JJ put sunscreen on their boys.

“Not a chance” Kristy was quick to answer braiding Lily’s hair.

The whole BAU family was there, even though not all of them were baseball fans, they felt it would be a good memory attending Opening Day all together.

“I have an extra Cubs hat if anyone wants it, maybe you Luke, come to your senses, come on” (y/n) teased Luke and he jokingly gasped while adjusting his Yankees hat.

“Haha, very funny, (y/l/n)”

“I’ll take it” Spencer, who was conveniently sitting next to her,  spoke and everyone hid their smirks, they knew he was doing it so he could impress (y/n), truth was he didn’t know much about sports, he had been busy with his lectures so he couldn’t do proper research on the sport but he was willing to learn as the game progressed.

“Yes! That’s the attitude, Spence” She happily gave it to him.

“Usually I’m more into hockey and football but this could be nice” JJ thought the weather was beautiful and the atmosphere at the park was nice.

“Wait, till this lasts 4 hours or more” Kristy joked with wide eyes.

“What!?”

“This is the king of sports and now I could finally prove it to you” Rossi was ecstatic being there.

“I love you, Dave but if this goes on for more than three hours I’ll leave you up to it and I’ll go to the house, or anywhere else”

“Yup, I want to tag along if that does happen” Penelope chimed in and Luke laughed.

“Count me in, I’m mainly here for the food and the beer” Emily added with a beer already on her hand.

“Amen to that” Tara was also holding a beer and putting on her sunglasses.

“I want a hot dog!” Michael got hungry at the mention of food.

“Sure, buddy, I’ll go grab you one”

“I’ll go with you, the kids also will want food any second now” Matt was quick to follow Will and soon Tara, Emily and (y/n) joined them to buy snacks for the rest of the team.

Soon they were back with a lot of food and drinks for all nineteen of them.

They all chatted about different things, they were seated in two rows so that they weren’t that far from each other, the game started and Matt, David and (y/n) were immediately lost in the game, the three of them talking about what their teams were doing good and what they could work on.

Kristy noticed Spencer was a little bit anxious, he moved his foot and every other minute he looked at (y/n), probably wishing he knew something about baseball so he could talk to her.

“First game, Spence?” She bounced Rose who was sitting in her lap.

“Uh, yeah” He turned to her and little Rose who was having the time of her life with a foam finger, that was almost as big as her, his uncle Dave had bought for her.

“Do you want to know more about how baseball works?” She offered and Spencer nodded desperately.

“Ok, so…”

And so Kristy began to explain to Spencer everything she had learned of the sport from her dad, brothers and Matt, she enjoyed watching the games before she started dating Matt but when they started dating, Matt’s love for it rubbed off on her.

It was the middle of the fourth inning and the Presidents race was happening, the kids were excited to see it. Soon JJ and Will had their sons on their shoulders, Matt had Jake, Luke had David, Kristy had Chloe and (y/n) had Lily while Penelope carried a happy Rose.

The scene of all of them cheering on the presidents was adorable, Krystall decided to take a video to capture the scene. The race ended and the kids were on their seats again talking about how cool it was to see the presidents run.

“I want my own giant foam caricature head” A tipsy Emily declared “Let’s all make our own foam heads and have a BAU race, woo!” She screamed and everyone laughed.

“It’s a good thing she didn’t drive here” Penelope said still holding Rose.

“I’ll take her home, I’m taking Spence too” (y/n) offered as she noticed a very quiet Spencer “Are you having fun?”

“Uh, yeah, this is nice, it’s my first baseball game but Kristy helped me out understanding the rules” Reid nodded as he ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“That’s great, you should’ve told me and I could’ve explained it to you on our way here”

“Don’t worry, it’s ok” His smile made (y/n) melt, his eyes looked particularly beautiful with the sunlight above them.

“Maybe it was best that Kristy explained it to you, I can get intense as I’m sure you noticed”

“I would say you’re passionate and it’s… It’s- really nice to see you talk about something you’re so passionate about, you know, besides work” He looked at her with a shy smile on his lips and noticed she was blushing, as she was going to say something Lily tapped on her shoulder.

“Aunt (y/n), are you gonna sing with me the baseball song?” She asked with a sweet voice.

“Of course, I’ll do that, maybe uncle Spencer can sing with us too” He looked terrified because he had no idea what they were talking about “We’re going to teach you a song so you can sing it with us during the middle of the 7th, ok?” More than asking, (y/n) was informing him he was going to sing with them and he nodded.

Soon  it was the 7th inning stretch and everyone were on their feet ready to sing, while Emily and Penelope didn’t know all of the lyrics they did their best, the rest of them happily sang “Take me out to the ball game”, Reid had Lily in his arms as she and (y/n) waved their arms in the air to the rhythm of the baseball classic.

“Take me out to the ballgame, take me out with the crowd, buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks, I don’t care if I ever get back, let me root, root, root for the home team, if they don’t win, it’s a shame, for it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out at the old ball game”

At the end of the game the Nationals had won, leaving the Simmons family, especially the kids very happy, so David and (y/n) weren’t that sad their team had lost if it meant the little ones being happy. 

The rest of the gang was also happy at how the day had turned out, as they expected they had a great time, after all, it wasn’t everyday they were able to do this kind of things all of them together.

[nopperabounet]

Fish Tank 95 Interview with Hoshino Hidehiko Reporter: Okubo Yuka Translation: Lola

 What did you do for New Year's?

I relaxed so that now I can I work on recording the songs I wrote.

Really? So you didn't get sick or anything?

Not this year. So far I'm in good health *smiles*.

I'm glad to hear it. I'd like to take a look back at "THE DAY IN QUESTION 2019" .

As you know, the first day was at a new venue in Takasaki. I'd say it's been a long time since we played in such a beautiful venue like that one in Takasaki. It felt fresh since it's a music center.

I heard that creating the general framework for the set list was up to you this time, Hoshino-san, so how did you find working on it?

I decided the general idea, yes, but ultimately things get changed around as we rehearse and fiddle with it. I was thinking about what would create a good atmosphere for the show.

It felt a little different than your usual "THE DAY IN~" because it had such a powerful opening.

Probably because we opened with "Muma - The Nightmare" . . . . . .because both Yuuta and I said it would be good to start with it *smiles*, and I think due to that it creates that profound heaviness that flows through the rest. Which is good to do from time to time, I think.

I was also impressed by the two winter themed songs, "Snow white" and "SILENT NIGHT".

Of course that was the point of including these two songs in the performance. I mean they weren't the main part of the show this time but, I felt like it was incredibly important to have that sort of segment.

You played "SILENT NIGHT" with a new arrangement, so how did you end up getting Yokoyama-san to do it?

Up till now, "SILENT NIGHT" has felt somber and lonely to me so I planned on asking Yoko-chan to do something about that. . . . . .why? Did he say something yesterday about it?

So you're saying you're the one who wanted Yokoyama-san do to something with the sound, and that it was your suggestion all along, Hoshino-san?

Yes, exactly. Why? What did he say?

Imai-san said that he told Yokoyama-san, "I know Hide asked you to do something for him, but I don't really think this is what he meant."

Right, yes, ok. I knew he'd say that *smiles*. That's basically it *smiles*. But well, it's ok you know. We worked it out amicably in the end.

What feeling were you trying to go for Hoshino-san?

I just wanted something with more guitar *smiles*.

It was your first time performing "Datenshi" live, so how did you find the audience's reaction?

It went well, didn't it? As for their reaction . . . . .I'm not sure you know, I couldn't really see too well. Because I was trying to play it well *smiles*. Since it was the first time for me right, so I was worried about doing it properly.

You changed each set list up a little bit, and I understand that you did this while you were rehearsing?

Right. We change things up as we do them. Especially on the second day, we fiddle with the encores to get them to suit the mood of the day.

It was also your first time performing in Yoyogi Stadium so did that end up changing things for you because of nervousness?

Maybe. I mean Anii's always saying stuff like that after the show. "I screwed up!" *smiles* But for me that's just part of doing lives you know. We're also used to the feeling of Budoukan and its basin like shape, which lets us see people even if they're on the sides and it feels incredible you know, whereas in Yoyogi the seats stretch out far and flat so in the end, what you feel is the distance so I felt like it would have been more enjoyable to share a closer space together.

Any incidents happen during the tour?

Not this time, so I'd say it all felt good overall. I don't really remember any particular highs and lows, at least nothing more than usual I guess. Maybe it was because of the mood we created with the song choice . . . . . .that somehow nothing really bad happened. I guess I should make the set list next time too*smiles*.

Since it's best when there are no incidents *smiles*. At the end of the show you announced your upcoming activities, it was a nice way to close 2019.

I'm glad we were able to get people excited.  Now I have to do my best to make good on that.

You began recording the album yesterday beginning with your music, Hoshino-san.

Right. But we're only on day two.

Regarding the album, I wonder have you spoken at all about the concept with Imai-san?

Well I mean, I guess he talked to me about how we'll have a theme this time again. Why? What did he say?

He posted on his instagram about how the new theme is seven characters, but he wouldn't say what it was.

Sounds like him.

While working on 'Datenshi', he mentioned  that the key words were "deviating from the norm", so I was wondering if maybe he was doing something different yet again?

Well, I guess that's sort of it? But you know "deviating from the norm" is not seven characters. I dunno, I'm not sure what he meant. Since he hasn't told any of us either *smiles*. Ah well, guess we'll have to wait and see.

Were you consciously thinking about "deviating from the norm" as well with your pieces, Hoshino-san?

If anything I'd say one of the songs might seem like it's "deviating from the norm" but I didn't make it that way, it's CUBE-kun (CUBE JUICE) who is doing that because I had requested it of him. We're in the midst of making it more intriguing. I also have a nice medium melody too, so look forward to that.

OK *smiles*. Will CUBE-san help in arranging both of your songs, Hoshino-san?

I have CUBE-kun, and I already have YOW-ROW-kun helping me for another song.

How did that come about?

By chatting with Tanaka-san (their director). I had asked if he knew anyone who could draw something even more interesting from the songs I wrote.

Yesterday, Yuuta-san recorded his bass parts, so does that mean you're recording your guitar parts today?

Yes. I'll record my parts today, and then take a little break. Because we still haven't put in the lyrics yet, but I think it's shaping out to be quite good. I just can't tell for sure because I don't have the full picture yet. But I do have a hunch I know which direction it will go in.

Imai-san plays the guitar in your songs as well, doesn't he?

Yeah, I mean that's the plan but . . . . . .but I bet he said something like, "It might be better if I don't play in his songs" right? *smiles*

He didn't say that, but he did say something like, "I bet Hide's just gonna play all the guitar parts anyway".

Why would he say that? *smiles* I mean, I did think that but still. Well whatever, it will be fine because our  recording schedule has all been decided on *smiles*.

Has this sort of thing happened before?

It has, yes. Things are fine right now when it comes to recording, but in the past there would be times when he'd tell me he was too busy composing to come into the studio so I'd just be like, "Well, guess I'll do it all then." I think that was during our Ariola years.

Do you enjoy working on the creative process of the music?

It feels like the complete opposite of doing lives. But yes, I do enjoy it, and find it fun.

Since you've only really just begun recording, I'm guessing you don't really have any stories to tell about it yet. However, I did happen to hear something about liver and Chinese chives.

That was quick, I ate that yesterday *smiles*.  We don't do take out here too often you know. But yesterday we thought let's order curry, so I decided to get everyone's orders, and like an hour later I go to make the call and get told, "it's too much, we can't handle such a big order." I hadn't thought it was that big of an order *smiles*.  By then I'm absolutely starving~ and end up changing our order to Chinese food. So that's what happened *smiles*.

Thank you for sharing such a precious story *smiles*. Beginning in May you will have fanclub only lives. I'm guessing you'll be doing new content by then, like playing "Luna Park"?

Ah, yeah, I guess we will be. But you know right now a lot of events had to be suspended so I'm not sure how things will be by then. I'm worried it might have to be postponed as well[1].

I know. I'm praying the situation will be safe enough to do it so would you please give a message to everyone who is looking forward to it?

I pray that we will be able to have our fanclub and mobile member tour in safety, and in the meantime I will be spending my days recording. Please look forward to it.

  [1] The fanclub only lives were indeed postponed, however they have tentatively been rescheduled for the period of February - April 2021. Please consult the official BUCK-TICK site for further information.

[thearvariblues]

The Bard And The Wolf - Chapter Eight

(AKA Geraskier in the Metal Band AU you didn’t know you needed)

AKA me desperately trying to catch up my Tumblr with what’s already been posted to AO3. ;)

The masterpost for this fic can be found HERE.

A word of warning: This chapter references to a past sexual relationship between a nineteen-year-old and a (very willing) sixteen-year-old. Everything that happens in this chapter is 100% consensual, even though you might get an idea that it isn’t - don’t worry, everything will be properly explained in the next chapter! ;)

8 – We Know What You’re Like, Jask

Three weeks had passed.

They kept rehearsing, of course. Not as often as before the gig, though. Their next gig was going to be about thirty minutes long, again, and Jaskier already knew the lyrics.

So he spent the time trying to write new songs (and failing spectacularly, for some reason), working (he had to admit that he’d neglected his students a little in that hellish week before the first gig) and, well… daydreaming about a certain white-haired witcher.

He tried to stop himself. He really, truly did. He knew it was a bad idea to fall for another member of the band. And he hadn’t fallen yet. He was just… hanging from a high cliff, clinging desperately to the crumbling rock. With only one hand. Well, honestly, it was more like… two fingers.

But he wasn’t going to fall.

He wasn’t.

He fucking wasn’t.

“Professor Jaskier?” said a voice next to him.

He blinked and shook his head to clear it.

“I’m sorry, Emma, I wasn’t… paying attention. Could you play it again, please? And it’s Jaskier. Not professor.”

The dark-haired girl next to him bit her lower lip. She was about as old as Ciri was, but nowhere near as talkative or confident.

“I know. You’ve told me. Mom says I’m only allowed to call you professor Jaskier… or Mr. Pankratz.”

“Don’t you dare calling me Mr. Pankratz,” he smirked. “And don’t worry. I’m gonna have a word with your mother.”

“That’s not gonna help, I’m afraid,” she sighed. “Professor...”

“Oh, dear. What?”

“Is that… The instrument you brought. Is that a lute?”

“Yes, Emma, it’s a lute,” he grinned. “You see, when I’m done here, I’m heading to my new band’s rehearsal...”

Where he would see Geralt for the first time in five days. He cursed the tiny flutter in his chest and focused on the girl again.

“Sorry. Not one of my best days,” he smiled. “Would you like to see the lute?”

The girl beamed. “Could I?”

“Sure. Why not?” he said, already on his way to get it. “You can even try to play it, if you want. Of course, it’s way too big and heavy for you, but it doesn’t really matter, you can try just for fun.”

He removed the lute from its casing and handed it to the girl.

“Just be careful, darling. Because I love her very, very much, and it would break my heart if anything was to happen to her.”

The door of the living room opened and a woman with her hair as dark as the kid walked in.

“I can’t hear any music. Is there a problem?”

The girl sighed, staring longingly at the lute.

“No,” Jaskier said quickly. “No problems. We’re just taking a little break, that’s all.”

“I’m not paying you for breaks, Jaskier.”

“Try the lute out, Emma,” he muttered to the girl. “I’m gonna have a little talk with mom, right?”

“There’s nothing to talk about–” the woman started, but Jaskier was already grabbing her by the arm.

“Yes, there is,” he said, leading her out of the room and closing the door behind them. “You’re way too hard on that girl, Stella. Go on, and she’ll start to either be afraid of you, or hate you. And maybe both.”

“If I’m not hard on her,” she sighed, “she will come home at seventeen, impregnated by some idiot who will then pretend he’s never seen her and the kid definitely isn’t his.”

Jaskier wanted to say You mean like you did?, but he held his tongue.

“I don’t see how being able to play the violin could help in that situation, if you don’t expect her to shove a bow up that boy’s ass.”

“If she’s busy, she won’t have time to spread her legs to random boys.”

“Jesus Christ, Stella, she’s… what, thirteen?!”

“Nearly fourteen. How old were you when you had sex for the first time?”

Jaskier’s eyes snapped to the door.

“I just turned sixteen, and you know it damn well.”

She smiled at him.

“Oh, yes. So young and innocent.”

“You still can’t see how fucked-up it was, right? You were nineteen, for fuck’s sake. And already had a kid!”

“It was you who was so desperate to get under my skirts back then, darling.”

“Yes, but you could have stopped me. Should have stopped me.”

“You were singing ballads about me. You kept sending me poems. I’m not made of stone. And you enjoyed it, didn’t you?”

Jaskier sighed and shook his head. He did, right. As fucked-up as it was. Well, of course he did. He was sixteen, and she was the girl he’d been having wet dreams about for months, his first muse…

“She hates the violin, you know?” he said, trying to change the subject.

“She will keep playing it.”

“Come on, Stella. I mean… I get it that you want to keep her busy, but you could at least let her play another instrument. Something she really enjoys.”

“Could I?” Stella smiled, arching her eyebrow. “I could, of course. But how will you convince me to actually allow it, Jaskier?”

Jaskier sighed inwardly. He knew where she was heading. He’d been through this a few times with her already. And he wasn’t really into it now, but hey, it could really help the girl and take his mind off a certain white-haired wolf… And anyway, he wasn't a guy who would turn down an offer for sex, was he? Sex was good. She was hot. It wasn't her fault that she wasn't Geralt.

So he put on his cocky smile and leaned closer to her.

“What would you like me to do?” he murmured. “My dear Countess de Stael?”

*

“What the fuck you mean he can’t make it?!” Geralt snarled.

“How am I supposed to know?” Renfri shrugged. “That’s all he texted me. Emergency lesson with a student, can’t make it today, postpone to tomorrow?”

“What the hell is an emergency lesson, anyway?” Lambert frowned. “Does someone’s life depend on learning Beethoven’s Fifth before sundown?”

“No idea. Should I call him?”

“Nah. It’s probably an excuse, anyway. I’d bet he’s just tangled in someone’s bed sheets right now.”

“That’s just great,” Geralt growled. “So the band can go fuck itself, because Jaskier can’t keep his cock in his pants, right?”

“Come on, Geralt,” Eskel smirked. “Lambert’s just being a prick. As usual.”

“I think he’s right, though,” Geralt sighed. “Jaskier is a… Jaskier.”

“A whore is the word you’re looking for,” Lambert said helpfully.

“He’s not,” Renfri shook her head. “He’s just… easily distracted. And falls madly in love with everyone he meets.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Geralt muttered. “If I find out he was… warming up his sausage instead of being here, I’m gonna kill him.”

“You’re not,” Eskel said. “The battle of the bands is in a month, and I’d prefer not having to find another idiot who would be able to learn the lyrics and who can play the lute.”

“Hmmm.”

“And don’t hmmm me, Geralt. If you want to kill him, do it after the competition, you hear me?”

“Hmmm.”

“And I could kill him?” Lambert asked.

“Nobody’s killing anyone!” Eskel groaned. “Jesus Christ, I really hope someone’s life did depend on learning the Fifth before sundown...”

*

“So. I actually went to see you with your new band, Jaskier.”

Jaskier, who was just pulling up his underwear, paused.

“You did?” he frowned.

“Of course,” she smiled and stretched out on the bed, eyeing his cock.

“And?” Jaskier said, finally pulled his underwear all the way up and started to look for his pants. “Did you like it?”

“Honestly, I think it’s a tragedy,” she said. “To see you, with all your talent, in the middle of that… band of complete idiots.”

“I actually like those idiots, you know?” he sighed.

“Can’t really see why. But don’t worry, lovely. You were amazing, of course.”

“Oh, well. Thank you.”

“I still don’t understand why you insist on being in a band, though. You need to start your own solo career. That way, you would truly shine, gorgeous.”

“Thanks, Stella–”

“Excuse me?” she said, arching her eyebrow.

“Countess de Stael,” he corrected himself. “But I really enjoy being in a band. Especially in this band.”

“Life’s not just about things you enjoy, Jaskier. It’s about things that are good for you. Things that need to be done.”

“I know. But if you can, you should do what pleases you.”

“And what is it that pleases you, hm?”

He pulled a T-shirt over his head, trying to force a pair of amber eyes out of his mind.

“Right now? Playing with my band of idiots,” he said, grabbing his jacket. “See you tomorrow. Night, Stella.”

*

Jaskier wasn’t late to the rehearsal next day. In fact, he was twenty minutes too early, just to be safe. He hoped he would make up for his absence the day before, especially to Geralt. Because according to Renfri, Geralt was mad at him. Which was fair, he supposed. He really should have let them know sooner that he wouldn’t be able to make it.

Still, he kind of prayed to the gods that the Wolf would arrive last, so he wouldn’t have to face him alone.

The Wolf arrived first, of course. With Renfri, but it made little difference.

“You could have at least covered the hickey,” Geralt said after taking a single look at the bard.

Jaskier winced.

“I wanted to. But the weather’s a bit hot for a scarf, so it would be pretty obvious anyway,” he muttered. “Look, I’m really sorry about yesterday–”

“Yeah, next time just text that you’ve got a date and don’t lie,” Geralt growled. “We know what you’re like, Jask, we won’t be surprised.”

That hurt. That really, really hurt.

“Yeah. Right. Sorry.”

Jaskier bit his lip and looked away. He’d lied because the last thing he wanted was to disappoint Geralt, but it seemed that was exactly what he did.

He must have looked utterly devastated, because Geralt actually sighed and a tiny smile appeared on his lips.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” he said. “Just… Please. I don’t like being lied to.”

“I won’t do it again. Promise.”

Renfri, who had been ostentatiously staying away from their drama, nudged Jaskier in the ribs.

“So who was it, eh? A new flame?”

“An old acquaintance, actually,” Jaskier smiled, glad for the distraction. “It’s an… on and off thing. We’ve known each other for a while. Spend a few weeks fucking occasionally, then go on with our lives.”

“Sounds horrible,” Geralt said.

“Well, it wasn’t the healthiest relationship when we started,” Jaskier admitted. Especially with the age difference. “But we’ve grown, and now we know exactly what we want from each other.”

She wants someone to obey her. I want a distraction.

“Sweet. What’s his name?” Renfri grinned.

“Her,” Jaskier said. “And well, if you need to know, she likes to be called Countess de Stael.”

“Even in bed?”

“Especially in bed.”

Geralt growled. “I really didn’t need to know that.”

“Oh, come on, Geralt. Don’t spoil the fun,” Renfri said. “Jaskier always tells us all about his newest conquests.”

“What conquests?” Lambert asked from the door. “So you were screwing some poor young maiden yesterday?”

“A Countess de Stael,” Renfri laughed.

“Oh, I’ve heard of her. Kinky. Good for you, I guess,” Lambert grinned. “Isn’t she older than you, though?”

“A bit, yeah,” Jaskier nodded. “But it really doesn’t matter. It’s just sex.”

“Right. From what I’ve heard, it would be extremely stupid to fall in love with her.”

“Extremely, yes,” Jaskier confirmed. “I actually managed to do it, a few years back. I was young and naive. I’m much smarter now.”

“Smart enough not to fall in love with someone you can’t have?”

“Dear gods, no. Never,” Jaskier chuckled. “Smart enough not to fall in love with her. I hope. Also, you’re a dick, Lambert.”

“Thanks. It’s one of my best qualities,” Lambert grinned.

“Oh, come on, guys, could you lighten up a little?” Renfri whined. “You’re making Geralt… Well, not sad. You’re making Geralt grumpy, and that’s even worse.”

“I’m not grumpy,” Geralt groaned.

“Oh, yes, you are,” Jaskier said. “Come on, Geralt, I said I was sorry. I promise I won’t do it again. Please, stop being mad at me. I won’t survive it if you keep being mad at me!”

A little smile tugged at Geralt’s lips.

“Of course you will survive, you overly dramatic prick.”

“No, I will not. I will die, knowing I will never see you smile at me again, my heart shattered to pieces, and it’s gonna be your fault.”

Geralt actually chuckled at that.

“Maybe you could ask the Countess to smile at you.”

“Yeah, I could. But she’s not you. Come on, Geralt.” He clutched his chest dramatically. “I can already feel my heart giving up, fluttering, trying desperately to–”

“You’re such a moron, Jask,” Geralt said.

“Are you smiling or not?” Jaskier grinned.

“Yes. Yes, I am. Damn you.”

“Honey, I’ve been damned since the day I was born.”

Geralt laughed.

“I’m glad to see you’re back to your old dramatics,” he said. “I was kind of worried for a while.”

Before Jaskier could reply, the door opened and Eskel stepped into the room.

“Oh. You’re all here. That’s new,” he blinked. “I come bearing good news. Well… maybe not.”

“Good news but maybe not?” Lambert frowned. “The fuck?”

“Vesemir called.”

“And he called you?” Geralt asked. “I mean… I’m obviously his favorite. Why didn’t he call me?”

“He did. You weren’t answering.”

“So… What’s going on?” Renfri said, just as Geralt fished his phone out of his leather jacket pocket, swearing.

“He got us a new gig. Full-length.”

“That’s good news, isn’t it?” Jaskier grinned. “We needed a gig or two before the competition.”

“It’s tomorrow,” Eskel said.

“Oh,” Geralt muttered. “Fuck.”

*

Jaskier took a bite of his hamburger.

“Dear Lord, this is heaven,” he moaned. “I really was about to die of hunger. Thank you, Geralt, thank you so much!”

“I just ordered the food,” Geralt laughed when he swallowed a mouthful of his own burger. “But it was Renfri’s idea.”

“You’re free to keep the credit for it,” Renfri winked. “Have you tried the potato wedges yet? They’re awesome.”

“Are they?” Geralt grinned.

“Hey! Those are mine!” Jaskier protested.

“Were,” Geralt said, stuffing a few wedges into his mouth. “Oh, yes. Delicious.”

“Come on, Geralt,” Lambert mumbled. “How do you want to keep being skinny if you eat like a pig?”

“Maybe I don’t,” Geralt shrugged.

“Oh, so you’ve decided to grow that layer of nice, protective fat?” Jaskier asked.

“Maybe,” Geralt smiled. “And stop grinning like an idiot, Jask, and eat. We need to get back to work if we want to wrap up before midnight.”

*

In the end, they wrapped up at half past eleven, exhausted, but satisfied. Jaskier was about to drop dead, really, but he was happy. A few hours ago, he had been panicking about the gig, but now he felt ready for it. They rehearsed all the songs he hadn’t played with them before. They did it again, and again, and again.

“Good job tonight, Jask,” Geralt said, clasping his shoulder. “Can we drop you off at your place?”

“I’m not going home,” he sighed. His mind was a little fuzzy. “Wait, we?”

“I’m going with Geralt,” Renfri said. “Obviously, since I live with him.”

“You live in my house,” Geralt smirked. “In your own flat.”

“Shush. It sounds better when I say I live with you.”

“Whatever,” Geralt shrugged, grabbing his jacket. “Let’s go, Jask.”

Jaskier blinked. “I just told you–”

“Yeah, you’re not going home. I get it,” Geralt nodded. “Just give her address to me, I’ll drive you there.”

“It’s fine, Geralt. I can walk. it’s not far–”

“That wasn’t a question, Jask. It’s nearly midnight and you’re tired, if you think I’m gonna let you walk… Well, you’re wrong. Let’s go.”

*

“Jaskier,” she said when she opened the door for him. “I almost stopped hoping you’d show up.”

“I promised, didn’t I?” he sighed. “Didn’t want to disappoint you.”

“Well, you should have went home. You look horrible. And you’ve already disappointed me. I was looking forward to spending a nice evening with you, but you decided you’d rather be with that group of–”

“Stop,” Jaskier said. “Keep that tone for your toy boys, Stella. You know, those who are seven years younger than me and madly in love with you.”

“It used to work on you, too,” she smiled sweetly.

“Yeah, but I was seven years younger than I am now, and madly in love with you,” he smirked. “Do you want to fuck or not?”

“Look who’s showing his claws,” she laughed. “Come on, then. Do you want something to eat?”

“No, I’m not hungry,” he said, but then grinned. “Well, I am, but… not like that.”

“Oh? What are you hungry for, then?”

“I think you know,” he muttered. “My dear Countess.”

“Good boy,” she nodded. “Let’s get you to bed.”

[kiminicricket]

Swords and Opals part 9

A Ruthari fic that I cannot believe has gotten this long!! Thanks all who have been enjoying and commenting so far! Hope you continue to do so!

Need to catch up? From the Start Previous Chapter

It was late afternoon by the time Ethari and Runaan made it to the root leading down into the Silvergrove. The plant was alive - barely, the translucence having shrunk down to only the hand that carried the basket. Ethari hadn’t found another earthstone, and hoped that there would be something they could do now that they were home to revive the plant, restore it’s strength. Placing it down in order to do the re-entry dance, he paused when Runaan took up a position opposite him. 

Runaan just looked at him expectantly, raising his arms. Ethari raised his own arms to mirror and hoped to the stars and the moon that he wasn’t blushing. Fat chance. The two swirled gracefully through the dance, Ethari looking anywhere, even closing his eyes rather than looking at his dance partner. They were just coming home after all. This was no special dance. Right? As their hands joined together in the final movement of the dance though, he couldn’t help but look over at Runaan, whose steady gaze returned to him, a faint smile on his face and meaning in his gaze. Ethari could not tear his gaze away, even as the dance ended and their hands dropped. 

It was Tiadrin’s thundering footsteps that tore them away from the moment, she ran up to them, launching herself into Ethari’s arms. 

“I’m so glad you’re home!” She got out between sobs. Ethari’s heart dropped and he looked over at Runaan, whose face had dropped. He took off running towards the healing tent while Ethari returned Tiadrin’s embrace, still worried for Lain, he was more used to Tiadrin’s sometimes dramatic way of expressing herself, and didn’t immediately assumer the worst. He did move them towards the huts though, eager to see how his new friend fared for himself. 

“How is he?”

Tiadrin sniffed, “They said he’s gonna be ok, but I’ve been so worried, he hasn’t woken up yet, and it was all my fault, and then I thought about leaving you two alone out there and thought for sure you had gotten yourself killed and Runaan was going to have to drag your carcass home,”

Ethari pulled her back in, if only to stop her talking, and tried to gauge how he felt about being presumed to die. 

“Well, good news is we’re all alive. Better news is so is the flower.” He turned to look at the flower. “Speaking of, we need to turn this in, quickly. Also I think you scared the life out of Runaan with your dramatics. I’m pretty sure he thinks Lain is dead. How much sleep did you get last night?”

Tiadrin sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Not much,” she shrugged. The pair headed towards the healing huts.

“I could kill you!” Runaan hissed at Tiadrin as they made their appearance. He was standing tensely beside Lain’s bed, having satisfied himself that he was still alive. “I thought he had died!”

Tiadrin bit her lip, “I’m sorry. I’m a bit of a wreck right now, with the stress of worrying about Lain, and then it was so good to see you guys, my emotions are just all over the place.” She sank down into the chair by Lain’s bed. Runaan seemed slightly mollified by her apology, and apparent exhaustion and returned his attention to Lain. 

Solana came through just then and immediately approached. 

“You cannot all be here. Lain needs his rest if he is going to recover!” She said.

“He is resting. We haven’t woken him up,” Runaan argued. 

Solana frowned, “Your presence is disruptive. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“But-“

“Now.” There was no argument in her tone, so the three of them trailed outside. 

“We need to turn in this plant anyway.” Ethari suggested. 

They wordlessly head towards the head instructors house. Dirue appeared at their side about half way there. She smiled at each of them, accompanying them silently to the dwelling. 

A knock on the door and the imposing form of Instructor Tanyl appears in the doorway. They take in the appearance of the three travellers and instructor Dirue.

“I had heard you had run into some troubles on your mission,” They said, eyeing the flower. “Impressive that you still managed to return the plant alive.”

Ethari nodded and held the plant out to Tanyl. Tanyl accepted the plant and then stood back, gesturing them all to come in.

“It is custom to have the first returned team in for tea to celebrate.”

Tiadrin guffawed, Runaan’s eyebrows shot up.

“F-first?” Ethari queried. Surely they couldn’t be serious?

“Indeed. First successful return,” they amended. 

Ethari, Tiadrin and Runaan stared at each other in disbelief, slow smiles gradually building on their faces until they were grinning. Tiadrin let out a small squeal and pulled the other two in for a group hug, bouncing up and down as she did so. The two instructors looked on in amusement. The three broke apart and returned to facing their instructors. 

“Thank you Instructor Tanyl, but I would ask one small favour,” Ethari said, feeling his teammates turn incredulous eyes on him. 

“Yes Ethari?”

“As you know, one of our teammates was gravely injured on the mission. I would ask that we postpone the tea until he is able to join us.”

A genuine smile stretched on Tanyl’s face. “That is a splendid idea. It would be my honour to host you all when he is recovered. Until then” his gaze turned to Dirue, “Would you provide me with a report?”

Dirue nodded and followed Tanyl into the house, leaving Ethari, Tiadrin and Runaan on the porch staring at each other in disbelief.

“Ethari,” Runaan eventually said, “That was… thank you.” 

Ethari smiled at him. “It didn’t feel right to celebrate without him. In the meantime,” he turned to Tiadrin, “Runaan had some interesting ideas about your sword. Do you mind if I take a few weeks with it?”

Tiadrin lit up and darted off to get it, Ethari and Runaan following along a bit more slowly. Runaan looked over at Ethari, an uncertain frown on his face. 

“You’re going to do it?” He asked. 

“I’m going to try! I think it could be really good if I can pull it off.”

Runaan grinned. “Can I watch?”

Ethari shrugged, a little embarrassed now. “Its not very exciting to watch but sure? If you like?”

Runaan shrugged. “Schools out, Trials are done. What else am I going to do for the next few weeks?”

Train, hang out with friends, help Lain recuperate. Ethari could think of a hundred things more interesting to do than watch him hammer some metal into different shapes. He didn’t say any of that though.

“I have to do a bit of research and some final design work first, but yeah, sure.”

Tiadrin came back with her sword, handing it over to Ethari with a huge grin on her face. Ethari grabbed the sword and yawned, all of a sudden exhausted. 

“I’ll get started on this tomorrow I think.”

Tiadrin’s enthusiasm didn’t dim in the slightest. She nodded enthusiastically. 

“Yes, sleep. Sleep is good. We should all sleep.”

Ethari frowned at her. “You’ve kicked into over-tired hyperactivity haven’t you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Tiadrin sang as she skipped away. 

Ethari shook his head smiling. She would crash soon and crash hard. Runaan’s voice stopped him from returning to his own home. He was also looking at Tiadrin a strange look of amazement and confusion on his face. 

“I… have never met anyone quite like your friend.” He said.

Ethari nodded. “She’s one in a million.”

“Indeed.”

***

Tiadrin crept into the healing hut after Runaan and Ethari had retired to their homes. Sure she was exhausted, and she could feel her energy dropping by the second, but she wasn’t going to get any more sleep at home. She crept into the room they had Lain in and drew the chair beside his bedside, leaning her head on folded arms on the side of his bed as she curled the rest of herself into the chair. 

It was in this position healer Solana found her about an hour later - fast asleep and holding onto one of Lian’s hands. Shaking her head, Solana brought a blanket, gently wrapping it around her shoulders. The nights were cool and Tiadrin was sure to be stiff enough in the morning after sleeping in this position.

Part 10 Now up!

[hazelandglasz]

I say this post that said "one time i was complaining about my shitty parents to a friend and he got frustrated and said “i’m gonna be your dad now. and your mom. you’re… dom. WAIT SHIT NO” and was wondering if you could write a Klaine AU with it, cause you're my favorite writer and it'd ba amaaaazing

AU where Original Songs didn’t happen (sob) and they never dated but they stayed close and went to New York together because none of that Junior nonsense, dammit

On AO3

Living with Blaine is even better than sharing a dorm at Dalton, Kurt muses as they sit upside down on the couch at 2 AM on a Friday, passing back and forth a pint of ice cream and telling each other things they can’t say during the day.

Their fears, their hopes, their random thoughts that make no sense at all and throw them into loops of giggle fits.

The only subject Kurt keeps completely out of their tradition is their romantic life.

Years have passed, but if anything, getting closer to Blaine has only increased his crush on the Warbler. And he may want to be a good friend, but Kurt doesn’t need a repeat of the Gap Attack, thank you very much.

He doesn’t need to hear about Blaine’s crushes or, God help him, his conquests.

Though, he has to admit, if Blaine has a romantic life to speak of, he’s remarkably discreet about it.

Blaine sighs, sticking his spoon in his mouth and handing the pint to Kurt. “My parents would be horrified to see us right now.”

“Hm? Why is that?”

Blaine turns his head to look at Kurt with the sad smile he often gets when the subject of his parents comes up.

“Oh, well. Ice cream for dinner. Two gay men living together. Not doing something considered productive. Studying to be a saltimbanque. Take your pick,” he concludes, shrugging as best he can given their position.

It’s not the first time Blaine has talked about how his parents are often—nay, always negative about him and his life and his choices, but it’s the first time that he sees his best friend trying to act so blasé about it.

Somehow, that is worse for Kurt than when Blaine shows his sadness at the situation.

“Fuck them,” he says, angrier than he has ever been on Blaine’s behalf. “You know what,” he adds, reaching to grip Blaine’s shoulder. “From now on, I’ll be your dad.” He pauses, considering everything he knows about Blaine. “And your mom. I’ll be…” He searches for the word, a good combination of both words would work. “I’ll be your dom.”

Blaine lets out a small hiccup sound and Kurt scrambles to stand, away from the couch as his words register.

“Wait.”

“My what?”

“Shit. No. I didn’t mean—”

“My dom?” Blaine repeats, rolling to the side to sit up properly, a smile slowly stretching his lips.

“Eurgh, no, stop, you know I didn’t mean…”

Blaine scoots closer to where Kurt stands nervously. “Is there something you need to tell me?”

Kurt scoffs and looks away.

Yes, he thinks angrily, I would love to be anything for you, anything more than your best friend, to be that person you go to when you seek comfort and love and if that involves telling you to love yourself as much as I love you and, maybe, yes, tying you up every now and then, well…

“Kurt?”

Kurt stubbornly keeps his eyes on the opposing wall, wrapping his arms around himself.

He can hear Blaine standing up, the couch groaning as he moves. “Kurt, I was joking. But, um…” Blaine reaches to brush his fingers against Kurt’s shoulder. The movement may be soft, but Kurt goes with it as if it were strong enough to pull the Earth. “...Maybe we need to have a conversation I have postponed for a long time.”

Kurt frowns. “A conversation you have postponed? Is there something you need to tell me?”

Blaine blushes, but he clenches his jaw in a way that is familiar for Kurt. It’s Blaine’s “I have made up my mind and I’m going through with it, damn the consequences” face. “I do.”

Kurt blindly reaches for his chair to sit down, before gesturing for Blaine to go on.

Blaine sits on the coffee table in front of Kurt and hesitantly reaches for Kurt’s hand.

“Now, before I go and tell you what I need to tell you, a quick clarification: I do not have fantasies about us in a BDSM relationship.”

“Thank you for the disclaimer.”

“You’re welcome. That being said…”

Blaine pauses, looking down at their joined hands for a long time. From Kurt’s point of view, it lasts a lifetime.

“Yes?” he says softly, rubbing his thumb comfortingly against Blaine’s hand.

Blaine looks up, and his eyes are shining. “That being said,” he repeats, “I have been thinking about us. In a—a—in a relationship.”

Kurt’s heart is beating in his ears, almost drowning the words he never thought he would hear tumbling from Blaine’s mouth.

“Kurt, there is a… a… a moment, when you say to yourself, oh.” His hand tightens around Kurt’s. “There you are.”

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmy…

“I’ve been looking for you forever.”

Now hold on just one damn minute.

“But we’ve known each other for five years!” Kurt exclaims, not letting go of Blaine’s hand. “If you’ve been looking for, for me forever, newsflash, I was right here all along!”

Blaine winces. “I know. I was a coward, Kurt. I didn’t want to risk what we had. What if we broke up? What if I really was lousy at romance? What if your feelings for me were just some sort of hero-worship that would quickly fade away once you realized I was just…,” Blaine uses his free hand to gesture at himself, “me? And what if that wasn’t enough?”

“Oh, Blaine,” Kurt whispers, reaching to cup Blaine’s cheek.

“So I stomped on the idea of telling you how I felt, and I thought I could settle to being your best friend.”

“Umph.”

“And I really thought that time would, you know, put a lid on those feelings.”

“But it didn’t,” Kurt completes for him, familiar with how ‘well’ that tactic worked.

“But it didn’t.” Blaine smiles. “Does this mean that…”

“My turn, if you don’t mind,” Kurt says, covering their joined hands. “Living with you has only made me fall more in love with you, Blaine.” And boy is he proud for not faltering over the L word. “And that silly notion you have about not being enough? I’m going to do my best to eradicate it.” He pauses, scooting closer to the edge of his seat until his knees knock against Blaine’s. “If you’ll let me.” 

Kurt reaches to make Blaine look at him. “Because you are wonderful, Blaine, and remarkable, and I—I like you very much, Blaine Anderson, just as you are.”

Blaine laughs wetly before wiping his eyes, just as his hold on Kurt’s hand tightens. “Oh, Kurt. You move me, Kurt, make me want to be a better man, a man worthy of your amazing everything. If I’ll let you? Please,” he adds with a scoff, before leaning forward, pressing a light yet firm kiss to Kurt’s lips.

Kurt takes a deep breath, deepening the kiss and reaching once again for Blaine’s cheek to tilt his head to the side, allowing him the room he needs to change that soft kiss to a mind-blowing one.

Blaine lets out a low sound, somewhere between a moan and a whine as he responds to the new energy of their kiss. The sound does more to light a fire in Kurt’s veins than anything else, even as intoxicating as the feel of Blaine may be.

They pull apart with a wet sound, both trying to find their breath, but reluctant to let go of each other.

“We should, um.”

“Yeah, we should,” Kurt says breathlessly before pulling Blaine back for another kiss, until they topple off the chair.

[thepurplebutterflythings]

Damsel in Distress (Part 8) - Jason Todd

Gif: Dxnninja on Tenor

Tagging: @n-o-e-l-12  @oneshots-dc-marvel  @my-only-friend-is-the-moon @perturbacja @calcatss @attackonnat @batferma 

Word Count: 2.0K

Paring: Jason Todd (Titans) x (f)Reader

Summary: Y/N and Jason try to adjust to their new situation following their parting.

Warnings: Angst

A/N: This is a little series I am doing about Jason Todd in Titans. I don’t know Comic!Jason very well so I’m taking all of this from the show, and at the moment he hasn’t been in very often, so please forgive any mischaracterizations.

Damsel in Distress Part 7 | Masterlist | Damsel in Distress Part 9/Finale

_______________________________________________________________

“What’s up with you?” Kacey huffed as she watched Y/N stare sadly into her cup of tea, “you’ve done nothing but mop lately and honestly it’s getting tiring now, especially because you won’t tell any of us what’s wrong. How can we help you if you won’t tell us what’s wrong?”

“I’m fine,” Y/N said as she looked up from her drink to meet Kacey’s eyes. She tried to smile to fool Kacey that everything was alright but it turned into more of a horrible grimace which made Kacey scrunch up her face as she stared back at Y/N.

“That would be a lot more convincing if you didn’t look like you were changing your smile to hide cracked teeth,” Kacey rolled her eyes.

“Look, I don’t really wanna talk about it,” Y/N insisted, brushing the question off, “let’s talk about something else, literally anything.”

Jason plagued Y/N’s mind. It had been three weeks and it hadn’t gotten any better. Every dream she had, Jason was there both as himself and as Robin. Every daydream she had would wonder to Jason and what she had done. Every book she read, the words would shift and change and form Jason’s image. Every time she wrote in her journal, she would write of Jason. Jason was everywhere she looked and she couldn’t escape him. Y/N occasionally caught him glancing at her in physics, but there was nothing really between them anymore. She had no idea what to say to him, what to talk about. Y/N didn’t want to end it between herself and Jason, not really, but she couldn’t bring herself to approach him.

“Erm, okay,” Kacey nodded awkwardly, “how’s physics?”

“Good,” Y/N said, “that project thing I had to do with Jason is over and we both passed, so there’s that.”

“That’s good,” Kacey said, “that was a tough project.”

“Yeah,” Y/N coughed, noticing she had finished her tea, “I’m gonna get another tea,” she said standing up and walking up to the counter. Y/N quietly spoke her order to the barista and when she was given her new tea, she paid, picked up the cup and turned to return to Sandy, but as she turned Y/N nearly crashed into someone. “Whoa!”

The person caught Y/N and made sure that she didn’t spill her hot drink over herself or them, or on the floor. It was an effortless rescue and quick. Y/N blinked and turned to look at who caught her to see Jason Todd standing there. Y/N felt her jaw drop and became awkward, cupping her tea in her hand, pulling her legs together and looked at the floor. Jason himself also seemed surprised, looking Y/N up and down and shoving his hands in his pockets after brushing his hair back. Looking at Jason, Y/N found herself replaying that night where they were tangled between her sheets in her mind, causing her cheeks to redden.

“Hey…” Jason shifted awkwardly.

“Hi…”

“How’ve you been?”

“Erm…” Y/N shifted from foot to foot, “as expected, I guess…” she coughed, “what about you?”

“Same,” Jason mumbled. He looked down at the floor and then at Y/N. “I… miss you…”

“I miss you too,” Y/N confessed, “but… I still need time…”

“I know,” Jason nodded, “I won’t push you, and I will wait until you are ready.”

“Thank you, Jason.”

“Anytime,” Jason smiled faintly, “Damsel…”

Y/N also smiled and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. The two made eye contact for a moment before Y/N nodded goodbye and returned to Kacey. Jason then walked over to the counter to place his order.

“What was that?” Kacey asked curiously.

“Just chatting.”

“Sure,” Kacey nodded as she rolled her eyes, “that’s why you both looked like you’ve had your hearts ripped out.”

“Look, I don’t know what to tell you, Kacey,” Y/N sighed, “Jason and I were talking.”

“Alright…” Kacey shrugged.

Jason had collected his drink in a to-go cup and headed towards the door, but he had to pass Y/N and Kacey. Y/N and Jason made eye contact as he passed by, seemingly walking slower and looking at her longer while he passed, as though taking all of her in, worried it would not happen again. He gave her a goodbye nod before opening the door and walking out.

Y/N glared at Kacey to tell her not to ask.

_______________________________________________________________

“It’s torture,” Jason groaned down the phone to Dick, who just audibly sighed. “I know, I know, give her space, and I am doing that. I didn’t know she’d be at that coffee shop, if I did, I’d never have gone there, but seeing her… god, it brought up all these feelings.”

Jason had decided to call Dick after seeing Y/N in the coffee shop. The moment he got back to Wayne Manor, he headed to his bedroom and fell onto his bed in exhaustion before grabbing his mobile and hitting Dick’s name with his thumb in his contacts. The former Robin was

“You are doing good, Jason,” Dick assured him, “and I get the pain, trust me, it sucks, but all you can do is wait.”

“I know,” Jason sighed, “but it felt so good and so bad at the same time, being so close to her. I could smell her shampoo – god I miss that scent. It’s nice and light, and kinda warm and comforting.”

“Yeah, if this phone call is gonna be just you telling me about the smell of Y/N’s shampoo, I think I should go…”

“No,” Jason burst, sitting upright on the bed he was stretched out on. “I’ll stop, but I did want to talk about something…”

“Yeah?”

“Bruce…”

“Bye, Jason.”

“Wait, you didn’t let me finish.”

“Fine.”

“Do I tell him about this?”

“Does he know about her?”

“Yes.”

“I wouldn’t,” Dick said, “from my experiences, Bruce isn’t the most comforting or helpful in situations like this.”

“Okay,” Jason sighed, “I mean, you’re probably right, but it just feels a little wrong keeping it from him.”

“You wanna know what Bruce would say?” Dick said, “He’d tell you to back off completely from Y/N, and he’d threaten to take Robin away from you. Either you lose Robin or you lose Y/N. Don’t do it, Jason.”

“Thanks, Dick,” Jason said.

“Anytime, Jason. Look, I’ve gotta go now, but if you wanna talk about this…”

“I know, and I appreciate it, Dick.”

“Bye.”

“Bye,” Jason hung up the phone and turned to see Alfred standing there. The butler gave Jason a fully sympathetic look, his hands folded neatly behind his back, and Jason realized he had heard the entire conversation with Dick “shit!”

“So, I presume Master Richard was able to give sound advice regarding Miss Y/N/L?”

“You heard everything?”

“It wasn’t hard to guess, Master Jason,” Alfred walked into the room and closed the door behind him for privacy, “be glad it was me and not Master Bruce.”

“Trust me, I am.”

“Would you like to tell me what happened?” Alfred asked in a gentle voice.

“I screwed up, I slipped, like you said I would,” Jason groaned, sitting down on the bed, “She wants space. I hurt her bad, Alfred, and then I ran into her in the coffee shop… God, I’m an idiot.”

“No you’re not,” Alfred said, “You’re a young man very much in love, and being in love causes people to forget their rational thought.” Alfred sat next to Jason and put his gloved hand on Jason’s shoulder. “What is going to happen now?”

“She still loves me, she said she does…” Jason said quietly “and I still love her… other than that… I don’t know.”

“Maybe you should do something for her,” Alfred suggested, “something which shows her how much she means to you?”

Jason thought for a moment, nodding in agreement. It was such a simple yet effective idea. All he had to do now was figure out what he could do for Y/N. Jason wanted what he came up with to be significant for the two of them, and he had a few ideas, but he wanted to take his time with this. He was not going to screw things up with Y/N again. With Alfred still sitting on the bed, Jason stood and walked to his sock draw, opened it and pulled out a little box, popping the lid up and gently lifting the necklace he had brought for Y/N and the one she once wore, tearfully returning it to his possession when they parted. He held it against his chest and nodded.

“Yeah… that could work…”

_______________________________________________________________

Y/N so badly missed Jason and wanted to call him. She would sit on her bed and stare at her phone, which she would lay in front of her on her bed, biting her thumb and wondering if she could call him, and if she should call him. All Y/N wanted to do was talk to someone about her current situation, and ironically the only person she would talk to about it all was Jason.

She missed him, both as Jason and as Robin, yet seeing him in the coffee shop the previous week, crashing into him like that, it reminded her of the pain she felt when she discovered the truth, but Y/N knew that she could still be with him, she had no clue why she was postponing it, going and talking to him. No, she knew, Y/N knew why she was stalling it – she was scared, scared of what happens next.  Y/N knew that the following steps were being a couple, being happy, being exclusive and serious and having people see them as a couple, romantic and in love, and it scared her, because, what if it didn’t work out? What if she lost the one person in her life that she couldn’t be without?

Dating a vigilante, while complicated, Y/N could handle, but breaking up with Jason Todd she couldn’t. It would destroy her to lose Jason. She loved him too much to risk anything happening to him – breaking his heart or otherwise. God, why did they have to get paired up on that Physics project together? That was what brought them together and that is what led to this.  

Y/N just sighed and put her phone on her bedside table before climbing under the sheets and pulling them over her head. When she was in bed, Y/N could pretend it was all a horrible nightmare and that she could wake up from it all soon, but alas she could not sleep. Even an hour later, Y/N was still awake, and an hour after that. Those late nights with Jason as Robin really messed up her sleep schedule, which was already bad to begin with. She was so tired and she wanted to sleep, to give her body to the mattress until she was forced to get up the next morning.

Her mobile started to go off, ringing shrilly, forcing Y/N to emerge from the sheets and pick it up. She didn’t even check the caller ID before answering.

“Hello?” Y/N said tiredly.

“Can you come outside?”

“Huh?” Y/n blinked. “Jason?”

“Yeah, it’s me,” Jason said down the line. “I’m outside your building.”

Y/N turned and looked at her balcony, Jason wasn’t there.

“Where?”

“On the street.” He spoke so gently and so softly that Y/N felt a sudden wave of warmth come over her as she listened to him, having the memories of the past year, of them on her balcony, in her room, sitting together, talking, flashed through her mind. How couldn’t she have seen it before? She thought, that Jason was Robin, and not because of the similarities physically between them, but because they were both so considerate and caring over those they loved. She felt almost foolish for not seeing it because two people as amazing and lovely as that was a one in a million possibility. A rarity.

“What are you doing down there?” Y/N said climbing from her bed and pulling her shoes, on, holding the phone in position with one hand, “you know how easy you can get to the balcony.”

“Please, Y/N, can you come down?” Jason asked.

“I’m on my way down.” She told him, grabbing her shawl and heading towards the door, eager to finally see Jason again.