#he wears a little jacket so he’ll behave inside but it does not work

[fungodess]

[extremelyblackandwhite]

hi, hc request... can u make a part 2 to your laurie!bucky x amy!reader hcs? i really wanna know what happens after the ending like a peak into their relationship and all 👉🏼👈🏼

hello!!! yes, yes i can!! i hope you enjoy it x

y/n stood there in a heavy wedding dress, drenched in rain water with some of her makeup running down her face, hair wet with water beads rolling down her face.

bucky opened the door wide so she could get inside his flat, her dress barely fitting through the door even when half the volume had been diminished by the rain

"oh my god" she mumbled to herself, hands grabbing her skirt as she tried to turn around "oh my god, i just left ben at the altar" "doll, calm down, just sit down" "i can't sit down, this is taffeta" "i don't know what the heck that means, doll" "it's gonna wrinkle" "it's drenched"

she started walking around in his living room, leaving a track of water as she paced with her own thoughts. what was she doing? she had just left ben in the altar and for what? what was she doing? she was standing in the living room of a guy who she had been in love with since she could remember, the same guy who had been in love with her sister, in her wedding dress.

"this is all your fault" she pointed as him, dropping her skirt to the ground, the fabric almost glueing to the floor "how is this my fault?" "you told me not to marry him" "because you shouldn't marry him!" "see that's what i mean. you can't just say that, you can't just barge into my life and ask me not to marry him. he's a nice man and he loves me." "but do you love him?"

y/n remained silent, fists balled up by her side as he rose his eyebrows in a cockish manner before clicking his tongue "that's the problem, isn't it doll?" "no, that's not. i don't ... love him but i like him, he's nice and he likes me back." "like? you're not a like kinda of girl" "because you'd know. last time i checked every time we were in the same room, you only spoke to my MARRIED sister” “well at least one of you got to the altar” “fuck you bucky” 

bucky took a step back trying to collect himself, emotions running too high between both of them. y/n held up her forehead, wondering if she had made the right decision running away. of course she had, she didn’t want to get married, but maybe she shouldn’t have come here, to his place. “i’m sorry” “i’m sorry too. i didn’t mean to ruin your day” “you never ruin my day, dollface” “don’t call me that. you always called my sister that” “okay. uhm ... why don’t you go shower and take a nap or something? maybe it’ll make you feel better”

he watched her leave in her drenched wedding dress yet his mind couldn’t help but betray him as he imagined what things would’ve been if they were different. 

he had always found her so interesting, the way she would give everyone the side eye when they were talking during her study sessions or how she’d always pack an extra lunch just in case someone forgot

she had always been there not just for everyone she cared for but also for him. she’d even joked with him after her sister chose steve “well, that’s on her. what kind of last name is rogers? it totally does not go with annabelle”

he let her sleep in his bedroom for the night, taking his spot in the couch which made sure he woke up bright and early yet she beat him to the curve, standing in the middle of the kitchen nursing her usual cup of tea with entirely way too much milk. she was wearing the understructure of her dress which made her look adorable.

“you’re early” “i’ve searched and there’s no places to rent in new york at the moment” “thought you had a place in the upper east” “ben has a place, i am just living there” “no way you were living with him” “it was cheap rent, buck” “you graduated from yale, y/n” “yeah but it’s new york, everything is overpriced and landlords don’t sell or rent to a woman unless they tell them daddy is paying” “you can stay here” “no i can’t. you only have one bedroom” “and it’s yours” “buck” “what other choice do you have? your sister and steve?” “god no, they’re trying for a baby, living with them would be like living in a porno set” “oh” 

“oh ...” she grabbed his hand in hers “i’m sorry buck, i didn’t mean to...” “i’m not in love with annabelle anymore, y/n. i just thought ... thought steve would’ve said something” “i’m sure he’ll tell you when they’re successful” “not really, steve hates me” “steve doesn’t hate. he’s probably just busy boning my sister” “i can’t believe you ran away” “you told me not to marry him” “yeah but not leave him at the altar” “oh shut up bucky.” “you’re staying here until we can find a place” “bu ...” “let’s be roomies”

things just seemed to work out for the two of them as “roomies” and bucky had grown way to accustomed to her being around

the two of them just seemed to fit with y/n ending up being the most serious one while bucky just stood there, making her smile whenever she would get too caught up on her work and ways

“buck, go grab the kale” “why are we having kale?” “because it’s healthy for you buck” “but kale” “go get the kale” “yes m’am”

he’d grab the kale before starting to tickle her with it “oh my god, behave” “okay milady, i will tickle you with a carrot” 

the old ladies at the market would probably be shocked thinking it was some sort of euphemism which only made y/n want to hide and bucky chuckle

“next time i’m gonna ask what flavoured condoms you like” “this is why you’re single” “OH HONEY DO YO...” cut to y/n dragging him out of a shop “i hate you” “no you don’t” “you go home and i get takeaway” “no pasta” “but buck” “you always order pasta” “well it’s pasta night” “no” “the ladies at the shop think i’m gonna be tickled by your carrot” “as if that would be so bad” “i’ve seen you naked, it’s not a very impressive carrot” “you take that back” “pasta night” “ok pasta night” “then i take that back”

he got back inside their now shared flat, letters still on the ground from the post man coming late this morning, the couch filled with blankets and pillows which she had brought over to make his couch bed comfortable despite her fighting with him every single night about how he should be sleeping in his bed and not the other way around

he sat on the couch, smiling at the little heart shaped pillow and quilted heavy blanket with her initials on it

as he set himself comfortably against all the cozy blankets and pillows, someone knocked on the door. that’s fast, he thought to himself.

he groaned out as he got up from the couch, opening the door to whom he thought would be y/n yet turned out to be her sister

“annabelle, what’s up?” “where is she?” she barged into his flat, looking around like an apex predator “hm, annie, you first ask if you can get in, then you get in” “where is my sister, james?” “y/n?” “do i have another sister?” “i’m just joking, annie. she went down to wills to get dinner” “good. we need to talk.” “is steve okay?” “yes, he says hi but it’s not about steve”

bucky pointed at the couch, inviting her to seat. the older sister took her jacket off, throwing it over the couch before sitting down. “you should be ashamed of yourself” “excuse me?” “my sister is clearly not going through a quiet moment and you jump in to date her?” “i am not dating y/n, annie. she’s my roommate” “roommate? you have one bedroom and you don’t even have a wardrobe!  of all the things you could’ve done to get back at me, you joke around with my sister?” “not everything is about you annabelle. she’s my roommate, that’s it” “she’s my sister. she should be with me and steve in our guest room, with her family. not with you.” “is there a problem she’s here?” “you’re lying to me!” “i’m not lying. she’s here, she came here to my house and i took her in and maybe you should’ve noticed she didn’t want to marry ben.” “how is this my fault? you spoke to her at her graduation, what did you tell her?” “nothing” “she was upset after you spoke to her” “it’s none of your business” “no. it is. she’s always had this childish crush on you and now you’re bunking together? no. tell her to go home to me and steve” “oh i’m sorry if she doesn’t want to go your sex filled home” “what’s your problem?” “i don’t want you with my sister.  so send her home.”

bucky couldn’t even argue further with annabelle before she was walking furiously out the door.

y/n came back a few minutes later, carrying a brown paper bag “will gave me free garlic bread” “did you flirt with him for it?” “i only use my female charms for free garlic bread, you know that” “annie was here” “my sister?” “yeah. she wants you home with steve and her” “oh” “she also made it very clear she doesn’t want you with me” “we’re not together” “why are we not together?”

y/n stopped in her tracks, her hands letting go the cutlery she was holding “we live together, you know i’m in love with you. why are we not together?” “you’re in love with my sister that’s why you think you’re in love with me” “you look nothing like your sister and you’re being unfair. i love you, i saw you in that stupid wedding dress 5 months ago and all i kept thinking about was how much i want to see you walking down the aisle to me.” “what?” “i’ve been beating myself up feeling guilty about being happy you ran away from your wedding but you know what? i’m happy you did because i don’t want you to marry him” “i know, you told me” “i want you to marry me” “what?” “heck let’s do it in your parents’ summer house in the hamptoms. i’ll even wear a stupid tux and i’ll work in my father’s company and ...” 

she walked up to him, hands coming up to cup his face “buck, you’re rambling” “i don’t know what else to tell you. yes i liked your sister once but i loved you for the past two years.” “good” “what do you mean?” “you don’t marry like, you marry love”

[hailing-stars]

@febuwhump day 12 who are you

the world minus one 

summary 

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Woo,” he says.

“Ha,” says Peter. He grins. “That rhymed.”

“I’ve been assigned to oversee your home detainment,” he tells him, flashing his card as if he were a magician, and they were at a magic show, instead of the most boring place on planet earth

OR

Agent Jimmy Woo is assigned to oversee Peter's house arrest post far from home, and Peter's eyes see probation officer but his brain screams FRIEND.

Peter considers chopping his foot off.

Did he really need two feet? Maybe Mr. Stark could fashion him a prosthetic like he did for his own Infinity Gauntlet damaged arm, or maybe Peter could spend one of his annoyingly long days trapped inside this apartment figuring out how to do it himself.

He’s exiled to a much larger apartment than the one he and May share in Queens, but somehow, it still manages to be cramped and suffocating, as if the air there was thick and might smother him before the boredom drove him up the walls.

That is if his ankle monitor doesn’t choke the life out of him first.

He pulls at it, itching at it from his place sitting in the middle of the living room floor, when the doorbell rings and Peter stops, he frowns. Mr. Stark isn’t expected to visit him today, and May isn’t due for dinner until a couple of hours.

With a sigh, he stands and walks across his apartment. He opens the door to an unfamiliar face wearing a familiar and unwelcome FBI jacket.

“Who the hell are you?”

“Agent Woo,” he says.

“Ha,” says Peter. He grins. “That rhymed.”

“I’ve been assigned to oversee your home detainment,” he tells him, flashing his card as if he were a magician, and they were at a magic show, instead of the most boring place on planet earth.

It’s an awkward moment. Him just standing there, in the hall, and Peter basks in his ability to make a Fed sweat.

“Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

“Are you a vampire?”

“...I’m sorry?”

“Vampires,” sighes Peter. “They have to be let in. Feds usually don’t wait for an invitation. Not used to one having manners.”

Peter walks away from the door, leaving it open, and hoping that’s enough of an invitation. It isn’t like he has a choice anyway.

Agent Woo shuts the door behind him, and something stabs at Peter. He’s being rude. His aunt taught him better than that, and there’s something about Agent Woo that Peter decides he likes. The magic trick, maybe.

Peter offers him coffee. Agent Woo looks over at the kitchen, which is admittedly a disaster zone, and politely declines.

“So, what’s your job?” asks Peter. He clears a space off of the dining room table for them to both sit down. “Making sure I’m not staging an escape attempt?”

“Basically, I’ll be dropping by from time to time, to ensure you’re behaving yourself,” says Agent Woo. “Tony Stark did bribe me to harass you about your online classes and that’s not typically part of my job description, I need the money for my children’s college -”

“-you have kids?”

“Not yet, but I plan to, and with the way the economy is-” Agent Woo pauses. “We’re really supposed to be talking about you.”

“I’m behaving myself,” says Peter. “I’m attending my online classes, and I’ve got no plans to take up a new identity and flee the country. Now back to you. Anyone special you’re planning on having these kids with? I need all the details.”

It’s true. He does.

There isn’t much entertainment in his life what with being locked up in an apartment, spending most of his days alone. It’s for May’s safety that they aren’t able to live together during his house arrest, during the massively long stretch of time before his trial, but that doesn’t mean Peter likes it.

Agent Woo spills something about a doctor before pausing a second time and getting back on track. He recites the same information Peter’s heard before. It’s really boring and a waste of time, but Peter supposes he’s got lots of it to waste, anyway.

“Any questions for me?” Agent Woo asks, once he’s finished with his spiel.

“Can you show me how to do that magic trick?”

“Maybe another time,” he tells him, then looks around. “You know, a lot of people in your situation find it helps to form a routine and create a clean living space. Waking up in the morning, showering, putting on normal clothes.”

Peter frowns at the sudden callout. “Who says pajamas aren’t normal?”

“Just offering some friendly advice.”

He stands, and heads for the door, telling him he’ll be by in a couple of weeks, when Peter feels the throbbing near his ankle.

“Agent Woo,” says Peter, before he gets to the door. “You wouldn’t, um, know how to loosen the ankle monitor? I may have been what Mr. Stark fondly refers to as tactless with the agent who put it on and they may have retaliated just a little bit.”

So, Agent Woo loosens the ankle monitor, and Peter, once he’s alone in the apartment, collapses on his couch and decides that he and Agent Woo are going to be friends, despite the unsolicited advice.

*

Peter’s prepared the next time Agent Woo visits.

Coffee is going, the apartment is clean, and he’s got five packs of playing cards laid out on the kitchen table. It had been a lot of whining on his part to convince Mr. Stark to drop everything and run to the store and buy them, but this is an emergency. A magic emergency.

He’s also ordered a pizza, and it arrives just as Agent Woo starts his regular round of checkup, interrogation questions.

“Oh, that’s the pizza,” says Peter, when the doorbell rings.

Agent Woo opens his mouth as Peter leaps up from his chair, but ultimately doesn’t say anything. Once Peter’s back to the kitchen table, he opens the box and lets the aroma fill the apartment.

“Want a slice?”

“That would be crossing professional bounds…” says Agent Woo. His voice trailed off. He stared at the pizza. “But that pizza looks really good, and I haven’t had lunch…”

Peter pushes the box closer to the FBI agent. Agent Woo grabs a slice, and official talk about Peter’s detainment falls to the wayside.

“Tell me about the doctor,” says Peter. “Is she pretty?”

Agent Woo obliges, and Peter begins to understand why Woo’s crushing on her so hard. She sounds kickass. And Peter’s rooting for them.

“You gotta ask her out, man,” says Peter. A string of melt cheese hangs off his mouth and swipes it away. “I mean, Agent Woo.”

The agent laughs, and by the time he leaves, Peter knows how to do the magic trick and almost no time was spent talking about his upcoming trial or the conditions of his house arrest.

*

Peter bleeds out on his living room floor.

He hadn’t meant to get stabbed. He hadn’t even meant to step out of his apartment, but it’s getting to him. The confinement. The crime happening below his apartment and he’s expected to sit by and let happen.

Mr. Stark is going to kill him, and he wouldn’t have called him if not for the pain, the unbearable pain of his skin stitching itself back together. Superpowered healing doesn’t come without it’s trauma.

To make matters worse, his doorbell rings, and he isn’t expecting anyone, so he knows it’s Agent Woo.

He inhales deep. He tries freeing his face from displaying the terrifying agony he’s experiencing in his leg, and he limps over to answer the door.

Agent Woo isn’t fooled. “Jesus Christ, is that blood?”

“Is that Delmar’s?” Peter momentarily forgets his situation when he spots the brown bag in Agent Woo’s hand, and when he smells the unforgetful aroma of Delmar’s Deli.

“Forget the sandwiches,” says Agent Woo. He walks into the apartment, helps Peter back to the couch, and places the bag on the coffee table. “What happened to you?”

“Don’t freak out,” he tells him. “I accidentally stabbed myself with a steak knife.”

Agent Woo stands, crosses his arms. “I’m supposed to believe you did that to yourself? On accident?”

“To be fair,” says Peter. “You’ve known me long enough to know that’s also extremely probable.”

“How could you do this,” says Agent Woo. He isn’t angry. His voice sounds the same as Mr. Sark’s had on the phone. Worried. Afraid for him, and what’s done, putting his own privilege of pretrial house arrest on the line for a few minutes fighting petty criminals. “You know what’s at stake if you break the rules.”

“I know,” says Peter, softly. “I’m sorry.”

“We need to put pressure on that.”

Agent Woo disappears from his sight and returns with a towel he carefully ties around Peter’s leg wound.

“Are you sure you don’t need a hospital?”

Peter shakes his head. “Spider healing will work it’s magic.”

He closes his eyes and tries to block out the pain, and when that doesn’t work, he decides a distraction is what he needs.

“Tell me about Dr. Lewis,” he says, through a grimace. “Have you asked her out yet?”

Agent Woo sits on the couch next to him. “Not yet.”

“You gotta get on that,” says Peter. “Before someone else does.”

“I don’t know about that, Pete,” he tells him. “I don’t know if someone like her would say yes to someone like me.”

“Someone like you? Someone who’s a nice person? And likes all the same cheesy sit-coms as her?” asks Peter. “Dude, you two are perfect for each other. You’re gonna ask her, and she’s going to say something like geez, finally, I was waiting for you to get a clue, and then you’ll have little Dr. Lewis-Woos running around all over the place.” He stops, the pain stabs, and he keeps going. “She’d be lucky.”

“Thanks, Peter.”

“Anytime,” says Peter, his voice cracking. The edges of his vision blur, but he’s able to focus on the brown bag on the coffee table. “You really brought me Delmar’s?”

“Last time I was here you said how much you missed it.”

“Make a habit of doing favors for murders? Fun.”

The pain’s making him more bitter, more honest, more angsty about the fact that the entire world thinks he’s killed that clown Mysterio. Maybe that’s what his temporary escape is really about. Trying to prove that he’s good. That he’s against the crimes people say he’s committed.

“I know you’re not a murderer.”

The entire world minus one, he guesses, along with his friends and family.

“You believe me?”

“I’ve dealt with killers before,” says Agent Woo. “You’re not one of them.”

Peter feels lighter, better even in his leg, by the idea of someone like Agent Woo believing his innocence. Gives him hope maybe his house arrest will end with freedom instead of prison, like Mr. Stark has been telling him from the start.

His good feeling doesn’t last long, though, because Mr. Stark barges through the door and Peter’s spidey senses know he’s about to get a lecture.

“How could you be so stupid?”

“Mr. Stark -”

“-No,” says Mr. Stark. “No excuses. I’ve warned you over and over again. Where is it?”

Peter pulls the device he’d built to interfere with the ankle monitor out from his pocket, and hands it over to Mr. Stark, who breaks it.

“For a genius,” says Agent Woo, as he eyes the broken parts of the interference device. “You really lack common sense.”

Mr. Stark turns his attention to Agent Woo. “Look, Agent -”

“-I’m off duty,” says Agent Woo, standing up from the couch. “Just a guy bringing some sandwiches, and I’ve really got no reason to believe he didn’t slip and fall, uh, on a kitchen knife. Just… never again.”

Peter nods his head. “Okay, yeah, never again.”

Agent Woo leaves them, Mr. Stark softens and gives him his extra strength pain relievers, and Peter drifts off, but not before devouring the sandwiches he loves and dwelling on the tiny spark of hope Agent Woo offered to him.

Not everyone believes he's a murderer, and for that moment, it’s enough.

[koteosa]

here’s some modern au headcanons for the arcana ... it’s something I think about a lot

Asra

gamer memeing shitlord . he majored in minecraft you cannot convince me otherwise

plays A Lot of minecraft but also just enjoys any similar sort of game, sdv, animal crossing, etc. He’s really good at video games but he’s just fucking around . he likes to play online games and try his best to make everyone hate him in a really harmless sort of way . he heals the enemy spy . changes his display name and avatar to be exactly the same as someone else . tells people to go into the console and type unbindall

he plays games with his friends and he’s usually the top player so he just spends his time spoiling the shit out of his friends giving them good items carrying them through dungeons etc but not Julian, he tells Julian to dig straight down in minecraft . Julian doesn’t ever know what he’s doing in any video game so Asra trains him wrong on purpose, as a joke

anyway enough about video games (for now)

Asra lives in a van that he painted the exterior of himself, it was both a fun project and a very smug way to annoy people with this awful fucking hippie van strolling into town, eat shit

it’s decorated with crystals, furs, fairy lights, mason jars full of food For The Aesthetic, books, etc. It’s very cozy, cottagecore / bohemian and it’s ridiculously obvious that he’s into witchcraft. he just lets Faust explore because this isn’t real and I can pretend that a snake is exactly as well behaved as in a fantasy story

basically homeless by choice

drugs tw but I see him as the type to want to try anything and everything at least once so if he’s ever been offered A Drug (and he crashes parties for fun and for free food, so he’s got opportunities) he’ll try it Just To See, and this has resulted in some bad trips before, but Muriel saw him in the middle of one and then after he sobered up Muriel put his foot down and made Asra agree to only do these things as responsibly as possible, like, with supervision from a friend

still drugs tw but I also see Asra as a stoner but in the cbd edibles sort of way, a lot of this is because I headcanon Asra as having ADD (because I do and I want to project a little bit) so it helps him focus but also he just Likes It. the glove box of his car has like, chocolate/lollipop edibles stuff like that

goes between like super healthy elaborate meals with mushrooms and veggies and fresh meat and shit and then just eating nothing but cheez-its all day

style wise I see him as the type to wear a lot of tank tops, like, the loosest of tank tops so it hangs super low and long and you get some nice cleavage out of it, crystal necklaces, gold jewelry, pride pins/jewelry/etc (trans/nonbinary/bisexual flags), oversized hoodies with loud colorful patterns, joggers and other loose comfy pants, and either boots or slippers

he’s got like... the at home look that’s basically what I just described, and then the away from home look that’s got thirty layers and none of it makes sense and he just shows up in orange crocs With Patterned Socks and everyone who sees him just lets out the heaviest sigh

Asra getting home be like (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a layer of clothes) (takes off a l

He likes to go on long road trips completely at random and saves up money to go on more extensive trips like, out of the continent. It can be really hard to place him at any given time, especially because he’s extremely slow to respond to texts for a whole multitude of reasons. He just fucking vanishes sometimes and he doesn’t get that maybe people want to know where he is. He’s too solitary

He makes money either via street performances (magic, tarot readings, etc) or selling shit on etsy like handmade tarot decks, crystal necklaces, magic charms, etc. He Has Never Worked A Day In His Life and He Will Not Start Now

Responsibility? Don’t know her

People ask him really obnoxious questions sometimes and he makes outlandish lies to tell them for fun . Why do you live in a van? A house killed my parents

In the fall/winter he lives with Muriel or more to the point, he crashes on his couch for a really long time and Muriel’s landlord doesn’t need to know about it for rent purposes

Julian

he’s a highly paid doctor and your mother would love it if you’d marry him if not for the fact that he looks like he never left his teenage emo phase

PIERCINGS

There’s DEFINITELY at least one piercing on his d

he lives with Portia and Mazelinka and tries to handle all their expenses but Mazelinka won’t fucking let him

soundproofed his room but not because he’s a youtuber or anything but because he uh. y’know what I’m gonna let y’all figure this one out on your own

goes to like............. lgbt friendly bdsm clubs every now and then looking for someone to step on him and call him garbage it’s for his mental health you don’t understand

black turtlenecks . silver jewelry . distinguished but Edgy as well, black boots, winklepickers, doc martens, ohmygod this is my SHIT I’m giving him red plaid pants and a reversed cross necklace and a leather jacket that says some radical shit on the back and Lots of Rings . black jeans with tears in the knees and black eyeshadow, demonia boots, leather gloves, hhhhhhOHmy GOD

catch him at home in black leggings and a my chemical romance tshirt with holes in it . he wakes up in the morning with yesterday’s makeup and he just cleans it up a little and that’s good enough

fairly small bedroom because he’s usually never at home, but it’s still pretty clear what he’s into even if it’s not super decorated or elaborate, kind of just Default Room but with his stuff arranged throughout . band posters, black furniture, a bed that looks like a depressed vampire sleeps in it, a bookshelf but most of the books are scattered around his desk, bed, and the floor. there’s a taxidermy skull on display somewhere because it’s just so dramatic you gotta love it

plays a black electric violin

extremely out of tune with pop culture he still listens to 70-00s music and he doesn’t know what a minecraft is or why Asra keeps yelling CREEPER when he comes into the room nor why Portia yells back AW MAN

I googled it and he qualifies as a millennial but I still see him as such a fucking old man who doesn’t know how to use electronics

despite being a doctor he’s so unhealthy . he eats nothing but depression meals (or just, nothing) unless someone forces him to sit down and eat an actual meal . No Julian whiskey does not count for your daily water intake

Malak probably happened because Julian wouldn’t stop feeding every black bird he saw just for the aesthetic and that was like 17 years ago but they still show up at his window expecting almonds or whatever the fuck . he changes houses but they’re too smart . you try to be a cool gothic thespian with a raven that will pose on your arm ONE time when you’re a teenager and they just never stop coming

sad lonely no friends hasn’t been laid in six years because he’s too busy and no longer remembers how to form meaningful relationships. Portia keeps being like so I met this really hot (insert gender here) and like idk I think they’re into goth dudes............... just saying...................... and he’s like am I really so pathetic that I’m going to let my baby sister set up blind dates for me? Yes

would drive something very goth like a hearse or some shit if not for the fact that his family would make sure he ends up in a coffin in the back of it if he drove up in that shit . please . buy a normal fucking car . Julian . oh my god

he starts quoting melodramatic poetry at the slightest inconvenience . he is that “All you did was betray me as I lay sick and festering. You are the definition of dread. My cat stole my fucking garlic bread” meme

been arrested multiple times for general rowdiness but also for political activism . at this point Portia/Mazelinka will just sigh and pay his bail and they don’t even ask what he did this time . how does he still have a job? I wish I knew

theater kid

Muriel

lives in a rundown apartment in the shitty part of town because it’s all he can afford, it’s quiet, and no one will try to visit him (except Asra) because no one wants to go to THAT part of town . but no harm will likely ever befall him because he’s 6′10 and like three million pounds of raw muscle with battle scars like you gonna fuck with that? really?

even if he got robbed it wouldn’t matter because A) he doesn’t own anything B) Inanna will chase the thief away

depression man staying in his quiet rundown dark apartment distracting himself with idle hobbies and taking care of his dog to prevent the encroaching ennui from tearing him a new asshole

changes jobs frequently both because he never stands out therefore never gets taken on full time after the part time trial period, AND to protect himself from the horror of being known

works mostly things like construction, auto repair, dog sitting/walking/etc, woodworking, mostly hard labor but if he can convince granny to let a very scary but completely harmless man look after her bichon frise for the weekend then he’s pretty happy about that

in a similar manner, he orders everything online so cashiers/etc won’t start to recognize him. delivery workers leave everything outside his door and he just drags it inside after they leave like an itazura kitty coin bank

goes camping a lot because staying cooped up in his apartment is super bad for his mental health and he doesn’t like to take walks through the city for a multitude of reasons. he takes Inanna on walks through the woods instead

Asra is his only friend and that’s fine (it’s not fine)

convinced therapy doesn’t work and he wants nothing to do with it

doesn’t like using electronics and only keeps a few things around his house so Asra can use them when he’s around . Muriel has a phone (that Asra got for him) so he can text Asra, check the time, check the weather, google questions, and like, nothing else

pretty much only happy when something is about dogs. he wants to go to the pet store and look at the dogs but he needs Asra to go with him so Asra can distract the workers and Muriel can look at the puppies in peace

dresses in blacks, grays, greens, and browns for the most part, jacket with the hood up, tank tops, dark jeans with tears in them, brown boots with mud stains on them . functional, not particularly stylish, and if he’s going to be in public he doesn’t want to make it easy for anyone to see his face. at home it’s mostly no shirt + sweatpants/joggers/etc. doesn’t accessorize or put in any real effort. he doesn’t care what he looks like (because he’s convinced he’s not much to look at anyway)

lives that super eco friendly life like Asra does but it’s more that he just feels comfortable living like he’s always on a camping trip

he doesn’t want to eat junk like Asra does but if Asra shows up with mcdonalds then well he can’t really say no

the type who uses something until he absolutely cannot use it anymore instead of just buying a new one

has never been to a doctor, dentist, etc Ever. the most he can do is take Inanna to the vet because he loves her so much

drives a very old pickup truck with like, chipped paint and mud stains. he’d take better care of it if only anything in life mattered

didn’t go to school

Portia

I like to think that she took on a groundskeeping job at Nadia’s very expensive large house and they fell in love and now Nadia pays for everything and Portia just spends her time gardening, playing with Pepi, and like idk running a vlogging/gaming youtube channel

200 videos of Pepi on her youtube channel with 4 million views each bare minimum . takes random videos of cats where she has to audio edit it to shit so you can’t hear her high pitched squeals of delight

minecraft let’s play part 30 where her, Asra, Nadia, and Julian play together and it’s extremely chaotic because Asra and Portia decide to gang up on Julian who does NOT know what he’s doing, and then Nadia surprises them all by not being the bigger person and instead tricking Julian into some elaborate trap where he steps on a trapdoor and falls 15 blocks into some lava and he looks up and all he sees is Nadia’s smug fucking avatar looking down at him

nightcore. it’s just not FAST enough

wears sweaters with cats on them. generally dresses in warm colors + brown/green, it’s like a very soft cozy look that you could go camping in or just generally be outside and get grass stains and whatnot. cute, functional

likes to make Julian do things for her like drive her places etc because like, he will. he always will

really likes social gatherings with her friends; sleepovers, beach trips, sitting at mcdonalds and pouring all their fries into a pile etc. tries to get Julian to go with her but he’s Just So BUSY. she makes fun of him and makes him drive her to it, then manages to convince him to stay

cottagecore aesthetic . she just thinks it’s so cute to have the little mason jars and decorate everything with leaves and flowers and BEES and whatnot . would love to live in a little cottage with a farm if she could

her room has a big cat tree in it . green wallpaper with yellow flowers. pressed flowers into books, an extremely cozy bed, fairy lights, it’s very farmy but also there’s a lot of electronics. she’s got a lot of 00s games, like, right in that ps2 sweet spot

nicknames all of her pokemon

she spoils the ever loving shit out of Pepi. She’s got a little cat harness and they go on walks through the park together

I don’t have a lot to say about the other two I Am Sorry

[pretty-well-funded]

kidnapped Peter pt 3

continued from here.  still no porn, but we’re closer!  :D

*

Mr. Stark comes back the next day, and he brings the promised peach. 

He sits closer to the door this time, instead of across the hall.  His legs are crossed just like Peter's, but he's wearing a fancy suit and it's an odd juxtaposition. 

Peter watches as he takes a paring knife and deftly excises a slice.  The whole time, Mr. Stark's talking about a rainstorm. 

The slice is resting partly on the knife, partly on Mr. Stark's knuckle, when he offers it through the slot.  Peter's mind pauses on the possible weapon for a second, but Mr. Stark has a firm grip.  He'd never manage to take it away. 

Peter reaches for the slice of peach instead, but yanks his fingers back when he gets a sharp tisk of disapproval.  He meets Mr. Stark's eyes, but the man doesn't speak. Just gestures for Peter to take the fruit. 

Hesitant, unsure if he's reading this right but oddly, stomach-churningly sure that he is, Peter leans forward and opens his mouth. 

Mr. Stark smiles and lays the slice on his tongue. 

Peter knows that he's blushing, but he's quickly distracted by the flavor bursting on his tongue, the way the slice practically melts in his mouth because it's just that perfectly ripe. 

When he opens his eyes, Mr. Stark is watching him sharply through the hole in the door.   

"Good?" His voice is gruff. 

"So good.  Thank you." 

Mr. Stark smiles and cuts another slice free, popping it in his own mouth this time.  "Damn. That is good."  

They finish the whole peach that way, one slice for Peter, one slice for Stark, mostly in silence.  Peter feels weirdly full when they're done.  He's pretty sure his stomach is smaller than it used to be. 

* 

Mr. Stark keeps his word and visits every day. Sometimes he brings food, stuff that's tastier than Peter's normal meals.  He always feeds Peter by hand.  Once he brings chocolate, but it's too sweet, after so long candy.  It nearly makes Peter sick.

Other times, he sits across the hall again, and reads out loud.  The first time it happens, it's just news headlines, but as he gets Peter to talk, it's other things, things that Peter likes.  Scientific discoveries, tech news, The Hobbit.  Mr. Stark has a nice reading voice.

He never stays very long.  Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.  It always goes so fast.

Peter knows what Mr. Stark is doing.  The isolation, the lack of control over even the most basic things, the lack of anything good in his life except him.  The withholding, the rewards.  The way everything good Peter has comes directly from Mr. Stark's hands.

It doesn't matter that he knows.  It's working anyway.  Peter spends his whole entire day anticipating those short little visits. Mr. Stark is the only lifeline Peter has, and he knows it's on purpose, but what does it matter?  It just means Mr. Stark can and will take it away.

Peter's spent a great deal of time considering why he's still here, what Mr. Stark wants from him, and none of the answers are good. 

On day 22, Peter asks for his first favor.  He's been careful, so careful, not to request anything beyond what he needs to live.  

"Mr. Stark?" 

The man looks up from finding where they left off in Tolkien.  "Yeah?" 

Peter chews the inside of his cheek for a second, but he can't stand it any longer.  "Can I ask you for something?" 

"You can always ask." 

Peter knows his face is red.  "I, um.  Can I have a pair of clean underwear?  These are. These are so gross." 

Mr. Stark's eyes flick up and to the left, the first indication he's ever given that another person is with them is there. Though Peter had guessed as much. "You may." 

Mr. Stark reads to him until someone comes back with his underwear, but it's not just underwear.  Mr. Stark also gives him a hoodie. 

As Peter snuggles into the soft fleece lining and pulls the hood up over his head, he knows that he's experiencing positive reinforcement, and he just doesn't give a damn. 

* 

On day 33, Mr. Stark sits down and says, "Pete, I need to ask you a question."

That's never happened before.  Peter is immediately wary, but what else can he say. "Okay." 

He smiles.  "My guys are getting a little sick of drugging you every time they need to get in our room.  But I told them I thought you could behave.  Will you?" 

Peter's heart pounds.  "Yes.  Yes, sir. I'll be good." 

Mr. Stark nods like he expected as much, but he's glad to hear it.  He looks at the other person out there with him, then there's the scrape of a lock and the door swings opens. 

It's the first time Peter's seen more than a six inch by twelve inch strip of the hallway at a time.  He realizes his hands are trembling a little when Mr. Stark steps in and extends a hand to help him stand up. 

It's warm and soft and he has a good grip, and it's the first time anyone's touched him in more than a month. 

When Peter's on his feet, Mr. Stark combs his fingers through Peter's tangled, greasy hair and hums.  "How about a shower, while they do what they need to?" 

"That…that would be good." 

Mr. Stark smiles. 

* 

The shower is…amazing.   

The bathroom Mr. Stark takes him to is a small, chilly space not much better than his cell, but the water is hot and strong, and the whole thing feels so goddamn good.  Shampoo has never brought Peter to tears.   

He feels clean for the first time in…what feels like his whole entire life, then he dries off with the big fluffy towel Mr. Stark gave him and dresses in the clean boxer-briefs and clean hoodie he also brought. He uses a toilet for the first time in a month. 

After everything is done, Peter knows he has to go back outside, but the thought of going back to that cell makes him sob. 

There's a rap on the door.  "Peter?  You okay in there?" 

"Yeah." 

The door opens, because of course it was never locked and Peter knew it.  He tries to turn towards the wall to hide his face but it's a lost cause.  He's ugly-crying now, sobbing, and a month ago he would have guessed he'd get a slap across the face, but now Mr. Stark pulls him into a hug and the floodgates open. 

Peter clings, and Mr. Stark is a great hugger, a surprise that only makes him cry harder.   

When Peter finally cries himself out, he's hesitant to take his face out of its little burrow in Mr. Stark's neck, mortified to face the man, even as he soaks up Mr. Stark's long, sure strokes up and down his back.   

"What can I do for you, Pete?  What will make it better?" 

Peter chokes back a hysterical laugh, because it's so fucked up.  The real answer is let me go home, but he knows that isn't going to happen, so he won't waste his breath.   

He doesn't even think he'll get what's second best, but the panic at the thought of being put back in that cell claws up his throat.  "Please don't put me back.  I can't…I can't…I've been good.  I'm trying to be good.  P-please, I – I can't stand another minute in there, Mr. Stark. What…what do I have to do?" 

Mr. Stark pulls away to look at him.  His face looks soft and Peter can't help but lean into it like a cat when Mr. Stark wipes the tears off of his cheeks.  "You have been good.  Let me show you something." 

He tangles their fingers together and pulls Peter over towards a narrow door that Peter assumed was…storage or something.   

Maybe it was, because the room on the other side isn't that big.  It is big enough, however, to fit a twin-sized mattress that's invitingly piled with blankets and pillows, with enough space to move around, besides.  In addition to the little door to the bathroom, there's another door that goes to the hallway.  It's like the one on his cell, with a food tray slot and a viewing window.  His eyes snag on something beside the door.  A light switch.  He'd be able to control the light. 

"Is it…mine?" 

Peter feels sick with how bad he wants it, and his knees start to go a bit when Mr. Stark nods yes so Mr. Stark has to brace him on his feet. "A reward, for behaving yourself. Also..." 

Mr. Stark hesitates, and Peter realizes he's clinging again, fists white-knuckled on the man's fine lapels. 

"I have to leave town on business for a bit, so you won't see me.  Hopefully this will make it a little more comfortable to be alone." 

Peter swallows down the bile at the thought of days without anyone.  Now that he's standing so close to another person, he doesn't even want to let Mr. Stark out of reach.  "How long?" 

"I'm not sure.  Five days, something like that." 

"Okay." 

Peter must sound as miserable as he is, because Mr. Stark pulls him back into a hug and Peter buries his face and breathes him in. He smells really good, like Peter's sweatshirts.  "You'll be fine.  You'll be just fine.  How about I leave you our book?  You can finish it while I'm gone." 

Peter's response is muffled against Mr. Stark's jacket, but Mr. Stark must understand it's in the affirmative.  He pulls Peter away, far too soon, and presses a kiss to Peter's forehead, beard scratching/tickling his skin.  Uncle Ben never had a beard. 

"Be good," Mr. Stark says, and then he's gone. He exits through the bathroom, and its hallway door locks behind him. 

Peter crawls onto his mattress and sighs at how soft it is, how good it feels.  He cocoons himself in the covers and soaks up the unbelievable comfort around him. He's so drained, he'd unconscious in seconds.

[hypnosthemindmaster]

Converting Dani - Part 1a

'This outfit is going to drive my husband wild,' Dani thought as she parked her car in the garage. She grabbed her shopping bag from the passenger seat and headed in the house. As she headed down the hall to their bedroom, she heard that voice again coming from upstairs.

"Welcome home Golddigger, have fun spending more of my Dads's money?"

It was her stepson T.J. 'What a prick,' Dani thought as she ignored him and went into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She was going to wait and surprise her husband, but decided teasing him was more fun. So she quickly undressed and grabbed the pink stripped bag she'd dropped on the bed. She reached into the tissue paper and pulled out the black lace and mesh teddie she had purchased earlier. She carefully slid the delicate garment up her legs and pulled it snuggly across her curves. The mixture of lace and mesh did its job perfectly, hugging her curves like and second skin. The mesh left little to the imagination, while the lace patches did their job to provide the minimum amount of modesty. Dani stood admiring herself in the full length mirror for a few minutes before reaching into her purse to grab her phone to take a picture. As she unlocked her phone with the pin code, "I wonder why the fingerprint scanner didn't work?" There was a notice on the phone screen that a software update had been installed and the phone had rebooted. Dani noticed the camera app looked different as she pulled it up, but didn't think much about it. She framed the picture of herself in the mirror and that's when she noticed the shutter button was replaced by a button marked "capture". "That's odd," Dani said as she reread the button before smiling and pushing the capture button. Instead of taking a picture, the phone gave Dani a shock from its charging port that sent a tingle down her arm and through her entire body. 'What the he'll?' Dani thought as the tingle fadded. She tried to take another picture and that's when she realized her hand wouldn't move. She tried to reach up with her other hand but it wouldn't respond either, she quickly realized she couldn't move any part of her body. That's when she noticed a set of messages scrolling across her phone screen.

Subject capture complete

Subject's body movement functions neutralized.

Subject's vital signs are stable.

Transmitting confirmation of capture to Programmer.

'What the hell does that mean?' Dani thought as she stared at her phone screen.

"Hello Golddigger," came TJ's voice as her bedroom door opened.

Dani panicked at the thought of her stepson finding her like this. He had a cocky grin on his face as he walked into the room and over to her.

"I wasn't sure this would work," TJ said as he heald his phone up for her to see the screen.

Capture of Subject Dani complete.

Subject Immobilized and ready for retrieval.

'What the hell have you done to me?' Dani thought as he pulled his phone away.

"I'm tired of the way you've been using my father, he's to blind to see the way you are but you didn't fool me. Well it ends today," TJ said as he turned and headed for the door. He heald his phone up to his mouth and said, "Follow me."

'Yeah right, I don't take orders from you,' Dani thought. 'WHAT THE HELL?' Dani screamed in her head as her body suddenly turned and followed TJ out the door and down the hall.

They made their way to the dining room. TJ pulled out a chair and said, "Take a seat."

Dani did everything she could to regain control of her body but it followed his instructions and sat down.

"Read these and sign them," TJ said as he laid two sheets of paper in front of her.

Dani watched as her body picked up the first piece of paper and read it:

Thomas,

I'm done living this lie, I only married you for your money. I've gotten a better offer and I'm leaving you. I'll be gone by the time you read this.

I want nothing from you, you can keep absolutely everything. I'm taking nothing with me, not even my clothes.

Along with this letter you'll find divorce papers, they're already filled out and I've signed them. As I'm not taking anything there is nothing to contest, so just sign them and file them.

Good riddance,

Dani watched in horror as her hand picked up the pen and signed the letter. The second sheet was a short divorce decree, it simply stated irreconcilable differences and that she was giving up her rights to all marital property. Her body signed that form as well and laid down the pen.

"Good girl," TJ said in mocking tone. "The effect of your phone will be wearing off soon so we need to move quickly, stand up and follow me," TJ commanded.

Dani tried to take this latest news with a glimmer of hope that she'd be able to escape. She tried repeatedly as her body followed TJ down into the basement, but the harder she pushed, the harder her body resisted. They made their way to a back corner of the basement.

"Dad doesn't even know this is here," TJ said as he moved a couple boxes and opened a trap door in the floor. "I did some research and found out this house was used by moonshiners during prohibition, this is where they hid their equipment," He said as he reached under the floor and flipped a light switch. "It gave me a great place to prepare for what I have planned for you," TJ said as he stood and took a step back from the opening. "Get in," he commanded.

Dani watched as her body moved over to the opening and looked down, the space below was huge and there was a ladder attached to one end of the opening. Dani felt herself turn around and back onto the ladder. She carefully climbed down into the space, TJ followed closely behind her. Once at the bottom of the ladder her body took a step back and waited.

"This way," TJ said as he led her to the center of the space.

Dani felt her fear growing inside her as she saw what sat in the middle of the space. It was a wooden frame, a little narrower than the width of her shoulders with a thinly padded top. The bottom of the frame separated into two separate padded frames that resembled the position of the stirups on a gynecologist's examination table. There were multiple straps positioned along the frame sections. Her fear was realized when TJ spoke again.

TJ pointed to the frame and said, "Make yourself comfortable."

Dani's body moved on its own toward the table. It laid back on the main surface and put its legs up on the spread lower sections. When she was in position, TJ started at her ankles securing her body to the frame by buckling the leather straps as he worked his way up. There was a strap across each of her ankles and one at mid thigh, pinning her legs to the frame. He moved up and secured another across the top of her hips, followed quickly by him fastening her wrists to the side of the frame below the surface her back rested on.

"Lift your head and open your mouth," TJ instructed. As her body complied, TJ took the opportunity to strap a ball gag in her mouth then pushed her head back down to the frame. With that done he took a step back and said, "now we wait, the effects should wear off soon and we can begin the next phase. I'll be back," TJ said as he turned and headed for the ladder. He climbed the ladder, switching off the light before heading through the opening. Dani heard a loud thud as the trap door closed, pitching her into total darkness.

As Dani laid there in the dark, She slowly felt control of her body returning to her. She tried to thrash against the straps that bound her but they held fast, not giving in the slightest. Eventually she stopped her struggles and waited for TJ's return. The darkness robbed her of any sense of time, which only added to the fear she felt. At the same time she felt something else that she couldn't quite put her finger on. At some point she had almost dozed off when she was startled by the sound of the hatch opening. She closed her eyes from the brightness as TJ flipped on the lights and started climbing down the ladder. When she slowly opened her eyes, he was standing over her with an evil grin on his face.

"Time to start getting you ready for phase two," TJ said as he leaned in. "I'm going to unbuckle your gag, do not spit it out until I tell you or there will be a punishment, got it?"

Dani reluctantly nodded her agreement, realizing there wasn't much she could do in her current predicament anyway. She lifted her head to help as he reached behind her head and released the buckle.

"Good girl, now lay your head back down," he instructed as he pulled the loose ends of the straps from behind her head.

Dani felt a wave of panic that almost made her spit the gag out as her head made contact with the frame she was lying on and TJ quickly pulled a strap across her throat and buckled it. The strap didn't cut off her ability to breath but the pressure on her neck did hinder it some. She took a few slow breaths to calm herself as TJ stood back and watched her.

As her breathing slowed to a mostly normal rhythm he spoke again. "I'm going to remove that gag from your mouth now, but that is only if you can behave and follow orders. For now the only order is you're not allowed to speak above a whisper. If you do, I will leave you down here to starve to death. Blink once if you understand what I'm saying."

Dani gave one slow blink to acknowledge his instructions.

"Thank you," she whispered as he pulled the ball from her mouth.

"Now to get ready for the next step," TJ said as he set the ball gag aside.

"Why are you doing this?" Dani pleaded as TJ turned back to her.

"I'm tired of you using my father, he wouldn't take action so I did," TJ said as he rubbed Dani's smooth leg.

"Your father is never going to buy that I wrote that letter or signed those papers."

TJ reached into his jacket and pulled out some folded papers. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," TJ said as he unfolded the papers and showed them to Dani. The top page was the divorce agreement and it had his father's signature was next to hers.

Dani felt herself wanting to cry as she stared at the document.

"Turns out I didn't give Dad enough credit. Come to find out he's been having an affair for months. The only reason he'd stuck with you is because when you two eloped he had forgotten to get a prenup so he was afraid to leave you and have you take half his business. Your letter gave him the out he wanted without losing anything, so it was a win win situation for him. He's headed over to give his mistress the good news."

Dani couldn't believe what she was hearing, she just laid there and cried for several minutes. TJ just stood over her with a smug look on his face. Finally Dani composed herself as best she could given her situation and asked, "So what's going to happen to me?"

"You'll remain down here for the short term, while I look for a place of my own. Once I find a place, I'll move you with me as my servant."

"I'll never do that, I'll run," Dani retorted.

"That won't be an option for you soon," TJ said as he rolled a stand up computer cart over next to her prone body.

[consultingundergroundrainbow]

Life Changes (ch 3)

Peter wakes up around eleven to a text from Tony.

Received Tony: Make sure to hydrate today when you practice. I’d hate to see you in the ER due to collapsing.

Peter smiles softly before getting up and snapping a picture of his water bottle and sending.

Sent Tony: We still on for tonight?

He gets up and gets dressed, finding a pair of soft pants and a button down. He decided to go to the studio to work on some the dances he was given as the dancing part of the audition. The dance was fairly simple but that means he had to be perfect and no less. Of course, with his standards, anything less than perfect wasn’t good enough.

Peter was making a sandwich when his phone pinged. He sets the knife down and unlocked it.

Received Tony: Of course. I’m looking forward to it. Did you sleep well?

Sent Tony: I did. Did you?

Peter puts the phone in his pocket and slides his shoes on, grabbing his sandwich and his keys. He takes a bite and walks out, locking the door before going to to his car. His phone buzzed as he was unlocking his car.

Received Tony: I’m a doctor. There’s no such thing as a good night sleep anymore.

Sent Tony: Oh. I’m sorry :(

Peter slides into the car and sets his phone into the passenger seat, finishing his sandwich and taking off to the studio. This was the studio where he learned to dance and it was his safe haven. He greets the lady at the desk, Sherri.

“How are you doing today Peter?”

“I’m doing great. How’s the kids?” Peter smiles.

“Growing like weeds. So, Something Rotten, huh? Which character?”

“William Shakespeare.” Peter laughs a little.

Sherri raises an eyebrow. “Wanting a reason to take your shirt off on stage?” She teases.

“Are you complaining?”

“Not at all. I just need to know when I can clear my calendar to come watch.” She wiggles her eyebrows. Peter chuckles.

“Behave Sherri.” He scolds.

“Or what? You’ll spank me?”

Peter rolls his eyes with a smile. Sherri was a flirt but was harmless. She drops off a muffin on her desk before making his way into the studio. He sits his bag down and kneels next to the stereo and connected his phone. He sits with his legs out and stretches, before picking himself up and beginning to dance around the room. He lets himself get caught up in the music and the moments just come naturally.

-----.-----

Tony smiles as he finishes his rounds, making his way to the break room for coffee. He nearly runs into Stephen Strange on his way though. Stephen was the head of neurosurgery.

“Woah!” Stephen stumbles back a little. “Earth to Stark.”

Tony shakes his head. “Sorry sorry.”

“What’s got you so distracted?” Stephen moves aside so Tony could get to the coffee pot.

“I’m tired mostly.”

“But you’re in a good mood. You’re an asshole when you’re tired. Did you have sex?” Stephen asked with an amused smile.

“No.” Tony takes a deep drink from his mug. He hums at the strength. It tasted amazing.

“I don’t believe you.”

Tony sits the mug down on the counter.

“I did not have sex. But I met a guy.”

Stephen makes an ‘ah’ sound. “That makes sense. Tell me about him?”

“His name is Peter Parker-”

“Peter Parker? Like the one on Broadway?”

Tony shot him an annoyed look. He hated being interrupted. Stephen didn’t even bother to look sorry.

“Yes, the one from Broadway. He’s pretty and seems very sweet. We’re meeting for dinner when I get off.”

“You better be careful Tony.”

Tony raises an eyebrow.

“And what does that mean?”

“You are both well known public figures. If this ends bad it could ruin your career. Plus, even with as annoying as you are, I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“I honestly don’t see this going bad. At least I really hope it doesn’t. He seems like a really good person. He sang me to sleep last night.” Tony mentions, raising an eyebrow at Stephen’s last remark. “Oh Stephen! You do care!” He says with a laugh.

Stephen rolls his eyes. “You’re needed in the ER. Boss’ orders.”

Tony sighs and puts his mug in the sink. “I have an operation at three.”

“He knows. But there’s a guy who said he has had a headache for a week and a half. Rogers says to check it out.”

“Alright. Fine.” He turns and leaves the room, making his way down to the ER.

 “Good morning, I’m Dr. Tony Stark. I see you’ve been having headaches for a week and a half?” Tony asked, going over the chart. He looks up at the man. He looked young, maybe a sophomore in high school.

“No sir, not headaches. Just one non stop headache.” He winces and closes his eyes against the bright lights of the hospital.

Well that was not good.

“Okay…” Tony glances at the chart. “Aaron, we’re gonna get you up to MRI and see if we can find the cause of these pains okay?”

Aaron just nods.

-----.-----

Peter lays flat on his back in the middle of the studio, with his eyes closed and just let the music wash over him. He kept his mind blank, unsure what to even expect that evening. He honestly did try to keep his mind on his audition, and he was able to for a while but his mind kept slipping back to Tony’s invite. Was it a date? Was it just casual? What do you wear to a dinner with a famous brain surgeon? He sits up and rubs his face. He needed help. He called Ned.

“Hello hello. How may I be of service Dancing Queen?”

Peter rolls his eyes at the nickname.

“I need help. I can’t figure out what to wear tonight.”

“Is it a date?”

“Well I’m getting dinner with Tony-”

“You’re getting dinner with Tony Stark?!?”

Peter had to hold the phone away from his ear at Ned’s loud tone.

“Yes and I need your help.”

“I’m on my way.”

Peter hangs up and laughs to himself. He picks himself up and turns the stereo off before telling Sherri goodbye and heading home.

-----.-----

“Hey Strange. Come here.” Tony calls, sticking his head out of the lab door. Stephen looks over with a tilted head.

“What?” He asked, coming in and sitting his coffee down.

“Look at this.”

Tony puts up Aaron’s scans on the display.

“My god.” Stephen leans forward. “That thing is the size of my fist!”

“Yeah. We have to operate. Toady. That thing is going to kill him if we don’t.”

“What about your date?”

Tony bites his lip. Was it a date? He would love for it to be a date, but he wasn’t sure Peter would be up for it. Stephen snaps his fingers.

“Earth to Stark. Hello!”

Tony shakes his head.

“Sorry sorry. No I’m sure he’ll understand. He’s a good person.”

“Alright. If you say so. I’ll get an intern started on pre ops.”

“Yeah and I’ll go tell him what’s happening-” Tony stopped when his pager went off. He checks it and swears loudly. “Damnit! He’s coding. We are operating now!” He bolts out the door.

-----.-----

Peter stands outside the hospital for a moment, smoothing his shirt and taking a deep breath. He and Ned ended up settling on a red button down and black slacks.He shifts from one foot to the other. It was about half an hour before he wonders if he should have gone inside. He sighs and squared his shoulders before going in. He looks around for a moment before the nurse at the desk calls him over.

“Sir? May I help you?”

Peter clears his throat, suddenly nervous.

“Um...Yes. Can you tell me where Dr. Stark is?”

“He’s in surgery.”

Relief floods over Peter like a tidal wave. Tony was in surgery. He hadn’t been stood up.

“Okay thank you.”

He looks around and finds a seat, sitting down to wait. He pulls out his phone and starts to run through lines. To any other person, he probably looked insane, but Peter didn’t really care. He managed to get through a good chunk of the first act of Sweeney Todd before the nurse clears her throat.

“Sir, here he comes.”

Peter jumps up as Tony comes through the double doors. He looks tired but happy. He brightens instantly when he sees Peter.

“Peter! I’m so sorry about being late. I had a surgery and I’m going to change now-”

Peter smiles.

“Don’t apologize. I don’t mind waiting. Go, a few more minutes won’t kill me.”

Tony gives him a grateful smile.

“I’ll make this up to you.”

‘Don’t worry about it. Go.” Peter shoos him.

  Tony quickly changes into the suit he had brought from home during his lunch break. He forwent the tie, settling on the button up and jacket, in which he only buttoned the middle. He runs a brush through his hair but it wasn’t wanting to corruprate.

“Well don’t you look dashing?” Stephen says behind him.

Tony turns, smirking a little. “I always look dashing, what are you talking about?”

Stephen rolls his eyes. “Ever heard of a hairbrush?”

“Hey maybe Peter likes the messy look.”

“Well maybe. He is going out with you.” Stephen teases and laughs. “Have fun tonight and try not corrupt him too much.”

“Who me?” Tony asked innocently. “I’m a good egg.”

“We will see. Now go on. He’s waiting for you.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow and let me know if something happens with Aaron?”

“I will. Now go.”

Tony smirks and winks before pushing out of the locker room. The look on Peter’s face was priceless. His honey eyes widen and his mouth drops open. Tony laughs a little.

“See something you like?”

“I see a lot of what I like.”Peter blurts then blushes deeply.

 Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. What the hell did he have to open his big mouth? Peter wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

“So do I.” Tony smiles offers his hand. “Shall we?”

“Oh. I..I drove.”

“That’s okay. I’ll bring you back here after dinner.”

Peter feels his ears go pink and he takes Tony’s outstretched hand. Tony takes him out to a deep red convertible. It probably cost more than Peter’s car and wardrobe together. He was pulled from his thoughts by Tony opening the door.

“It doesn’t bite. I promise.”

Peter laughs despite himself and gets in. “Sorry. It’s just...really nice.”

“Don’t let that intimidate or or make you feel like you have to try and impress me. Just be yourself.” Tony looks over with an unreadable expression. “For tonight I’m just a guy and so are you. No internationally known brain surgeon or famous Broadway performer. Tonight we can just be Tony and Peter.”

Peter felt himself relax and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

“Yes. That sounds amazing. I’d love that.”

Dinner was amazing. They went to an Italian place where Tony knew the chef. The conversation wasn’t forced, it felt natural and Peter loved it. But all to soon it came to an end.

“Can we take the long way back?” Peter asked before he could stop himself. “I just...don’t want tonight to be over yet.”

Tony looks over and smiled. The lights of the city made the older man’s eyes shine and made his skin glow. He looked almost angelic. Peter felt entranced.

“Sure thing. I happen to enjoy being in your company.”

They drove around for about a half an hour before they ended up back at the hospital. Peter felt like he was floating. He looks up as his door was opened and Tony offered his hand again. Peter takes it and stands. Their chests were almost touching now. Peter closes his eyes and closes the gap, on a whim. Then he jerked back, hitting his head on the edge of the windshield. Tony tried-and failed- to hide the smile on his face.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to and-”

“You didn’t mean to kiss me?” Tony was still smiling.

“Well, no. Unless...You liked it?”

Tony just chuckles and kisses him, likely to stop his babbling.

“Call me tomorrow after your audition and we can go celebrate.”

“You don’t even know if I’ll get the part.”

“But I do have a feeling.”

“Alright, I’ll have to trust you then. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Good night Peter.”

“Good night Tony.”

[simkaswriting]

Fishnets-(Sweet Pea)

Characters: Betty Cooper(mentioned), Cheryl Cooper(mentioned), Veronica Lodge(mentioned), Tall Boy, Sweet Pea and (Y/N)

Pairing: Hint at Sweet Pea x Reader

Warnings: Swearing and smoking

Word Count: 2455

Summary: What will happen when (Y/N), the youngest Blossom, runs away from home and starts attending Southside High? Who’s eye will she catch?

(Y/N) Blossom has not had it easy, with the murder of her brother and suicide of her father, with the prejudice and hatred she faced at Riverdale High due to countless rumours. She often admired how her older sister, Cheryl, managed to seem cool and unbothered all the time, until she realised that it came with a price. On the outside her sister may have looked like she had no care in the world, but on the inside, she raged a war on herself and everyone around her. And that’s when (Y/N) realised that the only way to truly rid herself of the weight on her shoulders was to wash her hands clean of her family and start anew on the other side of the town. 

Southside High was a dangerous place, perhaps even more so than the streets after dark. On average, three people get stabbed a month, drugs run wild across the school and gang activity is not uncommon. What better place for (Y/N) to start her new life than this school, tucked in the corner just out of God’s sight where nobody would look for her?

The ominous sound of heels on wood could be heard echoing around Southside High as (Y/N) Blossom made her was to her first class of the day, English. She keeps her head held high as she passes a couple making out by the lockers, not giving a shit about attending class. She briefly thinks back to her days at Riverdale, there is no way in hell that you’d catch anyone out of class, let alone making out in the corridor. But this is the Southside, she thinks to herself. Things are run differently around here.

She finds the door with the numbers 334 spray painted on it with ease, the plaque that should be there missing. She pulls out a small mirror from her handbag and quickly checks her lipstick, the ‘Dare You’ shade making her feel fearless. Though if you payed real close attention, you could tell she was so nervous it made her sick to the stomach. Transferring school is never easy, and it’s even harder if you’re a supposed ‘rich snob’ attending a crime-riddled High School. 

With a small sigh and a little pep talk, consisting of ‘don’t be a little bitch, you’ve faced more daunting shit before’,  she tucks the pink mirror back into her bag and walks into the classroom. 

Every pair of eyes turns to her immediately. She wonders if it’s because of the way she’s dressed,  or because of her signature bright red hair that only a Blossom has. Then (Y/N) comes to the conclusion that it’s because she interrupted the lesson which nobody was paying attention to anyway.

But one pair of eyes stays on her longer than others, and that pair of eyes belong to the local Serpent Sweet Pea. As he takes in the girls appearance, the flaming red hair, the ripped fishnets, the skirt that shows just enough to make you wonder, and the heels which look impossible to walk in, Sweet Pea can’t help but wonder why he’s never seen her around the Southside before. Surely he’d never forget her.

The teacher turns to her, a pleasant smile on his lips. 

“Ah, you must be the new addition to this amazing school, (Y/N).” The teacher says sarcastically as he motions around the classroom that’s half-fallen apart. There are holes in the walls, half of the lights work, and there isn’t a single surface that isn’t covered in graffiti. Some students are sitting on tables, some are even smoking. She wonders if this is even legal, but she comes to the conclusion that even if the things going on around her are weird and unheard of in the Northside, she likes it.

(Y/N) nods once, before turning on her heels and stalking to the back seat next to the window, the only one in the back row that isn’t taken. She feels eyes all over her body, but she just keeps her head up and takes a seat. 

It doesn’t take long for the class to start talking again, and as she listens in, (Y/N) is glad to find that she isn’t the topic of discussion. Instead, phrases like ‘I got some jangle, pretty cheap if you want’ and ‘C’mon, nobody’s looking this way anyway’ are heard. And that’s when the girl sees that her 4.0 GPA is about to go downhill faster than her families reputation.

Lunch comes around sooner than (Y/N) would like, as she enjoyed just dodling on her sketchbook, and soon she finds herself in the full cafeteria, feeling like a fish out of water. 

There are two distinct groups she can make out. One consists of people with leather jackets that have the Southside Serpents logo on them, and the other look like drug dealers. Neither seems like a fun option to sit with, though she’d sooner sit with the Serpents. After all, she is acquainted with Tall Boy.

“Why is a Blossom even in this part of the town? Do you want your ass beat, little girl?” The man, who’m (Y/N)s come to learn is called Tall Boy, laughs at her as he aims his dart and throws. It lands on a 20.

Coming to the Whyte Wyrm was her last resort. Even someone like (Y/N), near enough fearless and cocky, would steer clear of this place. But business calls, and she has to answer. If she wants to cut the leftover ties with the Northside, she has to do this.

“You know the shit that’s been stirring up in the Northside. With the sudden fall of the undercover drug empire my father ran, I’ve decided to come live here, because God knows that as bad as this place is, the Northside is worse.” She crosses her hands over her chest and leans against the table next to Tall Boy. 

In order for (Y/N) to attend Southside High, she needed someone to pose as her parent, as a legal guardian had to be present. But given the whole ‘I just ran away from my sociopath mother’ situation, the Blossom couldn’t call her actual mother. So, what better way to go around things than hire a Serpent to pretend to be her father?

“How much do you offer?” Tall Boy looks at the girl next to him. He knows her plan is nuts, but if she’s willing to pay, then why the hell not give it a try? He knows a good deal when he sees it.

(Y/N) grabs three darts from the box on the table and walks to the white line on the floor, indicating how far away she has to stay from the dart board. She takes a small breath, aims, and throws. A triple 20.

“$500.” She flashes the man a quick smirk before aiming and throwing her second dart. Triple 20. 

Tall Boy raises his eyebrows at the red-head in front of him. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was a Southsider, with the way she’s dressed and behaving. She looks like she knows how to handle herself and she resonates with power. He thinks to himself, this might work.

“Tell you what. You hit bulls eye and I’ll do it for $250.” Tall Boy leans back against the table she was at a few seconds ago and watches in amusement. He isn’t underestimating her, but he knows it’s unlikely she’ll hit it. 

She aims and throws, and with a triumphant smirk, takes a roll of cash out from her bra. There is exactly $250 rolled up with a pink band. She hands it to the dumbfounded man before pulling the darts out of the dartboard. 

Tall Boy huffs and shakes his head. He should have taken the offer when he still could, but she won fair and square.

“Alright kid, I’ll do it.”

For today, she doesn’t get lunch, just because she doesn’t have anywhere to sit. Nobody acknowledges her existence as she walks back out of the cafeteria. Nobody but a certain raven-haired boy who’s been keeping a close eye on her since first period. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he felt like he knew her. He felt like he has to protect her, though something tells him she can do that well on her own. But it was that bit of flickering uncertainty that something might happen to her that caused him to follow her. 

(Y/N) sits down on the steps of her new school and pulls out a cigarette and lighter from her bag, lighting it with one flick of her finger before slipping the lighter into her bra for security. One can never be to sure, and she wouldn’t be able to afford a new one, even with the money she took out of her trust fund before leaving her family. 

She takes a long, slow drag as she surveys the people around her. They’re all laughing and joking around, some smoking too. The majority wear the symbolic Southside Serpents jacket. Why was she so afraid of going here? Why does everyone hate the Southside part of Riverdale? It’s just like the Northside, but with less stuck-up jerks. Like Veronica Lodge, the self-proclaimed ‘bad girl gone good’ with an alcohol addiction. Or Betty Cooper, the bane of (Y/N)s entire existence. 

She thinks about what her new life has planned out for her. The cheap trailer she bought would do, it’s not exactly Thornhill, but in a weird way she feels at home in it. It has no long hallways she’s banned from entering, no cold-hearted parent who could freeze hell over with one glance, no secrets that could ruin the family, like the one that already has. It is small, but it will do her just fine. 

(Y/N) picks up on footsteps nearing her, but she doesn’t turn around. 

“That’s a bad habit you’ve got going on.” Sweet Pea asks the girl sitting in front of him. He’s not one to usually talk to strangers, or anyone outside of the Serpents, but for some reason he feels like if he doesn’t talk to this mysterious girl he’ll loose his mind. And the red hair… He swears he’s seen her before. 

(Y/N) turns around and raises an eyebrow at the boy. She notices his tattoo, he’s a Serpent. Back in Riverdale, everyone was against these guys, even scared of them. But the boy doesn’t look threatening. No, he looks kind of cute.

“Sorry, didn’t realise you were my mom.” She smirks and turns back around. Just like she thought, the boy sits down next to her and smirks. 

“I’m Sweet Pea, welcome to Southside High, a.k.a the best school in all of New York.” The boy motions around him, pointing out the graffiti and barb-wire covered fences surrounding the school. She can’t help but laugh a little at that. Even if this shithole is what it is, a shithole where dreams come to die, it’s still better than Riverdale High. At least here she can be herself.

“I’m (Y/N), nice to meet you Sweet Pea.” She extends a hand out for the boy to shake, which he does reluctantly, as if contemplating whether or not this is some sort of joke or trap. 

As he shakes the mystery girls hand, which sends a little jolt of electricity through him, who now has a name, something clicks in Sweet Pea’s head. The red hair, the clothes, the attitude, the name. (Y/N) Blossom. Instead of feeling hatred and anger towards the girl, he feels curiosity. What makes a rich girl wander into the Serpent territory, let alone permanently move here?

She stubs out the cigarette and throws in haphazardly behind her, not caring where it lands. It’s not like there are any animals around who might swallow it. 

“What’s a Blossom doing so far out of her comfort zone?” Sweet Pea asks the girl next to him, catching her off guard. 

It doesn’t take her long to realise her hair was a hint enough, which made her think. If this guy, Sweet Pea, could tell it was her, then so could others. There is no point in trying to lie, It’s not like she was wanting to hide the fact she’s a Blossom, but it would make her less of a target. But now that this boy she’s just met knows…

“Said Blossom didn’t feel like being good and playing by mommy’s rules anymore.” (Y/N) looks up at Sweet Pea, the boy taller than her, even with the heels she’s wearing. She can tell by the sudden look of approval that she’s said the right thing. But does she mean it? Is she ready to let go of her past self, the snobby rich kid? Yes, she is. 

Sweet Pea stands up and offers a hand to the Blossom, something he’d never imagine himself doing. Blossom’s are even more hated in this part of town than Mayor McCoy, which is a hard feat to accomplish. But he knows he’d do anything to protect the red head. Why? Because the thought of someone hurting her fills him with white-hot rage. 

(Y/N) takes his hand and stands up, brushing gravel off her skirt. 

She faces him, and for a brief second she’s stunned speechless. The boy doesn’t have stunning looks like Chris Hemsworth, or the alluring personality or Mr Darcy, but he is definitely something. His brown eyes are bright and full of humour, yet smeared with hatred and bad memories at the same time. His hair is combed to the side and his tattoo is on display. His clothes look old and worn, but she doesn’t care. In a way, she feels like he’s what she’s been looking for. To some, Sweet Pea might look like a renegade, but to her, he looks like someone she want’s to spend all of her time with.

“Feel like skipping the rest of the day? I ought to give you a tour of this place. Don’t worry, I don’t bite.” Sweet Pea asks (Y/N) casually, though a part of him desperately wants her to say yes. He knows there’s more to the girl than the fishnets and heels, and he wants to get to know her. Even if she is a Blossom, a sworn enemy.

“Snakes don’t bite unless they’re provoked, I payed attention in Biology.” She laughs a little as the two make their way from Southside High, heads held high  as they get looks from bystanders. But neither of them care, as they’re too immersed in the other to pay attention. 

As (Y/N) looks over the boy next to her, with his Serpent jacket and ripped jeans, she can’t help but be intrigued by him. He of all people decided to approach the newbie, and she couldn’t be more glad. 

[robininthelabyrinth]

Countless Roads - Chapter 14

Fic: Countless Roads - Chapter 14 - Direct Link to Ao3

Fandom: Flash, Legends Pairing: Gen, Mick Rory/Leonard Snart, others

Summary: Due to a family curse (which some call a gift), Leonard Snart has more life than he knows what to do with – and that gives him the ability to see, speak to, and even share with the various ghosts that are always surrounding him.

Sure, said curse also means he’s going to die sooner rather than later, just like his mother, but in the meantime Len has no intention of letting superheroes, time travelers, a surprisingly charming pyromaniac, and a lot of ghosts get in the way of him having a nice, successful career as a professional thief.

———————————————————————————

Lewis Snart.

Father, abuser, terror of Len’s childhood.

Len’s mind blanks out, knowing only that he needs to get out, get away, and he instinctively reaches out to the ghosts for help.

Nothing.

It’s quiet.

“Oh,” Lewis says. “I don’t think your little ghostie friends are going to help you now.”

How does he know?

Len never told him, not once, never –

The ghosts.

Why can’t he hear the ghosts?

“I’ve taken certain precautions against your misbehaving,” Lewis says, with a smile. “Wouldn’t want you getting distracted when we have work to be attending to.” The smile broadens. “Seems like your old man still has a few lessons to teach you after all.”

Len closes his eyes and stops asking questions.

They only ever make it worse.

“Now get out and walk.”

At least Len manages to stop shaking by the time they get to their destination, Lewis prodding Len along any time he even thinks Len is slowing down, Lewis’ fingers managing to perfectly find the bruises he’s already left behind from manhandling Len into the van earlier. Len forces himself to be as calm and cold as possible – he has to be. If there's work ahead, other people maybe, he'll expect Len to behave. Lewis always hated it when Len showed weakness in front of people.

He might become angry.

Len’s long since learned to fear Lewis Snart’s anger.

And if his dad has figure out a way to stop the ghosts -

He can't think about that right now, or he'll freak out, and then Lewis will definitely be angry.

Len studies the building they’re walking towards. A Santini property, but old school – very old. A wretched old bed and breakfast, vulgar and garish, where the inside men used to bring their mistresses; it’s been abandoned by the Family for years, ten at least, though the hotel itself has chugged on, catering to the local prostitutes and the like.

Neither Len nor Mick would ever have bothered to check it out.

Santini -

The assassins.

“You had them shoot at me?” Len asks through numb lips. He hadn’t thought…he never suspected…sure, they hadn't exactly gotten on in recent years by any stretch of the imagination, but to have people try to kill him...

Lewis snorts. “You’re as over-dramatic as always,” he says. “No, it wasn't me. The young Santini idiot was the one who tried to have you killed, slipping money under the table to people so corrupt or stupid that they wouldn’t recognize you because he couldn’t admit that his official attempt to get back at you – through that lout you call your partner – failed without losing face. He had to play it off like he didn’t think it was a big deal, but he brooded over it long enough to want revenge anyway. I was brought in when they realized it was in their best interest to acquire your services instead.”

“My…services? You want me to run a heist for you?”

“If I wanted a heist done, I could have planned it myself,” Lewis scoffs, which is a lie. Len’s a far better thief than Lewis ever was – though Lewis’ approach is always far more brutal. Probably why the Families like him so much, and why Len refuses to work for them. “That isn’t to say we won’t be doing some thieving along the way. But the goal’s a little different, m’boy. Just wait until you meet my employer.”

“Your employer,” Len echoes, only scarcely paying attention. He’s been reaching out this entire time, calling to the ghosts, the dead, even the unquiet dead if it would get him a response, but there’s nothing, nothing at all; it’s so quiet. No ghosts, the background patter he’s always heard, his whole life – gone mute.

What has he done to me?

“Pay attention, boy,” Lewis snaps, and his fingers dig painfully into Len’s side.

They go inside the bed and breakfast.

Inside the lobby, there's a young man standing there with a nervous look, twitchy fingers like a drug addict, so unmemorable it takes Len a moment to place him. Nicolas Santini, of all people! The small fish, the useless Don, the one who'd barely been able to splutter out a denial because he'd been sweating too hard.

He doesn't look good.

No, little Nicholas looks paranoid, rich clothing and cheap jewelry, a short beard grown to add respectability but unable to disguise the way his eyes keep darting around the room like a drug addict with a looming deadline. “Is it done?” he asks Lewis, ignoring Len yet unable to keep from staring out of the corner of his eye at him, like Len’s a bomb about to go off. “Is he…?”

“I assure you my son will be causing us no difficulties, Don Santini,” Lewis says, ingratiating and fawning the way he always is around the Families. He simpered to their faces and cursed them behind their backs. “Shall we go upstairs? Your grandfather’s awaiting us, I believe.”

“Grandfather?” Len says, thrown for a moment. But no, that doesn't make sense; Len knows his Family bloodlines as well as any other criminal in Central. Nicholas Santini is the son of the daughter of - “Don Tomio, you mean? But he’s…” The words fall away from his mouth as the realization crashes down on him.

No.

“I think you, my boy, are the last one to complain about someone being dead,” Lewis crows. “Now why don’t you come inside?”

Len follows mutely.

He’s half expecting to see the ghostly form of old Don Tomio, sitting regally in his chair like the asshole he was, but – no. It’s another man, instead; his clothing is rich and elegant, but ill-fitting, like it was made for a much taller man. There’s a box of cigars next to him and an empty plate, resting on a side table.

The man looks squirrelly.

Sick.

There are rings under his bloodshot eyes and thick lines around his mouth and eyes; he’s far too thin and his hands shake as he drinks a slug of what smells like cheap whiskey from a flask. His nails are filthy and bitten to the quick.

“Where’s my grandfather?” Nicolas barks.

“Soon,” the man croaks, his voice a harsh rasp like a man dying. “I cannot – is this him? Is this the necromancer?”

“I’m not a –”

Lewis’ hand falls heavy on Len’s shoulder. Len shuts his mouth.

“Now, son,” Lewis says. “Don’t be shy. Mr. Cabrera here is a great admirer of your work.”

Cabrera grins. His teeth are yellow and his breath is foul; Len can smell it from across the room. “Wanted to see what all the fuss was about, I did,” he says. “He don’t look like much, to be causing all this trouble.”

“Trouble?” Len can’t help but ask, even though Lewis’ hand tightens in warning.

“Oh, yes,” Cabrera laughs, picking up a cigar and snipping it down to a stub. “Little Nico here’s been having ghost trouble; s’why he called me. I’m a specialist, y’see – nothing on your caliber, no, nothing like that; this whole bloody city’s positively rotting with ghosts, all swarming here to see you and beg for a little of your time and attention, aren’t they?”

“Get to the point,” Nicolas snaps. “I want that damn ghost gone.”

“Now, now,” Lewis says, and his voice is syrupy sweet. “We’ll take care of that soon enough. But first, I think we want to speak with the Don, isn’t that right?”

Len’s own eyes dart around the room, looking for the ghost, but he sees nothing. Hears nothing.

It’s so goddamn quiet.

Cabrera lights the cigar that he cut down to a stub and settles himself down in the chair. Fluffs himself up, straightens his back, pushes his legs together in a way that’s clearly not his natural way of sitting. It’s like he’s playing a terrible charade.

"To this place, to this time, I call upon thee, restless spirit of the dead,” he says in a grand tone. “Thou who wish't to come to this place, I call upon thee by name.”

Len swallows. This is bad. This is a summoning - not that he's ever seen one, but he can put two and two together easily enough. This man is no Santini flunky. He’s a medium, a real medium, not like those two-bit hacks who pretend at it for money. What the hell is going on?

“I call upon thee –” There is the smallest of hesitations, the slightest hint of reluctance, before Cabrera goes on. “Thomas Antonio Salvatore Santini."

He inhales from the cigar.

And then it happens.

Len sees it.

Filth, black filth, crawling up Cabrera’s face from under his jacket, like a thousand little bugs, streaming upwards towards his eyes and mouth, streaming down from his sleeves, covering every inch of skin, and Len takes an involuntary step backwards, face twisting in disgust and –

They’re gone.

Cabrera’s face is clean, or at least no more dirty than it was before.

But something’s changed.

The straight back is natural, now; the hand holds the cigar casually, not clutching at it like Cabrera was. The legs are held at ready, the real thing to Cabrera’s fake.

This thing might wear Cabrera’s face, but he’s not him.

“Don Tomio Santini,” Lewis says respectfully. “Welcome back.”

Don Tomio’s lips curl up. “Indeed,” he says. “I am pleased to see that you were able to live up to your promises and deliver that son of yours, Snart – no unnecessary failures. This time.”

His voice is curled in a sneer, rich in disdain. It’s clearly aimed at Nicolas, who flinches.

“I’m the one who brought you back, Grandfather,” Nicolas argues, clearly not for the first time. “The rest of the Family, they forgot about you, but not me, no, I found Cabrera for you, I did –”

“And for that you have been richly rewarded,” Tomio’s voice is hard, carelessly cruel. “I have guided your steps to rise in power within the Family, and you have received all the benefits thereof.”

“I still need to get rid of the damned ghost –”

“That, too, will be done,” Tomio says, holding up a hand, causing Nicolas to fall silent. He turns to Lewis. “You have bound him?”

“Oh, yes,” Lewis says. “He won’t touch a ghostie ever again, not without my say-so – and he’ll do anything to have that arsonist at his side again. I guarantee it.”

Len swallows, hard. “What have you done to Mick?” he asks.

Lewis shakes him.

Len shuts up.

“Nothing yet,” Tomio says, though he’s clearly disinterested. “But there are always options. I am informed that it is possible to bind a ghost with rituals, bloody ones. Cabrera has made a study of them over the years, in addition to his natural talent for serving as a medium. Though he is not as useful as he thinks he is.”

“You’re unquiet dead,” Len says, understanding, unable to look away even though he wishes he could. He’s never met another cursed one like him, but he’s had a perfectly reasonable interest in any sort of business involving the spirits of the dead. Mediums – Len remembers his mother telling him about them, how she always said they were incredibly creepy, how he always got a feeling of disgust deep in his belly any time someone tried to compare him to one. Looks like she was right. They're creepy as fuck. “That’s why he looks so sick. You’ve been feeding off of him, stealing his life away even as he lets you use his body.”

“It’s amazing what people will do for money,” Tomio says dismissively; it’s clear he doesn’t care that he’s talking about a man’s life being wrenched out of him, drip by painful drab. Tomio puts the cigar down carefully on the plate, though he doesn’t put it out. He looks Len up and down. “You really aren’t much. I would have expected more.”

“Don Santini –” Lewis starts.

“Do you know,” Tomio says, his eyes fixed on Len, “how long I had to rest to recollect the energy that I was forced to spend? The precious life energy that keeps me here, all wasted on shepherding children?”

Children? Why would an unquiet –

Ah.

“The black hole,” Len says.

“You ordered,” Tomio says, sneering. “And I obeyed. And my dear young Mr. Snart – I don’t like taking orders.”

“It wasn’t aimed at you,” Len says, though he knows something like that is worthless to a man like Tomio.

“Irrelevant,” Tomio confirms.

“Why didn’t I see you when I first came in?” Len asks, changing the subject. “How did you take away – why can’t I see you, ‘cept through Cabrera?”

“Only your father knows the secret to that,” Tomio says. “I, however, know another of your secrets.”

“And what secret is that?” Len asks, even though he knows it’s a bad idea, even with Lewis jabbing painfully at his ribs to get him to shut up.

Tomio smiles, twisting Cabrera’s cheeks into a distended grimace as muscles contort into a smile that’s not quite the right shape for the mouth. “I know about the black book.”

Len goes still.

“I was receiving treatment for the early stages of the cancer that would kill me,” Tomio says, “in a hospital long ago. You were in the room next door, speaking to the air like a madman – except when you walked out, there was a boy with you, a boy that hadn’t been there before. And I started to wonder, just enough – enough to start doing some research of my own – but then you decided you didn’t work with the Families and disappeared off the face of the earth just when I needed you.” His hands clench on the chair, his face purples a little. Rage. Entitlement - like Len had wronged him by going his own way.

His eyes flicker to the cigar stub, which is starting to burn out, and he straights himself again, mastering himself with an effort. “But although I was not able to have you save me before my death, I have learned enough after it. You will repair the error that has occurred. You will fetch the necessary ingredients,” Tomio says. “Nicolas and your father will supervise. If you disobey, Cabrera will bind you to his will and force you to do it.”

Len’s mouth goes ashy in horror. He doesn’t know what Cabrera is capable of, but the idea of binding another person like that…stripping them of all free will...

“You will then raise me up,” Tomio says, and his eyes glow with fervor and barely leashed fury. “And then I will return to the Santini Family to take my rightful place at its head, and I will show them my displeasure at how they have wasted the empire that I built.”

“Grandfather,” Nicolas says. “The ghost girl –”

“Yes, yes,” Tomio snaps. “That will be done as well.” His eyes flicker to the cigar again. “Enough. I must rest.”

The cigar burns out.

Tomio abruptly exhales, expelling foul smoke from his mouth like he’d been holding it in the entire time. Then he starts hacking, his body loose again – Cabrera returned.

“Come on, then,” Lewis says, and forces Len away. "We have work to do."

[feyria]

Final draft for Ritsuo

Name:­ Ritsuo Kiyobi

Nickname: furry(by bullies) and Ritz(by friends)

Hero Name:­ Fox-Fire the youkai hero

Age:­ 16

Gender:­ male

Sexuality:­ homosexual

Personality:­ Just like the fox spirits he is so fond of, Ritsuo has a mischievous and level headed nature. Ritsuo is always looking for the opportunity to crack a joke or play a simple prank, but he does know his boundaries and won't push others if they're not in the mood. He can be very cunning when he wants to and he has a bit of a silver tongue. Hes also very good with toddlers and infants, his small flames almost always a great way to catch their attention or calm their crying. He doesn't take well to bullies and has a bad habit of playing vigilante on them, wearing his fox mask as he punishes them lightly with his quirk. This habit only gains bullies for himself as well as the occasional detention and phonecall to his parents. Unfortunately, the repercussions didn't have much effect until his middle school principal and parents threathened to have him barred from using his quirk outside of emergencies.

Likes:­ Ritsuo enjoys reading and watching about folk tales of youkai and ayakashi. Boba tea is something he is rarely seen without, as he always has a cup with him, normally peach flavored. He also enjoys just generally relaxing at parks or in his yard listening to the wind chimes in the breeeze.

Dislikes:­ Ritsuo has a near zero tolerance of bullies and anyone who abuses their quirks just to pick on others. Getting caught out in the rain can also bug him a bit as it tends to happen when he's no where near shelter so he has no choice but to get soaked to the bone.

Strengths:­ a few strengths that Ritsuo has include his calm and level-headed nature. Only one or two things can make him lose his temper and break focus. He can also be very understanding and usually tries to hear both sides of a person's story or situation before choosing a reaction.

Weaknesses:­ although he can keep his cool in most situations, when it comes to bullies Ritsuo tends to tune everything out and focuses more on exacting "justice." It makes him somewhat of a hypocrite because he uses his quirk against those that harm others, normally only stopping when he himself is satisfied which can depend on how the other person reacts.

Appearance: Standing at 5'9" and weighing about 172lbs. Ritsuo has a somewhat thin build, almost like a runner with most of his muscles based around his arms and legs, built from his training. Pale skin combined with his light blond slightly curly hair. It reaches down to his mid back and frames his face. Normally kept in a ponytail with a green ribbon while in his costume. Grey deep set eyes and a slightly feminine face give him a near ethereal appearance even outside of his hero costume. He has a decent sized round mole on the right side of his head, near his temple.

Standard Clothes: When not in class Ritsuo likes to wear baggy pants with lots of pockets and loose fitting T-shirts with minimal designs on them. His footwear ranges from sneakers to sandles as well as the odd pair of crocs every now and then. His favorite outfit consists of a white T-shirt with a sunburst design on it, beige cargo pants, a brown button up shirt worn similarly to a jacket where he keeps it unbuttoned and brown sandles.

Costume:­ Ritsuo's costume consists of a simple blue men's yukata patterned with white, yellow and pink peonies and chrysanthemums. He keeps a pair of silver and blue tonfa as well as a retractable blue Japanese style umbrella inside hidden pockets of his yukata. Along with basic geta for footwear, he also has three light blond colored fox tails attached to his yukata that behave similarly to Aizawa's scarves in that they can be moved both with his hands or on their own. They are hollowed out and lined with a special fabric that keeps the outside fur from burning as well as extending the life span of the fire balls he stores in them. ( has to remove the tails to add more) The last two components of his hero costume are the fox head mask and the red paint he adds to his face to resemble three whiskers just below his eyes, a swirled pattern that starts on his forehead with a tail end that travels down the bridge of his nose. The swirl itself has five marks above it to make it look like a claw. The fox mask itself also has red markings to signify slanted eyes, four whiskers (two below the eyes and two more on the cheeks), a smaller version of the swirled pattern he has on his forehead (also on the forehead of the mask) and the outline of a fox's mouth as well as the colored inside of fox ears.

Weapons/Gadgets:­ Aside from the flames from his quirk, other weapons Ritsuo use consists of a simple pair of tonfa, a retractable blue Japanese style umbrella (of which the rim is lined with sharp yet short blades) and the three blond fox tails attached to his constume. He stores his blue flame quirk in both the umbrella and the tails.

Swim:­ As he doesn't go swimming very much, Ritsuo only owns a plain blue set of swimming trunks.

Sleep:­ Ritsuo usually sleeps with a white tank top and grey boxers.

Winter:­ In the winter he still wears his T-shirts but will also sport a white fur collar black jacket and loose fitting jeans. Ritsuo will also stick to wearing white or black sneakers and if it gets really cold, he'll also add a blue scarf to his choice of clothing.

Formal:­ Just like most other boys his age, he will wear a classic suit with tie to formal events. The suit jacket and pants are dark blue while he has a plain white dress shirt underneath and black dress shoes similar to penny loafers.

*Who would they?­ Fall for:­ Ritsuo would fall for someone with a great sense of humor, someone that can always brighten his day by making him laugh. He tends to take an interest in people that have uncommon hobbies or skills such as being experimental in the kitchen, knitting or crochet and story writing. He does have a bit of a "type" which consists of the other person being taller than him and having short hair. Blue or green colored eyes really catch his attention.

Befriend:­ Very similar to his love interests, Ritsuo prefers to hang out with others that can make him laugh and enjoy some friendly shenanigans. He tries to gravitate towards people that enjoy nature as he spends a good portion of his time outside just enjoying life.

Hate:­ He truly can't stand those that pick on others just for the fun of it. He dislikes those that con or steal from others and has no interest in being around someone that purposely annoys others just to laugh at them when they get mad. Shameless, perverted people that don't even try to change their lecherous ways are also on his bad list.

Respect:­ Ritsuo respects and idolizes people like Iida and Ingenium, those that uphold order and value justice as well as fairness. Someone that's not afraid to do what's right even if it may be more trouble than most would be willing to deal with.

Rival:­ Anyone that has a quirk similar to his. He won't go as far as to compete with them but he will mentally compare himself to them, using them as a guide on how to improve his own quirk.

Hobbies/Skills:­ Some of his hobbies include reading, making tea with herbs from the garden he and his father maintain, scouring the web for ancient tales and relaxing surrounded by nature. A few skills he has is his knowledge of a wide variety of herbs both edible and medicinal. He can cook and has a decent knowledge of baking.

*How they Act­ Towards Romantic Int­erests: Ritsuo doesn't flirt, he has no idea how to but he will shift between being somewhat shy around romantic interests as well as slightly touchy. He'll only go so far as to lay a hand on their shoulder or arm but only for a second or two and he will avoid it if the contact bothers others. He doesn't believe he has a romantic side but he still tries to do little gestures that could be seen as romantic. This only involves him offering some of the food he makes at home.

Acquaintances:­ Around acquaintances, Ritsuo keeps his friendly nature while also trying to be professional as well. He won't joke around or pull his little tricks but he may still find a way to lift up a down mood if he can. If not, then he tries to sympathize with the other person.

Towards Friends/Clos­e Friends: Ritsuo's mischievous nature really comes out around his friends in the form of light teasing and harmless pranks. His favorite prank seems to be rearranging a friend's work space or room, normally by stacking things on top of each other or combining various knick knacks into one container.

Rivals:­ He doesn't act very differently than he would with friends, although he may watch them just a bit more than others and even request a sparring match or two just for fun.

Towards Enemies:­ Against enemies, Ritsuo will first attempt to talk them in circles with his silver tongue. If that fails, then he resorts to using his quirk if they are villians or look for an adult if it's a fellow classmate.

Towards Iconic Figur­es: With iconic figures, Ritsuo tries to be as polite as possible, especially if it's someone he is a fan of. He goes out of his way to not offend them and tends to keep his head downcast as well. He only makes eye contact if he wants to show that he is determined or serious about something.

Meeting Strangers:­ Ritsuo is a very friendly person and will typically greet a stranger with a smile and a handshake, even going so far as to introduce himself if he feels he may be near that person for a while. He will also try to start up harmless chatter about the seasons or any particularly spectacular hero fights recently.

When Facing Fears:­ Ritsuo may be calm and collected in most other situations, but when it comes to his fears, he becomes more hesitant. His cool attitude replaced with doubts and a very deeply buried layer of panic. If the fear ends up putting his life on the line, he may outright run away. The only exception is if someone is in a similar situation, then he'll do his best to atleast get them to safety if possible.

In a life changing s­ituation: Depending on whether its a good change or a bad change, Ritsuo will fight it to keep his life as normal as possible or attempt to go with the situation if it will improve his life. He's not unwelcome to change unless it affects him negatively.

History:­ Growing up, Ritsuo may have been the only child that wasn't interested in heroes as much as the other kids his age. It wasn't that he disliked heroes, it was more that he was fascinated with tales of youkai and ayakashi thanks to the bedtime stories his parents would tell him. When his quirk manifested, his interest in spirits exploded into high gear, the famous nine tailed foxes his prime source of admiration. Ritsuo practically made it his mission to dress like the fox spirits where he would then proceed to roleplay in his dark room using his quirk to light it up with the eerie blue flames. He even managed to convince his parents to play with him as well (they played the role of priests trying to banish him) Thankfully, as he aged he began to grow out of the role-playing phase but his love for spirits never diminished. His parents aren't quite sure why he suddenly wanted to be a hero but they supported him regardless, mainly by helping him train as well as giving him tips on a potential costume. Nowadays Ritsuo planned to attend U.A for the simple goal of showing the world that his passion could be shaped into helping others- that whether spirits truly exist or not, he at the very least was a friendly one.

Relationships:

Family: Rika (mother) can turn any surface into a mirror for up to 25 minutes. Uses this quirk at her tattoo shop to "save money".

Hideki (Father) can also create blue fireballs and even has the same recoil, though his will turn into puffs of blue smoke.

Currently dating Oboru as of four months, they're pretty low-key about it since they still have no idea how to fully transition from friends to something more. They have had their first kiss already but nothing much more than that.

Ethnicity/Nationality: Japanese with just a hint of French on his mother's side, as in his grandmother is of French decent. He does know French but only enough to have the most basic of conversations and to ask for directions.

Fighting Style: He starts out as a distance fighter unless his quirk has no effect, in that situation he will swap over to his tonfa so he can rely on the martial arts training he's had.

Habits: Ritsuo has a habit or more of an obsession with drinking boba tea, he even makes it himself at home. He also carries his costume mask with him, constantly checking for scratches or chips in the paint.

Residence: Ritsuo lives with his parents in a small sized two bedroom one bath room house. They have a garden with tomatoes, beans and a grapevine in the back. A small back porch is set up with a hammock and grill that they use on weekends or when friends come over.

Musical Themes: The MHA ost Kibasen

Quotes:­ "We didn't receive quirks to torment others with, they came about so that we may express our individuality and help others!", "No, I am not a furry, I just really enjoy dressing up like fox spirits- my quirk was made for it." "Yes I know I'm not a real fox spirit but don't tell the kids that!"

Quirk Name:­ Will-o-wisp

Type: Emitter

Description:­ Ritsuo can create blue fireballs from his hands as well as from his mouth (these cause pain but tend to be stronger than the ones from his hands). He can control their size and the number of fireballs shot as well as being able to change their direction in mid-air. However, he can only do that if he is within 5 feet of the flames. If he overuses them, they become smaller and weaker until they're nothing more but glowing blue lights similar to fire flies.

Strengths:­ He can use his quirk to put out other flames so long as they are completely covered with his own blue fire for atleast 10 seconds. If he is close enough to his fireballs, he can manipulate them as much as he desires without using up his fire power. However, the flames he manipulates will weaken and fade after coming into contact with anything other than his own. Ritsuo is immune to his own flames.

Weaknesses: Even though they're hotter than the average flame, heavy wind and rain can still extinguish them and the quirk itself does not add any physical buffs to Ritsuo himself. Against an enemy with a resistance to fire, Ritsuo would be at a heavy disadvantage and he would need to rely on his weapons instead. He can only convert natural flames, so fires caused by another person's quirk will not be changed.

Main Skills: Yokai art gattling flame- true to its name he sends out a barrage of fire balls stored in the three tails of his costume (between 3 to 4 flames from each tail for a total of 9 to 12) He also has mid level training in martial arts and uses a pair of tonfa as well as an umbrella to fight.

Yokai art blinding flame- normally used at point blank range, ritsuo sends a fireball from his mouth aimed at his enemies face temporarily blinding them (differs from person to person)

Yokai art guiding lights- ritsuo can use his flames as what they are named for- will o wisps, little flames that can light up dark spaces for a max time of an hour and a half (however heavy wind or rain will extinguish them)

Yokai art blooming lotus- lobs a large fireball at his target that, when it comes into contact, bursts into the shape of a lotus blossom about two feet in diameter.

Yokai art fox creation- uses his daily flame allowance to create a 3 foot long fox made of fireballs to slam into his target. Takes a good 2 minutes to create so Ritsuo saves it for sneak attacks. Afterwards, his fireballs are harshly weakened to the point that he can no longer use them for that day.

[ciaossu-imagines]

If I may, could I ask for Autumn Prompt #2 - Crunchy leaves. Oversized sweaters. Hurricanes. Cold hands and Scented candles for Gokudera, Ryohei and Squalo Thanks ♥

Of course you can! Thank you for the request and I hope you’ll enjoy the headcanons!

Gokudera

🍁 crunchy leaves: what's your favorite noise/sound to hear?

The sound of a thunderstorm, the rain heavy against the roof and windows and the thunder booming overhead, always relaxes Gokudera, provided he’s not out in it.

👕 oversized sweaters: what sweater weather outfit are you looking forward to wearing? (Bonus if pictured)

Gokudera wears a lot of hoodies over t-shirts when cold weather hits, with a jacket over top if it’s really cold, normally with slightly baggy jeans or leather pants. His sleeves are normally slightly pushed up and he’ll always have a few accessories. Oddly enough, he wears boots or sneakers but still no socks unless the day is bitterly cold - he hates socks, he really does. Something like this or this is pretty normal!

☔ hurricanes: what do you do on rainy days?

Unless he has plans with Tsuna or another member of the family, or knows he can make some, Gokudera tends to stay inside for the most part, working on a project or burying himself in a hobby or thought that’s been buzzing around his head. He doesn’t mind venturing out in the rain though and will normally take at least a walk a day, hood pulled over his head, hand cupped over his smoke to keep it from getting wet.

👐 cold hands: anyone to hold them?

Nope. And even if he did have someone to hold them, it’s not preferred. He finds it takes too long for his hands to warm up that way and he feels a little guilty about making his partner’s hands cold.

🔥 scented candles: 5 favorite smells

Cigarette smoke. Black pepper. Fresh brewed coffee. Honey. The damp smell of cellars. 

Ryohei

🍁 crunchy leaves: what's your favorite noise/sound to hear?

There’s just something about the crisp and crunch of his feet as he walks along a fresh, undisturbed blanket of snow on an early winter run that always makes him happy, no matter how he’s feeling about winter at that point.

👕 oversized sweaters: what sweater weather outfit are you looking forward to wearing? (Bonus if pictured)

Ryohei’s style is sporty and simple. He’d likely wear a warm track jacket with a tank top or t-shirt underneath, with sweatpants or jeans, moisture wicking socks, and heavy hiking boots or running shoes. He looks like the quintessential athlete, something like this or this.

☔ hurricanes: what do you do on rainy days?

Ryohei is not one to let a little water keep him from doing anything he wants to do. He treats rainy days no differently than any other day, doing errands, training, or hanging out with friends as he normally would.

👐 cold hands: anyone to hold them?

No - Ryohei prefers to hide one of reusable hand warmers in the pocket of his jacket or sweater so his hands rarely, if ever, get cold.

🔥 scented candles: 5 favorite smells

Ocean air. Frying, sizzling bacon. Sweat, the smell of a good workout. The air at dawn. Boxing gloves.

Squalo

🍁 crunchy leaves: what's your favorite noise/sound to hear?

Absolute, complete silence. The absence of all sound. It’s so incredibly rare for Squalo to actually get a moment of complete silence that when he does, he can’t help but be struck by how amazing and terrifying it is all at the same time.

👕 oversized sweaters: what sweater weather outfit are you looking forward to wearing? (Bonus if pictured)

Squalo sticks normally with something similar to his Varia uniform - long, heavy coat, tight pants, and heavy boots. Even when in casual wear, he tends to stick to the tight pants and heavy boots, with a long jacket or a sweater over top of it. Something like this or this would be things he’d wear!

☔ hurricanes: what do you do on rainy days?

Much like Ryohei, Squalo can’t and won’t let rain get in his way. He’s an elite Varia member and, much like the postal service, does his work no matter snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night. Even when he doesn’t have a job, he trains, runs errands, and behaves as he would any other day.

👐 cold hands: anyone to hold them?

Nope and he wouldn’t need anyone. Squalo’s hands rarely get cold - he only has one and he wears a glove to keep it warm, like any smart person would.

🔥 scented candles: 5 favorite smells

Fir trees. The smell right after the first snowfall. A good whiskey. The smell of the sea, the salt spray on the air. Sawdust.

[allofthisnonsenseplease]

Gonna preface this one with a note about how we’ve done a couple plot ideas where Jack and Gabe adopt a daughter and they have a cat named Bunny. The cat in particular comes into play here, and there’s a bit of angst throughout, getting stronger toward the end. File name for this one is ‘Jack clings to ghosts.’

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 okay, but, 76 always making sure to have some food for the stray cats around the places he stays. he never names any of them, 'cause he knows he'd call them bunny or rabbit or something

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 QOQ there's one in particular that reminds him of bunny though, painfully so, and he ends up accidentally favoring her To the point where she follows him home and won't leave

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 oh noes!! ; ; she keeps insisting on curling up to sleep with him the warmth and purring as he's sleeping cause him to dream about the past

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 QOQ he usually sleeps on his side with his legs curled up and she likes to sleep either nestled between his chin and his chest or behind his knees sometimes she'll even settle behind his neck He'll wake up to her meowing and demanding breakfast and for a moment it's so much like how it used to be that it's disorienting

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 one morning, he woke up thinking he could feel Gabe's scratchy beard against the back of his neck, and the warmth of soft kisses...turns out the cat was licking him

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 qoq he rolls over and pulls her into his chest, needing something to ground him for a moment

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 ;n;

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 It's embarrassing, but sometimes the only thing that keeps him motivated to survive is thinking about what would happen to his cat if he didn't make it

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 orz

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 She really enjoys his jacket Along with marks from bullets and blades and other wear and tear are a few claw marks from where she kneaded it They're mostly on the inside, tearing up the lining

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 which means he walks around with a cat tucked into his jacket -^^-

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 OMG he isn't very good at sewing but he remembers a few things from Gabe and installs a huge messy inside pocket for her to hide in

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 omg <3

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 before he knows it, this cat has become the cornerstone of this new life of his

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 oh god jack

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 he needs SOMETHING to hold onto and it's all too easy to invest himself in this tiny creature that depends on him

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 ;;

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 omg he has an encounter with reaper when he wasn't expecting it. He gets caught off guard and ends up against a wall with reaper's hands around his throat. And then his cat pokes her furry little head out of his jacket and reaper stares

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 ffffffffffffffffffffffffffff reaper you can't kill him in front of his bby

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 reaper that would be too cruel she sniffs at him and, apparently unaware of the danger, starts purring in the hopes of getting pets from this new person XD She is a very trusting kitty

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 omg reaper calls her bunny and that's how jack figures out who he is XD

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 LOLL Gabe awkwardly shows up at Jack's safe house wanting to play with the cat LMAO

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 X'''''''''''D they re-bond over the damn thing Jack keeps scolding him for calling it Bunny II they get jealous over who it pays more attention to Gabe complains about Jack's sewing and fixes his jacket with a better cat pocket

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 AWWWWW Jack takes a nap and the cat of course joins him and Gabe's cold dead heart utterly melts

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 omg. he lays down with them JUST TO BE NEAR THE CAT GODDAMMIT and falls asleep on accident

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 AHAHAHA THE CAT WAS DOING THAT SWEET SLOW BLINK AND PURRING IN INVITATION AND HE COULDN'T RESIST HER she is very happy curled up between them

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 heehee got them wrapped around her little paw

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 >w< Gabe wakes up to the cat licking his face and Jack's wide-eyed stare

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 it's either panic or play it off, so he just grumbles 'when's breakfast, honey?' it backfires. he'd never called Jack honey before, ever. Jack shoots up off the bed and out of the room so fast that Gabe nearly misses the look on his face. Nearly being the keyword. His own heart constricts, and he feels a bit sick over how badly Jack took his little joke.

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 QOQ SKSNDKSNA the cat startles upright and starts licking her fur down, looking pointedly annoyed at being disturbed Gabe buries his face in her fur and groans

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 nothing with jack is ever fucking EASY

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 Goddammit jack The cat comes wandering out to where Jack's angrily staring into his slowly filling coffee pot and hops up on the counter to nuzzle his face he wants to be mad at her but he can't

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 at least the cat loves you, jack

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 LOL

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 ((i mean, she doesn't, she just wants food, but))

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 XDDDDD MEAN

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 X'D

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 Gabe looks decidedly guilty when he finally exits the bedroom Jack snaps at him "get out of my safe house and get your own cat"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 ;; is this one of those times where we can fix it, or not yet?

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 idk mmmm qoq maybe Gabe leaves for the moment but he comes back a few days later with his own kitty XDD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 XD

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 shrugs and says "well I got my own cat but I couldn't find a safe house so"

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 THAT'S JUST GONNA MAKE HIM MADDER!

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 IT WON'T LET ME CHANGE CAR TO CAT I'M DYING LET ME LIVE DISCORD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 what if Gabe just hip checks Jack out of the way, and is all 'move over. i was always the better cook.' 'I'm not kidding, Reaper, I want you gone!' 'I'm not awake enough to fight. Let me make us breakfast first, Sunshine. We can kill each other later.'

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 Awwwwww Sweetpeas Gabe ignores Jack's next protests and lectures the cat on getting the counter (and subsequently their food) covered in cat hair

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 Gabe knows Jack will behave once food is served 'cause he was always really strict about table manners it's almost eerie how that stuck

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 Gabe slips the cat food under the table and Jack glares jack keeps trying to kick gabe out but the cat keeps getting in the way bc she Loves gabe and he can't kick her out too!!

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 XD jack. you're losing to a cat. YOU HAVE LOST CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 for example he has gabe sleep on the couch and takes the cat with him to bed and shuts the door but as soon as he settles into bed she hops up and starts meowing and pawing at the door so he lets her out and shuts the door and she goes to snuggle up w gabe

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 oh no! XD

firesonic152 - 08/01/2017 but then after like an hour she starts meowing again bc she wants to cuddle w jack now!! she just wants to cuddle w both of them but these stupid humans keep making it difficult!!!!

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/01/2017 XD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 omg. what if jack just gets too fed up to deal with his EMOTIONAL ISSUES and is finally just 'You know what, just take the safe house and take the cat! you fucking win! i'll find someplace else to hole up!' and storms out. and at first Gabe figures whatever, this'll make things easier, but the cat keeps bothering him until he finally tucks it into his coat and goes to look for Jack.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 AWWW has jack fucked off to a bar to drink his problems away bc i will be sad

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 i just figured gabe would find his sorry ass in a leaky hovel, miserable and halfway to catching cold. but drunk works too. he snaps at Gabe that he doesn't want to keep playing house with him

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 BOTH he grabbed some alcohol and then ended up in the hovel qoq

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 jack you sad sorry mess of a human being just go talk things out with your husband

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 SERIOUSLY the cat hops out of gabe's coat and curls up in jack's lap and jack makes a weird breathy hiccuping sound that is suspiciously similar to a sob

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 ; ;

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 he pets her head with surprising gentleness, shaking his head. he hasn't looked gabe in the face once. gabe kneels down and hesitates, then tentatively reaches out to place his hand over jack's. he takes his time, gives jack plenty of opportunity to move away, but jack doesn't take it.

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 :eyes:  does he softly ask Jack to come home???

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 YES the kitty licks away the not-tears on jack's face and he gives a stunted little laugh. "goddammit," he grumbles. "still can't say no to you." he's looking at the cat as he says it, but gabe wonders if it might have also been directed at him.

jack finally looks up and takes a breath, then nods. he carefully places the cat in his inside pocket, stands, and he and gabe walk silently back.

WAIT BETTER

gabe stands and offers jack his hand jack takes it but doesn't let go once he's vertical and they walk back holding hands qwq

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 ;u;

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 >w<

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 OKAY SO LAST NIGHT YOU SAID WE COULD COME BACK TO THE CAT STUFF LATER DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING IN MIND ? bc I need to know if u did

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 nothing in particular, but it kinda seemed too easy yo leave it there, you know? ^^; 'cause I mean, Jack's been kinda resistant to it the whole way

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 true Also it is hilarious to me that Gabe dropped everything to play w a cat

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 XD He is tired. let Gabe rest 2k17

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 XDDD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 I guess, something like, Gabe takes drunk!Jack back to wherever they'd been staying and they have a talk once he's sobered up. Or maybe Gabe cheats and they have a talk while he's drunk and more likely to be honest, then Gabe follows up the next morning with a bit more understanding of what's going through Jack's head.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 I want a scene where Jack can't sleep and when the cat demands to be let out to join Gabe on the couch, he follows her, watches her cuddle up w Gabe, sighs, and smooshes himself into the corner of the couch

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 <3<3<3 Gabe is, of course, awake. He lets the silence go on for just a few minutes before deciding that it's not going to help anything.

"Can't sleep?" is a stupid question with an obvious answer, but it's something to open with. He isn't expecting much, but Jack grunts and admits that he's been having bad dreams. Neither of them had ever been terribly heavy sleepers, and SEP had only  made it easier to function with less sleep. Jack's term as SC didn't do him any favors in that regard, either.

Gabe offers a few vague details about some of his own--the ones full of fire and smoke, but not the ones where he wakes up, trapped in his own rotting corpse. To his surprise, Jack starts to share. What he has to say isn't what Gabe expected.

Jack dreams about him. About their daughter. He dreams about losing them.

His voice is flat and low, rough enough that it's hard to make out some of what he says. Gabe sits still and listens carefully. Jack doesn't give him much, but the fact that he said anything at all--and the nature of what he revealed--feels weighty.

It's an exchange that could easily shatter their unspoken truce.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 QOQ

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 It takes Gabe a little while to realize where Jack's honesty is coming from. He's been drinking. Must have started when he'd closed himself up in his room. Jack had always been a drinker, but never all that heavily until he had become Strike Commander, and not alone. He wonders how long that's been going on, then realizes how stupid the question is. Someone like him--like Soldier 76--couldn't exactly drink socially.

It's worrying. Jack's self-preservation instincts were never very good. Drinking alone, he's got fewer reasons to stop, to move on.

((dude i'm just rambling over here, feel free to jump in and...i dunno...dispose of the mess that is jack morrison))

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 SORRY GOT DISTRACTED BY THE STRANGER THINGS 2 TRAILER ALSO NOW I'M CRYING THANKS

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 aways happy to help

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 ALSO ALSO HE WASN'T DRINKING ALONE BC HE HAD THE CAT!!! cries more

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 oh! ohohoh!!! have you seen the trailer for A Wrinkle in Time??? =D I'M EXCITED!!!

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 i haven't :OOO

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 i almost said that the cat doesn't count, but she prolly pushes the glass off the table, so good for her. I really loved the book series, and the trailer looks SUPER nifty!! =D

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 why does jack always end up an alcoholic somehow i'm so sad and eeee i'll check it out !!

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 shrug emoji. seems to fit v well somehow

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 IT DOE does do deer ANYWAY XD does gabe call jack out on the drinking or let it slide for the time being to discuss later

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 Maybe he says something gently, and Jack just shrugs and curls away from him into the corner of the couch. 'Like you wouldn't've let me do it anyway. so i'd talk to you.' Jack pressing his face against the back of the couch, arms crossed tightly over himself as he draws up his legs. He whispers hoarsely, voice full of pain, unable to hold back the thought anymore and humiliated to voice it. 'i just want things to be the way they were. i just want to be done with all this.'

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 qOq Gabe aches to hold him but he's certain from Jack's body language that it would be incredibly unwelcome

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 Anger flares in Gabe's chest. Jack isn't the only one suffering, and he says so, quietly, trying to keep a leash on his temper, but not willing to let the point go. 'You think I don't wish for that? I wish I wasn't an abomination. I wish every breath wasn't pain. I wish we hadn't been too stupid to see all this coming and stop it. I wish--' He stops. Jack is saying something again, too low for him to have heard until he quit talking. He's apologizing, miserably, over and over again. THe anger dies down, smothered by pity.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 QOQ

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 'It isn't entirely your fault, Jackass,' Gabe says.

Jack huffs. The sound is a breath of bitter laughter. It's acceptance of his numerous sins. 'I wish I could have traded places with you in Zurich,' he says, and Gabe is startled by how raw his voice is. Jack means it, he really does.

'You wouldn't want this. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.'

'It shouldn't be you. Was always afraid I'd ruin us, but I never wanted something like that to happen to you. Never imagined...' He sags, still curled up in on himself, but strains to look back over one shoulder. 'I'm sorry, Gabe. I'd take that burden from you if I could.'

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 SOBBING BC THEY LOVE EACH OTHER

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 'If you mean it,' Gabe says hesitantly, knowing that he does, 'you can take a different burden. Stop closing yourself off, Jack. I'm obviously not your enemy...not anymore. I...' He pauses, hating to say it. 'It's been lonely. You always understood me better than anyone. I miss that.' gag kill me

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 I CAN'T BC I'M DYING and during this whole conversation the cat is happily purring away on top of gabe

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 OH MY GOD BUNNY READ THE MOOD

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 IT'S NOT BUNNY IT'S A CAT JACK REFUSED TO NAME BC IT WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR HIS TINY EMOTIONAL CAPACITY

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 SHIT I FUCKED UP I FUCKED UP XD

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 XDDDD

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 OH MY GOD RABBIT READ THE MOOD

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 LMAOOO HARE-Y

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 X''''''''''''''D

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 Gabe drops the cat onto Jack with the flimsy explanation that purrs are supposed to help stimulate healing

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 c'mon gabe just hug him. Jack drags his sorry ass across the couch and Gabe draws him in with welcoming arms. they cling to each other, being miserable together at least.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 WITH THE CAT NESTLED BETWEEN THEM qwq Gabe very tentatively kisses Jack and Jack leans into it and the cat is Not Happy w this development bc she is being squished

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 YOU PLAYED YOURSELF CAT Jack pulls back after a moment with a sharp intake of breath. Gabe sits up, chasing him automatically, reaching out but not quite touching, hands hovering over Jack and wanting so much to pull him close again.

'What is it, Jack? What's wrong?'

'Nothing. I-- It...hit me all at once.' His voice is thick and he presses a hand to his face. Gabe can guess at exactly what he means, because his own eyes are stinging with unshed tears. He whispers Jack's name and gathers him in close, pressing soft kisses over his face and hair as Jack slowly, slowly relaxes.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 THESE GAY OLD MEN!!!!!! I'M DEAD after an hour of being squished on the couch the cat stretches, gives them a meaningful look, and moves to the bedroom Jack almost laughs.

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 what if they end up falling asleep on the couch, and so jack wakes up lying on Gabe and doesn't want to get up right away even though he knows he should, so he just stays very still and quiet...right up until Gabe laughs and hugs him tight. 'I know you're awake, Jack.' He's too pleased that Jack was reluctant to leave.

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 QWQ EEEE Jack grumbles that he needs coffee but he refuses to get up Gabe is like "I can make coffee if you let me get up" but Jack has no response to that other than to get more comfy

SuspiciousPopsicle - 08/02/2017 jeezus jack that was a pretty quick change of heart XD

firesonic152 - 08/02/2017 XDDDD he's Tired

[stufftippywrote]

he likes to read

(this wants with all its heart to be a multichapter fic but i need instant gratification sooo)

He likes to read.

He likes to read and Kent likes him, and he really doesn't know what to do about this fact.

Kent ran into him -- well, ran past him, really -- on a morning jog, in a usually deserted area of the community park where trees have been planted and are carefully watered to give the appearance of a verdant, lush grove in the middle of sunny, dusty Nevada. He was standing against a tree and reading, and when Kent jogged back to ask what he was doing, the man laughed and pointed to his book. Walden.

Kent's never read it. The man shrugs. "It's about a man who gave up his whole life to go live in the woods," he says. "I used to go to Walden Pond and re-read it once a summer. But now I'm here and, well... this is as close to the woods as I can get."

His name is James. He's a high school English teacher. He shakes Kent's sweaty hand and asks his name, what he does for a living.

Kent blinks at him hard. "You..." he starts. He was about to say, you don't know?

"Me? You do me?" James cracks a smile. "Is that a pick-up line?"

His smile is sunny, and Kent breaks a little bit inside. He finds himself quickly enough to say, "Would it work?"

**

Which is how he finds himself on a dinner date with a Massachusetts transplant who wears reading glasses to look at the menu. James is carefully put together, vest and jacket and groomed hair, but with one curl that hangs down over the center of his forehead like Superman. Kent wants to rake his fingers through that hair until it's going every which way. He wants to slide his hands under that vest, unbutton James' carefully done-up white blouse, and turn that entirely too proper outfit into a pile of wrinkled fabric and a pair of cast-off glasses on his bedroom floor.

Appetizers, and James tells him about teaching high school. It's the sort of subject Kent shouldn't find fascinating, but he does, and he doesn't know why. Maybe it's just the timbre of James' voice as he talks about shaping young minds, the way he talks with his hands. Maybe it's the way his cheeks pink that makes Kent want to understand why a profession without glamour, without fame, inspires such passion.

Over the main course, James turns the tables on Kent. "It's not fair, you know," he chides. "I've told you all about my job and my students. You haven't told me a thing. What do you do?"

"I, uh." Kent realizes with some alarm that he doesn't feel like bragging. "I'm an athlete."

"Oh." James looks him over with some appreciation. Kent wants to drown in that look. "Like a personal trainer?"

"Something like that," Kent says. He finds himself not wanting to say more. There's something about the way James looks at him that will change if he explains, and Kent's really enjoying being looked at like that just for himself, not for anything else.

"I'd think you'd be more buff," James says, and then flushes. "I mean, all the trainers I've ever seen were all muscle. You look more... well-rounded."

"I've got muscles," Kent protests.

"Oh." James looks him over one more time, a look like a wave of heat, sweeping over Kent. "In that case, you can show me later."

Kent nearly calls for the check right then.

**

They're kissing too hard for James to find his apartment keys; they laugh as he tries to fish them out of his pocket without breaking the kiss. An old woman down the hall comes out to toss out her garbage and tsks at them as she passes by. It doesn't stop them. Kent barely sees the interior of James' apartment. He has a fleeting look at a living room full of books before he's being pulled through a bedroom door and down onto the bed.

**

James is a good boyfriend; he doesn't push too hard for Kent to be openly demonstrative, simply saying he understands what it's like to not be ready to show the world. They spend a lot of afternoons in. James reads. Occasionally he'll read a passage out loud to Kent, and Kent will let the words wash over him in James' smooth baritone voice, like music. He closes his eyes, and James will curl close to him on the couch and read words closer and closer to his ear until they're whispered against his skin. And then they stop being words altogether.

Kent is starting to think James really is Superman; he's unusually comfortable with leading a double life, and takes it in stride that Kent has to do the same. When Kent has to disappear to training camps in July, James is curious but not overly so. He knows that Kent's physical condition is important to maintain for his profession, so he takes it in stride that Kent's off to some sort of "fitness retreat," and kisses him goodbye with a wink and a promise to behave himself while Kent is gone.

Kent misses him. They have long phone conversations late at night. James makes him salacious promises. The guys at camp whistle at Kent's pinked cheeks.

In August, Kent's back at the practice rink working with the boys and new prospects; James is fashioning lesson plans for when his kids return in September. They're busy and don't see each other much, but when they talk it's about the future. Kent wants to do a weekend before school starts, take James to Aspen for some summer skiing. James laughs and asks him if they'll be staying the chalet with all the celebrities. Kent avoids answering that question.

Kent is stunned at how much he misses James. It's not just the sex; James is just the right outlet for Kent in so many ways. He's warm, he's giving. He has a sense of humor altogether different from Kent's own, and he knows so much about so many things that conversation with him is always full of surprises. And, of course, he doesn't ask too many questions.

So the phone call, early in the morning hours of late August, is unexpected.

**

"Kent," James says, his voice low with some barely controlled emotion.

"What's up? What time is it?" Kent manages through a yawn.

"You could have told me," James says. "Why the hell didn't you tell me?"

Kent blinks, rubs his eyes. "What the--"

"I googled you," James says.

Sleep falls away and Kent bolts upright in bed. "You what?"

"I googled you. I was at a happy hour tonight with some of the other teachers and it was pointed out to me--" he stabs the words pointed out like they're the points of scissors -- "that I don't know where you live or what you do or anything real about you. I said I didn't mind, but then it got late and I got to thinking, and I googled you. Did you know there's a Tumblr dedicated to your cowlick? Did you know there's a website called Parseaholics.com?"

His voice is rising, rage simmering, and Kent struggles for words to gain control of the situation. "So I didn't tell you everything. So what? None... none of that stuff matters. Doesn't change anything."

"Are you haing an affair with Mila Kunis?" James asks. "The Enquirer thinks you're having an affair with Mila Kunis."

"The ... the fuck I am!" Kent bursts out. "That's garbage, Jesus, James, you should know that shit's garbage."

"I don't know," James says. "I don't know a lot, apparently."

Kent's panic boils over. "Look, are you at home?" he bursts out. "Stay right there. I'll come get you. I'll tell you everything. I'll show you everything. Just don't... just stay right there."

**

He peels out of his driveway in the Porsche and speeds toward James' apartment building in the low light of dawn. To his credit, James is there, and when Kent pleads with him to just come outside, James follows. He's cool and aloof right up until he sees the car. Then his eyes blow wide and he stares at Kent, then at the car, then at Kent again.

"Shit," he mutters. "Shit, it's true. It's all true, isn't it?"

"Come on," Kent urges him, and opens the passenger side door.

**

The first place Kent takes him is the rink. Not the stadium, where they play, but the practice rink. Kent takes him in the business-side doors and pulls him through the halls to the locker room. James blinks and squints, sans reading glasses, at the name on Kent's stall. Then he shakes his head, closes his eyes for a long time, and frowns, as though he's trying to puzzle out some mystery.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asks, at last.

"I... I don't know." And Kent really doesn't. Or, at least, he doesn't know how to say it. "It didn't ... it didn't really seem to matter."

"This?" James sweeps his arm out, a gesture taking in the entirety of the locker room, all the logos and stalls and jerseys and everything. "All of this, and it didn't matter?"

"It didn't," Kent repeats emphatically. "Yeah, it's a lot, I know. It's my whole life. But ... it just didn't matter. We were ... we were having a good time, and you ... you looked at me like you did and ... and none of it mattered."

James blinks. "I don't know what to do with that, Kent. I really don't know."

"There's nothing to do," Kent tells him. "So now you know. Doesn't make anything different. You and me ... that's still the same. I still." He bites his lip. "I still want you to read to me. I still want to hit Aspen with you someday, man. Just ... now you'll know why I wear hoodies so much. Why I can't hold your hand in public. Yet." He says it again, leans on the word. "Yet."

James runs a hand through his hair. That Superman curl wobbles from side to side. "So you're famous?" he says. "Like, really, really famous. A star."

"I guess." Kent shrugs. "I mean, sure. I'm still me."

"What do I do with that?" James asks him. "What do we do next?"

"Well," Kent says, "do you know how to skate?"

**

A few minutes later, James is wrapped in a Kent Parson jersey, wearing defenseman Carter Bell's spare skates (Belly will never know), and taking a slow, awkward lap around the rink with Kent by his side. "I can't believe this," he keeps saying. Kent turns, skates backwards, watches his face. He's always enjoyed James' flush, and in the cold of the rink it's everpresent. And maybe, just a little bit, Kent is thrilling at getting to brag about himself to James at last.

As they're getting out of their skates, some of the early morning crew is starting to arrive. They wave to Kent. Kent greets them as always. "Wow," James murmurs, and for the first time since Kent picked him up, he looks like he might smile. Kent takes it as a good sign.

**

Kent takes him to the stadium next. The ice is covered with flooring; there was a concert the night before. James stands in the middle of the rows of folding chairs and breathes in low and slow. "And you play here."

"Yeah," Kent says. "When we're not on the road. It's pretty sweet... you know ... when the crowd's cheering and stuff."

"You like that?" James looks at him sideways. "You don't get nervous?"

Kent shrugs. "I mean, I've been doing it my whole life, so. No. Not really."

"I'd get nervous." James cracks a half-smile. "I still get nervous on the first day of school every year."

"You do?" Kent finds this unbearably adorable. And he's relieved to see James smile. He coughs, clears his throat. "So. Um, are we.... are we good, then?"

James turns, looks at him. "I don't know, Kent. I hope so. I want us to be good. But there's so much I'm realizing I don't know."

Kent grabs his hand. It's early, there's no one there, there's no one to see, and for the first time Kent deeply regrets he has to think of these things at all. "I'll tell you anything, man. Whatever you want to know. I'm not... I'm not fucking letting you go, okay?"

There's a sadness in James' eyes. "That's not your choice to make."

"Yeah." Kent looks at the floor, but he squeezes James' hand tighter. "Yeah, I know."

The stadium, where Kent is used to hearing a hundred decibels of screaming fans, is silent then, and it's cavernous around the two of them. James' footfall echoes as he takes a step toward Kent.

"Show me where you live," he says.

**

When James is done goggling at the size of Kent's house, and Kent leads him through the doorway, the distance between them drops to nothing again. They kiss, they hold each other, and Kent's sure of one thing: there's nothing he wants to hold back from James, not anymore.

James says once more, "You're really not having an affair with Mila Kunis?"

"For fuck's sake," Kent laughs, pressing his face into James' neck. "I'm in love with you, dumbass."

He can feel James' smile against his cheek. Kent pulls away, lobs a smile back, and leads James upstairs.

[lilyvandersteen]

Hot for Teacher

This is for @aavigueras. Sorry I forgot about your birthday, sweetie! Here’s a slightly smutty Klaine fic to make up for it :-) It belongs in my Coach Hummel verse - Part One can be found here.

Blaine wasn’t happy about having to transfer at the start of his senior year. Everyone else would already know each other, and would be coming to terms with saying goodbye to their friends at the end of the school year, and busy with their college applications and what extra-curriculars would make them look good.

He would be the only new face, and no-one would bother getting to know him just for one year. He hated that thought.

Once he’d parked his car, Blaine hurried inside and tried to locate the classroom he needed to get to for first period, nervously raking a hand through his curls in the hope of taming them at least a little.

Not for the first time, he cursed himself for having overslept on the first day of the school year. That had forced him to come to school with his head a complete riot of curls, wearing an old pair of jeans, a ratty T-shirt, sneakers because those were the first pair of shoes in his size he’d been able to locate and a leather jacket of his brother’s that he’d found hanging over an armchair.

As he walked through the corridor, he noticed that most boys seemed to wear clothes similar to his, minus the leather jacket, and hardly anyone spared him a second glance. That was a welcome change from the public school he’d gone to before he transferred to Dalton, where he’d stood out like a sore thumb and had been bullied relentlessly. Maybe he’d stick to this barely-out-of-bed look, then, if it made him blend in.

Once he’d found the classroom he’d been looking for, he sat down next to a tall blonde guy and introduced himself. He got a smile and a fist-bump in return. The guy’s name was Sam, apparently, and he was the football team’s quarterback. Blaine showed himself suitably impressed, and Sam told him to come to try-outs that afternoon – “You’re not tall, but I bet you’re fast, man. We need a new kicker. The one we had last year sucked. We haven’t had a good kicker since Hummel left.”

Blaine promised to come. He’d never played football before, but he was certainly fast, yes. He’d had to be, to escape his bullies.

Sam was in most of his classes, and introduced him to a few others – Ryder and Jake, also on the football team, Artie, a guy in a wheelchair telling the most sexist jokes Blaine had ever heard, and a group of girls he said were in glee club with him.

Brittany was fun to be around, Marley proved sweet and helpful, Tina was a veritable fountain of gossip, and Unique earned his lifelong gratitude by steering him straight into the girls’ bathroom to comb and spray his curls into submission. Kitty, though, was scary. There was just no other word for it. Every word she said was caustic, and she seemed to be looking right through Blaine. He’d steer clear of her.

The afternoon came, and Sam, now enthusiastically discussing Batman with Blaine, took him to the football field, where Blaine and a dozen or so other hopefuls tried out for a place on the football team.

Blaine made it, and Sam proved right about the position he got – kicker.

“You’re a natural, boy!” Coach Beiste shouted. “Not as good as Hummel yet, but you have potential. And he’s coming in on Friday to coach you guys, so you can learn from him.”

The other guys on the team cheered as if she’d announced a rock star was coming, and Ryder clapped Blaine on the shoulder. “He’ll show you the ropes in no time, and then we’ll have a kick-ass team.”

Blaine, who’d been so happy a few minutes back that he’d made the team, lost his smile. Now didn’t that sound familiar… All his life, he’d been second best to Cooper, who actually WASN’T better, but just charmed everyone into thinking so. If this ‘showing him the ropes’ would be just as much of a farce as it was with Cooper, he’d prick the star kicker’s bubble straightaway. No need to tread lightly because his mother would skin him alive if he hurt Cooper’s feelings. Yep, this ‘Hummel’ – what kind of a name was that, anyway? – had better bring it!

Not as good as Hummel yet, huh? We’ll see about that.

K & B

On Friday, halfway through the training, he had to admit to himself that Coach Hummel was not like Cooper at all.

Oh, the assistant coach was certainly just as striking as Blaine’s older brother, who made everyone swoon with a wink or a smile. Hummel was a bit slighter and shorter, but his eyes were gorgeous, his posture was ramrod straight, his biceps were to die for and he had the finest ass Blaine had ever seen.

Hummel radiated self-confidence, yet his attitude couldn’t have been more different from Cooper’s.

Yes, as soon as Hummel had walked onto the field, the whole team had greeted him with slaps on the back and congratulations for a match he’d won, apparently, but Hummel didn’t soak up the attention as though it was his due. He ducked his head with a barely there smile, and then clapped his hands and announced that it was now their time to shine. “Show me what you’ve got, so that I know what we need to work on to make this team the best it can be. We’re going to make the McKinley Titans go far this year!”

All right, then.

True to his word, Coach Hummel let each member of the team do a series of exercises and then pointed out how they could improve their performance. They took the advice eagerly, all smiles and nods, looking impressed. Blaine rolled his eyes.

Suck-ups.

When it was Blaine’s turn, he gave it his all, and then stared at Hummel defiantly.

“Sheldon is right, you’ll certainly make a good kicker,” Coach Hummel mused. “You’re fast, and you have a strong kick. The only thing you’ll have to improve is your aim. The football lands to the left of the goal every time you kick, and it has to go through it. So we’ll have to work on that.”

Blaine flushed angrily, but kept his mouth shut.

“Okay, try again. I need to see what exactly you’re doing wrong so that we can fix it.”

Blaine gritted his teeth and squared his jaw, kicking again, and swearing under his breath when he saw the football sail in the wrong direction.

Before Coach Hummel could start his critique, Blaine said conversationally. “So, Coach, do you get a kick out of seeing teenage boys in tight pants? Seeing us stick out our butts really doing it for you?”

Hummel snapped his head in Blaine’s direction, his eyes narrowed and hard as flint and his mouth a thin line. That was the only reaction Blaine got to his taunting, though.

Hummel started to list what Blaine had to pay attention to if he wanted to improve his aim. Blaine, not interested in being lectured by a guy barely older than he was, decided to step it up a bit.

“I mean, I can’t imagine anyone would coach the football team for the fun of it. Does it pay well?”

Blaine ran his eyes over Coach Hummel slowly and deliberately and then delivered the punch line. “Going by your outfit, I’d say it doesn’t.”

Hummel went pink in the cheeks – and wasn’t that a sight to see! – but didn’t say any more to Blaine, moving on to the next member of the football team.

Blaine felt rather mean for commenting on Hummel’s outfit, which had clearly seen better days. His ratty trainers, in particular, seemed about to fall off his feet. Was he really that poor that he couldn’t buy himself new ones?

Soon, Coach Hummel had assessed the whole team, and moved on to group exercises, showing once again that he knew his job by making suggestions that did improve the team’s performance.

Blaine, who refused to admit he’d been wrong about Hummel, kept up a steady stream of jabs and taunts. Other than his nostrils flaring, Hummel never let on he’d heard Blaine. It wasn’t until Blaine mentioned Hummel’s parents – “They say people who go to college in state don’t want to move away from home because they’d miss their mommy too much. Are you such a mommy’s boy, Coach?” – that Coach Hummel lost his cool.

“Enough! If you can’t behave yourself during training, you’ll be off the team before you can say ‘Titans’. Is that clear?”

Hummel didn’t raise his voice, nor did he look at all angry, but his eyes pierced through Blaine and his cold tone made the hair on Blaine’s arms prickle uncomfortably.

Blaine nodded.

“Now, you seem bored, so I’m going to give you something more… interesting to do,” Coach Hummel drawled. “Until I dismiss the team, you’re to run laps around the field. After each lap, you will do five squats and sit-ups. You’ll be taking no breaks. Off you go!”

Blaine looked around him to ascertain if this was a normal procedure, but saw only glaring faces. Apparently, his teammates did not take it kindly that Blaine was dissing their hero.

Uh-oh, looks like I’ll have some damage control to do later… Better keep my mouth shut from now on!

Blaine nodded again and took off for his first lap. True to his resolve, he didn’t say another word, and he followed Coach Hummel’s instructions until he was sweating like a pig and his muscles were burning. He didn’t stop until the training was over and the rest of the team had left the field. Only when Coach Bieste and Coach Hummel had left as well did he trudge back to the locker room wearily.

As soon as he came in, a fist grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the wall.

“What were you playing at, Anderson?” Sam hissed. “Hummel’s a good guy, and a good coach. If you ever diss him again, you’re off the team. We’ll all tell Coach Bieste we’d rather have NO kicker than a jerk who thinks he’s all that.”

Sam looked over his shoulder at the others. “Am I right, guys?”

“Too right, captain!” Ryder said, and everyone hummed in agreement, still glaring at Blaine.

Sam turned back to Blaine. “Seriously, what were you thinking?”

Blaine sagged a little, and blurted out the first thing that popped into his mind, “That he’s so hot.”

Uh-oh, I should not have said that. I should NOT have said that. I just made everything a thousand times worse. I probably won’t make it out of the locker room alive.

Sam blinked, his glare sliding off his face and leaving only confusion. The other guys, too, had clearly not been expecting this answer from Blaine.

And then Jake threw his head back and laughed, and in no time, the others followed suit.

“Dude,” Jake managed to get out between two guffaws. “You know… I get… you want his attention… but… you’re going about this… all wrong. Dissing Kurt… won’t make him… like you… at all…”

Blaine turned his head to the side. “His name is Kurt?”

Sam threw the jock strap he’d just taken off right into Blaine’s face. “Yes, asshat! It’s Kurt. And Jake’s right. Better take his advice. Puckster Junior is the biggest girl magnet in school.”

Blaine, feeling comfortable enough now to start stripping off his football gear, made a face. “Girls don’t really do it for me.”

That made Jake throw his jock strap at Blaine too. “Yep, we got that when you called Kurt hot. But what I told you goes for guys, too. Basic rule. Don’t be a dick if you want them to like you. It’s as easy as that. There are… other ways to catch their attention.”

Jake gave Blaine a once-over and wiggled his eyebrows. “Show off your nice booty, Anderson! And the front view isn’t too bad either.”

Blaine flushed red, and the rest of the team howled with laughter.

Before Blaine could escape to the shower stalls, the locker room door opened with such force that it banged against the wall, and Coach Hummel came in, his eyes flashing, and told them to get a move on, because he was hungry. And then he crossed his arms, and yum, those muscles flexing were a sight to see.

Jake jabbed Blaine in the ribs, and hissed, “Stop drooling and show off your assets, man!”

Well, no time like the present to find out if Jake’s right, I guess…

“Hey, Coach…”

The look Coach Hummel threw him could have set fire to the whole school building.

“Yes, Anderson?”

How do I get him to look at my junk? Ah, got it.

Blaine told Hummel the team had been comparing their dicks and voting for the best one, but needed a deciding vote between Blaine’s and Sam’s.

As soon as he’d cottoned on, Jake looked offended for a second that he wasn’t a finalist, but then started to laugh again, so infectiously that everyone joined in.

Coach Hummel’s face went blank, and Blaine held his breath as Hummel’s eyes raked over him and Sam.

Just when Blaine thought he’d gone too far this time and would end up with detention, Hummel gave his verdict, deciding that the best dick was his own. Blaine’s mouth fell open.

Wow. This guy always zigs when I think he’s going to zag. I like that.

And then Hummel disappeared again. Blaine, still gaping like a fish, only pulled himself together again when Sam slapped his shoulder and told him to get a move on.

Blaine grabbed his towel and looked for a free shower stall. Most of the guys were already putting their regular clothes back on, so he had the showers all to himself. While he soaped himself up, he couldn’t help but think of Coach Hummel. His eyes spitting fire. His arms. His ass. His endless legs. Unf.

Before he realized, he’d taken his cock in his hand and was pumping it furiously, his other hand clamped over his mouth to muffle the noises he made. It took barely any time at all for him to come spectacularly, painting the red tiles white and sagging against the wall because his legs had been reduced to jelly.

Now in a much better mood than he’d been all afternoon, he started to sing as he rinsed off, giving it his all. As he tried a dramatic twirl for the ending, he froze and squeaked when he noticed someone standing there, watching him.

Hummel!

Coach Hummel told him to hurry up, and Blaine scrambled to take his towel and get dry and dressed before Hummel decide to toss him out of the locker room naked.

But yet again, the man proved nicer than Blaine gave him credit for, complimenting him on his singing, his smile completely genuine in spite of Blaine’s rudeness during the football training.

Blaine was so taken aback he only managed a generic word of thanks. He put on his clothes on autopilot, not even bothering with combing his hair but leaving it a mess, and grabbed his bag and jacket to get out of there, but halted a step outside the door.

I should apologize. I was horrible to him, and he didn’t deserve that one bit.

Blaine hesitated, but then stepped back inside and headed to the showers. As he rounded the corner, he collided with Hummel, who swore under his breath and lost his grip on the towel slung around his waist.

“Sorry!”

It came out breathless, not just because of the collision, but because the slipping towel revealed that Hummel had – Oh my! – not been lying about his dick being the best. Wow!

“Did you forget something?” Coach Hummel asked, now putting on his clothes at record speed.

“I forgot to apologize,” Blaine said. “I wasn’t in the best of moods, but I shouldn’t have worked that out on you. You didn’t deserve any of that. I was a total jerk, and I’m sorry. You’re a good coach, and I promise I’ll be on my best behavior from now on.”

Hummel gave him a long searching look, and then nodded. “Apology accepted. You can start with a clean slate next week.”

Then, with a wave of his hand and a quick smile, the man disappeared, leaving Blaine staring after him.

Not like Cooper at all, this guy. I’m glad he’s giving me a second chance.

[aomgdoughnut]

I’m not Okay (Part.2)

Part 1

Artist : GRAY

“(Y/N)?” This girl is really looks like her. Is she really (Y/N)?

“(Y/N)? No, my name is Areum. Wait; are you that famous producer, Gray?” She pulls my hand and look at me really close than before.

“Yes I’m Gray.” I take a better look at her. Her face really looks like (Y/N) and her height also similar. But her arm full with tattoo and she wear too revealing outfit. Other than that she’s really like (Y/N).

I don’t know what’s getting into me but I feel attract to this girl right away. So we spend the night get know each other and I ask her out before the night end. Surprisingly she accepts me and I assume we begin dating now. Simon D hyung saw us together but he didn’t say anything at that time.

“So, having fun last night?” That is the first thing that SimonD hyung said when he sees me in the next day.

“What?” I said defensive.

“I ask, did you have fun last night?” Is it just me that being too sensitive but his voice sound bitter? Now all attention focuses on us. Actually we have meeting for our next concert so no one absent on this meeting. They seem really interesting with our conversation.

“Well yeah, I got girlfriend.” I said simply like nothing special about that.

“You what hyung?!” That was Loco. Other member also has same expression with him. Disbelieve.

“Life should go on. I just continue my life. Anything wrong with that?” I said and checking other reaction.

“Okay, when are you planning to introduce your new girlfriend to us?” I know they don’t like the idea of me getting new girlfriend this fast. They’re too fond with (Y/N). But it’s not me, but (Y/N) that cheats on me.

“Soon. I’ll invite her to our concert and please behave.” I give a strong glare to Jukyung that I’m sure won’t like Areum and will take (Y/N) side since they’re best buddies.  They nodded and don’t talk about me ‘got a new girlfriend’ again that day.

 “Hi (Y/N), how have you been?” That was Jukyung calling me in the morning.

“Hmm…What should I say? A little bit better?” I answer him with chuckle.

“I miss you so much, really.” He said with his unusual sad tone.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Now he successfully makes me worried.

“I don’t know. It feels different since there no you around here.”

“Haha so you just miss me? Let’s hang out later then. Don’t be sad like that. I’m worried as hell.”

“Can’t we meet tonight?” Now he pleaded. I just broke up with Gray but I feel Jukyung sadder than him. It’s really disappointed me.

“Tonight? I’ll discharge tomorrow. But if you wanna meet me tonight, just come here.”

“Discharge?” He sounds so surprise.

“Yes. I’ve been hospitalizing for one week and since I’m getting better, I can go home tomorrow. So, you want to come here or?” I wait for his respond but he doesn’t say anything.

“Jukyung?” I call him.

“Yeah. I don’t think I can meet you soon. I have to practice for the upcoming concert you know?”

“Huh? But you said you want to meet me?” His attitude change right away and I can sense that he lies about something.

“Yeah. Let’s meet later. Get well soon (Y/N). I have to go now. Bye.” He hangs off the phone.

“Who’s that? Sunghwa?” My mom asks and I can see that she still hoping that Sunghwa and I will get back together. I’ve told my parents that we already broke up and I never heard about him since that day we fight. So I ask them not put high hope that we’ll getting back again because I’m not sure either. A half of me hoping him will looking for me and apologize but my other half still angry with him. He knows better that I never confidence with myself. Especially when he’s surrounded by girls. They’re so pretty and I don’t see any reason why Sunghwa still stick with me all this time. But Sunghwa always reassured me patiently that having me around him is more than enough. He doesn’t need other girls because I can give him much love and comfort. I think I can’t give him comfort anymore that’s why he gone now.

“Jukyung Mom. Please.” I plead to her not to mention Sunghwa name again in front of me.

Today is our first date. I call her yesterday that I’ll pick her up this morning and we’ll spend our day together. I’m so excited to know her better honestly. She doesn’t let me in to her apartment so I just wait on parking lot. I can see her walking toward my direction with I don’t know maybe ‘not so my style’ revealing clothes. I mean it’s still chilly out there. If she wears those kinds of clothes on summer then I’ll be more understanding.

“Hey baby, I’m sorry I’m late.” She takes closer to me and pecks my lips. Wait, I thought we haven’t got our first kiss back then in the club but she really brave to start skin ship with me. And without knowing I just take a step back avoiding her. She furrows her brows.

“What happen? You don’t like my kiss?” She asks bluntly and caught me off guard.

“Ah no. Of course I like it. I’m just a little bit surprise.” I said embrace her protectively and open the car’s door for her. She already wears her seat belt when I reach the driver seat.

“This is for you. I don’t know what kind of flowers that you love, so I just bought rose. Tell me if you don’t like rose.” I handed her a bouquet of flowers that I usually bought for (Y/N) in every date. She’ll tear up because of happiness every time I give her flowers. I don’t recall how many flowers that I give to her and she still loves it. She said that flowers are so beautiful and she loves it so much.

“What the hell is this Gray?” She looks at me with disgusting face and yeah, she still calls me Gray instead of Sunghwa.

“Huh? This is flowers?” I’m not sure what her expression mean is.

“Yeah I know it is a bouquet of flowers. But why you give this to me?”

“Just… because…” Okay I’m speechless. I never expect this kind of reaction from her.

“Haha you don’t have to give me this kind of things Gray. They’ll end up in my trash can.”

“Ha…ha… right?” It is the only word that I manage to say and put the flowers on the back seat.

“Now let’s go. Where are we going to go today?” She asks while grab my thigh, make me flinch.

“I haven’t planed anything thoroughly. Maybe eat something and what do you wanna do?” I’m glad that I haven’t make any plan for our date because she might not like it at all so I’ll just ask for her opinion and do what she wanna does.

“Me? How about shopping?” She said excitedly.

“Shopping? Okay. That’s cool. I found a really cute shop that sell candles and handmade stuff. You will like it.” Last week I found that shop around Hongdae and I keep thinking to visit there some other times.

“Handmade? Are you crazy? I don’t wear anything without branded like that. You mistake Gray.” Now she’s sulky. Why I fell already tired when we just spend about 10 minutes together? I wanna go home now. Honestly, (Y/N) and I are into custom things right now. We’ll buy stuff like jacket, clutch bag, or wallet and modified it into our preference like repainting or add some other detail. It’s become our hobby for quite a while and I think I have to say good bye to them now.

“I’m sorry. I think our preference is really different that’s all.” I start the engine and begin to drive.

“So let’s eat first okay? What do you wanna eat?” Now I don’t even dare to say my preference again in front of her.

“It’s up to you. You decide the restaurant and I’ll decide the shopping place. Okay?” At least I can eat something that I like, right? I park my car in front of famous Korean home cook restaurant. This is me and (Y/N) favorite restaurant for breakfast.

“You’re into Korean food for breakfast?” No, she doesn’t like it again.

“If you don’t like it-“ She open the car’s door and leave me before I even finish my word. Great. I follow her inside the restaurant and I can see shock looks from the waiters. I’ve been here so many times with (Y/N) and now seeing me with other girl that ‘opposite’ from (Y/N) must be surprise them. But they still serve us of course.

“What do you want to eat?” I ask her again while looking at menu list.

“Whatever you want.” She said not so interested. So I order my favorite menu for me and (Y/N) favorite menu for her.

Finally our first date finished. I take her home after faking phone call from Jay that we had emergency meeting so I can ended our date faster. She’s really something. She doesn’t even sorry for bought so many stuffs with my money. It’s not that I’m stingy but it just our first date God damn.

I throw my body on the sofa and sigh loudly.

“Going through a lot today?” SimonD hyung tease me knowing that I just finish my first date with Areum.

“Maybe I’m too excited. That’s why I’m a little bit tired.” I can’t even honest about how I feel right now.

“So, how was that?” Now he tries to dig some information from me. I can’t say that it so uncomfortable and we didn’t match at all because he’ll blame me for sure.

“It’s wonderful.” I said short. Don’t even want to think about today ever again.

“Can’t wait to meet her in person later.” Damn. I forgot that they’ll meet Areum on the concert next week.

“Yeah, don’t be surprises okay?” At least I’ve warn him.

 Baby, can I borrow your card?

After long day practices for AOMG concert it was the only text that Areum sent to me. I keep typing and erasing my reply to her. I don’t feel right to give my card to her. We just start this relationship and she already spent more than present I gave to (Y/N) before. I miss (Y/N) that always getting upset every time I bought branded bag or shoes for her. She told me to give it to my mom instead of her because she can afford it by herself and she doesn’t date me because of money. I wonder what she’s up to now.

 “I’ve told you I can do it by myself.”

“Said someone that almost tripped in the bathroom.” Dean said with his sarcasm tone.

“Thank you for worrying me. But today I’ll discharge and you can leave me alone okay?” My eyes still fixed on my laptop doing some work left while Dean helping me packs my things. More than a week in hospital really makes me feel depressed. I can’t wait to hanging around and become sociable again.

“Finish! Let’s go home now. I’ll drive you.” Dean brings my things with him and I just take my laptop with me.

“Hey, don’t walk while typing on your laptop. You’ll-“ It don’t need to wait for Dean to finish his sentence. I trip on my own feet and it’s really hurt. Dean helps me to walk to his car and he even helps me until my apartment door after driving me home. He’s such a good friend.

I don’t even drink tonight but now I’m back in (Y/N)’s apartment parking lot. Without thinking, my body takes me back here. I’ll just wait a moment and take a leave quietly. Yeah that was what I’m thinking about until I see another familiar scene from last week. (Y/N) and Dean back together to her house again. They even walk so close together. I thought she loves me the same. But she already has another man now. I turn on my engine and leave her place without bothering them.

 “Guys, she’s Areum.” Finally D-Day has come. I can’t even sleep properly last night. I don’t know how the guys will react when they meet Areum.

“Wow, Areum-ssi. Nice- Uhm… I mean nice to meet you.” Loco kindly approach us and greets her awkwardly. I’ve told her to wear something comfortable today. But she never listens. She wears other revealing clothes again, showing tattoos on her body.

“What’s up Areum!” That was Jay, greet her coolly. The rest of them only nodded their head and smile awkwardly to her. I’m so worried that she’ll feel left out. But again, I’m wrong. She never leaves Jay’s side while we’re in waiting room. She completely ignores me and I can see how other guys pitied me. I can read ‘I’ve told you’ words on their expression.

When Jay sends me uncomfortable sign, it’s the right time to take her out from here. I yank her arms to bring her outside and of course she doesn’t like that idea.

“What’s wrong with you?!” She said with her high pitched annoying voice.

“It should be my question. What’s wrong with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s enough Areum. I can’t hold in anymore. I know you never love me and you know I never love you too. But I thought you can behave in front of my friends. Didn’t you see how they pitied me when you throw your body to Jay just now?”

“Hey Gray, It’s not my fault if Jay’s hotter than you.”

“Yeah… I was my fault. I didn’t think too much and ignore my friend’s word. Areum, let’s just break up.”  

“Okay then.” She said and walks away just like that. How can I’m so blind like this? She doesn’t even look sad. I can’t think straight but concert must go on. So I try to calm myself down for a moment and decide to back to the waiting room. But before I manage to fully open the door, I can hear their conversation through the door’s gap.

“Sunghwa hyung must be really upset.”

“I can’t deny that she really look like (Y/N) except her arms that full of tattoos and her bitchy attitude.”

“Hey, tattoos are not a bad thing!”

“Said someone whose has an arm full with tattoo.”

“Honestly, I’ve met (Y/N) few days ago.”

“You met her? Where?”

“In her house. I visit her after she’s discharge and met Dean there too.”

“So it’s true that (Y/N) dating Dean now?”

“Wait, what did you mean by discharge?”

“(Y/N) has been hospitalized over than a week after their break up and hyung didn’t know about this. Did you remember when Sunghwa hyung said that he saw Dean in (Y/N) apartment?”

“Ah, right he said that when he was drunk.”

“I’ve asked (Y/N) and it was a misunderstanding. When Hyung saw Dean there, (Y/N) already hospitalize and Dean helps to pick her things.”

“Oh God, this is worst. And now hyung trapped with that bitchy woman?”

“Should I tell hyung about this?”

PS. I’m sorry for long waited update :( I’ll try to update more often ;)

[flashbic]

OTP meme thing

@spaceviking

Here’s the Scott/Raimi one <3

1: Who spends almost all their money on the other? Well, not nearly almost all of it since Scott has a lot of money, but he spends a lot just buying random stuff for Raimi. It's how he shows affection, okay. It's easier than talking about feelings.

2: Who sleeps in the other’s lap? They kinda alternate here, but usually Scott is the one getting some rest. Raimi likes it, mostly because he gets to mess with Scott's hair and Scott is too sleepy to do anything about it. :D For Raimi, it mostly happens whenever he's had a bad day and needs to relax? He just rests his head and listens while Scott rambles about random thnigs.

3: Who walks around the house half-naked and who yells at them to put on some clothes? It's not something that happens all that often, but they both do it from time to time! Raimi when he just feels like messing with Scott, and Scott when he wants attention and he's having a particularly good day. (Raimi never tells him to put on some clothes though, eh) (Raimi tends to skip the "half" part of "half-naked". He just likes seeing Scott's reaction :D)

4: Which one tells the other not to stay up all night and which one stays up all night anyway? Raimi's sleep cycle is absolutely forever fucked. Scott has tried to make him fix it before, but it's hopeless. He will Not go to sleep. There are too many shitty horror movies to watch and comic books to read.

5: Which one tries to make food for the other but burns it all by accident and which one tells them that it’s okay and makes them both cookies? Raimi is a danger in the kitchen, but he tries so hard. Scott complains about it a lot at first, but he kinda resigns himself to it eventually. He doesn't really like cooking all that much though. i think he'd be the kind of person who buys from one of those places that prepare home-made meals for a week or whatever. But hey, if it can cheer up Raimi, fine, he might try to make some pancakes. :D

6: Which one reads OTP prompts and says “Oh that’s us!” and which one goes “Eh, not really”? Raimi absolutely gets excited about it. ("DUDE, CHECK OUT WHAT I FOUND ONLINE.") Scott... not so much. But tbh, he silently agrees.

7: Which one constantly wears the other’s clothes? Scott loves wearing Raimi's hoodies around the house, when he's sure no one except Raimi will ever see him doing it. They're too big for him, and they're warm and they're comfy. Raimi has a few pictures, but they're all blurry because Scott refuses to stand still. cryptid!Scott.

8: Which one spends all day running errands and which one says “You remembered [thing], right?” Scott is usually the one running errands. He'd ask Raimi to do it, but chores like this are exactly the type of things Raimi tends to procrastinate on. Like, he'd do them eventually, but the waiting bothers Scott too much so he does it himself. Otoh, Raimi is pretty nice about the whole thing and does his best to be helpful. And yeah, he's not a dick about it if Scott forgot something (also because tbh he probably wouldn't even notice).

9: Which one drives the car and which one gives them directions? Raimi gives directions and Scott ignores them. Also Raimi doesn't drive all that often unless he's by himself because he can be kinda reckless and Scott finds it absolutely terrifying. (not that Scott in a car can't also be absolutely terrifying. Sure he drives just fine, but if anything happens he immediately goes in full RAGE MODE.)

10: Which one does the posing while the other one draws? Raimi draws! Scott notices him and tries to pretend he didn't. And yes he draws Scott naked every single time.

11: If they were about to rob a museum, which one does backflips through lasers and which one is strolling behind with a bag of chips? Raimi goes in Mission Mode and needs to be as Extra as possible about the whole thing. Which absolutely triggers Scott's competitive side, so they both spend the whole time trying to one-up each other. They are not good at this.

12: Which one of your OTP overdoes it on the alcohol and which one makes the other stop drinking? Scott, like, yikes. Raimi is quick enough to learn it and does his best to keep an eye on him though. Thankfully Scott is generally pretty cheerful when he's drunk. He just tends to get really flirty, which is awkward when there are other people around.

13: Which one likes to surprise the other with a lot of small random gifts? As far as Scott is concerned, giving stuff to Raimi is the easiest way to show affection. Feelings are scary, man.

14: Which one keeps accidentally using the other’s last name instead of their own? i don't really see either of them doing that one tbh? Raimi might do it on purpose a few times as a joke though. Makes Scott blush every time. He doesn't say anything, but he likes the sound of it A Lot.

15: Which one screams about the spider and which one brings the spider outside? Scott screamed but was absolutely ready to use one of Raimi's comic books to squash that spider. Raimi got it just in time!

16: Which one gives the other their jacket? Scott gets cold a lot, and whenever Raimi notices he'll try to give him his coat, which Scott usually refuses because he's one of those idiots who'd rather suffer than to wear something he thinks doesn't fit him. Raimi often ends up wearing Scott's gloves though, since he always loses his :D

17: Who keeps getting threatened by the other’s overprotective older sibling? This one really doesn't apply at all! Raimi is an only kid, and by the time he meets Scott's brothers, they're just REALLY happy to see that Scott somehow managed to get a boyfriend who's having a good influence on him.

18: Who’s the first one to admit they have feelings for the other? Raimi is the first one to actually say it, but let's face it, Scott was about as subtle about his feelings as a brick to the face.

19: How good would your OTP be at parenting? Not entirely sure, but i think they'd balance each other nicely enough? By themselves they'd be disasters though. Raimi would be way too lenient, while Scott would be unreasonably demanding.

20: Which one types with perfect grammar and which one types using numbers as letters? Scott proofreads every single thing he writes, including texts. Raimi uses every single shortcut imaginable, replaces parts of words with emojis whenever possible and so on. The texts he, Weyland and Yutani send each other are barely understandable to most people.

21: Who gets attacked by a bully and who protects them? They probably both were bullied at some point for one reason or another, although in both cases i don't think it ever got too bad? Raimi has enough friends to balance it out, and Scott... well, Scott basically just channeled the pain and fear into the Endless Pit Of Rage. Which might not be the healthiest coping mechanisms, but ehhh, could've been worse. Raimi was absolutely the kind of kid who would intervene whenever he saw someone else being bullied. Scott, if he saw anything, usually ignored it... unless the person doing the bullying was someone he admired. Then he probably joined in.

22: Who makes the bad puns and who makes a pained smile every time the other makes a pun? Raimi does the puns. Scott doesn't even bother with smiling, he just rolls his eyes. Raimi doesn't care, he knows Scott likes it. :P

23: Who comes home from work to see that the other one bought a puppy? Raimi adopted a dog... and then promptly had to find it a new home after Scott absolutely freaked out and refused to stay in the house as long as it was inside. Important lessons were learned that day. 1) Getting a pet without talking about it with your boyfriend first is kind of a bad idea. 2) The idea is especially bad when it turns out said boyfriend is absolutely terrified of the kind of pet you picked.

24: Which one gives the other a piggyback ride when they’re tired? Raimi tries to carry Scott around the house a few times, but it goes about as well as you'd expect (heads get bumped on the furniture and Scott ends up on the floor, most likely).

25: Which one competes in some sort of activity and which one does the overzealous cheering? Scott swims, although he doesn't do any actual competing. He sometimes goes to the public pool and there are one or two people there he likes to race against! Raimi likes watching them, especially since Scott is always in an amazing mood whether he wins or not.

26: Who takes a selfie when the other one falls asleep on their shoulder? Raimi takes so many selfies. He uses them as his phone wallpapers.

27: Which one would give the other a makeover if they asked? All Raimi would have to do is ask, and Scott would enjoy every single second of this. (but okay, though, can you imagine Raimi convincing Scott to let him paint his nails?? He picks the prettiest shade of blue. SCOTT WITH EYELINER. Raimi thinks it's the cutest fucking thing in all the land. tbh Scott doesn't really get it and finds it kind of embarrassing, but turns out he doesn’t actually hate it? :p)

28: Which one owns a pet that the other is absolutely terrified of? Welp... see question 23. Yutani ends up adopting that dog! That dog is huge fluffy monster, but also the most well-behaved dog you have ever seen. Which is basically the only reason Scott doesn't run away screaming whenever he sees it. (he's still screaming silently though)

29: Which one holds the umbrella over both of them when it rains? Scott holds it, mostly because he's taller.

30: If your OTP went on vacation, where would they go and what would they do? Who would take the pictures? i think they probably go to the beach fairly often, since it's definitely Scott's favorite kind of vacation (it's warm and there's water, plus he definitely always pick big resort places where he can get massages if he wants to). Other than that though, i can see them maybe renting a little place near a lake? Raimi wanted to go camping but Scott flat out didn't want to, so the cabin was a good in-between. Raimi totally still brings his sleeping back and goes outside to sleep under the stars. Scott doesn't spend the entire night with him (sleeping outside makes him a little nervous, plus he doesn't find it comfortable), but he stays up pretty late and they just look at the stars and it's cool. During the day they take walks in the woods or swim in the lake. During the evening Scott curls up on the couch with a book while Raimi tries to do some woodcarving with a tiny knife because why the hell not.

They both take pictures.