#he’s literally just standing there with his weapons out

[legalandnotease]

So. Right off let's say this loud and clear.

Tony could easily have discovered the truth for himself if he'd got off his lazy ass and read the documents from Nat's leak. How do we know that? It's simple: that's how Zemo found out.

Zemo is literally meant to be a regular not even enhanced guy of average or maybe slightly above average intelligence. He's not a super genius yet he learned all he needed to know from the records Natasha leaked.

Let me put this in big bold text:

Steve was not required to endanger the life of his brother by telling Tony something he could have discovered himself from publicly accessible information.

you can't tell me if steve just talked to tony in a controled envoirment with maybe pepper of rhodey as emotional support tony couldn't have eventually calmed down enough to realise that bucky is a victim

If Tony was that much of an unstable psychopath that he needed Pepper and Rhodey to stop him killing somebody he should have been incarcerated not out in the world using weaponized suits.

Also, Tony 100% knew Bucky was a victim before the fact. He called him Manchurian Candidate which is a clear reference to his mind control and captivity.

Tony simply got a every obvious trauma responds from watching his parents die again

No. Speaking as somebody who has PTSD, there is nothing about Tony's actions in Siberia that says "trauma response".

When a person is triggered to lash out by PTSD it is erratic and it is also over quickly. There are no known incidinces of a trauma response which involves attacking somebody with the sheer viciousness that Tony did Bucky and for such a prolonged period. (Several minutes).

Tony attacked steve first, not bucky. Only when bucky tried to protect steve did tony flip out on him and shit just got worst from there.

Incorrect. Bucky in fact acted to defend *himself* because when Tony had finished hitting Steve across the room he turned on Bucky too. See the screenshot there? It clearly shows him standing in front of Bucky his weapons at the ready powered up.

THAT is not a trauma response BTW. That is a deliberated attack. As was everything else Tony did to Bucky which included attacking him when he was down, from behind and chasing him down.

And before you say "well trauma impacts different people in different ways" to try and handwave what Tony did, I will remind you.

You are speaking to an actual person with actual PTSD who knows something about trauma and there is not a single instance of PTSD causing Tony to act the way he did in Siberia. Not. One.

He was acting with in a very deliberate and considered way, even *calm*. People having trauma responses do not stop to ask their intended victims questions when they have them in a chokehoold.He wasn't having a trauma response, he was trying to cold-bloodedly murder a guy.

i know bucky is a victim but regardless of how he still killed and at the time, was very much as risk of getting triggerd back into the winter soldier.

Oh this "Tony was acting in self defense against a dangerous man" bs again.

Tony landed the first blow- so he cannot plead self-defense. Further, Tony was wearing a bullet and bomb-proof suit laden with weapons. He outgunned Bucky and was stronger then him by virtue of that suit- so he was not acting in self-defense.

But fine, you wanna play that game? Hulk is many times more dangerous then Bucky and requires less triggering to become a rage monster capable of levelling a city. Why do his friends protect him?

Tony is only one bad dream away from creating a murderbot capable of destroying the planet. So why should he be protected?

You yourself @animealways said Rhodey and Pepper had to present to stop Tony going on some kind of homidical rampage on hearing about his parents death.

Tony is clearly unstable and a danger to himself and others. If you're gonna try and justify what he did to Bucky on the grounds Bucky is dangerous- we can just as easily turn that right back on him.

Bucky on the other hand, is less dangerous then almost all the Avengers. He lacks the sheer destructive capacity of Hulk, Thor or Tony. Furthermore, the only reason Zemo was able to activate him the first time was because Bucky was helpless to stop him, locked in a glass cage his his arms pinned down.

By the time he got to Siberia though Bucky was free and had a weapon. Meanign that he was in a position to be able to stop anybody saying his trigger words. If Zemo had even tried Bucky would have shot him before the second word left his mouth.

using that shield, a gift from one of his victims to protect him could easily be seen as disrespect towards howard

Only if you're a Tony Stan.

Steve literally used the shield for the sole intent of preventing a murder. Anyone with eyes can see that. Tony was going to murder Bucky and expected Steve to stand by and let him do it.

That was never going to happen. Steve used the shield against Tony because Tony would not stop trying to kill (by that point) a helpless injured man incapable of defending himself.

Tony was commiting the ultimate act of cowardice, and Steve stopped him.

If anything Tony proved in that moment that he he was a craven and immoral coward like his father. That he had zero virtue, integrity or mercy. I mean watch the Agent Carter series sometime: even as far back as the 1940s Howard was a womanizer and an alcoholic. He was never a good person, its just that those around him ignored and enabled his behavior.

. but steve actively stopped and dropped the shield when tony mentioned howard.

Steve dropped the shield because Tony, realizing he'd been beaten, threw a tantrum.

Steve dropping the shield was meant to be reminiscent ofo when he also dropped the shield in CA:TWS because no piece of metal was more important to him then a man's life. Or his honor.

If he had to pick between continuing too be Captain America and defending he weak and helpless- which in that case was Bucky- he would pick the latter every time. Its not about Steve "defending a murderer" or "dishonoring" anything as Tony Stans claim.

It was about Steve putting his morals before his position and title as Captain America: which he always did. A man without honor or virtue like Tony Stark could never grasp that.

and i doubt nat knew atleast for certain cause she claimed winter soldier is a ghost story to most after all,

Natasha absolutely knew. The thing Tony fans often neglect to mention is that she was was standing right next to Steve when AI Zola revealed all.

Even before that thought Natasha also knew about The Winter Soldier. The "Ghost Story" remark was actually from Steve. Not her. She knew because she'd encountered him several years before the events of Cap 2.

Most of all though we can be sure she knew because she personally handed Steve a top secret Russian file on The Winter Soldier at end of the movie.

She said she'd sourced it from a friend on Eastern Europe and we also know she'd read it herself because she made a not so subtle remark about what was in it.

Natasha is smart and sharp as a tack. She'd have read that file years earlier.

So why aren't Tony fans hating on HER for not telling Tony?

Team Iron man fans saying that Steve was wrong for not telling Tony that Bucky killed his parents but honestly, seeing how Tony handled finding out about it, I wouldn't have told him either. Tony was already willing to throw bucky into prison or an institution IMAGINE what he would've done if he found out bucky killed his parents while they still had him in custody. Steve was doing what he always has done, protect Bucky.

People openly supporting the revenge killing of a man who had NO control over his life for the past 70 years and wasn't even conscious for the majority of it because of something he did WHILE BRAINWASHED is insane to me.

(also please don't attack me I'm just stating my opinion TwT)

[driftawayomnichord]

Genshin men and sleeping habits (( _ _ ))..zzzZZ

Warnings : NOT proofread/SFW/Pure Fluff

Some scenarios are shorter than others, but I didn’t want force them into a specific length.

This includes : Kaveh, Kaeya, Zhongli

Kaveh

Kaveh would be a 3 in 1 package when it comes to him sleeping. In other words 3 different ways to torture you, but that’s fine because it’s always a surprise what you will be served tonight. But this night was different because it went through all 3 of his sleeping habits.

Finally Kaveh fell asleep around 3am (you definitely didn’t drag him to bed), cuddling next to you he was calm at first. But for some reason you couldn’t fall asleep, so you just stared blankly at the ceiling hoping you’d get tired eventually. You felt yourself drift off to dream world when-

“I will conquer them…all.”

“What the-“ you turned your head at the blonde man with a confused look on your face. That’s interesting…

Kaveh was dead asleep that’s for sure, but he was sleep talking.

“Oh dear, here we go again…”

“Bow down to me mortals…I’m your new god..”

“Kaveh…?” You questioned with an incredibly concerned look on your face.

That’s when he stood up from your bed and proceeded to stare blankly at the wardrobe for a minute with you starring at HIM completely baffled. He had never sleep walked before…

And if that wasn’t enough he turned sideways and (out of nowhere might I add) summoned his claymore and held it straight ahead, pointed at the door.

“Don’t…make me kill you…” he mumbled to literally nobody. It would’ve been funny to watch this unfold if it wasn’t almost 4 in the morning, in complete darkness, watching your boyfriend threaten…ghosts? The door? Who knew at this point…but you were NOT about to approach a man pointing a great sword at the door, no way.

He then turned towards the bed again, dropped his weapon and planted face first onto the bed. As if nothing had happened just now, he was sleeping as calm as a child.

“You are…something…” you said to no one in particular, and decided to just try and sleep a little bit.

Now 4:30 you had fallen asleep until you felt a rather uncomfortable breeze, stirring up you looked over and saw Kaveh in a cocoon he made of your shared blanket.

“You have to be kidding me.” You grumbled. If it wasn’t incredibly late and you weren’t half dead this would’ve been kind of cute. Not now. Nothing is cute and funny when exhausted.

Standing up you grabbed another blanket from the wardrobe and immediately collapsed in bed, falling asleep.

NOT EVEN 30 MINUTES LATER

You felt a hard kick on your back and got catapulted out of bed straight onto the floor. Trying to put together what happened took you a moment but after you realised that you basically got evicted from bed you went through the five stages of grief.

Defeated, you left that room and laid on the couch.

…

Next morning Kaveh woke up feeling a little better than usual. That was more sleep that what he is used to. But for some reason you were gone? Calling out for you resulted in absolutely nothing, so he headed to the living room expecting you to be awake, but he saw you on the couch still asleep.

“Hey, it’s late you should get up.”

You opened your eyes slowly and when you saw him an eye twitch followed.

“You- damned menace. I am NEVER sleeping in the same bed as you.” You said with so much seriousness that Kaveh actually got worried your next step would be for you to break up with him.

“What happened- I don’t understand.”

“You scared the holy hell out of me, then stole the damn blanket letting me freeze and get hypothermia! And then you KICKED ME! Off the bed! Do you imagine what force it took for me to end up on the other side of the room, Kaveh?!”

You were fuming. And from the study Alhaitham was listening, amused to say the least.

Later that day you received a beautiful bouquet of your favourite flowers and went on a dinner date. You still kicked him out that night to sleep on the couch.

Kaeya

Kaeya is the type of person that after a certain point at night, his brain ceases functioning. There is just no one up there when he is tired enough, which has lead to some midnight shenanigans. (Cue my other fic)

This particular night he was forced to work overtime and so you just went to bed, not feeling like waiting for him. As Kaeya says “I need my beauty sleep” you decided that perhaps you should let yourself get inspired by him. A few hours later you hear shuffling coming from behind you so you expect to see Kaeya, which you do, with him starring at a-….

“…why the f*** is there a cat in my bed Kaeya??”

“I was honestly about to ask you? I just arrived and was about to lay down, almost sat on the poor cat.”

“Just- put him downstairs. I will figure it out tomorrow-“ you say as you collapse again.

Put in short, that’s how you two got a cat. But after some time, you got used to him being weird after midnight. In fact, at this point you don’t pay him any mind.

It was late at night and Kaeya had already fallen asleep before you. You were simply enjoying a book, when you heard him shuffling around and turned to look at him. While sometimes you do hear him mumbling in his sleep he’s never sleep walked before so you assumed he is awake. After a few seconds he reached over to the side table to get some water, but sadly the glass was empty.

Kaeya sighed and wobbled up from the bed. “I’ll get some water.” He said to you, and headed towards the dark hallway. So you went back to your book when you suddenly heard a loud thud, followed by another and another. Basically a tumbling sound, coming from the dark hallway…from the direction of the stairs…

You jumped out of bed and yelled for Kaeya. “Kaeya? Are you ok??”

Silence.

You threw your book on the bed and sprinted towards the staircase to check up on Kaeya, to see him sprawled out at the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey! Kaeya, are you ok?!” You sprinted down to him and turned him over on his back.

Nothing. Complete silence…until-

“I’m fine, just…trying to collect the rest of my dignity from the floor.” He chuckled.

“You- dumbass! I thought you died!” You stood up from his side and headed towards the kitchen.

“Hey, cmon. I was messing around.” He stood up and dusted himself. Around the same time you came back from the kitchen with a wet towel.

“Freeze it and put it on your head, it will otherwise swell up even more.”

“Are you suggesting I have a big head?”

“I’m not “suggesting”. I’m stating it as a fact.” You replied groggily and headed to your bedroom once again.

A few minutes later Kaeya went up and into your shared room again, there he saw that you had put your book away and are now trying to fall asleep. He tiptoed to his side of the bed and laid down next to you.

“Are you still upset?”

“I wasn’t upset, I got worried.” You replied quietly.

“Don’t you worry, I have a thick head. Or did you say big?”

“Haha. Funny.”

“Maybe that fall messed with my memory, please enlighten me.”

“Shut up and sleep.”

Zhongli (( _ _ ))..zzzZZ

Zhongli and you don’t exactly ’require’ sleep. You can live off for months without resting for even a minute. But sleeping is an efficient way of letting some time pass, which you have an abundance of. Apart from that, you two also get a chance to relax.

But you, most of the time don’t let yourself. Instead you let your thoughts run wild, often come up with the craziest things Zhongli has heard, and he’s been alive for quite some time. Which, he would never complain that he is listening to you, he enjoys it in fact. But he is the type of man that if he sets his mind on something, he has to do it. So if he sets his mind on sleeping at night, he wouldn’t be happy if something someone is in his way of achieving that goal.

“Are we really immortal beings, or just really stubborn ones that refuse to die?” You ask, staring blankly at the ceiling.

“We can debate over that tomorrow.” He says, used to your late night ramblings. But this specific question leaves him wondering, you do kind of have a point.

5 minutes pass in complete silence, both of you just thinking about it. “Maybe anyone can be immortal if they put their mind to it.”

“Please, let’s not do this now. I’m still wondering about your last question.”

“If for a week, all gods switch their powers, who would handle it best? Who would cause the most chaos?”

“Barbados and chaos go together, no matter the circumstance.”

“How intelligent are slimes, really? Do they have basic necessities? Do they have family relations?”

Alright now this is becoming an issue. He loves you and all…but he is becoming irritated that he can’t do what he’s set his mind on doing. Also overthinking your internal debates. He doesn’t have the heart to tell you that though, he would never. So he sits there listening to your rambles and taking notes on them, so he can further discuss them in the morning.

Suddenly you sat up in bed and looked over to him. You turned around for your back to face him, and laid down on his abdomen.

…

“Do you think that prayers have an expiration date?”

Oh archons, you are still at it.

“I’m unsure, dear.”

Another half hour passed, and you suddenly got up and out of bed. Zhongli got confused when you left out of nowhere but didn’t question you. He just closed his eyes and hoped he can drift off before you-

Clank

Oh dear, what now?

He got up and headed towards the origin of the loud noise and saw you standing in the kitchen with the stove on, boiling water, and looking for something in the cabinets.

“Isn’t it a little late for this? There will be time tomorrow for you to make your snacks.”

“Me? Oh, I’m not hungry.” You said, and went back to rummaging through the kitchen.

“Then…what is it you’re doing?” Zhongli further inquired.

“Your stomach was rumbling, I’m making something for you. Ah- there it is…Ahem, excuse me. I was about to doze off and noticed since my head was so close to your stomach.”

Zhongli felt horrible. There he was feeling irritated at you for keeping him awake, yet you were out here making dinner for him. So he just sat down on the dinner table and kept silent for a moment.

“I don’t believe slimes have family dynamics.”

“What?”

“You mentioned that earlier, or do you not remember?”

“I thought- you weren’t listening.”

“Of course, I listened.” He smiled at you.

“Even the part when I wondered if you could turn into a hilichurl?”

“You what-…when did you-“

“Well I guess you did fall asleep after all.” You chuckled and placed a bowl of noodles in front of him.

…

The next morning Zhongli headed for work early, at the end he didn’t sleep at all. You two sat in the living room and talked about all sorts of topics. When at some point he started sharing old stories that you knew very well, after all you had been there with him. But you just fell asleep without even noticing that you felt tired.

So he carried you to bed and since it was around 5 in the morning he just decided to go to the Funeral parlour. There, a few hours later people started to show up and questioned why he came to work this early, he just said that he was had a pleasant conversation that kept him up.

He definitely didn’t doze off on the couch when he came back.

Do I make a part 2???

[anotherthoughtthatwillhauntme]

Dissection of ‘Kiss the Villain’ Teaser because why not?

☆

"I think we've established that you have a magnificent ability to be grotesque."

Okay, so right off the bat, Kayden is out here throwing high-level insults like he’s delivering a Shakespearean monologue. “Magnificent ability”?? Sir, that’s an SAT vocab insult. That’s the kind of insult you drop in a courtroom and then sip your coffee while the defense spirals into self-doubt.

☆

My lips lift into a snarl, but I force them into a smile.

The level of internalized violence here. Gareth is seething, but his petty little soul refuses to let Kayden see him crack.

☆

"I didn't seem grotesque when you came all over my mouth. You enjoyed it so much you kept coming on and on. I thought you would never stop."

GOOD. GOD. THE VISCERAL DISRESPECT.

Kayden threw a classy insult, and Gareth responded with a weapon of mass destruction. This man did not come to play; he came to ruin reputations. Not just destroy them—ruin them beyond recognition.

Also, let’s talk about how obnoxiously Gareth worded this. “You kept coming on and on.” That’s not just shade; that’s permanent eclipse.

☆

"Your hole is the only useful thing about you."

Kayden said forget dialogue, forget literature, forget human decency. He threw Gareth into the trash and slammed the lid shut.

Also, the casual delivery of this line?? As if he’s stating a mundane fact?? Kayden is out here grading Gareth’s entire existence like:

Snarky attitude. ✅

Daddy’s money. ✅

A hole. ✅

Literally nothing else.❌

☆

I think I see a change of expression, but it's so fleeting. I can't read it as it continues.

Translation: “I just got spiritually humbled, and I need a second to reboot.”

☆

"But enough about that."

OH, OH, SO HE JUST MOVES ON??? This man wrecks Gareth’s entire being and then acts like it’s a minor inconvenience?? Kayden really said, “Yeah, you’re useless, but anyway, back to business.” The emotional terrorism. The calm audacity.

☆

". And here I was dying to keep broaching the subject."

THE SASS. THE ABSOLUTE SASS.

Gareth, you are holding onto your last thread of dignity by a fingernail, but I respect the effort.

☆

"Watch the way you speak to me. I'm your professor and will not tolerate any disrespect."

Sir. SIR. WHERE WAS THIS ENERGY THREE SECONDS AGO WHEN YOU WERE REDUCING THIS MAN TO NOTHING BUT A HOLE??

Also, imagine Kayden saying this in his best professional tone, meanwhile, we all know this conversation left professionalism in the dirt ten miles ago.

☆

The firm edge in his voice gets my skin ablaze. It's uncomfortable, this feeling that's making me grip the notebook tighter.

OH??? SO YOU’RE TURNED ON???

Not Gareth trying to convince himself that this feeling is “uncomfortable” when his body is literally betraying him in 4K. King, we see you.

☆

"I have no respect for you whatsoever, professor."

Gareth said, “Respect? Never heard of her.”

And honestly, good for him. He may be losing this battle, but he will not go quietly.

☆

"I'll tell you this once, so listen carefully, Carson." He stands taller, forcing me to crane my head back to look up at him.

Okay, first of all, THE FUCKING HEIGHT DIFFERENCE! I WANNA SEE IT IRL!!! HOT!!!

Second of all, Gareth, baby, you are about to die.

☆

"I have zero tolerance for spoiled, rich little brats like you who believe they can rule the world through their daddy's trust funds. If you don't drop the attitude and watch your mouth, I will fuck it into submission. Are we clear?"

Kayden just: Took Gareth’s entire personality, folded it neatly, and set it on fire.

Also, imagine being Gareth in this moment. You thought you were going to sass your way out of this. But NO. NO, SIR. You got a one-way ticket to the shadow realm.

And the way Kayden drops “fuck it into submission” so casually???? Like, my guy, you are at work.

☆

Final Score:

Kayden: 1000000/10. Unshakable. Unbothered. Demon-level dominance.

Gareth: A very pretty corpse.

[twistedappletree]

akdhsjdjjskskd i used so many of the tadpoles that i couldn’t turn down the half-illithid path 😭

[fatedroses]

Two tanks without their emotional support healers.

[lord-squiggletits]

Bolts upright from my bed

In an AU where Pharma lives the Adaptus thing and comes back on the Lost Light, wouldn't he find out that the crew had to deal with being cornered and nearly killed by the DJD and a bunch of other Decepticons?

And then Pharma could get to be like "oh I see :) you were under threat by the DJD :))) why didn't you just run? Oh you couldn't and had no means of escape? Funny :)))) didn't you call for help? Oh you did right??? And did anyone come???? :)))))) did anyone come in time to save you from the DJD????? DID THEY????? DID YOU JUST CALL FOR HELP AND RUN AWAY AND THE DJD JUST LET YOU GO????? :))))))))))) OH THE DJD BLOCKED COMMUNICATIONS AND HAD YOU SURROUNDED????? OH HOW TRAGIC I GUESS YOU COULDN'T ESCAPE AFTER ALL AND A LOT OF YOUR FRIENDS DIED :)))))))))))))))) AND THE ONLY REASON YOU WON WAS BECAUSE YOU HAD A LOT OF SUPERPOWERFUL FIGHTERS ON YOUR SIDE???? WOW IMAGINE WHAT MIGHT'VE HAPPENED IF YOU HAD NO FRIENDS AND BARELY ANY MILITARY SUPPORT AND THE DJD CAME HUH??? WOW WHAT A RELIEF THAT DIDNT HAPPEN"

-

In other words, I'm pretty much convinced that the reason Pharma is remembered as "the evil cowardly doctor that murdered innocents to save his own skin" instead of "the Autobot that got mindbroken by Tarn into thinking that making a plague and killing everyone was his only way to escape" is because he got introduced before the DJD were established as a pants-shittingly evil and sadistic group of freaks, and unlike Rodimus' crew he didn't have the luxury of being a main character whose thoughts and experiences were shown on screen. Pretty much his reputation as "crazy token evil Autobot" was sealed from MTMTE #5 and by the time MTMTE #50-something brought Dying of the Light, Pharma was a footnote in the story and never got to have this new information about the terror of the DJD factored into his own character.

[tapakah0]

(Continuation because I don't trust tumblr tags) #Oscar... pointing at her neck with the weapon like this... *sigh* eather he is a very good actor or can adapt very quickly #TRUST POINTS FROM ECLIPTICA HELL FEGEFJEGJEYGWYGWD #HE JUST WANTED TO HELP #THE PREVIOUS NEVER WANTED TO HELP AND WE EAT THEM AHAHAGGASHGSA FUNNY YEAH? # *cough* Ma'am... take room... you seem to enjoy his physical company... #OH WHAT AN OFFER HUH #YEHA HDFEMFAWHGDMA MAXAZAANABA I KNEW HE GUESSED THAT WARD IS NOT COMING BACK AHAHGAHGAAHGSA DEAR SCULPTOR YOU F***ED UP YOU TOOK THE SMARTER ONE IN THE BASIC WAY BUT WE HAVE A SOCIALLY SMARTER ONE AND THIIIIIIS IS A REAL DISASTER AHGADHGDHDGHGHAGSDH #DEAR OSCAR CONGRATS YOU ARE *SHAKING HIM* YOU EVIL DEVIL LITTLE DEMON WITH ONE BRAIN CELL THAT HAS 1000 BRAINCELLS ITSELF AND ALL OF THEM ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TACTICS AND SOCIAL NEGOTIATION

Part 11 ‘-‘

I have a feeling Shepherd and Ward would get along really well... you know, if you put them in the au where everything is the same, but there is peace and harmony in the whole galaxy

Previous

Masterpost

[readwritealldayallnight]

(part of the ‘Wife at First Sight Series’)

For the first time in a long time, Simon feels as if he’s walking on eggshells

He’s 6’4”, easily over 200 pounds of bulking muscle, strikes fear into the heart of each and every enemy he comes across (should they live to tell the tale that is), and yet he feels as though he’s tiptoeing, practically dancing around the issue he refuses to address

Yet you make him feel this way

It’s been months now, of this dance you still haven’t realized you’re apart of, shining on centre stage under the constant spotlight of Simon Riley’s attention, rather than one of the background performers as you seem to believe

He feels as though he’s done everything he can to get the point across to you, other than literally getting down on one knee and asking you those four special words he can’t seem to get himself to speak out loud

As easy as it is to pretend you two truly are husband and wife ‘til death do you part, he’s instead having to watch you leave base in exchange for your lonely flat each night, reminded of the fact that he’s not ballsy enough to just come out and say it to you

You make the Lieutenant nervous for fucks sake, something he hasn’t truly felt in so long he’s grasping for straws, searching for a life raft in these uncharted waters to help him stay afloat

That’s part of why he’s so confused when Gaz finally joins him and Soap in the gun range, landing a friendly smack across the taller man’s broad shoulders, saying something about how he’s ‘really happy for you LT, finally properly asked her, aye?’

“What are you goin’ on about?” Ghost practically grunts out, readjusting the weapon against his shoulder as he glances through the scope of his gun, only partly interested in what the Sergeants answer is, that is until he hears him mention your name

“Just saw her at her desk, talkin’ about how she has a wedding this weekend-” Gaz has barely finished his sentence before Ghost is whipping his skull clad head around, shoving his weapon into Soap’s arms, and beelining out of the armoury towards you, leaving a pair of chuckling Sergeants behind him

They’ve never seen their Lieutenant so whipped before. And the fact that you don’t even know you have this beast of a man wrapped around your dainty little finger makes it all the more entertaining for them

They totally haven’t taken bets on how long it takes for him to break and finally confess his feelings, and Price definitely didn’t put money down on it either

Ghost may as well float into the room on a cloud he’s feeling so overjoyed at the idea of finding you sat at your desk all pretty, chit chatting away with colleagues about the wedding you’ve finally realized he intends to give you, taking all the pressure off of him

Instead, he rounds the corner and overhears the last tidbits of your conversation, pretending as though his stomach doesn’t drop out of him and onto the floor when he realizes you’re telling your desk mate about your sisters wedding this weekend

He should’ve know better, it wouldn’t be that easy

“-not that I’m embarrassed to go without someone. That I don’t care so much about.” He hears you explain, failing to have noticed him behind you quite yet. “God knows it’s been ages since I’ve gone on an actual date anyways. But this is the first time I’m a bridesmaid, and my sister keeps saying I’m apparently the only bridesmaid without a date-”

“Well aren’t you going to bring your husband?” Your colleague asks, cutting you off. Just like everyone else on base, she knows thinks you are in fact Mrs Riley, for all intents and purposes. You open your mouth to correct her and tell her you don’t have a husband, when a deep voice comes up behind you and speaks first.

“‘Course she is.” Ghost replies for you, coming to stand behind you in your chair, sneaking a gloved hand onto your shoulder to offer a slight squeeze of acknowledgment. You lean your head back to glance up at him, offering a soft smile that melts his heart more and more each time he’s lucky enough to see it, to be the reason for it. Sensing she’s now the odd one out, your coworker quietly excuses herself and goes to find someone else to talk water cooler gossip with.

“Oh Ghost! Hi!” You say, reaching your own hand up to squeeze his in return, smile widening when you notice the crinkles next to his eyes that you hope mean he’s smiling as well under the mask. “Oh, you really don’t have to. I mean- I wouldn’t want you to waste a day off just to sit through a stranger’s wedding for who knows how many hours. I barely want to go.”

You try to joke about it, but this really has been causing you unnecessary stress. Your sister apparently doesn’t have enough wedding planning on her plate as it is, seeing as she has enough time to constantly pester you about whether you’ve secured a date yet or not, despite your answer always being no. She knows it’s been forever since you’ve dated anyone seriously, and that finding a date will be more of a chore than showing up without one and enduring your relative comments and questions.

Each time you told her no though, your mind wandered to the tall, dark, muscular man who liked to call himself your husband, imagining the looks on your family’s face if you were to show up with Ghost on your arm. But you never bothered to ask him, not wanting to force him into extending his kindness and charade of a happily married couple outside of work hours.

“I’d be with you for those ‘who knows how many hours?’” Ghost asks, quoting you, watching as you offer him a simple nod in return. “Then that’s the farthest thing from a waste o’ time in my books, love.”

As simple as that, the plan was set. Ghost would be your date to the wedding that weekend.

Now, Ghost was used to not having very much to look forward to in life. He could look forward to a hot shower occasionally, look forward to good pub food instead of mess hall dinners, look forward to a chance to sleep in a little later, simpler things of the sort.

But when you came into his life, he was suddenly looking forward to equally simple, but different things. He looked forward to reading your cute replies to his good morning and good night texts (he still never misses a single one, all these months later), looked forward to seeing your sweet smile greeting him when you arrived to work, looked forward to hearing your pleased hum when you took your first sip of whatever drink he prepared you that day. Essentially, he looked forward to seeing you.

Now though, he feels as if this weekend cannot come soon enough, finding himself practically giddy he’s looking forward to spending more time with you off base so much, feeling like a kid who’s itching to get their hands on their new Christmas gifts.

When he arrives at your flat almost a half hour too early (he just couldn’t wait anymore lovie, you can’t blame the poor man), and you open the door to greet him, he doesn’t think it’s fair to compare this to a gift under the Christmas tree.

No. It’s more like he’s won the goddamn lottery.

Standing before him, is the most beautiful, breathtaking vision he’s ever laid eyes upon in all his years. He half wonders if his knees are legitimately beginning to wobble where he stands, he feels so weak in the knees as he gazes upon you in your doorway. It’s still just you, the same woman he’s been seeing every day and dreaming of each night.

But you don’t look like you have every day these past months. Your hair is styled differently, your make up is a little more done up, and the thing that’s really got his mind reeling, is that instead of your regular work attire, you’re wearing a dress so stunning he half wonders whether or not you are the bride this evening. There’s no possible way someone so beautiful is expected to stand on the sidelines tonight, expected to be anyone apart from the star of the show, the centre of his the world.

You don’t take much notice of the way Ghost fails to greet you properly, standing outside your door and practically gawking at you, seeing as you’re preoccupied doing the same to him. His usual fatigues and black everything have been swapped out for black dress pants, a white button up shirt (your eyes definitely do not linger on the top three buttons being left undone, nope, not at all) and a black blazer, matching black surgical mask in exchange for the typical skeleton mask.

You two blushing, bumbling idiots in secret love manage to pull yourselves together enough to make the drive up to the venue, the car ride filled with laughter, stories, and too many stolen glances to count, each of you wishing you could pull the car over somewhere and jump each others bones instead.

At the venue, you go through the obligatory introductions with your family, simply so they couldn’t say you didn’t say hello at least once throughout the busy night, only partially intent on ignoring them later on. They’re left understandably stunned at the mention that the man beside you is your husband, and when your family members begin unloading question after question, the two of you manage to find a quick excuse each time to dash off, giggling and holding onto the other as you weave the growing crowd of guests, all too proud of your little inside joke.

You regretfully tell him that you’ll have to leave him to sit alone throughout the ceremony, though he insists you shouldn’t worry about it, lifting your spirits momentarily when he jokes that you should focus more on not tripping during your walk down the aisle, before the both of you are left bright red in the face at hearing him talking about you walking down an aisle, as if you don’t pretend to be married every day to begin with.

He truly doesn’t mind having to sit on the tiny foldable chairs that make up the seating for the ceremony, it’s only a small portion of the evening after all. And besides, his eyes certainly aren’t on the couple reciting their vows up at the altar. No, his gaze is on one person and one person only. From the moment the music kicked in and pairs of bridesmaids and groomsmen stepped out to walk the aisle in their matching attire and matching smiles, his eyes have been locked on you, just as yours have been locked on his.

His size certainly helped you pick him out of the crowd with more ease, finding him amongst the familiar and unfamiliar faces instantly, as though gravity was pulling your gaze in his direction alone. Later on, neither of you could even correctly point out amongst the groomsmen whose arm you were holding on to as you walked, attention only focused on each other.

Even as you stood up front, listening to your sister and new brother in law profess their love for the other, you tried your best to appear as though you were paying them your full attention, considering you were standing up at the front and all. But it was as though you could literally feel Ghost’s eyes on you the entire ceremony, unable to stop your eyes from straying towards him more times than was surely appropriate, feeling the heat of a blush creep over your cheeks every time you saw how devastatingly handsome he was today.

By the time the newlyweds are marching back down the aisle past their cheering loved ones, wedding party in tow, your eyes are no longer pretending to look anywhere other than at him. And Simon is looking back at you, but his mind is growing preoccupied, thinking of how he can finally ensure you’ll let him walk you down the aisle now.

Because in the glove compartment of the very car he drove you up here in, only inches away from your knees the entire drive, he’s tucked away a small little box, containing the exact ring you chose from the jeweller all those weeks ago. He carries it with him everywhere, eager for the moment, the opportunity to be lucky enough to truly call himself your husband and slip the band over your finger as his wife.

And he’s decided that tonight is the night he tells you.

The night he tells you this has never been a joke to him, never been anything apart from what he really wants to be true from the moment he saw you.

To call you his wife.

[avelera]

*whispers* Viktor never once says anything mean or belittling to Jayce after they become partners. Not one insulting "you" statement, not one disagreement where he doesn't remained focused on the point of contention. He never makes ad hominem attacks, he never insults Jayce's appearance or intelligence.

Literally the single meanest thing he says to Jayce that could be considered a "you" statement is "Your mind has become rigid." Basically, he's saying that Jayce has suffered so much recently that it's closed his mind to broader intellectual possibilities like, that is barely an insult, and clearly Viktor just means it as a statement of fact, if not a challenge for Jayce to joyously consider possibilities again. And by the way? That statement is when Viktor is in his full his villain arc. It's remarkable because it's the only time he's pointed out a perceived flaw in Jayce since the night when he questioned if Jayce signed his notes out of being egotistical.

From the moment Jayce told Viktor about how beautiful magic could be, arguably once Jayce became a person to Viktor rather than a subject of academic discipline or skepticism, Viktor has not once leveled a personal attack against him as a person. Not even during the fight on the bridge. Not even when he called Jayce's Councilor work a waste of our time. Not even when Jayce was considering making Hextech weapons, Viktor still remained focused on the substance of the argument, expressed incredulity, anger, even disgust that Jayce would consider making weapons, but he never said it was because Jayce was stupid or privileged or blind. He pointed out specifically that he knew Jayce felt trapped by the decision, he knew Jayce was being manipulated, and then, in a very pointed manner, Viktor reminded Jayce that there's always a choice, challenging Jayce to stand firm and do what was right.

Even when they parted ways in 2.02, Viktor didn't say there was anything wrong with Jayce. He just said their paths had diverged, again not saying anything was wrong with Jayce, or even his choices, but rather that they're two different people who had stayed together longer than their diverging goals normally would have allowed because of the affection they held for each other.

I don't know, I get why people write Viktor as catty or mean or dismissive of Jayce. There's definitely some quotes from the day they met, before they become partners, that lend to the idea that Viktor can be quite dry and sharp with others. And conflict is the stuff of good fiction so again, totally get putting some conflict between him and Jayce in fic.

But I also think there's a tendency in derivative works like fic to Flanderize the characters, or worse, put them into narrow archetype boxes that are vastly different from their more interesting and nuanced canon selves.

How many times have we seen a wiggly man/straight man or blue vs. red personality partnership duo? How often have we seen those partners not be able to fucking stand each other, who are bickering all the time, who are snide or backtalk, or are perpetually sarcastic?

It's so common that I get why people see it with Jayce and Viktor but that's why it's so damn fascinating to me that they aren't like that.

Jayce and Viktor don't suffer each other unwillingly at any point, even when they're having a goddamn flying superhero fight in the final episode they're talking about how they're happy to see each other and praying that the other will please step away from this destructive path! They don't want to hurt each other, even verbally!

During the years of their partnership, they're constantly delighted by the other's presence, they are instantly comfortable together and never have a bad word to say to or about each other. They actually don't bicker! When they have disagreements, they stay entirely focused on the point of the disagreement and they never dip into personal attacks of any kind.

Even the tone of the time Jayce yells at him on the bridge, arguably their most acrimonious moment in the whole first season, isn't an actual argument, no more than a parent yelling at their child for running into traffic is an argument. Jayce says awful things but it's clear his anger comes from fear for Viktor and for their precarious situation. And it's clear this is a deeply unusual moment for both of them, Viktor is taken aback at how unusual it is, Jayce once called out backs down immediately, arguably because it's so unnatural for them to fight at all that it takes the wind out of the sails of Jayce's anger instantly when he realizes he's crossed a line.

No one can drag a bad word about Viktor out of Jayce, and vice versa! When Singed implies that Viktor might lose loved ones over his choices, Viktor immediately (and correctly!) states that Jayce will understand.

They are rigorously protective of one another too. Arguably all the times Viktor excludes Jayce from his Hexcore experiments in S1 is to protect him from his reckless and likely illegal experiments (as well as not wanting Jayce to stop him and wanting to live, but it can be many things). Jayce constantly cites Viktor as his partner and constantly reiterates that Viktor is his priority in life, that saving Viktor comes first. Jayce overthrows the goddamn founder of the city in order to protect Viktor!

Jayce's love for Viktor is so extreme that literally in S2, the only person who can convince Jayce to hurt Viktor, after seeing the post-apocalyptic Hell of a future that is caused by him, is Viktor himself. Jayce doesn't even get mad at Viktor after he learns Viktor is the cause of what he saw! He is instead desperate to get back, to avert the damage caused by their joint work in Hextech, and saved Viktor from the fate worse than death that is Mage Viktor's total isolation in the aftermath. And every step of the way, even knowing what he knows it's clear he's in agony at the thought of having to raise a hand to Viktor at all.

Now of course I'm getting into just how insane their love for one another gets in S2, but I just feel so baffled sometimes reading fic where Viktor is constantly undercutting, insulting, or belittling Jayce every which way. He never once does that after the partnership begins. And it makes me so insane because we have so many partnerships in media that do devolve into sarcasm, cattiness, and backbiting but Jayce and Viktor aren't one of them and that's really really fucking interesting and worthy of exploration I think.

[enigmaris]

A continuation of this post:

There is a teenager in the Watchtower.

Scratch that, there is a teenager that Bruce doesn't know in the Watchtower. The boy, maybe around Tim's age, is wearing worn blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a pair of tennis shoes that had seen better days.

He is wearing no mask, no suit of armor, with no weapons on him. He's just sitting in one of the seats in their larger meeting room, quite literally twiddling his thumbs. He hadn't noticed Batman standing in the doorway.

Behind him, he heard Clark coming round the corner, Bruce lifted up a gloved hand which made the man stop.

"What is it, Bats?"

Bruce sent the man a look before motioning to the boy, who had definitely noticed them now.

He waved at them.

"Who is that? Don't you normally require all your new kids wear costumes up here?" Clark asked.

"Unknown." Bruce said before giving his friend a look. "He's not mine."

Why does everyone assume it's his kid? Just because this boy has dark hair and blue eyes does not mean he belongs to Bruce. Clark has nearly the same looks as Bruce, and he had two kids, why couldn't this one be one of his?

"He's not mine either!" Clark said before frowning. "Not that I know of."

Bruce lifted up an eyebrow, knowing his friend could see it beneath his cowl. Clark rolled his eyes.

"Let's be honest if he was one of mine, you would know before I would."

Bruce grunted and turned back to the teenager. The kid was clearly listening in on them while looking away from them. Bruce watched as he tapped on the table in front of him, making little staccato noises of anxiety.

"Why are we waiting out here?" Barry asked, appearing right in a blur of red and yellow right as he did. Clark pointed at the unknown in the meeting room. Barry grinned widely beneath his own cowl, making the rubbery material crinkle.

"Batsy! Another one? You sly dog, where'd you find this one?"

"He's not mine." Bruce growled, Barry actually froze for a moment, shock slowing him down to normal speed for a moment.

"Nice joke, Bats. If he's not yours, then whose is he?"

Bruce clenched his jaw, Barry looked between the two of them, head flipping rapidly until he realized it wasn't a joke. In the corner of his eye, he could see that the unknown was openly staring at them with a smile forming on his face.

"We are in space." Barry hissed. "How'd a random kid get in here?"

"Excuse me?"

Behind the three hero pile up, Arthur arrived. The King looked less than pleased at having his way impeded.

"I come to these bi-monthly meetings due to their importance. I have an entire kingdom to manage, so if we could all move?"

"Bats has a new kid!" Barry nearly shouted.

"He's not mine!" Bruce growled while Arthur looked up and over Barry to see the unknown.

"Do we have a security breach?" Arthur asked.

"He's not yours yet!" Barry said at the same time, lifting up a finger and pointing it right at Bruce's face.

"We don't know who it is or how they got here." Clark said. "He doesn't seem hostile."

"Appearances can be deceiving, Superman." Arthur said , pursing his lips. Bruce turned to see that the boy had now waved in greeting at Arthur and Barry. Barry waved back.

"Are we having a hallway party or something?" Captain Marvel asked. "A party sounds waaaay more fun than a meeting, no offense Batman."

"We have an intruder, Captain." Arthur said pointing directly at the kid.

The kid's eyes widened and he looked behind himself before pointing at his own chest in surprise.

"He doesn't seem like an intruder?" Marvel said with a frown. "What if he's lost?"

"The watchtower is a secure facility, people don't get here by accident." Bruce said.

"I dunno, Batman." Marvel shrugged. "We have aliens, magicians, and time travelers on our team. He could be lost."

Bruce refused to admit the genial man had a point, the unknown could be from anywhere or anywhen. From further down the hallway, John and Diana appeared, walking together. Diana was holding a glass filled with one of Barry's chocolate protein shakes. John nodded in greeting at the group.

"We have an intruder Wonder Woman." Arthur said.

Diana looked through the crowd before shaking her head.

"Nonsense. He has permission to be here. Come, we should sit for the meeting."

Diana muscled her way through the crowd, still carrying the glass. She walked directly over to the unknown. The boy perked up, smiling widely as Diana held out the glass for him

"Thanks, i was getting hungry." The boy said before taking a large gulp of the shake, Diana smiled down at the boy, resting her hand in his dark hair.

"Woah. Plot twist." Barry whispered.

"Come on, let's get to the bottom of this." Clark said walking into the room, following the path Diana took.

The rest of the League followed suit, taking their assigned seats around the table. Bruce wasn't surprised to see that the unknown was sitting in an extra chair right next to Diana.

"To start the meeting." Diana said onc everyone was seated. "I do have some news to share."

"Yeah, I sure hope so." Marvel said in that strange, joking tone he used as if he were quoting something, not that Bruce had ever been able to recognize the quotes.

"I would like to introduce the Justice League to my son, Daniel of Themyscira." Diana said, putting her arm around the unknown and squeezing him to her side.

"Hi." Daniel said, waving at the group, his cheeks a bit red.

Immediately, there was an uproar from most everyone in the League. Questions and shouts of confusion, shock, and denial. Diana only allowed the noise for a few moments before she slammed her fist onto the table hard enough to crack it.

"Enough!" She shouted, quickly quelling the group. "I will not allow my decision to bring my son here be questioned."

She glared at them fiercely, still holding Daniel to her side. The boy had ducked down a bit with the shouting but was now looking up at Diana with adoration.

"This entire team, aside from Captain Marvel, has brought their young charges to the League." Diana continued, looking at each of them. "Superman has brought up two Superboys, Aquaman introduced to us Aqualad, Flash has both Impulse and Kid Flash, Martian Manhunter came to us with Miss Martian. I do not believe we even have time to list all of Batman's brood."

Barry had the audacity to snort at Diana's last point. That actually eased the tension and people relaxed. Diana leaned back into her seat.

"I would think that my team of many years would trust my judgment in bringing my son here. I assure you he is well into his training and more than competent. I will allow you all to ask your questions now."

Bruce cleared his throat near silently and spoke up first.

"What does he know?"

Diana didn't look impressed at his question. Daniel looked at her face before frowning at Bruce, clearly following his mother's lead.

"I have spoken at length about the League and how we work together. I assure you that i have not revealed any identities shared in confidence with me." Diana's tone made it clear she was offended that Bruce would accuse her of revealing their identities. He barely kept from wincing.

"Uhm. How did he... come to be?" Clark asked, clearly not wanting to ask any truly intimate details.

"In the way all children do." Diana said, giving Clark a look of his own.

That answer was not very helpful given that Diana was formed from clay by her mother. Had she taken a pottery class when he wasn't looking? Unless the boy was much older than he appeared, there was no way Diana had hidden a pregnancy from them 15 or so years ago.

"Why haven't we heard of him before now?" Arthur asked.

"Daniel was training with Pandora, one of the elders of Themyscira, she sent him here when he learnt all she had to teach. He joined me in the world of man only a few months ago." Diana answered simply.

"Uh. Excuse my ignorance." Barry said in a tone that made it clear he was about to say something very ignorant indeed. "But I thought your family only had women in it?"

This time Daniel answered, looking nervous.

"I'm. I'm trans actually." he answered, while rubbing his arm nervously.

"Which is completely fine and something that will not leave this room." Diana said, her voice comforting towards her son while her eyes promised hellfire to the heroes in the room.

Everyone made noises of agreement until Daniel relaxed, going back to smiling.

"Excuse me Wonder Woman, will Daniel be wanting to join any of the other, younger teams?" Captain Marvel asked, sounding excited at the idea.

Which of course he would, he was still acting Den Mother for Young Justice and loving it.

"That is up to him. For now I would like to keep him to myself for a while longer, but once he is further trained by myself I think it would be a splendid opportunity."

"Yes!" Daniel agreed before clearing his throat. "I mean, that'd be cool or whatever."

"We can discuss it in the future." Bruce allowed, knowing that it would probably happen sooner than Diana would want knowing how both the Teen Titans and Young Justice were. Danny nodded eagerly at that.

"Finish your food." Diana told Daniel before looking back up at the rest of the team. "Are there any more questions?"

"Does Daniel have any health requirements or powers we need to be aware of?" John asked. "Or is his physiology the same as your own?"

"His powers are vastly different from my own. It is one of the reasons Pandora had taken on his training in the beginning." Diana answered easily. "The facilities and resources we have here should work well for him in case of injury."

The knowledge that Daniel's powers were so different from Diana's that she didn't feel comfortable training him herself was worrisome. Amazons, as far as he knew, had relatively similar powersets. Although he had not heard of Pandora before, perhaps she was specialized?

"I do have, what's it called? An enhanced metabolism. Most stuff here doesn't work on me."

"Don't worry son. We have plenty of medications designed with metas in mind." Clark told Danny. "If it works on me and your mom, it willl work for you."

"Cool."

"What all can you do?" Captain Marvel asked.

Daniel turned to look at Diana who nodded. The boy then looked back at them and started listing his powers.

"I can fly. Not as fast as mom's invisible jet but pretty fast. I'm super strong. I can turn invisible and intangible."

"Intangible?" Clark asked.

"It is an ability similar to Martian Manhunter's density shifting." Diana clarified. "The mechanisms are different."

Magical, most likely, instead of John's more science based power. Bruce would have to come up with more contingencies to compensate for that.

"Yeah intangibility is pretty cool." Daniel told them. "Althought when i first got it, it was pretty scary. I kept falling through stuff. I was almost afraid I'd start falling through the whole planet by accident. I totally have it under control now though."

"I would be interested in comparing our abilities, Daniel." John said, nodding his head towards him. The boy beam excitedly.

"Yeah!"

"Not in the Watchtower." Diana warned, voice stern.

Yes, that was probably sensible. Danny agreed with his mother, and John clarified that he would be happy to meet up planetside at their convenience.

"Are those all of your abilities?" Barry asked, Daniel shook his head.

"No there are a bunch more. But I'm not supposed to use them for a while."

"Why?"

"My son is powerful, but he has relied on his powers far too much in the past." Diana said, sounding porud enough to make her son blush. "Right now, I am training his melee abilities, we have agreed to a temporary pause until he has met my standards."

"It's been super tough. Mom's making me practice with her sword all the time." Danny added on.

"My mother will be sending on your own weapon soon." Diana soothed. "Hephestes does not like to be rushed."

"I know mom."

Diana reached up and ruffled her son's hair. Daniel leaned into the affection with a smile.

"Are there any further questions?" Diana asked, when no one had anything immediately she nodded. "Good. Is there any further business? If not, I would like to take my son home for a proper meal."

Everyone looked at each other. Bruce had wanted to discuss some of his findings, but with Diana's reveal, it hardly seemed important any longer. Bruce was going to need to do a lot of research and planning. He wondered if he should get Tim involved or if he should hold off. The League agreed to end the meeting early, Diana stood.

"Come Daniel. We should get to the jet."

Daniel scrambled up and followed his mother out of the meeting room, his worn sneakers squeaking a bit on the flooring. The rest of the League sat in silence for a moment taking in what Diana had told them.

Wonder Woman had a child. A child with powers beyond her own.

Daniel popped back into the room before anyone could speak.

"Gosh, I am sorry I almost forgot. Mr. Batman, I have something for you."

Daniel walked right over to Bruce, who stared at him from underneath the cowl. The boy was not nearly as confident as his mother when it came to his glare. He cringed a bit, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny, silver and green flash drive. He placed it on the table and stepped back.

"What is that?"

"Mom told me you like to make contingencies for everyone. In case they go crazy or whatever. So..." The boy motioned to the drive with his hand. "I mean, it'd be weird if i made my own plans, but like, you could do it. That has all my powers and weaknesses and stuff."

Bruce grabbed the flash drive and the boy looked pleased.

"Okay! I gotta go. It was awesome meeting you guys!"

Daniel turned on his heel and ran out of the room. Bruce looked down at the flash drive, doing his best to hide his shock. No one has ever just handed him a list of their weaknesses before.

"I dunno Bats, are you sure he's not yours?" Barry asked.

[yanderedrabbles]

Yandere Survivor - Zombie Apocalypse Au

Yandere! Survivor who's at ground zero when the infected start attacking. Who watches the world turn to chaos in the blink of an eye.

Yandere! Survivor who's willing to face off against hordes of infected because he wants to live. Even if the grisly horror of it turns his stomach.

Yandere! Survivor who knows there isn't hope for anything. The army is scattered and helpless. The cities are overrun. The people don't have a chance in hell.

Yandere! Survivor who knows but fights anyway.

Yandere! Survivor who saves you from a whole pack of infected. Who can't belive his eyes when he sees you. The city is overrun with freaks and you're still wearing a pretty little sundress, not a single weapon in sight.

Yandere! Survivor who stands frozen when you hug him. Who can feel the way you're trembling, your fingers knotted into his shirt. Who finds his voice and promises to keep you safe. Somehow.

Yandere! Survivor who fights tooth and nail to get you out of the city. Who scavenges guns and ammo off dead soldiers and tries not to look into their milky, rotting eyes.

Yandere! Survivor who finally has someone to look out for and it makes the loneliness much more bearable.

Yandere! Survivor who gets stronger each day. Who can feel his muscles literally straining against his shirt.

Yandere! Survivor who tries to teach you self defence and fails miserably, because every time he has you pinned under him he can't help but get turned on.

Yandere! Survivor who inspects the hem of your sundress and let's his knuckles brush against your thighs. Who scoffs and tells you its way too flimsy to keep you safe, that a zombie could bite straight through it.

"Hell, I could rip it off without even trying."

Yandere! Survivor who loves how helpless and scared you are. Who feels a rush of pride every time a zombie shrieks and you immediately grab onto him.

Yandere! Survivor who quickly learns to trade with other survivors but to never let his guard down.

Yandere! Survivor who notices the way men stare at you. Like they're dying for a taste of you even worse than the zombies are. Who notices the way people talk about you like you belong to him.

'Your girl.'

Like you're his property or something.

Yandere! Survivor who feels a rush of pride every time it happens. And soon he starts thinking that way too. You're his responsibility therefore you are his.

Yandere! Survivor who never settles down or allies himself with other people. He doesn't trust them. But more than that, he doesn't trust them around you.

Yandere! Survivor who finds it easier and easier to kill the infected. And from there, it's just a small step to start killing the living.

Yandere! Survivor who slits the throats of an entire trading party because he heard them talking about you. In the morning, he tells you they just left early and that it's nothing to worry about.

Yandere! Survivor who doesn't let your disappointment linger when you have to leave camp and move on. Who constantly reminds you he's doing what's best for you.

Yandere! Survivor who insists on being with you when you bath in the rivers and lakes that dot the countryside. He'll keep his back turned for most of it, but inevitably he'll find an excuse to turn around and watch you. Your clothes always cling to you afterwards and he's throat always goes dry when they do.

Yandere! Survivor who takes any chance he can to share a bunk or sleeping bag with you. Who tosses his arm around your waist and tells you it's just to conserve heat.

Yandere! Survivor who knows there isn't a future for the world, but he'll be damned if he can't see one with you.

[myderis]

on second thought ꒱ mydei 'n fem reader ᰔ fluff ⊹ word count 0.4k

The crowned prince of Kremnos 'MYDEIMOS' and also the warrior of Okhema 'Mydei’, or ‘Dried pomegranate’ as you like to call him is an undying pain in the ass.

“Do you ever think before you do anything, Princess?” he asks mockingly, once again wielding your title like a weapon while you’re draped over his shoulder as if you are the lightest thing in the world, completely at his mercy as he walks away from the remains of dead Titankins. To him, this is another mindless warm-up as he saves you from trouble almost daily. “Oh, I am so wholeheartedly sorry… Apparently, I can’t go for a walk without my hero,” you retort, that sweet voice dripped with sarcasm and arrogance but he only smirks, further fueling your annoyance.

When you both arrive at the Okhema bathhouse, you’re greeted by Aglaea, Tribbie, and Phainon. The three of them stop dead in their tracks, surprise flashing across their faces as they take in the sight of you still perched indignantly over Mydei’s shoulder. Normally, you and he can’t stand to be in the same room together, or at least that’s the lie you both cling to. Despite your constant bickering, they’ve noticed the threads that bind you. Quite literally, in Aglaea’s case. Though blind, she can sense the golden strings connecting your hearts and just then Tribbie grins. 

“You two should marry already!” she exclaims, clapping her hands together when Phainon chuckles in agreement. “She’s not wrong. Someone needs to keep him grounded,”

“What!? Us? Married?” you stammer, turning your head just enough to glare at the divine heroes, still hanging awkwardly over Mydei’s shoulder. Your cheeks burn as your heart pounds uncomfortably in your chest. Mydei, as usual, handles the situation with his signature exasperation and denial. “Don’t be absurd, Deliverer. Even a god driven mad wouldn’t suggest something so ridiculous,”

Lady Aglae clears her throat, ushering Tribbie and Phainon away to attend to other matters, leaving the two of you alone with the silence that makes you question your life choices. You can feel Mydei’s grip tighten before, without any warning, unceremoniously dumps you into the steaming bath. Letting out a scream as water splashes everywhere. Hair soaked, you feel it cling to your face, obstructing your view until his fingers brush it aside.

For a moment, his fiery and intense gaze softens and you swear you can see your reflection in his eyes as both of your faces lean closer and closer, your chest tightens, and your breath hitches, until … “On second thought,” he murmurs leaning back into the water with that same smirk, “I wouldn’t mind spending all my life with you.”

Your heart skips a beat, and for once, you're at a loss for words.

© MYDERIS. do not translate, plagiarize, or steal my work.

[allyricas]

imagine if eddie never got caught up in the upside down stuff in season 4. all the same people are still vecna'd, but chrissy never sought out eddie for drugs at school that day so he is oblivious to everything going on.

maybe he spends spring break playing music with the guys and getting drunk in the back of his van.

or, better yet, he's not even in town at all. he and the other members of corroded coffin are in indy for battle of the bands.

in fact, he literally has no clue what happened until he sees the news about the earthquake and he rushes back to make sure uncle wayne is alright. he's freaking out because when he calls his trailer numerous times, no one answers. he tries calling the plant to look for his uncle and they say he didn't show up to work.

chrissy was too intimidated to seek him out at school even in the privacy of the woods, so instead later that evening she goes to the trailer to look for him. she still gets vecna'd and the trailer becomes a gate.

eddie is never a suspect since he has a verifiable alibi. wayne still finds chrissy's body the next morning and still helps by telling nancy about henry creel. he can tell the teens are about to do something reckless and dangerous so he gets involved and ends up in the upside down instead of eddie.

he turns out to be very handy with various weapons and has a mind for battle strategy thus the party having a much better plan.

they win this time. steve gets really hurt, like nearly dies. wayne is the one who carries him out of the upside down and helps make sure he doesn't bleed out. they form a bond and wayne refuses to leave his side at the lab.

which is why eddie can't get ahold of him.

imagine eddie rushing back into hawkins only to eventually find out chrissy cunningham died on the porch of his trailer and that no one's heard from his uncle in days. he finds out from dustin that his uncle is at the hospital standing vigil over steve harrington's bedside, of all freaking people.

wayne looks pretty roughed up, but he's safe and he's okay. eddie is so relieved to see him with his own eyes that the reality of everything doesn't really sink in.

after everything is settled, the government compensates wayne with a new home. everything could have been a lot worse were he not involved and the earthquake split the trailer in two.

it's nothing fancy, just a three bedroom home on a nice plot of land. it's cosy and there's room for a fire pit in the backyard, maybe even a garden and a chicken coop. wayne manages to make anywhere feel like home, but this place has a certain charm.

once steve is well enough to go home, wayne all but insists that steve comes home with him and eddie. wayne tells steve he has a permanent home with him, that they're family. for once in his life, steve let's himself be loved and taken care of by an adult. wayne is everything his parents could never be.

wayne's heard all about steve's parents, noted that they never showed up to see their son and wayne doesn't want steve rotting alone in his big house. wayne always had a habit of picking up strays after all.

the problem with the situation is, of course, that eddie doesn't like steve. in fact, he absolutely cannot stand him and does not understand why his uncle is suddenly so close with him.

he steadfastly believes in his munson doctrine and has no plans to reevaluate. steve is a douchebag jock. in his mind, there's no way he has actually changed into this funny, dorky man who hangs out with his uncle for fun and drives around the younger teens just because he likes them.

he can't actually be best friends with band nerd robin buckley or close to his ex and her boyfriend. he can't be the man who put his body in front of someone else's. he can't be the man who smiles softly at eddie while he makes his snarky comments and refuses to budge and inch on his dislike.

steve harrington who helps his uncle plant a garden and build his chicken coop. who cooks and bakes far better than some rich kid should be able to. who asks about his band and hellfire and his books. who is far funnier than he has any right to be.

so, eddie is all snarky comments and rolled eyes every time he comes home to wayne and steve watching a game together. he is so jealous and can't say anything since wayne adores the guy...and since steve almost died.

he pretends that all the things he's learning about him must be a trick or a lie. steve can't be this person who fits so seamlessly into his life. even the other members of his band warm up to him

eddie will not budge. nope. never.

wayne knows his nephew. knows that eddie would like steve if he just gave him a chance. watches the way his nephew watches steve and waits for the day the eddie realizes what he thinks is loathing is a lot closer to something else. he loves the boy, but knows what a stubborn ass he can be.

steve likes eddie immediately and thinks he's adorable. he thinks eddie is cute when he's annoyed, enjoys the way he huffs and rolls his eyes. he is content to wait for eddie to catch up. he and wayne gossip over coffee and the subject has come up a time or two (or many) and wayne insists that eddie will figure it out eventually.

imagine a world where eddie never gets involved with the upside down but wayne does. even in this world he and steve are inevitable. wayne sees it the minute he watches them interact the first time in the hospital. he has a feeling they'd have found their way to each other somehow. he knows steve was meant to be apart of their family.

[ozzgin]

Omg bro yk whats been on my mind for do long?? A demon king trying to court a hero reader. Like the hero has already fought and defeated the king but somehow he comes back and he's desperately trying to get the hero to join him (in more ways than one). He wants the reader to be his spouse and leader of his army against the corrupt human race and the reader (now fallen from stardom due to the evil kings defeat) just wants him gone and to be left alone. Idk if this makes sense but I need to see SOMEONE write abt it before I lose my last marble.

-Doll

This is giving me Dragon Quest vibes, haha. Not a trope I'm too familiar with, but it sounds interesting nonetheless. I shall do my best! Sorry for the delay, I hope it's close to what you imagined. :)

Yandere! Demon King x Hero! Reader

As it goes with villains, they always find a way to return. This time, the Demon King has a different plan in mind. You were prepared for anything, from evil schemes to ancient conjured weapons...except for a wedding ring cordially placed before you. Do you say yes?

Content: gender neutral reader, monster romance, 🔥proposal (literally)

[Part 2]

You still remember everything so fondly. How you crawled out of that enormous crater, body battered and weak, as everyone watched in horror and held their breaths. Finally, you raised your fist victoriously. The Demon King had been, at last, defeated. The people cheered and cried and pulled you up under thundering waves of applause. Peace was no longer just a dream.

A sweet, innocent memory, even more so given its fleeting nature. The genuine smiles of gratitude quickly turned into crooked grins asking for favors. Before you knew it, you became some sort of political accessory to convince the masses. Posing for photos, shaking hands, being interviewed with bizarrely planned questions reeking of propaganda. You suddenly felt burdened, heavy, disappointed. This was not the kind of fame you envisioned for yourself.

Thus, you gradually vanished from the limelight, keeping your distance from everyone else and spending most days in solitude. Better than having to look into those unscrupulous, opportunistic eyes measuring up your worth. You had fulfilled your job and purpose.

This morning you're woken up by the sound of your belongings rattling in their shelves. The wooden frame of your bed is creaking, and you struggle to get up. An earthquake? A wave of nausea flushes over you. You recognize this feeling all too well, though you never expected to deal with it again. This is a disaster alright, yet the forces of nature have nothing to do with it.

You rush outside, swinging the door open and nearly tripping in your hurry to confirm your suspicions: the demonic creature is approaching your humble adobe with heavy steps, as the ground crumbles and shatters underneath. The Demon King himself, in flesh and blood. Although the blood splattering his armor is most likely not his. Same for the visceral remains threading his weapon. Regardless, your jaw tightens nervously, and you stand back, in a defensive pose. "You're a stubborn one", you say smugly, trying to maintain your composure. "Can't say I'm a fan of dying, that is correct." A ragged, monstrous voice erupts from the tall, armored figure.

"What brings you back?" You demand. The surroundings are too peaceful for him to have tampered with the city. Did he stop by to formally announce his destruction? "I have an offer that might interest you." The Dark Overlord has closed the distance between you, now looming above your much smaller body. You shiver. "I don't barter with Demons!" You conclude, turning around, prepared to leave. "Even when your precious people are on the line?" The horned beast warns with a grin. "If there's nothing better to do as a Ruler of Realms than killing petty humans..." You swiftly retort, going back into your house and slamming the door shut.

He stands for a moment, speechless. "Y-your Majesty? Should I take care of the humans, or (Y/N)?" Only now he notices his scaly butler, bowing to his side with claws resting over the weapon. The Demon King raises a hand, shooing the servant away. The annihilation of the human race can wait. There are more important matters to deal with presently. He'd expected your rejection, naturally, but not in such fashion. The indifference, the flat voice, the empty eyes devoid of emotion. Have the city dwellers tampered with his hero? He expected to see your fierce rage and in return he was met with a hollow shell.

Bright blue flames erupt from the openings of his armor, resulting in a menacing show of lights. He's known it for the longest time, of course. Humans are rotten to their very core. Vile, deceitful creatures that have slithered their way up, exuding undeserved arrogance. He's been trying to show you this very fact, yet you were blinded by naive faith. Your unwavering, honest heart that won him over has turned out to be your early demise. Not anymore. His vengefulness knows no bounds when it comes to traitors.

The sudden spike in temperature alerts you. Was it your rudeness that angered the Demon? You don't care anymore. Whatever happens to the city is out of your hands. And yet...you're buckling the straps of your old suit made for battle. Sword in hand, you gaze at your reflection. What could the Beast want? The fortified city no longer holds the value of its olden days. Just like you've left your hero days behind. Without much contemplation, you run out and head for the main gates. The path is paved with ash and rubble and your grip on the weapon tightens. Regret immediately wells up in your chest, ready to burst out. Is it too late? The entrance is engulfed in fire, charred corpses toppling against the ruins of the walls.

You reach the town hall - or rather, what remains of it - and face the Demon King. Has he gotten stronger since your last encounter? You hold your breath as the horned monster turns towards you. "I've tried to tell you, again and again. Time after time." He sighs, defeated. "Between the two of us, I'd say you were the stubborn one all along." His voice is softer than what you would've expected from someone that had just massacred an entire settlement. There's not a single scratch or sign of struggle. Was he merely holding back during your last fight? One thing is certain: you're his final obstacle. You raise your sword, determined. Hot sweat trickles down your face as the flames surround you. "Well, at least you've convinced yourself now, I hope. There's nothing left for you here." The Demon King lowers himself, extending a fist towards you. A spell? Secret weapon? Your leg muscles contract in anticipation.

His fingers open and stretch out, slowly. In his palm, a barely noticeable ring. Given the ridiculous size difference, you assume this is better fitting for a human. You stare at it in confusion, discerning the wedding vows carved in the noble metal. "What's the meaning of this?" You mutter, glancing at the Beast now resting on one knee before you. "What? Is it not your human custom?" He looks away for a moment, clicking his tongue. "That useless butler. He told me- Forget it! You are to return with me to my Kingdom. As my spouse."

Of all the things you've prepared yourself for...Your brows furrow and your mouth hangs open in shock.

What is your answer? The Demon King will not leave empty-handed.

[mixingandmelting]

Winters Series: Day 1 - Unexpected

Summary: Types of unexpected kisses he gives

Dick: upside-down kisses

He loves to kiss you whether it’s a quick peck or long and intimate, he can’t keep himself from you. But out of all kisses he gives, the one where he’s upside-down is his favorite

He practically does it anywhere, anytime - taps on your window to get your head to stick out while he’s hanging from the roof ledge

When your head hangs over the arm of the sofa, your sitting on a chair, or if you’re smaller than him, he’ll quietly creep and stand right behind you

Lately he’s been using his Wingdings (yes he calls his weapon Wingdings in-canon, not to be confused with the font) to help him hang upside down on street lamps to make you think he’s hanging upside-down from thin air when catching you walk home alone during the night

The way he’s able to surprise you by appearing in your vision in the direction you least expected gets a kick out of him and satisfy his devious side very well where he gets your cheek to flush and eyes trained on him

Add that to when he leans toward you to catch the soft plush of your lips on his- a chef’s kiss and more to that as you get flustered afterwards, unable to coherently formulate a sentence without stuttering or tripping over your words. Or you melting in and making it last longer to where the body temperature of your body and his becomes unbearably warmer

The exception is when he’s on a mission. Those times he’s sulking over how he hasn’t gotten his daily dose of you for the many days he’s gone until he gets back and goes right into your arms for much needed catching-up and overdue payment

Jason: kiss and dash

Dine-and-dash but instead of dining, he gives you a kiss before leaving as soon as he appeared, making you stand there and process what just happened

It’s a tendency he can’t help himself when you’re in his sight while he’s out; after the many days he’s been going after his target, the only thing motivating him and on his mind is you, thoughts filled ideas of all the things he wants to do with you the minute he’s back and into your arms

So, when you’re out and he happens to see you, he’s going to head over to replenish his energy and get the extra boost he needs to finish his job faster and earlier

Doesn’t matter when or where, even the traffic lights can’t stop him from swerving towards you. Changing lanes, calling out your name, and giving you a quick and gentle peck on the cheek or lips before going back to driving when you’re walking alone and he happens to see you

Literally, he’s committed to doing it where he has driven in reverse multiple times just so he can savor your touch for a moment

If he’s not driving but running after someone, he does the same thing where he’ll start running faster, stop to give to say hi, he’ll be back home soon, and steal your breath away as soft meets soft before going back to capturing his target

Yes he also runs back to you to do the same thing when he notices that he ran past you 

He’s grinning ear-to-ear when he comes back home only to be given crap by you, not at all ashamed to having you stand in the middle of the sidewalk, awestruck and burning furiously

Tim: just-because/literally random kisses

Despite being the proclaimed logical-one of the family, he is known to be rash and impulsive when he wants to be. And that holds true even more so when it comes to him kissing you

Take “I can/have an urge to kiss you right now” literally. Time? Occasion? Place? It can be at Joker’s lair, he doesn’t care - if he has an urge to kiss you, he’s going to kiss you

He had taken you off-guard multiple times whenever you’d walk up to him while he’s working as it appeared that he was focused on whatever was on screen of the monitors at that time. Little do you know the times you approach was when he was reaching his limit and the minute he sees you his brain  would register as you equivalent to an angel and go “wow, I want to have a kiss” 

So when you would either stand or sit right next to him after handing him something to snack on as the two of you casually talk when out of nowhere, he would dip his head to tenderly place his lips over yours

When you once saved him after he had nearly drowned from a badly-gone operation, he had pulled you down and sucked the air out of you after getting CPR from how beautiful you looked in his eyes. He had no regrets for it but did feel extremely guilty for making you worried when he saw your tears

Don’t forget the study dates where he would randomly stare at you, suddenly thinking how adorable you are and when you’re about to ask what’s wrong, he’s getting close to grab one

The only event where he suppresses and holds himself back completely is in the presence of Bruce. He doesn’t need to give the man more material to use against him when feeling particularly petty and getting back at him for the things he’s done. He can still remember the first and last time he got caught by the man, Bruce, to his horror, gave him the birds-and-bees talk right in front of you

Duke: shadow messages

Doesn’t do surprise/unexpected kisses but he’s creative when it comes to telling you that he loves you

When he’s bored during class or with everything at school in general, he uses the shadows to send morse-code to you

The first time he did it was the day after he told you about his powers as a meta-human and the things he can do with them. So it took you a while along with a thrown note from him that he was sending you a message through the dark dot that kept appearing and disappearing on your paper

During patrol, he would grab your attention by having letters and shapes appear over your shadow. It’s fun to make you turn around and try to find where he is while he continues to send short messages with you watching the ground 

When you give up and you text him a reply, he would be chuckling under his breath. Sometimes it’s you promising to get back at him, other times it’s you checking in on him and making sure he’s okay

His favorite out of all of them is when you send him heart emotes or that you love him instantly, right on spot instead of playing hide-and-seek. He ends up doing the same where over your shadow, there’s a “I <3 U 2” or the full sentence written 

He always fumbles for a bit when he gets a pic or finds your phone’s wallpaper set to your shadow with the “I love you” written on top, cringing from how corny he was being and hoping no one else discovers about it

Damian: cat kiss

Biggest tease where he actually displays his affection for you numerous times, unbeknownst to you despite the hints he had drops

He does it constantly, doing it when you are and are not looking at him where he would stare at you or the back of your head for a bit and slowly blink, sending you a kiss without you ever noticing 

It’s a secret game he plays that’s for him and you, one that gives him mixed feelings where he never wants you to realize how much he adores you through this action because of his pride in the same time as him wanting you to find out so he can see your reaction and have it imprinted in your heart that he really does love you

Quick to give a smug smirk as well as getting flustered when you claim that you’re the more affectionate one between the two which he instantly denies and that it’s him who’s more affectionate only to flush  when you demand him to explain how

His cat kisses were meant to be a special thing that stays between the two of you. He doesn’t want anyone else to get on or know about it when it’s his way of saying that you are his and he is yours. Or that he, indeed, does PDA like all other, immature teens

Of course leave it for Tim and Cass to figure it out the second he gets caught by them when he gives you one while the two of you were supposed to work on homework. Jon was close but somehow he managed to get the Super to think otherwise, not appreciating being called weird

In addition, he gets to enjoy how he manages to get the tips of your ears and cheeks tinge with pink, deepening to red when feeling self-conscious. He doesn’t like it when you tell him to “stop being creepy” - he isn’t being creepy, you’re just not quick enough to figure out what he did

He’s still able to wait for a bit, not wanting to do it too much where his father would find out - that last thing he needs to have is getting side-glances from the man of all people

[teojira]

[Click Click Boom] [Shadow x Reader short stories]

Summary: You're set to be Shadow's companion to keep an eye on him and keep him in line, a courtesy from the goverment for him saving the world with Sonic and the others.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: Can be read as platonic or romantic! Shadow/reader romance is implied though! You're human in this, age is vague but you're meant to be in your 20s.

Disclaimer: Shadow is an adult, and as for the furry debate, he's literally an adult who can consent and is sentient, don't like? Don't read!

A/N: I've literally been obsessed with this fucker since I was a literal child and it's the first time I've written for him!! The trailer yas me going insane. This is written well before the movie has come out, literally all I got to work with is Shadow in the trailer and the bits and pieces of info I psychoanalized so I don't wanna hear shit about it not being accurate tbh, this is self indulgent!!

Shadow isn't the worst task you've been assigned, you both are more akin to awkward roommates more than anything.

I'm talking randomly lingering in the corners of the room, his bright red eyes glowing and they always seemed to be locked right onto you.

You screamed the first dozen times, but now you just glare at the black hedgehog and spit out a "fuck you." and go about your business.

He'll never admit that it brings him infinite amusement, it's hard to tell, but the huff he lets out is evidence enough.

Shadow will never admit he cares for you, he loses everyone he cares for, and humans don't live that long. It's terrifying to think about how much he's come to like you.

He's not nearly as slick as he thinks he is.

You're sitting down at the dinner table, typing away on your laptop, editing the mission report from the other day when Shadow makes his way towards you. Sending him a nod in his direction, you don't think of anything when he moves in close.

A huge slam takes you off guard though, jumping damn near out of your skin as you twist your head to look at him.

"What the fuck-"

"Take it."

It's one of Shadow's guns, his emblem being engraved along the stock.

"What? No, I have guns." You raise an eyebrow at the hog, his face is perfectly still, eyes locking onto yours as he waits for you to grab the heckler.

"Your guns are worthless, you need something better."

"Well excuse me, I so happen to like my guns." You try and joke back, but the offense is taken.

Shadow rolls his eyes so hard you're scared that he's gonna blind himself. Jutting his chin towards the table once more to get your focus back onto it.

"If you have one of mine, I know you're safe." He doesn't elaborate. Not that he needs to.

"...Thank you, Shad."

All you get is a grunt in response, and he's on his way back to his room.

Gingerly picking up the weapon, you take in how pristine it is, a thumb caressing your small initials that you missed on the other side of the stock.

With Shadow saving the world, the reeking of havoc makes it to where he's limited to what he is allowed to do in the public eye.

Not that he listens, he isn't supposed to be out after curfew. But to be fair, it is extremely hard to keep a teleporting hedgehog confined to a meager two-story house.

You can hear him teleport above you, he's on the roofs of the nearby building, leering down at you.

It was a small errand you were on, simply stocking up on the essentials for the house.

Namely, snacks for Shadow, he doesn't ask for a lot other than coffee beans and Doritos.

You are choosing to ignore the fact that he eats the coffee beans straight up, the crunch echoes through your head and it sends a shudder down your spine.

He was adamant against you leaving the house this late, standing in front of the front door.

"No."

"Fuck you mean no?"

"I said no."

"....I don't listen to men."

And you weaved around him to leave the house, ignoring his shout of disapproval.

That leads you both to here now, you pretending you don't see him trailing you from the rooftops as you walk your way back home from the small shopping center.

You feign surprise when he opens the house door for you, begrudgingly sticking a hand out to help you with your bags.

"Oh! Thank you my knight in shining armor~"

"Shut it."

He's never told you his birthday, which you can understand, living for 50 years and not having your family around must be hard. No matter how he may fake that it doesn't bother him.

That doesn't stop you, not in the slightest really. You damn near kick him out of the house for the day, shoving him over to Tom and Maddie's house so he can be with the others. Despite how much he protested.

"I don't want to go over there. Not with that blue fake."

"You don't really have a choice bub, I need you out of the house."

"I don't understand why I have to-"

"Keep arguing with me and I will make it a point to not buy you shit next grocery trip."

It's an empty threat, but he grunts nonetheless.

"...."

"That's what I thought."

When he finally gets home from his long and admittedly overstimulating day with the Wachowskis, he's ready to recharge in his room.

He teleports through the house door, sighing and rubbing at his temples as he moves to kick off his shoes, knowing that if he doesn't, you'd chastise him for not doing so.

Something about tracking dirt and rocket fuel into the carpet.

Whatever.

After trying to massage his brain through his fur, he opens his eyes up to see a colorful banner strung across the mantle.

'Happy birthday!' It screams, in its disgustingly neon color palette.

Shadow wracks his brain for any information of it being your birthday, he knows for a fact it isn't today. A friend you're throwing a party for? Well, that makes no sense, he knows very well you don't have many friends, especially any that you'd invite your house up for.

You're antisocial to a fault, not that he has absolutely any room to talk.

He hears you before he sees you, turning the corner into the living room, carrying some balloons in your hands. A stupid little party hat on your head.

"Shadow! What are you doing back so early?"

Kicking off the last shoe, he stands at his full height, staring into your eyes with a shrug.

"I wasn't aware I had a time."

"....fair enough, anyways, fuck, goddamnit. Stay here. Okay?"

And you're off, running into the kitchen, his ears flick at the slamming of the fridge door, followed by the cabinets being no doubt, hip nudging it shut way too forcefully.

He's awkwardly standing there still until you yell for him to come in.

Shadow has half a mind to ignore you and go into his room, but curiosity kills the cat, so he takes in a deep breath and makes his way to you.

He finds you sitting at the little kitchenette, a nervous smile spread across your lips as you gesture to the plate in front of you.

The smell is apparent, it's a coffee cupcake.

The hedgehog feels his ears flick again, staring down at the desert, then trailing his eyes back to meet your own. Wordlessly asking you what was going on.

"You've never told me your birthday, but it's been a year since you've been here, with me. After the whole trying to destroy the world shit. So since you won't tell me, we can kinda treat this as it?" You keep rambling, eyes flitting around the room, very clearly nervous as to his reaction.

Shadow doesn't say anything, or move even. Just staring down at the cupcake.

It looks amateurish, the frosting is lopsided, and the toppings on it look messy. But you made it for him. You even added a big black "1" candle in the center.

He doesn't know what to say, he can feel heat rush through his body, rushing to his ears and his face, and his fur feels constricting.

What the fuck.

What the actual fuck.

You go to open your mouth again, no doubt to apologize, but he beats you to it.

Moving to scoop up the treat, he gently sniffs it before taking a cautionary bite.

A beat passes between the two of you.

"...it's good."

Shadow does his best to ignore the smile that blooms across your face, not wanting to remember just how pretty he finds you like this.

Disgusting.

Shadow doesn't like touch, you know it, he knows it, and everyone knows it. He's threatened to break Sonic's wrist for even so much as patting the older hedgehog on the back. Baring his sharper fangs and hissing out to not touch him ever.

He avoids group hugs from Team Sonic, avoids Tom and Maddie like the plague, dodging every invitation to be a part of the family, it makes him sick to think about it.

With you, it's a little different.

You're not like them, you don't push him to change, you don't have a problem with how closed off he is, giving him space, never once pushing his very strict boundaries.

Something churns in his chest at the sound of you crying in your room, you probably think you're being incognito, holding a pillow to your face to drown out your sobs.

The internal debate is heavy, Shadow used to be able to comfort, to provide warmth, but he hasn't done so in years. Flashes of memories where he would comfort Maria on her bad health days, letting her run her fingers over his quills, to lend an ear to Gerald when he was frustrated about treatments not working.

It's not to say he is replacing you in their place, but it's scary. To open himself up like that again. He can feel his anxiety rising as he goes over the pros and cons of crossing this line. Eyes squeeze shut forcefully as he tells himself he doesn't care about you, that you're an adult, and you don't need to be babied.

His ears twitch when a pathetic little whimper drops from your lips, and his resolve cracks.

You don't look up when he makes his way in, too stuck in your bubble.

Startling a little when two, much stronger and larger hands grab at your own, peeling them away from the pillow. Your puffy bloodshot eyes looking at the hedgehog in front of you, his face set as it usually is, stoic. But his eyes are different, and his body language is different, when has he ever looked at you so softly? It's jarring.

Oh, he's moving closer. Okay. Weird.

"Shadow? Uh, I'm ok-"

You try and lie, it's a pitiful attempt. Your voice is scratchy and the tear tracks down your cheeks aren't helping your plight.

"No, you're not."

He shuts you down immediately, hands sliding up your arms to drag you into him.

The instant your bodies touch, you feel a fresh wave of tears well up in your eyes again.

Shadow has you resting against him, your head resting on him as he wraps himself loosely in your arms, giving you the space to move away if you so choose.

It's the first time he's allowed you to hug him, the first time he's ever initiated contact with someone in years. A fact that you both are well aware of.

A sob works its way up your throat, immediately tightening your grip on the hedgehog, curling into him as you shake.

Shadow doesn't say anything, doesn't make fun of you as snot pours from your nose, doesn't point out that your mascara and eyeliner are getting everywhere, just sits there and lets you cling onto him like he's your only lifeline.

He thinks that this is okay, he's strong enough for you both, and you don't need to worry when he's here.