#he's fine my partner just thinks he might have a tick and that freaks me out

[rexscanonwife]

Ourggghhhh good morning everyone I'm thinking about Sportacus comforting me through my anxiety spirals 🥺💖💘💖💘💖💘💖

[forever-rogue]

Hi!

Happy New Year! 😃 There’s so many to choose from but as soon as I saw this one, I knew it was the one I wanted to pick.

Prompt #35 from Prompt List #2 - Frankie Morales

Thank you!

#35: “About the baby...it’s yours.”

Ohhh, this is inch resting! Enjoy!

Frankie Morales x Reader ; warnings: pregnancy (and any and all things related to it), mentions of sex, drinking, smooches.

Frankie Masterlist

»»————-　♡　————-««

“No,” you sighed in frustration as you looked at the small white stick in your hands. It was a simple pregnancy test, but right now it felt like a ticking time bomb. You read over the singular word in frustration before tossing it onto the floor and watching as it skidded to a stop next to the bathtub. 

Pregnant. Pregnant. Pregnant. 

It couldn’t be right though, surely it had to be a false positive. But then...what about all the rest of the tests you had taken? All nine others were lined up on the counter, a testament to how determined you were to find out that you weren’t pregnant. But...could ten tests really be lying? What were the odds that all of them were false positives?

“Shit,” in a burst of anger you tossed them all off the counter and onto the floor, tears already running down your cheeks as you sank to the floor in frustration. How could this have happened? You were so careful every other time; you were on birth control and always made sure to have your partners use a condom. And yet...here you were. Pregnant and alone, crying on your bathroom floor. 

You pulled your knees up to your chest as you decided to get all your tears out then and there before making a plan. One way or another, something was going to need to happen - and as soon as possible hopefully. 

But then, as you sat there, crying and ignoring the incessant notifications on your going off on your phone, it hit you. 

Frankie. Francisco Morales. He’d been the last person you had sex with. 

Holy shit. No - there was no way. You couldn't be pregnant by your best friend that you'd secretly loved for years and had a drunken one night stand with. Absolutely not. Nope...that would be...the worst thing in the eternity of the universe. Some sort of vile joke that the universe would be playing on both of you. It couldn’t be him...no, no, no.

But...he was the last person you'd had sex with. And before then...it had been months since anyone else. Unless there was some sort of divine intervention on behalf of your uterus and you were some sort of abstinent Mary, Frankie Morales was the father of your baby. 

The baby - not your baby. Rather, the small peanut inside of you. Referring to it as anything else was too...real. It was just a baby - a maybe baby. One you weren’t even sure you’d keep, wanted, or would tell Frankie about. But...shit. You couldn’t not. It would come out somehow, if not now, then later, in a moment of indiscretion, or another drunken evening. You had to tell him...even if it was just to let him know what happened before you made some sort of decision. 

But what the hell were you supposed to tell him? Oh by the way, remember when we had sex two months ago? Yeah, well, I’m pregnant. 

You must have forgotten to take your birth control, and neither of you must have had enough sense to remember a condom. Or one of the two failed...or both. Either way it was a perfect storm that resulted in the worst possibility.

The worst part of all? 

Despite the upset and sheer terror you felt, there was a small part of you that wasn’t...entirely devastated. You’d never given much thought to children, having been perpetually single for the better part of the last decade, and hopelessly in love with your best friend. If there was a man that you wouldn't have minded children with, it would have been Frankie. He was a good man, always trying to be better, trying his best, and despite all the shit he’d been through in life, he still managed to have a soft, loving heart. He would have made a good father, that much you knew. 

But shit. He was only your best friend, and unlike you, he wasn’t deep in love. Would he even want a baby? A child he’d have what - half custody of while you had the other? It would never work, it wasn’t meant to be...it just...no. There was no way in hell this was going to work out. 

With that thought in your mind, you rested your head on your knees, crying and shaking as you tried to wrap your head around it all. 

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Hey,” you felt a soft touch on your arm as you heard your name being gently called, “hey, Bee...wake up.”

You opened your eyes, blinking away the dried tears and bleariness as you took in the face looking back down at you with a gentle smile. Momentarily forgetting your predicament, you offered him a smile of your own as he held out his hand to help you up to your feet. 

“Frankie,” you gave him a curious look, “what are you doing here? It’s not movie night or anything.”

“I’ve been calling and texting,” he nodded in the direction of your discarded phone, which was blinking at you with notifications, “you didn’t answer and I got worried. It’s not like you. I wanted to see if you were up for getting a drink tonight? The brewery’s got a new ale out.”

“I...umm,” you quickly remember your situation as a sense of panic set into your bones. The tests and discarded boxes were still all over the floor, one right next to your phone. He had to have seen them. You swallowed the lump in your throat as you nodded lightly, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Frankie.”

“Yeah,” he said as he gave everything the once over. Another worry suddenly crossed your mind; you’d been drinking the last two months. Granted it hadn’t been anything crazy, just a beer here and there and a glass of wine on occasion, but still. Shit. He cleared his throat awkwardly as you scurried around to pick everything up. Ever the gentleman, he stepped into help, pausing slightly when he noticed all the positive tests, “you...ugh...you’re pregnant?”

“I-I guess,” you offered him the most neutral look you could muster up, “I just ugh...found out. It’s a bit of a surprise to me too.”

“Oh...you don’t…” he swallowed thickly as he nodded, more to himself than anything else as wished the floor would open up and swallow you whole, “do you…”

“I don’t know a lot,” you cut him off before he could continue his line of questioning, “i didn’t really know I was...pregnant until I missed my period this month. I-I-I thought last month was a fluke but two months in a row is disconcerting. So I panicked and got some tests.”

“Oh,” his eyes widened as you could practically hear the gears turning in his head as you realized what you said. You might as well have told him then and there, “I thought you were…”

“I am,” you tried to cover up your own tracks, “I’m on birth control, so I’m also a little...surprised. I’m trying to keep calm, but in all honesty I’m freaking out.”

“It’s okay, Bee,” he promised softly as he gently put his hand on your cheek, brushing his thumb over your cheek. It was hard not to melt into his touch and confess everything then and there, “I’m here for you. Whatever you need, whatever support you want, I’m here, every step of the way.”

“Frankie...I-I don’t know what to say…” your lip trembled with effort as you tried not to break down in a fit of tears again. It would be better to get it out in the open now and to just say it and let him know and -

“Either I get to be the best fun uncle, or...I’ll be here for you either way,” he insisted with a smile small before pulling you into a gentle, warm hug. You were stunned into silence, but decided to let things happen, wrapping your own arms around his waist as you buried your head in his chest. 

You wouldn’t tell him now. But soon. You needed to. For your sake as well as his own.

»»————-　♡　————-««

It was an odd feeling, walking out of the doctor’s office, clutching a stack of papers with more information than you knew what to do with, including a set of grainy black and white images. You’d cried - as you’d often been doing lately - but somehow you weren’t upset. It had been about two weeks since your surprise discovery, and with each passing day, it became more real. 

You were still confused, more than you had ever been, but somehow you’d grown attached to the idea of the little bean that was inside of you. It was scary, more than anything else in life ever had been, but you...just...it was a lot. 

No you just needed to tell Frankie. 

It seemed like every time you’d tried, something or someone came up and interrupted, pulling his attention away or making it a most inopportune moment. But...shit. You couldn’t let this go much longer.

You’d tell him. Tonight. There was no doubt in your mind it was time to do it and then the pieces could fall wherever they landed and you’d figure it out. Keeping it from him just wouldn’t be fair, and you couldn’t imagine a world where you had this baby and Frankie only thought of himself of an uncle.

A heavy sigh escaped your lips as you walked into your apartment, ready to sit down and relax - and get yourself hyped to tell Frankie -  before he came over for your weekly movie night. 

But when you got in, your heart plummeted when you saw Frankie already in the kitchen, messing around with some snacks. Shit, shit, shit. He wasn’t supposed to be there for at least another two hours. 

“Bee,” he grinned at you when spotted you, excitedly pointing at the various treats he was setting out, “you’re just in time!”

“And you’re early,” you tried to make light of it as you walked in and set everything down on the table, “I wasn’t expecting you for a while.”

“I know,” he grinned with a wink, “but I knew you’d be home soon, and wanted to do this for you. You’re dealing with a lot, and I just want to help however I can. How did it go? Did you get more information...what am I saying? Of course you did...how was it?”

“It was a lot,” you admitted, just like everything right now, “the doctor was really helpful and gave me so much information. But..ugh...the ba - it’s fine right now.”

“The baby?” he asked as you nodded, setting down the stack of papers, letting the sonogram images land on top, “you can call it a baby, Bee!”

“I know,” you huffed lightly with laughter at yourself, “it just...makes it feel so real. Calling it a baby. I dunno.”

“Bee’s having a baby...Baby Bee,” he said excitedly as he looked over your stack of papers, his soft brown eyes landing on the pictures, “maybe...a maybe Baby Bee…”

Before you could stop him, he reached for the sheet of images, bringing it up to his face as he furrowed his brows to study them closely. A small smile tugged on the corners of his mouth as he looked at them, and you couldn’t help but grin back at him. You were so in love with this man, it was almost painful sometimes. And you here you were, having his baby and he didn’t know, he wasn’t yours...that bad it all that much harder. Before you knew it, tears were running down your cheeks, and a sniffle escaped your lips.

“Umm, F-Frankie…: you whispered softly as he looked at you with a concerned expression, “about the baby...i-i-it’s...it’s yours.”

He stiffened for a moment, a million different expressions crossing his features as he looked between you and the sonograms and back at you. Opening and closing his mouth a few times, all he could manage was a small, “what?”

“I-I know I should have told you sooner, right when I found out and you came in,” you were crying now, a blubbering mess, “I just couldn’t do it...I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all of this...you’re the only one I’ve been with in almost a year and I-I-I know it was a one night drunken thing, and I thought we were careful but this...just happened. I’m so sorry, Frankie.”

“It’s mine?” he asked softly as you nodded, watching as his eyes flicked to your still non-existent bump, “we’re having a baby? Together?”

“I-I know this isn’t what anything we expected,” you wiped at your eyes, “I-I don’t expect you to help or have anything to do with it, but I...I want to keep it…”

Frankie inhaled and exhaled deeply, setting the images back down before turning his attention to you. His gaze was on your face, eyes soft as ever before he closed the small distance between your bodies. Before you could ask what he was doing, his hands found your face, touching it tenderly for a few moments, almost as if he was asking you for permission, which you readily granted, before crashing his lips onto yours and kissing you deeply. 

And it felt so...perfect. So natural as his arms wrapped around your waist and you put yours around his neck and held him close. He didn’t let you go, reluctant to part his lips from yours for even a moment, only doing so when you were left dizzy and breathless. 

“I love you, Bee,” he whispered softly, chasing your lips with his own, “always you, for so long. It wasn’t supposed to be a one night stand, I just got so foolish and scared…”

“I love you, Francisco,” you promised, “you’ve been it for me for so long. I never thought…I never thought you would love me back. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be loved by you.”

“You’ve been loved by me for so long,” he promised, “you never had to wonder. I should have told you sooner.”

“Now is good,” you grinned at him, your head spinning with everything that was going on, “now is perfect.”

“Bee,” he pressed a kiss to your forehead, then your cheeks, stopping at your lips, “and Baby Bee. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I am so in love with you.”

“I love you more than anything,” you ran a hand through his dark locks, a few tears already spilling down your cheeks again. He beamed at you, gently wiping them away, “but, Frankie...you’re okay...with the baby? Keeping the baby?”

“Yes,” he whispered softly, his own eyes glistening with tears as he nodded, “yes. I want this...I’ve always wanted this. I want everything with you - you and only you.”

“Francisco…” you smiled, and just like that, you lit up his entire world, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he nuzzled his nose against yours as he breathed you in, “my Bee and Baby Bee. What more could I ever ask for?

»»————-　♡　————-««

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[deanstead]

Glad You’re Safe

Pairing: Jay Halstead x Paramedic!Reader

Request by anon: Hi there! I was wondering if you could do a Jay Halstead imagine during the ‘Infection’ episode. The reader is exposed to the virus, the tests shows negative but they still keep her in quarantine. Been into Worried!Jay tics lately haha! And can the reader be either part of Intelligence or Ambo 61. Thanks hun xx

Warnings: Mentions of blood/injury, (some) anxiety

A/N: Based off of the Infection three-part crossover. Sorry, this took a while! I didn’t want to turn this into an episode rewrite so I just picked certain parts that I felt could fit in with the whole theme of the imagine/oneshot. I hope this turned out okay and that you like it!

---

Ambo 61, Man down, unknown causes

The announcement rang through the firehouse. You looked at Sylvie as the two of you stood at the same time, jogging towards the ambulance and sliding in quickly before Sylvie sped off.

“This is crazy.” You commented. The whole firehouse had spent the day in the common room, the news reports flashing every few seconds. To say it didn’t freak you out was definitely a lie.

Sylvie gave you a tight smile. “We’ll get through this. Like we always do.” You could hear the strain in her voice but you didn’t say more, as she pulled up at the address.

Grabbing your kits, the both of you jogged up the stairs, Sylvie knocking on the door immediately. “Fire Department!”

The door swung open and the both of you stepped in, looking around. “Anyone call for Paramedics?”

You swung your head around again as you heard a groan. “Brett.” You pointed deeper into the apartment, heading in ahead of Sylvie.

“Sir? Are you okay?” You asked, as the man in front of you swayed a little on his feet. He didn’t look like he even registered the fact that you were there.

“Sir?” You tried again, stepping forward before he fell forwards onto you, the both of you crumpling towards the ground.

“Y/L/N!” Sylvie rushed towards you, pulling him off you. Sylvie froze momentarily at the sight in front of her. You had blood smeared all over your front, including your hands. You swallowed, looking back at the man who was no longer conscious.

“Come on, Brett. I’m fine.” You reassured her, clambering up and pulling his now blood-stained shirt upwards to reveal the rotting skin and tissue below. You exchanged a look with Sylvie before quickly covering the open wound as best as you could.

“Come on, let’s go.” You urged, as the both of you fastened him onto the stair chair, down the stairs and into the ambulance.

---

After you had been checked out, very thoroughly you might add, you had been brought down to this area, where there were at least already 30 people in individual tents.

Yeap, quarantine.

“Y/N? Y/N! Are you okay?” Jay’s voice made you look up.

He looped around the tents, moving closer to your tent.

“Jay? What are you doing here?” You asked, getting up.

“What happened?” Jay asked, not answering you, and you could already hear the stress in his voice.  

“Jay, it’s okay, I’m fine.” You reassured. “The first test came back clean. They’re just keeping me here for a while more to be safe. They’ll do a second run later just to be sure.”

Jay didn’t answer but quietly put his hand up against the transparent plastic sheet of the quarantine tent. You smiled and put yours up against his, only the plastic sheet separating your palms. “You go do what you have to do. I’ll be fine.”

Jay hesitated. “Go.” You repeated, smiling at him for good measure.

“Jay.” You called out again before he left.

He raised his eyebrow in that adorable way he does.

“Stay safe out there.” You whispered.

Jay sighed, smiling back at you. “I’ll be back to check on you.”

You smiled back at him as you watched him duck out.

---

Jay ground his teeth as he stood on the empty street where the parade was supposed to be taking place, alongside Chief Boden, Severide, Casey and Voight.

This prick had put the whole Chicago at risk but he had put you at risk and even hurt Will. He’d be more than happy to pound this prick’s ass into the ground.

“If he’s buying time, it means we still have time to get ahead of him.” Voight told Boden just as their radio crackled.

“Engine 51, Squad 3, Ambo 61, structure fire. Reports of looting, 1300 Hazel Avenue.”

Boden and Voight exchanged a look before shaking hands.

Casey patted Jay on the shoulder. “Hey, the test came back negative. We just heard back. Thought you might like to know. She’ll be back with us soon.”

Jay let out a breath. “Thanks, Casey.”

---

The minutes ticked by with you sitting there doing nothing, while your whole family at 51 was probably running ragged around the city with calls, and Jay was out there trying to catch the culprit as well.

You? You were just sitting here.

You looked up when you heard footsteps. “Hey Y/N.”

“Natalie.” You greeted, getting to your feet.

Natalie smiled, “Good news. We ran your cultures again, just to be safe and they came back free of infection.”

“Thanks Natalie.” You nodded to her. “I’ll head back to the firehouse.”

Natalie smiled as you hurtled out of there, glad to be out and ready to get back into the field.

You jogged into the firehouse, smiling as you saw Herrmann get out of the truck. “Hey!” Herrmann called as he spotted you, moving forward to give you a tight hug.

“Welcome back!”

“Everything okay?” Joe asked as he walked towards you. You could see the weariness on everyone’s faces.

You nodded, “All clear.”

Joe sighed, jamming his hands into his pocket. “Good. Now all I want is a nice long bath and a vat of Purell.”

As if on cue, the announcement beeped in.

Engine 51, Squad 3, Ambulance 61, evacuation assistance, 2600 Roosevelt.

Joe’s face fell as Sylvie came running out. “We just heard from CPD. This is them – they think that Dr Seldon’s hitting the BRT building from the west side.” She paused as she reached you. “Ready, partner?”

You nodded, glad to finally feel useful. “Born ready.”

You followed her towards the ambulance as you heard Herrmann shout to the rest, “Alright, you heard her! Let’s move! This is it! Let’s end this!”

Sylvie stepped on the accelerator, hurtling towards the address but glanced at you. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She said.

You chuckled, “Tell me about it.” You paused, “I haven’t even had the chance to tell Jay yet.”

Sylvie glanced at you, a smile playing on her lips. “What, that the moment you were released from quarantine, you’re right back on the field?”

“Guilty.”

The both of you smiled as Sylvie pulled up to the address and you guys hopped out. The place was already swarming with trucks and patrol cars as you spotted Voight and Will stop not too far from where you were standing.

“My brother’s in there?” You heard Will’s voice rise as Voight nodded and your heart dropped.

Jay.

You bit your lip and took a deep breath as Sylvie tapped you on the shoulder. “Come on.”

Figuring that it’d be better to keep yourself busy with what you had to do, rather than stand around worrying about Jay, you nodded. “Just give me a moment, I’ll be right back.”

You ran to catch up with Will. “Will.”

Will spun around, his eyes locking onto yours.

“Don’t worry.” He whispered, squeezing my shoulder before following after Voight closely. “I’ll be back with him.”

You swallowed, watching Will’s retreating back for a second more before turning and heading back to where you were needed.

You busied yourself with seeing to anyone who was injured from the evacuation - a few sprained ankles or bruises but nothing too serious. In a way, you were glad to be busy.

Then you heard it – a gunshot from the other side of the building. Your head snapped up as you heard more popping sounds from the building itself. You forced yourself to look away, moving among the crowd again to busy yourself until you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“We’re good here. Go on.” Sylvie said.

You looked back at your PIC.

Sylvie nodded encouragingly. You looked over at Chief Boden who nodded back to you. 

“Thanks.” You muttered, heading towards the entrance of the building. You were sure everyone around you could probably hear your heart pounding in your chest.

It felt like forever before the door swung open and you spotted them – Voight, Will and… Jay.

A wave of relief washed over you as you watched him walk out of that building, looking like he had a few hours ago, except with a little frown across his face. That is, until he saw you.

“Y/N.” He breathed, jogging towards you and sweeping you into his arms.

His hand cradled the back of your head as he pulled you into him. You kept silent but closed your eyes, just glad to be back in Jay’s arms. “Are you okay?” You asked.

Jay smiled, “Yeah, I’m okay.” He nodded, as your eyes flicked to the gash on his arm and you glared at him.

“Sarge.” He called as Voight nodded at him, motioning for him to go with you.

You growled a little as you tugged him back towards the ambulance. “No chances, okay?” You said, as Jay laughed, shaking his head a little at your insistence but following you anyway.

“It’s not even a…” He stopped midsentence as you glared at him, falling to silence and perching himself at the open back of the ambulance.

“Are you really gonna argue with me about this after the day we have both had?”

Jay smiled, raising his hands in mock defeat, as you poured saline over the open gash and put a plaster over it.

Quietly, Jay raised his hand, cupping your face and stroking your cheek with his thumb. “I’m glad you’re alright.” He whispered.

Your eyes flicked up to him, the whole world melting into the background, as if there was only you and Jay in this space and time. You sighed, “Right back at you. I was worried.”

“Not as worried as I was.” Jay shot back.

His eyes lingered on you for a while longer before he gently tugged you towards him again. You let yourself be pulled back into his embrace, just glad that everything was over.

[palbabor-writes]

Headcanons for the type of ppl who would attract or be of interest to Satoru Gojo and Kento Nanami???? WHATS THEIR (personality) TYPE

ooh, yes. there’s so much to love about these two & i like analyzing them from a personality standpoint

warnings: none really, i tried not to spoil too much since the anime is just getting going

Gojo

I see him as someone who’d be attracted to those who are self-assured

That doestn’t mean you need to be brash, or outgoing, not that you can’t be those things, but we do see that he’s often very attuned & drawn to others who are a little quieter in their mannerisms in the manga: Getō, Megumi, Nanami. However, he also really likes being around louder characters like Yuji. So, I think as long as you give off an air of confidence and reliance, he’s gonna respect that

He’s also gonna look for that in a partner - gotta have some kinda foundation for him to notice & I think having an inner spark, or even a separate passion, is a great start

With that being said, I could see him having a difficult time being with someone who is not a jujutsu sorcerer

Namely because his own life is constantly on the line & he’s often away or busy with his own work

Chances are, curses are gonna know that you’re a weak spot & we’ve seen how manipulative and downright dirty some of them can get to achieve their goals

He’s likely not looking for a partner that he has to keep an eye on all the time

In fact, I can see that getting old, fast

Plus, he’s canonically stated that he doesn’t like those who are weak

So, sorry if you’re in the normie crowd

With a sorcerer, obviously you’re gonna be lesser than him, talent wise, but I think he’d also like to see growth and effort from you

I don’t see him being attracted to someone who settles

So even if you’re doing a sparing match and he’s completely got you on the back foot, don’t stop getting back up

I can totally see that piquing his interest because it shows that inner spark & if he’s gonna take down the higherup’s he needs people with that forward thinking determination

We’ve also seen that he likes people that push back: see - Getō

So, I don’t think he’d be bothered if the two of you have different opinions

However, he’s gonna want you to be able to hold your own in a debate

Speak your mind

Don’t just go along to get along

I do think he likes people that can keep him on his toes

He wouldn’t mind if you were someone who’s spontaneous

Just one day you’re like: Hey! We’re gonna do this! Come on! & refuse to take no for an answer

I think that’s a good way to keep his interest & keep things fresh

He likes the non-traditional things: so don’t think dinner dates, he’s fucking gonna take you along on this wild mission, or hey, found out there’s this cursed carnival, let’s GO

If he likes for you to be cuff of the moment, then you need to be able to put up with his own bursts of spontaneity, too - you have to at least tolerate his antics

However, don’t be clingy - we haven’t seen him dealing much with others like that & he’s been around independent people for most of his life

You need to be confident enough to be able do your own thing

He’s a busy guy: he can’t be on the phone with you all the time

But, I think he would like to be thought of

Let him know that there’s a spot for him in your life

By that I mean, even though you’re busy and have your own missions, you still might see something and pick it up for him

People expect soooo much from him & he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders

So for you to just say: Oh, found this & know you like it! Here you go!

Be it candy, flowers, whatever - I think he’ll be so fucking touched by that

I can see him returning that favor to you - he likes to bring souvenirs back to those he cares about

It’s nice to know that you’re loved, even if your schedules don’t allow you much time together

Nanami

I think what’s going to catch his eye is someone who encapsulates a mature and rational state of mind

Practicality and effort are gonna speak volumes, especially in the beginning

We’ve seen how he reacts to those who are over the top (cough: Gojo) and it’s not in a very positive way

Now, if you’re someone who is on the exuberant side, don’t give up hope!

Similiarly to Gojo, I think he can learn to accept and respect those outbursts, we’ve seen this from him, especially with Yuji or his partner Haibara

He has been shown to like bright and energetic people, but it’ll take a little more time to crack into his trust

If you’re more excitable you might face a more uphill battle, but if you want him, and honestly who wouldn’t, you just need to show him that you can be relied upon

Once you’ve cleared that, I can even see him liking that his partner has a different world view and a little bit more pep in their step

After all, I think he places a very high value on independence

He’s not gonna be the partner who immediately wants to move in with you, no matter how long, or how much he cares for you

No, he strikes me as the sort of guy who likes to know that he can lean on you & can go to you when he needs to, but he’s likely going to be very protective of his own space, and yours as well

Unlike Gojo, I do see Nanami being interested in a civilian and not just a sorcerer

He’s so big on comfort and just being able to kick back, he mentions that often when he’s discussing his future retirement and if you’re a laid back person, and not someone fully entrenched in the sorcerer world, I can totally see him looking twice at that

I think he’d like the normaliacy

After all, he’s one of the few sorcerers who have been in the “real world,” even though he was bored with his office job, I think there are still parts of that life that he values - hence why he dresses like a business boy

I feel like he’d like someone who can talk about low key things

It might seem like a simple conversation but I think he’d love chatting about the freaking news, or that new shop that just opened

OMG

Wait, WAIT

You immediately pass GO & collect the full $200 if you’re a baker & you snag his attentions

Like, dropping everything and haunting your bakery every free moment he has until you notice him

Yo. He is a foodie

If you’re a chill person who likes to restaurant hop, damn, you’re ticking boxes bb

OK. SORRY. Had to get that off my chest. BACK AT IT

He’s a cynical, realist - so I think he’d like to see someone who is encouraging and optimistic

If you’re easy going and can see the glass half-full, it’s likely a win-win for Nanami

His schedule varies, even when he tries to get off at 6 on the dot

So if he has to bail on plans, or things get moved, you need to be someone who’s understanding & can roll with the punches

But he’d also want someone who can set a routine and who plans things out

He’s big on rules and, let’s face it, he’s surrounded by incompetence

If you’re reliable and predictable, I feel that he’d really like that combination

It means he can let his guard down around you & for a jujutsu sorcerer that is HUGE

Again, don’t expect normal dates: I don’t see him being big on PDA, or the: let’s get a table for two with the candles bs

I’d see him really like making a meal with you, even if he’s tired

Restaurant dates would be fine, but I could see it being a more relaxed kinda thing: like two people who are hashing out the days gossip, not these long, drawn out, lovey topics

You’d likely look more like friends, than lovers

He is focused on money

So while he may not take you to cheap places, he strikes me as a bit of a penny pincher

Don’t expect hella fine dining every night of the week - as long as it’s got interesting food, he’s not gonna care much about the rest

He strikes me as an acts of service kinda guy

So anything you can do to help, be it big or small, I think he’ll appreciate you thinking of him

He’s a busy guy and it’s nice to have even the tiny things taken off of his list

Besides, the less he has to do, the more time you get to spend with each other

[queen-of-my-goofball-army]

"Having a vocal tick like mine where you can instantly put a VA with a character is sometimes a gift and a curse. Because sometimes you're just like "Oh hell no anyone but him PLEASE NOT HIM."

Well hey everyone, I'm back on my familiar bs train. You might notice the lack of edit updates lately because I've been having a bit of a crisis. Mostly the fact that my type is slowly but surely changing before my eyes and it scared me at first. But now I've just come to accept the fact that this is a problem and I might as well love it like I do all my other issues. Let's talk about my newest crisis, the fact that my alternative men are growing from the minority into the vast majority. I figured that the best place to start was with a show that is basically the love of my life right now, Sasaki To Miyano.

One of my best friend's was the first one to really get me to have my guilty pleasure being BL stories or anime with heavy BL influences like Promare and Sk8 The Infinity. She didn't really have to tell me about STM because I found it all on my own. I found it because I follow Kellen Geoff on Twitter and he was talking about his newest role in this sugary sweet story about love. For the first few episodes everything was fine and dandy. I was enjoying the hell out of the story that was being told to me. It wasn't until I heard an eerily familiar voice that caused me to have the biggest crisis known to mankind.

If you don't know me extremely well then I haven't talked about my recent love of men with deeper voices. It started with Ty Maheny's Kuroo and it spiraled out of my control since then. It's led me down a somewhat different path than I would normally go. My men usually have light, teasing voices. So when they suddenly went deeper but still tasing you can imagine the way that my head exploded. Now you're probably wondering "Dot what does this have to do with Ogasawara?" Well I'll tell you exactly what it has to do with him. One of my recent husbandos during a Sk8 rewatch was Kojiro Nanjo. I think I ignored it and pushed it down or something like that. Another recent guilty pleasure was Record of Ragnarok. There my favorite was Adam, and if you know the show then you'll realize the one that Joe and Adam have in common. They have the same voice actor Jonah Scott. It appears that I have a new voice actor crush fam, and this man is it. While it might just be a voice thing and nowhere near as bad as my other problem, it's still bad because it was the first thing that I noticed about Ogasawara when I knew I was effed.

Ogasawara while maybe just a minor role I absolutely fell in love with this bi-curious himbo. He's just such a delight and every time that I see him I'm always like "YES it's Oga" *cue my heart eyes*. I love his personality, the way that he clearly cares about his girlfriend but just doesn't really know how to deal with her fujishi tendencies without truckload of anxiety about things that probably anyone would. Anyone would worry about the fact that their partner is reading something of that nature when they have a partner already. So his freaking out about being used, it just made sense in my brain. Especially when it sounds like his girlfriend gets super into her interests and it can frighten just about anyone especially him being a somewhat "delinquent".

The more I see of Ogasawara the more I fall in love with him. He became one of those husbandos that just broke my brain and I knew that I was enamored with this boi. I have several husbandos that I've come to realize that get me just screaming to the highest heavens about how much I love them and Ogasawara is one of them. Sunday's have become one of my favorite days for anime. It's the day where I try to watch no One Piece and that I catch up on two seasonal shows, My Dress Up Darling, and Sasaki To Miyano. This series is everything to me. I just love this series so much, I love talking about it with my friends, and even got my friend into Hanzawa because of it. But I always will love my bestest boi Oga more than anything in the world. I just-you see my problem I ramble so much about him. But sometimes that's what happens with me and my men.

[allthingshetalia]

I’m a huge sucker for fairytale romances, and since Prussia was a Teutonic Knight, I was wonder if you could do a oneshot where Prussia, during his days as a knight meets his s/o at a ball and asks to dance with her, falling in love with her more as the night progresses on.

💕Hi! This isn’t historically accurate at all! So if you are a history freak and hate when things aren’t correct, then you might want to leave. And please don’t yell at me everything I got wrong! Thank you! I had fun writing this! 💕

“I don’t want to be here.” You grumbled. Your best friends swatted you on the arm.

“Behave! Plus if you don’t find a husband soon your parents are going to marry you off to that old man down the street. Is that what you want?” She threatened. You winced and shook your head.

“Of course not! You’ve seen him. He’s one year away from needing a cane.” You stated. You both giggled quietly.

“That’s what I thought! Now can you please try and have a good time.” She gripped both of your hands and stared at you with puppy dog eyes.

“Fine.” You mumbled. She smiled and pressed a quick kiss to your cheek.

“Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go find Roderich.” She smiled.

“Wait you’re going to leave me?” Your hands darted out and gripped her forearms. “That’s not fair.” You gasped.

“We are courting, Y/N. What did you expect?” She sighed.

“Well if you are courting he should be running after you! Not the other way around.” You explained. She shrugged.

“It’s doesn’t matter! Now please let me go.” She begged. You rolled your eyes and detached your hands from her. She shot you a grateful smile and disappeared into the large crowd. You frowned and wrapped your arms around yourself.

“Now that was rather rude of the lady.” A voice snickered from behind you. 

You turned around only to see a rather short man with long brown hair. He was fairly attractive, with his honey eyes. “I’m Benjamin, Benjamin Hartford.” He held his hand out and you quickly placed your hand in his. You both curtsied and you introduced yourself.

“Y/N, Y/N L/N.” His eyes lit up in recognition.

“Yes I’ve heard of your family. Your father is very established in the medical field isn’t he?” Benjamin smiled. You nodded your head.

“Yes, yes he is.” You agreed.

“Tell him I congratulate him and admire his work.”

“I will.” You replied. A silence grew over you and you looked back and forth at each other awkwardly.

“I’m writing a book.” Benjamin suddenly stated.

“Oh really? How interesting! What is the subject?” You were finally happy you didn’t have to stand in silence.

“I’m writing about the causes and effects of woman leaving the household. You know to go and pursue a career or go to school.” Benjamin explained. You hummed.

“That’s quite the topic. Are you in favor?” You questioned. Benjamin gasped softly.

“God no. Woman should be taking care of the household, and the children. You don’t need an education to do that. It’s engraved in your DNA afterall. If I have a daughter I’m not sending her to school. It’s a waste of money. But I probably won’t have to worry abou that, my bloodline is very well bred with males.” He paused for a moment a small smile on his face. He looked at you like you would be charmed by every word that flowed from his lips. He raised his hand and rested it on the small of your back.

“Well as a woman who went to school her whole life, I hope your book becomes the laughing stock of the country- along with yourself.” You sneered. You shook his hand off and pushed your way past the large crowd. Opening the back door you quickly breathed in a lungfull of fresh air. The worst part is that you knew his book would be a success.

“Well Someone ticked you off.” Someone chuckled. You turned and finally became aware of the man standing next to you. He was leaning with his back against the house. You gasped a little when you caught sight of his features. He has beautiful red eyes. They looked like rubies. Rubies happened to be your favorite type of jewel and the proud ruby necklace and matching earrings you were wearing proved that.

His eyes bore into your own and you your heart did a backflip. He quickly turned his head away from you and stared out at the rolling hills of grass. “I know my eyes are scary, no need to tell me.” He chuckled bitterly. You quickly shook your head and took a step forward.

“They’re beautiful.” You breathed. The man quickly turned his head to look back at you again. He looked a little shocked and you soon realized it was probably because no one ever complemented him on them. “They look like rubies.” You continued. He squinted his eyes at you, before they traveled down your body. You covered your body as much as you could with your arms.

“You wanna turn my eyes into a necklace?” He chuckled, nodding his head towards your chest. You smiled softly and lowered your arms.

“No, that would be rather painful for you, don’t you think?” You snickered back. A small smile played on his lips and he turned away from you again.

“So what is a pretty girl like you doing here all by herself?” You shrugged and leaned back against the house, standing a little closer to him than before.

“I came with a friend, but she ran off to find her dreadful soon-to-be-husband.” You growled. He laughed next to you. His laugh was also like nothing you have ever heard. He quickly cut himself off and cleared his throat.

“You’re not a Fan?” He asked. He turned his body towards you and leaned so his shoulder was pressing against the house. You shook your head rapidly.

“Absolutely not. He’s some Austrian noble. Thinks he owns everything, when in reality the only thing he can do is play the piano.” You suddenly realized how horribly rude that sounded. You quickly gasped and covered your mouth. “That was the rudest thing I have ever said. I’m so sorry, that is very unladylike of me.” You apologized. The broad man watched you with amusement. He held up a pale hand to stop you.

“I know someone like that. And if he’s anything like him, he deserves it.” You sighed in relief at him comment.

“So what is a knight like you doing here?” You pondered, turning down your body was facing his. “Are you protecting or something?” You asked. He shook his head at you softly.

“No. Although I can assure you, you are safe with me.” You rolled your eyes, but blushed. “I’m friends with the lord of the house. I use to work for him for him when I first started being a knight. And he invited me.” He explained. You ‘ohhhed’ and hummed in response.

“How long have you been a knight?” You asked. You suddenly realized how stupid that sounded. He laughed as you cringed, but once again he cut off his own laugh.

“Well I’ve been a knight my whole life. When I was a baby my parents left me on the doorstep of the knights training school. They were going to get rid of me, but I guess they could sense my winning personality, and they decided to keep me and raise me to be a knight.” Your eyes saddened at his earlier confession.

“That was horrible of your parents.” You stated.

“You can’t blame them. I’m from a small town in Prussia- a very religious town at that. They probably thought I was some demon.” You winced.

“I’m sure you’re not.” You assured.

“Well considering my profession, I would say I’m pretty close.” You we’re about to reply, but the sudden sound of loud music cut you off. The familiar tune of your favorite song made you smile with joy.

“I love this song.” You sighed. You watched through the window as people began to find partners to dance with. The man next to you cleared his throat and you turned to look at him. He had his hand outstretched.

“May I have this dance?” He whispered. You smiled and quickly gripped his hand, ignoring the way your hand felt perfect in his. He rested his hand on your hip and began to move you both to the music.

“You know you never told me your name.” You said as you moved your feet gracefully. He was a little less graceful than you, but his movement were strong.

“Well you never told me yours.” He replied. He pressed you a little bit closer to him, causing a spark to fly through your spine.

“I asked first.” You giggled. He smiled down at you and twirled you. Once you were face to face again he leaned forward, so his forehead was just ghosting over yours. You blushed brightly, never being this close to a man before. His eyes softened at your bright face and he pulled away slightly.

“Gilbert.” He said finally.

“Gilbert.” You repeated. A small shiver ran through him, one that went unseen by you. “Your name means ‘bright pledge’.” You smiled. “That makes a lot of sense considering you’re a knight.” You chuckled. He shook his head in agreement.

“Yours?” He pressed.

“Y/N.” You responded.

“I don’t know what it means, but it’s stunning nonetheless.”

Both of you moved in a perfect sync with each other. Your favorite song left, but neither of you noticed as you both became closer and closer. You were pressed up against him and his hand held yours tightly, while his other hand gripped your waist. His thumb would move in small circles to the beat of the music every so often. You rested your head againsg his chest and he repsponded by placing his chin on the top of your head.

“If anyone saw this, I would be in a lot of trouble.” You hummed.

“I know. Between being this close to a man- and a man who is also a knight. You’re walking on thin ice.” He chuckled. You looked up at him.

“You shouldn’t cut off your laugh like that. It’s nice and unique.” You whispered. A small, gentle smile spread across his features.

“I have enough uniqueness to me as it is.” He let his forehead rest against yours and you both slowly felt your bodies began to melt.

“And it’s a breath of fresh air.” You insisted.

“Thank you.” He removed his forhead from yours and kissed you on the top of the head. You smiled and rested your head against his chest again. You both swayed back and forth gently, but you doubted it could be considered dancing. You felt as though you could fall asleep. You had never felt this way before. So safe and warm. Not only that but you felt like you were in good company. This man was interesting. His eyes showed you that he had seen many things and the curious part of you wanted to hear every single one of them, even if they were bad.

And you didn’t know it but his feeling were similar. He had never felt so- welcomed. With you wrapped up in his arms it felt like home. It felt lovinging and warm. He felt like he needed to preserve you in some way. He had seen the horrors of the world and he never wanted them to be etched into your innocent mind. You deserved the world. He knew that sounded stupid becaus he has only spend an hour with you- but he knew a good person when he saw one. He couldn’t give you everything you wanted. But he certainly could make your life one worth remembering.

The sound of the door opening quickly caused you to pull away. All the warmth and happiness that flowed through your body quickly vanished. But you relaxed some once you saw your best friend. She looked at you, then Gilbert, than back to you. Roderich appeared next to her and Gilbert groaned loudly.

“Roderich.” He hissed. The Austrian looked at him with wide eyes, and then looked at you, then back to Gilbert.

“What the hell are you doing here?! This is an ball- not some hokey pokey battle!” Roderich declared.

“Wait you two know each other.” You asked. The both nodded in agreement, their harsh gazes never leaving each other. The look in Gilbert’s eyes made you a little nervous. It was a harsh contrast to the way he had looked at you.

“What are you doing with Y/N?” Roderich asked. He grabbed a handkerchief out of his pocket and wipped his foggy glasses off. “She is a elegant woman! Not one who should be corrupted by you!” The way Roderich spoke of you made you feel a little bad for how badly you drug his name through the mud.

Gilbert didn’t respond but he look at you. His eyes softened considerably.

“Come on Y/N let’s go home!” You friend urged. You could tell she was scared by the small cracks in her voice. You nodded your head in agreement.

“I’ll catch up.” You smiled. She looked at you suspiciously, before nodding her head. Roderich was about to open his mouth but he wa a dragged away by your friend. As soon as they got far enough away your quickly wrapped your arms around Gilbert’s neck and tugged him down closer to your level.

“I live in Camsworth. My house is right next to the lake, and it has a green roof with white exterior. Meet me on the dock.” You whispered.

“I’ll be there at sundown.” Gilbert smiled. He pressed a quick kiss to the side of your head, and you regretfully removed yourself from him and rushed to catch up to your friend and Roderich.

Both of your bodies shook with excitement. You didn’t know what would happen to either of you or if your relationship was even meant to be. All you knew though was that you couldn’t go back to your regular life without getting to know the ruby eyed man.

[veldian]

tell us more of ur think tank hcs i personally am at the edge of my seat

HELL YEAH ALRIGHT HERE WE GO. some of these might be against canon in some way but that's your fault for trusting me with this

ALSO, AS USUAL, I HAVE TO APOLOGIZE. THIS GOT VERY LONG. when i think about the tanks i go fuckin wild with it

starting with pride headcanons to get the ball rolling

all the tanks are nonbinary, but additionally, dala is a trans woman and 0 is a trans man

8 hates gender he fucking hates it. every day he wakes up and says "today i will make gender my bitch" and then he does. he says this in the game too you just don't know cuz he only speaks in static (don't factcheck this)

if you ask 8 what pronouns she uses, they will shrug and give you a "i dunno" noise. sometimes it'll make a non-committal hand movement and some unintelligible noises. good luck

god this bitch (borous) is gay! good for him! good for him.

he's also intersex! i don't remember where we got that hc but i like it and im holding onto it

okay but borous calls himself bi because yeah Men, but he also loves dala very much and doesn't want to misgender her. also as previously stated, 8's main goal is to confuse everyone about their gender so the tanks all stick with mspec labels to be on the safe side. you never know what'll happen. gender is a ticking time bomb

bi gang: klein, borous, 0

pan gang: dala, mobius

don't ask her about any of her identities she doesn't know the answer either: 8

have i gone off about polytank dynamics enough? i don't think so

8 and dala started dating first because horny bitches gravitate towards each other. they can also "pass" as a "straight couple" so hopefully no one at work will look at them and call them slurs. hopefully

klein and borous knocked things out of the park for being the first gay scientists ever

8 and dala became polyam icons and pulled 0 in. trans bitches gravitate towards each other

klein and borous did the same with mobius. bitches with facial hair gravitate towards each other

???????

idk and then all six of them started dating somehow. the end

somewhere along the way klein and 8 were like "i like you a little too much" and now they're inseparable

okay anyway. misc hcs

ive mentioned this before but when i pretend everything is in modern times, 0 is a tiktokker and he thrives on the attention and making fun of his coworkers on the internet

"watching steven universe repeatedly when i felt even slightly bad transed my gender" - doctor 8 old world blues

i just remembered i made a carrd for the tanks as if they were kinnies in their early to mid 20s

8 kinned pearl su. borous kinned werewolf cookie. 0 kinned rimmer red dwarf. mobius kinned... morbius forbidden planet. obviously. klein refused to put his kins on it. DID DALA KIN FROM DANGANRONPA

i think at one point we had a half-joking hc where klein gets nauseous if he sees blood

and then that changed to he can't see others blood, only his own

while borous can't see his own blood, but he's fine seeing other ppl's

i know borous said that gabe barked at everyone, but i think gabe trusts the other tanks because he knows borous does

borous set up a kissing booth with gabe. the crowd goes wild

when the tanks get together they usually go to klein's. he's the leader or something. also he has a fucking bar in his house.

he complains about them the whole time but you can really tell he loves having people over. why else would he deck his house out like that? he LOVES hosting stuff. house husband

if you saw my chart where i said klein would rather die than do dishes, i was so wrong. his house is pristine. its easily the cleanest

klein's love language is acts of service. he goes over to his partners' houses when they feel awful and clean stuff up for them when they can't. he also makes them food if they want it. he only complains a little, but you can tell he's mostly teasing

did you know klein has five mugs in his kitchen in-game. he's literally prepared to host his partners at any given moment.

the group have learned that letting 8 come over when their house is a mess is a Huge mistake. it goes from 8 trying to help "tidy up" to "im going to put your books and albums in alphabetical order by artist also your clothes are going to be hue-sorted"

"8 why are there only 8 books on each of my bookshelves"

"it looks better"

"it literally does not"

8 can no longer stomach going into 0's house

on the other hand, 0 hates staying in 8's house. the ticking of all their clocks is sensory hell

on 80 date nights they have to do rock-paper-scissors for which house they go to. or they go out. they love each other but their houses drive the other fucking nuts

oh speaking of their houses. yes dala said she didn't like Literal Teddy Bears but that is null and void considering she has teddies in her house

and she has 5 on her bed. five of them :)

she named all of them after her partners! its mostly cute but there is a slight bit of concern because they know what she does with them <__<

not that 8 has any place to judge. mobius found batteries under its pillow once. all 8 said was "they can vibrate." mobius regrets touching them.

i don't know what to say about dala's mannequins i don't have anything funny im just scared

WHY ARE 0 AND KLEIN THE ONLY ONES WITH BATHROOMS IT DRIVES ME INSANE 0'S BATHTUB ISNT EVEN LAYING DOWN ITS AGAINST THE WALL WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GENERATOR IN HIS BATHROOM DO THE OTHER TANKS JUST SHIT OUTSIDE I'M SEEING RED

mobius and 0 are both into robotics, and they worked together to make muggy, so they've had date nights where they mainly tinker with electronic things.

0 gets very excited when he makes a breakthrough, and seeing that warms mobius's heart. mobius made a habit of kissing 0 on the forehead or squeezing 0 into a hug when they figure things out.

(0 remembers he likes men.) 😳

dala/klein date nights are essentially just them drinking and gossiping chatting

i asked polycule for some more, so here are ones from your local think tank kinnies

borous -

"klein and borous both like classical music in very different ways. klein mostly likes it to feel smart (see: wheatley) but he just started associating it with the others so it felt nicer And borous just likes it bc hes borous"

klein also likes jazz, but so do all the rest of them

8 has a cochlear implant

"dala likes dressing up to look pretty (see: runway) but is personally embarrassed by it (until she gets encouragement) bc she feels like the others dont support that"

"0 loves collecting and reading those stupid magazines with the birthday party products and themes that ud wanna buy from as a kid but are way too expensive"

"mobius has a secret love for puppetry and will try to bring it up sometimes whenever he can. hes made 3 separate sets of the other tanks as puppets and they freak 0 out"

"borous, in an attempt to better his faults, has started learning from dala and 8 on how to take care of plants instead of what he did before. his basement turns into a cool little green house cozy cuddle area"

"to add on: 8 gardens to cope whenever hes alone bc (projects onto ur kin) he mood drops very fast when alone"

"mobius likes dressing in cozy sweaters and fancy stuff"

0 -

"0 doesn't like anal that much" (thanks.)

dala -

"their new rap album called boyz in the tanks" (THANKS.)

and to top things off, :) here are the normal names for them all, created primarily by our borous kinnie

klein - Ernest Klein (nicknamed ernie)

mobius - Wilbert Mobius (nicknamed bert)

borous - James H. Borous (nicknamed jamie)

dala - Dala Theodore (HER NICKNAME IS TEDDY ITS GENIUS)

8 - Emmett Handley (nicknamed 8 + emmy)

0 - Robert O'Barrick (nicknamed 0/O + robbie (HIM SHARING HOUSE'S NAME IS INTENTIONAL. HE'S TRANS HE PICKED HIS NAME WHY DID HE DO THIS))

[13atoms]

Deep Focus: Chapter 2 [Tom Hiddleston x Reader]

Summary: Tom is a successful porn director with a romantic streak which proves very popular with his female audience. His resident porn actress and business partner has been with him through thick and thin, the two of them growing completely inseparable, even as her own career starts taking off.

But working in such close proximity is intense, and burgeoning feelings threaten to complicate their professional relationship.

Mature, smut, porn director!AU, ethical porn production discussion, porn-star-and-coworker!reader. Friends to lovers, slow-ish burn.

This chapter: [6.4k] Ao3 link

For the first time in forever, you were at the studio before Tom.

You couldn’t remember a day he’d been later than you, and you finally started to work alone as the clock ticked past midday. As punishment you sat at his desk, booting up your computer where his usually sat and ignoring the quiet fear that something was wrong.

The studio was too quiet. The kettle was cold. There were no props strewn about the place, no piles of scripts left on every free surface. There wasn’t a random actor there to audition, or tape marking out marks for a future shoot. As you stared out of the office doorway, absorbing the clean, lifeless space, you kind of hated it.

The camera was back where it belonged, the corner you’d shot in yesterday was empty. The lights were all packed away and the space seemed huge again. Like it had yesterday. If you closed your eyes, you could still see the cosy bed in that corner, the place on the floor Tom had sat as he watched you, the heavy black lens that couldn’t distract you from his bright eyes watching you.

Had you done something wrong?

You tapped nervously at your keyboard, opening your inbox just for something to do.

And there was that job offer: staring you in the face. You hadn’t replied yet, still undecided. It was a huge pay check. A one-off gig with a studio you knew Tom didn’t really like. They were… cutthroat. Rough. More traditional in their… treatment of their stars. You knew they were professionals, but the content they produced wasn’t exactly morally what Tom approved of.

The film they wanted you for was brutal. It would be safe, but it would be intense. Probably demeaning. Against the principles Tom stood for. You closed the email again.

The two of you had never thought to discuss exclusivity, and you wondered if it was implied in the working relationship you had. If he just… expected it. You needed to bring it up with him soon. You’d been avoiding the email for long enough.

“What else?” you sighed to yourself, half-expecting one of Tom’s usual snarky replies as you talked to yourself.

The office was silent. Your inbox was boring. You only had one more unopened email. As usual, it was from Tom, though one email was better than the usual half-dozen he sent you every night. It was titled: Approval?

That was the usual process, you approved the videos before they went live. But what was he planning on posting? There wasn’t anything for this week.

Unlisted on his site, you immediately recognised the set from today. The timestamp said forty minutes. For a moment you were gobsmacked, wondering how late Tom had worked to have that footage exported and edited already. Wondering why he’d uploaded it already. And how forty minutes had slipped through your fingers, watched silently.

It was a startlingly quick turnaround. He had to have a reason, he usually did. Yet your hand still shook as you hit play.

You winced at hearing your own voice, seeing yourself so out of control like that. But it all looked good. Scrubbing quickly through the timeline, there was one edit you were looking for. One clumsy edit that would look like a jump-cut, and you feared might ruin the film.

You didn’t see it. Instead, the whole video was uncut, even the moment you were sure he would remove. You looked debauched, ruined, hair messy and your body thoroughly overworked. But you could only look at your face. At the vulnerability, as you looked past the camera, staring at Tom.

Why did he leave that in?

In the moment you hadn’t realised how long you were looking at him, searching for what to do next, desperate for something from him. It was no longer your voice coming from the laptop’s tinny speakers, it was a deeper one. A comforting, soft tone.

“You’re doing amazing,” he said, clear as day. And then, “another one?”

You paused the clip, grimacing at the contorted look of desperation on your own static face, and let your face fall into your hands. Tom was never clumsy. He was a perfectionist. He was never in his own films.

So why had he left that in? You’d have to talk to him about it.

Then you’d have to save this copy of the clip.

Fuck.

The door finally opened, the jingle of Tom’s keys announcing him before he arrived. You didn’t bother to hide your screen.

“Morning,” he greeted, cheery as ever.

“Afternoon,” you returned.

That was his usual joke at your expense. Except he was late for once. He gave you a short laugh, so short you barely recognised it.

“Yeah, I know,” he conceded.

You offered an olive branch; neither of you really cared if the other was late.

“Up all-night editing?”

He hummed approval, barely acknowledging your comments. He’d already glanced over your shoulder as he reached for a folder, not acknowledging that you’d stolen his desk, wordlessly settling in opposite you.

Instead his short nails tapped against the folder, his feet settling against the outer side of the desk, as he seemed to look for the words to say to you.

You’d never noticed how much higher his chair was than your usual one, letting you peer down at him a little. You liked it. And wondered if it was intentional.

“I was surprised you got yesterday’s shoot polished off so quick,” you commented.

He had the nerve to look a little embarrassed.

“It was a good one, I, uh, I thought we could post it today.”

You raised an eyebrow, he kept talking.

“It didn’t even really need editing I mean you were… it was amazing. I think it’ll do really well and –”

He trailed off. You took the chance to interrupt him.

“I think you forgot to edit yourself out. Twenty-eight minute mark.”

You expected him to pull the video up. He just sat there, watching his hands as they tapped across that fucking file.

“You can hear your voice, Tom.”

He finally blinked up at you, and you suddenly realised you hated this. This switched power dynamic. You wanted to give him his big serious job back. Be the annoying, less-serious one who relished in kicking at his desk and winding him up.

This wasn’t fun.

“Is that a problem?” he offered, finally.

Your mouth opened in surprise.

“I mean, it’s your choice. You’ve just never done that before.”

“Hm?”

“I mean, your name’s always there but… you’ve never been in the films before.”

“It’s just my voice,” he brushed it off.

But both of you knew that was a lie.

Because that made him your costar. The person you were… performing to. It made him part of the fantasy itself. You closed the video in front of you. You didn’t need to watch any more. Couldn’t watch any more in front of him.

“Well if that’s all good… then yeah. Send it.”

You couldn’t hide the flatness of your voice, and you caught Tom’s concerned glance. You scooped up your computer before he could say something serious.

“I’ll, uh, give you your desk back,” you smiled, standing to swap seats, “your fancy chiropractic chair is hurting my spine.”

He huffed, but stood to swap places with a good-natured smile. You tried to conceal your jolt of surprise as he brushed past a bit too close. You’d opened your laptop back up again, ready to take on some bullshit task, when Tom reached across to gently close the lid.

“I wanted to talk.”

You set the computer aside, lacing your fingers together instead, your throat closing as you wondered what on earth about. Could he fire you? The seriousness on his face was enough to make you worried.

“What about?”

Your words sounded so flimsy, so much hollower than his rich, clean baritone that you wanted to say them again. Without sounding like a coward.

“Just… yesterday.”

You glanced up once to meet his eyes, but you couldn’t take it. Your focused on the shallow marks your nails left against the back of your hand.

“You seemed unhappy,” he continued, “and although the shoot was great, I just wanted to check in. I ask a lot of you, and I just wondered if it was too much.”

You blinked in surprise, and felt that hot shame rising in your chest. You had a horrible feeling you knew why you’d been so strange. And you couldn’t meet his eyes.

“I’m fine. Sorry, it was an off-day.”

“I’m just worried,” Tom placated, but you only heard concern.

“I can do the job,” you told him firmly. You were close to snapping at him, and you hated yourself for the dismay on his face. “I’ll be back to usual by the next shoot. I think everything being so… quiet… freaked me out.”

Tom closed his eyes, sighing heavily. You were surprised to look up and see his head resting on his knuckles, an unusual agitation in the fidgeting of his body language.

The moment passed in silence, and you watched him in concern. Wondering if you ought to be worried too.

“That was unprofessional. Yesterday. I crossed a line.”

He sounded sombre, so sombre it was jarring. You shook your head, surprised by how seriously he was taking this. How much it seemed to really, really nag at him. You wondered if ‘make it real’ was the nicest direction anyone had ever been given in the entire porn industry.

“You were just directing. We saved a lot of money on production,” you offered, “even if the video’s no good, it was free to make.”

He looked at you seriously, piercingly, and you felt pinned to the chair by the way he appeared to look through you.

“It was the best video we’ve ever made.”

You brushed off the comment. He said that all the time.

“I’m sure it’ll do well –”

“No, it… while I was editing, I just kept thinking… It was good.”

You’d seen his crouch yesterday, the speed he’d sent you off to shower. The memory had accompanied you late into the night. He’d definitely liked the shoot.

You wondered if that meant anything. Maybe not.

When you looked across at Tom, he was beet red.

“If you insist,” you shrugged, keen to move on from the moment.

Tom refused.

“That’s why I’m worried. That was your best work but… I feel like you were upset. Freaked out. If I ever cross a boundary like that you need to tell me. I refuse to be some industry creep, if you want someone else there while we film, or –”

“Who would I have, Tom? There’s no one I trust more than you.”

And suddenly his head was in his hands again, a dismayed groan quiet in his throat, and you wondered if he’d lost sleep over yesterday.

You wondered if he’d lost sleep for the same reasons you had.

“Tell me,” he insisted, words firm. “You have to tell me if I ever make you uncomfortable again.”

“I will,” you promised, “but you didn’t make me uncomfortable yesterday. It’s fine, really. I think I was just – ”

Overwhelmed by you.

“Spaced out.”

He didn’t buy it, but the conversation was going nowhere. You stared out the window behind him. There was nothing out there but a car park, but it was better than trying to work out what was happening in the office.

Tom cleared his throat. You tapped your fingers against your laptop.

That email at the top of your inbox was nagging at you.

“Do you think we need a break?” you offered, and Tom’s head shot up, lines appearing between his eyebrows as he searched your expression.

“What do you mean?”

“The studio. We should shut down for a week. I don’t know, pre-record something. You could book a holiday.”

The wry smile on Tom’s lips told you nothing was further from his mind.

“It could be nice,” he conceded, “only if you promise to take a break too.”

Caught.

“I’ve… I’ve been offered another job.”

Tom took his work seriously. It was his passion. He never accepted the industry for what it was – he dedicated every waking hour to making his work the best. It was the reason his kind, overly-sincere, oversized heart beat.

And in the quiet of the office, you could hear his heart breaking.

“Oh.”

“For one shoot! Not – Jesus – not actually another job. Triple Tricks want me to do a shoot. It’ll be like, one day. And I might need some time off afterwards so we could take the week off.”

Tom had blanched at the mention of Triple Tricks. He had winced at the mention of time off. You studied his face, trying to work out which emotion was seizing hold of him now.

It certainly wasn’t joy.

“Tom?”

He stayed quiet. You hated this schtick. He hated the other studio.

“We don’t have an exclusivity clause, do we? I did try and check.”

“What kind of shoot is it?”

He knew. If you needed time off afterwards, he knew. He was making you say it anyway.

“BDSM.”

You’d be bruised. That much was evident. You’d Googled them, heard of them through peers. But fuck the money was good. It would be zero-preparation. The concept was kind of hot, you thought you could sell it. It wasn’t scripted, you just had to… be a body. This wasn’t what Tom made. But you could still be good at it.

“You know I don’t like it,” he sighed, and you shrugged.

“A pay check is a pay check.”

And that was where you and Tom differed. This was more than money to him.

“Sorry,” you added, the word falling flat as you heard it.

“I can’t stop you, and you’re not exclusive to us, I just…”

“Don’t make it weird, Tom.”

“I do all this, we have this amazing shoot day, and you’re planning on working with ‘Tricks?”

He was being stern. You realised it abruptly, realised it from his growl and his carefully controlled volume, and the white of his knuckles as he clasped them together.

“The money is too good,” you retort, trying to match his firmness, and just feeling cold. The words are an apology.

“I’ve offered you more! If you need it, I can lend you – ”

“You don’t need to ‘lend’ me money, Tom! I earn it. Just like you. And now I can earn more. Wouldn’t you do the same? Name one other actress who only works for one studio.”

“I just want you to be safe.”

You frowned.

“Not as your… director. Or business partner. We’re friends, and they’re bastards over there. I just want you safe.”

“They won’t actually hurt me,” you promise, trying to push away the clips you’d seen online. Not really, you reasoned.

Tom’s expression told you he didn’t believe a word of it. And that he wasn’t just worried about physical pain.

“When’s the shoot?”

“I haven’t said yes yet.”

He sighed.

“You wanted to ask me?”

You nodded, and as soon as you saw his face in his hands, you knew your mind was made up. Tom remained quiet, and you wished you could see the inside of his mind.

“If you’re that against it, I won’t do it.”

The expression of relief on his face as so powerful, you weren’t sure you’d ever forget it. He just nodded, offered you a weak smile, and turned to his computer.

*

You weren’t sure how long you stared at the email you’d written, waiting blankly, as if you could send it telekinetically by staring long enough. It was short, polite, and you really hoped they didn’t test your resolve with a higher counteroffer. But it was done. You couldn’t betray Tom’s morals. Not for less than a very nice car, at least.

Tom had posted the video, you only knew because of your notifications, he’d tagged your work accounts social media accounts in everything to promote it. When you looked up at him, he was waiting to speak to you, hair tousled in the way it was when he absentmindedly tugged at it while he worked.

You could see his apology before you heard it.

“I’m sorry for being harsh. I just – I can’t tell you what to do, but please not them. If it’s another ethical studio you’ve got my blessing, but… not that. I can’t see you like that.”

You knew he couldn’t bear it. You were surprised by the relief you felt, hitting send.

A few minutes later he had made tea, settled in for a day of planning out future videos and not much else. These were your favourite days, just fucking around and dreaming up plots with Tom.

A hand settled on your shoulder as he set your mug in front of you, rubbing a little across the fabric of your shirt. You wanted to lean into his touch.

“You’re getting all of it. The money from that video, I mean. You deserve it.”

You frowned. That wasn’t the deal.

“Halves on everything, remember?”

He didn’t respond, but his hand just stayed there, a comforting weight as he stood over you. You could see his reflection in the window glass, the unusually solemn expression on his face.

“Call it an apology. For you turning down a good pay check.”

You smiled tightly, covering his hand with yours. That seemed to shake him out of his own head, giving your shoulder one last squeeze before he walked away from you.

“You did the edit! It’s your studio,” you protested.

“It’s our studio. And the edit… was a privilege. You made it easy.”

Tom closed the door after he left, busy fussing around with the props cupboard or something. You stared blankly down at your keyboard, wondering what the hell was going on inside his head.

*

As they days passed the incident was forgotten, as your easy friendship with Tom returned. You didn’t hesitate a moment turning down Triple Tricks’ second higher offer, too busy enjoying yourself with Tom. It was just the two of you, preparing for a shoot the next day, sharing the familiar space of the office.

“You’ve seen it a hundred times before!” you laughed, watching as Tom covered his eyes with his palm, his other arm reached out as if to warn you away. Your shirt was already off, bra following as you worked out how to get into the medieval princess costume Tom had ‘invested’ in.

“Not in our office! The bloody windows are open! Anyone could see!”

“Oh no! My modesty!” you mocked, ignoring him as you tried on the outfit, laughing at the tackiness of it.

It certainly was a ‘princess’ outfit, all gauze and corset – definitely not historically accurate – and you wondered where the hell Tom had bought this. You usually sourced costumes, but he’d been insisting on doing more recently. You tried to just appreciate the reduced workload, and ignore the nagging worry that you knew the reasons behind it.

“Help me with the corset?”

Groaning and dramatically uncovering his eyes, Tom circled around the desk to you, already eagerly kicking your jeans off. You’d been ecstatic when Tom told you it arrived, eager to just play dress-up, before the damn thing got ruined.

His fingers traced the edge of the fabric, making sure everything laid comfortably against your skin, and you impatiently waited for him to tighten the back of the bodice. Pointedly ignoring his soft, warm fingertips as they traced the material.

When he tentatively pulled the laces tighter you were pleasantly surprised with his costume choices. It fit like a glove. Rushing to a mirror, you ignored the rush of fondness you felt for the man as he eagerly followed.

“My tits look great!”

He fidgeted, one hand rubbing the back of his neck, and you tried not to relish in the blush painting his cheeks. He did that a lot recently: blushing. It was delightful, to see it reflected in the mirror.

“I, um, yeah.”

Turning to face him, he finally broke into a laugh, hands finding your elbows in that casual way he liked to touch you.

“What’s the end game here? I get fucked by a bunch of knights?”

He snorted, still fussing with the lacing behind you, and you bit your lip as his fingers tested the give of the fabric to make sure you weren’t being crushed.

“You make it sound so romantic. Haven’t you read the script?”

“Not yet. Sorry, Tommy.”

He tugged on the laces suddenly, making you jerk back an inch, grumbling as he laughed. The tightness of the fabric against your torso when he did that didn’t feel half bad. You filed that away for another day.

“What’s your plot then?” you teased, turning to face him.

You hadn’t realised you were practically in his arms, and you saw his gaze shift down from your face for a second before he spoke.

“A competition? For your hand in marriage?”

He crouched teasingly, lifting your hand, and for a split second you wondered if he was actually planning on kissing your knuckles. Nope.

A glance through the open door reminded you why you were here.

“That’s a common fantasy, right?” he faltered, the teasing edge of his voice dulled just a little with questioning.

“Yeah, yeah. For sure. I’m not sure about in porn though.”

He pursed his lips, thinking, as you finally got the hips of the dress situated and stepped into the studio to find a mirror.

He followed you as you examined how your body looked in the costume, and you caught the quirk of his lip as you spun, not hiding your excitement.

“You haven’t asked me what kind of competition,” he taunted. You took the bait.

“What kind?”

“Who can make you cum first?”

For just a moment, you didn’t know what to say. The outfit took on a whole new meaning as you imagined the shoot, where you would be in twenty-four hours’ time.

“You do know the way to a woman’s heart,” you hummed, not quite realising the implication to your words until you’ve said them. “I mean, what makes them tick. That’s hot.”

He chuckled.

“Glad you approve.”

There was a reupholstered chaise in the studio that he’d bought for the shoot, and you’d been enjoying lounging on it. Tomorrow you wondered if you’ve be enjoying it more, or cursing Tom.

Depended on the guys, you supposed.

“Who’ve you got?”

“Three guys, and a girl. Two of the guys are twins, it’s their whole thing. Seems as bit weird, but whatever.”

You frowned. Was that in the budget?

“That’s expensive, and… I don’t know them?”

He looked away from you in the reflection.

“I put it all on the spreadsheets. I didn’t’ want to bother you – ”

God. If he’d fucked up those cashflow statements, you were going to throttle him. He knew it, too. The corset just made you angrier as it restricted your ability to inhale and shout at him.

“They’re going to be inside me, Tom. I’d prefer if you bothered me.”

He winced, and you immediately regretted being so snappy, seeing the tightening of his broad shoulders as he stood beside you in the mirror.

“I… that’s fair. Sorry,”

You let the argument pass, a silent acceptance of his apology as you fidgeted with the costume again. He was trying. You trusted him.

The two of you definitely needed to talk.

“If I’m gonna be a princess I should have a tiara,” you teased lightly, eager to nitpick anything, just for Tom to be wrong.

Instead he smiled, smarmy bastard, disappearing into his office and returning with a tacky jewellery box.

“Your highness,” he held it out to you, and you rolled your eyes, frustrated by how quickly his stupid antics could win you back.

Flipping open the lid of the box, he revealed a surprisingly nice tiara. Certainly more a bit nicer than the plastic prop jewellery you’d expected, though certainly nothing outrageous. He set it delicately on your hair, wary of damaging it. You laughed at it immediately fell half-way out, sitting crooked an inch above your forehead.

“Absolutely majestic,” Tom teased lightly, but you sensed the underlying tension in his voice. An olive branch.

“Good choice,” you approved, reaching up to properly fix the piece in your hair.

In the mirror, you caught Tom beam.

*

The shoot ran perfectly. Like clockwork. Everyone was lovely to you, nothing chaffed, and you wondered if Tom’s guilt was the solution to finally having a problem-free shoot day. Well, aside from that other problem-free shoot day. But the two of you didn’t talk about that, even as the video had exploded in popularity. You were enjoying a healthy income stream from it.

You had no doubt this video would do well too. It had been hot, at least from what you’d seen in the monitor. It was more like Tom’s usual productions, full of reshoots and dialogue and an entire storyline which culminated in you reclined on the chaise, corset shoved below your bust and skirts pushed up.

For a whole afternoon you had just followed Tom’s commands on how much you were supposed to be enjoying the various different fingers, cocks and mouths of your costars. It didn’t escape your notice that he hadn’t written you anything remotely difficult for weeks.

“Lay back and look pretty,” he’d winked to you between conversations with the rest of the cast and crew, and you had smirked from your chaise.

Inwardly, you wondered what the hell was going on.

The tiara had pressed against your scalp as you’d been fucked, and the reminder of Tom’s sweetness made it difficult to keep your gaze on your costars. There was a tall figure behind the cameras seemingly begging for your attention. You realised you had forgotten to react for a few seconds, so distracted by your own thoughts, faking a moan as one of the men shoved just a little too deep into you.

“Wait!”

Fuck.

Tom must have seen you wince. The man – Michael, you forced yourself to remember – nodded to you apologetically, stroking more lube onto himself at Tom’s behest. He was the last of the actors to have a turn at pleasing you, and frankly you were exhausted.

“We can redo that with a close up, then we’ll move on,” Tom was declaring, but your mind was elsewhere, your body in that strange state of physical pleasure and emotional detachment. Your mind was elsewhere.

The chill of the room was getting to you, and you caught yourself shivering as the cameras were moved.

“Okay, sweetheart?”

You nodded, blinking in surprise at the feeling of Tom’s hand cupping your jaw, refusing to meet his eyes. He’d see right through you if you made eye contact. Satisfied, he moved on, behind the cameras again barking the politest orders to prepare for a few close up shots.

Oh, god. Time to go again.

Michael muttered an apology as his hands found your bare breast again, pinching at your nipple to make it harden again, and in that moment of tenderness you saw something familiar in his blue eyes.

“You are beautiful, you know.”

If you closed your eyes, that voice could belong to someone else.

You smiled, surprised by a more genuine sense of arousal settling deep in your stomach. As Michael gently probed a couple of fingers inside of you, testing you were wet enough to take him again, you had to bite back a moan.

He noticed. Of course he did. With a near-clinical curiosity he sought out your g-spot, gently pressing against it, and you felt yourself clench at the light chuckle he made.

“This could be fun,” he whispered to you, and you bit your lip, melting ever so slightly more into the chaise as he withdrew his fingers with a final stretch, rubbing a few hard circles on your clit as he left.

When Tom called action, you barely heard. You were too busy thinking about how much you actually wanted what was about to happen next. This wasn’t just fun, or pleasure. You needed it.

All the shot called for was Michael fucking you. He had to be ‘the best’ as Tom’s script had dictated. You weren’t aware he would be quite such a good fit for the role. He teased you with few shallow thrusts before doing what the shot demanded, his thick cock spearing into you in a way that made you gasp for air and clench at the sheer size of him.

He was grunting, saying something which fitted Tom’s storyline, but all you could do was take him. You were focusing on breathing, on reacting, you had no memory of what the script had said. You could barely remember his name. His fingers on your clit were giving you plenty of reason to forget everything, surprisingly dexterous as he fucked into you with the same pace as those tight little circles which were driving you closer and closer to forgetting you were on camera.

“Go on, sweetheart.”

That wasn’t in the script. It wasn’t even for the microphones. As he fucked you into the chaise, one hand bracing and the other working your clit like it was actually part of his job, Michael whispered only to you. And fuck, you could have sworn that ‘sweetheart’ sounded identical to how Tom said it.

You tried. You tried to be professional, to wait for instruction to fake an orgasm, but damn it Michael was good. He was pounding into you and pleasuring your clit and talking like that, and before you knew it he was pausing slammed inside of you so you could moan through an orgasm. With your eyes screwed shut and your senses overwhelmed, you clung to him, desperate for him not to stop with those damn circles on your clit, damn whatever the script called for.

In your most impressive acting to date, you remembered to moan the character’s name as your pussy continued to clench and spasm, Michael pulling out to finish messily on your stomach as you remained in a daze.

When the crew finally called cut you barely had the energy to sit upright.

And through it all, you wondered if Tom liked the shoot.

There was a typical shuffle as the crew packed up, as Tom paid the actors and bid them goodbye, typical chatter and panting and offers of water and showers which everyone declined. It took less than quarter of an hour for everyone to leave, and you barely moved from the chaise. In a robe, clutching an unopened water bottle, you were left in a silent room. The locking of the door, Tom’s footsteps. The dull ache inside you and the numbness that seemed to overcome you during every shoot lately.

Ever since that one damn solo video –

“Can I join you?”

“Of course.”

You moved your robe to let Tom side beside you, wincing for his nice trousers as he sat beside you on the sweat-stained burgundy velvet. You knew you should talk, say something lighthearted, move to face him, something.Your mind felt a million miles away as the cushion beneath you shifted with Tom’s weight, his solid body faintly comforting beside you.

“This needs cleaning,” he mused, no real urgency in his tone.

He was testing the waters.

Reply, you mind screamed. Your face fell to your hands, a deep sigh leaving your lungs. Tom fidgeted, fingers on the velvet between you, not quite ready to reach out.

“Are you okay, love?”

“Tired.”

One strong arm wrapped around you, making your robe shift against your warm skin, and you leant into Tom without a second though.

“What’s wrong?”

His voice dropped to a murmur, and you wanted to cry. And you weren’t sure why. Fuck.

“I’m really not sure,” you admitted, “I don’t know, Tom.”

Your voice caught as you spoke, tears threatening your eyes, and you could practically feel the change in Tom as realised how upset you were. His whole body shifted, pulling you against him, leaning back on the chaise and holding you to his side. You turned your face against the plane of his chest, makeup no-doubt ruining his white shirt, leaning your entire upper body on him.

And to your horror, you realised you were crying.

Tom said nothing. He just held you while you ruined his shirt with slow, quiet tears.

Then it was over. Out of your system. And Tom was still there, warm and strong and underneath you. You cleared your throat, pushing off him until you were just leaning against him, sitting under your own strength.

For the brief second you could looked to his face, you saw open worry on his features. You looked away again quickly, guilt filling you at the distress you were causing him. You wiped at your eyes, embarrassed. It had been minutes, but you had sobbed on him, still reeking of sex, barely covered by a robe. You tried to be subtle as you hid your face from him.

“How is this my life,” you muttered, pleasantly surprised as Tom broke out into a nervous laugh.

He stopped as you glanced at him, but you shot him a smile, careful to try and rebuild your sense of stability as he watched you. And not be an emotional wreck. You winced as you shuffled in your seat, twisting so you could talk.

“Overwhelming?”

You nodded.

“That’s an understatement.”

“You did brilliantly today,” he told you earnestly, “I’m sorry it was such a long shoot. One of those overproduced ones today, you know. Too many moving parts.”

You smiled, trying to conceal your amusement.

“I am well aware.”

“Right.”

You loved the pink dusting his cheeks as he looked down to his lap, a self-depreciating laugh on his lips.

“Sorry,” he murmured, “if it makes you feel any better, I think I’m going to be editing this for the rest of my life. We’ve almost run out of SD cards, there was so much footage.”

You snorted.

“It’ll be, like, three hours editing max.”

“It’ll be forever,” he whined, “I’m going to die editing.”

He was being a drama queen, one hand on his face and the other wrapped around your shoulder as he acted up. Trying to make you laugh. Just the sweetness of the gesture was enough to make you feel better.

“We can do it together, grab some takeaway, make a day of it,” you offered.

Tom looked ready to argue, to give you more time off, but instead his shoulders softened and he nodded.

“That sounds great, love.”

For a second the two of you looked around the studio, the empty space and the dents in the floor which had accumulated over the years, the white walls and the scattered equipment. The strange space which had started to feel like a second home, after all the time you’d spent here together.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

His words were quiet, laced with concern that he tried to dress in a light-hearted cadence, lips near the crown of your head as he asked.

“Overwhelmed,” you reassured him, “just tired. I just got a bit emotional. I’ll be fine, though. Just needed a cry, I think.”

“I can understand that.”

You wondered if he could. If he’d let you be there for him, comfort him like he’d comforted you. You hoped he would. The smudge of your makeup on his shirt was barely noticeable, and he batted you away as you tried to rub at it.

“It’ll come out.”

“It won’t,” you promised, and Tom rolled his eyes.

“It can go to the costume department then.”

“’Department’,” you snorted, gesturing to the tiny props room.

Tom’s hand on your shoulder tightened playfully, a more pleasant quiet settling over the two of you this time, both of you lost in thought. He interrupted your daydreaming suddenly, with an awkward clearing of his throat and a roll of his shoulders before he spoke.

“Can you be honest with me? It won’t affect how incredibly highly I think of your skill.”

You knew the question Tom was about to ask, and frankly you were surprised he had brought it up at all. But you sighed, nodded against him. Your pussy still ached.

“Yes?”

“Did Michael make you… orgasm? At the end there?”

You nodded, lips pressed tightly together, and waited for Tom’s reaction. It was understated. He pulled his arm a little tighter around your shoulder.

“Wow.”

His response made you laugh, and he joined you, astounded.

“Good for Michael.”

“I know, right? I hope you paid him a bonus.”

Tom huffed.

“For distracting my lead? I don’t think so.”

“’Distracting?’” you teased, “I think you mean ‘helping’. You know I’m not that good at acting.”

“Nonsense,” he chided.

You shoved your shoulder against his slightly, and he exhaled dramatically in complaint, though you were sure he’d barely felt it. His thumb snaked further across your shoulder, kneading into the tense muscle of your neck. He was being serious again, and you felt yourself stiffening even under the touch of his hand.

“I, um, I owe you an apology. I should have consulted you more on the script. Checked what you were okay with, let you choose actors. And the budget… it’s over. I think it’s worth it but I –”

His hand had stilled on your neck, and you found it hard to distract yourself from the feeling of it against your robe.

“Tom it’s fine. Just… don’t do it again, you know?”

“Of course.”

He really meant it. You loved that about Tom. He always really meant it. That made it more fun to tease him, too.

“Although I do enjoy you going so easy on me recently,” you teased, knee bumping his.

You felt his chuckle as clearly as you heard it, tinged with awkwardness at being caught.

“You’re getting famous these days, can’t have you running off to someone else because I didn’t treat you well enough.”

“Tom…”

“I’m serious!” he protested, and you realised suddenly that he was really worried.

Worried you would leave him. Professionally, of course.

“Besides,” he continued, “why would I make you do anything worse than you have to?”

He wasn’t just talking about the books. Those emails from the BDSM studio had shaken him more than you’d realised. He’d read the second offer, raising his eyebrows at the number after you left your phone flat on the desk, and you wished he hadn’t seen it.

You half expected him to start forcing cash into your hands before you left, he was so desperate to compete. But you didn’t work with him for the money.

“This is my job, Tom. I’ll do whatever I have to.”

He sighed.

“I know, and you’re amazing at it, don’t get me wrong. But you shouldn’t have to do more than you want. Your numbers are great, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep going. We can get more people on board, you can work less – “

You frowned, and he picked up on your worry immediately.

“I’m not firing you! I just think, you’re so good off camera too, and we make so much…”

Fidgeting on the chaise until you could speak face to face, you found his forehead lined with worry, and insecurity painting his face which didn’t suit him in the slightest.

“I’ll tell you if I’m unhappy,” you promised, “but I don’t need to be wrapped in cotton wool, I’m fine.”

He didn’t believe you. You didn’t believe you. As his thumb started to smooth across your shoulder soothingly, you tried not to think too much about why.

“I don’t want you being uncomfortable – or worse – when you don’t have to be.”

You cleared your throat, coughing as you swallowed awkwardly, and winced at the immediate distress on Tom’s face.

You knew both of you were reminded of the same moment, of Tom rushing into a shot, of the actor who’d accidentally gone too far, not noticing he was ramming his cock into your throat too hard until you gagged and coughed and coughed. You’d been watery-eyed and coughing an hour later, long after Tom had called the shoot off and wrapped you in a robe, and then into his arms. He’d pulled you close on the couch in his office, muttering apologies into your hair until you hadn’t wanted to hear the word sorry ever again, your voice hoarse as you promised and promised it wasn’t his fault.

It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but both of you had almost quit that day.

Your throat had hurt for weeks. Tom had been angry for longer, blaming himself as though something a thousand times worse had happened. On the chaise, he was holding you like that again.

Like you needed his comfort. His protection.

You often wondered if it was the other way around. Like he needed to feel like he was protecting you.

“We don’t have to do that anymore,” he soothed, “we can just let you enjoy shoots. I know they’re work but –

One word stuck like shrapnel into your chest.

We.

On the chaise, Tom was reaching for your water bottle, opening it for you and silently imploring you to drink. If only for his sanity.

Between gulps you insisted: “I’m fine.”

He didn’t believe you.

“Go and shower, love. I’ll drive you home.”

[charg3e]

Siege-o-ween Day 6!

‘She’s an angel’,Yumiko thought the first time she laid eyes on her. Her. Nienke Meijer, the newest engineer that arrived at Rainbow.

Looking back, she should have noticed it a lot sooner. The way Nienke had talked about the existence of God, the likeness of her and Mark when it came to the doings of Him, the arguments she had with the devout Olivier. She talked about it as if she had been there, seen the actions He had taken, the curses and blessings He had thrown upon humanity.

The way she got along with the explorer, Sanaa, explaining the histories and cultures of far off lands despite, on her travel records, never travelling there in the first place. The ways she had looked at the sky in distaste and longing when she first asked Yumiko to join her on the rooftop.

With a tempting smile on her lips as she chose to explain the constellations instead of whatever had haunted her living among them.

The mission that she barely survived and yet, Nienke came out of it injured yet recovered nonetheless. A horrible mission that no human would have survived, discounting Zofia of course, even then one would not have come out of it without career ending injuries.

_________________________________________________________________

The cool suburban winds made Yumiko shiver even in her jacket, as she made her way to the back trench of the building. The sleek building towering over her was darkened, blending in with its surrounding of dim lights and various abandoned family owned businesses. If it weren’t for the intel provided by the one and only Aria de Luca, ‘infiltrator extraordinaire” according to Nienke.

The admiration and relationship between Aria and Nienke made her jealous sometimes, the easygoing way they talked to each other and their ‘secret’ language that Yumiko didn’t understand. It was Latin, as she later heard from Adriano.

Shaking the personal emotions away, Hibana put her gun on low alert and checked the window, jumping in when her partner gave her the all clear to jump in. Her partner, Maxim “Kapkan” Basuda had been holding the small site with his Entry Denial Devices and gave her a gruff, “About time you got here.” as she vaulted in.

No more time for quips however, she had to hot drop to the basement, clear it, and disable the security cameras for the other attacker who would infiltrate the top floor on the north side.

“Dropping in!”

She landed on the cold white tiles, or, at least that was what she expected.

She landed on a pile of skeletons, time to panic as she realised quickly that they were made of plastic. She could tell from the clacking sound of the bones, hollow and not only that, smooth to the touch.

The sound made from her abrupt fall as well as the hissing of the X-kairos quickly bought the attention of the festive terrorists. Dressed as frankenstein (the doctor) was one wearing a gas mask, who seemed to have the highest ranking. With one fell swoop of his hand and a shout of

“Surround her!”

The terrorists, each wearing what seemed to be the reverse bear traps from SAW, sprinted around the SAT operative. All seemed to be in the opposition’s favour, until an impact round was heard from above and they all looked up. Taking this chance, Hibana shot at the doctor, downing him and proceeding to lob a bullet in the others head. Her Type-89 quickly ran out of shots with its measly 21 bullet magazine. As she quick swapped to her Bearing-9, she turned the her final enemy behind, whipping it out and aiming for their chest-

Click

“...kuso”

The moment of painful regret of forgetting to reload her machine pistol was quickly forgotten, as Maxim jumped down and landed a knife on the target’s head. The terrorist stared with rage, but quickly started to panic, his screams were muffled as he pulled out the knife from his, now-missing, eye.

“No, no, nonononono-”

The whirring of a loaded spring was made more evident with each pull, the tick tock sound emanating from the hoodie wearing being getting louder, and like a jack in the box.

The skin on his face opened up, jaw slamming up and snapping grotesquely. The body fell to the floor and the shaking of the body had Maxim shooting it with the SASG-12 to put the poor boy out of his misery.

“What a cruel way to go. Is it not?”

The Doctor rose up behind them, despite wearing a blood soaked shirt and Hibana being very certain that she had hit them on the side of the neck, they seemed perfectly fine.

“That one was a failed experiment if a Russian got to him”

The intonation made Kapkan seeth,

“Do not insult us.”

The bullet from his PMM sidearm barely pierced the skin of the Doctor’s trachea, as they pulled it out of their skin. Their eyes contained mirth and a sense of wonderful curiosity when they turned and raised both their arms in the air,

“If you two are here, that must mean that the third party is upstairs yes? Oh I certainly hope it's Iana, I haven’t seen her in centuries!”

That struck a chord within Yumiko’s heart,

They knew.

“She has escaped from me so many times… the bird should have her wings clipped. No, perhaps I shall remove them entirely, rip them into shreds like I did with her last family. Maybe I’ll go after Iona after. Yes. That is what I shall do.” The Doctor clenched his fists in conviction , turning to look back at them.

“Worry not, my only target is her. Feel free to leave before I clip her wings and we die in a fiery explosion together.”

Maxim was very much done with the Doctor’s talk, but the bullets dealt no damage. Tactical retreat was a term to exist no?

“Hibana, call the operative, we will be leaving”

“But the mission-”

“Live to fight another day, no one lives nearby anyways”

The Doctor laughed.

“Live, live to tell the tale of how you escaped Kaelan. The Hunter of Angels and Doctor of the deranged.”

The duo from the basement left through the tunnel, but when they got out and tried to contact Nienke, the third operative of the mission.

Connection lost.

___________________________________________________________________________

The beeping of the phone was not a good sign, not with Iana still on the top floor of the building with no way to get down. Hibana was worried, Iana was stuck in there, with a psychopathic unkillable creature that was hunting her.

Now that she had time to think to herself, maybe she could sort this out in her head.

‘So, there is a being that is unkillable, hunts angels, puts people in freaking death traps and proclaims themself as a doctor. They’re hunting Iana, or what they know as Iana, as well as an “Iona”. So this means Iana is an angel? In a literal sense? We need to find this “Iona” and put whoever they are in our custody for their protection. What in the world did this turn out to be-”

Before she could complete her train of thought with the profanity, an explosion that sent the smell of smoke through the tunnel into her nostrils knocked her out of it. Kapkan stood beside her, holding up a blue phone that defenders had when detonating C4. The smile under his mask couldn’t be seen, his hands pushing the device back into his coat as he dusted himself off with the other.

The crackling of Hibana’s phone had her pausing in her silent scream at Kapkan, Iana’s slightly panicky voice could be heard through the speakers,

“What was that explosion? Where are you all, I can’t find you on the radar, are you both outside now?”

“Yes, there was someone inside telling us to leave, They’re going after you Iana, get out immediately. There might be explosives planted-”

“This is unfortunate but, I am surrounded with explosives and it appears they have all been armed to detonate in 3 minutes. I suppose this is where we say our goodbyes.”

That was the last thing Yumiko had expected Nienke to say, the word goodbye was not something that she wanted to say, not yet. She had so many questions that were yet to be answered, but only one was truly tickling at the back of her mind.

“Nienke, are you an angel?”

“Because I look like I fell from the heavens? You’ve used that before Yumi, and I don’t think now is the time for pick up lines.”

“I meant, legitimately.”

“I’ve told you yes every time you asked Yumi, you just never took it in a literal sense.”

A blast could be heard from the east wing of the building, the rustling of Iana’s shirt could be heard as she flew up the stairs.

“Sorry Yumi, I’m going to have to cut this one short.”

“Wait-”

The flatline beep of the hung up call sent dread into Yumiko’s heart. Maxim took notice of her heading back down the tunnel and rushed to pull her back.

“Are you crazy? This place is about to explode, calm down. She will hopefully find a way out by herself. You may be shocked but if that clouds your judgement what good are you.”

“Excuse me. I just found out my best friend and love of my life isn’t human and you’re criticizing me for being shocked?!”

“Well yes, I just specified that.”

Kapkan had to carry the thrashing SAT operator over his shoulder as he ran to their emergency transport vehicle, leaving Iana alone on the rooftop to fight.

____________________________________________________________________________

The rooftop was chilly, but Nienke never cared much for temperatures. The Doctor jumped up the hatch she opened for med-vac, a smile plastered in his eyes as he whipped out an engraved knife and pointed it at her.

“Angel Iana, I’m not going to kill you today. I’ll just take what I need and be on my merry way.”

“Oh gee thanks Kaelan, you’re not going to get it that easy.”

“Show me those wings, and I’ll show you my claws. A fair fight is all I ask for.”

Naivety.

A word that could be used to describe Iana at this moment. She kneeled to the ground as her body contorted, bone sprouting from her back as blood pooled around her shoulder blades, the liquid coating her feathers and turning them black.

She was so naive, she had thought she would be given a chance to turn, a chance for fair fight with the hunter.

She was wrong.

____________________________________________________________________________

The knife went in deep, crimson blood spilling over as Nienke fell to the ground, unable to move from the excruciating pain.

“You honestly thought I was going to fight fair. Ha, you never learn.”

The blood they collected with the knife was sucked into a test tube using a mechanism. Kaelan giggled in glee at the sight of it, squealing and jumping around on the roof.

“That was your blood, Angel. I still require your wings for my project.”

The knife shifted as they sliced back down her back, and she fought the pain in a burst of rage. Jumping onto them and ripping the vial out of their hands and kicking them to the side,

“I’ll never allow you to find a way back to heaven, Kaelan.”

The excited giggles from Kaelan ceased, they looked at her with rage and despair.

“I have lost so much because of you. I am stuck here because of YOU.”

Kaelan let out wings of their own, gray and torn apart, yet still able to fly for short distances.

“This is your fault.”

____________________________________________________________________________

The fight was anticlimactic, as there was little to no fight at all. Iana sidestepped when Kaelan threw a punch at her, jumping off the roof and letting her wings spread. She tried maintaining her focus as she aimed for the vehicle, but her eyes and wings were weakened from the bloodloss. Kaelan has chased after her, but as they went to celebrate an early victory, having dug a fire poker into her back, they were struck down with a kick as Iana flew up and dropped down on them.

“Goodbye.”

Nienke could fester no more energy as she glided towards the moving vehicle, barely able to land on top of it as the building exploded in the distance. Hibana and Kapkan had heard the drop, and as Maxim hit the brakes and Yumiko turned around. Nienke pulled out the fire poker through her chest, holding it up in a way one would admire a spear, wings dark yet contrasting the starry night.

“How’s that for a halloween night?”

The smirk fell alongside her body and the jaws of the other two operators as she collapsed onto the back of the truck.

[spacegayparty]

Heart-warming Tea and belated Arrivals (Oneshot)

Pairing: Logan x Roman/Logince. (minor: thomas x Patton, Sleepxiety)

Summary: It was supposed to be a sleepover before starting a road trip together but instead, a bunny ruined it all and left Logan and bear with the unbearable: each other... unless-

Tags: bunny mention, mentions of an injury, biting mention, rabies and hospital mention, mentions of Virgil being panicky, jealousy, mutual pining, alcohol, drinking, wine, food mention, cooking, passing of time, kissing, onesies, mentions of frogs, mentions of dragons and unicorns

ao3

My KoFi  - Support me ♥ or Commission me

Story under the cut

A foot tapped. Up and down, up and down.

The clock was running, ticking. It was deafening in the stretching moments of silence.

Finger pads rubbed against a resistant fabric. Back and forth, back and forth.

Unaffected, the clock kept running. Its arms lethargically jumped from one to another number. One, two, three, four seconds.. five.. A sigh, followed by a groan. Two different sounds, two different people. Tic, toc. Tic toc.

It was 9.13 pm.

Roman shifted, shifting one leg over the other for a moment only to discover the tapping was not as satisfying without a ground underneath his foot. Logan let his fingers trace over his watch and patted it as if touching a device to show time could actually influence its course. Long legs glanced over at Mr. Watch who caught him. They both averted gazes.

9.16 pm.

Notification sounds chimed loudly. Vibration could be heard and spiked up hands grabbed their phones to check for the important messages they were all waiting for. The relief was so great, for a moment, the clock was mute to their worlds.

***

9.11 pm

Pattoncake: We didn’t forget about you! Just a few issues, nothing to worry about!”

9.16 pm

Pattoncake: Uh... so, we found a cute little bunny and I wanted to pet it and Virgil told me not to and it bit me and I am bleeding and Virgil is freaking out and driving really fast but we are on our way to get me checked because Virgil said this might be rabies. Pattoncake: I don’t think i have rabies but we took the bunny with us. Sorry, kiddos! I am fine and Virgil will be fine! I will sing with him, so he calms down.

*Prince Roman and Logan are typing*

9.17 pm

Logan: It is responsible to have foresight. Take care of the injury and calm down Virgil, if possible. It is advisable to drive when in a calm state. If Virgil needs time, maybe call a cab.

Prince Roman: Stay safe, padre! We shall defeat any and all disease if necessary! If you need someone to drive in place of our stormy knight, I will jump in for you!

Pattoncake: I am okay! We are there, gotta go before Virgil carries me! *chuckles* Love you!

***

Roman squinted at his exchange of messages. This could not be everything. A mortal bunny had dared to injure his friend, ruining their whole get-together! He had been so delighted all day and he needed it, he deserved it! Why was the world so mean to leave him stuck with the nerd when he has had such a horrible time all day! He wanted to sneer at life, at this situation. A foul feeling within him prevented him from following his easy whims. It sucked all energy out of him.

Stupid nerd..

Said nerd himself was similar in terms of thoughts. His apathetic stare into nothingness seemed more tense then usual, his shoulders pulled up in discomfort at the situation. Glasses were adjusted almost obsessively while calculating meticulously just how and when the others could be back and whether it was worth it.

They had travelled back home to Virgil’s apartment and Roman as much as Logan were much further away from their respective homes. Roman wanted to do some travelling and perhaps look out for some career-related things while Logan had returned because he wanted to use the extended weekend to meet his friends. Together, they had agreed to have one sleepover at Virgil’s and one at Patton’s. Inherently, Virgil’s home was supposed to be the meeting point for a comfortable night in preparation for a small road trip.

Logan only wanted to see his best friends again but now he was stuck. He was stuck with Roman and it was too early to go to sleep, even for him.

“We could prepare a few things for them-”

“Shut it, nerd. You already eyed the whole kitchen Virgil has probably deep-cleaned before. If you want the dude to have a full mental breakdown, you can’t mess with his shit or he will cry or something.”

His words, his tone. They were as sharp as his cheekbones. The fire was burning in his eyes and it came all towards Logan.

“I meant we could cook for them. It is past dinner time and they will need sustenance upon return.”

The contrast between burning Roman’s fierce tongue and Logan’s nonchalant commentary was stark. It was like two different worlds clashing together. Out of all people, Roman just had to get stuck with the least fun person in their group. Logan was okay. He was handsome, decently dressed but he was so stuck-up. The dude was literally wearing a necktie to a sleepover with friends! They usually wore onesies! Roman was in his dragon onesie and he felt stupid because of him.

“I mean, yeah, whatever.”

The two got up into the kitchen, a neat space. Roman was right, this room was meticulously cleaned. The taller one noted to himself that Virgil had to be sleepless from at least cleaning through a whole night. That was for sure.

“Oh, what the hell-”

Logan perked up. His eyes had been lost in the details of admiring how perfectly clean everything was. A part of him assumed Virgil did not use the kitchen after cleaning it. Probably too busy or worried about ruining “everything”. The smaller friend was focusing on something else instead. He had his gaze fixed on the fridge, particularly a photograph on it. It was Virgil and his roommate - Remy - who was currently out of state to visit someone else.

“What’s the matter, Roman?”

Logan’s direct voice cut right through to Roman.

“Can you believe this? Logan, they are dating. Virgil did not tell us shit. They are abso-fucking-lutely dating.”

The nerd squinted at the photograph. Roman snatched it off the fridge and examined it.

“Yes, definitely. Clean your glasses, specs. This is a pair of dating pals.”

At last, he handed it over to Logan who adjusted his glasses to sit exactly where they had resided before. The photograph was one of these instant photographs, he believed the term was polaroid. There was nothing too peculiar about the photo, just Virgil and another person in front of a fountain. They looked at one another, holding hands

“They are holding hands, Roman. I do not know whether this is indicative of a relationship. We all hold hands with Patton a lot and cuddle. Speaking of which, you give anyone but me a lot of kisses which would usually be seen as a rather romantic gesture.”

Something in Logan felt off. His words seemed more fired up and he adjusted his glasses once more, hiding away the hard glance in his button eyes. He rushed past Roman and reached for one of the bottles of wine around.

“We can prepare sandwiches for everyone.”

...Well, that was something. Roman almost wanted to believe there was jealousy burning in Logan’s eyes when he tried to open the bottle. Whatever. The theatre student busied himself with finding the necessary ingredients for sandwiches. Cheese, ham, salad, mustard, cream cheese, gherkins, and tomatoes. Oh - and the sandwich toast, of course.

He placed all things on the kitchen counter where Logan still resided in intense fury as he tried to stab a cork.

“Hold on, calculator watch. I got this for you.”

Roman approached the other from behind, in complete disregard for personal space and put his hands around him. He placed his fingers on Logan’s and softly tugged them around the bottle’s neck and the its opening. There was a heavy fight in his limbs and he could feel cold anger radiate from him. Not that it mattered. He wanted this wine, too. If they were to stay with one another for even another minute, he would need to numb his system.

“Let me help you, Logan.”

At once, the nerd loosened his grip and turned his head just enough to glance at Roman for just a minute. Their eyes met, ever so softly gazing at one another. It felt like a deja-vu. His heart was yearning. For a moment, they just looked at one another. Logan’s neck tickled. His skin was covered in delightful goosebumps. The wine at their hands might have been still but Roman’s heart was sparkling like fireworks in the sky.

“Do it, then.”

Demanding as always, Roman thought. For a moment he had been lost in the charm of Logan - not that there was too much of this. Still... it was a mesmerising experience. Instead of falling for these siren-like songs Logan sang with his eyes, he carefully used the corkscrew to push it deeper through the cork and then, he carefully pulled the remaining pieces out.

Not perfect but just good enough.

“Thanks.”

He could hear the eye roll. Maybe he wanted to hear it, rather than listen to his tell-tale heart. Glasses clang together, rattling. Liquid flowed into glasses and Roman was handed a rather filled glass of red wine.

“You think Virgil would not tell us about his partner- or partner?”

Swish. Logan turned around, wine in hand and mischief in his eyes.

“Why would you think so?~”

The taller one stared down at Roman and sipped his drink. It was as red as his heart or Roman’s racing thoughts. He shifted and cleared his throat before rewarding himself with an idea for stalling.

“How about a toast? Don’t you have manners?”

Logan rolled his eyes. It was in his whole face which seemed to sneer at him. Despite the reaction, he stepped closer and reached out to let their glasses’ rims meet.

“To Remy.”

“Who is Remy?”

“The person you assume to be Virgil’s partner. The one on this photograph -”

“I get it, I get it.”

Roman took a big sip.

“I’m just glad Virgil is dating someone. Like, wow, I was worried he would get it on with Patton.”

Alarm rushed over Logan’s face but he caught it quickly and drowned it in a face of wineglass. Their glasses were almost half empty already.

“I don’t want to sound as if I was against our friends dating but I, too, was worried about our group dynamic suffering from imbalance.”

Eyes rolled once more but it seemed .. so sassy all of a sudden. It gave Roman a smile.

“Also, I really am glad they didn’t move together.”

Logan nodded hard.

“Good luck we found Thomas. Wait, actually - you found him, did you not? It was a good choice to introduce him to Patton after one of your plays.”

Warmth bubbled up in Roman’s big chest.

“You-you really think so?”

Genuine eyes locked with Roman’s blurry honey orbs.

“Of course. You found a rather kind person and successfully introduced him to someone who would like him. Thomas and Patton are a cute couple.”

The other snickered and turned around to start preparing some sandwiches. Patton and Virgil would probably be thankful. After he had seen the kitchen, he was even more so convinced that Virgil needed a break. He was quite for a while. Roman continued on his wine, drinking faster than wine should be enjoyed but the mood had him look into the glass like into the howling abyss.

“They are a cute couple..”

The smaller student joined in, silently putting his near-empty glass down. He cut the cheese slices and tomatoes and gherkins patiently.

“Of course they are! Patton is an absolute sweetheart. He is the cutest of the group. How could you not love him?”

Tic toc. Tic toc.

“I guess you are right. He is the loveliest in this group.”

9.57 pm.

Logan finished his glass and poured himself more but only took a few tentative sips before emptying the bottle into Roman’s glass.

“Lo-” “Ro-”

The two looked at one another. Shock froze the room. They were stuck staring. Mouths agape and fingers grabbing into the air. Bodies turned to one another but nobody leaned in.

“Uh- mayonnaise. We should make some with mayonnaise. Patton really likes them with mayonnaise.”

“Ah, yes.”

Disappointment darkened Logan’s voice. It edged on hoarse by now. He wordlessly retrieved a whole jar of mayonnaise. It was unopened. Bought for Patton only. Logan made no more attempts at communication, downed the rest of wine instead and opened the jar.

“Woah there, you worried about Patton that much?”

The nerd nearly hissed at this. Bile burned his tongue. He didn’t even have the heart to miss one of his best friends amidst this situation.

“How about you sit down, Logan. I can finish the rest. You did so much already-”

Roman approached him, his arms finding their way around Logan who violently stepped back.

“Don’t touch me!”

He pulled away, his eyes wide. Logan hugged himself, his back pressed against the wall behind him. His eyes vaguely glanced at the fridge, the picture of Remy and Virgil burning into his mind.

Life wasn’t fair!

“Logan -”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this. I- I have made a mistake with this. My apologies, Roman.”

“What do you mean?”

Logan pushed himself off the wall. His steps were unusually uncoordinated, his vision hazy and delayed. He had not eaten, he had drank a good glass of red wine and for all he knew, he was tall and lanky, even a bit more so than Roman.

“Logan, please talk to me. Don’t just go - what are you doing? What is wrong?”

Worry rose in Roman. He knew he usually picked fights with Logan, he would challenge and fight him on any and all points he ever made but seeing him like this? This was torture. Roman did not hate Logan, he just did not know how to connect to him and when he got close, Logan pushed him away like this.

“I am leaving. I - I think I will sleep in a hotel or whatever. I will leave you space, so you can have fun with Patton.”

The theatre lover stepped back a bit.

“What do you mean by that.”

His sentence was a question but he stated it, almost like a threat. Logan held onto the door frame for support and barely tilted his neck enough to glare at the other. They were blurry with pearls of tears and pure hurt.

“If you have an appreciation for Patton of that kind, maybe you shouldn’t have come. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to you speak about this. It is for the best we both go home and forget about this.”

He turned to leave, his dark blue shirt rubbing together and creating a sound so painful, Roman did not know such harm could exist outside of tragic plays.

“What are you - What are you insinuating. I d- I don’t like Patton this way if you mean that.”

Logan seemed to care about his drunk strive more than anything. He kept walking, feet stepping into nothingness and leading Logan into walls, furniture and so on. He was a dead man walking.

“Fuck it, me-me....figuratively..”

Logan stumbled and fell onto the couch, luckily. A few steps aside and he would have met the table or maybe just the floor. None of which were as pleasant as meeting the couch face-first. Roman was head on his tail.

Thump thump.

Tic toc.

10.38 pm.

“Logan, are you okay?”

The nerd grumbled. His body slowly wiggled away from Roman but stopped when his height took in the length of the couch.

“Go away..”, he mumbled into the soft cushions.

“No way. You tell me what’s wrong. Are you hurt at all?”

A soft head shake.

Roman squinted at the sight but at least Logan answered him, somewhat. A weird suspicion stirred up inside of him. It was like the foreshadowing in books. Something was about to happen and he felt as if he had enough clues to know where this was going.

“Come on, let me help you. You got sleeping things with you?”

Logan curled up and made a little sound.

“I will get it for you, just wait.”

He didn’t know what was going on but he took it. Logan was talking to him again. Maybe he just had a bad phase or was caught up in a bad headspace? When he was in a bad place or remembered shit things, he often snapped at others. Not that this was a good thing, it just happened and sometimes it was difficult to keep things in line. To be fair, it was a little exciting to see Logan show some feelings. Even if it was those kind of feelings people usually didn’t want to see. It gave Roman a funny sensation inside. It was like a warm comfortable hug for his brain. He was the only one who could do that. Logan yelling? Only he could do that and he had developed an odd pride for it.

Roman got to the bedroom and swiftly got to the deed of sniffing around in Logan’s things. Figuratively - oh no. Now he also started with this insanity as well. Well, a little clarity never hurt anybo- What was this? He pushed his fingers deeper into Logan’s bag and slowly pulled out.. a onesie. The unicorn onesie he had gifted him last Secret Santa.

Butterflies tickled his stomach from the inside and Roman found himself smiling, eyes wet. Logan had not forgotten. He did not.. he did not hate it or him at all. Roman hugged the onesie to himself. It was supposed to be a little fun gift, not too serious. It smelled of the other so much, it had Roman convinced he had worn it before.

Slowly, he detached himself from the fabric and brought it over to Logan.

“Hey..”

Logan was sitting by now, rubbing his temples and groaning.

“My apolog-”

“Logan.”

The nerd stopped himself and looked at Roman. He noticed his glasses were on the table rather than on his face. All anger seemed wiped off like makeup with a cleanex.

“Let’s wear our onesies and watch a film together.”

He hummed.

“Will you meddle with the vote again?”

Roman laughed, tossing him the unicorn suit.

“I have just decided we will rewatch Frozen I, so we can watch the sequel together with Virgil and Patton!”

“I am in pain just thinking about it.”

The shorter student smiled at him and quickly left to finish the sandwiches and clean the kitchen. His mind was a bit hazy, slightly warmer than usual but it was okay. Everything was okay.

When he returned, Logan was cuddled up in his onesie and a blanket - another one was next to him, still folded. The remote was in place and Frozen I was selected. He quickly slipped into the bedroom and changed his attire. Within a few moments, he was back and cuddled up next to Logan. He softly opened his arms.

“I will snuggle you if you want to~”

10.53 pm.

“Roman, will you ever be quiet?”

Of course he snuggled up to him. Roman started the film and hugged Logan back, before leaning in and whispering.

“Maybe Patton is objectively the cutest but you are by far the more attractive and feisty one, teach~”

Logan closed his eyes and snuggled Roman closer.

“...thanks.”

He glanced at him. Roman glanced back. They inched closer, closer, their noses nearly touching. Lips met, covering one another. Logan slowly moved on top of Roman and straddled him, one of his hands cupping Roman’s face.

Eventually, he pulled back just enough to mumbled back to him.

“You might be rather handsome yourself..”

Roman beamed!

“But Patton is rather aesthetically appealing, too~”

The laying friend pouted but Logan leaned down to softly peck it away.

“You don’t like Patton?”

Roman shook his head.

“Well, we have another thing in common, then. How pleasant.”

Fingers entangled. Logan shifted to brush through Roman’s hair with his free hand. He closed his eyes.

“Are we throwing off the dynamic now?”

Logan shook his head.

“No, we are not dating Patton, so it’s fine.”

“That does not even make remotely.. any.. I mean.. that.. that doesn’t make sense, Logan.”

The taller one smiled.

“What is so illogical about this? I think I did not get your point ~”

Roman stuck out his tongue for a moment and sighed contently before mumbling.

“How about you come down here and I will tell you?~”

“Sounds sufficient~”

***

3:37 am

“Hey Virgil, look! I think they finally got together.”

A silent snort shook the air ever so softly.

“I sure hope so. This will finally balance out the group dynamic. This whole tension between them got fucking unbearable.”

“Language-”

“Shh, let’s go get a snack for your new pet.”

Patton hugged his bunny close.

“Why would you call a bunny “Froggy” ?”

The two slowly sneaked into the kitchen and left the cuddling dragon and unicorn alone. Tomorrow would be another day.

It would just never be quite as sweet as Logan’s and Roman’s embrace.

[mikauzoran]

Platonic Alyadrino: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Nine

Read it on AO3: Drunk Ladybug on My Balcony? Yeah. This is Fine.: Chapter Nine: War Room

When Alya returned ten minutes later, the boys had gotten up off the floor and were snuggling comfortably on the bed.

Alya could tell from the way that Nino had Adrien wrapped in a tight hug that he was feeling uneasy, insecure, and extremely protective. He would not be letting Adrien out of his sight for a while, so Alya could kiss the thought of any amorous activities with her boyfriend that evening goodbye. He needed to keep Adrien close so that he could feel Adrien’s warmth, reassure himself that his best friend was, indeed, alive and well and very much safe.

Alya hadn’t really stopped to think about the danger her friends were constantly in after learning their identities. She had been too caught up in the juicy details of superhero life and romance. It hadn’t occurred to her to be concerned about the never-ending peril they faced.

Suddenly she felt a little ill and had the strong urge to call Marinette just to tell her she loved her. She was sorely tempted to join Adrien and Nino in their snuggle pile.

Instead of giving in to anxiety, she took a deep breath and pushed those feelings aside for later. Right now, it was Nino’s turn to be vulnerable and raw. She could stay strong for now and wait to have her own freak-out when Nino got his feet back under him again.

“How are you lovebirds doing?” she called with a cheerful, teasing lilt to her voice, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“I think Nino has annexed me,” Adrien reported in amusement with a twinge of guilt.

“Yeah. You’re gonna have to pry him out of my cold, dead hands,” Nino snorted good-naturedly. “He’s mine now.”

Alya shrugged, coming to sit down on the bed beside them. “I always knew you two were sort of a package deal, but this is a bit much, don’t you think?” she joked.

Nino lifted his head from Adrien’s chest to give Alya an earnest look. “Hey. So…would it be really weird if I asked if he could stay the night?” He looked down at Adrien. “Would that be weird for you?”

“It’s not weird for me so long as it doesn’t make Alya uncomfortable.” Adrien looked to Alya for the final decision.

Alya pursed her lips. “I mean, the only thing that might be uncomfortable for me is that the bed’s not really made for three people. But I don’t have a problem going and sleeping on the couch if I wake up and don’t have enough space.”

Adrien grimaced. “I wouldn’t want to kick you out of your own bed. It’s already bad enough that I’m interrupting your quality time together. I’m sorry.”

Alya waved his apologies away. “Cupcake, it’s fine. The couch is very comfortable, and Nino and I can always take a rain check on quality time. I kind of get the impression that Nino needs to listen to your heartbeat for a couple hours or else he’s going to have a meltdown.”

“I’m not gonna flip out anymore,” Nino grumbled petulantly, resting his head back down on Adrien’s chest.

Meanwhile, Adrien’s mouth and eyes rounded into wide “O”s of understanding.

“If you’re sure,” Adrien gave a token protest only to be waved off again by Alya.

“It’s all good. Stay the night,” she insisted. “I mean, you’re already in your pyjamas, so why not? But to get back to what you’re doing here in the first place, did you say you had something you needed to talk to me about?” She glanced at Nino. “Was that, like, a private thing?”

Adrien shook his head and sat up (much to Nino’s displeasure).

Nino repositioned himself so that he was sitting with his back to the bookshelf built into the wall above Alya’s bed, his knee perpendicular to and pressing up against Adrien’s leg.

“Actually, it’s even better to have the both of you to bounce things off of,” Adrien replied, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “I don’t know what to do. I know Plagg’s probably right, but…” He paused, realizing that Nino didn’t know who Plagg was. “My kwami,” he explained and then looked around, realizing that he didn’t know where the cat deity had gotten to or what havoc he was wreaking.

“Plagg?” he called, voice a little high and tinny in alarm.

“Here.” Plagg floated up out of Alya’s hood, still munching on the chunk of Gruyère she had given him. He went over to Nino and landed on his knee. “Plagg,” he introduced himself, holding out a stubby paw which Nino carefully took between two fingers.

“Nino. Nice to meet you, Mec.”

“I dislike you least,” Plagg announced before tossing the remainder of the Gruyère into his mouth and flying off to retake his perch on Alya’s computer speaker.

“He means that you’re his favourite,” Adrien translated with a fond smile. “He pretends to be a little gremlin, but he’s a big softie on the inside.”

“Why don’t I get to be your favourite, Plagg?” Alya whined, shooting the kwami a betrayed look. “I gave you cheese.”

Plagg shrugged. “You’ll have to do a lot better than that. Luka keeps cheese in his minifridge specifically for me.”

Alya and Nino whipped their heads around to stare at Adrien.

“Luka knows about you being Chat Noir?” Alya accused. “I thought you didn’t tell anybody?”

“I didn’t,” Adrien groaned. “I just have perceptive friends. I’d been visiting him for maybe three months as Chat Noir when, one night, out of nowhere, he asked if I wanted to detransform and feed my kwami because I’d been transformed for so long, and I was like, ‘But then you’ll know my identity,’ and he was like, ‘Perfect Fifth…seriously?’ So…yeah. I’m apparently really obviously me…but I don’t know. Nino didn’t recognize me, and I’m pretty sure Kagami has no idea.”

“You hang out with Kagami as Chat Noir?” Nino frowned, trying to picture it.

Adrien shrugged. “She’s like me. She doesn’t get to leave the house much, so I come visit her and keep her company.”

“Aww,” Alya cooed. “That’s really thoughtful of you.”

“I know what it’s like,” Adrien explained sadly. “And I really like spending time with Kagami. She can be a little prickly at times, but she’s a good friend.”

“Who else do you hang out with as Chat Noir?” Nino couldn’t help but wonder. “I don’t know why I always thought I was the only one. Guess I just wanted to be special.”

Adrien grimaced, feeling bad. “Sorry. You are special…but Chat Noir actually has a pretty active social life.”

“Fair,” Nino sighed, shrugging it off.

A somber expression drifted onto Adrien’s face. “It was hard always being under lock and key at home, never permitted to spend time with friends or participate in group activities, so…I actually end up sneaking out most nights. Like, I’m over at Marinette’s all the time.” He bit his lip thoughtfully. “I don’t think she knows it’s me, though.”

“She definitely doesn’t,” Alya grumbled in frustration.

“Her parents might, though,” Adrien admitted. “I’m about ninety percent positive that Sabine knows. Tom is fifty-fifty.”

Nino’s frown turned skeptical. “Her parents? You hang out with her parents?”

Adrien looked down at the bedspread, blushing. “Yeah? I mean…at first, I just went over to see Marinette, but then it felt kind of weird being up in her room late at night without her parents knowing, and I knew they were super chill, so Marinette and I explained the situation with my father not letting me out of the house much, and they were fine with it. I mean, there are ground rules like no unauthorized sleepovers unless I’m having a crisis or don’t feel safe at home or something like that, but then they started inviting me over to cook and have dinner with them when they found out I eat alone most of the time, so…yeah. Tom and Sabine kind of adopted me.”

He looked up with a helpless shrug and a sheepish smile.

Alya clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Boy, you’re already getting in good with the future in-laws.”

“Alya,” Adrien groaned. “Stop.”

“I’m just telling it like it is, Cupcake,” she snickered. “You’ll see. Any day now, you and Marinette are gonna start dating, and you’ll be married with three kids, a hamster, a dog, and a cat before you know it, and then—”

“—This is me seriously asking you to stop.” Adrien shot her a wounded look.

Alya put her hands up, dropping the topic like it had stung her. “Sorry. This is me stopping.”

Nino nodded approvingly, impressed that Alya had learned better than to press Adrien’s boundaries. That was something she had struggled with at times: pushing forward once she got an idea in her head without stopping to think about how her words and actions affected others. He was really proud that she was working on it.

A bashful smile slowly formed on Adrien’s lips as he gave Alya a grateful nod. “Thanks.”

She shot him a wink and abruptly changed topics. “So, I’m kind of ticked that I’m the only one you seem to have decided not to visit as Chat Noir besides Chloé.”

“You run a blog on which you post articles speculating about my identity, and it was once your life’s goal to unmask me,” Adrien retorted sassily. “And I don’t visit Chloé because she’s practically the only one of my friends my father actually allows me to see whenever I want anyway, so there was no need. Plus, she thinks Chat Noir is a loser.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry, Snowflake, but the blog’s mainly about your partner. There may be some articles about your identity, but Ladybug was always my main focus.”

“But you were right,” Nino chimed in, causing both Alya and Adrien to turn to blink at him. “The very first identity speculation post you did about Chat Noir was that he was secretly Adrien Agreste. You even posted that image you’d made photoshopping cat ears and a mask on Adrien’s picture.”

“It was a joke,” Alya moaned, covering her face with her hand. “Everyone knew it was a joke.”

“Some people didn’t,” Adrien sighed.

“I thought you made some compelling arguments like them both being blonde,” Nino offered encouragingly.

Alya deflated, shoulders slumping as her head dropped to her chest.

“If I had visited you as Chat Noir, are you telling me you wouldn’t have badgered me for details about Ladybug and pestered me for an interview?” Adrien challenged.

All Alya could do was groan, unable to defend herself. “Yeah. Okay. I can see why you didn’t come visit the obsessive Ladybug fangirl. Case closed.”

“So, you’re not upset?” Adrien verified hesitantly.

Alya shook her head. “Nope. Well…maybe a little bit, but that’s on me. I do get it, so…all good, Cupcake,” she assured with a conciliatory smile. “…So…you needed to talk to us about something?”

Adrien’s eyes went wide as he remembered. “You will never guess who asked me out on a date!”

Alya’s jaw dropped. “Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, it’s happening!” She began to bounce on the bed, clapping her hands in excitement. “Marinette finally asked you out!”

Adrien’s wide-eyed expression crumpled into a frown. “What? No. Wait. Did Marinette actually say that she was going to ask me?”

Alya’s elation faded into confusion. “I mean…yeah. She was just over here a couple hours ago, and, when she left, I thought we had reached an understanding that she was going to ask you to get coffee.”

“Shoot,” Adrien hissed, brow furrowing. “Shoot. This makes things even worse.”

“Cupcake, you’ve lost me,” Alya confessed, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. “Marinette didn’t ask you out?”

“No.” He shook his head. “Ladybug did, so if Marinette asks me now, I have to say no, right? I can’t…like…go on dates with both of them?” he replied uncertainly, looking to Nino for permission. “Because that would be bad, right? I couldn’t, like, go on a date with Ladybug and then go on a date with Marinette later? Could I? At least until someone says something about making the relationship exclusive?”

Nino shook his head. “Mec. No. You’ve got to be upfront about that kind of thing; otherwise, they’re going to beat you up when they find out, and someone’s going to get akumatized.”

The hopeful expression slid off of Adrien’s face as he dropped his head in defeat. “But I want to date both of them.”

“Well, maybe when Marinette asks you out, tell her the truth and see what she thinks,” Nino suggested judiciously. “Depending on what she says, talk to Ladybug and see what she thinks. Honesty is the best policy here. Isn’t that right, Al?”

Alya was too busy trying to wrap her mind around the ever increasingly more confusing situation to hear at first.

“Al,” Nino called again.

She snapped to attention, hawk eyes zeroing in on Adrien. “Wait. Ladybug asked you out?”

Adrien nodded, wailing mournfully, “Why is this happening to me? For years no one’s been interested, and now the two most amazing girls on the face of the planet both decide to ask me out at the same time. I’m cursed, guys!”

“Wait,” Alya repeated, mental gears still stuck and refusing to turn as she attempted to process how her fool-proof plan had failed. “Ladybug asked out Chat Noir? I thought you two decided last night that, even though you loved each other, you couldn’t date until Papillon was no longer an issue. Did she change her mind?”

Nino’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. “Clearly I missed a plot-relevant episode somewhere. Lady Noir is canon now?”

Adrien nodded excitedly, momentarily forgetting his woes. “Oh my gosh, Nino. She loves me! She just thinks our feelings for each other will screw up our teamwork, so she doesn’t want to date yet, but she said that after Papillon’s defeated, we can finally be together!”

“Congratulations, Bro!” Nino laughed with a wide grin, giving Adrien a celebratory clap on the back. “That’s awesome!”

“I know,” Adrien giggled. “And it gets even better because earlier tonight she came by my room and asked me out as Adrien. I think Adrien is the guy she’s been turning Chat Noir down for this whole time. Nino, I think she really loves me!”

“What?!” Alya snapped, cutting off Nino’s response before he could give it. “She asked you out as Adrien as Ladybug?!”

Adrien and Nino both stared at Alya in concern as smoke started to billow from her ears and nostrils.

“Um…yeah,” Adrien responded tentatively. “Are you okay, Alya?”

“No!” Alya shrieked, reaching up to grip her hair. “You can’t date a masked superhero! What is wrong with that girl?!”

Nino leaned forward and gently loosened Alya’s fingers so that she wouldn’t hurt herself in her outrage. “Deep breaths, Al.”

Meanwhile, Adrien grimaced. “Yeah. That’s what Plagg said too. Do you think I should text her and call things off?” He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, obvious not too keen on the idea of cancelling.

“Let me think,” Alya requested, pursing her lips as deep trenches formed in her brow.

They sat there in silence for nearly ten seconds until Alya suddenly broke it once more.

“No. Don’t cancel,” she decided, reformulating her plan as she spoke. “Go on the date.”

Adrien looked to Nino and then Alya. “You really think it’s okay? I was a little worried that it’s technically lying to her for me to date her as a civilian without telling her I’m Chat Noir, but…”

“Well, she’s not exactly telling you who she is either, is she?” Alya snorted indignantly. “She’s being equally duplicitous, don’t you think?”

Adrien frowned, looking down at the zebra-print duvet. “Yeah,” he sighed. “The thought had crossed my mind. I think…maybe she knows me when she’s not Ladybug. That’s the only way her feelings for me make sense because Ladybug has been turning Chat Noir down for her mystery guy for years now, so if Adrien is the mystery guy, she has to know me, right?”

He looked up at Alya, eyes begging for clarity. “You know her, right? She wouldn’t waste years pursuing a celebrity crush when she had genuine feelings for Chat Noir…would she? Her feelings for Adrien have to be from her civilian life, don’t they?”

Alya bit her lip, worried she would give away too much with her answer. On second thought, so what if she blew Marinette’s cover? This stupid love quadrilateral they were stuck in had to go, and if Alya “accidentally” knocked it over like a house of cards, so what?

Gradually, Alya began to nod. “Yeah. You’re right, Cupcake. There’s no way Ladybug would pine after some celebrity crush for literal years. She probably does really know you.”

Adrien slowly released the breath from his lungs. “Okay. Wow. I mean…that’s what I thought, but…” He gulped. “Wow. You think she’s been right under my nose this whole time?”

Alya shrugged. “Maybe.”

Nino frowned as the pieces to the puzzle started to line up. “Wait.” He looked to Alya, eyes narrowing.

She arched an eyebrow.

Nino glanced back to Adrien. “Wait.”

Adrien tipped his head to the side interrogatively.

Nino looked to Alya once more, wearing an affronted expression. “If Ladybug is…” he sputtered, shaking his head. “What the hell is wrong with that girl?!”

Alya tried not to burst out laughing as she saw the true insanity of the situation register with her boyfriend.

Adrien, however, continued to look confused.

“Aw, come on,” Nino groaned in frustration, wishing he had hair to spare so that he could pull some out in his indignation. “I want to hit my head against a wall. Why on earth did she ask you out as Ladybug?” he demanded of his best friend.

“I’m…not sure?” Adrien replied uncertainly, feeling like he had missed something important.

“I swear I’m going to shake that girl,” Alya sighed.

Nino clicked his tongue. “Right?!”

“Maybe she didn’t think I’d say yes,” Adrien suggested, trying to ignore the fact that his friends seemed to be having some secret conversation in front of his face.

“Maybe.” Alya shrugged, too mentally exhausted to do more than that.

“I’m just worried that, if I do go out with Ladybug, we’re going to end up exposing our identities,” Adrien sighed, slumping back against the wall behind him.

“Would that really be the worst thing, though?” Nino posited.

Adrien wrinkled his brow as he considered it. “I don’t know. I don’t know if this is something that I can keep from her. Like you said, honesty is best in relationships. I don’t think I could be with her as Adrien and keep my Chat side a secret for long, but…she’s not going to be happy. The secret identities thing is a big deal for her.”

Alya gave an unconcerned snort. “Don’t you think she considered how it could put her identity at risk by getting close to you as Ladybug? She had to know that this was a gamble. Apparently, the chance to date you was worth it. True, she’s going to be upset when you figure out who she is, but…she loves both sides of you, Adrien. She’s going to be really happy that the guys she loves are the same person.”

“Yeah,” Nino concurred, giving Adrien’s arm a bolstering pat. “You two will deal with the fallout when the time comes, so don’t worry about it too much. Just enjoy your date, and when the identity reveal comes, it comes. You guys have a strong partnership and love each other a lot. You’ll figure it out.”

Slowly, Adrien began to nod as he took their words to heart. “Yeah,” he breathed, gradually starting to feel at peace with the situation. “You’re right. I mean, I totally see where she’s coming from with wanting to keep our identities secret and wait until after Papillon is defeated for us to be a couple, but…whatever happens, we’ll make it work. Our bond is strong enough to overcome this.”

He looked up at his friends with eyes shining with gratitude. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate you talking me through this. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

“Sure thing,” Nino chuckled, giving Adrien’s hair a fond ruffle.

Alya winked and punched Adrien’s arm playfully. “We’ve always got your back, Cupcake.”

The comfortable, warm atmosphere only lasted for a moment. Seconds later, Adrien’s eyes snapped open wide as he realized he’d forgotten about a key issue: “What am I going to say to Marinette when she asks me out?!”

Nino and Alya groaned in tandem.

Nino gave Adrien’s back a supportive pat as he shook his head. “Maybe don’t worry about that so much. I have a feeling it will sort itself out.”

“But…what if she asks me out and I have to tell her I’m marrying Ladybug?” Adrien looked back and forth between his friends as if this was a genuine and immediate concern he was having. “Won’t that ruin our friendship? Will it be awkward if I invite her to the wedding? Marinette is one of my best friends, and I don’t want to do anything to mess that up. She wasn’t seriously interested in me, was she?”

His eyes fell pleadingly on Alya.

She sighed and shook her head. “You know what? I’ll talk to her. You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Thank you so much, Alya!” he cried, lurching forward to throw his arms around her and nearly knocking her off the bed in the process. “You’re the best!”

She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation as she patted him on the back and shook her head. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You’re welcome, Adrien.”

“So,” Nino spoke up as Adrien and Alya pulled back. “Is that all the drama for the evening, or did you have something else we needed to hash out?”

“Nope,” Adrien assured. “I should be good.”

“Awesome,” Nino chuckled, stretching out on the bed and motioning for Adrien to lie down beside him.

Adrien readily complied and was summarily snuggled for his trouble.

“We were watching that new Netflix show Lupin,” Nino explained, resting his head on Adrien’s shoulder. “Ever seen it?”

“No, but I was planning on watching it,” Adrien replied excitedly.

“We’re only fifteen minutes into the first episode,” Alya informed, retrieving the laptop and waking it up. “If you want, we can start over and watch together.”

“Would that really be okay?” Adrien looked back and forth between them like an excited puppy.

“Absolutely,” Alya assured, cuddling up next to Adrien and restarting the video.

[smolbeandrabbles]

“Nolan, Baby” - Nolan Sorrento x Reader (Ready Player One)

🎅 Holiday Fic #4 🎅 (Santa Baby... But not!)

GIF CREDIT: X Author’s Note: Because I’m a glutton for punishment and Nolan refuses to write for me, I wondered if he might like to join in the Holiday fic parade. He accepted. Then I had to find the song, and I had a good one and then threw it out... because this scenario is just... too good to pass up. Ah! Finally some more traditional Christmas hits! (If you’re wondering where the extra pieces came from... Micheal Bublé. ‘Thank’ him!)

If the Boi has money, I will use it as a plot point.

Disclaimer: Ready Player One characters not mine / lyrics not mine

Premise: After confusing the hell out of him with your Christmas list, Nolan decides two can play at that game...

Words: 1990

Warnings: Quite a lot of poking fun of ‘fad’ diets  

_______ Been an awful good girl Santa baby, hurry down the chimney tonight Santa baby, a '54 convertible too convertible too, light blue I'll wait up for you, dear Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight Think of all the fun I've missed Think of all the fellas that I haven't kissed Next year I could be also good If you'll check off my Christmas list Santa baby, I want a yacht and really that's not a lot Been an angel all year Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight Santa honey one thing I really do need, the deed To a platinum mine Santa baby, so hurry down the chimney tonight Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex and checks Sign your 'x' on the line Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight I really do believe in you Let's see if you believe in me ---

The sheet of paper had been on his desk for the past week. When he had asked you what you wanted for Christmas, as his partner, (although he’d had some ideas of his own) he was a little more surprised that you’d managed to produce a whole list in little to no time at all. He’d had to think very carefully about his own. Because what could you buy one of the most powerful men in the world? That stream of money was endless. And Nolan knew that material had long since stopped mattering to him. What can you buy someone who has everything? So, in the end he’d given you a super short list of one thing, knowing that you would do what you always did and get gifts that spoke to his heart. You were exceedingly good at that.

 He was getting better at doing the same for you, but he still wanted to get you something you really wanted. And money was obviously not the issue here. Only. What you were asking for was an innumerable list, from which Nolan didn’t know where to start. Some things were possibly easier than others, and he’d already managed to come by. In fact, he’d already given you one of them - but you were apparently surprised that he would go out of his way to surprise you with Tiffany decorations for the tree this year, that he thought you might well have forgotten how long and ridiculous this list actually was.

 But he didn’t have long left to think about this, so he had blocked out some time in his calendar today to go through it again and break into it a little more. Nolan collected it from his desk and brought it closer to his eyes as he sat back in his chair. Nolan, Baby, 💙 Slip a sable under the tree for me A '54 convertible too convertible too, light blue I want a yacht and really that's not a lot The deed to a platinum mine A duplex Checks Decorations bought at Tiffany A ring – and I don’t mean on the phone… Rolex Game day tickets – For kicks 😉 A Mercedes…

That was only the beginning but it was enough to already have his head spinning. He’d ticked off a few things that had been a little easier to find, or that he could turn into little thought of surprises. But some of these requests were just bizarre; “Okay I know I have a lot of money but how the hell am I supposed to source this stuff!? A deed to a platinum mine....Geez—!!” He ran a hand through his hair and breathed out. Well he might be able to do it with company money, but it was unlikely the board was going to let him do it..!

 Nolan placed it down again, alright there was only one thing to do - ask if these things were quite beyond his capabilities on purpose, or this was actually what you really, really wanted. You, after all, would know. And then Nolan could really focus his efforts best. He pushed it to one side - he’d get it over with tonight. Hopefully he could avoid you looking unimpressed while he was at it.

 ***

 You hadn’t been home so long yourself when he walked through the door, but you ran through to greet him just the same. “Nolan!” You didn’t even allow him respite to shrug himself out of his coat before you started peppering his face with kisses. He laughed; “Okay... okay... Y/N... alright...” His voice was soft and gentle, and you knew that meant it’d been a long day. When isn’t it a long day for the CEO of IOI... You stepped back and allowed him to undress; “Honestly, this weather is awful isn’t it?” He ran his hands back through his hair; “And this dark... ugh.” He checked himself in the mirror before turning back to you, “How was your day, darling?” “Fine. We’re on the Christmas wind down... There’s a few projects to be done but, there’s not a lot so important that we’re going to need to spend overtime on them...” “No. They are not going to have to spend overtime on. I know what you’re doing.” Sorrento gathered you in his arms to afford you just as many kisses as you had him.

“Well, they work for me...” you gave a shrug. “I feel like they deserve the break. I’m the CEO for a reason.” Not of a rival company, you were CEO for a little internet security firm. IOI was currently a little out of your range to start bidding RFIs and RFPs on but... eventually you’d quite like to have them as a client. “Mmm...” Small enough a company to have the entire week of Christmas off - that was one perk you hoped you’d always be able to keep. You just wanted things done by then. “So how long have you been home?” You turned to the clock, “Uhhhhh... 30 minutes, maybe.” He sighed “This is no good! You’re as bad as me!” “Uh-! You have a contest to win!” “That’s hardly the point.” You repeated him; “This is a war, for control of the future!” “Ah, did I say that-!? I don’t remember!” Nolan let you go, laughing and wandered upstairs “Of course you did... I think you got this-!” “Well I better have, considering the money I poured into it!” There is that!

 You wandered back into the kitchen, to wait for him, but it didn’t take long for Nolan to change. “Still on this pre-Christmas fad diet?”’ “It is not a fad diet!” “It’s such a fad diet! I starve every time I look at your plate!” He pushed your arm as he opened the cupboards, “It’s not! I got this and my exercise... it’s going great.” “Oh!” You smirked, “I didn’t think that’s what Kegel was for.” Sorrento turned to you with slightly narrowed eyes “...You should be so lucky that I might use it for that in the first place.” “Oh my god-! You-!” It was your turn to playfully push him “Ah, now I clearly must abstain! Sit!” “Oh... fad diet evening meal-! Fantastic!” You did as he asked, sliding into your chair and trying not to let your tone show obvious distain. That was hard. “You can eat whatever you like.” “No, no- allow me to suffer with you!” He tutted; “Such a martyr!”

 Nolan sat and you tried not to look like you were about to complain “Don’t you get bored?!” “No.” “I would.” Although his Italian heritage was helping on the variation somewhat. “I know you would. Ah!” He patted down his pockets until he found the paper, pulling it out and holding it up, “As we were talking about things I’m pouring money into... honestly. What is with this list!?” “Oh, now you’re complaining!” You smiled, and leant on your hands “No, I just... I know I might be made of money but-!” He unfolded it... “Like, how do you expect me to get hold of a car from nearly 100 years ago-! I just I-!” He stopped as you began laughing, and kept laughing until there were almost tears. Nolan raised an eyebrow; “What?” “Oh-! My God! Are you taking it literally!?” “What?” “Nolan! Oh! Honey!!” You kept laughing, “It’s a joke! Babe! They are song lyrics!” He looked nothing short of bemused “They’re what?!” “The lyrics! To Santa Baby...!” Sorrento looked to the paper again, and his whole face lit up in embarrassment, which only served to make you giggle more. “I-! I knew that-!” He cleared his throat, “I-I was just... testing you!” He folded it back up; “It’s not like I actually got you anything on it... or anything...” sounding a little more dejected than embarrassed, Nolan covered his face with his hands. “Oh honey! I’m sorry! I thought you knew!” He shook his head; “Oh my god... I can’t believe...” “Thought you might be trying to figure out clues on a daily basis...” “Oh...” he put his hands down, tone now slightly more amused, slowly shaking his head; “I pay people for that.” “Oh... well, honey... I thought it would be fun. Oh! I’m so sorry! Wait-! Nolan!” You placed your hands over your mouth as is suddenly clicked; “Is that was the Tiffany decorations were for!?” It was your turn to burry your face in your hands. “Mm hmm!” And the seriousness on his face made you feel even more guilty “Oh sweetie! You didn’t go overboard!?” “Guess it’s good I didn’t now, isn’t it!” “I thought by the time it got to yacht and platinum mine you’d think it was a little stupid and throw it away!” “Clearly, I took it too literally...” He sighed, and got up. You knew he was heading straight for the wine. “That’ll ruin the diet for sure!” “Oh! No!” He laughed “I freaking need this!” He poured a glass, and one for you too; “Well, then what do you want-!?” You smiled sweetly, pulling him by his tie to kiss his cheek in both apology and as a thank you; “Use your intuition babe! You know me!” “I know but I...” “Honey. Spending the day with you is going to be the best present I get. And we both know that you can’t wrap that and put it under the tree.” “I dunno!” Nolan laughed; “I could sure try!”

 ***

 Christmas Day rolled around as quietly as you had first anticipated. But you laughed every time you opened something related to the lyrics. And once he’d got the gist that they were lyrics, he’d bought you little joke things instead, like a model yacht. And a printed “deed certificate” that had you in stitches, appealing to your humour.  It was nice to relax with him like this, everything in the house still and calm, glass of wine, his hands continuously caressing you... his attention was all yours. There was no technology in sight... You realised that Nolan was really buying you the most precious thing he had – his time. “Well... I hope I made your Christmas shopping stress free after the big reveal...”  you ran your hands through his hair, knees up on his lap, as you sat together. He tipped his head; “Not... exactly. But, yeah I mean I guess I’m glad you did. Once I understood things got a little easier...” Sorrento nuzzled his face against yours gently, and you giggled. “Okay, if I assisted in some way I think that makes me feel better..!” “Ah!” He gave a little shrug, “It was an elaborate ruse, I must congratulate you on your effort!” “I’ll take it!” He nodded, good, and you sat there for a few more moments in content silence. You took another sip of wine. And then he started rummaging around, as Nolan often did when he thought he’d forgotten something.

“Ah-! Forgot to mention one little thing...” he turned back to you, and taking your free hand in his, he slipped of the sofa and onto one knee; “a ring.” You almost spat wine everywhere. Had he just used your little joke against you-!? Was he proposing!? Nolan opened the little box delicately, and then it was a race to put your glass down and cover your mouth again in surprise; “N-Nolan!!!” “Y/N. Will you marry me?” Your voice wavered between a phenomenal high and the fact that you might actually be about to cry; “Good lord, did you just use Santa Baby against me-!?” He gave a gentle shrug, and his smile was a little crooked like he couldn’t possibly say, before he returned his eyes to yours. Nolan took a breath, and remained serious; “Yes.” “Yes!!!” You threw your arms around him and never wanted to let go; “Of course, I will!!!”

---

So, this wasn’t supposed to be a proposal fic, and then that was ALSO too good to pass up!

@dennismitchell @happyskywhale @wltz-bby​

#MendoTagSquad.

[wolfcrunch]

32.

i didnt get a character or angst/fluff decision so i went with bakugou!! hope that’s alright!

Prompt #32 - What did I do?

read on AO3 - request a prompt and character(s) for me to write!

What did I do?

Crimson coloured eyes stared blankly upwards, tracing patterns into the clean, white tiles overhead. Silence rung in his ears, but thoughts and memories weight heavy on the young hero’s mind, the events of the previous two days playing on rewind.

What did I do?

He could still hear the cries for help, the yells of his friends, screaming at him to move. To do something. He could still taste smoke and blood, on the tip of his tongue despite it being cleaned off long ago. He could still feel his tattered costume sticking against his sweat-laden body, covered in soot and dirt and all sorts of debris.

What did I do?

He remembered he had been facing a tenacious villain, one that he and Deku had been essentially ‘hunting down’ for the past three months, at least. A man who could outmaneuver even the proclaimed Wonder Duo, of all heroes.

Katsuki and Deku had only been heroes for around five years now - and in all of that time, they had not yet come across a villain who could make them chase tail for more than a week, the League excused.

All except the man they had come to know as 'Torrent’.

A dangerous man who seemed set on stirring up trouble, the heroes who had faced him weren’t entirely sure on what his quirk really do, except it was some sort of extreme weather manipulation. He’d been shown to cause a vast arrangement of weather - from storms, to hail, to snow and even fire tornadoes.

Even with Katsuki and Deku working together - it was almost as if the other man had several quirks, with how quickly he could change the weather and make his escape.

They’d run into the villain again, and Katsuki had decided enough was enough. The man in question had sent a blast of dangerous high wind through some apartment buildings, leaving the buildings almost destroyed and civilians in need of saving. Their job had been to get the civilians out safely first…

But then Katsuki had seen him. And his vision went red.

He’d screamed at Deku to start evacuating victims before blasting off after the escaping man, his explosion quirk boosting him along. Deku had tried to stop him– but there were people in need, and he couldn’t just abandon them.

Not when the buildings looked as if they were going to fall.

Despite having grown and mellowed out…Katsuki still had a bit of a short fuse. And here, it had decided to come and bite him on the ass.

He didn’t know how the guy’s quirk worked, let alone a way to possibly take him down and immobilize him long enough for Deku to catch up…he hadn’t been thinking straight, he could admit that much. He could admit defeat.

Failure.

So…what did I do?

Nothing…absolutely fucking nothing.

Katsuki had been no match for the villain, not even with his rage-filled mind that made him act before thinking. The explosive hero prided himself on his reaction times, on his prowess, on his fighting experience, years of that skill honed into his very bones.

But it still had been no match, not alone.

Torrent had toyed with him. He’d batted the hero around as if the two were playing cat and mouse - as if Katsuki was the prey, in this scenario.

Torrent knew Katsuki - the hero, Ground Zero - was no match for him, and it had only served to make Katsuki angrier as the minutes ticked by. As Katsuki got worn down, expending all of his energy into firing off blasts…he’d been so angry, that he hadn’t accounted much for his surrounding area.

Of course, collateral damage was usually never an issue…his PR would chew him out for it, but it was something he could pay off…

…but the lives at stake…

Katsuki’s calloused hands gripped at the light, scratchy blanket laid over his body, an all-too-unfamiliar burning beginning to build up in his eyes. He hated, hated, hated this. This feeling….

Complete, utter failure.

Katsuki could do nothing. Nothing as Torrent sent a huge gust of wind clashing into him, making the hero crash into an unstable building. Nothing as a shrill cry sounded from within its walls, breaking Katsuki out of the rage-filled cloud overhanging every nerve.

He did nothing as Torrent sneered at the sounds emitting from the once-thought abandoned building, calling out something Katsuki couldn’t hear over the roar of vicious winds.

Nothing as heroes arrived on the scene– Red Riot, Pinky, Uravity, Deku– screaming out for the explosive hero to move.

To save…

Katsuki couldn’t move…and two children, eight and three, had perished as Torrent brought the building down upon him. Katsuki hadn’t known…but that didn’t make the weight in his chest any less heavy.

He’d been lucky that he was alive - Deku having jumped into the fray and chasing Torrent off as Red Riot, Pinky and Uravity dug him and the children out, as the nurses said once he awoke.

According to them, no one had been to visit yet, even though Katsuki hadn’t been too critically injured, surprisingly…

Not that he deserved their company.

Ground Zero was suppose to be a hero, yet two children lost their lives because of him. A couple was never going to hug their children, see them grow up…he knew that all heroes lost someone at least once during their careers…

But this was all utterly Katsuki’s fault, he knew. He was the reason that Japan had lost two lives that day.

He was the reason Torrent was still on the run. If only he had waited–

If only he hadn’t run in like a damn intern on his first patrol…those two kids might still be alive.

The blond scowled, lifting a hand to slowly run through his dirtied hair, wincing at the tiny shards of glass still stuck between its strands. He’d told the nurses to piss off after checking his vitals after awaking not a mere three hours ago…now he was kinda starting to regret that.

Ugh…the sooner I can get out…

Katsuki knew that to wallow in his own self-pity was…pathetic. He didn’t deserve to feel so sorry for himself. No, because those kids–

They had needed him in that moment. They had needed to be saved, by a hero.

And Katsuki had been still, sealing their fates.

He scowled to himself, before carefully propping himself up with his arms. The IV in his arm felt uncomfortable, and his eyes stung at the light coming in from the window. The sooner he got out, the sooner he could do something - he wouldn’t be very surprised if the parents tried to press charges because of their children.

He’d deserve it.

His body, aching, protested against the blond’s movements, but he ignored it to force one leg over the side of the bed, gritting his teeth at the harsh movement. The nurses would have his head if they saw him trying to get up.

But he couldn’t sit here and do nothing. He needed to make up–

“Kacchan!”

The blond gave an indignant squawk as a hand settled on his shoulders, before his brain clicked with the familiar name. “Deku, what the fuck?!”

“Shh, the nurses are gonna kick me out-”

“As they should, shitty nerd!” Katsuki’s raging words held no real bite to them, despite the way his red gaze pierced through the over. Deku at least had the decency to look sheepish. “How the hell did you get in here?” he lowered his voice, slightly.

His hero partner glanced at the door of the room, which he had carefully shut completely to make sure no one was peeking in before looking at the older man. “I….distracted a nurse and managed to sneak past?”

“Deku–”

“They weren’t gonna let us see you!” Izuku insisted, waving about his hands - one which held a plastic bag. “After the thing with Torrent, I got some stuff and came back to the waiting room. They didn’t give any word about you having woken up and I got worried-”

“I don’t want your stinking ass in my room!” Katsuki hissed. “And what do you mean we? What about all the civilians?!”

“They’re fine!!” Katsuki’s cause for his newest headache assured him. “I’ve already dealt with the paperwork and the press…well, most of it. Kirishima and some of the others are still in the waiting room for when you get released - your entire fight was on the news!”

“Fucking– Deku, you’re number fucking one, it’s your job to go out there and detain Torrent, ain’t it?!”

“Kacchan, I wasn’t going to risk going after him alone.”

Now Katsuki knew that Deku was stronger than him - three years together in U.A, and five as hero partners…he’d be stupid to not say that Deku had surpassed him in terms of strength - although when exactly that happened was muddled and forgotten…

Deku had always been stronger than him in moral, too. Even before inheriting One For All.

“Anyways…no one’s seen or heard from him in the two days you were out…I think for now, its fine to take a break,” Izuku then grinned, shaking the bag in his hand. “Anyways, I got some of your clothes from the agency. I don’t think anyone wants to see your ass when you finally get out of here.”

Katsuki paused, the words sinking in. He blurted out what was first to conjure into a sentence.

“What, my ass not good enough for the bunch of you freaks, huh?!”

“N-no, Kacchan!” Izuku couldn’t help but snort, shaking his head. “I think Kirishima would call it manly-”

The broad-shouldered hero got an angry shove at that, the injured one of the two fuming at him. “Eat shit and die, nerd!” he nearly screamed, causing Izuku to laugh louder.

“Come on Kacchan, it was a joke!”

“Yeah? Your whole career is gonna look like a fucking joke in a minute, asshole!”

Katsuki couldn’t help the smug grin that crossed his face as the door to his room was slammed open, two fuming nurses standing outside and setting their sights right on Deku, who looked up like a deer in headlights.

Not even the Number One hero could escape punishment by a couple of angry nurses set out to make sure their patients were comfortable, Katsuki supposed…good.

[og-danny-dorito]

Hannibal Lecter Headcanons

(my gay ass over here thirsting over a godamned cannibal, why did god create this walking disaster of horniness and unbridled depression)

S F W :

- as you may know, Hannibal Lecter is a man no short of expectations, a walking spectacle of perfection itself on the surface but a complicated being underneath to test the limits of what a monster really means

- he smokes

- while he's not an avid chain smoker he does do it every once in a while, like after killing someone who was particularly difficult or pondering something that requires deep thought

- he understands if you don't smoke or don't want to have him smoking around you, he'd rather be polite than give into whatever desire he's feeling. he can't stand the shitty ones though, they're just nasty

- he's had a lot of lovers in his life, but he only remembers vividly the few that did not try to change some of his habits out of fear

- he doesn't feel much emotion at all, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel

- although he may not admit it, he wants to be accepted by whoever he cares for over all else. this can tie back to his sister, although he barely feels it since when he was a very young man, not long after her death. he'd rather feel needed, wanted really. but this is only felt in certain moments, such as sitting in silence in a room with someone or watching their movements as they do basic actions that's can entail deeper meanings

- he's very, very good at body language and how to interpret it (obviously) and how to deal with social situations

- as a physiologist he's seen a lot of different mental cases, states of mind, viewpoints, problems, etc. and so being in a relationship with someone who might have something along those lines is literally not a problem (i mean he technically fell in love with will so-)

- I mean it's his job, so he knows how to calm down someone having a panic attack in no time, but if it'ssomeone closer to him he may have a moment of concern before dealing with it accordingly

- feelings aren't exactly something he's used to, for the most part so it'll freak him out a little if he finds himself caring for someone fairly easily. of course he still feels, it's just not as intense as it used to be. it's partially why he “slips” easily when there's a particular event with someone he genuinely cares about, leaving him in a slightly shocked state of acting upon instinct before treating it like anything else

- he's very self controlled, both physically and mentally

- I headcanon that when he was a teenager/young adult (watch Hannibal Rising to get what I mean) he was much less in control of what he felt in that moment. for instance, crying when Lady Murasaki told him to forgive the men he was intending to kill. it must've hurt to have someone so close to him be so disgusted with him like that

- this can also mean that he only feels afflicted emotionally by those he's very close to. lovers not really, but people he considers as those he needs to be up to a particular standard to outside of the realm of decency? it hurts when you look at him like you're scared of him, dissaproving of what he's doing as if you're negating his efforts

- he cares about you, only you

- seriously, there's not much he genuinely cares about enough to want to keep safe for all eternity, but you're his everything. you're not just some fucktoy, you're a person, a mind, and he wants to control and watch you tick like a clock he intends to take apart and rebuild. seriously, he just wants you to love him as much as he loves you

- it's very likely that you were kidnapped against your will

- he doesn't want a partner he can control, or minipulate easily without a serious challenge. he's not much of a sadist, but he'd like to see you strain under whatever kindof inflictions he's dealing mentally. he wants to see you resist, try to fight back. it's no time any fun to dissect something that's fragile and weak

- like Michael Myers (Aka: 100% That Bitch) he wants someone strong and full of courage, someone he can see fighting for the innocent or fighting to protect something till the end of the line. your courage is what really gets to him, the fact that you won't let anyone run over you regardless of who they are

- your fighting spirit also gets him just a little bit exited when you talk back to him or snap at him when he's angry with you just an fyi

- anyway back to the less horny shit

- this may seem off topic but do you remember when deadpool’s creator said he was “pansexual” by giving a really bad definition for it and lowkey seeming kindof ignorant on what being pansexual is?

- Hannibal is sort of like that pansexual, but think of him as only liking someone when it's convenient. usually he only pretends to be romantically interested in someone because it gains him the upper hand, both males and females, but down to his core he's probably not capable of falling in love with someone unless he seriously, genuinely means it. so far this has only been males and females (cough cough lady murasaki, will graham, etc. cough cough)

- for him to genuinely love someone you need to first love him platonically, actually giving off the feeling of really caring for his wellbeing, even if he does eat people. unless he doesn't really like you prior to having you love him, he'll end up finding himself drawn to you

- it's very rare that he'll love someone first, but in the instance he does it'll probably end in a Stockholm Syndrome sort of thing where you end up loving him eventually. it's kindof dogmatic, but I mean that's just how it is. he's an intelligent psychopath with an understand of humans’ brain patterns. do you really not expect him to use that to his advantage?

- if you do expect it tho and you're still into that then you may just be a horny bastard dude idk what to tell u

- phsycially id suspect that he'd want someone who physically is weaker than him. it's a reminder of sorts, that he still has power over you no matter what. if you're shorter he's definitely into that too but this doesn't mean he isn't into beefcakes

- tbh, he kindof likes a rugged sort of look on someone. while he does like to feel powerful, he also enjoys being able to have a worthy opponent. scars are also fascinating to him. to him it's almost like art, precious and unique in their own way. plus, he himself said they were reminders of the past, so they must have good stories attached to them

- oOO ppl in suits are nice too. like godam dude if you walk up wearing a nice suit looking all clean cut n shit there's a 100% chance you're getting rawed before you can even walk out the door

- in his free time, he'd rather spend time with you above all else. simply having you in the room is nice for him, regardless of how busy he is. if he's working he'd prefer you on his lap or sitting right next to him

- physical affection is something he's actually pretty damn good with, considering his hand is almost always on you. you can think of this as one of his Jedi mind tricks to let you know you're his, but he's kindof shy about it in public the first time

- but his shyness changes once he sees that if his hand isn't directly on you people...gawk at you. and he HATES that

- you'll feel a sudden hand fly to your waist, pulling you closer as he seems not to even register what he's doing. you squeak

- “h-hey! What was that for?”

- “Should I have asked permission first, or do you like the roughness?”

- “Is this because that guy was looking at me too much?”

- “...are you implying that I'm jealous?”

- “Oh my god-”

- yeah, he’ll deny it when asked if he's being jealous, but he is. he's very, very jealous and very very possessive. of course he's already pretty well composed, and he's a master at hiding his facial expressions, but that doesn't mean he won't quirk a brow or exhale slowly if you're being provoked in any way shape or form. expect the person who was annoying you to be gone. but don't worry about their suspicious dissapearence, instead sit down and have dinner! he's serving a nice pot pie with some Brussels sprouts and whatever other side dish you want! where'd the meat come from? that's not important, just relax

- he's sure he made the person more exquisite now that you actually enjoy them without having to talk to them

- oh! he obviously does most of the cooking, but if you can cook he's definitely up to critique and give you advice. of course you can only use his cuts of meat, and he'd much rather help you with cooking than let you do all the work. domestically he's the perfect partner since he's already fairly good at living on his own, and prefers to take care of others rather than get taken care of

- idealy he'd like to go out to a nice place to eat for a date, or just spending some time alone with you in front of the fire is fine with him. as long as you're near him. he dislikes places where there's too many people or just not a good area of town to be in in the first place, but honestly he's always been inclined to things that reek of upper class or fancy themes

- he loves to spoil you too, buying you nice things or nice clothes and making you wear them almost all the time. he doesn't really expect anything in return, but if you can't figure out a gift that's within your paycheck you can always make him something or pay him in - EHEM - other ways (you know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) )

- although it's kindof sad, he's got a lot of ptsd from when he was a child. of course he's not open to talking about it, but just staying with him when he has a nightmare or placing your hands on his waist when he's in that state will calm him down in no time, although it's very rare 

- he'd never hurt you, but he can grow a bit distant at times when he's particularly angry. if your relationship is more manipulative, he might resort to mental abuse as a way to keep you in line. but it's unlikely you'll even be living for very long if that's what your relationship is

- hannibal’s a man of few words, so he may not say I love you very often. he means it though when he does, although it's hard to get out the first time

- he's a one of a kind lover outside of the whole killing people thing, so once you actually get used to his cannibalistic ways and meet all his standards so as not to hurt you, expect to be treated like a queen/king that even outshines the greatest nobles. you are his, and it will take divine intervention from Satan himself to keep you apart as far as he's concerned

[wereallsaloonaticshere]

Don’t think about the last lines too much.

Eddsworld; fanfic, Ship; EddTom AU; highschool

Description; Edd gets annoyed by people not thinking brown eyes are the shit. (which they are).

Word count: 1,538

“Oh, you’re eyes are like a drop of lovely water in an infinite ocean!” He said, leaning on the locker beside her, pushing a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear

“Oh, haha!” She giggled, fiddling with the bracelets that ran up her arm.

“Ugh.” Edd said, quietly to himself, “How cringy can you get?”

“What?” Tom asked

“Them!” He gestured over to the two love-birds, “Could they be anymore clique?” He shut his locker a bit harder than he usually did. 

“What, are you heterophobic, Edd?” Tom said, referencing something they overheard in the halls the day before, “You’re heterophobia isn’t very nice, Edd.” 

“Shut your fuck up!” Edd laughed, then got quiet as they both shuffled awkwardly past a teacher, hoping they didn’t hear them.

“You are. Oh my-I can’t believe it.” Edd laughed at the face Tom made when he said it, one of mock betrayal, and punched him in the arm. “You think you know somebody.”

“No, but really.” Edd said, pushing open the cafeteria doors, “He said she had ‘blue eyes like on ocean’? Who actually says that anymore?”

“A couple liking each other’s eyes. They should be hunted for sport.” Tom said, which treated him to another punch in the arm.

“It’s just so overused! Aren’t you, like, an aspiring song writer or something? Shouldn’t this tick you off more than me?” Edd said, then waved hello to Matt as he slung his backpack onto the table and flopped down into the chair. 

“No because why the fuck would I give a shit?” Tom asked, taking out his pen and notebook.

“What are you guys talking about?” Matt asked, mouth full of burger

“Edd’s turning emo.” Tom said

“Welcome.” Matt said

“No I’m not, fuckwad!” 

“You hate love though.”

“I HATE that blue eyes are the only colored eyes that get compared to stuff! You don’t know what it’s...” Edd trailed off, then turned toward Matt, “you don’t know what it’s like having brown eyes!” 

“But your eyes are just as beautiful as anyone else’s, and I could compare them to anything if I applied myself.” Matt said, rolling his eyes.

“Easy for you to say; your eyes are like a fucking renaissance painting.” Edd huffed. “There are swirls of blue and green and-fuck! Even fucking yellow!” He squinted his eyes, “You couldn’t even begin to fathom what it’s like having one flat layer of brown.” 

“...” Matt sat staring in awe. “Edd...you realize that’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, ever, right?” 

“Lowkey gay.” Tom muttered, and crossed his arms, slouching over the table and stuffing a half-eaten snickers bar from earlier into his mouth.

“...” Edd’s cheeks turned pinkish. “No, I didn’t...I just wish I could have cooler eyes, is all. Don’t over think it.”

“You already have cool eyes, dumbshit.” Matt said

“Fuckin’ lair.” Edd laughed, “But thanks I guess.”

“Hey, Tom,” Matt said when he noticed Tom wasn’t writing in his notebook like he usually did, “what’s up? Want my kit-kat?”

“What are you saying? Of course he does.” Edd teases, seeing as Tom’s been gaining just a tad bit of weight

“You know what? Fuck all of you.” Tom stood up, grabbed his stuff, and left the table.

“...What’s got him so pissed?” Matt asked

“What are you talking about?” Edd joked and scratched at his hairline, “That’s classic Tom.” 

“I guess...hey are you going to eat lunch today or what?” 

“Oh yeah.” Edd glanced at the lunch line, which now wrapped around the entire cafeteria. “I think I’ll wait a little longer.” 

“...I still think Tom might be upset about something. Can you talk to him in calc for me?” 

“Sure.” Edd said, doodling a penis in the corner of the table, chuckling, then erased it, “Hey, speaking of calc, can you do my homework for me?” 

“Nah, dude, I hate math and I just got done finishing the test last period. My brain is fried.” 

“Ugh. Well, guess I’ll fail.” Edd shrugs with the confidence of somebody who knows how to cheat.

“Truly an inspiring story of determination.” 

~

“Hey, Tom-” Edd asked, once they were able to pair up for review before the test, “Wanna be my partner?”

“Um...” Tom scratched his neck and looked around the room. “Sure. You’re the only person here I don’t hate.” 

“Cool.” They both sat down at a table.

“So should we review the first part first, or should we-”

“Why’d you freak out at lunch?” 

Tom sighed.

“It just started to bother me, is all.” He said

“What did?”

“You straight up were flirting with Matthew!” Tom said, a bit too loudly. He looks around the room to see if anyone heard. “I mean, how can someone’s eyes even look like a renaissance painting? How’s that possible?”

“I just said it! I didn’t comprehend it!” Edd defended

“What does that even mean?”

“I don’t know!” Edd said, “What does it even matter?”

“...” Tom frowned, “Just...shut up about it.” 

“Shut up about what, Tom?” Edd crossed his arms, “Tell me before the teacher crawls up our ass about not studying.” 

“...I’ll talk to you later about it, okay.” 

“I already waited until the end of lunch-” 

“Teacher, can I switch partners?” Tom asked, avoiding Edd’s suddenly confused stare.

“Um.” The teacher looked between the two. “Sure, I guess.”

“Thanks.” Tom said, and walked to another group.

“You can study with Jon.” Teacher said to Edd, and the two studied together, with Edd occasionally looking over his shoulder to see if Tom was looking his way, though he never was.

~

Tom rushed through the double doors, trying to get lost in the sea of people, but Edd could spot his spiky hair a mile away. 

“Tom!” Edd shouted, and he grabbed his arm, spinning him around to face him. “What’s gotten into you, man? First you-” Sensing no out, Tom speaks up.

“Can we talk somewhere a bit more private?” He asked, as a few people gave them weird looks as they passed by.

“Um, sure.” Edd said, still holding his arm, and they walked towards a dead tree that was cut down years before. They sit under it, and Edd finally let go. 

Tom rubs his face and shakes his head a little, “Just...I didn’t like how you talked to Matt, that’s all.” 

“Why?” Edd asked

“It just made me feel weird, I dunno.” When Edd gave Tom a weird stare, he added, “Matt isn’t that pretty.”

“...So, what, you want me to compliment your....you?” Edd said, dancing around the what he was originally going to say.

“No!” Tom blushed, then coughed, “No. Just...it’s weird.” 

“...Right.” Edd put his hand over Tom’s, “You can tell me what’s really up.”

“...I just wish you’d say something nice about me, that’s all.” Tom mumbles.

“What?” 

“Say something nice about me sometimes, I say nice shit about you.”

“Really? When?”

“All the time!”

“To who?”

“Well, maybe I just think it, is that so bad?”

“...Wait,” Edd thought, “So you think nice things about me a lot?”

“No! Yes. I...” Tom rubbed his face again, causing some of his hair gel to flake out onto his hands and the knees of his ripped black pants. “I don’t know, man. It just happens.” 

“...Dude, do you have a crush on me?” Edd asked, then quickly added, “It’s fine if you do! Cute girls, cute guys, it’s both whatever.”

“I...you’re just really...nice and understanding and...” Tom squints at a root growing in front of him, “wait, you think I’m cute?”

“...” Edd self-reflects. He didn’t see Tom as unattractive, no. Thick eyebrows, black studs lining his ears, like a sort of goth-punk hybrid. He was sweet to his friends, funny in a lol so random xd sorta way, and would probably fight anyone if Edd told him they had dissed him. He also had this glow about him if he was talking about his favorite bands, or a piece of music he just learned, and his smile would seem so all-encompassing that it would seize your gaze by the throat. 

Kind of like what it was doing now. 

“Do you think I’m cute?” Tom asked, and began to shake Edd’s shoulders as a joke, rocking his body back of fourth.

“Tom, dude, shut up-”

“Oh my God you do!” Tom slowed down then. “That’s...crazy man.” He rubbed his neck, “Thanks for calling me cute.”

“Thanks for being jealous of me, I guess.” 

“Haha...you’re cute too. But not as cute as Billie Joe Armstrong.” Tom added to compensate for the blush running up his neck.

“Well, of course,” Edd rolled his eyes, “I don’t think that’s even possible.”

Tom laughed, then told Edd about the fanfiction he was writing about Shrek, and even though Edd purposefully zoned out because no matter how punk rock Tom was, he didn’t want to hear about his Shrek x Sonic the hedgehog fanfic, he felt the smile radiating off him. Edd smiled too.

[the-digimon-tamer]

Chapter 35 - New Plan, Do We Have One? is out now on FanFiction.Net and ArchiveOfOurOwn! Check them out with the links or find it after the break!

Title: The Tamer v2.0 - In HIs Name

Fandom: Digimon

Rating: T

Synopsis: In the next adventure of the Digimon Tamer, the lives of Juri, Rika, and Henry change forever when digimon begin crossing over into the human world. But it’s all just a story, right? Just a book series by an author no one has seen in a long time. Why are they here and can they save their world before something worse follows the digimon?

Kenta kept his eye on Juri anxiously, wondering what could be going through her head in light of seeing everyone return safely with their digimon. Well, mostly everyone. Kazu and Guardromon were still out cold from whatever had happened. The others were also being oddly quiet about what happened, apparently not willing to recall what had happened with perfect clarity. Whatever had spooked them had been bad.

“More information needed. Continue observation. Raising threat level of all targets. Exercise caution,” she said. Kenta jumped at the sound of her monotonous voice and alarmed phrase, “Juri?”

“It’s not Juri,” Calumon whimpered quietly, “She’s not okay! She’s not! She’s really not!”

Kenta raised an eyebrow at the little digimon, unsure of what to make of the little digimon’s panicked expression. He’d always been a little anxious but this was ridiculous. He was treating Juri like she was one of the Devas. What was there to be afraid of? It wasn’t like she was staring with cold, dead eyes at them like she was planning on killing everyone. At least, that’s what he tried to tell himself as she continued to stare at him unblinkingly, “Um, Juri. How are you holding up?”

“Query received. Compiling response. Response compiled. Answer: I am fine. Query: What is your basic chemical composition?”

“My what?” Kenta asked, dumbfounded by the question. That was when Ryo pulled him back by tugging on his ear, “Give her some space, Kenta. She’s been through a lot.”

“Sorry, she‘s just acting weird and it’s freaking me out,” Kenta answered defensively, allowing himself to get dragged along by Kenta until they rejoined Sakuyamon and the Sovereigns. He took a deep breath at the sight of her, still processing what he’d been told. She had reached the next form of digivolution and become something in between human and digimon. It was like some kinda hybrid. He sighed, wishing he could have a digimon partner of his own already. 

“Hey! We’re back!” Tamerkato’s voice called out. They looked up and saw him and WarGrowlmon riding atop a large mechanical version of Terriermon wearing Rapidmon’s armor soaring through the air. It touched down just beside them and revealed how large it truly was when standing beside the other digimon - about the size of the other Sovereigns. That was something. Hell, it could probably even dwarf Megidramon - not that Kenta wanted to find out. But there was someone’s else with them: Henry’s little sister and a chocolate version of Terriermon with three horns instead of the usual one. 

“Wow! You’re all okay! How was the Digital World!?” Henry’s sister greeted, “Everything is all so big! Wow! So Pretty! It’s a flying snake, and a glowing tiger, and fire bird, and a two headed turtle! I bet they argue a lot.”

“Wait, aren’t you Henry’s sister? What are you doing here?” Kenta pointed at her in disbelief, “How did you get here? And where’s Henry!?”

“Well it all started when there was a noise in daddy’s computer, and then there was a pretty light, and then a giant bunny and then,” she paused, “Oh no! The bunny! Is she okay?”

She hurried back to the chocolate Terriermon and examined its unconscious form. It jolted awake at her touch, and shook its head in disbelief, “Ow! That hurt…wait…you got taller.”

“I didn’t get taller, you got smaller!” Xiaochun said happily, pointing at her body. As the bunny took a moment to examine herself, Xiaochun squealed in delight, “Ooh! You’re so cute like this! I love it! I just want to give you a great big hug!”

“Don’t you dare!” she tried to protest but it was too late. Xiaochun was already holding the bunny in her arms and squeezing her as hard as she could. As the bunny tried to protest, a small light appeared in Xiaochun’s pocket and the girl dropped the bunny in surprise, “Hm? What’s that? Oh! Hello, what’s this? Henry! Look! Look! I got a digivice too!”

She held up a pink digivice and showed it to the big green mecha that sighed in frustration. Then Azulongmon remarked, “Would you look at that - a Deva chosen as a partner to a human girl. You must’ve done something truly spectacular to earn that, Antylamon. Or should I say Lopmon?”

“It doesn’t really feel spectacular,” the rabbit frowned. Kenta had no idea what the hell was going on and looked at the others from some explanation, “So is someone going to translate any of that?” 

“We’re just as confused as you are,” the giant robot dog said. Sakuyamon came over to join him, “Alright, Henry. So what’s this big guy called?”

“MegaGargomon and I feel like a freaking Gundam,” he answered sheepishly, “Watch where you’re standing guys. I feel like I’m going to step on someone just because I adjust my feet. It’s really weird.”

“Where are our Devas? Caturamon and Antylamon?” Zhuqiaomon roared at the top of his lungs. MegaGargomon gestured down at the chocolate bunny, “We couldn’t find Caturamon. As for Antylamon, she’s right there. But we have a problem. That thing, the D-Reaper, just appeared over in that part of the Digital World! It was all we could do to get away before it got to us!”

Alarm spread through the remaining Devas and Sovereigns as they realized time had run out for them. Kenta could see it plain as day on their faces - they looked like they’d been told the world was going to end. Whatever thing was the cause of this mess was loose in the Digital World now and it was only a matter of time before they’d be able to do anything about it. Azulongmon turned to Calumon, “Little one. You must understand, you must release the power held within you now. For the sake of the Digital World. For the sake of all worlds!”

“I don’t know if I can,” he whimpered quietly, shying away from the massive flying sovereign. 

That was when Tamerkato picked him up, “Don’t worry. I think I can help you there. It might sting, but it’s better than the alternative.”

“Pardon me there laddie but what do you think you’re doing with the Catalyst?” Ebonwumon’s first head asked, as it guided itself over to him. Once both heads were close enough to examine him, the second head asked, “And who exactly do you think you are that you can figure out what we can’t?”

Tamerkato thumbed at his goggles, “You know who I am.”

“Who do you think you are to talk to us that way, human!?” Zhuqiaomon snapped angrily. Calumon cowed under Zhuqiaomon’s voice, shaking in terror until Tamerkato started patting his head, “Who do you think you are to call me human? See, I can be mean too. Not a lot of fun is it? Come on already Zhuqiaomon, you’re smarter than this. Put it together already.”

Zhuqiaomon stared at him silently until his four eyes widened. Even his voice carried a mix of surprise and disappointment as he answered, “No.”

“Yup,” Tamerkato nodded. Zhuqiaomon blinked repeatedly, as if to confirm what he was looking at. Kenta couldn’t blame him - it was very hard to believe in itself. Zhuqiaomon remarked, “But...you’re so pathetic looking. I recall a warrior’s eyes last time we met.”

“Times change. So do people,” Tamerkato answered, looking from him to the other Sovereigns, “All of you. It’s been a while.”

“Hang on a tick, who is this whelp and why are we listenin’ ya his demands?” Ebonwumon’s other head demanded. Zhuqiaomon roared, “It’s The Digimon Tamer, you idiot.”

“It is?” Ebonwumon eyed Tamerkato quietly. Azulongmon and Baihumon came in closer to better examine the boy but neither seemed to impressed with what they saw. Azulongmon nodded, “It’s he’s a while Digimon Tamer. I don’t like the new look. It’s very dopey.”

“Yeah, I get that a lot,” Tamerkato crowned before gesturing at the Sovereigns, “Can you do that thing where you call all the digimon here?”

Each of the Sovereigns looked at each other quietly, Ebonwumon’s second head asking, “Are you sure?”

Tamerkato nodded quietly and Baihumon sighed, “Okay then. This will take time.”

The four sovereigns ascended skyward to just above the crevice and came aglow with light. Kenta had to crane his neck back just to get a good look at them before covering his eyes from the blinding light, “What are they doing?”

“Summoning the digimon. Every digimon,” Tamerkato answered quietly. MegaGargomon looked from the dazzling display above their heads and asked, “Why would they do that?”

“Because we’re going to need more than the Sovereigns to fight back against this thing. We need everyone,” Tamerkato answered bitterly. Sakuyamon looked to him, “You mean an army?”

Tamerkato didn’t answer.

…

“I think I’ve got it right. I’m forwarding my copy of the code to you now. Hopefully it works well with what you guys are working,” Zhenyu said as he finished the last few lines of code.

“Okay, that just leaves Curly and Babel. Go ahead and drop it in the shared network folder,” Dolphin remarked.

“Already done!” Zhenyu answered with a big smile. He missed this - when all of them were together, they worked with a speed and efficiency that few could match. Except for maybe the Ichijoujis and Izumi, “Where are you at Curly? Babel?” 

“On its way.”

“Just dropped my part of the code in the computer.”

The room was alight with the clicks of keys and whirring of fans trying to cool a powerhouse of processors. Dolphin took a deep breath and copied their code, “Okay, compiling now. We’ll be ready to test once its done. It should only take a couple of minutes with all this processing power at our disposal.”

“Do you think it will work?” Sora asked, having watched from across the room with the other digidestined who couldn’t help because of their lack of any programming or computer knowledge. Dolphin shrugged, “No idea. We’re working from scratch in a poorly understood field. Or…unknown field makes more sense. I say we have a ten percent chance of it working.”

“And the other ninety?” Sora asked, her tone becoming more serious and worrisome after that. The many Monster Makers looked at each other anxiously, “We overload the power supply and blow ourselves up. And possibly the kids with it.”

“Maybe I’ll lose my other leg and even myself out,” Izumi remarked dryly, snickering at his joke until his wife slapped the back of his head, “Don’t joke about that, Koushi!”

“Sorry, I think the pain meds are still messing with me,” he chuckled while massaging the sore spot on his head, “I’ll review the code and see if it works.”

“Koushi?” Zhenyu heard the school teacher repeat stupidly, “Wow, Izzy. Never figured you two for pet names.”

“What exactly are we doing again?” Motomiya complained from a swivel chair that he’d been using to spin in place while balancing a pencil on his nose. Daisy, ever the energetic member of their team, snapped her fingers and raced over to a wall with a marker, “Oh, I got this! So, we’ve modified the Juggernaut’s code to force open a gate between worlds without sucking in all digital life that it detects. We then used that same code to create a new program that we’re calling ‘Ark’. It’s a modified version of the rudimentary life program that we created way back when we first made the digimon. Only the ‘Ark’ is modified to act as transport with room for all the kids and their digimon to come home.”

Her explanation didn’t really need a visual aid but it didn’t stop her from drawing on the wall. And when she was done, she happily presented a crude drawing of a space ship that resembled on the new digivices but with wings. She seemed proud of it too until Yamaki groaned and dragged her away, “Please don’t draw on our walls.”

“I’ve got coffee and snacks,” Tally announced as she walked back into the office with Riley. Both women held carriers filled with coffees and handily started passing them around to the different members of the digidestined. The group collectively cheered and thanked the women for making a coffee run just as the time came for them to sit back and watch the code compile in front of them.

Just as the anticipation was about to kill them, Ken Ichijouji returned with Matt Ishida lugging a laptop and a power cord under his arm. Matt slammed the laptop down hard, manhandling it as he hooked up the power cord while Izumi complained, “I see you still treat computers rougher than you treat Tamer.”

“I’m anxious,” Matt answered, “The key to finding Takeru could be on here. And Ken probably just figured out the password. I need to know.”

Ken retrieved the laptop before he could damage it any further and declared, “I understand where you’re coming from. No one will ever get that more than me. But those clues are going to go up in flames if you don’t start treating these electronics with a little more delicacy.”

“What’s the deal with this anyway?” Zhenyu asked, “Takeru’s your brother and he’s missing. I’ve gathered that much. But what exactly makes you think there could be clues on that laptop?”

Ichijouji was too busy setting up the laptop to answer the question so it fell on Ishida to provide the answer for him, “Before Takeru disappeared, he became really withdrawn and paranoid. Kept talking about not knowing who was listening. We could just be hanging out at our apartment and he’d begin worrying about being watched. I guess now we know why.”

He shot a deathly angry look over at Yamaki. The government agent adjusted his tie and pretended to not notice, “Don’t be so naive to think we were the only ones watching you. There were others watching well before we were. If it wasn’t us, it would’ve been Burnt Leaf, the Central Intelligence Agency, MI6, the Ministry of State Security, or any of the other intelligence agencies out there in the world. You painted huge targets on your backs when you were kids because of the stuff you pulled in the Odaiba Incident.”

“Kids? Hang on, the Odaiba Incident was...like...two years ago.  They’re adults!” Curly protested. 

“Getting back on track,” Ishida cleated his throat, “We thought it was just jitters from his next book. Digimon Adventure 02. He’d been stressing about it forever because of the details he changed while he was working on it. Most of it was because he wasn’t comfortable with lying or covering up the truth. Then he disappeared and our digimon vanished with him. I hired Ken here to investigate for me and figure out what the hell happened to my brother.”

“Oh cool, your brother wrote those awesome books!” Daisy said excitedly.

“Moving on. My investigation turned up some scary things. He started renting a lot of properties, moving from place to place at the drop of a hat, and rigged every place he stayed with booby traps. It was like he expected to be attacked,” Ichijouji answered as he typed on the keyboard, “We found this laptop in one of those properties, also booby trapped. It’s password protected and set to automatically delete the hard drive if we put in the wrong password too many times. We couldn’t get in. And the only hint was nonsense. But now I’m starting to wonder if the answer was right under our noses.”

“What are you thinking honey?” his wife asked, joining him to inspect the laptop’s screen. Ichijouji looked up with the biggest pleased with himself smile possible, “Something that was kind of a theme in Takeru’s books. Hell, call it the theme of our fucking lives if you want to believe it. The password! It’s DESTINY.”

He pressed enter as he finished typing and the computer moved onto the desktop which had a file directory open. Matt cheered and slapped Ken’s back “You’re my hero right now. I hope you know that. What have you got?”

Ken began scrolling through the different folders and subdirectories, “Let’s find out. It looks like he kept everything very well organized. There’s saved copies of news articles, this folder looks like drafts of his book at different stages of writing. Here’s a folder with a lot of pictures. Hey, Yamaki. Looks like Takeru was on to you.”

He turned the laptop to show a selfie of Takeru holding up a peace sign with his fingers. Just behind him was Yamaki pretending to read a newspaper - a sight that made his own subordinates snicker. Riley remarked, “You were always awful at field operations.” 

“Is that code almost done compiling?” Yamaki tried to divert the subject but was answered with a sharp no from Dolphin still watching his monitor, “I’ll let you all know if anything changes. Please continue. I like hearing about how a novelist was outsmarting a bunch of government agents.”

“It becomes a lot less amusing when you realize that there were lives at stake,” Yamaki pointed out seriously, “This might just be a game to some of you-”

He looked right at the Monster Makers when he said that and added, “-or a childhood adventure-”

He looked at the digidestined, “But this is a national security matter. Monsters from another world invaded ours. You better believe every single government out there wants to be the first to use them as weapons and tip the global power scale. Quite frankly, it all comes down to who you think would be better off in control of the situation. And you better believe that everyone has different ideas of what to do with them.”

“And what’s your plan for them?” the doctor asked calmly, finally saying something for the first time since they arrived. Yamaki turned on the man, taking a moment to cool before calmly asking, “What are you implying?”

“I’ve worked with Doctors Without Borders for years. I’ve been to a lot of parts of the world. Everyone is always after something. So what’s your game Yamaki? What makes the Japanese government any better than say the Americans? Or the Chinese? Hell, what makes you think that we would help you just to let you have any kind of control over the digimon?” Doctor Kido stated matter of factly with a finger pointed so close to the government agent that they were pretty sure he was going to jab his eye out.

Yamaki sighed, “Don’t be so naive. Everyone has blood on their hands. Even you, Doctor Kido. Or do you believe we don’t know about the wild ones you killed? The ones who showed up when you were just a teenager.”

“That was two years ago and that man is in his twenties!” another of the Monster Makers shouted out of annoyance.

“We were trying to save the world,” Kido stood his ground on the matter.

“Good job with that. You’ve totally saved the world and made it better for everyone. It’s not like we have monsters regularly appearing in our streets and attacking people,” Yamaki fired back angrily. There was moment of pause until Kari Kamiya came forward and slapped them both across the back of the head with a textbook, “Focus! We’re here to save the kids, not bicker over whose morality dick is bigger.”

The computer made a beep and Zhenyu announced, “The program works. Let’s give it a run and see if it can enter the Digital World. If this works, then we can go save our kids!” 

“But how do we know if it works?” Miss Izumi asked. Dolphin smiled, “We’ve taken care of that. The Ark will go to the Digital World and acquire a sample of Digital Life. Not anything sentient, but definitely something alive. If it comes here in one piece, then we know it works. If it doesn’t, back to the drawing board!”

“And where exactly will the ark be appearing?” Yamaki folded his arms and leered. Dolphin laughed at his attempt at intimidation, “Don’t worry. We have it landing on top of the Metropolitan Building.”

...

Rika marveled as the digimon gathered - filling the sky and crowding the ground with their numbers. And they all came so quickly and without warning that she barely had time to process the fact that it happened. There were more among their number than could ever be counted and Rika was unsure of what to do with them, “Renamon, how are they all here?”

“Even I don’t know that,” Renamon answered quietly, “Although I wish I did.”

“That is the power of the Sovereigns,” Tamerkato answered, still cradling Calumon in his hands, “And we’re going to need everyone to fight the D-Reaper.”

“You keep saying that. Who’s the D-Reaper?” Kenta asked aloud. Tamerkato snapped his fingers, “You remember that camp fire story? The monster who only wanted to devour. I wasn’t making that up. The D-Reaper is real and it existed.”

“Wait, seriously?” Henry or MegaGargomon or whatever he was calling himself stammered out, “So that thing we were just fighting is the all powerful monster from your campfire story?”

“Anyone care to fill me in?” Rika finally demanded grumpily, tapping her foot impatiently as she awaited the others’ explanation of the recent turn of events. Kenta pushed his fingers together quietly, “We went on a camping trip for school not too long ago and told ghost stories. Taka…Tamer told this weird story about a monster that ate everything it came across and got stronger as it did. In the end, it was so strong that no one could defeat it. They just did the next best thing: they buried it.”

“And it looks like all that did was buy time,” Tamerkato remarked wearily from where he was, still petting Calumon’s head. The poor little digimon seemed to shrink and shy away in his arms, eyes welling up with tears as begged, “Can we please stop talking about the scary stuff! I don’t like this! I want to leave! Can we go now!? Please, I want to go now!”

“Just a little bit longer,” Tamerkato said, stroking the little digimon’s head until he calmed down. Rika couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “Are you kidding me? So you mean we’re up against a something that can’t be killed? That thing down there? That’s what all this is about? What are we supposed to do to beat it? How did it even get out?”

Tamerkato laughed, “The Digital World has been through a lot of trauma over the years. It’s been weakened from attacks from outside reality, had its life force sapped by evil forces, and now its merged with another version of itself. We’ll be lucky if that monster is the only thing we have to worry about.”

“What do you mean the only thing we have to worry about goggle head?” Rika demanded of Tamerkato. He sighed, “There’s a part of that story that Kenta left out. Honestly, it’s one of the most forgettable parts of the story. They sent another monster to fight it - hoping the two of them would kill each other. When they realized it wasn’t going to happen, then they decided to burry it under the Digital World. We already have one monster coming back up. What will we do if there’s two? What will we do if they’re working together?”

Her heart seemed to freeze when the thought of something equally as powerful as that thing down there came to mind. The thing he was talking about was directly under them and it was so strong that the Sovereigns - all powerful beings who took Megidramon down - ran away in fear. And now Tamerkato was talking about two of them? They were screwed if even a word of that was true. She took another moment to steel herself enough to talk, “We’ll worry about that when it happens. What are we going to do about that thing now?”

“Not we. Us. Well, us excluding you guys,” Tamerkato answered matter of factly. That part stunned Rika. She hadn’t come all this way to get removed from the big fight. She wasn’t going to turn tail and run now. 

“Where are we going?” Kazu asked, finally stirring from his unconscious state. Just what Rika needed - headaches on top of her fear. Suddenly, he jumped up to his feet upon seeing all the digimon present, “Whoa! Check out that digimon! Who’s she?”

“It’s Sakuyamon to you,” Rika answered grumpily, stamping the ground with her staff and leering at Tamerkato, “And how can you just send us home now after everything that’s happened?”

“This isn’t your fight. And quite frankly, you shouldn’t be putting your lives at risk for this,” Tamerkato answered sternly.

“I agree,” Ryo added grumpily. Rika gasped, “RYO!?”

“He’s right. This isn’t our fight. And to be honest, I’ve been wanting to go home since this entire thing started. All I’ve wanted was to go home,” Ryo said bitterly, “I’ve fought enough world ending monsters. I don’t want to fight one more.”

Rika was stunned and at a loss for words. She knew the Digital World had changed Ryo, she knew that he desperately wanted to go home. But abandoning an entire world to a horrible fate, “That’s selfish Ryo.”

“You’re one to talk, Rika,” Renamon’s words echoed in her mind. Yes, she was selfish before. She was trying to be better. Before she could get another word in, Ryo answered, “Rika, it’s been twenty years since I’ve seen my parents. My family. Twenty years of non stop fighting and violence and sleeping with one eye open so I don’t get eaten in the middle of the night by some random monster digimon. Twenty years, Rika. All I want right now is to see them again. Is that selfish too?”

His words were pleading, almost desperate. She couldn’t argue with him, feeling only guilt when she thought about forcing him to stay in the Digital World longer to save a world he didn’t want anything to do with. She needed to apologize. To let him know she was sorry but was stopped by a beeping in her backpack. It was the D-Terminal with a message from their parents. It had been a while since they’d heard from them and she read aloud the message they’d received, “To whoever gets this. This is Henry’s dad. Is Henry’s sister in the Digital World with you?”

She tried typing her response but realized her fingers were too big to touch the buttons properly. Embarrassed, she passed the device to Ryo, “Do you mind? My hands are too big.”

“Sure,” he began typing a message into the screen, “Yes. She showed up a little while ago and she’s got a rabbit with her.”

Ryo paused, looking at the little girl, “I guess your family noticed she was missing too. I wonder what my parents think?”

Rika was hit with another bout of guilt, wondering now if her mother and father were just as worried about her. She didn’t want to agree to heading back, but she couldn’t deny that going home would be nice.

“It’s alright to want to go home Rika. I understand completely,” Renamon’s voice echoed. Did she though? Renamon had done a lot for her world and here she was ready to abandon the Digital World. It was stupid to feel this way though since Renamon would just hear thoughts, a fact she was more than keen to remind her of, “Yes. I’m quite sure. And yes, it is stupid. The Digital World has some of the most powerful digimon overseeing its safety. We can afford for you to return to your family for a small while.”

“But goggle head wanted to kick us out of the fight,” Rika admitted quietly. 

“Then you must be stupid if you think for one second that I believe you’re going to listen to him long enough to heed his word. We’ll find our own way back if we have to,” Renamon’s voice answered. That was a relief. At least she knew Renamon didn’t want out of this fight.

Tamerkato strolled up to the center of the group and stroked Calumon again, “It’s time buddy. This may sting a little. I’ll need to release the energy inside of you.”

Calumon’s ear shrank away further and it seemed like he wanted to run away from Tamerkato, only staying because the boy’s grip was apparently stronger than he’d ever let on. He traced patterns onto the little guy’s head with his finger, calming the little digimon with each pattern until he finally closed his eyes. He came aglow with soft light, and Tamerkato released the little digimon so he could float gently up into the air. 

Calumon’s mouth moved, but anything he said was completely inaudible to them. Not that it mattered, since he suddenly erupted into a dazzling display of light that spread out in all direction. Beams of light struck every digimon it could and they all gave out a momentous cry of digivolution. It would’ve been beautiful and Rika would’ve loved to admire it if they didn’t have to worry about the fact the danger that was just below them. But this was a sight they had never seen before: countless mega level digimon hovering just above them unlike anything they’d ever seen before. Even from the books and the shows, she could only think of maybe five or six mega level digimon appearing at any one time. There were as many mega digimon here as there were stars in the sky. And only a few she could properly identify.

WarGreymon. MetalGarurumon. Pukumon. MetalSeadramon. Those were the ones she could identify. There were more present than she’d ever seen before. And many that she’d never seen in the show, or the card game, or anything else related to digimon.

The light faded and Calumon fell back into Tamerkato’s arms with his eyes closed. He stroked the little digimon’s head gently and smiled calmly, “Good job, Calumon.”

“Is Calumon sleepy?” WarGrowlmon asked.

“To think we sent that to the Human World. We should’ve guarded it here for our own use,” Zhuqiaomon declared, still taking in the sight of hundreds of fresh mega level digimon all around him. Tamerkato took a step back and pulled Calumon away from the Sovereign, “Not on your life. The Catalyst isn’t just a power source anymore. It’s a living, breathing, being with thoughts, feelings, wants and needs. I have no idea how you managed to even do that. It shouldn’t be possible. But it is apparently. And you’re not using him as a weapon.”

“Then what did you just do?” Zhuqiaomon demanded. Tamerkato gestured around them, “I gave you guys a way to defend yourselves against a beast crawling its way back out of the heart of the Digital World.”

“And that’s the only reason you gave us this power?” Zhuqiaomon eyed him seriously. Tamerkato didn’t hesitate to answer, “Why, did you plan on using it for something else?”

Rika wasn’t in the mood to hear them bicker - not after what they’d all just gone through - and cleared her throat to get their attention, “Look, I don’t want to interrupt whatever this is but what now? I mean, is there even a plan here? If brute force was going to be enough, then wouldn’t the Sovereigns have been enough? What exactly will more Mega level digimon do that four of the strongest digimon couldn’t?”

“It’s to buy time while we come up with another plan. Unless you guys have another one besides attack,” Tamerkato stated bluntly, looking at the Sovereigns with a bit more hope in his eyes than he probably should’ve had. The four Sovereign digimon exchanged glances before Azulongmon answered, “Our hope was that you would have one when you reappeared.”

Tamerkato nodded quietly, “Then yeah, buy time while we come up with a plan. But first, take these guys home.”

It was as good a plan as any until Kazu roared up to Tamerkato in a huff, “Hold on! We just got here and you better believe I’m not running away with my tail between my legs! We’re going back down there and we’re going to-”

The ground began to rumble and gave way just beneath his feet. Rika acted on instinct and leapt into the air, hovering there as the ground crumbled away for the red mass underneath to get loose. MegaGargomon did the same - grabbing hold of Xiaochun, Lopmon, and the unconscious Guardromon. Cybderdramon was quick to grab Ryo and Kazu before the ground gave way under them. The rest weren’t so lucky - screaming as they fell to what must’ve been certain doom. 

“Rika!” Renamon’s voice echoed. 

“I’m on it,” she dove down towards the ground to grab them, going for the closest one: Juri. The girl was still staring blankly ahead of her. Did she even realize she was in any danger? No, of course not. She was still hung up on Leomon. She grabbed a hold of her and darted towards the next person she could see. Kenta. But he was too far. And so were Tamerkato and WarGrowlmon. She wasn’t going to make it in time. They were going to be eaten by that thing.

…

“It’s arrived on the rooftop. Haz Team is investigating it now,” Yamaki said over the radio. 

“Test run worked,” Zhenyu declared with a sigh of relief. Now it was just a question of what the Ark had brought back and if it survived the process. That was the part that worried him and it made the seconds drag like hours. After a moment, Yamaki’s voice rang back, “They’re saying it’s a plant. Like rosemary but blue. They’re securing it now.”

It worked. They knew it worked. That was all he cared about. And now they could send something to rescue the kids. 

“Test looks good Zhenyu. Your team really pulled through this time. Okay, send a message to the kids and tell them to get ready for an extraction!” Yamaki said again into the radio, “Let’s get them out of here.”

Zhenyu didn’t need telling twice. He and the rest of the team went back to the computers, ready for maiden voyage of their new machine. 

…

“Kahuna Waves!”

Blue heart shaped bubbles descended from the sky and wrapped around them - stopping them just inches before they fell into the red mass. The red mass lurched in protest, belching up a small wave to try and reach them. Thankfully, the bubbles started to pull them away out of reach of the red mass which belched in violent protest. 

Rika looked upward for their rescuer and was surprised to see a familiar pink seal with a big red heart on its chest cooing at them. She’d seen it only in the card game and was surprised that anything in its particularly weak digivolution line survived - MarineAngemon, the aquatic holy digimon. It raced down to them and cooed happily as it helped to lift them up to safety, leaving Kenta wondering aloud, “Wpw. Did you save us? Thanks little guy. But who are you?”

“MarineAngemon. It’s a pleasure to meet you human,” the little digimon greeted playfully, to Kenta’s surprise, “I’m glad to see you’re alright.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Kenta nodded graciously, offering a hand to the creature but realizing one second too late that it had no hand to shake. Still it offered its flipper anyway as a show of gratitude. On contact, a glow of light appeared where their ‘hands’ met and it jumped into Kenta’s pocket. Rika could easily guess what it was and sighed - another digivice.

Until she noticed the light didn’t subside - it was now coming from over their heads, and Rika looked upward, “What’s that?”

All eyes turned skyward as something else joined them - a comically large vessel shaped like one of their digivices appeared over head and hovered there in the air just above them. Both Zhuqiaomon and Azulongmon encircled it, readying to attack it if needed. Their display seemed more for effect than anything else, since they were the only ones stopping all the new digivolved mega digimon from attacking it themselves. Azulongmon asked, “What is this? Is this one of yours, Tamer?”

This didn’t stop Kazu from elbowing Kenta in the arm, “You may not have got the coolest partner, but it looks like you got the coolest digivice. That thing is huge, dude.”

“Very funny Kazu. My digivice is right here,” Kenta lifted his up with a big toothy grin.

“I have no idea what that is but I could hazard a guess,” he answered knowingly, looking to the others with a smile. Then a new message came from Rika’s D-Terminal. Ryo read the message aloud, “It’s from your parents. Get on the ship. It will take everyone home.”

“Perfect timing, too,” Tamerkato remarked with a big smile, “MarineAngemon, do you mind bringing us on board?”

“Of course!” the little digimon waved its fin and the heart shaped bubbles ascended towards the digivice shaped vessel. Ryo patted Cyberdramon and two darted ahead, getting aboard that ship before any one else had. Rika hesitated just long enough for Renamon to notice, “Rika?”

“Are you sure you’re okay with not staying?” Rika thought quietly. Her partner’s voice was calm but agreeable, “I understand why you’re concerned and appreciate it. We will come back. First, we should go see your parents again.”

“Okay,” Rika agreed, kicking off against the digital World and flying off into the sky. She landed gently inside the machine and felt a sudden fatigue wash over her. She looked down at her arms and saw two regular human hands, “Huh, we’re not Sakuyamon anymore.”

“So it would seem,” Renamon said from behind her, making her jump in surprise, “Geez! Give me some warning why don’t you?”

“Forgive me, Rika. I didn’t mean to alarm you,” her partner said half apologetically, half with an uncharacteristic smile that made her uneasy. MegaGargomon tapped the ship and asked, “Huh, how do I get-”

As soon as he put his hand through the entrance, MegaGargomon appeared to lurch forward until both Henry and Terriermon were standing in front of them, “Whoa. That was trippy.”

“Wonder how that worked?” Terriermon asked. 

“How does this ship work? There’s no controls!” Tamerkato remarked from further inside. Now that Rika was able to get a better look, she realized he was right. The ship consisted of nothing more than a large empty room - no seats, no safety measures, just an open door that probably was a safety hazard if the ship jolted too fast. Ryo returned Rika’s D-Terminal, “Here, you can tell your parents we’re on our way back. Hopefully calm them down.”

She took it back with a quiet nod and typed into it, “We’re all on board. How do we fly this ship?”

It took a moment longer for her to get a reply, “It’s on autopilot. Hang on.”

Suddenly, the ship lurched ahead. Tamerkato was ecstatic at the activity, “Oh that is just awesome.”

He darted back towards the opening, “We’ll be back, Azulongmon. You have my word!”

“We’ll be waiting, Tamer,” the Sovereign digimon said. Not a second longer, the fire lurched and the creature below attacked. The Digital World was now a battlefield.