#he's mad at himself and is projecting because its easier to get angry than admit he doesn't trust himself at all anymore

[littlecrittereli]

How would Chris react to Martin's scars? :3

SPOILER WARNING FOR REPROGRAMMED!!!!

erm lets just say he's coping!

(its 2 am... I ruined my sleep schedule to make this lol)

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Soulmarks, Part 12

First part

Previous

~~~

Tim was separated from the only two people in the country he knew within seconds of the lunch bell ringing.

Marinette had been called up by the teacher. Apparently, she was class president last year and she held the duties until the next election. She gave a tiny sigh as she released Tim’s hand and gave both him and Adrien kisses on the cheek before heading out with Mme. Bustier.

Adrien, at least, was still in the room. Unfortunately, though, he was completely surrounded by his classmates, who were all clamoring for pictures of his notes.

He crossed his arms over his chest awkwardly as he stood outside the door, waiting for either of his friends to appear.

The door swung open and out walked Lila.

Damn it, he’d held Marinette’s hand too long and her bad luck had rubbed off on him.

He sighed. “What do you want?”

She smiled sweetly at him, twirling a lock of her hair in her fingers. “I just wanted to show the new kid around some.”

“Wouldn’t that be Marinette’s job as class rep?”

Lila sighed and shook her head slowly. “Oh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but… I wouldn’t get too close to Mari.”

He raised his eyebrows. A little late for that, but he supposed he may as well ask: “Why not?”

“Well, for one thing, she’s a bit of a bully.” She looked at the ground. “Did she ever tell you about all the times she tried to ‘prove’ that I wasn’t actually disabled? Just because she didn’t like me? We hadn’t even talked, she was just mad I was talking to Adrien!”

A frown made its way across his face. Sure, it wasn’t at all like the Marinette he knew, but how well did he know her? He’d never seen how she interacted with people she didn’t like… and hadn’t he seen just how ruthless she could be when she wanted to that first day with ‘bowling’? In the way her expression hardened when Joker or Harley were mentioned?

He leaned against the wall. “There are other things?”

Lila’s head jerked up in surprise. “Huh?”

“You said ‘for one thing’. That implies more.”

“You’d think bullying would be enough…” Said Lila with a frown, but she continued: “Secondly, I think she’s a gold digger.”

His mind wandered to the few times Bruce had tried to buy something for her. How she’d ended up hiding money around for him to find so he couldn’t force it back into her hands. He gave a soft laugh. No, he wasn’t concerned about that. “Well, I can say she isn’t.”

Besides, if anyone here was a gold digger, it was probably Lila. Her eyes had lit up at the Wayne name. Projecting much?

She didn't seem all that convinced. “I just think it’s a little suspicious that she goes after you, Kagami, and Adrien. The girl has a pattern, and it’s money.”

He snickered. “Okay, and what about Chloe Bourgeois?”

“Chloe?” Said Lila slowly. “How do you know about Chloe?”

He frowned. “She’s in our class, right?”

“Well, yes, but they don’t talk or anything. How’d you know about her?”

“Simple: I’m her soulmate.”

Lila blanked. There was a few moments where she apparently rebooted, and then she scoffed. “Are you sure about that? Marinette likes to lie. A lot.”

“Pretty sure. Unless you know some other designers, who live in France, who bakes a lot, who carries a yoyo in their pocket, who also happens to love her parents.”

She finally stopped twirling her hair, shoving her hands in her pockets as she mulled this over. “Congrats on finding your soulmate,” she said in the same begrudging tone that siblings use when their parents make them apologize to each other. “But…”

“But…?”

Lila leaned forward conspiratorially. “I think she might be working for Hawkmoth.”

Don’t. Laugh.

He shook his head, pursing his lips together tightly to stop himself from laughing. When he was sure that he could keep a straight face, he mumbled a “yeah, no.”

She shrugged. “Don’t believe me? She disappears during every akuma and she’s never been akumatized. I’m telling you, she’s working with him!”

He couldn’t help it anymore, he snickered. Sure, the girl had gathered some pretty good evidence, but she’d come to the complete wrong conclusion. Before he could really come up with a reason for why he was so convinced that she couldn’t be working with him, he spotted Marinette running back to the classroom.

Tim watched her eyes narrow when she spotted Lila and raised his eyebrows. Sure, three out of four of Lila’s points were wrong, but the first one still concerned him.

Marinette gave a forced smile as she came to a stop beside him. “Ready for your tour? I even got special permission to take you out of school for lunch today,” she chirped, holding up two tiny slips of paper.

He smiled faintly. “How’d you manage that?”

“I let it slip to the principal that I was showing around Tim Drake-Wayne. They practically begged me to keep the school food away from you.” She winked, then her eyes found their way to Lila. Her smile lessened. “Lunch is almost over for you, Lila, you should get something to eat. What with your weak immune system and all, we wouldn’t want you to get sick, would we?”

He narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at Lila, who sighed like this was a regular occurrence.

“Fine, Mari, I’ll leave. I know when I’m not wanted.” She leaned up and kissed Tim on the cheek before he could really react. “A presto,” she said, sending a grin over her shoulder as she walked off.

He gave a tiny wave and then glanced at Marinette.

“You’re crumpling the papers.”

She snapped out of it and frowned, looking down at the passes. She loosened her grip and started smoothing them out with her fingers. “Right. Sorry. Let’s go.”

~

She should have warned him about Lila. She had no clue what the liar had said about her, but it clearly was affecting Tim. Earlier he’d been holding her hand and now he would barely even look her in the eyes.

She stared at the empty cup of coffee in front of her as they waited for the waiter to come back with their food in silence.

A tiny part of her was tempted to just let Lila have him. She’d managed to get everyone else, had picked off all her friends one by one. Even Adrien would usually eat with Nino. At this point, she was starting to think it would be easier to just let go of the hope that she could really have friends while she lived in Paris. It would certainly feel better than grasping onto him desperately only to lose him…

She pulled her yoyo from her pocket and started messing with it.

One attempt. She’d give herself one attempt.

“What did she tell you?”

He looked at her. Finally.

“She obviously told you something. What was it?”

He finished off his coffee and set down his cup. “She said you’re a bully.”

“Well, she’s a compulsive liar.”

“She said the same about you.”

She cursed as her yoyo tangled itself and started fixing the string. “And you’re going to believe her over me?”

He reached across the table and gently pulled the yoyo from her fingers and started working the knots out. “Normally, I wouldn’t, but…” He sighed lightly. “Would she really have a reason to fake an illness?”

Marinette blinked, then shook her head. “That wasn’t the first lie I figured out. The first one was --.” She cut herself off and gave the waiter an awkward smile as he set down a plate of waffles.

The teens mumbled their thanks and he left.

She switched to English for her next sentence: “She lied about being friends with Ladybug.”

He raised his eyebrows.

She frowned. He didn’t trust her. Great. She had proof, at least. She scrolled through the Ladyblog for a while before handing over the video of Lila claiming to be Ladybug’s best friend.

“So... she lied once to seem cool to her new classmates and you decided that was enough to never trust her again?”

She wanted to kick something. Seriously? She pulled her yoyo back from him and started pulling on the string as hard as she could. She needed her yoyo back. She needed to calm down. She needed --.

Her eyes spotted a black and purple speck on the horizon and she squeaked.

Fuck. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t get akumatized. She wouldn’t be able to fix things if she was akumatized. She couldn’t let someone die because of her --.

Tim followed her gaze and cursed quietly. “Listen, Nette, I’m sorry! I believe you!”

“I’m not stupid, Tim! I know you’re just saying that!” She hissed.

Angry tears formed behind her eyes. All the emotions she’d been holding back since Hawkmoth had begun his reign of terror were threatening to fall through and she couldn’t let that happen. God, she was feeling so much and she couldn’t handle it and she couldn’t allow herself to even try and someone was letting the akuma in and --.

She shut down.

Her emotions went from feeling like they were suffocating her to being practically nonexistent. She sunk in her seat, barely even paying attention to all the people scrambling for cover as fast as they could. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anything at all.

The akuma paused inches away from her yoyo and she watched with a blank face as it slowly turned around and fluttered out the way it had come.

“Nette?” Said Tim quietly, his eyes not leaving the akuma.

She closed her eyes.

One attempt, she told herself. One last attempt.

“I’ll admit, I definitely didn’t like that Lila was getting close to Adrien and it made me more bitter and skeptical about everything she said than I should have been… but I still caught her in actual lies. About who she knows, about the things she’s done, about her illnesses, about everything. And I called her out on it every time, it’s why she’s so determined to keep everyone away from me. With more lies, of course, but they always have just enough truth that everyone believes her and nothing I do ever seems to be enough to convince them.”

Tim said nothing for a moment…

And then she felt his hand rest over hers.

“I believe you… but --.”

She groaned. “Great. I tried. Want a tour before we stop talking to each other forever?”

“Not like that. I’m just saying… for all of her lies, she was projecting: bullying, gold digging, lying…”

She nodded slightly. “Sure. So?”

“She also accused you of working for Hawkmoth.”

Her eyes snapped open.

~~~

Next part

“I can’t wait to see what Lila does”

Me, staring at my outline, which just says “Lila but better but also stupid”: yeah me too buddy

Taglist

@pawsitivelymiraculous @golden-promises @salty-fang @kitsunebell @sassakitty @octobitch @glastwime859 @miyla-lokidottir @onlyabatfan @ira-sairain @2confused-2doanything @ultimatetornshipper @ladybug-182 @laurcad123 @we-want-mini-mini @roguishredaxion @just-reblogs-by-h @futursworld @magic-miraculous @nathleigh @smolplantmum @vroomtaka  @emimar7 @toodaloo-kangaroo @charme-de-malchan @spicybelladonna @fusser90 @indecisive-mess-named-me

[not-from-the-absence-of-violence]

Guiltless

Summary: Virgil, Roman and Logan need some time to themselves tonight, Patton has other plans.

Pairings: Backround Loceit

Warnings: angst, unsympathetic Patton, mentions of Deceit, very brief mention of Remus, mentions of sensory overload, mentions of RSD and let me know if I missed anything!

a/n: Hey everyone! This is the first fanfic I ever posted, I hope you all like it. reblogs and feedback are greatly appreciated :). Thank you  @snixxxsmythe for beta reading <3

you can also find it on AO3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/19870198

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Virgil slowly makes it to Patton's room, anxiety bubbling in his chest.

He tries to tell himself that it's normal that he's afraid of “confronting” Patton like this.

Because he's Anxiety, after all, and he cares about Patton, and disappointing or making him mad will make him feel bad, for obvious reasons.

 You wouldn't feel this way if it was Logan or Roman, his mind helpfully tells him.

What way? he asks himself.

 “Hey kiddo! You need anything?”

 Patton's voice is sickly sweet, it fills the air just like a fresh batch of cookies.

Guilty. Oh so guilty.

Patton is smiling at him, carefree. Cleary he hasn't been noticing Thomas’ feelings, his feelings.

Or maybe he has, and he just doesn't care.

Virgil shoves the thought down.

 “Well, I do actually, need something, that is, sorta.”

 A flush creeps onto his cheeks. Pattons laugh rings like bells.

 “Ask away.”

 He takes a breath, this should be easier, he's been practicing this for God's sake!

 “You need to let Thomas take a break!” he blurts out.

 Patton looks, well mildly surprised, but mostly he looks amused. Amused.

 “Seems like something you should ask Logan.”

 His tone is light. Virgil he can't help but feel it's the way one would talk to a small child, go talk to your other parent about it.

 But of course if he explains it Patton will understand.

 “Usually, yes. But this is the fourth time this week Thomas has agreed to help one of his friends. Tomorrow we have a get together and we are helping put some furniture together. It's draining him.” he adds a whisper, almost an afterthought. “Its draining me.”

 “You don’t think Thomas’ friends are important?”

 Virgil wants to be surprised, shocked Patton would say something like this.

It feels almost worse than he expected.

It doesn't mean he doesn't feel guilty, perhaps it's the sweetness in Patton's voice, his guiltless smile.

 “Of course, but Thomas is important too.”

 “You sound almost like Deceit.”

 He says it in a joking way, something to brush off.

There is no way Patton doesn't know how on many levels that hits him.

“But maybe you're right, I'll try better in the future, I’m sorry.”

 His tone isn't serious enough, although perhaps that is just Virgil's own imagination.

He'll take what he can anyway.

 “Oh,” he remembered “I also won't be at dinner tonight. I just need some time to myself.”

 It's an understatement, between Thomas not getting any alone time, the pressure to get the next video out and him not getting any rest Virgil was jittery, tired and very overstimulated.

Pattons smile shifts to a hurt expression, it's not even anger, just hurt.

 “OK.”

The word lingers, and there is almost hope rising in Virgil.

 “Although-”

It shatters like glass.

 ”I would say dining with your family would make you feel better.”

 He wishes it sounded passive-aggressive, it doesn't. It sounds just as sweet as anything else Patton says, sweet and perfect.

 Something in him wants to argue, it really does. He knows Patton is wrong.

But he's too tired to argue. 

 “Sure, I’ll help set the table.”

 Patton beams at him.

 “Thanks Virgil, I know you do care about your friends. ”

 It stings, but it's impossible to get moral high ground when debating Morality.

So he doesn't try.

 -----------------

When Roman is working, he feels like he's flying. Sometimes he even is literally flying! How great it is to work in the imagination.

When I am done this will be one of the best things I have made, surely! he thinks, enjoying the feeling of new exciting projects rushing through his veins

 Yes, he just needs to add some-

 He is abruptly cut off by loud knocking on the door.

It yanks him out of his concentration, and then he's literally falling out of the imagination roughly onto his bedroom floor.

 For a second he's too perplexed to think.

 Then he's confused, he has asked the rest not to disturb him while working for exactly this reason. In fact, he had told them today at lunch.

 Perhaps he has been working an unhealthy amount of time and someone is legitimately worried.

He checks the time. No, he has been working a few hours, nothing too bad.

So he goes to the door, mostly annoyed, kind of pissed.

 He is then met with Patton's lovely face.

He doesn’t stop being pissed, but he does promptly swallow whatever he was going to say.

 “Ah, Patton, what brings you to my castle on this fine evening?” he says instead.

 Patton giggles.

 “Just wanted to say dinner is almost ready!”

 Hadn't he said at lunch that he would be working? Perhaps Patton had forgotten.

 “Ah, well, you see, I just started working on my new project! I'm afraid if I stop, I'll just lose my flow, you know?”

 Patton’s disappointment is very tangible, perhaps it is because they're in Romans room, perhaps it's that Patton is emotions, to some extent.

 Whatever it is, it fills the air, and Roman isn't not sure he can breathe anymore.

 “Oh.”

 “Are you mad?”

 Roman does not mean for it to sound desperate.

 “I mean, i'm just disappointed-”

 Whatever else Patton says is left unheard, for Roman feels as he has been stabbed.

Or it could be worse, the sharp pain in his chest. It spreads, hot and thick, burning through his body.

He feels himself blush in deep, deep shame.

 He feels dizzy, he might faint, shut down.

 God it hurts, he feels tears threatening to fall.

 He shouldn't have disappointed anyone.

 He hates this feeling and he hates himself.

 What had Logan called it, the one time he had dared to ever explain it? Rejection sensitive something.

 It didn't matter, the only thing that mattered was that he wanted to go back into his room, hide, maybe for a bit, maybe forever.

 “Ok, understand, I'll come down in a minute,” he says, because what else can he say?

 Patton smiles at him, brilliant, sweet, guiltless.

 “Great!”

 It's only later that Roman will wonder. Because Patton knows, he knows how those words sting Roman.

 Surely he must have forgotten.

-------------------

It's no secret that Logan is an introvert, it's also no secret that Logan gets frustrated more easily than one might think.

 The last week has not been particularly fun for him.

 Patton had unrelentingly decided to skip on important planning for future videos and time for Thomas to rest and recharge. They had all let him.

Logan isn't sure what to do about it. Not knowing things was not helping.

 Logan didn't like the state Thomas was in.

It made him slow, drowsy and, although he did not usually admit it, snappish.

 But it was fine, tonight Logan was going to start his own personal planning for the new video.

Then he was going to go to sleep early.

 Or maybe not, maybe he would go to Deceit's room and rant for a while, that was always surprisingly cathartic. Then sleep, not so early.

 Then Patton knocked on his door. He knew it was Patton, recognizing the knocking patterns that he'd memorised by now.

 Well, there goes his planning.

 “Yes, come in Patton.”

 Patton looks all the same as always, a nice easy smile on his face, the smile of someone who knows they're going to get exactly what they want.

 “Just making sure you know dinner is almost ready!”

 Logan knew this, he also expected a reminder.

 “Well, as I have communicated before, tonight I would prefer to eat alone.”

 He looks at Patton, and kind of wished he hadn't.

 Patton is angry, although to anyone else he may seem frustrated at most.

But it's Patton, even the tiniest bit of anger on his face can be terrifying, real, unusual.

 Patton, after all, was at the core of many of Thomas’ emotions.

When he had said it that time, it was meant as a careful reminder.

 In Logan's mind the memory sounded vaguely like a threat.

 Patton was a little too cheery sometimes, happiness crackling through him like waves. At times, sadness hit him harder than the rest, harder than any fake smile could cure.

 But no one had ever seen Patton truly angry.

 It was one of the only things that made Logan fearful.

He did not want to be the one to set it off.

 So Patton just looks at him briefly, for a few seconds.

He doesn’t even need to say anything.

 “On second thought, I am sure a familial meal would be pleasant.”

 Patton’s anger is gone as soon as it appeared, leaving Logan to wonder if it was ever there.

 “I'm glad, everyone is going to be there!” He smiles, satisfaction plain as day.

 Logan hopes somewhere this will not be as horrific as he thought.

 “Will Deceit be joining us too, then?”

 Patton smiles thins.

 “No.”

 Logic reasons, that obviously he has asked Deceit- they all agreed to make an effort to understand him better, after all- but Deceit has successfully avoided coming.

 Perhaps it’s just hopeful thinking.

 “Well, maybe he will agree when you ask him next time.”

 “Oh, I didn't ask him.”

 It's said in a nice, cheery voice. No explanation, malice or thought.

 Logan and Patton walk downstairs.

 In all honesty, Logan hopes Remus comes in to wreak some havoc, at least he would have an excuse to leave.

------------------------------- 

Dinner is simply the best, for Patton.

 He chats excitedly about one thing after another, how fun it is that Thomas is going out tonight, how amazing it is that they can go see Joan tomorrow.

 He doesn’t notice how every noise, every movement hits Virgil like knives. He doesn't notice how he flinches, how he is desperately tapping a breathing pattern into the table. It’s way too much, yet Patton doesn't see.

 He doesn’t notice Logan frustratingly fidgeting with his tie. His eyes closing a little longer than usual, it's either exhaustion or understimulation. Either way, Patton doesn’t see.

 Maybe he just didn’t look, because he does notice Roman spacing out, bouncing his leg.

 “Did you hear me there Roman,” it sounds soft, “I asked you something.”

 Romans face is pale, shame clear on his face.

 Virgil is afraid that if he says anything he'll break, Logan isn't sure what he can do.

 So they quickly eat in the silence of Patton’s empty chatter.

 “Well that was fun, maybe we should do more things together!”

 No one points out that they eat together almost every day.

-------

That night Virgil storms into his room, breaking down immediately, his tears stinging his cheeks, making the oversensitivity so much worse.

 He basically throws his clothes off, the fabric rough and agonizing against his skin.

His weighted blanket offers little comfort.

 Eventually out of sheer exhaustion he collapses on his tear stained pillow, restless.

 Tomorrow he'll stay in his room, the door locked, mostly sleeping.

Hopefully he'll feel better by noon.

  That night Logan quietly makes it to Deceit's room, falling into the other side's arms.

 He rants for a while, and Deceit listens while he ruffles Logan's hair and holds him.

Deceit knows, and Deceit understands.

 They fall asleep tangled up with each other, Logan can't bring himself to care about whether the others will find them, they're well hidden after all.

  That night Roman tries to get back to work, but the concentration doesn't come.

He wants to scream, but he's afraid Patton may somehow hear him.

 Instead he throws his pen to the wall and goes to kill a dragon.

 He doesn't sleep.

He will not come back from his quest the next morning.

  That night Patton does the dishes, then he goes to bed.

He sleeps on time and easily.

When he wakes up he wonders why no one shows up for breakfast.

He'll go ask them. 

[min-serah]

Someone to Inherit

Xiumin/ Kim Minseok x Reader

Genre: idk rn will be angst and fluff and some other stuff (I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it) ((lol someone stop me))

Chapter 1:

Perhaps one of the most important transitions you would ever have to make, your first day at Sudoxe Academy was undoubtedly nerve racking. You had said your goodbyes to your friends at your previous school, promising to text your two best friends Ha-eun and Yong-hwa as soon as you settled into your new life. Despite this promise, somewhere you knew that being able to travel between social circles would be next to impossible. Still you had to try, right?

           As you walked up to the front of the school you could see all of the other heirs being dropped off in their luxury foreign cars by butlers and maids. You continued to make your way in through the front gate, determined to start off your new life with your head held high.

           This was the plan until you felt a strong force below your feet knock you off balance.

           “Ouch!” You had landed flat on your butt. Thinking that it was one of the heirs trying to test your temper you had settled your mind in that second to only ask that they stop testing out their gifts in the school’s plaza. But when you turned around to face the aggressor what you saw was more than just a prank on you.

           Behind you laid the remnants of the gateway and plaza, and by the street you saw a boy at the center of the destruction. He seemed a bit taller than you but his eyes seemed downcast and angry. It was just then that he began to back away as others began yelling at him.

           “This school doesn’t need your kind! Get out, Freak!” one heir yelled as another grabbed the boy by his collar.

           “The only reason you are even here is because our parents donated too much and the academy decided to use the extra funds for a PR stunt. So don’t go thinking that you are on the same level as us, got it?!” With that the heir threw the boy to the ground and stormed off, the other students following after him.

           Without thinking you walked up to the boy as he sat on the ground almost in tears.

           “Are you alright?” You asked as you extended a hand to him

           For a moment, he looked at your hand as if it were a joke. That was until he saw your concerned look.

           “I’ve been beaten up worse.” He said as he gathered himself, ignoring your support. “I should have knocked that good for nothing heir into last week.” He grunted dusting off his pants.

           “Well I’m glad you didn’t.” You said cheerfully.

           The boy was taken aback.

           “What do you mean?! Are you taking his side? Are you another filthy heir?!” The boy started to raise his voice.

           “I’m glad you didn’t because that would make you the same as him.” As soon as those words escaped your lips the boy became dead silent. “The world is already filled with hate and violence. It’s easier to be mad at someone and lash out, harder to forgive and move on. So, I am very happy you did what you did.” With that you turned on your heels and began toward your classroom until the boy caught your wrist.

           “I’m Do Kyung-soo, one of the new scholarship students here at Sudoxe.” Kyung-soo averted his gaze from yours but kept a strong grip on your wrist.

           “(l/n)(f/n). It’s nice to meet you Kyung-soo! I guess us scholarship students should stick together then right?” You said with a giggle.

           “I’m sorry I made you fall. It was an accident I promise!” Kyung-soo pleaded with you, almost begging for your forgiveness.

           “I’ll admit I was about to give you a piece of my mind but I’ll forgive you this time on one condition.” You said cleverly.

           “Anything!” Kyung-soo replied.

           “From today on we’re friends, okay?” You said with a smile.

           Before you could do anything Kyung-soo began blushing like a girl who was just asked out.

           “…Okay…” he replied. “I think I can do that.”

           “Great!” you exclaimed. “But I think we should hurry to our meeting, though, otherwise we’ll be late”

           Realizing that you had both still been outside the two of your sprinted inside, barely making it to your meeting with your advisors.

           While the other heirs in the halls seemed to give Kyung-soo, and you through association, some pretty dirty looks all you could focus on was getting to know your new friend better.

           You soon found out that he liked to cook, although he was still very new at it, and that he loved foreign films. As the lunch bell rang you and Kyung-soo had finally finished your tour of the grounds and reached the awkward end of a conversation about what powers you both had.

           “I have strength which I can project around me. Like earlier when I made the ground shake.” He said as he looked away, almost ashamed. “But my power has always been unpredictable… I thought being given the chance to come to this academy might show me how to control my gift. Though at this point it seems more like a curse.” Kyung-soo said defeated.

           “I think you just need some encouragement in the right direction.” You said reassuringly. “My powers used to run wild as well until I just learned to control them. I’m sure we can do that for you as well.” With that you gave Kyung-soo a reassuring pat on the back

           “Thanks (f/n). What about you? What are your powers” Kyung-soo said with curiosity.

           “Me?” you asked playfully. “Record is the little name I’ve given it. It’s the ability to recreate powers I see and make them my own. The drawback is that it has backfire effect that gets stronger the longer I use it.” You said. “The backfire doesn’t happen when I use my power for small things but then again I haven’t been in too many situations where I’ve had to use my power all out.” You explained.

           “So… does that mean you can copy skills you see on TV? Or what about my strength?” Kyung-soo asked with curiousity.

           “I have to recall the memory of when I saw the power, so the only power I can really remember from TV is when I saw someone save a victim of a building collapse on the News. I can mimic that Healing power as a result.” You demonstrated as you walked over to the wilted flowers in your new classroom.

           As your hand began to glow, almost immediately the flowers were brought back to life.

           “Woah.” Kyung-soo stared in awe. “What about mine?” He asked.

           “Unfortunately, I wasn’t watching when you wrecked the plaza this morning” you said shrugging your shoulders.

           Kyung-soo looked down at the ground, still clearly apologetic about this morning’s incident. Reading the mood you stood up grabbing his hand.

“Want to go eat?” you asked happily.            As you both walked out into the hall, amongst the gossiping around you (obviously about the two new non-heirs in the class), you two found yourselves in the middle of a blizzard.

           “Why is it so cold in here?” You wondered until you saw ahead of you a student wielding daggers of ice and another student with fists of fire.

           Before you could even think you locked eyes with the fire wielding student ahead of you. Knowing the smirk he gave as he locked eyes with you, you stood stuck in place as he hurled a fireball past the ice wielding boy, straight towards you.

           Your hands began to glow and streaks of ice emerged from your feet until the ice wielding boy dove in front of you knocking the fireball back at the other student. Immediately your hands stopped glowing and you almost fell backwards until the mysterious man of ice caught you.

           “Thank you.” You said shyly

           Just as you were about to get the mystery man’s name, the fight was broken up by a teacher. While the students received a light scolding, the teacher authority seemed to reflect the power each of the heirs held over the school and its rules.

Fire boy across the way gave you a dirty look and marched off with his crew in tow and you redirected your attention toward the man who had shielded you.

“(f/n)! Are you alright?!” Kyung-soo asked worriedly as he forced himself between you and the mystery man.

“I’m fine thanks to you” You said as your gaze caught your savior. “May I ask your name?”

“It’s Min-seok. Kim Min-seok.” He said. “But I should be apologizing to you not accepting your thanks. It’s my fault you got caught in that mess.”

“It’s alright I’m not hurt at least so don’t worry!” You said trying to change the topic.” But still thank you anyway I didn’t think anyone would jump in front of me like that.

Kyung-soo hit your arm, signaling his offense.

Laughing off Kyung-soo hit you refocused on Min-seok. “Why were you two fighting though? And who was that other student?” you asked curiously.

“That jerk was Park Chan-yeol. Sudoxe’s very own resident D-bag. His parents are prominent figures in the government and thusly he himself a prominent heir at the school. He was picking on some of the non-legacy students in the other class and I couldn’t just stand by and watch anymore.” Min-seok explained. “He probably sent that fireball at you because he knows you’re a scholarship student, or more specifically a non-legacy student” Min-seok said in softer voice. “Not that non-legacy students deserve that.” Min-seok caught himself, worried that you and Kyung-soo might take offense.

“Hahaha.” You laughed as you looked at Min-seok. “I’m glad to know that there are people like you left in the world.” You said with a loving smile.

Min-seok immediately turned beet red with blush.

“Uhhh…. Err. Yeah…. So… T-thab You..” Unable to get his words straight Min-seok struggled to keep eye contact with you.

Before Min-seok could finish Kyung-soo butted his way into the conversation.

“Thanks for your help Kim Min-seok, but we should get our lunch before they run out.” With that Kyung-soo began to pull you away.

As you were pulled away by Kyung-soo you waved back to Min-seok who was still beet red.

“Thanks again” you mouthed as you were dragged to lunch by Kyung-soo.

           “Yo Min-seok!” Jong-dae said as he ran up to Min-seok, still waving at (f/n). “You okay man? I heard from Sehun what happened. I can’t believe you really picked a fight with Chan-yeol.” Jong-dae exclaimed.

           Unable to utter a word Min-seok just stared as (f/n) disappeared among the crowd. Still star struck by her smile and attitude Min-seok grabbed Jong-dae’s shoulder.

           “Jong-dae, do you know what class someone named (f/n) is in?” he asked hastily.

           “Well if she’s like the rumor says and is one of the new scholarship students then she’d be in 2-A with us… and Chan-yeol.” Jong-dae said nervously.

           Not seeming to hear the last part Min-seok immediately went into your classroom and saw that the two empty desks in front of and beside Jong-dae’s seat were now filled with books with a bag that had the names Do and (l/n) written on them.

           Running his hand over your desk, the beet red blush returned to his face along with a newfound smile upon his lips.

           “(l/n)(f/n) huh…” Min-seok, unable to contain his excitement, turned back to Jong-dae who seemed confused at Min-seok smile. “Jong-dae switch seats with me.”

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! (Sorry it was really bad but I tried)

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[imaginetonyandbucky]

It’s Not You, It’s Us - Chapter 2 of 2

It was easier said than done. Bucky didn’t realize just how much time he spent with Tony and Steve on a daily basis so when he stopped hanging around, they noticed immediately. But he was determined not to get in the way and quietly sort out his issues in seclusion of his own making, no matter what. And if that meant employing all his remaining Winter Soldier stealth skills to evade his suspicious best friend and one very resourceful engineer every chance he got, he’d do it.

He still interacted with them – they are his friends and there’re only so many times he gets to ignore Captain America before the spangled superhero starts interrogating him – but he no longer initiated the contacts. No more coming down to the workshop whenever he wanted. No more early morning musings by the coffeemaker. No more tricking Tony into watching bad movies in the afternoon.

No more damage control.

In hindsight, Bucky saw it coming. He was in fact equally surprised and impressed that it took as long as it did. Somehow, Steve and Tony managed to stretch out the entire argument phase through two weeks instead of an hour or a day. It escalated, little by little. One unwarranted Steve comment at a time. One fake Tony smile at a time. Until they all but glared at each other during team movie nights, sitting as far away from each other as the room allowed. Until they barely talked without sounding angry.

Until they argued so seriously Steve just snapped.

(read-more ahead!) 

Nobody hears the argument as it happens, but what it leaves in its wake is enough for all present Avengers to wonder just what the hell happened this time.

Tony is a flurry of flailing limbs, muttered curses and unshed tears as he bolts from the outside terrace into the common lounge and straight towards the elevator to once again begin his descent into the depths of the workshop and Steve…Steve is something else. The ever so composed Captain glares death at everyone in his path – including Bucky. He has seen the man angry before and this was not him being angry. He is practically fuming with cold and detached fury that just so isn’t like him at all.

It’s a very common Winter Soldier look, one that tips everyone off that Bucky’s not all there at the moment, that he could lose it any second with the Soldier almost spilling over the edge of his control. Seeing one Steve Rogers look like that is not short of scary when knowing he does not in fact have any remnants of a HYDRA programmed assassin in his brain.

It’s not until Bucky notices Natasha’s hands twitching and Clint gravitating toward the nearest exit, that he concludes he’s not alone in that thought.

“Hey, man,” Sam approaches the livid Captain, hands raised in a placating manner, but to no veil.

Steve shakes his head, left hand raised in a simple warning – dare come any closer and I will dissect you into molecules. He sends one more glare their way before storming out of the room, heading upstairs and Bucky could swear the glare turned into a laser of burning hate when it landed on him in particular.

Once the coast is clear, the team breathes a sigh of relief in unison and Bucky finds himself staring into the hallway the two men have disappeared into moments ago. Back to being confused it is.

“Here we go again,” Clint rolls his eyes, diving head-first into the sofa. “I give it a week this time,” he mumbles into the pillow.

“I dunno, man. This looked bad,” Rhodey says, giving Bucky a fleeting look of concern and…something else.

“Two weeks, then,” Natasha shrugs.

“It looked really bad this time, actually,” Bruce adds, his expression weary.

“Yeah,” Bucky whispers in agreement, exchanging a look with the doctor and the Colonel both.

Two weeks later, phase two was still not over. The two continued to fiercely avoid each other, keeping their interaction to a bare, professional minimum.

Tony spends most of his time locked up in the workshop, letting nobody in – with the exception of Miss Potts, who’s basically broken in at one point – and Steve spends his days moping about in his room or with Sam. Bucky tried to approach him many times to find out what happened but after a couple of days it’s become clear to Bucky that his best friend is avoiding the hell out of him. 

And that can’t be good.

Did he do something? Was he too obvious? He’s got no idea and it’s driving him mad.

So when he wakes up one morning after an especially vivid nightmare feeling not quite himself, he can easily blame it on the recent sense of unsteadiness. The Winter Soldier is more Winter than Soldier these days. With no HYDRA, no Handlers and no missions, his coming up to the surface is rather silent and harmless. He would usually just stand or sit around without a purpose until his control slips back to Bucky. Should someone walk in on him in this state, he would glare and carefully observe the intruder, but never attack them. Not even Natasha, who always whips up a dagger or two just for show – a silent threat the Soldier understands very well.

But not today.

Today the Soldier is feeling adventurous. So he gets up from the rustled bed and leaves the room, not even bothering to put on a shirt. Or shoes. Bucky would roll his eyes if he could – the HYDRA-installed assassin could easily slice through a house full of enemies but take away his murderous side and he’s pretty inapt.

He strides over to the elevator, goes inside and to Bucky’s utmost surprise – and horror – he presses the workshop button without a second thought.

Nope, no way he’s going down there. He tells the Soldier as much, even arguing that he won’t be allowed inside anyway so might as well go somewhere else, but as always the Soldier ignores him completely. The elevator stops, but the doors remain closed.

Told ya, he snickers at the Soldier.

The assassin glares at the door like it’s his worst adversary and doesn’t move to press any other button. Patient as ever, he waits. But waiting won’t do much h –

And the door opens.

Now it’s Bucky’s turn to stare. Did the Soldier just force-willed the doors to open with just his glare alone?!

He takes a few steps inside the workshop that is a buzz of activity even at this hour, eyes zeroing in on Tony who is watching their advance with squinted eyes.

“Ah. I see,” he glances up at the ceiling – something he instinctively does whenever he’s addressing JARVIS. “Winter is coming, J? Seriously? I’m cutting you off from Netflix, just so you know. Your obsession with pop culture references has just gone overboard,” he scolds the AI.

“Very well, Sir. But you cannot deny how fitting it was.”

“Fitting? The word you’re looking for is old, JARVIS,” he scoffs, eyes landing back on the Winter Soldier, who stopped in front of the workbench Tony’s sitting behind. “Hey, Soldier. Any…particular reason you’ve wandered down into my lair wearing just your pajama pants? If you need someone to tuck you in, go ask Bruce. He knows the best bedtime stories.”

The Soldier scrutinizes Tony in a way he would usually scrutinize his target, but Bucky dares to hope that’s not the case here. Once he’s satisfied with his observation, he walks over to the fridge, grabs an opened carton of milk and chugs it down in one take. Great. Who knows how long that thing’s been opened in there?!

Tony chuckles behind him. “Don’t worry, it’s from yesterday. You should be a-okay.”   

Bucky was so occupied with the Soldier’s nonsensical actions and the fact he’s been let inside the workshop that he didn’t realize he’s back in control and has said his thoughts out loud, apparently. He does roll his eyes this time and discards the now empty carton into the trash.

“Does that happen often? The Soldier taking you for a spin around the Tower in the middle of the night to feast on milk?” Tony asks and it sounds amused. “Half naked?” he adds.

Turning around, Bucky sees the engineer is indeed smiling. He’s missed that smile. Hell…he’s missed Tony. “N’t really,” he blurts out. “He’s not normally this…active.”

“Sure likes his milk.”

“He’s weird like that.”

Tony shrugs, smile widening. “You sure like your milk.”

He does, admittedly. “I’m weird like that. And you’re even weirder for noticing.”

“Busteeeed. What can I say? I’m good at noticing things. Speaking of which, I’ve been noticing a lot of things lately,” he says, the smile fading.

“Uhuh? You mean while hiding down here, locking us all out and avoiding Steve?” He doesn’t mean to sound harsh or defensive, but it still comes out like that.

Tony winces at the mention of the other supersoldier, but otherwise remains passive. “You mean kinda like you’ve been hiding in your room avoiding everyone the past two months?” he deflects with practiced ease. Him and Steve have already mastered this ping-pong style of conversation throughout their relationship and Bucky’s not sure he wants to join the club.

So he just admits to it. “Yeah. Kinda like that.”

Tony nods and suddenly looks small, like he’d rather be a little piece of dust lying on the floor than a man that usually fills a room with his presence. “Wanna tell me something about it?”

“Do you wanna tell me something about this?” Bucky answers in kind…only doesn’t. Because he’s back to being defensive, while Tony asked the question quietly, so unlike his loud and confident self. As if afraid of it. Or the answer to it. He cringes, walking a bit closer to the engineer again so he can lean against one of the opposite workbenches, that has been turned into a bar table at one point. He shivers at the touch of the cold surface and is suddenly all too aware of his state of undress and the way it makes him feel.

Exposed. Inappropriate. Out of place.

Opposite of him, Tony seems less interested in his naked torso and more interested in whatever is on his mind. His brows are crinkled together in a way that suggests he’s solving a particularly tough science problem, but Bucky notices there’s no open project on his StarkPad, no half-built gadget anywhere, even the bots are nowhere to be seen.

“Steve and I broke up,” he blurts out, his gazed fixed on something on the floor near Bucky’s foot. It’s not a sad statement, he doesn’t look sad. He’s nervous. Why the hell does Tony goddamn Stark look nervous?!

Bucky decides he can put his avoid and forget mission aside for the sake of lighting up the mood down here. Se he goes for casual, teasing, something he’d say few months ago. “We kinda figured, yeah. S’not really hot news or anythin’. Clint and Natasha lost their bets on your makeup date, by the way. Gotta admit it’s a bit overdue. Wanna talk about it?”

It’s a friendly offer, Bucky tells himself. That’s what friends do. They talk about their problems and heartbreaks…unless those heartbreaks concern them, as is Bucky’s case.

Tony raises a curious eyebrow and something returns into his eyes. In fact, his whole face sort of lights up. “Yeah, I do. That’s what I’m doing, right?” he says, folding his hands defensively on his chest. The words have a bite to them, but his smile is all back again. “We broke up.”

Bucky is utterly lost all of a sudden. “Uh…yeah. You guys tend to do that a lot.”

“We really did, didn’t we,” he frowns just a little, thinking about it. “Well, it’s over. No more breaking up, making up. We’re…breaking up the breaking up. However you wanna call it. Clint and Natasha lost their bets, well guess what? Bruce and Rhodey are gonna lose theirs too because we are never ever coming back together. And I swear to God, JARVIS, if you’re thinking about Swifting me again, I will personally decommission you!” he adds to the ceiling.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Sir.”

“Yeah, right. Last week DUM-E made me spill my coffee, so I told him ‘look what you made me do!’ and this snarky asshole blasted that crap song immediately!”

“It was very fitting.”

“I’m gonna reprogram whatever is making you do things on the impulse of them being fitting! Seriously, I’m not even - ”

“Tony!” he stops the engineer mid sentence, before he completely derails from the conversation. Not making up ever again? Those are some strong words and Bucky needs some strong answers. He…he wants them to be happy. And they were happy. Mostly. Sometimes. Right?

“Right…sorry. Breaking up. Not making up. There. We talked about it. Happy?”

“Uh…no? What happened? You argued…again, but you’ve been arguing like that since I’ve come to live here! T’was never a big deal…I guess. I mean, no matter what you argued about you just sorted it out so - ”

“Yeah, we’re not sorting this one out, trust me.”

“Why not?!” he flails, his metal hand sending a brandy glass flying across the table haphazardly.

Tony laughs. Laughs. Actual, chest-heaving, musical laugh. And Bucky really is lost just then. “Why not? Well, let me see. There were some really big signs for me…like when I realized I’d rather hang out here than with him. When I realized I have nothing to talk to him about…mostly because he tunes out whatever I’m saying. True, it’s nonsensical babbling most of the time, but that’s not an excuse. Him turning every conversation into a fight wasn’t helping either and hell…we haven’t even slept in one bed for months! Haven’t…kissed in months! Because…it’s gone, okay? Whatever it was that we had? It’s just…not there anymore. And to be honest? It hasn’t been there for a while. Don’t get me wrong, I…like Steve. He’s an okay guy, when he’s not being an ass, but he’s just not the guy for me. I…don’t love him. I don’t love him,” he repeats a bit breathlessly.

Bucky was forming a reply throughout Tony’s speech, meaningful and clever, but his brain might as well have gotten wiped again at the end of it.

Whatever his face twists into, it makes Tony smirk. “Then again, falling in love with your boyfriend’s best friend is kinda the last straw in a relationship, right?” he grimaces and it takes Bucky’s wiped out brain a while to catch up with what he’s just said. “Now that was the biggest sign for me. I realized that and promptly crapped my pants because how the hell do you tell good guy Steve that you have fallen for his long lost best friend? And then while I was devising a master plan of how to break it down for Steve and then maybe kinda make my moves, you started avoiding us…avoiding me…and I thought I fucked up already…somehow. It’d be so me to fuck up something that’s not even going on yet, you have no idea. But JARVIS assured me that’s not the case and…then the whole thing kinda blew up when Steve tried his best interrogation technique…if you were wondering why he’s in a perma pissed off mode right now, this is why,” Tony explains, meeting Bucky’s staring gaze without wavering.

For a while, Bucky wonders if he’s back in the Soldier mode. He gets light-headed and sort of hazy whenever that happens and that’s exactly how he’s feeling. But he’s still himself. The Soldier is contently tucked in deep inside his mind now that he’s had his fun and a whole carton of milk, so that lightheadedness has a whole different cause altogether.

Might have something to do with Tony saying he’s in love with him.

“Uh…you okay there?” Tony asks, bringing him out of his haze.

Yep. Definitely has something to do with that.

“Yeah…I’m ‘kay,” he nods absentmindedly.

Tony chuckles, cocking his head to the side. “You’re smiling.”

“Yeah…guess I am.”

“So…,” he sighs, suddenly looking unsure.

Bucky clears his throat and looks upwards. “So, JARVIS snitched on me, huh?”

“In his defense, it’s in his code to be that way…to lend a helping hand when he sees anyone in distress. We’re gonna have to talk about privacy in our next lesson, J!” Tony squints upward.

“Of course, Sir. And my apologies if I have…overstepped.”

It didn’t sound apologetic at all…and Bucky didn’t really care. “I’m glad you overstepped, JARVIS. I mean…if I understand the situation correctly.”

Tony snorts, shaking his head. “If you under…well you better understand! You b - ”

“Dinner tomorrow? Or…somethin’? That involves me wearing a shirt?” Bucky suggests and smirks.

“Sure…although I can’t say that I mind,” Tony winks at him and sighs again. “About Steve…”

“I’ll talk to the punk. His avoiding techniques are not nearly as good as the Soldier’s stalking techniques.”

That startles a laugh out of the engineer. “Eh…wow, okay. I would…love to see that, but what I wanted to say is um…JARVIS?”

“About that, Sergeant, I may or may not have also…overstepped there. A little bit.”

“Yeah, we’re talking about that, too, J. Anyway…Steve’s coming back around…he’s still mad, but apparently not mad enough to ignore us for the rest of our lives because…well, because…”

“’Cause we fell in love with each other?”

“Exactly…yeah, how did that happen again?”

“It’s uh really long story,” Bucky shrugs, not missing the light sparkling in Tony’s eyes the way they only ever do when he’s happy. And damn if Bucky isn’t making it his mission to keep it that way forever.

“You can tell me all about it tomorrow. Over that dinner.”

“It’s a date,” Bucky answers, all the nightmares from earlier this night forgotten.

-The End

[peacefulwriter88]

Wake Up and Make Up

Angry sex drabble that haunted me all last night so I had to get it out this morning. Can you imagine angry sex with Seb - he’s good boy act is a front!

Warnings: All the SMUT (18+), language but also some fluff

Reader x Sebastian Stan

A/N: This one is for @bucky-plums-barnes because her blog a) rocks and b) she’s an amazing human being that deserves tp receive a random smile!

I also want to tag @sexylibrarian1, @mellifluous-melodramas, @sanjariti, @bladebarnes, @denialanderror and @yesbucky because your blogs literally saved my sanity these past couple of weeks - such a talented group of writers! 

You had never been so infuriated in your life. Okay, maybe not your life. Maybe the past couple of weeks...whatever - you were pissed. And it was because of one Sebastian Stan.

You knew it wasn’t his fault. He was a proud working actor. Correction, famous working actor. He was talented and he loved the challenge of a new job. You loved that about him, how he liked to seek out obstacles only to overcome them. That he was motivated. That he kept challenging himself to be a stronger actor - a better person.

But dammit if that wasn’t the same driver that wedged a gap in your goddamn relationship.

You got it. You did PR work for Anthony Mackie. You understood the grind. The demands. The constant need to keep moving. It was what had brought you both together in the first place. He had instantly fallen for the sassy and silly girl that could get Anthony to focus. Anthony - the king of turning any phrase into a practical joke. But Anthony liked you - respected you and yes, at times even feared you.

That kind of power drew Sebastian to you like a moth to the flame.

He liked to challenge it, liked to push you. Liked to dominate you. You liked that also about him. Except when the push was putting off a well deserved vacation for the both of you for another six months. Six goddamn months.

As if you hadn’t postpone your first vacation, instead spending time with him in New York.

You said all of this and he challenged back that when he was free, you easily didn’t sacrifice time with him and you left his hotel room in an angry huff, afraid you’d say something you’d regret. You spent two hours downing too many margaritas before drunkenly making your way to your bedroom, falling asleep to angry drunk tears.

It was what had got you here, 6:30 am in a posh hotel room in Anaheim, California. D23 come and gone, your phone blowing up between Mackie’s manager and Mackie himself. Your head was surprisingly calm considering all the tropical tequila you had inhaled and you groaned as the harsh light of your phone pierced you.

The first few messages were standard - Mackie’s manager reminding you of some upcoming press Anthony was scheduled for and the time that you flight was departing. It wasn’t until you got to the messages from Anthony that you froze.

What did Vanilla Ice do to you now?

He had sent it around midnight, minutes before you had succumbed to your drunken slumber and you groaned. This only meant one thing.

Seb went crying to Mackie.

Fuck.

It wasn’t like Sebastian to share your personal affairs with anyone that you both knew. You both appreciated your privacy and you never wanted the people that you worked alongside professionally to be involved. However, since you had started dating Seb, Anthony had made it his personal business to know what was going on between the both of you. And Seb easily jumped on the opportunity to reach out to him because you were such a mystery to him.

He loved you like a younger sister and wanted to make sure that you were being treated right.

Another text message had come thirty minutes later.

But really, Y/N what did he do. My man is freaking the fuck out. Call me?

A text ten minutes later.

Are y’all about to break up? Cuz Seb is drinking and convinced you want to break up

The last text was simple

Either your passed out…..probably that. Didn’t realize it was one in the morning. That are you're pissed at me or want me to mind my own damn business. So I’ll just say this one thing - talk to Seb. He loves you he really does

You slammed the phone to your side, the anger re-filling you. Loving you wasn’t the problem. The lack of sacrifice and acknowledgement of said selfishness what what had you pissed.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you hadn’t heard the click of your hotel door being opened, the harsh dim light from the hallway contrasting against the soft morning rays peeking its way through your sheer curtains.  You turned your head to the side, not surprised to see Sebastian standing there, hair in disarray f as he stood in the jeans and T-shirt he wore the night before.

You also forgot you gave him a key to your hotel room.

“What the fuck do you want? I’m mad at you.”

The words travel across the room crisp and clear and he shuts the door, leaning against it with his hands crossed over his chest.

“I want to finish our conversation last night. I don’t give a damn if you're mad at me. We got to figure this out.”

You snorted, throwing the covers off of you and sitting up in bed. You didn’t miss the way his eyes drunk in your body, your simple black nightie hugging all your curves in the right places. He bit his lip, fighting back a groan. Of course you had to wear the sexist fucking thing as he tried to make amends for the way he had been acting lately.

Insult to injury.  

“What’s to figure out. You obviously don’t want to sacrifice any of your time to spend a week with your girlfriend. I don’t know what you want me to say from here. Thanks hon, for being a selfish asshole and reminding me that I mean nothing to you.”

You knew the words were all low digs but you couldn’t help it. You were hurt and you weren’t sure he understood that.

Of course Sebastian did. The words cut through his heart, causing him to close his eyes. When he had talked to Anthony last night, he had been told a similar thing in so many words. He didn’t mean to  push you away - it was just what he did when he was afraid and needed time to figure out how to handle a situation.

Time, per usual, was not on his side.

“That’s not - I’m not trying to shut you out of my life. I just have a lot of projects and with Infinity War coming out next year…”

You rolled your eyes, crossing your legs and sighing.

“You act like that doesn’t affect me either. I work for your colleague and friend. Anthony. Might know him. You fucking told him about our fight last night.”

His blue eyes shift before he huffs out,

“I’m going to kill him.”

“He’s not the problem,” you stand up, walking to him slowly. You’re unaware that he’s taking in your legs, imagining what they would look like wrapped around his torso as he fucked you senseless. When you're inches away from him you poke his chest, “You not wanting to spend time with me is the problem.”

“I love you! Of course I want to spend time with you.”

“Then fucking prove it. Go on a vacation with me. Hell I’ll even make it three days. I just want to spend time with you.”

He frowns, knowing that you aren’t going to like his response.

“I don’t know if I have three days to go away with you. Half of it we will spending  flying to said location and the other half would be flying back. That gives us less than a day together if you make it three days. That's not fair to you. Don’t you see? That’s why I wanted to spend time with you in New York a couple of weeks ago. It's an easier solution because we both live there and I can spend all of my time devoted to you.”

You throw your hands in the air,

“I get that but I want to, just once, enjoy a place and not work. And I want to enjoy it with you!”

His frown deepens.

“I get that I’m just unsure if realistically that's feasible. Why get your hopes up and then bail on you to have this fight over and over again. When things have slowed down, I promise I will give you the vacation you want. Hell, we can make it a month long vacation.”

You cross your arms over your chest, pushing your breast up and he shoves his hands in pockets, trying to ignore the way his cock twitches.

“I’m not going to bend over when it's convenient for you either! You have to make sure that it works with my schedule.”

“I would.” he mutters uncomfortably, his jaw set and blue eyes blown in fury.

Silence.

You both stare at each other, words failing either of you and your mind drifts. Even though you’re mad at him, you can’t stop your brain from thinking about how fucking hot he looked. The way the dark green shirt molded against his body, hinting at the sculpted muscles underneath. The way his jeans hugged every inch of his lower body, particularly a region you can’t help but allow your eyes to wander down to. You felt your mouth water from the thought of his cock in your mouth and  you shift, trying to ignore the pressure building up between your legs.

You knew he was trying. You really did. He went out of his way to come and see you when he could and always made time to call and text you. He sent you random gifts and funny videos. When he was hard press with a decision or just needed you to help talk him through his anxious thoughts, you were the first call.

You just loved him so damn much and he was always so far.

You snap back up at him and he’s looking at you with a half smirk, as if knowing your thoughts. Like hell you were going to admit that you were wrong.

“This is all Mackie's fault.” you mumble and his eyes knit together in confusion.

“You just said this wasn’t Mackie’s fault.”

You smirk, shrugging your shoulders casually,

“If he tried hooking me up with Evans instead of you, I’d probably wouldn’t be having this relationship problem.”

It was a low blow, an unnecessary snarky comment that didn’t need to be said. The button you needed to push him over the edge.

It did.

Before you could react he lunged for you, his hands quickly finding your waist and digging into the soft flesh as he pressed you against hte door,  his forehead pressing against your own.

“You think Evans could make you happy?” he mumbles, the anger hidden behind his cool, blue eyes.

The calm before the storm.

He doesn’t allow you to respond, instead lifting you up and pushing himself between you further, your legs comfortably wrapping themselves around his torso. His right hand moves up your thighs, slowly making its way to your center and you know you’re a wet mess before he gets close to confirm it.

His eyes never leave yours as he pushes away the small patch of fabric of your thong, inserting two fingers in you, slowly pumping in and out of you. You bite down on your lip, willing yourself to not close your eyes and give in to the pleasure he was giving you.

Praying that your body wouldn’t betray how turned on you were.

“You think Evans, knows how to make you squirm?” he curls his fingers up, causing you to yelp involuntarily. A smile slowly forms on his face, watching you with hooded eyes as your hands grab his shoulders, your nails digging into the soft fabric of his shirt.

“You think he knows how to make this pretty little pussy sing?” his thumb slowly starts to circle around your clit, teasing you and you whimper, low and needy as you finally submit to the pleasure he’s giving you.

“That’s right baby, I want you to come for me. I want to hear my name come out of that dirty little mouth of yours.”

It was enough. Enough to send your body over the edge and into that place that only Sebastian could get you to quickly. You feel yourself coming undone, your thighs weakening against his torso, your lower half quivering. But before you can reach it, touch that delicious state of happiness, he’s pulling his fingers out, sticking them in his mouth and taking in your taste, moaning around his wet fingers.

You push against his chest, mad that he’s robbed you of the one thing that could get you to forgive him.

“What’s that baby?” he asks, pulling his fingers out in a pop and you groan,

“I want you to finish.”

“Finish what doll. You’re going to have to be specific?”

You growled. He knew how much you loved to be called doll. Knew how much you liked to beg.

“Want you to make me cum. Want to feel you in me.”

“Hmmmm,” he leans in, his lips ghosting over your own and you move in closer only for him to pull back.

“Only good girls get kisses, doll. You’ve been bad. And bad girls don’t get to cum.”

You can smell yourself on him and you're even more aroused, your hips rolling against his causing him to moan. His head falls between the crevice in your neck and he moans, his left hand pulling at the buttons on his jeans while his left hand is pushing down the straps to your gown.

“First you tell me how much you want another mans cock,” his hands are digging themselves deeper into your thighs and you know it will leave bruises. He was marking you, reminding the world of his territory. “Then you demand for me to make you cum. What makes you think a dirty little slut like you deserves the reward of my cock in you?”

His mouth moves to your breast and you arch into him, your hands knotting themselves in his hair. You loved when he did this, talked to you dirty. Took control. Reminded you that you belonged to him as much as he belonged to you. It was part of what made you both so perfect together.

His tongue is lazy as it slowly trails its way down your nipple,  taking his time as he suckles the delicate skin. You’re shivering by the time he’s done, your nipple now a raw, hard stub that causes your body to flinch as his beard caresses around it. Sebastian doesn’t stop pumping at his cock, shifting as he bites his way to your other breast.

“Fuck doll, you’re so damn sexy.” his mouth finds his other captor, sucking through the sheer fabric until your nipple is raw and taught against the thin material.

“You’re gonna let me fuck this pretty little pussy of yours,” his hand moves to the hem of your thong, pulling it down low enough to allow him access to your wet center. He runs his hands through your folds, causing you intake a quick break as he collects the wetness matted there, bringing his hands to his face and inhaling you.

“So fucking turned on for me, aren’t you doll?”

You mewl, nodding your hand in compliance. His irises are blown to black, filled with lust as he presses his hard erection between your folds.

“Tell me who you belong to?”

You look him in the eyes before whispering,

“You.”

“And who does this pretty little pussy belong to?” he cups you and you throw your head back before looking back at him.

“You.” you bite your lip as he slowly pushes himself into you. Just a little bit. Enough to have you working your hips into him but he holds you down, his hands resting on either side of his waist.

“What did I say baby? You gotta earn this cock.”

You nod.

“I’m sorry. I’ll wait.”

He gives a low groan, an animalistic sound that thunders down his throat as a smile splays across his face. There was nothing he loved more then when you submitted yourself completely to him.

“That's much better. What are you going to wait for?”

“For you to fuck me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve been a snarky little shit.”

He moans, his mouth finding your neck and he lays soft kisses against your nape. It's only seconds before he’s asking in a low whisper,

“Who does this big cock belong to?”

“Me.” you growl this, your nail biting deeper into his shoulders and he moans.

“That’s right doll. I’m as much yours as you are mine.”

And before you can respond he’s slamming against you, bottoming out and causing you to give out an involuntary scream. He doesn’t give you time to recover before he pulls out and slams against you again, causing you to pull his hair back as he repeats this action, pulling back and watching you come undone.

“Sometimes, Y/N, sometimes you drive me fucking insane.” he manages out between gritted teeth and your hold around his hair tightens, pulling him just a little harder that causes him to moan.

“Sometimes I fucking hate you Sebastian.”

He hitches one of your legs higher, catching you in that spot that has you screaming his name in praise and he smiles as he feels your walls tightening around his cock.

“Say it again.”

“I hate you. I just...sometimes I just fucking hate you.” you haven’t recovered from the first orgasm, your body quivering when his thumb presses against your clit and you're seeing white, no chance in keeping your loud screams down, probably waking up the whole hotel screaming out his name.

He watches you come undone around him, taking in the way you cling to him, the sound of his name getting caught in your throat as his pace quickens, his hips slapping against you in a frenzied mess. He locks eyes with you, his eyes frenzied with lust but something more. That soft way he looks at you after being away for a long time, the way he looks when your name is brought up in casual conversation. That look of love that's only reserved for you.

“I hate you because I love you so damn much Seb. Love to hate you because i couldn’t imagine my life without you.”

Your voice is hoarse as you manage to whisper it out but he catches it and it's all he needs to come inside you, head thrown back as your name escapes his lips, singing you praises.

He was the most glorious when he was like this - giving all of himself to you.

You wait for his body to calm down, to calm his shivering frame as he clutches onto you tightly and you bring your lips to his ear, caressing his back as you whisper,

“You know, I really do love you. I’m just afraid that I’ll lose you.”

He pulls away far enough to look at you through sleepy eyes and presses his forehead against your own,

“If you only knew how much I love you,” his voice cracks as he grips you harder, “I can’t - I don’t know how to….” he stops at a lost for words and you know his internal battle. For you, he was the one. You knew he felt the same.

You both were just too damn stubborn to admit it. But you knew.

He recovers and says,

“I’ll….work on not being a selfish asshole.”

You smile, not realizing you had been crying until you feel a tear run down your cheek. He wipes its away, placing a soft kiss on your lips. When you pull away you can’t help but smugly say,

“That’s all I wanted.”

He snorts, shaking his head as he carry's you to your bed. He lays you down gently, throwing his shirt off and laying beside you, his arms drawing you close to him.

“I love you.” he mumbles before sleep wins and he’s softly snoring next to you. It's only seconds before you feel a soft vibrate against your thigh, and you dig in your covers to recover your phone. Its another message from Anthony.

Way to way wake me and everybody else up with your goddamn makeup sex. I assume all is well?

You smile, sending a quick text before throwing your phone on the night stand and falling asleep.

All good here Mack. Thanks for having our back. <3

[justalittlebluetiefling]

Chapter 51: Sometimes I Can’t See Myself

Rating: T Fandom: The 100 Pairing: Bellamy x Clarke Chapter: 51/68 Word Count: 3512 Words

Chapter Summary: The one where Bellamy tries to be supportive.

A/N: This chapter didn’t go at all where I intended, but it felt like an important subject to at least touch on. Send me questions if you have them. I’m happy to chat about it. I’m sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. The next one’s finished pending edits, though, so I’ll work on that tomorrow!

Also on AO3;  Start from the beginning on AO3

It had been two and a half weeks and Clarke was tired of crying.

It was easy to ignore her feelings during class. It would have been nice if she still had the MCATs to study for, but her regular homework was almost enough of a distraction on its own. Most of the time, she made it through her shifts at the clinic without incident and it was easier to shut down her emotions when Octavia was home (and distracting by proxy).

But the nights? They were the worst. After two months of sleeping next to Bellamy and almost four months next to Lexa, she had adjusted to sleeping next to someone on a fairly regular basis. Instead, half of her bed was cold and empty. When she tried sleeping in the middle, it made her feel worse. In the middle, she was surrounded by the cold and empty spaces. She ended up plugging in her old night light, because total darkness was too suffocating. Sometimes she cried, but a lot of the time, she just lay there wondering why.

Why couldn’t Lexa try harder with her friends?

Why didn’t Lexa trust her?

Why didn’t she believe in love?

Clarke wasn’t sure she believed in love after everything. It was hard to convince herself it didn’t exist, though, with the friends that she had. It was easier to try to push them away. Try being the key word. It was easy to ignore text messages, but impossible to avoid a roommate. When she stopped answering texts, her friends just texted O instead. When they all gave up on texting her and just asked O how she was doing, it didn’t feel like much of a victory.

Still, Octavia refused to shoulder the burden that was Clarke Griffin alone and recruited Wells to try to convince her to leave the apartment. Clarke was annoyed and didn’t feel ready to go out, so she may have yelled at him a little louder than she intended. It did get the message across, though.

He shoved his hands into his pockets at the door and turned around to frown at her. “Clarke, I know you’re not okay. I can stay if you want company.”

“I don’t want yours.”

He winced and exhaled heavily. “Okay. Message received.”

The guilt caught up when he finally turned the doorknob. “Wells, wait!” He hesitated. “Look, I’m sorry. I—”

“Clarke, it’s no big deal. We can do the apology thing when you’re feeling better.” He turned back to give her one more sad smile. “You know my love can be bought with coffee.”

He left and she was alone. Again. It wasn’t much of a victory at all.

The Senator 6:45pm It’s your turn.

Bellamy 6:53pm What’s my turn?

The Senator 6:54pm To try to get Clarke to come out tonight? Or to just get her to say anything?

Bellamy 6:56pm I need more of an explanation than that.

The Senator 6:59pm Didn’t Octavia text you? We’re all going to The Island tonight. Gina’s here. I thought you’d be coming, too.

Bellamy 7:01pm No… I told O I couldn’t. I need to finish this project.

The Senator 7:01pm You also told her to text you if Clarke was coming. That implies a willingness to join us.

Bellamy 7:05pm And you just told me Clarke isn’t going. You guys should just give her some space. She wants to be alone. That’s how she handles all her emotions.

The Senator 7:07pm The specific sentiment I received from her when I asked if she wanted company was: “Not yours.”

Bellamy 7:10pm Ouch. Do you need me to defend your honor? Do you need me to tell her your feelings are hurt? Do you need a hug?

The Senator 7:12pm Neither of you are any fun right now. Here come the big guns, bitch. Yeah, I called you bitch. It didn't feel right, did it?

Gina 7:14pm I’m supposed to tell you to rescue Clarke from her self-sabotage?

Bellamy 7:17pm Wow. Do you know I have the worst friends? They’re so nosy. How do you even hang out with them?

Gina 7:20pm You know I have horrible taste in people. ;) Is Clarke okay, though?

Bellamy sighed. Gina’s question bothered him, because he didn’t know the answer. It had been a long time since he didn’t know the answer to that question.

It wasn’t like he had been avoiding Clarke, but O had basically immediately told him the reason behind the breakup. If anything, he assumed she’d rather not see him. He still texted her every day to ask if she needed anything, but her one word answers got pretty annoying. She didn’t even fight back when he told her that.

That should have been enough of a hint that she needed him, but he had been a stubborn idiot.

Bellamy 7:30pm I don’t know. I haven’t heard from her today.

Gina 7:52pm Well, it’s been discussed at length over here and now you’re aware of the group consensus. If you can’t make time in your busy schedule for us you should probably go check on Clarke.

Bellamy 7:54pm You're right. As usual. Don't let it go to your head.

Gina 7:55pm No promises.

He was already at the store when Gina texted him again. He felt a little guilty about being so willing to go to Clarke’s, but they were right. She needed someone to lean on, whether or not she would admit it. To help her get there, he needed supplies. The looks he got while he was perusing the nail polish aisle didn’t bother him. It wasn’t like he had never bought O nail polish.

Gathering up what he needed didn’t take too long, so he made it to her apartment before nine. He used his key to let himself in more out of habit than anything. It didn’t occur to him to knock until he saw the shocked look on her face.

She was standing at the dining table in an oversized t-shirt and shorts using the easel he bought her for Christmas to paint. It was a good thing it was warm outside, because she had all the windows open (he assumed it was to get rid of the paint smell before O got home). She had also spread plastic all over the table and the floor. He grinned, because it had been a long time since he had seen her painting, but she tilted her head and pointed the red-tipped brush at him accusingly.

“What are you doing here?”

He hoisted the grocery bags up in the air. “I heard you decided to stay in, too. I come bearing gifts.”      

She eyed him carefully. “What did you bring?”

“Well, other than myself?” When she rolled her eyes, but set down her brush, he took the invitation to start emptying the bags onto the other end of the table. “I’ve got some double fudge brownie ice cream, some chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, a couple different kinds of cookies, red vines, soda, Doritos, some—”

“Did you buy out the whole fucking store?”

“Nope. Just got enough stuff for a fun night on the couch, if you want.”

“Well, I don’t want.” She glared at him again. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“That’s been pretty clear since the day I met you.”

“Has it? Maybe I wanted to stay in, because I wanted to paint! I’ve been sitting on this idea for weeks now and no one will give me any fucking breathing room.”

Bellamy sighed. “I’m not going to take the bait, Clarke.”

“You think I’m baiting you?”

“I think you’re angry and you don’t know how to get it out, so you’re trying to fight everyone who cares about you.”

“I was trying to take it out on this painting, but you came waltzing in here like you own the place.”

“Then take away my key!”

“I thought you weren’t going to fight with me!”

Bellamy paused and took a step back. Her eyes were watery, but her jaw was set, and he didn’t know what to do. Even though he was mad at her, he couldn’t bring himself to actually argue. It wouldn’t make her feel better. If it would make her feel better, he’d let her yell at him all she wanted, but he didn’t want to be another reason she felt guilty.

“I’m not. I’m sorry.” He pushed everything back into the bags and took it into the kitchen to unload it. When he came back, she looked less confrontational, but he set the handful of nail polish onto the table so he could leave. “You’ve got the stuff. You can do what you want with it.”

“You bought nail polish?”

He shrugged. “I have a little sister. I know what to buy in case of emergency.”

It was silent for a moment and he risked another glance up. She was studying him with narrowed eyes. Still, her question didn’t come out sounding entirely unfriendly. “I’m supposed to paint my nails to feel better?”

“Well, I would have painted them while eating copious amounts of junk food and watching shitty television.”

She studied him a moment longer and he forced himself not to look down under her scrutiny. The corners of her lips twitched up in an almost smile. “Can I paint yours?”

Bellamy rolled his eyes, but couldn’t hold in his smile. “Did O tell you I used to let her do that?” Clarke shrugged and he wasn’t surprised O said something. When she was younger and he had to babysit, it was one of the only things that would keep her still. “Fine. You can paint my toes. I can’t go into Etter’s class with….” He trailed off and studied the nail polish. He’d brought her a variety: neon green and pink, bright purple, yellow, and a blue. He met her eyes again and she was actually smirking, so he grabbed the pink. “I can’t go into her class with bright pink fingernails, but toes? That’ll be fine.”

“Okay, cool.” She walked around the table to look at the colors herself and picked up the neon green bottle. When she looked up at him, her eyes were watery again. “Bellamy, I’m really—”

“Going to find out how awesome I am at painting nails? Yeah, I know. What kind of ice cream do you want?”

Before she could answer, he started back toward the kitchen and left her to clean her brushes. He didn’t need an apology, because she was letting him stay. He had to ask her a second time before she told him to bring everything out into the living room.

“We’re not watching shitty television, though,” she said as she helped him set all of the junk food on the coffee table. When she grabbed the roll of paper towels away from his side, she shook her head. “How did you carry all of this?”

“I’m really talented,” he said around the spoon in his mouth. “What are we watching if we’re not watching shitty television?”

“Did you only bring one spoon?”

He set the spoon on top of the ice cream and smiled at her. “Your kitchen is right there, Princess. If you don’t want to share, go get your own spoon. I’m only so talented.”

She settled on the couch and grabbed the remote and the double fudge brownie ice cream. “If we’re watching stuff, I’m almost done with season six of Parks and Rec again, so we’re just picking up there.”

He threw himself down next to her and grabbed her foot and the nail polish she picked out. “I can’t believe you’re forcing me into the end of a season. Andy and April’s wedding, Ben and Leslie’s wedding? How much of pregnant Ann have I missed? You know I’m going to have to start season one when I get home now.”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled at him. “We can start at season one, if you really need to.”

“No, it’s your night.”

They started the where she left off and he painted her nails while she ate ice cream. Then, they switched and she painted his nails while he ate ice cream. He was proud of himself, because he got her to laugh a couple times when she was paying too much attention to the television and not enough to where she was putting nail polish. After a few episodes, when she was sure her nails were dry, she got up to put the ice cream away and sat down a little closer to him when she got back.

Clarke leaned her head on his shoulder and propped her feet up on the coffee table, wiggling her toes. “How have we been friends for three years and I didn’t know you could do this? You are way better than I am at painting someone’s nails.”

“We haven’t been friends for three years.”

She turned her head so she could glare at him. “Well, fine, if you want to not count the six months we couldn’t stand each other.”

“No,” he laughed and her expression faded into a pout. “I mean, it’s May. We met in October.”

“Oh. Well, I’m rounding up.” She settled her head back onto his shoulder. “How come you haven’t come over before tonight? Everyone else has been really ‘in my face’ trying to get me through my moping stage.”

They had both been busy and he was scared that she wouldn’t talk to him. Their relationship been different the last few months, too. He didn’t want to say that, so he tried to joke instead. “I wanted to, but you know how you get around me. Word vomit. You’d let it all out and it would be cathartic and you wouldn’t be able to be sad anymore. I’m sure you wanted to mope for a while before I magically made everything feel better again.”

She elbowed him, but she laughed. They watched the episode in silence for a few more minutes before she paused it and turned to look at him. “I’m ready for it. The cathartic word vomit, I mean.”

He pulled his feet up onto the couch and turned to face her. “Okay, hit me with it.”

“How is Gina okay with us being friends?”

The question shocked him. He had been expecting a rant of some kind. Even if she had asked a question, he would not have expected that one. “This is part of your cathartic word vomit?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure my bi-ness is what broke my relationship with Lexa. Like, I’m not gay enough for her or something. She was just so jealous of you and I don’t get why she couldn’t trust me. So how does Gina trust you with me?”

Bellamy felt his heart breaking for her. She didn’t like to talk about it, so Bellamy never pressed, but he knew it was the same reason her first girlfriend ended their relationship. “I don’t really know. I don’t think she’s wired for jealousy.”

Clarke fell back onto the couch and closed her eyes. “Yeah, I figured. I guess I was secretly hoping she was talking behind my back or something so it would justify Lexa’s behavior.”

“Well, too bad, because she’s on board the ‘Clarke is awesome’ train. I think Harper and Miller had her brainwashed before she even met you, so you never had a chance.”

“Well, that fucking sucks.”

“Yeah, it’s absolutely awful how nice she is.”

She nudged him with her foot and a small smile that disappeared almost as soon as it materialized. Bellamy watched her for a moment, but she lay there with her eyes closed, mouth slowly twisting back into a frown. It almost startled him when she opened her eyes and met his gaze. A couple tears escaped, but she wiped them away with a quick swipe. He couldn’t stand the idea that someone made her doubt anything about herself.

“I need to circle back to the whole ‘you’re not gay enough’ thing, if that’s okay.”

She nodded and her brow furrowed a little as she picked at her nails.

“Is this something she actually said to you?”

“No. Not in so many words. I just thought it was interesting that she was only jealous of—” She cut herself off and shook her head. “She was only jealous of my male friends. She didn’t care about Raven or Octavia or Harper. I know that I’m projecting my insecurities onto the situation. It’s stupid.”

Bellamy grabbed her leg, because it was the only thing within reach. He felt a little dumb, but he pushed through, because he was committed to the moment. “It’s not stupid, Clarke. But if some guy is ever jealous of the girls in your life, you’d tell him to suck it up, right?”

“Well, yeah, but that’s easier.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. Instead of responding, she focused on the spot where Bellamy’s thumb was rubbing against her calf. He waited, hoping she would say something, because he didn’t know how to make the situation better. When she didn’t, he sighed.

“So, I don’t really know what to say to try to make you feel better. I assumed you’d be doing the venting, not me.”

“But I need validation, Bellamy. Duh.” She laughed weakly and he smiled.

“I don’t know if I can give you that, but if anyone ever makes you feel like you’re not ‘gay enough’ or ‘straight enough’, please tell me and I’ll fight them for you. I’ll tell them that you’re the perfect amount of bi. One hundred and ten percent bi with all that extra credit you turned in. That’s an A plus in most school systems.”

Clarke finally let out a full laugh and Bellamy grinned when she threw a pillow at him. “I’ll keep you in mind the next time my sexuality needs a letter grade.”

“Good. I don’t like it when you doubt yourself. “

“Too bad.” She sat up and smiled at him before pulling the pillow back into her lap. “I’m always a bundle of self-doubt, but I usually hide it better.”

“I know.” He toyed with the edge of the pillow and frowned. “I hope you know that you deserve someone who accepts you unconditionally, though. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone.”

“Just myself. And you. I had to prove that I wasn’t the spoiled brat you thought I was.”

“But here’s the difference. It bothered you that I thought that stuff, sure, but you didn’t have to actually do anything to prove I was wrong except be yourself. It didn’t take long for me to figure out that you were probably the best person to ever exist.”

Her face immediately turned bright red and she looked down at her lap.

“I’m fucking serious, Clarke. You deserve someone who is going to acknowledge that daily. Someone hot and smart who accepts you and wants to take care of you as much as you take care of everyone else. Someone who will travel the world with you and go art exhibits with you and come to our movie nights and–”

“If you don’t stop, I’m going to start crying.”

“Okay, fine.” Bellamy threw his hands up in the air. “I’ll stop embarrassing you with your awesomeness.”

Clarke glared at him, but the effect she intended it to have was ruined by the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. He grinned at her and pulled her into a tight hug and sighed when she buried her head into his shoulder. It had been a long time since they’d had a real hug and he allowed himself to enjoy it. There would be time for guilt later. After a few moments, she pulled back, wiping her eyes again.

“Sorry if I embarrassed you with your awesomeness.”

She smiled sadly. “Sorry I tried to kick you out.”

He shrugged. “It’s not the first time that’s happened. I mean, you’ve actually kicked me out of here before, so….” He trailed off and she smiled again. “I know this is a dumb question, but do you feel any better?”

“Not a ton, but I’ll get there.”

“Well, you didn’t rant as much as I expected. Maybe it’ll come in waves.”

“I’ll be sure to call you as soon as I get the urge to finish the cathartic word vomit.”

“The second you do, you promise?” She looked down at her lap again and he had to tilt his head to look her in the eyes. “I’m serious. Eight in the morning? Midnight? Two in the afternoon? I’ll answer any time.”

Clarke agreed reluctantly and he could see her pulling back into her shell a little. He tried not to let it bother him. Instead, he chose to focus on the fact that she finally talked to someone and as they turned the show back on, he hoped she knew that he would do anything she ever needed.

[sweetwriting]

Tim Drake Week 2017 - Day 4: Enemies / Family

Category : Gen

Genre : Angst / Fluff / Family

Fandoms : DC Comics, Batman (1940), Detective Comics, Young Justice (1998), Robin v4 (1993), Superman - Batman (2003), Teen Titans (2003)

Continuity : Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint

Summary : Tim always wanted a family but things aren't that simple. Or are they ?

Author’s notes : This one's a little longer than I expected (I try to do less than 1000 word each) I hope you'll enjoy it.

Word Count : 2251

To read it on AO3

There were many Rogues in Gotham, but each of its vigilantes had their own nemeses among them. Well Tim only had one. One whom, strangely, none of the other members  of the Batfam had ever gone against (and while they were all competent he was a special breed which would be hard to overcome for anyone other than him, Bruce or Barbara, well even for him it was hard), two if you added Ra's Al Ghul on the list after Ulysses but Tim wasn't sure whether to call him a nemesis or a creepily obsessed stalker (he had sent him a woman to bear his heir and if this wasn't a creepily obsessive behavior then what was). Well and King Snake but it was a whole can he'd rather avoid opening.

But Tim had held his own against them all. And especially against the Joker.

Sure the Joker wasn't the worst of them all really (honestly in Tim's mind Scarecrow, Ulysses, and the Riddler were on top of the list), but he was the one who had murdered Robin and seeing Robin back, well…He might have developed a bit of an obsession too even if, weirdly he never seemed that tempted to act on it aside from their first encounter.

His first meeting with Scarecrow (who was Dick's own Gotham nemesis) had been quite something too since it was thanks to that encounter that Batman had allowed him to become Robin. Though now that he was older and more -or less depending on how you see it- emotionally stable he was trying to remember if the hallucinations he had seen were due to a bit of the gas reaching him or not (he had thought Conner was another hallucination back in Paris after all).

And of Course Two-Face, the first time he met Bruce and Alfred…How had they never realized Tim wasn't alright is beyond him now that he's started introspecting on his life as Robin since the very beginning.

Finally, the Riddler. He may not have faced him much but Tim would be lying if he didn't admit that, despite the lives hanging in the balance, he couldn't help but enjoy trying to solve those riddles (to this day his favorites were the ones on baseball and that time he had to team up with Wally).

Of course he had face them all but, some like Penguin were a real pain but they weren't that important to him. Others like Selina or Ivy were different because Selina had, at least partially settled down (and was usually pretty nice to him even if she loved mocking him) and he couldn't help but feel for Ivy's crusade.

The biggest one though had been Jason Todd (and Damian Wayne). Because Bruce was still so attached to him and Tim had tried, he had freed Jason because he chose to let his own issues go and give Jason a chance. What a bad idea that was. Apparently the pit Madness was still present. Even if it had lessened.

Now. Now however Jason seemed to have slightly settled. And Tim still felt the guilt for letting him go too soon but he had still let go of most of his resentment toward him. So sure Jason wouldn't be his family (maybe one day but at most Tim believes they'll be cordial to each other), but at least he and Bruce were making progress and really that's what matters even if… Tim had always wanted a family. It was easier to admit now that he had finally mourned his father, but he never really gave him one. First he and his mother kept leaving him behind, then Jack was forced to stay and still had the reflex to leave him behind when he wanted to -even if for lesser lengths of time- and got angry when Tim had to cancel at the last minute. Tim now realized the depth of the hypocrisy his father had shown back then. The anger he always directed at Tim for simple mistakes. Tim realized it now, because he followed some courses on parenting to be of at least some use to his Neon Knights Program (also Conner had convinced him to see a therapist who treated the few heroes who admitted they needed the help and seeked resolution. Bruce had, of course, verified all their references before Tim could even think about it, after all if they had been helping Kon they were probably good -and Conner seemed to feel so much better). He realized now that his parents had been neglectful and that his father managed to be both neglectful and verbally abusive (and physically violent even if it was never directed at Tim's body, it was still only directed at Tim's stuff).

So he wanted a family and when he was 9 he started projecting on Dick, because Dick had hugged him when he was still pretty much a baby and he had been so happy and Dick was Robin, and he had been taken in by Bruce Wayne, by Batman and he seemed so happy. And not long after this Jason joined and, well Tim didn't know him so he mostly focused on him as Robin.

And then he really met them and, of course they weren't a family. It was a job and Tim still wanted his parents to be the ones taking care of him. Still he and Bruce got closer, especially after his father became comatose and his mother died. Because there was no way to know when he'd wake up and Bruce and Alfred took care of him and, sure it was more like going to your grandparents with your uncle than anything else but it was the closest Tim had had to a real family since he had been 4 or 5. And Dick. It took about a year but Dick became Tim's big brother, and oh how he loved him. Dick was easily one of the most important people in Tim's life, the one person (with Conner and Bart) he thought would never hurt him. Of course he ended up being wrong but he still loved him so much and Tim shouldn't feel so betrayed for one little mistake but he couldn't help himself (according to his therapist though he should have a talk with Dick because apparently it wasn't just one simple mistake but, Tim didn't want to ruin the fragile status quo they had reached. Of course he knew his therapist was right but he just couldn't do it).

Now Dick was obviously the biggest influence on him, but one shouldn't forget Alfred Pennyworth, who was the one person everybody loved and no one could refuse him anything. Alfred loved everyone so much and they all know it. If there's one thing that they knew it was that.

One of the thing that surprises Tim the most is the number of sisterly figures he gained : Barbara who was like a mom sometimes, whom he shared a passion for computers with, one of the rare people who was more intelligent than him. Helena who was one of the first people he teamed up with and who had become a sort of on and off sisterly figure to him (who allowed him to raid her fridge), he only partially trusted her on the field, but if you put aside her murdering streak she was genuinely one of the most compassionate people he met (as long as you weren't a criminal). Finally Cassandra Cain who had just come back to Gotham had really intimidated him at first, not especially because of her skills and efficiency (though there was that) but because of her kind heart and strong will which made him ashamed of his own. But he got past it and things weren't always good but he loves her so much, she's one of his favorite people in the world. And he's so glad he accepted to see a therapist because she convinced him to *force* a little reconnection with them and they're all amazingly supportive.

He misses Harold, who was great company when he was around despite his lack of speech. He misses Ace, the Bat Hound who was the only pet he was ever allowed to have (he could hep but be jealous of Damian's zoo as he was never even allowed to keep a cat for a night and he had never dared ask his parents for one before, at least not since he was a kid and decided they wouldn't be able to take care of a pet and that they didn't want to take one and have to take it back if Tim grew bored…He couldn't help make a parallel now and it's one of those times he wishes he had never gone to that therapist). He misses Steph even if he now realized how unhealthy they were being. It might have been better if they had been friends (if he hadn't tried to run from the drama with Ariana), according to his dear therapist one of their biggest issues was the imbalance in power due to Tim mentoring Steph at the beginning, maybe now they could work on that and start being friends. Not to forget Dana, his sweet step-mother. She was still in a mental institute but Metropolis was a lot better for her health than Blüdhaven was (not that it was a surprise) and he had -finally- introduced her to some of his fellow Titans. She of course fell in love with Bart and Kon who were "sweet and thoughtful". One day she even took them aside and they discussed something that none of them ever revealed to him, but whichever it was, it obviously made them all happy (and really as long as they were happy he didn't care that much what had happened). He and Damian still didn't get along but they did have a sort of truce now (mostly because Damian's pets liked it when Tim petted them and it probably did more for Tim's cause than anything else ever could. On his side Tim had admitted to himself all the progress Damian had done and it was easier to not see him as a threat).

Then there were his friends. Young Justice had felt like a holiday camp sometimes, it was mostly fun and Tim couldn't help but wish he had been able to be himself completely and not just the Robin part of him. Back then it felt like they were all a bunch of (un)disciplined siblings and cousins. Then Donna died and…Well things got hard. Cassie who already had anger issues became worse and… he still can't believe they dated when they never really saw each other as anything but siblings (it says a lot about what Conner's death did to them and…Well he only started on this part with his therapist but at some point, they had had a weird knowing smile that felt slightly out of place). He loved Cassie but not in a romantic way and he felt honestly disturbed every time that week-end wass brought up. Bart was like a little brother whom he had mentored for a while, he was a true and tried genius when it came to engineering and computer programming. Tim would be jealous if he wasn't so proud of everything Bart had accomplished (or simply happy that Bart was alive), some of the Titans usually joked that Bart was the Baby friend to Tim's Dad Friend Trope and to Conner's Mom Friend one (they didn't know that Tim and Conner had done it long ago and he never realized how right he was).

And of course Conner. His best friend still loved to mock him (and it went both ways, Tim never missed his shot), but they were even closer than before. When he died Conner had been away for a couple of weeks and refused his calls because he felt guilty for breaking his arm (and other things which...honestly were too big to start thinking about). But before that he had been one of the rare people able to convince Tim that he wasn't a bother and that he should talk to him/them when something weighted him down (of course he still needed a push but he accepted it gladly). And Tim knew that, likewise, he was one of the rare people Conner felt comfortable talking about his harshest fears and issues with. Despite this, or maybe because of it, Conner was probably the healthiest relationship Tim has ever had with anyone (even Bart and Cass) because they didn't hesitate to talk about things that were wrong between them (not that there were many to begin with) and they actually dealt with them and that before even going to a therapist, they had even gone to a session together once, they had joked that it was couple counselling and the therapist told them that a lot more friends should do it because whether it's romantic or platonic every relationships need work. But, apparently theirs didn't because they naturally (or not, apparently it's mostly thanks to an advice Conner got from the then supergirl that they started having healthier reflexes) dealt with their issues. So yeah lots of love and support there. It was nice to have at least one person he could entirely trust and rely on.

And Tim couldn't help it but, it gave him hope for the future.

Author’s Note 2 : Hope you enjoyed it. As most of my works it was unbeta-ed.

For the physically violence toward Tim's stuff, I don't remember the number of the issue but there was at least once when Jack broke Tim's TV because Tim was distracted by it. (if I remember correctly it was after Jack grounded Tim because he refused to listen to Tim's explanation after Ariana's uncle called him and Tim was stuck in his room so he was watching the news which are, admittedly slightly more important than his father coming to explain to Tim how it was his fault that Jack ended up reacting this way...A++ Father Jack)

[disrepairhouse]

Chapter 6 - Updates

RK crossed his arms, resisting the glare threatening to come to his face as the headmaster explained to him what happened.  Itara awkwardly shuffled beside him, doing her best to look every direction except at either of them.  When the headmaster was finally done, RK let out a puff of air and looked down at the little hedgehog, who briefly glanced up at him before looking off again.  She showed far less remorse than she ought to, considering the chaos she—likely purposely—caused that day.

“Luckily no one was badly injured, but the damages to the classroom were severe.  Of course, Itara isn’t entirely to blame, it’s possible the robot she was given was defective and not properly disarmed.  But she won’t be able to finish the project now, so we’ll be sending her home with some extra online homework.  Were you able to get ahold of a new computer to be able to do that?  If not, she can continue staying after school to finish her work,” the man explained, looking over thick black glasses with slightly narrowed eyes.

RK debated for a moment, almost tempted to say they didn’t have one just yet to make Itara suffer a little more, but dismissed the thought and explained, “She’ll be able to do her homework just fine, but thank you for the offer.  I’ll make sure it gets done.  I’m sorry for the trouble she’s caused.  Already. On the first day back.”  He shot a glance to the little girl, but once again, she was looking elsewhere.

“Accidents happen, as I said, at least no one was badly hurt.  But I’m glad to hear she’ll be able to get that done without a problem.  Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

They nodded to one another and the headmaster returned to the school while RK turned his attention to the now-whistling little girl beside him.  “I’m expecting a full explanation when we get home, Itara.”

She looked up at him, opening her mouth to argue or defend herself, but snapped it shut and nodded.  She knew RK would know more than the teachers or headmasters would about what happened, but she had a good reason she couldn’t explain right there. It was better to get home quickly. However, once they started towards the train station, she decided to at least throw out, “but just for the record, it was as much Kipper’s fault as it was mine.”

“I’m sure.”

The train ride home was quiet aside from RK’s occasional vague question about the day, mostly asking what else she did during the day besides cause trouble.  Itara didn’t have much to tell, though, and the conversation dropped several times before they even reached the first stop.  On the walk back to the house, however, RK spoke up one more time, this time explaining, “In other news, I’ve made some… progress… with Sparky.”  He didn’t often use the nickname Itara gave Metal Sonic, knowing he would likely hate it if he ever heard it, but didn’t want to use his name outside amongst their nosy neighbors.

Itara looked up at him her brows furrowing, “what kind of progress?”

“You’ll see.”

She narrowed her eyes, but nodded and looked forward again, not wanting to slip on the ice.  She’d had enough of landing on her face today.  Once she was finally back inside again, she let out a long, dramatic sigh of relief, dropped her bag off her shoulders at the door, and kicked off her shoes.  “Home! So glad to be home!  Today was so long!”

“Itara put your shoes away properly,” RK scolded, pulling his own snow-covered boots off before continuing in towards the kitchen, “I’ll make you a quick snack so I want you to tell me everything that happened today at school.  And I mean everything.  I know that robot didn’t rampage on its own.”

“No, that was Kipper,” she explained, setting her shoes more neatly in the small shoe rack and opening her backpack to pull the doll out, “I needed him to create a distraction for me so I could get to the roof.” She could hear the sigh from the kitchen.  “Before you get mad, there’s a good reason!”

“I am dying to hear it,” RK grumbled.

“…You’re a robot.”  She got an annoyed glare from around the corner and held her hands up, “okay, okay.  Fine.” Following him to the kitchen and taking the newly made sandwich, she went back to the couch to start explaining, RK following after her and Kipper floating up to the back to get comfortable. “Two of my classmates were talking about some kind of attack in the city so I wanted… decided to listen in, but then they said Solaris’ shrine was attacked by some kind of monster so, of course, I knew had to look more into it.”  She barely missed the eye roll from the robot standing beside the couch, watching her.  “And while I was walking back from lunch I heard the teachers talking about some kind of monster headed towards the school, so I had to look into that, t-too. So I had Kipper create a distraction by possessing the robot I was supposed to be repairing in my robotics class and I slipped out and went up to the roof to see if I could find it.

“And I did!  But then I lost sight of it when it started running around the sides of the buildings and then it was behind me.  It was tall. Anyway, it tried to attack me but then I kind of got saved and… well,” she glared down at the sandwich in her hands, looking up at RK, who was still patiently waiting beside the couch.  “It was Shadow.”  RK frowned, uncrossing his arms and moving around to sit beside her to look over her.

“Are you okay?  Did he recognize you?  I’m assuming not because you’re fine and home, but-”

“No, I guess not even he remembers the past timelines. Which is good, I suppose.  Except he laughed at me!  Not outwardly, he just made a noise, but inwardly I knew he was laughing at me because I tripped!  Do you know how many times I’ve tripped today, RK?!  My nose hurts so much!”  The tiny girl huffed angrily, puffing out her cheeks and getting a slight smirk as response from RK.  Kipper burst into a fit of laughter.  She glared at them both and continued, “Anyway!  Shadow is dumb, but… but that’s not the important part.  The important part is the monster that attacked, if it’s the same one that attacked the shrine, or even the same type.”

“Did you know what it was, then?”

“Yes,” she nodded, “It was one of Dark Gaia’s Nightmares.”

RK’s brows furrowed, running his database for any information on Dark Gaia.  “Another of the Gods?”

“Yes.  The important thing now is that we figure out why one of Gaia’s minions are running around and I think we should go into town and look in on the shrine.  That was where it headed first, apparently.”

RK hummed, running over what he knew of Gaia, “I don’t know, Itara… maybe it’d be best if we didn’t get involved with this.  You said Shadow took care of the Nightmare, maybe we should leave it to-”

“No!  We have to at least look into it!”

Sighing again, RK stood, “well, maybe.  We’ll talk about it later, for now there’s something else I want to show you.  Come down to the lab.”  Itara huffed at him, but grabbed Kipper and jumped off the couch to follow him.  “As I said earlier, I made some progress with Metal Sonic.  It turns out he managed to activate himself between the time we left this morning and when I got home; but not only were his memories of the previous events wiped, but his AI was inactive.  At first I thought his loyalty chip might still somehow be intact, but I realized he was only following a base coding.  Once I got him offline again I decided to start there and managed to get a good bit back online.”

“Is that even a good thing?” Itara questioned, unsure about having Sparky’s AI online solely because she remembered a number of angry, violent meetings with the blue bot.  Unlike Sonic’s inherently cheerful nature, Sparky almost seemed to embody the complete opposite and was just always in a bad mood.

“Well,” RK began, giving it a moment of thought, “I admit he’s a bit… grouchy… but in the long run it’ll be better to have his AI than the core programming.  For reasons you so aptly demonstrated today at school.”  He glanced back at her, getting a sheepish grin from the small hedgehog, and turned back around to continue leading the way into the lab.  “In any case, I managed to get him active again.”

Itara made another disgruntled face, but followed RK across the lab from the stairs towards the large computer and the charging stations… where the exceptionally damaged blue robot sat, staring towards the large screen running various diagnostics.  Itara took an unconscious step behind RK once they reached him, for reasons she would never admit, and waited for the other robot to notice their presence.  It took a minute, but eventually a glowing red eye slid over towards the larger red robot, narrowing dangerously, but not moving this time.  Instead, he looked down at the smaller figure practically hiding behind RK’s legs.  It took until Itara slowly glanced out from around said legs and stared up at him with curious, but cautious and unsure, large, purple and green eyes before he reacted.

“You!”

Itara jumped at the sudden fury and hid behind RK’s legs again before she even realized she was doing it.  RK, on the other hand, threw up his hands in her defense, exclaiming, “calm down, Metal.  She-”

“You said he didn’t remember!” Itara whined, looking up and around his side.

“He didn’t, but I-”

“I should destroy you right here and now, you little anomaly!”

“Rude!  You should be grateful we didn’t just leave you a pile of scrap!”

“Why you little-!”

“Enough!” RK shouted, cutting them both off, glaring between them as he stepped over to the computer, leaving Itara out in the open.  She immediately went back on the defensive and gripped Kipper tighter, taking a step back and preparing to run.  Metal Sonic scowled at them both, though as soon as he made a movement to get up from the table he sat on, RK shot a warning glare his way.  “Enough bickering.  To explain, Itara, I fixed as many memory files as I could access and filled in a few of my own so it would be easier to explain the current situation to him.  And Metal, you created that anomaly so I suggest you back off.  She may be a part of Mephiles, but you’re the one who put that power in a physical body. You’re just as responsible for her existence as Solaris.”

“Oo, Momma Bear’s in threat mode,” Kipper snickered, catching a disgusted Metal Sonic’s attention.

“What the hell is that thing?”

“Tails Doll, or at least, that’s what he used to go by. Itara named him Kipper.  If you don’t have a file on him I can share the information with you.  I found him in an antique shop in… I suppose the original timeline.  He didn’t talk back then, though,” RK explained, turning to the computer to transfer some files and check the scans, muttering as a final note, “I wish he’d go back to that.”

“I only stick around because the little ‘anomaly’ is fun,” Kipper explained, grinning, “When Momma Bear brought me home for his little baby hedgie, all the drama with her ‘daddy’ gave me more power.  Plus, sometimes she lets me destroy things.”

Itara and RK both rolled their eyes at the explanation, but Metal Sonic looked suspiciously between the three, ending on RK, “it sounds like you have a considerable attachment to the anomaly I created.”  He looked back at Itara again, studying her, watching her fidget uncomfortably under his gaze.  “I hope you know I didn’t free RK from that base so he could just go babysit some failed experiment of Robotnik’s.”

She looked up towards him, puffing her cheeks, before looking away again, “I’m not a failed experiment and I’m not an anomaly and I don’t need babysitting!  If anyone needs babysitting, it’s you!  Before I rescued RK from the wreckage of that base, I went to you first and warned you not to fight Sonic after you went rogue. I told you, you’d regret it!  And what did you do?  You fought him anyway, and lost, and ended up back with Robotnik.” Spinning back around, she stuck her tongue out at him, exclaiming, “So there!  Neeeeh!”

Metal Sonic recoiled, mostly at the memory, but only for a moment before growling again.  Before either RK or Itara could react, he was back off the table and had snatched the hedgehog up by the neck, glaring and growling, “I should have snapped your neck then and there, then.”  A small squeak escaped her mouth as Kipper dropped from her hands, floating out beside her, instead, watching with a hint of amusement.

“Put her down before I break your other arm off.”  The demand came out relatively calm, but the underlying threat from the warbot gave Metal Sonic the briefest of pauses.  It wasn’t until the other bot turned to glare back at his companion that he finally huffed and dropped the hedgehog, turning back towards the table to sit again.  Itara dropped with a light thud, shaking only a moment before going back to glaring at the other robot, reaching up to wrap her arms as fully around her neck as possible.  She remained sitting on the ground, curling her legs up against her chest, glaring angrily over at the blue robot, her ears flattened against her head as Kipper floated back down to her.

The air in the room remained thick and tense for some time, Itara remaining curled up several feet way from Metal Sonic while Kipper floated beside her, silently laughing at the entire situation.  Metal Sonic sat on the table beside the computer and glared off in another direction while his scans ran, displeased with the entire situation and debated why he was even reactivated in the first place in such a situation.  RK remained the most outwardly calm, looking over at Itara once in a while to check that she was alright before returning to his work on the screen.  He was running several scans and repairing as many programs as possible for Metal Sonic, as well as checking which memories and what information he still retained while he was at it, matching them up to his own data, checking for corrupted files.

The room remained silent as RK worked, the only conversation happening between him and Metal Sonic occasionally when he needed something checked.  While he worked, Itara had grabbed Kipper again and got herself comfortable on the floor, still far out of the angry bot's reach, but sat quietly to watch and study.  She could see what all RK was doing on the large screen, listening in on the conversation between them, and studied the programs they were restoring to see what all she understood.  She logged what she didn't know away for later to ask RK about them.

As they were working, however, another screen popped up on the computer, showing the front door and notifying them of a visitor with low risk levels.  Though, once the image appeared with the notification, RK debated changing that risk level.  The tall, thin dyed blonde from three doors down was on their porch again, wrapped up in a thick red coat, knocking not-so-patiently on their door.  When she didn't get an answer after the first knock, she started calling out for either RK or Itara.

All four of them looked up at the screen when they noticed, Kipper shrugging and ignoring it while Itara just watched her strangely.  Why was she back again?  Despite the quick pace of her knocks and the repetitive calling, she didn't look that frantic, but she did certainly look like she wanted a response sooner rather than later.  Metal Sonic raised an eyebrow at the woman on the screen, seeming cautious of her appearance but saying nothing.  RK had already explained they were in a human neighborhood that Robotnik had set up a spy base in; he supposed it would be expected to see said humans every so often.

RK, however, seemed the least thrilled of all of them.  He let out a puff of air, hesitating to see if she'd go away on her own, but audibly sighed when it didn't seem like she would.  "I'll... be right back, I suppose," he grumbled, turning away from the computer to head up the stairs.  He stopped between Itara and Metal, however, turning to the apprehensive bot, and warning, "do not touch her while I'm dealing with this."

Metal scoffed in response, shooting him a glare but looking off again at the responding glare.  "It's not like I'm in great shape to begin with."

"Precisely."  With that taken care of, he continued up the stairs to go deal with Lynda and see what she demanded his attention so badly for. He hoped it wasn't anything too important and she was just dropping by again.  Then again, with the laser incident earlier in the day, he was concerned she had seen it and was growing suspicious.

Once he was up out of the lab and out of earshot again, Metal turned back towards the screen to watch, waiting until RK appeared just at the edge of the view at the door.  The human woman looked relieved to see him, which caught the other bot off-guard.  No one was ever relieved to see one of them.

"Ah!  RK!  There you are," Lynda grinned, clapping her hands together, "I was worried something might have happened, after all.  Is Itara alright?"

RK still wasn't sure she wasn't talking about the laser, so he decided to play clueless until she explained, "she's fine, why?"

"Well, I heard about the attack on the school today!"  Ah, so that was it.  "My son goes to the same school and he told me that not only did one of the robotics projects go wild but there was some kind of monster on the roof!  I wanted to make sure Itara was alright! My son was so frightened and he wasn't even near any of it."

RK wanted to laugh.  He resisted, though, and shook his head, "no, Itara's fine."  How much should he divulge to her, exactly, though?  Would it be safe to mention it was Itara's project that rampaged? Or that she was on the roof when said monster attacked?  No, perhaps that second part should be left out.  "Itara was in that class, however, the one with the robot incident. But she was... well away from it when it started up."

"Oh!  She must have been so scared!"

He shrugged, "she handles things better than most."  Because she usually causes it in the first place. "I can guarantee it'll leave little lasting impression on her."

"What a brave little girl she must be."

"That's one word for it." Walking troublemaker was another.

Back down in the lab, Metal Sonic had been listening in on the conversation and narrowed his eyes, finally looking over towards the little girl who had been making faces at the incident in question.  "Who is this human?"

Itara straightened her face and looked over, eyeing him suspiciously and leaning away slightly, debating before she responded, "I don't know... some lady from the neighborhood.  She's kinda nosy."

"Is she a threat?"

"I don't think so.  I mean, I suppose I can't say for sure.  I no longer have access to my powers, since the reset, so I can't be sure of anything anymore."

There was a short silence while Metal returned his attention to the screen... before Kipper spoke up to break that silence.  "She's awfully interested in our resident warbot, it seems," he practically sneered, catching the other's attention again, getting a raised eyebrow from Itara.  "She showed up as soon as we started moving in... looks for every reason to come over here already."

"Does she work for someone?" Metal questioned, narrowing his eye again, looking between the screen and the doll grinning from Itara's arms.  "He should be wary of someone so nosy, she could be looking for a reason to oust him as a Robotnik robot for all you know.   Why is he talking so casually with her?"

"Who knows... maybe he's gotten soft with the humans since going rogue," Kipper continued, his grin widening at the shift in stance in the bot.

"Then he should cease interactions with all others until he can properly realize the situation again. We're robots designed to hunt and destroy, not fraternize and we're certainly not normal mobians."  He moved to get up off the table again, glaring at the screen and moving to tell the other off, causing Itara to jump to her feet, though still kept her distance.

"Don't cause problems we can't handle right now, Sparky," she warned, catching a much darker glare than the bot was giving the screen.  "You're barely functional and any unwanted attention could get us noticed by Sonic or Robotnik... or worse, Shadow.  Just because the timeline's been reset doesn't make them any less of our enemies."  However, Metal's attention was already gone at the mention of Shadow's name.  He seemed to zone out for a moment, pulling up every bit of information and memory regarding the black hedgehog, before his glare became all the more dangerous.

Itara's eyes narrowed further, unsure of what the other bot was thinking and questioning whether she should go get RK or not, when the remaining arm began sparking at the tips of his claws. She jolted away, stumbling over her feet in the process, but caught herself and tightened her grip on Kipper. "W-what are you... you shouldn't... S-Sparky don't--"

"Stop calling me Sparky!" he roared, the lightning blue sparks running up his arm and through the rest of his broken body, a bright yellow light lining through them as they travelled through the cables attached to him and into the large computer. The short zapped through the basement's electrical grid, travelling all the way through the rest of the house's lines. Several snaps and cracks ran through the computers and wires until a dull hum echoed through lab and house, lights and appliances powering down.  Metal Sonic, as well, gave one final snap before leaning forward, the LED in his eyes going dark.  Itara and Kipper stared into the darkness, only the light of Kipper's gem glowing around them.

"As I said, I only-" RK stopped as the crackling ran through the house and darkened his eyes when the power suddenly hummed out.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Lynda questioned, leaning around him to look into the empty silence behind him.

"Our... power is having trouble keeping up with the appliances at the moment," RK lied, straining to keep the irritation out of his voice, "since the house went unused for so long, the wiring is a bit faulty.  I have someone coming to fix it soon so we just have to deal with it for a couple days."  He was more than sure it was Metal Sonic that caused the short.  Again.

"How dreadful, is there anything I can do to help?  Do you need to stay somewhere else until it gets fixed?  Having shorting power in this cold must be awful, especially for the little one," RK didn't miss the small grin on her face as she continued, "my place is fairly large and it's only me and my son.  You and Itara could fit comfortably, I'm sure. Especially if it's only a couple days."

He only gave a moment of thought, or rather, pretended to give it a moment of thought to not appear suspicious, before explaining, "No, thank you, but we'll manage.  It comes on again quickly so it hasn't been a problem yet. But if you'll excuse me, I should make sure Itara's okay and check the circuit breaker."

"Oh, right, of course," she frowned, disappointed but smiled again, "well, I should let you get to that, then.  But you know where to find me if you need anything.  At all."

RK nodded and bid her farewell, waiting until she was further down the street before closing the door and heading for the circuit board to turn everything back on.  With a few flips of switches, the power droned back on and he headed back down the lab to find out what happened.  When he reached the bottom step, Itara was up and poking at an inactive Metal Sonic, Kipper laughing hysterically off to the side.

"What did you do?"  The question was more or less directed at Kipper, but Itara jumped and swung around to face him.

"I-I-I didn't d-do it!"

"Not you."  He walked over and grabbed Kipper by the tails, holding him up to eye level, scowling, "you."

Kipper just continued laughing, going incorporeal to escape the warbot's grip, and floated further away, "what makes you think I did anything?  It was Sparky here who shorted everything."

"And why did he do it, exactly?"

"He got angry about Lynda," Itara explained, knowing Kipper would eschew it, "he thinks she might be suspicious of our identities.  He may have a point, though.  She is awfully nosy.  What if she suspects something?"

Kipper just started laughing again, "That ain't it."

Itara tilted her head in confusion while RK eyed the doll suspiciously, shaking his head and going back over to reboot the computer, "I don't think she's suspicious, Itara.  Don't worry about it."  Crossing his arms, he leaned back while the computer started up again, annoyed that he would have to restart a lot of processes and the short would likely set them back a good bit.  He would need to have a word with Kipper later, and perhaps with Metal to avoid a third repeat.  The lab was better suited to deal with higher power outputs, but it would slow a lot of repairs if it kept up.

"In any case, Itara, go find what you want for dinner and get started on your homework.  I'll be up once I run a few more diagnostics."

Itara groaned at the mention of homework, but with a side-glare from RK, she grabbed Kipper again and headed upstairs.  At least she got to decide on dinner tonight.  Today had been a long, eventful, kind of terrifying day and she wanted something good for dinner!  Maybe a cookie.  Or two. She deserved it, as far as she was concerned.