#he's the vex expert (maybe) so he might know something i guess

[kaiserouo]

if timeline reflections are simulations how fast would cayde notice that

[twoidiotwriters1]

Written In The Stars CXXIV (Harry Potter xF!Oc)

A/N: I’m really anxious about this one -Danny

Words: 4,934

Series’ Masterlist

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Chapter Twenty-Two: Sickness.

"You're right," Erick sat on the couch next to her. "Emily and Sirius are undeniably together."

"But they're hiding something," Mel pointed with the rubber wand she was holding. "Every time I hint I want to know more about their relationship, they panic—"

"So that's where you learned it from?" Fred smirked.

Mel slapped the back of his head and he moved away from between her knees, facing his brother from the other side of the rug instead.

Things had gone swiftly after Erick's rescue. Sirius was in a jolly mood on the daily, surrounded by good company and decorating the house with everyone's help. Mel would spend most of her days with the twins and Flint, who surprisingly seemed to have taken a liking to Fred and George, or maybe it was that Ron and Harry kept on treating him like he was Malfoy's long lost cousin.

Erick's attitude towards her did change a bit after the first night. She'd expected him to keep on teasing her and acting as if she were a little girl. However, he would follow her around the house like a very polite shadow, and he was usually eager to be of use for her.

Maybe it was his way of showing how grateful he was about being there, and Mel could tell the twins wanted to tease him, but given the recent misfortune the boy had gone through they were keeping everything to themselves.

Either way, after a few awkward mornings in which Mel had attempted to catch her mother and Sirius off guard only to get really vague answers or watch them walk away from the conversation, she decided to involve the boys. After all, if there was a group of people who were experts at finding out secrets, it was this trio.

"You know," Erick sighed as he picked up a book he'd been reading, "maybe you should tell them you're okay with it and let them do the rest of the talking if they want..."

"They already know I'm okay with it," Mel huffed. "I don't know why are they acting so weird now, it's like they think I'll murder them if I catch them snogging..."

"Maybe you should tell them you and Fred are dating," The Slytherin replied with a smirk. "See if you get a reaction out of them."

"You know what, maybe I will," Mel said resolutely. "I'll do it right now, while everyone's scattered around the house..."

"I was joking," Erick's smile evaporated and he added in a whisper. "Don't do that! You're not even dating for real!"

"Well no, but no one apart from you knows that!" She replied quietly. "It might catch them off guard..."

"I'll never understand why you take his advice right away but when it's me you refuse to listen," Fred grumbled.

"Because your advice is always to 'let things be' or 'maybe a few kisses will make you forget it'," Mel frowned. "Your advice sucks."

"You didn't think I was so terrible the other nigh—"

"I swear on my Grandad's grave," Erick warned him. "If you finish that sentence I'll leave George twinless."

"Sorry," Fred turned back to his game of exploding snap, "forgot we have to watch our mouth now that you're around, grandpa..."

Erick threw a cushion at Fred, but he was looking livelier than ever before. From time to time, he would loosen up and act like an actual teenager, which looked quite nice on him. Mel could feel him healing , and the best part was that she could feel herself healing too.

She knew everyone was keeping Harry at a proper distance from her as well, her friends had listened to their argument, but the funny thing was that if anyone would've tried to ask her about Harry now, she would've answered with no hesitation.

Telling Erick was liberating, especially after her last fight with Harry where she realized that -unfortunate, but expected- her feelings for him had diminished to the point where they were nothing but a memory.

She didn't hate him anymore, didn't resent him either. That helped both of them coexist in the same house without imploding. Harry was treating her like a real person and not a damsel he needed to save, and Mel was finally able to talk to him without being afraid of hurting his feelings. She could be honest because she didn't have anything to lose by doing so.

Mel walked through the house when she heard Sirius arguing with her mother in the kitchen. Curious to know what was the fight about, Mel sneaked in as silently as she could, and she hid behind the railing so the adults couldn't see her in the dim light.

"I'm telling you it's nothing!" Emily was saying. "It's normal, the first few months the nausea is always like that, you're losing your mind over nonsense!"

Mel's stomach dropped. Nausea?

"It's been a hard couple of weeks," Sirius replied, "I shouldn't have let you leave the house after Fred and George said they'd go get Erick, you're in no condition—"

"I will ask you," Emily said impatiently, "to stop talking about me like I'm dying. Don't be ridiculous, I've gone through it before, I know my limits!"

Her mum! It was her mum the one who was sick!

It was enough they'd hidden her uncle's sickness from her all those years ago, it was not going to happen again.

"What's wrong with my mum?"

Sirius and Emily stopped their bickering, both adults turning to see the girl with wide eyes.

"Mel..."  

"Nothing's wrong with your mum, little Em," Sirius was quick to reply. "We were just... we were..."

"Don't lie to me," Mel frowned. "I heard you, you said my mum was sick..."

"No, love, you misunderstood–"

"We were talking about your mother's morning sickness," Sirius said pointedly.

Emily hit the man's arm, but Mel didn't react.

"What's that?"

Sirius looked positively confused.

"What do you... you don't know?" He looked at the woman next to him and whispered something. Emily turned bright red.

"Of course she knows how babies are born, Sirius!"

"Then why is she—"

"Because we never went into those specific details," Emily replied. "Fine! I've avoided this conversation long enough, and you're bound to found out in the end. Sit down, Mel."

Mel obeyed.

"Well..." Her mother started. "I guess by now you're aware that Sirius and I..."

"Yes, much like everyone else in this house," Mel pushed it aside. "What does that have to do with your sickness?"

"Because my sickness," Emily's voice faltered. "My... er..."

"Morning sickness is a symptom, Mel," Sirius continued. "But it doesn't come from a disease."

Mel's frown deepened. "What is it, then?"

"I'm pregnant."

"What?" The girl blinked. "How— Are you sure?"

"Yes," Sirius scratched the back of his head. "For the last two months..."

"TWO MONTHS?" Mel stood up, her hands going up to cover her mouth. The rest of the sentence came out muffled. "You've been pregnant for two months?!"

"Don't be vexed," Emily winced. "I tried to send a letter, but it felt like such a cold way to let you know... then you came home but trouble just kept coming..."

"That's the reason you were fighting when we arrived!" Mel said in realization. "You didn't want my mum to hurt herself!"

"Which is stupid, really," Emily huffed, glaring at the man standing behind her. "I'm not that far yet, I can do stuff."

"Oh my god," Mel covered her mouth again. "The baby's yours!" She exclaimed, pointing to Sirius.

The man cackled in that barking laughter of his.

"Yeah, the baby's mine too."

Mel let out a short squeal.

"I'm going to have a sibling!"

"You're not angry?" Emily asked.

"Angry?" Mel frowned, a smile still playing on her lips. "Why would I be angry about having a family?"

"I told you she would understand, Mily," Sirius said proudly.

"I'm so happy!" Mel beamed, pulling in both adults for a hug.

"That's great," Emily chuckled nervously. "You can't tell the others though, we're waiting..."

"Waiting for what?"

"We want to give the news during Christmas," Sirius said, completely elated. "It just seems like the right moment to do it."

On Christmas morning the girl woke up to the usual pile of gifts at the foot of her bed, but for the first time, she ignored them and walked out of her room, already looking for her mother.

Fred and George stopped her at the top of the stairs and shook their heads grimly.

"Don't go in, Lady. Mum's just gotten Percy's jumper. He didn't even try to ask about dad."

"Go back to bed," George shook his head. "Trust us."

"Oh," Mel frowned. "Okay..."

She returned to her bed and grabbed the first present. It was from Lupin, a book on defense against the dark arts and another of magizoology, both with beautiful front covers and illustrations.

The second was from Hermione's, a quill that was magically fixed so its users couldn't make mistakes. Mr and Mrs Weasley gave her a new jumper -a nice cream colour with an 'M' in the middle- the first she was getting with her initial, and as she moved through the pile she realized three people were missing: Her mother, Sirius, and Harry.

The last one was not a surprise, but she wondered why her mother hadn't given her a present that year.

'Maybe the baby is my present,' she thought with excitement.

When she left her room, she ran into Erick.

"Merry Christmas!" She said happily.

"Merry Christmas," He yawned. "Hey... can you believe I got presents?"

"Well, yeah," Mel grinned. "What were you expecting?"

"Joseph and Gran were the only ones to give me things apart from my family," He said, still a bit unused to his situation. "But here I got presents from everyone and they don't even know me..."

"Did you like mine?" She looked down for a moment and gasped. "Is that... is that a Weasley sweater?"

Erick stared down at the emerald green fabric and smiled.

"Yeah, look," He pointed to the snake in the middle. "Slytherin themed and all... it was nice of them."

"That's so sweet," Mel beamed. "What else did you got?"

"A few sweets from Fred and George— don't worry, normal sweets, not their creations... a planner from Hermione, which I think will be very useful, if I'm honest... Lupin gave me a book on muggle history that looks really interesting— Oh, your Mum gave me this er... disk-man?"

"Discman," Mel laughed. "Those are for muggle music, I believe you'll like it a lot..."

"Hang on," Erick eyed her up, finally noticing her outfit. "Is that— wow— is that your sweater?"

"Yeah," She looked down. "Why?"

Erick's smiled widened.

"You'll love this..." He walked to the twins' room and looked inside. "Oi! Fred! Come here..."

He walked back to her with Fred beside him, when Mel noticed his sweater, she gasped.

"No!"

Fred's jumper was cream-coloured as well, with an F in the middle.

"What colour does George have?" Mel asked in worry.

"Blue," Fred made a face. "Oh no..."

"Did you tell your mother?" She asked hurriedly. "Frederick, did you tell your—?"

"Of course not!"

"It may have slipped from my mouth," George walked out of his room looking amused and just a little guilty. "I didn't think she would do something like this, though... I asked her not to tell..."

"Bloody brilliant," Mel groaned, flushed and embarrassed.

"Well, this surely will be a surprise for your mother," Erick said casually, walking towards the stairs. "Let's go have breakfast..."

After lunch, the kids, Moody, Mrs Weasley, Emily, and Lupin got ready to visit Mr Weasley back in St. Mungo's. Erick joined, he was eager to see what kind of things the healers had to deal with on the daily.

As they left Sirius with Tonks, Mel realized it'd been a while since she'd seen Kreacher. Actually, she hadn't seen him since the first day of their break. When she mentioned this to the girls, Ginny's expression darkened.

"We said the same to Sirius. You know how he told Kreacher 'out' when we arrived, and we didn't see him afterwards... well, Sirius doesn't mind, but we think that maybe..."

"Maybe he went out-out?" Mel glared. "I mean... he could if he wanted to..."

"That's what Harry said," Hermione sighed. "But maybe Sirius is right and Kreacher is just hidden somewhere in the house, with all the noise he's probably disoriented..."

Mel pushed away the uneasy feeling as soon as they got to the hospital. There were a few people there looking angry, apparently victims of some nasty family arguments. Erick stared at the poor witch in front of them and drowned a chuckle.

"I would love to stick a walnut up my father's—"

"You're going to love our dad, Erick!" George tackled him and pulled him in for a rough hug. Even though they were roughly the same height, Erick was thinner and easier to move around than the twins. "He's crazy about muggles!"

"I'm not crazy about muggles," Erick protested. "I just find them interesting..."

"Same thing," Fred put an arm around her shoulders. "You'll love what dad's got to say about that Discman you got..."

"Watch your hands, boy," Emily warned him as she walked past. "You better keep them where I can see..."

"Mum!"

"Don't worry,  Em, you know I'm a proper gentleman," Fred grinned, pulling Mel closer. "At least in public I am— Ouch!"

"Don't be a pig, Weasley..." Erick replied walking away so Fred couldn't hit him back.

When they arrived at Mr Weasley's room, he was looking livelier and was finally gaining colour. He was propped up on the pillow and received Erick like he'd known him for years. Mel suspected that Mrs Weasley had told him about Erick's liking for the muggle world since he was incredibly eager to start talking about it.

Once Erick's interrogation was finally over -the poor boy was extremely anxious about all the attention he was getting from the Weasleys- Mr Weasley finally addressed his wife.

"You — er — haven't seen Healer Smethwyck, have you?"

"No," said Mrs Weasley dubiously, "why?"

"Nothing, nothing... Well, everyone had a good day? What did you all get for Christmas? Oh, Harry — this is absolutely wonderful —"

Harry had given the man fuse-wire and screwdrivers. When the man leaned over to shake his hand, Mrs Weasley tensed.

"Arthur— you've had your bandages changed. Why have you had your bandages changed a day early, Arthur? They told me they wouldn't need doing until tomorrow."

"What? No, no — it's nothing — it's — I — Well — now don't get upset, Molly, but Augustus Pye had an idea... He's the Trainee Healer, you know, lovely young chap and very interested in... um... complementary medicine... I mean, some of these old Muggle remedies... well, they're called stitches, Molly, and they work very well on — on Muggle wounds —"

Mel covered her mouth to hide her smirk.

"Oh, Merlin..."

"What?" Ginny looked at her. "What are stitches?"

In the brief second that passed, Lupin managed to move away towards the werewolf's bed, who clearly wasn't having a good day. Bill got up and mumbled something about tea, the twins quickly followed, both with the same knowing grins.

"Do you mean to tell me," Mrs Weasley spoke before they had the chance to run away, "that you have been messing about with Muggle remedies?"

"Not messing about, Molly, dear... It was just — just something Pye and I thought we'd try — only, most unfortunately — well, with these particular kinds of wounds — it doesn't seem to work as well as we'd hoped —"

"Meaning?"

"Well... well, I don't know whether you know what — what stitches are?"

"It sounds as though you've been trying to sew your skin back together," Mrs Weasley said tensely, then let out a rough laugh, "but even you, Arthur, wouldn't be that stupid —"

"I fancy a cup of tea too," Harry stood up abruptly.

The remaining group of teenagers all followed him, by the time they reached the door, Mrs Weasley was screaming:

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, THAT'S THE GENERAL IDEA?"

"Typical Dad," said Ginny. "Stitches... I ask you..."

"Well, you know, they do work well on non-magical wounds," said Hermione. "I suppose something in that snake's venom dissolves them or something... I wonder where the tearoom is?"

"Fifth floor," said Harry.

"You mean to tell me," Erick was horrorstruck. "That muggles sew their skin back together?"

"Sometimes," Mel smiled. "Tough people those muggles, aren't they?"

"That's... that's barbaric," He winced. "Merlin..."

"Don't be so whiny," Ron rolled his eyes. "It's not a big deal, is it, guys?"

"Not really," Harry shrugged. "Muggles get stitches all the time. They don't sew the skin just like that, they give you anesthetics so you don't feel pain while they do it..."

They kept talking about muggles remedies until they reached a hall with several portraits trying to diagnose them with oddly specific diseases. They got distracted by one particular stubborn healer that kept insisting Ron had a bad case of spattergroit.

"And what's that supposed to be?" Ron asked in outrage as the healer ran through the portraits to keep up with them.

" 'Tis a most grievous affliction of the skin, young master, that will leave you pockmarked and more gruesome even than you are now —"

"Watch who you're calling gruesome!"

"The only remedy is to take the liver of a toad, bind it tight about your throat, stand naked by the full moon in a barrel of eels' eyes —"

Mel burst into laughter.

"I have not got spattergroit!"

"But the unsightly blemishes upon your visage, young master —"

"They're freckles! Now get back in your own picture and leave me alone!"

Ron turned to look at the others, who were doing a great job keeping straight faces. Mel was failing remarkably though, she kept laughing until they reached the next floor, at this point Ron wasn't even acknowledging her existence.

"What floor's this?"

"I think it's the fifth," said Hermione.

"Nah, it's the fourth," said Harry, "one more —"

He stopped, his eyes fixed on the door ahead of them. Mel looked ahead curiously, the door had a small window and a man was standing there, staring back. Hermione gasped behind her.

"Blimey!" Ron exclaimed.

"Oh my goodness, Professor Lockhart!" Hermione pointed out.

"Don't think he's much of a Professor now," Mel murmured with amusement.

"Well, hello there!" Lockhart walked out of the room. "I expect you'd like my autograph, would you?"

Harry muttered something to Ginny that caused her to laugh, Mel was divided between annoyance at the sight of the man and slight pity. He wasn't as tall as she remembered him, but she'd grown a bit the last three years, so it was understandable.

"Er — how are you, Professor?" said Ron.

"I'm very well indeed, thank you!" said Lockhart, pulling an old peacock-feather quill from his pocket. "Now, how many autographs would you like? I can do joined-up writing now, you know!"

"Brilliant," Mel said, trying not to giggle.

"Er — we don't want any at the moment, thanks," said Ron.

"Professor, should you be wandering around the corridors? Shouldn't you be in a ward?" Harry questioned.

"I insist, I don't think we should call him professor," Mel said.

The man looked at Mel intently, his smiled fading a bit, then he stared at Harry.

"Haven't we met?"

"Er... yeah, we have," said Harry. "You used to teach us at Hogwarts, remember?"

"That was hardly teaching," Mel grumbled, but Erick nudged her side to shut her up.

"Teach?" Lockhart blinked. "Me? Did I?"

His smile came back abruptly.

"Taught you everything you know, I expect, did I? Well, how about those autographs, then? Shall we say a round dozen, you can give them to all your little friends then and nobody will be left out!"

Mel opened her mouth to argue but Hermione gave her a pleading look as if saying 'give him a break', so she took pity.

"Gilderoy, you naughty boy, where have you wandered off to?" A Healer walked out of the room and realized Lockhart wasn't alone. "Oh Gilderoy, you've got visitors! How lovely, and on Christmas Day too! Do you know, he never gets visitors, poor lamb, and I can't think why, he's such a sweetie, aren't you?"

"We're doing autographs!" The man exclaimed. "They want loads of them, won't take no for an answer! I just hope we've got enough photographs!"

"Listen to him," said the Healer. "He was rather well known a few years ago; we very much hope that this liking for giving autographs is a sign that his memory might be coming back a little bit."

Mel shivered, thinking that fewer things were worse than a fully recovered Lockhart trying to scam more people.

"Will you step this way? He's in a closed ward, you know, he must have slipped out while I was bringing in the Christmas presents, the door's usually kept locked... not that he's dangerous! But bit of a danger to himself, bless him... Doesn't know who he is, you see, wanders off and can't remember how to get back... It is nice of you to have come to see him —"

"Er, actually, we were just — er —" Ron gestured vaguely.

Something about Lockhart washed her over with nostalgia, he reminded her of a time when things were simpler, and she felt terribly sad at the confirmation that not even someone as silly as him had come out clean out of their mess. She felt guilty and looked imploringly at the group.

"Just for a bit?" Mel asked softly, following the healer inside.

"Five seconds ago you wanted to hit him and now you want to stay?" Erick frowned.

"I got... sentimental," She admitted. "Felt bad about him, what am I supposed to do?"

"You could've ignored him," Harry offered coldly. "You're getting quite good at that..."

"Let's not stay long," Ron interrupted before Mel could answer, pulling her into the ward.

"This is our long-term resident ward," The healer explained as the group walked in. "For permanent spell damage, you know. Of course, with intensive remedial potions and charms and a bit of luck, we can produce some improvement... Gilderoy does seem to be getting back some sense of himself, and we've seen a real improvement in Mr Bode, he seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, though he isn't speaking any language we recognize yet... Well, I must finish giving out the Christmas presents, I'll leave you all to chat..."

Lockhart immediately started to sign pictures as soon as he sat down, continuing his senseless chatter.

"You can put them in envelopes, I am not forgotten, you know, no, I still receive a very great deal of fan mail... Gladys Gudgeon writes weekly... I just wish I knew why..." He paused, his hand dropping a photo on Ginny's lap absently. Then his smile came back again. "I suspect it is simply my good looks..."

"...And look, Broderick, you've been sent a potted plant and a lovely calendar with a different fancy hippogriff for each month, they'll brighten things up, won't they?" said the Healer, bustling along to the mumbling man, setting a rather ugly plant with long, swaying tentacles on the bedside cabinet and fixing the calendar to the wall with her wand. "And — oh, Mrs Longbottom, are you leaving already?"

[...] A formidable-looking old witch wearing a long green dress, a moth-eaten fox fur, and a pointed hat decorated with what was unmistakably a stuffed vulture and, trailing behind her looking thoroughly depressed — Neville.

Harry locked eyes with her, both of them froze unable to find a way to distract the others, and it was too late anyway, Ron had noticed.

"Neville! It's us, Neville!" He said excitedly. "Have you seen? Lockhart's here! Who've you been visiting?"

"Ron, stop yelling!" Mel scolded him.

"Friends of yours, Neville, dear?" Neville's grandmother asked calmly.

Neville was always quiet, but now he looked like he wanted to be swallowed by the earth.

"Ah, yes... Yes, yes, I know who you are, of course. Neville speaks most highly of you," She said, holding out a hand and shaking Harry's.

"Er — thanks," Harry replied.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize this boy," The old woman said, staring intently at Erick.

"Erick Flint," He said, tentatively reaching out to shake her hand. "I— er... I'm spending Christmas with the Weasleys."

"Flint, huh?" The woman said, her eyes narrowing a little. "Yes, I see that... I'm sorry about Eliot, he was a fine man."

"He was," Erick nodded, awkwardly glancing at Neville.

Neville was too embarrassed to even notice him.

"And you two are clearly Weasleys," Mrs Longbottom said appreciatively. "Yes, I know your parents — not well, of course — but fine people, fine people... and you must be Hermione Granger? Yes, Neville's told me all about you..."

Her eyes landed on Mel and she smiled.

"Most delighted to meet you, Miss Dumbledore," She shook her hand firmly. "Yes, I would recognize that gaze anywhere... have you been told that before? I'm sure you have... that sharp mind of yours, I'm sure it never misses a thing."

Mel smiled tightly, not knowing how to reply.

"You and Miss Granger have helped my grandson out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy, but he hasn't got his father's talent, I'm afraid to say..."

"What? Is that your dad down the end, Neville?" Ron asked in shock.

"What's this?" The woman asked sharply. "Haven't you told your friends about your parents, Neville?"

Neville stared up at the ceiling and shook his head a bit. Mel felt something pressing on her chest, but she still couldn't find the words. She realized that whenever she needed it the most her voice would simply vanish.

"Well, it's nothing to be ashamed of!" Mrs Longbottom exclaimed. "You should be proud, Neville, proud! They didn't give their health and their sanity so their only son would be ashamed of them, you know!"

"I'm not ashamed," said Neville quietly.

Ron was trying to look closer towards Neville's parents, but Mel pulled him down roughly.

"Well, you've got a funny way of showing it! My son and his wife," Mrs Longbottom turned to explain, "were tortured into insanity by You-Know-Who's followers."

Hermione and Ginny covered their mouths in shock. Ron paled and Erick went terribly stiff next to her. Harry and Mel were doing their best to control the situation.

"They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected within the Wizarding community," Mrs Longbottom stared at her. "Your father was a good friend of them, dear girl. Matthew was a fine man. Highly gifted, the three of them. And are you ashamed of your father, girl?"

The question took Mel by surprise.

"No, of course I'm not."

"See, Neville?" Mrs Longbottom said harshly, Mel wished she could've asked the woman not to use her against him. "I — yes, Alice dear, what is it?"

Neville's mother had come edging down the ward in her nightdress. She no longer had the plump, happy-looking face Harry had seen in Moody's old photograph of the original Order of the Phoenix. Her face was thin and worn now, her eyes seemed overlarge, and her hair, which had turned white, was wispy and dead-looking. She did not seem to want to speak, or perhaps she was not able to, but she made timid motions toward Neville, holding something in her outstretched hand.

"Again?" said Mrs Longbottom, sounding slightly weary. "Very well, Alice dear, very well — Neville, take it, whatever it is..."

But Neville had already stretched out his hand, into which his mother dropped an empty Droobles Blowing Gum wrapper.

"Very nice, dear," said Neville's grandmother in a falsely cheery voice, patting his mother on the shoulder.

"Thanks Mum," Neville muttered.

Mel looked down, feeling caged in the situation and desperately wanting to help her friend without being able to. When she looked up Neville had a hard stare on them as if ready to fight them in case they wanted to make any fun comments, but Mel knew none of them was thinking of such thing.

"Well, we'd better get back," Mrs Longbottom. "Very nice to have met you all. Neville, put that wrapper in the bin, she must have given you enough of them to paper your bedroom by now..."

Neville, however, made sure to put the wrapper into his pocket. Once gone, her friends started to speak.

"I never knew," Hermione said with tears in her eyes.

"Nor did I," Ron was looking at the door still, his voice dry.

"Nor me," Ginny said weakly.

Erick said nothing, but he looked as affected as the rest. The group turned in time to Harry and Mel. They shared a grim look, but Mel couldn't speak, so Harry started.

"We did. Dumbledore told us but we promised we wouldn't mention it... that's what Bellatrix Lestrange got sent to Azkaban for, using the Cruciatus Curse on Neville's parents until they lost their minds."

"Bellatrix Lestrange did that? That woman Kreacher's got a photo of in his den?" Hermione asked in shock.

"I think it's time we go back," said Mel, tightly holding onto Ron's arm. "The rest must be looking for us..."

Next Chapter —>

Taglist.

@dee123ksha @vampiregirl1797 @siriuslysirius1107 @stardusthigh @mikariell95 @vernon-dursley @thesuitelifeofafangirl @tomshollandz @kylosleftbuttcheek @reverse-hxlland @bloodorangemoonlight @omiwashere @t-rexs-world​ @just-here-to-escape-from-reality​ @21bruhs @i-am-scared-and-useless-bisexual

[ithinkthingsaboutstuff]

What is with Birds of Prey criticism?

i have seen BOP 

and i have read comments and review’s from different people (male and female) and i have decided to throughout my observations into the void. 

now personal taste is personal taste and everyone is allowed to like or not like whatever they want. 

but i will be looking at this from a ‘structured’ pov so i will be breaking the movie down into what others have got to say about it.

and with that in mind i will be taking things out of context but i will be summarising and linking to the sources when possible.  

i will be looking at how people have persevere them (again male and female) and why this might be so (but i will say now that it is only my best guess, and i will try to be as fair as possible)

and i will also add i have only seen the movie once at this point so i may miss some things or misremember others 

so from here on out we this will be nothing but 

------------------------------------------SPOILERS-----------------------------------------

ok so with that out of the way. 

PLOT 

the plot is basically 

Harley and the joker have broken up (joker, dumped her) 

this makes Harley lose her immunity in Gotham as she was protected by the fact she was the jokers girlfriend.

black mask is one of these people and is one of the most powerful in Gotham.

but he needs a diamond (that belongs to Helena) to be the most powerful in the city,

but when Zsasz and Black canary, get it take off them by a street girl (Cass) 

Harley says she will get it back to square herself with mask and he will protected her afterwards 

(there is also a b plot with Helena going around kill everyone who was involved with the death of her family)  

things happen 

and they all end up fight Black Mask men in a amusement park 

and Harley kills him on a dock.

then they all part ways.

now this is an oversimplification. 

but that does allow the movie to explore the characters and their relationship's with the world and the story.

but over all an average plot but no so more them say 

-the avengers (2012)

-thor (2011)

-age of ultron (2015)

-spider-man homecoming (2017)

and so on.

Criticisms

this is what one critic had to say about the movie

review from  Mick LaSalle

“but no, even that makes things sound better than they are. There’s no character there at all. There’s a look. There’s an attitude, and there’s an assemblage of mannerisms, but these are all veneers surrounding a vacuum.”  

“None of them suggest a personality, beyond some generalized zaniness.”

now i am no expert but is having a look, an attitude and mannerisms all things that make up someone’s personality? 

i can see if he was trying to say she has not much to add to the overall story or if it over shadowed everything in the movie, for sake of being “zany”   

but it was integrated into the movies narrative as a the main story telling tool,

e.g. Harley’s narration and the cartoons/ animation that came with. those where there to add character to the movie through Harley’s, so basically Harley’s personality is the films personality. 

and this is what he had to say about the plot

“If she wanted the Joker back, that would be something. That could be a movie. If she wanted revenge, that would be a weak motive, but it would still be something.”

now this has some interesting connotations,

what he was trying to say with this sentiment is only something i can guess, but i will want to give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was asking for a story similar to ‘mad love’  from the s4 of the Batman new adventures.

looking more at the sickness of that relationship (that some people admired and fawned over in suicide squad) so if that is the case then its not a bad thought,

however the way it is phrased makes it sound like more like Harley needs the Joker to be major part of the story for it to be any good. 

but Harley has had comic’s for year’s that prove the opposite.

now to compare this what he had to say about the Joker (2019)

“What’s terrifying and brilliant about Phoenix’s Joker is that he seems to be operating from an intricate yet alien form of logic. There is very little common ground between the character and the viewer, no shared understanding of right and wrong, real or unreal. He erupts into laughter without warning — a terrifying, piercing laugh that he can’t control. He sits in the audience at a comedy club, joyously and maniacally laughing at setups, not punch lines.”

now i am not saying Joker is a bad movie, I am just saying that he complained about the lack of story and character in one film and praised it in another.  

now i also understand that these films are different, and they have different tones and messages. and ever genre (one is action, the other is drama)

but basically

he is saying Joker’s lack of clear “personality” made the movie good and Harley’s made it bad (again this is apples and oranges, and way to simple)  

but the main point is that he has failed to look for WHY Harley is that way, or how that adds to the movie like he did for Joker.

now moving on to

Anthony Lane

“ No one could call Harley Quinn a recluse. She loves to go out, get wasted, meet people, and fight them. In onscreen graphics, she proudly reports what it is about her that vexes her opponents. (“Voted for Bernie.” “Have a vagina.”) Yet Harley is often alone in the frame—marching toward the camera in her T-shirt and shorts, smiling madly through lips of fire-engine red, and peppering us with unceasing chatter, as if words were buckshot. She lives on her own, too, with a stuffed beaver in a tutu and a pet hyena named Bruce. (As with the title, note the surfeit of nuttiness. Rarely have I seen a movie strain so hard to seem out-there.) Our heroine needs some kindred spirits, and quick.”

ok benefit of the doubt this is just a colourful way to describe the movie and Harley’s set up,

however with the next paragraph that follows i don’t think so

“No surprise, then, that Yan’s movie, peopled as it is by women who talk among themselves, with only fitful reference to men, doesn’t so much pass the Bechdel Test as ace it, while also ticking the profanity box, the ear-splitting box, and the bone-snapping box—every box, in fact, except for the tricky one that requires a motion picture to be good”

the strange thing is that he was so close to an epiphany

yes Harley is social but she is lonely that is the point of her being with the BOP, taking in Cassie.

and saying someone who is social is not able to be lonely is the dumbest thing i have ever heard.

and i can name dozens of movies off the top of my head that is a group of guys ‘talking among themselves, with only fitful reference to women’

like 

-  the hang over (1,2 and 3)

- die hard

- pulp fiction 

- fast and furious (all 9 of them)

- the other guys

- Sherlock (RDJ movies)

- the dark night 

- scarface

-  any Adam Sandler movie for the last 20 years

-memento

- rush hour (all 3)

- fight club 

like damn dude your getting all bent out of shape for women having the nerve to want to tell story’s about other women.

(and i would also like to point out that very on in the movie was a ‘bad guy’ or did bad things all throughout the film and the men are just what they are up against you know like some kind of antagonist??? fucking wild idea right, and as we all know every female villain in movies are always written with respect and dignity, can you feel my sarcasm)

and this is what this man also said about ‘ford vs ferrari’   

“Ford v Ferrari” is directed by James Mangold, and it may be his strongest film.

like dude you are showing your hand here.

but i am not wasting any more time on this dude.

 let us move on to the lady’s

MOLLY FREEMAN

“the movie ultimately embodies different kinds of liberation - not only of women breaking free from their abusive boyfriends, psychotic employers and the restrictive boy's club, but also the freedom and power that comes with finding a group where they feel accepted and supported.”\

“Cathy Yan's directing and vision for the film, which is realized in the action, costumes and music. The fighting sequences are absolutely brutal and choreographed in a way to showcase the characters' respective abilities. Harley's gymnast moves make a return, and when she gets her hands on a bat, the Cupid of Crime really lets loose - and it'll leave audiences breathless with exhilaration. Birds of Prey stands out because it's uniquely female, from the characters' fighting styles down to the details of Harley pausing mid-fight to give her friend a hair tie. This further extends to the costumes, designed by Erin Benach (A Star Is Born), which are exquisite and perfectly showcase each character's personality.”

Susana Polo

“Each character’s storyline is given a slightly different genre and tone, as well, one of a number of tactics the production employs to mimic Harley’s manic internal life. Huntress stalks around Birds of Prey like it’s a Kill Bill-esque revenge epic, while Renee Montoya is in a hard-boiled cop flick. The main heroine ensemble actors all breathe a wonderful amount of life into little-known characters overdue for mainstream attention.”

“Winstead delivers a comedic twist on the Huntress’s classic personality that I hope makes its way to comics as soon as possible, and the 13-year-old Basco deserves particular credit for holding her own alongside Robbie in their many scenes together. Robbie’s Harley Quinn is just as scene-stealing as she was in Suicide Squad, appearing to operate on at least 20 percent cartoon logic at all times — a useful skill for an occasionally fourth-wall-breaking narrator. Cartoon-channeling is also a useful skill for the star of a movie with such splendid fight scenes.”

 now i am not saying every man hates the movie, and every woman loved it that is insane and dumb.

but what does seem to be a common theme is that positive or negative, men and women are looking at different aspects of the movie 

women look at the movie on its own terms and men seem to look by comparing it to other “guy movies” 

now this a generalisation but this is a common idea that seems to run through it.

and here is some general thoughts from some people who have made comments, online.

female 

“I am sick and tired of being told what movies I need to like as a woman, this is a bad movie. It isn't a zero nor is it a ten and anyone rating it that way isn't being honest either with you or themselves. The storytelling is odd and the flashbacks are weirdly placed to the point where they take you out of the movie. This movie has too much exposition and then not enough which I congrats I guess. I don't think men are rating this film low because they are "man babies" I think they are rating it low because there are far better superhero and anti-hero movies out there to choose from.”

this is based on personal taste and why it didn’t sit right with them (and that’s fine)

male

“A rush movie without any type of storyline and God knows where they are heading with DCEU and it's characters..It's only Harley and Harley who has never been in BOP in comics...Mis usage of characters and movie..Just make a decision where do you wanna go with your movies”

now this interesting, when this people has the same feels as the person above 

they don’t look to the movie itself they look to find out evidence to discredit instead of anything in the film itself.

again i am not saying this person is wrong to feel this way i simply think the method of expressing it, is interesting.      

(and for the record this is actually an incorrect statement Harley and Poison Ivy have been apart of the team at different points) 

male

“The girls looked terrible like they were going Break-Dancing or something and Harley Quinn was dressed up like a Bird with makeup?? The ending was ridiculously stupid and predictable and the misogynist male pig attitudes towards the females in the film were jaw dropping cringe moments, like who acts like that??”

now this is about appearance, and the male characters, now this is showing that men see a violent, man who literally gets someone to cut a MAN’s face off  

and the only thing they focus on is that ‘oh he is mean to women damn SJW’s’

that is the weird’s thing? like you the bad guy is bad to the hero’s? shocking.

now i am not saying that the character is perfect and well crafted like loki or kilmonger but he serviced the purpose he was meant to, he was powerful intimidating and unpredictable.

(and black mask has always been a nut case)  

but i also think its interesting that these men who cry about SJW’s and how they mock men (and that does sometimes happen, it would be dumb to say they didn’t) 

never seem to mind that that women get called bitch’s and whores in every other movie.or that women are used shallow props to move the movie along. 

almost like it is distressing when you see someone you can identify with is treated like the peace of garbage. 

female

“The Film was decent enough for a lowkey Friday night out with the girls. Nothing you'd rant & rave about or even remember seeing in a few months but it was entertaining in places. The script felt a little bit underbaked & the story itself felt a bit disjointed. The direction of the film was lacking for me. In a world where Todd Phillips pulled off Joker (2019) this seems like a more rushed project that would've been better at Netflix or even Amazon Prime for release. I think the deserve another crack at this movie & another attempt at something with a bit more substance”

honest to the point and is looking at the movie on its own term's

notice how she does not need to devalue other women to get this across, not the character’s, not the write or director but was looking at it from a personal taste and rewatchablity,

the anger about this movie is so strange 

like how many hero movies have been worse then this and was not taking very chance they get to bash the creators and that they should not do their job’s because the movie had women as most of the cast and was mainly about them.

anyway i hand it over to all of you.    

[sciencespies]

We might have the first complete observation of a 'nanoflare' from our Sun

https://sciencespies.com/space/we-might-have-the-first-complete-observation-of-a-nanoflare-from-our-sun/

We might have the first complete observation of a 'nanoflare' from our Sun

When Shah Bahauddin was deciding what to research for his PhD, he had no intention of becoming embroiled in one of the most vexing problems in astrophysics: why is the Sun’s distant atmosphere so much hotter than it’s roiling surface? 

His modest topic of choice was a tiny and brief loop of solar light, barely detectable considering the grand scheme of the Sun.

But size isn’t everything. As it turns out, astronomers had been looking for a tiny eruption just like this one for more than half a century.

Flickering just below the Sun’s super-hot corona, the explosion Bahauddin stumbled upon may very well be the first complete glimpse of a solar ‘nanoflare’ – from its sudden bright beginning to its inevitable sizzling demise. And we could just as easily have missed it.

If subtle and fleeting loops like this are a frequent affair, it could help explain how the Sun’s corona came to be hundreds of times hotter than its visible surface – a mystery known as the coronal heating problem. 

“I thought maybe the loops made the surrounding atmosphere a bit hotter,” admits Bahauddin. 

“I never thought that it would make so much energy that it might actually propel hot plasma to the corona and heat it up.”

Loop brightenings observed. (Bahauddin et al., Nature Astronomy, 2020)

A billion times smaller than regular solar flares, nanoflares are incredibly difficult to spot and have only ever existed in theory, so the researchers are still reluctant to call the discovery by that official name. 

In theory, we have an idea of what a nanoflare should look like, but that’s based on several assumptions. 

“Nobody actually knows because nobody has seen it before,” Bahauddin says. “It’s an educated guess, let’s say.”

Ever since astrophysicist Eugene Parker first proposed the idea of nanoflares in the 1970s, experts have been trying to figure out what these eruptions might look like in reality.

If they really do exist, they are nearly impossible to see, occurring millions of times a second without our instruments ever noticing. Although our technology is getting better.

In 2017, for instance, our best glimpse of a nanoflare came from the absence of a bigger one. An active region in the Sun, which hosted very few normal-sized flares, showed a curious level of heating. Something unseen clearly had to be contributing energy to the atmosphere. A nanoflare suited the case.

Technically, to be deemed a proper nanoflare, a blast of heat must be triggered by the Sun’s tangled magnetic fields, which are produced by bubbles of churning plasma below.

When these fields reconnect, they are thought to cause an explosive process – equivalent to around 10 billion tonnes of TNT. This energises and accelerates surrounding particles, and if all that activity is strong enough to heat the Sun’s corona, thousands of kilometres above, it’s called a nanoflare. 

(NASA/SDO/IRIS/Bahauddin)

Above: A close-up of one of the loop brightenings studied. Each inset frame zooms in further (from left to right), showing the putative nanoflare.

Analysing some of the finest images of the Sun’s corona, taken from NASA’s Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, or IRIS satellite, the new discovery ticks both those boxes.

Not only was this tiny loop of light millions of degrees hotter than its surroundings, the way it erupted appeared curious. 

“You have to examine if the energy from a nanoflare can be dissipated in the corona,” explains Bahauddin. 

“If the energy goes somewhere else, that doesn’t solve the coronal heating problem.” 

Looking at the data, it appeared that heavy elements, like silicon, became much hotter and more energetic than lighter elements like oxygen, which is exactly the opposite of what you’d expect.

Searching for a type of heat that could impact an oxygen atom differently to a silicon atom in just that way, researchers found only one match: a magnetic reconnection event.

Under these complex chaotic circumstances, heavier ions have an advantage, because they can plow through the crowds of lighter ions and steal all the energy, accruing great heat in the process.

But that was only a hypothesis, and it seemed like a long shot. The conditions needed to achieve this type of heating required just the right proportion of silicon to oxygen. Could that really exist?

“So we looked back at the measurements, and saw that the numbers exactly matched,” explains Bahauddin.

To the team’s astonishment, it appeared they had stumbled upon a real explanation for coronal heating. The next step was to see if it actually heated the corona. 

Analysing data from the region right above the bright loop, just before it flared, the team discovered their final clue.

“And there it was, just a 20-second delay,” recalls Bahauddin. “We saw the brightening, and then we suddenly saw the corona got super-heated to multi-million degree temperatures.”

Already, the team has found nine other loops on the surface of the Sun that also show a similar transfer of energy to the corona.

Whether this localised heating is enough to explain the higher temperatures found across the Sun’s corona will depend on how many other loops astronomers can find. 

If their frequency and locations are often and widespread enough, these bursts of energy could at least partially answer the mystery surrounding coronal heating.

Yet in all likelihood, astronomers think there are probably multiple invisible mechanisms at play. It’s probably not just one thing that is heating the Sun’s atmosphere to such blistering temperatures, and many of the ideas we have now are not mutually exclusive.

Other theories include electromagnetic waves washing outwards from the Sun, heating particles and allowing them to ‘surf’ to the outer atmosphere.

This little loop is just one tiny piece of the puzzle.

The study was published in Nature Astronomy.

#Space

[creative-frequency]

Bad for Me Ch. 11: Patching Up

Word count: 3470 Pairings: Nyx x OC (Eve Leonis)

Tagging badass Caitlin’s mom @sakumartti <3 

Previous Chapter

Bad for Me Masterlist

Eve sat beside the lit nightstand lamp inside the caravan trailer, and gently lifted her shirt to examine the damage. The first-aid kit was lying open next to her on the bed. She exhaled forcefully and very carefully felt her ribs. Even a light touch made her jolt from the pain. At least two of her ribs were broken. Fortunately, the potion had helped to stop the bleeding rather quickly and the dried blood was caked on her skin.

At the sound of the trailer’s door opening, Eve quickly lowered her shirt and lifted her gaze.

“How bad is it?” Nyx asked concerned. He walked straight at her.

“Not at all,” Eve could hardly hold back pulling a wry mouth.

“Eve, let me see–”

“No.”

“Come on, it’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” Nyx coaxed and stopped in front of her.

Eve threw him an angry glare.

“And yet, only one of us is pained by the actual memories,” her voice was filled with an icy tone that the Glacian would have been proud of.

“…That might be true, but let me still patch you up,” Nyx refused to be embarrassed, but his cheeks colored a bit. Fortunately Eve was too busy being in pain to notice.

Nyx crouched in front of Eve. He glanced at her eyes in search for permission, but Eve just stared ahead, trying to keep her breath even. Nyx began to softly roll her shirt up and told her to hold still while he would clean the contusion and wounds.

“So, the Kingsglaive crest?” Nyx nodded towards Eve’s tattoo below her breasts, “What is the story behind that?”

“As obvious as it is,” Eve responded while watching Nyx carefully treat her. “I have a father in the city, but it also feels like the king took me under his wing. He gave me the chance to become who I am now. And the tattoo reminds me of that.”

“Sounds familiar,” Nyx said without elaborating, “This might sting a bit.”

Nyx tried to be as gentle as he could, and tape the wounds so that they would scar as little as possible. He noticed how Eve’s skin was mostly smooth, only a few small scars on her side breaking it.

“Where are those from?” Nyx asked, eyeing the old cuts.

Eve blew the air from her lungs in an attempt to ignore the pain.

“Is it question time now?” she asked.

“No, I’m just trying to make you think of something else,” Nyx replied in a soft voice.

Eve somehow relaxed and felt a tingle in her stomach, caused by the man’s touch on her skin. It was so careful and caring, very much unlike the usual cheeky Nyx, throwing bawdy comments at her expense and trying to make her blush.

“There. Try not to get thrown around by a behemoth anytime soon again, okay? And drink another potion,” Nyx smiled looking up at Eve. Beholding his gaze, she nodded slightly, baffled by the sudden proximity of his face.

“Thanks, Nyx.”

“You’re welcome.”

Nyx didn’t move and Eve was getting uncomfortable with all sorts of thoughts ramming through her head, mainly concentrating on his lips and the memories of them against her skin. In her excuse, it was the pain that was making her dawdle.

“No thank you kiss?” Nyx grinned startling Eve at the break of the building-up tension.

“Oh screw you!”

Eve tried to stand up, but faltered from a slash of pain in her chest and Nyx had to grab her waist to stabilize her.

“Sorry, you are just too easy to tease,” he said smiling softly and Eve steeled her legs from betraying her again.

“I shall try to be more difficult then,” she said gathering the leftovers of her dignity and left the trailer for fresh air after taking another potion with her. Nyx was left to gaze longingly after her. Eve only then realized how exhausted she really was from the long battle. The pain-masking adrenaline had settled and every inch of her body was either bruised or just aching. ‘This feels the same as when I first started training – Like I got my ass kicked by an Astral.’

Eve’s thoughts were interrupted by Caitlin who was approaching her, waving.

“Hey, is Nyx in there?” she asked and Eve flinched slightly, but Caitlin didn’t wait for a response, “We are going to barbeque the best bits tonight. Come eat your share, you’ve certainly deserved it.”

“Behemoth meat? I’ve never tried that before,” Eve remarked, “I’ll pass the note.”

Caitlin smiled eyeing the trailer door.

Eve glared at her. “I’m sure Nyx will be up for it,” she sighed as she sat on one of the plastic garden chairs. Sitting down caused her to wince from a flash of pain.

“You okay there?” Caitlin asked.

“Uh, yeah. Don’t worry about it. We’ll be there tonight,” Eve said trying to breathe as steadily as she could.

“Great. See you in a bit then.” Caitlin bounced happily away and left Eve to grumble alone.

“Oh Nyx, look at my bouncing butt, oh Nyx did you see how good a shot I am, oh Nyx, how about–“

“Who are you talking to?” the man himself landed on the ground from the trailer with raised eyebrows.

“No one,” Eve said quickly, looking at everywhere but Nyx. “Caitlin invited us to barbeque the beast tonight,” she changed the subject and opened the potion cork with her teeth.

“Okay sounds good,” Nyx said looking as Eve gulped the liquid down. He didn’t seem to be bothered by their intimate patching up -session anymore and it somehow annoyed Eve.

“That’s what I told her. I’ll go get some rest if you don’t mind. Come find me when there’s food.”

”You know… Despite the injuries you got, you did well today.” A small smile was tugging at Nyx’s lips.

Eve’s knees went weak again. ‘Damn it. Don’t look at me like that.’

“Thanks,” she smiled back shyly and climbed clumsily into the trailer.

Nyx looked after her figure, biting his lower lip.

‘And there she goes again, obviously running. I shouldn’t have teased her like that.’ He let out a sigh. ‘Maybe I should go get some rest elsewhere then and let her sleep.’

It took several hours to flay, cut and move the behemoth meat to the post. Eve was happily unconscious the whole time. Being a countryside girl originally, she wouldn’t have backed out from helping, given the chance, but she needed the rest and time for the potions to work their magic. The hunters were experts on the job and handled the meat swiftly.

The barbeque was already warming up, when Nyx decided to go wake Eve up. He entered the trailer silently and walked over to sit at the bed where she was sleeping.

‘She looks so peaceful for once.’ He fought to keep himself from sweeping some stray hairs from her cheek. Eve’s usually neat hair bun was a tangled mess and in dire need of a wash. The same could be said of her clothing that had dirt and blood all over them. ‘I guess she was too exhausted to care.’

Yet, Nyx couldn’t wake Eve from her calm slumber and told himself it wasn’t because he wanted to watch her sleep for a moment longer.

‘I really should stop staring at her like a creep.’

Suddenly Eve winced awake with a ball of fire in her hand, aimed at Nyx’s chest.

“Whoa, it’s me!” Nyx raised his hands in the air.

Eve’s eyes were big as dinner plates, before she settled down, breathing heavily.

“W-what exactly are you doing?” she panted and extinguished the fire on her palm by squeezing her hand into a fist.

“I came to wake you up, there’ll be food soon.”

“What?”–Eve sighed–“Just give a holler next time or something.”

‘And don’t sneak up on me like that,’ she wanted to add. ‘And why are you sitting on my bed anyway?’

“Sorry. Here, let me help you,” Nyx said.

Eve ignored his outreached hand and slid her still shaky, slim body down from the bed. She marched to the door. Nyx rolled his eyes and took up after her.

The Chocobo Post was filled with celebrating people – hunters, travelers, random passerbys, and of course the post staff who handled the food. Everyone was either carrying a paper plate or in the line to get one filled with grilled meat. The sun had started to set, but the atmosphere was warm. The air was filled with cheerful chatter and music.

“Smells delicious,” Eve noted. Nyx watched as excitement formed on her features and it made him smile too. Obtaining plates full of hot food made the pair realize how famished they actually had been.

“Well if it ain’t the heroes of the day. Thanks for helping our boys out,” Wiz said while serving more drinks for them.

“More like the hero and his newbie sidekick,” Eve laughed. She was in a good mood after getting a rest, despite her injuries and dire need of a bath.

‘Gorgeous sidekick,’ Nyx wanted to correct, but settled for a chuckle and a quick glance at the said partner.

“Hey Wiz, is there somewhere more spacious we could clean up?” Eve asked while she was finishing up her food, “Not that there is anything wrong with the RV, it’s just a little… cramped.”

“Of course, I was just about to offer. Use the staff bathroom. Will you be needin’ a fresh set of clothes?” Wiz nodded towards the chocobo post building.

“No thanks, we got it covered,” Eve flashed a warm smile from Wiz to Nyx. The latter gulped and had to cough to prevent from choking from the food.

“Mind if I hit the shower first?” Eve asked.

“Go ahead,” Nyx gestured.

Eve stood up, thanking Wiz for the food and went on to grab her things in order to freshen up.

‘She is in a good mood. Really haven’t seen that since our first meeting.’

“Hearty girl that one. So you guys hittin’ it off?” Wiz asked winking.

Nyx coughed again, violently beating his chest. ‘We did, once. Now she can’t stand to be in the same room with me.’

“No, we work together,” he said matter of factly.

“Uh-huh,” Wiz studied the other man, “and?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Ain’t it always?” Wiz laughed. Nyx stared at his almost empty plate with a vexed expression. Luckily Wiz dropped the subject and left to attend to other guests.

Caitlin approached Nyx.

“Lost your teammate already?” She really didn’t sound like Eve’s absence was bothering her.

“She went to clean up,” Nyx replied.

“Well I can keep you company, so you don’t have to be alone,” Caitlin gave him a flirtatious smirk and sat at the table.

“Much obliged,” Nyx smiled, “So, what’s the story behind you?”

“My late father was a hunter, learned the craft from him,” Caitlin said taking a comfortable position in the chair.

“You’re from around these parts?”

“Lestallum originally, but I mostly travel after my prey. There isn’t a town that has no need for a huntress these days,” she winked, “What about you, Nyx Ulric? You were using magic back there so that fib about being a Crownsguard can’t be true.”

Nyx smiled at her sharp notion and knowledge. “So you noticed, huh?”

“Hard not to when you were beaming around the battlefield like a pinball. Not that I’m complaining though.”

“The usual guys were busy, so they sent us. That’s about it,” Nyx said shrugging. But ‘We slept together and the captain sent us here so we would stop quarreling about everything,’ would have been more precise answer.

“Okay, let’s leave it at that then,” Caitlin consented, still eyeing the man pointedly.

“What about your cute comrade? Is she your girlfriend? You seem to fight a lot,” she asked laced with a cunning expression.

“What, you too? We must really look good together for everyone to think that,” Nyx let out a nervous laugh and turned to ensure that Eve wasn’t coming back yet.

Caitlin was leaning towards him over the table.

“Well, those longing gazes you throw at each other after bickering about something petty might give it away. If a complete stranger could catch that up, they were really in trouble. Caitlin guessed Nyx’s thoughts and said: “But I just might be sharper than most.”

“We are in the same squad and she is not my girlfriend. Can’t explain the fighting though, even if I wanted,” Nyx was biting his lip.

“Okay, another topic you don’t wish to discuss in depth I see.” Caitlin lay back in the plastic chair.

‘This woman is too sharp for her own good,’ Nyx thought.

Like a saving grace, Eve walked on the set and dropped her toiletry bag on the table. She then proceeded to dry her hair in the towel. Both Nyx and Caitlin were looking at her. Nyx captivated by the clean and shower fresh look, and Caitlin was sizing her up in the light of the recent information she had gotten out of Nyx.

“Your turn. I hope I left some hot water for you,” Eve said smiling lightly. She was wearing another pair skin tight stretch pants and a sweater with none of the usual weapon casings or potion bags strapped on her. Nyx believed that she had never looked so… civilian in his company before.

Eve sat down next to Caitlin as Nyx stood up.

“Ladies,” he bowed his head lightly and left. Caitlin looked after him shamelessly and Eve didn’t know how to react. She fidgeted with her hair brush.

“He is quite the catch,” the red-head winked.

“More like insufferable and cheeky,” Eve didn’t think much before replying and continued to brush her long hair.

“Oh wow. You guys have really done it!” Caitlin laughed manically.

Eve dropped the hair brush and quickly picked it up. Caitlin was still giggling. “And you just confirmed it.”

Eve was opening her mouth in agony like a fish out of water.

“Did Nyx–?”

“Nope, so don’t get mad at him more than you already are. He said nothing of sort,” Caitlin waved her hand nonchalantly and grinned.

“But, oh boy, I am officially intrigued. So tell me. Did he leave without saying goodbye or what’s with the attitude?”

Eve blushed vigorously and tried to just focus on untangling her hair.

“Pretty please? I’ll be hush.” Caitlin took the brush from Eve’s hands and went on to straighten her locks in long, swift draws.

“No… I did,” Eve finally confessed with a sight. Caitlin’s hand stopped for a second, but there were no condemning words or the maniac cackling that Eve had been expecting.

“Ouch. What’d you do that for? Got another man?” The red-head was bemused.

“Another? When I can’t even seem to get rid of that one,” Eve blurted.

“You must have some pretty high standards if you want to get rid of that packet,” Caitlin whistled, making Eve blush even more.

“That’s not it. I can’t be with someone I need to fight alongside with.”

“Seeing you in action today, it seemed like you worked in perfect sync.”

Caitlin started to braid Eve’s hair, and Eve thought silently about her words. It was true that despite it having been their first real battle together, they had worked together well. She could see the openings Nyx left for her to take advantage of, and she really trusted him to watch her back.

“I can see the gears rotating in your head, Eve. Just don’t overthink it, okay?” Caitlin said. “There, all done. Now I’m going to get some sleep,” she yawned on the note, “Maybe we’ll see tomorrow before you leave.”

“I don’t know. We’ll try to set out early as possible. And thanks for the… advice.”

“Anytime, Eve. Text me sometime, night!”

Eve was left sitting there and sleepily gazing at other people partying to the music. Night had silently fallen after the sun. Eve’s bruised ribs felt better after sleep, food and shower. She felt content and happy to be outside the city again. ‘Though it is a bit weird being back in Duscae. It feels the same, the woods and the rain; it still feels like home.’

Nyx noticed that Caitlin had left and paced to Eve.

“Hey, took your sweet time in there,” she said straightening her posture.

“I didn’t want to interrupt you, so I went to talk to the hunters,” the man said, “You should go to rest. How are your injuries?”

“Manageable. Though I wonder if I’ll need new wound tapes,” Eve said and hurried to add: “But I can change them myself.”

Nyx nodded slowly. They gawked at different directions unable to think of anything to say. Eventually Eve just stood up and left for the RV.

The next morning she woke up early, feeling renewed and eager to be on the way back to Insomnia. Sleeping at opposite ends in the trailer, she had actually gotten a good night sleep.

‘I’m actually getting used to sleeping in the same space with him,’ Eve thought while packing up again. Nyx was still in bed. ‘Few days of driving and another night and we’ll be home.’

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty,” Eve shouted at Nyx while stuffing her dirty and bloody clothes in a bag.

“What time is it?” Nyx pulled a pillow on his face to shield him from the morning light. His voice was coarse and he grunted in depreciation.

Eve bit her lower lip. ‘How can he sound so hot so early in the morning?’

“A bit over six.” She could hear the male glaive sigh in the sheets.

“Where are my clothes?” Nyx grunted.

“On you, I hope? How late did you stay up?” Eve noticed Nyx’s backbag and tossed it to him, “Here.”

“Long enough to hear you mumbling in your sleep again,” he rose to sit up and smirked at Eve teasingly. He had no shirt on and his chest exposed a firm set of muscles. Eve’s heart was fluttering and she turned away to hide her blush. She tried to remind herself that it was nothing she hadn’t seen before, so being a prude was really unnecessary.

‘Oh for the love of the Six, sleep with your shirt on so I don’t get a seizure.’

“I don’t want to hear it,” Eve said out loud, trying to cover her thoughts with the volume.

“You really shouldn’t strain yourself by packing so heatedly,” Nyx said pulling a shirt to cover his chest. “Come here. Let me see how you’ve healed.”

‘Uh, how about no?’ Eve turned back to look at Nyx in poorly masked horror.

“Did you already take care of changing new tapes then?” he asked. His ruffled bedhair and tad outgrown stubble only added to his charm.

‘Oh Astrals, I could take care of you right now.’

“I can take care of my injuries, thank you,” Eve said.

“So, when I came to sleep last night, at first I thought you were just snoring, but then–“

“Okay, okay! Don’t tell me!” Eve yelped and walked sheepishly over at Nyx. She lifted her shirt up as little as possible. He gently felt the ribs and inspected the nonexistent wounds on her chest. ‘How can he go from being a pest to so gentle in mere moments?’

“Does this hurt?” Nyx lightly poked her bruised skin.

Eve shook her head, captivated by his blue gaze. She felt light headed and feared he would notice her heartbeat picking up again. Nyx relaxed seeing that her injuries were almost healed. He let down her shirt hem and cleared his throat. Eve took a shaky step backwards and went back to packing.

“What is it? You seem a bit tense,” Nyx asked eyeing her.

“Uh, my back is just sore from sleeping in an uncomfortable position,” Eve scratched her cheek absent-mindedly and looked everywhere but Nyx. Her heart was fluttering. ‘Could he not worry about me?’

Nyx had half a mind to offer her a back massage, but then again he knew that the offer would just make Eve stiff even more. Looking at her rear while she was bending over to pack, made him think about other ways to loosen her stiffness up.

“You going to help or what?” Eve asked frowning.

“Yeah,” Nyx jumped off the bed, “Why don’t you go get some breakfast while I finish up here?”

“No, let’s just get this done and go order something from Wiz,” Eve smiled faintly. They didn’t have a lot of things to pack and when everything was in the car, they went back to get some breakfast before setting out to the capital of Lucis.

Next Chapter

[blessethwrites]

status: it’s complicated

Fandom: BnHA

Pairing: TodoBaku

Summary: For someone who doesn't use it too often, social media is a surprisingly big part of Shouto's life. Another is the crush he's been nursing on Bakugou. It's distinctly possible the two are connected.

On AO3

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑

@groundzero

https://t.co/f23he7w new shouto merch go buy it or sth idgaf

19:45 PM - 11 April 2XXX

2.43M Retweets   5.81M Likes

Shouto receives a notification as soon as the tweet is uploaded because, for some reason, when the message popped up back when he was setting up his account asking if he wanted to get an alert every time @groundzero posted something, he clicked yes without a second thought.

Thinking about it now, Shouto can admit to himself it probably had something (a lot) to do with the fact he had (has) some sort of feelings for Bakugou. It’s been that way ever since their third year at UA and Shouto can actually pinpoint the exact moment he started seeing Bakugou in this new light -- something he’s been told isn’t very typical.

(“With most people it’s a gradual thing, I think,” Izuku said once Shouto confided in him. “They like each other as friends first, then they realise at some point down the road those feelings have grown into something else, something more.” He blinked then, mind seemingly catching up to his mumbling, and waved his hands around so vigourously Shouto was worried they’d fall off. “Not that, not that there’s anything wrong about your situation! I’m not an expert on those things, I’ve never really even dated anyone! I definitely didn’t mean to imply you’re weird or your situation’s weird or--” At this point Shouto raised a hand and attempted to ease Izuku’s worries, assuring him that’s not how he took his words, that he wasn’t offended, etc. Privately, though, he couldn’t help but wonder if Izuku’s perceived understanding of crushes and feelings wasn’t based mainly on his own predicament; he did notice how flustered Izuku seemed to get around that one particular classmate of theirs.)

His phone lights up again with yet another notification and Shouto can feel his lips twitching. He raises his head, finally, to look at where Bakugou’s lounging on the couch across of him.

“Don’t you have your own merchandise to promote?”

Bakugou barely even looks up from his phone as he says, without missing a beat, “Freakshow said I should do some charity work.”

It gets a snort out of Shouto, though he’s quick to cover it up once he sees Bakugou’s eyes shift to him. He can’t have the man thinking Shouto finds him amusing; it’d only feed his already too big to be healthy ego, and Shouto’s not that gone on him.

Mostly.

“I doubt she appreciates being called that,” he says instead, tone intentionally dry to make up for his previous slip-up. He knows he’s right, though, because he can recall at least five different occasions where Bakugou’s manager’s yelled at him for not using her name. Honestly, Shouto’s just impressed she can even do her job -- managing Bakugou in any way seems incredibly vexing, if dealing with him on a daily basis is any indication.

“Guess how many fucks I give,” Bakugou says in response and this time, his eyes stay on his phone, fingers rapidly flying over the screen. He’s surprisingly active on social media, much more than Shouto himself that’s for sure; Shouto has no idea how he does it nor what appeal there is to it, but he’s not judging. Not in the slightest, considering Bakugou’s online presence is one of the highlights of Shouto’s day.

He has to stifle a wince as soon as that thought crosses his mind because honestly, at this point his crush is just sad.

#bakugou katsuki

groundzerosource

[Two screenshots of Bakugou Katsuki’s most recent tweets. One says, ‘new shouto merch go buy it or sth idgaf’ and provides a link to Todoroki Shouto’s website. The other says, ‘srsly go buy that shit it’s lit *fire emoji*’]

#bakugou katsuki #ground zero #todoroki shouto #shouto #not tagging any ships bc i don’t want to start discourse

10,468 notes

earphonejackss

okay so not to be That Person but like,, Bakugou is so freaking supportive of his friends?? i mean remember when he also tweeted about Mina’s debut as a pro? and when he posted the photos of kaminari kicking that villain’s ass on his insta (i forget the villain’s name but you know which pics i mean)? and then that thread shutting down a kirishima hater and talking abt how badass kirishima is?

get yourself a friend like bakugou katsuki honestly

#bakugou katsuki #bakusquad #we stan a king

1,061 notes

todobaku

anonymous asked:

Have you seen The Tweets???

I have seen them! And let me just say, I live for that kind of interactions. Be it as friends or more, Bakugou and Todoroki respect each other so much and that’s so heartwarming to see! Also, I like to think Bakugou already owns at least some of the merch lol!

#answered #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #todobaku #i’d love to see them do some more stuff together #whether to team up for something or just hang out or post something together

2,107 notes

“So,” Izuku starts after taking a sip of his iced tea. “How’s Kacchan?”

It’s an innocent question and yet it makes Shouto frown at what it implies. He knows perfectly well that Izuku and Bakugou are on much better terms now than they’ve ever been, and while they still clash every now and then, it’s not that much of a stretch to assume they’re keeping tabs on each other. Which, of course, means Izuku isn’t really asking how Bakugou is. No, he’s subtly hinting at Shouto’s feelings, to which Shouto honestly has no idea how to respond.

“He’s fine,” is what he says finally. In the back of his mind, he wishes he hadn’t already finished his drink so that he could have something to distract himself with, but alas, he and Izuku scheduled to meet right after his workout and so he was quick to finish both his meal and his drink.

Izuku seems to find his answer unsatisfactory because he frowns too, expression matching Shouto’s, except when Midoriya Izuku frowns, it’s like looking at a wounded puppy. “Nothing’s changed between you two?”

“I… don’t see why it would.” After all, Shouto is reasonably sure none of his actions have been betraying his feelings and he has no intention of changing that.

Izuku shakes his head, energetically, of course, the way he does everything. “You’ve been spending a lot of time together! And Kacchan always talks about you, doesn’t he? In interviews and on his accounts; I really think there’s something there!”

Shouto raises an eyebrow, dubious. He’s never got that feeling from the way Bakugou acts around him. Yes, they’ve become friends now, he supposes, but something more? It’s honestly never crossed his mind Bakugou could see him in such a light.

“I believe he’s only being,” friendly, he goes to say but then remembers it’s Bakugou he’s talking about and his lips twitch, “civil.”

“I don’t know about that,” Izuku says, thoughtful, and there’s a glint in his eye that reminds Shouto of when he’s taking notes on various Quirks. He stifles a sigh; he really hopes Izuku doesn’t go to overanalyse his relationship with Bakugou. That would just make everything even more confusing and tiring than it already is.

symbol-of--peace-all-might

A Comprehensive List of All (Known Public) Shouto and Ground Zero Interactions

Ground Zero and Shouto debut as Pro-Heroes on the same day. Ground Zero subtweets about Shouto and seems to be challenging him while at the same time congratulating him.

Ground Zero does an interview in which he mentions Shouto as one of his biggest rivals. (2:47) (Also, the question is about which heroes he respects the most so Ground Zero doesn’t mean rivals in a negative way.)

Red Riot uploads a picture of Ground Zero’s 21st birthday celebration which seems to consist of a small circle of close friends (nicknamed by the general public as ‘the Bakusquad’) and, perhaps most notably, Shouto.

Ground Zero is asked by a reporter if his friends influence his speech patterns (in regards to recent rumours swirling around at the time that he might be dating fellow hero, Utsushimi Camie, who is known for using ‘slang’ words which also make frequent appearances in Ground Zero’s tweets.) He answers, “Fuck no. It’d be funny, though, if it worked like that. Imagine Icy Hot cursing. I’d pay to see that.” EDIT: Here’s a link. A huge thank you to @todobaku for sending me that clip!

Keep Reading

As two of the relatively youngest (and, Shouto feels no shame to admit mostly because it doesn’t matter, the most popular) heroes on the scene, it makes sense UA would ask Shouto and Bakugou to talk to some classes, offer them useful advice and maybe even help them with their development.

As Shouto and Bakugou, however, Shouto is inclined to wonder what the principal even expects would happen. After all, he’s aware he’s not one of the most expressive heroes out there; that’s not to say he lacks passion, despite what many might believe, but instead that he shows it in a different way. His whole life, his determination and conviction have been silent, focused, not expressed through shouted words and loud proclamations.

He doesn’t know how to inspire those kids in a way they’d understand him.

Then there’s Bakugou, who Shouto knows will tip the scales in the other direction. He gets fired up over the smallest of things and while sometimes helpful in a fight, Shouto understands his attitude can also be overwhelming for someone who’s not used to his ways.

Simply put, he doesn’t hold out much hope for this to end up as a successful class.

“Morning,” Bakugou grumbles as he enters the teachers’ room, hands inside his pockets, less than five minutes before they’re supposed to go meet the kids. He takes a long look around before letting out a snort. “Huh. Not as shitty as I expected.”

Shouto is about to reply, dry comment already on the tip of his tongue, when a voice beats him to it.

“Thank you for the outstanding review,” Aizawa says from the doorway, face and voice as blank as ever. “Would you like to inspect the rest of the staff’s rooms or are you ready to go?”

Bakugou crosses his arms, face twisting, and Shouto is horrified to discover he even finds his scowl attractive in a way. “You still teaching, old man? Sure you can keep up?”

Shouto rolls his eyes and doesn’t bother hiding it. He knows for a fact that Bakugou keeps in touch with Aizawa, and he remembers the father-son relationship they’d grown to have sometime during second year; it’s just like Bakugou, though, to show affection through borderline insults.

“Save some of your attitude for the students,” he mutters as he passes him by on the way out. Aizawa’s already turned around, headed towards the training ground they’re supposed to meet the kids on, and Shouto stifles a smile as he hears Bakugou complain (loudly and violently, as one does) about being ignored.

His smile melts into a more resigned expression, however, once Bakugou pushes past him and Aizawa and greets the students with, “So you little shits want to be heroes, huh?”

PRO-HEROES SHOUTO AND GROUND ZERO MAKE AN APPEARANCE AT UA TO TEACH A SPECIAL CLASS (PICTURES INCLUDED)

Only yesterday young heroes Todoroki Shouto (23), also known by his hero name ‘Shouto’, and Bakugou Katsuki (24), a.k.a. Ground Zero, visited UA’s grounds to join class 1-A for a special training session. Todoroki and Bakugou, both former students of the Academy, have been big names on the hero scene even before their respective debuts (which happened coincidentally on the same day!) so it should come as no surprise the school’s turned to them to offer some advice to the young heroes-in-training.

Take a look at our photo gallery to see exclusive pictures from the event!

The two heroes showed up at the Academy early in the morning, ready to get some training done with the young students of Class 1-A. The class representative, Hattori Eka, kindly agreed to tell us more about the experience, saying that “[Ground Zero] was very intense. He engaged with the entire class from the moment he saw us. Shouto let him take the lead, mostly, but he was also very helpful! It’s easy to see why those two are such amazing heroes,”

During the past year, Shouto and Ground Zero’s names have become more intertwined, with the two of them frequently teaming up and actively talking about one another online. (Click here to see tumblr user symbol-of--peace-all-might’s neatly compiled list of all their known interactions.) It’s certainly not a friendship we expected but perhaps it’s the one we’ve needed all along.

Comments

zerouravity: lol ‘they’re such good friends :) just dudes being bros :) bros being dudes :)’

                 lilacsong: It’s… because they are?

                 zerouravity: nah man they bonin for sure

                 allienquen: lol wut? take off ur shipping glasses pls ur embarrassing

dekuuunumberone: This has to be the fourth person I see describing Ground Zero as “intense”. The hell’s that even mean?

                 itmayoritmaynot: dude’s an asshole, that’s what

todobae: Ughhh never have I ever wished more I went to UA instead. Luckyyy

(show more)

Speaking to Momo usually leaves Shouto feeling relaxed and peaceful. She has a quality about her, one that simply makes him feel at ease when she’s around.

Since they teamed up in first year, they’ve only been growing closer, to the point where Shouto now feels more than comfortable placing his full trust in her. And he finds there’s something very liberating about knowing you can rely on someone like that.

So, yes, conversation with Momo or even simply being in her presence usually puts Shouto at ease. Tonight seems to be a slight exception, and due to no fault at Momo, of course. No, she simply does what every good friend would do and admits she’s been worried about him.

“You don’t seem happy,” she says, hesitant, unsure, as if Shouto could get mad at her for voicing her thoughts. “I mean, you do seem content. And I know things have been good lately, quieter and safer, but I can’t help but get the feeling you’re waiting for something to happen.” She waves a hand, nothing like Izuku’s energetic gestures; when Momo moves, she moves with calculated grace, somehow able to make every motion seem elegant. “That doesn’t make much sense, forgive me.”

“No,” Shouto speaks up, throat dry. He has no idea how to react to her words but not because she’s overstepping, as Momo surely believes she is. It’s because what she said hits too close to home, and before she brought it to his attention, Shouto never even noticed.

Now, however, he can’t ignore the truth of her words. Lately, he has been drifting, both in life and even in his work. As Momo said, things have been much quieter, with not as many villain attacks and a notable decrease in petty crimes too; for someone who grew up surrounded by tragedy and villains waiting at every corner, Shouto finds himself perhaps unsurprisingly unused to a life of relative peace.

His days, he realises, consist of the same routine, going over the motions over and over again, and yes, Momo’s right on that count as well -- he isn’t happy. If he has to be perfectly honest, Shouto feels rather useless, really.

The world doesn’t need him so desperately at the moment and it suddenly hits Shouto that he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself when he’s not needed.

You’re waiting for something to happen, Momo said. And he is.

When UA invited him to that teaching session, he was glad. Excited even. He didn’t have high expectations, yes, but still he looked forward to going. Even yesterday, when Momo contacted him with the suggestion to get dinner together, he found himself checking the time every now and then, counting the hours until their little outing.

It’s… a lot to realise in a minute.

“No,” he repeats and shakes his head. “You’re right. I… I hadn’t thought about it like that but you’re right. As always,” he adds with a small smile. It quickly slips away as he sighs. “I simply don’t know what to do with myself,” he confesses and a part of him feels bad about complaining essentially about being bored but he’s so very tired, suddenly. So he allows himself to let go of guilt, just for a brief moment.

Momo’s smile is encouraging. “There are plenty of things you can do! You can pick up a new hobby, meet up with friends, maybe even travel. In fact, I think a change of scenery is exactly what you need.” She keeps talking, a steady flow of different suggestions leaving her lips, and Shouto smiles.

At last, the feeling of calm is back.

Bakugou K.

>> Hello, Bakugou.

>> I was wondering if you had any plans tonight?

> im a busy dude icy hot

> whaddya want

>> I happen to have two tickets to the play ‘The Dancing Dragons’ and I was wondering if you’d perhaps like to accompany me.

> lol laaaame

>> You don’t want to, then?

> fuck off i didnt say that

> ill b there

>> That’s good.

> fucking fantastic

K. Mai @valentiness

I’m seeing some dumb play and I’m pretty sure Shouto and Ground Zero are sitting right behind me.

                 |

K. Mai @valentiness

I stg there better not be a villain attack. I came to enjoy my night and I know those boys’ luck. #nightruined

                 |

Kamidamn @kkstyle

Replying to @valentiness

omg is it really them?? are you sure?? that’s so exciting!

                 |

Ash @thatbinch

Replying to @valentiness @kkstyle

Don’t be so quick to believe everything you read online. Also, ‘dumb play’=’enjoy my night’? Next time make your story more consistent, at least.

                 |

K. Mai @valentiness

Replying to @valentiness @kkstyle @thatbinch

We all have hobbies. Mine is making fun of dumb plays. Yours is being a killjoy on the Internet. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Attached: One slightly blurry image of Todoroki Shouto and Bakugou Katsuki sitting at a theatre, talking. In the corner of the picture, the upper half of a blonde woman’s face can be seen.]

“So,” Bakugou begins, arms crossed, but despite his confrontational tone and furrowed eyebrows, Shouto thinks he seems genuinely curious. “Why’d you call me here?”

“I asked,” he clarifies, a slight frown appearing on his face. “You’re making it sound as if I made you come.”

Predictably, Bakugou lets out a snort and once again, Shouto finds himself utterly charmed, despite better judgement. “You can’t ‘ make me ’ do anything, Icy Hot,” Bakugou says, meeting his eye, and there’s something there that sends a rush of electricity over Shouto’s skin. It’s not like the feeling he gets whenever he uses his Quirk and Shouto, while not the most experienced when it comes to romance, isn’t stupid. He’s just stupidly attracted to Bakugou, has been for quite a while, and it excites him as well as worries him.

He looks away and instead turns his eyes to the stage. It doesn’t lessen his attraction but it does make it easier to pretend it’s not there. “Of course not,” he agrees, attempting to stifle his smile as, out of the corner of his eye, he notices Bakugou watching him with something akin to suspicion. “You’re much too thickheaded for that.”

“Bastard,” Bakugou grumbles and punches him in the bicep, much too lightly to do any damage; it’s basically a caress by Bakugou standards, he thinks, amused. “What’s this dumb play even about?”

“Dragons,” Shouto says, tone dry. “That dance.”

K. Mai @valentiness

Not to feed into rumours and shit but that Shouto kid is a smartass and I respect that. Also, GZ is kind of an asshole (which I respect too) but you already knew that.

                 |

K. Mai @valentiness

To all of you asking me for details, gee, chill out. The dudes are just hanging out (or are on a date, don’t know, don’t care), I’m not about to snoop on their conversations and live tweet it like it’s a fucking event. (1/3)

                 |

K. Mai @valentiness

I happened to overhear something funny, I mentioned it, end of story. Damn, can’t post anything on this website without some of you going batshit crazy over dumb shit. Let the boys live and most importantly, let ME live. (2/3)

                 |

K. Mai @valentiness

Srsly, if one more person starts blowing up my DMs asking for more pictures or gossip etc, I’m gonna lose my shit. Now let me chill on my night off you crazies. (I’d call you harpies but harpies are too cool for some of you shitheads.) (3/3)

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑

@groundzero

i’ll be the best

Tokyo, Japan

Joined March 2XXX

Born April 20

Tweets                 Following                  Followers                        Likes

67K                      107                             8.5M                               114K

K. Mai @valentiness  Followed

Don’t mess with me, hon 💄💋

Shouto raises an eyebrow, amused, as his phone chimes in with yet another Twitter notification, as it has been doing for the past few minutes. “Are you getting into fights on the Internet again?” he asks Bakugou who finally puts his phone down.

“Shut up,” he says but his tone lacks heat. He pokes around his food, unusually hesitant, before his abrasive attitude wins over and he lets out an annoyed breath. “Some woman saw us at the theatre. And then numbskulls started asking her for pictures and shit.”

Shouto blinks, for some reason slow to take Bakugou’s words in. He tries to think back on something particularly incriminating this woman might’ve captured but quite frankly, he draws blank; he imagines they must’ve seemed pretty boring to an outsider, even if Shouto considers the night anything but.

“Alright,” he says, unsure of what else there is to say. However Bakugou’s still staring at him, expectant, so Shouto tries to come up with more. “How many pictures?”

It’s a stupid thing to ask, Shouto realises that as soon as the words leave his mouth, but he’s committed to his temporary, Bakugou-induced stupidity. So he meets Bakugou’s eye, waiting, and tries not to wince at the dumbfounded look he gets.

“The fuck you mean, she shot them down.” A grin appears on the man’s lips. “It was pretty fucking funny, actually, I even followed her after that shit.”

Shouto, once again, blinks. There are no pictures, then. If that’s the case, he has to admit he’s at a loss as to why Bakugou was so upset a few moments ago.

“Okay. I’m… glad?” It always amazes him how he seems to lose any semblance of eloquence around Bakugou and, not for the first time this evening, Shouto has to hold back a wince.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart, Half and Half,” Bakugou huffs. (How after all these years of knowing each other he can’t come up with a nickname that doesn’t sound like something a first grader would say is beyond Shouto.) “I’m used to that kind of shit and I don’t give a fuck. But you like privacy and shit, I guess. And it’s not like it’s my fucking fault some people are dumb fucks that don’t know what ‘privacy’ means in the first place; it’s just fun to curse them out.”

It takes Shouto a moment to process everything because, as previously established, his brain tends to malfunction around Bakugou. Once he does, however, it’s really damn hard to contain the smile that threatens to grow on his lips.

Because, in the end, Bakugou’s little speech boils down to the fact he feels bad Shouto’s privacy has been breached (or close to being breached? Shouto still isn’t entirely clear on the details of the story). And those Twitter rants he posted, he did it because of Shouto. (Terrible as far as marketing moves go; Shouto expects Bakugou will hear from his manager very soon.)

“Are you capable of holding a conversation without cursing? I thought you were supposed to be smart,” he echoes Bakugou’s own words back at him, as if his heart isn’t pounding in his chest. He knows, though, that Bakugou still isn’t the best at accepting gratitude, so he wagers that’s a safer bet than outright saying ‘thank you’.

And, true to Shouto’s expectations, Bakugou leans back in his chair, relaxing. “Bastard,” he says and for a brief moment, Shouto can swear his eyes go soft.

It’s a good night.

from: iidatenya@softbank.ne.jp

to: undisclosed recipients

subject: Class Reunion 2XXX

Dear former classmates,

As your former class representative, I have taken it upon myself to organise a class reunion to celebrate five years since graduation. I ask you forgive my forwardness and I most fervently hope you will all attend!

In the file attached to this e-mail, I have included all the necessary details surrounding this gathering.

I encourage you all to RSVP.

Iida Tenya,

Former representative of Class A

“You goin’?” is the first thing Bakugou says as soon as Shouto answers his call.

“Good morning to you as well. I slept well, thank you, and yourself?”

“Very funny, Icy Hot. So. You going or what?”

“I am. I see no reason not to.”

Bakugou hums but doesn’t say anything.

“Are you?” Shouto tries.

“...Yeah, Kirishima’s been nagging me about it ever since we got the e-mail; he’s annoying.”

It’s Shouto’s turn to let out a noncommittal hum and a semi-awkward silence falls upon them.

“Well,” he says at last. “If that was all you wanted--”

“Wait,” Bakugou cuts him off and Shouto waits. He hears a slow exhale on the other end. “I…,” Bakugou trails off and Shouto’s pretty sure the rate at which his heart is beating can’t be healthy. “I’ll kick your ass.”

What. “What?”

“You heard me,” Bakugou says and his tone is a mixture of anger and embarrassment. “So… get ready. To lose. When I beat you.”

And he ends the call.

Shouto can’t remember the last time he was this confused.

[A picture of the former class A, sans Mineta Mineru, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances during first year, and featuring Shinsou Hitoshi who joined the class the following year.]

Liked by redriot and 90,257 others

dekuofficial Class A reunited! #loveyouguys

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[A short clip showing Class A sitting on the floor, playing Villain. Bakugou is yelling from behind the camera, saying “If I was the fucking Villain I’d have killed you all already!” to which someone replies, “Dude, that’s not how the game’s played!” Bakugou yells back “Whatever, fucking extra, I’m not the fucking Villain!” and the clip ends.]

134,972 views

groundzero as if i’d be dumb enough to kill deku first

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halfhothalfnot so who was it in the end?

|groundzero fuckin uraraka

After the game, once the main group splits up, Shouto finds himself sat on the couch next to Bakugou. They’re supposed to be watching some sort of film but Shouto has a hard time focusing on anything other than the man beside him.

They haven’t exactly spoken since The Phone Call (yes, it’s become a capitals-worthy event in Shouto’s mind, that’s how bad he has it) though they haven’t officially fallen out either. At least Shouto doesn’t think so.

He hopes not.

The screams and explosions coming from the TV are loud and obnoxious but somehow it’s all background noise for Shouto. In fact, he’s keenly aware of the silence between himself and Bakugou, and it feels louder than the world around them; it makes no sense even in his head, but it also kind of does. Only a little bit.

He shakes his head and has to wonder if he’s not more of a lightweight than he originally thought.

“You okay, Icy Hot?”

The question is unexpected and Shouto has to turn his head to look at Bakugou to make sure he didn’t simply imagine it. When he does, however, he finds Bakugou staring straight ahead at the TV, the only sign he’s not really paying attention being the furrow of his brows and his clenched jaw.

“Of course.”

Bakugou snorts but doesn’t say anything else which of course means it’s up to Shouto to continue (revive?) the conversation. Except he’s tired, both of those feelings he’s been keeping under wraps for years and of the disappointment that always follows getting his hopes up for nothing. So he lets out a small sigh and gets up to leave.

“Right. Well, have a good night,” he mutters to Bakugou as he passes him by because he’s a boy with an unrequited crush, yes, but that doesn’t erase years of etiquette lessons.

Bakugou says nothing.

#todobaku

ladymountain

[Images: Both pictures are cropped from the Class A picture Midoriya Izuku posted on his Instagram. One is of Bakugou Katsuki and the other of Todoroki Shouto.]

fUCKIN SCREAMIN look at todobaku staring at each other Like That™ ughhh kill me rn

#todobaku #todoroki shouto #bakugou katsuki #TELL ME THAT’S A PLATONIC LOOK I DARE YOU

1,247 notes

bkgouktsuki

Holy shit Bakugou’s going off I stan

EDIT: Here’s what I mean, for those who asked.

#bakugou katsuki #todobaku #? #bitch idk but this shit is wild

12,970 notes

Endeavor ☑

@endeavorofficialaccount

‘Being number one comes with more responsibilities than the public realises.’ Read Endeavor’s full interview at https://t.co/81q6s7v

17:19 PM - 31 August 2XXX

4.91M Retweets   10.5M Likes

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

know what rly pisses me off? when shitty parents act like they own their children

                 |

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

u bastards think i’m subtweetin bc i’m scared? tHINK FUCKING AGAIN

                 |

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

. @endeavorofficialaccount ur son isn’t ur property so stop fuckin talkin abt him as if he is

                 |

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

. @endeavorofficialaccount u don’t have the right to demand/expect anything from him

                 |

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

. @endeavorofficialaccount he’s a fucking adult he can make his own decisions

                 |

B+ @fiiiyah

Replying to @groundzero @endeavorofficialaccount

Get screenshotting y’all i can feel tweets getting deleted later and the drama channels will need receipts

                 |

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑ @groundzero

Replying to @groundzero @endeavorofficialaccount @fiiiyah

nothing’s gettin deleted. i’m fuckin right and everyone with half a brain knows it

                 |

yes my kid’s the exploding shithead @bakugoumitsuki

Replying to @groundzero @endeavorofficialaccount @fiiiyah

you tell him brat #parentingdonefuckingright

By the time Shouto gets the call from Izuku to check out the tweets, he’s already seen them. (Again, he gets a notification every time Bakugou posts something; it’s a good way to stay up to date, if anything.)

“Are you going to talk to him?”

Shouto lets out a breath. “Because he challenged my father on social media? Yes, I suppose I should, shouldn’t I.”

Izuku is quiet for a moment and Shouto’s just about to check if he didn’t disconnect by mistake when he finally speaks up. “Not only because of that, though. I think… I think it’s about time you two cleared some things up.”

It is but that doesn’t mean Shouto’s looking forward to it.

                                        POLL: Is Ground Zero dead?

                                        Yes, Endeavor’s killed him and covered it up | 48%

                                        No, he’s just taking some time off social media | 52%

They end up meeting at Bakugou’s flat, as if a home-made meal will make this conversation easier. Surprisingly, it does, to a point, until they end up at the dining table, plates empty, with not one word exchanged since Shouto got here.

It’s stupid, he thinks and sighs. Might as well get it over with.

“You tweeted my father,” he says and dear lord, that doesn’t sound any less stupid out loud. Still, Shouto persists. “Why?”

Bakugou scowls, crosses his arms, and by all indications, Shouto doesn’t expect him to reply. But then he tilts his head, just the tiniest bit, just so that he can look Shouto in the eye, and says, “‘Cause he was being a fucking asshole, that’s why.”

Shouto, decidedly, does not roll his eyes because that’s progress. Kind of. “Okay. But how does that concern you?” His words come out not quite as he intended them to but it’s fine, Bakugou seems to understand he doesn’t mean to sound rude.

Still, he stays quiet this time around.

“Bakugou.”

“What do you want me to say, you bastard,” Bakugou very nearly growls and Shouto’s eyebrows shoot up. He’s mostly just surprised Bakugou’s indulging him at all, if how stubborn the guy is can be of any indication of how their usual interactions go; now he seems to be on a roll. “We’re fucking friends, aren’t we? Why the hell would I stand by and watch that piece of shit Endeavor treat you like crap? Is that the kind of person you think I am?”

“...We’re friends?” To be fair, Shouto reasons inside his own mind, it’s the first time he hears Bakugou confirm it out loud; it’s normal to focus on that particular statement.

“You really are a dumbass,” is all Bakugou says which Shouto translates to ‘yes, of course we are’. He’s become rather fluent at Bakugou-speak.

“And… a couple of weeks ago,” he pushes still, “when you said you’d ‘kick my ass’...”

He trails off, partly because it’s the first time he sees Bakugou looking even close to abashed, partly because he has no idea how to continue his train of thought. Did you mean it the way you meant it back in first year? Do you still only see me as a stepping stone to becoming number one? If you do beat me, does that mean you’ll stop paying attention to me?

He supposes those sound rather overdramatic, especially since Bakugou just admitted they were in fact friends, but he can’t help it. If there’s one thing in his life he’s most insecure about, it’s got to be his relationships; he feels completely out of depth here.

“Stop thinking whatever the fuck you’re thinking,” Bakugou barks suddenly from where he’s sat across of Shouto; his arms have yet to uncross and his whole body is coiled tight. “I guarantee you it’s not whatever bullshit you think it is.”

Shouto’s eyes narrow in confusion.

“I was going to fucking ask you out,” Bakugou says, resolutely looking anywhere but at him, which… is okay, Shouto supposes, because he’s not really sure what’s going on.

“Ask… me out?”

Absentmindedly, somewhere in the back of his mind, Shouto thinks that clenching his jaw so incredibly hard can’t be good for Bakugou’s teeth.

“Yes,��� he grits out and Shouto blinks at him.

“Why didn’t you?”

That makes Bakugou’s eyes snap to his once again and for a moment, they just stare at one another, each slowly putting all the pieces together.

“You’re fucking with me,” Bakugou groans and bangs his head on the table. “You’re seriously fucking telling me you’re into me and I could’ve just asked you the fuck out?”

“Well,” Shouto says once he feels he’s regained some of his composure. “It would seem we’re both not as smart as previously believed.”

Bakugou raises his head, chin still propped on the table, and laughs.

Shouto doesn’t try to stifle his smile.

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑

@groundzero

you really thought i’d get offed so easily??? well think again bastards i’m here to stay

10:04 PM - 2 September 2XXX

3.39M Retweets   8.97M Likes

Shouto ☑

@TodorokiShouto

Ground Zero has new merch available. Do check it out at https://t.co/13dy52jr

14:30 PM - 5 September 2XXX

6.29M Retweets   10.15M Likes

YouTube

bakugou katsuki aka ground zero saying ‘fuck endeavor’ and kissing todoroki shouto 1 hour version

601,340,481 views 👍20M 👎1.2M

oldschoolallmight

Published on Dec 24, 2XXX

40,649,364 Comments

CamBam 1 hour ago

endeavor works hard but oldschoolallmight works harder

View 1,842 replies

Bakugou Fucking Katsuki ☑

@groundzero

yes icy hot and i are dating. that’s all you vultures are getting. merry fucking christmas.

23:21 PM - 25 December 2XXX

11.15M Retweets   25.5M Likes

New Power Couple on The Hero Scene?? Ground Zero Confirms Relationship With Shouto in a Tweet!

After Bakugou Katsuki (24) and Todoroki Shouto (23) shared a passionate kiss on national television (and right after Bakugou saying, “F!@# Endeavor!” too), multiple debates on the topic sparked all over the Internet. Some believed the kiss was a spur of the moment decision, fueled by Bakugou’s annoyance with Todoroki Enji (54) a.k.a. the Flame Hero, Endeavor, while others firmly refused to believe the kiss was anything less than genuine.

Well, congratulations to you, TodoBaku shippers out there! Bakugou confirmed their relationship the very next day, in this short and maybe-a-little-sweet tweet:

[Attached: Bakugou’s tweet confirming the relationship.]

You heard the man, folks! The Explosion Hero and the Hot and Cold Hero are officially dating! While we don’t have any confirmation on when their relationship started (come on, Bakugou, give us at least that!), we can only assume it’s been a couple of months, considering that just last August, things seemed strained between the two.

Whatever the case, we wish them all the best!

Comments

zerouravity: fuckin called it