#hes lame and nervous and overly polite all the time.

[eurekq]

started replaying the series again because what the fuck else am i gonna do until veilguard comes out. my new surana, aeron. hes romancing morrigan. plus bonus rhiannon and zevran bc they happened to be on this canvas

[snlhostharry]

try try again

harry x reader

2.2k words 

summary: harry wants to propose, but life keeps getting in the way 

a/n: first off... I suck at titles... why am I like this.... second off this is my secret santa gift for @jambrosemc ! happy holidays em! hope you like this, you are a super talented writer I just binged all your pieces and I am obsessed. and thank you to @peeterparkr for hosting 

The first time he tries is after the first concert he does for Fine Line. 

Fine Line at the Forum is a success in all the ways that matter, and Harry is so happy coming off the stage that he almost forgets about his plan to propose all together. When you barge into his dressing room after the show is over, smiling and ecstatic for him he suddenly sees the ring box on the counter and rushes to shove it in his pocket before you can see it. 

“That was insane, love,” You say wrapping him into a hug. “I think they really liked it.” 

He gives you a cheeky smile, “You think?” You roll your eyes in response, “What gave it away?” He asks, “The frantic screaming or the bra’s that were thrown onto the stage?” 

“You should’ve kept a couple,” You tease, “They could’ve been my size.” 

He laughs, “If you want one that bad I will buy it for you.” 

“I’m holding you to that,” You say, taking a seat on top of the counter. He runs a hand through his hair, knowing that this would be the perfect moment to just get down on one knee. He can see himself doing it, simply bending down and saying the words he’s wanted to say for what feels like forever. “You okay?” You ask him, seeing the look on his face and supposing that he’s thinking about something that happened during the concert. “You did a great job out there, seriously. Everyone really loved it H, the album is spectacular.” 

He shakes himself back into the moment, “I know, I know.” He says, and it comes off a little sharper than he means it too, he’s just very much in his own head about this whole thing now. What felt like it would be the perfect moment now feels wrong, like doing it now would cheapen the entire thing. He sighs, “Sorry,” He says, planting himself down on the floor dramatically, “Thank you.” 

“We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to,” You tell him, guessing that he’s just tired from a long night. “Let’s get takeout and go home, or go home and get takeout whichever order.” 

He smiles, “You ate before the show.” 

“That was like three hours ago, and it was a snack, I always planned on eating again, and you were too nervous to eat before the show.” 

He hugs his knees to his chest, “Watching you eat an entire kids meal in under five minutes actually helped with the nerves.” 

You shrug, “What can I say? I have my moments.” 

He stands and presses a kiss to your forehead as you swing your legs over the side of the counter. “You have a lot of moments, I love you.” 

“Love you too,” You wait a second before asking, “So home then?” 

He thinks about it for a minute, “Yeah.” 

“When you call in the food order make sure you put it under my name,” You tell him and he collects his things from the room, “People are beginning to get suspicious when I go into the restaurant to pick up an order for Harry.” 

He nods, and gently grabs your hand as the two of you leave. Maybe he’s not going to do it tonight, but he’s more resolved to actually pop the question than ever. He’s just so in love with you that he wants the whole thing to be perfect, and for some reason he has it all in his head that it needs to be a story that the two of you can tell in the future, something meaningful, he just has absolutely no idea what that is. 

The second planned attempt is a lot more off the cuff. 

You insist on throwing him a birthday party at the house, saying something about wanting to one up your sister who threw a very tasteful christmas party that the two of you went to. Not that your sister was invited seeing as the party was in London, but you knew that there would be enough pictures that she would see that you’re just as good as she is. Harry doesn’t understand it at all, but he decides that he doesn't even want to know how a rivalry like that can develop and leaves it alone. 

Objectively, you throw a very nice party. Of course Harry makes it a point to tell you this as often as possible without seeming overly invested in it, because he loves you and he wants you to be proud of your own work just like you want him to be proud of his. It’s hard for him to leave your side at all because he loves to see you talk to his friends and family and seem so happy to do it. You fit right in with everyone and he’s so grateful for that, and it’s as he’s standing there watching you talk to people that it hits him that this could be his moment. 

Not in front of everyone because that would be so much more pressure than he needs, but he thinks that after when everyone has finally left the house that he could catch you in the middle of cleaning or something and gently ask you to marry him. He decides that tonight, that’s the plan and he spends the rest of the night just thinking about that. It really is a great party, full of all his favorite things and people, it’s one of those nights where he feels like he loves you so much that his heart might just burst out of his chest. 

When finally every last guest has left the house, and things are a bit messy, he can’t seem to find you anywhere. He locks the door behind him, and starts walking through the house calling your name. He checks upstairs, in the kitchen, in all the bathrooms, and nothing. Until finally he walks into the living room and finds you sound asleep on the couch, snoring loudly enough that he’s surprised he didn’t hear it while he was looking. He looks at you and just smiles, suddenly completely fine with the fact that another plan has been ruined. He simply picks you up and takes you to bed, well aware he’s going to have to move onto plan C if he ever wants to get this done. 

The next time he tries, you end up surprising him. 

Plan C is a nice candlelight dinner at the house, which Harry tried to cook but ended up burning so eventually he relented and ordered food before putting it all together. Of all the plans he had come up with thus far, this one seemed the most foolproof. Everything was already planned: he knew you were going to come home from work at a certain time, he knew that there wouldn't be any distractions, and he had psyched himself up enough that he wasn’t just going to forget about the whole thing like he did the first time.

When the entire table is set up and the ring is in his pocket, he sits waiting for you to come home. He thinks about getting up to change some of the place settings just a little, but when he does he hears the clicking sound of your key in the door and sits back in his seat. After you walk into the house and set your stuff down in the entryway, Harry hears the sound of your shoes on the floor as you excitedly run into the kitchen. When you make it to where he can see you, he sees that you have a megawatt smile on your face and a large box in your hands. 

“I have a surprise,” You say, keeping a firm hold of the box. 

“I suppose it’s in that box,” He says, leaning over the chair so that he can see. 

You roll your eyes but keep smiling, “Yeah, obviously.” 

“Do you want me to guess?”

“God no,” You say, “That would take way too long. Basically I was at work today, and Mark has been producing this piece about a no kill animal shelter for a new segment about everyday heroes or whatever which is gross because puff pieces but when the woman came in to do the interview she brought in all these cats, no dogs for some reason, but anyway so we were all playing with the cats because our job is stressful and cats, and then she was like ‘you guys seem so good with these cats, they are looking for homes and-” 

He looks at you with a wide eyed expression, “You didn’t.” 

You ceremoniously walk over to the table, open the box and pull a small orange cat into your arms, “You bet your ass I did.” You gently pet the cat, which mews quietly from your arms, “She does not have a name mostly because I couldn’t think of any.” 

“We talked about pets like a week ago, briefly.” 

You give a guilty smile, “Yeah but I felt like I really needed this cat. I live here now, we live here, and I finally feel like I’m settled-” You sit down at the table and sigh, “I think I might be nesting, which is kind of gross but I don't know. I love you, and I love being here and I finally feel stable enough to get a freaking cat so that’s the explanation I have.” 

He can’t stop himself from breaking into a smile, even though he knows his plans have been thwarted again. (He thinks later, after the moment has already passed that he very well could’ve done it right then and there after you’d given a whole speech about the two of you being stable). He shakes his head after looking at you making funny faces at the cat like it’s a child, “Okay hand her over.” 

You hand her over and say, “I will not accept any names that have to go with the fact that she’s a ginger, because that’s just lame.” 

“Well seeing as those were my only ideas-”

You sigh, “We will think of something, just not now because you got dinner and I’m starving.” 

“What’s she going to eat?”

“I got food and a bowl, and a bunch more things being delivered within the next week or two.” 

“Did you go out and buy a box just for the dramatic reveal?”

“Yes, I did and it was totally worth it.” 

The cat’s name ends up being Hillary, after you discover an affinity for pet names that are usually person names. Something about the way you’ll end up talking about Hillary in polite conversation and someone will have to ask you who that is makes you want to choose it overall. Even though Harry is not sure about the sudden change at first, he soon becomes best friends with Hillary, and you often find the two of them cuddled up together on the couch. She likes to listen to him play music just as much as you do as it turns out. 

Harry is still trying to think of a way to propose. So much time has passed since he bought the ring, and the first time that he planned to pop the question that he wonders if he’ll ever find the right time to do it or if you’ll just end up asking him one day because it’s all gone too far. One afternoon when the two of you are relishing a rare shared day off, he watches you cook lunch in the kitchen and decides that now is the time to do it. No more excuses, no more surprises, just him and you and the question on the tip of his tongue for too long. 

When you put all of the food on plates, and set them out on the counter he walks over and just looks at you. It weirds you out at first so you ask, “What? Is there something on my face?” 

He gets down on one knee and you still are very confused about what he’s doing. You open your mouth to ask him, but the realization suddenly hits you and you cover your mouth with your hands. 

“y/n,” He says, “I have been waiting to ask you this for what feels like forever. And everytime that the plan fell through you somehow managed to make me want to marry you even more. I love you so much, I love everything about you, how excited you get about your work, how much you love Hillary and how supportive you are whenever I do anything. I love our life here, and I want to be with you forever. Will you marry me?” 

You don’t say anything for a second, still shocked, “Yes of course.” He stands and kisses you, slipping the ring onto your finger. “I was wondering when you would ask me.” 

“You knew?”

“I saw it that night after the forum,” You say, “I figured you got nervous.” 

“And you just let me flounder here for almost six months?” 

“Yes,” You smile, “I figured you wanted to do it on your own terms.” 

“Next time just call me out love, because I sat on this for too long.” 

[hains-mae]

Flowers - Pt. 3

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 (end)

(Damian x Reader) Soulmate AU

Rating: T

Ages: Damian and you are 16, everyone’s ages follow after.

Summary: Soulmate AU where the wounds on your soulmate turns into a flower tattoo on your skin, if it heals with no scars the tattoo goes away, if it heals with a scar then the tattoo stays.

It just got worse.

Disclaimer: I do not own DC. If I did, I wouldn’t make it as confusing as it is now.

The convention hall was huge. The lights shone brightly at the many innovative inventions made by the young minds of Gotham City. the entire city was invited to participate after all. As Wayne Enterprise made the whole event international, we had guests from all over the globe looking for potential students to take under their wing. Rumour has it that everyone on the guest list was hand picked by the man, Bruce Wayne, himself.

I looked around in a daze as I clutched the metal briefcase that held my project.

Running in an hour or two of sleep and caffein, I made my way through the growing crowd. Finally I was able to locate my designated table, a small booth in the chemistry section. I made quick work on unpacking the projector and placed it square on a folding table. It would play the presentation of what my project was about and all the necessary details to explain the chemical compounds and a quick scanned blueprint.

“I feel so nervous.” I mumbled to no one in particular.

Then placing a black cloth on the table as my workspace, I made sure to put the specifically designed gun carefully on a stand that I had quickly melded together. The projectiles rested in the container. Only two remained. I stared at it for a while as the scene of that fateful night replayed in my head.

I had found my soulmate.

Which was good.

He was Robin.

Which was bad.

There was a chance he could be Damian Wayne.

Which was worse.

This relationship was doomed from the start. My soulmate was a freaking vigilante! He was running around at night, putting his life in danger. Death was a constant in my mind after that. Knowing that one day I might loose him. It was a weird thing, this soulmate bond that we shared. Somehow meeting him solidified his existence in my life. Now every time I received another flower on my skin I would know what might’ve caused it. Worry started to form in my gut as I thought about the bullet wound in his shoulder.

I shook my head to get any more lingering thoughts out as I willed myself to focus on the task at hand. I needed to get my head in the game.

Pulling the beakers and flasks out as carefully as I could, I placed them each on the other side of the table. I filled them with their chemicals and started the burner. I had wanted to show them the process as a prototype. I doubted anybody here wanted to be encased in rock.

I was so deep in thought as I mindlessly tinkered around to keep my hands busy that I didn’t even realise a figure standing before me until he cleared his throat.

Looking up from my notes my eyes grew wide.

Mr. Bruce Wayne, owner and CEO of the Wayne Enterprises was standing at my table. He had a charming smile plastered on his face.

“My, what an interesting piece we have here. Don’t you agree Damian?” His voice was calm and even.

Speak of the devil, and he shall appear.

“I do, father.” He agreed. His eyes caught mine, and all I could do was stare into his green orbs.

“Oh forgive me.” Mr. Wayne chuckled and held out his hand. “Bruce Wayne.”

I returned the gesture and shook his hand telling him my own name.

“Pleasure to meet you.” He said. “And this is my son, Damian.”

“We met.” He said simply, but still took my hand and shook it.

“I’m really interested in your work.” Mr. Wayne continued. “I’d like to come back after I make the opening speech.”

“Of course.” I plastered on the best smile I could muster.

It wasn’t too long after that when Mr. Wayne came back, but this time he had an entourage. To his right he had his sons, all 4 of them. They were exactly as the magazines showed and described them to be. Each one was dashing. I didn’t know much about them, but hearing their names tossed around every day in school made me involuntarily learn anyway.

Richard, the eldest had a polite smile and kind blue eyes. They were warm in a comforting way and his manners were that of a well bred socialite. He waved at some of the students and nodded at a few of the adults he passed.

The one beside him was Jason, his cold glare could strike fear into anyone’s hearts. Especially when he is backed up with high status and money. No one dared mess with him. But even I had to admit there was a certain charm to his features, he had a bad boy kind of vibe.

Tim was next, walking just a few steps ahead of his older brothers. His nose was buried in an iPad and his fingers were flying through the screen at top speed. He was just a few years older than me, and I’ve actually seen him around the campus before, but I never met him.

Lastly, Damian. He stole a glance at me as they walked towards my table and turned to Tim, mumbling something before looking ahead.

To Mr. Wayne’s left were two well renowned chemists that I personally follow. Their works and research papers were incredible, it was actually the basis of my own invention. Instantly the butterflies in my stomach fluttered around.

After introductions were made, I presented my work and did a sample test before leading their attention to the finished product which were the glowing orbs.

“And what inspired you to create such an invention?” Mr. Wayne inquired.

“I just wanted to help.” I said truthfully. “We’re aware of the crimes around our city, and I thought it would make the job of catching the criminals easier.”

“And it will.” He smiled. “I’d like to offer you an internship in my company. And if you wouldn’t mind, a mentorship with my two top scientists there.”

“It would be an honour!”

This had to be the greatest moment of my life. For the first time that day I felt my mood get better.

The rest of the days passed on in a blur. My invention was one of the top picked topics in the scene, much to my pleasure, and the interview for the internships and mentorships went well. I honestly couldn’t ask for more.

Mr. Wayne’s secretary handed me, and a couple of other students he scouted, a form to fill out and sign. Our parents/legal guardians were immediately informed and the school assured them before any action is taken they will be holding another meeting. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Many of us were able to grab great opportunities, both in and out of the cities.

I looked around and saw all the doors opening up for the next generation in Gotham. Happy smiles and excited chatter filled the room. Promises of a greater future were announced. I realised, this was probably history in the making. This would be where everything turns around for the better. I might sound overly sentimental, and perhaps a tad bit exaggerated, but I was feeling hopeful.

The interviews were over, and after the last of them had been held, the announcement came to remind us of the upcoming gala. We had an entire day to prepare – “Therefore, use it wisely.” Our professor advised.

Many of the girls had rushed out in groups (with a teacher chaperone) as they headed towards the fancy boutiques and malls. I on the other hand decided to be practical. My roommate and a couple of friends that I had made during my stay, required it be essential that I tag along with them. I was peer pressured (and I say that lightly), but it felt good to explore the city without the danger.

“Oh my god I just saw the Wayne brothers!” Someone squealed at the store front that we were in.

“What? No way! Where?” Another piqued.

We heard the teacher sigh and ask us not to make a scene since we were in public. I felt myself tense at the thought of him and his green eyes.

“They’re heading this way!”

I dove behind one of the clothing hangers and hid as best as I could. Good lord, is this some kind of drama series? My new friends sputtered out a greeting as I imagined them walking by, and all I could do was concentrate on not self-combusting.

“Y/n?”

My eyes darted up from the spot on the floor that I was staring at. I didn’t want to come out, but the longer I stayed behind the wall of clothes, the more embarrassed I became. With a defeated sigh, I walked out.

“H-hey.” I waved lamely.

“What were you doing behind the clothes rack?” Damian cocked a brow at me.

“I was looking at it, kinda the reason I came here.” I said, not really meaning to sound defensive but it came out that way anyway, and I already wanted to take it back.

“You’re that girl with the blue marbles.” The eldest said smiling broadly. “Y/n L/n, right?”

I nodded meekly.

Dick smirked and went back to his smoothie.

“The one Damian wouldn’t shut up about?” Jason teased wickedly. I felt my blood rise up to my face.

Damian kicked him behind his knees which only made the man laugh.

“You know better than to tease.” Tim rolled his eyes at his brothers antics. “You’re embarrassing him in front of his crush.”

I just wished the floor would swallow me whole right now.

Tim immediately hid behind Dick and the laughter was nearly uncontrollable from his brothers. Damian was currently fuming, and tomato red in the face.

“I’m going to kill you Drake.” He said through clenched teeth.

Dick groaned. “Cant you guys behave?” He strolled over to me and tapped my shoulder lightly. “You’re embarrassing y/n.”

“Sorry, it was just meant for lil-D over here.” Jason apologised.

“Alright boys, that’s enough.” The teacher called out. “We’ve got a schedule to follow. I’ll have to cut this meeting short.” She was right, and I was so thankful at the moment that we did.

Dick apologised again, and pushed his brothers to move along. As soon as they were out of earshot the girls bombarded me with questions, demanding they know the details. There wasn’t anything to tell, since I’ve only known them as long as the length of this trip, but they didn’t let the subject go. I thanked my lucky stars that the rumours I heard about the boys and their fanatic fangirls did not exist in the group I was in. They had gushed about how lucky I was to catch their eye – I really wish they didn’t – and how amazing it must be for them to hold an interest in me – I honestly could care less. But girls being girls, I had to let them be.

The evening  of the gala arrived faster than I anticipated, and true to their promise, the girls had all squeezed themselves into my room.

“You guys really don’t have to do this.” I said, slightly exasperated.

“Nonsense.” They quipped back. “We’re all going to look fabulous and make a great impression.”

They rolled out their brush pouches and stacked their make up on the vanity table. I eyed it all wearily.

Sometimes I had to hand it them, females can be terrifying when they need to be.

“Do you think this will be it?” One of them asked out of the blue. “Is this what is going to turn this city around.”

“I hope so. Thing’s are getting worse around Gotham, if this works, we can secure a safer future.”

“Look at us sounding diplomatic.” We laughed at that.

“I think it’ll work out.” I told them with an air of confidence. I saw the looks everyone had at the gatherings. It wasn’t just hope. There was a sense of motivation. An active decision in every one of them that wanted to strive for more. It was encouraging and empowering.

We all shared a unanimous agreement and continued on preparing.

I wasn’t joking when I said I would be practical. I pulled out one of my mothers old gowns from a battered box that was hidden deep under my suitcase. It was off white, with a few hints of lavender and creamy grey. The dress was long-sleeved, made with loose and flowy material. The collar tapered upwards and into a modest keyhole neckline. On my waist rested a silver strap embezzled with crystals. It’s length reached the floor and the slightest movement swayed in the wind. It made me look like I was floating.

As we made our way to the entrance of the gala, men in black suit tailcoats took our coats and opened the grand doors. I was in shock at the beauty of the room.

The entire ceiling look painted on by Michelangelo, in between hung massive sparkling chandeliers. The windows were from ceiling to floor and draped in expensive red velvet curtains. I gazed in awe at the marbled floor that were polished so well we could see our reflection from it.

Light music hummed tastefully in the air as my friends were whisked off by the boys for a dance.

“Y/n!” A savvy voice called out from across the crowd. Turning around I found the Wayne brothers around a table. I managed a wave.

They waved back and invited me over. How could I refuse? Steeling my nerves, I walked towards them.

“Good evening.” I said politely.

“You look stunning.” Dick complimented. Beside him was a woman with incredibly dazzling red hair, it almost looked like it was on fire. Her bright smile reached up to her green eyes. “This is Kory. Kory Anders. Kory, Y/n.”

She stood up tall and shook my outstretched hand.

“Pleasure.” I said as I introduced myself.

“It is glorious to finally meet you.” She said. “I have heard many things.”

I noted her slight accent and choice of words. She must’ve come from another country.

“All good I hope.” I chuckled nervously.

Her smile only widened. “You need not worry.”

“Would you like to sit with us?” Tim offered.

I looked across the dance hall and saw that my friends were already at their own table. I accepted it and sat down at the last seat which was available, and as fate would have it, it was next to Damian.

When I moved to take my place, his perfume infiltrated my senses, leaving me slightly light headed. I pushed my qualms away not wanting to look rude.

“Hello again.” I spoke to him.

Damian nodded, his expression unreadable.

We made small talk, and discussed about the what I should be expecting when I started working at their fathers’ company. They gave me the basic ropes and tried to ease the pressure away.

Then the topic moved to my invention. I told them how I actually got the idea from my dad, they found it honourable in a way. I felt a sense of pride blossom.

Jokes went around as the food was being served. I quickly learnt Dick had the worst case of pun-overdrive, yet it still had me giggling because of how bad it was. Jason was not any better at his come backs to his brothers play on words. They made quiet the duo. Kory laughed heartily between them. Tim and Damian were taking turns lightly jabbing one another, it was almost endearing. As I looked at them from where I sat I couldn’t help but miss the simpler times my family and I shared.

The melody from the band took a slow turn and I saw Dick stand up.

“May I have this dance?” He offered his hand to Kory and exaggerated a bow.

“I would be delighted.” She giggled and let herself be swept onto the dance floor.

I watched as they danced to a slow waltz. Her hands were on his neck as his was kept firmly on the small of her back. They looked lovely together.

“That’s my cue.” Jason spoke up, his eyes gazing the crowd for what I assume was a possible dance partner.

Tim followed shortly behind, but not without leaving us with a wink and tap on his nose.

Damian cleared his throat, breaking my reverie.

He stood and offered his hand. “Would you like to dance?”

I blinked at him, surprised that he actually asked. I gingerly put my hand on his and nodded.

He expertly sashayed us to the middle and twirled me around before moving us to the rhythm of the music.

“You’re good.” I should’ve known he was a skilled dancer.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” He replied.

His scent was overwhelming, especially being this close to him. I reminded myself that his boy could very well be Robin.

Robin, the vigilante. I sighed inwardly. How could I have forgotten? But if he was then… My hand that was on his shoulder tightened ever so slightly as I remembered the gun shot.

“Is everything okay?” Damian asked, squeezing my hand.

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” I lied. The urge to just ask him never felt so powerful until this moment.

It’s not your place to know. I scolded myself for being presumptuous. This could all have been a big misunderstanding on my part, and I could very well upset him if I asked, not to mention embarrass myself. It wasn’t that I wanted to pry, but the bond I shared with my soulmate only seemed to strengthen these past few days. It drew us closer but I couldn’t begin to explain how. You hugged him, you hugged a stranger – that is a mystery in itself, my inner muse stated.

But then the question of the day was; if he was aware of who I was. There was no way he could possibly tell, there was no proof except for the time I cried out in pain when he got shot. Then again, anyone would’ve screamed if they witnessed that.

I settled with the verdict that he most likely doesn’t know.

“I’d like to apologise about yesterday.” Damian said, sounding solemn. “My brothers have been a thorn to my side ever since I could remember.”

I laughed. “It was embarrassing, but I forgive you, and your brothers.” He visibly relaxed. “It felt like I was reliving some old memories.”

“Do you have siblings as well?”

I shook my head. “No, but it would be nice to. Unfortunately right now it’s just me and my mom. It gets a little lonely but we manage.”

Damian let out a quiet ‘oh’ before lapsing into silence again. I didn’t want to kill the mood so I quickly thought of what to say to keep the conversation going.

“So what about you?” I asked. “I mean, anything you’re comfortable sharing of course.”

The boy sighed and looked up to think before answering.

“I like to paint.” He said. My eyes grew wide at that.

“For real?”

He arched a brow in confusion. “Yes. Is something wrong with that?”

I quickly shook my head again. “No, no of course not. I just, well, it’s surprising. That’s all.”

“Tt, not something you expected?” He teased lightly which only made me surprised all the more.

Was he trying to – flirt?

I laughed. “Guilty as charged.”

Damian looked a little proud of himself.

“What do you like to paint?” I asked curiously.

“Mostly portraits.” He answered easily. “And my pets.”

I gave a fake gasp. “The Damian Wayne, painting his pets. I would never have guessed.”

He smirked.

“So, is it a dog?” I asked.

“Yes, there’s a dog.”

“There’s? Meaning there are more?”

He smirked again this time wider.

“A cat.” I guessed.

He nodded. “Yes there’s a cat too. Though I doubt you’d be able to guess the rest of them.”

Laughing again, I shook my head in disbelief. “You are one intriguing person, Damian Wayne.”

“I could say the same about you.” He told me squarely.

The heat on my cheeks creept up. I looked away a little embarrassed.

He opened his mouth to say something to me, but was cut off.

I heard screams.

Damian quickly pushed me to the ground and shielded me as the glass windows shattered. The shards fell ferociously all around us.

“Fuck.” He gritted his teeth and looked down at me. “Are you okay?”

I nodded. “What was that?” I clutched my head, my ears were ringing from the sound of the blast that shattered the windows. I looked around panicked and scared.

“Don’t know.” He told me gruffly as he pulled us both back up.

Grappling hooks shot up from the broken windows and before I knew it I saw the pointed end of a sword aimed towards Damian’s.

“Damian!”

In that moment I cast aside all the doubts. I still wasn’t sure but if by a long shot; this was Robin, if Damian was Robin, then he could do something about this.

He knew how to fight. Unlike me. If I could give him a head start or a fighting chance, then he and the other superheroes could save everyone.

That’s what I told myself anyway as time stilled and I took the leap.

The blade sliced into my lower back and for a split second all I could feel was searing hot white pain. I cried out as it rippled through my torso. The sword was pulled out just as quick as it was pushed in. I could swear the world was tipping over. The blood had gushed out and I found it staining Damian’s pristine suit.

I could barely hear Damian’s scream as I phased in and out of consciousness. Somehow he had blocked another hit that was aimed at us before kicking the man as far away as possible. He pulled me towards him and muttered something incoherent before dashing across the hall.

The warmth of my own blood pooled over me. Mom would kill me when she saw the stain, if I wouldn’t bleed to death before she finds out that is.

“Shitshitshit, y/n!” He ducked behind a table and grabbed a bunch of  napkins, applying pressure as he held it against my stomach. “Stay with me, you’re going to be alright.”

I weakly nodded, feeling sick to my stomach at the smell of iron and sudden blood loss.

“Fuck.” Jason slid next to us as the gunshots started to fire. He noticed me and his features paled. “Oh, shit.”

“Jason, I need to bring her somewhere safe!” Damian said, his voice urgent.

“All citizen, please evacuate the building!” A strong voice bellowed from above us. It was a woman, dressed in purple. Her hair was on fire (literally) as it trailed behind her.

Starfire. But what was she doing in Metropolis…?

The people ran towards the entrance and a man in a tight body suit with a blue winged symbol on his chest directed the crowd flow.

Superboy zoomed in next, his features etched in worry as soon as he saw me. The wound must’ve been worse that I thought.

“What the hell is going on?!” Damian demanded from the superhero. “I thought this place was secured.”

“Kryptonite.” Superbly answered with an ominous tone. “I don’t know what happened but we should get the civilians – uh, you guys, to safety.”

The amendment wasn’t lost on me.

“Y/n, I’m going to find you after all this is over.” Damian promised. “Until then please, hang in there.”

I managed a weak smile and a sad excuse of a chuckle as the blood started to run down the corner of my mouth.

“I still need to guess the rest of your pets.” I joked, hoping to lighten the scene.

His response was a pained smile.

“Take her to Alfred.” He delicately passed me on to Superboy’s arms. “He’ll know what to do.”

Superboy nodded and flew away. The last thing I remembered was Nightwing and Starfire fighting off mechanical robots and ninja assassins. After that, my world went dark.

...

...

... to be continued ...

[lavendertwilight89]

Hi AngelHedgehog from AO3. Can you do please do prompt 18. “I wanna cuddle but if I touch you I might not be able to stop.”

Here you go! Finally! 

Tagging some pep’s

@lemonlushff @dangerouspompadour @sarah-writes-stories @keichanz @akitokihojo @superpixie42

Also posted here

It had been three months. Three moon cycles. Three. One. Two. Three. She was going absolutely CRAZY.

Kagome had returned to the feudal era three months ago. Inuyasha had pulled her from the well and they shared a quick embrace before being interrupted by their friends. He hadn’t been embarrassed by the exchange; he had seemed at peace with it. When they had arrived at the village to visit with the others, she had thought he was sending her signals that he wanted to be alone with her later… signals she couldn’t have agreed more with.

But something changed between when they arrived at Kaede’s and parted for the evening. He seemed like he grew uncomfortable, nervous, and even slightly agitated. Like someone made fun of him for something. She replayed the night over and over and could never come up with what happened to upset him and what changed his welcoming loving behavior to distant and irritated.

His behavior towards her had changed drastically. When they were in Kaede’s hut, he had sat close, touched her freely, his hand had rested on her lower back, he had smiled with ease… then it warped to distant, like how they had been back when they traveled together. But if anything, his temper was shorter. His distance he put between them was even more forcefully maintained. Anytime she tried to close the space between them, tried to talk to him about personal stuff, try in any way to open up to her, he would dart off with some lame excuse…

Then she noticed that girl coming around more and more… Her name was Satsuki. She was the headman’s daughter. Beautiful, graceful, cheery, and everything Kagome felt she was not. Satsuki just celebrated her sixteenth birthday and was looking for a husband. Much to Kagome’s dismay, she noticed her sights were set on the half-demon. She also noticed Satsuki, while she was kind to her in front of others, when it was just the two them, Satsuki made her… displeasure for her known. In the most underhanded ways. Her subtle hints of her leaving the village to aid another, to return to her travels like before, possibly resigning from her priestess duties all together and find a husband of her own… The thoughts made her shiver. Satsuki originally made hints in front of Inuyasha who made his distaste for the conversation known; that was when Satsuki would wait until a villager pulled him away to add her negative energy to the air. Almost like she was trying to push Kagome into acting without thinking.

What Kagome couldn’t understand was why she bothered; Inuyasha had no real interest in her. Or so it seemed anyway if anything, he just wanted to be friends with Kagome. The coldness front he put up made it more than apparent. It didn’t look like he was interested in Satsuki either though to Kagome’s relief. Not really. At least, Kagome thought hopefully that was the case. When Satsuki was around, he would edge closer to Kagome. He seemed disinterested in her flirtations but was friendly enough to not completely tell her to leave them alone. But he didn’t overly push himself onto Kagome. He more than likely had sought her out for comfort over being flirted with when the advances were unwanted.

Kagome took to asking Sango and Miroku about Inuyasha and how he spent his time when they had been separated. Sango had told her that he was lonely, he spent almost all his nights out in his forest away from everyone. When the twins came, he began to come around more to help them, to be apart of something finally… But even then, he was distant. Reserved. Sad. Lonely. He never shared his feelings and refused to talk about Kagome with anyone except maybe Kaede.

They were surprised to hear Satsuki was displaying such interest in the half-demon, but knew she had been sneaking into his forest for the past year or so… They didn’t think anything came from it. He never invited her to join them for dinner or had her visit them with him. Her little walks never made him emerge from his forest anymore than he had previously. He never mentioned anything to them either. They were shocked to know how he had been treating Kagome and were confused as well as they knew her loss had devastated him because of his feelings for her.

Sango assured her to just give it time though. He would come around. He could possibly be still reeling from her return.

“You know how he is Kagome; he can’t admit his feelings out loud to even save his own life,” Sango soothed as she washed Kagome’s hair in the hot spring.

“Sango, it’s been three months!!! I…I really thought he felt the same. I gave up everything to return here. I mean, I’m so happy to have family like you, Miroku, the girls, and your son… But… Sigh. Not that I would have changed my mind, I still would have returned, but I just thought we both wanted the same things,” Kagome sighed. She loved this time she could spend with her friend. Kohaku had come for a visit and Sango convinced him to stay with Miroku to aid him with the kids so that Kirara, her, and Kagome could visit a nearby hot spring. Sango had said they needed some time without sensitive ears. Inuyasha had been helping the headman with something, so they left without a word. Sango smirked at the idea knowing he would come running the moment he found out Kagome was gone.

Over the three years of Kagome and Inuyasha’s separation, Sango knew Inuyasha loved Kagome. She knew he loved her before they were even separated. He was just too bone-headed to admit it! She wasn’t sure what the hold up was with the half-demon either. He had looked so relieved and at free when Kagome had returned. So open and ready to be with her… then something changed inside Kaede’s hut. He pulled back and put up an even thicker wall than he had when they were traveling in search of the jewel shards. Miroku had tried to talk to him about it but was brushed off or told to ‘can it’. She wasn’t sure what happened. None of them were. She felt bad for her best friends. She knew deep down how much Kagome loved the stubborn hanyou. It just wasn’t fair! He was not only torturing himself, but her friend she treated like her sister.

She heard shuffling through the bushes and smiled as she rinsed out Kagome’s hair. She knew who it was. Controlling herself from laughing out loud, she was about to say something when she heard more of a stumble behind her. She stood up grabbing her nearby katana ready to defend Kagome and herself if Inuyasha didn’t catch the perpetrator while Kirara jumped up growling. Kagome shrieked and ducked further in the water when Satsuki emerged. Sango’s eyes narrowed and she resisted with all her might to groan with annoyance.

“Satsuki,” she tried not to sound fake as she ground out her name. “What are you doing here?”

“Shippo came to the village while you were gone and Inuyasha was helping my father; I was asked to help him to your home, Lady Kagome, and noticed you were gone. I went and visited your home, Sango, and your husband said you were both here. I took it upon myself to escort him to you.” Shippo jumped out from the bushes looking strained and faking happiness.

“Kagome!” he said as he launched himself in her arms. She caught him without struggle and smiled at him, losing all the tension in her face caused by Satasuki’s interruption.

“Hi Shippo! How was the academy this time? Learn anything new?”

“I advanced again!”

“Do you ladies mind if I joined you? I’ve had such a long day, a bath sounds wonderful,” she said with an underlying tone of flirtation. Sango tried to not to show the young girl that she was seething—she knew Inuyasha wasn’t far from here—she was putting on a show for him. It disgusted Sango that this child was acting for brazen for him. Shippo more than likely was told by Inuyasha to hush when he arrived but Satsuki wasn’t dumb. She knew he wouldn’t have stayed away knowing Kagome wasn’t in the village… Satsuki had asked Miroku about Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship and he hadn’t lied when he said the half-demon cared deeply for the priestess. But the young girl took that as, he was her protector since he was guardian for the village.

“Of course not, Satsuki,” Kagome offered politely. Sango shot her a look for Kagome only to shrug in response. She was too giving. Sango also surmised Kagome probably didn’t realize Inuyasha was within ear shot and also didn’t want to upset the young woman.

“Great!” she exclaimed as she stripped her clothing. Sango rolled her eyes looking at Kagome as she sank back into the water. Satsuki joined happily and sat between Sango and Kagome. “How was your day today, Lady Kagome? Anything exciting?”

“No, not today—Inuyasha accompanied Jenji and I in picking some herbs deep within the forest.”

“Oh yes, that was before my father asked for his assistance. He’s been helping my father add on to our home. He wants to train me and my future husband how to manage the village once he is ready to step down.”

“That’s very nice he would be willing to leave the responsibilities to you,” Sango said nicely.

“Yes, he was inviting Inuyasha in for tea to discuss… a proposition when Shippo arrived,” she said shooting narrowed eyes at the fox demon who was swimming along on his back not paying attention in the slightest.

“Ah, I see,” Kagome said trying not to sound too uncomfortable.

“Tell me Lady Kagome, have you given any thought to what you’ll do once you have completed your training?”

“What do you mean?” she replied curiously.

“Well, what we had talked about in the past? Leaving the village for another who needs a priestess as we already have one and a monk or even thinking about stepping down finding a husband?” she smirked.

“Why would I go through the training just to step down?” Kagome asked, feeling like she was being led. She was unsure why she was asking such a question here—now in front of her friend when they already had this discussion many times alone.

Sango grimaced. She knew what Satsuki was implying and it made her sick. It all fit then. Inuyasha thought because Kagome was a priestess, nothing could ever happen between them. Kikyo had made it clear if she was a priestess, they couldn’t be together until she had become a normal woman. Satsuki knew Inuyasha’s feelings towards Kagome, even though she pretended to be unaware of the love he held for her, and knew if Kagome remained in the village, he would never move on from her if he thought there was a chance. If this girl wasn’t the headman’s daughter, she would have taken a swing at her face right then.

“I was just checking. You never know. I just could tell you aren’t… as happy as when you were traveling with your friends.”

“Things have changed Satsuki; that doesn’t mean I’m unhappy,” Kagome admonished.

“So… would it make you happy to hear that there may be a wedding for you to help perform soon?”

“What do you mean?” Sango asked nervously.

“Well, I’m not sure how the talk went, but I know my father was making preparations to ask for Inuyasha to marry me next week over tea before I left.”

Sango’s eyes widened. Shippo stopped swimming and turned to look at her. Kagome swore her breath caught in her throat as she stared at the young girl glowing with happiness. Swallowing and trying to force a smile, Kagome finally spoke, “Th-that’s wonderful… Con-Congratulations.”

“Oh, Lady Kagome I’m so happy you accept! I was so intimidated by your relationship with Inuyasha, but hearing your praise tells me I never had anything to worry about.” Sango shot Kagome a look asking an unspoken question. Kagome, however, did not meet her eyes and stood up instead, unabashed by her lack of modesty. Grabbing her clothes, she dressed herself as Sango called her name until she finally met her eyes.

“Sango, I’m going to head back. I’m tired.”

“Wait! Kagome!”

“It’s fine, I’ll walk. I need to clear my head—Shippo I’ll see you at home?” Not waiting for a response, she pulled her quiver and bow onto her shoulder as she stepped into the trees.

“Did I say something wrong?” Satsuki asked innocently.

“Ugh! Inuyasha!” Sango yelled standing up in the water making Satsuki cover herself and act embarrassed. It took all the self-control Sango had not to yell at her to give up the act when Inuyasha jumped out of the bushes looking confused by the exchange that just occurred. Sango had three children, modesty was no longer her top priority especially when the half-demon only had eyes and a hard-on for her best friend. “Look you thick-headed idiot! By refusing Kagome, you have gotten yourself into this mess! Let me make this clear for you,” she said crossing her arms over her chest. “Kagome never meant to turn down your advances the day she returned by asking to be trained as a priestess! You know she isn’t Kikyo and never felt the same about demon and human relations! Now get your head out of your ass and go get her!!! She’s in love you and you better just own up to it before you lose her!!!”

Inuyasha had been stunned by what he had overheard. He had left the headman’s house after their discussion about Satsuki. He made it clear to the headman the marriage was not an option. He only had eyes for one person, and she had decided to be a priestess… The headman had been more than understanding having had watched the relationship grow between the young miko and half demon all those years ago. He had given him his blessings as long as Kagome accepted.

Inuyasha was shocked. Crestfallen. Mortified she was allowing the close proximity between them when she brought being trained up in front of Kaede. He put distance between them. He wanted to be respectful of the choice she chose… He was completely taken off guard when the headman blessed such a union.

Said choice Kagome made however caused Inuyasha to be more irritable than before though. He was a mature adult half demon who was in love with the beautiful maiden from the future. He often had to escape the village to beat one off because he could tell his attitude and words were hurting Kagome. She had chosen to be a priestess, not him. He couldn’t and wouldn’t hurt her for the choice she made. She came back. To be with them. Even if it wasn’t the way he originally wanted, she was still here… That was enough. It would have been enough.

Hearing Sango lay it all out for him, in the nude none the less leaving her body uncovered while Satsuki reeked of eagerness and arousal behind her nearly paralyzed him. Disgust for Satsuki for putting Kagome and himself in this situation. Anger she reeked of arousal thinking she could ever entice him with her body that was in no way comparable to Kagome’s beautiful womanly curves. Stupid for being so dumb and blind all at the same time. Even the fucking headman saw what Kagome wanted and went ahead and blessed them none the less. He was the only one holding back their possible relationship.

He took off after her without another word to Sango hearing Satsuki call after him all the while she was being chastised by Sango for being indecent. Thank God for crazy demon slayers.

 Kagome was walking through the forest after her initial sprint away from the hot springs. She didn’t want to show her sadness to Satsuki and if Inuyasha was going to accept the proposal like she made it sound, Kagome couldn’t stop him. It was fine. They were friends. It was okay. She would just… focus only her on priestess duties… Like other priestesses before her…

She stopped running and gasped heavily; she felt her heart breaking. She wanted to have his children. Her babies were supposed to have the same cute little ears adorned on their heads. The silvery luscious locks flowing down their backs, bright golden eyes full of joy… Everything she ever wanted and dreamed about was being ripped from her…

The stupid well. The jewel. It cursed everyone and everything it came in to contact with. She couldn’t be mad at Inuyasha for moving on. She could be mad at him for not telling her, but, in the end, they were friends. He hadn’t been trying to hurt her…

She sank down to sit against a tree and huddled into a ball. Her arms wrapped around her legs and her head was buried in her knees as she felt her hot tears start to rain down her cheeks soaking her pants. She had to get it all out now. She couldn’t do this to him. She had to be strong. Be happy. Be what he needed from her all along, a friend… just a friend.

Something plopped down in front of her startling her to sit up to brace the tree to only be face to face with Inuyasha. Damnit! He probably followed Satsuki to make sure she was safe. But then why was he there? Satsuki had still been back at the hot springs…

“Inuyasha? Wh-what are you doing here?” she asked hastily wiping her eyes, trying to hide evidence of her pain.

“Following you, stupid. Why’d you run off? Don’t you realize how dangerous it is for you be running through this area alone?” he asked although he knew the answer.

“I-I—needed to clear my head of couple things. That’s all. I heard about your upcoming wedding,” she said with a fake smile. “Congratulations. That’s… wonderful.” She could have thrown up on the spot with how bogus she sounded. She felt like she had swallowed a brick and her stomach hated consuming the weight of lies.

“Keh, who said I’m getting married??” he acted like he hadn’t eased dropped on the whole conversation. He honestly wasn’t sure if she would be relieved that he saw Satsuki’s games or if she’d be beyond furious for peeping and sit him into hole that came out on the mainland.

“Inuyasha, Satsuki told us. It’s okay if that’s what makes you happy. I—I understand if you moved on… It was three years ago after all. I was a child… I get it. I probably just mistook things between us. No need to explain anything else,” she said as she stood. Brushing herself off she refused to meet eye contact with the half-demon and began to walk again back to the village bow and arrows being held onto by her hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Your fiancé is back there with Sango. Probably shouldn’t leave her alone… As you said, it’s dangerous to be walking around at night alone. I don’t need you to protect me just because I’m a shrine maiden.” I want you to protect because you want to be with me…because you… because you love me…

Before she could take another step, he grabbed her arm harshly and pulled her back to meet his angry amber eyes as he took both her upper arms in his hands. Her scent was screaming lies, sadness, and overall, pity. Fuck that.

“Inu—”

“Shut up. Who said I moved on?? OR that you mistook anything? I’m just a fucking idiot. But what’s new? If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be the moron you fell in love with all those years ago,” he added a smirk staring down into her eyes.

“Wh-What?!” she blushed hotly.

“Kagome, are you done being so fucking oblivious? I don’t even like Satsuki that much. She’s a child. Yea, she came and kept me company here and there while you were gone but it meant nothing. She was just a… I wouldn’t even say friend; just someone to listen to really. Someone that just wanted to talk to me. But that didn’t make us friends or whatever the fuck you think that we are. Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kaede are the only real friends I have and that’s thanks to you.

“Kagome, you’re the only woman I want. The only woman I have ever wanted like that… Just because Satsuki likes me doesn’t mean I’m into her. There is nobody else I have ever seen the way I see you... I’m just stupid. I thought that you wanting to train as a priestess meant you didn’t want a… husband or anything. Before you say anything, I know you’re not Kikyo. I wasn’t comparin’ you. But no other priestess I’ve met has ever married either. And I’ve met plenty in my miserable experience.

“I should have just let you talk to me—I just… I didn’t wanna hear you turn me down. I didn’t want to hear you say really didn’t want to be with me like that. I was willing to live out the rest of your life with you, just by your side. As your friend. Just you, here, it would have been enough… Gah, if I had just manned up and listened it woulda saved me the agony of running off into the forest every day to release the tension—” he realized at that moment he had likely said too much. She may not even want a physical relationship. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

His eyes searched hers for disgust, uneasiness, anything… but those beautiful bright blue sapphires just gazed back at him in shock.

“I—I don’t understand… do you… love me? Is—is that what you’re trying to say??”

“Kagome, I never stopped thinking about you when we were apart. I was so stupid—I still am a fucking idiot. You know that. Three years may have passed, but who I am never changed. I’m still me just… somewhat more patient.

“When we did travel together, I didn’t appreciate your time or how you felt. I didn’t acknowledge you as much as I should have… By the time I did, I thought everything that could have been between us had been taken from me. Then you came back…” he lifted a hand from her arm to stroke her cheek. “Tell me it’s not too late. Tell me I’m not outta my damn mind thinking you were born for me, as I was born for you.”

She searched his eyes for teasing. Though he wasn’t really a joking type about this kind of stuff, she thought this was so out of the blue. But it did make sense thinking back to them all sitting around the fire the first night she was there and when she said she wanted to start training to be a priestess, he began to pull back. That’s why he had been embarrassed. That’s why he never wanted to talk about future stuff or… wait a minute, “What do you mean you’ve been running into the forest every day to ‘release tension’?”

“N-Nothing! Just trying to evade you,” he said trying to switch the subject looking away from her in embarrassment.

Understanding dawned on her though—his words echoed through her head of ‘the only woman he wanted like that’. OH. GOD. Her face lit up and she swore it was on fire. She clenched her thighs together from the feelings she was growing knowing he was doing th-that in the forest thinking about her!!!

Gasping, she swallowed and eyed him hesitantly, “Inuyasha… are-are you saying you want me as a man would want a wife?”

Her scent hit him like a boulder slamming its way down a mountain making him lower his head to her shoulder to try and gain some control over himself. He clutched her tightly on her arm and neck where his hands laid upon her body, “Kagome…We—We need to talk about all of this…”

“Sorry,” she said swallowing again trying to will her treacherous body to calm down. She pressed herself into his body dropping her bow and arrows as she shifted to wrap her arms around his muscular body making his hand move from her arm to her shoulders. He raised his head up taking a deep breath, gazed into her eyes, and his hand that had just sank to her neck rose back up to her cheek. “Can we leave here? Can you take us to—”

“Inuyasha!!!”

They both turned and saw an out of breath Satsuki approaching them. Sango ran up behind her with Kirara transformed and Shippo atop of her; Sango looked exasperated and mouthed ‘sorry’ for failing to grant them alone time.

Inuyasha growled having been caught in a compromising position with Kagome by the headman’s daughter. It could have been worse—but they hadn’t fully discussed or disclosed their relationship yet. They were just about to and then of all people, Satsuki had to come busting through the forest.

“Wh-what’s going on? Is everything okay with Lady Kagome?” she questioned hesitantly to Inuyasha.

“I’m fine Satsuki,” Kagome said in a huff of annoyance but sounded more like fatigue to the untrained ear. Inuyasha could tell only because he knew her. He knew her soul inside and out. He also felt her pain more than anymore at that moment.

“Sango take her back home,” Inuyasha said turning to face Kagome again, still unmoving from their original position. He could feel Kagome had tensed in his arms, but he wasn’t about to back down then. She had already seen them and clearly was in denial. He wanted to make it clear to the young girl who held his heart. His inner demon was screaming at him to take Kagome away from there though; to calm her, take her. Fuck her. Shit, he needed to control himself.

“Wait! I want to go with you, Inuyasha. I wanted to ask how everything went with my father this evening,” she admitted approaching them.

Kagome felt Inuyasha tense around her protectively and sensed the warning growl starting to vibrate in his chest as well as his demonic aura grow. She needed to act quickly before he lost control over himself. His demonic blood was likely reacting because Satsuki was trying to take him from his perceived mate. A lesson Kaede had taught her about. She needed to defuse the situation quickly. “Satsuki, I need to speak with Inuyasha. Please, go with Sango and I will visit later with Inuyasha.”

“Come on Satsuki,” Sango started before she was cut off again by Satsuki pulling away from her again.

“But Lady Kagome—this is highly improper—the position you are in—” Satsuki began.

Kagome closed her eyes in order to hide them as they rolled from Satsuki’s blatant ignorance, “Satsuki, I am the priestess of the village,” she said as she slid her hands out from his waist and clutched the front of his haori, hoping to hide the intimacy between them but not let him go. She was angry at the insinuation that she and him were having some kind of tryst. This was so much more than that—this was love. This was forever. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but this is between Inuyasha, the protector of this village, and I. After this matter has been resolved, we will meet with you and your father. You have my word as a shrine maiden. The Shikon no miko.”

Satsuki paused and considered her place as the headman’s daughter. She didn’t want to come across spoiled or anything but… the way Inuyasha was gazing at the priestess made her uncomfortable. Like he was still in love with her. She knew he overheard their conversation in the hot spring. How she intended to remain a priestess. Priestesses didn’t marry. If she acted with decency now, she should be able to maintain the air of maturity that he would be drawn to… She could only hope maybe he was telling her the news of his acceptance and that he was comforting her. Like a friend. That had to have been it.

“Alright… then I will await your arrival later this night?”

“Sure,” Inuyasha clipped in finally and without warning he picked her up throwing Kagome on his back then took off away from them not even caring Kagome’s weapon was left forgotten. He knew Sango would grab it. Taking her away was his priority.

Kagome held on without difficulty, having been used to this form of travel years ago. She had longed for it since her return but hadn’t been able to ask due to their misunderstandings. She sank into him and embraced him from behind. He really had been right; three years away from each other and they were still the same. Still bad at communicating. Still bad at allowing insecurities rule them. Not again. Not after this night. She had no intention of allowing him to pull away again.

They landed in front of the Sacred Tree—where it all began for them. He let her off his back and as if in a trance, she approached the tree and brushed the scar that was formed from his fifty-year seal. Her hand was suddenly stilled by his own. She turned to face him and was met by intense golden eyes pouring into her curious blue. Like he was staring into her soul. Questioning her. Probing her. God, her mouth went dry.

“Explain what you meant. I don’t want to assume anything anymore. Tell me what you want.”

“You,” she said without hesitation, breathlessly, begging him to act further.

“More,” he implored still staring into her eyes, willing her not to look away.

“Everything. I want everything with you. You, me, marriage, mating, kids… everything,” she whispered hastily.

“Why’d you make it clear to her you were a priestess then…? Mikos don’t—”

“Inuyasha. I’m not from this era. I told Kaede when we began training that if becoming a miko would interfere with our relationship then I only wanted to be a healer,” she said squeezing his hand. “I only told Satsuki that because this isn’t a tryst or an affair. You didn’t accept the proposal her father made. This is between you and me. She isn’t a part of this equation.”

He broke their hand contact and wrapped his hands around her waist and launched them into the tall tree and sat them both down on the branch keeping his right arm securely around her waist, pulling her into his side as he rested his face in her hair. While his instincts were telling him to slam her to the ground and rut her like a bitch in heat, marking her for all the see that she belonged to him—that she was his, his human side wanted to court her the way she should be. His demonic blood only relented with his heart because he knew she was the one. His mate. If doing things the traditional human way could allow him to claim her on all fours then fuck, give her anything right then and there.

“Kagome—”

“Inuyasha—” they pulled back and stared into each other’s eyes, realizing they both had something to say to each other.

“You-you first,” she stuttered nervously. She was so excited. Biting her lip from nerves, she silently prayed tonight would be the night. She wanted to be marked his before anyone could object. Even if someone did protest their union, she didn’t care. She’d live in a cave with him or happily would have spent the rest of their lives running away as long as they were together. But she knew they’d be accepted there in their village. Kaede held a decent amount of say in the village and Miroku ran his own temple. It seemed like Inuyasha had a good enough relationship with the headman… But with him turning down Satsuki, who knew if that would change. But the forest bore his name and served as the protector of the village. Would they really be willing to let him go because he didn’t love the headman’s daughter?

“I would like to… court you. Like a man would pursue a woman. If you’d be ok with that.”

“But Inuyasha, you’re not a normal man. You’re a half-demon. My half-demon. You don’t need to do things the human way or the demon way… We can do it our way. I’m already yours. I came back to be with you,” she said smiling. She snuggled into his chest hoping he’d catch onto her signals of wanting to be bonded right then and there as she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

He let out a staggering breath; her proximity was killing him. He wanted to take her right then and there in that moment she admonished she was his… “I—I wanna cuddle with you… but if I touch you, I might not be able to stop…”

“Then don’t,” her sultry voice conveyed as she lifted her head to relock eyes with him. Hers were glossed over with lust and desire. She pushed up to capture his mouth with her own and closed her eyes, praying to any God that would hear her he meant what he said—that he wouldn’t be able to stop. Gods did she want him. She wasn’t stranger to ‘relieving tension’ as he had put it earlier. She spent many lonely nights in her era fantasizing what it would be like with him. She had grown to learn what she liked and what would make her feel somewhat complete in their time apart, but she knew it was no where near close to what it would be like for real. When she came back be with him, her needs became worse and more demanding as she had the object of her affections within five feet of her but couldn’t touch him. It was like dangling cheese in front of a mouse. Taunting. Agonizing.

Swallowing his gasp as she shoved her tongue into his mouth, tasting him, learning what he fangs felt like on her tongue as she enticed him to explore her own orifice. While he had said he wouldn’t be able to stop himself, he still seemed hesitant to participate. She pulled away scared maybe she had overstepped his boundaries but was met with hungry eyes.

He pulled her face back to his where he rested their foreheads together while he panted and strained out his words through gritted teeth, “Kagome. I—There are things. Demon things.”

“Mating? Yes, I know, one of Kaede’s first lessons. Bonding, soul kind of stuff. One-woman kind of creatures. Forever, life extending. Please, I just want you, only you. I want to be your mate,” she brushed her fingers through his hair, pushing him with her body to straddle the tree branch, so that she could wrap her own legs around him and see exactly what she was too scared to look at those three years ago. She hoped she could even get an up-close look, even close the distance where she could wrap her mouth around it later.

“You—Gods—Am I really that dense?”

“Yes, now, please? I don’t want to beg but I will if you’re into that,” she exhaled finally onto top of his lap, their most intimate parts grazing making them both shudder and groan from passion.

“Fuck—Kagome—” he moaned grabbing onto her hips helping her move against him. He was already beyond hard and was trying not to blow his load at the first real touch he got of her. In his intense concentration, she had slipped her hands into his haori and kusode, scratching her nails on his bare chest. Feeling him in a brand-new way as she ravished his mouth with her own. She was rising and falling without much help from him, rubbing herself on him. Holy shittttttt. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said she had some experience in this area. It made him fucking jealous.

While he was trying to figure out how the fuck she knew what she was doing, his tops were undone along with his obi and his hakama ties. He gasped as he felt her mouth leave his and move down his jaw, neck, while it licked and then it came into contact with his—FUCK! His cock was in her mouth. HOLY. SHIT. His hands reactively went to her head while her tongue was twirling around his head which was already testing all his fucking control. The crafty wench then took him fully in her mouth and he about blacked out.

He was bigger than her fantasies. She couldn’t believe he was finally inside her. That she was touching him intimately. She planned on making this the best night of his life. Making it the best night of her own. She wanted to give him everything. Every first of hers, she wanted to share with him. She felt him pull up on her face to remove himself from her making her whine. She was met with red-tinted eyes making her cringe hoping she didn’t do it wrong. She had heard stories in school from her friends about how it was done. She tried to pay attention just in case she was ever given the opportunity to try it with him. It was one thing listening to stories and another actually performing the described acts.

“Inu—”

“Fuck, I have so many questions but that was amazing. I just don’t want to end the night like that. I want to be inside you in a different area—if that’s what you want. We don’t have to rush. We can take this slow. We can just explore tonight.”

“Let me put this in perspective for you, ‘Yash,” she said tangling her hands back into his hair to bring his face close to her own as she lightly rain kisses on his face. Her fingers edged closer as she finally made her way up to his ears and stroked lightly making him gasp and cringe from the blissful contact. “Three years I had to be without you. Three years I had to listen to my friends fall in and out of ��love’ with their high school boyfriends while the man I wanted to be with was separated from by five-hundred years of time. Three years I had to listen to them be able to touch and feel people they ‘wanted’ while I could only pray that I would be given just a chance to see you again. Those prayers were answered—and then I had to endure three of the longest months of being able to look but not touch. Talk, but not be heard. I want this. So bad. You. All of it.” She paused in her movements and let her deep blue eyes longingly gaze into his heated amber and let him give her an answer.

He pulled her to him and crashed his lips over her own as he hungrily swiped his tongue against her lips, begging for entrance. She granted it to him and eagerly took him as she felt his arms wrap around her body, pressing himself against her, leaving no extra space between them. His thoughts wandered to moving them off the tree so that he could take control, but he also didn’t want to risk having anyone see his Kagome like this. He wanted her to only be like this for him when they were alone. No one would ever see her like this but him. If he could protect her from seeking eyes, no one could ever ruin her reputation as the village priestess. His hands moved on their own into her kimono which made her gasp and knock him back into his senses.

He almost drew back but she arched her chest into his hands begging for him to give her more. He was too weak of a man to pull back. He’d been yearning for this for years. If Sota hadn’t interrupted that night before their battle with Naraku, who knows how far he would have taken her. His fingers kneaded her nipples through that lacy garment she wore to hold her breasts. God, if he wouldn’t be sat to high hell, he would use his claws to rip it off. Her panting only encouraged him to dive further moving his mouth to her cheek then down her jaw to lave her neck with his tongue enticing an appreciative whine as he moved his hands from her mounds and began to try and pull her kimono from her hakama.

Kagome helped him pull away the kimono while she undid her ties and she shimmed her pants down. She urged him to push back until his back met the trunk of the tree and then crawled back onto his lap, pants fully kicked off. Undoing her bra after she shrugged off her kimono, she pulled back and watched his reaction as she allowed him to look upon her freely. His mouth dropped and swallowed her breast whole while his hand pinched and teased her other. He kept one hand on her back, pinning her to him. He was making good on his word to not stop. Not that she seemed like she was backing down. She was still rubbing herself frantically on his hardened length, he felt the wetness from her panties and it drove him even further.

“God, Inuyasha,” she moaned loudly. Breathless and wanting more, she lifted herself and pulled her underwear aside to line herself up to take him fully inside her. She eased herself down for his tip be in contact with her wet entrance when he stilled and released her peak to look into her eyes.

“You’re sure about this?” he said breathlessly as his hands came back to rest and her hips steadying her.

“Always,” she breathed as she lowered herself down onto him. It stung. Not horribly but enough to where she was slightly uncomfortable. Her breath hitched and she lowered her head down onto his bare shoulder when she felt like she was being too stretched. Seeking comfort and grounding.

“Take your time,” he groaned out. Still holding her in place. She wasn’t fully seated on him and he didn’t want to push her. He knew it would be uncomfortable—he’d been around long enough to hear tales and stories about women losing their virginities. He was slightly appeased by the fact she was discomforted because it meant she hadn’t been with anyone else even though she had acted confident enough that he originally questioned it. He wouldn’t have cared though—she would always be his. He would have been jealous, but the fact this pure hearted girl chose him, gave up everything in her world to be with his homeless, dirty, worthless self… God how he loved this selfless woman. He would make sure she would never remember any of her former partners and that he only filled her mind.

She slowly pushed down more, feeling herself expand to fit his wide girth. She almost wished she had made him do this—but she was scared if she slowed down, he would want to wait, and she could possibly lose her chance. Well, that wasn’t entirely true—but she had waited long enough, damnit! She wanted him; she needed him. She finally pushed down to be fully seated on him and winced trying to hold back her tears not to frighten her lover but failed miserably.

What shocked her was when he had lifted her head from his shoulder, cupping her cheeks and softly caressing her face as he kissed the tears away apologizing to her.

“Wh-Why are you sorry?” she asked.

“I never want to hurt you Kagome, I know this is part of it, but—shit—I probably could have made this easier on you somehow,” he said looking away glaring in embarrassment.

She giggled and nuzzled his neck licking her way up to his jaw. He turned his head back to face her and let her kiss him. He returned the caress of their lips with tenderness and care to know how much he appreciated her. Everything she had ever done for him, including this, he would never be able to pay her back. But he swore he’d sure as hell try. He placed his hands on her hips and helped her rise off him then eased her back down.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and used her knees to thrust down onto him and while the bark of the branch dug into her skin, she was only feeling a rise in pleasure and the original sting fade away. She had never experienced this much desire and feeling before. She felt herself driving into him harder, trying to feel all of him, make him create sounds she had never heard before from his throat or chest—Gods she was on fire. Every sensation rippling through her made her feel somewhat more whole but at the same time, not totally complete. Not yet. She was working towards something so strong that she had never had before just using her fingers. This was so much more. As her thoughts raced, sweat dripped from her aching demanding body, sensual sounds emerged from her uncontrollable mouth, her tightening and spiraling core wanting more, she felt her walls tighten around him slightly. She was almost there. From the sounds of it, he was too.

He had never thought he, of all people, would experience an actual woman wanting to share this experience with him. Best of all though, it was Kagome. His future miko. His soulmate. His woman. God, he could smell her blood from her knees and the breaking of her virginal wall, and he wanted to make her stop, but he wasn’t strong enough. The scent of her blood was overpowered by her spicy cinnamon laced vanilla and cherry blossoms. His inner demon demanded to keep going. He was lost in a trance of her body bouncing and grinding on his own. It was a wonder he hadn’t fuckin’ come right then. Her spicy smell of arousal kept his hands locked on her hips still aiding her in her frantic dives down onto his hardened cock. He was close. He could feel his balls tightening begging for release. Just feeling her walls tighten around him was enough to make him lose himself but he had to give her as much as she had given him. He moved one of his hands from her hip since she was light enough to stabilize with only one and dove it in between them to the spot where she had been rubbing herself on him when this all started. He took her lips in his trying to push any additional desire through her, he tried to convey how much he needed her to find her completion with him.

She cried out only for it to be swallowed by his mouth and begged him not to stop his advances and if possible, moved faster, more erotic, on him. He ground his teeth pulling away letting her scream her enjoyment as he groaned loudly trying to keep himself in check until he felt her finish. He owed her that.

She exclaimed out his name loudly as she came, her walls tightening, wetness flowing onto him, seizing erratically around him pulling his own release from him as his teeth clenched and he roared loudly. She pulled his face down to her neck, gasping in bliss, silently begging him to mark her right then.

“Inuyasha—please—” she moaned pitifully. She didn’t have to ask again as he didn’t hesitate for a moment as his fangs bit into her shoulder. She whined, but not as much from pain as she thought, but more in a heated last moment surge of indulgence. Their reiki and youki swirled around each other, bonding, dancing, uniting for all eternity.

He finally released his fangs from her shoulder and panting, looked up to meet her tired eyes. He smirked and wiped the sweat from her own forehead with the back of his hand and then cupped her cheek. She smiled drowsily and leaned in to peck him gently. He returned the light touch and then lifted her off him, both whining and groaning from the loss of closeness. Her head fell back against his chest as she twirled his forelock in her finger and he stroked her back lovingly, happily rumbling away.

“Sorry wench, needed to do that before my body decided it was time for another round.” She blushed hotly making him laugh.

“Demon perk?”

“Oh yea—you don’t gotta wait for nothing. But don’t worry. I know your beat… We also should probably go talk to Satsuki. Not to ruin your afterglow but you gave her your word… Don’t want any trouble.”

“Sigh, you’re right… I’m… nervous though.”

“The headman already gave us our blessing if that’s what you’re scared of,” he smiled kindly as she lifted her head to question him with her eyes. “What? I didn’t ask… I just told him I wasn’t interested in Satsuki. He said he knew why and if you wanted that kind of relationship then he was okay with that…”

“Really? Not that—not that I would have cared. Obviously. I kind of just jumped in without asking questions.”

“Right. We’re both pretty good at that… But come on. Let’s get this over with and head back to your hut. Maybe you’ll be reenergized enough for another round where I get to ride you,” he smirked.

“I’m looking forward to it,” she winked back mischievously.

[imaginemae]

Adrien Agreste’s Inferiority Complex - SPOILER ALERT

This has been a long time coming:

-Telling Theo that he’s actually “the one in charge anyway” when Ladybug doesn’t show up (Copycat)

-Attempting to defeat an akumatized victim without Ladybug’s help, knowing damn well that he can’t capture akumas or fix everything (Copycat)

-”Why do I have to deal with these freaks, while you get to slip calmy ‘round back?” (The Pharaoh) 

-”You know sometimes I do have ideas” (Reflekta)

-Being expected to believe that Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth without being given any evidence or explanation. “I’m supposed to just accept that? (The Collector) 

-Ladybug being able to know Rena Rouge’s identity (Sapotis, Syren)

-Being kept in the dark about Master Fu from Ladybug and his own kwami (Syren)

Where am I going with this?

Adrien has exhibited thoughts of inadequacy in/out of his suit. 

I think this is worth examining a little bit more.

In the episode “Syren” Adrien gets irritated by Ladybug’s lack of communication with him. 

She knows Rena Rouge’s identity, she has access to Master Fu, and she “can’t tell” him about any of it. 

Ladybug took the grimoire, Ladybug suspected Gabriel, Ladybug often knows where akumas are hidden, and Chaton has been left in the dark about how she knows so much.

Because these instances have to do with her identity Marinette is stuck in a situation where she can’t tell Chat Noir. She can’t tell Chaton how she got the book because she stole it from Adrien which equals: Ladybug knows Adrien IRL.

She can’t tell Chat Noir about Master Fu because Chat Noir knowing could then equal him going to meet Master Fu himself which then equals Marinette and Adrien possibly running into each other.

Ladybug could tell Chat Noir that Rena Rouge is actually Alya Cesaire because Alya has helped them out before, but Alya being chosen as Rena Rouge could also arouse suspicion that Ladybug knows her IRL. 

The danger of having Chat Noir in the know is also amplified because Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth. One little slip up on Adrien’s part can/will be a huge problem (though the characters are unaware of this).

I have always been against Chat Noir not knowing as much, not because of their identities, but because they stressed so often in season one that they are a team. It’s not like Batman and Robin, it’s closer to Cloak and Dagger. One cannot do everything without the other - they are equals - yin and yang. 

So Adrien being upset about this and getting fed up is incredibly justified. Why is he the only one who has to fight for information? Why does he have to bribe his own kwami (granted Tikki wouldn’t tell Marinette anything until they got the book)? Why does he have to get left behind while Ladybug does not? 

A negative reaction from Adrien has been a long time coming, and the way his civilian life is does not help, but we’ll talk about that soon.

What ultimately bothers me is this: Adrien was willing to blackmail Plagg by threatening to take off his miraculous and leave it idling unless Plagg gave him information.

Let’s all think about that for a second.

Adrien Agreste, whose only source of freedom is through that ring, was willing to give up being Chat Noir because he wasn’t being treated as an equal. Even more so than that, he felt like he was being treated as if he was less significant than Ladybug. Adrien doesn’t feel like he is important. 

He explains in “Syren” that “no one will care” if he’s gone or that he’s “no one”, as if he, Adrien Agreste, is not needed as Chat Noir. Even though he’s proven again

(Taking the hit for Ladybug in “Timebreaker”)

(Taking the hit for Ladybug in “Dark Cupid��)

and again 

(Holding off an army while Ladybug was busy Marinette-ing in “Darkblade”)

(Scoping out the land for the Mime in “The Mime”)

(Catching that Ladybug’s miraculous was about to get stolen in “Antibug”)

and again

(Helping a struggling Ladybug take down Kagami in “Riposte”)

(Handling another army while Ladybug was busy Marinette-ing in “Befana”)

(Moving Ladybug away from danger while she was distracted in “Gigantitan”)

(Being the key component in taking down Gorizilla literally as Adrien and Chat Noir in “Gorizilla”)

(Sacrificing himself so Ladybug has a chance to fix everything in “Zombizou”)

that Ladybug clearly cannot do everything without him. He is needed. Just like Ladybug could not be just anyone, neither could Chat Noir.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just about Ladybug withholding information. 

No, this issue stems from Adrien’s civilian life as well. It’s not that he believes that nobody needs Chat Noir, it’s that he believes no one needs Adrien.

Inferiority Complex:  “an unrealistic feeling of general inadequacy caused by actual or supposed inferiority in one sphere”

Does everyone remember in “The Gamer” how Marinette breezily beat the video game and Adrien was struggling? Does everyone remember that little conversation they had??

That was a direct look into Adrien’s mindset. He actually believes he is "lame”. 

Let’s examine a few facts about Adrien’s life that we know:

1. He had one friend (Chloe) as a child, even when his Mother was around

2. He is not allowed to go outside without an entourage

3. He adored his kind, “overly dramatic”, and maybe controlling Mother (that’s another theory) who is now gone

4. His Father won’t tell him shit about Emilie’s disappearance and he knows for a fact that Gabriel hides stuff from him because he saw the safe behind the painting of Emilie

5. Gabriel shuns friendship like it’s the plague (”We Agrestes are solo artists”, Captain Hardrock) and won’t let Adrien hang out with his friends. He didn’t even want Adrien to go to school

6. Gabriel almost never eats dinner with Adrien, but won’t let Adrien make other plans

7. Even though he’s usually vibrant and outspoken as Chat Noir, he’s very careful about what he says to Gabriel whenever they have a conversation by being overly polite and kind

8. Adrien does piano, fencing, kung fu, Chinese (and apparently other languages) to never be shared or used with anyone else because GABRIEL WON’T LET HIM.

Notice the pattern? 

In Adrien’s little bubble his purpose is to...sit still and look pretty? Do everything Daddy says? Have things decided for him? And anything he wants is consistently put aside?

So in the actual world - where Ladybug is curing akumas and coming up with brilliant plans - what is his purpose? 

To the audience he is incredibly well-loved and important (I’d even go as far as to say he is the fandom’s favorite character), but to Adrien it feels like he believes that he is just another accessory, and the fact that Ladybug knows more about what’s going on adds to his feelings of insecurity.

The people who love him for modeling, his friends who love him for being kind - Adrien doesn’t see that as being needed or noticed because that’s not his true self. Chat Noir is closer to his true self, and Chat Noir gets overshadowed by Ladybug ALL THE TIME.

But then what about Ladybug herself? Ladybug who has always put her trust in Chat Noir? Ladybug who was willing to give up her miraculous to save him? Ladybug who found out Chaton was in love with her and then immediately gave him closure? Ladybug who convinced Master Fu to start including Chat Noir?

This is where I get pissed off. 

Ladybug does see Chaton as someone important and she has proven it even as Marinette.

-She has expressed how irreplaceable he is to her (”Anansi”)

-She has expressed she cares about and respects his feelings (”Glaciator”, “Frozer”)

-Tells him that Ladybug is lucky to have him (”Weredad”)

-Is never afraid to show how much she depends on him (”Antibug”, “Gorizilla”)

It’s because Adrien has been cut-off from the world all his life that he is so

O B LI V I O U S to it. 

In any other show, Adrien would be/become a villain. 

I got nervous in “Glaciator” and I got anxious in “Syren”. 

Adrien is a wonderful character because he is a good person despite all the misfortune in his life, but he has a breaking point.

The most recent episode “Chris Master” has led me to believe that we will see the crux of Adrien’s inferiority complex as there is a single moment where he seems genuinely taken aback that Ladybug is considered the most well-behaved kid in the world.

Despite the fact that he also made a similar comment in “Puppeteer” (”There’s only one goody-two-shoes around here, and I’m not her”).

The fact that Ladybug joked about it is worrisome because she did not catch the serious tone behind Chat Noir’s comment which could fuel Adrien’s inferiority complex. He may start believing that even Ladybug believes she is superior.

My theory is that this will blow up in everyone’s face this season. Chat Noir may turn into a villain, or be manipulated if someone else catches on to his insecurity (i/e Lila/Gabriel).

Next topics of discussion:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Guilt Complex

Marinette’s Dupain-Cheng’s Major Character Flaw

Adrien Agreste’s Major Character Flaw

[maximit3]

@mindninjax tagged me and what marquie says goes so INSERT SHRUG EMJOI. I know its late but you gotta bear with genius when genius is at work.rules: ship yourself with your favorite character and give headcanons on how your relationship would go Max X Shouta Aizawa

This is gonna be super self indulgent and cringy AND THAT'S OKAY. also I haven't written in awhile so y’all are gonna have to be patient with me.

 I work at UA as a history teacher for general studies, including the Hero courses because like that shits important. I am overly excitable and often get loud enough to hear from other classrooms when talking about the subject in general.

The first time I met Aizawa was two years ago when I was hired on and was being introduced to the other faculty.

Aizawa is definitely the most soft spoken teacher I meet, especially compared to Mic, but he’s polite and welcomes me. 

I start to make it a point to say hi to him every chance I get, because he seems lonely. Although later I find out he is in fact never alone and has many people who depend and look up to him, and not just the kids. I’m not shy and I’m not quiet, but I’m polite and I try to not annoy him. 

Our relationship changed when I walked into the teachers lounge one day and turned on the lights to find him asleep on the couch. He was startled and fell off of the couch and I was startled and I spilled my papers and then he just started laughing.

His laugh was the most charming thing I had ever heard and soon I found myself laughing too. I asked him if it was alright if I did some work here to be away from the others and he nodded politely and laid back down.

While I’m working he asks about me and how I ended up at UA, he's very calm and when I talk he listens and even comments on the things I seem the most excited about.

“I love history and every aspect of it. You have to study it and grow from it and continue to learn. A lot of people think history never changes, but it's all about perspective and how you use it. I just want the students to understand even in hero work how important looking at our past is. There are so many books and so many things to read, the learning is never done.” I realize I’m getting loud and animated and blush a little bit, “Sorry I know i got loud.

Aizawa smiled at me “Loud is nothing to be ashamed of, not when you're talking about your passion. You forget Mic is often a constant around me. History is something we all must learn and it takes a dedicated teacher to do it well, I’m glad the students have you.”

From that point on the relationship started small, but I noticed him passing by my classroom more often with some lame excuse about curriculum discussions. I always smile and take time to talk to him.

In the hallway I start to notice little smiles when we pass by that make my heart flutter.

He asked me to sit in on one of his field classes and watching him work with the students is a game changer. He's patient and listens to them, but he expects them to do their best and learn from what he's teaching. I know a lot of the other teachers question his tactics, but I can tell he cares for this class deeply and it warms my heart.

The day after the raid on the Yakuza compound when the news reported it, I raced to the hospital and flashed my UA ID. Before I could rush down the hall I saw him standing there talking to Izuku Midoryia and the relief that washed over me nearly buckled my knees. When he turned and saw me, there was a gentle smile on his face.

I stutter and make claims that I was worried about the students, which isn’t a lie I truly was, but it's obvious to the both of us I raced here for him. 

One day while getting ready to leave work he stopped by my classroom looking, nervous. He's out of his hero uniform and wearing only a long black t-shirt and dark jeans and his hair is pulled into a bun, it makes my heart stutter a bit. 

 “Hello Mr. Aizawa, is there something I can help you with? I was just about to head out…” I smile bubbly. 

“Uh no, Miss Maito, I was actually just...Well I wanted to know if you had dinner plans for tonight?” It's not a rush of words, even though I can tell he's nervous, but his voice is definitely shakier than his normal confident tone.

There is a moment where I have to replay his words in my head and make sure I haven’t misunderstood them, “Well no...I don’t think I have any plans. Is something that matter Mr. Aizawa?”

Then he smiles and the confidence returns, “I was wondering if you would like to join me tonight then and please,” and here he waivers for a second, “Call me Shota.”

I hope my smile isn’t as blinding as it feels and I start to bounce back and forth very slightly trying to contain how excited I am. “I would really like that Shota! Um, let me just grab my things. Um, I uh,” The words feel flustered in my head and I try to slow down and think through them. Aizawa seems to be holding back laughter. I chuckle nervously as I grab my things and then take a quick breath, “You can call me Max.”

Dates would include lots of museum visits and historical sites. But not just fancy museums and shit like we go to UFO museums and oddity museums.

Aizawa looks up conspiracy theories just to tease me and we once got into an argument about the Ningen.

Sometimes our dates are naps and It's so peaceful and it reminds me to slow down and enjoy the moment. Our relationship is all about balance and it's hard sometimes, but we compliment each other well. “Nerd” has become an affectionate term to the two of you.

Later we end up adopting Eri all of class 1A and three cats .

[rezhood]

Adrien Dupain-Vanily

Adrien in this AU is the son of Tom Dupain and Emilie Vanily (apart of my mlb family swap au or the “Adrien gets a break and a wholesome family au”)

Growing up in a healthy family Adrien is very outspoken about how he feels. If he’s sad he’s gonna say it if he’s mad he’s gonna say it. But he also has issues hiding his feelings as well, which sometimes makes him come off selfish or confrontational when that’s not his intention. He’s an open book.

He doesn’t shy away from becoming excited or coming off as brash or rude. He can talk and talk and talk for hours if he isn’t stopped. He talks fast and jumbled especially whenever he’s excited, nervous, or flustered.

Adrien is usually the polite boy who always sees good in people, just like he is in cannon. But he doesn’t shy away from letting some of his Chat personality come out as Adrien like he does in cannon. He can become overly boastful, too confident, and so overly dramatic at times. Especially the puns, puns are a Adrien trademark, and he’s so lame.

He has great reflexes and natural instincts, however his attention span is lacking big time. He tends to jump interest to interest really quickly, before getting super good at anything. He’s a boy with a lot of interests and experiences, but he’s not really an expert at anything.

He has a lot of interests but no real passion like a lot of his friends he has no idea what he wants to do when he grows up

He joined the fencing team at school two years ago, and it’s something he’s been able to stick to. He’s very good for the amount of time he’s been practicing, and his parents never miss a compitison. He’s not the best (Kagami will wreck him) but he is very passionate about it (more so than canon Adrien) so he improves everyday

Adrien is really into fashion, he likes to play around with his style and keep up with designers, brand, and trends. He’d never ask his parents to buy him some ridiculously priced clothing though, so he wears all knockoffs. He’s a fashion icon in his own mind.

Adrien isn’t a model and he’s not famous at all, so he doesn’t have any fans. But he’s still pretty popular, because he’s the handsome, nice, good at sports, and a wonderful baker what isn’t there to like.

Modeling is one of Adriens interests, however, and he would like to try it someday if given the opportunity. He has a lot of interests though (like writing, acting, dancing, stage production, teaching, styling, music, ext, ext, ext, oh and of course baking)

He’s still known Chloé since he was a kid, and was one of the only ones who would play with her when they were in younger. Now Chloé still sees Adrien as her future trophy boyfriend, and it really irritates him, but whenever he tries to stick up for himself she takes it out on his friends. It’s the worst. The poor kid (and school) have been dealing with “ADRIKINZ!” for 4 years now. On the bright side he can usually (sometimes) talk some sense into her when she’s being too awful.

Him and Nino have been best friends since they were kids, they’re practically family.

He still gets good grades but an A- isn’t the worst grade he’s ever gotten

Adrien is a normal kid but because of his uncertainty in what he wants to pursue he’s scared he’s going to end up living a totally uneventful life forever cursed to be the most normal person to ever exist

When he becomes Chat Noir for the first time he starts off super excited but gets cold feet really quickly because “he’s just a normal guy he’s not cut out for this” and has a lot of anxiety over it. He ends up being the one to try and give his miraculous to Ayla, because he thinks she’ll do a better job than him.

Adrien developes a crush on Marinette because she’s kind to him, even after he accused him of being “a Chloé clone” on her first day, and she’s so sure of herself in what she wants to do and become in a way he admires.

[kenneth-omega]

Tequila Sunrise **Gwilym Lee**

A/N: Ok the name is literally just because the reader works in a bar in a really warm climate, holiday-popular spot, but it seemed low-key witty at the time. But yeah, this is based off the cute photos of Gwil from Top End Wedding. The idea of Gwil on holiday is so cute. I’m just doing some drabble writing before I get to the requests.

□■□■□■□■□

-you've been working abroad for around 2 years now, having decided to ditch your everyday, 9 to 5 job.

-although you've flicked between working in bars to restaurants, you've always said you'd never go back to your old job and house.

-every morning you get to cycle to work from your cosy, little house, taking in the sights and the locals. before you begin your shift, mainly serving workers and tourists on holiday.

-one day you're behind the bar, sorting out glasses whilst there's a lull in customers, the ceiling fans whirring gently overhead.

-you don't hear a small group of people come in, until they're stood at the bar chatting amongst themselves. you serve them with a smile, always genuine, and make sure to give their order through to the kitchen.

-you're not sure if they're tourists or not, a mix of accents coming through when they speak, but you recognise one as British.

-a male, tall and seemingly very sweet. his brown hair is wavy and flops down over his forehead, until he pushes it off his face by placing his sunglasses on his head.

-he gives you a friendly smile as he and his friends move to a table, and you can't help but follow him with your eyes as he walks away.

-you continue your work, the shift going at its normal pace, a couple of regulars dropping in and a family of obvious tourists. you've gotten a knack now of being able to pick them out. around half an hour later, there's a little sound of someone clearing their throat, although not in an impatient way.

-when you look over your shoulder, you see the British guy from earlier stood at the bar, his fingers drumming on the wooden surface as if he were nervous.

"hello! do you need something?" you ask him politely, walking over from the other side of the bar to stand in front of him. he's a good head higher than you, but you're stood far enough away that you can look up at him without having to crane your neck.

-he scratches his chin, itching the dark beard he's sporting as he looks at the different lagers and ales you have on tap. as he makes his decision, you get a real look at his face for the first time. his eyes are kind, and a startling shade of ocean blue, with long feathery eyelashes. he has a prominent, thin nose and strong jawline too. not the kind of guy you're used to seeing around town.

-definitely a tourist, you think sadly to yourself. no chance of seeing him again after today.

-he makes his choice with a nervous laugh, mentioning how he doesn't really know what the alcohol is like over here. you promise him he will enjoy it, and that it's on good recommendation.

-when he asks who you mean, you hand him his drink and change, and with a cheeky smile, you say "me."

-this gets him to laugh, not nervous like before, but rather smoothly, as though he had finally relaxed. he returns back to his table of friends, and you don't miss the regretful little shake of his head when one of them asks him something.

-when they've finished their meals, the sun is beginning to set and outside you can see that everywhere is illuminated by its soft amber glow. they say goodbye to you as they exit, until only British guy is left. you really ought to stop calling him "British guy", you thought.

-he comes up to the bar to say goodbye, instead of as he walks out the door like his other friends did, and you find this to be quite endearing.

-"sorry, I just wanted to come and giving you something, for being a really nice waitress..." he begins, putting a money note on the bar top. you're not sure if he realises he just put a twenty down, and so you slide it back, refusing to accept such a big tip.

-he presses your hand down over the bill, his warm, soft hand covering yours and making your heart dance a little.

-"please--" he insists, gently turning your hand over and popping the money into your palm, closing your fingers around it with his other hand. "you're really lovely, and it was nice to be served by you." he rambles on, and you find your heart sinking a little as you realise that in a minute he's going to leave, and you'll never see him again.

-you give in and accept his money, thanking him endlessly for being so generous and gentlemanly. he simply waves it off and pops his sunglasses back on, heading towards the door.

-"wait--" you call after him, watching him pause and turn back to look at you. "I would like to know your name, since you've been so nice to me it would be quite rude of me to keep referring to you as British guy."

-it was a lame excuse, but you hoped he wouldn't look into it too much, as you really did want to know his name.

-his raised eyebrows relax as he gives you a full, almost flirtatious, grin. "I'm Gwil." he tells you, before leaving with a little wave.

-Gwil.

-you fall asleep later that night with his name on your mind and his image seared onto your eyelids.

-the next day at work seems to drag on, as you serve the same family from yesterday who have no doubt made the restaurant/bar their "local" for the holiday.

-it gets to about late afternoon and you're getting ready to finish your shift, happy that it's finally the weekend.

-you plan to visit the beach after work, having brought a little bag of clothes to change into.

-just as you're about to clock off, in walks a familiar group of people, and your heart soars as you spot a tall brunette amongst them.

-Gwilym walks straight up to you behind the bar and gives you a friendly wave. however you can't go over to serve him as your co-worker who just clocked in steps behind the bar.

-he catches you as you come out, stopping you from going into the back where your stuff is.

-"hi! did I just catch you finishing your shift?" Gwilym asks, a little worried as he hopes he isn't annoying you by stopping you from getting to leave.

-you nod, "yes I just got off, I'm about to head to the beach, catch some rays." you inform him, not wanting to sound as though you were trying to invite him along, although you definitely were.

-he looks over to his friends that are ordering drinks. "why don't you join us? we were thinking of going for a drink and then the beach until it gets dark."

-you don't want to seem too pleased, but also not hesitant, and so you nibble on your lip as you question whether or not it would be a good idea.

-Gwil senses your pause and shakes his head. "of course if you don't want to that's completely fine, I get it that you had your own plans."

-"I'd love to join you, Gwil. just let me get changed out of my uniform?" you point to the door and he nods, his face lighting up considerably at you accepting his offer.

-you leave him to go tell his friends about you tagging along and hope they won't mind. you change into your swimwear and then throw some cut off denim shorts and a plain tank top over the top.

-had you of known, you would have tried to touch up your makeup a little, but all you could do was redo your hair and freshen up with some perfume.

-you find them sat at the same table as yesterday and join them with a shy wave to the people you don't know.

-Gwil scoots over to let you sit beside him and then proceeds to introduce you to everyone. you tell them your name, to which Gwil realises he never even asked for it, silently grimacing over his bad manners.

-"you've only known her for a grand total of two days, and already you look like an idiot, good job Gwil."

- you listen to the conversation, learning that they're actors, and are currently filming over here. intrigued, you ask them about the film, learning the name and characters.

-Gwil seems to be playing a sweet, funny, if not a little clueless, fiancé to one of the women of the group. you catch him already looking at you when you turn to ask him something, and so you poke your tongue out at him playfully.

-he returns it with a funny face of his own.

-after the group have sunk a few drinks, you all head out for the beach, only a short walk away from the restaurant.

-the sun is lower, so you don't have to worry about the strong rays burning you, meaning you can take of your shorts and vest and sit on the sand.

-they've all brought towels and sun cream, factor 50 no doubt. you've naturally tanned over the past two years; your skin have a gorgeous golden glow to it.

-Gwil sits himself down beside you, having removed his shirt and flip flops. he's not overly buff, and is all soft tummy and curves, which you find adorable and more your kind of type. despite that, he still has broad shoulders and as he leans back on his elbows, you can see the muscles in his back and abs tense up.

-you sit and bask in the sun, talking to Gwil about anything that comes to mind, whilst you bury your feet further into the warm sand.

-you learn about where he was born, his family full of doctors and professionals, and his friends back home. no mention of a girlfriend you notice, and it does nothing to calm your slight nerves.

-"no girlfriend? fiancée?" you ask him, turning over and lying on your front, now facing further up the beach as you speak to Gwilym.

-having tried to not stare the entire time you've sat beside him in just your swimwear, Gwil finds it very hard not to glance at your cute ass, which is lightly dusted with sand. thank God for sunglasses, or else he would be screwed.

-"n-no." Gwil stammers, a little nervously. it doesn't go unnoticed by you, and you scoot a little closer to him.

-"ah, well that's a shame. you're quite a catch." you tell him, nibbling your lip as he turns onto his side to face you, leaning on one shoulder.

-"am I really?" he hums, pushing his sunglasses up onto the top of his head. you mirror him, propping yourself up on one arm as you face him with a coy smile.

-"very much so." you reply, very aware of the fact that his eyes keep flicking between your face and other aspects of your body.

-"would you--uh, like to go out sometime?" Gwil asks you, his tone uncertain but hopeful. you nibble on your lower lip as you tide over his question, excitement bubbling in your stomach at the prospect of Gwil being interested in you.

-they're currently in the middle of filming, according to one of Gwil's co-stars, and so they'll be sticking around for a few more months. one date wouldn't be such a heart-crushing thing, surely?

-"of course." you respond, watching as a relieved smile graces his face.

-"g-great! pick you up tomorrow? how's seven sound?"

-you couldn't help but find his nervous stammering adorable, and reach out to place a hand on his bicep, the muscle tensing under your touch.

-"seven will be great, Gwil."

[theshatteredrose]

A Gathering of Guardians (Chapter 10) - Etrian Odyssey Nexus Fanfiction

AN: Yes, a new chapter! I’m steadily getting this prologue done, which makes me happy. So I hope you enjoy reading~!

AO3 | Wattpad | FFNet

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Chapter 10:

The dining hall was honestly larger than Oracle had anticipated. It certainly held enough seats and tables to seat a hundred people, give or take. It was currently bustling with a myriad of explorers. Some of Oracle’s own guild were already there, mingling with the others.

“Would you like me to introduce you to everyone?” Lynus suggested as he and Oracle walked into the hall.

Oracle shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Lynus smiled and tapped his cheek in thought. “Hm, where should I start then?” he hummed as he looked around the dining hall. He soon paused and his smile grew into that of fondness. “Oh. There’s Shiki. Let’s start there.”

Walking with Lynus, Oracle was led over to a tall, perhaps middle-aged man with one arm covered in bandages and a few noticeable scars. With him was a young child with blond hair and green eyes. Also, there were a myriad of beasts. One large white tiger and three wolves with different shades of fur.

Joren also stood with them, crouched to the ground as he kept a protective hold on his little lamb, Suzy. The beast companions didn’t appear too interested in the sheep, however. Jiri appeared to be attempting to ‘befriend’ the sabre-tooth white-tiger. However, the tiger simply stared at Jiri with s steely gaze. Not interested, certainly not intimidated.

Jiri reached out to pet the tiger, only for the white tiger to lift a large paw, place it atop of Jiri’s hand and…pushed it to the floor.

The man with grey hair laughed boisterous at the tiger’s actions. “Chi-hung is a bit fickle. Farley will play, though.” He then made a clicking noise with his tongue, earning a curious head tilt from a wolf with blueish silver fur. Then, he pointed to Jiri. “Farley. Sic em.”

The wolf immediately leapt up onto all fours and with a purely dopey-puppy expression, launched himself at Jiri. Jiri immediately went down, but he rolled away as the wolf attempted to place sloppy dog kisses all over him, his tail wagging a hundred miles a second.

The wolf’s reaction actually pleased Jiri and he jumped to his feet before crash-tackling the wolf in return. This earned another boisterous laugh from the man.

“Well, Jiri has a new best friend,” Oracle commented dryly as they approached.

“Farley is still such a pup,” the man said with a broad grin.

Lynus smiled politely as he regarded the man. “Shiki, this is Oracle. He’s the leader of Guild Aurora. Oracle, this is Shiki and his son Ghali.”

Shiki greeted him with a simple ‘hey’ while Ghali uttered a cute hello. Oracle nodded his head in return before he turned his attention to the small pack (or would it be pride?) of beasts.

“That’s quite the magnificent beast,” he said as he indicated to the large white tiger.

“Yes, Chi-hung the white tiger,” Lynus explained. “Then we have Farley, the wolf playing with Jiri. Wulfgar and his adopted little brother or son, depending on who you ask, is simply Wulfgar Jr. He won’t answer to any other name.”

“They’re harmless,” Shiki insisted. “They’ve been around livestock before.” He crouched down next to Joren and placed a fatherly hand on his shoulder. “Go on. Suzy will be fine.”

Joren was still quite uneasy, but slowly he loosened his hold on Suzy’s collar. “…Ok.” Though little Suzy herself appeared nervous, Chi-hung did not move. Slowly, Suzy trotted forward and Chi-hung finally lowered his head toward her. He gave her a curious sniff before, rather unexpectedly, licked the top of her rather affectionately.

Suzy stumbled, clearly surprised, while Shiki gave another carefree, boisterous laugh.

“See?” he said, triumphantly as he stood up.

“Chi-hung is nice,” Ghali insisted to Joren. “He lets me ride around on his back sometimes. He lets me stay with him when we’re flying.”

Ghali wandered over to Chi-hung and hugged his leg because, honestly, the child was so small and the tiger was rather large. The leg was the only place the child could wrap his arms around. It was no surprise that Jiri wanted to befriend the quite the magnificent beast.

“Chi-hung is also quite protective of his fellow beast companions,” Lynus added. “Which includes one snuggly house cat.”

Ghali pulled away from Chi-hung’s leg to look up at Shiki. “Dad? Is the building going to shake every time we go into the sky?”

Shiki’s gaze softened and he nodded his head. “Yes, I'm afraid so, kiddo.”

The bottom of Ghali’s lip trembled ever so slightly and he looked down at the floor. Pouting, or perhaps disappointed.

“Don't like flight, little one?” Oracle asked as he rested his hands on his knees and leaned forward.

Ghali looked up at him and shook his head. “It's scary.”

“Ah. We haven't experienced it yet. We can all be scared together then,” Oracle said, which brought a small smile to Ghali’s lips.

“Hey,” a sharp voice suddenly cut out through the dining hall. “I'm looking for someone called Oracle.”

Oracle immediately stood up straight and turned in the direction of the voice. He wasn’t bothered. Wasn’t the first time he had been publicly called out for something. “That's me.”

A man with blue hair, pale skin, and a sharp grin was the one at the centre of attention. While he appeared to be smirking, it wasn’t of amusement. He suddenly raised his right hand, revealing that he had someone by the collar of their shirt and was easily lifted them into the air.

And they looked familiar…

Black hair. Scar on forehead. Yellow eyes. Hideous orange vest.

Agata…

“This piece of trash yours?” he asked. “I caught him with his face pressed against a window, peeking in like some kind of sick pervert.”

“I'm not a pervert!” Agata immediately yelled disgruntledly before he abruptly folded his arms across his chest in an arrogant, matter-of-fact manner and nodded safely. “I just appreciate the natural beauty of my fellow man. Bahari understands!”

“Oi, don't associate me with you, Brat!”

The smirk on the blue-haired man’s lips turned decidedly feral. “There's more of you, huh?”

“...”

Oracle stared at Agata silently. Menacingly. He could see from the corner of his eye his guildmates tensing, slowly, cautiously pulling themselves into battle stances.

They then lunged at him as Oracle abruptly raised his hand into the air and attempted to summon forth a fireball, more than ready to lop it directly at that stupid cross scar on Agata’s forehead. Kardos wrapped his arms around Oracle’s waist, lifting him easily up off the ground. Caiden reached up to snuff out the fireball, while Jaxen snared Oracle’s other hand in a desperate attempt to prevent him from using that to summon another ball of fire.

All the while, the three of them were telling Oracle to “calm down” and “this shouldn’t be done inside” and something about “not a good look for a guild leader.” But he didn’t care.

The blue haired man dropped the kid with a bored look. Although, somewhat surprised by Oracle’s reaction, That infuriating brat, on the other hand, just stood there, pinkie finger in his nose, nonchalant and disinterested in Oracle. Instead casting a curious look around.

Insufferable little shit…

“D-did something happen?” Lynus stuttered, obviously quite surprised by Oracle’s actions and aggression.

“A-ah, Oracle just doesn’t like Agata,” Jaxen explained briefly as he kept a firm hold on Oracle’s arm, struggling in time with Oracle’s own flailing.

“Hey!” Agata whistled, sounding impress as he shoved his hands into his pockets to walk around idly. “There’s a lot of beautiful babes here, huh?”

He sent a disgusting little wink toward another medic with white hair and glasses (who deadpanned in return), and ignored the protective bristle from the man with brown hair next to him. Agata’s gaze then finally turned toward Lynus.

“Wow! You’re really beautiful!” Agata said excitedly as he appeared right in front of Lynus, causing the other man to take a step back in discomfort. “You seeing anyone?”

“Ah…” was all that Lynus could utter as he looked nervously at Agata.

Behind him, though, Shiki’s glare and presence were quite menacing. “I must admit, I don’t like him very much either…”

“He’s married, you worthless freeloader!” Oracle hissed as he continued to struggle against his guildmates.

“Aww,” Agata pouted dramatically. Overly dramatically.

“Just let me set his hair on fire,” Oracle demanded. “It won’t do any harm.”

But Kardos kept him firmly in place, in spite of his struggling. “Not the best introduction.”

“As if I care.”

“Agata! Yay, you’re here, too!”

The sound of Cress’ voice and his sudden appearance caused Oracle to immediately deflate, and those restraining him to breathe a sigh of relief. While he was more than willing to set Agata on fire in front of another guild, he was incapable of doing so with Cress around. The precious little inn-keeper liked that snot-nosed brat for some reason.

“Yup! As if I could turn down such an opportunity,” Agata said boisterously as Cress hugged him around the waist and nuzzled his face against his chest.

“You’re not here under good graces, kid,” Holt hissed as he made a sudden appearance, too, walking behind Agata to give him a light smack on the back of his head. “You need to earn your keep.”

“H-hey!” Agata shouted, disgruntled as he rubbed the back of his head. “I’m totally useful.”

Cress pulled back from the hug to grab onto Agata’s arms. “You can help me with the cleaning, Agata.”

“Cleaning? Lame,” Agata whined, but allowed Cress to pull him along nevertheless.

“No complaining!” Cress sung. Happily.

With the two out of sight, Oracle was finally released. Though he was still inwardly seething with annoyance. He continued to bristle silently, glaring in the direction Cress had dragged Agata in, even as Lynus approached him cautiously.

“Cress seems to like him,” he said.

Oracle’s eye twitched. “Unfortunately…”

Oracle didn’t hate Agata exactly. He hated that damn mask he wore. The cheerful, belligerent one. The one that not-so playfully flirted with others to hide his own pain.

That mask was annoying. There was no need for it.

“Um…how about we continue with the introductions?” Lynus offered gently.

Oracle sighed but nodded his head. “Fine.”

Before Lynus could guide him toward another of his guildmates, he unexpectedly tensed. He immediately turned to face the direction that Cress and Agata disappeared in. His brow furrowed slightly as another man appeared. Off-white hair and wearing maroon robes with chains.

And he was stumbling. Leaning against the wall for support as he clutched his forehead.

“Sorry, excuse me just a moment,” Lynus excused him before he hurried over to the other man.

“Hm,” Oracle simply hummed, and watched with some interest as Lynus began fussing.

“You didn't faint?” Lynus asked in a hushed whisper.

The other man straightened his posture suddenly and set about idly fixing up his hair and roes. “I don't always faint.”

“Just ninety-nine percent of the time.”

“Details. Besides, he isn't supposed to be here.”

Lynus audibly sighed. “He should be dead, I know.”

“No,” the other man said firmly, which caused Lynus to tense. “He should truly be dead. But someone else took his place. He's living on someone else's time.”

Oracle’s interest was immediately piqued and Lynus openly gaped at him before a distressed look appeared on his face. “...Don't you dare tell him that.”

“Please,” the man with the robes said dismissively. “I'm not that bad.”

He then walked away casually, and Lynus watched him silently. No doubt contemplating what he had just learnt. He stayed still for a moment before he shook his head, as if to clear it, before he turned and made his way back to Oracle with an apologetic expression.

“Sorry about that.”

“I overheard.” Oracle’s bluntness startled Lynus for a moment. “What did he mean? Was he speaking about Agata?”

Rather unexpectedly, Lynus sighed deeply and touched his forehead in a motion of exasperation. “He always leaves it to me,” he murmured before he straightened his posture and regarded Oracle once more, idly folding his arms across his torso as he did so. “Mahogany is a hexer with a particular skill. He is able to witness past events of others. The more traumatic the experience, the clearer he is able to view it for himself.”

So, it was Agata he was talking about. He must have seen what happened during that event within the Undersea Grotto.

Was he on borrowed time, though? Was that what he meant? What did that mean exactly?

“Interesting,” Oracle murmured as his gaze drifted to another set of doors. Through those, Agata appeared once again. Cress with him, happily snaring a hold of his wrist and either showing him around, or they were both exploring themselves.

Lynus stayed silent. Rather patiently at that. Waiting for Oracle to finish his ponderings as he, too, gazed at Agata with sympathy.

“I don't hate him,” Oracle admitted, obviously speaking about Agata. “Not fully. Maybe dislike him intensely would be more accurate. But what I do hate is the macho front he puts up to hide his pain.”

He sighed as his mind drifted to what occurred. To that event, as they called it.

“A few months ago, his teammate and childhood friend, who was like an older sister to him above all else, died in the labyrinth. Died protecting him. And he didn't mourn. He just went silent for a while. But he didn't seem to mourn. He doesn't talk about her. He doesn't seem to remember. But I know he does.” Oracle could barely suppress a bristle. “Doesn't his sister deserve at least five minutes of crying?”

Lynus was patient once again as he listened to Oracle. He nodded his head on occasion, showing that he was indeed listening closely. As Oracle finished, a small frown tugged at his lips.

“...I see,” he said. “Honestly, I was confused when I first saw him. His aura is far different than what he presents.”

“Perhaps you could speak to him?” Oracle found himself suggesting before he could reconsider. But in the end, it would make sense. After the way he was able to speak with Zydon and Kujura, perhaps he could speak with Agata, too?

“Maybe he would feel more comfortable speaking with someone other than who he knows well?”

Lynus wasn’t put-off or surprised by the request. Instead, he simply nodded his head, his mind briefly elsewhere. “Perhaps.”

“Though, he might be distracted by your beauty,” Oracle added, unable to stay serious for very long. “So, if it results in Axel murdering him, I'm fine with that, too.”

Lynus uttered a small, light-hearted laugh, though said nothing else.

Oracle’s attention was drawn to a man with blond hair and black clothing as he spoke to another, who appeared shirtless and wore gold and black armlets. However, it was the fluffy ginger and white cat that was draped comfortably over his shoulders that really caught his attention. That was likely the housecat that Lynus mentioned previously.

He watched as Kujura wheeled Zydon into the room as Zydon spoke with his brother. The three were focused on each other that they failed to truly realised that they walked past another. Only when the housecat perked up at the sight and shift upon the man’s shoulders, did the five of them acknowledge each other.

And it was when the cat climbed off of the blonde’s shoulder and unashamedly jumping onto Zydon’s lap that opened a venue for them to speak.

“Ah, s-sorry,” the blond uttered as he turned to regard Zydon. “Zanna likes a warm lap.”

Zydon looked down at the feline on his lap, a small but slightly amused smile on his lips as the cat began to make herself comfortable. “It’s fine. Her name is Zanna, then?”

“Un. She’s very affectionate.”

Zydon gave the cat a cautious pet, only for Zanna to butt his hand with her head, snuggling against his willingly. She then stood up on his lap, placed her front paws on his chest and began to butt her head under his chin.

That earned a small laugh from Zydon. Which was honestly quite remarkable as he hadn’t laughed or chuckled for a few months now. “I can see.”

“M-my name is Magnus,” the blond introduced and motioned to the man who stood silently behind him. “And this is Shen. Are you from Armoroad?”

Zanna continued to snuggle with Zydon as he regarded the two. “Yes, that’s right. My name is Zydon. This is Kujura and my brother Kyan.”

Hm. Zydon was speaking more, too. His chat with Lynus truly must have been beneficial for him. Or perhaps it was the friendly feline that was making him chatty.

Lynus had witnessed the scene as well. “Would you like to go over as well?” he asked Oracle softly.

“No,” Oracle immediately replied with a shake of his head. “Let them talk in peace.”

“Hm. You can always introduce yourself later,” Lynus added, which was very true.

“Wha! Agata, did you trip and fall?”

Startled, both Oracle and Lynus turned in the direction Cress’ voice originated from. And what they saw was rather unexpected. There was a trashcan and Agata appeared to be in it. Headfirst. Legs kicking out as he attempted to wobble the can enough to fall over so that he could crawl out.

“Are you ok?” Cress innocently asked, slight panic in his voice as he set about attempting to pull Agata out of the trashcan.

Lynus looked at the scene, not with surprise, but with exasperation. He sighed before he turned to regard anyone within the vicinity. “Do I need to ask who did this?”

People that Oracle hadn’t had the pleasure in meeting yet, all pointed to a man with long, blond hair with somewhat cheeky grins on their faces. And the blond-haired man was sat at a table, a myriad of arrows scattered about on the table in front of him as he set about sharpening the arrow heads.

Lynus uttered another sigh. Once again, there was no surprise. Not even a tiny bit. Which indicated to Oracle that finding someone headfirst in a trash can was somewhat of a common sight.

“I see. At least it’s not Benedict this time who ended up head first in the trash,” Lynus murmured before he gave Oracle an apologetic look. “Still, I should apologise.”

“Nonsense,” Oracle stated firmly, even waving a dismissive hand in Agata’s direction. “He definitely deserved it. I take it that the blond over there is a protective one, then?”

Lynus nodded his head. “That’s Tobyn. And he’s very protective.”

“Good, good,” Oracle said as he made a beeline for this Tobyn person.

He seemed like fun. Overly protective people were always fun. And creative.

As he headed over to the table, he noticed that Kardos and Axel were sat there, too. The two were just chatting casually, as the two blondes sat together a few seats up. Tobyn continued to work on his arrows while the other with short blond hair and kind blue eyes seemed to be attempting to get him to talk.

Lynus quickly introduced Oracle to the two, and he learnt that the other blond was named Jhon. And was Tobyn’s husband. Which explained the protectiveness. Jhon seemed nice enough. Polite. Somewhat like Caiden was. Politeness to the point that they were rather dull.

But the other blond…

“Tobyn, hm?” Oracle said as he quirked his head to the side in question. “Why don't you tell us something interesting about yourself?”

“I can dislocate someone's elbow with a set of chopsticks,” Tobyn answered wryly as he continued to work on the arrows, barely pausing to look up at Oracle to answer his question.

“Tobyn...” Jhon sighed, exasperatedly.

“No no, let the man talk,” Oracle insisted dryly as he sat on the other side of the table, granting his full attention to Tobyn. “This is vital information. Just the elbow?”

“No. I know how to dislocate every joint in a person's body.”

Hm, sounded painful for the victims. Good. Very good.

“Fascinating.” While Oracle’s tone was as dry as usual, he honestly was quite interested. And, well, amused for the most part. “I usually just set their heads on fire, but this sounds far more affective.”

And though Tobyn kept most of his lower face hidden in a red scarf, Oracle did indeed spy a slight smirk grace his lips. Jhon, however, just sighed. He was, no doubt, quite accustomed to Tobyn’s acts of violence.

“What of you, Axel?” Oracle called out to the redhead, pulling him out of his conversation with Kardos. “You seem the protective type.”

Axel glanced over at him through one eye and gave him an easy smile. “Absolutely. My preferred method is just punching them in the face. Gets the point across rather quickly. Though, I do know how to break a few more bones.”

Hmm, that sounded really painful. Definitely had merit. Hope he got to see him in action one day.

A few murmurings of surprised voice caused Oracle to lift his head up and turn to the noise once more. What he saw, he had to admit somewhat surprised him. Two humanoid beings with black wings and adorned in red and gold tribal clothing. One had red horns within his black hair while the other wore a half mask. Both were clearly male as neither wore shirts.

“Hm. Half-naked, winged bird-men as well,” Oracle said as a few members of his guild, and likely those of Lynus’, approached the pair as they walked into the room. One of them being Shobek. “This place is just Agata’s wet-dream, isn’t it?”

“Um, I don’t know about that,” Lynus said as he sat down next to him. “But they are the inhabitants of Yggdrasil in Lagaard. They are known as Winged Ones. The one with the half mask is Skylark. And the other is Cannan, leader of the Winged Ones.”

“Interesting,” Oracle muttered as he watched pair look upon Shobek with blatant curiosity. “They seem fascinated in Shobek.”

Lynus laughed lightly. “And Shobek seems fascinated, too.”

Oracle sat silently as he watched his guildmates as they began to mingle and settle in with their new surroundings. Kardos spoke easily with Axel. Zydon seemed content chatting with Magnus as he played with Zanna. Joren managed to pet Chi-hung as Jiri watched with jealousy, though seemed content enough to play with two wolves for now.

The others were also beginning to mingle.

It was honestly good to see. They had been through a shit-tonne of trouble in Armoroad. It was nice to get away from it all for a while. Months, years; didn’t matter.

He was reassured that they made the right decision.

… … … … …

The sprawling Windy Plains allowed for the residents to view the flying city of Maginia as he approached far off in the distance. Some of the residents of Tharsis watched in awe as such a large, perhaps cumbersome machine of human ingenuity ambled its way toward them.

Nitish stood out in the street as the morning sun filtered down around them. He watched with a few of his guildmates as the flying city grew closer. He could sense the feelings of fascination, interest, and a small amount of fear from the auras around him.

He wasn’t sure how he felt, however. He wasn’t scared or worried. But he did feel that Maginia was in the very near future for his guild. He had heard of rumours regarding an expedition.

“Nitish, we need to visit the Count now,” Roxbury said. “He wants to speak with us in his office before Maginia officially arrives.”

Clutching a notebook against his chest, Nitish nodded as his gaze remained on the approaching city. He then turned to join Roxbury and Isiah as they ventured down the familiar path toward Mark’s Grand Court.

[cutegirlmayra]

Jenna Commission Receipt

@aoi-hina Commission for Hero Academia Story

Time: Took me some time because I was graduating, but was able to write it in about a month or so. I did some research and wrote up a summary based on her requests, then I wrote it all out! :Db

Review: @aoi-hina : I finally finished reading it and w o w i’m so impressed??? Like bakugou is such a hard character to write for but you did it so well omg,,, and the ending made me so happy, he’s so cute 😂🥰 Thank you so much!! And i’m definitely interested in commissioning a sequel, when you open them again of course!!

Note: Absolutely! My pleasure ^^ I worked hard, lol! Thank you! I'm really happy!!!! xD I'm so glad! I worked hard trying to make sure it was well done!

Paid Amount: 15$ which was about 37 or so pages, but I ended up giving her around 50 pages, so more for her money XD (I care about the story lol)

Product Preview: With premission from @aoi-hina, here is the ROUGH DRAFT of the product.

A Spark to The Match

Commission for Aoi-Hina

By: Cutegirlmayra

 “You’re going to love it in Japan! UA is the best hero’s school there is. I know it’s hard to adjust to a new culture and people, but just think of all the adventures you can have there!” It was a loving voice, but one Jenna had learned to turn off and on when she needed to.

If she needed it…

She sat with her arms crossed, wearing her favorite, oversized jacket that let her curly brown hair drape over like curtains. It was comfy, that’s all.

Her uniform was ordered with the wrong size due to Japan’s normal measurements, so she was getting it resized, but her hero’s attire was just fine. She brought it all the way from America.

Saying goodbye to everyone wasn’t the hard part, it was knowing she couldn’t call them without paying extra that ticked her off.

Her hazel eyes scanned the classroom, simply out of boredom. Her acute attention to detail saw the scrapes made by the chairs on the floor, the ceiling punctures, and the chipped wood and plastic along the desks and doors.

She had to introduce herself, didn’t she?

How annoying is that?

She stuck her arms into her jacket’s pockets that connected to each other, picking at her nails a moment and looking down until someone in the class noticed her.

“Oh, are you new here?” Well, duh.

Jenna just gave her a sarcastic smile, perfectly crafted after so many years of practice. She leaned just enough down that her glasses drooped a little to her nose, “How can you tell?”

“I’m the president of class 1A, it’s my job to know the wellbeing of my class and each individual by name. As class president, I should also properly introduce myself to you as you are new here.“ the girl rambled on, but there was something genuine about her overly exerting herself to make a good impression and do what was considered ‘polite’.

Jenna smiled, though half-listening, and noticed another girl walking by her to sit down. This one had ear jacks connected to her ear lopes.

Sick.

“-and so I’m Momo Yaoyorozu. My quirk is-“ Momo suddenly realized that Jenna was distracted, and immediately cleared her throat. “My apologies. How incredibly rude of me. I haven’t even properly asked for your name yet.” She held her hand, balled gently near her mouth before lowering it to just below the neck.

She actually did look really sorry, which made Jenna’s attention turn back to her. She didn’t want to disappoint her, it wasn’t like she was being fake, she just wanted to make Jenna feel included and noticed.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, “And you are?”

Jenna watched as the world shone with a radiant shine around Momo, who extended her hand and bent down to kindly give a warm greeting to her.

Jenna was stubborn though, and just looked at the hand for a moment.

Freakin’ trust issues…

It was hard for Jenna to bring herself, even for this kind girl, to accept the friendly offer right away.

Momo’s eyes rounded and Jenna could see the sweat starting to fall down the sides of her face in fear. It was cute, seeing her struggle, but Jenna wouldn’t tease her for long.

She sighed, deciding to let her issues go and took her hand, “Jenna Everett.” She stated, nonchalantly.

“Oh! Your accent! Are you, by chance, American?” Momo’s eyes seemed to light up again at the prospect of a new transfer student.

“Yeah, how oddly romantic of a scene, huh?” Jenna wondered how she couldn’t tell, or maybe she blended in too well for her own good. It was her skills to be untraceable, undetected, and basically—all around sneaky.

Jenna played it cool and nodded towards Momo’s enthusiasm; knowing that foreign students, even in America, were somewhat a fantasized delight for the local students.

“Did you happen to come here because…“ Suddenly, there was another boy, nervously shaking as he approached the conversation. However, it only made her slightly suspicious of him, ‘Who the heck is this twerp?’

“B-Because of All Might?” his entire demeanor was portraying shyness and uncertainty, which made Jenna nervous and uptight. She sat up a bit in her chair, scanning him with her eyes and noticing his trembling hands clutching each other as the poor boy’s nerves got the better of him.

“This is Izuku Midoriya.” Seeing Jenna not respond, Momo spoke up first, making sure Midoriya remembered his manners. “Please introduce yourself, first.” Momo scolded him, closing her eyes and gesturing very proper-like to Midoriya, who tensed up and immediately bowed repeatedly at lightning speeds.

“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry! I was just curious, that’s all!”

“Deku!!!”

The earphone jack girl unplugged something next to me and clamped her hands against her ears. Was she listening in on her?

‘Rude.’ Jenna thought before turning to the abrupt distraction in front of her.

A boy had stood on a chair, pounding his foot down on the back of the seat’s top rim with his hands in his pant’s pockets. “Dang it!!! You’re so loud and annoying, nerd!”

“I-I-I’m sorry, Kacchan!”

“Whaaat??? Stop calling me that, Deku!” The boy tsk’d and then turned to look at Jenna from the corner of his eye. He stuck his head up all high and mighty. His attitude made Jenna give him a quick death glare, she didn’t like being looked down upon…

Her keen eye could already see thousands upon thousands of openings, where an arrow could hit. Easy. Where to puncture a vital organ or cause intensive bleeding.  A walk in the park. If needs be, she readied herself to find which avenue to direct her attacks to first.

It was natural for her to think rather dark, but she lost track of how long they stared at each other, eyeing the other with a threatening presence, when Momo spoke up again.

“U-uh, Umm… W-what’s your quirk, E-Everett-san?” she tried to redirect Jenna’s eyes… but Jenna was hyper-fixated on the possible danger in front of her.

She was trained to read situations, but wasn’t the best at the social aspects of them…

“…You can find out.” She rudely spat out without a lick of emotion, just continuing her long stare down with the annoying loudmouth.

Momo just laughed awkwardly, noticing the two weren’t going to be easily distracted from the other.

“K… Kacchan, please don’t be so scary to the new transfer student.” Midoriya attempted to motion his hands up and down to try and calm the boy back down to his senses, but the boy completely ignored him. He raised his head up, scowling at her.

His eyebrow twitched and he finally spoke, “What are you staring at, Pipsque-?”

“Your enormous mouth.” She spoke back so rapidly quick that he barely had time to finish his first sentence.

“Darn it, what did you say!?” He spread his arms out, like a puffer fish trying to look larger than his foe. His voice grew louder at her brash response, “Want to speak that in plain Japanese for me!?”

“Wow, I can smell your breath from here. Make out with any skunks lately?” She barely blinked her eyes. ‘I just want this kid to shut the heck up.’ She thought to herself, ‘I don’t care if others think I’m rude for it. Maybe it’ll teach them not to talk down to me.’

The whole of the students around the area of the classroom seemed to hush up then.

They all looked nervous, turning to the boy as if waiting for a fight to break lose.

“…Tsk.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m Lord Explosion Murder.” His tough-guy expression didn’t change but the entire class spoke up with mumbled voices, all sewed together like a choir—“No you’re not.”—then he angled his head down with a tilt and smiled at her, masking his anger with another sharp question. “And who are you supposed to be? A hot-shot American who thinks they’re better than everyone else? Go back to your second-best landmass with whatever lame quirk you have. We don’t need you or your ‘free speech’.”

Now, Jenna liked America, but she wouldn’t exactly say she was a patriot. But when this boy talked… It was like a bald eagle rose with a sharp cry behind her.

“We have All Might and the best Hero’s School in the world. I don’t care what kinda rep you got back in America, but here? It’s a lot different. You’re a nobody. I’m gonna be the ultimate hero and kill anyone who tries to stand in my way!” He swiped his upper-torso and head back to leaning towards her and looking down on her, showing no fear. “So if you dare to stay, just know that I’m the only loudmouth around here that’s taking out dumb hero-wannabes like Deku here… and you.” His stink eye only made her blood boil more with the colors red, white, and blue.

“Now listen here, you punk.” She lifted a leg to her seat, using it to push up and sit a little straighter in her chair. A moment ago, she was relaxing back down, but now…

“You’re acting so arrogant compared to all these chumps who at least know to suck-up to someone new. Heck, they’re actually being courteous, something I found rather amusing and appropriate for the time being… But then there’s you. I was minding my own lazy freakin’ business, but then…” she lifted her head up, angling her eye to him and smirking with a creepy intensity that pierced like an arrow through his soul. “Don’t make the excuse that I’m the problem just because I’m American! You’re just as loud and obnoxious as any one! You wanna stare and dare make fun of me when you were just seconds ago calling this twerp a nerd!? Explode on me, why don’tcha, but keep your little smart-alek, tough boy fantasy act to yourself! Cry me a river next time you have something to say!”

Even the boy was a bit thrown off, leaning back from her naturally louder voice than even Japanese people were accustomed too.

When he seemed to mutter some curses under his breath and look away, she took that as a sign of backing down and sat loosely relaxed in her chair again. “Darn kids.” She spoke in English that time, then looked to Momo. “Sorry about all that. I just really can’t stand injustice when I see it… Especially from a blonde firecracker with no self-control.” She purposefully muttered the last part to tick off the guy further, making sure to side-mouth the comment enough that he would hear. Just for laughs and giggles.

“You-!” the boy turned abruptly back to her, but Momo’s chest flashed bright colors and a flag popped out from her skin. Jenna stared a second as Momo motioned the flag between the boy’s eyesight and herself.

His eyes twitched through the sheer fabric, looking crazed as fire seemed to burn in his eyes…

“That’s enough, Bakugo. You’ve embarrassed us all long enough!” she spoke with authority. Jenna watched as the boy, apparently named Bakugo, sparked the palms of his hands and tensed up.

“Darn, bratty, girl…” he twitched and hunched over as though ready to strike at her. Jenna slowly moved her hand out of her pockets and towards her quiver…

“K-Kacchan, wait!” Midoriya stepped in front of the flag, waving his arms around and desperately trying to calm Bakugo down again, using a more direct approach. “S-she’s new! We should be nice to transfer students!”

Bakugo leaned his head up, staring down at the three of them, “She called you all chumps too. Don’t say I blame her, but you all are really acting like idiots!” he blathered out, but there was something about pride mixed in on that. Was he racist? Probably not, just super hot-headed. Jenna frowned at that behavior, slightly wishing she hadn’t called them that before another voice spoke up.

“Look, she’s actually pretty cool for standing up to you like that.” Jenna turned around to see the girl tap her earphone jacks together above her head, gesturing a hand out like a shrug to further state her point. “Just drop it, dude. She’s obviously not a pushover. Whatever her quirk is, she’s not one to mess around with it like you are. Quit picking fights with the new girl before sensei walks in.”

‘Okay, this girl is pretty chill.’ Jenna thought to herself.

“She’s probably on edge being in a new country and you just added wood to the fire. Quit taking out your anger on her and just let the volume in this room simmer down, alright?” she winked to Jenna as Bakugo about-faced, grinding his teeth together in agitation.

Jenna, after seeing the boy begrudgingly back off, then asked the girl behind her, “And you are?”

The girl smiled warmly, tilting her head, “The name’s Kyoka Jiro. I’m all about sound, and boy, can you project your voice or what?”

“Heh,” Jenna smirked, “You could say I’m all about range.” She joked, looking down at her quiver. “I don’t conform well, so forgive me if I overstep something culturally. However, dealing with bullies is kinda my thing.”

Bakugo jumped down from his chair and sat properly in it, seeming to have an aura of darkness around him. ‘Heh, was he feeling beat?’ she was put in a happier mood because of that little display of aggression turning to utter defeat.

“Anyway, who’s sensei?”

“Oh, that’s Japanese for-“ Deku began but she stopped him.

“No, no. I get the term. But who is he? A retired hero, or..?”

“Oh, he’s Eraserhead!” Deku went off on a ramble about all his feats and successes, his history and fame, so on and so forth.

But as Jenna half-listened again, she looked over to see Bakugo making small sparks in his palms again, hunched with fury. Twitching in rage, he seemed to be channeling his power and withholding it in, it looked painful from this distance, which only made her stifle a chuckle into her hand.

She was thinking it kinda funny to see someone so upset at being told off. He snapped at her first, what was he expecting? For her to lay down and die?

“What’s with Lord Explosion Murder over there?” She whispered back to Jiro while Midoriya continued without realizing the conversation had shifted elsewhere. Jiro lifted her half-drooped eyes at her question, turning her gaze from Midoriya’s rambles now conversing with her.

“Hmm? Oh, he’s a popular prodigy here. Or so we’re told…” she looked back at him. “See those sparks? One touch from his sweat and suddenly he’s a walking grenade. Best not to trigger him, you know?”

‘But when you tell me not too…’ she looked back at him, ‘it only makes me want to even more.’ She thought to herself, snickering.

“So, he’s blastboy? Talk about working up a cold sweat.”

Jiro, plugging her earjacks into her head and placing her hand over her mouth, tried to stop the sound of her laughter from escaping her body. She was perfectly muted, moving as though laughing, but no sound escaped her.

She unhooked her earjacks and winked to Jenna, “I’d keep that one between us.”

Jenna knew that her and Jiro would get along then… but Bakugo? A different story…

‘He seems… very interesting though… very interesting…’ she lowered her head to her hand, watching him from behind and completely ignoring the green and black hair boy explain more about their teacher’s status.

----

Later that day, after the slightly interesting lesson on firearms and hostage situations, Jenna was excited to hear that the class activity was going to feature one of the famous UA training fields. However, this one looked familiar…

“Isn’t this the same place where the exams to get into the school happen?” One of the students stated, having a massive scar across his face.

“It is…” Midoriya stated, looking a bit nervous.

“I wouldn’t know.” Jenna muttered under her breath.

Jiro turned to her but Momo asked first, “Did you not go through the Entrance Exam?”

Jenna tilted her head and chuckled a little, sticking a bored finger into her ear and scratching around as though she didn’t care about the question. “Nah, I got here through recommendations. My parents were pretty stoked when I was permitted in.”

“Wow… You must be amazing!” Midoriya’s eyes lit up, his hands bundled in excitement near his chest.

She shrugged, but smiled to the kid. He seemed pretty innocent enough.

“That gives us home field advantage.”

She glared back at the explosive boy, seeing him smirking with his eyes closed and head down. “You don’t stand a chance in this class, American.” He rose his head up, squinting one eye at her. “Better run home before you get trashed and thrown away.”

She tensed up, “If you target me…” she threatened, “I’ll hunt you down.” She narrowed her eyes, “I like playing games… but I can’t stand a bully.”

“Heh. Let’s see what America has to offer then!” he taunted, pulling out his hands and kicking one leg forward, stomping on the ground and having mini-explosions lighting up on his hands. He hunched down, “I’m gonna win anyway, so might as well tell ya I’m coming for you first!”

She fully faced him without a shred of fear, “Bring it on, hotshot.” She laughed inwardly at her own pun.

“The objective is quite simple. Eliminate the threat.” Eraserhead pointed to a few students, who then were assigned dots on their hero uniforms.

She had wondered if she would get to try on her UA school outfit, not that it wasn’t tacky enough to make fun of while wearing it, but because it was a new experience, after all. She was still excited to show off her hero’s attire, though. A tight body suit made of a deep purple with inky, black streaks of smooth stripes to show off more of her silhouette. It was meant to make it easier to blend into shadows, but it was still stylish. She had requested special-made belts that she slung around her arms, legs, and even one to hold her quiver tight so it didn’t jingle around while sneakily getting into position. Hero work required a lot of running, she couldn’t be detected, not by sound or sight. Her feet had extra, technologically enhanced padding and her prescription goggles resembled a thin mask like the design from the olden days of heroes. Each piece of material was made to be slightly flame, shock, and freeze proof; this was simply because she worked with different types of enhanced arrows. If one exploded from her quiver? Yeouch!

The material was thick and wide, but smooth like leather against her body. It allowed for her to breathe, and that’s what was important. ‘Durable, flexible, and the right amount of sexy. Just how I like it.’ She smiled, fixing herself up a little bit for the rogue operation.

She strapped a dot on over her logo, where an ‘A’ with her support friend’s insignia for Jenna’s hero name was at. It kept the line that dashed through the middle of the ‘A’ like a speeding arrow, ending near her collarbone.

“What’s that?” Momo had asked, seeing where Jenna had slapped the dot on.

Slyly, Jenna lowered her eyelids and clicked a stick out to reveal a long, slender bow that arched with its tips out like fine cursive. “It’s nothing.” She winked. “If you get knocked out first, you can watch and see.”

“Such a mystery.” Jiro teased, looking away and shaking her head. “Man… I hope this isn’t too much of a hassle.”

Eraserhead continued, “Enough chatter. I want to see the villains move quickly through these stages. Your objective is to defend yourself. You’re trying to distract the heroes from finding what you’re protecting. I’ve given you a dot to identify yourselves, but you’ll have to use your location devices to see what exactly you’re defending. All the heroes know is that you’ve planted bombs. The exercise is over when the heroes have all successfully defused the bombs, or all the threats explode.”

“Wait, you want us to combat the villains and take out the bombs?!” A purple headed guy started sweating and shaking in his knees. “That’s way too much to ask of us!”

“You’ve been through worse.” Eraserhead narrowed his eyes on him, but it was hard to tell exactly how he was feeling with such an exhausted tone in his voice. Half his face was covered too… it made Jenna wonder… ‘Should I also wear something to conceal my face?’

She touched her mask, but then noticed at the corner of her eye that Bakugo character staring at her again.

She turned to him, pretty annoyed, but stuck her tongue out and smiled. ‘This should be fun and interesting…’

He seemed to flinch back at her, but then tilt his head and curve the side of his mouth down in a frown for a millisecond.

‘Ohh?’ her intrigue at him peaked just then, ‘Does someone not like all his attention taken away?’

“Go!”

She took off. Bakugo watched her the entire time, but she tried to ignore him.

‘Is he really going to follow me?’ She looked slightly behind her, tracking his footfalls with her ears since she dared not alert him. Although, he was being so obvious about it… ‘Really? Any direction I take?’ she thought that silly of him as she switched roads and he continued to pursue with his eyes locked on her. ‘Well, if he’s gonna talk smack, he better have a bite to go with that bark.’ She joked to herself, smiling at the prospect of a fun rivalry.

“We’re defending the diamond store!” A pink skin girl cried out, charging for it as Jenna looked up to the rooftops.

“Keep your voices down!” Jenna almost hissed out through gritted teeth. Yes, they were away from the starting line where the heroes were, but that doesn’t mean you shout! She had to lose Bakugo’s sight. He was waiting for her when she appeared out of alley ways, scanning… but he seemed to not care about the random, muffled shouting across the distance. No one seemed to understand what the girl had said from this range. Bakugo was only focused on tracking her down and not losing her.

She had to wiggle lose of his watchful gaze, so she side-stepped into the shadows and began scaling the buildings by hooking her bow on windowpanes and railings to climb to the top. Seems the shadows off the tall, white buildings were in her favor.

“I’ll target the heroes.” She stated quickly to the girl with the horns that had called out earlier, passing her upon the rooftops. “You just keep the area secure. And stay silent.” She muttered the last part, but was deeply serious as she spoke. All business, no fun. But… maybe some fun, if you can wittily sneak some humor in there somehow… which was something Jenna liked to do, specifically.

“W-what?” The girl looked confused but Jenna didn’t have time to compromise anything.

She had blastboy to deal with…

He had made a fuss after she turned a corner, “Where is she!?” he had cried out so loud that it made her hum a small chime of satisfaction. She had lost him!

It only made her giddier to glance behind and see his frustrated expression. It had a kind of… charm to it. Made her all fuzzy inside!

The flare to show the heroes it was time to attack and not just watch was sent through the sky, lighting it up in a dazzling red. Jenna immediately stopped scaling the rooftops, her eyes widening with red as she shoved her back against the corner wall of a building, staying out of sight as she tucked herself inside a nook. ‘Herrreeee, Baky, Baky…’ She teased, not daring to make an actual sound, but watched as soon—darting into the streets—were countless heroes taking the scene.

‘Right in the open? How stupid can these guys get?’ she blinked in puzzlement, but decided to let those slide and get to the second ring of defenses they had organized.

There, a girl with gravity powers levitated some loose road and brought the battle up to the skies.

“Got’cha.” She slipped up, speaking out loud in her excitement as she pulled out an ice arrow and began firing near their feet.

Trapped, until the ice exploded and they were all sent spiraling downwards toward the broken up, artificial highways of the UA Entrance Exam. Although, she wondered why they were using this as a test today. Was she… perhaps, being watched by the higher ups? She took a second to look for cameras, but then remembered her mission and stayed on her easy targets.

‘Too simple, but at least it’s a clean kill.’ She puckered her lips, ‘That’s no fun…’

But where was he..?

“Move it!!!” A familiar, loud, deafening voice broke through the silence as Bakugo jumped and blasted through the floating pieces of road.

The gravity girl ducked out of shot, but now there were just pieces of gravel flying aimlessly around in the air.

The dust caught Jenna by surprise. She coughed a moment into her arm, sweating…

‘Dang it! I can’t breathe now! But if I make anymore sound, he’ll spot me!’ she decided to suck in air from her arm, blocking most of the tiny debris from entering her lungs and then held her breath.

Her long fingers skimmed the arrow’s feathers… each was designed so she could easily identify which was which; her unique brand of destruction towards her enemies depended on the particular feel of each feather. Bomb? Shock? Ice..?

‘Ice is weak to fire… but it should slow him down for a moment or two.’ Unable to see through the dust, she knew she had to jump.

‘There!’ she leaped up, above the floating mass of dirtied cover, finding him using his hand explosions to stay afloat in the air over it all.

“You need to cool off!” She pulled back and ripped her ice arrow, the metal arrow parting in three sections to reveal a cooling blue goo that shone white in the light of the blaring sun. Bakugo instinctively turned one hand of his grenade arm to block the attack, but by doing so, hard-banked left with just one hand making constant explosions.

Instead of getting his leg stuck to the building like she had planned, his arm—spreading up to his shoulder—was hit. The goo spread out instantly in the air, forming an icicle that latched onto him.

“3…2…1…” she counted in a hushed whisper as she felt her body begin to dive back into the littered, rocky air. Gravity naturally took over, and she began to fall. She hoped to see it though, the moment it shattered.

The ice began to crack at each count, ready to explode as Bakugo reached for it—“Don’t!”

“Huh?” Bakugo looked over to see the boy with the scar jump through the floating pieces of ground and grab the ice.

“W-what?!” She was still free-falling at this point, unable to see fully what was going on, but the boy seemed to use some sort of fire attack to bring the cooling agent back to its goo form.

‘Darn it!’ she bit her lip, upset by an interruption in her fun. The vision of the two faded behind the deep floating dust that blinded her goggles. She dipped into back, the light brown fog with mini-pieces of earth pelting into her hide.

-------

The cold stung at Bakugo, but he raked it off with his oversized gloves and grenade wrist accessories. “What was that for?! Did I ask for a babysitter!?” the two disappeared under the fog as Shoto Todoroki used his ice to scale them safely down, sliding along the smooth surface till they could see the bottom.

They both coughed, but saw Ochaco Uraraka getting caught by Deku, and taped up by Hanta Sero.

She had a cute look of ‘I’m caught’ on her face and just let them do their job, but Bakugo quickly turned his attention to Todoroki and gripped him by the front of his shirt’s neckline. Cussing loudly, he hollered in his face, but Todoroki seemed to take the assault in matured patience. “What’s with the big hero act!? I didn’t ask for your help, Todoroki! Going for a good grade through me will have you killed!”

“That was liquid ice with enhanced reactors. It instantly hardened and exploded. If you had exploded it before then with your hand, the force of the heat and the coolant would have scattered your shoulder in the chemical aftermath.” He stressed through gritted teeth, declaring his peace. “I did nothing wrong. I was just protecting my fellow classmate.”

Bakugo held him in that hold a moment, his anger depleting somewhat at hearing Todoroki’s explanation and begrudgingly let him go. “I don’t care if you care about me, Scar-face. I’m going to be the top hero. I don’t need your support.“ Bakugo turned away from him, pounding his feet onto solid ground and looking back at Todoroki with less hostility now.

“I don’t want to hear it.” Todoroki adjusted his attire. “What I want to know is…” He gave a piercing stare back to Bakugo, “Why you backed down from fighting her when she confronted you.”

“…Tsk. Now you want to ask?” Bakugo was judging up the situation, knowing she was around here somewhere…

He caught a floating piece of earth and held it in front of him and Todoroki for some added protection, “She’s a freakin’ loud American, and to boot a stranger. It’s just in their nature. They’re nosy. Proud. I don’t like to deal with anyone’s crap. But mostly,… I didn’t feel like it.”

“I don’t believe you.” Todoroki quickly called his bluff, not even bothering to change his tone as he stated it. “I don’t think it has anything to do with her nationality. I think you know better than that. You just got surprised by her. Not her particular culture.” He knelt down, seeing if he could spot anything from under the piece of earth Bakugo was holding and looked up at the buildings. “Plenty of places to hide. If she’s an archer, she’s most likely used to ranged combat.”

“So get in hot and heavy. Got it.” Bakugo was ready for melee, but Todoroki just let a small, frustrated sigh escape from his nose.

He got back up, staring straight ahead, “You looked like you were putting on a show at one point. What were you trying to do? Give a good impression?”

“I don’t care about who someone is, or what blasted nation they come from, alright?” Bakugo admitted, getting heated as he didn’t like standing around for so long. “I just didn’t like her standing up for Deku…”

“She called you a bully.”

“Yeah, well. Figures.”

Suddenly, a barrage of arrows with radiating red flickers of sparks and flames rose up in a swift aligned manner, as if fired one right after the other. Like clockwork, they began exploding more debris into the air.

“She’s trying for cover.” Bakugo shielded himself but quickly detached from the now blasted earth and jumped into the air, blazing forward. “Come’ere!!!” he cried out, hitting randomly at the buildings, trying to flush out a mouse.

Todoroki watched him, worried before seeing a faint streak of purple and black trail right behind Bakugo, a loud explosion behind her as she expertly twisted herself in the air, shooting him from behind with a bomb arrow.

“Dang it!!!” Bakugo swung around, just narrowly getting her with some distant fire from his explosions.

“Ugh!” she rolled on the ground, toppling a bit before quickly getting up and firing a multitude of arrows at him. ‘She was flame proof!?’ he looked ticked at that realization, “You scum! Fight me!”

He dodged her arrows, burning some of them to ash before they could even reach him. “Oh, now you’re silent!?” He was waiting for a comeback, but she was trying desperately to discipline herself to remain stealthy and silent while engaged in battle. “I’ll kill yoooouuu!!!” he blasted off after her, singling her out as she continued to look for cover and distance between them.

“Why does he always pester the strong ones? To be honest, it’s incredible that he can pick them out of a crowd in seconds.” Todoroki noticed her skill, and also acknowledged Bakugo’s recognition of that.

“Is this his form of respect?” He scoffed at that, but quickly touched both hands to the ground and had spikes of ice flying up towards her, creating a path of jagged, icy spikes her way.

Bakugo looked back, seeing Todoroki’s icicles scale up after her and shouted even louder, hitting his chin to his chest to see below him. “Heeey!!! I thought I told you to stay out of this?! Augh! I’ll kill you too!!!”

She turned her long, curly hair towards the sound of protruding ice and quickly shifted her attention to jumping quickly out of its way, hoping to avoid contact. She aimed straight below her, firing fire arrows that melted the ice before it could fully form into a sharp object and stab her through in the air.

“How did she..?” Todoroki’s eyes shook as Deku waved him from afar.

“Shoto-san!” he called, “She’s got different arrow feathers! Watch to see which one she’s aiming for!”

“Midoriya?” Todoroki turned to him, “Why is he spouting this out now?”

“Todoroki-san!” Deku leaped forward, changing tactics, and pushed Todoroki out of the way of a Shock Arrow that created a rigid line of electrical power surging intensely to immobilize him.

“Mi-Midoriya!” Todoroki watched in horror as Deku strained against the shock arrow’s affect. He took the arrow that had opened and latched itself onto him and summoned some of his power to break the arrow off him, ripping some of his uniform to do it, and then held his hand out in front of her.

“If one of those fire arrows… hits Kaachan… He’ll explode on himself.” He muttered through the pain, squinting as he aimed a finger at Jenna.

She had slid down the ice and was trying to get away, completely unaware that Midoriya was aiming for her. For someone so stealthy, her awareness at who was targeting her seemed slightly flawed. She didn’t pay attention to a lot of people, only what was right in front of her.

That would be her downfall, her weakness in her armor as Deku put it, and he had figured it out in only a couple of minutes.

“I’ll give you this one shot… she’s vulnerable in the air.” He shot out a blast from his finger, stunning Todoroki as Bakugo strained against the power, “Her character weakness… is that she doesn’t look at what’s happening around her. Only at what’s crucial to her and her alone. That’s why Bakugo distracting her by calling her out is so unnerving to her. She hates to be targeted. She can only deal with one thing at a time.” Then, something strange happened. Bakugo saw her and dived for an attack, but didn’t notice Deku’s One For All until it was too late.

Todoroki stood up and leaned towards the two, stranded in the air, “She’s not the only one with the character flaw!!!”

The two shouted out as they were sucked into the windblast, getting pushed back, far away from the rest of the students and activity grounds they were on.

“Dang it! Dekkkkku..!!!” Bakugo cried out while him and Jenna were blasted out into the open air. However, the effects of the windblast also pushed the cloud of dirt away, and they were able to convince Uraraka to let the floating road pieces finally go down.

It was all playing well into the strategy though, and to help Jenna out too, Uraraka kept it up.

When they finally pleaded with her enough, she conceded and placed her fingers together, “Release.” And looked up with one eye shut and an innocently, cheeky smile. “Hehe~ But that new transfer student is still doing great without my-“ she couldn’t finish her sentence as she suddenly looked up to see Jenna and Bakugo being flung out of the current combat zone. “Uhh… I spoke too soon.” She fell limp in a comical fashion, a sweat drop on the side of her face.

“Who is this transfer student… And does she know about Bakugo’s quirk?” Todoroki watched as the two of them disappeared from eyesight over the large skyscrapers in the distance.

----

The two rolled as Jenna quickly fought through the pain, grinding together her teeth a moment to force herself up and get her bow and arrow in place.

She was huffing, bending her legs to keep a crouched stance, looking to Bakugo’s rolling body.

‘He’s gotta be sweaty by now.’ She told herself, holding a fire arrow in place.

She could light it with her finger, the two that were covered in a fire-starting oil and designed to scrape against the arrows hide where a dipped string lit the head.

“Hmm? Oh, he’s a popular prodigy here. Or so we’re told… See those sparks? One touch from his sweat and suddenly he’s a walking grenade. Best not to trigger him, you know?”

But that’s precisely what she wanted.

When he got up, she could tell by how the dust stuck to the side of his masculine face that he was getting worked up. The sweat was almost visible, causing his face to shine in a oily way… and his deep breathing, intense stare…

She suddenly shook her head, finding her thoughts strange. ‘Focus, Jenna! What’s wrong with you!? He’s just a stupid boy!’

Bakugo wiped some the sweat off his face, “You’re no joke…” His hair bent and swooped with the hand’s motion. “This is even more annoying than that darn Deku ever was…” He breathed hard, and with her keen vision, noticed his finely toned chest moving up and down, the strain it had on his shirt, now wetted with sweat; How he reeled himself up from his hunched position, using each notch on his spine to slowly stand up straight, and stare her directly on.

“Quit comparing me to him!” she pulled the string back, lighting the fire with a swipe of her finger-guard that also worked as a match.

“Heh,… Yeah, you tick me off just as much, or even more so, then he did…” he smirked, liking seeing her lose her silent demeanor. Was he egging her on?

She was shaking, but why? Why was she so upset at being compared to the boy he was bulling earlier? She felt… was it jealousy?

“Keep your attention on the fight at hand, blastboy! I’m no nothing!” she mocked his cruel nickname for the other boy, but also found herself losing her composure.

Maybe it was from the shock of the blast? That green-hair kid sent her flying with one finger flick.

Why were her hands unable to remain still? She should be breathing naturally still, but her breaths were all over the place, just as much as her aim was.

Her bow shook in different directions as he stood before her, locked on without a inch of movement. Her balance was off. Could she not take a hit?!

‘That Deku guy… how powerful is he!?’ she squinted her eyes through her googles, trying to steel her mind again and focus against the pain in her joints and the strain on her muscles from such a blow.

‘How was he just fine!?’ Bakugo did look beat-up, but not beaten in the least. Her eyes kept darting to different parts of him as he advanced, walking menacingly over to her with his hands to his sides, facing up as though ready to blast whenever.

‘Then neither shall I.’ she closed her eyes… her body finding the strength and balance it needed to remain still once more.

She controlled her breathing, leaning her head down to breath out, and then breathing up with the rising of her head.

She opened her eyes.

He put one hand behind him as though ready to charge her until she shouted out,

“Blastboy!”

“W-What-?” He stopped his pursuit and blinked in confusion, completely taken off-guard by that name. “Why you-! I’m Lord Explosion Murder!” His eyes suddenly were filled with white, shaping into an arrow as he ‘whined’ loudly to her. At least, that’s how she interpreted it.

She felt a bit embarrassed for him, ‘That’s such a lame name.’ she teased inside her head and then found herself giggling to the side of her raised shoulder, still holding the fire arrow out in front of her. “You’re kinda funny, you know that? Haha…”

He suddenly stopped twitching his fingers and looked a bit shocked at her expression.

She… was laughing.

To any normal boy, they would have stared longer at how sweetly beautiful she looked as she serenely let go of reality and enjoyed a small bit of silliness in her day.

But Bakugo was far from normal.

He took in the scene, and then figured she was making fun of him.

“D-…” He lowered his head, “DARN YOU!!!” then blasted forward with a hand reaching out for her.

She continued to laugh a moment, swinging her head up and letting her brown hair fly over her face a moment. Then her eyes turned cold and serious, her breathing was exact, and her eyes honed in on the insides of his sweat-storage, deep within his grenade wristbands.

“Got’cha.” She winked, a new signature she was thinking of keeping as a last moment line and fired the fire arrow.

He went to dodge it, but she quickly took out another, lighting it with one hand, and driving her head into his hand, spooking him at her directness.

He could have blasted her head off at a direct shot, her goggles may have protected her eyes but the rest of her skin was bare and would have suffered burns from this sort of impact.

If her bodysuit was really flame proof, she would have been blown back and suffered broken bones, maybe less burns, but her face? Gone.

She leaned her head into his hand with a smirk on her face, no fear.

His amazement at this caught him completely dumbfounded, not firing his explosion as she feinted shooting an arrow but instead let his moving hand push her back as she shoved the newly lit fire arrow into a cranny of his attire.

“Idiot.” She watched as his other hand propelling him stopped firing out a constant barrage of explosions and let him fly a moment towards her.

His eyes and hers met, her cocky and his full of wonder.

“You-“ He was about to speak about how crazy she was,

But then…

BA-OOOOOMMMM!!!!

---

Who was the idiot?

It was hard to tell.

She had wanted to get a one-on-one with him—all alone. His attention solely on her and nothing else, but luckily she twisted her body just in time to where her bodysuit took most of the fire damage. However… she was still bruised up and deeply scarred from the injuries of the forceful blast, and the nurse had to use her ridiculously long lips to heal the rest of it.

“You’re lucky you didn’t get second degree burns on your pretty little skin, deary.” The nurse lifted Jenna’s arm up, looking over her suit and then bandaging her up when she was able to change back into her school uniform. “Might I ask what was so life and death that you willingly took the shot?”

“Honor..? Valor..? The thrill of the kill?” Jenna lied, looking away from the old woman as she saw the shadow behind the curtain… the other gurney had Blastboy laying in it, silent and still as a rock.

“Kill..?” the nurse seemed to pause in deep thought at that. She lowered her arm and placed her hands behind her back, “Well, you’re all fixed up. I don’t know about that last reason… but I hope you’ll be more careful with your fellow classmates next time.” She nodded after her light scold when Jenna lowered her head in respects for her help.

“Thanks.” She lightheartedly said and waited for the nurse to leave.

As the nurse departed, she looked back at Bakugo, having moved enough towards the door that she was beyond the curtain and could see him now. “Hmph. She’s just as feisty as you and that Midoriya boy you’re always barking at.”

Bakugo grunted in annoyance behind the curtain, which made Jenna really curious about what damages he took.

“Take care then… Rascals.” The nurse had closed the door with one final thought, and it sounded almost like a cuss word by how she stated it.

Jenna jumped down from her bed and threw the curtain out of the way, her face shining in triumphant victory.

“What cool scars did I give you!?” Her childish glee at examining him suddenly dropped when she noticed his arm in a cast. “Aww… was it fully healed?”

An anger mark twitched on his head. He was turned on his side, but quickly leaned up and shouted out at her, “Shut up, Deku!”

“Excuse me?” she blinked, growing annoyed that he slipped up again. “How many times do I have to tell you to quit comparing me to him?”

He flinched at his mistake, almost blushing too before sparking his good hand again, “Dang it all!!! I’ll kill you!”

“I did kill ya!” she cheerily responded, making him fall out of his gurney and have his leg twitch above him, comically taken-aback by quick quip.

“Hey… are you like, mentally disturbed or somethin’?” He rubbed his head when he sat back up, but Jenna didn’t take it to heart.

She jumped over the gurney, landing gracefully above him and sat down with her legs pulled tightly against her.

“I don’t really do well in conversations. Kinda more introverted.” She began talking, but Bakugo just looked more ticked off.

He got back up on the gurney and tried to shout her off of it.

“Oui! Who said you could sit by me and suddenly act like the whole world’s okay!?” He growled, but she continued.

“Deku didn’t do anything to you. I did.” She stared straight ahead, remembering it all. “I distracted you with a gutsy play, and then it was me who jammed my fire arrow into your hero’s suit.” She smiled giddily, as though everything she was saying was absolutely fine to talk about.

“Y-you…” he spoke through gritted teeth, his hand twitching to seize her neck, but he held it all back.

“But it looks like we beat each other up… I’m still the victor though! Hee!” She made a peace-sign with her hand and gave him the best close-eyed smile she could muster. “That was fun! Thanks for not exploding my face off!”

“Give it here and I will..!” he reached for her face, but the bell rang and she had already deflected it with some skill.

She kept laughing, so he moved back and tried to figure out what had just happened.

The motion was so smooth and fast. She had whacked his hand back, a light swat that held enough momentum to completely side-swipe his hand away from her face. She didn’t even seem to have looked, just did it.

He tried again to punch through her defenses, not planning to actually strike her, but get a reaction again.

Once more, she expertly locked his hand into a wrestling hold and then rolled to kick him over herself and smash backwards into a medicine cabinet located on the ground near them.

She continued to laugh as though that wasn’t even strenuous on her. “You’re funny.”

“You… You do know hand-to-hand combat! Todorokkkkki!!!” he almost looked like he was spewing fire out of his mouth, but Jenna was still upset he was crying out someone else’s name.

“Oui, the name’s Jenna. Hero name is Arrow. State one or the other but quit calling out somebody else’s name.” she puffed up a side of her cheek, annoyed again. “Darn, and you were actually making me laugh for real that time.”

“Quit laughing at me and fight!” he got up again, stomping his foot to the ground. “You and me! The Lakeside! Wear your hero’s attire so no one knows who we are!”

She pfft’d to herself, shaking her head. “Dummy. Did I smack your head too hard against that cabinet just now? Everyone, even over in America, knows about Class 1A in Japan’s UA. There’s no way people wouldn’t recognize you.” She raised an eyebrow, wondering if he even knew of his class’s reputation and fame.

“Grk..! You may be right about that…” His temper died down then, and for a moment, she saw his calmer side. He began to calculate as he put a hand to his chin and remained silent, which made her tilt her head and stare at him.

Once again her eyes wandered and she examined him. He was muscular, duh. He was, after all, training to be a hero. His wounds were completely healed, like her own, even though they both took an explosion almost head-on.

Heh, she chuckled lightly at her own pun again.

She covered her face and let her hair drape over her shoulders, ‘Why is he so fascinating to me?’ she thought before he once again spoke up.

“Hey, America.”

It took her by surprise, how calm and relaxed it was.

She looked up, seeing a serious expression on his face now. “I-It’s Jenna or-“

“Still meet me by the lakeside, but at night.” He clarified. “You’ll need some flame resistant, so suit it is.” He smirked as though dastardly planning something… He rose his hand up and let mini-explosions flare up on his hand. “I won’t hold back next time. You won’t trip me up with your daredevil acts. If I get the chance to take you down, I won’t hesitate like before! I’ll blow your blasted head off! No exceptions!”

She stared at him a moment… but soon her face matched his own and her ambition caused her to get up alongside him, reaching a hand out. “Then it’s a date.”

He flinched, “A rematch..!” he also offered his hand, not taking her own.

“Aww… that hurts my little feelings…” she whimpered, only enraging him more.

“Who would want to go on a date with a psychopath that puts her head directly into a bomb!?” He exploded in his words again.

She smirked this time, leaning her head directly up towards his face. “This gal.” she flirted, only slightly, before moving her face away and waving it off. “Just kidding.” She walked to the door, noticing her broken quiver and burnt-up arrows.

She frowned, but still managed to pick it up and sling it around her shoulder. She turned to look back at a frozen Bakugo, winking, “Got’cha.” She teased again, and then headed out the door.

He just stared at her… would this be a reoccurring theme?

Some time passed and she asked around for where the support class was, everyone wanted to ask about her and Bakugo’s injuries, but she just rudely pushed by them and kept asking the same question to other students nearby.

Finally, someone gave her some intel on a girl named Mei Hatsume. She was apparently another prodigy when it came to hero gear, but it was times like these that Jenna missed her inventor friend back in America.

“Hello?” Jenna used the back of her hand to knock on the inside of the room, already stepping in as a girl turned around.

Her eyes sparkled at Jenna’s quiver and arrows, “Oh! Babies!” She flung whatever she was working on away and bolted to Jenna, causing her to stand upright as though in the military.

“Umm…” Jenna’s gear was whisked away by the girl, who she assumed must be the famous Mei Hatsume she’s been hearing about. Mei began to tinker almost immediately with the devices after caressing them over to her worktable.

“Shush, shush… It’s okay, Auntie’s here~” Mei then indirectly spoke to Jenna while she worked. “So, you’re the girl who was picking on Bakugo, right?”

“Eh?” Jenna was distracted by all the inventions in the room, almost about to touch one when she heard Mei address her. “O-oh. I guess you could say that. Though… I would say he targeted me first.” She shrugged.

“Really?” Mei’s goggles shined a moment, “And would you say… you targeted him back?”

“I mean, I don’t back down from a challenge.” Jenna couldn’t resist, she poked something along the wall and three springs burst out, making her jumble around to catch them all before they startled the young inventor and got her scolded again. “Phew… I-Is our story that well-known already?”

“Hmm… No. I was just looking over the babies. They scream with melted steel and defective sockets. You must have triggered a bomb—Bakugo. You must have been in close range—a fight. What I can’t tell is who made these once exquisite darlings?” She held a now charcoal black arrow up and stared down it through its tip, measuring with her eye before placing it back down and pulling out some tools.

“My friend… from America.” She grew suddenly very sober. Her finger lightly skimmed the wood of the other tables as Mei stopped working to look back at her.

“You miss her? This friend?” Mei questioned as Jenna quickly shook herself out of it.

“It’s nothing. I mean, it’s everything! But… she was just a close friend… I don’t like goodbyes.”

“Yet, you love flirting with death.”

“What?”

“Go!”

Mei turned around and shoved her arms out in front of her, “I’ll need about a day to completely restore these busted up, bruised, and completely abused, precious little cuties without your interfering…” she started pushing Jenna out.

“H-hey! Don’t touch me! I can’t leave! What are you gonna do with my equipment!? Hey, wait!” the door was about to be shut on her, but Jenna was not one to be shoved around by anyone.

She jammed her foot into the door, wincing at the pain. “I need to know exactly what you’re going to do to my stuff!”

“…You gotta work on those trust issues.” Mei stated, but raised her head kindly to Jenna, “And… maybe be less hazardous on yourself and others.”

“H-huh?” Jenna raised an eyebrow.

“I did hear about you and the battle, but I also deduced you were in close combat with Bakugo… You should really think before you move.” Mei picked up a wrench from the wall and knocked lightly on Jenna’s wedged foot like a hammer, trying to get her to go away. “I’m only saying that to confront this demand of closeness is necessary in order to fulfill these babies desires of attacking to protect, not just for the thrill of the hunt.”

“H-how did you-!?” Jenna was then locked out and left to stand confused and upset outside the door. “I’ve been wronged!” Jenna protested, folding her arms before realizing… “I’ve been robbed!” her eyes widened, and she banged on the door, “Give me my stuff back! Hey! Hatsume!!! Ohhh..!”

It was all so interesting though… this new life, this new rematch…

She had swore she saw a faint blush of red when she leaned her face close to his. But a ‘demand for closeness’? That was absurd!

Then again…Would she kiss a bomb? Oh, absolutely… if kissing ever crossed her mind, which it didn’t. At least…

It hadn’t happened before…

---

“She’s late.”

Bakugo tapped his foot impatiently to the concrete sidewalk around the lake. He was leaning against the railing, hands in his pockets, feeling the nipping cold of the dusk as night set in.

“Late… Late… Late…” he kept repeating, growing agitated by the lowering of the sun.

“Tsk! Waste of my time!” he kicked a trashcan down,… thinking suddenly as he looked to his foot.

‘The pain is gone…’ he stared intently at his lifted foot, and then looked around the lake again.

Happy, stupid couples… all holding hands in the dark…

How irritating.

He looked away, spooking some kids who came by to scare the ducks and geese as he spoke out like a punk, hollering and thrashing about to leave the space open.

It wouldn’t be long before everyone was checking out for the night. Even the annoying freakin’ couples would pause in their mushy-gushy make-outs to look up and see it was time to head out.

“She’s late.” He growled out again, looking towards the sky. “…Or maybe I’m early.”

He took his bag with his hero’s attire in it and headed for the outdoor bathroom, “I’ll get changed…” he abruptly kicked another trashcan over.

After setting his attire on him just right, he burst the door open with a blast and walked out, “Everyone better be gone… or I’ll make you get lost!”

It was a Saturday, so most of the people were still walking around.

“Tsk.” He couldn’t challenge her again at the school, it wasn’t open Saturdays.

They may have dorms now, but he would get in trouble again if he got spotted. And he was threw picking up trash!

He kicked another trashcan down.

“Now she really is late!”

It was pitch black, everyone had seen the roaring kid and rushed off. He had gotten everyone to vacate the premises as if he owned the place.

Once it was perfectly quiet and he was completely alone, he sat up on the railing and looked around, chewing on a piece of tall, green grass.

He looked in one direction, chewed. …. Nothing.

He looked in the other direction, crunched a piece off. … Nothing.

He looked dead ahead, then gripped the bar of the railing and leaned himself all the way back.

His hair crashed into the water, spraying up a ripple effect that sent the almost sleeping birds flying.

He saw some flashlights. Probably the lake cops. He would have to lay low.

“Hmph, whatever.” He leaned back up and headed into the bushes and behind a tree.

Water sprayed up with him as he rose, dripping down his neck to his back as he raced off to avoid being detected.

He wasn’t going to give up. She was going to come. She was going to lose.

He was able to dodge them as they looked around, and then took off again.

“Come on, America… Where the heck are you?” he badgered as if she was right next to him. “You really think you can stand me up? What? Trying to hold on to your fluke of a victory? I’ll kill ya, alright. I’m gonna be the number one hero. A real somethin’…” he walked in the dark, muttering to himself and growing increasingly sorrowful.

He stared at the ground, his wrist grenades feeling weighted all of a sudden.

He slowed his pace…

And finally stopped.

He stared at his shoes… then spat the piece of grass out. “…She’s not coming.”

“Says who!? Ha…ha…”

His eyes rose up and he slowly turned around.

“…Brat girl?”

“Ugh, at least you’re trying to address me this time.”

She was clutching her knees, bending over and breathing hard as though she had run a marathon. “You know how many lakes there are? You could have been more specific! And besides that, my arrows and bow was broken. Didn’t you have to get your equipment fine-tuned or something? Oh, come on… it would hurt my feelings if you said they were fine.” She groaned, but he stared at her as if she was an apparition.

She finally got a hold on her breathing, arching her back and stretching a bit. “Boy… hooo… it took me a minute. I had to scale these buildings and figure out which lakeside you meant, but I finally made it! It’s dark and we’re isolated from causing any real damage. It’s actually kinda clever. Way to go, Blastboy! Let’s finish this!” she took out her stick that expanded into a slick bow and then looked ready to dart.

His eyes twitched as her naturally loud voice echoed over the lake and caused some birds to fly off, cawing.

“Stupid-! Get down..!” he let out a shouted whisper as he noticed the lights of the cops’ flashlights glisten over the water and head straight for their direction.

---

“Eep!” she was tackled down and thrown below the bushes. Bakugo was directly over her, leaning down but keeping his eyes up at the lights through the leaves…

She could smell him… she could feel the cool wind against his heated skin… was he always warm? Was that natural for him? ‘Heh, he’s hot. Quite literally.’ She joked to herself, trying to keep her mind off of unwanted ramblings on abandoned train tracks through her mind.

He was certainly powerful. She struggled under him a moment, her face growing red when she realized he was forcefully pinning her down.

“Quit shaking!” he whispered again, tightening his hold on her as she squeaked inside her head and freaked out. He was… holding her down.

When the light finally wandered off and disappeared, he still kept himself over her, waiting longer as she began to make small, broken noises of syllables that should have formed words to a cohesive sentence but didn’t.

He looked back at her, as though ticked off by her continual sound making, and covered her mouth.

“What part of lay low do you not understand?!”

His hand was whacked away as she maneuvered out from below him.

“The part where you didn’t say lay low, genius!” she rubbed the loose grass off her hero suit as he got up, straightening up but remaining on his knees to peer over the tall shrubbery.

“They’ll break to the other side soon… then we’ll be clear to brawl.” His eyebrow solidified heavily into a broad look of serious contemplating.

“Is that all you ever think-“ she looked up, and the expression made her stare a moment, getting the twigs and other little castaways of nature’s clippings out of her hair. “…About…”

She gulped and straightened herself out. Probably best not to let him know how she was feeling about that last ‘move’.

She started fixing her hair, “You know… people usually don’t brawl on their first date.”

“Shut up.”

“You take that too literally. It’s kinda funny.” She joked, pulling her hair up to get a better grip of it. She tried to look a little sexy, but he wasn’t even staring at her. She dropped the ruse and pouted.

“You’re the funny lookin’ one.”

She gasped in excitement, had he noticed?!

“I’m cute funny, you’re just funny.”

He actually let out a chuckle, which caught her off-guard and had her once again staring at him.

He got up and offered her his hand, “Come on, Ameri-… Arrow. We have some unfinished business to settle.”

“I’ll settle with you.”

“…What?” he flinched back.

“S-sorry!” she waved her hands about, “I talk dirty when I’m nervous!”

“…D…Dirty!?” he accidentally let his voice raise a little much, and bent down in a bit of surprise, “Shoot… we gotta keep our voices down till we know we’re in the clear…”

“You’ve said we’re in the clear a few times now…” she noticed he turned his head down, listening to her whispers and turned an ear to her.

It was too good to resist~

“…And I get loud at night.”

“…What?!” he once again tensed up and was shook by her words, but she again apologized.

“L-look! You were the one who invited me out here randomly!” She was half-faking her condition, but it seemed to make him react and that’s all she really wanted.

“For a rematch! Get your head in the game and quit it!” he bundled a fist as tightly as he could squeeze it, his eyes turning white again and forming into the shape of arrows.

“You’ve already lit the flame! My game’s on, where’s yours at?” She covered her face, “I’m so sorry…”

There was a brief moment of pause from Bakugo, his face shifted to normal and he spoke very seriously then.

“You are mentally disturbed, aren’t you?”

“Oui! It’s natural battle-talk for an intimate fight like this, right!?” She acted coy, pretending not to really mean anything she was saying.

“Since when do combatants talk dirty to-!”

He stopped himself a moment, “Wait… do you mean smack talking? Are you confusing the words around?” He face-palmed himself, “Your Japanese is so good,” he seemed to mentally scolding himself, “…I couldn’t tell.”

“I’m not confusing anything! Just ignore that and let’s go!” She wasn’t actually that sorry, she just wanted to see what she thought she saw in the nurse’s office. His face was red, wasn’t it? She couldn’t remember.

But… she seemed to be able to trigger him, and something inside her liked that.

Getting him flustered was a good way to see if she was right, but it was too dark, she’d have to find a way to make him glow red.

Besides, he deserved it… giving her all these random thoughts and whatnot!

As they approached the lake, Bakugo and her were silent… A moment stretched on as they gazed at the fading lights bouncing off the lake’s surface before Bakugo turned to her.

“Hey…” he looked pretty serious, but seemed to calm down quite a bit. She turned to show she was listening to him. “… Let’s just fight our hearts out. Winner is determined by-“

“Who doesn’t flinch?”

“You have a habit of cutting people off, you know that?” He scratched his hand through his hair, “But sure. Yeah. Whatever. Let’s get this over with.”

In the distance, flames and arrows, explosions and bright lights could be seen around the lake. But then, a brilliant blue as ice scaled the lake front and melted with Bakugo’s heat.

They both crashed into the lake, Bakugo swinging up and placing his hand on the grenade clip to his arms.

Jenna flung her hair up over her face and let it slap against her back, her bow ready, arm extended and grasping it tight while aimed at his heart. Truer than a headshot, it was the most accurate place to target.

When Jenna saw his mouth hanging open, water steaming around him, she realized that she was enthralled in the thick of this battle as well. She hadn’t ever met someone she could consider a rival, and it took longer for her to even consider someone a decent human being—worthy of being called a friend.

She froze a moment, ‘He’s really putting everything he has into this… I should too!’ She pulled out an arrow, not even looking back to see which one it was and fired straight.

His eyes widened as the arrow hit his chest but bounced off.

“B…Blunted?” he saw the arrow sink through the lake, which was about up to his stomach.

Slowly, he felt his pride sink with it. She didn’t fire a real, deadly one?

“What, do you think this is some kind of joke!?” he blasted his hands into the lake, causing it to get warm and boil around him.

Only, Jenna could feel the warmth and swished her hands around in it, giggling as the bubbles popped around her, “You’ve got me in a Jacuzzi already? Whatever will my parents think?”

Bakugo staggers back, the water lit by the glow of the moon. She saw, for a moment anyway, the faint pink spread across his uncomfortable face.

Once again, another opening.

She takes out another arrow, placing it like clockwork in its spot and shooting true. The blunt arrow whacks him again on the chest, “That’s two times I’ve killed you.”

“Tsk… You’re not fooling around…” Bakugo’s eyes twitch, looking at the arrow sinking again and then her smug little face. “What if that was-!?” he stopped. “You really want to kill somebody?”

She rose an eyebrow, confused. “Didn’t you want me to play rough?”

He ignored the flirty underlining of that comment and stood straighter, agitated at her. “I don’t think I like that…”

“What? If I killed you, then we wouldn’t be able to brawl anymore.” She lowered her bow, looking him over. “And honestly…”

---

She tilted her head, “This was a great way to go! I’ll miss you, Bakugo! Hahaha!”

“G-go?” His head jolted up. “What do you mean, American!?” He worriedly thought she was meant…

“Exactly that. I was only meant to train here for a couple of months. I have to return to America by this next week.”

His eyes shook, “S-so soon?” It was like a cave-in on his chest. It wasn’t what he thought, but it was still devastating to hear…

A true fatality.

“Gonna miss me?” she winked before turning away and folding her arrow back into its portable stick form. “I… can’t thank you enough. I’ve learned a lot here… even if it was short, I was only meant to study abroad for a little bit. I… wish I could have stayed.”

He heard the splashes and slush of the water as she trailed out of it, wringing out her hair and shaking off the water from her arms and legs.

He just stood there, a statue as though he didn’t hear her correctly.

“You’re… You can’t be serious!” he punched a fist up towards Jenna, “I still haven’t beaten you to a pulp yet!!!”

She turned with a little expression, but one he couldn’t read due to its subtlety.

“You always make me laugh, Blastboy… but really,” Was it the water? Or were those… tears?

She turned away, her tone growing sorrowful and something sounding like a block in her throat building up in her voice.

“This time, for real,… I don’t Got’cha.”

He walked away from the lake, soaking wet, with thoughts and a cold running through his body.

He looked like a drunk man, swaying his arms about as he wondered why it mattered so much. What did America have that he didn’t? Or well… that Japan didn’t!? They had All Might. They had UA. Why on earth would she leave-!?

He shook his head, “Darn bratt!” he punched a trashcan and exploded it’s lower-half, sending it flying over a house.

He watched in a bit of regret, his frown softening before he winced as he heard a- TANK TONK TANK! On the other side…

“…Why am I so worked up over this?” He looked at his hand, “I’ve never felt my heat this scorching before…” but what he didn’t know, he figured, was probably best left unsolved.

He rubbed his chest where the blunted arrows had hit, and then grumbled as he kicked some rocks on the corner of the sidewalk and headed home.

“I need to change…”

---

The next few months at school were followed by either loud arguments and having their heads pinned against the others, or long silent competitions where they never spoke but tried to out-match the other in any training event they had.

While working out in her UA clothes, down by the gym, Jenna punch a bag repeatedly in a built-up sweat. She was venting, secretly. She had noticed Bakugo was pulling away from her playful bickerings with him and wanted to know why.

Also, she thought about what Bakugo had said that night, in the lake.

She grew upset, her mind playing tricks on her as she imagined him coming up to her, wrapping an arm around her, pulling her close…

It disgusted her.

“Get your head in the game!” she mumbled to herself, knocking the bag around wildly as she swung at it. ‘Did he really think I might have actually wanted to hurt him?’ her anger spiked and she swung her leg high, striking through the bag on accident. “Whoops.” She tried to punch out of it, but the bag was torn. She hopped on one leg to try and free herself, deciding to practice multiple punch-strikes next but Bakugo stepped into the gym by then.

All lights fell upon him as Jenna’s senses and eyes honed-in on his appearance.

‘Thank goodness he didn’t see that.’ She gulped, glad she hadn’t suffered through his relentless laughing, pointing at her folly.

He seemed to not notice her, or pretended as much, heading towards some gear he could fire at.

She watched him workout, leaping through the air and scaling to dummies placed along the upper walls that he fired at. Practicing his aim?

She found herself staring at him again. So annoying! But at this point, it couldn’t be helped…

She noticed his calculated strikes, his expert timing, and the way he controlled the movement of his flailing body as it rotated and moved with each precise blast towards another dummy to attack. Before too long, he jumped down and was flexing his hands, massaging his arms a bit before finally acknowledging her presence and stare back.

Again, with the annoying silence…

“What do you want?!” She growled out, stomping over to him. Anything to break this unbearable silent treatment… “Quit staring!”

She stood right in front of him, demanding his full attention. A full explanation…

It was close to the time she had to leave, and when that was announced to the class, he had grown colder than Todoroki’s ice towards her…

She had warmed up to the class, gotten used to things, but not the fact that Blastboy wasn’t giving her any mind anymore.

That arrow pierced deep.

“Nothing. You stared at me first.” He was calm, which wasn’t completely normal for her.

‘Why wasn’t he responding with loud statement back!?’ she wondered, ‘Where’s my heated, pleasant arguing!?’

“I… I do a lot of things first… but you’re the first guy I ever couldn’t stand!” she threw her arms straight down in front of her, unable to fully control her rising emotions.

“Then sit down, you’re annoying me.” He smirked, which ticked her off even more.

She was flustered, how could she let this happen!? He must have been smirking because he knew.

That’s when she saw her reflection behind her in the mirror.

Her face was a bright red tomato!

She forced herself to pretend like she didn’t know it, attempting to frown but it only looked like a cute girl pouting in frustration.

‘Crap, Japanese boys love those types of girls, right!? What am I doing!?’ She wished she could take her short breaths to calm herself down to a normal shade of skin color, but at this point, he would notice her awareness of her current state in front of him and he’d have a field day with it.

But… at least he was teasing her. That’s better than him not reacting to her at all.

“Excuse me?! You picked a fight with me!” immediately, she threw an extremely accurate punch towards his face. He blocks it almost instantly, his hands still warm from his practice as she blinked up at how quickly he grabbed it.

“I learned a thing or two from you, America.” His eyes lowered a little, a look she hadn’t seen him pull off before. “I figured out how you strike. How you throw food at me when you notice I didn’t eat that day. When you pout, you’re really saying ‘Come at me’, and when you shout, you’re only asking for me to look at you. It took me a while, but I think I figured out how you blocked me that last time, in the nurse’s office…”

He suddenly bent the wrist, placing her in a lock as she almost fell to a knee and held her hand to her aching arm. “But honestly, none of that matters. If I wanted to fight you right now, I would have.”

“Grr…Grk… What? Afraid I’m too strong for you?!” she masked her heart racing, the words leaving her feeling weak. She wouldn’t dare let him know! It was against everything she stood for!

She tried to slide her foot under his leg and make him fall back, hoping to get another wrestling move off on him, prove him wrong about his observations but the act didn’t get passed him.

He caught her leg too and squeezed it beneath the arch of his knee, causing her leg to now be locked in a hold as well.

“Gah!” she cried out in frustration. “What is this!? Martial arts?!” He was balancing on one leg, and she couldn’t move!

“What are you!? A brick wall1?”

He scoffed at that, lifting his arrogant head up, “What’s wrong, America? I see the red on your face, the white of your eyes, but not the blue of a bruise.” What was he trying to do? Flirt with a threat!?

“What’s your problem, anyway!? You haven’t been the same with me sense the lake!” she blurted out, struggling to get out of his grasp, hitting his chest as he took the blows, one by one… “We were actually getting along, you get that, right!? What? All of a sudden I’m leaving and now you’re afraid to even speak to me!?”

He remained silent.

“You think all my arrows are blunted?!”

Silence… A continue stare of his intense eyes at her expression.

She had bent her head, gripping his shirt as the emotions spilled out.

She shook her head, shaking as she tried to laugh off her momentary breakdown, “Pfft! Come on, Blastboy… Scared I’ll forget you’re gonna kill me before I leave?” she tried to tease, but it was clear her voice betrayed her usual sense of dark humor.

He lets go of her hand and leg as she threw it down, trying to build her anger back up again. “I know my arrows!” she protested, but he just shook his head.

“Do they justify anyone killing a hero in America?” That really bothered her.

“N-no..?” She stepped back, ‘What’s wrong with him? He’s not exploding like his usual self at me anymore… Even when I’m trying to get him upset…’

It was nerve-wracking, seeing him acting so restrained… “What’s the matter?” she finally asked. “Why do you seem so… distant?”

He lowered his head so his eyes were in shadows, his hands moving to his pockets. “Not like I’d actually kill you, either.” He barely got the words out, the mumbling almost inaudible.

“Huh?”

“That’s against the law, dummy!” he cried out, shouting like his normal self for a second.

“…Did you really think I was gonna kill you?” She then asked, waiting a moment.

There was a metaphor here… but It was hard for the two of them to admit it.

He bent his head straight down again, not able to look her in the face.

“… I think you wouldn’t flinch to kill a man.”

She felt her breath slip at those words, her eyes shaking at his statement. “I.. I would never kill-“

“What? The innocent? The misunderstood? You barely hesitated. I don’t trust your arrows… you put too much faith in them.” He pointed to her quiver just inches from where she was training… “What if it wasn’t blunted, America? That night? The lake?”

She clamped her mouth shut.

“You claim to know all your arrows, but you insulted me by using a plain, ordinary arrow. You aimed for all my vital organs. What if you missed picking the right one? I don’t fear death, but a stupid guess.”

Was he really saying what she thought he was saying?

Did he really think they liked each other that much, that they’ve both been holding back everything?  Or was it his pride? Saying that she should have gone all out instead of letting him and this experience go by as though a fling on a vacation?

She gripped his gym clothes, pulling him up towards her, “I never just guess. I know my arrows, more than I know anything else in this world… I would have never drew the wrong one. I would hesitate to hurt you…”

She wasn’t going to let him think wrongly of her. Her feelings were true. He wasn’t just a play thing on some foreign exchange program she ran into. Did he see her feelings and think that much of her..!? “If you knew then-! Then why didn’t you-?!”

“You didn’t last time.” He narrowed his eyes, recalling to her mind how she struck an arrow directly into his grenades which could have killed them both. “Did you hesitate then? Did you think?”

For the first time in her life, she actually felt horror at that. “I… I don’t think that would have happened but…” she let go of him, conflicted now.

She wasn’t that rash. Even if he was speaking literally, which she now questioned if he was, she had never actually planned to murder anybody. That was just ridiculous and if so, then she would be double-embarrassed by this predicament.

She really hoped he was on the same page with her… or this could be bad…

“Accidents happen?” She bit her lip, moving away from him as though she was asking him if he was actually speaking about the fight… or about her feelings for him. Maybe even… his possible feelings for her?

He waited till her grip loosened before taking his hands out of his pockets, his intimidating stare also softened somewhat. “I’m not asking for an apology. I’m just not used to someone who acts so rapidly that they forget about human life.”

“You’re always talking about killing-!”, ‘I do want to consider your feelings, Bakugo… Do you really think I haven’t?’

Though her words were harsh, her eyes were pleading for him to mean what she thought he was saying… but also to see how much she wanted him to care too.

“I’ve never killed anyone for real though.” He left nothing to be deciphered. Like an ancient ruin, his feelings were an enigma.  

“That’s-!” She wanted to just grab his head and shake it off, pull open his head and find out what he was thinking. That was stupid, she knew it, but she was desperate to try anything at this point. “You’re so annoying! I-!”

“Now look, I’m cutting you off.” He chuckled, but she was even more confused now.

“W-what are you after? Why are you bringing this all up?”, ‘Tell me, darn it! Or I’ll look like a fool!’

He stepped up to her, holding a hand up to her face, sparking it directly at her, just inches from her nose and eyes.

The light of the yellow and red sparks didn’t frighten her though, it was strangely hypnotic to see his cocky smile through the crackling of sparks on his hands.

“I don’t want that to be our last match. I’m not afraid of playing dirty either.” He smirked, and for a moment, she saw the old Bakugo again. As though he had relit himself from within his eyes.

“Your face is pale. Let me heat it up for you.” Again with the threats, he was clearly trying to show her that with one drip of sweat, he could accidentally create a blast right in her face.

But again, he should have known this by now…

To prove her point, Jenna wasn’t scared. The warmth from his hand told a different story for her… “I haven’t felt sparks from you in a long time.” She flirted, stepping up to the bomb’s face and smiling with a calm confidence back at him.

It was a bit awkward, Bakugo flinching back and looking like he was going to get angry again, but then… a bit of red crossed his cheeks.

“Shut up, Jenna.” He stated.

“Hey! That’s my name!” she smiled, not even worried about his little stunt. She knew what he was trying to say now…

The flashes of light upon his grin made her feel something leap inside her heart, warming her up even quicker as a faint pink skimmed her own cheeks. “I care about you too, Bakugo.”

---

“…H-huh?” He pulled the hand away, but she quickly took it before he could.

Thikning she knew best, she nodded. “I wouldn’t want to accidentally hurt you, either. But the life of a hero is a dangerous one. I can’t stay in Japan,… but I trust you. I trust that even if you sparked your hands in my face, nothing would happen. I hope one day… you can trust me that I won’t pull the wrong arrow and betray our friendship together.”

He seemed completely floored by her words. A moment ago, he was proving a point by threatening an explosion in her face, but she took it the way he thought no one would interpret it.

Had she seen right through him?

“G-good…” he pulled his hand away, sweating at how close they were. When she kept smiling, he grew agitated, remembering she was leaving and threw his hand out of her grasp. “You-! You weirdo!” he cried out, racing off before calling back, “Goodnight, America!”

He wouldn’t look back. He couldn’t.

She had understood, how on earth could she have seen that much under all his deception!?

But she knew. She figured it out. What was really being said…

There was one more thing to do now. She confirmed it. Nothing was going to stop him from doing the heroic thing now.

---

“…Goodnight.” She lowered her eyes, gripping the spot where her heart was pounding heavily. “and… and good riddance!” she spun around and headed off the opposite direction.

However… she knew now.

She was leaving for America tomorrow… Momo and Jiro knew… but she didn’t have the heart to tell him what time.

The day and time came… she waved her new found friends off as she strolled her suitcase up with her into the loading area.

The plane took off not too long after, a short load really.

On the plane, she stared blankly out the window, sighing at the clouds and wishing she would have said something to him. Left him with her number or… or something!

It was making her upset just thinking about it… him fuming in class the next morning, unable to fully lash out like he could with her and not having a ‘playmate’ anymore.

She just couldn’t face him again. That red face of her betrayed her usual composure. She just wouldn’t do that to herself again.

So… did he care? Maybe. But it clearly wasn’t enough for him to ask her to stay in Japan. In UA…. With him…

She was making pictures with her finger, using the moisture on the window and drawing his angry face. Eyes as narrow and sharp as arrows, giggling to herself at her perfect memory of it. ‘Guess I’ll never meet a hothead like him again… Poor blastboy. You’ve got no one to be loud with anymore…’ she rested her head in her hand and leaned against it, slowly closing her eyes…

“Someone’s flying like a jet outside, Mom!” A boy’s voice cried out from behind her, on the other row.

“Deary, keep your voice down.” The mother seemed to protest.

“But, Mom! It looks like a boy!” The boy abruptly argued.

“She said keep your voice down, dear.” An older woman, looking like the kid’s grandmother, than quipped up too, patting his leg.

“But, Grandma! He’s that student from the famous class in UA!”

Jenna opened her eyes, slowly…

“He’s looking through on all the windows, he’s gonna blast the plane open!”

Then, all at once, a small dot scaled up next to her window. Like turbo engines, his hands were blazing with smoke trails as Bakugo, in his hero costume, looked in each individual window, terrifying the passengers who saw him. Finally, he spotted Jenna and with what looked to be a loud cry, not being heard from the sound of the plane, flew up and banged his head against the window. “…Yooooouuu!!!! You’re not going anywhere!!!”

Her heart took over her hand as it immediately touched the window with his squished-up face against it. She could hear him now at this close proximity. He was cursing loudly, calling her awful names, but each fiery word made her melt all the more. “You’re gonna leave just like that?! What about my rematch!?”

It was a spark to a match.

“You’ve got it!” she grabbed her things and took off to the back of the plane, scaring countless passengers as she gripped the exit panel.

“Miss!” A flight attendant called, but Jenna just looked back at her with a closed-eyed smile, beaming brightly with joy. “He loves me!” she spoke so quickly and with such a gleeful high pitch that most couldn’t understand her. She jumped out the plane, feeling the wind whiplash her upwards before shooting her straight down like a weighted arrow. “Bakuuuuugoooo!!!!” she cried out.

Immediately, like a flaming rocket, he spun up and did an aerial maneuver to twist and fly backwards, arching himself in a loop in the sky to dive down after her.

She reached out for him, his head coming straight for her as she wrapped her arms around him.

“Did you honestly think I would let you go back? I still have to beat you up!”

Jenna knew what he was saying, ‘I love you, don’t go.’

She just laughed, feeling the warmth of his bombing hands creating smog in the sky. He smiled though, seeming to see she knew what he meant, and lowered his head to hers.

After a brief reunion, he sped up and blasted calculated burst to get her on his back, speeding along with the plane. “How could you not tell me?” He looked pretty mad, but that only made her more happy.

She hugged him close, “I knew you’d pull a stunt like this!”

“You did not, hag!”

“I did too, bomb happy hooligan!”

He landed on top of the plane, using his now free hands to help her sit as the wind beat against them. “You care!”

He ruffled a hand through his hair, “…Eh, maybe only a little. I needed someone to show me America, you know, since I’m now a tourist and what not.”

“Gosh, illegally sneaking onto a plane?” she lifted her hands in a shocked sarcasm up to her mouth. “What ever will we do if you get caught?”

“Guess I’ll have to blow up the jail.” He reclined back, smirking to her.

“Guess I’ll have to show off how American girls say I love you…” She leaned up to his face.

Immediately, he lost his grip on the plane and was rolled backwards across its spine.

“Bakugo!” she cried out, worried before she saw him hook a hand to the plane and cry out more curses to her name.

She just smiled, sighing in relief that he was alright.

While the plane cruised, they laughed and joked with one another about America. Jenna promised to get him a hotdog, and Bakugo said he wouldn’t mind seeing a baseball game there.

It was as though they had been best friends all their lives…

End.

[blackdragon-sama]

my breast reduction experience

i'm back home from the hospital after my reduction and i'd like to share my experience for those interestedalso to vent a bit about my nice-but-also-hella-annoying bed neighbour.

i went in on thursday morning, to get prepped, see the doc and settle into my room i was given the choice to either stay overnight before the surgery, or come in at 7 on friday morningi chose to stay overnight, since i knew it'd be much easier if i could just stay in bed until they wheeled me in for surgery. rather than having to haul my stuff and myself to the hospital with the bus, high on adrenaline and panicwas the right decision, too early in the morning, a nurse woke me and i went to change into the very sexy piece of fishnet they use as panties and the butt-free gown thingi swear, those mesh panties are the worst.but, i got a dose of lorazepam to make up for it, and was wheeled downstairs and into the wake-up room, from which i was wheeled in for the anaesthesia prep.a very nice lady (i don't know if she was an anaesthesiologist or assistant or nurse....) helped me put on the hair net and put an IV into my hand, chatting a little with me, which helped with the anxiety. at this point i was glad for the lorazepam, because i was nervous as fuck, even with it. they didn't make me count or anything, just told me to breathe in all that nice oxygen, and then they told me when they inected the good stuff and - like with the two general anaesthesias i had before - i went under complaining about the pain XDit's like, the last two seconds before you go under, your face, or in one case, arms, get really bad pins-and-needles, and it's one of the grossest feelings ever, but it's literally just a second or two and then you're out. the first thing i remember after coming to, is people coming to my bed and telling me to take breaths, or to breathe in deeper.i had a little trouble with my oxygen levels for a while, but they put an oxygen tube thingie into my nose, with a piece of sponge around it to keep it in place, i also remember telling someone i was feeling nauseous, and i think they gave me some medication for that. i was in no pain at all, just super woozy and confused why it was already around 3 in the afternoon. surgery must've taken WAY longer than 2-4 hours, since they put me under at 7:30, and i came to enough to ask the time at 3 in the afternoon.back in my room i asked for my phone and sent a few typo-heavy drunk texts to my mom and my girlfriend to let them know i was still alivestill no pain, dizziness, overall "just trying to sleep"-iness. a nurse came in some time later, to help me get up and pee. i didn't think i needed to, but she told me they put five liters of whatever (saline, probably) into me during the surgery and after, and i do know that getting up is important after surgeryso, she hooks me under and butt-naked me (surgical bra and mesh panties only. sexy. comfortable. not basically literally ass-naked) shuffles over to the bathroom, nurse carrying the big drainage bottles.i could feel my ears rushing and hearing static the moment i stood, but i managed to sit down and do the deed. on the way back to the bed, i nearly passed out, but nurse and another nurse got me back safely and i could sleep some moreduring the night, i am woken up a few times, by a male nurse who comes to open my bra and check the bandages and palpate my new tiny tiddies for anything bad.it's a bit disorienting to be subjected to someone messing with your boobs when you're more asleep than anything, but the whole staff was super nice and gentle with me, on saturday, post-op day 1, i managed to somehow pull at my right-side drainage and the bitch gave me trouble for the entirety of its stay in my boob, and it's still the more sensitive side >_>my new boobs looked soooo teeny tiny! to be honest, while i was excited, i was also a little scared that they'd become too small, but that feeling came and went, and looking back, i know it was simply the shock of the /difference/. day one was mostly spent entirely in bed, since my circulation was still pretty bad, and getting up gave me big troublesluckily, the nurses all were very very nice and refilled my water bottle for me and helped me get to the bathroom and back, and iirc, in the afternoon, i managed to put on some real panties and a shirt. MUCH better!also, on saturday, my girlfriend came to visit and it was really nice <3as for pain, i wasn't in any mentionable pain, other than that bitch of a drainage tube. that shit hurt like hell, while my boobs themselves almost didn't hurt at alli was, and still am, quite surprised they weren't painful. (given, i was taking ibuprofen 600 3x a day) sore, of course, and tender, and feeling about ready to pop with how taut they were, but not painful, i didn't and don't feel the incisions or the sutures/stitchesi stopped taking any pain meds yesterday, which was post-op day 5, and i only needed one ibu on tuesday) sleeping on my back is lame. and waking up on sunday, i had a major headache, that even the ibuprofen didn't manage to helpi think it was a mix of my neck being overly tense, plus leftover surgery and anesthesia meds that messed with my head (i read that having migraines puts you at a higher risk of post-op headaches) sunday was the day where i started to get lots better. i could get up on my own for the bathroom, and even the little trip down the hall to the water fountain dispenser thingie, and in the afternoon/early evening, i even managed to take the elevator to the ground floor and grab some well-earned sweets from the little shop there. the headache was the biggest discomfort, other than the drainage tube pulling occasionally, and my petty room mate... boy... by that point she was getting SO annoying. she had had surgery the day before me, a procedure to put an expander under the skin of her face, to grow skin to remove a mark from her face (i don't know what it's called, in german, it's a fire's mark, basically a large, deep red/purple mark that's puffy and you're usually born with it)i think she's russian? she had a heavy accent, and the first pieces of conversations i remember clearly were of her complaining about refugees and how they have so many kids only to cash in on social child support money (which is a thing in germany, but, well, for citizens, not for refugees...) i tried half-heartedly explaining that refugees aren't here for shits and giggles, and no, they don't get child support money from the state. they get, if at all, a bare minimum to feed and clothe themselves.... i didn't want to antagonize her, because in my drugged-up, post-surgery state, i was having paranoia she would try suffocating me in my sleep. (which i was aware of was purely my anxiety talking, but, y'know, i didn't want to pick fights either way, and delicate topics are best discussed if you have the opportunity to leave.)next thing i very clearly remember her doing was antagonizing the nurse that wanted to put a new something into her iv. the thing was, the nurse sneezed. into her shoulder. before moving to continue with the tubes. roomie gives her shit about that. how it's unacceptable that she'd sneeze onto the needle and get her germs all over the place, and how that's unprofessional and why she wasn't getting new needles and all that the nurse calmly explained she wasn't sick, it was just a little sneeze and she didn't get anything onto the stuff. discussions ensue. nurse sents me an "is this really happening?!" look, and i just give a helpless grin-shrug, because, yeah, it was happening. nurse was clearly heavily annoyed, but managed to finish putting the iv thing into her before leaving a little louder than necessary.i can understand voicing your concerns about hygiene and your worries. that's good. not good is picking fights with the people taking care of you. like... i caught myself thinking, every single time lady next to me went to complain or whine about something (which she did... /quite/ a lot) that, if i am in a hospital, dependent on the care of the staff, that the LAST thing i want to do is being a bitch to them?i'll do my damndest to be polite at least, friendly whenever i can, so they know i appreciate the help. being nice to your nurse means your nurse will do their best to care for you, and maybe put in a little more effort than absolutely necessary (like offering to fill my water bottle for me) and if someone has to sit me onto the toilet becauce i can't pee by myself, the least they deserve is me not bitching. seriously, the lady was nice enough, overall, but man... she also was entitled and just that special little snowflake kind of person. complaining about her boyfriend not taking the day off work so he'd be available all day to pick her up whenever she was discharged... i understand the thought behind it, but i also understand you can't just leave work just like that. and she was better off than me, mobility-wise, she could've taken a taxi or even public transport (given, i wouldn't have, either) or just waited for him until he could leave work)aaaaaanyway, on monday, headache was getting better, and my surgeon came in to check up on his work, he finally told me how much he removed, and it was WAY more than i expected or he estimated before,he'd told me, he'd remove about a kilo of tissue per side, which seemed a good weight, (i'd weighted them before, and they were about 2 kilos each, according to my kitchen scale XD )and it ended up being 1,4 kilos per side... that's almost 3 kilos! that's, like, two whole chickens! i was pretty shocked, but also excited, because, for the first time i really understood how HUGE my boobs had been. and how reasonable and right my decision was. i have no regrets and even in between never had any, but i had my doubts about the necessity of this whole thing, a lot of the time, i felt like it was a mood, or a phase, something i wanted out of a whim, rather than that i really needed it. it was my idea, and i wanted it, and as such, as a non-essential surgery, i was scared that i was doing something wrong. that it'd end up turning out bad, simply because of my paranoia-driven fear of karmic punishment for wanting something like that without it being unavoidable (like my gallbladder surgery) but hearing how much he'd removed, and given how much is still left, and how i now have an average pair of breasts for a woman of my stature, it took some guilt off me. also, by monday, i was starting to feel the first effects of the weightloss. i could sit up without using my arms (which was still being a bitch, because it'd pull on the damn drainage), like doing a situp, and it was sooo easy!even right now, i'm still too overall sore/tender to really notice a direct difference, but indirectly, it's already so amazing! i'm sitting up straighter without even noticing, i can breathe freely, which is odd, but i keep noticing how free my chest feels, like i'm expecting it to feel tight or heavy, but it isn't,on monday, the drainage tubes were FINALLY removed and it was glorious!i could stay until tuesday, and it was good i got to stay another day, because walking around was, and is, still somewhat tedious.on wednesday, i had a bit of an emotional crash. i guess it's the physical shock of surgery/injury and the medication wearing off, coupled with the relief of being at home and knowing you can relax now, i was dissociating a little, on and off through the day, feeling weepy and alone and all thatbuuuut that went away, too, and today, post-op day 6, i'm still a little tender and weak, but overall, i'm doing pretty fine!i can wash myself on my own, even my hair, and i am in SO much less pain than i expected. like... i was preparing to be out of commission completely for the entirety of the three weeks vacation i took off of work, but if things continue like this, going back in two and a half weeks will be absolutely possible. i catch myself being a little too enthusiastic sometimes, like trying to reach up to open/close my skylight window and getting a little reminder NOT to stretch up my arms all the way. or having to take a break from walking up the stairs and having to sit a couple minutes in the house's staircase on the way up to my appartment (we don't have an elevator)the most uncomfortable thing right now is the itching. the medical bra rubs against the edge of the steri-strips, where my skin is taut and dry and it's leaving mild imprints and it ITCHES and it's driving me insane, but it doesn't hurt, and it doesn't seem to mess with the stitches, so i'm trying not to complain too hard. all things considered, and with how weak and sore i was, right now, as i'm typing this, i'd do it all over again. i don't want to jinx anything, so i won't jubilate, but overall, i'm pleasantly surprised by how well things have been so far. i like my tiny new boobs, and i hate the itching, i love how much longer my torso looks, and i'm looking forward so much to buying beautiful bras and all the pretty swimwear i couldn't before, because it would never fit my boobs....aah <3next week i'll go in to have my stitches removed (they're not the dissolving kind) and i'm a little worried how the scars will hold, but i'm also eager to start using lotions and all the good stuff to help the skin recover i will recommend this procedure to anyone that's considering it, and i'm so happy that the surgery went well and my new boobs look perfect! (if still a little crinkly around the scars XD )

[cleverbroadwayurl]

Youth (Jeremy Heere x Reader Pt 4)

Song: Youth by Daughter (also from the Life is Strange franchise try and stop me)

Need to Catch Up? PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 

Want More? PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10 PART 11 PART 12 PART 13 PART 14 PART 15 PART 16  PART 17 PART 18  PART 19

Word Count: 2462

A/N: Like I said, the next few parts will take a few days to come out. I am feeling hella better today, so I will probably try to get part 5 done today and post it soon. I am working every day next week, so I will attempt to get some things done soon. I will do my best to keep you updated as much as I can, even if it’s 3 in the morning or something. My goal is still the 22 of August, so everything should be posted by then! I also did decide to add a taglist, so feel free to let me know if you want to be on that! I also saw something that said people from New Jersey like this place called Wawa’s? I did my best to include that (because I go to school in New York and I know how big Wegman’s is, I assumed Wawa’s is similar). 

Trigger Warnings: anxious Jeremy, mediocre boyfriend, self depreciating thoughts

Taglist: @retrogarden 

He wasn’t sure how he’d done it, but you two actually ended up talking for an hour or so. Jeremy double checked that everything was okay with you, and asked about how you’d been since graduation. You replied rather quickly, almost putting his poor response time (due to double checking with Michael on each response) to shame. You also often mirrored his responses, putting one word answers followed by questions in an attempt to keep the conversation going. Jeremy was grateful and shocked that you even wanted to talk to him. He got nervous as the hour went on, however. Your responses kept getting spacier and spacier until you finally said you had to go. You apologized for the way you were acting before saying goodbye to him, and Jeremy was very confused. It was almost like you were trying to be over polite. He pushed the thought away as he gave Michael a high five. This was an accomplishment; Jeremy finally talked to you without stuttering and making a fool of himself.

The next time you two saw each other, it was at Rich’s bonfire. It was shocking that Rich was even having his annual bonfire, but he did it as redemption for what happened a year and a half ago at Jake Dillinger’s Halloween party. Plus, he wanted to invite all of his new friends to a special get together that may have been overly exclusive before. Now was a time of acceptance. They accepted him; he would do the same for them.

And of course, since it’s Rich and he knows a lot of people, not only was the whole SQUIP-Squad invited, but so was your best friend, your boyfriend, and you. Of course, you’d be there with your boyfriend, but Jeremy’s heart did sink a little bit when he didn’t see you arrive as soon as the bonfire started. He had seen somewhere that you picked up a Summer job, one that maybe was perfect for your tastes. However, that job prevented him from seeing you. And while he was happy about your freedom and independence as a person, he did miss your smiling face, even if it was often accompanied by your boyfriend. Jeremy still had to admit, you two were a cute couple.

The party was actually pretty fun. Both Michael and Jeremy were reluctant to go, but it was nice to just sit and talk with some friends. There were snacks and because it was a bonfire, there were of course smores. The group took turns cooking and eating marshmallows over the fire, not a care on anyone’s shoulders. Your boyfriend was asked when you would show, and he just shrugged and switched back to being on his phone for a little bit.

At about 9:30, you showed up, smile on your face and dressed in sweats. You must’ve just gotten off of a shift and went home to change. Jeremy couldn’t help but find beauty in your exhaustion. From your messy hair to the slight bags under your eyes. He couldn’t pull his mind away from picturing your head resting on his shoulder, and you being fast asleep as some lame sitcom plays in the background. He wanted to see his navy cardigan on you so badly, but knew that right now was not the time to confess his feelings.

And through the exhaustion, Jeremy could see a wild light in your eyes as the group decided to play Never Have I Ever. He never saw you as a risk taker, but rebellion ablaze in your eyes, he knew that first impressions of you were merely the surface of your personality. Even though he had been taking notice of you and your habits, this was an entirely new experience with you.

The game started innocently. For some reason, everyone was playing it safe. Jeremy knew why he was playing it safe. Any Never Have I Ever statements from him weren’t embarrassing, and he was trying his best to be discreet with his claps. The one thing he didn’t want to do is ruin is possible chances with you in the future. Not that he wanted you and your boyfriend to break up, but like maybe in the future, if you were willing, Jeremy didn’t want to ruin his chances with you. Even if that meant just being friends.

As the games passed, the statements did get dirtier. Jeremy started sweating for some of the statements and didn’t even clap for others. His numbers just silently went down. But some of the times he didn’t clap were because he wasn’t paying attention to the game. He was watching the light of the bonfire dance on your face and noticed how your demeanor reflected the warmth of the fire. He had never seen you act so extraverted in his life. You were comfortable. You were yourself.

What he really marveled at as the games got dirtier was your lack of judgement. You didn’t care about the numbers that people held up, from Brooke’s 2 to Christine’s 6. You listened and clapped appropriately, excitement flying out with your giggles and statements. You made cute faces at other people, teasingly getting angry at them for making you clap.

A game and a half later, you became quiet. The rebellion in your eyes faltered before disappearing all together. Jeremy’s heart sank. Your fake smile had made a return and your eyes fixated on a single point in the distance. It was almost like you were dissociating but at a very specific point. Fear crept into your features, your face getting paler by the millisecond. He followed your gaze to across the circle. Why were you looking at Chloe like that? Yeah, she wasn’t very nice for years, but she’s better now and working on herself. She apologized and has been making things right for months. Through all the confusion, he decided to look at little beyond the circle.

There it was.

Your boyfriend was staring at you, a look of disapproval on his face. His lip pouted into a frown, his eyes not leaving yours. He had that icy glare that Jeremy recalled from the senior cruise. Jeremy knew how it felt to be stared as if you had done something wrong, even when you weren’t doing anything. That glare seemed familiar to your boyfriend, almost like he had made the same face at you many times before. His friend asked him something, and he turned from you, a smile stretching his lips from the pucker of his frown.

The game finally ended, and Jeremy was going over to say something to you. You needed a friend right now and probably some comfort. But the party was pretty much over and he didn’t want to make things worse between you and your boyfriend. So he let you be your own person.

People were walking around and asking for rides, and Jeremy could hear your boyfriend asking for a ride from you. Now that was a wild thing to hear. Your boyfriend lived in the opposite direction of your house, it would not only be out of your way, but it would be the opposite direction that you needed to go. It was getting late; and Jeremy knew that you had a shift earlier that day. Exhaustion had painted your features before, so asking you for a ride almost seemed…rude.

“I have a flight to catch in like 8 hours and I still have to pack. I don’t have time to drive you home tonight. I’m really sorry,” you responded, voice only slightly wavering.

“Shit, are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry.”

Jeremy could practically hear your boyfriend’s eyeroll, but was happy that you stood up for yourself. He took a glance over, not sure why his concern for your safety sky rocketed, and watched your boyfriend desert you in hopes of finding a ride. His eyes lingered as your eyes flicked towards your best friend. It was almost like a secret code, one similar to the way Michael and Jeremy talked around others. Your eyes turned into a way of begging, your best friend staring into your soul with a blank expression. They moved swiftly over to your boyfriend, after about 20 seconds of your secret facial expression language. Your best friend offered him a ride and you thanked her endlessly.

Soon enough, the party goers were leaving, and Michael suggested that he and Jeremy go home. The two walked to Michael’s P.T. Cruiser, Michael jingling his keys in his hands. It almost kept Jeremy from hearing your conversation with your boyfriend. Almost. He couldn’t quite make out the words the two of you said to one another, but as soon as he heard silence between you and your boyfriend happened, Jeremy’s head whipped around so fast Michael thought he’d get whiplash. But as soon as Jeremy’s eyes landed on you two, his heart sunk. Your boyfriend was kissing you. The kiss deepened and Jeremy tore his eyes away. He immediately looked at the pavement and could feel Michael’s hand on his shoulder as the slushie enthusiast unlocked the car. The tall boy couldn’t take PDA between you and your boyfriend right now. It not only broke his heart, but gave him an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He swallowed his pride as he climbed into the side of Michael’s passenger seat.

Since it was the summer before everyone went to college, Jeremy thought he’d never see you again. It was at that point that he hoped that somehow you’d connect years later, probably sometime when Jeremy wasn’t such a dork. That’s why he was so surprised to see you at Wawa’s one day in the middle of July. He was there with Jake and Rich to get some snacks for a movie night that would be hosted at Jenna’s house later that night.

Jeremy ran into you trying to grab some chips from the top shelf. He couldn’t help but smile to himself as you attempted to grab the bag; your height not being tall enough to grab ahold of it. You were adorable, lip pouted out in concentration, eyes determined to grab the chip bag, coffee in your other hand. You gave up after what felt like seconds to Jeremy, he could watch you being absolutely cute for hours, if not, days. You began to turn away, or maybe looking for a way to climb the shelves without getting caught.

“I can get that bag for you, if you want,” Jeremy said, walking quickly towards you. You smiled that amazing smile, the one that made Jeremy’s heart melt. He grabbed the bag with ease. His hands were just a little sweaty, and he prayed that you wouldn’t notice.

You took the bag, smile only growing wider. “Thank you so much, Jeremy.”

“You’re welcome,” he managed to say without a stutter. “I’ll see you later,” Jeremy smiled before walking off to meet up with Jake and Rich.

“Yeah, Jeremy I’ll see you around!” You mirrored his actions before walking up to the front to pay.

He found Rich and Jake pretty quickly about that encounter. Jeremy felt like he was moving at the speed of light, everything was zooming by in soft focus. You had talked to him. You had been sweet and nice and treated him like a human being. You were grateful for his presence and his help, even if it seemed like you didn’t need it at first. It was almost domestic, it was something Jeremy wanted with you. He could practically picture getting glasses for you from the top shelf of cabinets and going grocery shopping with you. He wanted that.

But as soon as he realized that he wanted that, his head altered the image. He wouldn’t get that. Your boyfriend probably did that for you already. You two probably watched movies together, he probably got glasses down for you, you two probably play video games every Saturday and live quite a domestic life outside of school. You two were close, no doubt about it. In the last year, it seemed like you two spent the most time with one another. Actually he couldn’t recall a time that he saw you two apart other than classes and this encounter at Wawa’s with you. Jeremy wasn’t sure if he was jealous or if it was actually strange that you two didn’t spend much time apart.

“Earth to Jeremy, come in Jeremy,” Rich laughed and nudged his friend.

“Whatcha thinking about, dude?” Jake teased.

A blush grew on Jeremy’s face, his eyes darting down to the floor.

“It’s (Y/N), isn’t it?” Rich asked, keeping his voice low.

“Shut up, Rich.”

“Dude, you should tell them how you feel.”

“Yeah, Jake? And how would I do that? They’re still with their boyfriend. And we’re going off to college this Fall.”

“True, but you never know, Heere.”

Jeremy rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics. Rich and Jake just didn’t get it. Yeah, you two had problems, but every couple does. When he was dating Christine, they had problems, even before they broke up. Hell, he and Christine had problems before they even got together. But that didn’t mean you two were going to break up. You and your boyfriend had been together for a long time, almost a year if his mental math was correct. He was sure that any problems the two of you had, both of you would work past them.

“Maybe ask them to hang out the next time to see them,” Jake suggested, breaking Jeremy out of his thoughts.

“Yeah, the worst they can say is no, right?” Rich added.

“I guess you’re right. I do it the next time I see them.”

“You can text them, right?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t feel right to me,” Jeremy said.

“I give you credit for that, dude. Let’s bounce, Jenna’s probably waiting for us,” Rich said before making his way to the checkout.

In reality, Jeremy thought he got out of asking you out because he said he would do it in person. He was sure that he’d never see you again. Yeah, you two had the same circle of friends, but, again, it was rare to see you alone. And he couldn’t ask you out if you were standing right next to your boyfriend. And why were Rich and Jake so set on him asking you out? He knows for a fact that they’re both against the idea of cheating, so why in the world would they push him to ask you out? Maybe they meant as a friend thing. Yeah, they meant you two should be friends first and then if something happens, he could make his move, right?

[imagine-loki]

Falling For(on) Her

TITLE: Falling For(on) Her CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 1 AUTHOR: KrakenScribbles  ORIGINAL IMAGINE:Imagine a few of the Avengers secretly knowing that Loki has the major hots for you. Like, he may very well be looking at “crush” in the rearview mirror… RATING: T for now I’ll up it to M later prob NOTES/WARNINGS: This is my first time writing fic, though I’ve written in rpgs for years, so I’d rather stay mostly anonymous. I do have a sideblog connected to the author name, but it’s private just so you don’t think I’m pulling the author name out of the sky. 

Considering the events of Ragnarok, I’m not sure when this would logically take place time-line wise so just consider it an alternate timeline from after Dark World? I wanted to keep the happenings of the imagine in the first chapter, so I tried to keep the setup short, you’ll learn more about Chess in later chapters.  ————————————–

It had been about six months since Chess had joined the Avengers through coercion. She hadn’t really wanted to join, but S.H.I.E.D. had tracked her down and sort of forced it upon her because as far as they were concerned she was a danger otherwise and needed to be monitored. So, she had been moved into the Avengers tower and had been slowly getting acquainted with everyone since then. Mostly though, she only really talked to Loki and Thor. Most figured it was because Thor was very hard to ignore and nobody could really figure out where she had been during the invasion, but it was apparently not New York or Germany as she didn’t seem to really care about it even when several people seemed to bring it up for the sole purpose of making Loki look bad.

Loki seemed to actively start seeking her out once he realized she didn’t seem to have an issue with him. Chess wondered if he was maybe a little lonely, as only Thor really spoke to him without snark in the tower. Just so long as she wasn’t reading she didn’t really mind being spoken to, which after someone had asked what she was reading once, she did only in her room. So, when she wasn’t in her room, she stuck to listening to music and observing how the Avengers interacted with one another. They were, definitely, a ragtag group who had some sincerely questionable ways of dealing with their problems. Many of them drank, a lot, and since Steve couldn’t get drunk he seemed to resort to punching sandbags in the middle of the night. She was a night owl who hated mornings, but seeing as she wasn’t the only one, after a few weeks, she had just sort of accepted that she would never be getting any quiet peace outside her room. It was frustrating for an introvert who was used to having so much space to herself only really having one room, but she supposed if she didn’t want to get thrown in prison she would have to deal. Though, she still wasn’t sure how she was a danger to others while running around a frozen tundra with nobody around for literally miles, but who was she to argue with S.H.I.E.L.D.?

Of course, after a few months of them talking, she had noticed Loki seemed to have some level of crush her, though she didn’t really understand why. He hardly knew anything about her, and she personally rarely developed crushes on people she barely knew. So she had no intention of approaching him about it. He was a grown ass adult, if he wanted to act on his crush then he could get it together and do so without her saying something first. Though, then the pranks started. At first, she had just thought he had become nervous around her due to his slight crush, but considering all she did was people watch, she knew the Avengers were behind at least some of the mishaps. Chess didn’t really understand their motivations behind what they were doing, but she was very aware by now they weren’t overly fond of him. Really, she just wondered why he never retaliated, unless that was part of his sentence here on Midgard? She wasn’t really sure of the details as they hadn’t really been important to her.

Today though, things were apparently going to come to a head. Chess walked into the kitchen with a coffee. She had very clearly just rolled out of bed and came into the kitchen as she had on a t-shirt that was too big and said ‘fight me’ across the front and a pair of shorts with a galaxy printed on them. She wasn’t wearing socks or shoes and her ice blue hair was fluffed into disarray from rolling about in her sleep. Still though, she was going to be polite to at least Loki. “Good morning, Loki,” she managed before putting a hand over her mouth and yawning. She had come into the kitchen for something, but what was it? Whatever it was, it was now forgotten, and Loki seemed about to return her greeting when he tripped and fell towards her. Honestly it was probably a miracle they hadn’t both ended up on the floor covered in coffee, but it was probably because when she saw him falling she had jumped backwards a few inches. It took her another moment to register that Loki was now on the floor in front of her and no longer falling, but she set the coffee, which she had accidentally frozen solid in surprise, down on the counter before crouching down to see if he was bleeding.

“Are you alright?” she asked with a slight tilt of her head before offering him her hands to help him to his feet. He took them and she pulled him up when Tony piped up with some commentary of his own. “Hey, Loki. Did you get a good feel?” Tony asked with a smirk. Chess was not the most coherent in the morning, so it took her a moment to realize she had kind of been groped while Loki was apologizing. “I do apologize, please forgive me, I really did not mean to,” he was saying while she shrugged. “It’s not like you did it on purpose, and I actually didn’t even notice I’m not awake enough for this nonsense yet,” she said with a sigh while the Avengers seemed to be laughing.

She tilted her head and looked around Loki to see Tony still had his foot outstretched. “Did you trip him?” she asked, suddenly sounding rather annoyed. The laughing instantly stopped. “I…um…y-uh. No…,” he started and Chess stared at him, hard. The temperature in the kitchen dropped about ten degrees while she stared at him.

She stalked closer and placed her hand on Tony’s coffee mug, it froze and he let go in surprise at the cold. She set it down carefully on one of the counters before pulling back and throwing a punch into his face. That may have been a little harder than she intended, but it was too early for this. He hit the floor and she looked at Steve. “Unless you would like to join him on the floor, Captain, I suggest you take him down to medical as he probably has a concussion,” she said with a frown and a huff before stalking back to the cabinets to get out two new mugs. She poured milk and put them in the microwave before turning and looking at the remaining Avengers in the room. “Anyone else want to be friggin stupid before I’ve woken up?” she asked as the room dropped another five degrees in temperature. Nobody responded. “No? Fan-freaking-tastic, fuckin children,” she hissed before mixing up two hot chocolates and adding whipped cream.

Loki had disappeared before she even threw the punch, but she wasn’t leaving the kitchen without some kind of beverage so that would have to wait. Besides, she personally liked time to cool off so to speak before dealing with people after being angry or upset. She always thought people needed a few moments to collect themselves after such, so she preferred to give a little time before even thinking about confronting someone. She left the kitchen, and it returned to normal temperature as she did, though, she noticed that everyone else had left by the time the microwave went off anyway. Perhaps they couldn’t handle the cold? She made a mental note that freezing her room might keep them from bothering her.

Anyway, she made it to Loki’s room, and as she was holding two mugs, she kicked the door to knock so she didn’t have to set down either of the mugs. She’d heard the door slam while she was making cocoa, so she was fairly certain that he was in his room just not answering. Chess took a sip of her drink before kicking at the door again. “Loki, it’s me. I come in peace, I even brought you a calming warm beverage am I allowed in now?” she asked rather lamely with a sigh. It really was too early for all of this. Just then though, Thor was walking past and clapped her lightly on the shoulder. “I heard you punched out man of irons for tripping my brother! Well done Lady Chess,” he said with a grin and a nod. Chess just snorted and shrugged. “I may have hit him a smidge harder than necessary. Any chance you’re willing to open Loki’s door for me? I have my hands full and he’s ignoring me which is rude because I brought him a drink,” she said with a pout at the blonde brother. “Certainly!” he said with a grin before opening the door and then continuing on his way down the hallway so Loki couldn’t yell at him.

Chess walked into the room and spotted Loki on the floor glaring at the ceiling. “I don’t remember saying you could come in,” he said with a sigh. Ignoring the comment, she stepped over him and set his drink on a table. “There is your cocoa, drink it while it’s warm, I’m going to drink mine and take a shower so that I can become a functional being. If you want to talk when you’re done laying on the floor come find me,” she said with another yawn before stepping back over him and closing his door behind her before heading up to her own room to fully wake up and prepare to deal with the day.

[angelbabyuris]

Candles (Stenbrough)

Stenbrough x 16 Candles - 2117 words

(With a slight side of Reddie)

Eighteen is an important age, the age you finally get a taste of freedom. Today meant Stan was no longer a child but, finally, an adult.

After his Bar Mitzvah, birthdays didn’t mean too much but today was different. He wore jeans instead of his typical khaki’s and slicked back his hair.

Stan’s parents frantically run around preparing for the arrival of a ‘family friend.’

“Good morning” he says with a bright smile.

“Good morning, Stan” his mother says, not even bothering to look up at him.

“Don’t you have something to say?” he says.

“I don’t think so, should I?” she says looking up at stan, “oh right, have a nice day, sweetie.”

Stan just smiles at her and ignores it, maybe they’re just messing with him. He slings his backpack over his shoulder and begins his walk to school. Beverly walks up and loops her arm through his, “hey, Stanny.”

“Hey Bev” he says offering her a warm smile.

“Happy birthday” she says pinching his cheeks. Stan just laughs and shakes his head. They walk into school and he’s taken aback.

The one and only Bill Denbrough is leaning up against his locker, in a sexy James Dean kinda way, Stan’s knees threaten to give out.

“Keep it in your pants,” Bev giggles, his blushing face makes her laugh harder. His face gets even hotter when he notices Bill looking right at him.

He quickly looks down, grabbing Bev’s hand, and speeds down the hall.

~

“Hey, hot stuff.”

Stan rolls his eyes so hard he’s surprised they don’t fall right out of his head, “what do you want, Richie?”

He takes this as an invitation to sit down.

“I was wondering if you had a date to tonight’s dance” he says with his typical dorkish smile,

Stan resists the urge to roll his eyes again.

“Goodbye, Richard” Beverly says pushing his face away with the palm of her hand before pulling Stan outside, “day going any better?”

“No, if this day goes by any slower I will step into traffic” Stan says sighing.

“Lighten up, it’s your birthday” she says pinching his cheeks again.

“So? It’s not like anybody actually remembered” he says crossing his arms over his chest.

“Come on, you’re their only son, there’s no way they forgot” she says shoving him. He just shrugs and adjusts his back pack, “call me later and tell me how things went.”

Bev jogs off into the direction of her house as Stan sighs again.

~

“Y-ya know Stan U-Uris” Bill says putting on his baseball cap.

“The jewish kid?” Mike says absentmindedly. Bill nods, “I’ve heard of him.”

“What do y-you think of him?” he asks, trying to be casual as possible.

“Uh, he’s nice? I don’t really talk to him, why do you ask?” he says walking through the locker room doors.

“I think I-I like him” he says shrugging it off.

“You could have anyone you want and you chose him? No offence but he doesn’t seem like your type. And besides, how do you know he likes boy, it’s against his religion” he says as Bill frowns.

“T-thanks, man.”

“I’m just saying, Big Bill.”

~

“Mom, I’m home” Stan yells slamming the door behind him. A boy about 5’3, dark hair, stands awkwardly in the living room.

“Stan, this is Edward, the family friend” his mom says. Stan smiles politely and shakes Edward’s hand.

“Eddie” he corrects, inconspicuously wiping his hand on his pants.

Stan just shakes his head and turns his attention back to his mom, “do you have anything you’d like to mention now?”

Andrea sighs and places her hands on her hips, “Stan, is there something I should know?”

“No, I guess not” he says before jogging up to his room. He belly flops down on his bed and quickly punches Bev’s number into his landline.

“Beverly Marsh.”

“They forgot my birthday.”

“No way.”

“Yeah, and there’s this weird guy staying at my house” Stan says rolling onto his back.

“A weird guy?” Bev asks picking at her nails.

“A guy named Eddie, some friend of the family” he says running his fingers through his slicked back curls.

“Is he cute?” Stan debates hanging up the phone, “hello?”

“This day could not get any worse” he says closing his eyes.

“If it makes you feel any better, Stanny, Bill was sneaking looks at you today” Bev says wiggling her eyebrows. Despite not being able to see her, he knows exactly what she’s doing. “And he was looking pretty hot in his varsity jacket.”

Stan smiles at the thought, “maybe he’ll be at the dance tonight.”

“And maybe he’ll be in the mood to get all touchy-feely with a certain curly-haired hunk.”

“Beverly!”

“Wear something sexy and I’ll meet you at 8.”

Stan sets down the phone and goes back downstairs, “hey Stan, your father and I are going out tonight, you’ll be on your own for dinner.”

“Okay, I’ll be at the school dance tonight anyway,” before she can add anything, he quickly says, “With Bev.”

“Beverly Marsh? Oh, I like her, she’s a sweet girl” Andrea says flipping through the pages in her book. She lightly gasps and closes her book, “why don’t you take Eddie with you!”

~

“This school is bigger than I thought it’d be,” Eddie says looking around. “Probably a lot dirtier too.”

Stan rolls his eyes as Eddie slips away, inspecting the halls. Bev runs up and grabs Stan’s arm, “guess who’s here!”

Stan doesn’t even have time to answer before she drags him into the gymnasium, blaring loud, but censored, music.

“There’s Ben” she squeals before running off. Stan just shakes his head before walking over to the punch bowl.

“What are the chances this is spiked?” He asks himself.

“It’s highschool, have some fun, Staniel” Richie says casually slinging his arm around Stan’s shoulder. He quickly squirms away from him.

.

He decides against the punch, not wanting to take the risk and also wanting to get away from Richie, but he follows like a lost puppy.

Stan sits down next to a giggling Bev and a blushing Ben. Richie joins in with Bev’s laughing, earning him a dirty look from her, “why don’t you piss off, Toaster.”

“Uh, it’s actually Tozier, little lady” he says in the worst british accent Stan’s ever heard. Bev’s dirty look turns mean and he takes a step back, “I guess I’ll see ya guys later.”

Bev cracks up laughing when he leaves. “Oh, Stanny” she says seductively, pointing across the gym. He almosts flips when he sees Bill. He’s dressed in a button up that makes Stan wanna drool.

But Bill’s dancing with some freshman and seemingly having a good time, so Stan turns his attention back to Ben.

~

“Big Bill” Mike calls trying to make his way through the crowd, “Bill.”

He’s oblivious to him over the loud music, “William Denbrough!”

His head snaps in Mike’s direction, offering him a smile before walking over to him, he follows Mike away from the group of overly excited freshman.

“Hey man” he says casually.

“Not to ruin your fun, but Stan the man is standing right over there,” he says ushering to the bleachers, “If only there was someone to go and keep him company.”

“Mike, y-you are the man” he says.

“I know, lover boy.”

Bill takes a deep breath, fixes his shirt, and heads Stan’s way.

~

“This dance is lame,” Bev says playing with Ben’s hair. Ben is absolutely smitten. “Let’s bounce.”

They make their way out of the gym and Bev offers a small get together at her place but Stan is quick to decline, “as much as I’d love to watch you two make out, I gotta go find Eddie and go home.”

“Fine, good luck, loser” she says kissing his cheek and leading Ben outside.

“Now where did that boy go.”

~

Bill quickly turns around and walks back to, “he’s l-leaving, what d-do I do?”

“Follow him but don’t be creepy” Mike says.

“G-got it” Bill says jogging after Stan. What seems like a million people stop him to talk, by the time he makes it out to the hallway, Stan’s gone.

Bill groans, running his fingers through his hair and kicking the wall. He glumly walks back into the gym.

“That boy is hopeless” Mike says rolling his eyes.

~

“Eddie” Stan yells, walking down the empty hallway. Stan is starting to lose patience, “Edward!”

He hears a loud crash coming from a room down the hall, he jogs down and opens the door. 

He can’t tell if he should be relieved or grossed out.

Eddie is on top of a desk, making out with the one and only Richie Tozier, and not the regular making out; shirtless, panting kind of making out.

They both look at him horrified.

“I’m going home, I guess I’ll just meet you there then?” he says, quickly shutting the door and speeding away from the room.

“I can’t believe he’s been here for a few hours and he already has someone to make out with, I’ve been here my whole life and most people don’t even know my name!”

~

“You should try calling him.”

“Nah, I’m trying not to be a c-creep, like you said.”

“I’m sorry, Big Bill.”

“It’s all good,” he says shrugging it off, “b-but I think I’m gonna go h-home.”

“Okay, catchya later, Bill” Mike says waving him off.

Bill gives him a slight wave before walking out. He gets in his car and sighs, “I hope G-georgie has better luck in l-love than I do.”

~

Stan didn’t estimate how cold it would get when the sun went down, so he spent his walk home shivering. His arms were covered in goosebumps and his teeth wouldn’t stop chattering for the life of him.

Despite being cold and exhausted, he almost jumped when he noticed Bill’s camaro. He felt embarrassed at the thought of being eighteen and not having a car.

He had to force himself not to smile when he heard Bill rolling down his car window.

“N-need a ride?”

Stan’s heart stops. Bill Denbrough is asking him to get into his car? He wants to say no and avoid being a bother but his numb fingers tell him otherwise.

“If it’s not a bother.”

“None at a-all, hop in.”

Bill mentally thanks Mike for forcing him to ‘be responsible’ and clean out his car.

Bill Denbrough was not the nervous type, he was cool and collected, but having Stan Uris sitting so close to him made him feel like throwing up, in a good way of course.

After explaining directions and such, Bill noticed Stan isn’t too talkative. Did he do something wrong?

“I-Is everything okay?” He asks nervously gripping the steering wheel.

“Yeah, I just don’t wanna go home yet,” Bill nods as Stan keeps a minute of silence between them, “my whole family forgot my birthday.”

He looks at Stan stunned, Stan wonders if he should regret saying anything, “they forgot your birthday?”

Stan nods.

Bill starts driving in a direction that is definitely not to Stan’s house. They pull up to a big house with an empty driveway. Bill’s house?

Bill leads stan into the kitchen, throwing his keys on the counter and making his way towards the fridge, “my mom made a cake for her office party this weekend but I guess I can make her another one.”

Stans too stunned to argue. He is standing in Bill Denbrough’s kitchen, being offered a piece of cake for his birthday that everyone forgot.

And how does Bill’s mom just happen to have a cake made?

When Bill looks away Stan pinches himself.

Bill unwraps the cake and sets in down on the counter before rummaging through a drawer, he pulls out an unopened pack of blue candles and a lighter.

Stan holds back a laugh as he positions and lights them. Stan’s even more surprised when he starts singing, “happy birthday to you.”

Stan blushes as Bill’s eyes stay on him.

“Happy birthday dear Stanley, happy birthday to you!”

Bill eagerly looks at him, bouncing in his seat, “make a w-wish.”

“You’re here, it already did,” Stan whispers with a sheepish smile. Bill’s ears turn bright pink. Stan blows out the candles anyway.

“Can I kiss you?” His breath hitches in his throat.

Bill Denbrough wants to kiss him?

“Unless you’re not into b-boys, I know you’re j-j-j… religious, so you can forget that I…”

Stan gives him a soft smile before grabbing the collar of his shirt and pulling him closer. Stan steps back meekly but Bill is beaming, Stan can’t help but giggle, “happy birthday, Stan the man.”

[stilinski-jpeg]

The Void Inside Me (NSFW 18+)

A/N: This idea was sprouted by one of those ads we’re the two people are texting about something really agnsty or suspenseful and you have to download the app to see the whole story. I loved the idea so much and thought no one would be more suited for it than Void. I want to thank @writing-obrien for seriously helping me out with this when I was completely stumped. Also @celestial-writing because this fic would not be finished if it weren’t for her motivating me to push through up until the very end. And @sarcasticallystilinski too for all her feedback. I think they all edited this at some point too so thank you beautiful babes, I love you all more than most. Lastly, Koneko is Japanese for kitten so says google translater. I’m sorry if I got that wrong.

Warnings: Smut; choking.

Word Count: 6860

|Masterlist|

Remember when you were little and someone, whether it be your parents or your teacher, asked you what you wanted to be when you grew up? It was always a riveting question that shattered all boundaries of insightful questions. Well people would say things like: A doctor, a ballerina, or a pop star. Because when you're that young you don't grasp the reality of life and that more than likely you'd be in high school not doing any of the things you thought you’d be doing and working at failing clothing boutique or lame record shops that no one went too. Or like me you could be working at a local grocery store.

Being new to Beacon Hills, a lot of cooler jobs were taken. So I was landed with the only job available that would accommodate me with my school hours. So cashier girl is what I was formerly know as at school. Frustrating as it was, no one bother to learn my name properly. Different variations of the unprecedented nickname surfaced anywhere from girl to cashier. But not for Stiles.

No, Stiles Stilinski noticed me the second I walked into Beacon Hills High School. The halls were empty except from him when I pulled open the doors that morning. He was standing at his locker, staring aimlessly into it, when the sudden rush of outside light caught his attention. He squinted, his head tilting slightly, as he tried to make out the newcomer only to find it was me. His expression changed from confused to surprised, his eyebrows raised and his mouth hung open slightly.

I blushed as I passed him, clinging on to my books as I tried to force my smile to withdraw. Since that moment, I had a thing for Stiles. And I liked to think that he had a thing for me too. But Stiles and I’s relationship, platonic or otherwise, felt like one that could never make it off the ground. Like something always stopped us from connecting. Like fate was trying to tell us something. But I didn't want to listen to old lady fate. It was hard to ignore the intense feeling I had when he was around and I didn't want that feeling to go away.

For a while his crush on Lydia, made it difficult for him to have an eye for anyone else. I became his venting buddy when we were paired up together one day in Biology. The only thing worse about having to listen to your crush talk about another person was dissecting a frog while doing it.

“I just don't know how, no matter how hard I try, that she just rejects my feelings for her.” He whined as I slide the scalpel down the frog's stomach, cringing the entire time.

“Mhmm.” I responded absentmindedly.

“It just so frustrating you know? Like why doesn't she love me back?”

“OH MY GOD!” I covered my nose with the back of my hand as all of the innards of the amphibian could be seen.

“I know, right!” Stiles agreed, his mind clearly away from the task at hand.

Stomach turning, I set down the tool and faced him. His words just now hitting me as I processed them. He was still talking when interrupted him in the middle of telling me for the umpteenth time how he'd loved her since grade school and there was no one like that strawberry blonde and that Aiden was just a minor setback but he'd end up on top.

“Stiles.” I said, holding a hand up to halt his rambling. “You say you've loved Lydia forever right?”

He nodded his attention fully on me now, making me kind of nervous.

“Well,” I swallowed thickly forcing myself to continue. “How come after forever and all the ‘bonding’ you say you've done, she's still going after the bad boys?”

He mulled this over, thinking intently about the question. If I'd learned anything about Stiles is that this was the sign of a boy making a case to support his argument. But I was tired of him lusting after the popular girl who didn't care about him.

“Before you say anything, think about this.” I said, tucking my hair behind my ear. “If she does end up with you, whenever that may be, will she ever love you as much as you love her?”

His eyes widened with understanding as my question loomed between us. His eyes scanned over my face, but I could tell he was really considering the question. Before he could respond however, Scott McCall flung open the door. He was obviously winded as he tried to explain to the teacher that he needed Stiles urgently for a lacrosse meeting with Coach. That was all the persuading the teacher needed to dismiss Stiles from class. The only thing was, that if it were a meeting for the lacrosse team, why were they headed the opposite way of the locker rooms?

That was most of my encounters with him. Constantly just on the cusp of breaking through the wall of friendship to something more, when he was ripped away by his friends for one bad excuse or another. At first, I thought he didn't like me and his friend (at his request) were saving him from me. But that proved not to be true after one instance where he deliberately kissed my cheek, promising to text me later before running off to meet his friends who were anxiously waiting for him at his jeep.

It seemed like every meeting Stiles and I had was always interrupted by some big emergency that had him scrambling out of the nearest door. This was true even on the day that I would remember for the rest of my life. The day that changed me as a normal everyday girl.

On this day, I sat in the courtyard on my free period. I was reviewing some physics notes, preparing for the test that was later that day. He sat next me, plopping dramatically in the picnic like table and wait led for me to notice him.

“Hi Stiles.” I droned, flipping the page of my notebook and doing my best to avoid those perfectly golden orbs.

He sighed again in response, begging for my attention in the way only Stiles did. I bit the inside of my cheek trying to subside my smile. After another overly dramatic sigh, I looked at him with a pointed glare that quickly grew to a smile.

“Yes Stiles. How can I help you today?”

He smiled back, the corners of his lips turning up just so and making my heart flutter.

“How would you like to accompany me on a secret mission?” He said seriously, but if you knew anything about Stiles you'd know he was rarely serious.

“Secret mission, huh?” I mused, turning slightly so I was facing him better.

“Mhmm.” He hummed. “Top secret. Highly classified. No one can know.”

“Sounds like it.” I smirked, “And what is this oh so secret-”

“Top secret!” He interrupted.

“Top secret, mission that you're embarking on?” I corrected myself as I continued.

Stiles looked around us, checking to see if the coast was clear, before ducking his head and leaning in towards me until his lips were inches from my ear. I felt a pleasurable chill run down my spine as he began speaking, his words expelling warm washes of breath when they hit my ear.

“Frozen yogurt. My treat.”

He pulled away, checking again to make sure no one heard his super secret message to me. I smiled at him, bigger than I probably should have. It was happening. Stiles and I were finally going to be alone just the two of us. Away from distractions or friends that could steal us away. I should have known better than that, though. As soon as I opened my mouth to say yes, someone in the distance called his name out making us both jump. We looked in the direction of the voice to find Scott standing with fellow lacrosse teammate, Isaac Lahey. They waved him over emphatically, looking like they had something urgent to tell him.

He dropped his head, clearly as disappointed as I felt that our timing was never right. They called his name again and he yell from them to hold on, a tinge of anger in his voice.

“I'm sorry-” he started but for fear of crying I stopped him.

“It's fine. You're a busy guy, I get it.” I shrugged, choosing to find the hem of my skirt more interesting than looking at him.

He lifted my chin though, forcing our eyes to meet. It's like he knew that his eyes were my kryptonite. He leaned in a fraction, so we were both breathing the same air. “I'll make this up to you, I promise.”

I was nodding in agreement before I knew what I was agreeing too. He leaned in, pressing his lips to my cheek and his kiss seared on my skin even after he pulled away. He was gone before I could get a word in and I was left alone once again.

The high I was on from Stiles kissing me, was gone before I hit last period. I spent my whole test thinking about him. At first I thought about how much I liked him and cute we would be together. But then that changed when I really thought about how little time we'd actually spent together. The universe was clearly trying to tell me something, but I would not listen.

As class went on though, the realisation that maybe Stiles really didn't like me set in. Yes, he had kiss me twice but it was only on the cheek. Maybe he was being polite? Then there was the mild flirting whenever we're together. We gravitated to each other like magnets and in those moments I felt free, invincible.

I guess I was being dramatic when I said that every time Stiles and I had time together it was interrupted. There were times that in class or at lunch that we spent that whole hour together. Talking about school, joking around, and my favourite flirting. But those were easily forgotten in the shadow of the ones where he did leave. The next day when I saw him after those times, he would always make up some weird excuse like Scott’s cat died or Lydia lost her phone or Allison needed help with her archery. But Scott didn't seem to upset for someone who just lost his cat and was ‘forcing’ his friend to come console him, Lydia was usually using her phone while he was telling me she’d lost it, and Allison was like a master archer (I'd seen her at the archery club shooting one day, she's fantastic) so she really didn't need Stiles, who could barely hold a pencil without dropping it, to help her with archery.

As I walked home, the only thing I could come up with was maybe he's ashamed of me. I was the new girl and I wasn't sure of people's opinions of me yet. Maybe they were all bad and maybe Stiles did like me but didn't want to get made fun of. I sighed loudly, adjusting my backpack on my shoulders. It was a depressing thought but it was the only one I could come up with that made sense. My mood had dropped significantly and I felt like nothing could change it.

But then, my phone started buzzing from inside of my pocket. I was going to ignore it before the thought accrued to me that it could be Stiles! He had said that he would talk me later and now that school was over, it /had/ to be him, right? I smashed the green button as soon as I pulled it out, producing an over excited and rather shaky hello.

“Honey?” My mom’s voice called out from the other side of the receiver.

“Oh hi mom.” I responded, my tone dropping significantly.

“Hi honey, listen the dog got into the bread again. Do you mind picking some up on your way home from school?”

I rolled my eyes annoyedly knowing she couldn't see me. “Sure, mom. Just expect me a little later than usual, then.”

She gushed some thanks and I love yous before getting off the phone, leaving my thoroughly disappointed and greatly annoyed.

I grabbed a basket once inside the store and rushed over to the bread aisle. I just wanted to be home, in my bed with a tub of ice cream and my phone close by just in case ‘someone’ decided to text me. I frown when I realised it had been several hours since I'd last talked to Stiles and he still hadn't called or even texted. That boy was sending me mixed signals and I couldn't be more confused as to what he wanted.

The bread was easy enough to find since I worked at the grocery store and usually got landed the job of stocking it when new shipments arrived. I walked right to the spot I knew the bread would be and grabbed a loaf. I was halted though by another hand reaching for the same loaf of bread. I glared at the hand that had at least a hundred other breads to choose from and was now playing tug of war for the one that was clearly mine. My eyes roamed up to the owner of the hand as I prepared a long winded rant I would surely unleash upon the person.

I didn't realise it was him at first. When my eyes met his, they were different than I had remembered. They were dark and cold and looked upon me with an intensity I could not read. He looked worn, like the day had taken more of a toll on him then he would have liked. His hair was slightly more disheveled than usual, but I'd never seen Stiles Stilinski outside of school so I didn't know what to expect when I finally did. He'd changed clothes since school, once clad in dark blue pants and matching plaid shirt, he was now wearing a maroon t-shirt and khaki pants. He's worn this outfit before and it was still my favourite one.

“Stiles!” My voice was too high of a pitch to sound normal, but I hoped he overlooked it.

“Hey there, gorgeous.”

My stomach did at least four backflips and an aerial. Stiles and I had talked many times, but I couldn't remember a time that he'd ever called me gorgeous. I was starting to think that I liked after school Stiles more. I smiled as a response, not really trusting myself to say something intelligent.

“Sorry about earlier today. I forgot I promised to help Scott with a pest problem.” He said, his voice like silk as he talked.

“P-pest problem?” I stuttered, and I mentally berated myself for doing so.

“Yeah. Apparently there's a bunch of wolves running around Beacon Hills.” He said without missing a beat.

His tone was so casual for such a bold statement. He talked like he actually believed there were wolves in California. Which was impossible because there hadn't been wolves here in years. I raised an eyebrow at him, studying his face a little further than I had before. It was strange for Stiles of all people to get such a basic fact wrong. He smirked at me, eyeing me over and I blushed in response. Was he checking me out?

“Right, wolves.” I dismissed the inaccuracy as a fluke. I couldn't risk scaring him off. “So, what brings you in today?”

He grabbed the loaf of bread we both were after from my grasp and held it up, his smirk returning. “I was hungry for some grilled cheese and we were out of bread. You?”

“Grilled cheese, huh? With what kind of cheese?” I challenged, knowing the only correct answer was not American cheese.

“Anything but American.” He answered correctly.

I smiled brightly at him, grabbing my own loaf of bread and tossing it into my basket. “I knew I liked you for a reason, Stilinski.”

A glint of something flashed behind his dark eyes. It was so quick if I hadn't already been looking I might have missed it. My smiled faded as I tried to assess what it was that I'd seen. There was something there, I knew it but I was distracted as Stiles placed his hand on my lower back, guiding me towards the registers.

“So you're telling me that you slept with a baby blanket until like last year?” I laughed.

Stiles had graciously offered to walk me home, and what kind of girl would I be if I declined? A dumb one that's what kind. Now we were playing a very innocent game of truth or dare, which had really been a game of truth or truth because neither one of us had picked anything else.

“If you tell anyone I will deny it.” He said almost seriously, but he's smile gave him away.

I laughed out loud again, harder than before. Whatever had gotten into Stiles tonight, I liked it. Maybe without the pressure of his obviously overbearing friends, he could finally be himself. Or maybe this was just Stiles after hours? Either way I was enjoying him.

“Okay, so truth or dare?” He asked, continuing our game.

I knew what he expected me to do. He knew I'd play it safe and say truth, because that's the kind of girl someone would expect me to be: the safe girl. But safe can also mean boring and I didn't want the only boy that was paying this amount of attention to be bored. Beside, we were steadily approaching my house so what's the worst he could do if I just picked…

“Dare.”

I stopped walking and turn to face him. I was hoping to see a look of surprise on his face when he stopped too, but if anything he looked indifferent.

“You sure you want to do that?”

His voice was different from anything I'd ever heard from him before. It was deep and gruffly, with a harshness to it. I search his face for any ounce of humour, but found none. I got this sickening feeling in my stomach that something was off here, but that feeling was overpowered by the feeling pooling in my lower abdomen.

“Y-yes.” I muttered.

He chuckled darkly, taking a step towards me. “Dare means you have to do anything I say.”

“Do your worst.” I said breathily trying to sound more confident then I felt.

One more step and we were so close that I could feel his breath fanning over my face. My own breathing was shallow and slightly stuttered as I waited for Stiles to make his move. His eyes were darker than ever and the ghost of a deadly smile was playing on his lips. This boy was dangerous to my panties and to my heart. Was it even healthy for your heart to skip that many beats?

“Close your eyes.” He demanded and I obeyed without forethought.

Nothing happened for several minutes, I could feel his breath still over me like he hadn't moved from in front of me. Just as I was about ask what he was doing, his lips connected with mine. They were rough and slightly chapped but they made me melt all the same. This is the thing I'd been wanting from Stiles since the day I'd met him. This exact moment was everything I'd ever wanted.

I pulled away, my eyes still closed not wanting forget the way his lips blended with mine. But when I finally did open them, he was gone. Like the wind, there one second and gone the next, he was gone. I had half a mind to call out for him, but I knew he was gone. I smiled to myself, wondering idly as I walked to my house, unlocked my door, set the groceries on the counter and headed up to my room if he'd planned this the entire time.

As I closed my door, I giggled thinking to myself how I must have ruined his plan to kiss me by never picking dare. I could remember everything he told me that night like it was a movie on replay. He was melted into my brain and there was no way of getting him out.

It only took me three minutes after I finished brushing my teeth to decide that I was going to text him. He didn't say goodnight or even goodbye after all. Plus I wanted to ensure that tomorrow at school would be just as casual as tonight was, so I had to text him right?

Me: Thank for tonight. It will go down in history as my favourite night. :)

I sent it. Knowing that Stiles was already contemplating a witty comeback. It took a little longer than I would have like but eventually I felt my phone buzz in my hand.

Stiles: what??

Not his best witty retort, but I couldn't expect him to be completely normal after we just kissed right.

Me: haha. Very funny. Where did you run off to anyways? We could've watched a movie or something.

Stiles: Seriously, what are you talking about? I've been with Scott all day.

I reread the words several times. He's been with Scott all day? Was this another joke? Because I was one hundred and ten percent sure that he kissed me a half an hour ago. Before I had a chance to write back, my phone rang. It was Stiles. I relaxed a little, surely he was calling me to tell me he was joking and that he had a good time time too. I answered it barely getting my bright and cheery hello out before Stiles interrupted me.

“What was I wearing?” He almost hollered from the other side of the phone. His voice was lower than usual, his words running into each other like did when he was upset.

“What?” I questioned, frowning.

“You said we were hanging out tonight, what was I wearing?”

I began pacing the room, biting my lip nervously. What the hell was going on? This wasn't the boy I was walking home with less than an hour ago. No this boy was scared, worried even.

“Uhhh, red - no, maroon shirt with khaki pants.”

The line was silent for a moment and I was worried he'd hang up before I could ask what was happening.

“My eyes!” He urged. “Did you notice anything about my eyes?”

I frown at this question, mostly because I had but I was sure it was just my imagination. Was this some sort of prank?

“Stiles I don't-”

“Listen,” he interjected,”Meet me and Scott at the preserves in ten minutes. We’ll be there in five. I'll be wearing a blue baseball hat. If it's not blue, do not talk to me. Understand?”

I tried to listen intently to his instructions but they weren't making sense. Why would he tell me he's wearing a blue hat if he might not wear one? I scrambled around my room nevertheless, pulling shorts, slipping on shoes and grabbing my keys before I was halted by something outside of window. I could barely hear Stiles voice as I peer down at the person standing in my driveway.

It was him, it was Stiles.

“Stiles, I thought you said you were 5 minutes away from the woods?” I said, as the Stiles out my window looked up at me and smiled.

“What? I am? Wait is he there? Listen, whatever you do don't-” I barely caught the last of his words as I ended the call.

I tiptoed down the stairs, cringing as the deadbolt on my front door made a loud clicking noise when I unlocked it. Stiles was already there, dressed like before, with a beautiful smile lazily draped across his face. It was odd though. Maybe it was the dim light that only came from the moon or maybe it was the lack of it, but he looked even more tired, worn even. There were shades of dark circle eclipsing his eyes. His skin was pale, which I hadn't noticed earlier. Something about his overall presence made my stomach twist into knots, but I wasn't sure if that was from fear or excitement.

He took a step toward me, inviting himself into my house. I stepped back allowing him in, captivated by the hunger at which he gaze upon me with. I grabbed his hand, guiding him up my stairs and into my bedroom silently.

Once the door was shut, I pressed my back into it, watching as he moved about my room. I couldn't believe Stiles Stilinski was actually here. He walked past my bed, his fingers trailing across its surface. I half promised myself that I'd never wash the comforter.

“Where'd you run off to earlier?” I asked, finally breaking the silence.

He glanced over his shoulder, his feature dark and almost menacing but that didn't stop the water park in my panties.

“He's always thought about being in your room.” I heard him vaguely mumble.

The phrase was foreign to me, I wasn't sure who the ‘he’ that he was referring to was. Maybe he just misspoke? There was no doubt in my mind that he was any less nervous than I was. And this was Stiles we were talking about, it's wasn’t unlike him to say outlandish things.

“Well he's here now. So what's he going to do?”

I felt the sultry tone coarse through my words, but I wasn't sure where it came from. Stiles turned to face me. His expression unreadable, but he seemed intrigued by the way he tilted his head. Another unholy and almost sinful smile appeared on his face. If this was any other situation, or person of that matter, I would have been frightened but I was only criminally turned on.

He was in front of me before I'd even realised that he'd moved. His eyes were dark like they had been all night but now I was sure it was because his hands were on my hips slowly trailing up the side of my body. I didn't move or make a sound as they did, rejoicing in the feeling of his hands on me. He didn't stop moving upwards until both hands were around my neck, giving the slightest amount of pressure to it. He leaned his head forward just enough that our lips were barely touching, his eyes flickered to them and back.  

“I'm going to fuck you.” He growled, before smashing his lips against mine.

His body pressed into mine, pushing me further into the door. I groaned as his rough lips tore against mine. The feel of them were unlike anything else. His grip on my neck tightened slightly more as I felt his hard cock pushing into my thigh and I moaned again. Suddenly something came over me, the want for him was insatiable and I clawed at his clothes trying to rid him body of them.

He stopped me before I could even pop a button, pinning my hands to the door. His lips trailed along my jawline, all the way to my ear.

“Don't. Fucking. Move.” He growled and it resonated through my whole body.

I obeyed as his coarse lips ran along my neck, sucking hard, making me hiss in pain. One of his hands played with the band of my pajama shorts, dipping his fingers in them and playing with the lace of my panties. My stomach tensed at his touch and I closed my eyes taking in the way his callused fingers danced along my skin.

He relented on the attack he was casting on my neck to look at me. I kept my eyes shut, knowing if our lust filled eyes met I may just come right there. I could feel him watching me as he dipped his whole hand down my pants, past my panties and connected with me clit causing a filthy moan to spewed out of my mouth.

“You like that?” He asked menacingly, rubbing slow deliberately circles into my bundle of nerves.

“Fuck!” Was all I could manage as a response. He sped up, changing up his patterns and I could feel an orgasm steadily approaching.

With his other hand he kneaded my breast over my shirt adding to the pleasure. My peaks harden under his touch protruding from beneath my shirt. I couldn't stop the sounds protruding from my mouth as he ripped my shirt upwards. The bra that I hadn't put on after I changed into my night clothes, left my chest bare and exposed to him. I wrenched my eyes open, watching as he ducked down latching on to breast.

“God Stiles.” I mewled, tangling my fingers into his hair and pushing him into me.

A sharp pain on the sensitive skin of my breast made me cry out. The tormenting motion of his fingers stopped too as he lifted his head to meet mine.

“I thought I told you not move.” The dangerous look in his eyes had me swallowing thickly.

“I uhh- I'm sorry.” I tried to apologise.

He wrapped his hands around my wrist roughly then pinned them back against the door. The menacing look in his eyes was warning enough to not move again. I could feel the wetness pooling in my panties because even though he was kind of intimidating; this other side to Stiles that was aggressive and demanding turned me on like no other. He maintained eye contact as he removed his hand from my wrists and began tugging my shorts and panties down my legs. I stepped out of them when they hit the floor and he kicked them aside to somewhere unknown.

“Remember what I said.” He warned as he nudged his leg in between mine, spreading them apart. I felt the most pleasurable of twinges in my core as he did. I wanted to lunge at him, not caring if the consequences, and kiss him until he was begging for air. But I did care about the consequences because Stiles had shown another side of himself tonight and who knew what he was capable of.

In my idle thoughts, he'd unzipped his pants letting his aching erection fall through the slit. “Now Koneko, sit still and let me fuck you.”

His cock slipped between the narrow gap of my thighs that were slick with from my own wetness. His tip rubbed against my clit making my hiss upon contact. He passed over it a few more times teasingly. I almost begged him for more when he grabbed my hips and plunged inside of me, filling me to the hilt with his member. I didn't have time to against to his size before he began moving and I relied solely on gravity and the door for support as he slammed into me relentlessly. His hands gripped my waist with such a force that I was sure I could feel the bruises forming.

“You feel so fucking good around my dick.” He said through gritted teeth.

It became increasingly harder to containing my moans. My bottom lip was raw from my teeth wearing into it for so long. I could feel the burning ball of desire intensifying as my orgasm steadily approached.

“Stiles, I'm gonna, gonna-”

“Not yet.” He growled, pulling out of me causing me to almost cry out.

“No, please. I was so close.” I whined as he peeled me off the door he'd just banged me into and guided me over to the bed.

“Don't worry, gorgeous. I will make sure you come.” He smirked as he basically threw me on the bed.

I landed on my back, bouncing lightly. Stiles stood at the edge of the bed, staring over my half naked body with a hunger in his eyes.

“Come here.” He rolled me over to my stomach before grabbing me by the waist and forcing my ass in the air. His cock was hard against my pussy and he played teasingly with my entrance. He roamed over my ass with his hand, touching the soft skin there. He dragged his hand down to my clit swirling his fingers over the sensitive bundle.

“Please Stiles.” I begged, pushing back into him. “I need you.”

He didn't respond, just rubbed soft slow patterns. The pressure was just enough to make my body spark but not enough to make me come. I pushed back into him again, eager for him to bring me some relief. Satisfied that I was, he eased his cock back into my dripping pussy while still working over my clit. We both sighed, the new angle allowing him to sink deeper. He wrapped his arm around my waist forcing me to sit up and started up a rhythm, moving hard and deliberately inside of me.

My back hit his chest and the hand attached to the arm skidding along my skin, palming roughly over one of my breasts and his fingers tweaked harshly at my nipple. His teeth moved over my neck, biting, lips sucking and bringing dozens of red marks to the surface, all of which would be purple by tomorrow.

“Fuck, Stiles, please.” I begged, hips shaking as my climax built, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold on. His hand left my chest and his lips left my shoulder, fingers pushing my head around and his lips slanted hotly over mine. It was all tongue and teeth, moans being shared between us and he pulled back to pant breathlessly.

He picked up his pace, slamming into me quickly and roughly, fingers rubbing harsh curled on my clit as the other hand wrapped tightly in my hair, holding my head in place so he could watch as I came. My eyes rolled back, sounds near screams leaving my lips and it wasn't long until he was throbbing between my clenched walls, cumming so hard he groaned almost as loud as me.

He fell forwards, pinning me beneath him before rolling over to the side and pulling out, an arm over his head and his mouth hung slack. The room smelt of sweat and sex, and I grinned lazily, turning to curl into his side.

My phone vibrated rapidly from the floor, the device being momentarily forgotten about in all the chaos. I lifted my head to glare at my phone with intent to get up and not so nicely tell the person on the other line to call me in the morning. As I moved, Stiles stopped me turning his body towards mine and capturing my lips with his. I moaned sweetly into the kiss, pulling my arms around him in attempt to get as close as possible to him.

I was startled when my door was slammed opened, thumping against the wall loudly. I dragging my lips away from Stiles so I could see who had made the intrusion. Much to my surprise standing in my doorway was Scott, mouth hanging open.

“What the hell Scott?” I yelled, scrambling off the bed and searching the floor for my shorts.

I expected Scott to realise his mistake and back out of the room covering his eyes. But he didn't, in fact his eyes never left Stiles who was now sitting on the bed with a smirk on his face. I pulled on my shorts just as Scott called over his shoulder, without taking his eyes off Stiles, down the hall.

“He's in here.”

I frown at him, placing my hands on my hips. “Scott, you can't just barge into my house and- what the fuck?”

I had to blink a few times to makes sure that what I was seeing was real. Stiles, different from the one sitting on my bed, was standing in my door way with Scott looking from the Stiles on my bed to me. His expression was hard, almost angry as one last time he looked me over then turned to the Stiles on my bed.

The difference between the two were obvious now with the addition of the new Stiles. The one on my bed was sickly pale, with shadows under his eyes that were just as dark as his irises. His hair, upon further investigation, was improperly disheveled compared to the other Stiles.

“You son of a bitch.” The Stiles standing with Scott roared taking a step toward the Stiles on my bed. Scott put his arm out to stop him. The Stiles on my bed just smiled moving to a standing position.

“Will someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?” I yelled sending all three boys attention my way.

“You see, Stiles, shielding the girl you love from your life does have its disadvantages.” There was a twinge of excitement in his tone, that made me stomach turn. “How are you going to explain to her that the person that just fucked her wasn't her sweet precious Stiles? It was a thousand year old fox, a nogitsune.”

I couldn't understand the other Stiles’s words. What the hell was he talking about? What was Stiles supposedly shielding me from?

“You're nothing. You're void, a useless, bare, version of me!” Stiles growled trying again to go towards, but Scott held him back again.

A void Stiles? My head started to hurt and I leaned against the wall in case I fainted, which was a good possibility.

“Useless, huh? I'm sure that toy over that wouldn't say so.” He thumbed at me over his shoulder, sending a devilish grin with it.

“I’m going to fucking kill you.” Stiles shouted running at the Void Stiles so fast that Scott didn't have a chance to stop him. Stiles cocked back his fist, heading full speed when the Void Stiles stopped him by his neck, squeezing it tightly.

What happened next was unbelievable, incrediblely impossible. But impossibly true. Scott's eyes changed from their usual brown to a bright red. This hands resembled claws now that long dark nails shot out from the tips of his fingers. When I blinked again, hair began sprouting out at an alarming rate around his face and down his neck. His ears and teeth both grew out into a point, making him look like a wolf.

A werewolf.

Just thinking the words made me feel crazy. But how could I ever believe I wasn't? In front of me was Stiles choking someone that looked identical to him while Scott pounced looking like something out of a teen movie and I was caught in the crossfires. So I did the only logical thing to do, I ran. Out of my room, out of my back door, and straight into the woods behind my house. I ran and ran, the woods too dark and thick to see more than a few feet in front of me. I heard shouting behind me and looked over my shoulder to see what or whom it might be. Almost instantly tripping over something and I landed chest first on a very large, very old stump. I could feel a bruise already forming around my rib cage, as I struggled to stand again.

“Hey!” I turned quickly in the direction of the voice, not really knowing who I'd find. From in the general direction of which I just came, Stiles appeared. In the darkness, it was hard to make out much of his features but he was wearing a plaid shirt for sure. I relaxed knowing that this wasn't the void Stiles or wolf Scott, just human Stiles.

“Stiles.” I breathed, rushing over to him as he held his arms open to embrace me. We collided a little harder than expected, hitting the newfound soreness on my ribs.

“Are you alright?” He asked, noticing the tenseness when we met.

“I am now.” I muttered into his shoulder.

“I’m here Koneko and I won't let anyone hurt you.” I moved my head to smile up at him. He smile back, ducking down to place a soft kiss on my lips. I was home in his arms now and I'd never felt safer.

“Will you tell me what's going on? What's really going on Stiles?” I asked, trying to search his eyes but the darkness loomed to heavy and I could barely make them out.

“I will but let's get you back, Koneko.” His warm voice soothing me instantly. I nodded, curling into him as he wrapped his arms around me and we headed back to my house.

My mind raced, replaying the night over in my head as we walked. Stiles held me so close to him, his knuckles were turning white. But out of all the things that happened that night, the only thing that stood out to me in that moment was that I couldn't remember a time before tonight that Stiles had ever called me Koneko.

[the-art-of-suffering]

Forest Fire chpt 1

It was a beautiful, sunny sort of day and Flash had managed to pull Shadow out from the confines of his apartment. He knew the solitude and blatant martyr could not be in anyway positive for the man, despite how certain Shadow was that his actions were for the best. He couldn't kill anyone if there was no one to kill, right? At least, that's what Shadow always said. As much as he feared having another episode and slaughtering someone, or worse; Flash, it was harder to deny the poor boy a day out. The two looked and acted like complete opposites. While Shadow wore dark leather and denim and boots, Flash wore pastels; a bunny sweater and some pale blue jeans, along with some flowery vans. Flash had bright blue eyes, fluffy honey-gold hair, and his skin was covered in freckles. He was no more than 5'4. Shadow, about 6'3, looked like a disheveled Disney villain, unshaven and unkempt. His hair was deep black and tangled, and didn't appear to have had a cut in quite some time. His eyes were an emerald green, his pupils thinned slits like a snake might have. There was an eternal shade around his eyes, like he was missing about 28 years of sleep. How edgy. Shadow walked with his hands in his pockets, two dog-tags jingling against his chest ever so faintly with each step. Flash walked with a bit of a skip in his step, clearly overjoyed he'd gotten the older male to give in and get out. As the bookstore came into view, Flash gasped, bouncing excitedly. He tugged on Shadow’s sleeve, pointing to the shop "Books! That's perfect, you like books, right?" Flash had an Australian accent, though it was faint, maybe it was worn down or maybe he was simply hiding it a bit. Shadows lips pursed, one brow furrowing. "I.. guess so.. Yeah." This was all the affirmation Flash needed. The Aussie tugged on his friend's sleeve once more, basically pulling him off into the bookshop with that.

The bookshop was old, and felt ancient. The smell of old books and patchouli permeated the place. Walking in sent a soft bundle of bells tinkling, and from around a corner a very, very fair skinned boy peaked out, soft, velvety mouse ears twitching nervously from between strands of his snowy white hair. Hair that was woven together elaborately; a large, thick braid, accented with smaller braided bunches woven in. And flowers. Small daisies and dandelions were scattered throughout. He wore a heather grey sweater that read 'BOOKS BOOKS BOOKS' down the front that was a size or two too big and hung off his shoulders and hid the entirety of his hands. From behind slim, thin spectacles, ruby eyes sparkled as he shyly approached, a thin, nervous little mouse tail twitches curiously behind him as he took in the couple that had entered. "Welcome to Gunderschein Books, how can I he-" He was cut off by his own clumsiness; he stumbled a bit but did not fall. His skinny little legs poked out the bottom of the sweater, adorn with floral tights and ended with second hand combat boots that didn’t seem to have a proclivity for staying tied. He straightened his glasses and shyly looked between the two guests. "So sorry, as I was saying, how may we help you? Are you browsing or needing refurbishing?" His smile was genuine and easy as he regarded both the brooding man that towered over him, and the pastel fairy that was only a few inches above him with a saccharine smile. While most of the reaction came from Flash, Shadows brows lifted as the boy nearly tripped right before them. Though as he came over, Flash gasped, eyes widening. His hands reached out, as though he could hardly believe it "Oh my goodness!! Your hair is so beautiful!" He motioned down at his tights "And those are so cute!!" He seemed awestruck someone so fea-like could exist. Shadow, while cracking a hint of a smile at Flash's joy, was much more interested in his ears. That was unique. While his curiosity piqued, he had no plans on commenting yet. Flash was far too excited about his outfit and his hair to even process Nim's questions.

Nim's eyes seemed to just sparkle in delight as he wiggled forward a few inches, his hands flapping a bit at his sides as he leaned back taking in the pastel glory before him. It may have been unprofessional, but how could he keep a straight face, faced with the most adorable person he had ever had grace his bookstore. "Oh my gosh but your bunny! It's the cutest thing in the entire world! When I was a kid I all I ever wanted was to have a pet rabbit! The Velveteen Rabbit was my very most favorite story ever and I cried when I didn't get one" Flash gasped again, looking down at his sweater. He tugged on the edges, holding them out as if to get a better look at the rabbit patch. "Oh!! I have bunnies at home!" He looked back at Nim, beaming "You can see mine, they're very sweet!" He nodded surely, as if to promise this. Shadow looked between the two, arms crossing. Admittedly, he was amused. This was.. undeniably cute, as sickeningly sweet as it was. Briefly Nim seemed excited but, it seemed to deflate for a moment, and when it returned it was a bit more controlled. "I bet they are darling little things, but, I'm being rude. You two came in to shop and I've completely blocked your way. " He shifted in place, turning half away and making a sweeping arch with a hand as if to motion to the whole of the shop. "To the left is our non fiction and reference section, straight back is fiction, and to the right is the clearance area as well as magazines, children's books, and miscellany. If you let me know what you are looking for I can check our logs to see if we have a copy?" He turned back, alert, his ears at their ultimate perkiness, as he looked between the two men. Flash blinked, shaking his head "Oh no, you aren't being rude at all!" He assured quickly. After looking around the shop, he turned his attention back to Shadow, rocking up on his toes slightly "What kinda books do you want?" He asked, head tipping. Shadow rubbed his neck, looking around as well. There likely wasn't anything here he couldn't just find online somewhere. He wasn't opposed to reading, by any means, it was just.. he didn't have anything in particular in mind. "Mm.. I don't know, uh.." he looked around once more, not wanting to disappoint Flash with such a lame answer. He looked to Nim, nodding just once "What do you recommend?" While his question wasn't one out of politeness to Nim, it was to Flash. Who, looked to Nim hopefully.

A twinkle flashed in Nim's eyes as he took a few dance-like steps backwards. "Well now, that depends a lot on what is important to you." Letting his gaze shift from Flash to Shadow, he tilted his head upward to attempt eye contact. "You see, books can be very intimate things. They are little stories that speak just to you. They can be friends or lovers, or they can take you far far away from the people who hurt you, or the bad things you have to deal with. So, let's pretend you're on like, a dating show, and tell me a little bit about yourself and I can play match maker for you and your perfect book. Or books. We know it can be hard to settle on just one sometimes. " He gave a little wink and laughter like the chiming of a thousand tiny bells spilled out of him, soft and sparkling. It was his favorite thing to do, after all. Find people books that they can escape into. He knew all too well how much a book can keep you safe. He knew that, if you read enough fairy tales, eventually they come true... Don't they? Flash sucked in a breath, cheeks puffing out in excitement. This was like some really cool game. He thought real hard, rocking on his heels. He hadn't planned on getting books but he couldn't say no now! "Mm.." he tapped his chin, "I think.. I like fantasy! Maybe a romance, but nothing scary. Something sweet. With a happy ending! And.. and some animals!" Shadow chuckled to himself at this; how fitting.. He decided to wait and allow Flash to get any stories he may want. After all, he really had no idea what to say for himself. While Flash at least had in mind what kind of book he wanted, Shadow was clueless as to both the book, and whatever Nim may want him to share about himself. Nothing that came to mind sounded.. as endearing as it did with Flash. Flashed like animals, he liked sunny days, he liked overly fluffy stuffed toys, he liked Owl City. Shadow liked.. well.. it almost felt as though he couldn't remember. It had been so long since he had felt such pure joy as Flash. Perhaps that was what was so refreshing about hanging around the boy. Feeling such innocent happiness vicariously through him.

Nim's tail curled into a little spiral shape as he made a tiny squeaking noise, excitedly listening to Flash's requirements. As Flash finished Nim gave a very soft hum, thoughtfully looking at the ceiling. "Well, follow me over to the fiction section, where all the best romance stories sleep. Off the top of my head..." He turned and began tip toeing over towards the well-marked fiction section, but he continued to speak over his shoulder. "I would recommend anything by Peter Beagle. He is most well-known for The Last Unicorn novel, which has a pair of beautiful love stories within the narrative, and lots of animals. I would also recommend any number of short story collections by Gaimen, he writes amazing animal companions. Anything by Mercedes Lackey might work too." He stopped next to a tall shelf, and almost to himself, began speaking again, but a little distractedly. "Oh. Oscar Wilde is amazing. And definitely try Diana Wynne Jones..." he starts plucking various books off the shelf. "Oh, how do you feel about pining, and slow burn romance?" Flash nodded along, agreeing with all the picks, though admittedly didn't know all of them. "Hmm... I've never read one like that!" He gave a sheepish giggle "I-I haven't really read a lot of books lately..!" Shadow took the few moments to wander over to the romance section, one that may have been slightly unfitting for him, by the looks. Though he recognized so many of the stories. Admittedly, he absolutely adored these stories as a kid. Such an unrealistic concept, something so far and foreign, something absolutely poetic and dreamy. A fantasy. He never had the best childhood. Looking back, the concept was equally unrealistic now. Perhaps he was never fit for love. He should have kept that idea as a fantasy, never anything more. Nim had pulled out a few more books, almost too many to handle. He struggled to look over at Flash behind the wobbling tower of them. "Honestly, those are my faves. Like beauty and the beast, you know? It's that slow build, two people discovering each other, learning to love each other's flaws. Learning that... there is someone for everyone, you know? and that in the end, everyone lives happily ever after. Or like, you know, in Tangled, or Sleeping Beauty... love is just, stronger than all that stuff. So. I'd definitely recommend the Lackey books, or Goodkind. Those are some long, slow, wonderful romances." He paused for a moment, realized he had sorta... grabbed a lot... "You know, we also rent books out, if you wanna try some before you commit to buying."

Shadow looked over to them, head tipping to one side. That was.. quite a lot of books. "We'll get 'em." He said simply, walking over. Flash blinked, looking from the pile of books, then to Shadow "O-oh that's far too many! Plus! We're here to get you books, not me!" He giggled sheepishly, shaking his head "I almost forgot.." Shadow just shrugged at this, taking the tower of books from Nim. He did so carefully, momentarily catching his ruby gaze as he did. His own eyes were unique, if not the most intimidating part about him. He smelled strongly of smoke and evergreens, a scent that was distinct enough to catch when he took the stack. Nim shivered just a bit under his massive sweater. So much was he caught off guard by the larger man that he was lost in wonder of him for nearly a minute as Flash debated against himself. He felt... predatory. Something that both intrigued and scared Nim. It was more than Nim wanted to admit, but his curiosity was piqued. Probably too piqued. Shadow stepped back, books in his arms, "Pick out ten, then, Flash." Flash pursed his lips in thought, feeling rather guilty he'd gotten so selfishly carried away. He lifted up a finger, "How about five for you, five for me!" There was a pause, the boy tapping his chin "Mm.. six for you..? No no, eight for you, two for me!" Flash decided surely, while Shadow just rolled his eyes. After a few moments of soft contemplation, watching the tall dark and handso-err. Tall fellow, Nim remembered what he was supposed to be doing, so he turned his attention back to Flash. "Well, what if both of you enjoy some of the same books, so some were shared? Also, if its money th-thats the problem I might be able t-to help." His stutter hadn't bothered him in a couple of years now, but it had also been a while he supposed that he had felt that instinctive tug telling him that he was too close to something dangerous. He swallowed it down, let it swim in his belly where it belonged. "I could u-use my employee discount f-for you. Save you fifteen percent."

"Money's not an issue." Shadow dismissed, eying some of the books in the stack "I'm paying.." Flash beamed at Nim, "Well still take the discount, if it's not too much trouble!" He looked back to Shadow, "Would you want to share the books? Or do you not like them?" He didn't seem offended in the slightest, just curious. Shadow shrugged in reply, looking to his friend, "Sharing is fine." There came a bouncing nod from Nim and a soft "Of course" to the mention of the discount as he turned once more to the bookcase. "T-there is one more book I'd like to suggest, especially if you two are going to be sharing. It's got love, and animals and it's a series, but I figure I can let you try the first. It's uh its..." He turned from the bookcase just as awkwardly as he had turned to face it, took a couple steps away, and then promptly returned with a small step ladder, climbed up the little thing, and successfully retrieved the desired book. "It has some sad parts in it, and has a lot of tension but it's one of my favorites. It's about a wolf who falls in love with a stag, but obviously she can't be with him because she feels like she is just a monster in his eyes. It's sort of like, Romeo and Juliet, but not? It's really good. Really uhm, sappy I guess?" He laughed a little, descending down the wee step ladder and held the book out towards Flash. "Here's book One. The Law of Teeth." Shadows faint little smile slowly vanished as Nim went on about the story. While he hadn't been particularly cheerful, his light attitude seemed to shift into one of.. simple silences. He was hard to read as his gaze shifted to Flash. The Aussie took the book, nodding. He peered at the cover curiously "Ooh.." he cooed "That sounds really interesting!" He grinned at Nim "Thank you so much!! You've been so helpful!" With another nod, Nim began wandering back towards the front of the shop, adjusting his glasses as he went, but stopping quite suddenly before making it the full journey. "Oh. All I showed you were the romance heavy books. I didn't show you anything else. What about you, Sir?" He turned his eyes up towards Shadow, a genuine eagerness to please filling his expression. "I got so carried away we didn't even hear what kinds of books you were looking for. I'm very sorry." Perhaps he subconsciously picked up on the shift in Shadow's demeanor, or perhaps he just really really wanted to please everyone who came into the shop. Whatever the reason, he felt as though his job just was not done here yet.

Shadow watched him for a few moments before shaking his head. He nodded down at the stack in his arms "This is fine." He said, though still his gaze never pulled away from Nim's crimson eyes. It was, on one hand, perhaps flattering that someone who seemed to indifferent could focus so much attention onto one person so easily. Though it was almost unsettling, in the same sense. Nothing about him revealed any blatant intent or emotions. There it was again. That tiny little voice that squeaked out 'Scurry! Hide!' that insisted to Nim that this man was sharp, and cold, and tempered. This man was teeth made of steel and he could probably smell your fear. And Nim was afraid. Just a hair's breadth. Perhaps his head was filled up with too many fairy tales and too much nonsense, but that twitch of fear, that flutter of butterflies in his belly... It sparked something very close to a wee little crush in his weak little heart. It wasn't uncommon for him to feel a bit infatuated with a customer, though. He was a foolish thing and wore his heart so far out on his sleeve it was practically in his hand, held out as an offering for anyone to take. All the same, with a vivid stream of a blush rising up his cheeks and into his ears, he gave a silent nod and sharply turned back towards the counter, took two stiff steps, tripped and stumbled the remaining few feet, grabbing onto the counter's edge to regain balance. The redness worsening he began to aggressively type things into the computer, presumably ringing up the total or putting in the discount code. He actively avoided eye contact.

Shadows eyes narrowed, keeping on Nim. He was intelligent but often oblivious to social cues that may be related to him. Usually, he'd miss one or two and take something the wrong way, and that was.. never good. Flash had used his innocent sort of charm to get Shadow out of many fights, though many, many more had not been avoided. But he found little annoyance in Nim. He had half expected him to be the quiet type to be unable to get more than three words out, or hold eye contact for a solid two seconds. But, this was not the case. At least, it hadn't been. Flash trotted over to the counter, standing on his toes again "My hair isn't as long as yours but you should teach me how to put flowers in it like yours!" He said, his sky-blue eyes practically twinkling "It's so pretty!!" Shadow slowly walked over to the counter as well, mostly just to stay with Flash. Each slow, strong step of his boots made a distinct, purposeful sound. He stood a pace or two behind his friend, watching down at Nim still, as though silently trying to figure something out.

Now, as the red seemed to be somewhat subsiding, into a more subdued rose, Nim softly answered Flash, though his voice was shaky. Was he... Was he about to cry? It was difficult to say, behind the spectacles and his head kept low, but there was definitely a shudder to his shoulders and a quiver to his words. "Oh, that. It's not hard. I actually get twisty ties, like.. y-you know. Around b-bread. Since your hair is shorter, I c-could do it for you if y-y-you wanted." He began scribbling down a hand-written receipt. "Your total will be $47.50 after the discount." He shot a nervous little glance up at Shadow, who he presumed would have the money, but quickly looked back to Flash, and forced a tiny little smile, for professionalism. Flash bounced, gasping "Would you really?" He asked, eyes wide with hope. Shadow shifted the books into one arm, letting them rest against his chest to ensure they wouldn't topple over. He pulled out his wallet with one hand, flipping it open. He skimmed the cash for a minute before pulling out a $50. He stowed his wallet and slid the fifty across the counter, looking to Nim "I don't want change." Maybe this was a tip, maybe he literally didn't want to deal with the change. Who would say? As Nim took the fifty and placed it in the cash box he stuttered out a squeaky little 'thank you' once more unable to really lift his gaze to the looming giant. He snapped himself out of his thoughts and gave a warm but slightly awkward smile to Flash. "Oh gosh, of course, I would love to. I have a little flower garden on the roof but I sometimes buy cut flowers from the florist down the street. Her flowers are always beautiful and freshly cut, so they last forever. I hope this doesn't sound too forward but I can maybe give you my number and you can text me whenever you and your uhm... " A glance towards Shadow was followed by a very small pause, as if his mind was trying to decide how bold to be. Not very it turns out. "..friend... are going to be nearby and I can pick some flowers up for you. It would be no trouble at all I promise." Flash looked to Shadow, absolutely overjoyed. What a new, wonderful friend they'd found. Shadow lifted a brow at his friend's excitement, but, once again offered him the faintest hint of an amused smile. Flash's joy was not uncommon but it was pure. The boy turned back to Nim, pulling out his phone. The case, of course, had a sweetly illustrated cat and rabbit. He brought up a new contact, holding it out to Nim, "Just go ahead and add your stuff!" He chirped, nodding surely. Shadow watched the two, remaining silent. Though he couldn't help but wonder. When they were going to be nearby..? For a moment he considered perhaps going out more. That was a foolish thought though, wasn't it? Such desperation, inspiration spurred by no more than a few minutes of conversation. On one hand it was stupid to consider seeing the light more just for the possibility of a friend. On the other, that was exactly what Flash and Jinx were both desperate to get him to do. But this boy seemed to be getting along quite well with Flash. The friendship was there, no more. It was as simple as that, as it should be. Before Nim could take the phone, he had to pull his sleeves up; they had fallen over his hands again. He was beyond gentle with the device as he gingerly tapped in his cell number. "Uhm, I'm free most any day after six. When my shift ends. You can also text me any flowers you like, and I'll try to get them? I can get flowers your friend likes too, and put them in his hair as well, if he likes." He offered the phone back to Flash, clearing his throat softly as he leaned in, whispering, "Please just text though. I can't talk on the phone, especially after dark." He seemed to be very serious about that last part, not mentioning it in a passing manner, but in an intensly solemn and almost, nervous way that had him making shy glances at the ceiling.

Flash tilted his head, but nodded. "Okay.. I'll remember that." He paused, jumping slightly "O-oh! I'm so sorry- what about your name? What do you want your contact to be?" He asked, quickly adding on as he gestured to his friend who still held the stack of books, as silent and ominous as always "I'm Flash and this is Shadow-" he paused, quickly correcting himself "E-er.. Valentine!" He nodded at this. Shadow just looked over at him with partially raised brows, giving him a sort of 'well, you tried' look. Shadow was more of an acquired nickname that had stuck for a surprisingly long time. Valentine was a bit more.. professional. Nim liked watching them together. He really liked Flash. He felt like, maybe if things were different, and he wasn't so trapped... maybe they could be friends. Maybe he could meet Flash's rabbits. He liked sha-valentine as well, even if he was a bit afraid of him. A subtle, sad little frown tugged at his lips as he wondered how long it would be until he actually saw them again. If he ever would. "Flash, and... Valentine. I'll remember that. You can just put me down as Nim, my birth name is way too long and ridiculous. " He seemed a bit antsy, momentarily chewing at a nail before adding. "How uhm, how far away do you guys live? Is it a long way away?"

Shadow was of course listening in on this conversation. He made a mental note to get the boy's number from Flash- but immediately scolded himself. No, this was stupid. This was none of his business, nor should it have been. But when it came down to it, was he really just scolding himself for potentially caring? Being concerned? Probably. For him, it was unwise. His luck had been unreasonably poor. He was fortunate he still had his sister and Flash. "Not too far!" Flash piped up, nodding "Shadow lives in an apartment that's-" he paused again, lips pursing as yet again he quickly corrected himself, seeming determined "Valentine lives in an apartment that's a bit from here kinda on the edge of town, and I'm actually in another one." While Flash still had hopes that Shadow would move into his apartment, at least the building, it was no use. Shadows apartment was nearly abandoned, inhabited by him and a... friend.. of his. The apartment held too many memories and Shadow had no intention of leaving it anytime soon. While it may have been better for his mental health to start anew and leave the past behind, he was holding onto fragments that would be lost. He was.. desperate. It seemed to bring a little bit of light back into Nim's eyes, hearing that these wonderful people weren't too far off. Maybe they would come and visit. It certainly would be nice. "Oh, that's so wonderful, I was afraid the trip here was a long one and I didn't want to make you guys come all the w-" Overhead on the next floor, something crashes, rattling the ceiling. Dust and bits of plaster flake off and drift down in cloudy puffs. The disturbance garnered a sharp recoil from Nim. He flinched, gave a small whimper and raised his gaze warily upward. "Oh, Oh no I uhm. I gotta...Excuse me. " He side stepped from behind the counter and started walking towards the front door. Before he could even make it ten steps, angry, muffled shouting echoed from the second floor, followed by what sounded like shattering glass. He hesitated to continue on, shoulders pulled up tight as he glanced back in the direction of the pair. "I'm so sorry, I know this is rude of me, but this will probably take... A while. I'd love to chat more but, I don't want to keep you waiting and...yeah. I'm.. I'm sososorry. " Flash's shoulders fell, brows knitting in concern. But he didn't want to press. He quickly offered a smile once more "Ill text you! And well visit again real soon, promise! It was really nice meeting you Nim!" He glanced to Shadow, who seemed quite interested in the racket. He pulled his gaze from the ceiling, to Nim, watching him intently. Though, it was time to go, it seemed. He gave him a single nod, before starting to the door. Flash waved to Nim, trotting out with Shadow to go out the books away in the car. Shadow, though, had a slightly different game plan. He'd help Flash with the books, sure, but then? Then he was coming back. Because why not? This smelled like trouble. And boy, was he well-acquainted with that. Though there was something.. too familiar about that. A haunch he didn't like. Shadow was no vigilante, and he was a murderer at best. But, there were some things that even he would not tolerate. Ever.

Nim had actually scurried out behind the couple. It seemed that in order to get to the second floor, the only access was an outdoor ladder on the side of the building. Which of course he scurried up in as much of a hurry as he could, disappearing into the darkness of the upstairs. From just down the road a bit of gossip had picked up as another crash resonated from the building. An older couple, probably in their fifties stood in the doorway of their own homey little shop. The wife clicked her tongue and shook her head, "Morris is at it again, Herald, should we call the police again?" The husband just made a low groaning sound and turned to retreat into their shop, calling over his shoulder. "Won't help with that kid lying for him, you know that." There was a tense, electric silence as the wife clicked her tongue again and seemed to give up the ghost of hope and turned as well, closing the door behind her. As far as the place where Nim had vanished into, there was no sound, just a door hanging open, and the darkness within.

Shadow was intent on picking up every word, while Flash preferred a more hopeful sort of blissful ignorance. He opened the door to his car and let Shadow put the books in, before looking to his friend. Shadow was watching the open door, head tipped. Flash bit his lip, brows furrowed "Shadow.." he said softly, "Lets go.." While he didn't really know what may be going on in there, he knew Shadow likely had a clearer idea, and was not above causing a scene. He didn't want that.. he didn't want any trouble.. Shadow watched the darkness for another moment longer before waving a hand, "Go on and go home, Flash. I'll be good." That was a blatant lie. He would try perhaps, but trying was often forgotten if he decided the matter was important enough to.. act upon. Flash whined, shaking his head, "Shadow, please, just.." Shadow looked back at him, "Ill catch up with you soon. It'll be okay. Go home, go through your books.. text your new friend." Flash pursed his lips, brows knit. He knew trying to changing the man's mind was futile.. Letting out a defeated breath, he nodded, adding a soft "Please be careful.." before he got into the car, reluctantly starting off. Shadow didn't act just yet, but he waited. He leaned back against one of the walls, arms crossed. He wasn't about to just barge in without cause. He wasn't above jumping to conclusions, though often he wasn't exactly mistaken with them. He'd seen a lot of shit.

There came a series of soft, but sharp commands from the room, and something about an 'embarrassment'. From within tiny snow white arms gingerly reached out and pulled the door closed. The voice that rumbled in the darkness was rough and a growling baritone. If Nim was even bothering to respond it couldn't be heard from outside. But the baritone only grew steadily louder until there was the sound of another shattered glass. And then a sharp, bright yelp that was not the overbearing roar of the unseen individual. It was short, like the sound of a kicked dog, it was mostly air and surprise with just the bits of voice that were spooked out of the throat. Shadows nails dug into the biceps of his leather jacket. Yeah, that sounded about right. Too damn familiar. And it took every single inch of self control not to climb that ladder and.. well. Hopefully, he'd keep that self control. Though it was fading, fast. He just needed a reason and he'd be all over it. It was none of his business. ... ... But that wasn't good enough. No, that wouldn't cut it. Fuck self control. He never had much anyways. Shadow stepped away from the wall and went up the ladder, giving three sharp knocks to the door. It didn't matter how well he knew this boy. This was not gonna slide. The noise from within ceased immediately with the delivered knocks. There was shuffling, whispers and it seemed like for just an instant something had fallen against the door before it was slowly cracked open barely a couple of inches. A bright ruby eyes peeked out, and as he saw it was Shadow, he stuttered out a bit of gibberish before his words worked again. "S-sir? Uhm I can be back down to the shop t-to assist you in a m-moment. I'm S-sorry." His hair was sloppy across his face as he gave a glance behind him and started to pull the door closed again. As he shifted his mouth, in its long thin line, came into view, blossomed red and violent, and dripped just the daintiest ribbon of crimson.

Shadow pressed his hand against the door, catching it before it could be shut. He pushed it open, reaching his other arm in. He hooked it around Nims side and pulled him out, shutting the door as he did. He held the knob tight, looking down at Nim as he lifted up his chin with his free hand. "Let me see you.." he murmured, scanning him over to place just how bad his injuries were. His skin was so milky, so pale that everything looked violent and raw. The bruises blossomed up so burgundy and so black. His shoulder looked squeezed by large fingers, his split lip was swollen, and plump, and may have been attractive on him if it had been given a different way. His sweater covered the rest of him, so if any other damage was done it wouldn't be seen. Nim was desperately trying to push against Shadow, futile efforts to force him away from the door. "It's not what it looks like, I'm fine. It was an accident, you should go now, please. Valentine, please you need to go." From inside the baritone called out a name presumed to be Nim's actual name. "Nimatia I told you to shut that door, you insolent whelp!" The words were slurred and clumsy and drunken, and they made Nim push against Shadow all the harder, holding back a choked sob, and another desperate 'please'. Shadow didn't budge, not an inch. He still gripped the knob as he watched down at Nim. He put his other hand against his shoulder, nodding once at the latter "Go down." He said, though if anything it was more of a command. A 'do it, or I'll make you'.

It seemed like for a moment, Nim was going to resist, like he still had all the fight in him to rebel against Shadow's words. Something in the tone of voice however, changed his mind and while he complied and started inches down the steps, he whimpered out the tiniest of pleas, just a single string of words. "It's not his fault, please." From inside the darkened building, there was the shuffling of clutter and the drawing of movement ever closer as the voice called out for Nim again. Shadow watched Nim begin to inch down. On one hand, he wanted to go with him and just get him away from all of this, at least for a bit. But on the other, he wasn't about to just walk away. He waited another moment, ensuring Nim would continue down.. He'd follow after him in a minute, but there was a more pressing matter at hand. Perhaps it was selfish to step in, maybe he was just itching for a fight. Then again, he was sick of seeing shit like this. It seemed to follow him, and he had lost his patience. So without another moment of hesitation, he went inside.