#i actually got my ID printed this year so i can go in the fast line at lunch
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Anyways, lowkey liking school this year. Like it makes me tired but this year I'm not miserable abt it. I'm actually lowkey happy about school
I still cried the first week of school, but tbh it isn't anything new, and it was mostly bc of something outside if school. And tbh, I needed that, I needed to cry. I have been practically emotionless all summer long, i needed to feel something, and I need to get used to getting that out. And I need to recognize that it's out of my control that I cried, and there isn't really anything I can do at it
I also got the bestest night's rest afterwards so hey! Look on the bright side :] like ya it sucks that I was melting down but tbh, I couldn't stop that, so I think it's okay
#like yeah i'm bored and tired#but also i'm a bit happy#my elective is awesome#my schedule has all 4 of my academic classes in a row so the last 2 are library assistant and study skills#which makes things a lot easier#i actually got my ID printed this year so i can go in the fast line at lunch#my brother also i toduced me to a ew pwrson who is cool as fuck#so yeah :]#i'm actually really happy abt this year#AND i only have one year after this left#next school year is my last year and then no more highscool!#joonebugg rambles#actually autistic#autistic things
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I havent posted in a while so here's a lil life recap!
I started HRT in august!! Woohoo!! Its been going really well, Im so happy.
I had a lil vacay with my parents after my Tia's wedding in October, read cover to cover a book (Legends & Lattes, very fun very cute, and gay) and its the first book Ive fully read in a few years and cover to cover in about 24 hours in many years. It really sparked a lot of joy and got me back into the reading mood. Plus the story hit like all my boxes (fantasy, coffeeshop au style, sapphic, retired adventurer, past coming to haunt and help).
Next thing I read was She Loves to Cook She Loves to Eat. SO. GOOD. i adore them, i cant wait for more (i think i saw the author is on break atm which of course is fine take care of yourself!!). Im loving where its going, that theyre older women, that theyre falling/have fallen for eachother but dont know how to bring it up and are hesitant BUT working towards taking the next step together. I cant wait for them to communicate, and kiss.
I also got into Im In Love With The Villainess and omg. I adore it so much. I watched when it had like 4 eps out, watched em all. And then immediately bought all the light novels, manga, and claires POV LN that were out. And then proceeded to read all core/main LNs in less than a week. Then Claires then the manga. I adore it, I fell in love with this story so fast and stayed up nightly reading almost one LN a day for a week. I think the 2nd one is my fave, and it makes me so excited for the anime and for the manga to get translated and released. I am dying for the 2nd one from Claires POV as well (im sure i could maybe find it online same with the manga since thats up to the looks like Lily/Yu arc now in japan) but i kinda wanna wait for the print to come out so i can physically have and read it like the others. Rae and Claire's story means so much to me, and especially Inori-san's writing in general and being serious about certain topics and actually diving into them. I hopw with all my heart it continues to be animated, i have a feeling we'll wind with the scales of love arc for season 1 and tease vacation arc for start of 2 (and probably go through to the end of LN 2 for season 2 mayhap?) It deserves to have the entire story told through animation honestly.
I also got the bloom into you manga (got the 1st one to read and see if id like it and shocker i do so i have the rest of the manga, LNs, and manga anthology on the way and might get the bluray of the anime eventually to watch). Ive really liked the 1st volume so far, it has me excited to find out how the story and relationship develops! Also wow! It was very fast at getting into the love feelings i was kinda surprised (pleasantly)
And then when im done with that have the Whisper Me a Love Song in my sights for the next yuri story to dive into and adore.
Its been a wonderful time. Im real happy :3
#ILWTV#im in love with the villainess#legends and lattes#bloom into you#she loves to cook and she loves to eat#gay thoughts#lil life update
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With kids who consistently have problems with other classes/teachers I wonder what could be causing the difference- because you’re right about the kids being good, kids usually are good, so there’s probably something external causing the difference.
Could be as simple as meeting the expectations teachers have, but I feel like based on what I’ve seen you put in a lot of effort to reach kids where they’re at without judgment so I was wondering if you have any tips on student interaction/classroom policies/grading rules that have created a positive environment in your classroom?
I'm really tired so this might not be very coherent, sorry.
I haven't been in a high school environment long enough to have a strong opinion on the difference, but from what I've seen, most teachers at my school are just...tired. They aren't adequately paid or supported by the administration. Something I'm already very frustrated about. Examples: I've had to buy all my own supplies for my class, and I still haven't received my first paycheck. I also only just got access to my class rosters/online grade book/curriculum/printing capabilities this week, and I still don't have an ID or (non-borrowed) keys to the building/my classroom. I also have several students who don't speak fluent English and two who speak No English At All (literally just came to the US this year) and there's no support for those kids or for me. So I'm having to translate all the materials I give them myself and then translate their responses to grade them and that's not really helping them learn English or how to communicate in English and they're mostly lost during the actual teaching portion of the class, but it's the best I can do since I have over 100 kids I'm trying to teach each day. I also have several kids who need accommodations for learning disabilities and I similarly can't tailor lessons to their needs the way I'd like to. It's super frustrating to feel that you're trying your best but no one seems to want to help you. I imagine that gets old really fast and makes you pretty jaded. I mean, if you don't care so much, it doesn't hurt so much that no one else seems to care.
And the students--90% of students at my school qualify for free lunch and the majority are ESL students whose parents can't help them with most of their homework because they don't speak or write in English. These kids already had disadvantages they were dealing with that were just compounded by Covid. Most of my students haven't interacted with other people their age face-to-face since 7th grade. AND they're dealing with typical teenage hormones on top of the whole being emotionally and socially stunted due to a global pandemic, thing. They need heaps of extra help and kindness right now that most teachers just can't provide because the teachers are also at the end of their rope. I'm just shiny and new enough that I haven't yet hit that point. As for tips--I try to just treat kids like less-educated adults who are Going Through It and need a lot of compassion. I try to make them all feel seen and appreciated and try to set myself up as a trustworthy authority who won't judge them. I'll come down hard on them if they're being disrespectful to me, other students, or even themselves, but I don't hold their bad days against them. And I don't ever force them to participate or belittle them in any way. I have a "you always get second chances" policy because how the hell are they supposed to learn otherwise? So if at any time a student is unhappy with their grade, whether it's a 0 or a 99, they can redo the assignment and I'll re-grade it.
I have my blackboard wall that students are allowed to draw on any time they aren't working, or need a break during work time. I also have led light strips that change color and they're free to play with the lights (something that they inexplicably love?) when they're done working. I have my visible "Sin Bin" for folks using phones during class, which they seem to respond much better to than the whole "I'm going to take your phone and put it in my desk drawer where you can't see it" that most of the other teachers do. And I let them use their phones if they finish their work early. They also all have permanent invitations to eat lunch in my classroom if they want to avoid the cafeteria, which about 15-20 of them do at this point (I'm worried we'll run out of room, soon!). So I've set up me and my space as a safe place for queer kids and oddballs and pretty freshman girls trying to avoid predatory older boys because they know I won't let anyone in my room be unkind to them.
Mostly, though, I just try to say at least one positive thing to every student every day, and during lecturing, discussion, and individual work time, I spend time moving between all the desks speaking directly to each student to try and make them feel included and valued. Some will sleep through class anyway, but the majority seem to respond well to that.
I don't know if any of this is helpful--but I'd love to hear other folks' tactics as well!
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Sneaky Link 🔗
Synopsis: Black Reader and Eric find each other online!
Pairing: Erik Stevens x Black Reader
Warning: Language, Smutt, Raw sex
Flopping on the bed Y/N found herself bored for the fourth Friday night in a row. This was supposed to be the season of hook ups and living her best carefree lifestyle that she had planned out but yet is was the exact opposite. Being on summer break from college Y/N had to come back home with the schools being closed. It was something she dreaded.
Home for her wasn’t the best place to be. Between her judgmental and nagging parents and older brother, Chris, Y/N was ecstatic when she discovered that she would be going to a school that was over three hundred miles away. Being four hours away gave her enough freedom knowing that she didn’t have any one breathing down her neck or snitching to her parents about whatever she did. With it only being her sophomore year Y/N loved the college lifestyle.
Getting up she went to her window to open it and put in her square fan. Her air conditioner that she always kept in her room was now being used by her brother so she had to settle for this. Turning the knob she felt the warm cool breeze coming through and taking up the room. Walking back to her bed she logged into her laptop going onto the web browser. Clicking the history she found the website she was searching for and tapped it.
Quick Link popped up on her screen. It was a site that allowed people to meet and chat with other people. Even though Y/N has been going on it for weeks now back and forth, she never met one person that she has chatted with yet. She was okay with talking to them online and even over the phone but the thought of seeing them in person scared her. With all of the Lifetime movies and ID channel she would watch, doing something as small as meeting up with them could be dangerous.
Y/N scrolled through her recent messages. She had over ninety-nine notifications. She knew that she wasn’t going to reply to them all, only the once she found cute. It was like a broken record being played. They all inbox her with the same messages, hey sexy! Y/N rolled eyes at the un-originality. To her it seem like the guys didn’t even try to put in any effort.
Tapping on the keyboard she began to text back the handful that she found attractive when she got two notifications. Hurrying up her sentence she exited out of the chat and clicking on her new direct messages.
HandsomeAssNigga👅- Y/N, what in the hell is yo ass doing on this shit...10:35pm
HandsomeAssNigga👅- And I know you still online. I can see the green bubble by ya picture...10:36pm
Y/N squinted at the name. Who the hell was this texting her like they knew her? The question alone made her stomach flutter at the idea of getting caught on a dating site by someone she knew or knew her. Clearly this person recognized her enough to boldly message her. Clicking on their username she went to their page. Her heart stopped and thighs clenched at the same time.
It was Erik fucking Stevens aka her brother’s childhood best friend. Chris and Erik were the same age and only three years older than Y/N. Growing up Y/N stayed crushing on Erik. It was his braids that he rocked back in the day that had her drooling over him but also how nice he was to her. Y/N remembered the time when she was a freshman in high school and Chris and Erik were both Juniors she would always get a ride with them every morning in his 2005 Honda Accord. He would steal glances at her through his rear view mirror that only she would catch but to afraid to ask him about it.
There would be times that she would find underwear from a girl tucked under the backseat. Y/N heard about the rumored that went around the school that Erik was a player. An experienced one at that. He was grown before his time and with the way the lucky girls who had a chance to sleep with him describe it, he gave dick like he was a grown man as well.
Hearing that did nothing but spark the flame that she felt about him. She wanted to experience it herself. But being the quiet and timid person she was then, she never did. It wasn’t until Y/N went to college where she lost her virginity her freshman and started having sex on the regular with her ex who was also her first. From the first few times they did it, she could never cum from penetration. Y/N thought it was normal and that every girl dealt with it until she shared a few stories with her friends and they would tell her about the way their guys would make them squirt.
Squirting was something Y/N always wanted to do but could never achieve with her guy. She loved feeling him inside of her stretching her open but he was a quick pumper. He came too fast for her and couldn’t last long enough to get her to nut. So after every session she would take her bullet and tortured her clit until she felt her cream escaping her hole. Not having sex since the last time she was at school had Y/N body extremely horny and hot and ready like a little ceasars pizza.
Clicking through his pictures had her clenching her thighs. After he graduated high school, the graduation was the last place she seen Erik. She wasn’t even sure if Chris and him were still close friends. But what she could say is that he grew up very nice. He now had dreads that hung over his eyes with a clean shape up to top it off. His teeth pearly and white accompanied by gold canines he was wearing in every other picture and last but not least his body was everything. Standing at 6’3 and looking like a solid 215 from her view Erik was fine as fuck.
Giggling and embarrassed with herself she replied back.
BlackBeauty- Erik omg...this is so embarrassing. How did you find me?...10:40pm
Biting the nail on her thumb she waited for him to answer her. To her surprise he wrote back fairly faster than what she expected.
HandsomeAssNigga👅- Noticed yo little ass on the explore page. I know you not on here meeting with these wack ass niggas...10:42pm
She laughed re-reading his message. To her it sound like it was possessive but she didn’t want to over think it.
BlackBeauty- Never!! I am not stupid. I haven’t met one person yet...10:44pm
Hitting the send button she rolled her eyes noticing herself getting desperate from his attention.
HandsomeAssNigga👅-Okay bet! I don’t wanna have to fuck you up youngin 😈...10:47pm
Biting her lip, she stared down the emoji. She wondered what that meant. She wondered in what way did he meant when he said he would fuck her up. At this point Y/N was dripping between her thick thighs.
BlackBeauty- What about you? I know you out here fucking these bitches you meet on here. Don’t lie lol...10:49pm
Y/N didn’t want to seem nosy, she was just trying to make conversation.
HandsomeAssNigga👅- Damn you cuss now? And second of all don’t be worried about what I do with my dick. I’m grown and that’s different...10:51pm
Bringing a hand down to her covered pussy Y/N caressed it. The warmth coming through her panties and cotton shorts. She didn’t know what it was but the way he was responding had her feeling a type of way. She wasn’t the shy young girl anymore he used to know and she wanted to make that clear.
BlackBeauty- I’m grown too Erik 💦...10:53pm
Her heart beat sped up when she sent the text not knowing how he was going to respond.
HandsomeAssNigga👅- To who? I know ya young ass ain’t out here fuckin yet. You was too shy for that last time I saw you. Even if you was, I know you ain’t getting know real dick...10:55pm
HandsomeAssNigga👅- What’s that emoji supposed to represent? Ya pussy or sum shit? Let me find out Y/N 👿...10:56pm
There goes that little devil that had her questioning herself again.
BlackBeauty- I get dick on the regular. Good dick! And yes Erik that emoji reps my pussy. Same young pussy that’ll be too wet for you to handle! I’ll have you drownin in my shit...10:59pm
Y/N could always talk a good game online. It was where she could be get as nasty as she wanted without actually putting in work. The guys who would hit her up loved her foreplay that she had spit over the internet and she was fortunate enough where they never pressed her to meet in person.
HandsomeAssNigga👅- Bring that pussy here and I’ma show you if I’ll drown in it. Stop fucking playing with me Y/N if you not gonna pull up. I don’t do this back and forth teasing shit. You tryna do a Sneaky Link or what?...11:02pm
Checking the hall Y/N seen that the lights were off. Her parents were most likely sleeping and Chris always worked Friday nights. This was the perfect time and opportunity to leave. She would have to sneak the keys from the key holder and use her dad’s car to get to his place. Y/N didn’t do this on the regular but because it was Erik she was curious. She wanted to see for herself if all of the rumors were true. Y/N was going to fuck him tonight.
BlackBeauty- Send me the addy..I’m on my way...11:04pm
________
After showering and preparing for her dick appointment Y/N successfully snuck out of the house. She put his address in her GPS. It was a twenty minute drive to get to his apartment. Putting the car in park and turning it off, Y/N felt the butterflies in her stomach grow while walking into the building. Taking her phone out she went to his message and looking up the apartment number he gave her. Apartment 3B.
Knocking on the door. She held her hands together tightly. She was beyond nervous and rethinking her decision as her heart kept thumping. She couldn’t believe that she was really going to go through this. After so many years of fantasizing about him in her room she was finally going to see the real thing. Y/N only wondered if it was as good as she hoped.
The door swung open showing Erik sipping on a glass of dark liquor. In nothing but a tight wife beater that clung to his chest and his sweats that hung low Y/N could see the print poking through so visibly. It looked like he was free balling it.
“Damn ma. You wasn’t lying about getting grown. You look good as shit.” Erik sipped from his glass. He stepped aside inviting her in.
Y/N smiled softly going inside. She only took a few steps in and stood to the side waiting for him. She heard the door lock behind her as it caused her to gulp hard on her spit.
Erik eyed her with his low eyes. He chuckled seeing that she was clearly nervous.
“So that’s ya thing?” His voice was low and deeper than what she remembered.
“What’s my thing?” Her soft voice speaking up.
“Talking shit online but quiet it person.” He stated putting her on the spot.
Y/N smacked her lips and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She turned facing his livingroom.
“Nah ain’t no whatever. What’s good ma? Where that big girl energy go?” He walked up behind her pressing his body into hers. The hand that wasn’t holding his cup wrapped around her waist gripping the small pudge on her stomach.
Y/N shivered when she felt his dick on her ass. Her assumption was right. He wasn’t wearing any underwear beneath his sweats. She could feel the coldness of his chains on her shoulder when he leaned on her due to her only wearing a tank top. She grabbed his hand, not pushing him away but holding on to him.
“I’m here aren’t I?” She gazed at him over her shoulder.
He smirked at her smart remark. “You need anything before we start? A drink, blunt, something to help you calm ya scary ass down.” He teased.
She pushed his hand from around her waist and folded her arms. “I’m not scary Erik. If I was I wouldn’t be here.”
“Then why you barely saying shit?” He licked his lips.
Y/N shrugged. “It’s just been a while since I saw you. You look...different.” Playing with her diamond earning, she occupied her fingers.
“I may look different but I’m still the same Erik that used to jack ya brother up every time he fucked with you when no one was looking. Ain’t shit changed about me ma so you can relax. I’m tryna take care of you tonight.” He spoke stepping closer.
They were now face to face. Y/N’s frame staring up into his 6’3 one. When she would inhale she could smell his expensive cologne mix with the Hennessy he’s been sipping on since she got here.
“Okay.” She answered with a bite of her bottom lip.
Erik groaned at the action. Both of his hands behind his back now, he bent down to her level to meet her halfway. “C’mere.” He demanded a kiss with messy dreads hanging over his eyes.
Meeting him where he was, Y/N listened giving him one. The taste of the dark liquor transferring over to her taste buds from his tongue invading her mouth. The warmth of it made her melt under him and causing her head to lean back. She was already growing weak just from the kiss.
Erik reached behind her slapping her ass and gripping it with his free hand. “Fuck you doing all that for and I ain’t even do shit yet.” He spoke against her lips peaking through his eyelids.
“Hurry up then daddyy.” Y/N whined.
“That’s my name for the night? I like that shit.” He walked them backwards until they reached his room which wasn’t far away from the front.
Placing his glass down on his dresser he lifted her up by her thighs, picking her up. Y/N squealed from the unexpected action. She held onto his neck hoping he wouldn’t drop her. Erik chuckled playing with her ass cheeks before laying her down on the bed gently.
“You sucked dick before...miss grown?” Bringing his hand down, he massaged his print through his sweats.
Leaning up on the palm of her hands, Y/N nodded answering yes. She did it plenty of times with her ex, who she could make cum quickly off of head alone but the way Erik was grabbing his tool made her think differently.
“So what’s up then? Come show me what that mouth do?”
Kicking off her sandals Y/N got off the bed. His eyes stayed glued to her. Getting on her knees in front of him she tugged the sides of the grey sweats and pulled them down to his mid thigh. His dick sprung out almost hitting her in the face had she been centimeters closer.
Long and thick was what it was. A beautiful smooth brown texture covered his heavy package. Y/N felt her mouth watered thinking about how her cream and juices would look being all over it. This man was truly blessed and so far proving the rumors to be true.
Erik twisted his hips side to side wagging it in front of her. He lifted the wife beater up and tucked it under his chin so that he can get a good view.
Grabbing the base of his length Y/N eyed it. She was trying to figure out ways to be able to swallow this monster without choking. Sticking her tongue out she tapped his tip against it. A string from her saliva on her tongue being attached to his head every time they separated. With her prior experience and watching porn she grew to have her own technique.
Y/N allowed the spit to build up in her mouth when she sucked on his tip. No nigga likes dry head and she wasn’t going to start giving it today. She wanted it to be extra sloppy for Erik. Tightening her jaws she went up and down on his dick. Taking only about four inches of him and using her spit to stroke the rest of him. With just the little bit of his length she was able to take she could already feel him reaching her back.
“Fuck that throat feel good. Shitt!” Erik groaned gripping her tight kinky curls and putting them into a ponytail. He tilted his head watching her go stupid on his dick. He sucked in his lower lip when she began to swivel her head around.
Long drips of spit went falling down on her black tank top. Erik’s eyebrows scrunched up the moment he felt her take his balls in her mouth and suck on them lightly while stroking his tip. His stomach started to tighten and his toes dug into his carpet. This girl was trying to take his soul the way she sucking him up.
“Man whatchu doing Y/N?” Erik asked amazed, closing his eyes for a second. He couldn’t remember the last time he had head this good.
“I’m showing you that I’m grown daddy.” She answered coming up.
Now both of her hands were focused on playing with his balls while she sucked his tip and some of the few inches she was able to reach. Her eyes stared into his not stopping at all. She had him right where she wanted him. She could tell from the way his breathing sped up that he was getting weak and ready to bust a nut. Y/N tightened her suction to make it happen when she felt him pull her off by her hair.
Erik took one hand gripping her spit covered chin and tilted her head up to look at him. “Fuck is you doing sucking my dick like that ma? You tryna make me hold you hostage for the whole night?” He asked seriously.
Y/N giggled. “I just wanna make you cum Daddy.” She reached for his tip and gripped it making him jerk forward.
Erik smacked his lips annoyed that she had him feeling like sensitive. “Chill with that. Let me fuck you first before you suck this nut out.”
Helping her up and placing her back on the bed Erik slide off her biker shorts tossing them somewhere. Underneath them she had on some cotton hipster panties with little rainbows spreaded everywhere. Erik laughed when he seen it.
“Why you wearing shit like this ma?” He teased stepping out of his pants and getting on the bed.
“Because it’s cute. Why you worried about what I’m wearing instead of taking them off?” Y/N mocked his question.
Erik smirked bringing his hand up to the piece of cloth and ripping them straight down the middle and threw them on the ground. A gasp left Y/N lips as she was shocked from him doing that. Slapping his forearm, her lips went into a pout becoming upset.
“Erik, I just brought those two weeks ago.” She smacked the hand that was rubbing her thigh.
“You said to take them off. My bad. That’s the way I usually do it.” He lifted her legs by the back of her thighs while he consoled her as a distraction.
Y/N was frustrated at the fact that he ripped her new panties but also that she wasn’t going to have any to wear back home after this link.
“I don’t care how you do it, you shouldn’t have- ohh shiitt!” Her rant was cut off with the sound of moans leaving her mouth.
Holding her legs by the back of her knees Y/N glanced down to see Erik flicking her clit. The tip of his tongue felt wet and firm, in a good way. She really started to feel it when he took one hand and spread her phat pussy lips. Now her clit was out in the open and more accessible. Erik’s eyes met hers through his dreads when his lips wrapped around her bud and began to suck.
“Mm fuck...daddyy!” The sensation had Y/N’s hips thrusting to meet his vacuum like suction. So powerful and wet.
“I want you to cum on this fuckin tongue!” His words were muffled by the lips of her pussy surrounding his but it was enough to reach her ears. Taking a hand he smacked her outer thigh making his demand clear.
Her warm and slick juices ran out of her opening. It was something about the way he commanded her to nut that made her wetter and willing. Y/N liked to be dominated. Lifting up the tank top and pulling it up to her chest she tweaked and flipped her nipples adding to the stimulation. For her the feeling of having her nipples played with while getting her pussy ate made her orgasm a hundred times better.
“Eat this fucking pussy b-babyy-“ She whimpered feeling a tear slide down the corner of her eye.
Even though he noticed it, Erik didn’t stop. The juices that he caught in his mouth made it hard. He loved a good tasting ass pussy. Y/N definitely had one. Moving his assault from her clit he put his tongue in her tight opening. He began to fuck her with it. Erik put his hands under her ass cheeks and got a good cuff before bringing her back and forth on his stiff tongue. With the way her legs were still in the air he could see Y/N toes curl the second he started the action. She began leaking so quickly. Erik chuckled inwardly when he felt her walls squeezing on him.
“Mhm.” He moaned teasing her.
Y/N was cumming from the second time just off of his mouth alone. She reached down to rub her clit while he stuck his tongue deep inside her. She ain’t never got head this good before back at college. Her thighs began to shake as she felt another mini orgasm hit. Her pussy growing sensitive and overstimulated.
Grabbing his dreads she lifted his head up. “Daddy you was eating my pussy so good. Fuckk!” She moaned with a quiver in her voice.
“Now I’m bout to beat this pussy up real good too. Turn around. I want that ass from the back.” Erik barked getting on his knees.
Swiftly taking off her tank top, Y/N turned around like he said and got on all fours. She felt a firm smack to her right ass cheek. Moaning she rocked back and forth and twerked each cheek individually. Y/N looked over her shoulder behind her seeing Erik watching her move it so effortlessly. His hands went up to her waist and pulled her closer to him. Now she could feel her mound rubbing against his bare hard rock hard stick.
“Doing all this ass shaking, you better not try to run from the dick. I don’t want none of that.” He gripped a cheek spreading it watching her pussy lips follow.
“I’m not gon run daddy..I promise.” She reassured him softly.
Erik gripped the base of his length. Smacking it against her her clit he played with it for a while to warm her up. When he heard her moaning and seen her backing up against him he knew she was ready. Erik sent a drip of spit on the tip of his dick and rubbed it over it with a free hand. He teasingly dipped in and out of her tight hole. Y/N pussy was tight as fuck and he knew he had to work his way in. Getting deeper and deeper with each inch her warm wet walls clung on to him.
“Ooh fuck!” Y/N eyes closed not expecting him to feel like this. Erik was stretching her pussy out. Her arms sprawled out in front of her gripping his sheets.
“Tight ass pussy you got. What happened to getting dick on the regular? Hmm?” Holding her down by the small of her back Erik made her arch deeper as he stroked her slick walls.
Y/N’s mouth couldn’t close or make a sound. From the position he had her in she couldn’t move or run if she wanted to. Pinned down and made to take it. Erik was dicking her down. His heavy fat dick busting her pussy open and touching her stomach. Fuck that. He was putting it in her chest. Y/N reached behind her to hold on to his wrist while he pounded her pussy with precision. Her face smashed into the bed. His dick was too good for her.
“Ooh baby... Daddy don’t fuck me like this!” She shouted not knowing what she was saying. Y/N didn’t want him to stop but she couldn’t handle the pressure he was putting on her bladder.
Erik didn’t have just a big dick that could stretch a pussy out. He knew how to fuck with it. When he stroked he didn’t use his whole body he worked his hips and that’s what drove bitches crazy about him. Erik would fuck like he was trying to make a baby.
“I thought you came here to get fucked?” He asked lifting off her. He bended one knee and balanced his weight on his foot pressing it into the bed. His hand wrapped around her throat as he caught a rhythm making her throw it back on him.
The sound of skin clapping filled the room. Y/N’s arch was now the deepest it’s ever been with Erik choking her from behind and making her head tilt up towards the ceiling. Cramping in her stomach let her know that she was about to break. She was finally about to cum from penetration alone. His curved tip would press on a spot she didn’t know she had there causing her legs to convulse. Her whimpers and moans only encouraged him to keep doing what he was doing. Which was tearing her pussy up.
“Shiitt!!” She cursed grabbing onto her titty to have something to hold on.
Erik bit his lip seeing her ass tremble from her orgasm and feeling her squeezing his dick with a vice grip. He slapped her left cheek before pulling out to flip her over on her back. Looking down at his meat it was covered in her creamy juices. His dick jumped at the sight.
“Good ass pussy.” He mumbled in a trance.
Using the weight of his hips he thrusted finding his way back inside of her. The warm wet tunnel closing in on him. Erik lifted up the wife beater that was still on in the mist, and brought it up under his chin tucking it to move it out of his way. His hands found the back of her thighs and pinned them against her chest. He began stroking and getting deeper from the angle.
Being trapped from his hold that he had on her, the only thing Y/N could do was bring her hands to his hips trying to interrupt his movements. Y/N didn’t like this feeling. He was going too deep. Deeper than what she was used to. Shaking her head from side to side she pushed at his hips that only kept going due to her weak and trembling arms not being able to produce enough strength.
“Move ya fuckin hands.” He demanded while keeping his steady stroke. Erik cussed under his breath hearing the smacking sounds coming from her hole that could be mistaken for a pot of mac and cheese being stirred. That’s how good Y/N pussy was.
Her tight walls gripped his dick. Erik looked between their bodies watch the beautiful art being made. Her pussy following him whenever he pulled out to the tip just to be sucked back in. Pussy as good and wet as hers always got him to bust hard. He was close. Leaning down to her neck he kissed and sucked her skin while having her pinned down taking his length. Erik felt her walls slick up and knew she was about to nut again.
“Let that shit go mama.” He whispered in her neck.
Y/N’s nails scratched against his back. Her eyes wailed up with tears feeling the pressure in her stomach building up. She lost count of how many times he had made her cum tonight but she knew she was grateful and only prayed that this wasn’t the last time she got dick this bomb.
“Unhh.” She couldn’t produce any words. Her toes curled as she gazed at the ceiling feeling her body shake.
“There you go.” He pecked her neck.
Erik talked her through her nut while he continued to chase his. It wasn’t long before he felt his dick throb and grow inside of her. Pulling out he climbed on top of her holding his body up with one hand pressed into the bed as he stroked his dick with the other. Y/N opened her mouth and sucked his tip. She could feel his seed spilling on her tongue and traveling down her throat. She wasn’t usually a swallower but the way he had just fucked her he deserved to have his dick milked.
“Ahh shit!” Erik cursed caressing her jaw as he watched her suck him dry. She was cleaning both her juices and his nut off of his dick.
A popping sound escaped her mouth when she released him. Y/N’s body couldn’t move as she laid back staring at him with disbelief. Erik caught her face expression.
“What?” He asked standing on the side of the bed.
“Nothing. It’s just the rumors that I heard about you were all true. You do give some good dick.” Turning to lay on her side Y/N smiled.
Erik laughed. “Yeah well I could say the same about you.”
Her brows knitted in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Little birdy that goes to your college told me about how good ya pussy was. Had to find out for myself.” He smirked at her.
“Erik what are you talking about?” Y/N sat up.
“I’m talking about your ex that you fuck from time to time is my second cousin. Nigga couldn’t stop running his mouth about you. Small world ain’t it?”
He paused watching the confusion clouding over her face. “Besides why else you think I had hit you up tonight? It damn sure wasn’t to reminisce over the past.”
Taking off the wife beater, Erik leaned down to kiss her lips before walking away.
______________________________________
Please excuse any mistakes!
Tag-List
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#black panther#erik killmonger#erik smut#erik stevens#erik x plus size reader#killmonger fanfiction#killmonger x reader#truglori#black panther killmonger
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"How many times can you look me in the eye and lie to me?" Also with Ernest, break my heart please 💔, I need like angry and broken Ernest
“How many times can you look at me in the eye and lie to me” - with Ernst Schmidt x Fem!Reader
Warnings: masturbation, mention of attempted murder
I wasn't ready to write this and when I was, I still wasn't.
Ernst smiled at you, he just woke up to find you laying beside him like very morning, his little corner of paradise, your silky nightgown clinging sensually around your shape, that amazing curve of your body always getting him more and more turned on.
“Good morning, Ernst”
You said to him and he smiled happily whispering it back to you.
“Oh, looks like Dr Schmidt is more awake than you”
The way you giggled and nicknamed his dick would have made him blush if he wasn’t so aroused by your presence.
“Get naked for me, I don’t have time”
You pouted but then you obliged as you stood on the bed slowly giving him a strip tease, you even hummed the music waving your body in front of him.
Your voice only rang through him, the way you sang was pure poetry.
You swayed from side to side as the silk slipped off your skin like water, you picked a moan as you touched over your body as he pumped himself nicely.
“Fuck, show me your ass”
He cursed as he went immediately hard on himself, he was hungry, needy for you and yet he didn’t have time to fully give into the pleasure.
You obeyed, you rolled your hips turning around as your panties made their way down your ass and quickly precipitated to your ankles before being kicked out of the way.
The way your hands moved, the moans that escaped you as your hands travelled between your legs gifting pleasure to yourself.
Ernst was thrown into a very fast orgasm against his own stomach while staring at you.
“Your breakfast is ready now”
You smirked as he chuckled “I hope not this one” he said pointing at his chest as you giggled jumping off the bed.
“I need the calculation for this”
You nodded providing him the answer in a moment, you worked side to side and you were his right arm, always helping him.
“So? How long is it going to take freak?”
Volkov voice made you roll your eyes.
He annoyed you like hell, but he really took a tool on Ernst.
Don’t let him get into you
You typed it on the computer for Ernest to see. He now needed to be focusing on the task ahead instead of the teasing, he pushed his glasses further on the bridge of his nose as he looked up at the screen ignoring the Russian.
Thank you he typed back to you
;) your answer
Nevertheless, the experiments kept failing and you kept working tirelessly with him. Where it was the error? What could it be?
“Ernst, I brought you something to eat” Lin said as she came to the control room and stared up at you for a moment, you leaned your head on side, you glared at her but smiled, it wasn’t even polite as a smile, it was just circumstantial.
“Don’t worry, I don’t need it”
You said it quite harshly earning a look from Ernst that made you turn around and go back to your calculations.
“Forgive her” Ernst said for you and Lin shrugged “I am worried for you” she whispered to him “you’re getting too much into this, it is not healthy, do not listen to Volkov but I need you to be awake and ready more than anyone, you’re our only physic here”
He chuckled lightly “the one who could survive here among you crazy heads” he joked as you looked back at them interacting and frowned lightly.
That evening he was applying some cream to ease the bruise Volkov left on his face after last experiment.
“That man should have been checked, with such a temper he shouldn’t be allowed on the mission” you mumbled as you stared at him while programming the dinner on the big screen to be delivered. Usually you would fetch it but the beating accident pushed Ernst to be asked to go to his rooms earlier than usual.
“I know, but I gave him his fair share and it is good like this. We are all stressed on board, Lin taught me this word which means actually stressed because of the pressure due on the mind, I need to ask her again about it”
“You like her, don’t you?”
You asked it like a firing shot, he rolled his eyes “please, not again with it”
You frowned as he dismissed always that topic but you hated it.
“You think she is more attractive than me?”
“That is not possible” he just said and you looked down at your floral shorts and top coord pyjama.
You looked back at the screen as you downloaded the exercises he had been prescribed before leaving the Earth to keep his back and neck healthy after so many hours on the computer.
“Would you fuck her?”
He glared at you “I said it is a closed topic”
You sighed nodding lightly, you nibbled your bottom lip but just carried on with the evening.
It was like an accident, Volkov was checking the oxygen reserve as always when he started to feel dizzy. He frowned as soon as he realised he rushed to the door. There was a leak. But when he rushed to the door it was locked and not even the code worked to open it.
He really thought it was the end but Lin saw him and with the help of Kiel managed to get him out of there.
Volkov didn’t speak to anyone for the rest of the night.
But Ernst knew perfectly who he had to talk to.
When he came to his quarters and locked the door you were wearing a nice deep blue dress, one of his favourites with off shoulders and a tight skirt, the dinner was ready for him to eat and some soft music playing in the background.
“You’re out of your mind”
He only said that and you looked at him confused “What? Why? Don’t you like salmon?”
“Don’t you play innocent with me Y/N, I saw the codes, you hacked the door, a clean job but you should know I can find your ID print anywhere, even behind the electricity system”
You frowned “I probably messed up, what door got blocked?”
He laughed out loud smacking his hand loudly over his forehead “How can you even be such a liar? Killing Volkov won’t solve anything”
You frowned as he spoke like that “He beat you Ernst”
You said it finally after a long silence “he handles you in that way and punches you and threatens you constantly, I can’t see him do this for more years”
“Killing him is not the solution”
“I was just trying to protect you!!” You screamed to him.
He stood straight in front of you, cringe colouring his features as you stared at him helplessly.
“What do you even know about protection? You’re not even -“
“I love you, that’s what I know”
He looked at you as you said that, the disgust on him turned to pain and then to rage.
“Take it back”
“No”
“I said” he came closer to you, his voice tone lowering “Take it back, now”
You shook your head as you felt tears forming in your eyes, your chest starting to hiccup as you tried to hold back the fear and the sadness of his reaction.
You daydreamed so much of him telling you that little ‘I love you too’.
And yet, here you’re.
“Ernst”
“No, no Ernst, this is over”
You paled up as he moved past you taking his tablet.
“Ernst, but it is true, I love you, I swear, it is love” you said, your voice trembling as your tears started to roll down your cheeks “Every day, you’re my only thought, you’re what I live for, I live to see you smile at me, to see you happy, to see that little quirky smirk you do when all the analysis work. The way you look at me when we are alone, the way you smile at me, share things with me. That’s all I wish for. Please. Please Ernst. You have to believe me”
“Liar.” His answer was dry, filled with anger and disgust, his eyes not even gracing you.
“I am not lying, I can’t lie to you. Ernst. I beg you, talk to me”
“How many times can you look at me in the eye and lie to me??” He shouted at the top of his lungs taking his dinner plate with his free hand and smashing it on the wall in front of him.
“Ernst” yours was a whisper, his name your only reason to live left as fear was now dominating you “please”
He glared at you, jaw clenched, hand locked into fists so tight that his knuckles were white.
He pressed something on the tablet that he still clenched on his side and on the big screen in the room that usually projected a night skyline for dinner appeared a red notification:
Are you sure you want to interrupt the hologram?
Yes - No
You stared at the screen as you closed your eyes, tears rolling even more down your cheeks.
“I love you Ernst”
“You’re not supposed to love, Y/N” his voice betraying the pain simmering after that mask of rage you know too well by now.
The tap of his finger on the tablet screen the last thing you heard before being caged back into your code.
#ernst schmidt x y/n#ernst schmidt fanfiction#ernst schmidt#ernst schmidt x reader#ernst schmidt x you#ernst schmidt smut#ernst schmidt imagine#Cloverfield paradox fanfiction#ernst Schmidt angst#daniel brühl#daniel bruehl#daniel bruhl
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expanded from this post
[cw: recreational drug use, 13 year olds kissing]
"This is literally the stupidest thing any of you have ever done, I hope you know," Eddie scolds as Bill passes the lighter to Stan. Stan doesn't react to Eddie in the slightest. Bill meets Eddie eyes just to roll his, causing Eddie to make a noise like a pissed off cat.
"Show me again?" Stan asks Richie. Richie leaps down from the ledge of the dugout window, his sharpie-covered shoes sending up tiny puffs of dust.
Richie is so cool right now. He'd bought the mary jane off Belch (most terrifying minute of his life), pre-rolled, and then had practiced lighting and smoking it until he could do it without sending up the whole joint at once or coughing. He's an expert. He swaggers over and lights Stan's joint for him, a delicate touch of the flame at the tip.
"You gotta breathe in real deep," he instructs confidently. "All the way into your lungs, not just in your mouth." Stan does so and instantly coughs up hard enough to make his eyes run.
"Ouch," he croaks, and then takes another puff.
"You see!" Eddie shrieks. "Pain is the body's way of telling you you're a fucking idiot. You're going to get fucking throat cancer or something."
"Y-You're a fucking id-iot," Bill mumbles, already pretty chilled out. Richie grins at the both of them. Everything is perfect. Bill flops onto his back on the bench and blows a thin stream of smoke up to the low ceiling. He traces his finger through it, sending it spiraling in the dappled late afternoon light. "I like it."
"Yeah," Richie agrees. His cheeks hurt from how hard he's smiling, maybe from how long too. He kind of loses track of time when he's high. More than usual. He laughs. "Yeah, it's good, right? It's nice."
"I don't feel it yet," Stan says, sounding put out. Richie reaches out and physically puts Stan's smoking hand back up to his mouth. His skin is warm and soft. The smoke is warm and soft, and Richie too, and Bill there on his back humming quietly. They all match. Belong together.
"You will," Richie promises Stan. "It's nice."
"What does it feel like?" Eddie asks. His voice is abrupt, but it doesn't feel disruptive. Eddie's like a diamond in a nest of blankets. Richie laughs at the thought. Silly. But so true. Eddie's a diamond. He's not supposed to be soft like them, but he's so perfect and pretty. He doesn't have to match. He can do whatever he wants.
"It's like..." Bill trails off. Takes a drag instead of finishing.
"What?" Eddie demands. "What is it like?" He's rigid with irritation, his body all hard and tight and fast moving. Richie thinks he can hear the whistle of the air resistance against him.
"It's nice," Richie repeats again. What else can he say? Eddie rolls his eyes so hard his whole head moves with it, and Richie laughs.
"No shit, Rich," Eddie says. "You said- stop laughing, stupid- you said that already like a million times."
"Why don't you just smoke some if you wanna know what it feels like so bad," Stan says. It's just a touch too pointed to be pragmatic, so quintessentially Stanley Uris that it makes Richie bubble up with love.
"Love you guys," he says out loud. It doesn't even occur to him that he should couch it in a joke or wrap it up in an insult or just say it in words that aren't so you know.
"Love you too, R-Richie," Bill says, smiling over at him. Easy peasy. Richie grins back.
"This is so unfair," Eddie snaps, stomping and folding his arms across his skinny chest. He's wearing a sunshine yellow polo shirt and green shorts. He looks like a dandelion. "Just because I was actually born with a self preservation instinct-" He cuts himself off with a frustrated groan, rolls his whole head again.
With a huff, Eddie gently kicks Richie in the thigh, leaving a dust print on Richie's jeans in the shape of his sneaker. "You should have got edibles instead." Richie kicks up some dirt back at him.
"I don't think my supplier knows how to cook," he says.
"What's even the difference?" Stanley points out. "It's still the same drug."
"Yeah, but I wouldn't be smoking it," Eddie insists. "I could eat it instead. That's totally safe."
"Yeah? Eat this!" Richie cries. He grabs Eddie by the front of his stupid dandelion shirt and blows a whole cloud of smoke right into Eddie's scrunched up face. Eddie takes a huge breath of it gearing up to chew Richie out, and chokes on it.
"See?" Richie says, laughing so hard he nearly bends double. "It works!"
"It's still smoke, dipshit," Eddie snaps. He watches, unimpressed, while Richie laughs until he can't laugh anymore. Gradually, he loosens up, slowly becoming less and less like a diamond and more like- uh, like something softer but just as perfect. Graphite is the same stuff, Richie knows, but Eddie's nothing like a boring old pencil. Hmm.
"Hey," Eddie says softly, easily interrupting Richie's trackless train of thought.
"Yeah?" Richie asks, his voice just as soft. Suddenly his heart is racing in a way that the drugs and the laughter can't account for alone. Eddie takes a step closer, and Richie's heart goes a beat faster.
"Do that again," Eddie mutters, grudgingly but insistent. "Like, do it for real this time though."
Richie's impaired brain skitters over what would usually be nervousness, would usually demand a crude joke about Eddie's mom, would usually make him hesitate. In the same way he hadn't thought about his words, in the way he's not thinking about the passing minutes, Richie doesn't think about his actions now. He takes Eddie by the chin even as he's sucking in a huge hit with the other hand.
Eddie's skin is warm and soft, no longer diamond-like at all, reachable, touchable. His lips are pink as he opens his mouth, the bottom one shiny with the barest hint of spit. Richie blows his chest full of smoke right down Eddie's throat. Eddie's eyes flutter shut and it could be a kiss. It could so easily be a kiss. But even high, Richie isn't quite stupid enough to close the last hair of distance between them and press their mouths together. He keeps is eyes open so he won't forget.
But then there's a nudge at the back of his knee, just firm enough to make it buckle and send him tipping forward. For a split second, Richie hears Bill start to laugh, but then his lips touch Eddie's and everything else is obliterated from his mind.
(Some of the smoke escapes out of the corners of their mouths when it all comes out of Richie at once. It looks like their touch is searing, sending up steam. It makes Bill stop laughing. Maybe it's his own buzz, but all of a sudden this is the absolute height of romance.)
Eddie coughs into Richie's mouth, choking on the rush of smoke. But he doesn't pull away. His hands cling to Richie's shoulders, and he breathes in, and he doesn't complain when their teeth click together, or when a string of spit connects them still when they finally separate.
Eddie puts a hand to his mouth, staring wide-eyed at Richie. Richie stares back. The sun is setting now, casting a glow into Eddie's brown hair, his summer highlights. Richie can't think of anything to do or say, so he just holds his joint out.
Eddie takes it. There's hardly any of it left to smoke, practically just a a roach, but Eddie doesn't bother to smoke it anyway. He just holds it and sinks down slowly to sit on the ground. Richie sits down too, dazed.
Conversation is sparse and abstract as Bill and Stan finish their joints, Richie joining in with their talk when he thinks to, and Eddie silently watching with nothing but a singed piece of paper in his hand.
"B'cause, like, the killer rerprsents-" Bill is saying, slurring instead of stuttering for the moment, when Eddie finally speaks.
"You're a good kisser," he tells Richie, sudden and too loud, and staring hard at the side of Richie's face. He laughs uproariously when Richie's cheeks flush an undeniable bright pink.
"You're right," he decides then, leaning forward to steal the last puff of Stan's joint right out of his hand. "This is nice."
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Election Day 2021
Please be nice to your local election workers this federal election! We’re stuck in those buildings for more than 12 hours, dealing with every single person who comes to vote. We’re mandated to stay politically neutral from the first day we work an election until we go home after election night, which if we work advanced polls, is more than a week. In the face of anyone, we have to stay neutral.
And especially this year, be gracious. Anywhere there’s a mask mandate right now, polling places get antimaskers ranging from nuisances to honestly scary. Multiple polling places near me (including the one I’m going to be working at) have had to hire security because of them. Every gracious person soothes my soul a bit while I wait anxiously for the next terrible one.
Want to vote with as few problems as possible?
Know where you’re voting! If you got a voter card, it will say where you should be voting! But make sure you’re reading it correctly, because there are two places on there! One was for advanced polls (Sept 10-13th), and the other one is for Election Day! Elections Canada’s website also has tools to figure out where you should be voting, but if you aren’t sure try the one closest to your house first. They are mostly geographically based, so it’s your best bet. And if you are unsure, show up, and we tell you to go somewhere else, please be nice about it. We’re trying our best. Believe me, we hate it. We are in control of very little, we’re following a million regulations. We literally can’t take your vote at the wrong polling station (except under extremely specific circumstances), but we’re trying as hard as we can to figure that out as fast as possible so you have time to go somewhere else.
Know your local rules! Where I live, there’s a mask mandate. We aren’t allowed to let people into the polling place with a mask on, unless they have a medical exemption. And to those of you with medical exemptions, don’t worry about it. We don’t have to check any proof, nothing like that, just mention it at the door and we’ll be fine with it. (It's kinda easy to tell who has a real exemption (they're nice) vs anti-maskers, but we can't actually refute anyone anyway)
HAVE YOUR ID READY TO VOTE. In order to vote, you have to prove 2 things: 1. You are who you say you are, and 2. You live in that riding. There are three ways to prove that! 1. Licence, or other Canadian government issued photo ID. This has to have your name, address, and a photo, and be issued by a Canadian government to count. A passport doesn’t count, because the address is handwritten, not printed. 2. Two pieces of ID. This is what you use if you don’t have option one, and it’s really easy to produce if you have a voter card. Basically, you need two pieces of acceptable ID (There’s a whole list of acceptable ID on the Elections Canada website), one of which has your current address, and both of which have your name. These don’t have to match exactly, election workers just need to be confident that you’re the right person. (I’m talking about a card saying John G. H. Smith and a letter that says Johnathan Smith, not something drastically different) Your voter card is a really easy one to use for this! It works to show your address (if elections Canada has the right address for you) and your name, meaning you just need a piece of ID with your name on it to have enough ID to vote. 3. This is the most complicated way to prove your identity, but if you don’t have documents with your name or address, this can work. You can have someone vouch for you, the two of you sign a paper saying you would be prepared to say in a court that this person is the right person and does live here. Things of note is that the voucher has to be able to prove their own identity with either option one or two, the voucher and vouchee have to both be supposed to vote at that polling place, and the voucher can only vouch for one person for the whole election.
Having your voter card makes everyone’s life easier. With the obvious exceptions of people who aren’t registered, or people who mysteriously didn’t get their card, bring your damn voter card. It saves you an extra desk, and saves us extra work (even if it’s just a little). Elections are trying to make everything go as smoothly as possible, so if we can boot you directly to the voting line we’d like to do that! Even if you don’t need it for ID purposes, bring it. The information officer at the front of the desk checks it to make sure you’re at the right building. If you don’t have it, we have to look you up in a big book at a different desk before you can get in the voting line. Seriously, it just makes everyone’s lives easier.
When it comes to marking your ballot, there’s a lot of ways to do it “right” but there’s also a fair amount of ways to spoil your vote. The basic rule is "clear and non-distinctive". What I mean by that is it needs to be clear who you’re voting for (only one circle marked, for example) and the mark can’t be something that could conceivably identify you (a heart, a number, a drawing, anything weird). If you stick to an X, a check, or filling it in, you’ll be golden. We also encourage you to bring your own pen/pencil this year! We do have those little golf pencils to give you if you don’t, but we can’t use them again without sanitizing them. They’re basically single use pencils.
Don’t wait until you’re at the front of the voting line to bring things up. If you have accessibility needs, need a helper, a translator, a correction to the name or address on your voter card, etc, bring it up as soon as possible, because you’ll need to go see the registration officer about it.
Get out and vote!
Disclaimer: this is all based on my experience with the last federal election and the advanced polls for this election, in addition to the training I received from elections Canada for both. Things can change from region to region, and I'm just one election worker.
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Iced Chai
↳ you had a small obsession with drinking iced chai lattes between class, and it just so happened that the coffee store on campus had the best ones. when a new barista replaces the one who used to make your drink, you put him to the test. he makes the most wonderful iced chai you’d ever had. he’s also one of the most handsome boys you ever seen on campus.
➤ fluff, college!au, shy barista!hueningkai
Word Count:3,830
A/N: yes, this fic is very much influenced by my massive love for iced chai lattes and the way I consumed them up until March when we had to leave campus. Sadly I didn’t have any cute boys serving me :(. Anywho, I hope you enjoy it! Please keep in mind that I haven’t proofread, so there may be some small mistakes!
•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:••:•.•
Calculus was a pain in the ass. Obviously, you knew this well before you scheduled for your freshmen year of college, but there was no way to avoid the reality handed to you by your major. So every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning at 8 am you endured the rambling lectures of your less than spry professor who could barely work his desktop computer. You tried your best to pay attention, you really did, but there was only so much you could do when the conversation shifted from tangent lines to the best way to reheat fast food french fries.
As you doodled in the margins of your lined notebook, your mind wandered to the only good thing sitting through this class does for you. Other than the credits. As soon as the clock struck 9am, you had a date with the on campus café. The roughly hour break between the end of calculus and the beginning of chemistry gave you the perfect window to enjoy some alone time. Homey, student run and always playing some version of a coffee shop playlist; the place was your haven on campus. Not only did you love the atmosphere and the fact that it was the best place on campus to study, but they also serve the best iced chai latte you’d ever encountered. The thought of the drink alone made your mouth salivate. From your first hesitant order, you had become hooked. Within your first week on campus, you had easily drank 10 cups of the chilled goodness before your roommate expressed concern for the sheer amount of sugar and dairy you’d been consuming.
Due to the timing of your tri-weekly trips, you had always been served by the same lovely barista, Rachael. She was stylish, down to earth and always told you a good joke when you showed up looking especially out of it. Most importantly, something about the way she mixed the drink convinced you that she surely was sent from the heavens.
When your graying professor finally let your class go for the day, you walked on clouds to your favorite spot on campus. It had rained during class so the air was chilled and the ground was still damp. The telltale scent of rain invaded your senses and a chill ran through you. Most people would be craving a hot coffee or steaming cup of tea- but all you desired was the smooth flavor of your favorite drink. The walk to your beloved café wasn’t long, but you always found yourself in a bit of a rush to get there as soon as you possibly could. In a moment of carelessness, you stepped right into a rather large puddle and soaked one of your feet right through your shoes and your sock. Disgusting you thought as you finally arrived at the door. The handle was slick with moisture thanks to the weather, but you wiped your hand onto your sweatshirt as you stepped inside and let the familiar scent of coffee grounds occupy your mind. Your shoulders relaxed simply at the relaxed atmosphere.
A few students who also frequented around this time were sitting at their usual tables, and you waved at them politely before taking yourself- and your squelching shoe- over to the small booth you’d come to know and love. You ditched your bookbag on the table with a thud, feeling secure with the knowledge of your agreement with the girl who sat at the table next to you to keep an eye on your things.
As you headed toward the counter, you belatedly noticed that the line seemed a bit more backed up than usual. It wasn’t too big of a concern, as your college was relatively small and waiting an extra five minutes would by no means ruin your timing. It was just curious. Usually Rachael ran the counter with the ease of an experienced sailor, but that ease seemed to be missing today. Nevertheless, the line inched forward steadily. Engrossed in your phone, you hadn’t noticed the glaring difference in your routine until you got to the cash register. While placing your plastic ID card over the scanner, you chirped “just my usual, Rachael!”
Despite what your mind told you would happen next- she would laugh, say okay, maybe ask about class while handing over a receipt- you were met with an awkward stutter that your trusty barista certainly didn’t make.
“I-I’m sorry, I don’t know your usual,” upon finally looking up, your brain processed the sight of a new boy. A new gorgeous boy. Did they only hire beautiful people here? His black hair was falling into his eyes, charmingly shaggy and exposing just enough of his forehead to make you oddly wish you could see more. His cheeks were dusted in a light pink blush that both charmed you and made you feel bad at the same time. He seemed so fresh. Upon further inspection, you caught his handmade name tag written in slightly shaky handwriting that was so cutely boyish. Hueningkai. He had decorated one corner with a smiley face and the other with a drawing of a coffee bean that looked suspiciously like nothing more than a dark brown blob with a small accent line down the middle.
“I’m sorry, Hueningkai,” you didn’t miss the way his eyes widened slightly at the use of his name, “usually Rachael is here to take my order. But I’ll take a large iced chai latte, please.” He nodded quickly, reverting his eyes to the LED screen which his eyes bounced around for a few seconds before he finally found the correct button. This must have been why the line seemed abnormally long. As the sound of your receipt printing filled the silence, you asked; “first day?”
A melodious laugh fell from his lips, causing a scrunch of his perfectly pointed nose that you felt honored to have seen as he stepped away from the register to start making your drink. “That obvious, huh?” Another worker came to take his spot and serve the next student but you followed Hueningkai to his new destination. For as shy as he was at the cash register, he moved with much more confidence when it came to actually making drinks. His earlier hesitation was totally gone as he got to work mixing up your drink. In his new position, you could get a better look at his hands, adorned in simple silver jewelry that embarrassingly made your breath catch in your throat. His actions were over almost as quickly as they began, and his earlier hesitation seemed to return as he slid the drink to you over the granite counter top. You grasped at it eagerly in the same moment he reached to balance a straw on top of the lid.
For a brief moment your fingers lingered and your mind went wild at the absurdity that you honestly felt sparks pass between the two of you.
“Oh, uh, sorry,” he mumbled, dipping his head down awkwardly as he finally tore his hand away. You smiled back earnestly, hoping to make him understand that you weren’t bothered at all by the contact.
Back at the safety of your table, you took a second to collect yourself. Surely you were overreacting to the small interaction. After all, you were already having a pretty weird day. Looking down at your clear cup, you remembered the beginning of your dilemma- the absence of amazing barista Rachael. Hueningkai was adorable, but could his skills hold up to the woman who made drinks you literally dreamed about? Tentatively, you took a sip of the drink and immediately cocked your head to the side. On the off chance your taste buds had totally deceived you, you took another long swig from the cup.
Hueningkai’s drink was even better than Rachael’s.
——
The next morning, you awoke before your alarm even started to beep. Thursdays meant no class until 1 o’clock, so you had almost all the time in the world to catch up on assignments and homework and do your errands. Instead of doing anything constructive, you found yourself craving yet another iced chai latte. As you voiced this desire to your roommate, she looked at you as if you’d just admitted to the murder of 4 people.
“Are you insane? Do you not remember how miserable you felt after drinking two a day? I can’t let you do that again. You can go to the café but at least drink something different!” You knew that she was right, but something inside of you- that shitty little perpetual teenage boy who hides in a corner of your mind- told you to do the exact opposite of what she said.
“I’m sorry,” you shuffled through the shirts hanging in your closet, the sound of the plastic hangers clicking together resonating in the otherwise quiet room. “But you have to go to class so there’s no way you can police me. Plus,” you pulled a shirt out of your closet and slid over to your cheap full length mirror to inspect yourself. “You didn’t see Hueningkai. He is...” your cheeks flushed as your roommate began to let out a high pitched squeal. “Shhh! The walls are thin!”
“Oh don’t act so scandalized. I guess it makes sense that you’d have a crush on the boy who feeds your addiction.” You rolled your eyes at her, lobbing a pair of rolled up socks in her direction in retaliation. They hit her side softly before bouncing to the floor dejectedly. “You,” she pointed a finger your way as you rooted through your drawer for a pair of jeans, “are ridiculous. Have fun with your dreamy boy while I’m at class.”
Despite the familiarity of the path to the café, you still felt a bit out of place making the trip on a Thursday. Even the other students passing you by felt wrong in a way you couldn’t quite place. There was also the lingering worry that Hueningkai wasn’t even working today, and you’d show up to the small building just for a dose of disappointment. In you worried haze, you had barely noticed you arrived until the door was pushed open from the inside and a small pack of students held the door aside for you.
Inside of the building, a blanket of warm air surrounded your form and the faint smell of cinnamon drifted easily through the air. You were instantly calmed by the scent until someone bumped into your shoulder. With wide eyes, you looked around to see about double the amount of people your usual visits yielded. You were in no way prepared for the absolute mass of bodies that filtered between the tables and comfortable sitting areas.
Feeling a bit lost, you put yourself into the line of waiting students and tried your best to peer over heads and around bodies to see if you could catch a glimpse of the barista that had captivated you so easily. It didn’t look like he was making drinks, but you held out hope that he was manning the register that was blocked from your sight. After what felt like forever, you reached the register and came face to face with...not Hueningkai. Despite your disappointment, there was no way you would turn down a drink, even made by a non-Hueningkai.
Once you had the chilled cup cradled in your hands, you took a hopeless look around at the full dining room. Almost every table looked to be occupied, and some students had even resorted to leaning against the walls to chat and sip their drinks. The back of your neck began to heat up as you wandered around hoping for anyone to decide they were done and get up to leave. You had almost given up and decided to just go back to your dorm and lick your metaphorical wounds when a voice called your name. It only took a second of looking around to lock eyes with the one who was calling for you.
Hueningkai. He had a light blush filling his cheeks as he waved a hand noncommittally your way. He looked ethereal sitting at the table, hot cup of something steaming next to his sticker covered laptop. His eyes were wide and adorably eager; akin to the look of a puppy who had just seen their owner after a long day. Your feet were working before your brain, so when you arrived to the table you had to scramble for an opener.
“Hey! I was looking for you!” you winced. Way to go, Y/N. Out yourself on the second meeting. “I mean, uh,” you felt the cup in your hand start to slip with the sweat your palms produced, “I was hoping you’d make my drink again.”
A smile spread like wildfire on Hueningkai’s face and his eyes crinkled adorably in the corners.
“You liked it that much?” His voice was meek, oddly shy for the way he beamed up at you with so much ease.
“Yeah! It was really good. Even better than Rachael’s, to be honest.”
“Really? She was the best barista here!” He brought a hand up to his mouth in shock.
“Yeah, really! Anyway, I can get going if you...you look busy,” you gestured toward his open laptop and drink that you were sure was rapidly cooling the longer you distracted him.
“No!” he blurted the word before visibly flinching at his actions. At least it wasn’t just you feeling like a fumbling idiot. “I called you over cause it looked like you needed a seat? And if you want to sit with me, you can. I’m just working on a presentation and you won’t distract me, I promise.” There was no way you could deny the eagerness lacing his voice, so you pulled the chair opposite him across the floor and settled in.
----
“That sounds like a date. A hangout at the very least,” your roommate asserted as she typed some code into her computer.
“It was not a date!” You whined, glaring up at your ceiling from your spot on your twin XL. “He just saw me looking for a place to sit and offered.” She scoffed.
“Yeah, and then he proceeded to ignore his homework to talk to you. And then he asked if you were coming back to the cafe tomorrow. And then he-”
“Okay, I get it! But what am I supposed to do? Ask him out?” A bubble of nerves was resting heavily in your stomach at the thought. As much as you liked him, who were you to think that he wasn’t just being kind? When you voiced this concern to your roommate, she tossed her computer to the side and strode over to your bed to not-so-gently pull you out of it. Without an idea of what she was doing, you stood dumbly until she put on her slippers and drug you out of your room.
“What are you doing? I didn’t even put my slippers on!” Your sock covered feet slid across the tile of the hallway as your roommate finally hauled you into the common room of your floor, where a few small groups had gathered to do various activities.
“Hi everyone! My lovely roommate Y/N and I have a question for you. Do any of you know Hueningkai? He works at the cafe, really tall, music major?” A few people nodded in confusion, surely wondering why the hell one of the polite tenants of room 112 was conducting some kind of survey in the lounge.
“Great. Has he ever shown interest in any of you? Asked you to sit with him in the cafe? Spent about an hour inquiring about your life instead of quietly working? Gave you his number?” Everyone who had previously nodded stood still, not moving an inch as they whispered between each other. “Okay, that’s all!” Your roommate left with no further elaboration as you called out a weak apology to everyone. Back in the safety of your room, you stared at her, scandalized.
“What was that?”
“That, my dear Y/N, was proof. He likes you!”
----
A nervousness you hadn’t felt since move in day was crawling through your body the closer the clock ticked to 9 am. Theoretically, you could just skip going to get a drink today, and therefore avoid the source of your nerves; but you knew that Hueningkai was expecting you to show. He had even sent you an eager text this morning with a series of heart wrenchingly adorable emojis. There was no way you could avoid him after that.
Late fall weather had surely settled in today and you felt the chill settle into your bones as soon as you stepped out of the math building. For a few seconds, you stopped to watch a rough breeze rustle browning leaves across the concrete paths of campus before simply digging your hands further into your pockets. You had to power your way through this. Worse case scenario, he says no and you can never show your face on campus again. Simple.
The door felt especially heavy under your hands as you hauled it open. The much more familiar, sparsely populated shop greeted you but only ratcheted up your nerves. With less people milling around, there was no way to delay your conversation with Hueningkai. As soon as you began to approach the counter, you could see him stumble over to the register before the other working student could even attempt to. He tried to casually lean his elbow onto the half wall to his left, but he miscalculated and ended up shyly tucking his hands into the front pocket of his apron.
“Hi,” you swallowed the lump in your throat and hoped that he hadn’t notice the shake in your voice. The familiar beep of the card reader interrupted your worries momentarily as you heard the boy in front of you exhale a greeting.
“Your usual?” He inquired as if he hadn’t already seen you with the drink two days in a row. Not trusting your voice, you simply nodded and waited for him to punch the order into the screen. His hand hesitated as he glanced up at you again. “You’re the only person I know still ordering cold drinks in this weather,” a teasing smile had blossomed on his pink lips and your heart jumped at the sight.
“Well, I guess I’m just a bit stuck in my ways,” you followed him, as always, to the other side of the counter where orders were placed when finished.
“I like that,” he commented as he grabbed a cup, “it makes my job a whole lot easier,” your eyes locked onto his hands out of instinct. Yesterday you had noticed the addition of a thin silver chain around his wrist, and you would be lying if you hadn’t spent a few minutes admiring the delicate chain contrasted against the strength of his hands. A pour of ice pulled you out of your thoughts, and you caught the back half of a question from him.
“What’d you say?” You felt as if lava was bubbling right under the surface of your skin as you reeled in embarrassment. You couldn’t believe that you’d let yourself miss a chunk of conversation for something so stupid.
“Oh,” he seemed equally embarrassed that you hadn’t heard him, and it hurt your heart a little to see the way his eyes shook. “I just wanted to know if you had a good night yesterday. I mean because you-you told me when we hung out that you had a lot of reading to do, and I wasn’t sure if you got it all done. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with readings that I don’t do any of them, and Taehyun yells at me for that but I just can’t seem to stop doing it.” He was rambling, and you both knew it, but you let him continue as he shyly looked away in order to pour your drink over the ice.
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I had an okay night. My roommate was a bit much, but I love her, so it was okay.” His eyebrow quirked softly at the mention of your roommate, but he seemed afraid to broach the subject just yet. He gave your drink a good swirl after sealing on the lid and slid it over the smooth counter to your waiting hand. Unlike the first time you had met, you had already grabbed a straw from the small display and plunged it into the drink.
Although you should have walked away, something kept you rooted to the spot, Hueningkai seemed to be under the same kind of spell as he looked over his shoulder to see that no one else had lined up to be served quite yet.
“Hey, I was wonderi-”
“This might be weird-”
Your sentences clashed in the air as you spoke at the exact same time. Your mouth hung open like a fish out of water and Hueningkai waved his hands around wildly in your direction. “Go ahead!” He enthused, looking as if he was going to melt into the floor as a side effect of interrupting you.
“No, I mean, you can say your thing first, if you- if you want,” you offered weakly.
“No, it’s okay, you definitely spoke first. G-go ahead,” he nodded rapidly in order to convince you further. You raised your eyebrows in a silent question of ‘are you sure?’, to which he nodded again.
“Okay, I was wondering if you’d like to, uhm, go out sometime? On a date?” The words felt like weights rolling off of your tongue. Hueningkai blinked once, twice, a third time before he broke into a peal of laughter. A sudden wash of panic, as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over your head, filled your senses. This was it. You would have to transfer schools and change your hair color to get rid of this incident. Goodbye, life you had come to know and love.
Hueningkai must have recognized your panic as he took a harsh breath and surged forward to reach for your arm.
“Wait! I wasn’t laughing at you! It’s just that I was, um, also going to ask you out.” This time, a laugh bubbled up in your throat at the confession.
“You’re right. That is pretty hilarious.” You admitted, feeling the tension around you totally dissipate.
“Well, I think this bodes well for us. We’ve only known each other for a few days and we already have telepathy. My roommate will be so jealous. He’s been trying to meld our minds for weeks.” His personality was beginning to peak through when he spoke about his friends, you noticed. It was charming. He was charming. Not to mention, he still made the best damn iced chai latte you’d ever had.
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Season 2; Episode 10: Fury
Hello all! Once again there is unfortunately no Isaac in this chapter, but he is mentioned. This chapter is very important for (y/n) so I hope you enjoy! As always constructive criticism is appreciated.
Season 2; Episode 10: Fury
Pairings: Scott McCall x Twin Sister, Lydia Martin x Best Friend, Isaac Lahey x Reader
Warnings: Mention of death, near death, violence
Word Count: 3,240
Season 2 Masterlist
Stiles, Scott, and I are sitting with Sheriff Stilinski - or I guess it's just Mr. Stilinski until he gets his badge back. We have a yearbook open, explaining to him that Matt is the killer he's looking for.
"Matthew Daehler?" Mr. Stilinski asks.
"Yes." Stiles confirms.
"This kid's the real killer?"
"Yes."
"No." Mr. Stilinski says, not believing his son.
"Yes."
"No."
"Dad, everyone knows the police look for ways to connect victims in a murder. All he had to do was go through their transcripts and find out which class they all attended."
"Except for the rave promoter, Kara. She wasn't in Harris's class."
"Oh yeah, that's right. So I guess they're dropping the charges against him?"
The two Stilinski's glare at each other before Mr. Stilinski replies, "No, they're not dropping the charges. Which doesn't prove anything. Scott, (Y/N), do you believe this?"
"It's not easy to explain how we know, but if you can just trust us. We know it's Matt." Scott says.
"Plus if you can't get him for murder, I think I have something else you can get him for." I hesitantly speak up.
All three heads turn to me with confusion. "I saw his camera." I pause taking a breath. "He has a lot of pictures of me. Pictures I don't know how he even took. I'm pretty sure he's stalking me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asks, eyes wide.
I shrug, "I thought I could handle it. But either way, can we go back to the murder thing? Since that's what we really want to get him arrested for. I mean murder is worse then stalking."
Mr. Stilinski looks like he wants to ask me more about the stalking but before he can Stiles speaks up, "Right, the murders. Matt took Harris's car. He knew if the cops found tire tracks at one of the murders and that if enough of the victims were in Harris's class, he'd be arrested."
"Fine. I'll allow the remote possibility. But give me a motive. Why would this kid want most of the 2006 swim team and its coach dead? And (Y/N), I want to talk to you about the stalking after."
I nod then Stiles speaks trying to give his dad a motive, "Isn't it obvious? Our swim team sucks! They haven't won in years." We all turn to Stiles with questioning looks, "Okay, we don't exactly have a motive yet. But then again, does Harris?"
The two boys and I watch Mr. Stilinski struggle over the question. Finally, he sighs, "What do you want me to do?"
"We need to look at the rest of the evidence."
"That's all back at the station. Where I no longer work."
"Trust me, they'll let you in."
"Trust you?"
"Trust... (Y/N)? I mean she actually has some sort of proof that Matt is a whack job."
Mr. Stilinski nods and points at me, "(Y/N) I trust."
*_*_*_*_*_*
When we get to the station it's two in the morning. Mr. Stilinski walks up to the front desk to speak with the officer as Stiles, Scott and I stay behind.
"We look at the hospital stuff first, okay?" Stiles whispers to us.
"Why?" Scott asks.
"Because all of the murders were committed by Jackson except for one, remember?"
"The pregnant girl. Jessica."
"Since Matt had to kill her himself, someone at the hospital could have seen him."
"Kids." Mr. Stilinski's voice breaks us from the whispered conversation. He waves us over as the officer buzzes us in.
Once in the office Mr. Stilinski brings up the security footage from the hospital. As he's clicking through it Stiles, Scott, and I stand behind him looking over his shoulder.
"I don't know, guys. Look at this. There was a six car pile-up that night. The hospital was jammed." Mr. Stilinski speaks, uncertain that we will find anything.
"Just keep going. He'd have to pass one of the cameras on that floor to get to Jessica. He's got to be on the footage somewhere--" Stiles encourages his dad.
Scott cuts him off though, "Hold on, stop. Did you see that? Scroll back."
Mr. Stilinski does as Scott says. He pauses on the image of a young man walking down the corridor.
"That's Matt." I say.
"All I see is the back of someone's head." Mr. Stilinski says.
Stiles agrees with me, "Matt's head. I sit behind him in History. He has a very distinct cranium."
I furrow my eyebrows as Mr. Stilinski asks his son, "Are you crazy?"
"Fine, then look at his jacket. How many people wear black leather jackets?"
"Millions. Literally."
"Can you scroll forward?" Scott asks, stopping an argument, "There has to be a shot of him coming at one of the cameras, right?"
So Mr. Stilinski presses a button to watch more of the video. "Stop! There he is again." I exclaim, pointing him out on the screen.
"You mean there's the back of his head again." Mr. Stilinski sighs.
"But look. He's talking to someone." Stiles says. We all lean slightly closer to try and get a better view.
"He's talking to our mom." Scott says.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Scott takes out his phone to call our mom at the hospital. He's asking her about Matt, but she doesn't seem to recall if she spoke to him. We decide to send her a picture of him to see if it jogs her memory.
"Did you get it?" Scott asks. There's a pause before Scott asks another question, "You recognize him? Did you see him?"
Scott pulls the phone slightly away from his ear, bringing his attention to me, Stiles and Mr. Stilinski. "He was tracking mud through the hospital."
Mr. Stilinski replies, "We have shoe prints alongside the tire tracks at the trailer site."
Stiles then excitedly says, "If they match that puts Matt at the scene of three murders. The trailer, the hospital and the rave."
Mr. Stilinski then looked up from the computer, "Actually, four. A credit card receipt for an oil change was signed by Matt at the garage where the mechanic was killed."
"When?"
"A few hours before you two got there." Mr. Stilinski says looking between his son and me.
"Dad, if one's an incident, two's a coincidence, three's a pattern, what's four?"
"Enough to get a warrant. Scott, ask your mom how fast she can get here."
"Now?" My brother asks, eyebrows raised.
"Right now. An official ID will get me a search warrant. Stiles, tell the front desk to let their mom in when she gets here."
Scott brings the phone to his ear again as Stiles moves to the door.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Mr. Stilinski and I are still behind his desk as we watch the door. Stiles walks in, behind him Matt has a gun pressed to the boys back. "She's on her way here. Sheriff? (Y/N)?" Scott says, not noticing his best friend and Matt.
He finally turns to face the door, seeing what caught our attention.
Breaking the silence, Mr. Stilinski speaks calmly, "Matt, whatever's going on, I guarantee there's a solution that doesn't involve a gun."
"Funny you say that. Because I don't think you're aware of just how right you are." Matt answers.
"I know you don't want to hurt people."
"Actually, I want to hurt a lot of people. You four weren't on my list, especially you, (Y/N), but I could be persuaded. One way is to try calling someone with your phone in your pocket like McCall's doing. That could definitely get someone hurt."
Matt stares at Scott, waiting for him to set his phone down on the desk. "Everyone." He encourages the rest of us to do the same.
We all remove our phones, placing them on the desk beside Scott's.
Matt takes the four of us into the cell block, making Stiles handcuff his dad to the wall outside of the holding cells. "Tighter." Matt snaps.
Stiles glares but his dad speaks up, trying to diffuse the situation, "Do what he says."
Reluctantly, Stiles listens and tightens the cuffs around him. Matt then motions for us to follow him once more. We make our way to the front of the station, Scott and Stiles in front and the gun trained on them. Matt has a tight grip on my right arm.
Heavy breathing stops us from continuing. We glance down the adjacent hallway locking eyes with a paralyzed deputy being dragged into a room by a clawed hand. "Are you going to kill everyone in here?" Scott asks.
"No. That's what Jackson's for. All I have to do is think about killing them. He does the rest." Matt casually answers.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Back at the office Matt forces Scott and Stiles to shred all of the evidence we have against him. Finally Scott raises the empty folders to show him that there are no more papers left.
At the same time Stiles starts speaking, "And we're done. So, Matt, since all the people you brutally murdered deserved it because they killed you first - whatever that means - I think we're pretty much good here. Right? I'll get my dad and we'll go. You continue with the vengeance thing. Enjoy the Kanima."
The sound of an engine can be heard from outside. Matt holds still, listening to the sound, "Sounds like your mom's here." He says looking over at me and Scott.
"Please don't do anything to her, Matt." I beg.
"Matt, don't do this. When she comes to the door, I'll just tell her to leave, okay? I'll say we didn't find anything. Please." Scott says right after.
Matt shakes his head, waving us over to the door. Scott hesitates, making Matt say, "If you don't move right now, I'm going to kill Stiles first. Then your mom."
We step outside the office and make our way through the building to the front desk. "Open it."
"Matt, please." Scott tries once more.
Matt responds by pressing the gun to the back of Stiles' head, "Open the door."
Scott turns the door knob, slowly opening the door. But instead of seeing our mom like we expected, Derek Hale is standing there. "Oh, thank God." Scott sighs.
But before we can get too thankful Derek sinks to his knees, paralyzed. Jackson is right behind him.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Jackson drags a paralyzed Derek into the Sheriff's office. Scott, Stiles and I following closely behind with Matt still keeping the gun on us. "This is the one in control? This kid?" Derek asks, laying on his back looking up at us.
"Well, Derek, not everyone's lucky enough to be a big bad werewolf." Matt then turns to the rest of us, "Yeah, that's right. I've learned a few things lately. Werewolves, hunters, Kanimas. It's like a fricken' Halloween party every full moon. Except for Stiles. What the hell do you turn into?"
"Abominable snowman. But it's mostly a winter time thing. Seasonal." I snap my head in Stiles direction, glaring. Usually I find his sarcastic remarks funny but now is really not the time.
Matt, clearly not amused, nods at Jackson. Not having a chance to protest, Jackson cuts Stiles neck. Stiles staggers, limbs going stiff and falls on top of Derek, "Bitch." Stiles mutters out.
"Get him off me." Derek speaks through clenched teeth.
Matt kneels beside Derek's head as Derek once again spits out, "Get him off me."
"I don't know, Derek. I think you two make a pretty good pair. It must kind of suck, though, to have all that power taken away with one little cut to the back of your neck? I bet you're not used to feeling this helpless." Matt smugly says to the Alpha.
"I've still got teeth. Why don't you come a little closer and we find out how helpless I am."
Before Matt can respond, headlights fill the room. "Is that her?" He asks looking towards Scott.
Scott looks outside, his look of despair confirms that it is in fact our mom. "Do what I say and I won't hurt her. I won't even let Jackson near her."
"Don't trust him." Stiles says.
With a look of rage that I have never seen, Matt brutally kicks Stiles off of Derek. He then places his foot on Stiles' throat. "This work better for you?" He questions.
"Stop! Matt just stop!" I scream out, tears threatening to spill.
He stops applying pressure but doesn't move his foot. He looks at me with a look I couldn't quite place. "You know, (Y/N). We could make one hell of a power couple but I noticed you have something going on with Isaac."
This statement causes Scott to look at me with raised eyebrows. I lick my lips, not taking my eyes off of Matt. "I told you before that I wasn't the guy who would say something like if I can't have her, no one can? Well, it wasn't totally true. Because, (Y/N), if I can't have you, no one can."
Before giving Scott the chance to react he raises the gun and shoots. A gasp leaves my mouth as I stumble back in shock. My hands raise to my abdomen, blood gushing through my fingertips. The minute the gun fires I can hear Mr. Stilinski yelling from the other room.
"(Y/N)!" Scott screams, trying to rush to me. Matt stops him, gun raising to level with Stiles head.
"She's not dead yet and if you don't do what I say, I'll kill your mom and Stiles too."
"Go, I'll be fine." I say through clenched teeth. Matt and Scott move out of the room. Jackson stays guarding me, Derek, and Stiles.
With my adrenaline pumping, I slowly move to the desk chair to sit down. One hand clutches the gunshot wound while the other uses the wall and desk as support, blood smearing wherever my hand was placed. Once I'm sat down I take off my jacket, applying pressure to the wound.
*_*_*_*_*_*
I gasp out in pain as I apply pressure to the wound, "(Y/N)! Are you okay? Please talk to me." Stiles speaks from the floor, voice trembling slightly.
"I'm fine, it's not like I'm bleeding out or anything."
"Do you have anything to try and stop the bleeding?"
I pause taking a breath, "I'm one step ahead of you. I'm using my jacket."
"Good. Whatever you do, don't close your eyes or fall asleep."
"Damn, really? I thought now would be a great time for a nap."
"I'm going to ignore those sarcastic remarks solely because it means that you're alright."
"Yeah well, I hate to burst your optimistic bubble but I don't know how long I'm going to last without medical attention."
Rather than answering Stiles asks Derek, "You know what's happening to Matt?" Referring to the scales that are appearing on Matt's side, which he showed us a few minutes beforehand.
"I know the book isn't going to help him. You can't just break the rules. Not like this." Derek answers.
"What do you mean?"
"The universe balances things out. It always does."
"Because he's using Jackson to kill people who don't deserve it?"
"And killing people himself."
I keep trying to focus on the conversation but I can tell my breathing is becoming shakier, "So if Matt breaks the rules of the Kanima, he becomes the Kanima?" Stiles asks the Alpha.
"Balance." Derek confirms.
"You think he'd believe us if we told him?"
"Not likely. You still alright (Y/N)?"
"Peachy." I shakily reply.
"(Y/N/N)? Your breathing is getting heavier. You have to stay awake. Keep talking." Stiles says, panic evident in his voice.
I reply, though my voice is now breathy and quieter, "I'm fine. I'll be fine. I-I don't know... I don't know how long I'll be okay though. If the paralysis wears off, your first goal has to be to help Scott and my mom."
There's silence, "Please, you both have to promise me. You'll help Scott and my mom as soon as you can." Tears start to fall down my face at the thought of Scott and my mom being hurt because the two people who could possibly help are too focused on me.
"(Y/N) we can't make that promise." Stiles chokes out.
"You have to. Remember your dad is out there too."
"If we don't help you first, you'll die." Derek bluntly states.
"Then so be it." I gasp, "The only way I'll survive is if I make it to a hospital. By the time you guys will be able to move it will be too late for me anyway. So don't waste your time."
"I can give you the bite. You'll heal and be fine."
"No. I don't want to be a werewolf. Just-just leave me and help the others." I pause for a minute, coughing, “Please.”
At this point my eyes keep flickering shut. My breathing is raspy and I can't focus on the things around me, though I know Derek and Stiles are talking. Suddenly all around me goes dark.
At first, I think I finally slipped into unconsciousness, but when I blink I realize that the power at the station has gone out.
I can hear multiple gunshots but it sounds muffled. Slowly I let my eyes shut, the hands that were once pressing tightly to the gunshot wound, now lay gently across my stomach.
*_*_*_*_*_*
Third Person P.O.V
At the same time the gunfire stops, Derek and Stiles can feel the paralysis finally start to wear off. They both shakily get to their feet, with the Alpha helping the human. They make their way to (Y/N), ignoring her earlier protests.
Derek uses his hearing to see if she is still alive, "She was right. She's not going to make it to a hospital."
"Then bite her." Stiles glares.
"She said no, or do you not remember that?"
"I don't care what she said, we're running out of time. Bite her. Scott and Melissa can't lose her." Stiles eyes glisten with tears as he looks down at the unconscious girl.
Derek looks at Stiles then glances at the teenager in front of him. Reluctantly Derek twists his head, now in his werewolf form he reaches down grabbing a hold of the girls arm. He bites down, leaving a bleeding bite mark.
"Get her out of here. Take her to Deaton. I'll cover you." Derek says as he reaches down picking the girl up and passing her to Stiles.
Stiles nods, his shirt now coated in Scarlett's warm blood.
Making it out of the station and quickly placing the unconscious girl in the passenger seat. He drives as fast as he can to the vet clinic in search of Deaton.
"What happened to her?" Deaton asks once he sees (Y/N) in the boy's arms.
"She got shot. Derek had to bite her for her to survive."
Deaton nods, removing (Y/N)’s jean jacket and slightly moving her black crop top to clean and stitch the wound. "This will help the healing process go faster. She's going to need a lot of rest."
Stiles nods, "Scott doesn't know that Derek bit her. And Mrs. McCall doesn't even know that she was shot."
"She'll be alright. It looks like the wound may already be healing."
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first kiss || j.wy (atz)
➵ pairing: reader x jung wooyoung (ateez)
➵ word count: 3148
➵ genre: convenience store date; confession; fluff
➵ synopsis: wooyoung just wanted cup ramen at 12:05am with a dash of seasoning “you”.
>>>
You’re startled out of sleep by the ringing of your phone.
For a moment, you’re tempted to reach for the accursed device and hurl it at the wall, but rational thought catches you before you can do so… that phone was expensive. Sitting up groggily, you push back the messy hair falling into your eyes and glare at your alarm clock. You feel like you’ve barely slept since the night before.
And with good reason, because it’s only freaking 12:03 AM in the bloody morning.
Your phone rings again and you scowl at it, willing it to somehow magically shut up so you don’t have to get up from under the warm covers of your bed, but alas, you don’t have any telekinetic powers and are required to crawl over to it like a poor, ordinary human being.
Flipping your phone around, you almost screech in agony as the unholy brightness of the screen seems to sear your eyes and you chuck it to the side. You barely got a glimpse of the Caller ID, but a mere glance at those first few letters is enough for you to know who it is.
Only one person is close enough (and also stupid) to call you in the middle of the night without fear of violent retribution the next day.
Grumbling to yourself, one hand fumbles for the device and you press it to your ear, burying your face into the plush pillows. You want to go back to sleep.
“What is it, Wooyoung?”
Wooyoung’s voice is much too cheerful for a Tuesday night, but its energy is infectious, as much as you hate to admit it. You don’t need to, he knows it already, that the longer he keeps you on the phone, the higher his chances are of you acquising to his often ridiculous requests. Knowing Wooyoung, it’s probably going to the nearest convenience store to buy ice cream in the middle of winter.
“Hey! How’s my favourite best friend in the whole world doing, Chin Hae?”
Honestly, you sometimes wonder if Wooyoung is a vampire. He never seems to sleep, living and thriving purely off a diet of caffeine and energy drinks and perhaps human blood. Maybe you should start wearing garlic the next time you see him.
“I dunno, but I’m pretty sure San is at home cuddling with Shiber in his sleep.” You reply with a completely deadpan voice, not at all amused at being woken up so early at night. Early at night? Or is it the morning? Late at night? Why are you even thinking about this?
“Aww, you know that you’re my best friend.” You can practically hear the pout on his face over the phone and let out a massive snort, rolling over on your bed to stare at the ceiling, internally letting out a massive sigh.
Best friend. A goddamn best friend is all you are to him. Stupid Jung Wooyoung and his stupid pretty eyes, stupid pretty face, stupid pretty everything. The two of you had met a couple of years back when you’d first started college, seated next to each other on the first day of school. Upon glancing upon his face, you had nearly choked. Knife like jawline, near flawless skin, adorably big eyes behind rounded minimalist glasses, you had momentarily wondered what a model was doing in your school. He could pull off silver hair without looking like an eighty year old man, for god’s sake.
Next to you, no less. You didn’t like how he was making you look like a pig just by existing.
That had already been enough for you to instinctively dislike him, so when the professor had asked for all of you to introduce yourselves to each other, you had intended to give him some silly, standoffish answer and never speak to him again. You knew it was petty, yes, but who had given him the right to look so good?
No one. That’s who.
But to your absolute shock, the young man had simply grabbed your hand and pumped it up and down enthusiastically, seemingly overflowing with too much energy to contain.
“You look like my new best friend!”
And everything had sort of… gone downhill from there.
Being Wooyoung’s best friend is somehow simultaneously one of the most beautiful and terrible things you’ve ever had to experience. He’s unbelievably kind, unlike what you had expected from such a pretty face, and possibly one of the most perfect beings to walk the surface of this earth. That’s the good part. You sometimes still can’t believe you’re friends.
The bad part is that you’re in love with him.
It’s no surprise, honestly. Who in this school isn’t in love with Jung Wooyoung? What you hate is that there are so many prettier, sweeter, nicer girls who all want a chance with your best friend, and you find yourself constantly grinding your teeth as they pass you love letters and chocolates with perfectly manicured hands, fighting the urge to throw them in the trash right before their eyes. You wish you could be half as bold as they are, but every time you so much as muster the courage to open your mouth to confess, Wooyoung’s breathless grin stops all brain activity and it just… somehow hasn’t happened for the last three months.
Swift and decisive, that’s you alright.
You scream into your pillow.
Best friend. Oooooh, you hate the sound of those words like it’s the screeching of the devil itself.
“Uhh, Chin Hae? You alright there?” Wooyoung’s voice suddenly drops in tone, a little more concerned and you’re tempted to chuck your phone out of the window while screaming obscenities to the heavens. He’s really not helping with this whole barely buried crush on him. In fact, you’re not sure how he hasn’t noticed. You’re pretty sure San already has.
But the phone. The phone is expensive.
You try your best to force a smile back on your face even though he can’t see it, raising the phone back to your ear. “I’m fine, Wooyoung. And don’t think I’ve forgotten that you woke me up. Why exactly did you call me again?”
There’s a brief pause at the other end of the line.
“Do you wanna go and grab some cup ramen?”
You actually lift the phone away from your ear to stare at the screen, as if Wooyoung would be able to see your incredulous face somehow. “Wooyoung, it’s 12.03 in the morning.”
“12:05, actually.” Wooyoung pipes up unhelpfully in a hopeful voice and you groan, rolling out of bed as you search for something appropriate to wear in this ungodly temperature, hoping that your fingers and toes won’t freeze off in the meantime. Shivering and dancing around once your feet touch what feels like an ice block under your feet, the cool marble of your bedroom floor chills you to the very bone.
“Ah, cold, cold, cold!” You yelp, scooting over to the wardrobe as fast as you can, fingers rifling through your selection of puffy coats before they still momentarily on a furry collar. You glance down at your current outfit, a lumpy, knitted sweater and fuzzy socks with reindeer print on them. Maybe you should wear something that looks better in front of Wooyoung?
“Chin Hae? Hurry up, it’s cold out here!” Wooyoung exclaims into your ear, pulling you out of your thoughts. Sighing, you shake you head as you imagine your best friend with an adorable pout on his stupid perfect face, pulling out the thickest black coat you have, one that Wooyoung gave to you a couple of months ago. Then something strikes you.
“You’re there already? Without knowing whether I’d be coming? In this weather?” You say almost incredulously as you shrug on the coat, adjusting the sleeves to fit better around your arms, the phone wedged in the space between your cheek and shoulder.
“Well, I knew you’d come!” Wooyoung says proudly, voice filled with so much surety that you’re tempted to cry for a moment. Maybe it’s just your infatuation, but everything he’s said lately has caused butterflies to flutter in your chest. You both love and hate the feeling at the same time, but it’s not like you’ve had much control over it. “I’m such an amazing friend-”
“Are you stupid?” You grumble, slipping down the hallway and grabbing your boots from the door side. Wooyoung gasps dramatically over the phone at your words.
“How dare you? I am hurt, you know. Are you questioning my mental capabilities?”
“Every single day.” You retort dryly, opening the door only to get hit by a blast of cold air right in the face. Holy shit it’s so cold you’re going to turn into an ice popsicle before you leave the house and maybe you should just go back to that warm, comfy bed-
Wooyoung’s laugh and perky voice comes over the speaker, echoing in your ears. “I’m waiting for you! Be there or be square!”
Before you can protest that he’s absolutely off his rocker for thinking that anyone in their right mind would leave the comfort of their home in this near hellish weather, the call ends and you’re left staring at your phone in wide eyed shock. His contact photo blinks back innocently at you, cheerful, bubbly smile on full display with his arms thrown around your shoulders, the two of you splattered with bright green and red paint after finishing your art project a year ago.
“I’d take being a square any day.” You mumble, then you smack yourself in the head and groan when you feel your heart melting. You’re not supposed to be this whipped for him, damnit! But you can’t find it in yourself to get angry at him in the least.
“You’re lucky I love you.” You hiss vehemently at your phone. And as you stalk towards the convenience store with murder in your eyes, you can’t help but feel like you really need to get over this stupid crush on Wooyoung before he makes you do something stupid.
When you do reach the midnight convenience store, it’s open and you step inside, glad to be free from the bite of the icy winds. It’s absolutely freezing out there, how Wooyoung can come out with the most ridiculous of plans is something you love about him, but will probably never understand.
Standing in the aisle, you wave at the lone cashier at the counter, he’s playing a game on his phone but returns your greeting, and your eyes scan the rows of snacks and bottled drinks in search of your best friend.
“You made it!”
A frightened squeak leaves your lips as you startle at the noise. Then you see Wooyoung sitting at the table near the glass wall with five cups of ramen before him, an endearing shit eating grin on his face.
You smack him in the shoulder hard as you slide into the seat next to him, grabbing your own cup from him with a pout. Wooyoung chuckles in amusement, rubbing at his arm in mock pain.
“I can’t believe you made me come all the way here for cup ramen in the middle of the night.” You tell him with a scowl on your face as you open up the lid. Steam creeps over your numb fingers and warms them up, and you grab your chopsticks to eat your ramen as fast as possible.
After that trek through all that snow, you’re ravenous.
“Hey, don’t eat so fast or-”
Shoveling the piping hot ramen into your mouth, you nearly choke on the first bite as the noodles scald your tongue. Coughing, you set the cup and chopsticks down and you can hear Wooyoung laughing hysterically at your side, his high pitched laughter bouncing off the walls of the empty store.
“Stop-” You cough again and hit Wooyoung on the arm in embarrassment. God, you should have never left the safety of your house. “Stop laughing at me!”
“Alright, alright.” He stifles his chuckles, passing you an uncapped bottle of iced coffee. Grumbling about betrayal and false friendships, you snatch it from him and down what’s left, his warm hands coming up to rub your back soothingly.
“You’re wearing those socks I bought you last Christmas. You swore you threw them out the second you unwrapped them.” Wooyoung remarks with a teasing grin and you growl at him, slapping a hand over his mouth.
“You saw nothing.” You whisper menacingly into his ear, Wooyoung’s eyes glinting with amusement as his gaze meet yours. Your heart stutters for a second.
Then he sticks out his tongue to brush your palm.
“Ew!” You yelp and yank your arm back from his face, only to find him howling with mirth. Scowling, you plop back in your seat and grumble under your breath, picking up your chopsticks.
For the next hour or so, you and Wooyoung eat cup ramen side by side and watch the snowflakes outside fall gently to the ground, covering your footprints from earlier in a blanket of soft, powdery white. Wooyoung speeds his way through the first two cups of ramen before finally slowing down on the third one, his lips adorably red and swollen from the spicy taste. The two of you talk about nothing and everything, merely enjoying the company of each other.
When the two of you step out of the convenience shop and start on the road home, the snow has stopped for the most part aside from a few stray snowflakes here and there, but it’s still freezing cold. You raise your hands to your mouth to blow on them and rub them together, shaking your head in exasperation.
“I still can’t believe you ate five whole cups on your own, Wooyoung.”
“You know me, babe.” He winks impishly at you, but then his gaze softens a little as he looks at you with a fond smile. You watch the snowflakes land in his soft grey hair and for a moment, he looks so ethereal that he really just steals your breath away.
“Don’t call me that.” You bop him on the nose and he jumps, taking your hands into his.
“You’re freezing!” He comments with a pout, puffing out hot little breaths over your fingers. You try to wipe the warm, content smile off your face before he can see it, fixing your face into a scowl.
“Of course I am, who do you think dragged me out at 12:03 in the morning to eat cup ramen?” You shake your head in exasperation as you glance at the head of silvery grey hair before you, his head rising to give you a mischievous grin.
“Alright...” He drags the word out playfully, his cheeks flush from the cold. “Where else do you want me to warm you up?”
You point to your cheeks. The sides of your face feel near frozen. “Here.”
Wooyoung ducks to the side, blowing warm air on each cold cheek. They turn red upon contact with his breath, whether it’s from the cold or embarrassment, you hope he never finds out. “Where else?”
You point to your ears. You can’t see them for yourself, but Wooyoung has always told you that they flush pink in the cold winter air. Wooyoung grins and blows on each too, and warm blood rushes there in response to his touch. “And?”
You point to your nose. “It’s cold here.”
Wooyoung’s face leans forward to meet yours and your eyes slide shut. His breath ghosts over your nose, tickling you just a little, and you can feel his lips brush against your skin ever so gently before he pulls away.
“Where else?” He hums, squeezing your hands lightly in his. There’s a distinctively teasing smile playing on his lips. You touch your own in response.
“Here.” You point at your lips. They get cold fast, and in the winter they always get chapped, which you absolutely hate-
Wooyoung’s mouth dips down to meet yours.
You don’t register it for a moment, the taste of spicy ramen lingering on your lips as you ponder the flavour. It’s faint, not quite as strong as earlier, and you mumble against his lips. “You really ate too much ramen, Wooyoung, even your mouth tastes spicy now-”
Then you freeze.
Your eyes fly open in shock at what has just happened, a sharp intake of breath passing your lips. Wooyoung looks temporarily confused for a moment, before he too, realises what he’s just done.
The two of you spring apart, both turning red as tomatoes. You gape at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, your brain short circuiting as if you’ve walked straight into a power generator.
“You kissed-”
“I kissed-”
The two of you fall into utter silence for a moment, merely staring at each other in shock. Wooyoung’s face is as red as a cherry, a rosy red blush spreading across his cheeks and down his neck, mouth sputtering out nonsensical words of its own accord. “You... I... if... kiss... become...girlfriend?”
You shriek and bolt down the path at the last word.
Your short circuited brain can’t take any more.
Wooyoung sighs as he watches you go, shaking his head under his breath. Yes, he has feelings for you. Yes, he has been crushing on you for the last six months. Yes, he has asked you out tonight to enjoy your company because he loved seeing you like that, face bare and hair thrown into a messy bun, completely and utterly real.
But he never intended on kissing you out of the blue!
“I... I just need to apologize to her tomorrow and tell her it was all a mistake.” Wooyoung runs a hand through his hair, teeth worrying his bottom lip anxiously. What if you’re too awkward to look him in the eye after this? He smacks himself in the forehead with a groan.
He’s such an idiot.
Suddenly, he hears the sound of crunching snow and blinks in confusion, raising his head. The second he does, soft, warm lips press against his too, moving so gently he feels all the air leave his lungs in one gasp.
Then all too fast, you pull away and Wooyoung only blinks at you owlishly in shock.
“Your lips were cold too!” You shout in his ears, face burning bright crimson with embarrassment. “See you tomorrow, Wooyoung!”
And then you’re running off again at top speed, nearly slipping on the snowy road and his heart leaps into his chest in a panic. But you catch your balance, slipping and sliding, before disappearing around the corner of the street.
His tongue darts out, sliding across his lips in wonderment.
His first kiss tastes like spicy ramen, iced coffee and best of all...
You.
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Red white & royal Blue Favourite quotes
“How many times do I have to tell Y’all not to discuss your murder plots in front of a sitting president” their mother interrupts “Plausible deniability. Come on” (Pg 64)
I don't know WHO you think you're kidding, you Hufflepuff-ass bitch, (Alex to henry over text pg 69)
“‘put the turkeys in my room’ ‘No.’ ‘put them in my room, put them in my room, put them in my room -’ later that night as Alex stares into the cold pitiless eyes of a prehistoric beast of prey, he has a few regrets” (Alex and his mother Pg 76)
“’he- Oi! Not for you Mr.wobbles! those are mine!’ more rustling and a distant offended Meow, ‘no, Mr. wobbles you bastard!’” (Henry at his sister's cat, pg 80)
“Dec 8, 2019, 8:53 PM yo there's a bond marathon on and did you know your dad was a total babe HRH prince Dickhead I BEG YOU TO NOT “ (Henry and Alex over text Pg 84)
“’ the options Id like...’ he says dragging the words out. ‘they don't quite seem to be options at all’” (Henry Pg 107)
“’ christ you're a thick as it gets’ he says and he grabs Alex's face in both hands and kisses him.” (Henry Pg 107)
“‘Seventy-eight percent probability of latent Bi-sexual tendencies. one hundred percent probability this is not a hypothetical question’” (Nora pg 118)
“‘am I? do you think I'm Bi?’ ‘I can't tell you that Alex!’ she says ‘that's the whole point!’” (Alex and Nora Pg121)
“she slants a look at him ‘is this a diabolical scheme of seduction?’ she asks ‘if so, yes.’“ (Nora Pg 130)
“Alex knocks the candelabra off the table next to them and pushes henry onto it so hes sitting with his back against - Alex looks up and almost breaks into a deranged laugh - a portrait of alexander hamilton.” (Pg 132)
“‘im going to die’ henry says helplessly. ‘im going to kill you,’ Alex tells him.” (Henry and Alex pg 133)
‘”and if you fucking ghost me again, I'm going to get you put on a fucking no-fly list. got it’” (Alex at henry pg 134)
“worst of all, Henry is good“ (Alex's thoughts on henry playing Polo Pg 147)
“’I’m gonna go, Uh’ Alex says ‘say hi to henry’ Amy's mouth settles into a grim line ‘Please don't elaborate’ ‘Yeah I know’ Alex says ‘plausible deniability’” (Alex and Amy Pg 148)
‘A <[email protected]> to Henry his royal highness prince of whatever, Don't make me learn your actual title’ (Alex’s email to henry Pg 152)
‘Henry <[email protected]> to A Alex, first son of inappropriately timed Emails when I’m in early morning meetings’ (Henry’s email to Alex Pg 155)
“when he shows up to a briefing two days later Zahra grabs his jaw with one hand and turns his head, peering closer at the side of his neck. ‘is that a Hickey’ Alex freezes. ‘I . . . um, no?’” (Zahra and Alex pg 162)
“‘Do you have a last name?’ Alex has never actually offered a greeting when calling Henry ‘What?’ the usual bemused elongated one-syllable response” (163 Alex and henry over the phone)
“‘Baby’ its become a thing: Baby he knows it’s become a thing. hes slipped up and accidentally said it a few times, and each time, Henry positively melts” (Alex Pg 166)
“‘I miss you,’ Alex says before he can stop himself he instantly regrets ut but henry says. ‘I miss you too’” (pg 173)
“she flung her arm out emphatically enough to upset an entire potted cactus on her dresser and says ‘Because until now you weren't fucking the prince of England’” (June pg 177)
“‘you should try saying some of that stuff to Him’ ‘stop trying to Jane Austen my life’” (June and Alex Pg 180)
“’ is now a good time to point out henrys very hot Very rich best friend is basically in love with you?’ Alex says to June ‘hes like some kind of billionaire genius manic-pixie-dream philanthropist. I feel like you would be into that.’ ‘Please shut up,’” (Alex and June Pg 182)
“‘yes, yes, Pez, we know there's nothing you cant do,’ says henrys voice off-camera ‘no need to rub it in’“ (henry Pg 184)
“‘oh I haven't had vodka since uni,’ henry says ‘it tends to make me erm, well-’ ‘flamboyant?’ Pez offers. ‘uninhibited? randy?’ ‘Fun?’ Bea suggests ‘Excuses you, I am loads of fun all the time! I am a Delight’“ (Henry Bea and Pez pg 190)
“’yes Beatrice, we shall behave in a manner befitting the crown,’ henry says. his eyes are slightly crossed ‘don't be a tosser’“ (Henry and bea Pg 195)
“He likes taking henry apart but there's something incredibly intantament about sitting on the bed they wrecked the night before, the only one who watches him create Prince Henry of Wales for the day.” (Pg 200)
“‘So this is the gang now, huh?’ and through it all, Alex realizes with a start: he has friends now.” (Cash pg 201)
“How is a man to get anything done knowing Alex Claremont-Diaz is out there on the loose?” (Henrys email to Alex pg 203)
“yours in sexual frustration Henry” (henrys email to Alex pg 206)
“once again, how had he ever convinced himself he was straight,” (Alex pg 213)
“‘just so we’re clear,’ Alex said ‘Im about to have sex with you in this storage closet to spite your family. Like that's what's happening?’“ (Alex pg 217)
“your Brave I could use some of that” (Pg 218)
“Because that's what he would do if he were here in this palace to fall in love Henry” (Pg 220)
“Zahra doesnt even look up from her phone ‘that was my boyfriend and no, you may not ask me any further questions about him’” (Zahra Pg 223)
“If he’s some anonymous normal person removed from history he’s twenty-two and he’s tipsy and he’s pulling a guy into his hotel room by the belt loop. He’s pulling a lip between his teeth and he fumbling behind his back to switch on a lamp and he’s thinking I like this person” (Pg 228)
“You still are. Because you still bloody care so much.” He leans down and presses a kiss into Alex’s hair. “And you are good. Most things are awful most of the time but you’re good” (Henry Pg 230)
“’Seriously?’ She hisses ‘your literally putting your dick in the leader of a foreign state who is a man at the biggest political event before the election in a hotel full of reporters in a city full of cameras in a race close enough to fucking hinge on some bullshit like this like a manifestation of my fucking stress dreams and you’re asking me not to tell the president about it?’” (Zarha pg 233)
“The next slide is titled EXPLORING YOUR SEXUALITY: HEALTHY BUT DOES IT HAVE TO BE WITH THE PRINCE ENGLAND? she apologizes for not having time to come up with better titles Alex activity wishes for the sweet release of death” (Pg 237)
“History huh? I bet we could make some.” (Alex’s email to henry Pg 241)
“The pair of you share and an alarming number of traits by the by: passionate determination, never knowing when to shut up, &c &c,” (herny’s email to Alex Pg 242)
“Regards Haplessly romantic heretic prince henry the utterly daft” (henrys email to Alex pg 243)
“‘It’s math,’ Nora says ‘Math has no authority here,’ June tells her ‘Math is everywhere June’” (Nora and June Pg 247)
“Henry is tipsy and shirtless and attempting to referee” (pg 252)
“’Some times you just jump and hope it’s not a chiff’” (Alex dad Pg 256)
“Well, Alex is so in love he could die.” (Pg 257)
“He’s been falling in love with Henry for years probably since he first saw him in glossy print on the pages of j14 almost definitely since Henry pinned Alex to the floor of a medical supply closet and told him to shut the hell up.” (Pg 257)
“’Fuck off five nine is average’” (Pg 258)
“’H?’ He whispers ‘you awake?’ Henry sighs ‘always.’” ( Pg 260)
“He’s got a distinct feeling of something being pulled out of his hands right before he could grasp it.” (Pg 263)
“something rises in Alex's throat - anger, confusion, hurt, bile. Unforgivably, he feels like he might cry” (Pg 270)
“’Fuck I swear you don’t make it fucking easy but I’m in love with you’” (Alex Pg 271)
“’I never thought I’d be stood here faced with a choice I can’t make because I never ... I never imagined you would love me back’” (Henry pg 273)
“He’s in Henry’s face now if he’s getting his heart broken tonight he’s sure as hell going to make Henry have the guts to do it right ‘tell me you're done with me. I’ll get back on the plane. that's it. and you can live here in your tower and be miserable forever, write a whole book of sad fucking poems about it, whatever just say it’” (274)
“He’s in stupid unbearable love and Henry loves him too and at least for one night it matters, even if they both have to pretend to forget in the morning” (Pg 275)
“He tells his too fast brain: don’t miss this time he’s too important” (Alexs thoughts Pg 275)
“henry’s hands-on him are unhurried and soft and they make out lazily for hours or days.” (Pg 280)
“Alex sighs ‘i don't think I told you but she uh. well, when she fired me she told me that if I wasn't a thousand percent serious about you. I need to break things off.’ Henry nuzzles his nose behind Alex's ear ‘a thousand percent?’” (Alex and Henry Pg 282)
“‘Diaz you insane hopeless romantic little shit’ says the voice of the president of the united states, muffled in the bed ‘it had better be forever. Be safe’“ (Pg 284)
“hes cut off mid-sentence because Alex has stopped in the middle of the corridor and yanked him backwards into a kiss” (pg 286)
“’its funny’ henry says ‘i always thought of the whole thing as the most unforgivable thing about me but you act like its one of the best’“ (henry Pg 289)
“he takes the chain off his neck and slides the ring on next to the old house key. they click together gently as he tucks them both under his shirt, two homes side by side” (Pg 291)
“I opened my blasted mouth and said ‘because I'm not like the rest of the men in this family beginning with the fact that I'm am very deeply gay Philip’ once shaan managed to dislodge him from the chandelier Philip had quite a few words for me,” (Henry’s emails to Alex Pg 298)
“just leaving, not coming back. maybe burning something down on the way out. it would be nice.” (henrys emails to Alex pg 299)
“I thought, if someone like that ever loved me, it would set me on fire” (henrys emails to Alex (describing how he felt when he first saw Alex) Pg 300)
“20. the fact that you have loved me all along.” (alex’s email to henry (the list of things alex loves about henry) Pg 303)
“‘Oh my god Z what is That? did you get engaged?’ Zahra looks down at the ring and shrugs. ‘i had the week-end off’” (June and Zahra pg 305)
“’you and me and history, remember? were just gonna fucking fight. because your it okay? Im never gonna love anybody in the world like i love you,’“ (Alex pg 312)
“‘I swear to god if you say I'm too young I'm gonna lose my shit,’“ (Alex pg 315)
“What did he do ‘be more specific’“ (Alex to Zahra pg 321 )
“’the president is sitting down with as many members of the office of communitcs we could drag out of bed at three in the morning’” (Zahra Pg 323)
“‘pack a bag’ she says ‘we’re going to londan’” (Zahra Pg 334)
“she (Zarha) seems confident Shaan will agree to it and willing to physically overpower him if not.” (pg 334)
“still the cocky shit head part of him is slightly pleased to finally have claim on henry. Yep, the prince? Most eligible bachelor in the world? British accent face like a greek god, legs for days? Mine” (Pg 336)
“‘youre giving my ulcer an ulcer’“ (Zahra pg 336)
“‘Im running on nothing but black coffee, a wetzels pretzel, and a fistful of B12. Do not even breathe in my directrion,’“ (Zahra Pg 339)
“He leans up and kisses the underside of his jaw, finding it rough from a full fitful day,” (pg 340)
“‘What kind of family, that says we’ll take the murder, we’ll take the raping and pillaging and the colonizing, well scrub it up nice and neat in a museum but oh no you’re a bloody poof? That’s beyond our sense of decorum’” (Henry pg 347)
“Bea seizes the pot of tea from the center of the table and dumps it into his lap ‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry Pip’ she says grabbing him by the shoulders and shoving him sputtering and yelping toward the door ‘so deardfully clumsy, you know I think all that cocaine I did must have really done a job on my refexes!’” (Bea pg 357)
“Henry pulls Alex close and kisses him whispers, ‘I love you I love you I love you’ and it doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter if anyone sees.” (Pg 358)
And that’s when I gave up I do have more but well I didn’t want to make this list any more
#alex claremont diaz#henry got to many names for me to remeber#prince henry of wales#red white and royal blue
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Somebody to You
Summary: Nothing like a roadtrip to a wedding to make Zyla feel extra sappy about her own husband.
A/N: Sort of in collab with @baldcalum @cxddlyash and @talkfastromance4. Thanks for letting me pester you with questions/bounce ideas off of you!
Content: All the soft.
Word count: 3k
And away, and away we go!
__
“My mother warned me about stranger danger, but she never warned me about what to do when the man with the van is your husband,” I joked as I carefully hung up the garment bags in the empty back.
“You could’ve flown with them,” Ashton told me as he started to load up everything we needed. “I drew the short straw, not you.”
I leaned against the van, admiring how his muscles flexed with his movements. God, the fact that this man was my husband still totally blew my mind nearly a year after the fact. “You didn’t draw the short straw. You offered. And we’re a team now, in case you forgot.”
“How could I ever forget the best day of my life?”
I laughed. A sassy retort was on my lips but my phone rang cutting me off. “Hey, Kai,” I answered, barely needing to glance at the caller ID to know who it was.
“Have you talked with everyone about their flight?” her panicked voice asked.
“Yes,” I spoke into the phone. “Their flight leaves later. They’ll get there probably at the same time Ashton and I do.”
“And are you leaving soon?” Kai asked and I could hear the clicking of my friend’s heels as she paced back and forth.
“Yes,” I assured her. “And take a breath. Relax. We’ll probably beat the GPS. You know Ash drives like a madman.”
“I do not,” Ashton piped up at the same time Kai groaned, “If he gets you both killed on the drive out here, I will bring you back from the dead to kill you both myself!”
“So, I get to die twice for something I didn’t do? That hardly seems fair…”
“You married him!”
“Damn right I did,” I smirked before I used my free hand to smack at my husband’s ass as he loaded the last bit of our things into the van for the trip.
“Hey!” Ashton yelped in surprise before turning towards me, his hazel eyes dancing, a seductive smirk beginning to grace his lips, and his dimple making its debut. “I’m supposed to do that to you.”
I snapped my teeth playfully at the man. “Alright, we’re about to hit the road. I’ll keep you updated on where we are, okay?” I told Kai, doing what I could to calm her overworking mind. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” I asked Ashton.
“No!” both him and Kai answered way too quickly.
“Cuss out a guy one time and they never let you live it down,” I muttered, shaking my head.
“Just hurry,” Kai whined. “But not fast. Just regular speed, ASHTON!”
“Yes, Mrs. Hood!” Ashton answered, cupping his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice so the woman on the other end of the phone could hear him.
“He’s lucky he’s married to my best friend otherwise I would have killed him already…”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said with an eye roll. How such a low-strung woman as myself was best friend’s with a high-strung type like Kai was beyond me sometimes. I supposed it really was about balance. “Just take a few deep breaths. Set that future husband of yours to good use. And I’ll be there before you know it.”
“And Britt and Holly!” Kai added with a sense of urgency.
“Shit, did I remind Mikey to confirm the rooms?” I wondered out loud with a playful tone.
“Zy!”
I laughed, “Would you relax? I was teasing!” Then, I mouthed at Ashton in case I had actually forgotten for him to “Text Mikey about the rooms!”
“I hate you…”
“No you don’t,” I chirped.
“Kai, if you don’t let my wife off the phone, we’re going to be late!” Ashton said as he quickly typed on his phone.
“She can talk on the phone while you drive!”
“Not if you want us to live!”
I rolled my eyes more. “I’ll text you from the road. And you,” I said, turning my attention from my phone to Ashton. “Did you poop?”
“Did I po- Fuck. Be right back.”
“You seriously need to stop drinking an entire pot of coffee by yourself…”
“Well if someone drank it with me…”
“Just make less! It’s not that hard!”
“You leave me and my coffee addiction alone!”
“Go poop!”
~~~
“That’ll be five dollars,” the bartender told me.
“For a water?” I asked incredulously, pulling out my wallet anyway. “This is why I don’t go out…” I continued to grumble as I started to hand my card over. Whatever Kai had planned that required me to be in a dress and heels instead of on my couch in sweats and an oversized shirt had better be good. Where the hell was she anyway?
“Put it on my tab. I got it, sweetheart,” a deep and smooth voice from behind me said before a large hand was pulling mine away from paying.
“I can buy my own water, but thank you,” I answered, turning to eye the friendly stranger. And I immediately had to keep my jaw from dropping to the floor. His brown hair was perfectly slicked back except for this one stubborn piece that curled between a stunning set of honey gold eyes. A leather jacket hugged his strong shoulders and the buttons on his shirt were undone to a dangerously low level. I struggled to keep my eyes from traveling further down his body, turning my attention to the hand that was now extended to me in greeting. I shook it, noting the damage to his fingers. A drummer if I had to guess. Fuck. I loved drummers.
“Oh I’m not doubting that. But anyone who buys water at a club immediately has my respect. I’m Ashton by the way,” he was saying when I finally refocused.
“Zyla,” I introduced, giving him my award-winning smile.
“I believe this is yours, Zyla,” Ashton said, handing me the water bottle, and I had to hold back the school-girl like giggle bubbling up in my throat at the way my name sounded rolling off his lips and the way his fingers brushed against my hand.
~~~
“Whatcha thinking about?” Ashton’s voice asked, pulling me from my thoughts.
“Thinking about how we met actually,” I answered honestly, smiling softly at him.
“You looked hot that night,” Ashton recalled, taking one hand off the steering wheel to interlace his fingers with mine.
I laughed, my cheeks turning red. “I was not.”
Ashton scoffed as he raised his hand that was holding mine to brush his lips against my knuckles. “The hottest.”
“Hotter than our wedding day?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Yes.”
I scoffed and swatted his chest. “Wrong answer, Ash.”
“You didn’t let me finish!” he giggled. “You were fucking stunning on our wedding day.”
“Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”
“Any regrets?”
“With you? Never. You know why?” I asked.
“Why?” he asked.
“All I wanna be, yeah all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah is somebody to you!” I sang along with the music blasting lightly through the speakers.
“Everybody’s tryin’ to be a billionaire! But every time I look at you I just don’t care!” he joined in.
“Cause all I wanna be, yeah all I ever wanna be, yeah, yeah is somebody to you!”
~~~
“So what’s your connection to the music industry?” Ashton asked, his attention fully on me.
“Oh, I’m this one’s photographer,” I answered, wrapping my arm around Kai’s shoulders. This was their conversation. Their collaboration meeting. What the fuck was Kai thinking inviting me out? Something in the way Ashton kept trying to get me involved in the conversation made me think I had my answer.
“Oh, she’s fuckin’ fantastic. Top of her game,” Kai bragged, and I knew I had my answer.
“I’m alright,” I shrugged. “It’s just about passion.”
“Oh, modest are we? Mind if I look at your work sometime? See who’s assessment is more correct?” Ashton inquired.
“That sounds suspiciously like you’re asking me on a date, sir,” I told him, leaning forward across the table. If he was baiting, I was biting. I’d be a damn fool not to. And Kai knew it, the fucking sneak she was. I made a mental note to both thank and throttle her for this later.
“And if I was?” he asked, leaning forward himself so our faces were inches apart.
~~~
“Yes, they got on the flight.”
“And Ash has the instruments?”
“Yes, we have everything.”
“You remembered his suit and your dress? And your heels? I swear if you wear flats… or gods forbid… sne-snea- Ugh! I can’t even say the word!”
I rolled my eyes at her antics. Since when was comfort a crime? “Yes, Kai. I remembered it all. Relax.”
“Wait! How are you going to take the pictures if you’re in them?! You’ve always taken my pictures! Oh my, God!”
“You know I have a team, right? Like I run a business. I have employees.”
“But they’re not you!”
“I don’t hire amateurs, Kai. And you will get final say before anything goes to print. Now, breathe!” I left out the part that of course I had brought my own camera equipment for the spur of the moment inspiration, because she knew I never traveled without my gear.
“How far have you guys gotten?”
“Halfway give or take.”
“It’s a 6 hour drive, and you left at 8 this morning. It’s almost 1!”
“Well, we can’t just drive for 6 hours straight. We gotta stop for food and pee breaks.”
“You mean coffee and poop breaks?”
“Same thing,” I laughed as Ashton walked out of the gas station with two bottles of water and a huge bag of Cheez-Its. I let out an excited gasp as I reached for the bag. “Yes! I love you!” I cheered.
“I love you too. Now hurry up!”
“I wasn’t talking to you, Kai. But yes. We’ll be there soon. If someone can stop pooping every fifty miles.”
“I wouldn’t have to drink so much coffee if someone helped me drink it. Or offered to drive…” Ashton teased.
“You wouldn’t let me drive,” I reminded him, opening the bag and swallowing a handful of cheesy cracker goodness.
“That's because you get mad road rage, miss.”
“That’s ma’am to you, sir,” I laughed. “I’m a married woman.”
“Are you ever gonna get tired of saying that?” he asked, a goofy grin on his face.
“Fuck no!” I laughed more, reaching up on tiptoe to peck his lips with mine. “Husband, husband, husband.”
“Wife, wife, wife,” he replied, kissing me after each word.
~~~
“You ever think about getting married?” Ashton asked.
“Like in general? Or to you?” I asked, my senses perking into high alert mode.
“Both?”
I shrugged. “Little scary isn’t it? I mean, every relationship runs the risk of those involved waking up one day and suddenly this isn’t what they want anymore. So to divorce in the midst of heartbreak… well… I guess it would depend on how I felt the person asking me to decide if that was a risk I was willing to take.”
“And if I asked?”
“I’d say call Andy and Ryan to make sure there’s photos and video of me saying yes.”
“Really?” he asked, his voice full of amazement and hope.
“Of all the things I want to be in life, yours is easily at the top of that list.”
~~~
“Fuck, this view is gorgeous,” I marveled as we leaned against the van.
“Yeah it is,” he smiled, his eyes on me.
Heat rushed to my cheeks. “I meant this view,” I said, gesturing out the window to the winter wonderland spread out before us. Kai may be over the top, but the girl had mad style, no question about it.
“I know what you meant,” he told me, wrapping his arm around me and kissing the side of my head. “And out of all the views I’ve seen and will go on to see, none of them matter if you’re not in them.”
~~~
“So, what’s the big secret?” Kai asked, once I had gathered all my girlfriends together.
I answered by sticking out my left hand, letting them decipher the news for themselves.
“Ohmigod!” Britt and Holly screeched in excitement. Britt grabbed my hand to get a closer look while Holly jumped in circles starting rattling off wedding ideas.
I looked at Kai who stared back with a blank expression. “Well?” I prompted.
“I thought you hated the idea of marriage,” was the response, void of any real emotion except genuine confusion. Of all our differences, that had been our one similarity- besides a love of pretzels and an aversion to drinking. While we weren’t necessarily anti-romance, marriage just wasn’t something that had been on our radars. And now for me to be engaged before Britt or Holly, well, it was definitely a shock to the system. I still couldn’t quite believe it myself. The weight on my finger was both surreal and not the least bit heavy.
“I do! I did… I… I dunno.”
“Does he make you happy?”
“Duh!”
“Do you make him happy?”
“I would hope so.”
“Does he love you?”
“Again, I certainly hope so.”
“Do you love him?”
“So fuckin much.”
“Am I maid of honor?”
“Please?”
“Congrats, Zy,” Kai smiled.
~~~
“Kai Theodora Zaher,” Calum spoke, pausing to clear away the thickness in his throat. “You were perfect from the first moment I met you. More than perfect. And while I would never ask you to change anything about you, one thing has always bothered me. Your last name not being mine. Thank you, not only for turning my world on its head, but allowing me to make you Kai Theodora Zaher Hood. I love you, wildflower.”
Kai’s hand gripped my fingers tightly as she held back the squeak and the rest of us choked down our tears. Funny how cynics usually had the softest hearts.
I looked over at Ashton who stood directly across from me besides Calum. If I was closer, the heels on my feet would bring me to the perfect height for me to tuck my head under his chin without me needing to strain up or him needing to slump down. He looked so good in his suit with his hair slicked back for the occasion. And I knew I looked like a bombshell in my own floor-length gown that hugged my small curves in the most perfect of ways. Kai had really outdone herself with this winter wonderland she had created. Every detail no matter how small was absolutely perfect. Ashton’s eyes met mine and his lips moved to mouth “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I mouthed back, before letting my mind take me back only earlier this year when it had been him and I in Calum and Kai’s places and them in ours.
~~~
“I promise to always buy you overpriced bottles of water.”
“I promise to chase the risk that is my life with you.”
“I promise to make that risk worth it.”
“I promise to always be your somebody.”
~~~
“This year has definitely been one for the books, hasn’t it, Kai? See, I dunno if you all know this, but it’s always been Kai and I. Kai and Zy. Zy and Kai. The opposites glued at the hips. Never one without the other,” I paused to squeeze my best friend’s shoulder before I went on with my speech. “All my years with her have been filled with their adventures. But this year? Well, this year started with a wedding. And it’s befitting it ends with one too. Because, you see, Kai and I, for getting married first,” I paused again to smirk over at Luke and Mike who squirmed in their seats under my gaze, “never really bought into the marriage idea. Romance, sure. But marriage was always too messy. And then! Oh, boy, and then these two came right out of left field and messed that right up.” I moved my hand that was squeezing Kai’s shoulder to rest on Calum’s. “Calum, my dear sweet friend, thank you for proving to my best friend what your best friend proved to me. Because while I may not believe in marriage, I believe in mine, and I believe in yours. Best years to you both. I love you.”
I kissed both of their cheeks before handing the microphone to Ashton as he held my chair out for me to take my seat. “Well,” Ashton spoke around the lump in his throat, taking a small moment to clear it. “You’d think that my days as a musician would have prepared me for the opening act completely outdoing the headliner…”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned at me.
“If someone had asked me that the first wedding I give a best man speech at would be Calum’s, I probably would have laughed. That’s how wild this all is. Kai, thank you for flipping his world upside down. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him happier than when he’s with you. And we all know how much he loves his bass, so mad props to you, darling. Cal? Don’t fuck this up, mate.”
~~~
“Good morning, Mrs. Irwin!” Ashton said brightly, waking me up with the kisses he was covering my body with. “How do you feel, Mrs. Irwin?” he grinned when his lips found mine.
“Like I’m on top of the world,” I grinned back.
“Adjusting to that weight on your finger okay?”
“Feels surprisingly light. Like I always meant to wear it.”
“Mmm, that’s probably cuz you were.”
“You really think that? That I was always meant to be your wife?”
“I think you were always meant to be the greatest somebody to me. I just got lucky that somebody was my wife.”
“You’re such a sap,” I laughed, feeling myself tear up at his sentiment.
“Your sap.”
“My sap.”
~~~
“What is it about weddings that makes me want to get married?” Ashton asked as he twirled me in a circle before pulling me against his chest.
“We’re already married,” I pointed out.
“And I want to marry you every day for the rest of my life.”
“And I’ll marry you every time.”
__
Tag List
@goeatsomelife @flameraine @cashtonasff5sos @here-for-the-uproars @cxddlyash @1-irwin-94 @baldcalum @sparkling-calm @tea4sykes @youngblood199456 @5-seconds-of-obsession @gosh-im-short @aquarius-hood1996 @talkfastromance4 @itjustkindahappenedreally @philthepegacorn @kikixfandoms
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chp. 2: It’s science fiction
A/N: Thank you to everyone that has ready chapter 1! I didn’t expect chapter 2 to take so long to get out, but it’s my last semester and it’s been kicking my ass! The chapter is sadly short, but I’m gonna try to get chapter 3 out as fast as possible! Let me know what you think!
Previous • Masterlist • Next
Your hike up from the dorms to your first class isn’t particularly your favorite thing, but the weather is definitely better than you’re used to. Move-in day must have been uncharacteristically hot, because today you’re able to wear a pair of jeans just fine, though you still opt for a tank top. The walk is about 10 minutes to the historical building. You marvel at it, admiring the architecture and the fine details within. After a few moments to observe, you finish making your way up the steps to the first floor of the building.
(Think of a building like this)
Lucky for you, your class is only on the second floor rather than the third. You observe the bulletin boards as you walk towards the staircase at the end of the building, noticing advertisements for clubs, fraternities, and sororities are already up. You take note to take a look at them after class. As you come to the classroom, the door is already propped open, the professor standing at the chalkboard as she writes down some information. You avoid the gazes of your classmates as you make your way to an empty seat. Only about half the classroom is filled up, so you choose a seat with other empty seats on either side. It looks like the class can fit about 30 students at a time, a much smaller number than the typical university class. You huff out a breath and start gathering your supplies, glancing at your schedule just to double check that you’re in the right place.
You mumble to yourself as you read over the dates, times, and class codes. “Okay, yeah, room 201 for... damn it...” Turns out, the printed schedule didn’t include the actual name of the class. All you’re given to work with is three numbers that signify the class, but not what it’s about. Whatever, I’ll figure it out once the professor starts.
“It’s science fiction, dumbass.”
With all of your rifling through your stuff, you hadn’t noticed that the seat to the right of you was now occupied. By Bakugo. You glare at him as you return your schedule to its original spot in your bag. “I didn’t ask, asshole.”
You can see his jaw clench at your rebuttal. His voice becomes more grating as he says, “Then don’t mumble to yourself like a damn idiot.” With that last comment, he turns his attention solely to his school materials. You notice that he has quite the assortment of organizational supplies, such as a pristine pack of highlighters, small sticky notes, and a categorized notebook. We’re probably just gonna go over the syllabus, but he looks so prepared...
You’re drawn out of your thoughts as the professor begins to speak. You gather that her name is Professor King and that she will most likely be an average professor. Not hard, but not a super easy A. A manageable class.
As Prof. King finishes going over the syllabus and the schedule for the semester, she announces, “Let’s just do some quick introductions so we know each other’s names. Give us your name, grade, and major. We’ll just go row by row...”
Slowly, the students all cycle through, providing the information asked of them. Eventually, the spotlight lands on Bakugo. He keeps his hands in his jacket pockets, leaned back in his chair as he introduces himself. “Name’s Katsuki Bakugo, I’m a third year chemical engineering major.” After his last word, he turns his head ever so slightly in your direction, waiting expectedly for your introduction.
You ignore his crimson gaze as you start speaking in a chipper tone that contrasts Bakugo’s, “Hi, I’m Y/N, I’m a junior, and I’m an English major!” The introductions immediately move on to the person to your left, but Bakugo’s gaze stays on you.
Under his breath in a volume only you can hear, he says, “Tch. Lame.”
You bite your tongue for now, waiting for the end of class to confront him. The end of class could not come sooner...
You gather up your class supplies at the same speed as Bakugo, making sure that no matter what you’ll be able to confront him without causing too much of a scene. You stand and drape your backpack over your shoulders, but find that Bakugo hasn’t moved to stand yet. He’s probably waiting for me to leave... Well, fine! I’ll leave! You make your way past the threshold of the door and round the corner of the wall and plant your back to it. The perfect plan.
In a matter of seconds your plan falls into place as Bakugo rounds the corner out the door and you start walking next to him. You don’t even give him the chance to react to your presence before questioning, “So what part was lame?”
“Leave me the hell alone.” He speeds up his walking as he gets to the stairs.
You match his pace as you race down the stairs. “Well you obviously can’t leave me alone, so no. If you think you’re so much better than me, then at least tell me why, asshole.”
As you both reach the bottom of the stairs, he turns immediately to face you. It is now that you realize just how tall he is, as he stares down at you with the usual fire in his eyes and the usual scowl on his face. “Why don’t you figure it out yourself and leave me the hell alone, extra?” As quickly as he had turned towards you, he turns away and continues his walk, this time towards the exit of the building. He shoves one of the double doors open as if it were a feather, completely unperturbed by the obstacle. You slip through before the door closes, matching his pace once again as you walk next to him.
“Since you’re not gonna tell me why, I’ll just follow you until you do! I’ve got alllll day!” You hope he doesn’t call your bluff at the end there.
“Tch. Liar.”
Well, that hope didn’t last long.
“Just leave me alone, I know you have another class in two hours. Go bother someone else.”
He turns at the end of the path from the English building towards the plaza. You glance at your phone for the time.
11:30
It is now that you realize you had neglected to get breakfast before your morning class, as your stomach rumbles.
You keep walking besides Bakugo, who keeps changing his pace to annoy you. It works, but you don’t show it. You’re here to annoy him until he gives in. You never reply to his last comment, deciding instead to save your breath until you came up with something more clever. Despite the ridiculous rate of pace changing and the deafening silence between you two, you both walk up to the plaza that hosts the campus café. Your stomach rumbles once more at the thought of food. Bakugo makes no hesitation to walk up towards the doors to enter.
“Lucky you, mister egotistical, I can’t annoy you while my face is full,” you say as you walk in behind him. He scans his student ID at the front as you finish your sentence.
As you’re about to scan your own ID, he responds, “Trust me, you’re just as annoying when you don’t speak.”
Bakugo immediately makes a beeline for one of the buffet stations where chefs were serving up plates and bowls. You quickly follow after him, insistent on your so-called “annoying” presence.
Lunch has just started being served so you’re ahead of the lunch rush, no line in sight. You glance at the menus at each station, forgetting for a moment about Bakugo. I can find him after I get my food...
As your eyes wander, they finally land on the word “Ramen” and your feet start to carry you towards it. As you approach the ramen station, you see Bakugo had the same idea as you. You walk up with your back completely straight, crossing your arms as you come to stand next to him as he awaits his ramen bowl.
“Stop fucking following me.”
You chuckle a bit at his reaction. “For the record, I’m not following you. I just wanted ramen. Is that a crime?”
He grumbles in annoyance as he takes a bowl of ramen as it’s placed on the shelf. Another bowl follows soon after, which you grab before once again following the gremlin. He stops short of a table as he grabs a spoon and a disposable set of chopsticks. You do the same, reaching across him a little to grab your own utensils.
“Stay in your own damn space, dumbass!” he yells out at you. He grabs one last thing before walking away, a small bottle of chili powder.
You quicken your step to come next to him again as he makes his way to a table. “If you didn’t want me in your space, then why’d you sit next to me? Why are you hell-bent on making yourself pissed off?”
He takes a seat at a corner table as he sets his food down. “I’m done talking to you, idiot.”
“Well that’s just fine! I’ll do the talking for us!” You set your food down as you sit across from him and cross your arms over your chest. “I thought you liked pissing people off, so why don’t you tell me what’s so lame?”
He huffs in annoyance, refusing to answer as he goes to reach for his chili powder. In a swift movement, you snatch it from him. He slams his fist down on the table in response. “What the hell, shithead?”
“You’ll get this if you tell me!” You were really pushing it at this point.
Bakugo snarls and slams his fist again as he yells, “You wanna know what’s lame? Who the fuck decides to be an English major? Are you brain dead or some shit? Don’t know how to do anything but read shitty books no one cares about?”
You push your chair back as you stand, throw the chili powder towards him, and pick your food back up. “Wow... You’re that far up your own ass? Get fucked, Bakugo.” You turn away immediately and make your way to the other side of the commons, far out of Bakugo’s sight. You’d dealt with your own doubts in yourself enough, the last thing you needed was some shitty comments from the newest asshole in your life.
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This is the story where word 'cyberpunk' appears first time ever.
Copyright © 1980 Bruce Bethke. All rights reserved.
First published in AMAZING Science Fiction Stories, Volume 57, Number 4, November 1983
* * *
The snoozer went off at seven and I was out of my sleepsack, powered up, and on-line in nanos. That's as far as I got. Soon I booted and got -
CRACKERS/BUDDYBOO/8ER
on the tube I shut down fast. Damn! Rayno had been on line before me, like always, and that message meant somebody else had gotten into our Net - and that meant trouble by the busload! I couldn't do anything mor on term, so I zipped into my jumper, combed my hair, and went downstairs.
Mom and Dad were at breakfast when I slid into the kitchen. "Good Morning, Mikey!" said Mom with a smile. "You were up so late last night I thought I wouldn't see you before you caught your bus."
"Had a tough program to crack," I said.
"Well," she said, "now you can sit down and have a decent breakfast." She turned around to pull some Sara Lees out of the microwave and plunk them down on the table.
"If you'd do your schoolwork when you're supposed to you wouldn't have to stay up all night," growled Dad from behind his caffix and faxsheet. I sloshed some juice in a glass and poured it down, stuffed a Sara Lee into my mouth, and stood to go.
"What?" asked Mom. "That's all the breakfast you're going to have?"
"Haven't got time," I said. "I gotta get to school early to see if the program checks." Dad growled something more and Mom spoke to quiet him, but I didn't hear much 'cause I was out the door.
I caught the transys for school, just in case they were watching. Two blocks down the line I got off and transferred going back the other way, and a coupla transfers later I wound up whipping into Buddy's All-Night Burgers. Rayno was in our booth, glaring into his caffix. It was 7:55 and I'd beat Georgie and Lisa there.
"What's on line?" I asked as I dropped into my seat, across from Rayno. He just looked up at me through his eyebrows and I knew better than to ask again.
At eight Lisa came in. Lisa is Rayno's girl, or at least she hopes she is. I can see why: Rayno's seventeen - two years older than the rest of us - he wears flash plastic and his hair in The Wedge (Dad blew a chip when I said I wanted my hair cut like that) and he's so cool he won't even touch her, even when she's begging for it. She plunked down in her seat next to Rayno and he didn't blink.
Georgie still wasn't there at 8:05. Rayno checked his watch again, then finally looked up from his caffix. "The compiler's been cracked," he said. Lisa and I both swore. We'd worked up our own little code to keep our Net private. I mean, our Olders would just blow boards if they ever found out what we were really up to. And now somebody'd broken our code.
"Georgie's old man?" I asked.
"Looks that way." I swore again. Georgie and I started the Net by linking our smartterms with some stuff we stored in his old man's home business system. Now my Dad woudln't know an opsys if he crashed on one, but Georgie's old man - he's a greentooth. A tech-type. He'd found one of ours once before and tried to take it apart to see what it did. We'd just skinned out that time.
"Any idea how far in he got?" Lisa asked. Rayno looked through her, at the front door. Georgie'd just come in.
"We're gonna find out," Rayno said.
Georgie was coming in smiling, but when he saw that look in Rayno's eyes he sat down next to me like the seat was booby-trapped.
"Good Morning Georgie," said Rayno, smiling like a shark.
"I didn't glitch!" Georgie whined. "I didn't tell him a thing!"
"Then how the Hell did he do it?"
"You know how he is, he's weird! He likes puzzles!" Georgie looked to me for backup. "That's how come I was late. He was trying to weasel me, but I didn't tell him a thing! I think he only got it partway open. He didn't ask about the Net!"
Rayno actually sat back, pointed at us all, and smiled. "You kids just don't know how lucky you are. I was in the Net last night and flagged somebody who didn't know the secures was poking Georgie's compiler. I made some changes. By the time your old man figures them out, well..."
I sighed relief. See what I mean about being cool? Rayno had us outlooped all the time!
Rayno slammed his fist down on the table. "But Dammit Georgie, you gotta keep a closer watch on him!"
Then Rayno smiled and bought us all drinks and pie all the way around. Lisa had a cherry Coke, and Georgie and I had caffix just like Rayno. God, that stuff tastes awful! The cups were cleared away, and Rayno unzipped his jumper and reached inside.
"Now kids," he said quietly, "it's time for some serious fun." He whipped out his microterm. "School's off!"
I still drop a bit when I see that microterm - Geez, it's a beauty! It's a Zeilemann Nova 300, but we've spent so much time reworking it, it's practically custom from the motherboard up. Hi-baud, rammed, rammed, ported, with the wafer display folds down to about the size of a vid casette; I'd give an ear to have one like it. We'd used Georgie's old man's chipburner to tuck some special tricks in ROM and there wasn't a system in CityNet it couldn't talk to.
Rayno ordered up a smartcab and we piled out of Buddy's. No more riding the transys for us, we were going in style! We charged the smartcab off to some law company and cruised all over Eastside.
Riding the boulevards got stale after awhile, so we rerouted to the library. We do a lot of our fun at the library, 'cause nobody ever bothers us there. Nobody ever goes there. We sent the smartcab, still on the law company account, off to Westside. Getting past the guards and the librarians was just a matter of flashing some ID and then we zipped off into the stacks.
Now, you've got to ID away your life to get on the libsys terms - which isn't worth half a scare when your ID is all fudged like ours is - and they watch real careful. But they move their terms around a lot, so they've got ports on line all over the building. We found an unused port, and me and Georgie kept watch while Rayno plugged in his microterm and got on line.
"Get me into the Net," he said, handing me the term. We don't have a stored opsys yet for Netting, so Rayno gives me the fast and tricky jobs.
Through the dataphones I got us out of the libsys and into CityNet. Now, Olders will never understand. They still think a computer has got to be a brain in a single box. I can get the same results with opsys stored in a hundred places, once I tie them together. Nearly every computer has got a dataphone port, CityNet is a great linking system, and Rayno's microterm has the smarts to do the job clean and fast so nobody flags on us. I pulled the compiler out of Georgie's old man's computer and got into our Net. Then I handed the term back to Rayno.
"Well, let's do some fun. Any requests?" Georgie wanted something to get even with his old man, and I had a new routine cooking, but Lisa's eyes lit up 'cause Rayno handed the term to her, first.
"I wanna burn Lewis," she said.
"Oh fritz!" Georgie complained. "You did that last week!"
"Well, he gave me another F on a theme."
"I never get F's. If yu'd read books once in a -"
"Georgie," Rayno said softly, "Lisa's on line." That settled that. Lisa's eyes were absolutely glowing.
Lisa got back into CityNet and charged a couple hundred overdue books to Lewis's libsys account. Then she ordered a complete fax sheet of Encyclopedia Britannica printed out at his office. I got next turn.
Georgie and Lisa kept watch while I accessed. Rayno was looking over my shoulder. "Something new this week?"
"Airline reservations. I was with my Dad two weeks ago when he set up a business trip, and I flagged on maybe getting some fun. I scanned the ticket clerk real careful and picked up the access code."
"Okay, show me what you can do."
Accessing was so easy that I just wiped a couple of reservations first, to see if there were any bells and whistles.
None. No checks, no lockwords, no confirm codes. I erased a couple dozen people without crashing down or locking up. "Geez," I said, "There's no deep secures at all!"
"I been telling you. Olders are even dumber than they look. Georgie? Lisa? C'mon over here and see what we're running!" Georgie was real curious and asked a lot of questions, but Lisa just looked bored and snapped her gum and tried to stand closer to Rayno. Then Rayno said, "Time to get off Sesame Street. Purge a flight."
I did. It was simple as a save. I punched a few keys, entered, and an entire plane disappeared from all the reservation files. Boy, they'd be surprised when they showed up at the airport. I started purging down the line, but Rayno interrupted.
"Maybe there's no bells and whistles, but wipe out a whole block of flights and it'll stand out. Watch this." He took the term from me and cooked up a routine in RAM to do a global and wipe out every flight that departed at an :07 for the next year. "Now that's how you do these things without waving a flag."
"That's sharp," Georgie chipped in, to me. "Mike, you're a genius! Where do you get these ideas?" Rayno got a real funny look in his eyes.
"My turn," Rayno said, exiting the airline system.
"What's next in the stack?" Lisa asked him.
"Yeah, I mean, after garbaging the airlines . . ." Georgie didn't realize he was supposed to shut up.
"Georgie! Mike!" Rayno hissed. "Keep watch!" Soft, he added, "It's time for The Big One."
"You sure?" I asked. "Rayno, I don't think we're ready."
"We're ready."
Georgie got whiney. "We're gonna get in big trouble-"
"Wimp," spat Rayno. Georgie shut up.
We'd been working on The Big One for over two months, but I still didn't feel real solid about it. It almost made a clean if/then/else; if The Big One worked/then we'd be rich/else . . . it was the else I didn't have down.
Georgie and me scanned while Rayno got down to business. He got back into CityNet, called the cracker opsys out of OurNet, and poked it into Merchant's Bank & Trust. I'd gotten into them the hard way, but never messed with their accounts; just did it to see if I could do it. My data'd been sitting in their system for about three weeks now and nobody'd noticed. Rayno thought it would be really funny to use one bank computer to crack the secures on other bank computers.
While he was peeking and poking I heard walking nearby and took a closer look. It was just some old waster looking for a quiet place to sleep. Rayno was finished linking by the time I got back. "Okay kids," he said, "this is it." He looked around to make sure we were all watching him, then held up the term and stabbed the RETURN key. That was it. I stared hard at the display, waiting to see what else was gonna be. Rayno figured it'd take about ninety seconds.
The Big One, y'see, was Rayno's idea. He'd heard about some kids in Sherman Oaks who almost got away with a five million dollar electronic fund transfer; they hadn't hit a hangup moving the five mil around until they tried to dump it into a personal savings account with a $40 balance. That's when all the flags went up.
Rayno's cool; Rayno's smart. We weren't going to be greedy, we were just going to EFT fifty K. And it wasn't going to look real strang, 'cause it got strained through some legitimate accounts before we used it to open twenty dummies.
If it worked.
The display blanked, flickered, and showed:
TRANSACTION COMPLETED. HAVE A NICE DAY.
I started to shout, but remembered I was in a library. Georgie looked less terrified. Lisa looked like she was going to attack Rayno. Rayno just cracked his little half smile, and started exiting. "Funtime's over, kids."
"I didn't get a turn," Georgie mumbled.
Rayno was out of all the nets and powering down. He turned, slow, and looked at Georgie through those eyebrows of his. "You are still on The List."
Georgie swallowed it 'cause there was nothing else he could do. Rayno folded up the microterm and tucked it back inside his jumper.
We got a smartcab outside the library and went off to someplace Lisa picked for lunch. Georgie got this idea about garbaging up the smartcab's brain so that the next customer would have a real state fair ride, but Rayno wouldn't let him do it. Rayno didn't talk to him during lunch, either.
After lunch I talked them into heading up to Martin's Micros. That's one of my favorite places to hang out. Martin's the only Older I know who can really work a computer without blowing out his headchips, and he never talks down to me, and he never tells me to keep my hands off anything. In fact, Martin's been real happy to see all of us, ever since Rayno bought that $3000 vidgraphics art animation package for Lisas birthday.
Martin was sitting at his term when we came in. "Oh, hi Mike! Rayno! Lisa! Georgie!" We all nodded. "Nice to see you again. What can I do for you today?"
"Just looking," Rayno said.
"Well, that's free." Martin turned back to his term and punched a few more IN keys. "Damn!" he said to the term.
"What's the problem?" Lisa asked.
"The problem is me," Martin said. "I got this software package I'm supposed to be writing, but it keeps bombing out and I don't know what's wrong."
Rayno asked, "What's it supposed to do?"
"Oh, it's a real estate system. Y'know, the whoe future-values-in-current-dollars bit. Depreciation, inflation, amortization, tax credits -"
"Put that in our tang," said. "What numbers crunch?"
Martin started to explain, and Rayno said to me, "This looks like your kind of work." Martin hauled his three hundred pounds of fat out of the chair, and looked relieved as I dropped down in front of the term. I scanned the parameters, looked over Martin's program, and processed a bit. Martin'd only made a few mistakes. Anybody could have. I dumped Martin's program and started loading the right one in off the top of my head.
"Will you look at that?" Martin said.
I didn't answer 'cause I was thinking in assembly. In ten minutes I had it in, compiled, and running test sets. It worked perfect, of course.
"I just can't believe you kids," Martin said. "You can program easier than I can talk."
"Nothing to it" I said.
"Maybe not for you. I knew a kid grew up speaking Arabic, used to say the same thing." He shook his head, tugged his beard, looked me in the face, and smiled. "Anyhow, thanks loads, Mike. I don't know how to . . ." He snapped his fingers. "Say, I just got something in the other day, I bet you'd be really interested in." He took me over to the display case, pulled it out, and set it on the counter. "The latest word in microterms. The Zeilemann Starfire 600."
I dropped a bit! Then I ballsed up enough to touch it. I flipped up the wafer display, ran my fingers over the touch pads, and I just wanted it so bad! "It's smart," Martin said. "Rammed, rammed, and ported."
Rayno was looking at the specs with that cold look in his eye. "My 300 is still faster," he said.
"It should be," Martin said. "You customized it half to death. But the 600 is nearly as fast, and it's stock, and it lists for $1400. I figure you must have spent nearly 3K upgrading yours."
"Can I try it out?" I asked. Martin plugged me into his system, and I booted and got on line. It worked great! Quiet, accurate; so maybe it wasn't as fast as Rayno's - I couldn't tell the difference. "Rayno, this thing is the max!" I looked at Martin. "Can we work out some kind of...?" Martin looked back to his terminal, where the real estate program was still running tests without a glitch.
"I been thinking about that, Mike. You're a minor, so I can't legally employ you." He tugged on his beard and rolled his tongue around his mouth. "But I'm hitting that real estate client for some pretty heavy bread on consulting fees, and it doesn't seem real fair to me that you... Tell you what. Maybe I can't hire you, but I sure can buy software you write. You be my consultant on, oh . . . seven more projects like this, and we'll call it a deal? Sound okay to you?"
Before I could shout yes, Rayno pushed in between me and Martin. "I'll buy it. List." He pulled out a charge card from his jumper pocket. Martin's jaw dropped. "Well, what're you waiting for? My plastic's good."
"List? But I owe Mike one," Martin protested.
"List. You don't owe us nothing."
Martin swallowed. "Okay Rayno." He took the card and ran a credcheck on it. "It's clean," Martin said, surprised. He punched up the sale and started laughing. "I don't know where you kids get this kind of money!"
"We rob banks," Rayno said. Martin laughed, and Rayno laughed, and we all laughed. Rayno picked up the term and walked out of the store. As soon as we got outside he handed it to me.
"Thanks Rayno, but . . . but I coulda made the deal myself."
"Happy Birthday, Mike."
"Rayno, my birthday is in August."
"Let's get one thing straight. You work for me."
It was near school endtime, so we routed back to Buddy's. On the way, in the smartcab, Georgie took my Starfire, gently opened the case, and scanned the boards. "We could double the baud speed real easy."
"Leave it stock," Rayno said.
We split up at Buddy's, and I took the transys home. I was lucky, 'cause Mom and Dad weren't home and I could zip right upstairs and hide the Starfire in my closet. I wish I had cool parents like Rayno does. They never ask him any dumb questions.
Mom came home at her usual time, and asked how school was. I didn't have to say much, 'cause just then the stove said dinner was ready and she started setting the table. Dad came in five minutes later and we started eating.
We got the phone call halfway through dinner. I was the one who jumped up and answered it. It was Georgie's old man, and he wanted to talk to my Dad. I gave him the phone and tried to overhear, but he took it in the next room and talked real quiet. I got unhungry. I never liked tofu, anyway.
Dad didn't stay quiet for long. "He what?! Well thank you for telling me! I'm going to get to the bottom of this right now!" He hung up.
"Who was that, David?" Mom asked.
"That was Mr. Hansen. Georgie's father. Mike and Georgie were hanging around with that punk Rayno again!" He snapped around to look at me. I'd almost made it out the kitchen door. "Michael! Were you in school today?"
I tried to talk cool. I think the tofu had my throat all clogged up. "Yeah...yeah, I was."
"Then how come Mr. Hansen saw you coming out of the downtown library?"
I was stuck. "I - I was down there doing some special research."
"For what class? C'mon Michael, what were you studying?"
It was too many inputs. I was locking up.
"David," Mom said, "Aren't you being a bit hasty? I'm sure there's a good explanation."
"Martha, Mr. Hansen found something in his computer that Georgie and Michael put there. He thinks they've been messing with banks."
"Our Mikey? It must be some kind of bad joke."
"You don't know how serious this is! Michael Arthur Harris! What have you been doing sitting up all night with that terminal? What was that system in Hansen's computer? Answer me! What have you been doing?!" My eyes felt hot. "None of your business! Keep your nose out of things you'll never understand, you obsolete old relic!"
"That does it! I don't know what's wrong with you damn kids, but I know that thing isn't helping!" He stormed up to my room. I tried to get ahead of him all the way up the steps and just got my hands stepped on. Mom came fluttering up behind as he yanked all the plugs on my terminal.
"Now David," Mom said. "Don't you think you're being a bit harsh? He needs that for his homework, don't you, Mikey?"
"You can't make excuses for him this time, Martha! I mean it! This goes in the basement, and tomorrow I'm calling the cable company and getting his line ripped out! If he has anything to do on computer he can damn well use the terminal in the den, where I can watch him!" He stomped out, carrying my smartterm. I slammed the door and locked it. "Go ahead and sulk! It won't do you any good!"
I threw some pillows around 'til I didn't feel like breaking anything anymore, then I hauled the Starfire out of the closet. I'd watched over Dad's shoulders enough to know his account numbers and access codes, so I got on line and got down to business. I was finished in half an hour.
I tied into Dad's terminal. He was using it, like I figured he would be, scanning school records. Fine. He wouldn't find out anything; we'd figured out how to fix school records months ago. I crashed in and gave him a new message on his vid display.
"Dad," it said, "there's going to be some changes around here."
It took a few seconds to sink in. I got up and made sure the door was locked real solid. I still got half a scare when he came pounding up the stairs, though. I didn't know he could be so loud.
"MICHAEL!!" He slammed into the door. "Open this! Now!"
"No."
"If you don't open this door before I count to ten, I'm going to bust it down! One!"
"Before you do that-"
"Two!"
"Better call your bank!"
"Three!"
"B320-5127-OlR." That was his checking account access code. He silenced a couple seconds.
"Young man, I don't know what you think you're trying to pull-"
"I'm not trying anything. I did it already."
Mom came up the stairs and said, "What's going on, David?" "Shut up, Martha!" He was talking real quiet, now. "What did you do, Michael?"
"Outlooped you. Disappeared you. Buried you."
"You mean, you got into the bank computer and erased my checking account?"
"Savings and mortgage on the condo, too."
"Oh my God . . ."
Mom said, "He's just angry, David. Give him time to cool off. Mikey, you wouldn't really do that, would you?"
"Then I accessed DynaRand," I said.
"Wiped your job. Your pension. I got to your plastic, too."
"He couldn't have, David. Could he?"
"Michael!" He hit the door. "I'm going to wring your scrawny neck!"
"Wait!" I shouted back. "I copied all your files before I purged! There's a way to recover!"
He let up hammering on the door, and struggled to talk calm. "Give me the copies right now and I'll just forget that this happened."
"I can't. I mean, I did backups in other computers. And I secured the files and hid them where only I know how to access."
There was quiet. No, in a nano I realised it wasn't quiet, it was Mom and Dad talking real soft. I eared up to the door but all I caught was Mom saying "why not?" and Dad saying "but what if he is telling the truth?"
"Okay Michael, Dad said at last. "What do you want?"
I locked up. It was an embarasser; what did I want? I hadn't thought that far ahead. Me, caught without a program! I dropped half a laugh, then tried to think. I mean, there was nothing they could get me I couldn't get myself, or with Rayno's help. Rayno! I wanted to get in touch with him, is what I wanted. I'd pulled this whole thing off without Rayno!
I decided then it'd probably be better if my Olders dind't know about the Starfire, so I told Dad first thing I wanted was my smartterm back. It took a long time for him to clump down to the basement and get it. He stopped at his term in the den, first, to scan if I'd really purged him. He was real subdued when he brought my smartterm back up.
I kept processing, but by the time he got back I still hadn't come up with anything more than I wanted them to leave me alone and stop telling me what to do. I got the smartterm into my room without being pulped, locked the door, got on line, and gave Dad his job back. Then I tried to flag Rayno and Georgie, but couldn't, so I left messages for when they booted. I stayed up half the night playing a war, just to make sure Dad didn't try anything.
I booted and scanned first thing the next morning, but Rayno and Georgie still hadn't come on. So I went down and had an utter silent breakfast and sent Mom and Dad off to work. I offed school and spent the whole day finishing the war and working on some tricks and treats programs. We had another utter silent meal when Mom and Dad came home, and after supper I flagged Rayno had been in the Net and left a remark on when to find him.
I finally got him on line around eight, and he said Georgie was getting trashed and probably heading for permanent downtime.
Then I told Rayno all about how I outlooped my old man, but he didn't seem real buzzed about it. He said he had something cooking and couldn't meet me at Buddy's that night to talk about it, either. So we got off line, and I started another war and then went to sleep.
The snoozer said 5:25 when I woke up, and I coudln't logic how come I was awake 'til I started making sense out of my ears. Dad was taking apart the hinges on my door!
"Dad! You cut that out or I'll purge you clean! There won't be backups this time!"
"Try it," he growled.
I jumped out of my sleepsack, powered up, booted and - no boot. I tried again. I could get on line in my smartterm, but I couldn't port out. "I cut your cable down in the basement," he said.
I grabbed the Starfire out of my closet and zipped it inside my jumper, but before I could do the window, the door and Dad both fell in. Mom came in right behind, popped open my dresser, and started stuffing socks and underwear in a suitcase.
"Now you're fritzed!" I told Dad. "I'll never give you back your files!" He grabbed my arm.
"Michael, there's something I think you should see." He dragged me down to his den and pulled some bundles of old paper trash out of his desk. "These are receipts. This is what obsolete old relics like me use because we don't trust computer bookkeeping. I checked with work and the bank; everything that goes on in the computer has to be verified with paper. You can't change anything for more than 24 hours."
"Twenty-four hours?" I laughed. "Then you're still fritzed! I can still wipe you out any day, from any term in CityNet?"
"I know."
Mom came into the den, carrying the suitcase and kleenexing her eyes. "Mikey, you've got to understand that we love you, and this is for your own good." They dragged me down to the airport and stuffed me in a private lear with a bunch of old gestapos.
#
I've had a few weeks now to get used to the Von Schlager Military Academy. They tell me I'm a bright kid and with good behavior, there's really no reason at all why I shouldn't graduate in five years. I am getting tired, though, of all the older cadets telling me how soft I've got it now that they've installed indoor plumbing.
Of course, I'm free to walk out any time I want. It's only three hundred miles to Fort McKenzie, where the road ends.
Sometimes at night, after lights out, I'll pull out my Starfire and run my fingers over the touchpads. That's all I can do, since they turn off power in the barracks at night. I'll lie there in the dark, thinking about Lisa, and Georgie, and Buddy's All-Night Burgers, and all the fun we used to pull off. But mostly I'll think about Rayno, and what great plans he cooks up.
I can't wait to see how he gets me out of this one.
Copyright © 1980 Bruce Bethke. All rights reserved.
Brought to you by The Cyberpunk Project
Page last modified on Monday, October 2, 2000.
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Red and Blue
Peter reached out and moved the projection back and forth. “Did you change the color scheme? This looks red and black.”
“Thought it might be time for an image over-haul. Tone down the primary colors, make things a bit sleeker, a little more grown-up.”
Peter bit his lip, trying to say what he was feeling without sounding ungrateful. “And it looks great Mr. Stark, it really does, but I like the red and blue. Could we change the color back?”
When Peter is invited up to the compound to work on his suit with Tony, he's surprised to find that red and blue is now red and black, and Tony wants to know why he's so attached to his original color scheme.
Read on AO3
Peter was pulled abruptly from his dream by the sound of Back in Black blasting from his phone, which was weird on two levels – one, he usually had nightmares, not dreams, and two, his ringtone was a yodel.
He fumbled for his phone, pulling it towards him by its charging cable, and nearly dropped it when he registered the caller ID. Why the hell was Tony Stark calling him at 8am on a Saturday morning?
Hitting decline, he dropped the phone face down in the blankets, turning over to face the wall and wrapping his pillow around his head.
“Did you just send me to voice mail, kid? Why can I only see darkness? It’s like looking into the depths of my soul.”
Peter let the pillow spring away from his head and reached back behind him to grab the phone, dragging it over his body until he could see the screen. Tony’s face looked smugly back at him, entirely too cheerful for someone who had just woken Peter up from the best dream he’d had in months.
“’s 8am Tony,” he muttered, squinting at him with one eye closed. “I was sleepin’.”
“Yikes, rough night? You should get more sleep, you’re a growing spider-baby and all that. I was in bed by ten last night, and I feel great this morning. Hey, how come you’ll call me Tony when you’re half-unconscious but not when you’re actually awake?”
Peter suspected that Tony was mostly feeling great because of a massive amount of caffeine, if his run-on sentences were anything to go by. He felt a moment of jealousy - he was six weeks into a total caffeine ban after May caught him downing five cans of Red Bull following a patrol that had ended an hour before he was due to sit an AP exam. “Was there a point to you forcing your call through to my phone? Because I don’t mean to be rude, Mr. Stark, I like talking to you and everything, but I only got home from patrol at three and I’m tired.” Oops. And there was his early morning lack of filter.
“May still got you on that caffeine ban, huh? You’re very direct when you’re tired, did you know that?” Tony took a sip from his mug of coffee, and Peter caught a flash of the Spider-Man symbol printed on the side. That was almost enough to make him forgive Tony for his blatant caffeine consumption. “I was calling to see if you wanted to come up to the compound today and mess around with a few concepts for upgrading your suit, but if it’s not a good time - ”
Peter sat up so fast he nearly brained himself on the slats of the top bunk. “Yes! I mean, I gotta ask May, but yeah, that’d be great, thanks Mr. Stark.”
“Already talked to May, she said yes to you coming over and staying the night. Get moving kid, Happy will be at your place in fifteen. See you in a couple hours.” Tony ended the call on a wink.
Peter flung himself out of bed, standing in the middle of his room and looking wildly about as he planned what he needed to take, before pulling open his closet and looking for the overnight bag Tony and Pepper had given him for his sixteenth birthday. With the exception of the suit, it was the most expensive thing he’d ever owned - it probably cost more than the entire contents of his closet, and he lived in constant fear of somehow losing or damaging it.
“May!” he called, panicking when the bag was nowhere to be found. “Have you seen my bag? The one Mr. Stark and Pepper gave me?”
His bedroom door swung open and May stood in the doorway, his bag in her outstretched hand. “All packed and ready to go, baby.” At his confused look, she smiled. “Tony called last night when you were on patrol, so I packed for you and told him to call you this morning.”
“You’re the best, May,” he said, kissing her on the cheek as he slipped past her to head for the bathroom.
“And don’t you forget it,” she called after him. “I’ll have breakfast to go waiting for you.”
Exactly ten minutes later, Peter was sitting in the back of the Audi Happy always picked him up in, clutching a breakfast burrito in one hand and a blessed travel mug of coffee in the other, feeling slightly dazed.
“You OK there, kid? You look a little flustered.”
He met Happy’s gaze in the rear-view mirror. “Fifteen minutes ago I was asleep and dreaming about M - uh, I was dreaming, and now I’m in a car heading up to the Avengers compound to work with Tony Stark.” He shrugged, taking a bite out of the burrito. “And Mr. Stark woke me up by forcing a video call through to my phone.”
Happy chuckled, turning his attention back to the road and pulling out into traffic. “Yeah, Tony’s done that to me a buncha times. He stopped when he caught me – well, you don’t need to know what he caught me doing, but he doesn’t do it anymore.”
It took everything Peter had to stop him screwing his face up in instinctive disgust at the idea of Happy doing whatever he’d been doing and covered it by taking a sip of coffee. His timing was bad, because Happy spoke again. “Maybe he could catch you with MJ.”
Peter gulped his coffee down and breathed in at the same time and coughed so hard he thought he was going to hack up a lung. “Happy!” he rasped, when he was able to breathe again. “Me and MJ – we’re not – you know. We’re not even dating.”
“Only in your dreams, right kid?” Happy said, with a knowing tone. “You should ask her out. You talk about her all the time.”
“I talk about Ned all the time but you’re not telling me to ask him out,” Peter mumbled around a mouthful of burrito.
“That’s because you don’t look like a lovesick baby deer when you talk about Ned. All I hear from you is ‘MJ said this’, ‘MJ is so great’, ‘MJ is terrifying’. It’s like it’s 2011 again and I’m listening to Tony talk about Pepper.” Happy signaled to merge onto I-295, flipping off a car that tried to cut in. “What I’m saying is just ask her to be your little nerd girlfriend, and then you can mentally scar Tony for life and he’ll stop forcing video calls through to your phone.”
“Happy, stop,” Peter moaned. “MJ doesn’t even like me like that. We’re just friends.” He wasn’t about to tell Happy he thought MJ kinda liked him liked him, and that he was going to ask MJ out during the trip to Europe at the end of Junior year. OK, that was almost a year away, but he was a planner, and that plan involved – well, he wasn’t quite sure what, but it would be meaningful and heartfelt and away from New York and Spider-Man. It would just be Peter Parker and Michelle Jones in some romantic European city, and if he was lucky it’d play out like his dream.
“Sure, Parker, whatever you say,” Happy said, apparently deciding to humor him. “Finish your breakfast and go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we’re five minutes out.”
Never one to pass up the opportunity for a nap, Peter did as he was told. He spent the rest of the journey curled up against the window and lulled into a light doze, only stirring as they passed the Esopus fire department.
“We’re almost there, kid,” Happy said as the car turned on to the narrow, tree lined road that wound its way down to the compound. “Hey, you know this road is called Parker Avenue, right?”
He said it so casually, like he didn’t know that Peter had obsessively Google Street viewed as much of the area as possible. “Yeah, I know,” he replied. “Why?”
“Nothing really. I just thought it was a nice coincidence, Tony owning this place since before you were born, and the main road in being called Parker.” Happy pulled up at the security stop, flashing his ID at the bored looking guard stationed there, who waved them through. “You know you’re good for Tony, right?”
Startled by the question, Peter almost dropped his travel mug, his stickiness activating just in time to stop coffee spilling all over the expensive upholstery. “Uh – I – what?”
“You’re good for him. He’s really settled down with Pepper, the company is in better shape than ever, he’s sleeping properly for the first time in years, and he seems to get a kick out of spending time with you.” Happy parked up in front of the compound and then turned in his seat to look at Peter. “You’re a good kid. All I’m trying to say is I’m glad Tony found you.”
“Oh.” Unused to Happy showing him anything other than bemusement, Peter grabbed his bag and fumbled with the door handle, desperate to get out and break the awkward mood. “Uh, me too. Thanks for the ride, Happy.”
“You’re welcome, kid. I’ll be back tomorrow evening to take you home.” Happy, apparently feeling as awkward as Peter, made a show of busying himself looking through the glove compartment until Peter closed the door, then drove off.
Peter watched him drive away, then climbed the stairs up to the foyer, heading straight for the elevators up to Tony’s lab. “Hey FRIDAY! Could you take me up to Mr. Stark, please?”
“Good morning, Peter. Boss is waiting for you in lab two.” The elevator doors slid closed and the cab began to move smoothly up. “Are you enjoying your summer break from school?”
“It’s been great! May is letting me patrol every night until one, and Ned got the LEGO Saturn V as a reward for the results of his AP exams so we’re gonna build that next week,” Peter responded enthusiastically, long over the strangeness of making conversation with artificial intelligence. “Oh, and I keep seeing this dog when I’m out on patrol - he’s a husky and he’s such a good boy. His owner is this really sweet old lady, she’s like sixty, and I walk with her when she takes him out in the evening, because her husband died last year and she doesn’t like being on her own that time of night.”
The elevator doors opened, and Peter stepped out into the labs entrance hub. “Thanks, FRIDAY!” He dropped his bag outside the doors to lab two, then pushed them open to find Tony huddled over something on a lab bench. “Hey, Mr. Stark! Thanks for having me over.”
Tony swiveled around on his chair, grinning widely. “Hey kid. Did you manage to sleep on the ride over? I told Happy you were running on about five hours of shuteye and to let you rest.” He crossed the lab and pulled Peter into his side in a brief, one-armed hug as they walked back to the bench.
“Yeah, I zoned out for most of it. I’m good, May made me some coffee for the trip.”
Tony deposited him on a chair and then sat next to him, making a sweeping gesture that saved and cleared the hologrammatic schematics of the Iron Man suit he’d been working on, and bringing up the selection carousel for the Spider-Man suits.
“So, I ran with your suggestion of using your webbing as an underlying protective layer for the suit, and the initial tests are looking really promising for friction and fire resistance,” Tony said, expanding the schematics of a suit design Peter hadn’t seen before. “Even if the outer layer gets damaged, the webbing should hold up long enough to get yourself out of whatever dumbass situation you managed to get into.”
“Hey,” Peter grumbled, mildly offended. “The dumbass situations find me, not the other way around.”
Tony gave him The Look™ and even though he wasn’t a dad, he’d obviously been taking parenting lessons from May, because it made Peter confess every stupid thing he’d done recently.
“OK, so I guess accidentally knocking myself out with my own taser web was my fault. And that time I thought the mayor was breaking into her own office and I webbed her up was probably my fault too. But you have to admit my ass being set on fire wasn’t on me. And that did make me think about using my webs as fabric.” Tony raised an eyebrow and Peter sagged dejectedly. “I’m a dumbass, aren’t I?”
“The smartest dumbass I ever met, other than myself,” Tony confirmed. “When you’re old enough I’ll tell you about what happened in Vegas. It involves superglue, a massive amount of alcohol, and a poker chip, and you can’t hear about it until you’re twenty-one because I think telling you now would count as corrupting a minor.”
“Can you wait until I’m like, forty? I don’t think I’m ever going to be old enough to hear that story, Mr. Stark. The trauma of future me is so strong that it’s radiating back through time to current me.”
Tony snorted. “Trauma builds character, just like having your ass catch fire inspires innovation.” He tapped some codes into the system, and a half-scale, three-dimensional full color projection of the new suit formed in the air in front of them. “Take a look, see what you think. If you like it, I’ll start the building process and you can take it for a spin this afternoon.”
Peter reached out and moved the projection back and forth. “Did you change the color scheme? This looks red and black.”
“Thought it might be time for an image over-haul. Tone down the primary colors, make things a bit sleeker, a little more grown-up.”
Peter bit his lip, trying to say what he was feeling without sounding ungrateful. “And it looks great Mr. Stark, it really does, but I like the red and blue. Could we change the color back?” His voice wobbled and he swallowed in an effort to cover it up. “You know what, never mind, the red and black is fine.” He turned his seat back to face the lab bench, ducking his head and pretending to concentrate on the coding displayed on the StarkPad set into the surface.
Tony spun Peter back to face him, turning him with a hand against his knee. “Kid, you can have red and blue, it’s not a problem. Why are you so attached to that color scheme, anyway?”
Peter twitched a shoulder up in a one-sided shrug. “I just like it, is all.”
“Pete,” Tony said quietly. “C’mon, I can see you’re upset, and I’m not that great at comforting people, so why don’t you just talk to me?”
“I chose red and blue because they’re the colors of the NASA logo,” Peter said, twisting his fingers together. Tony didn’t say anything, just looked at him with a soft, sad expression on his face, like he knew there was more to it. “Ben – my uncle – he loved NASA, like full-on fanboy. He was a cop, but when he was a kid, he wanted to work in mission control. He was born in 1961, so he grew up during the space race, watched all the moon landings, and he had all these binders full of newspapers and magazines.”
“I wish I’d been around for the moon landings,” Tony said, and Peter believed it – he had a look of childlike wonder, the same look Ben used to have whenever he talked about it. “’We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard.’ How can you not be inspired by that?” He gave a little chuckle. “Sorry kid, my futurist is showing.”
“No, it’s fine, that speech was Ben’s favorite, he had it pretty much memorized. He used to tell me all about the NASA missions at bedtime, and I when I started really getting into geometry, he got me copies of Katherine Johnson’s calculations. NASA was our thing, you know? He was going to pull me out of school to go watch an Atlas V launch, we had a whole road trip planned. But he died the night before. He knew about my powers, did I tell you that?”
Tony shook his head, and Peter carried on. “The night he died, we went for a walk, and he got the story out of me about the spider bite, what I could do, and he told me that I had power, and that meant I had a responsibility to do good with it. All I wanted to do was make a stupid YouTube channel and post videos of me doing pointless shit, and we argued. And then we walked right into the middle of a bodega robbery and he was shot.
“May came and got me from the hospital they took me and Ben to, and when we got home, she made me take a shower because I – because I was covered in blood. She grabbed me some pajama pants and this shirt.” He gestured at the NASA t-shirt he was wearing. “This was his, but it was mixed up with my laundry and she didn’t realize. We just sat on the couch together and cried for most of the night until May fell asleep. I couldn’t switch my brain off though, couldn’t stop thinking about how if I’d – “ he trailed off, his voice thickening with impending tears. “How if I’d stepped in front of him, he’d still be alive.”
“And you might be dead,” Tony said softly. “And I can guarantee that out of the two, he’d choose you living over himself.” He placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder, squeezing it gently. “He’d be so damn proud of you, Pete.”
Peter sniffed, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes to stem the tears, but they kept coming, and so did the words. “The next morning, I decided I’d use my powers to do good like he wanted me to, and I looked down at his t-shirt and that’s when I chose red and blue for Spider-Man’s colors. Because it’s like having Ben with me when I’m out on patrol, reminding me why I’m doing it, who I’m doing it for.”
“Jesus Pete, I don’t know what to say.” Tony slipped off his chair, then pulled Peter off his own chair wrapped him in a tight hug.
Surprised, Peter momentarily tensed up before relaxing into it, bringing his arms up to make the hug a mutual one. “Oh,” he said, his face pressed against Tony’s shoulder. “Are we there?”
“We’re there,” Tony confirmed, slapping his back and then stepping out of the hug. “Kid, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have changed the design without talking to you first.” He made a move to delete the schematics, and Peter reached out to push his hand down, before closing the projection with a pinching motion.
“No, keep it,” he said. “It’s not that I don’t like it, I do, I’m just – not ready.”
“That’s fine, we can use the old external design and lay it over the new internal structure.” Tony paused, the moment still and quiet and loaded with emotion. “And it’s also fine if you’re never ready, too.” He cleared his throat and picked up his phone, rapidly tapping out a message to someone. “Give me a minute, and I’ll show you how to isolate design elements and combine them into one suit.”
Peter felt a wave of relief that Tony had understood. It had to seem like something so small and insignificant, but the idea of being Spider-Man without his own, private tribute to his uncle felt wrong. He knew that feeling might change in the future, but for now, the red and blue was like a comfort blanket he drew around himself every time he pulled on the suit. “Thanks, Tony.”
Tony looked up from typing something into his phone, and the smile that lit up his face made Peter’s internal struggle to say ‘Tony’ rather than ‘Mr. Stark’ totally worth the effort. “See, that wasn’t hard, was it? I knew you could do it.”
“I can only do it under a really specific set of circumstances, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, struggling to keep the smirk off his face.
Tony put his phone down, obviously not feeling the need to keep his own smirk in check. “Do those specific set of circumstances include us flying down to Florida next month to watch the Falcon 9 launch from Kennedy, followed by a private tour of the center?”
“Are you joking?” Peter gasped. “Please tell me you’re not joking, Tony. Because if you’re joking there’s a chance I might die of disappointment and you said if anything happens to me, it’s on you, and that’d definitely be on you. Really? You’re actually taking me to the Kennedy Space Center?”
“Glad to see that warrants a ‘Tony’. And yup. Got a buddy from MIT who works in Launch Control, he’s always inviting me down there for a tour. I’ve already squared it away with May.”
Impulsively, Peter flung his arms around Tony in a brief hug. “You’re the best Mr. Stark – “ he faltered at the look that got him – “Tony. Thank you so much.”
“It’s nothing, kid.” Tony waved it off, like his statement was actually true. “You work hard, it’s about time you had a little R&R to make up for it. And talking of hard work, come on, we’ve got a suit to build.”
It was an awkward segue, but Peter eagerly got to work, glad to move on from the unexpected emotion of their morning. Tony coached him step by step through how to use the system, and Peter clumsily mirrored his smooth, practiced gestures again and again until they were in perfect synch, hands moving gracefully through the air as they uploaded the finalized plan to the construction capsule.
Tony wasn’t a replacement for Ben. He had his own distinct role and place in Peter’s life, a mentor and a friend and a father figure all wrapped up in one, and Peter was pretty sure that Tony cared for him in the same mixed up way, the lines starting to blur in their relationship.
“Tony?” The name was starting to have emotional weight in his mind and on his lips, like saying May,or Ben, a whole lot of meaning and emotion caught up in two small syllables.
“Hmm?” Tony looked up from watching the webbing under-suit forming in the construction capsule, his usually coiffed hair curling loosely over his forehead, and his eyes bright and unguarded without his glasses. He looked relaxed and happy, nothing like the carefully controlled Tony Stark image he presented to the world every time he left the sanctuary of the compound or Tower.
“I’m really glad I met you.”
Tony looked surprised, and tried to hide it with a sniff, but he gave Peter a soft smile. “Yeah? Same, kid.”
Peter wasn’t ready to leave behind the red and blue, but he felt like one day, red would mean Ben and black would mean Tony, and it would just feel right to wear their colors together.
***
Seven years later, but only one year older, Peter, weary, battle worn and determined, stands in a jet as it hovers above a field of tulips and decides that he’s finally ready to use the red and black suit.
When he glides down towards Tower Bridge and the biggest solo fight of his life, it feels like Ben and Tony are there keeping him safe, their colors wrapped around his body like a talisman. Proof that they existed. That they loved him. That he’s got this.
They’ve returned to stardust, but that doesn’t mean they’re gone.
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50 Questions You Have Never Been Asked
i was tagged by @loverofelves :3c thank u <3
1. What is the color of your hairbrush?
black, nothing special, my mom got it from a dollar store for me bc my old one was literally falling apart but i refused to replace it
2. A food you never eat?
the only thing i can think of that i would probably not eat even if that meant it gets thrown away is steak, or any cut of red meat. i have a lot of trouble swallowing it for some reason. most other foods i hate i would still rather eat than waste them
3. Are you typically too warm or too cold?
theres no really comfortable temperature for me i think. im always either too warm or too cold. but since i spend most time in my bedroom which only gets sunlight for about 4 hours a day, im usually too cold
4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago?
painting with watercolours and listening to music
5. What is your favorite candy bar?
i avoid sweets so i dont really know the different breeds of candy bar
6. Have you ever been to a professional sporting event?
ive participated in a few swimming tournaments when i was younger and a friend dragged me to see an ice hockey match a few years ago
7. What was the last thing you said out loud?
'hey’ at my cats because they were climbing my shelf....
8. What is your favorite ice cream?
not really a flavour, but strawberry sundae, with real strawberries and white chocolate... theres nothing quite like it
9. What was the last thing you had to drink?
tap water
10. Do you like your wallet?
its a huge black leather wallet. i wanted one like this really bad when i was like 14 yrs old, now i kinda think its too big. but i like that it has space for all kinds of clutter like cards and pictures... i want to say i feel neutral about it but considering how long ive had it im probably at least a little attached
11. What was the last thing you ate?
a small bowl of plain oats with milk for breakfast
12. Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?
no... im saving my money for useless things rn!
13. The last sporting event you watched?
im really not into sports so whenever i watch sports it i dont do so deliberately. uhm. i think biathlon was on tv one time a few months ago when i visited my dad
14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn?
i like it when its sweet but not so much that your fingers get terribly sticky from it
15. Who was the last person you sent a text message to?
my dad probably
16. Ever go camping?
yea i went camping w my dad a lot when i was younger, almost every summer for 8 years. im mentioning my dad a lot here. we are not as close as one might think
17. Do you take vitamins?
no
18. Do you go to church every Sunday?
no im too pretty
19. Do you have a tan?
no, but my right arm is a bit red from sitting on my balcony too long yesterday
20. Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?
depends entirely on my mood, i dont have a general preference
21. Do you drink your soda with a straw?
only when i want to act like a slut which is never
22. What color socks do you usually wear?
i usually wear black tights
23. Ever drive above the speed limit?
I CANT DRIVE AND I NEVER WILL and if you drive above the speed limit thats +5 on your sin counter. i will know
24. What terrifies you?
those scary creepypasta images, communication, and anything unpredictable. also the possibility that jjba part 7 will be animated entirely in cgi
25. Look to your left what do you see?
a manga panel of dio i traced and taped to my wall, a bunch of jjba prints, and a tiny sticker of diego
26. What core do you hate?
if this is about music... i actually dont even want to spell out the name of that genre, thats how disgusting it is. its got to do with anime
27. What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?
that time in like, 7th grade, where english class was mostly about learning australian vocabulary
28. What is your favorite soda?
i dont drink soda im so scared of the liquid sugar but like cherry or vanilla coke probably
29. Do you go into a fast food place or just hit the drive through?
i dont ever go to fast food places, but if i did id hit the drive thru. inside its too loud and i hate when people can watch me eat
30. Who was the last person you talked to?
in person... my dad i think
31. Favorite cut of beef?
its all bad
32. Last song you listened to?
all the fools sailed away by dio (the band with real life people in it)
33. Last book you read?
der unsichtbare apfel by robert gwisdek. im still reading it actually im just too busy to finish anything rn
34. Favorite day of the week?
saturday of course!! although last night there was someone in front of my window at 3am who screamed for two seconds for seemingly no reason. this stuff doesnt happen on weekdays
35. Can you say the alphabet backwards?
no and im self conscious about it
36. How do you like your coffee?
black!!
37. Favorite pair of shoes?
my dr martens mary janes... easy to get in and out of... simple... cute... whats not to love. theyre starting to fall apart tho bc i wear them all the time
38. At what time do you usually go to bed?
between 9 and 11 pm
39. At what time do you normally get up?
between 5 and 9 am
40. What do you prefer - sunrises or sunsets?
emotionally, sunrises bc sunsets remind me that the day is over and my time has run out... but aesthetically, sunsets
41. How many blankets are on your bed?
two, one weighted and one normal
42. Describe your kitchen plates?
plain white... super boring and i hate them but i used to live with a minimalist and tried to be considerate to avoid conflict
43. Do you have a favorite alcoholic beverage?
rum w cola or pina coladas, but i usually avoid alcohol. makes me feel like a soggy sponge and so sleepy. hate it
44. Do you play cards?
no all card games are bad!!
45. What color is your car?
i cant drive
46. Can you change a tire?
i cant even consider learning how to do it
47. What is your favorite province?
*nods*
48. Favorite job you ever had?
i hate jobs and careers and i would sooner let myself get exploded into a thousand pieces by impact with a speeding train than take up a job again
49. How did you get your biggest scar?
i was 15, in a really bad place mentally, and tried to make a point to someone... uh oh!
50. What did you do today that made someone happy?
this question is guilt tripping me
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