#i agree everyone should listen to the full thing Or Else

[nanenna]

A bit of detective work

A continuation of this post, now separated so you don't have to scroll forever to get to the newest installment. Also: masterpost

---

After escorting the Fentons back to their home, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Constantine mutually agreed it was best to stick around Amity Park for a little while. Constantine wandered off to look around on the civilian side, while Batman of course kept his promise to excuse Danny from school. Wonder Woman, also of course, kept with him. Sadly even as a very prominent member of the Justice League, well known to be one of the founders, somehow in situations like this it always took twice as long to get anywhere with civilians if he didn’t have at least one other League member with him.

“Hello, how can I help you?” the secretary asked with a forced grin as the two heroes entered the school’s front office.

“Good morning,” Diana said cheerfully, thankfully taking point. “I’m not sure who we should speak to, we’re here to excuse a student.”

“Oh, you are?” The secretary looked unsure, glancing back and forth between the two heroes.

“Yes, he’s currently marked with an unexcused absence, we’re here to change it to an excused absence.”

“Right…” the secretary squinted up at them suspiciously. Or rather, up at Diana suspiciously. “Well, if you would just hold on one moment please.” The secretary picked up an old style land line and pressed a button. “Principal Ishiyama, there’s a Mr. Batman and a… Ms. Wonder Woman here, they wish to speak about a student’s absence.” The secretary made a few “I’m listening” sounds before hanging up. They turned their attention back to the League members. “Principal Ishiyama’s office is just down that hall.”

“Thank you!” Diana beamed at the secretary before walking confidently down the hallway, Batman at his side.

The inside of Principal Ishiyama’s office is rather cramped,clearly intended pubescent children and not adults who keep such active lifestyles. Diana graciously sits in one of the austere, hard chairs. Batman chooses to remain standing.

“Now, what’s this all about?” Ishiyama asked, eyeing Wonder Woman warily.

How odd, it was usually Batman that everyone eyed suspiciously.

“We’re here about Daniel Fenton’s absence,” Diana started. She paused long enough for the principal to pull up the young man’s information. “The investigation is ongoing so we can’t give out any details, but last night we rescued Danny from kidnappers. He has been returned to his parents, but for obvious reasons he will not be back in school today.”

“Ah, I see,” the principal said. She did not seem to see. “And you want his absence excused?”

“If the police had come to you saying he’d been kidnapped,” Batman stated clinically.

“Yes, right, of course.” The principal set about clicking a few things on her computer before returning her full attention to the heroes. “Was there anything else?”

It was almost refreshing how easy that had been. Normally Batman would have to lay out what he meant in excruciating detail and have whoever was with him repeat it before a civilian in half a position of power listened to him, outside of Gotham anyway. “Dr. Madeline Fenton was upset not to have been informed of Danny’s absence,” Batman stated.

Ishiyama flinched, “Oh dear. Thank you for warning me, I shall look into that before they arrive later.” She rubbed the bridge of her nose.

“Dr. Madeline Fenton also stated that everyone in Amity Park knows about the Ghost King.”

“Ghost King?” The principal looked up in surprise, “What does he…? No wait, ongoing investigation.” She side eyed Diana warily, then sighed as she looked back towards Batman. “Last year the Ghost King got out of his sarcophagus, we still don’t know how, and pulled all of Amity Park into the Ghost Zone. Fortunately Phantom, along with the help of most of the town, managed to put him back in the sarcophagus.”

“Why didn’t you contact the Justice League for help?” Diana asked with a frown on her face.

“How were we supposed to do that from inside the Ghost Zone?” The principal asked with a raised brow. “By the time we were back in the real world everything was over and dealt with, aside from cleaning up all the damage his army of skeletons did.”

“And Phantom is?” Batman prompted.

“Out local hero, I suppose. At first he was a menace, but recently the good he does far outweighs the inevitable collateral damage.”

Batman leaned forward, looming over Ishiyama’s desk. “Are you aware the Justice League has programs specifically meant to give support to minors doing hero work?”

“I was not, but considering Phantom is a ghost we’re not sure exactly how old he is. Either way, you’re here now.”

“Yes, and we should speak with the mayor about the supervillain attack recovery programs the Justice League also has.”

Ishiyama smiled and nodded along, “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

Once out of the school and walking towards city hall, Diana turned to Bruce. “Phantom is a minor?”

“He is described as appearing to be in his mid-teens, strangely no photos of him despite there being photos of other ghosts all over the residents’ social medias and newspaper articles.”

“That is odd,” Diana mused.

“This whole town is odd,” Constantine said as he sidled up to them. “Apparently getting sucked into, and I quote, the lime jello dimension by the ghost king is just another Tuesday here.”

“The principal called it the Ghost Zone,” Diana supplied.

“A silly thing to call the Infinite Realms, but not the silliest name it’s been given over the eons. What I don’t get is how Pariah Dark got bloody out for a day and not one single person noticed, that should’ve been a huge event everyone even remotely sensitive to æther should’ve felt.”

“You believe someone intentionally hid this event?” Batman asked.

“It’s the only thing that makes a lick of sense, but that would take either someone scarily powerful or a group of very powerful people. And that’s not even getting into the why.”

“Perhaps this cult wasn’t the first to attempt to summon him,” Batman mused darkly. “Someone chose to release him, and since Amity Park is already a ghost hotspot I can see why this is where they’d choose to attempt such a thing.”

Constantine nodded along, “I was thinking the same thing. But it gets worse, no one in the JLD has heard or sensed a single thing about this town before today. I’m thinking it’s less someone chose to cloak Pariah Dark specifically and more someone is cloaking the whole town and everything going on inside it.”

“Then how did whoever freed Pariah Dark know to come here for their attempt?” Diana asked, “How did this cult know enough to use one of the residents as a sacrifice?”

“Ain’t that just the million pound question?” Constantine asked airily. “Along with: how did they even get into the Infinite Realms to let the bloody tyrant out?” The group fell into silence, no one having an answer to that question. “So, what next?”

“We’re heading to the mayor’s office to make sure they’re aware of Justice League resources that are available to anyone who’s suffered from villain attacks,” Diana answered.

“Despite numerous attacks and complaints of collateral damage, not one request from Amity Park for villain attack relief,” Batman added.

“Now that is interesting,” Constantine said.

[ephemeralinstance]

Solas has always been right before

I know we all joke about how Solas' plans always go wrong. But while the details of practical implementation do not seem to be his strong point, it's notable that up until the present day Solas' moral compass has always been rock solid.

He was right that the spirits taking lyrium would have negative consequences. He was right that using the dagger against the Titans was an awful thing to do and would lead to further negative consequences. He was right that the Evanuris were tyrants and he was right to rebel against them. He was right to tell Mythal she shouldn't go back to the Evanuris. And from what we saw of Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, it seems pretty clear that he was right to make the Veil, since otherwise they really would have destroyed the world (the practical implementation of this plan was not the best, of course, but the judgement that the Evanuris needed to be stopped by any means necessary seems right).

This is important context, because people often suggest that Solas is excessively prideful for deciding to take down the Veil without listening to anyone else's views on the matter. While there's certainly some pride involved, it's very relevant that Solas has spent his whole life in situations where he was the lone voice speaking in favor of what is right. He's learned to trust his own moral compass because in the instances when he let himself be swayed, terrible things happened. From that point of view, it's not so unreasonable that he doesn't change his mind about the Veil just because most others disagree.

Moreover, in this particular case, there's a specific reason why the judgement of others on this matter would be compromised: the Chantry has been propagating prejudice and lies about spirits for hundreds of years, and everyone in modern Thedas, even those who are not Andrastians, is to some degree influenced by that. By contrast, Solas was once a spirit and remains close to many spirits. To me it seems completely reasonable that he's unwilling to accept as valid the opinion of someone who does not see spirits as people or is afraid of them (such as Varric!). I also would not accept as valid the opinion of someone who denied the personhood of some group like this.

This context also sheds light on Solas' decision to act alone. Agreed, in light of his track record he should have anticipated that if he tried to take down the Veil all alone it would go badly. But also, he had very limited options. Given the extreme prejudice toward spirits throughout Thedas, he is justifiably pessimistic about the chances of anyone understanding his reasoning and wanting to help. We know some elves were working for him, but they most likely didn't know the full details of what he was planning to do, and I imagine he eventually started to feel guilty about manipulating them like that. And looking at his friends in the Inquisition, probably the only person who might have listened to him about this is maybe the Inquisitor in some world states. It therefore seems a little unfair when the narrative criticizes him for acting alone - realistically, what else was he supposed to do?

Indeed, in light of all this it is surely natural to wonder if maybe he is right again. He clearly has good moral judgement, after all, and he has far more information about the Veil and the Fade than any of the people opposing him. It's true that there are some strong emotions involved which might compromise his rationality; but on the other hand nearly everyone else in Thedas also has their judgement compromised, by irrational prejudices against spirits and mages, so it's not obvious that Solas is automatically in the wrong just because he's motivated in part by regret and grief.

Of course, the details of the implementation need more work! But implementation aside, on just the principle of the thing, the choice to show him consistently being right in the past means there's every reason to think Solas could very well be right about the morally correct course of action with regard to the Veil. And Rook&co could be just another entry on the long list of people who did the wrong thing and caused harm because they didn't listen to him.

[inuyashaluver]

hello! can i request an enemies to lovers fic for misa?!?! i absolutely love your fics and theres barely any fics about her so i thought why not

change of heart - misa rodriguez

misa rodriguez x reader

description: in which your relationship with your ultimate enemy takes a turn when she helps you through a tough time

warnings: it’s a long one buckle in, swearing, fighting, suggestive, spanish in bold italics

a/n: finally misa!!! thank you for the love and support, babe, please enjoy!! ❤️

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

maría isabel rodriguez rivero, or misa if you will, was the bane of your existence. she was ill-tempered, absolutely insufferable when you couldn’t get a ball past her, arrogant and more. she was also gorgeous but you’d never say it out loud.

you couldn’t understand misa and she couldn’t understand you, the two of you just didn’t get along.

you were on the same team always, but it always felt like a competition between the two of you. sure you were a midfielder and she was a goalkeeper but that didn’t mean the hate didn’t stem.

it’s always been like that, especially in the spanish youth teams, you had the ability to push misa’s buttons in a way she couldn’t explain and vice versa. there was never a pivotal moment where the hatred began but you both knew it steadily developed as you got older.

—

“misa, we’re just training, calm down!” a 16 year old you screamed when she dove for your strike, a harsh smack sounding as she caught it.

“we may be training but that doesn’t mean we get lazy, chiquitín (small one)” misa smirked, kicking a long ball way past you. you send her a glare, cursing her under your breath as you went to retrieve the ball.

by the time you got back, she was doing her keeper duties, but with much less intensity, clearly only going full out when you were the one kicking the ball.

“i thought we shouldn’t get lazy, misa?” you teased, cocking your head to the side and offering her a cheeky grin that made her blood boil.

“fuck off, lay it on me then” she challenged angrily, everyone could feel the tension between the two of you but chose to watch in amusement. this happened every two minutes on the daily and everyone was so used to it.

“i fucking will” you bite back, striking the ball before she had time to think and sending it dangerously close to her face, sailing past her into the back of the net. “no, you’re a cheater, i wasn’t ready,” misa barked, you shrug at her

“you don’t get time to prepare for your little tea party in a match, rodriguez” you taunt, that’s when misa lost it. she walked over to you, standing chest to chest as she glared down at you, you could feel her anger bubbling in your entire body as your eyes challenged hers.

“listen here, princesa (princess), this little attitude of yours is a bad look” she said lowly with mock sympathy. she was clearly trying to rile you up, and sure, maybe you should ignore it but you couldn’t with this girl, no matter how hard you tried.

“my attitude? your fucking ego is the only thing that enjoys a solo performance more than you do” you scoff, she smirks amusingly, moving her face dangerously close to yours as you swallowed hard.

her scent was enveloping you, it was crazy how good she smelled after a training session but you squashed that thought down quickly.

she chose to just keep her face close to yours, her eyes boring into yours while that fucking smirk was plastered on her face.

she looked down at your lips, chuckled and moved past you, letting you stand there with slightly pink cheeks. must be from the heat.

—

for years the snarky remarks continued, tension rose and stemmed the basis of you and misa’s weird relationship. in reality, something else was growing under the surface. attraction.

you both played together in the under 19 spain team and your fellow teammates could all agree that both of you managed to hate each other even more, believing it was physically impossible but you and misa were always overachievers.

“move” misa grumbles as you were talking with ona, shoving you towards the girl, making you stumble before you snap your head towards misa. “you’re such a treat” you glare at her, ona makes quick work of helping you stand after she giggled at the two of you.

misa watches as you stand, making her grin and blow you an exaggerated air kiss. “always such a pleasure to see you” she mocks, you roll your eyes at her and she smiles satisfied, moving to change into her kit in her cubby.

you hate to admit that your eyes lingered on the girl as she changed, the muscles in her back rippling against her skin when she tugged on her keeper kit.

you were distracted, not even processing that aitana had joined your conversation, coming back to life when she sends you a sharp smack on the back of your head.

“ow! what the fuck?” you yelp, turning to a grinning aitana and ona, misa’s head followed the sound of your voice, her eyebrows furrowed thinking you were in pain.

“welcome to earth” aitana smirks, you huff out in frustration and urge her to continue the conversation, your eyes flickering over to see that misa was already watching you.

“can i help you, rodriguez?” you call out, she shakes her head, “nope”, flipping you off before walking out of the room. your eyes followed her as she walked out, feeling a little disappointed when she was gone.

well, you were disappointed until training started. “come on, is that all you’ve got?” misa taunted, her signature smirk that pissed you off like no tomorrow evident on her face as she caught the fifth ball you’d sent her way.

“you never change, we’re practising!” you huff, hands stationary on your hips as you glared at her, “you never change, you’re lazy” misa teases, you close your eyes in frustration, taking a deep breath as she laughed at you.

“you’re so fucking annoying, misa!” you groan, “don’t be mad, princesa (princess), you’ll get one past me eventually” she throws you a thumbs up with her gloves, you send her a charming smile, kicking the ball hard way over the goal, making her send you a glare when she had to go and get it.

“you give into her every time” ona chuckles, her arm thrown over your shoulder. when misa came back and saw ona holding you close, a funny feeling brewed in her stomach, she wanted to be like that with you, but you hated her. and she hated you.

—

you and misa got signed to real madrid at the same time and it was purely unintentional. when you both came to training for the first time, you swore you had a heart attack seeing her in the kit.

“you just cannot get enough of me” misa says in mock disbelief, trying really hard not to laugh at your face right now, you were shocked.

“what the fuck are you doing here?” you exhale, watching as misa chuckled at you. “i play for madrid now” she starts, “you look nice,” smiling before tugging the bottom of your training top quickly before moving past you.

your cheeks instantly turned pink, mouth a little agape as she smiled at you over her shoulder, making sure you had to open the door yourself.

the first game you and misa played for madrid changed something slightly between the two of you. the tension between you two finally acknowledged a little when you got a hatrick.

at the end of the game, you felt a hand on your shoulder spinning you around as you did your appreciation lap, “always so greedy, you just had to get three goals?” misa teased, you roll your eyes amusingly, her hand still on your shoulder.

“i was imagining you as the keeper” you smirk, she laughs at that, “you wish” you laugh along with her, both of you with gentle smiles on your faces before you realised what was happening.

you were bantering without any malice, that was a first.

—

the months went by and slowly you and misa got closer? that’s not the right term but it kinda was. the two of you were more or less a little more friendly, mainly through moments that people on the outside viewed as normal but very different for you and misa.

for instance, misa would make an effort to help you out occasionally. helping you out on your tracker as you pathetically tried to yourself.

“you’re embarrassing yourself” misa laughs, grabbing your hips to hold you still, your breath hitched as you felt her fingers on your skin, you were burning.

she takes the tracker from your hands and slips it in the back of your training top, lightly tapping it with her hand before pulling your top down for you.

“i had it” you breathe out, “mhm, sure you did” she winks, placing a hand on your waist before moving past you. you stood there a little dumbfounded, that was nice, and why did you like the feeling of her hands on your skin?

during that training session, she analysed your every move, misa came to terms with having different feelings about you. they were always there of course, but it was different now when she finally accepted them.

you as well couldn’t keep your eyes off misa, often making eye contact with each other before you ripped your gaze away, afraid she’d see how red your face got when she caught you staring. but she did see it, and she loved it.

during shooting practice, misa let you get three goals past her and it pissed you off. “why are you going easy on me?” you exclaim, misa holds her hands up in front of her with a little laugh, “i’d never take it easy on you,” you narrow your eyes at her unconvinced, kicking the ball softly and watching as it rolled in the net, slowly, misa just watched as it moved past her.

“rodriguez, what the fuck!” you throw your arms up, misa laughs brightly, “you’re too good for me now, miss madrid!” she teased, you run your hands over your face, shaking your head.

you walk off to grab some water and misa came up shortly behind you, you wordlessly passed her water bottle to her and her eyes widen a little at the gesture, “thanks” she smiles quickly, her hands brushing yours as she took it, feeling a little jolt of electricity between both of you.

—

everything changed rapidly when you and misa played in the senior team for spain. as soon as the two of you didn’t come in like a thunder strike of an argument, the team was genuinely surprised.

they noticed the complete shift when both of you were starting and unfortunately, your team lost 3-2 in a final. you hadn’t managed to get a goal and you blamed yourself for the whole thing.

you fell to the ground when the final whistle blew, lying on your back with your arm over your eyes as tears rolled down your cheeks.

you weren’t there for long, you felt your body being pulled to an upright position and you let whoever it was do it. you sniffled and looked down at your legs before a gentle hand hooked under your chin and gently directed it upwards.

your eyes met with misa and it made you cry a little more, her heart broke at the sight of you, she’d never seen you cry before. she places a hand on the back of your head and pulled you close to her, tucking your face into her shoulder as you cried.

both of you said nothing, letting yourself melt into misa’s body as everything else tuned out. her other hand rubbed up and down your back, your arms eventually wound around her neck, pulling her closer as she rested her head against yours.

“you played so well,” misa cooed, dismissing all the questioning looks sent by your own teammates, misa only cared about one person and that was you.

“i wasn’t good enough” you mumble against her shirt, misa shook her head, “you’re always good enough, hermosa (beautiful), always” misa said in your ear, her hand on your back now moving in gentle circles as she drew you impossibly closer.

“we lost” you whined, misa tutted at that, “it doesn’t matter, we’ll get them next time” you pull away from her slightly, at arms length.

she smiles at you softly, her hand leaving your head to push a stray hair from your eyes before gently wiping the tears falling on your cheeks. the gesture was so intimate, your stomach was fluttering.

“who are you and what have you done with my misa?” you let out a wet laugh, she laughs along with you, pinching your cheek gently as you both sat on the ground.

“your misa?” she teases, you freeze up a little at that, attempting to pull yourself away from her embrace but she kept you close, pulling you into another hug.

“you’re okay” she breathes out, comforting you as you both conversed quietly back and forth, misa helping you calm down completely before helping you to the change room.

she holds out both of her hands with a friendly smile, you blink up at her and take them both, allowing her to lift you from the ground.

that’s when alexia and jenni came over and began to comfort you, your hands dropping from misa’s and instantly missing the contact.

she went around talking to your teammates as you all slowly filtered into the change room, celebrations still occurring in the change room despite the loss.

you sat quietly in your cubby, misa watched you concerned when you just sat there but she didn’t want to push you anymore.

you all made it back to your hotel, separate rooms for the first time in a while. you collapsed on the bed with an exhausted sigh, starting up at the ceiling while the tv gently filled the atmosphere.

at this point, all you could think about was misa, she was completely clouding up every thought in your head.

your body moving on its own, you walked to the door, swinging it open and letting out a little noise of surprise seeing misa on the other side already. you both clutched your chests in fear, breathing heavily at the fright you gave each other.

“sorry, were you going somewhere?” misa utters, you shook your head, “i was going to your room” you say a little sheepishly, misa’s never heard your voice so soft, especially directed to her.

“oh” she breathes out, you shift your weight between your feet, “do you want to come in?” you swallow, misa nods slowly, moving inside the room and closing the door behind her.

“i just wanted to check up on you” misa admitted, scratching the back of her neck bashfully.

your heart was beating so fast, you nervously glance up at misa before looking back down, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible. you could feel her eyes burning into your side profile, trying to see what your next move would be.

you clear your throat before sitting on the bed, your legs swinging over the edge, misa smiled at the sight, you looked adorable, she felt like she could see your younger self that she admired so much shining through.

she moved to sit next to you, her thigh slightly brushing yours as she sat down. “i feel bad, but i’ll be okay” you sigh, looking over to see her smiling sympathetically, she places a gentle hand on your knee.

“hermosa (beautiful), you played amazing, i really mean that,” she says earnestly, her hand gently squeezing your knee as she maintains eye contact with you.

you smile sadly at her, “so did you” she grins, “i let three go past me” you shake your head, “it doesn’t matter, misa, you played amazing as usual” her cheeks go a little pink at your compliment, “what have you done with my (y/n)” she mocks, bumping your shoulder with hers.

you laugh brightly, “your (y/n)?” you tease, but she just nods, “mhm, my (y/n)” her eyes flicker between your own, slightly dropping to your lips before catching herself and looking at her hand still resting on your knee, ready to move it away before you placed your hand over hers.

“misa” you breathe out, almost sounding like a plea as you looked at her, her heart caught in her throat, her eyes searching yours. she moved her hand to rest on your cheek, her thumb rubbing the skin there.

your eyes dropped to her lips and she took it as confirmation, closing the gap and placing her lips on yours. you gasp against her, your mouths moving together tenderly before she slipped her tongue in your mouth.

you weren’t sure how it happened but you ended up straddling her lap, both of you breathing heavily as the kiss grew a little hotter. she gently tugged at your bottom lip between her teeth and you whined into her, making her smirk lazily against your lips, squeezing the flesh of your waist as your hands carded through her hair.

you pull away in need of air, you and misa just looking at each other with pink cheeks and blown out pupils.

you pant as you look at her, smoothing down her hair with a giggle. “sorry” you smile, she smiles up at you adoringly, shaking her head lightly, “it’s okay” you keep your hands on her shoulders, your finger lightly grazing the exposed skin near her collar.

“you okay?” she whispers, the words hitting your lips, you nod, leaning forward to peck her lips sweetly, she smiles at you so brightly. “you okay?” you whisper back, she nods, bumping your nose with hers softly.

“if i told 16 year old (y/n) how good of a kisser you were, maybe she wouldn’t hate you as much” you tease, misa chuckles, pulling you in for another kiss, her hand cupping your jaw.

“if i told 16 year old misa all she had to do was kiss you to get you all sweet, i think she’d pass out” she teases back, you giggle, rolling your eyes fondly.

you tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, “you’re so beautiful” you say softly, “you’re more beautiful” she matches your energy, you both smile at each other sweetly.

“i like you, (y/n)” she looks right into your eyes as she says it, you offer her a cheesy grin, “i like you too” she mirrors your expression before pulling you into another kiss, becoming heated relatively quickly.

you pull away breathlessly making her huff in annoyance, “does this mean you’ll let me score against you?” you tease, she rolls her eyes with a laugh, “hm, maybe, bebé (baby)” she mumbles against your lips, pulling you back into the kiss.

—

when you both went to breakfast the next day and sat next to each other closely, you were offered wild looks of amusement.

“isn’t this a surprise” jenni laughed as her and alexia sat across the both of you. “what?” misa shrugged, “well you’re not fighting” alexia smiled, you rolled your eyes, arms crossing over your chest when you sat straight in your chair.

misa placed a hand on your thigh under the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. “we don’t fight all the time” misa defended, alexia laughed at that, yelling at ona and aitana for backup that they promptly gave.

“we made up ages ago” you narrow your eyes at alexia, she crinkled her nose at you teasingly, making you bite back a smile.

“oh don’t worry, we know you made up” jenni laughed, looking down at her plate with a smirk as she ate, “and what do you mean by that, jennifer?” you bite back, misa smiled amusingly, loving your feisty side.

“well the hickey on your neck says everything to me” she said simply, your eyes widen and your hand flung to your neck quickly, jenni laughs heartily, making alexia giggle too.

misa puts her head in her hands out of embarrassment now that the whole team was looking at you with teasing grins.

“i thought i heard something interesting last night, misa definitely got (y/n)’s forgiveness with what i heard” jenni teases, you glare at her, misa was bright red, “stop it, jenni” misa grits out,

“okay, i will” jenni smirks, continuing to eat her food before mocking your voice, “oh, misa, don’t stop” you gasp at that, ready to leap over the table to tackle the girl to the floor before you were held back by misa, the girl holding you firmly on her lap.

“misa” you whine, “no,” she reprimands, making you slouch into her, “i’ve never seen her so obedient” alexia smirks, you turn bright red, misa matches her smirk, running her hands up and down the side of your waist, promptly calming you down.

you both sat there like that for a bit until you had to get on the bus back to the airport. you and misa sit together and you both can’t help but relish in the affection and domesticity of being together.

you were cuddling into misa as you both chatted, laughing brightly with each other that had the whole team grinning.

it was extremely different from watching the two of you at each other's throats to seeing you all loved up but it was a happy change for everyone. especially you and misa.

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you know the drill, just pretend it’s you!!

liked by ona.batlle and 44,232 others

marisabel_rguez: who knew she was such a softie?

view all comments

yourname: fuck off

↳ marisabel_rguez: there she is!!

jennihermoso: i’ve learnt a lot of things about this one😉

↳ alexiaputellas: so have i

↳ marisabel_rguez: oh god, so have i

↳ yourname: stop it.

[shurisneakers]

unsolved (i)

Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or any shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)

Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, Very Loud reader, images and memes that all have alt texts.

A/N: yes this is literally harmless in a different font. do not ask me if anything doesn't make sense. i cannot explain. i resurface every 3 years to present you with ideas born from menty b's. ANYWAY shout out to my beloved ryan and shane. pls enjoy <3

Bucky doesn’t appeal to the youths.

Apparently. 

On God, he cannot fathom why.

He had definitely left the house in the last six months, maybe. Smiled in at least two pictures that existed on the internet. He even knew what Discord was. Sort of.  

By all accounts, he should be treated as the modern day icon that he was.  

“The youths?” he repeats, the word so foreign on his tongue it felt odd to even say it.

“Your numbers are the lowest of the whole team.” The latest tech-dude, with a tablet twelve models ahead of the one Bucky had in his room, tells him monotonously. “Wilson, Romanoff and Barton score the highest. Everyone else lies around the middle. You are dead-last.”

Bucky has the audacity to look offended. 

“Anything to say?” Their PR head, Maya, asks him, amused. 

He stares, formulating the wittiest one liner he could in three seconds.

“I don’ care,” he mumbles. 

Maya sighs. “Look, the team took the decision together. As far as I’m aware, you are still a member. You need some PR if you guys want to stay in the public’s good books.”

“No one’s gonna listen to me.” Bucky wasn’t exactly the poster child for American values. He couldn’t even vote until three years ago, and that came only after the full wrath of a Steve Rogers descended on the email inbox of the DMV. 

“That’s why it’s important to get them to like you,” Maya emphasizes. “Or the idea of you at least. A very sanitized, corporate friendly version.”

His eyebrow twitches unintentionally.  

“And also you signed the contract.”

Well. Shit. 

Truth be told– and he has openly and rather loudly stated this on numerous occasions even especially when no one asked– he doesn’t understand why they need a PR team. The world has calmed down significantly over the last few years. Bucky hadn’t really been out crime-fighting as much as he was people-watching. There hasn’t been an earth-shatteringly dystopian-level event in the longest time, and there seemed to be a group of spandex-clad teenagers who seemed to do a good job at taking care of them when they did threaten to occur. Go kids.

Even if they needed PR, he could arguably understand the appeal of Sam and Nat and why the people would want to see more of them. Bucky, on the other hand, looked like he crawled onto Earth most days of the week. 

“What do I have to do?” he asks ultimately, knowing there was no way to get out of this. “Interviews?”

The intern shares a look with Maya. Bucky shares a look with the ceiling. 

“The team agreed to do a series of videos, each focusing on a different niche,” she begins, “Crash courses on science, pointing out mistakes in spy movies. Once a week.”

Bucky nods along. He can pinpoint Bruce and Nat for those.

Maya stares at him.

Bucky stares back.

“So,” she says slowly, like he’s a moron, “you would–”

“No.” 

The intern sighs heavily like they discussed that this was going to happen. Bucky was getting predictable. This annoys him even further, for some reason.

“Only once a week, and it doesn’t have to be anything crazy–”

“I’m not doing videos,” he interjects. “I’ll tweet a few times. I’ll even go outside. But ’m not doin’ videos.”

A big step was to get the Avengers off Twitter after the regular shit-storm that occurs every time they’d quote-tweet another politician calling them shitheads. Getting them back on seems counterproductive. 

“Fine,” Maya relents, looking at the intern. “We'll work something out.”

Bucky leans back in his chair, and meditating on ways he can weasel his way out of those too.

So they stick him in a couple of interviews.

Bucky, as the recluse extraordinaire that he was, does unsurprisingly terrible at them.

Variety does a piece on him that was supposed to take up 2 pages. They send back half a page worth of usable material and Bucky gets a lecture on how monosyllables don't count as answers.

He grunts in return. Maya’s itch to smack his shoulder with the rolled up draft increases.

They set him up for pap walks. Just him getting fast food for the team, or sitting in the park.

They don’t take into account that Bucky was trained professionally for years on how to hide, sneak in and out of places without a soul knowing he was ever there. 

The paparazzi spend three hours waiting for him outside the pizza place, while he’s been home for two hours with two demolished pepperonis and an order of mozzarella sticks. 

They give him access to his Twitter. 

He tweets some dumb shit and gets shadow banned by that evening. 

Maya is sick and tired, and the interns have shifted three times since the whole ordeal started. Bucky honestly feels a little bad. Maybe he should try to be like Scott, who not only wrote a book, finger-gunned at photographers, did an interview a week, but also agreed to a podcast and a video series about literally anything they suggested. 

“Play nice,” Sam tells Bucky one evening. 

It’s an off-hand comment, not even really looking at him while he says it. 

Bucky doesn’t need to ask what he’s referring to, but he thinks that maybe he has gone too far.

He begrudgingly agrees. 

Therefore, it begins. 

They stick him in the background of a few videos. Just to interact, add his commentary on what was going on, suggestions. 

Then the jokes really start.

“I just don’t got anything to add,” Bucky tries, in a failure of an attempt to justify his lack of contribution. 

Maya only stares at him, but Bucky swears he can hear her curse quietly, even though her lips don’t move even a millimeter.  

He is not put in another video. 

And so he finds himself here. 

In a meeting room that he’s convinced is barricaded from the outside so he can’t slither out the door again. Another intern with pink-tinted glasses that took up half their face.

Maya’s in the midst of explaining to him that sure, his numbers had gone up by a decimal, but that was because people had started editing him into the backgrounds of other pictures for other users to find in a perplexing take on Where’s Waldo.

“Videos seem to be working,” she ties it together. “But we need more than you just standing silently behind Captain Rogers.”

“But it’s working,” Bucky objects. “I don’t see why it has to change.”

Maya sends him a glare. Bucky decides then it’s good to shut up. 

“Are you on the internet a significant amount?” the intern asks. The glasses on their face have changed colours to green. Bucky’s eyebrow furrows. 

“No.” 

For the next thirty minutes, he is subjected to a pop quiz about too many words ending with ‘core’, ‘coded’ and ‘eras’. He’s surprised that he knows what cottagecore is. He definitely doesn’t fucking know what a tomatogirl, nor does he want to. 

“What do you like doing?” the intern enunciates, pulling up a spreadsheet of niches that had built a dedicated community around themselves over the years. “Makeup? Cleaning? Parkour?”

Bucky wonders if they’d really create a montage of him just micro cleaning the kitchen every week. It doesn’t sound half bad. 

Beyond that, the only thing he can think of is woodworking, which Sam introduced him to. While he spends time creating little figures, he wouldn’t say it was– 

“You really are dead silent,” the intern breaks his train of thought, tone almost that of wonder. “Guess the whole ‘ghost story for seventy years’ is more true than I thought.”

Bucky throws him a weary look, and works on unclenching the fist that tightened involuntarily. 

“Was that necessary?” Maya’s voice comes coldly. “Take fifteen. Go find the other one we were supposed to meet.”

While sheepish and somewhat apologetic, the kid still looks relieved to be out of there. To be honest, Bucky isn’t really offended– he’s grown a thick skin over the years. But he also thought the guy was a little shit now. 

Maya turns back to him, but Bucky finds that the table contains wonders far more interesting than the conversation at hand.

“Back to what we were talking about.” She ruffles through something on her laptop. “Puppets? History?”

He wordlessly shakes his head. 

Been the former, seen too much of the latter.

Maya’s head tilts abruptly. “You like ghosts?”  

He wonders if the prior conversation had anything to do with this insightful question. 

Bucky shrugs. “Don’t exist.”

“Really,” Maya deadpans. “Aliens and multiversal baboons are fine, but no ghosts.”

“I’ve seen aliens and multiversal baboons. Never seen a ghost in my life,” Bucky argues right back.

“Other people have seen ghosts.”

“Good for other people.”

The door swings open right as Maya’s eyes narrow at him. Guess it wasn’t padlocked. 

“Whatever it is you think I did, Maya, I didn’t. I think,” you announce in a volume too much for a closed room, stopping when you see Bucky sitting cross-armed and looking delightfully disgruntled. “Oh hey, Barnes. Fancy seeing you here.”

Bucky had met you. The newest addition to the team that had made a grand entrance a couple of weeks ago. He thinks you stay on the floor below him, but he has nothing backing this hypothesis other than the disco funk music that had started appearing at odd hours of the night. 

“Please sit,” Maya cracks a smile at you that Bucky had yet to earn. “Sorry, I know our meeting is scheduled for later, but I figured we could kill two birds with one stone.”

You look between her and Bucky, who hasn’t moved an inch since you got here, much less even said hello.

“You must be really bad if Maya had to call me in,” you tell him outright. “I’m usually like, her last option.”

“Thanks,” Bucky replies dryly. 

“Look, here’s my final pitch.” Maya sighs, before turning to you. “You’re new, and we need something to introduce you slowly to the public.”

“Oh, am I finally getting hard launched?” You grin, and Bucky doesn’t know what that means. “Just imagine me kicking my feet, giggling or whatever.” 

“And he needs… an upgrade.” Maya’s thumb juts out towards Bucky who simply rolls his eyes.

“Right.” Your sight lands on him from across the table. “I’ve seen the memes.”

“What memes?” he grunts, because while the team had definitely seen them, it didn't occur to anyone they should show it to him. He loves them. Really. So much. Die for them. 

You only look too happy to pull out your phone and start typing.

“Do you know what skinwalkers are?” 

“No.”

“That’s what they say you look like, lurking in the back of all your friends’ videos,” you continue, swerving around your phone to show him.

Bucky doesn’t look impressed. He can’t say he blames them either, which makes him inexplicably maddens him.  

“At least they’re calling you their boyfriend,” you add, entirely unhelpfully. “That’s gotta count.”

“Right.” Maya clears her throat. “The both of you–” 

“Are getting paired together, I suppose,” you hum. 

Bucky’s eyebrows pull together. 

He barely knows you. Just a little bit on how you ended up here, that you enjoyed hanging out with the team, figuring out your place in the compound, and were seemingly doing a great job at it. 

You were… loud. And open. 

Bucky feels the compulsive need to compensate for that by doubling down on how silent he could get, as if the two of you couldn’t co-exist in the same space in equilibrium. 

Maya pointedly raises a finger at you. “Do you believe in ghosts?”

“For the right price, I will believe in whatever you tell me to.”

Her face lights up brighter than Bucky's ever seen.

“Great.” Maya slams her laptop closed. “See you later.”

Bucky’s left staring as she exits, not even throwing the both of you another look.

“That was quick,” your voice cuts through the silence. “What was that all about?”

 “Don’ ask me,” he grumbles, with a sinking feeling that he knew exactly what was about to follow. 

“Ghost hunting?” Bucky echoes a week later, as expected.

“Yes,” Maya tells him simply. “Two of you. A series based on paranormal activity.”

“I don’t even believe in them,” he reiterates. 

“That’s the point,” she emphasises. “Skeptic and believer. It makes for a good contrast.”

“Why us both?” He hopes it doesn’t come off as offensive. He just doesn’t see why he can’t do this with Sam. Even Clint, if a gun was really pressed to his head. 

“I’m new, no one gives a shit about me,” you say brightly and full of promise. “Yet.”

“Exactly. It’ll be low key. Not an overwhelming number of viewers, no expectations. It’s perfect for launching one Avenger and re-launching another.”

“Sounds rad.” You grin, leaning back as your feet rest on the chair in front of you.

Maya looks relieved for a moment that at least one of you was on board. “No promises on anything. We shoot one video, and if it does well, we stick with it.”

“What if I don’t want to?” Bucky argues. 

“Then you have until tomorrow morning to give us another feasible idea,” Maya dishes back.

Bucky retreats into his seat, arms crossed over his chest. 

Truth be told, he considered himself to be the most boring person in the team and though he had made his peace with that, he was sure thar bringing that up now would entail Maya shooting him in the foot.

“Fine,” he agrees and the sighs around the room are loud. 

He scoffs. So fucking dramatic and for what.

“Put her there, partner.” You stretch ungracefully over the large table, sticking out your hand.

Bucky eyes your hand. “Do you even believe in ghosts?” 

“I do now, yeah.” You nod seriously. “Love ‘em. Can’t get enough of them.”

“One video,” Maya reminds him as a balm. “And if it doesn’t work, you’re off the hook forever.”

Off the hook? Forever? For Bucky?

Yay. 

“One video,” he reiterates.

You roll your eyes before smiling when he leans forward to grab it. You yank it up and down clunkily. He blinks at you, letting go slowly. 

“Thank fuck,” Maya groans, head dropping onto the table. 

Your smile is wild. “Guess we’re doing this shit together.”

He doesn’t even have to look very deep in his soul. He already knows he’s going to suffer.

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!

to keep up with updates for this fic and others, please follow @shurisneakersupdates and turn on post notifications!

also i'd absolutely love to make this a community led fic like how harmless was! if you have memes or any paranormal ideas or just any prompts in general, please please send them my way <3

Next part

[oatlystrawberryicecream]

the way that some people talk about jason and batman and the joker is so jarring to me because it relies on some unspoken assumptions that i will never buy into

1. the assumption that taking a life inevitably always makes the person who did it worse. killing someone isn’t always this earth shattering thing that harms the person who does it and fundamentally changes their outlook on things. i guess if you have never met a veteran or someone who survived an armed robbery or any number of other things you might make that mistake, but like some of the people who fought in wwii came home and were normal members of the community and the times that their bullets hit the mark were not necessarily the parts of the war that kept them up at night. these assumptions that once you kill you are wicked and have to feel bad and do this whole show of repentance are insidious. if you are gonna look at all this through the lens of christian morality you should at least be aware that that is what you are doing but you cant have just one character be wicked and unclean because of his actions when the bible says that everyone is wicked and unclean by our nature and all sins are equal. a lot of people object to that view but if thats how you see it batman and jason and the joker are all sinners and are all as bad as each other so at least be consistant about how you apply that moral framework.

2. the assumption that being robin or being taken in and trained by bruce means full agreement with and acceptance of every part of bruce’s personal philosophy on justice and morality. jason was a homeless child and even if all this was explicitly laid out for him he could not have agreed since he needed bruce as a matter of survival. bruce’s ideology is extremely important to him and he can teach it to his children all he wants but they are not beholden to it above all else the way he thinks they should be. jason has to live according to his own beliefs regardless of how unacceptable bruce finds it and it is unfair and hypocritical of bruce to get bent out of shape about it.

3. the assumption that killing is always bad. maybe i have listened to too many episodes of behind the bastards but some people will do significant and appalling damage to others no matter what unless they are dead. those people can’t be allowed to keep causing harm. it isn’t glorious and there is no honor about it but it is right and just that they be stopped. there is no reason to strive for purity or ideological high ground when you can provide a measure of safety and justice to victims and prevent future harm instead.

4. the assumption that bruce didn’t have to answer to jason. parents have a duty to their children and it is my opinion that that duty does not end when the child dies. bruce adopted jason and made himself responsible and accountable for everything that happened to jason under his care. that responsibility was ignored over many instances. i am not going to detail the things that led to jason’s death here but it was not good or effective parenting. after jason’s death the disrespect starts pretty immediately with bruce compromising evidence of his murder in order to preserve his ability to continue as batman and continues with bruce getting rid of pretty much all traces of jason’s presence in his life. he is only spoken of as a mistake, a lost cause, or a cautionary tale and is assigned blame for his own death, a death that batman never bothered to fully investigate since he was buried next to the woman who led him into the trap. a new kid is endangered and the joker and batman both continue doing whatever they want as if jason’s life only matters for the way it affects them. bruce needs to answer for all of this, as his son jason has a right to expect more from his father. now the extent to which that extends can be debated but it is clear to me that jason deserved better from bruce.

conclusion: killing is accepted in society in certain circumstances, you may or may not agree with this but self defense laws and even things like jury nullification exist because people knew there should be some wiggle room since no one could have the full context of every situation that would ever arise. ending a life is not normal or ideal but it is not an unfathomably rare experience and it does not always weigh on the person who does it. bruce has never to my knowledge killed someone so he has no idea how he would actually respond but that still isn’t even what jason was asking him to do. all he had to do was be present and not move and he would have been the only parental figure who didn’t let jason down.

[therealcocoshady]

Ahhhh!! I love your stuff, you're so talented !!!

Could you write a Marshall x bookworm!female!reader oneshot abt reader always just having her head in books and Marshall wanting some attention please??

Thank youuu xx

More than me ?

Eminem X Bookworm!Female!Reader

Author’s Note : Hey ❤️. Thank you so much for your request ! I had some fun writing it ☺️. I hope you enjoy it !

No one expected a bookworm like you to end up with a rapper. On paper, it didn’t make much sense and yet, everyone around you agreed that Marshall was the perfect match for you. The two of you were somewhat nerdy, introverts who’d rather spend time in your house than go to a party with tons of people. And even if he didn’t read a ton of books, he made up for it by fully supporting your passion for literature. When you moved into his house, he let you transform one of the guest rooms into a library and he often surprised you with books on your wishlist. On special occasions, he would go the extra mile and gift you beautiful editions, sometimes first ones, much to your delight. And even though he politely refused your many offers to let him borrow some books, he was always happy to let you talk his ear off about books you liked.

- You should really read it, you said excitedly.

- Yeah but if I read it, there would be no point in you telling me about it, he said with a grin. I’d miss the best part.

- Sorry, you giggled. Is that too much ?

- Never, he said before pressing a kiss to your temple. I love that you’re passionate. I like listening to you. It’s like a podcast.

- You know, Shelly at the library keeps telling me to start one, you chuckled.

- Maybe you should give it a try, he replied. No one talks about books like you.

- Maybe I’ll ask Hailie for pointers, you shrugged.

This was the start of a crazy adventure for you. A year later, you were able to quit your job, relying on your podcast and advertisement to make a comfortable living. Advertisers were constantly soliciting you, willing to take advantage of your massive following. You had managed to gather a big community of bookworms such as yourself, who enjoyed hearing about your latest reads. It was your safe space and you simply loved it. Another perk was that publishing houses sent you tons of books for free, hoping you’d talk about them in an episode. Marshall’s house was big but you now had books in every room and always more books you needed to read. Your boyfriend was already used to always seeing you with a book but now, you had more time to read and were doing this full time. It wasn’t always sunshine and candy, though and, sometimes, you were on a schedule to finish reviewing a book before recording your next episode. At some point, you had decided to review a whole series that had been sent to you a week ago, and reading those eight books definitely took most of your time.

- Are you coming to bed ? Marshall asked.

- I have to read a couple more chapters, you said apologetically. Sorry, my love.

- You’ve spent the whole day reading, babe, he pointed out. How about you rest your eyes a little ? I could make them roll back into your skull…

- Are you propositioning me ? You asked with a grin.

- Absolutely, he replied with a smile. What do you think ?

- That’s tempting, you admitted.

Before you had even finished your sentence, he was grabbing your book, placing your bookmark, closing it and taking you to the bedroom. As soon as you reached the bed, he pinned you to the mattress and whispered in your ear.

- Been waiting for this all day, he said.

- All day ? You giggled. You were at work…

- And yet, you were the only thing on my mind, he grinned. Couldn’t think of anything else.

He made sure to show you exactly what had been on his mind, ravishing you in all sorts of positions, making you cry from pleasure, until you were both panting and exhausted.

- I love you, he said as he caught his breath. God, I missed you this week.

- I missed you too, you cooed. You’ve been working so hard, lately.

- So have you, he pointed out.

- I have to keep busy while you’re finishing your album, don’t I ? You giggled.

- Well, you have me to yourself for the next two days, he said. Told the team not to bother me unless someone dies. I’m all yours. And we’re not leaving this room.

- Interesting, you giggled. I have some work, though.

- You can read chapters in between rounds, he shrugged before burying his head in your neck.

You smiled and enjoyed his touch, the warmth of his breath on your skin. You ran your hands in his back and stroked his head. Moments later, he was asleep. His soft snores brought a smile to your face and you figured he needed the rest. Lately, he had been waking up extra early and coming home later than usual, occasionally going to California to work with Dre. You gently made him roll to his side of the bed and wrapped yourself in your silk robe before going back to your reading room and resuming your reading. Hours later, a grumpy boyfriend came to get you.

- You left, he groaned sleepily.

- You were sleeping, you said with a smile.

- Well, not anymore, he said. Come back ?

- I just have to finish this-

- Later, woman, he groaned.

- Ten minutes, you pleaded.

- Babe, he sighed. It’s 11PM.

- Yeah but-

- I need you, he said with puppy eyes. You don’t want me to get all lonely in bed, now, do you ?

You smiled at him, yet made a point of shaking your head in disapproval. He knew full well his lost puppy act would get him anywhere with you. You closed your book and went back to the bedroom. As soon as you got back in bed, he wrapped you in his arms, in a possessive stance. You chuckled and whispered sweet nothings before drifting off to sleep.

You woke up the next day to the sound of Marshall entering the room with a breakfast tray in his hands.

- Breakfast in bed ? You yawned with a smile. What’s the occasion.

- I thought we might enjoy a lazy day in bed, he said with a smile. You, me, food and movies ?

- Sounds good, you nodded.

He settled in bed next to you and you ate the copious amount of food he had prepared. You spent a few hours in each other’s arms, watching movies and cuddling. Marshall seemed exceptionally clingy, which made you smile. Physical touch had always been one of his love languages, but it was rare for him to spend hours on end cuddling. After a while, though, you decided to get back to reading. However, you didn’t find your book where you had left it.

- Babe, have you seen the book I had yesterday ? You asked. It’s blue, with flowers on the cover.

- I haven’t, he shrugged. Come here, you’ll find it later.

- I really have to finish, you said. I’ll go and search…

- Babe, he groaned, can’t we just have a few hours together ? I’ll help you search for it. Later.

- Ok, you shrugged. But it’s important.

He sighed and gestured for you to come back in his arms. He didn’t pay a lot of attention to the movie, though, and just enjoyed your presence until he fell asleep. Or so you thought. Because as soon as you moved, he let out a grunt.

- What ? He asked.

- Just going to search for my-, you began.

- Screw it, he groaned. Here’s your damn book.

He reached for his nightstand and handed it to you. You looked at him in disbelief.

- You realized I’ve searched for it for half an hour ? You asked.

- Yeah well here it it, he groaned.

- Why did you take it ?

- Because I want you to be with me, he sighed. It’s all about your books, these days.

- I’m working, you said defensively. It’s my passion !

- Yeah well why don’t you move into your reading room then ? He suggested. You like these books more than me anyway.

You sighed and then put the book down before taking his hand.

- What’s with you today ? You asked.

- Nothing, he shrugged with a frown.

- Marsh, you said tentatively. You’re short-tempered and clingy. Clearly, something’s wrong.

- I miss you, he sighed. That’s all.

- I’m right here, you pointed out. I even work from home. I’m literally always here.

- I like that you’re having fun but… you work too much, he said.

- I do work a lot, but it’s because I want to be successful, you said. And you’re one to talk. You’re a literal workaholic.

- Yeah well I’m tired of all this work and I want to hug my girl, he said. I’m stressed out and I need you.

You smiled and kissed his cheek before putting your book away.

- You know you could just have told me you needed me, right ?

- I guess, he said grumpily. I guess I didn’t want to sound like a total simp.

- I like it, you said. It’s cute.

- So you’re staying, this time ? He asked.

- Of course, babe, you replied. If you need me, that’s my priority. But… is there something wrong ?

- Nothing, he said. I guess I’m just under pressure. I just need you. You’re my safe space. I miss you, lately. And now that you have this shit ton of followers, you don’t even tell me about your books. I miss that too.

You nodded and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

- I’m sorry, my love, you said. I just got really into all of it. But you’re my priority, you know ?

- Am I ? He asked.

- Of course, you replied.

- I love you, he said. Sorry I stole your book.

- Next time you try that, I’m messing up with your cassette wall, you threatened.

- You wouldn’t ! He gasped.

- Try me, you said with a raised eyebrow. Who knows ? Maybe all of them are in the wrong case. Maybe I’ve already done it.

He looked at you nervously and you gave him a threatening smirk. Knowing how much he cherished that cassette collection it was enough of a threat and a sure fire way to mess with his head. He groaned and got up.

- Where are you going ? You asked.

- To check my cassettes, he said.

- What ? You asked in a falsely offended voice. If you go, it means you love them more than me !

- Babe… of course I love them more, he said with a grin. Know your place, woman !

Note : I hope you enjoyed this one shot ❤️. If you did, you can support my writing via Ko-Fi ! I will also be giving previews of upcoming parts of Recovery and Love Game over there 😏.

[skellseerwriting]

5 Times Iida Thinks You’re a Boy and 1 Time He Finally Realizes

Oblivious!Iida x Fem!Androgynous!Reader

Part 1: School Uniform

Word Count: 900

Content & Warnings: Something Iida says could come off as misogynistic but I promise he’s just stupid (/aff), Iida being a vulture about people sitting on desks, takes place in the beginning of their first year, I haven’t watched MHA in 3 years so some things could be inaccurate or ooc

Summary: After chatting with Iida about proper school behavior, he makes a strange remark about school uniforms

Disclaimer: This is not a commentary on how people should (or can’t) dress based on their gender identity or assigned gender at birth. This is self projection based on my experiences, how I prefer to dress, and how I dress because of those experiences

“Get off of that desk right now! It’s disrespectful!”

Your eyebrows shot up in surprise. Quickly uncrossing your legs, you got off the flat surface and stood up with your feet firmly on the floor; facing your class rep.

“Sorry.” You told him, slightly reeling. “If you really want people to stop doing things like that, maybe try asking nicely first. I still would have listened if you had.”

Now it was Iida’s turn to recoil. It was as if the thought had never occurred to him.

“I-“ he straightened his rectangular glasses, then looked down and sighed. “I suppose you’re right. Please accept my apologies.”

His words were precise and articulated, and you couldn’t help but react positively to the way he accepted your criticism. You didn’t normally sit on desks. It was an exception you started making now that you wore pants with your school uniform. But, in his defense, this was a prestigious school, so maybe you ought to have a little more tact.

“It’s no big deal.” You reassured him. “You have a fair point, and I agree.”

His back straightened as he looked at you. The admiration that went hand-in-hand with his rigor for rules overtook him again. “Thank you. No one else here has felt the same way about respecting the school property that was once used by our great and noble predecessors.”

The way he said it made you smile. He was so passionate about these things; you couldn’t help but be endeared.

“Or the same way about being on time.” You added toothily. It wasn’t that you were a stickler for being on time like he was, but it was something you also prioritized with your education. You were kindred spirits, in that way.

“Thank you!” He repeated again, this time with more vigor and enthusiasm. “I’ve yet to see any of our other classmates understand the importance of punctuality! I’m so glad that you agree.”

Tsu moved her hand out before leaning forward. “Uh, we’re right here, ribbit.” She interjected. Beside her, Ashido rolled her eyes, but giggled.

“Sorry Tsu.” You apologized.

“Don’t worry about it.” She responded, blinking slowly. “By the way, I was wondering how you got your uniform pants; I’ve been thinking about getting a pair for myself.”

“I’m sorry to inform you Tsu, but pants are to be worn by male students only.” Iida declared, chopping a firm hand down and missing the way it made your eyebrows furrow.

“Uh… that’s obviously not true?…” you said with confusion lacing your tone. Your palm displayed openly and awkwardly in a perplexed manner. Iida just looked at you incredulously for the span of a few silent moments. The gears in his head seemed to turn as he looked down at the pants you were currently wearing.

A tiny sound rang out from his watch.

“Oh!” He reached down to turn it off. Then, pivoted his whole body to shout to the whole class. “Attention everyone! It is now time to go to the locker rooms to change into our training uniforms before heading to the out-door training grounds! Please exit the classroom in an orderly manner!” Then, he left.

The girls and you just hung your heads and sighed in unison as people started leaving the room in a variety of different speeds. Someone even full-on sprinted out.

“That man has bolts for brains.” You said as you made your way between the desks, though the way you said it was more affectionate than mean-spirited. “He didn’t even notice that I was literally wearing pants right in front of him. There’s no rules saying girls can’t wear pants; that’s just ridiculous.”

“I think it’s kind of cute!” Ashido said, bumping into your shoulder. “He’s so attentive but couldn’t see what was right in front of him. Guys are adorable when they’re oblivious like that.”

You tried to ignore the blush you felt grazing your cheeks. Smiling at her, you said “What?” and acted as if she had just told you about some humorous prank scheme that would never work due to its sheer ridiculousness.

“You heard me.” She grinned, gesturing to let you walk through the door first. If her reaction indicated anything, it was that she noticed your reaction to her words. You held your head up high in exaggerated propriety.

“I’ll have you know, I prefer the intelligent type.”

“He falls under that category too.” Tsu countered as a joke while the three of you trailed behind the rest of your classmates down the hallway. Iida was at the head of it leading everyone, so there was no way for him to possibly overhear the conversation.

“How about we change the subject.” You proposed, moving to speed-walk farther away from them. They started giggling as they walked faster to catch up to you.

“I’m not sure we should change the subject.” Ashido laughed, popping up backwards at your left while Tsu showed up at your right. “I think I quite like the topic at hand.” She added cheerfully. “What do you think Tsu?”

Tsu ribbited before piping up with her own opinion that was mellowly weaponized against you. “I like the subject too. I miss talking about boys back in junior high.”

Making some frustrated noises, you facepalmed with an annoyed chuckle. “You two are impossible…”

Part 2

Taglist: currently empty

[ppongie]

L.JENO - I don’t know

It was prom. Jeno had asked you out to be his prom date, and you happily agreed. I mean, you’ve been loving him from afar ever since you’ve laid eyes on him. This was a big thing- he finally noticed you. But oh, if only you knew.

Now.. you’re sat at a table alone, letting the blue rays of the party lights illuminate your face. Describing how you actually feel as you watched him dance with his ex.

He only asked you out to make her jealous then make his way back to her. His plan worked.

Your eyes watching how she swayed with him, where his hands were on her body, and how she easily painted that smile on his face—

Your relationship with Jeno wasn’t special. With him it was simple hi’s and hello’s, a couple of waves here and there. A pure friendship, nothing more than that.

And being the delusional person that you are, you’ve thought about those little moments every night before bed. Happily knowing that he noticed you, and the whole prom-posal was the cherry on top.

You picked out the perfect outfit for the occasion, thought about him the whole time while getting ready.

“Would he like this color on me?”

“How about my hair? Hmm..”

“I should tone it down a bit, he likes that.”

You believed that the feelings were mutual, you really did- not until you stepped into the party. His eyes darted everywhere to find a familiar face.

He gave you the classic excuse, leaning down to your level to whisper it in your ear “I need to use the restroom.” You gave him a nod and decided to meet your friends to kill time as you wait for him. But he never came back.

Your friends were interrupted by their dates, asking them to slow dance. The girls gave you an apologetic smile as they walked away to dance.

That’s why you’re sat here at the table alone, staring at the crowd. ‘The crowd’ as in Jeno and his Ex.

You felt your world crumbling the second he reached down to kiss her. You tried to stare at something else but you couldn’t. You watched the whole thing happen right in front of you.

You couldn’t do anything about it, these were his feelings. And who are you to pull him away from the person he truly loves?

They were going to announce prom king and queen now. Making up your own story, you knew it would be Jeno and his ex. Then they could live their happy ever after and have their reunion look like it was some kind of fairytale.

This was a waste of time. Watching all this happen was a waste of time. Dressing up for him was a waste of time.

“Prom king is.. Lee Jeno!” You heard every one clap for the man that used you to crawl back to his ex. So you stood up and grabbed your purse, ready to leave.

“And prom queen is..”

You tried to walk faster towards the exit but your friend noticed you as you passed by “y/n-“

“Kim Y/N!” You froze in your spot and felt the spotlight snapping at you, making the glitter on your outfit match the tears in your eyes, very shiny.

“Um..” you say and stared at the person that announced your name, clutching on your purse harder. Your heart racing because of the amount of eyes staring at you, and the sound of your heartbeat is slowly getting louder than the clapping around you. Then your eyes darted to Jeno that was holding your crown,

Your friend insisted to hold your things so you could get the crown.

“Come on up here” the man said in an enthusiastic tone, and you couldn’t do anything but listen. You walked towards the stage and went up the steps. Let’s get it over with, you thought to yourself.

You didn’t make him crown you- no, you held the crown instead and looked at the man that announced your name “I don’t want to dance.” Jeno seemed like he was fine about it, shrugging. Of course he was fine about it.

You then give Jeno a glare and his face transition into confusion, “You okay?” He said. You only scoffed at his question “You’re full of shit.”

You didn’t notice that the man’s mic was close to your side, so everyone heard- making them gasp and whisper to each other about your comment. You turn to walk away and pushed yourself through the crowd.

You didn’t mean to make a scene but you had to spit that comment out, it was hanging by the tip of your tongue. Then for some odd reason, Jeno was chasing after you. “Y/N, come on-“

As soon as you left the school’s gym you turned to look at him. No words leaving your lips this time, just your sad eyes. He knew what that meant, your shaky pupils says it all.

You wait for him to talk, his lips parted trying to say something. “Look..” he sighed and ran a hand through his hair “I’m sorry, okay?”

“I shouldn’t have asked you to go out with me and I should’ve cleaned up my own shit without dragging you in like I already did.” You just stared at him, trying to see if he actually meant every word.

Being the quiet kid in school has its pros and cons. Pros: people are always nice to you and you’re nice to them too. Cons: Jeno asking you out thinking you’d be a good bait.

The tear that’s been carried in your waterline slipped and trickled down your cheek. “I’m sorry, y/n.” He repeated. You pressed your thumb on the sharp edge of your ‘prom queen’ crown, trying to stay steady.

“I hate you, Jeno.” You didn’t mean it, but wanted to see his reaction. He was only staring at you, biting on his lip, maybe he felt a bit guilty?

“Why did you ask me out.. why me?” You shook your head not understanding any of this.

The answer was there in his eyes, you can tell. It’s the way he looked hesitant. Like he was keeping a secret from you and doesn’t know how to tell you.

But his thoughts came in the way and he looked around, trying to avoid your teary eyes. “I..” he lets out a short sigh after and closed his eyes “..I don’t know”

[2hoothoots]

saw this post in the tag earlier talking about how we never really get a detailed look inside Maligula’s mind, and it got me thinking about the themes of the game again so I’m gonna use it as a jumping-off point. because i agree, it’s very significant that we never get to really see Maligula/Lucrecia as she used to be! but i think that fact actually makes the game much stronger, especially on a thematic level.

Lucrecia’s presence haunts the narrative throughout Psychonauts 2. at first, we can only make her out through her absence. she’s the seventh stump around the campfire, the missing center of a torn photo. we see glimpses of her in the ruined fragments of Ford’s mind. in Helmut’s mind, she’s a looming specter, a shadow of the friend he once knew. in Gristol’s mind, she’s a celebrated war hero. and as the game goes on, we learn that everything in Psychonauts 1 – the Aquatos leaving Grulovia, the family ‘curse’, Raz running away to camp – all of that was set in motion because of her. she’s at the very center of the tragedy that PN2 revolves around.

and she does haunt the narrative, even if Nona is still alive. because the old Lucrecia – the real Lucrecia – we never get to meet her. she’s long gone.

the closest we come to actually interacting with Lucrecia, as she used to be, is in Cassie’s mind. while the rest of the Psychic 7 only have a few lines to share, paper Lucrecia has a full dialogue tree. this is probably one of my favourite moments in the whole game. there’s an awe in Raz’s face, getting to meet her, but also this palpable tension throughout the conversation.

(screenshots taken from here! if you don’t remember this conversation, or just want a refresher, i’d highly recommend going back to watch it.)

this dialogue tree is great. it’s funny, and subtle, and surprisingly moving. Raz is full of questions for Lucrecia, and Lucrecia isn’t giving much away, but we get glimpses of her story here that are so tantalising. it’s a fascinating window into the person she used to be: coy, and playful, and a little aloof.

but – this is also very clearly not Lucy. we hear Cassie’s own thoughts coming out of her mouth (“Cassie told us [hydraulic mining] was very bad for the environment, but nobody listened to her, as usual”), but her dialogue is also steeped in Cassie’s confusion, her struggle to understand what happened (“I don’t really know [why I murdered all those people]. I was the nicest person during my time at Green Needle Gulch”). this is the closest we ever get to seeing Lucrecia, face-to-face, but she’s still heavily filtered through someone else’s perception.

how much of this is the real Lucrecia, and how much of it is just how Cassie sees her? we’ll never know.

i think a crucial part of PN2’s themes is that perception – how you can be someone completely different to different people around you. everyone has their own version of the story to tell. the most obviously propagandistic is Gristol’s retelling, which comes as a shock twist at a climactic moment that throws the whole game on its head. here, we get to see the other side of the story, from someone who only ever knew Lucrecia as a protector, a general, a murderer – and thought she should stay that way.

(screenshots from here)

but as entrenched as he is in his narrative, Gristol doesn’t have all the answers, either. and Ford’s version of events, while probably more factually correct, is still steeped in his own biases. Ford was so dedicated to the memory of the woman he loved that he did terrible things for her; and when he tried to bury that memory, it was so deeply entrenched in his mind that it broke him.

(screenshot from here)

but note the wording, when he talks about using the Astralathe to “neutralise” the “problematic” parts of her mind. My Lucy.

something else that PN2 touches on is how experiences change you. after the battle against Maligula, the remaining members of the Psychic 7 become very different individuals. Cassie withdraws from the world, unable to return to normality after everything that happened; Compton becomes an anxious wreck without his support network. Bob is broken with grief after the loss of his husband, and Ford willingly shattered his mind because it was what he thought he had to do to keep Lucrecia safe. and throughout the game, Raz helps all of them – but he doesn’t fix them. he doesn’t undo everything they went through, because how could he? the things that happened will stay with each of them forever.

and it’s the same with Lucrecia. even after she lets go of the rage and grief and violence that Maligula carried with her, symbolically severing the threads that bind her to her past – she doesn’t just go back to her old self. because she’s someone different now, too. she’s a mother, and a grandmother, and she loves her family so truly and so deeply. she’s patched together a new life for herself. and that’s what she affirms to Raz, in the moments before the final fight.

and he loves her right back. even after everything he’s learned, she’s still his Nona.

i think sometimes a story is more satisfying for not giving you the easy answers. Psychonauts 2 leaves a lot of things unsaid. it gives you pieces of the puzzle, glimpses of Lucrecia’s story through other people’s eyes, and asks you to draw your own conclusions from that. and then it says: this is who she is now. this is what matters. and personally, i think it’s stronger for that.

[lilacxquartz]

Those Late Summer Nights | Chapter 27

satoru gojo x f!reader x suguru geto

plot: moving to the city from a small town was no easy feat, especially to start teaching as a jujutsu sorcerer — warning: this is a yandere story with many dark themes throughout.

summary: you confront suguru demanding to know why he did what he did, while yuki catches up to you both — cw: some upsetting topics discussed

masterlist • ao3 • chapter directory • previous chapter • next chapter >

Chapter 27. Revelation

You stared at Suguru for the longest time, taking note of the sleepless look he wore on his face and the crazed, almost manic glint in his eyes. He must have risked a lot to come and see you, but that didn’t mean a single thing, not until he gave you the answers you so desperately deserved.

It was never his right to do any of the horrible things he had done to you, but you finally started to see him for what he truly was from the second he got your family involved. You were late in your realisation and you knew it—too overwhelmed by everything else that was going on at the time to see it sooner.

However, now that you had time to actually process everything, you were all the more motivated than ever before to get away from him—from Satoru too—for good.

Suguru hesitated all the while, not having a single clue on how to start. He never prepared an answer for you. He should have known that Satoru spilled the news to you, likely to turn the tables on him and bring you over to his side. He took note of how much calmer you seemed, appearing to be more comfortable than you ever were when you were with him. Shit. How insulting. Satoru kept you locked up in a literal underground prison and Suguru never even went down that route. So why?

He took a deep breath either way, trying to find the right words to explain his reasoning. He told you before, way back in the late summer about how humanity is ugly and you agreed with him, right? Maybe if he spung it in the direction that when he saw red from everyone who had ever hurt him and those around him, he just took down the rest too. His parents, your parents. Had he not calmed down after, he might have taken more lives.

Though, he had an inkling that you wouldn’t buy such an excuse. Hell, had he been in your shoes, he wouldn’t even blame you.

“Why’d you do it, Suguru?” you repeated yourself, letting grief tinge your voice as tears welled up in your eyes, looking back at him with the same hatred that you once reserved just for Yui.

It stung.

Suguru froze again, feeling his composure waver. His usually calm and unbothered attitude was beginning to crumble. His jaw tightened and his fists tightened at his sides, all in an attempt to keep his demeanour from completely unraveling.

“Because,” he began, his voice cracking, “I…I couldn’t stand watching you suffer for any longer. It couldn’t end at Yui, you know that right? I had to go after them because they broke you down first. They wouldn’t have ever got it—what it means to be a sorcerer—the fucking burden we carry to keep ungrateful—” he paused, retracting what he was about to say before continuing, “listen, I did this for you.”

You scoffed, crossing your arms. “You did this for me?”

Suguru nodded. “Yes, [name]. Yes,” he took a step forward, his eyes searching yours for any hint of understanding, “I’m breaking the cycle, alright?”

You stared at him for a moment longer, pursing your lips in disapproval before letting go of a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down.

“Oh, I heard you, Suguru,” you replied calmly to him, “I’m just a little confused about something.”

He blinked at you, freezing at the implication. Your tone was spiteful—full of venom—entirely directed at him. For a moment he looked completely pathetic, with his eyes wide and his mouth left ajar like a fish gasping for water.

“...About what?” Suguru apprehensively asked.

“Just where you got the right to do any of that from?” you asked quietly. “Seriously?” you continued, your voice a little louder. “My parents? My fucking parents? You killed my parents for my sake? You… you don’t fucking get to decide what’s best for me.”

Suguru swallowed painfully. “I just wanted to protect you,” he tried to argue in his defense, “you’re the only thing in my life that has ever made sense, okay? You’re the only thing in my life that was ever worth saving. I threw so much away for you. All I wanted to do was take the pain away from you—right from the source.”

“No, no, no. You did this for yourself,” you spat back, “you did this because you wanted to regain control back in your life. You think I didn’t notice it when you tried to get me to block out and cut off ties with everyone I knew back then? You’re so fucking obvious, Suguru.”

He nodded hesitantly, supposing that he did deserve that one. Come to think of it, just what had he been doing with you the whole summer? When you put it like that—he didn’t like the sound of it—not one bit. Was that really him? If he was honest, a lot of it had been a blur. For a moment, he had nothing left to say, but then finally, he lifted his head, desperate to meet your gaze, his voice soft, and almost pleading, “Would you at least believe me when I say that I’m here to help you?”

You furrowed your brows at the claim. “Help me?” you scoffed, before repeating the question. “Help me?” you asked again, dropping your hands to rest on your hips. “After everything you’ve done to me, no, I don’t believe you in the slightest when you make that claim. I’d sooner believe that you were here to kill me.”

Your words hit him, hard, he couldn’t believe that you were seriously suggesting that out of all of the people that he could kill, it would be you. The very thought alone sickened him. There was simply no way. Never.

“I’m sorry, [name],” he spoke up again, “seriously, I’m so fucking sorry, I admit it. I was selfish, manipulative, abusive even. I never should have hurt you. I never should have done anything. You’re completely right.”

You flicked your eyes forward, not buying a single word that came out of his mouth, still certain that this was all a trick to get you to fold. He’d get you out of Satoru’s home and then lock you up next, or keep you so tucked under his wing that your escape would be completely lost.

“I… I can fix it though,” Suguru suddenly scrambled, taking a step forward, already forming a plan in his mind, “when I get you out of here, when we both leave this place, I… I’ll do better, okay? I swear. I swear on my girls. I’m serious. You deserve much better than what I’ve given you. Please. I just want to make things right.”

“Make things right?” you called out. “You can’t make this right, Suguru,” you dismissed his poorly put-together plans, surprised by the confidence in your voice, as you aired all of your once shelved away feelings out on display, “if you wanted to make things right, then you would have been decent from the start. That’s all I really needed – because, like, what? Did you see a naive small-town girl and think ‘oh yeah, score, she’s so lost and needs guidance - what a hero I’ll be to this one!’ Fuck off. Seriously. I just wanted friends. If I had known from the start that the very hell I tried to escape from would just follow me in a different suit, then I would never have left that place.”

Suguru blinked, unsure how to reply to your sudden defiance.

You continued all the while. “Don’t even get me started on Satoru. You could argue he was worse, but honestly? You’re both the same, don’t you think? Your response to my virginity being threatened was to fucking rape me,” you pointed out, “your solution to your best friend assaulting me was to make me relive it with you,” you added, “do you think getting me out of here is going to erase any of that? Do you think it’ll make me forgive you? That it’ll all be magically fixed?”

“[name]—” Suguru murmured, trying to calm you down, his voice almost pleading.

You cut him off, however, “No, be quiet. Don’t you get it? I don’t care about how sorry you are. What I want is my old life back. I want to go back to before I met you. I want to warn my old self to never even look in your direction,” you paused, choosing your next words carefully, fully intending to make him hurt with the next thing you said, “you ruined my life, Suguru, you made me hate myself. You made me wish that I could just die. I really considered it too. The only way you could make things right is if you’re six feet underground or behind bars.”

Suguru didn’t even recognise your voice anymore; it was rough and raw with emotions, yet so measured and calm. All he could do was simply stare at you with his eyes wide and his stance locked into place, unable to say anything or move at all. He wanted so desperately to just bring you over, to reel you in for a hug, to force your forgiveness, but even then he stopped himself, recognising that he was the problem. It wasn’t like he knew how to stop though, let alone how to mend the error of his ways. He supposed that he couldn’t. That’s why it hurt so much.

Just as he was about to grovel, a woman’s voice cut through the tension.

“Oh my, my—you never answered me back then, did you Geto?” Yuki asked in a tone that hinted at amusement, pushing herself from the wall outside and walking into the room. “When I asked you for your type, I never took you as the guy who was into women who you can push around,” she said, looking toward you, “so why are you wasting your time here, with someone who can just as easily punch back?”

Both you and Suguru snapped your heads toward the source of the voice. Suguru narrowed his eyes in annoyance, mumbling something you couldn’t quite hear, although if you had to guess, it was ‘oh, great’, while you didn’t recognise the person at all. She was a tall woman with a strong, broad build and long blonde hair, who despite her intense demeanour seemed to carry a casual air around her.

Suguru’s features twisted into irritation, not appreciating her interrupting so soon. “What are you doing here?”

However, Yuki simply ignored him, choosing to close the distance between you and her instead.

“Seriously, look at you go,” she praised, “it’s not easy to hold your ground against an asshole like him,” she added, looking down at you with sympathy reflecting in her stare. “Really. You’re too good for him.”

You blinked at her once more, feeling rather taken aback by the sudden intrusion as well as the mystery woman’s unfiltered words, having no idea who she was or what she wanted.

As if realising your confusion, Yuki suddenly broke away from her serious stance and waved her hands in surrender, laughing awkwardly to herself. “Ah, sorry! I guess we haven’t been acquainted yet, have we?” she added, trying to brush the awkward introduction aside, failing miserably, clearing her throat to continue onwards either way, “the name’s Yuki. Yuki Tsukumo. I’ve been working with Shoko to get you out of this mess - Suguru is technically a part of this too, but, his role was only ever to lead us to you and well… surprise…!”

Suguru immediately protested at the intrusion, “Hang on, you can’t just waltz inside and barge in here—

Yuki held up held up her hand, silencing him before he got too far.

“Don’t barge in here and what?” she asked him, her voice suddenly playful again. “Don’t waltz in here and call you out for this, if I’m being honest, very creepy obsession you have with her? You killed for her sake? Please. You’re going through some sort of moral crisis, I get it, I really do,” she sighed, thinking back to their first interaction together back in the day, “but this isn’t the way.”

You hadn’t replied yet, staring at her with an unreadable expression. If she was a friend of Shoko’s, then you trusted her right off the bat. She looked strong, too, so maybe she did have a chance at helping you out? Maybe? You couldn’t do much but hope for the best.

Yuki turned over to you, trying to keep her choice of words promising, “I’m going to get you out of here, okay? I’m sorry you had to go through all of this. Just know that I’m on your side.”

You tried to nod along with her, but you still hesitated even though your gut instinct told you that you could trust her all along.

“Can I really… trust you?” you asked.

Yuki didn’t seem too phased by the question, leaning back against the wall and smiling. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to—after what you’ve been through—I don’t blame ya,” she replied, validating your concerns, “but you can trust Shoko and Utahime, right? They’re the ones who have been holding out for your escape. All you have to do is say when.”

Suguru took a step back, holding out his hand to block your way. “[name], wait, don’t, she doesn’t care about you the way I do, nobody and I mean nobody loves you the way i do—”

Yuki swatted his hand away, feeling a tinge of annoyance surge. It was subtle, as she never truly showed her irritation, but it was there and it was starting to grow. “Love her? Oh, wow, that’s something,” she muttered, trying to think of a way to get him to back off; she was stronger than him, that much was for certain, but she would prefer to keep out of close-range combat in a residential area and with a weakened sorcerer to look after, “ever hear of the phrase, if you love something, then you should let it go?”

Suguru frowned at that. “Come on, Yuki, you know I can’t do that.”

“Seriously, just…” Yuki continued, trying to reign him in, “just think about what you’re trying to accomplish here, alright? You’ve killed your own parents because they don’t match your vision of a perfect world, but you’ve also killed the parents of the person you supposedly claim to love. Do you not see how that contradicts itself?”

“You don’t get it,” he tried to argue, something fading from his eyes, replacing itself with an eerily calm, bleak look, “I sacrificed everything. I left everyone behind. I left my old life behind. You think that’s something someone can just easily do if they weren’t in love with the person they’re doing this for?”

“No,” Yuki supposed, “because most people aren’t willing to destroy the lives of the person they claim to love,” she corrected him, “most people want to do everything they can to make the subject of their love have a better, easier life, which starts with helping them resolve the problem at their own pace, rather than making irreversible decisions on their behalf,” she paused, narrowing her eyes, “...you do see the difference, right? Or have your ideals really blinded you that much by now?” she asked, taking note of the monk robes he wore, finding the sight to be almost ridiculous.

Suguru wasn’t even sure why he was arguing at this point, he knew that both of you had a point, but for some reason, he wasn’t willing to let go of you. Too much had been sunk into you for you to just truly disappear from his sights forever.

“You get why I did it though, right?” he tried to get her to see his point of view, and for you to also see that he was truly doing it with you in mind. “I’m the only one who gets her, what it’s like to be cast aside and—”

Yuki shot back again, “Spare me,” she rolled her eyes, gesturing to you to unite with her, letting out an agreeable hum when you listened before turning back to him, “we’ve all suffered, it’s not just you, so yes, you were being selfish when you made that decision, because you reduced her suffering to be beneath your own while hurting her in the process. That’s not even love, that’s not even obsession. That’s just harm. That’s abuse.”

Suguru sighed, throwing his head down, finally getting it, but not quite yet giving it up, watching with a deflated glare as you positioned yourself behind Yuki, ready to up and leave. “But, if I let go now, what does that say about my efforts—what does that even make me?”

“If you’re lucky,” Yuki considered, feeling a bit apprehensive about talking on your behalf, “then you could be someone she forgets,” she then sucked at her teeth, glancing back at you, “so… if you really want to save her,” she added in a softer tone, “then let her be free.”

Suguru let out a breath of air, letting his shoulders finally sag. If he was being honest, he wasn’t sure what he was even feeling right now. For some reason, he thought that it would fall into place when he reunited with you, thinking that you’d run to him from the second he walked inside. Then, when he saw how you really looked at him after a summer of wilful ignorance, something within him hesitated and he didn’t feel so confident about it anymore.

He scoffed at himself as he realised it. He truly thought that he would put up more of a fight for you, but Yuki was also right. He didn’t actually want to hurt you again. He only wanted you back so he could try and make things better, but if it was something that you never wanted to begin with, then he would truly be no better than the people he tried to ‘save’ you from.

“I get it, I get it,” he murmured, “I just never wanted for it to end up like this…”

You gave Suguru one last look as Yuki turned towards the hallway, glancing at the man you thought you once could trust—who had hurt you in the worst possible way—more than once, only to be met with the sight of a pathetic, broken man who had at long, long last, finally had accepted defeat.

“[name], was it?” Yuki called out, extending her hand towards you once more. “You coming?”

You turned to face her, jogging towards your saviour and grabbing onto her hand, holding on tight.

For the first time in forever, you felt as though things were finally going right.

~~~

It was long dark by the time Suguru finally left the room upstairs, slowly making his way downstairs to sit on the floor against the kitchen island, his back pressing against the cool, hard marble. He had his knees brought up to his chest with his hands resting at his sides. His body was limp with exhaustion, but his mind was racing with overwhelming thoughts, unable to shut up.

You were gone. Yuki was gone. Nanako and Mimiko were… somewhere.

All of his efforts, all of his plans, all of the things he sought out to protect were hanging loose by a thread, and the string was way too close to snapping.

The ache that formed in his chest was unbearable, leaving him feeling close to empty, but then, he heard footsteps. Crunching snow just outside and the sound of the front door opening. At first, he thought it was Satoru, ready to brace himself against the possible confrontation, but then he heard the all too familiar clink of heels.

Shoko?

“I never thought I’d see you all curled up and feeling sorry for yourself,” Shoko’s voice echoed through the spacious landing, her eyes fixing on him sat on the floor in the dimly lit kitchen.

Slowly, she made her way over to him, sitting down beside him, taking a deep breath as she sank down. She reached into her pocket for a cigarette, offering him a stick, which he reluctantly took, unsure why he was even given such a luxury, the weight of what he did finally catching up to him.

“Thanks—”

However, as he spoke, Shoko smacked the back of his head. He didn’t reply, but he did give her a look that conveyed a flash of anger, but also confusion.

“Seriously, why are men such idiots?” Shoko said, lighting up her cigarette and then his, the flickering flame briefly lighting up the disgust written in her expression. “You couldn’t have just, I don’t know, talked this out with her from the moment it all started? You really had to turn into a stalker, creep, and abusive asshole all in one on the literal second day I try to introduce a new person into the rotation?” she scolded, taking a puff before continuing. “Shit. And men dare to call women the irrational ones.”

Suguru’s frown deepened as she spoke, but he couldn’t deny the truth in her words.

“It’s not that simple,” he muttered, turning his head away, choosing to bitterly sulk instead.

“Oh yeah?” she scoffed. “I think it is that simple, though. You could have probably asked her out after a month of getting to know her through this incredible thing known as communication. Seriously. It could have even worked out. You two could have been the brooding couple that everyone would look to and think, ‘those two really suit each other’, but no, you had to ruin it.”

His hands balled into fists as he strained, trying to keep his emotions under check. He didn’t like being called out for this a second time. It hurt even more to hear it from Shoko. “You don’t get it.”

Shoko simply laughed. “Oh, but I do get it. I understand it all perfectly well. You’re acting like I haven’t been dealing with your bullshit for years.”

Suguru didn’t answer, once again supposing that she had a point, before turning his mind to other matters. “Where are the girls, by the way?

“Dropped them off with Satoru’s sitter, they’re probably torturing Megumi as we speak.”

Suguru nodded. “They’re safe, right?”

Shoko nodded. “Yes, I promise. Also, from the bottom of my heart, I’m asking you gently, please, please forget about her – you cannot be raising two young and impressionable minds while showing them that such obsession is okay. If they’re going to make it in this world, then there has to be at least some normalcy in their lives.”

Suguru nodded, taking a huff of his cigarette.

“Also, quit smoking,” she scolded him.

His eyes widened in confusion. “You’re the one who—“

“—you’re honestly lucky that we’re all willing to even clean up this whole mess you made,” Shoko continued, cutting him off, “I mean, look, I get it. Losing Riko back then… it broke a lot of us. Especially you, because you were there right when she… but, you can’t keep living like this. You can’t keep dragging people down and forcing them to succumb to your bullshit. It’ll only end in hurt or worse.”

“Yeah, I guess I’ve been a real piece of shit,” Suguru admitted.

Shoko nodded but still pursed her lips. “True! But don’t use this as an opportunity to feel sorry for yourself. Use it instead to better yourself. You owe your daughters that much.”

“You’re not gonna put me behind bars?” he asked, remembering your conditions for forgiveness.

“You deserve it,” she considered, “but jujutsu society won’t settle at that. You killed civilians, right? They’re going to want your head. If you’re willing to become another name on a tombstone though, be my guest.”

Suguru was about to call her out on her harsh use of words but then Satoru tore through the door, his eyes wide and erratic as he clasped his blindfold in his hands. For a beat, Satoru ignored Suguru entirely, his mind entirely focused on Shoko, bridging the gap to her in just a couple of quickly measured strides.

“Shoko,” he began, his voice low and dangerous, full of accusation, “tell me you did not.”

She looked up at him, seeming bored. “What?”

Satoru scoffed at her indifference. “You know ‘what’. You abducted Megumi? You took him without my knowledge.”

“As if you’re one to speak about abduction,” she snarked, “besides, the kid’s fine – back at the sitter. I just had to distract you long enough to give [name] a window.”

For a moment, Satoru froze as he processed her words. His eyes drifted over to Suguru who sat on the floor with her, looking painfully deflated. “...What?”

Suguru could only shake his head as if to silently communicate that you were gone.

Satoru however, refused to believe it, needing to hear it, despite not picking up a signature of your cursed energy at all. “What is she talking about? Do you know something?” he suddenly asked Suguru, acknowledging him at last.

“She’s gone,” Suguru admitted, his face bearing a defeated look, mouthing the words more than expressing anything audible.

Satoru stilled even more, his entire body tensing, becoming rigid much like a statue. He couldn’t believe it. Seriously? His mouth parted slightly, but no sound followed. Finally, after clearing his throat, he managed to let out a strained, raw sound, “what?” through, although, it sounded closer to a whisper, fixing his sights on Shoko next, overcome by an anger he wasn’t familiar with. “Shoko. You did something, didn’t you?” he pressed, grabbing her by the shoulders, and bringing her to her feet.

Suguru hesitated, standing up and putting out both her fallen cigarette and his own by stomping at the sticks. He pushed his friend off of her, giving her a chance to explain herself. He wasn’t happy about hearing about his downfall a third time, but if he had to suffer, then Satoru did too.

Shoko brushed aside his touch as she narrowed her eyes in annoyance. “I gave her a window to get the fuck away from you both, that’s what I did. I wasn’t about to sit back and let this nightmare consume her.”

For a brief moment, time stood still. Satoru’s obsession with you perhaps didn’t exceed Suguru’s devotion, but he still cared about you in his own twisted way. For you to be gone entirely made him feel that that moment you both shared where he finally got through to you was all pointless—a foreign feeling to him—unused to the concept of failure.

“You did what?” he seethed. “Do you have any idea of what you’ve done?”

He moved quickly to grab her shoulders again, but Suguru restrained him a second time. “Stop,” he warned.

Satoru didn’t waver in his protest. He was angry. Of course, he was angry. “You’re telling me to stop? Really? You?”

Suguru sighed, fully expecting that reaction. “Yeah, yeah, let it all out, I guess,” he replied in a deflated tone, “but listen, I had some time to think, and maybe… just maybe… we were the problem.”

Satoru blinked and paused, scoffing out a bitter laugh. “Obviously I know we were the problem, but that doesn’t change the fact that letting someone like her go is a good idea. Do you have any idea what this could mean if any of this gets out?”

Suguru could only shrug, already having had this conversation with Shoko earlier on. “Yeah, I mean, there’s probably a bounty on my head. You’ll get a slap on the wrist though, right?” he added with some resentment, emphasising the point that the six eyes user was from an influential clan, hinting that history would just repeat itself, but then he had a thought, turning back to Shoko. “Where exactly is [name] headed, anyway?”

“Overseas,” Shoko mentioned, “unsure where—all I know is it’s gonna be far away from you both.”

Satoru wasn’t having it. He could barely listen to what the two of them were even saying. His mind was racing, overcome with the weight of what he had just lost, reeling at the suffocating sensation.

Suguru too, faltered slightly at the news.

Though, as if in unison, they both choked out the same question as soon as they processed her words.

“Overseas?”

Finally, it was all setting in.

The reality was apparent and it was devastating.

(You were potentially out of their reach and they couldn’t bring you back.)

(Unless one of them had the mind to act soon—and fast.)

[vickytaa]

𝕯𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘? 𝕻.2.

𝔰𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔢𝔯𝔶: A new video in collaboration with Sam and Colby, where the group enters an abandoned church full of mysteries. What starts as an exciting adventure quickly turns into a nightmare. Y/n will have terrifying nightmares and must fight her fears after entering the darkness. Part 1.

"She... The girl was one of the few people who saw a nun, even though the place is abandoned. Some say they couldn't stop seeing her when they looked in the mirror, others say it was just that moment, and others say they stopped seeing her but strange things happened around them. What they did notice was that there was a kind of pattern, when the person was afraid, the nun's curse was even stronger, as if..."

"As if it was feeding on fear." Colby finished.

My body began to shake desperately, fear coursing through my veins. I tried to look at Matt, who was also scared but was trying his best not to break down there.

We all looked at each other, knowing that the best thing was to keep me company. "Honey, you..." Matt tried to calm me down, but I interrupted him, "Stay with me. Please, Matt," I begged, grabbing his shirt as if I would die if I didn't.

Matt hugged me tighter as I rested my head more and more against his chest. "I was scared, Matt." He pulled away a little, but just enough to see my face. My eyes were full of panic, even though almost an hour had passed since the incident. It broke him to see me like this, because normally I was the strong one, the brave one, but now? now I was scared.

"It's okay, sweetheart. You're with me now, I'm not going anywhere." Matt said. The words hung in the air as I tried to reach them, to believe them. I knew Matt wasn't going to leave my side, but I was scared of what might happen. What if I go back to the darkness?

Matt sat me on his lap, to have me even closer, showering me with small kisses to try to calm me down. My body began to tremble as my mind replayed the scenarios over and over again, each time feeling more real. I tried to push those thoughts away to drown myself in Matt's love and security.

Another hour passed, and the event was almost forgotten, at the back of my mind. I was laughing at a joke Matt made to make me feel something other than fear. "Matt, I think... I think we should continue with the video," I said, now sure that nothing else was going to happen.

Or so I thought...

We started looking for the others until we found them about to do the 'Estes method' where the person doing it is blindfolded and listens to words coming out of a 'special' radio, through headphones.

It was my favorite part of Sam and Colby's videos, but I still felt a little scared to get back into the game. So, when they asked who was going to do it, I immediately said no.

"I'll do it," Matt said, "I'll go with you," Chris followed. We all agreed and started with the method.

"If any person or being is here with us, please communicate through the devices," Colby said.

Silence.

"I repeat, if any being is here with us, communicate through these devices."

Silence, again.

We all started asking questions every now and then, but with no answers, as if neither Chris nor Matt could connect with the entities here.

Few insignificant words came out despite the long time they were there. Colby touched Chris's shoulder while I touched Matt's.

When they took off the equipment, we explained that it hadn't worked well, and they replied that we could try again. Despite the fear, I didn't want to miss out, for me, the best part of the video, so I decided to be brave and offered to do it.

At first, everyone hesitated, but after insisting a little more, they let me.

I sat in the wooden chair, with the headphones and blindfold on. Matt rested his hand on my thigh to assure me that he was there.

"Death," I heard the neutral voice from the headphones, "Death," I repeated exactly the same, interpreting the tone.

"Father," "Father."

The words weren't making much sense, but I was sure they were answering the questions the others were asking.

Shortly after, I heard a small, gruff laugh, which made me jump a little in fear, as I felt it in my right ear, as if a man was there. "A small laugh, like an adult man," I said.

The meaningless words quickly reappeared, "Fire," "Broken," "Eight," among others.

Suddenly, that gruff-voiced man's laugh was heard again, "The man's laugh again," I said, now a little scared, since normally words or things don't repeat.

Matt's hand was still there, motionless, squeezing my leg every now and then.

The radio went silent, no more words came out of there, until a deep voice said, "Are you afraid of the dark?"

My body tensed quickly, my hands began to shake. It was the same voice as before. I'd had enough.

I desperately took off the headphones and threw them on the floor. My hands traveled to the back of my head, to untangle the knot and take off the blindfold. I quickly opened my eyes, and there...

There was nothing.

Only darkness.

"No, please, not again!" I started to scream desperately, the air trapped in my throat. My eyes filled with tears and poured down my face. My head was killing me, and I slowly started to feel dizzy, my legs were slowly giving out and my heart was getting tired of beating.

I closed my eyes but quickly opened them at the feeling of being shaken. "Y/N!" Matt said, his face was practically inches from mine, but I could read his panic from miles away.

My mind was clouded, as I did nothing. The tears were falling down my face, but I couldn't feel them anymore. Nor did I feel that warmth of Matt when he hugged me.

I was exhausted. My legs felt like I'd run a marathon, and breathing was as hard as if I were at the top of the highest mountain.

"Let's go home," Matt said, hugging me and carrying me to the car. I wanted to stay there to finish the video they'd been planning for months, feeling guilty for ruining it, but at that point, I was so weak I couldn't even form a word.

Matt said goodbye to everyone and took me to the car. He quickly started it and began to drive. The tiredness was killing me, and since I got tired of fighting it, unfortunately, I lost and fell fast asleep.

The softness and comfort of my bed woke me up. "Matt..." I tried to look for him but my eyelids were too tired to open.

"I'm here, love. Let's sleep," Matt said, gently wrapping an arm around my waist, pulling me as close as possible.

Hours passed and the tiredness never came. I really tried to fall asleep, to follow Matt, but I just couldn't.

I decided that the best thing to do would be to get some water and go back to bed, it was simple and quick, right?

Right?

The scenes of today were in the back of my mind, while the glass of water was in front of everything. I slowly got out of his embrace and got up to go to the kitchen. The house was silent, which indicated that Nick and Chris hadn't returned yet. I felt a little bad for ruining their video, but I also didn't want to stay there to continue suffering.

The lights were off, a cold breeze passed, sending shivers down my spine. There was a strange tension in the air, as if something was going to happen, but I decided to ignore it.

I grabbed the glass and poured myself some cold water, trying to calm my nighttime thoughts. I was already out of there, I was with Matt, there was nothing to worry about. Or was there?

I turned to leave the glass on the counter, and there I saw her.

Kneeling in front of me, the nun again.

Panic and fear ran through my veins. I was frozen, not knowing what to do. I dropped the glass on the floor, shattering into a thousand pieces, but I couldn't hear it anymore, I could only hear the nun's sobs, getting louder and louder.

"Matt! Matt, please!!" I started to scream desperately, but for some strange reason, I couldn't hear anything. No matter how hard I screamed, nothing came out of my mouth.

I grabbed my throat in desperation. My eyes wide open, I watched as the nun slowly stood up in front of me, clearly towering over me.

Her burned hands detached from her face, moving slowly towards my neck.

Tears streamed down my eyes without stopping, my body completely frozen, all my strength trying to scream or get something to wake Matt up, but nothing helped.

The nun's hands, cold and dusty, began to squeeze my throat, cutting off my breath.

This was it, there was nothing else to do. All my strength spent, my soul slowly leaving my body.

𝕴 𝖘𝖍𝖔𝖚𝖑𝖉 𝖓𝖊𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖊𝖉 𝖙𝖔 𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘.

𝐕 -

[i-care-4u]

TALK TO ME | PEDRI

PAIR: PEDRI X FEMALE!READER

REQUESTS ARE CLOSED | MASTERLIST

you were invited to pablo’s party alongside his barcelona teammates and a few others. as you entered, you were immediately greeted by pablo and his sister, aurora.

at this point, you and the gaviras were like family. ever since meeting them because of your guardian’s interactions with their mother, you and the siblings got closer as the ages pass by. although things have changed because of career choices, one thing you can agree on was that barcelona is the move. you love barcelona as much as they do.

“hey guys!” you waved at the gavira siblings and they exchanged a smile towards before coming up to you.

starting with the left cheek, aurora exchanged kisses with you, “you finally made it!”

“i did!” you posed.

pablo joined, “thanks for coming in tonight. feel free to serve yourself some food, and drinks will be right in the fridge.”

you nod to pablo, messing up his hair, “thank you pablito!”

-

after greeting everyone inside the party, you decided to sit down and listen to the recent gossip. you were accompanied by pablo’s friend group.

as people slowly got off the couch, you saw that as your cue to leave somewhere else. however, fermín desperately asked you to stay.

“where are you going?” fermín asked you, “you’re going to miss the best part of the story!”

“i’m going to grab a drink and go outside.” you said as you start making your way into the kitchen. you opened the refrigerator and grabbed one of the drinks. afterwards, you closed the door and made your way into the backyard.

the backyard view looked very beautiful at night. however, there was no one there, or at least you thought so. walking towards the pool, appeared a guy sitting on one of the chairs.

“is someone sitting there?” you knew the answer is no, no one is sitting there, but you used that question as a way to start a conversation with the guy.

“no, you can sit there if you want.”

as you sat down, you started to examine the guy’s face. you were already familiar with his face, although you were unsure if that was his name.

“you must be…”

“pedri, no need to pretend.”

you raised your hands, giving him a sarcastic dirty look, “wow, okay. i was just making sure i was looking at the right person.”

“and you must be y/n. gavi tells me about you.”

“oh, he’s so sweet. you should be lucky to have someone like him.”

“and i am.”

for a brief moment, silence fell between you, with the peaceful sounds of the night wrapping about you like a comfortable blanket. the cold breeze rustled through the leaves, instilling a sense of serenity in your bones. pedri interrupted the pause, his voice soft but full of inquiry. "so, how long have you been friends with pablo and aurora?"

you chuckled quietly, remembering your closeness with the gavira siblings. "we have a long history together. our families have been close for years, and we almost grew up together. it's like they're my second family." pedri nodded in agreement, his face thoughtful. "that is nice. family is vital." you couldn't help but agree, a warm emotion flooding your chest as you remembered your relationship with the gaviras. "oh, definitely. they've always been there for me, through thick and thin."

as the night proceeded, you found yourself deep in discussion with pedri, the words flowing effortlessly as if you had known each other for years. his presence gave you a sense of calm and ease, allowing you to forget about everything else. you were lost in the moment, telling stories, laughing, and even pausing to contemplate quietly. it felt as if time had stopped and the world had shrunk to just the two of you in the black of night.

“so you’re telling me that you never wanted to approach me?” you asked pedri, being in disbelief.

pedri shrugged, “seeing you and the group of girls, i’d say out of everyone, you were the most intimidating.”

“gavi tells me all about you,” you repeated the words pedri said earlier. “don’t tell me he influenced you.”

“he didn’t…clearly you were just out of my league.”

“out of my league as in?”

“one that is getting the people in telling me that i pulled the impossible. one that i can show off to everyone. one that got me looking like the average person when standing next to you, a supermodel-like appearance.”

as the hours went, you developed a peculiar fascination to pedri. there was a magnetic draw between you, a connection that appeared to transcend words and actions. and when you looked into pedri's eyes, you noticed something flicker beneath the surface: a spark of something unsaid, something that mirrored the feelings running through your heart.

"may i?" pedri asked you. you drew in closer, absorbed in the moment's intensity, the distance between you narrowing with each passing second. and when your lips came together in a deep, delicate kiss, the world around you seemed to drift away, leaving only the warmth of pedri's touch and the hammering of your pulse.

lost in the heat of desire, you felt pedri's fingertips trace patterns across your flesh, sending chills down your spine. his touch was electric, setting off a fire of desire that grew stronger with each passing instant.

the need for air eventually separated you, leaving you both breathless and overwhelmed with want. but, even as you gathered your breath, the desire in pedri's eyes indicated that this was far from over. without saying anything, you both rose from your chairs, hands interlaced as you headed towards the house, the anticipation of what lay ahead hanging heavily in the air between you. however, as you approached the door upstairs, a voice shrieked from behind you, stopping you both in your tracks.

"since when were you two a thing?" fermín's voice burst forth, full of wonder. you turned to face him, hot cheeks and beating heart, wondering how to react to his unexpected interruption. but as you met pedri's eyes, you shared a wordless understanding, a mutual acceptance of the emotion that had developed between you.

"we'll talk later," pedri muttered softly, kissing your lips before turning to face fermín, whose expression was unreadable. and as you entered that room together, the anticipation of what was to come hung heavily in the air, a tempting reminder of your love for one another.

[taexual]

sleepwalking ● 4 | jjk

pairing: jungkook x fem!reader

summary: due to unfortunate circumstances, you ended up managing your ex-boyfriend’s band. you thought you’ve both made peace with it, but suddenly he’s very eager to prove to you that first love never dies.

genre: rockstar!jungkook / exes to lovers

warnings: explicit language, suggestive themes, SLOW BURN

words: 6.7k

read from the beginning ○ masterlist

chapter 4 ► i wanna be someone you used to hate without the memory of the pain

It took three and a half hours for the tour bus to reach Warsaw. Objectively, that gave Jungkook plenty of time to tell you about his ex and why he thought that relationship was worth salvaging.

But somehow—that is, by spinning elaborate webs and finding cheap excuses to derail the topic—he told you exactly nothing of what you wanted to know and managed to fall asleep before you could accuse him of beating around the bush.

You wanted to wake him up, but rationality won over. He needed sleep and, truthfully, you didn’t really need to know the full details of his failed relationship. As his manager, you were supposed to know that such a relationship existed and that was enough—you should have let him rest.

And you did let him.

But that did not stop you from wanting to know more.

You hesitated – really, you did, if only for a moment – before you texted Luna. It was three in the morning, but the girl slept during the day and stayed awake watching films with Taehyung at night (no matter how much you scolded him for yawning during rehearsals), so she replied right away.

You were smart enough not to text her the details over the phone – the Rated Riot members had a tendency to steal everyone’s phones just for the fun of it sometimes – so she agreed to come find you at your bunk in the back of the bus.

There were seven of you on this bus: the four members of the band, Luna, you, and the driver. You knew you had to be quiet, but you figured you were safe enough with everyone asleep now that you’d arrived at your destination (except Taehyung, who was still quietly watching Reservoir Dogs on his phone).

“I feel bad doing this,” was what you started with—you needed to make that clear as though it would justify your curiosity. All it really did was intrigue Luna more. “But I feel like I have to know.”

“What is it?” she urged, nearly bouncing with interest as she sat opposite you on your bunk.

So, you told her—in dangerous whispers—about Sid’s revelation regarding the mysterious ex and Jungkook’s subsequent secrecy. Luna listened, her arms crossed over her chest, her eyes wide and glistening.

“Alright,” she concluded after you finished. “Here’s what we’re going to do – I’ll ask Taehyung to confirm if there’s any truth to this. That’s first of all. Because, let me be honest with you, everything that Sid told you sounds like he just pulled it out of his ass.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” you nodded, “but then Jungkook said it’s true. Why would he lie?”

“I don’t know,” she paused here to think. “Is it possible that he’s just pulling a prank on you? Although I don’t see how anyone would find that funny.”

“Anyone but Sid.”

“Right,” she agreed. “But would Jungkook jump on that? I haven’t really seen him with his friends much, but I assume he draws the line at involving you.”

That was true. All things considered, Jungkook was rarely ever the one who called you for help when he got into trouble—it was usually his friends who did.

“You’re probably right,” you said. Your voice was hopeful, but you could never be fully certain that Jungkook’s friends haven’t pulled him into the metaphorical dark side completely. “But I don’t know what else this could be. He must have dated someone, it’s the only way this makes sense.”

“No—or maybe,” Luna said, her voice rising with sudden excitement. “Maybe he’s trying to get your pity, so you would come to Paris with him.”

You frowned. “Why?”

“Maybe he—” she started, but then stopped herself. Biting her lip, she thought twice about the way in which she’d phrase herself next. She didn’t want to instil some sort of false hope inside of you, but she also wasn’t sure if you’d even care. “I don’t know… Would it be outrageous to guess that maybe he just wants to take you out?”

You lifted your eyebrows and couldn’t resist a scoff.

“Unless it’s with a sniper, yes,” you said. “That would be outrageous.”

“Oh, come on,” she rolled her eyes at your absurd dramatics. Her suggestion seemed far more plausible to her, especially after she heard your jeering response, which obviously came from your personal discomfort, and not genuine disbelief. She pointed out, “you dated.”

“Four years ago,” you reminded her in turn. “I barely even remember the relationship or the break-up anymore.”

Luna caught the tentative tone in your voice—like you wanted to believe what you were saying, but couldn’t quite manage it, yet you hoped it wouldn’t show.

It showed. And it gave Luna a pause.

Distracted from the topic of Jungkook hypothetically wanting to take you out on a date, she asked, “why did you break up?”

You and Luna had been friends before you became Rated Riot’s manager (funnily enough, she was the one who introduced you to their music after you mentioned that you might start working with them) – but not before you broke up with Jungkook. She’d never met him, but she was one of your closest friends, so she knew of his existence—although the realization that your ex-boyfriend and Jungkook from Rated Riot was the same person, came later.

Despite that, however, the two of you had never really talked about the reasons why you and Jungkook broke up. You’d never talked about that with anyone. There was never any point for that, really – the people who knew you could tell that your relationship had ended long before you two actually broke up.

“Just—things happened,” you said, looking away and waving a dismissive hand around.

“Come on,” she pleaded again. “You were together for three years. What things could have happened to end that?”

You sighed. It wasn’t a secret or anything. This was just something you happened not to talk about. But, you supposed, it wouldn’t make much of a difference if you did.

“It was the same shit,” you began slowly. “His stupid friends. He was getting drunk every night, picking fights, drag-racing, doing other dangerous, dumb things. Then one night, I had to pick him up from the police station after he got arrested with Minjun—”

“Minjun got arrested?” Luna interrupted, her eyebrows rising. She realised she’d spoken too loudly and looked around warily—the bus was quiet, save for the sound of the film on Taehyung’s phone. She continued, quieter, “I always thought he was the most mellow one, out of Jungkook’s friends.”

“I know, right?” you nodded with a relatable smile. “I still think Sid set them up. Anyway, they were spraying graffiti on some abandoned building downtown, and they got caught by someone patrolling the street. So, they ran and, apparently, spat at the officers. Minjun and Jungkook were the only ones who got caught. That was my last straw.”

Your friend nodded, not surprised, but still unsettled to hear that this was something that you’d had to deal with even before you became Rated Riot’s manager. Luna wasn’t sure if she’d have agreed to work with an ex-boyfriend, especially if that meant interacting with his friends—who were a contributing factor to the break-up, as it seemed—again.

“Wow,” she commented, lacking better words.

“Yeah,” you concurred, because, really, that one syllable seemed to sum it up well. “But that was ages ago. I mean, he obviously hasn’t changed much, but I don’t care about it. I mean, I do, but I care as his manager. Not, uh—not personally. Not anymore.”

Luna caught the awkward stuttering and licked her lips as she tried to fight off a smirk.

“Hmm, okay,” she said, crossing her legs on your bunk. “So, if that’s the case, then why do you want to know about this relationship that he might have had?”

Immediately, you felt the need to defend yourself from whatever she was insinuating, “well, because as his manager—”

“Right,” she cut you off, repeating, “so, as his manager, why do you want to know about th—”

“Okay, fine.” You extended a hand to stop her and closed your eyes in defeat when she chuckled. “I want to know, because this person is going to be at the wedding of our mutual friends. It’s very likely that we’ve met before. A-and Jungkook said that this person might be the love of his life.”

Luna stopped laughing immediately.

“Fuck,” she whispered. “He said that?”

You brought your tongue over your dry lips. “Yeah.”

“Fuck,” she repeated.

“Yeah. I-I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not—not heartbroken or anything—”

“No, of course not.”

You gave her a look. “I’m just being careful. Because he isn’t. And if this person is anything like his friends, then… you know. It’s not good.”

You couldn’t find a better explanation why that wasn’t good or why this situation required your interference, but Luna understood. She likely understood this better than you did; your mind was still clouded with convictions that you were only doing this for the sake of the band.

“Okay,” she said with a nod. “That’s fair enough.”

This was why you loved her: she didn’t just understand you—wordlessly sometimes—but she also knew when to ask and when not to ask questions.

“Thing is, though,” you continued, folding your legs under yourself as you tried to handle the sudden anxiety that came with talking about this. “What do I tell him? If this person really is bad for him, what do I say without seeming, I don’t know, crazy? Because, when it comes to this, there’s a very thin line between being a concerned manager and a bitter ex-girlfriend. And I’m already overstepping all boundaries by talking to you about this.”

Luna didn’t think you were doing anything crazy—the two of you had done far more plotting over the years—as she tapped her index finger against her lower lip.

“Okay, let me think for a second.” She watched the ceiling of your bunk for a minute or two before asking, “okay, has he, uh—has he been in love with anyone other than you?”

This was an uncomfortable question; she could already tell before she even asked it—and your reaction was intense as you shrunk into yourself and pulled further away from her.

“I don’t know,” you mumbled.

“Don’t be humble,” she scolded kindly.

You clicked your tongue. With your face burning—for no reason other than your own discomfort and, possibly, insecurities—you looked down and shrugged your shoulders, as if this gesture could reduce the weight of your confession.

“No,” you said. “He hasn’t. To my knowledge.”

“Okay,” Luna replied as quickly as she could, knowing that an awkward silence would follow otherwise. “So, once upon a time, he probably thought you were the love of his life. He was wrong, right?”

You swallowed, still not looking up. “Right.”

Luna paused here, thrown off yet again by the lack of conviction in your voice. Normally, you were overly composed and not at all hesitant when it came to this. But not tonight.

It’s been four years, you had said, trying very hard not to hesitate. I barely remember the break-up.

This persistent uncertainty that Luna kept noticing interested her. It interested her even more than your evident stiffness—even embarrassment—about the fact that Jungkook had never been in love with anyone else but you.

She squinted her eyes at you, while you focused on the duvet underneath you, tracing the pattern with your thumb.

There were seven people on this bus, only two of whom had been in the relationship that was currently under discussion,  and yet Luna could have sworn there wouldn’t be anyone who could say that Jungkook had really been wrong about this. That you weren’t the mythical love of his life. That he didn’t love you anymore.

Truly, she realised—not a single person who knew you two, could have said this with certainty. Not even you.

“Right,” she echoed nonetheless—she was making a point, after all. “So, then if he was wrong once, he could be wrong again. Tell him that.”

She extended her hands to signal the ingenuity—and the sheer simplicity—of her plan, and you had to give her a respectful nod as you finally met her eye.

“Okay,” you said, “I guess that could work.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, although she thought you both knew that you’d just be pretending if you used this as an argument against Jungkook.

A small part of her—more chaotic than her other parts—wondered what would happen if you confronted Jungkook about this. If you asked, point-blank, if he’d ever felt like you were the love of his life and if this feeling ever left him.

But she knew you’d never do it. She supposed that the secrecy surrounding your relationship wasn’t just a front for your friends—the two of you didn’t speak much about it to each other, either.

Not to mention, you couldn’t even use the words “love” and “life” in one sentence without looking like you were being executed in front of the whole town.

Exhaling as she watched you get lost in your own thoughts, Luna extended her legs over the ledge of your bunk. “Okay, I’ll go back to Taehyung and—”

You blinked in sudden panic. “Don’t ask him now, though! He’ll know we just talked about this.”

She looked at you with disdain. “Do you think this is my first time gathering intel behind someone’s back? I got this.”

She was right, of course. You had no reason not to trust her; the two of you had done a lot of sleuthing together in the past.

That was why you’d texted her tonight—because she was the one who could give you a different perspective. And in case her perspective matched yours, she was the one who’d help you find the answers you were looking for.

“Okay,” you said. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” she replied as she stepped out of your bunk and gave you one more look over her shoulder before she returned to her boyfriend. “Get some sleep.”

Jungkook continued to be evasive the whole day in Warsaw, but, then again, you didn’t talk to him much. You trusted Luna to get to the bottom of this, and focused on your job instead.

And your job needed focus.

Jett Records called to check in—as if they could sense that you were planning a secret trip to France with the band’s vocalist tomorrow. And then you were contacted by radio hosts from Germany and England – they were interested in interviewing the band, so you had to adjust the daily schedules.

On top of that, Hoseok’s drum pedals started to malfunction during the soundcheck, so you and Jimin – the sound technician and an avid drum enthusiast – spent the whole afternoon travelling to various music stores to find a replacement. Jimin insisted he could repair it, but he spent an hour just trying to figure out what the issue was, so you guessed it’d be faster to get a new one.

As it turned out, it wasn’t faster at all. Obviously, neither of you spoke Polish, and, just like the Rated Riot members themselves, Jimin was also very directionally challenged—yet he refused to let you use the map on your phone. Fortunately, both of you were also stubborn, so you huffed and cursed, but you found the bloody pedal in the end.

You were drained by the time Rated Riot stepped on stage for their performance that night, but you’d fixed the drums and gotten everything under control—and that felt good.

You’d done your job well today and all the unexpected errands successfully distracted you from the upcoming trip to Paris.

Once everyone gathered backstage after the show, you and Jungkook were the only two people glancing at your phones and exchanging conspiratory looks, while everyone else had drinks and sang along to Reconnaissance on the speakers—it was long established that this was the band that Rated Riot looked up to at the moment.

You didn’t mind. Reconnaissance had sold out Wembley Stadium on their third European tour. If Rated Riot continued down the path they were on now, their own third visit to the continent could take place in similar venues.

However, you couldn’t just sit here with a soft smile as everyone danced around you, because the train from Warsaw left early in the morning.

This proposed another problem: you hardly wanted to inform everyone that you were going to spend the band’s day off travelling to a wedding in Paris with Jungkook. You debated taking the illness route – surely no one would bother you if you drew the curtains on your bunk on the bus and hung a note, claiming you weren’t feeling well.

But before you could decide on any course of action, Jungkook stood up from his seat next to you and declared to everyone in the room, “we’re going sightseeing around Europe tomorrow. So, if any of you need us, don’t.”  

“Around Europe?” Yoongi repeated with an amused scoff. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“It means we’re going to be taking trains to places,” Jungkook explained so very concisely. “And we don’t want anyone to bother us.”

Feeling hot all of a sudden—because the way he was describing this was painfully ambiguous—you stood up, too, and tried to do damage control, “what he means is—”

“Have fun, guys,” Hoseok interrupted, gently brushing his hand against your shoulder as he walked past. “It’s our day off, you deserve some rest, too.”

That wasn’t the reaction you were expecting—you were, after all, the manager; and leaving the band so suddenly for the whole day wasn’t, exactly, permitted—but perhaps you should have known better.

All of you spent so much time together that every single staff member in this room felt more like family than your actual family did sometimes. You should have guessed they wouldn’t look down on you for doing this.

Still, you reminded everyone, “if you need me, you can call me. I’m still available, okay?”

Everyone nodded with good-natured chuckles as Jungkook pulled you towards the door—all while you waved your phone around to accentuate your availability.

Because of this, you missed the meaningful glances exchanged between Jungkook and his friends—Sid, Jude, and Minjun were oddly quiet now that Rated Riot, as well as other staff, were in the room with them.

“Don’t call her,” you heard Jungkook whisper at his bandmates as the two of you exited the room into the hallway. “She’s not available.”

Smacking him on the shoulder—and ignoring the annoyed, “ow, for fuck’s sake, this is my singing arm!”—you closed the door of the changing room, but not before adding a rushed, “call me, seriously!” at the guys inside.

You saw them smile and wave before the door clicked shut, and you exhaled slowly.

“This trip better be worth it,” you warned Jungkook as the two of you walked towards the back exit.

“It will be,” he assured you, still rubbing his shoulder. “This is going to bruise, by the way.”

“It’s not going to bruise. I barely touched you.”

“Don’t gaslight me. I’m in pain.”

You stopped walking to glare at him.

“I apologise for hurting you,” you said with a deadpan expression. “Would you like me to put ice on it? A bandage? Kiss it better?”

He removed his hand from his shoulder and turned away very ceremoniously. “Don’t baby me.”

You pushed the exit door open and waved your hand to allow him to leave first. “Then don’t act like a baby.”

He walked out, all while mumbling in discontent, “I’m taking you to a wedding in Paris as my date. You could be grateful.”

Your mouth nearly fell open at his audacity as you followed him outside, the door slamming shut behind you.

“I’m going to a wedding in Paris as your date,” you retorted. “You could be grateful.”

At first, he tried to think of a witty comeback while you browsed your phone to order an Uber, but then he realised that wouldn’t be fair and chose to be honest instead.

“Okay, fine. I am grateful,” he admitted.

You ordered the ride and locked your phone, crossing your arms as the two of you stood in the nearly empty parking lot, illuminated only by a few stray street lights.

“And I am sorry if I really hurt you,” you replied. “I don’t usually use violence.”

Jungkook grinned. “You couldn’t throw a punch even if you tried.”

You lifted your eyebrows and raised a fist. “You want to actually see me try?”

There was an impressed twinkle in his eye. “I thought you said no violence.”

“You challenged me,” you replied, taking half a step back to get into a proper boxing position. His lip twitched in a smile as you said, “I’m really just proving a point.”

“The only point you’re proving is the one I made,” he said, nodding at your stance, “that is not how you fight.”

You looked down at your legs. “What’s wrong with—”

You felt a quick, but gentle poke under your chin that sent your head backwards. Jungkook snickered, pulling away.

“And don’t ever look away from your opponent,” he added. “Can’t believe I have to teach you that again. I knew you never listened to me.”

Your gaze was murderous when you looked at him again. You gathered your legs and stood up normally.

“I am going to wait until you fall asleep on the train,” you said, “and leave your ass in Cologne before our transfer.”

“If you think I won’t find my way back to you,” he replied, “you don’t know me at all.”

Your annoyed expression prompted his amused grin to widen before he puckered his lips and smacked them, a mocking air kiss.

Your glare remained as you stuffed your tongue into your cheek. “You make me so miserable sometimes.”

Chuckling in response, he pointed at the headlights approaching you two from across the parking lot. “I think that’s our Uber.”

Immediately, you made your way towards it. “I’m sitting at the front.”

He caught up with you with one quick stride. The car stopped on the edge of the parking lot as the driver seemingly noticed the two of you.

“Absolutely not,” Jungkook said, knowing you’d rather crawl than endure small talk with the driver. “You’re sitting with me in the back. Or we’re both walking to the train station.”

“I really regret the day I met you,” you informed him.

“No, you don’t,” he argued brightly. “I’m a gift.”

“A gift from hell.”

He laughed as he opened the back door for you, only entering the car after you got comfortable in the furthest corner. Smug, he slid down the backseat until he was right next to you, even though there was plenty of space for, at least, four people here.

Even though you rolled your eyes at him, it’s been a while since the two of you played around like this—like you weren’t simply working together—and you had to resist a smile.

The two of you merely glanced at each other before looking away again as you violently repressed all the memories that this moment outside in the parking lot had brought back.

You and Jungkook were already on the 4 AM train when Luna texted you, “not true!!! TH knows for a fact that JK was sleeping around w Sid's girls when he was in that ‘relationship’. He definitely lied to you!!”

Swallowing—because, suddenly, this made less sense—you lifted your eyes from your phone to look at Jungkook. He was sitting across from you, leaning his elbows on the fold-out table between you in the private compartment of the train.

He wasn’t looking at you as he filmed the view outside the train window (although there wasn’t much to film, it was still dark outside, save for the occasional street light somewhere far in the distance), but he felt your eyes quickly enough. As soon as he turned his head in your direction, you looked down at your phone again.

You didn’t understand. Why would he lie to you?

You typed back a quick, “thanks,” to Luna, and then cleared your throat, putting your phone on the table.

“So, uh,” you said, finally meeting his gaze. “How are you feeling? I realise I never asked you.”

He frowned. “What do you mean? You ask me that almost every day.”

“But not about the break-up,” you clarified, trying to sound as genuine as you could under the circumstances. “Must have been difficult. How long ago did you say you broke up?”

You watched as he clenched his jaw and returned his attention to his phone, proceeding with the video.

“I told you I’d rather not talk about this,” he replied decidedly enough.

“And I told you I’d only come with you to Paris if you talked to me,” you pushed.

Swallowing the unpleasant feeling in his throat, Jungkook finally stopped recording. He clicked something on his phone—just stalling, you were sure of it—and then finally put his phone on the table next to yours.

He’d dug this hole himself—well, actually, Sid dug this hole for him, but he leapt into it voluntarily. Now he had to find a way out.

“Fine,” he said. “I don’t remember exactly when. Maybe two weeks before we left for tour.”

Huh. Sid had said it was four days before the flight to Prague. What were the odds that his useless friend remembered the break-up more vividly than Jungkook himself?

“Right, right.” You nodded, abandoning all sensitivity now that the chances of this being true diminished even more. Unless he cheated on his partner—repeatedly, apparently—he was lying straight to your face. “Did you ask why? Did you, maybe, do something that would have—”

“Are you saying it’s my fault?” he interrupted loudly enough to make his anger seem genuine.

You blinked, momentarily surprised.

“I’m not saying,” you defended. “I’m asking.”

You supposed you could have given him the benefit of the doubt here – that was easier to do than to think of reasons why he’d feel the need to lie about a break-up or a relationship. But Jungkook wasn’t the type to cheat—then again, was anyone, really, the type?

That being said, if Taehyung knew that Jungkook was sleeping around at the time of the supposed relationship, then perhaps these things could have been happening simultaneously. Perhaps his partner found out and broke up with him.

“It sounds like you’re accusing me,” Jungkook said, his gaze firm.

Keeping eye contact, you countered, “I’m just trying to understand.”

“Is it so hard to believe that someone would break up with me?” he asked. “You’ve done it, too.”

Nearly flinching at the abrupt—but factual—accusation, you looked down.

“Okay,” you said as your fingers found the edges of your phone case to toy with. His unexpected statement had cut your interrogation short. “I’m just trying to see what the odds are of you getting back together with this person. If that’s still something you want.”

Jungkook looked away, too, watching the darkness outside of the window. “I’m still thinking about it.”

Unsure what to make of that—especially since now you knew that there was, most likely, no person for him to get back together with—you only hummed in response.

“Let’s just make it to Paris and we’ll see,” he added, honest this time. “I’m sure everything will be fine.”

It was you who lied this time as you gave him a small nod of agreement. “Yeah. Sure.”

That was the extent of your conversation on the topic: he didn’t pursue it further—which would have been weird in any case, considering how much he cared about being taken seriously; and he could see that you were having doubts now—and neither did you. You obviously had more questions, but you knew they’d only work as an opening for him to lie further.

You thought that, if you didn’t know that he was lying, you would have had to respect his decision not to give you more details, even though you were curious. He’d applied the same method to your own relationship, after all. You’d always appreciated it, regardless of how obnoxious it seemed to your friends sometimes—the relationship stayed between the two people that were in it.

But he wasn’t in a relationship now. Not as far as Taehyung and Luna knew.

And yet, this didn’t feel like a good time to get into an argument. Regardless of his motives for this lie, you were on a train to Paris with him. You’d be going to your friends’ wedding together. Then, you’d be taking another train back to join the tour.

You could play along for a short while—if anything, just so you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable for the entirety of the upcoming 24 hours.

Finally, after two transfers – one in Berlin, and one in Cologne – you had four hours left until you’d arrive at Gare du Nord in Paris. Taking a plane would have required less time and fewer layovers, but it was impossible to find a flight on such short notice, especially when you were on a budget.

Another two hours later, as Jungkook began to wake up from his nap, you figured it was a good time to change into a more appropriate outfit for the wedding – you’d worn a grey tracksuit for the train ride – so you grabbed your overnight bag and headed to the bathroom.

At this point in your journey, you’d nearly forgotten the unsuccessful conversation that you’d had about his ex, and you were surprised to realise that not knowing the whole truth didn’t bother you much. The gentle rocking of the train was soothing—calming, even. And the idea that you’d see your old friends soon felt exciting, too.

There were many other things you could have focused on—and you did. Even though some of the distracting thoughts that you had, weren’t, exactly, a better alternative.

Changing in the cramped bathroom of a moving train was about as uncomfortable as one could imagine, but it was nothing you hadn’t done before. And, now that you thought about it, you realised that you and Jungkook had done a lot more in train bathrooms than just changing clothes.

The unexpected memory forced you to bump your head into the sink as you took your sneakers off, and you cursed quietly under your breath.

You weren’t sure why you were remembering this now, but you were alone, thankfully, and had enough time to shake these thoughts out of your head as you slid your sweatpants down your legs and pulled the burgundy, off-the-shoulder dress out of your bag.

The dress had wrinkled a bit, but you had packed a leather jacket just in case—it would certainly divert the attention, considering the huge skull on the back of it.

However, looking at the jacket now, you were forced to remember where you got it. You’d had it for so long, you didn’t think anything when you packed it. But now you could remember Jungkook being there with you the day you first saw it. The two of you had only stopped at the clothing store because it had begun to rain—rain seemed to surround your relationship—and neither of you had an umbrella.

While you were looking for one in the accessory section, Jungkook approached you with this jacket and a big grin.

“You already have one like this,” you had told him then.

“I know,” he’d replied, beaming. “Now we can match.”

The jacket wouldn’t have meant anything if you weren’t on this train now. It would have just been a jacket—like any other piece of clothing that you’d worn before you broke up—if you weren’t going to Paris with him. If you weren’t remembering all of these useless moments in your life; meaningless, really, until your heart rate picked up.

Mumbling a few more curses, you put on the only heels you’d packed for the tour. They were far too chunky to go with the dress, but they seemed to go with the jacket—and you didn’t have any alternatives anyway. You had planned the outfit before you could plan the mess of thoughts in your head.

Another ten minutes later, you finally exited the bathroom and saw that there was already a small queue outside. Apologizing—and blaming the dumbfounded looks on people’s faces on your hair; you could tell it was everywhere, but not anywhere it needed to be—you jogged back towards your compartment, sighing in relief when you slid the door closed.

When you turned around, Jungkook was watching you with slightly parted lips.

You could tell he recognised the jacket.

“Shut up,” you said right away, unsure if he was going to tease you about it or mock the fact that you were dressed up for a festival rather than a wedding. “I didn’t bring enough clothes. And I know my hair looks like it’s moving to Argentina to start an independent—”

“No,” he cut you off with enough force to surprise himself, and then stuttered his way through something that was supposed to be a sentence, “it, uh—it looks—it’s—you’re, uh—it’s great. It’s fine.”

You snorted as you looked for a hairbrush in your backpack. “It’s great and it’s fine. Thanks.”

“I meant—” he began, but then gave up. He couldn’t look at you in this dress with the jacket that he got you, breathe, think of what to say, and actually speak at the same time. That was four things and he could barely stop doing the first one. “I should—I’m going to go change, too.”

“Sure,” you muttered distractedly, finally finding the hairbrush and the pocket mirror that you were looking for—but missing the way Jungkook looked back at you as he walked away.

The only time he stopped glancing back at you was when he nearly tumbled into a snack trolley and, once he walked around it, you were already out of his field of vision.

He needed cold water first and foremost, because for a good minute there, it seemed as though there was no way around the fact that Sid had been right. He did still have feelings for you.

Sure, he constantly flirted with you outright since you began to work together, but, he did that to fluster you. To annoy you. And, of course, he still thought you were beautiful to the point where his knees felt wobbly when he was in the same room with you sometimes, and his breath got caught in his throat if you looked at him for longer than a minute.

He was a professional, not a blind idiot.

But he liked to think that this was a physical attraction. Momentary reminiscences of your past relationship. He was grateful for these memories sometimes when he was writing songs (although less so when he tried to fall asleep), but he couldn’t have real, actual feelings for you. It’s been four years.

This was just the dress—it was the same colour as the skirt you’d worn on your third date, when you went to get fast food and he accidentally dropped an open packet of ketchup on you. You’d laughed and told him it was fine; you couldn’t see the stain anyway. You’d joked that that was why you’d worn this skirt—because you knew what a klutz he was.

Or maybe it was your hair—it looked like the same mess as it had when he rented out a convertible for your first anniversary and took you for a ride. It was early September, and he had thought it would be nice and warm, but within the first five minutes, both of your mouths were full of bugs, and you couldn’t hear a word the other one was saying through the sound of the wind. He had to pull over on the side of the road. The two of you needed a good minute to stop laughing at how ridiculous you looked before you could clean yourselves, because you had dinner reservations at a restaurant in town in an hour—he could still feel the softness of your hair as he untangled it with his fingers.

Or maybe it was the way you were completely unaware of this—like the first time he took you to meet his parents and you’d hyperventilated the whole bus ride to their house. You were nineteen, much too young for something as serious as meeting each other’s families, but he was completely calm. You’d asked him what would happen if his parents hated you. What about his grandma? His aunts and uncles? His cousins? His brother? Jungkook lived with an abundance of close and more distant relatives—what if they opposed the relationship? What if they told you to leave?

He’d never told you, but every time his grandmother had a better day, she still asked him about you.

Or maybe it was just you—like the first time he saw you at the Freshman Orientation in university. You’d been discussing Howl’s Moving Castle with someone with such intensity that he could see the fire in your eyes from across the room. He found out you’d seen every Studio Ghibli film before he even met you. And he fell in love with your eyes when you spoke about the things you loved before he said one word to you. He’d never believed in love at first sight, and not until years later, did he realise how utterly stupid it was not to believe in something that had happened to him, and kept happening every time he saw you, until, finally—almost a whole year later—he gathered enough courage to approach you and tell you that he liked My Neighbor Totoro, too.

Shit, shit, shit.

Shit.

When Jungkook returned to your compartment about fifteen minutes later, you were the one who needed a second to get yourself together.

He was wearing a black dress shirt under a black suit jacket with glossy, vertical stripes, embroidered with glittery beads that caught the sun rays and—as usual—reflected them right in your eyes when you looked up at him. Black suit pants and Oxford platform shoes finished his outfit—ironically, fit for both, a wedding and a funeral.

“Nice jacket,” you said, purposefully looking away and busying yourself with your backpack even though there was nothing useful in it for you now. “Tour wardrobe?”

“No, actually, this one’s mine,” he replied, looking down at his clothes. “I’d never worn it before. Very Prince. Didn’t think I could pull it off.”

“Hmm,” you glanced at him again, then looked back at your belongings—this was the only way you could remain coherent enough. “You’re pulling it off well.”

“Thanks,” he replied with a small smile as he took his seat in front of you.

You’d endured nearly fourteen hours of travel time – one hour left until Paris – and, unbelievably, this was the first time that this trip got awkward: right now – with the two of you sitting in front of each other, in your wedding guest outfits, not knowing what to do with your eyes or your bodies or your minds.

You weren’t sure what your role was anymore. You weren’t, technically, on tour with him right now, so you could hardly call yourself his manager here—if anything, you were breaking the rules that a manager should have enforced.

You supposed you could have called him a friend. He was the one person you knew the longest—he knew things about you that no one else did.

But, at the end of the day, he was also your ex-boyfriend. And, suddenly, four years didn’t seem that long ago as your relationship came rushing back at you with full force.

A little over three years together—exactly one-thousand, one-hundred and eighty days; the last eighty had seemed never-ending back then, as your relationship began to wither—and now you were trying your hardest to pretend like you didn’t feel the dangerously strong, almost magnetic pull towards each other.

You hoped this was just the air in Paris. Things would go back to the way they were once you joined the rest of the band on tour in Berlin.

Jungkook knew this wasn’t the air and it wasn’t just Paris. But he thought he could pretend it was.

chapter title credits: bad omens, “take me first”

prev ○ next

[daytaker]

Oh! Oh! Spin the bottle with Mammon for the followers event!~

Thank you for your prompt, and sorry for the delay! Writer's block has been killing me but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Enjoy this little Mammon x reader drabble!

Spin the Smartphone

Mammon x Reader Genre: Fluff Word Count: 1154 CW: Nothing, really.

[Part of my 250 Followers Mini Event!]

“Hey, how ‘bout a game of spin the bottle?”

Mammon made the suggestion, grinning at everyone. That is to say, grinning at Levi, Satan, Asmo, the twins, and you. You were all sitting in your room, trying to figure out what to do now that the Monopoly board was scorched after Satan’s brief burst of rage earlier. (He landed on Park Place again.)

“Ew,” was Levi’s response.

“Eh?” Mammon blinked.

“You do realize that if we did that, you’d have a 5 out of 6 chance to land on one of your brothers?” Satan asked, tilting his head with a small smirk.

“...EH?!”

“Seriously, how is our brother this stupid?” sighed Belphie.

“I ain’t stupid!” Mammon whined.

“Why can’t you just ask the human for a kiss instead of coming up with these convoluted excuses?” Satan rolled the Monopoly top hat between his fingers. “Are you really so full of yourself that you can’t admit that’s what you’re actually after?”

“W-What? Whaddaya mean ‘all these convoluted excuses’?! I said one thing!”

“Last week you wanted to try seven minutes in heaven,” sighed Asmo, shaking his head. “That was even worse.”

Levi laughed. “Not to mention all the times you’ve been like, ‘Guys! I have the best idea! Let’s play truth or dare!’ and then ‘Okay, Human, ask me truth or dare! I choose dare! Huh? …Can ya dare me something else? …Can ya dare me something else again?’ Lol!”

“He’s so obvious it makes me a little sad,” Beel added with a sorry frown. 

You sat and listened to the exchange. They weren’t wrong, of course. You and Asmo had made a bit of a game of it; guessing what weird attempt at an excuse to kiss you Mammon might pull out next. Still, you weren’t completely heartless, and watching Mammon get dogpiled by his younger brothers wasn’t making you feel amazing, no matter how used to it he probably was.

So later that night, after you’d all agreed it was only fair that Satan should buy the replacement Monopoly board and the brothers had all cleared out, you pulled out your DDD and opened your texts.

> Hey. Mammon: Hey!!! Mammon: I mean, what’s up? > Could you come back to my room? I wanted to ask you about something.

Less than a minute later, there was a sudden, excited knock at your door. Mammon entered before you even invited him in and plopped down on the floor.

“So! Missin’ the Great Mammon already, eh? Can’t say I blame ya.”

“I have a proposition for you,” you announced, and you pulled a Demonus bottle from under your bed.

“I accept,” Mammon declared, snatching the bottle from your hands before you had a chance to get a word in edgewise. “...Hey, what the…? It’s empty!”

You took the bottle back and slipped onto the floor, facing Mammon. “We’re not drinking it, you doofus. We’re spinning it.”

You watched the gears turn in Mammon’s head in real time. He looked at you, then at the bottle, a complete lack of understanding on his face. Then his lips moved. You thought he mouthed the word “spin”, but you couldn’t be sure. He looked up at you again, decided that was a bit too intense, and returned to staring at the bottle as his cheeks turned red.

“Wait, you mean like…?”

“Spin the bottle. Yeah.”

Mammon looked around the room in an exaggerated fashion before raising a hand dismissively. “Uh, in case ya ain’t noticed, there’s only two of us here.”

“Is that a problem?”

“I’unno. ‘S meant to be a party game.”

“You think I don’t know that?”

Finally, the last few gears seemed to click into place, and a look of recognition crossed Mammon’s face. “...Oh!”

“Yeah.”

You set the bottle down on the floor between the two of you. You both stared at it. Then you looked up at each other. 

“You go first,” you said, and at the same time, Mammon said, “Uh, did you wanna–?”

Mammon gave it a spin. It was not an elegant spin either. The thing wobbled and rolled on its side and it took a few tries to get it to spin anything like how it always looked on TV.

When it stopped, it pointed unambiguously at the wall.

“Try it again,” you said.

He tried it again. This time it stopped facing your bed.

“You’re doing it wrong,” you sighed.

“The hell does that even mean?”

You ignored him and gave the bottle a spin. It went skating underneath the bed, and Mammon looked vindicated. “See? ‘S not that easy!”

Irritated to see your best made plans laid to waste, you opened up your DDD, typed a 🍾 emoji into the Notes app, and set the device down on the floor between you. You gave your device a little spin. This went far better than your last attempt, so you decided to quit while you were ahead.

Meanwhile, Mammon was attempting to decipher your actions. “The fuck is that?” he asked, squinting at the DDD.

“A bottle,” you answered with a shrug. “It’s pointing at you.”

Then you crawled across your wooden floor and pressed your lips against his, and Mammon just sort of tensed up and didn’t move, and it was awkward and kind of embarrassing and really nice. You hadn’t felt this much like a teenager since you were a teenager.

Once you crawled back to the far side of your DDD, he shook himself out of his fugue state and began protesting what had just occurred.

“H-Hey… Hey… Hey! Hey, hey, wait a second!” He seemed to be grasping at whatever he could to give himself an excuse for just how passive he was for that entire thing. “You said I could go first!”

“Spin better,” you shrugged.

“You spun worse than I did!”

“Creative solutions are rewarded.”

“...I see what’s goin’ on here,” Mammon said after a flustered pause. His confidence was suddenly back at full strength. “...You were just desperate for an excuse to kiss me, weren’t ya?”

You stared at him. Was this guy really trying to flip the scenario on its head?

“So desperate! Invitin’ me up here and pullin’ all this dumb crap with the bottle… Y’know, if ya really wanted a kiss, ya coulda just asked.” He was smirking now, smirking! “As my number one human, you should know ya always get special treatment, even when it comes to things like that. ‘Cause I’m so magnanimous and awesome and stuff.”

“Oh, Great Mammon,” you sighed, unsure if you found his schtick charming or irritating at the moment, “would you bless this poor mortal with a kiss?”

“N-Now you’re just gettin’ greedy!” Mammon scolded, cheeks flushing once again.

“Says the Avatar of Greed.”

“Exactly! I’d know!”

“Never mind then.”

“Ah, wait, wait, hold up.” Mammon grabbed the DDD that still laid on the floor between you. He gave it a spin. “Is that pointin’ at ya? Close enough, right? C’mere.”

[twicepapitas]

warnings: angst, president!minji, troublemaker!femreader, cheating?¿, jealous!minji, highschool

words count: 1.1k

• ———––— . ♡ . ———––— •

Kim Minji was the president of the student council, and she well deserved that position because Minji was simply the perfect student; beautiful, charismatic, yet serious and hardworking. She had a brilliant mind and perfect grades. She was kind and always had the courage to help others and whatever was needed at school.

Meanwhile, her girlfriend Lee YN was by her side. It's not that YN fell short of being a terrible student, or maybe she did, but her mediocre grades, aggressive behavior at school, and her bad reputation of being a troublemaker who loved being with different girls every week and playing with their feelings made her look like a complete mess compared to Minji.

Both girls had been dating for a few months. Their relationship was secret and private because they thought that if everyone knew about it, the gossip, attention, and negativity from people would try to end the relationship.

Minji's significant role as the student council president didn't allow her to get involved in major rumors or problems. Moreover, the position took too much stress and time to worry about the rumors and gossip of people with no life.

School is probably the least rumor-free and gossip-free place, so when a single student started gossiping about YN, the troublemaker of the school, and Hanni, the cheerleader of the football team, being in a relationship, the whole school went crazy. The rumors grew stronger and bigger.

The rumors spread like wildfire, quickly and hotly.

On Monday morning, the first thing that happened was a hallway full of whispers about this controversy. People were talking about the relationship of both girls. Everyone was amazed; it was as if Dispatch had released a statement about the relationship of two idols.

Minji was disciplined, so she never opened her ears to listen to rumors or paid attention to gossip. But today, she couldn't ignore it when she found out that the rumor of the week was something big; her girlfriend and Hanni in a supposed relationship.

Minji entered the school hallways and went straight to her locker without even greeting some of the students who wished her good morning. But she couldn't help but overhear the conversation that two students were having next to her.

"According to Karina, she saw YN and Hanni holding hands and kissing on campus," one girl commented to her friend, both standing by Minji's locker.

Immediately, Minji's heart shattered. She knew she shouldn't pay attention to rumors and should clarify things with her girlfriend first, but it was still painful to know that everyone was gossiping about her, that everyone believed her girlfriend was in a relationship with someone else.

"Karina never lies in rumors; she always gets them right," the other girl replied, and both agreed that, yes, Karina somehow always got the rumors right. "I believe Karina," she continued, but then her tone changed abruptly as she realized that both YN and Hanni were entering the main hallway.

As soon as Minji heard that, she turned to look down the hallway, like the rest of the gossiping students.

The girl wasn't wrong; there were YN and Hanni starting to walk down the hall. Hanni's arm was linked with YN's as they walked and talked as if nothing was wrong. Hanni had a radiant smile on her face, her eyes sparkling, while YN just smiled.

Immediately, everyone began to murmur. The whispers grew louder and stronger. Everyone seemed frantic about this new relationship coming to light.

"They make a good couple, don't they?" Soobin asked, arriving at Minji's side and leaning on one of the lockers while looking at her. Minji just watched the scene, filled with sadness and, deep down, jealousy.

Minji couldn't take it anymore and quickly left the place, walking hurriedly to her office. She sat in her chair, trying to relax and forget about what was happening, thinking that maybe it was all a misunderstanding. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself that it was just a misunderstanding, her blood boiled again when she remembered that Hanni had been showing a romantic interest in YN for a while, and this didn't look good at all. Therefore, her heart ached, her chest tightened, and her hands sweated at the mere thought that YN might be cheating on her or, worse, that she never really loved her and it was just another game for her. Her breathing became heavier and more agitated.

She quickly sent a text message to the vice president and her best friend Danielle, telling her that she urgently needed YN in her office.

• ———––— . ♡ . ———––— •

Minji ♡

Dani, I need you to go to her classroom. Inform the teacher that the president needs her for something important. Please.

• ———––— . ♡ . ———––— •

Danielle ♡

Okay, president.

I'll go.

• ———––— . ♡ . ———––— •

As soon as Danielle saw the text message, she immediately went to YN's classroom. She should be in chemistry class at the moment.

She entered the classroom slowly, first looking for YN's silhouette, and there she saw her in one of the seats at the back, along with Hanni, both laughing. One thing she noticed was the flirtatious way Hanni touched YN's arm and cheek, and she didn't like that at all.

"Miss Marsh, how nice to see you here!" the teacher greeted the girl with a big smile as she approached the teacher's desk. "How can I help you, vice president?"

"Um..." Danielle muttered a little nervously without taking her eyes off YN and Hanni, who hadn't noticed her presence, while the rest of the students were eager about the unexpected arrival of the vice president. "I need to take Lee YN; the president wants to see her in her office for something important."

"Lee YN, the president of the student council wants you in her office," the teacher announced loudly for everyone in the classroom.

Immediately, all the students exclaimed in unison, the typical tone of surprise and gossip when something happens in a classroom. YN froze for a few seconds, imagining what would come next, and she was scared. Hanni didn't understand what was going on, but it was too late to ask, the other girl had already stood up from her seat and left the classroom.

"You know you're in big trouble, right? I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now," Danielle commented as she walked alongside YN to Minji's office.

"Why do you act like this? Can't you calm down a bit and let me explain?" Danielle was the only person who knew about the girls' relationship.

"Luck, you'll need it," she said when they were standing in front of the door.

Danielle then went to the other office and stood there alone. YN let out a big sigh to calm her nerves and relax, but even that didn't help. Her hands were already sweating.

She had no other option but to open the door and close it behind her once she entered the room.

Minji was sitting in her chair with her back to YN. As soon as she heard the door open and close, she turned her chair to look directly into YN's eyes. Minji's eyes were filled with darkness and a cold expression.

YN swallowed nervously and approached the chair in front of Minji, taking a seat.

"Can you explain why the whole damn school is talking about you and Hanni?" Minji said in an noticeably angry tone. YN felt the nerves running through her

whole body, but she knew she had to talk and do it right, or she could lose her girlfriend.

"I don't know why, Minji. It was probably Karina who started that rumor," YN said, avoiding eye contact and fiddling with her fingers. She couldn't look Minji in the eyes; it hurt to see the disappointment in those eyes.

Minji slammed her hands on the table, causing YN to jump in her seat. "Don't lie to me!" Minji shouted, her voice getting louder. "I saw it with my own eyes this morning, YN. I saw you and Hanni walking hand in hand and laughing as if you were having the time of your life."

"Minji, it's not what you think!" YN finally looked at her girlfriend with tears in her eyes.

"Then what is it, YN? What the hell is going on?!" Minji was on the verge of tears herself, her voice breaking.

YN took a deep breath to calm herself and decided to explain. "I admit I've been spending some time with Hanni lately, but it's not what everyone thinks. She's been going through a tough time, and I've been trying to be there for her as a friend. We're not in a relationship, Minji. I promise you."

Minji seemed to calm down a little, but she was still hurt and angry. "You should've told me, YN. You should've been honest with me from the beginning."

"I know, and I'm sorry," YN whispered, her voice full of guilt. "I should've told you, and I messed up, but please, believe me. I love you, Minji."

Minji took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions. She loved YN, and she wanted to believe her. "I need some time to think, YN. I can't deal with this right now."

Tears streamed down YN's cheeks. "I understand. Just please remember that I love you."

The room fell silent, and the two girls sat there, unsure of what would happen next. Minji had a lot to think about, and YN was left hoping that their love could overcome this difficult situation.

[stalkedbytrains]

Super =/= Hero: The First Confrontation

Vestige was told to meet at the Villain Union HQ at exactly 11pm. If he was late they promised to do many many terrible things to him and his family. So he had little choice. It was the job after all.

Before he left the only thing he could do was send Adrienne a quick text on their secure messenger app.

"Villains up to something"

He couldn't give any context or help beyond that because he didn't even know what he was being called in for. The second he arrived, he was put in a full communication black out. They removed his phone and made sure to set up a blockade of any and all electronic signals or communications.

That was how he knew it was something big, something bad.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and those of us who don't qualify as either," said the woman he knew only as Madame Destruction, the leader of the Villain Union. "Tonight. We are doing a jailbreak."

The mood in the room of assembled villains suddenly turned tense.

None of the dozen figures in the room really got along, but they had to for jobs like these. Jobs like these they had no choice. The retribution they would face if they didn't attend was said to be legendary.

And with Sky Breaker firmly working for Madame Destruction they didn't have a choice but to obey.

"Here's the targets that are priorities for us," Destruction continued as her display shifted to show the mug shots of a half dozen of the most notorious villains that had been captured in the last few years.

Sister Siren, Unrelenting Force, Acidman, King Gun, and Sinister Sun.

Vestige couldn't help but muse on the fact that villains really seemed to like things that started with the letter S.

"Ok, here's the deal. Your goals are primarily Sister Siren and Unrelenting Force. We don't give a shit about anyone else. You have friends or whoever you want to have released, feel free. But if you don't get out Siren and Force then we'll be very unhappy and no one, you understand me? No. One. Will get paid if both of them aren't free. You get one, you get nothing. Clear?"

There were a smattering of vocal confirmations.

"Alright everyone get to your places. We go live in thirty," Madame Destruction said. "Vestige, you stay."

Vestige swore under his breath and stayed behind as the other villains left the room.

Once they were alone, Madame Destruction sat down behind the large desk. "We haven't necessarily seen eye-to-eye lately, or at all," she said. "But I'm hoping that today we can finally work together."

"Why should I? You're breaking out dozens of people."

"I only want two. Like I said. And you're here, now, because I think that you are uniquely powered to make sure that the other two conditions I have are maintained."

"What conditions?"

Madame Destruction smiled widely. "Under no circumstances are you to let Mariana or Empty Star out."

Vestige balked at that. He didn't know what to say to that.

"Mariana is a dangerous individual, more dangerous than you and more unruly. You remember the times she was out last? The criminal underground, that we didn't control, was out of control. They killed so many people, they ran rackets, and had themselves a drug empire. It was bad. Mariana is not to go free."

"We can agree on that."

"Good.

"And no one wants Empty Star out. He'll just destroy everything. But I don't trust Sky Breaker that much, and they were friends once upon a time, so I'm worried that Sky Breaker will let him out. That is not to happen."

"Why should I listen to you now?"

Madame Destruction brushed some dirt off her perfectly clean desk. She put down a single file with a single piece of paper.

"No sticks. Only carrots. You do this job for us. You help out. You get $21,792. That's exactly one year's rent. That is, of course, if all of my conditions are met. Siren and Force are out, Mariana and Star are not."

Vestige's jaw was set. He had to stop clenching it so hard lest he damage his own teeth.

"It's a good sum of money. I know that. But here's the other carrot. You can let out any one else you want. I don't give two fucks. You have some political dissidents or people you think are unjustly imprisoned. Let them out. Let them all out. So long as Mariana and Star are still imprisoned, you can let out everyone else. Rapists, murderers, any secret friends or lovers you have locked away in the secret basement. Sorry. I said you, but you didn't lock up anyone! I meant them."

He was seething. He saw the bait, he could see the hook plain as day. But he had to take it. He couldn't not take it. He couldn't let Sky Breaker release Empty Star. That would be a literal doomsday scenario. Mariana was just as dangerous, if less explicitly so. There was no doubts he would have about leaving her in prison. And the thoughts of the other people the heroes had unjustly imprisoned, freeing all of those souls would feel like he was actually doing good.

There was the hook. He could see the trap, it was all around him, and it was there so plainly, not even hidden.

But the bait was too good. He would be responsible if he wasn't there to control it.

Madame Destruction had laid her trap extremely well.

He had no choice but to walk into it.

"Very well, I'll do it."

Madame Destruction hadn't stopped smiling. "Good to hear it. I'm sure you already have a list of the little people you're going to free. I encourage you to break as many people out as your little heart desires. Except-"

"For Mariana and Empty Star."

Somehow, her smile widened. "Exactly. See how nice it is to be on the same page?"

Before Vestige could respond she simply vanished. It wasn't anything like teleportation, she just ceased to exist.

-[x]-

Adrienne, who hadn't gone out in her costume in weeks, didn't have a choice this time. She had to go in without suiting up.

Sensible jeans, boots, and her favorite leather jacket.

When she got the text from Dev she knew something was going on.

But when she got the all-hands-on-deck emergency alarm call, from the prison, she knew it was bad.

She licked her finger and promptly stuck it in an electrical socket.

Her finger burned and would likely blister, but she absorbed as much energy as she could and immediately channeled it.

With all of this abundant energy, Adrienne managed to convert it into a high burst of speed. She was on the wrong side of town, she'd need to stop twice for more energy, but she could get there in ten minutes. Less, if she was lucky.

Adrienne Moore was the least lucky person on the planet.

-[x]-

Frost-Caller was actually out on patrol when the emergency call came in from the prison. It seemed like the villains were staging a break out. She had to report to stop them immediately.

She knew that if she pushed herself, if she revealed herself, she could be there in moments, instead she took the way that would mean that she didn't reveal anything about herself.

By the time she made it to the prison the attack was already on the way. There was chaos.

She immediately ran in and activated her power, the one that everyone knew her for.

In a large radius around her the ground suddenly frosted over as the temperature within sixty feet of Frost-Caller suddenly dropped to below freezing.

No one was prepared for either the sudden temperature drop, or the sudden icy conditions.

Frost-Caller took that surprise and ran with it.

First up was some minor villain that she only vaguely knew, as Something Night. He slipped on the ice, but his new opponent was prepared, because this was her power, her domain that he was now trapped in.

Something Night slipped, briefly losing his balance, as Frost-Caller rushed in, boots gripping the ice with the metal spikes. Her fist perfectly connected with the side of his head. His downward momentum impacted against her upward force.

The villain collapsed to the ground almost instantly.

Frost-Caller pulled out one of the few good things she got from this new job. The grappling hook was everything that the old shows promised.

She hooked on to one of the catwalks that were supposed to let prison guards look down on anyone entering and have the high ground. But now there were a few villains up top raining down fire and lightning.

Until Frost-Caller got up there.

Her sudden and extremely temperature change came with her, up to the metal catwalks.

The metal snap froze and the moisture turned to ice. One of the villains, the lightning one, made the mistake of touching the metal when it suddenly froze. His hand was stuck to it, leaving him a weak and easy target for Frost-Caller to take out.

The fire villain was a harder one to deal with, in theory. She was a source of heat, a direct counter to Frost-Caller. But when the villain pushed her hand out to summon the flames, Frost-Caller grabbed it, and in one swift move broke her wrist, and threw her off the balcony.

From her new, secure vantage point, Frost-Caller surveyed the scene.

There were plenty of heroes and villains here. But they were all nobodies. No one important, no one powerful. That meant that the real fight was inside the prison. She was very late.

Using her favorite tool, Frost-Caller descended the catwalk and headed inside.

Inside the prison complex was even more chaotic. Entire walls were gone, prisoners were out of their cells, and Frost-Caller, for the first time, was overwhelmed by the battle. It was hard to tell who were the good guys and who were bad. The prisoners were easy to tell from their uniforms.

But it was a bunch of super powered people running around trying very hard to kill each other.

Frost-Caller didn't know where to even start.

"Get down!" someone, somewhere yelled.

It was the first thing to break through her reverie.

Suddenly she was knocked the to the ground. A split second later a bolt of lightning impacted into the space that Frost-Caller just occupied.

When she jumped off the ground, she saw Adrienne Moore of all people standing in her spot.

She'd absorbed the lightning strike for her.

"Fuck you!" Frost-Caller yelled. "You don't get to save me!"

Adrienne grinned, or maybe grimaced since she had just been struck by lightning. "We don't have time for this. I'll save who I damn well like. You have to be careful."

Before Frost-Caller could respond Adrienne swore.

"They're headed downstairs!" she yelled to no one.

Adrienne took off running deeper into the prison, only slowing down to fire some of her accumulated energy at the hole that had been blown open in the wall of the maximum security wing of the prison.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Frost-Caller yelled at the running Adrienne Moore.

She didn't stop, so Frost-Caller had no choice but to run after her.

Despite the open hole, Adrienne had blasted her way through.

Frost-Caller couldn't help but notice that the line of frosted ground stopped sharply at the hole.

"Vestige," she said like curse to herself.

Of course he would be here. He was too valuable of an asset for the villains to not use her. He could control the battlefield and give them invaluable time.

And Keita knew Dev. He was there back in the day, when they were at school together.

Adrienne was here too.

Frost-Caller was even more furious than she'd been at her introduction and first meeting with Adrienne.

The aura of cold spread and grew almost double in size.

She chased after Adrienne.

Frost-Caller was held up briefly because she had gotten into a minor fight with some villain who seemed determined to cause as much trouble for her as possible.

But finally she managed to dodge his attack with some kind of liquid shadow, and break his leg by kicking out his knee.

She found that the easiest way to stop someone was to make it so that they couldn't physically follow you, and were in too much pain to control their powers. Hard to do that when your knee was bent the wrong way.

Finally, Frost-Caller was able to follow the trail of destruction down, through destroyed walls and carnage.

The last stop down was a massive steal door that looked like it was keeping hidden some radioactive material than prisoners.

It had been ripped open.

A burst of wind that felt like a hurricane and peals of thunder accompanying lightning came from the facility beyond the massive door.

Frost-Caller didn't hesitate, she just ran inside.

Inside was Sky Breaker, one of the most dangerous and notorious villains.

He had weather powers, manipulation of natural phenomena to his whims. And he was an indiscriminate killer and guy who was more than killing to destroy anything and everything in his way to get what he wanted.

And Adrienne Moore, a hero that refused to be one, with half as much professional experience, was holding her own against him.

Or rather, she hadn't died yet.

Adrienne wasn't fighting Sky Breaker so much as she was delaying him. She kept pushing him back and then turning and running. She went up and down the aisles of black out cells, cells that held the most dangerous prisoners, either because they possessed powers that were too dangerous to let out or who they were was a threat to the power structures or they possessed knowledge that was too dangerous to let out but too dangerous to kill.

She wasn't the only one looking for someone.

Frost-Caller didn't have anyone to save so she didn't have anything stopping her from rushing one of the most notorious villains.

The main problem was that Sky Breaker could fly.

He could control pressure systems and control storms. Frost-Caller controlled temperature in a radius around herself.

She definitely felt out matched, but that wasn't going to deter her from getting a few blows in.

However the first thing she noticed as she rushed the villain, was that her temperature control screwed with his storm control. Frost-Caller didn't understand meteorology well at all, but if the cold she was able to radiate made it more difficult for him to toss her around with gale force winds then she was going to take the victory.

Another unexpected victory for Frost-Caller was that the second she got within close quarters, it was clear that Sky Breaker had been neglecting his hand-to-hand combat.

She got in one solid blow to Sky Breaker's chest, before her next punch was suddenly stopped by an invisible force.

"Vestige!" she cursed as the barrier he threw up gave Sky Breaker enough time to line up a lightning strike on her.

This time she managed to throw herself to one side, but once again Adrienne Moore stepped in the way to save her, absorbing the lightning.

"STOP SAVING ME!" yelled Frost-Caller. "YOU DON'T GET TO SAVE ME!"

Adrienne unleashed some of her absorbed energy right at Sky Breaker who had no choice but to retreat or take roughly the equivalent to a lightning bolt of his own.

"Then be better!" Adrienne shouted.

"The Vestige is here," Frost-Caller said as she ignored the helping hand up.

"I know that," Adrienne responded.

"The question is who are you looking for?"

Adrienne glared hard at Frost-Caller. "Doesn't matter, she's not here."

All of a sudden, Frost-Caller was blocked from hearing Adrienne. She could see the woman's lips moving, she was talking, but she couldn't hear her.

Vestige was up to something.

"Hey, hey you," came a voice nearby. "Come over here, I want to plead for my release. Also it's cold as fuck and I'd like for you to stop doing whatever it is that you're doing."

"Who are you?"

"Mariana. Like the trench."

"I heard of you, some kind of criminal overlord."

"Yup. Absolutely true. I'm unjustly imprisoned because I never joined the Villain Union and they can't have people operating outside of the system," came the voice. It was an interesting voice. Confident despite being imprisoned. "But mostly I'm in here for political reasons and because my sister is a bitch."

"Bold of a criminal villain asking a hero for an escape. Why should I help you?"

"Because if you let me out, I'll owe you a bunch of favors, a who doesn't love favors from a villain that will pay you back for them and will do literally anything you ask, no pesky morality clauses to stop your favor dead."

"Tempting, but my answer will still be no."

"I'll help you capture Sky Breaker. Before he can let out his BFF Empty Star."

That last name drop sent a icy pit through Frost-Caller's stomach. Empty Star was absolutely not someone that should ever be let free.

She weighed the options for a minute. "What do I need to do?"

-[x]-

"She's not fucking here! You," she said pointing menacingly at Vestige, "had better be quick. This is bad."

"Sky Breaker is here for Empty Star. I have explicit orders to not let that happen," Vestige said from the shadows.

"Yeah, fuck that. I'm not letting either one of them go. But you need to stop interfering."

"How is that going to look?" Vestige snapped back. "I don't give a shit about helping Breaker over there. He's gotta be stopped, but I need to get Sister Siren out of here and you can't stop me."

"This fucking sucks!"

"If I can get Siren and leave, I can put up a barrier blocking our escape and you can take out Sky Breaker. That work for you?" Vestige asked.

"Fine! I fucking hate this. You should have warned me!"

"I didn't have time! Now go! He's found Star's cell."

"Argh!," Adrienne screamed. "I'll fucking find Keita if it's the last goddamn thing I do! Even if I have to kill the fucking Empty Star!"

"She's not here Adrienne, you have to accept it."

"Fuck you!"

-[x]-

Sky Breaker had finally found the one cell he was looking for in the whole complex. His friend. Empty Star.

They had once fought viciously against one another, leveling whole city blocks, but finally Empty Star came to see Sky Breaker's point of view. Together they had caused untold destruction before Empty Star was finally captured.

Adrienne had sprinted faster than any normal human could have to get to Sky Breaker before anything happened.

But she was beaten by Frost-Caller who had already gotten there and frozen the entire complex within a hundred feet of her.

How the hell did she get there so fast?

Didn't matter, Adrienne jumped up to the third floor, burning most of her stored energy doing so, and leapt into the fight.

Frost-Caller was doing a halfway decent job of keeping Sky Breaker contained. But she was going to be overwhelmed very shortly, and Adrienne knew it, because the villain hadn't played his other card yet.

Sky Breaker earned his moniker not just because he could fly and manipulate the weather. That made sense for the 'Sky' portion of his name, but the 'Breaker' portion came from his secondary power set. He could unleash devastating vibrational bursts. Something like a force that comes from an object breaking the sound barrier.

Frost-Caller hadn't experienced that yet, and maybe didn't even know about it, because she would be fighting much more defensively and distantly if she did.

Adrienne could see the attack coming, and for the third time jumped in to take the blow.

It felt like an explosion, and Adrienne absorbed as much as she could, but she definitely felt a rib break.

She couldn't store the sheer amount of energy she was absorbing so she immediately turned it back on Sky Breaker whom she sent flying across the underground prison complex.

"Stop, fucking, saving, me," Frost-Caller said from behind Adrienne.

"Can't stop, won't stop," she countered, breathing heavily. "Come on, we need to put this asshole down for good."

Frost-Caller followed Adrienne down to start chasing down Sky Breaker. "You are the most frustrating person in the world."

"Don't take it personally. Or do. Whatever. Maybe you can justify it that I'm not saving you I'm just trying absorb all these attacks so that I can hit someone really hard."

Frost-Caller just made a series of frustrated noises, but ran after Adrienne without saying anything else.

They found Sky Breaker, or more accurately, he found them. From above them came another explosion, a vicious attack that send Frost-Caller flying from the sheer force of it, while Adrienne planted her feet and tried to absorb it, but was only able to get so much.

Frost-Caller managed to alter her course, by shooting her grappling hook and catching herself on a catwalk.

Adrienne, using her absorbed energy from Sky Breaker, unleashed a series of her own energy blasts to try and hit or at least contain the villain.

While he took the air to more easily dodge Adrienne's attack, Frost-Caller rearmed her grappling hook. She had an idea. Something that was probably not fit for the hero book, but enough to stop the fight, which was the important part.

She had to hide and wait for the right time. Which came quicker than she thought. Adrienne had burned all of her energy shooting at Sky Breaker, who realizing she was out, held out his hands in preparation to launch another large scale vibration attack, which was probably going to open or damage most of the cells in this block.

Frost-Caller didn't know who was in these cells but she wasn't going to risk it.

"Hey! Fuck face!" she yelled to Sky Breaker, who turned to look at her just before he unleashed his attack.

Frost-Caller took aim and fired her grappling hook.

The hook deployed perfectly, ripping a hole right through Sky Breaker's right hand. The second the hook considered itself latched, it tried to pull Frost-Caller to it, but instead it viciously pulled Sky Breaker to her. She was ready for this and kicked out just as he was in range.

It was enough force to definitely give him a concussion, probably enough to crack his skull.

Sky Breaker fell to the ground with a heavy and dull thump.

-[x]-

Vestige had a long damn night. This was the worst situation he could have thought up and then added on to it even more with stuff he couldn't have imagined.

Finally, after what felt like days but was probably under two hours, he had completed his objective. Well probably. Empty Star hopefully wouldn't be getting out with Adrienne taking care of it. Along with that new person who seemed to be way more of a problem than she should have been.

Something about her made Dev nervous.

But he didn't have time for that.

He opened the cell for Unrelenting Force, the only black site villain that he was tasked with releasing.

There probably wasn't a lot of time, maybe only a handful of minutes, if he was lucky, and Vestige was not lucky at all. But he had to at least try.

Unrelenting Force left without so much as a 'thank you' but Vestige didn't have time for that. He had to go see if there was any way for him to get to Dayline out of the maximum security sector he was trapped in.

Vestige knew he was there. He made sure to look it up.

Dayline, the ultimate hero, Vestige's favorite. For a while anyways. Until something happened, and apparently the hero went bad and was immediately subdued and put in this very same prison.

And sure enough the cell was right where he thought it would be. Far from the fighting and the escape attempts. A couple of quick barriers in very specific shapes and Vestige managed to get the door to Dayline's cell open.

He looked like shit. There were large metal spikes going through the palm of each hand, and it looked like they were locked in place. And it looked like he had just recently been beaten.

From outside the cell it looked like Dayline wasn't breathing, but the second Vestige stepped inside he took a ragged breath.

"Hey, I'm here to get you out," Vestige said. If the Villain Union was going to give him operational freedom then he was going to use it to do this. This one piece of good. This one thing for himself.

Dayline looked up at him, eyes refusing to focus.

"Who're you?" came the slurred question.

"An old friend," Vestige promised, but he didn't say anything else. He had to get Dayline out of there, and it looked like it was going to take everything he had to do it, without getting caught.

-[x]-

Adrienne limped over. At some point she'd twisted her ankle, and pulled something in her knee probably.

"I had him right where I wanted him."

"Just," Frost-Caller said, trying to contain her annoyance. "Just shut the fuck up."

"I don't know if I'm legally capable of shutting up actually."

That only infuriated Keita more, as Adrienne was just the same as she was back in school.

"I still fucking hate you."

"You still never gave me a good reason why."

"Why what?"

"Why you hate me so much. We never met before a few weeks ago."

"Because I know who you are, I've read everything you've done. And I don't agree with any of it."

"Harsh."

Frost-Caller turned to Adrienne. She poked her hard in the chest. "I hate you. I resent you saving me all those times. I don't want to work together with you. Ever. You suck."

Adrienne just studied Frost-Caller's face.

And that's when Frost-Caller did something she couldn't explain to herself then or after.

She kissed Adrienne.

Hard.

Very hard.

Hard enough that the kiss drew blood.

After a second it was hard to tell whose blood it was.

It made the kiss hot and salty and intense.

Adrienne, for the first time in a long time, was stunned. Too stunned for words.

"I still fucking hate you," Frost-Caller said when she was done and left the catwalk to get Sky Breaker restrained.

When Frost-Caller got down stairs to find the collapsed and broken Sky Breaker, Adrienne joined her a few moments later.

"What do we do now?" Frost-Caller asked.

But before she could get an answer there was a massive boom, flashes of lightning, more so than either of them had seen yet.

They were both flung backwards by the force and intensity of the attack.

When they managed to stand up and their visions cleared, Sky Breaker was standing again. His hand was very badly wounded and he was bleeding profusely from his head wounds.

He snarled at them and flew off.

"Fuck!" they both yelled at the same time and ran off to chase the fleeing super villain.

But he was gone.

Sky Breaker had fled the prison.

Frost-Caller and Adrienne tried to chase after him, but neither had the abilities to chase a fleeing villain that could fly.

Adrienne swore as they watched him fly off into the night sky.

The prison escape around them was largely over. The aftermath and clean up was just now starting.

"Well. This was a hell of a day," Adrienne said. "And I'm sure you've got some explaining to do."

"I don't. We broke up last month. And don't even for a fucking second think that that meant anything. I did it because you kept saving my goddamn life. I still hate you, and I want nothing to do with you. Got it?"

Adrienne smiled and held up her hands. "Got it. I'll leave you now."

"About time."

Frost-Caller watched Adrienne limp away, off into the darkness and light chaos of the aftermath of the battle.

When she was fully gone, Adrienne Moore stood next to Frost-Caller with a smile.

"That's fucking creepy," Frost-Caller said.

'Adrienne' smiled, wide and creepy. "I'm very good at illusions."

"What happened down there?" Frost-Caller asked.

"You two took out Sky Breaker, and I saw the opportunity to switch places. Since you so kindly left my door open, I just made some complex illusions to make the very injured Sky Breaker look like me and put him in my cell. Then I made an illusion of him and he escaped. Happy campers all around if you ask me," Mariana answered.

She really did look like Adrienne. Mariana was not nearly as tall or broad, and yet she stood there with the presence, the same weight, someone did when they stood next to someone.

"But we were hit by lightning and stuff."

"I make very good illusions, so good they're practically really."

Realizing she wasn't going to get a satisfactory answer, Frost-Caller moved on. "How long will it take for them to figure out he's not you?"

"Hopefully a couple days or weeks. But knowing my luck it'll be a few hours. So if you'll excuse me I best be going. Don't worry I'll be in touch. I owe you my life."

"Yeah, yeah, just don't forget or I'll be real mad," Frost-Caller said as she sat down heavily on the asphalt of the wrecked parking lot.

"Interesting power set you've got there," called out the not-Adrienne. "You're really making it nice out here, you know that? It's been years since it's been this warm out."

Frost-Caller winced. She'd let the iron grip on her powers slip. She was happy for a few minutes, and instead of making everything cold, that meant that she made everything very, very warm.

After a second she got a grip on her powers before just laying down on the ground and breathing.

She couldn't fucking believe that she kissed Adrienne fucking Moore.

i have a kofi if you like this