#i barely even know the guy who put his grabbers on my arm and just bite me... he gave me a failed hickey... it was horrendous.

[cucarachaisgay07]

I was just minding my own damn business when all of a sudden this guy sitting next to me on the bus grabbed my arm and bited me. HE BITED ME. I DON'T FUCKING KNOW THIS GUY LIKE THAT. 😨😨😨😨😭😭😭😭😰😰😰😰😡😡😡😡⁉️⁉️⁉️⁉️

[izabellq]

Costumes -> Tamaki Amajiki

summary: you accidentally match costumes with tamaki. prepare yourself for a whole day of endless shenanigans.

contains: MAJOR FLUFF, language if you squint (ik canonically, mirio is in 3-B, but for the sake of this plot, the big three are all in 3-A) also, i tried to make this gender-neutral, so if there’s any specified pronouns, let me know and i’ll fix it ASAP!

THIS IS MY HALLOWEEN SPECIAL! (im very much aware i posted this a day late oop)

UA had decided to hold a special event where students could wear their Halloween costume to school. You weren’t planning anything special or unique, just something to get the job done. So, you decided to dress like a cute puppy. It was only a simple onesie: topped with cute floppy dog ears on your hood, and a tail that attached from the bottom. You weren’t expecting to get a lot of attention, which was perfectly fine with you because you were never the type to seek the stage. You topped off the simple look with a black spot on your nose and one around your eye. And just like, you were good to go.

When you walked into school, you couldn’t help but feel a tad bit insecure. It seemed like everyone had decked out for this special occasion. You passed by some anime cosplay, food costumes, group oriented costumes — everything you could possibly think of. And as you made your way to your class, you wondered what Tamaki would be wearing.

You couldn’t help yourself. It was undeniably true that you had a rather large crush on him. Everything about him was enticing. He was so shy that it was usually you who initiated conversation, but that wasn’t enough to make you falter. You understood he wasn’t the most socially active person around. To be frank, it was rather comforting to know that not everyone at UA was a egotistical narcissist.

Finding your assigned seat, you scanned the class. Some of your peers also took the simple route which put some of your thoughts at ease. Others, the more competitive students, were quite impressive themselves.

You turn towards the doorway when Mirio’s booming voice gathers the room’s attention. He was wearing a... whoopie cushion? Oh dear lord. Mirio was a stickler for humor, so of course, he’d wear practically anything that could rise a laugh out of someone. Only, his jokes kind of sucked and no doubt would the class of 3-A be subject to awful fart jokes for the rest of the day. You weren’t so worried about that as you were worried about the two other students usually attached to his hip. One of them being Tamaki Amajiki.

The next one to stop into class was Nejire Hado who was absolutely breathtaking. Her costume, which was nothing more than a fairy, seemed to capture her true personality perfectly. Although, an angel would also be very accurate in her case. She turned towards the entrance way and stuck her head out into the hallway, “Tamaki! Don’t be shy! You look so cute!”

Your heart began to beat just a little bit faster.

“Mirio! Come help me out with him,” Nejire stomped into the hallway, the fluttering of her makeshift wings dissappeared, only to be followed by a laughing Mirio.

When they returned, their hands were clasped over Tamaki’s wrists, forbidding him from turning around and sulking out in the hallway. When you saw him, you’re taken aback. The smallest of gasps erupt from your lips when you notice his costume choice. A onesie, similar to yours, but instead of the dog ears; replaced with cat ones, and a longer tail attached to the back. He had the same minimal face paint (lined whiskers and a nose) as you did, curtesy of Nejire.

When he looked up, his cheeks were flamed with embarrassment. He found your gaze, and if it were possible, he became even more sheepish. You weren’t any different. The thought of having a matching costume with Tamaki, despite not having any prior arrangements, made you equally embarrassed. Now, all you wondered was, did he notice?

Well, if he didn’t before, he sure did now when Nejire spoke up, “Hey Y/N! Oh my– are you a puppy? How cute! Wait! You’re matching with Tamaki! Now you two look like an adorable couple!”

Her excitement, plus her lack of censorship, made the class laugh— everyone’s attention on you and Tamaki. “Nejire...” Tamaki muttered. He stared at the floor, wishing it’d just swallow him whole.

“You guys should take a picture together,” Mirio suggested, walking over to where you sat and giving you a hand. You hesitantly took it, positive that you looked about ready to vomit or pass out. Maybe both. In that order.

Dragged to stand next to Tamaki, you spare him a single glance. He has his left hand up to his face, doing a shoty job at covering his red cheeks. To you, he seemed... more embarrassed than usual? Perhaps he just didn’t wanted to match costumes with you. It saddened you, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it now.

Nejire laughed, “Say cheese!”

Tamaki mumbled something that you could only assume was in response to Nejire. In a small pickle of confidence, you grabbed his hand and entangled your fingers with his just before the camera went off.

“Cheese!”

That was first period.

When lunch rolled around, Tamaki had face planted himself on the table.

Nejire and Mirio sent each other a knowing look before moving to console him.

“I don’t understand why you’re not happy, Tamaki! You’re matching costumes with them, you got a picture with them, and they also held your hand!” Nejire listed off the things that happened before the bell rang, signaling the start of first period.

“I am happy...” Tamaki muttered, lifting himself up from the table, “But they probably hate me now.”

“I wouldn’t say that!” Mirio added, “Haven’t I told you that they most definitely have a crush on you?”

“No offense Mirio... but I’m not too keen on taking advice from a literal walking whoopie cushion.” Tamaki propped his arm on the table, before leaning his head into the palm of his hand. The same one you had so eagerly held. He wished to repeat the notion a million more times. Only now, he was afraid he had messed up his one and only opportunity.

Mirio gasped, “I’ll have you know that I got many compliments today!”

Nejire giggled before turning back to Tamaki. “Why don’t we just call them over here?”

“I- um, no... I’d rather not do that,” Tamaki rushed out. He wasn’t sure if he could handle another awkward occurrence with you. You’d surely find him weird.

“Where are they anyways?” Mirio asked, not before sinking his teeth on the apple provided on his lunch tray.

“Oh I see them!” Nejire not-so-subtly pointed at you. Tamaki couldn’t help himself as he turned to look in your direction.

You were laughing at something someone had said before adding your own little quip. You were so cute, he thought. Nejire was the one who suggested he wear a cat-themed costume due to the running joke that he was a ‘cute little kitten’. He was prepared to arrive in his normal uniform but Nejire’s persistence was unwavering. And if he knew what you’d be wearing— would he have accepted the costume more easily? You deserved better than him, he knew, but a small part of him fantasized about the ways you’d love him in a way no one else had before.

“Earth to Tamaki,” Nejire sang, snapping him out of his thoughts. “They’re coming over here, straighten up!”

“Hey Y/N, care to sit?” Mirio asked.

Tamaki’s looking down by the time you got there, so he barely registers it when you sit beside him. Your shoulder rubs against his in brief contact and it makes him shudder. He hopes you didn’t notice.

“What’s up guys?” You brought over a juice box from your other table, sipping on the straw of your drink rather intently.

“Tell Tamaki that my costume is funny!” Mirio piped up, distracted from the match-making he was SUPPOSED to be doing.

You nervously giggled, “Well... your costume is certainly an attention-grabber!”

Mirio seemed pleased with that answer, not having considered the fact that you dodged the question the best way you knew how. Tamaki stared at you, adoration etched into his irises. He didn’t realize he had left out a soft laugh until you were staring at him.

He choked up, “Uh- sorry... I didn’t mean to laugh.”

You smiled, a picture definition of the word perfect. Everything about you, he loved. He just loved you in general. “You don’t need to apologize Tamaki! Your laugh is very cute!”

You pinched his cheek before continuing your previous conversation with Mirio and Nejire. Did you even realize what you were doing to him? He hid his face in his arms and rested on the lunch table. Tamaki knew his face was probably several shades of red and pink. He was only wondering how long it would take before you’d actually kill him with your presence.

And that concluded lunch.

The last period of the day came and went uneventfully. And soon enough, class 3A had returned to the dorms, agreeing to remain in their respective costumes until the clock striked midnight. Some students had decided to spend the night on a scary movie binge, while others payed no mind to the event by studying and finishing thier cumulated late assignments.

You on the other hand we’re stuck in the kitchen, preparing some coffee to get you through the night. Mirio and Nejire had wanted to pull an all-nighter as well, which meant you had to figure out a way to not fall alseep before midnight hit. You already had a messed up sleep schedule as it was, so one more added incentive should make the whole evening smooth sailing.

“Y-Y/N?”

You turn towards the kitchen doorway where Tamaki stood, a bit shellshocked from your presence. Still in that cat onesie, you could see his whiskers had become a bit smudged.

You smiled at him, an ache wrapped around your chest became noticeably present to you. “Amajiki! Shouldn’t you be up in Mirio’s room with Nejire? I’ll be up there in a second, I just gotta finish this.”

“Ah, well,” Tamaki moved into the kitchen, fidgeting with his fingers as he talked. “You were taking a while, so they sent me to check up on you. I’m glad you’re o-okay though.”

You hummed in acknowledgment, turning back to the light stirring of the coffee machine. Your fingers uncoordinatedly tapped the kitchen’s counter, a melodic beat strung to match your voice. Tamaki watched with amusement— nothing like the sight of you in your element could make him any happier.

Actually, there was one thing that would be slightly better.

Slowly, he approached you until he had occupied the space beside you. You noticed him almost immediately, but had pretended to take more interest in your coffee than him. Your heart rate picked up, leaving you to mentally curse your inability to remain calm.

“I have a question,” His voice was hushed, a bit unsure of itself. You turned to look at him but his vision remained on the counter.

“What’s up?” When the coffee machine stilled, you pulled your mug out and carefully placed it in front of you. The smell of the roasted beans infiltrated your nostrils and you couldn’t get enough of it.

“Do you- I mean... I think I’m... no that’s not right. I think it’d better if I just show you...” He bit the inside of his lip, whilst finally mustering the courage to look at you. You’re eyes were widened with curiosity, the reflection of the night settling in your skin.

He moves slightly closer, and when you don’t move away, he softly places his hand on your cheek, angling your face so your centimeters away from each other. Tamaki tries to speak, but he honestly didn’t even think he’d get this far. He’s left utterly speechless. Perhaps if Fatgum were here, he’d supply him with the confidence he needed to pull this off. His anxiety-prone thoughts began to take initiative and he starts to pull away, believing to have bit off more than he could chew. He really did believe you deserved better than him.

But your still there. You’ve always been there. In more ways than one. You grip the front of his onesie and pull him back to his previous spot. His hand recupped your face, and you take this opportunity of surprise to place your lips on his. Nothing more than a second long, only the brush of your lips before the tingling sensation had dissappeared all together.

It wasn’t enough. For either of you. You can’t remember who surged forward first, but it couldn’t have mattered less. The only thing that was being even remotely processed was the heat of your frenzied kisses. Tamaki poured all of his emotions into that moment; from the way he felt when seeing you in your puppy onesie to the butterflies that clouded his mind whenever he thought of you.

You were the first to pull back out of breath. You don’t care that your makeup is beyond repair, or that his is either. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you muttered six words into the smooth crevice of his skin, completely forgetting about the coffee you were prepping for yourself. “I love you, I always have.”

Tamaki smiled, though the nervousness hadn’t completely disappeared. “I love you too.” He admitted, feeling his heart flutter at the mutual affection. It wasn’t one-sided after all, not one bit.

Maybe he ought to take more advice from his friend the whoopie cushion.

Then again, maybe not.

“There waiting for us you know,” Your voice was a bit muffled, having been the after-effect of hiding your face in his neck. He understood you perfectly nonetheless.

“They can wait a little longer,” His arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you impossibly closer.

“Kiss me again,” You pleaded.

And so, he did just that.

CHECK OUT MASTERLIST HERE!

[kiwibirbs-library]

Show Me Off

a/n: lol but like he would I can’t be convinced otherwise also fun fact my heart was beating like crazy while doing this cause like... AHHH

Pairing: Torru Oikawa x fem!reader

Warning: lol it might be suggestive but like not really

Summary: when you and some of the team are out at a party and you ex walks in, you want to be sick. Your boyfriend however has a better idea.

The night was going amazing. It was one of the numerous high school parties that Oikawa takes you too. This time even better as the other third years got to join you both. There was colorful lighting, plenty of room for once, really good food, and great music. 10/10 in your book compared to all the others hes taken you too.

All five of you were taking in the kitchen, Iwaizumi, Makki, and Mattsu making fun of yours and Oikawa terrible dancing as he spun you around the island. You just laughed and continued, to happy to really care. He was giving you that look, the one that just screamed how much he admired you.

Hes been giving you that look since they all picked you up and he held the car door open for you cheekily. He bowed saying something along the lines of ‘your chariot princess’ while the others gagged.

You did look like a princess though. You were wearing a pair of comfy heels and a short dress that complemented everything about you, your hair curled and up. Rip Makki though, who had to sit in the back with you and Oikawa as he doted on you.

You laughed as Oikawa pulled you up from an over dramatic dip.

“If you two wanted to dance so much then stop ruining our vision and go out there!” Iwa semi yelled sarcastically, tilting his head to where a majority of the students were. You giggled as Oikawa put a hand on his heart and wrapped the other around your waist, pulling you into him.

“Iwa-Chan! I know your jealous of my amazing relationship but really?” the playful tone mixed with his hand being thrown on his forehead made you snort. Iwa had a vein in his head that looked like it would burst any moment too. You quickly kissed your boyfriends cheek and said you were going to the bathroom, giving a look at Makki and Mattsu that said they were their problem for now, and darting out before they could argue.

You searched down the hall for the bathroom, finally finding it and stepping up to the mirror. You gave you hair and dress and quick fix before exiting again. You happily walked down to get closer to the kitchen before stopping dead in your tracks.

What was he doing here?

In the middle of a big group of guys was your ex. He had been horrid, always tearing you down and belittling you when you dated, even a little afterward. It took so long to build your confidence back up after him. It had taken so long for you to finally be ok with yourself after him. And there he stood, laughing with those guys like it never even happened. You swallowed, suddenly feeling a little sick, and turned back to head to the bathroom again. You were almost there when your shoulder was caught.

Oh lord please no, please no.

“Hey babe, Iwa was being mean so I came to find you. You doing ok?” Oikawa’s voice was like an angles singing in that moment. You turned and hugged him, knocking some of the breath out of him. “Oh gosh I knew you would miss me but wow,” he laughed a bit, cupping your face. You smiled but he saw the barely there tear the had surfaced in your eye.

“Hey why were you crying?” He asked, flipping the worried switch up to 110. You forced a small laugh.

“Oh I wasn’t. Just something surprised me,” you waved him off. His eyes widened.

“Was it me?” He asked, tilting your head up to him. You giggled.

“No Torru, it wasn’t you,” you smiled and patted his chest.

“Ya now I know somethings up. I’m babe or hubby not Torru. So what’s wrong hmm?” He smiled at you, still clearly worried. You sighed and pointed straight behind him. He was right, he always could see right through you.

He turned to look at the large group of guys. His eyes widened when they drifted over him. “Oh gosh he’s here? Ew,” you snorted at his reaction. He turned back to you with a mildly disgusted look on his face. “Why did you date that slime ball again? I mean really I’m glad I was able raise your standards,” he smiled a bit at the end, happy he was able to make you laugh.

“Ya but now I don’t really know what to do. He’s in the way of the kitchen,” you sighed. You looked up to see a devilish smirk plastered on your idiotic boyfriends face. “Oh no, I’m not agreeing to this. Whatever it is it’s dumb I already know it,” you raised your eyebrows at him. He just laughed a little before hooking an arm around your waist and walking down the hallway.

“Torru Oikawa. What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing?” You haistly whispered at him.

“Don’t worry we’re not gunna go back to the guys just yet,” he leaned down to you a little as he went to the large group of people opposite of the kitchen. If he ever cared to looked, you could easily be spotted by your ex. You gave him a questioning smile. “Aww come on babe. Don’t you trust me?” He smiled at you, walking a bit away before making a scene about asking for a dance. You laughed.

“Yes but not in the slightest right now,” you took his hand and he quickly pulled you in and spun you around. You both laughed as you danced, people taking notice and making a small circle for the couple that were show dancing. He spun you again to the music and did the same dip from the kitchen, this time following it up slightly lifting you up and spinning around after.

Honestly this was the power he had on you. This miraculous ability to make you forget about what’s around you and just live. It astonished you everytime, though you would never admit it to his face. His ego was already big enough.

As the song ended the kids around you clapped and he jokingly bowed, making the fangirl a go wild. You laughed as the circle disappeared and he pulled you to the edge of the crowd.

“Well what was that for?” You smiled.

“Well one to get this out of you,” he poked your cheek as he set his other hand to your hip and swayed you both the the beat. “And two, that was just the attention grabber,” he winked. Your eyes widened when you realized you were standing in full view of your ‘issue’ from earlier. Oikawa leaned down to you ear, kissing it slightly yes but more to give you a small look at his face.

He looked absolutely shook.

“You little shit,” you tried to sound serious, failing horrible may I add, as he straightened and looked down at you. He smiled and laughed. He knew he was. After all he was the king of petty and revenge.

“Aww yes I know. But to be fair it was either this or I texted the guys to come too and just beat him up,” he shrugged a bit. You rolled your eyes.

“Mad dogs not here babe, no ones getting beaten up but you.” He paused, looking slightly offended before brightening.

“Yay! I’m babe again! Turro is dead!” You let out a loud laughed, quickly trying to cover your mouth as some people gave you both a look. He just smiled and tilted your head up to kiss you. Another reason not to tell him what he could do to you, he already knew well enough.

“Ok I think we’re good now! Let’s go back to the guys and mess around in there! As much as I love to socialize I have a feeling we might be swarmed but fangirls if we stay to long,” he smiled at you. You tip toed up and kissed his cheek.

“Thank you. It feels nice to make him know I’m happier and better off now.”

“Show me off anytime my’lady. I’ll be your arm candy anytime,” he laughed, taking your hand as you both came up to the entrance of the kitchen.

Of course that was when you hand to pass mr. Issue’s little group however. He still had the same f-boy attitude that you remembered when he called out to you, seemingly shrugging of the shocked face he wore moments ago.

“Hey darlin. How you been?” He asked. Your smile dropped when you looked at him. You looked him up and down, making a chill run down his spine. “Should I take you away from this pretty boy and show you a good time?” The way he said pretty boy made Oikawas jaw tic slightly. You however squeezed his hand as your gaze further darkened.

Oikawa will forever remember what you said next, and by far will always bring it up to you for the rest of your lives.

Keeping your slightly disguised face on you looked at him straight in the eyes and said “do I know you?” His mouth hung agap at you as you both held the gaze for a second. You shrugged and rolled your eyes, looping you arm with Oikawas before walking past the boys and into the kitchen.

As you walked in Makki was clapping while Mattsu was on his hands and knees laughing.

“I HAVE OFFICALLY HAD MY NIGHT MADE!” Makki cried as you smiled and rolled your eyes. Iwa looked as if he was tried and failing to hold in his laughter. You flipped your hair with a fake smug face on.

“That’s right. I’m amazing!” You laughed as Mattsu struggled to stand and breath to give you a high five.

“Thank you for that memory. That will be the story I tell our children when they ask what their mother was like as a teen,” he said dramatically, once again putting on a show as he kneeled and kissed your hand.

“Oh my god Torru. NO!”

“HEY! NO! TORRU IS DEAD!”

[gloriainalbis]

Strangers

Part 3 - Grand Illusion (S1E1+S1E2)

Nathan Young x Reader Words: 4k Warnings: Swearing, mentions of sex and nudity, drugs  Songs:  Too Much On My Mind - The Kinks I Won’t Hurt You - The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

“Where are you going, I don't mind I've killed my world and I've killed my time”

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Masterlist | Ao3

--

    You’re just about done changing, closing your locker and stepping away to zip up the front of your jumpsuit and fix your hair. It’s just you, Nathan, Curtis, and Simon remaining when Nathan whistles and motions for everyone to huddle up. “So…” he begins seriously, an emotion one does not typically expect from Nathan. “If anyone asks what happened yesterday, we say nothin’, right? It’s just a completely normal day.” You nod in agreement as he looks at each of you in turn.     Having left the locker room, you are now all standing together to await whatever new probation worker was sent to replace Tony after his mysterious disappearance. You try to look as normal as possible, leaning casually against a pillar and definitely not making any sideways glances at your fellow young offenders. It‘s hard to resist the urge.

    A woman walks up to stand before you all, she looks to be about in her early thirties and is dressed simply but well. Her hair is dark, long, and some of it is pulled away from her face. She’s pretty, but by all accounts, a remarkably normal person. You assume she’s the new probation worker, and you’re right. “Gary and my colleague Tony have both been reported missing. Their families are very worried about them. Have you seen anything unusual? Anything at all?” Nathan raises his eyebrows and holds up a finger to catch her attention. “You saw something?” she asks. You desperately want to stop this. Nathan has just told you, moments ago, that you should act like nothing happened yesterday, and yet here he is. He probably isn’t going to tell her the truth, you can’t imagine him ratting everyone out like that, but you can’t imagine him saying anything that would make the situation better, either. “A few days ago…” Kelly shakes her head slightly, trying to get him to stop, and you try to catch his eye to send him a harrowing gaze, but he just barrels on. “I go into the toilets, Tony and Gary were in there. They’re butt naked.” You breathe a sigh of relief that luckily sounded remarkably close to exasperation, which is probably because it was. “Tony has Gary by his hair, like this, an’ he’s just doin’ him, doggy style!” He starts to thrust and grunt, and you put a hand to your cheek, half over your mouth to suppress your involuntary grin. What he’s doing was disgusting, but oddly entertaining. It’s like watching a trainwreck. “And Tony is like ‘Aaagh! Who’s your daddy? I’m your daddy, I’m Big Daddy!’” It’s vulgar, honestly. Nathan gets really into it, making crude motions and grunts, chanting, “Oh yeah, oh yeah, ooooh yeah!” before calling out “I’m daddy cool!” Tony would have presumably finished then, because Nathan stops thrusting to put his hands on his hips and return to his normal posture. “So I’m guessing they’ve ran away to continue their illicit homosexual affair. And I ask you, in this world of intolerance and prejudice, who are we, who are we to condemn them?” He’s on point with the social justice, but now is decidedly not the right time, place, or circumstances. The probation worker says nothing and just walks away. You reach out and shove Nathan. “What the everloving fuck was that?” He gasps indignantly. “I was just trying to act normal!” “If that’s your idea of normal, then there’s somethin’ seriously wrong in your head,” Kelly scolds. “I thought we already knew that,” Curtis agrees, earning a giggle from Alisha.     You all congregate on the roof, standing together, overlooking the lake and office buildings on its far side. Ah, the charming sights of Wertham, an army of identical fifteen-story grey blocks. Nathan takes a drag from his cigarette before smiling, “Well, I think we got away from it.” “Do you actually believe that, or are you just really dumb?” Curtis asks sarcastically, and you snicker. “I actually believe that!” Nathan insists. You had just laughed at him, but there’s something in Nathan’s earnest voice that makes you want to believe it, too. “I mean I was there, right? I should have one of these bullshit powers.” “You can have mine,’ Kelly gripes. “You want to hear what people are thinkin’ about you?” “Not so much, no. I want something good, you know? Something from the A-list.” “Maybe you can fly,” Simon offers quietly. Nathan’s face lights up. “He’s not going to be able to fly,” Alisha reasons. “Yeah, there’s always someone who can fly, check it out!” His confidence in this proposition seems inordinately inflated. “We don’t need you trying to jump off buildings like superman to test it,” you add, knowing full well that Nathan could and would. “Ah, I won’t!” He walks over to a nearby chair, far away from the roof’s ledge, and climbs up. “This has no chance of working, right?” You lean in to whisper to Kelly. “None,” she agrees. Nathan leaps into the air, raising his arms up hopefully, but he just falls to the ground like a sack of bricks, except with the addition of a nasty smack. “Ow! No, that’s not it,” he groans, picking himself up with a childish expression of annoyance on his face. “So what happens now? Is this it?” Curtis asks, turning to look at everyone. “Are we gonna be like this forever?” “What if we’re meant to be, like, superheroes?” Now, you really do want to include Simon more, he seems like a genuinely nice, if chronically shy, person, but his suggestions today are horribly lacking. “You lot, superheroes?” Nathan asks, sounding more jealous than anything. Kelly looked worryingly contemplative, and you’re bothered by how well the story seems to fit. “No offense, but in what kind of fucked up world would that be allowed to happen?” “This world is pretty fucked up,” you point out. “I did not sign up for that,” Alisha exclaims. “Superheroes!” Nathan continues with the thinly-veiled jealousy. “I love this guy, you prick!” “What if there’s loads of people like us all over town?” Kelly askes, and she has a point. It had been a pretty large storm, you couldn’t be the only people who had seen or experienced it, right? Are there other people going about their normal, daily lives discovering their powers right now? “No,” Nathan scoffs, cigarette smoke billowing from his nose. “That kind of thing only happens in America. This will fade away. I’m telling you, by this time next week, it’ll be back to the same old boring shit.” Needless to say, this would not prove to be at all true.     Your task that day is picking up litter, each of you are given a large plastic bag and trash grabber before being set loose on the city, to collect trash with reckless abandon! In reality, you probably won’t even stray far from the community center. As you follow along the edge of the lake, Nathan continues to complain about his lack of a cool new superhero ability. “And what? Because you’re all special and I’m not? Yeah, well I doubt it. You can think what you like, but I have a ‘superpower’” he uses air quotes and says the word in a comically high-pitched valley-girl voice. “I just need to find out what it is.” “Maybe you’re just super retarded!” Alisha proclaims, and a cursory glance at the rest of the group would tell you she isn’t the only one growing annoyed at him. “Maybe I’ve got a whole Spiderman vibe going on, you know?” he continues unabashed. “Maybe I can climb stuff and do spider shit.” “Yeah, cuz that makes perfect sense,” Curtis cuts in. “Why would you be able to climb stuff?” “I don’t know!” Nathan calls back. “How is it that you can turn back time, apparently? And weird kid can turn invisible?” He pokes Simon in the back of the head with his grabber. “It’s not like this whole situation is backed up by a wank-load of logic.”     Later in the morning, you’ve moved all the way from right outside the community center to a tunnel under a nearby bridge. It’s a disturbingly gross place, but its inordinate abundance of trash has led you there, calling to be picked up and sent away to landfill. Curtis peers curiously at something he’s picked up with his grabbers, some sort of melted hunk of plastic. But as he peers, he notices something tucked into a corner not that far away. Something that looks fleshy and pink and remarkably human. “What is that?” he asks, voice dripping with disgust. You scrunch up your nose and move in to get a closer look. “Oh, god…” you groan. It’s a human man, completely naked, lying face down on the pavement. You are suitably disgusted. “Is he breathin’?” Kelly asks. Alisha strides forward without much hesitation and pokes his bare ass with her grabber. “Hey, nude guy!” she calls. “You’re naked!” Your eyes widen and everyone, yourself included lets out cries of protest as he rolls over to reveal himself, full-frontal. It’s not a pretty sight. Simon snapps a photo, you’re not exactly sure why, but documentation seems to be his response to everything so far. “Good lord!” Curtis protests, turning away. “Oh my god!” Alisha laughs, finding it funny more than anything else. Kelly actually turns around completely to avoid seeing any more of it. Nathan’s jaw, however, drops. Realization spreads over both of their faces and Nathan points an accusatory finger at the naked man before crying out, “You?!” The man stands up as fast as he can and bolts, but Nathan is outraged. “Hey!” He tries running after the man, but it’s too late. “Do you want to tell us who that was?” Curtis questions through a chorus of laughter. “He’s my mum’s– He lives with my mum.” He eyes everyone defensively. Alisha chuckles before proclaiming matter-of-factly, “Your stepdad has got a massive cock.” You snicker, even though you don’t want to have to think about it much. It was quite a disturbing image, even more so now that you know he’s close to Nathan’s mum. But… it was true. “Jesus!” Nathan cries in objection. “And he’s not my stepdad, alright?” You hold up your arms in mock surrender, “I assure you, I’m completely ready to forget about that picture, it should be purged from my mind.” Alisha leans closer to you and Kelly, guffawing. “Did you see that thing? That was like monster big!” She locks eyes with Nathan and hisses as if in pain, lowering her voice suggestively. “Your mum will hurt.” “La, la, la! Shut up!” He closes his eyes and literally sticks his fingers in his ears to block out her nasty comments. “Why’s he naked?” Kelly asks, turning to Nathan for the answers he doesn’t have. He gapes, trying to piece it all together, but Alisha speaks up before he can be given the chance. “Well he’s obviously some kind of pervert. Or he’s gay.” You wince at the presumptive, nay, offensive comment, not exactly fond of how it perpetuates harmful stereotypes. Curtis scoffs at her remark, “That follows.” “Well, he was cruising for rough trade!” she explains indignantly. “They love that shit!” “Oh, a little light homophobia? Go for it!” You have to agree with Curtis’ sarcastic reply here for a multitude of reasons, one of which being because you highly doubt Natha’s stepdad is secretly gay. “Or he could be a rapist,” Kelly muses with far too much nonchalance. “There’s loads of ‘em ‘round here.” “Maybe he’s a werewolf,” Simon posits seriously. Everyone sort of sneers at the idea and Nathan certainly isn’t pleased, exclaiming, “Twat!” “It’s what happens in films,” Simon tries to elaborate, growing visibly more nervous by the second. “You turn into a werewolf, you kill someone, an’ then you wake up somewhere naked… Like a zoo.” “He’s not a werewolf, alright?” Nathan protests hotly, defensiveness creeping into the edges of his voice. With the recent storm and all these odd powers, it’s all too likely that Simon’s right, or at the very least eerily close. “This guy is such a pussy, he needs my mum to open jars for him. I’m sure if he was a werewolf, he’d be able to open a jar of peanut butter for himself!” “What happens if the storm messed him up?” Kelly interjects. “Yeah,” you add, agreeing with her not only because it does make some sense, but also because you really want to bother Nathan, “he’s probably only been a werewolf for two days.” “What do you mean probably?” Nathan proclaims. His growing look of disbelief is incredibly amusing. “Well, Alisha had a point…” You look away and raise your eyebrows to insinuate what you mean. “Oh, fuckin’ hell, y/n! You, of all people?” he gapes, and you try not to laugh at his expression. This is far more fun for you than it should be. “Thank you!” Alisha cries, feeling vindicated by your agreement. It isn’t fun to say, but she wasn’t wrong. “That’s bollocks, the storm didn’t do nothin’ to him,” Nathan insists, but it’s starting to sound more like he’s trying to convince himself than you. “What are the chances?” The question hangs uncomfortably in the air. No one answers, and Nathan ends up just rolling his eyes and scoffing before stalking off and getting back to work, picking up trash.     You take a quick shower at the community center before heading home, feeling pretty grimy from searching for and collecting trash all day. Toweling off and gathering your things, you wonder if Nathan’s still around. He walked home with you the past few days and you really did enjoy his company. You decide to take a cursory look around, running into Sally in the process. “Oh, y/n, why’re you still here?” She’d looked to be pretty nice, so you’re surprised by the scrutinizing and cold tone you can hear creeping up behind her words. “I decided to shower before heading home,” you explain, trying to keep your voice as level as possible to allay suspicion. “Have you seen Nathan around?” “Yeah, he was by some vending machines a few minutes ago,” she tells you. “Okay, thanks! Have a good one.” You give her a small wave as you turn down a nearby hall, wondering why her smile doesn’t feel genuine. After about five minutes of searching, you enter a large common area with a raised loft in one corner. It’s there you find Nathan, sitting on the floor with arms resting on the railing and legs dangling over the edge. He’s surprised to see you, suddenly sitting up straighter and adopting the expression of someone caught in a nefarious act. “Oh, Nathan! There you are.” You approach him on the ground below, looking up with a smile. “Y/n!” He looks pleased, but notably apprehensive. “I was just wonderin’ if you wanted to walk home with me?” you ask, growing increasingly suspicious. “Uuuuh, well, I don’t know...” It’s then that you notice the duffel bag and mattress behind him. “Wait, why do you have a mattress? And a bag?” You start to piece together a few pieces of this puzzle. “I’ve only known you for three days, I don’t think we really need to know the intimate details of each other’s personal lives,” he stalls, leaning back to push the bag out of your view. But you aren’t about to give up that easy. “Screw that, what about being bonded by our shared traumatic experience?” You thought you were becoming friends with Nathan and don’t want to give that up so soon. And besides, you feel like you’ve known everyone in your service group for far longer than three days. It’s probably the superpowers and experience of burying your probation worker and fellow young offender together, but you want it to be more than that. Nathan gives in, “Alright, fine, come on up.” He patts the space beside him and you grin, turning to walk up the stairs and join him. Once up there, you have a better view of things. Not only is there a mattress, but also a pillow and blanket, and his half-unzipped bag, which appears to be full of clothes. You sit down next to him, dangling your legs over the edge beside his own. You don’t speak, allowing him to open up when he wants to. A few tense moments pass. “My mum kicked me out after our first day of community service,” he finally admits in a small, defeated voice. “I’m sorry, that sucks,” you murmur in response. While you’ve never actually been kicked out, you always felt that it was just about to happen, and you’ve used up all your chances with your dad and stepmum, once you move out, you know you’ll never be able to live with them again. He nods, “It does. I’ve been sleeping here.” “That’s why you were sneaking out of here yesterday morning,” you realize. “Yeah,” he chuckles, remembering how you caught him climbing out of a window. Then you recall what Nathan said when Tony was taking everyone’s phones. “Is that also why you were expecting a call from your mum?” He nods wordlessly. “Well, did she?” “No,” he shakes his head bitterly. “She’s cut me out.” “That’s bullshit,” you counter. Nathan turns to look at you, perplexed. “She doesn’t know what she’s missing out on.” His face lights up in a worrying surge of confidence. “Yeah! I mean look at me,” he holds his arms up in a strongman pose and grunts while trying to flex. You cannot for the life of you tell if he’s being serious, but he looks absolutely ridiculous, so you burst out laughing. “I don’t know what you’re laughing at,” he continues, unphased. “It’s pathetic!” you wheeze between laughs. He almost snickers, half a chortle making it through his poker-faced veneer. “This’s one’s smasher,” he nods to his left bicep and you snort. “This one’s basher,” he nods to his right bicep. It’s redundant to say that you devolve into a fit of hysterical laughter. “And this one…” he points to his crotch and you shake your head, already wheezing, “is The Destroyer!” That absolutely does it in for you, and Nathan can’t hold it in any longer either, he breaks down laughing with you. After a while, the laughter dies down and you’re simply sitting beside one another in amiable silence. Nathan jumps to his feet and holds out a hand to help you up. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.” “But what about…” you motion to all his stuff, but take his hand anyways and stand up. “I’ll walk back later. Now that you’ve become acquainted with where I live, I’d like to see your humble abode.” He grins and begins to walk down the stairs to the room’s main level. “Alright, but beware, my stepmum’s a bitch,” you warn, following after him. “Well, have you ever found her butt naked in a dark alleyway and come to the sudden and disturbing realization that she has gorgeous tits?” You cringe at the thought, “Can’t say that I have.” Nathan is curiously silent for a few moments. “Does she, though? I’m curious,” he muses with a cheeky grin. “Nathan!” you gasp, punching him in the shoulder. “Ow! Point taken! Why do you keep punching me?” he curses, glaring at you with playful indignance. You smile to yourself, pleased. “Because you deserve it and someone has to.”     Together you walk to your house, entirely unsure and uneasy about what will happen next. You grow increasingly anxious as you approach your house. There isn’t really a nice side of Wertham, but your stepmom likes to think you live there anyways. She is wrong, suburban Wertham is just as grungy and seamy as the city itself, it just looks marginally more pleasant. Once you’re at the front door, you stop and turn to Nathan. “Okay, here’s the plan. We go in, we try to get upstairs as quickly as possible. If we see my stepmum, we stay civil and try to get away without offending her. Sound good?” You exhale a deep breath, unsure of whether you should be amping up or calming down. “Yeah, but why do we need a plan?” Nathan asks innocently. “You’ll see,” you explain, opening the door. You aren’t really sure what to expect, to be perfectly honest. Your stepmum barely even wants you there, so you never really push it by bringing home anyone else. In secondary school, the only people you had over were friends you’d made before she married your dad, and thus people she had no real control over your relationship with. But once she was in the picture, you suddenly preferred going over to other people’s houses rather than having them come to yours. Hopefully, things would be different now, with you being an at least semi-autonomous adult. But probably not. You lead Nathan inside the front hall, so far so good, and turn to go up the stairs when things go south. “Ah, ah, ah! Who’s this, y/n?” your stepmum stops you, rushing out from wherever she’d been to literally stand between you and the stairs. “Hullo!” Nathan perks up, smiling broadly and sticking out a hand. “I’m Nathan.” Ah, so when you said ‘civil,’ he’d heard ‘unnervingly polite.’ “He’s from community service,” you explain. She glances down at his hand with mild disgust, and so he drops it. “Well, I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring those people to his home,” she sneers with a fake smile. “I’m those people,” you point out. Talking back hadn’t been in the plan, but the plan was never going to work anyways. She casts a derisive glance between you and Nathan, “Evidently.” Your dad walks in, then, from the kitchen, holding a casserole between oven-mitted hands. “Oh, y/n! Are you gonna have dinner with the family?” his tone is cheerful, but the insinuation behind his words stings you. “No, I’m clearly not a part of this family,” you murmur, hoping someone will contradict you, but your dad just squirms and looks sort of uncomfortable. No one says anything, even Nathan remains gloriously silent. “Wow! Okay, so we’re going. Bye.” You grab Nathan’s hand and he lets you drag him away. Once outside, though, you drop it and stalk down the street, just trying to get away from your house. Tears prick at your eyes as you allow yourself to break down. It hurts. It hurts to not be included, even if you expected it. That woman had taken so much from you, had pushed you to become what you were and live the life you’d lived just because she expected it. There are people around you, of course, saying that you’re more than that, but when she looks at you like you’re nothing, you feel like nothing. Nathan follows after you, “Hey, y/n, where are we goin’?” “Away!” You call after him. He catches up to you soon after that, when you’re about a block away from your house, grabbing your arm to get you to stop. Neither of you say anything, but he sits down on the curb and motions for you to join him. You do. He puts his arm around your shoulder and you lean into him. He smells like cigarettes, bandaids, and sharpies, and you wonder why, but it distracts you, and so you revel in it. This is the closest you’ve ever been, and even though you’ve only known each other for three days now, you seem to fit perfectly there. Nathan leans his head in closer to you, “You know, if it makes you feel any better, she had really wack tits.” You laugh despite yourself, “It does, actually.” You smile and close your eyes, allowing yourself to become lost in the feeling of his arm around you and the smell of his clothes, which remind you of the community center and of him. You sit there for a few moments, in comfortable silence. “What’re you gonna do now?” he asks. “I’ll just sneak in through my window, the lock’s broken,” you murmur in a quiet voice. He nods but doesn’t move. Eventually, you say your goodbyes and sneak back into your respective living spaces, but for now, you remain in his arms. For now, you’re together.

[scaredofchange]

Monsta X Imagine - In love with an overweight, self-conscious person.

Brought to you by an overweight, self-conscious person.

I wrote this for fun and I hope you’ll all enjoy it. This is for you, and you only, you beautiful fucking masterpiece.

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SHOWNU

Sweetest man EVER. He would take care of all your needs, such as getting you chub rub cream when you walk too long in shorts or massaging your feet.

Is very protective of you and would do anything to make you happy.

Knows all the places you don’t like to be touched (if you have any) and respects your boundaries like the prince charming that he is.

If someone would dare hurt you by saying shit about your body, he’d be the kind of man to get scary angry, but in a very calm manner, and would probably ruin the person’s life with a simple look.

Would shyly comfort you after.

Absolutely ADORES being the big spoon so he can feel your whole body against his.

Sweet, sweeeeeeet, sweeeeeeeeeeet love-making. He wouldn’t stop telling you how much he loves every single part of you.

 WONHO

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen. Like, for real.”

He’d tell you that when you’d look at yourself in the mirror, not liking what you see.

Would always want you to be comfortable, either with what you’re wearing or with who you’re hanging out. “I just want you to be happy”.

Buys your favourite snacks without you asking because he’s that kind of boyfriend.

LOVES, and I mean LOVES, to grab your thighs during sex. It’s probably one of his favourite things on you.

Kisses your forehead and pouts whenever you feel bad about yourself.

If someone ever talks shit about your weight, he’d literally yeet them away (you know, with his giant biceps).

Would probably be able to lift you, not gonna lie. So, you could finally live that dream of steamy shower sex or ‘walk in the room bride style’ thing.

MINHYUK

“Babe, you are G O R G E O U S!”

I imagine him being in love with THAT ASS (!!!) would probably grab it whenever he could.

Literally gets mad if you talk badly about your body.

He’d grab your cheeks and tell you to shut up and kiss him, because “I don’t see any flaws, and neither should you.”

Lowkey wants to die between your thighs.

He’d die seeing you all sweaty after sex, barely covered by the blankets. “Are you an angel?”

He loves that you’re different and always reminds you how perfect you are to him.

Such a sweet man when he wants, type of guy who would look at you instead of the movie for the whole thing because ‘what did I do to deserve you?”.

KIHYUN

You DO NOT want to mess with Kihyun and his love for your whole fucking body. He’d throw fists at anyone who’d ever doubt it.

He’d go from “Fuck baby! You’re hot!” to “You are the cutest girl around” in a millisecond.

Highkey shows you off to everyone he knows. He’d want the whole world to know you’re his.

Buys you clothes and accessories that compliment your body type, and a lot of lingerie because he’d kill to see your curves in it and out of it.

He’d gaze lovingly at your body whenever he’d be on top like he’d admire a masterpiece in a museum.

When you’re on top though, he’d be too excited to do anything else but please you.

“Please, baby, love yourself, you deserve it so much.”

 HYUNGWON

 Morning, afternoon and evening naps all tangled up with you.

“Please y/n, stop moving, you’re my fluffy pillow now”

A total softie with you when you’re alone, wants you to feel loved 24/7

In public would show everyone you’re his by kissing your lips, for example, while waiting in line at the movies or randomly at a table in a restaurant.

Feels so comfy in your arms; he never wants to move.

Compliments your outfits every single day, “wow, have you seen yourself lately? I’m such a lucky man”.

Slow love-making because, your body against his? : he wants that feeling to last FOREVER.

Is SO DONE with everything but you and your magnificence.

CHANGKYUN

“Baby, you can do anything you want to me.”

Always puts an arm around you because he loves to feel you close.

Side-eyes people when you go out because you are HIS and his ONLY.

“Why are they looking at me?” you’d ask, super self-conscious, and he’d answer something like “you’re kidding right? You’re the most beautiful person on the fucking planet.”

If you’d talk shit about your body, he’d either go into a full-blown rant about our shitty society and the people who made you feel bad or he’d shut you up with hot kisses and a lot of ‘I love you’s.

Thinks you look good in EVERYTHING… and without ANYTHING (if you know what I mean)

Wants you to ride him 24/7 and is not shy to mark you.

Definitely an ass grabber during sex.

 JOOHEON

Clingy as hell: he would love to grab E V E R Y T H I N G. Whether it’s your thighs, ass, your arms, breasts… name it, he loves it.

Always encourages you to wear the things you really want but you’re afraid people will judge you for.

“Listen, if you want me to go out butt naked so people won’t look at you, I’ll do it.”

Lowkey wants you to be naked all the time around your apartment because he can’t stop admiring you.

If someone dares to insult you, BOY!, Honey would send him to his grave. He’d literally spit fire.

Wants you to eat well (and by that I mean he doesn’t like it when you order only a salad because he knows you don’t want that shit). He thinks you should get whatever you want.

“I love everything about you, don’t ever doubt that.”

Hot, steamy sex. Kisses every curve and always wants more.

________________

[lukneetoonz]

LITTLE GODDESS PART IV

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Summary: As a newer goddess you think back on how you got to where you are; in the throne room sitting next to your husband, the god of the dead.

Pairing: Hades!Aizawa x fem!reader, DadNyx!Izuku x fem!reader platonic, MomSelene!Uraraka x reader platonic.

Warnings: Drinking, cussing, possible harassment undertone meanings, mentions of sex, and Denki being one hot motherlova

Word Count: 2,894

A/N: Hey guys, so life is pretty crazy so next couple updates might not be on time due to my birthday coming up, plus a lot of other family tingz. But I hope you all like this one because I worked supa dupa hard for ya babies!! 🥺👉👈

NO ARTWORK POSTED IS MY OWN AND IS FOUND ON PINTEREST

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You had no idea what to wear to the party. The only reason you weren’t having a total meltdown was because you had toga with you to help pick out an outfit, which thank the gods you had her since she at least had some experience with these parties. So instead of going to your place and staying, you just grabbed basically your whole closet and fizzed to her place, getting ready there. The blonde stood behind you, making sure your ponytail was perfect and didn’t look ‘casual’, but instead gave you a sassy look. Toga giggled as she played with a loose strand of your hair, meeting your eyes through the mirror.

“You’re gonna be the attention grabber tonight, trust me when I say I’ll have to fend off some horny gods for you.” Her words made you blush as you tsked at her words, “They only look because they’ve never seen me before…” you mumbled back, not liking the idea of attention on you for reasons that could anger other goddesses. Toga rolled her eyes at your humbleness, something that isn’t common within Olympus, especially the women of Olympus. “You’re being too humble Y/N. Goddesses are beautiful, and you are no exception.” Before you could argue, Toga clamped her hand over your mouth and gave you a knowing look, which you submitted too.

“Fine- I won’t bring it up again…” with your muffled admittance of defeat, toga whooped in glee and got up changing into her own dress, it was red, which seemed to be her favorite color. Walking over to a drawer, she pulled it open with devious little eyes as her mouth cracked into a grin and pulled out makeup brushes, “Now it’s time for the final touches…” She stalked over to you, never giving you time to oppose what she was about to do. “Just sit back and relax… let momma toga do her work!” The blonde giggled before cool gel? Was it? Met your face, and there was no turning back.

*•*

“Hizashi… would a tuxedo be too… fancy?” The ravenette king barely met the golden Olympian's eyes as he looked through this walk-in closet, which very much amused the loud god. “Shouta, a suit would be just fine. This is just a party to celebrate Kirishima’s victories in the human realm . So it’s a bit fancy but not tux fancy. Cocktail attire, that's the word I’m looking for” Hizashi pointed his finger at shouta and winked, “Listen yo, I know you wanna look good, but just relax. You’re a king! What goddess wouldn’t want you?” Aizawa huffed and grabbed a three piece plaid grey suit.

“They call me the unseen one, and every time I go somewhere they turn and whisper about the tales they’ve heard about how cruel and horrible I am. Because let’s be real Hizashi, no goddess wants to be the queen of a place that never sees the light.” The cold king's words made Hizashi frown as he tidied himself up and winked in the mirror because of how good he looked. “Oh c'mon shouta! You’re too hard on yourself!! Why don’t you go to rei and tell her you’re ready for marriage? I’m sure she can find you someone” Aizawa rolled his eyes at those words, slightly blushing at the thought.

“Do you know how embarrassing it would be for me to go to Rei and ask her to set me up? And then for her to not find any goddess on top of that? The underworld wouldn’t be a far enough escape from the embarrassment I’d receive.” As the dark haired man put on his vest, he frowned while looking in the mirror, the ugly scar that adorned his face was a constant reminder of the war he fought in only to receive being shunned to the underworld. Aizawa had fought the hardest and bravest, but because he didn’t look the part, he was given the place that everyone judged the most; the place where souls roamed.

Hizashi groaned after his friend's sour attitude, moving his hair down but slicked back, whereas Aizawa went for a loose ponytail with his front bangs hanging loose but out of his eyes. “You know shouta, sometimes I think you’re the god of being negative. Cause that’s what you are, negative. Just let go for tonight and have fun! Who knows, maybe you’ll take home a nymph that isn’t that insufferable sea nymph Emi.” Just the mention of the nymph made Aizawa shudder, “Don’t mention her. She might sense it and come.”

Laughing, Hizashi pat Aizawa’s pat before quickly snapping a selfie with a less than pleased Aizawa. “Yo, you look fly for once! Can’t you just smile?” Aizawa glared, his eyes shining red in warning, “Try that again and I’ll kill you.” The black haired males tone only made the smiling one laugh harder, “You would never, you like me too much but you just won’t admit it.” Aizawa merely waved off Hizashi’s comments, not wanting to admit he had a heart beyond the supposed cold exterior of his. Together they walked to the garage and got into their respected cars, planning on meeting at the party.

*•*

As you arrived at the venue of the party, you noticed the fun atmosphere right away. Decorations were made of golds and pearls, all though it was beautiful, it was a tad too bright for your taste… you would of much preferred gold and black or pearl and black. You even had to squint slightly to adjust your eyes to how bright everything was, it was like they wanted it known that the gods were celebrating tonight. Toga latched your arms together as she knew it was easy to get lost or separated at these parties, so she told you to make sure you were always touching no matter what.

“Hey toga, what is this party for exactly?” Toga shrugged and laughed, skipping forward while she grabbed a glass of wine, “Who knows, and who cares? It’s free food and drinks… in all honestly they could be celebrating the fact that two of them had sex. These suckers celebrate anything and everything.” Her words made you chuckle as you nodded along, not exactly understanding but figured you’d learn along the way. “So really, we just have to show up and we’re good?” Toga made a dinging noise and winked at you, “Exactly new blood! See you’re catching on fast.”

As you guys walked through, you saw a familiar pair of golden wings, paired with blonde hair. Forgetting togas warning you ran off and hugged the Male from behind, not caring that he was blatantly hitting on multiple people at a time. “DENKI!” You couldn't even finish your words when the Male turned around and hugged you back, both of you suddenly in the air as his wings spread wide in glee. “Y/N! Gods it’s been too long Babygirl!” A kiss was pressed to your smiley cheek and you took in his attire, seeing he had a red floral silk button up with black dress slacks and a choker around his neck. He really was the god of sex and love, and he made it known.

A blush spread along your face like wildfire as you giggled at his nickname for you, “The letters really aren’t enough… especially after hearing about-” his eyes grew sad and he shook his head, “Please don’t say her name… my mother took care of it and that’s all there is too it..” you frowned and brushed his hair back, hugging him tightly. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to visit you Denki… you’ve been an amazing friend to me and- it hurts to see you like this.” The blonde god bit his lip and sighed, ruffling your hair slightly before smirking as he took in your appearance. “Enough about me, the last time I saw you, you never had an impure thought in your life… but now, I can smell your sexual desire dripping from you.”

Choking on air you looked away, body heating up at his words as your mind flashed with thoughts of a certain dark haired king, quickly you shook your head and punched denki’s shoulder. “Stop doing that! I thought you couldn’t use your powers on innocent goddesses like me…” Denki flicked your forehead and chuckled, “I can’t use my powers on the big man after Rei got pissed at me and ma, but you, you’re my best friend, you’re free game babygirl” Pouting, you crossed your arms suddenly aware that you lost your other blonde friend. Eyes wide, you looked around and pursed your lips, “Shit… I lost toga.”

Denki laughed at you, lazily wrapping his arm around your shoulder as he led you through the party, “As in controls the underworld river toga? Blonde, kinda crazy, but nonetheless fun toga?” You nodded at his questions, smiling. “Yep, I work in the underworld and met her… I swear it’s us against all the horny gods that work there… or so that’s what she says” Rolling his amber eyes, he grabbed you both drinks, handing a glass of wine to you. “Oh so all those moody underworld goers already want to court you? And let me guess you didn’t even notice until toga said something.” Deciding you would rather take a drink than answer his question, but the golden winged man took it as an answer as he smirked.

“Don’t you smirk! You’re too smug for your own good.” Suddenly there was a shift in the mood as people started whispering, and eyes were focused on the person who just entered. Curious, you decided to look too, only to blush as a pair of dark eyes met yours. The king of the underworld himself had decided to make an appearance, the staring did not go unnoticed by your friend as a lightbulb went off in his head. You were so enhanced by the dark eyes you didn’t notice the presence beside you leaving, and you certainly didn’t notice him pushing someone into you so your wine would spill all over your navy coloured dress.

“Fuck-” A gasp left your lips as you looked down at your ruined dress, the person in front of you looking apologetic, but slightly pissed that they were shoved. “My deepest apologies, I was pushed into you.” Different colored eyes met yours as you waved them off and offered them a smile, “It’s okay, truly these things happen.” You took In the man's appearance, noting right away that he was a god, he looked familiar But you couldn’t place his name. “At least let me get you another dress? My sister and mother have plenty, or we can exchange information and I’ll buy you another at some time… is that okay lotus flower?”

The nickname caught you off guard, making you gulp and blush slightly, raising your hand for him to shake. “I’m Y/N… daughter of Izuku and Uraraka.” The multicolored haired man smiled and took your hand, kissing the back of it gently as he hid the shock well, surprised that you haven’t dismissed him or walked away by now because of the scar on his face, deeming him the ‘ugliest god’. “Shoto… you have a beautiful name Y/N.” Neither of you could feel the glare that was casted upon your conversation, but Denki did, and so did toga. Denki stalked across the room like a lion hunting his prey before he was next to Aizawa, standing next to him nonchalant.

“You do realize that she basically reeks like fresh meat to starving bears, don’t you?” The snide remark from the young god made Aizawa glare harder, his demeanor growing increasingly more threatening. “Just because your mother has done me a few favours, doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that.” Denki held his hands up, and toga seemed to swoop in on the other side of Aizawa, her giggles filling the air. “Dear king, don’t you see our little new blood won’t be so free for long, because it doesn’t work like that here in olympus. We move fast. Love fast. Live fast. You better do the same if you want her.”

Jaw clenching, Aizawa tensed at her words as he saw your smile directed at his nephew. Not him. “Toga is merely speaking the truth, and oh unseen one, don’t think I can’t smell your desire for her. Because i can and it’s so desperate and needy, it makes me want to just lock you two in a room.” Toga peaked at Denki as he looked at his red painted nails, like he didn’t just expose a king's secret. “You two do realize who you’re talking to, right?” Aizawa grumbled, hearing a few nearby wine glasses shatter from his emotions. Why did he even come to this party? That’s right- he wanted to see you. A stupid man, that’s what he was.

A second was all it took for you to disappear from his vision, along with shoto. Panic setting in as he realized he lost the only person he could possibly care for to his fucking nephew. At least he’d keep you in his life. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t see tweedle dee and tweedle dumb leave and follow you, their plan rolling in motion as soon their words started getting to the Raven haired man. It only made it better that you went to the bathroom so it was easy to get you out of the party without any eyes on you…

*•*

Groaning, you woke up holding your head, trying to help the pain that was shooting through it. It wasn’t until you sat up did you realize you were not in your bed, nor were you in togas. In fact you were in a place that was completely unknown to you. Eyes wide you quickly checked your attire and sighed in relief as you noticed your clothes were still on, but your shoes weren’t and your hair was put up in a nice lazy bun, makeup wiped off. Letting your feet touch the cold ground, a shiver ran up your back, taking in the dark hues that decorated the room, feeling comfort in it. Navy’s, blacks, greys, and some darker whites, it all brought a sense of calm to you that made you smile.

Walking out of the bedroom, you’re met with the sweet smell of crepes and coffee, honestly something you could get used to in the morning. You let your nose guide your way and mindlessly you walked into a kitchen that had an open concept with a dark marble island and dark kitchen cabinets. But what caught your attention the most was the man that stood with his back to you, hair half up and a black silk robe loosely on his shoulders that matched his black sweatpants and slippers. Realization settled in and you stumbled, covering your face, trying to hide the blush that colored your face; you were in the king of the underworld's home.

“Oh- I see you’re up… do you need medicine, or some water? I did brew up some coffee, because I know that helps hangovers sometimes…” A deep raspy voice made you peek through your fingers, seeing soft dark eyes looking at you with concern. “I-I don’t even remember last night.. I must have been such a bother- I’m so sorry” Aizawa flustered slightly as he remembered one particular moment, a moment that made his heart beat at rapid speeds. His lips tingled just thinking about it, and you didn’t even remember. It made him feel like a silly little boy.

Putting on a smile he just chuckled at the state you were in, “You weren’t… I’d let you bother me every day of my life if it meant you were near me little goddess.” Aizawa hummed so smoothly that it made your heart turn into a butterfly. Blushing you moved to peak over his shoulder, chest pressed to his back, “That looks very good ai- I mean shouta…” Just the innocent little move made him want to cup your face and call you his; if you asked shouta when was the moment he knew he wanted you forever, he would tell you it was the morning he made you crêpes for the first time, and he meant it, because in that moment it was such a domestic gesture that confirmed to him that he only wanted you to be able to do that.

——————————————————————————-

Taglist; @present-mel @maya-ngpirit @leeeah-loooser @nhievyenne @negansnumberonewifie @darkqueenhyde @minfani @creolepier @lhcartoonist @fairy-inthegarden @taylor----wonderland @the-british-koala @vinaios @a-match-into-themoon

[captainxsassafras]

Angel Voice

Ok, so this is really the first piece of writing I've actually finished since I graduated from college. Haha, yeah. I've been a bit of an unproductive writer the past lil bit, BUT I'm here today and I finished this. Not gonna lie, I am hella nervous for this. It's nothing emotionally involved or really intense (ok, there’s not angst, but I get real emotionally involved in fluff, so maybe I’m a liar), but I read the idea of Shinsou doing ASMR from secondhand-trash and the anon over there and, ya know, magic happened! Haha, I kid. Just cuteness, a few saucy phrases here and there! Please be kind to me!

(Also, I’m so sorry. I will figure out how to put stuff under the cut. Please be patient with my tech illiterate ass!)

@queensynderella

@secondhand-trash

Angel Voice

Shinsou x Reader

Warning: lots of fluff?, attempted assault (not Shinsou!), suggestive comments, a hot mess of a reader!

Word Count: Just over 5000... I think.

~~~*~~~

Fucking fuckity fuck fuck. You had not slept at all. Not a single wink.

Sorry, kind sir. I have no spare winks to give. No winks here.

This had been going on for months. Months!

It was starting to affect you.

Hahahah… That was a lie. It had been affecting you. You were just adaptable and great at lying so nothing was really wrong! 

…Ok, that was a lie too. Your sleep schedule was shot. Your brain was shot. Your work was… by some miracle still ok, but you weren’t about to keep betting on that.

So, here you were. Finally off work and almost falling asleep waiting for the train in the humid, afternoon heat. 

This is probably what Hell feels like. Sleep-deprived, foggy, humid, and full of sweaty humans.

You jolted fully awake from a doze as the train arrived and people began crowding against you.

Yippee. A crowded train with strangers pressing in close on absolutely zero sleep.

Nevermind. This was Hell. Waiting for the train was just the appetizer.

Your phone buzzed.

It was your best friend. She knew that you'd been having trouble sleeping and had been your solid rock. She'd been your support when it started and had helped you brainstorm remedies when it had continued. So it wasn't really a surprise when she sent you a link to an asmr video with the message, 'he has the voice of an angel! 😇 if this doesn't help you sleep, nothing will! luv ya boo! good luck!!! ❤❤❤❤❤' 

She was right. 

His voice was deep, but soothing. He spoke in a soft, calm cadence that immediately put you at ease.

The video in question was a request from a viewer. It was a description of a calm hike through the woods on a nice day. 

It was heaven.

You had your first night of decent sleep in months.

(And if you were being totally honest, you did actually cry a bit when you woke up feeling more rested and clear-headed than you could remember.)

From that point on, you fell asleep listening to 'Angel Voice' every night. 

And quickly discovered that you couldn't listen to the more...exciting rp videos before bed! They sent your poor, stupid heart wild and kept you wide awake plus some tasty adrenaline! Definitely not the desired effect! Not unpleasant. Just kinda detrimental to the whole helping-you-sleep thing.

But his calm, descriptive videos and dulcet voice sent you straight to dreamland. 

For a month straight you fell asleep to his tones and barely bothered to look at the voice artist's name.

Angel voice worked!

***

Ok, now you were tired. 

A frantic call to work this afternoon had you covering your sick coworker’s shift. This meant you were both awake way later than you had recently been staying up and you were working with a double shift's worth of leftover energy.

Ok, you were dead. Running on empty. There was no leftover energy.

You dumb, tired feet trudged along the stupid, dark street and your dumb, heavy purse cut into your stupid, aching shoulder.

But despite your exhaustion, you still held a canister of pepper spray--safety off, thank you--clutched tightly in your hand. 

The hackles on the back of your neck rose. The hair on your arms stood on end. Chills ran down your spine.  

You could feel eyes on your back.

Someone was watching you.  

It was a very unpleasant feeling this late at night all alone on a half lit street.  

Ugh, this street was so different after dark! 

You normally made your way home during rush hour when the street was busy with foot and vehicle traffic, well-lit by the sun, and full of chatter and life.

It was almost lifeless and eerily quiet now. 

Creepy. 

It needed more streetlamps. 

Humming very quietly to yourself, you tried to keep your mind off of the intense foreboding grabbing at your chest.

That same shivering chill ran through your body right before a harsh hand clawed at your arm, jerking you back. You cried out as your sore shoulder twisted and adrenaline-fueled panic surged through your entire nervous system.   

You whipped around, pepper spray at the ready and a fierce scowl on your face, to empty the canister straight into the guy's eyes.

You wrenched your aching shoulder out of his hand. Without conscious thought, your foot rose and met his groin in a beautifully placed front kick. 

Ding! Ding! Ding!

We have a winner!

He fell.

A convenience store! There was a convenience store nearby! 

Heart pounding, you fled to the little 24 hour convenience store across the street and, from the safety of the front counter, called the police.

Your frantic eyes scoured the area near the man, waiting to see if he would rise and run. 

Although, you did get him pretty good. You hoped he wouldn't run away. That'd be a) frustrating because you didn't really have a way to identify him so he'd probably get away and b) scary because you kicked him in the nuts! Guys held grudges for things like that! 

Was that movement?

It… didn't seem like the attacker was moving… 

Oh! It was another guy and it looked like he was wearing a costume!

A hero?

Looked like it! He was tying the felled grabber up with… not sure, but it was incapacitating the guy who grabbed you, so yay!

You left the store and slowly approached the man. 

"Um, hi," you said with a hesitant wave. "This was me." You bashfully gestured to the man still lying (now tied up) on the ground.

"Hey, there. Thanks for doing my job for me," he replied with a bit of a smirk. He had a deep, slightly rough voice and up close you could see dark, wildy messy hair.

Uh-oh. You needed to explain. This was absolutely self defense!

"He, uh, grabbed me from behind and I kind of panicked and, well…"

"Don't worry. I saw what happened. He started following you a few blocks back, but I couldn't do anything because he hadn't done anything yet."

Oh.

Oh, damn.

You felt sick. He had… he had been following you?

Your knees trembled.

The hero noticed and stepped forward to you.

"Hey, hey. Come here." 

He led you to the curb and sat you down, a hand rubbing comforting circles on your upper back. "It's gonna be ok. You clearly know how to defend yourself, so I wouldn't worry about.."

His soothing voice soon began to pull you out of your fear and calm your racing brain. His hand continued rubbing your back in rhythmic motions and soon your shaking began to slow and finally stop. Your thoughts came back to the moment and you noticed something. Something very familiar...

"Holy shit. Angel voice!"

The hero stopped his rambling speech, one eyebrow raising in an amused arch. He didn't say anything else, just waited for you.

"Do you do asmr?"

"Uh… yeah?"

Boy, you wish you could've captured his face.

Befuddled?

Was that the right word?

Yeah. Pure befuddlement.

Then blushing. 

Holy hell! He was blushing! It was really hard to see, but the slightest bit of red colored his cheeks in the dim light.

"Thank you so much!" you cried, maybe a bit loudly. He flinched just a little, looking surprised. "Ah, sorry. But seriously! You're the reason I've been able to sleep for the past month! I've been having sleep issues for almost a year and a friend sent me one of your videos and, well, tada. Sleep happened!" It was your turn to blush. 

The look he was sending your way now was… hella cute. He looked delighted. Elated. Even in the dark, his eyes were shining and he had a goofy little half smile that lit his whole face with happiness. 

The smile highlighted the bags under his eyes and you briefly wondered if that had something to do with his decision to make asmr videos. The thought fled when he raised a self-conscious hand to rub the back of his neck and started speaking.

"I'm glad they've been helping you!" The very corners of his eyes crinkled just a bit. "It makes my night to hear that!" 

His deep voice wasn't loud or overtly excited, but it was warm and full of sincerity. 

Your stomach did a stupid flip.

Nope. Not happening. You refused to be a hero groupie. Too much drama. Too many fans picking each other apart. Too much shade. You needed sunshine and most groupies you knew threw shade like confetti.

Also, he was a professional at work. This was his job. You needed to respect that.

A deep internal breath had you back where you should be. Thanking a professional hero for helping apprehend a man who had attacked you and thanking him for his generous work that helped you sleep well. 

The two of you talked quietly for a few bit waiting for the police to arrive. It was nice. You asked about hero work. He asked about your job. You two chatted about a couple of random things and by the time the police arrived your chatter was comfortable and easy. 

Everything after was a whirl. You had to give a statement. They needed to take you to a hospital just in case. The hero gave his witness statement and then had to leave to help out with a robbery in a different neighborhood. 

You left for the hospital looking back and feeling little starbursts of melancholy disappointment needling your chest. 

You'd probably never see him again.

Ah, well. Guess he'd stay Angel Voice. 

***

Shit.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap. 

This was stupid. 

You had barely talked to him for a half hour. And, yeah, he was sweet. Ok, he'd been crazy nice. And so fucking attractive. He'd been easy to talk to and the conversation between you two had been entertaining and full of wit. 

But you had no way of directly contacting him. You'd looked him up, but hadn't gotten much info on him. It looked like he was an underground hero, so that made a lot of sense. It, however, did not make it any less frustrating.

You didn't know what you'd do if you managed to get ahold of him anyway!

"Hi! You sorta bagged a guy who tried to assault me (but I took down first) a few weeks ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since then even though we had like a half hour conversation, half of which was you coaxing me out of a panic attack. Want to go on a date?"

Of course, you could always comment on one of Utube videos, but that had about a 1 in 1,000,000,000 chance of working and felt a little too…. Stalker-fan.

There was also the raging guilt and embarrassment you felt over crushing on a hero who had just been helping you as part of his professional work. He had been at work! It was part of his job to comfort you! He was literally in the business of saving people and making sure they were ok. And that was exactly he had done. He didn't need to be harrassed because your dumb brain said, 'Oo, shiny!' when he smiled. He had been at work. You shouldn't read anything into his behavior, because there really wasn't anything other than a pro hero doing his duty.

Nope! You needed to get over this.

A notification buzzed and you checked your phone.

Mind_kitty has posted a new video! Watch now!

With a defeated sigh, you deferred the notification for later. You could listen and relax on your way home from work.

A movement out of the corner of your eye caught your attention and you snapped your head up as a coworker hustled over with a look of panic on their face. 

Uh-oh.

***

And now, here you were, sitting wearily on the train and hurtling towards home.

Ugh, what a day.

After everything that could go wrong had miraculously (horrifically? Fiendishly? Miraculously seemed too positive…) gone up in flames at the same time, you had spent the rest of your work day running around like crazy putting out all the fires (only one of which was, in fact, a literal fire so not actually a terrible day).

Your feet were sore and a headache that had started with your coworker's news and grown from there threatened to overwhelm you.

There were still a few stops until yours, so you slipped your headphones out of your bag and opened your Utube app. 

Thank you unlimited data!

You found Angel Voice's latest video and began to play.

(Ok, you now had actually figured out his Utube username and finally bothered to remember it, but he'd started as Angel Voice to you and it just worked in your mind!)

Ahhhhhh…

Why does he have such a great voice? It was perfect! Deep and smooth and perfectly made to whisper sweet (or not so sweet) nothings in your ear while you gently played with his wild purple hair. Fuck, his hair was so pretty! You'd bet your left buttcheek it was soft as clouds…

Ugggghhhhh... Fine. 

You were crushing on a pro hero. 

Are you happy, universe? 

Your fated journey to become a groupie had begun. Might as well accept it and focus on more important things… like Angel Voice's hair.

Or, you know, his voice…

You fell into the sound of his speaking.

Hah, it was like an automatic reaction at this point. Your shoulders started to unknot and that stereotypical breath you didn't know you were holding in rushed out in a grateful sigh.

However, it didn't take you long to realize that he hadn't started into the asmr immediately as you were expecting. Paying more attention, you rewound the video to the beginning and actually listened to what he was saying.

"I'm not sure exactly how to do this." He let out a dry half chuckle. "I haven't completely convinced myself I should. But, um…"

He paused with a frustrated sigh, then seemed to take a deep breath. 

"Ok, to hell with it. I'm doing this. Dear, girl I met the other night who took a guy out by kicking him in the nuts."

Was he talking about you? Was there another girl who kicked a guy in the nuts on his patrol? Damn, he met a lot of kickass girls on patrol! Good for her! She was getting a personal shoutout from Angel Voice! 

"I know it might seem kind of weird to be doing this over Utube, but I missed my chance at first, then the police arrived and everything was crazy and I had to leave to help out another pro."

Wow, sounds intense. Bet that was stressful. Oh, wait. Hah. You knew it was stressful.

"So I blew my chance to ask for your number."

He wanted her number? Damn! Super lucky girl!

Wait, this wasn't an rp video was it?

You pulled out your phone to check, but the title and description didn't mention any kind of rp. Aww! This was real! And it was adorable!

A tiny piece of sad ripped itself free of the fuzzy feelings you were experiencing. He had been so kind and you'd had such a fun time conversing. It would have been really amazing if this were for you. You had really liked the piece of personality you'd been able to see.

"I'm really hoping you'll hear this video, and hear it in time, because I'd love to go get coffee with the girl who accidentally body-slammed her coworker on her birthday."

Holy.

Shit.

That…

THAT WAS YOU!

That had been you! Your stupid coworker had snuck up behind you at the end of the day in a semi-dark area of work and shouted in your ear to scare you.

It had worked. 

You'd been so scared that you'd grabbed him, flipped him over your shoulder, and body-slammed him into the floor.

And… and you'd told Angel Voice that night as you sat talking about some of your more notorious takedowns. 

This was for you.

This video was for you!

What the fuck?!

This video was for you!?

You had to rewind a hot second to hear what came next.

Then you had to pause and go back yet again, because your mind was in such a frenzy and your heart was beating so loudly in your ears you couldn’t concentrate on what was being said!

“So if you hear this and, um, you’re interested at all, girl who took down a fully grown man in five seconds, I’ll be waiting at the spot we first met at five pm today. I, uh, really hope I’ll see you there again.”

The video ended. 

Your heart was still aiming for professional drummer in your chest.

You could see him raising his hand to rub at the back of his neck with that last statement. He’d done it that night and you could picture it in your mind. 

Wait! What time was it?

4:50 pm.

No.

Nonononononono!

You were going to miss the meeting.

You were still six train stops away from yours and that alone would take you fifteen minutes! Not to mention the next fifteen minutes it’d take to get to the meeting place! 

Of course, that was walking speed. You could run.

Frantic eyes looked down at your shoes. Not exactly running shoes. 

Whatever, you’d make do.

You wanted to see him again.

You could just imagine the disappointment on his face if you didn’t show and that melancholy from earlier reared its weepy head and cried out in frustration because you didn’t want to hurt him!

And you really wanted to see him again!

The next fifteen minutes were the most agonizing you could remember enduring in recent history. This was worse than the time you spilled coffee on your favorite author and his manager had yelled at you for five minutes while they changed! I mean, that had been pretty bad, but the author had been incredibly nice about it after getting back and even mentioned it humorously in the book you had asked them to sign. It was still easily the most awful you'd ever felt and you’d really wanted nothing more than to run away.

This. Was. Worse.

So much worse because you couldn’t actively work towards your quickly approaching deadline and destination. You had to sit there… waiting.

Your leg was bouncing up and down and a few fellow train riders were giving you slightly concerned looks. You were too wound up to care.

Finally, finally!

You arrived at your stop, hurried off the train as quickly as you could without being the absolute worst human ever, and ran.

Your shoes remained on your feet until you almost killed yourself stumbling over them, then they were in your arms.

Decorum be damned!

This was a matter of life or date! (And preferably not death by shoe!)

You made it to the spot where you’d met him at exactly 5:12 pm.

You were sweaty. 

Hell, that was an understatement.

You were pretty sure you’d left a trail of sweat behind you and you could feel it running in rivulets down your back. There was probably a stain back there… And on your armpits… and on… everywhere.

You knew your hair was an absolute mess. 

But as bad as you knew you must look, you felt worse.

Your lungs were on fire. You had absolutely no breath left in your entire body. It felt like you had a knife in your side. In both sides actually. Your entire body was trying to imitate an oven with the level of heat radiating off your skin. Your legs were simultaneously wobbly and shaking and you weren’t sure you’d trust them taking another step at the moment.

And now you had sweat in your eye. Stinging.

But none of that even mattered. 

All of that was stupid and trivial and inconsequential because he wasn’t there.

You’d taken too long.

He was gone.

No vibrant purple hair and sleep-deprived eyes.

No stupid half-smile.

That melancholy came back and instead of quietly tugging at your heart, it hit you square in the chest with an emotional cast-iron frying pan. 

No.

No!

Damnit!

You’d really wanted this.

He was… he was so fucking witty and kind that night.

He’d been soft and understanding and hot. And fucking adorable.

And… and… he wasn’t there.

Fuck.

You slumped in place.

Every ounce of your physical exhaustion caught up to you in an instant and you felt the mortifying sting of tears trying to sneak their way out of your eyes. 

Talk about adding insult to injury.

It wasn’t that bad. This wasn’t that bad.

So, you didn’t get to meet up with a cute hero for coffee. Big deal. Poor unfortunate soul. It was nothing to cry about.

But you’d really wanted to see him again.

Guess it didn’t matter anymore.

You turned, ready to march across the street to that convenience store and buy half of their ice cream, but something tickled your brain.

Something out of the corner of your eye.

Your head whipped around.

There!

It was a flash of purple down the street.

Your eyes snapped to that portion of the sidewalk. 

It was purple hair.

Crazy, wild, tousled, purple hair!

You knew that hair!

But your stupid legs literally wouldn’t run anymore. And he was far enough away that you wouldn’t catch up if you could run.

You reacted without thinking.

You really acted without thinking.

“ANGEL VOICE!”

You shouted his name at the top of your lungs.

Sorry.

You shouted your own private, very personal nickname that you had only spoken out loud to your very best friend and, unfortunately, him.

In the middle of a crowded street.

During rush hour.

Your brain was an utter masterpiece of stupid.

You stood there, frozen with the realization of your own idiocy, as the head of purple hair stopped, looked to the side, looked to the other side, then tuuurrrnnned around.

Made eye contact with you through the busy crowd.

Then doubled over laughing.

You couldn’t hear him from where you stood, but you could feel him laughing.

You could see it in the way his bent shoulders shook and his torso convulsed, nearly spasming with the force of his laughter.

And there you stood, still stuck to your spot.

You’d called him Angel Voice out loud in a crowd out loud in front of a bunch of strangers out loud.

And as much as you wanted to run, you couldn’t even twitch.

Not as you watched him finally finish laughing and fully turn to face you. Not as you watched him begin to walk toward you through the throng of people (just beginning to turn back to their own business in the aftermath of your outburst). Not as he stopped directly in front of you, a delighted smile on his sleepy, stupidly attractive face and the corners of his eyes still just slightly crinkled with laughter.

“Hey there,” he said and it felt like the softest slap to the face you’d ever received.

Your frozen body finally remembered its fight or flight reflexes and, wouldn’t you know, you suddenly learned how to fly.

As you turned to bolt, Angel Voice reached out, calling to you.

“Hey, wait! You’re just gonna run after all of that?”

He didn’t grab you.

That detail broke through the panic.

Even though he reached out with his hand, he didn’t grab you.

You stopped.

“I wanna run because of all that!” you blurted.

His chuckles sent a wave of heat down your spine, both embarrassed and… otherwise. Ok, fine! He had a sexy voice! And it turned you on more than you liked to admit! 

Who let him have a voice like that?

It was not freaking fair!

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

Fuck, he sounded sincere. 

You slowly turned around, face still burning.

You two stared at each other for a minute.

A smile crooked your lips.

“So, uh, what’s a place like you doing in a voice like this.”

Silence.

“Fuck.” 

Your hand came up to rub at your forehead as he began laughing again. A full, big laugh instead of a chuckle.

“I should probably just give up on the talking thing, shouldn't I?”

“I hope not. I could listen to you all day,” he said with a small grin.

And now your heart it was afluttering.

“I feel like that should be my line,” you mumbled, watching him catch his breath from all that big old laughing through the fingers splayed across your face.

There was a pause in the conversation. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it hadn’t really achieved comfortable silence.

“So, um.”

You looked up from your hand.

Good fuck, he was doing the rubbing the back of his neck thing again. Illegal. Freaking illegal is what that was. No man should possess that level of cute.

“I mentioned grabbing coffee in the video. I’d like to assume you being here means you’re interested?” The sentence ended with a slight upturn, indicating a question. He looked up at you, uncertainty in his gorgeous violet eyes.

Why the hell was he uncertain?

This mortherfucking hottie with a voice made for swooning (and spooning) was nervous about asking you to coffee (adateadateadateadate).

Without thinking, you voiced this exact thought out loud (sans the date portion... and the spooning. Spooning was for non-dumbasses). 

Angel Voice looked absolutely floored.

“I’m sorry, but do you own a mirror?” he asked. There was a tension in his voice that almost had you shrinking into yourself.

Ouch.

Damn.

Ouch.

Well, at least he was blunt.

“You’re fucking gorgeous.”

You met him on the floor.

Dead. Ass.

He just called you gorgeous.

There was a set to his jaw now and a sort of light in his eyes. He looked very… determined. Set, was what you’d call it. He seemed very set on a decision.

"It was great talking to you the other night. I can't get out of my head how funny and smart you were. And you're so fucking cute I want to wrap you up in my jacket and stay there forever."

His face was blazing red now. His ears too. Ok, that was hella adorable. You felt your own self flush with happy bashful feelings. I mean, he himself had just supplied you with the sappiest, schmoopiest mental image you’d really ever conceived.

“I’d really like to go get some coffee together.” He went quiet for a minute, seeming to mull something over in his head, and that stupid hand came up to rub at his neck again.

Ugh, he was gonna kill you with that! 

“Would you go on a date with me?”

If your heart was fluttering before, it was nearly palpitating now!

“Yes! Please! I mean, yes I want to go on a date with you!”

He smiled, a breathless, bewildered, almost (dare you think) dorky smile. It was fucking beautiful.

"Wow," he exhaled.

A snort escaped you. "Again, I feel like that should be my line."

But you smiled back.

And there you both stood, almost dazedly smiling, little happy thoughts buzzing through your minds. 

“We should probably head to a cafe if we’re going to get coffee,” Angel Voice finally murmured.

You started.

The both of you were standing like idiots in the middle of the sidewalk, just staring at each other.

“Coffee, right. Anywhere in mind, Angel Voice?” The nickname slipped out almost by accident.

He held out his hand to you and you took it gently. 

“Angel Voice, huh?” he laughed quietly. “I think I can go with that.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault! You still haven’t told me your name.” You sent a playful tug along the arm you held by the hand and felt a little thrill of joy when he returned it just as playfully. "You're officially Angel Voice until you enlighten me."

The two of you had started walking. He seemed to have a destination in mind. Man with a plan. Nice.

“I know a cafe nearby. Do you mind?” he asked, softly pulling you along in invitation while leaving enough slack for you to object if you wanted.

Man with a plan who asked nicely. Nice.

“Not at all, Angel Voice.” You had a point to make and a guy to tease!

He chuckled again.

“My name is Hitoshi. Hitoshi Shinsou.” That slightly devious grin crept back onto his face. “But Angel Voice works for me.” He snuggled in close to your cheek, the side of his body leaning comfortably into yours. Then he whispered in your ear and you nearly fell over. "Especially if you're screaming it as loud as you did earlier."

Good lord, your knees nearly collapsed. 

His voice, his stupid voice, saying such a frisky thing so close did such a number on you that you couldn't respond for a moment. It was all you could do to keep breathing.

His voice was going to be the death of you! You couldn’t think. Should you respond? What did you say to that? Something equally as frisky! But his voice!

He tensed a bit at your lack of response. 

"Was that too much? Did I cross a line?" he asked, still speaking low right in your ear.

"Son of a bitch, if you don't stop that right now, I'm gonna jump your fucking bones right in the middle of this street." Your voice was full of urgency, but if he didn't stop you really were liable to unleash every single ounce of wild attraction you felt towards him at that exact moment, street full of people be damned!

He stopped walking.

Oh, shit. You could hear the Cheshire grin.

"You mean, like this?"

You sagged against him, letting your knees tremble. Your hand, still tangled, clutched his tightly.

His chuckle this time was less… benevolent than before. "What? You called me Angel Voice." His thumb ran soothingly over your hand. "I had to see if I could tempt you."

You couldn't help it. You turned your face to bury it in his jacket. What a magnificent, teasing butthead you'd just gotten yourself tangled up with. It was amazing!

"That’s going to come back to bite me, isn't it?"

“All the time.”

A tiny little butterfly crept into your stomach. You didn’t want to read too much into it (although after his teasing, you didn't really feel like it was reading into things), but ‘all the time’ sounded like there was going to be, well, plenty of time. It was a very welcome, warm idea.

As soon as your legs de-noodled (Hitoshi making snarky comments like a brat the entire time), the two of you continued on in an easy silence, exchanging teases every so often. The sun was setting and the entire world was covered in golden tones. Rush hour was winding down and the foot traffic in the area was dissipating, leaving a much more comfortable number of people around.

Your brain focused on the soft, warm quality of the light, the muted shocks of excitement zipping through your lower back, and the soft weight of his calloused hand surrounding yours. 

You gave a little, light squeeze.

"I'm so happy I ran, Angel Voice.”

He just chuckled and squeezed back.

[s-j-ace]

The Same Question

Chapter Two

Characters: Shuichi Saihara, Ouma Kokichi

Words: 2002

Summary:

After Detective Shuichi Saihara encounters mysterious thief Kokichi Ouma for the first time, a game of cat and mouse ensues as both men ask themselves the same question. Why exactly does the elusive phantom thief do what he does?

This is Chapter Two, find Chapter One Here

Read on AO3

   Kokichi Ouma stood on the rooftop of the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno Nevada laughing maniacally to no one in particular. At least, no one as of yet.

   In his hand, he held a remote control for two of those… giant metal grabber arm machines. Except they were used for construction. (Named after a bird… CRANE. They were cranes.) Except for now when they were being used to rip two very expensive crystal chandeliers out of the lower levels of the building he was standing on. He felt the world shake as the cranes raised their arms in celebration of acting outside of their intended use, each holding up a chandelier like they were about to put earrings on the building he stood upon.

   Seconds later, the rooftop access door burst open. Kokichi watched as detective Saihara walked into the light of the evening sky. He looked tired and a little disheveled just like how Kokichi remembered him, but when he turned to see Kokichi, still cackling away, something in his eyes changed. They became harder. More determined somehow.

   The detective started walking toward him. "Stop right there!" He shouted like he was some sort of real-life action hero, and Kokichi felt excitement skyrocket within him.

   "Uh-uh-uh." Kokichi tutted, feeling his glee slip onto the expression hidden by his mask. "I should be saying that to you, Detective. After all…" God this was good. Kokichi held up the remote control in his hands. "I could just… drop one of these chandeliers. I don’t need both. Just one press of a button is all it would take to shatter these babies on the pavement."

   Saihara hesitated for a moment and his eyes glanced to the side of the building. Kokichi deduced from the movement that Saihara had been trying to see if there was anything down below the chandeliers that could get crushed. Kokichi knew it was nothing but some too-fancy cars, but Saihara decided his best bet was to stay where he was.

   "What are you playing at?" His eyes were focused on Kokichi again.

   The thief blinked innocently. "Who, me? I'm not playing at  anything . I take my life very seriously, thank you very much." He gestured to the chandeliers. "I just need some help making a decision."

   "A… decision?" The detective asked warily.

   "Yup!” Kokichi felt like he needed this moment to last longer than he knew it was going to. “I need to take one of these chandeliers home with me to decorate our evil lair, but I accidentally took both! So I'll let you have one back if you help me decide."

   He turned to the chandelier dangling on the left and hummed as if considering it. "Now I like this one because it's very sparkly. But this one…" he turned around and fiddled with the controller for the right chandelier so that the hundreds of tiny crystals would hit against one another. "Is more jangly."

   Saihara looked like he was going to be sick as the chandelier clattered on.

   "Well, frankly I think you shouldn't have either if this is how you're going to treat them…"

   Oh... that's what Kokichi was hoping he'd say.

   "Wow, I think you're right. If I really wanted a chandelier for the lair I wouldn’t treat it so roughly... You really are a smart one, Mr. Detective." He shrugged. "Guess I won't take either."

   Kokichi watched Saihara's moment of realization morph into a look of subsequent regret as he pushed the button that released the cranes' grasps.

   Kokichi was a little disappointed when the detective ran for the side of the building, as if the detective could do anything to stop a one-tonne chandelier from speeding hastily to a shattering death, instead of doing the sensible thing and chasing after him, the culprit. Although, as Kokichi began to make his escape he realized that Saihara was searching the ground below. His expression was familiar and Kokichi realized that it was the same look of concern he had witnessed on the detective’s face when he held his hand back on the plane.

   Kokichi, forgetting about the fact he was in the middle of a high stake escape attempt, took a second to look down at his finger. The bandage was gone now. He’d thrown it away the day after in a weird mood. There was still a thin scab on it, a strange reminder of his physical existence. He remembered how careful Shuichi had been when he’d gotten hurt.

   Kokichi felt his heartbeat crescendo suddenly, but the starting of the engine in the helicopter behind him drowned it out.

   Oh yeah… He should… Get in that...

  Was Saihara looking for casualties? Of course, there wouldn't be any. Kokichi had made sure of that. It was the number one rule of DICE, you know. No killing. Just because obviously killing people is bad. Not that Saihara knew that.

   He supposed that was working to his advantage.

   By the time the detective turned around to face him again, Kokichi was stepping into the escape chopper as Hearts sat inside flipping the switches needed to initiate takeoff.

   When Saihara got to the end of the rooftop, Kokichi was hanging out from the side of the getaway chopper about a decameter over the building. Kokichi realized he was still laughing and stopped. The detective probably couldn’t hear him over the beating of the propeller, so there was no point to it. He settled into a billboard-style grin and looked down on the detective standing alone on the rooftop. Strangely enough, the expression on the detective's face had seemed to shift from surprise to calculation in the moment Kokichi had turned away. Suddenly his expression lit up and he turned around to run to the rooftop door.

   “So he figured it out huh…” Kokichi muttered to himself as the detective disappeared from the rooftop. How smart of him to realize that Kokichi’s ploy was the distraction for this particular rendezvous with grand larceny.

   “Did you see his face when I dropped the chandeliers?” He crooned to Hearts, not letting any concern over how the remaining members of DICE were fairing show in his demeanor.

   “Yes, yes, I’m sure it was delicious,” She called to him over the sound of the propelling blades.

The thief resumed his cartoonish cackling, watching as the detective's silhouette grew further and further away.

“Hey!" Hearts called back again after they had gotten a good distance away from Saihara. "You might wanna tuck in there, boss, I think the american police are arriving with their cartoonishly militarized long distance weaponry.”

   “Nah, I think I'll flap around in the wind a bit,” Kokichi joked as he hopped into the chopper and started forcing the hatch closed. “I’ve got that ‘becoming swiss cheese’ part of my bucket list to fill out.”

   “Aww, boss you don’t have to do that.” Hearts was humoring him again. “You’re already a snack.”

   “I know,” Kokichi managed to close up the side and it suddenly became a lot easier to hear everything inside the cockpit. He walked over to buckle into the co-pilot seat and shifted into a huge grin and a dramatic pose. “I’m simply scrumptious.”

   “Yeah, sure ya are." She said without looking at him, eyes fixed on the skies ahead. "Where are we landing this thing again?”

   “The car’s parked at that hospital we scoped out with the helipad. We just gotta land there and go through the vents.”

   “Ugh, you and your vents.”

   “They’re very efficient! Besides, you have no right to complain. You get to put on a disguise and walk around normal after the 4th floor. I gotta scrunch up and fit in the rolling cart.”

   “And whose fault is that?”

   He should probably keep this conversation going for 2 ½ minutes.

“God’s, he’s jealous of me.”

   “No, I’m pretty sure it’s the guy who blew his cover by flirting with a detective.”

   “Eh, same difference.”

   "No, you can't be God. God is a lesbian."

   "I never claimed to be God, just a being of equal if not greater power who took the old God’s place. Way to contribute to the bury your gays trope, Hearts."

   She snorted. "Boss, you're a white boy in a clown mask. No offense, but if lesbian God saw you she'd smite on sight."

   Kokichi could probably argue that he was an ambiguously pale Asian in a clown mask seeing as he was found in an alley in Japan, but he decided that wasn't what he wanted this conversation to be. "Then at least I'll finally be brought to justice."

   “Being born a clown is one thing, but I think your real crime is your unnecessarily convoluted plans." She huffed. "Why can’t we just drop the chopper in the woods?”

   Kokichi frowned. “Because we have to return it, remember?”

   “Since when do we return things? Do you want us to return those massive remote control cranes we left back there?”

   “Well of course not!”  Although he felt rather indifferent on the matter, Kokichi shouted angrily and threw the remote he was still holding into the back of the chopper. “We stole those from that Togami Corp building. Their CEO makes like a billion dollars every day, he can come get his own damn cranes.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Hearts replied, barely responding to his outburst. “But it’s not like the hospital people wouldn’t be able to find the helicopter if we left it in the woods or something. Also, there’s less cops in the woods; which I would say is a plus.”

   “Come on,” Kokichi huffed, going back and forth on whether or not to shift out of this persona or not. He went with the latter and smoothed out his tone a bit. “It’d be harder to close down the hospital for an investigation than it would be to secure the perimeter of the dinky forests they have out here.”

   Hearts groaned. “Ugggh. Fine. I’ll crawl in the stupid vents.” She frowned down at her pristine white uniform. “The quarters in those stupid arcade machines better be enough for my dry cleaning bill.”

   “This one’s not about the quarters Heartsie, it’s about the real gamer life.” Kokichi may have been raised by video games, but he wasn't as into playing them as Clubs was nowadays. He'd beat still anyone any time in a versus game though, because he was just that much of a pro gamer. Or maybe because he was kinda good at predicting what he'd be challenged to do and was also extremely good at memorizing gaming manuals.

   “Yeah, yeah, whatever." Wow, Hearts was really out here oppressing gamers. "You’re the boss."

   Kokichi made a face and decided he also wanted to oppress gamers. "Well, I mean, it was Clubs' choice."

   "I know." She suddenly perked up a bit. "Hey, speaking of choices... The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo is opening its last exhibit next week-"

   "Hey!" Kokichi interrupted. He thought about covering her mouth, but then remembered that she was driving a helicopter that they were both in. He let his hands settle into a gesture of emphasis instead. "You can't pitch during the getaway! It's not fair to the salt of the earth folk that're still down there pilfering the seventies."

   "Come ooon, Boss! My thing's got a time limit, and there’s this rug-"

   "You know the rules." He scolded.

   A timer went off in his brain.

   Kokichi turned away, pulling out his phone to text the ground crew that Saihara was probably closing in on them around now. They’d probably have liked him to tell them earlier, but Kokichi wanted to keep them on their toes after a maddeningly easy break-in. As a bonus, sending them the text let him shun Hearts while she sulked.

   This had been fun, he thought privately, more fun than most heists. Never a dull moment, it seemed, with the good detective around.

   As he hit send, Kokichi wondered if Saihara would follow him to Cairo too.

[harunoheart]

Oneirophrenia C4

Oneiropherenia C4

———————

Sasuke Uchiha

———————

Naruto had every right to brag about his house, it was very impressive. It was brand new, modern architecture with a very refined classic look. At first glance I couldn’t fathom how they afforded a house so big but I had forgotten he married the Hyuuga princess. No doubt a sizable portion of the property was paid off by her family.

Hinata greeted us at the door, her dark, pin straight hair perfectly contrasting Naruto’s wild blonde.

“I’m so glad you made it!” She said smiling. “Sasuke-kun, welcome to our home,” she bowed politely. I lowered my head in a small bow back.

Naruto jumped up the stairs into the foyer and kissed Hinata on the cheek before tossing his shoes onto the bench by the door. “Come on in guys! I’ll get some sake ready! I still have the fancy bottle Tsunade Obaa-chan gave us for our wedding!”

Sakura and I followed him into the house, with Sakura offering to help Hinata in the kitchen. I followed them to the living room area which was much more spacious than I anticipated. Definitely Hyuuga money.

The back of the house sat on a hill just high enough to see a view of the Hokage monument on the mountain. Kakashi’s face carved stoic and protective next to the others. It was strange, thinking about my teacher as Hokage. Kakashi never really struck me as the type.

He seemed to be doing alright, though. Despite all the chaos and the recent ANBU captain being exposed for illegal drugs and treason.  

I pushed the thought aside and tried to focus on the scene in the kitchen instead. Hinata was mixing up some kind of sauce in a pan while Sakura chopped up the vegetables and put them in a colander beside the sink. I watched her rinse everything, smiling and chatting with Hinata about how her clinic was doing. Naruto pulled a large fancy bottle of sake out from the very top shelf and began to set up the water to boil.

Then a knock came at the door.

“Ah! Sai’s here!” Naruto exclaimed and ran to the door.

“Oh look you remembered to answer the door this time.” I heard a male voice say sarcastically.

“Shut up, asshole.” Naruto groaned, “Hey, Ino!”

Oh no...

Yamanaka Ino?

I just had a flashback from the ninja academy of her pressing herself against me way too often. She’s with Sai? How the hell did that happen? So many questions raced through my mind before I caught Sakura’s panicked expression a couple seconds before she shifted it into a polite excitement.

“Ino! It’s so good to see you!” She rinsed off her hands in the sink and ran to hug the blonde. Ino bounced into the room, blonde hair practically dragging on the floor and Sai came walking around the corner with Naruto right behind him.

“Oh! Sasuke-kun is here.” He said.

It’s so weird that he says my name like that. But at the mention of it, Ino whips her hair around and goes “Ehh?! Sasuke-kun you’re here?!” She ran over and I prepared myself for the inevitable embrace. Her arms squeezed around me and I just stayed still and all I could do was hope it would end soon.

“It’s been forever you jerk! You look so good it’s unfair!”

Naruto was losing it in the background, sticking his tongue out at Sakura. Reading her lips I saw her Sakura whispering “Why did you invite them?” Naruto shrugs and whispers “Sai is family too.” Sakura turns her head to look at Ino who thankfully has let go at this point.

“I can’t believe you haven’t stopped by to say hi or anything, where have you been hiding hmm?” She said coyly. Her blonde hair brushed my arm as she turned towards the kitchen.

“Is Kakashi-sensei gonna show up too?” She asked Sakura, who just shrugged and said “If he does he’ll be characteristically late at usual” and went back to chopping up the veggies. Ino just laughed and grabbed Sai’s hand as she led him to the loveseat on the other side of the coffee table.

“In the meantime,” Naruto said eagerly, “We have sake and a comfy couch!” He set down a small ceramic cup in front of each of us and poured. He lifted his cup in the air and looked over at Sakura and Hinata who already had cups in their hands.

“Alright I wanna make a toast!” He said grinning ear to ear. I grabbed my cup and Ino got extra excited, handing a cup to Sai before picking the last one up for herself.

“Sasuke and Sakura are leaving tomorrow on a mission without me!” He began, pouting, “I hope you guys have a boring time and find nothing interesting and-OW!” A wooden spoon bounced off his skull and landed on the floor. I didn’t even need to look over to know where that came from.

Ino chimes in, “What?! You’re leaving and you didn’t tell me?!”

Sakura raises her glass in the air and took over the toast, “To getting out of the village for once!” And downed the whole glass of sake in one go. The rest of us raised our glasses and took a drink.  

Ino just casually sipped her sake and cuddled up with Sai, practically sitting in his lap at that point. Naruto refilled our glasses and sat down next to me.

“Sasuke hows staying at Sakura-Chan’s place been?” He asked casually. I noticed Ino suddenly turn her attention towards our conversation, but she pretended to still be engrossed in Sai’s shoulder.

“It’s been fine. The couch is comfortable.”

This is really a conversation I’d rather not be having right now.

Sakura walked over and took the bottle of Sake from the table and refilled her glass herself.  

“Hey! It’s rude to help yourself!” Naruto teased.

“Shove it, you refilled everyone else’s.” She clinked the bottle against his skull before setting it back down onto the coffee table and taking a seat on the arm rest of the couch next to me. Her feet still planted on the floor, not quite committing to sitting down.

Ino chimed in, “Sakura I hear Sasuke-kun is staying at your apartment, hmm?”

Sakura visibly stiffened and forced a smile.

“Yeah, well, he was only going to be in town for a few days anyway. No point in wasting money on a hotel.” She lifted the glass to her lips.

“Aah, of course!” Ino said coyly, “Anything else you’re hiding from me Sa-Ku-Ra? “ she teased.

Sakura looked unfazed, sipping her sake.

“Why are you so nosy, Ino-buta-chan?”

“Dinner is ready!” Came Hinata’s voice from the kitchen.

“Oy!” Ino stuck her tongue out. “You and I will be talking later,” she said, her voice low and slightly threatening.

Sakura just sighed as we all got up from the couch to sit at the table.

Naruto grabbed my shoulder as I stood up. He clinked his sake cup against mine and just whispered “Don’t fuck things up with her.”  Before leading me to the dinner table.

Naruto took a seat next to Hinata, sitting at the head of the table. Ino sat next to Hinata with Sai sitting the the other end of the table opposite Naruto.  Sakura grabber the seat across from Ino and next to Sai while I took the final spot in between her and Naruto.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear as he looked around at his guests and said,

“Itadakimasu!”

———————

Sakura Haruno

———————

Dinner was delicious, empty dishes scattered the table and the chatter had started to slowly return to fill the space left after everyone’s chopsticks were laid to rest on their plates.

“How’s your leg?” I whispered over to Sasuke.

He just acknowledged me with his eyes, but didn’t fully turn his head. A very Sasuke move.

“Still a little sore but,” he lifted his same glass, “this is helping.” He said as he took a sip.

I couldn’t help but giggle a little bit. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“What?”

“Oh I’ve just never seen you drink is all. You look very relaxed.” I said.

Sasuke just made a short tsk sound with an exhale and bumped his knee into mine under the table as he took a sip of sake. I hit his knee back playfully with mine before getting embarrassed and reached for my own sake glass.

I blushed and turned my attention towards Naruto who was helping Hinata clear the dishes from the table. Everyone started to get up and clear their plates to help.

“I invited Konohamaru but he said he didn’t wanna babysit a bunch of drunk adults” Naruto said, picking up Ino’s barely touched plate.

“Maybe you should pace yourself more?” Hinata suggested. Naruto just laughed.

“Nah, Kurama makes it difficult to feel the alcohol, plus I’m at home! I can pass out here if I wanna” he said, pulling out a bottle of red wine from the pantry.

“Whose with me?”

Ino excitedly raised her hand and I followed suit. I was gonna have to be drunk to handle her prying anyway. Sai followed with Ino’s lifting of his arm in the air.

“Sasuke-teme I’m pouring you a glass too!” He said pouring the wine glass VERY full. Hinata brought out the glasses to Ino and Sai first and then Naruto brought ones for Sasuke and I.

“Naruto we have a mission tomorrow,” Sasuke said, his hand resting on his forehead in exasperation.

“Just fucking drink it you asshole.” He said teasingly. “See? Sakura-Chan can handle her liquor better than even Tsunade! I can never tell when you’re drunk”

I took a sip and tried to be coy, “Good, that’s how I like it.” The wine was good, dry and not too sweet. A merlot, maybe? Sasuke should be able to tolerate it. I looked over and was surprised to see him looking straight at me.

We held each other’s gaze for just a moment before Naruto shoved a glass full of wine at Sasuke, who took it without much persuading. He met my gaze for another moment and I raise my eyebrow at him and gave him a look.

Pick your battles, Sasuke.

He took a sip and didn’t break eye contact with me.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my elbow and pulled me to another room. A flash of a blonde ponytail rounded another corner and I heard the soft ‘click’ of a door closing behind us.

“Alright, forehead. Spill. He’s sleeping at your fucking apartment?!” She hissed, audibly pissed at having this valuable gossip withheld. “I’m genuinely offended you didn’t tell me immediately. Does he sleep in only his boxers? Does he snore?”

“Ino it’s not like that he’s just staying on the couch,” I offered.

“Does he speak?” She asked, bewildered. “Does he actually consume food anymore or does he suck all the chakra from a room like a vampire for sustenance,” she joked. I laughed. At this point I could tell that Ino was totally drunk. I could smell it on her breath but I could also hear it in her banter. She can be pretty hilarious when she’s wasted.

“Ino we just had dinner with him, I don’t think he’s a vampire.” I said, taking a sip of the wine that thankfully survived the trip down the hallway.

I looked around and it seemed like we ended up inside of a spare room, filled with boxes that had yet to be unpacked from their move.

I pushed past Ino and looked around at the random things strewn about the room.

“Come on, girl you gotta give me something,” she begged. “Has He said anything to you? Does he talk in his sleep?” She asked.

“He does look damn good coming out of the shower,” I offered, stocking my tongue out at her. I thought back to our training session this morning and felt the head rise to my cheeks. “Get out of it.” Rang in my ears like an echo. I decided to keep that to myself.

She groaned and pouted, “I don’t fucking doubt it, that man is shredded. And massive! When did he get so tall? And his shoulders are so broad; it’s gotta be the kenjutsu. One handed sword wielding? Slay me.” She said grabbing a seat on a box marked “Naruto’s Living Room”.

“So tell me, what’s your game plan? What lingerie are you bringing with you? Are you going to sleep with him?”

“Woah there, Ino. This is a mission, not a honeymoon. Besides, I have no idea what he wants. I’m just going to figure it out as we go,” I sighed. “He isn’t exactly straightforward about his feelings. I’m trying to learn how to understand him all over again.”

“You’ve always had a knack for understanding his weird pseudo-language. You’re the only person I know who can make him look predictable.” Ino touched her wine glass to mine in a toast and took a sip. “If he wants you, Make him work for it. You’ve already done the waiting.”

I laughed at her bluntness. “This mission is gonna be interesting,” I smiled.

———————

Sasuke Uchiha

———————

Naruto pulled a tipsy Hinata into his lap and kissed her on the cheek. She giggled and blushed but never broke eye contact with him. Naruto had the biggest grin on his face and I saw him mouth the words “I love you”.

I felt like I was intruding on something private, watching those two.

They were so in love.

I heard giggling and turned my head towards the hallway to see Ino and Sakura walking around the corner. They have been away for quite a while.

Sakura’s cheeks were flushed and she was smiling and hugging her friend around her waist.

“Are you going to tell her you love her?” Sai deadpanned.

I nearly spit out my wine.

Naruto howled with laugher. “Yeah teme, just tell her already.” Hinata jumped off his lap and ran towards the girls with the premise of needing help with dessert.  

Interception.

Nice teamwork.

Ino and Sakura more than happily jumped to help her in the kitchen and left the three of us alone to talk.

“I say you should just kiss her.”

“Really? Ino says he should shove Sakura onto a hotel mattress...”

“You are both idiots.” I said.

“Oh come on, Sasuke.” Naruto rolled his eyes in exasperation. “You two are going to be alone together every night. I can feel your sexual tension from here.”

“He’s right. You guys stand weirdly close together. But never touching. It’s very strange”

“Sai, what the fuck are you talking about...” Naruto shook his head and poured himself another glass.

“Well,” he started,”You guys stand next to each other very closely. Like just a hairsbreadth away from touching. When you sat down for food you sat just far away enough not to bump elbows or knees but you kept muttering under your breath to each other during other conversations at the table. And when Sakura came over here and sat next to you on the arm of the couch instead of in the open seat next to mine.”

Were we really standing that close together?

“Holy shit you’re right.” Naruto said, impressed with the logic. “Let me guess, you don’t want to make the first move. You’re hoping she does, because that would make it easier. Right?”

...Since when was Naruto that perceptive?

“Look, you’re both my best friends. But I have dealt with Sakura for a lot longer than you have. And I’m gonna tell you right now, she’s not going to be making any moves. Her ‘move’ was to ask you to go with her. It’s your move, buddy.”

“Ah, like chess? Is that how it is normally?” Sai asked.

“I don’t know how to play chess...” Naruto said scratching his head.

“Ino just tells me what she wants me to do, like she’ll say “you should kiss me” or “you should hold my hand” and then I just do what she says.”

“You two are perfect for each other.” I said jokingly, taking another sip of wine.

The girls started to walk back towards the living room and Naruto goes “Just kiss her” under his breath as he gets up from the chair to pull Hinata into his lap again.

Ino went over to Sai and kissed him on the cheek before taking a seat next to him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

Sakura took the spot on the armrest of the couch again and clinked her almost empty wine glass against mine.

“You ready to go?” She asked.

I thought she’d never ask.

————

The walk home felt a little warped, the alcohol in my system was definitely making my perspective skewed. I felt like time was moving faster with every step I took. Like I was crossing distances without much grasp on the passage of time.

Sakura was always next to me. Every time I could grasp my focus I would be sure to focus on her, so I would make sure I was headed in the right direction.

She let me through the door and I felt her arms wrap around my waist.

“Sasuke? Sasuke are you ok?” I heard her say. Her voice felt like it was underwater as my knees weakened underneath me. I felt her catch me with worry and promptly blacked out.

————

Sakura….

I opened my eyes to see her silhouette stand up from the side of the bed and begin to walk away from me towards the door. I felt trapped under the blankets and the room still felt tilted.

I reach my arm out and grab her wrist before she turned around completely.

“Stay.” I finally say out loud.

Sakura froze and I pulled her hand towards me.

“Please.”  

———

As always, Thank you for reading! -BBFX

[little-bit-of-cinnamon]

So, That’s What They Call A Family - Javid

Jack and Davey spend spring break with Davey’s family. Total fluff

Jack’s friends were the most important part of his life and that was no secret. So, even though Davey was mildly appalled by the apparent immaturity and recklessness he’d picked up on from Jack’s stories, when Davey was invited to his first Wednesday Night Movie Night he was eager to accept and simultaneously nervous, hoping to gain the acceptance from Jack’s friends.  

Davey has since been to seventeen movie nights and has earned the official title of “One of the Guys.” And that’s where we leave him. The credits of 13 Going on 30 (Race’s choice) were playing on the TV in the dorm common room and Jack and Davey were alone, everybody else having gone to their dorms. Jack was leaning against the arm of a couch with Davey tucked into his side. They were both covered with a blanket and Jack ran a gentle hand up and down Davey’s bicep in a consistent rhythm as Davey fell in and out of sleep.

“Hey, Davey,” Jack said quietly, not wanting to disturb him but wanting to talk with him before he forgot. Davey hummed in recognition. “I was wondering if you wanna do something over spring break? We can like go on a trip or something like that. Maybe hit a beach? I dunno I was just thinking we could make some plans.”  

“Oh, Jack, I’m sorry,” Davey sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, “I promised my parents I’d go home this break. Apparently, my sisters staying with her girlfriend and they need at least one of us there so they don’t lose their mind,” Davey apologize.

“Oh, that’s okay. I understand.” Despite his words, Jack couldn’t help but look disappointed. He was looking forward to being with Davey outside of school as if being out in the real world would make their relationship real as well.

“No, now you’re disappointed.” While Davey did miss his family, his relationship with Jack is still fairly new and exciting and he’d rather spend his break with his boyfriend than his parents and little brother.

“Dave, it’s fine, really. There will be other breaks. I know you miss your family. Now, why are you twisting your fingers in the cute way you do when you get nervous?”

Davey quickly separated his hands and blushed slightly. “I had an idea. I mean, I know we’ve only been dating for a few months and I’m sure you’d rather hang out with Race or something but I thought that maybe-”

“Spit it out, Davey,” Jack said, grabbing Davey’s hands.

“Maybe, if you want to, you could come home with me for break? It’s probably a stupid idea and you don’t have to say yes or anything, it’s just a thought.”

Jack grinned at Davey’s unnecessary nervousness. “I would so much rather spend my break with you, with or without your family, than third wheel Race and Spot.”

Davey’s lips spread into a smile as he leaned back into Jack’s side as if remembering he was tired. “I’ll call my mom in morning.”

“Why don’t we get you back to your dorm?” Jack asked, but it was too late. Davey was already asleep against him.

-

“Okay,” Davey said, closing the trunk of his car. “My house is like an hour away if the traffic’s good. That’s enough time to give you the rundown and also do some adequate amounts of performing.”

“I really don’t think I need training, but I’m good with you singing to me,” Jack said, sliding into the passenger’s seat.

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. Sarah won’t be home so all the attention will be thrown onto me. Not only that but you’re also the first guy I’ve brought home so my parents are gonna have a field day.” Davey pulled out of the student parking lot and began driving towards his house.

“Okay, fine. Hit me. Fill me up with some good Jacobs knowledge,” Jack replied.

“Don’t make it weird. My brother, Les, is eleven. He’s so sweet and I love him but I have no idea how he’ll react to meeting you. He’ll either be really chill or he’ll tell embarrassing stories without realizing they’re embarrassing. There’s really no telling with that kid. I think you’ll like him.”

“Got it,” said Jack. “Les. Eleven. Probably cool.”

“Exactly. Then we have my parents. My sister came out a year before I did and they were mostly okay with that so by the time I came out they didn’t even blink. So, I’m not worried about the actual boyfriend thing as much as I’m worried about them being too overbearing or making you sleep in Sarah’s room and that kinda thing. I think as long as you compliment my mom’s cooking she’ll love you, no questions asked.” Davey rambled on about his family for a few more minutes before Jack interrupted.

“Dave, as much as I’d love to hear you talk for the rest of eternity, I really think I’ll be fine. There’s nothing to worry about,” Jack assured.

“Yeah, you’re right. Will you play some music?” Davey gestured to his phone that was sat in a cup holder. “Passcode’s 5736.”   

By the time they arrived at the Jacobs’ house Jack had fallen in love with Davey all over again.

“Jesus, Dave. I knew you were a theater geek but that was a lot.” “Don’t pretend like you don’t love hearing me sing,” Davey said, putting the car in park.

“Oh, I do. I just didn’t know that one man could perform the Pippin cast album with such passion.” “Please, that was only like six songs. We should go an a road trip sometime. Then I’ll show you a performance.” Davey unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door, smiling back at Jack.

“That better be a promise, Jacobs.” Jack followed Davey out of the car.

“We’ll have to see if I can put up with you for that long, Kelly.” Davey opened the trunk and passed a bag to Jack before grabbing his own.

“Mom? Dad? We’re here,” Davey called as he and Jack walked inside.

“They’re outside at the grill right now, they’ll be in in a sec,” said Les as he stood up from the couch, walking over to Davey and Jack.

“Les! I missed you, buddy.” Davey opened his arms for his little brother to jump into for a hug. “The house is so quiet without you and Sarah here,” Les said, untangling himself from Davey to look at Jack. “Now, who’s the guy?”

“This is Jack, didn’t mom and dad tell you he was coming?”

“Nope. I barely had any notice that you were gonna be coming. You’d think I’d get extra attention being the only kid in the house.”

“Well, Les, this is my boyfriend, Jack. Jack, this is my brother, Les.”

Just then, Davey’s parents walked into the house. Ester placed the tray of chicken she was carrying onto the counter and began removing her apron as she saw the boys.

“David! You’re home!” Davey’s parents joined them in the living room, quickly engulfing Davey in hugs.  

“Mom, Dad, this is Jack. Jack, these are my parents,” said Davey. Jack shook hands with Ester and mayer.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jack,” Davey’s father said politely.

“Likewise, Davey’s told me a lot about you.”

“Wow,” Les started, “David’s never let me give him a nickname before. You must be special.” “I’m gonna show Jack where to put his bags.” Davey turned away to attempt to hide his blush. “C’mon, Jack, I’ll show you upstairs.”

“Remember when I said I wasn’t nervous. I have since realized that that’s not the case.” Jack said as soon as the door to Davey’s room shut.  

“What do you mean? I thought you said there’d be nothing to worry about,” Davey asked, confused.

“Yeah, I thought so.” Jack walked over to Davey, wrapping his arms around and and burying his face in his neck. “I guess I’ve just never been someone that people wanted to bring home before. People just haven’t been able to put up with me like you do.”

Davey hugged Jack back, tangling his fingers in his hair. “They’re gonna love you, I promise. This is the only time I want you to embrace your cockiness, don’t let me down.”

“Are you telling me that you want me to charm the pants off of your mother?” Jack asked, his voice muffled by Davey’s neck.

“Don’t word it like that, you’re making it weird again. Just be yourself, you look great and you have a wonderful personality and you make me happy. There’s nothing my parents won’t like.”

Jack pulled back, resting his arms on Davey’s shoulders and kissing his quickly. “How’d it change to you comforting me. I thought you were supposed to be the nervous one.”

“Let’s go back downstairs before you start bullying me.” Davey grabber Jack’s hand and led him out of his bedroom.

Once dinner began, the real challenge began.

“So, Jack. What are you studying?” asked Meyer when the sat down at dining table.

Davey took hold of Jack’s hand under the table as a way to ground him and soothe his nerves for his incoming interrogation.

“I’m majoring in Art History. I’m getting a minor in education but ideally I’ll be an artist full time one day.”

“An artist? What kind of art do you do?” Ester sounded genuinely interested as she asked.

Jack smiled at the engagement, “Painting is my passion, really. I draw primary but that’s just because it’s more convenient. I’m currently taking an sculpting course and it’s very interesting but not really my field.”

“Definitely sounds more interesting than David’s economics and policy classes, that’s for sure,” added Les.

“I didn’t bring Jack here as a tool for you to attack me, kid.” Davey feigned offense.

“We can’t all be nerds like your brother.” Jack grinned at Les.

Les looked pleased, “I like him,” he told Davey. “You should bring him here more often.”

“Not if you two keep teaming up on me.”

Dinner ending was met with Jack and Davey loading into Davey’s car to go for ice cream, Jack offering to drive after Davey’s long day.

“That went so well!” Jack exclaimed, finally getting to express his relief.

“I don’t know why we were ever nervous,” agreed Davey as they pulled out of the driveway. “Thanks for driving, I’m totally beat.” Davey yawned.

“It’s no problem, just tell me where I’m headed.”

“I think my parents really liked you, I know Les definitely did. Take this next left.”

“What’s so special about this ice cream place anyway, Dave?” Jack asked, making the turn.

“Oh, they only have the best cake batter ice cream in all of Long Island,” Davey explained.

“Who the fuck eats cake batter ice cream? If you’re gonna go for an unbaked dessert you have to go for cookie dough. It’s a classic!”

“It’s so basic!” Davey shot back. “I used to work there, take this right, and I’ve had every flavor they have to offer and I can assure you that cake batter is the best. By far.”

“Okay, I’ll take your word for it,” said Jack as he pulled into the parking lot.

“Alright, this is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.” Jack stole some of Davey’s cone, leaning forward to take some more.

“Nope, I told you to listen to me and you refused. You must eat your basic cookie dough and suffer.” Davey pulled the cone away from Jack before taking another lick himself.

“I’ve always admired the way the employees can scoop the ice cream into such perfect little balls,” Jack said, pouting as he ate his own ice cream.

“The trick is heating up the scoops in hot water so they can get through the ice cream easily. One time while I was working here I forgot to use a heated scoop and I may have sprained my wrist,” Davey admitted.

“You did not! Davey, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard.” Jack was laughing so hard he began to turn red in the face.

“No, it’s not funny! I couldn’t work for three weeks. It was terrible, stop laughing!” Davey playfully hit Jack on the arm, acting offended even though he couldn’t help grinning himself.

“Tiny Davey with a wrist brace on due to an ice cream injury. I can’t, that’s hilarious.” Jack tried to catch his breath.

“Jack, Tiny Davey was like six feet tall. You’re probably shorter now than I was in high school.”

“I feel like you’re being mean for me for being short,” Jack said.

“You had it coming. You’re not supposed to laugh at injuries. Besides, you’re not even short.” Davey was right, Jack was taller than the majority of their friends. “You’re the perfect height for this,” Davey leaned toward Jack and kissed him sweetly on the forehead before wrapping him in a hug, careful to keep their ice creams safe.

“You’re a sap, Jacobs,” Jack teased through his smile.

“You love it, Kelly.”

Jack didn’t respond because he really did.

Back at the Jacobs’ house Davey showed Jack to the bathroom so he could get ready for bed.

“David, can you come in here for a second?” called Esther from her bedroom.

“Of course, what’s up, Mom?” Davey asked as he was standing next to his parents bed, where his mother was sitting.

“While you boys were out I noticed that you and Jack both put you bags in your room. I had been thinking that maybe one of you would be sleeping in Sarah’s room. Now, I know that-”

“Mom, no,” Davey interrupted. “Jack and I are adults, we can both sleep in my room if we want. Jack didn’t give up his spring break so sleep alone in his boyfriend’s house, and I didn’t come here to sleep in Sarah’s room. Besides, it’s not like we haven’t slept in the same bed before.”

Esther looked shocked that Davey spoke back to her. “Fine, David. You make a fair point but I do not appreciate the disrespect. Don’t let it happen again.”

“Goodnight, Mom,” called Davey as he walked back to his room.

Jack was sitting on Davey’s bed when he got back to his room.

“You alright, Davey?” Jack asked, locking his phone.

“Yeah, I’m good. My mom tried to exile me to Sarah’s room,” he explained as he started to change into pajamas.

“If it makes things less tense I wouldn’t mind,” Jack said, wanting to avoid conflict between Davey and his mother.

“I would. What’s the point in having a boyfriend if I can’t cuddle him?” Davey joined Jack on the bed, getting under the blankets.

“Glad to know that’s my only purpose.” Jack joined Davey under the blankets, resting his head on Davey’s chest.

“Jack, don’t be stupid.” Davey carded his fingers through Jack’s hair. “It’s not your only purpose, I also like when you bring me snacks to my dorm.”

“At least I know I’m doing a good job at the whole boyfriend thing, then,” Jack said, wrapping his arms tightly around Davey’s torso.

“I’m glad you’re here, Jack. You really didn’t have to come with me. I know you could have gone on that road trip with Spot and Race.”

“Oh, come on. Dave, I’ve been third wheeling with them since freshman year of high school, I’d much rather spend time with my own boyfriend.”

“Goodnight, Jack.”

“Night, Davey.”

[spooktales]

Twice

“Hey! Hey, excuse me, sir! What are you doing over there!?”

The yelling voice came from behind Claire, making her whirl around, startled. She barely heard it over the sound of her headphones, still playing a true crime podcast as she took the woodsy bike path through town to her friend Mel’s house that cold morning. When she turned around, Claire was met with a confounding scene: a man, dressed in a black bomber jacket, dark blue straight-legged jeans, and wearing what looked like a balaclava pulled down over his face sprinted from the path behind her, and into the thick overgrown brush to the side of the trail.

Seeing this, Claire yelped and backed up quickly, stumbling over her own two feet and landing on her butt on the rocky dirt. She scrambled backward, crablike, and watched as the masked man also tripped and fought through the thorny bushes that lined the path. She noticed he also wore black gloves and heavy boots. It was mere seconds before he vanished into the thickly wooded area surrounding the trail and Claire was met with an almost as curious sight: an older man, further down the trail, also watching the masked man disappear into the forest. The older man wore a reflective fluorescent vest, highlighter yellow in color, over a beige work shirt, and dark khaki pants finished off with nice brown leather shoes. In his hands he held a large black trash bag, and in the other, a grabbing stick, the kind with the trigger on one end that moves a pincer claw. Claire realized he must be trail maintenance.

“Hello miss, do you know that person?” the older man asked as he slowly approached Claire.

Claire stood frozen, still reeling from the quick turn of events that just happened. It reminded her of the one time she had been in a car accident and got so frazzled she barely remembered it at all. The older man grew closer.

“Excuse me, are you alright? Who was that guy? You know them?”

Claire shook her head “no”, and took her headphones out, wrapping them around her iPhone and putting them in her pocket.

“No I- I’m not sure who that was. I only saw him for a second,” Claire replied.

The older man frowned but didn’t say anything for a few seconds, taking in the scenario.

“Okay miss, well I have to say I don’t have my little name badge but I volunteer for the trail maintenance and I come out here early like this on weekends. Kind of a meditative thing, it’s nice and quiet. My wife and I used to do it together. Well, nothing lasts forever I suppose. Anyway I don’t have that little badge-card-thing but my name is Fred and if you’d like, I can walk with you to the end of the trail. Like the parking lot? Is that where your car is?”

Claire nodded, tears forming in her eyes out of stress and the sudden graciousness of this stranger.

“No tears now,” Fred said. “We’re only about a five minute walk to the parking lot as I’m sure you know. You’ll be in your car and out of here in no time flat.” Fred smiled. It was kind.

Claire nodded in agreement. “Yes that would be nice, thank you.”

Fred lifted a crooked arm, gesturing for Claire to lock elbows with him. He did a little old-timey jig. “Come along miss! We’ll get you to your car lickety-split. And safe!”

Claire smiled through her uncertainty and chucked a bit. “Thank you so much.”

“No worries, miss. My wife and I used to walk this path years ago and would sometimes see some, well let’s just say ‘characters’ around these parts. I don’t want to worry you, but let’s keep a sharp eye for the rest of the trail. The woods are pretty thick up until the parking lot and I’m weaker than I look, which is obviously very, very strong.” Fred smirked and Claire smiled again.

The unlikely pair walked for about thirty seconds in silence before Fred broke it.

“So how old are you Claire, what do you do?”

“I’m, I just turned 25. Last month. I go to grad school upstate, I’m back down here for Thanksgiving.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Just to see the family?”

“Yeah, and friends. We go to my aunt’s house for dinner tomorrow, then I’ll meet up with some people in the evening I’m sure. Just the usual. Who are- what will you do for the holiday, normally?”

“Well, since Gina died, that was my wife, it’s been a little, well certainly lonely. But I’ll manage. I’ll probably go to a friend’s house. I have a son too, I’ll call him later on today. I always have my eyes open for the next step.”

“I’m glad you *did* have your eyes open today,” Claire said with a shudder. “I have no clue who that guy watching me might have been.”

“Oh I’m sure it was nothing. Just some weirdo watching lady joggers. Still gross, don’t get me wrong. But either way I scared him off. Hopefully he’s long gone now,” Fred said as he scanned the tree line through his glasses, skeptically.

Claire and Fred walked along quietly for another minute before a twig snapping to their right startled them both. They jumped and grasped one another, standing still in the middle of the trail. They stood in silence, staring at the dense brush that flanked the entire trail until it opened up into the parking lot. Fred looked Claire in the eyes and motioned for her to let go of him. She did, and he approached the bush where the sound came from.

Claire stood statuesque as Fred inched closer to the side of the trail and the dense bushes.

“Hey now, you come out now if you’re in there,” Fred said, weaker than he wanted to sound. “It’s not very nice to scare an old timer and a beautiful young lady like that. Why don’t you take your party elsewhere buddy?” Fred struck the bush with his long trash grabber.

They stared at the thick bushes and trees.

Nothing happened for a full minute.

“Hmm...” Fred remarked.

“Maybe we’d better- I think we’d better get going,” said Claire.

“Hmm...” Fred said again, but in a more agreeing tone, and walked back toward Claire. They continued walking the path.

Just a few minutes away now.

“There were old stories about these woods, like things live in here forever.”

“What does that mean?” asked Claire.

“Well, Claire, I’m surprised you’ve never heard that, being from town and all,” Fred began. “There were stories about some graduate students, researchers for the State Parks, and they found animals in here that, I guess seemed to have been alive far longer than they’d thought possible. Like maybe there was some weird water or berry growing in here that allowed them to continue living far longer than they should have. I dunno how much is truthful about it, I tried to look it up but couldn’t find anything. Likely just a wives’ tale, at any rate. But I’ve always been curious walking around in here. Like wondered if I’d ever find something in these woods that would last forever-“

The parking lot emerged in front of them, about 20 yards ahead on the trail, which was so thick that now was their first glimpse of it around the bend.

The parking lot wasn’t empty though.

Neither was the van which blocked the path from the lot.

Claire and Fred paused as they heard the driver side door open and shut. They saw black boots on the other side of the van from underneath, walking around the back. The figure turned the corner and emerged from behind the vehicle.

It was the masked man. He stood in front of the van and stared silently.

Claire trembled, she clutched Fred’s arm, wondering if the older man could even help her; the masked man seemed younger and larger.

“What do we do?” Claire whispered into Fred’s ear.

Fred shook his head subtly. “I’m not sure, love.”

A pregnant pause took over the world.

“I think I’ll- yeah, I think I’m gonna go see what he wants,” said Fred.

“No! You shouldn’t! What if he has a gun or a knife or something. This is super weird, I’m gonna call the police,” Claire was whisper-yelling to Fred now, welling up.

They looked back at the masked man who still stood there, himself and his van completely blocking their way. His only movement was his shoulders rising and falling with his breath.

“Nonsense, I’ll go give him what for. I’m a veteran, I’ll have you know. If he tries anything, he’ll regret it. If you’d like, you can call the police while I walk over there. It’s up to you, Claire. I’m just going to walk over, and see what he wants. Maybe he’s ill or something. Just give me one minute, stay right here. Okay, Claire?”

Claire’s eyes darted from the masked man to Fred. He gave her a weak smile. His eyes sparkled, almost excitedly, and he walked over to the man slowly.

Claire dialed 911 and hovered her finger over the green “send” key as she watched Fred tentatively approach the masked man, who remained unmoving. She couldn’t quite hear what was being said, but Fred appeared to be stern with the masked man, who simply looked at him.

There was more mumbling. The masked man glanced at Claire, then back to Fred. The masked man made a gesture akin to the sign of the cross, Fred tilted his head back and seemed to realize something. Fred laughed and looked back at Claire.

“Claire, you can come over here,” Fred said.

“What?” asked Claire, wildly confused.

“Yeah Claire it’s no big deal, it’s pretty good actually, come here. I’ll introduce you,” Fred said, smiling warmly.

“Are- are you sure?”

Fred laughed. It looked like the masked man laughed too.

“Of course, Claire!”

Claire wanted nothing to do with meeting a masked figure in the woods, regardless of what Fred thought. Fred had been wonderful to her that morning, but maybe their friendship was at its end already. Claire kept her call screen on, but slipped her phone into her pants pocket, approaching the two men slowly.

As Claire neared the men, she could see her car, a red Honda Civic, to the right of a black Maxima not far beyond the van. She could maybe sprint by them and get into her car as fast as she could. It was a risk, but one Claire was nearly willing to take. She worried slightly about Fred; should she leave him there? Claire put her left hand in her other pocket and clasped her car keys, placing a couple between her fingers in a fist. Claire was now within ten feet of the men and felt the need to keep facing the masked one, her eyes never leaving his, which she could now see were an icy shade of blue above the black balaclava. She stood slightly in front of Fred, hoping if the masked man made a move, she could key him in the face before he did anything to her or Fred.

“Claire there has been a misunderstanding. This is Patrick, he’s a photographer. He was just in the woods taking photographs and wanted to say sorry for spooking you. Spooking both of us, I guess,” Fred laughed.

Patrick nodded behind his mask but didn’t say anything.

“See Claire, it’s not a big deal! Just a silly mistake on our part! On my part, really,” Fred continued from behind Claire.

Claire’s eyes were locked with Patrick’s. She couldn’t tear them away. Something about them consumed her. It was almost as if the icy blue grey of his eyes swirled and moved like mist inside of his head.

“So where’s the camera?” Claire asked.

Nobody spoke for a few seconds. No birds called. Nothing happened.

Then Fred’s grabber claw closed around Claire’s neck, and Patrick placed a gloved hand over her mouth as he wrenched the sliding van door open. The two men took Claire off her feet and tossed her into the van, slamming her head on the plywood floor and causing something to fall off a shelf inside. It was a hammer. Claire was barely conscious, a trickle of blood running from her nose.

“Claire, I’ve always wanted to find something in these woods that would last forever.”

Before closing the door and shutting Claire into darkness, she saw Fred and the masked man Patrick look at each other, Fred handing him an envelope. The door slammed shut as Patrick walked toward the black Maxima.

“Too easy.”