#i came in and my tech was like 'oh my god your nails grow so fast!' and I'm like oh i thought this was just how it is lmao

[camembertlythere]

Bro my fingernails must grow freakishly fast because I just watched a video of someone getting an acrylic fill after 4 weeks and it was like half the new growth space I had at 2 weeks 🥴

[sanjoongie]

𝔻𝕒𝕪 ℕ𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟: 𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟/𝔼𝕕𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘

🥀Pairing: Jeong Yunho x Reader (F)

🥀Genre: Smut

🥀Rating: 18+, Minors Do not Interact

🥀Au: start up (kdrama) au, programmers au, small business au

🥀Trope: rivals to lovers

🥀Summary: Yunho decides the best way to stop you from beating him in a race to create the best app in a technology contest is to distract you... with his body

🥀Kinks: ⚠️yunho seduces reader by beginning to masturbate in her office ⚠️ if this isn't your cup of tea, please skip!, male masturbation, edging, Voyeurism, exhibitionism, brat? Switch! Yunho, mean! Switch! Reader, oral (m), penetrative sex with a barrier, degradation

🥀Word Count: 2,620

🥀Betas: n/a

🥀Day Eighteen: size kink 🥀Mini Masterlist 🥀Day Twenty: Soft dom-sub/ Roleplay

“You shouldn't waste your time,” Yunho said as he walked into your office, hands tucked into his pants pockets. “No matter how many all-nighters you pull, you won't defeat us.”

You ignored your rival and focused on the code you were typing out on your computer. “Why are you here, Yunho?”

Yunho meandered over to where you were sitting. He leaned in, bracing one hand on your shoulder and the other gripping your computer screen. “To distract you, of course.”

Your company, and Yunho's, were both recipients of a big tech company’s investment. It was a race to create the best new app and win a coveted spot, sponsored by the big company. You and Yunho were programmer rivals. He, of course, was always ahead of you in school but you were determined to beat him here.

You rolled your eyes at Yunho’s comment. “What are you going to do? Whisper naughty things in my ear?”

“Good idea,” Yunho chuckled, “Only I'll do you one better.”

Yunho vacated the spot beside you and moved to somewhere else in the room, somewhere you couldn't see him. All that could be heard in your temporary office at the big tech headquarters was your adamant typing.

And then you heard a groan.

You couldn't help but lean far over to see around your computer monitors, and your jaw dropped to the floor. Yunho had sat on your couch, pulled up his turtleneck to expose his stomach and chest, and was currently undoing the belt to his pants.

“Yunho!” You shouted in alarm.

“If you're paying attention to me, you're not working, are you?” Yunho's lips twisted into a smirk.

Yunho's pants split into a vee to reveal the chubby that was growing in his boxers. You scooched back over so that the screens were covering your view of Yunho. “You're ridiculous. I can't believe you'd stoop so low just to win.”

“Then you really don’t—hnnnn–know me.” Oh God, what was he doing now?

Did you dare look? Did you dare not? What if someone came into the office and saw what was happening? Would you get disqualified? You had to put a stop to this.

You stood up quickly and then missed your first step. Yunho had his dick out of his boxers and was rubbing his hand up and down his length. His dark eyes were glued on you immediately. “What’s wrong, Pixelstick? Like what you see?” You hated that stupid demeaning nickname of his for you but why did it sound so hot coming out of his mouth while he touched himself?

“You sonofabitch,” You cursed him out, “Get off my couch and get out of my office.”

Yunho bit down on his lip teasingly. “Make me?”

“I'm going to kill you,” You vowed. You walked closer to Yunho and kicked his rather large shoe. “Stop playing dirty! It’s not going to work.”

Yunho looked at you then down at his cock. He used his thumb to smear some of his precum along his sensitive head and bucked up into the air. “Tell me you don’t want to wrap your mouth around me right now. That you don’t want to get down on your knees and swirl your tongue where my thumb is.”

Your nails made painful marks into your palms as they curled into two fists. Yunho’s lips parted and he started to breathe out of his mouth. You don’t know what you were thinking, but you lunged to grab Yunho’s wrist to stop him from doing any more and instead, made him jerk his hand upwards. When Yunho moved to yank his hand away, it came back down, making you fall down on top of his thighs. You were inadvertently on your knees beside Yunho’s leg and your head dangerously close to his cock. You couldn’t help but lick your lips. Damn it, Yunho!

“Are you just going to eat me up by looking at me or are you going to do something about it, loser?” Yunho inquired with a laugh.

“Fuck you, Yunho,” You spat, pushing yourself up.

Yunho patted his thigh. “There’s always room for you.”

You moved back to your computer and started back on your code. Surely Yunho would get tired of this charade and leave, right? Wrong.

Yunho took this as freedom to do exactly what he wanted. He moaned loudly, and to make matters worse, he was including you into his delusions now. “Bet your cunt is wet thinking of fucking me, right, Pixelstick?” Yunho let out a shaky exhale. “Fuck, I bet hate sex with you is hotter than anything.”

You swallowed but you didn’t find any moisture in your mouth. “Come on, Yunho, stop this,” You whined.

Yunho groaned and laughed at the same time. “I think you wanna pull at my hair and get me to gasp for you. You’ve always struck me as a girl who knows what she wants. I think you’ve wanted me for a long time.”

You start to squeeze your thighs together and rub your lips together. You could feel wetness pooling in your underwear and you inwardly cursed yourself. Of course, you knew your rival was attractive, in an abstract way that you would never outwardly admit. But listening to him talk like this, the image of his exposed body only on the other side of your monitor, was driving you insane.

You hear Yunho whine next and then hear some shuffling and then there’s no noise in the room because you can't code anymore. Yunho was successfully distracting you.

“Yunho–” You stood up and your breath caught in the back of your throat.

Yunho appeared a bit flushed, his long fingers holding the base of his cock. If you didn’t know any better, it looked like Yunho had just edged himself and was holding himself back from coming. He was really serious about this right now.

Yunho cocked his head flirtatiously at you. “You sure you don’t want to help me out?”

You abruptly sat back down again. The fuck kind of seduction technique was this and why was it working? “No,” You said rather firmly, causing Yunho to laugh again.

“Guess we’ll go again then.”

Yunho groaned loudly and you muffled a whimper of your own, biting down on your finger. Why did he sound so fucking good right now? You were not–could not–think about fucking your rival. You really had code to write, you had people you couldn’t let down, you–

“Your tiny hands look so cute around my cock, loser,” Yunho grunted. He was definitely still masturbating. “Can you even fit me in your mouth? You’re so cute.”

“Yunho, you have to stop this!” You stood up for the umpteenth time.

Yunho’s hand leisurely worked his length. His head was back on the couch, the line of his jaw and his long neck looking delicious. You shook your head. You couldn’t fall for this. “I’ll stop if you prove to me that you’re not turned on by this; that you don’t want to come over and sink on my dick.”

Well, that was going to prove impossible. What if… “If I fuck you, will you leave?”

Yunho raised his head up slightly, raising his eyebrows at you. “Are you offering to fuck me?”

“Yes. No.” You bit down on your own lip in uncertainty. “If I make you cum, will you leave?”

Yunho smirked. “You’re afraid to show me how wet you are, aren’t you? Such a cute loser.”

You stomped your foot in frustration. “If I’ve got to suck you off to get your smug face out of my office, fine.”

Your feet somehow moved all the way in front of Yunho and you dropped to your knees. You pushed his knees far apart to make room for yourself. You knocked Yunho’s hands away from his cock and took him firmly with two, one stacked on top of the other. You avoided all eye contact with Yunho and took the head of him inside of your mouth. You sucked only on his head, your lips finding the seam of his head. You swirled your tongue around there, tasting Yunho. You tried to not squirm because of Yunho’s breathy groan.

“Oh fuck yes,” Yunho moaned loudly.

You ran your tongue along the slit of Yunho’s cock and he bucked into your mouth, making your tongue lie flat along his head. You continued to play with the head of Yunho’s cock with your mouth and tongue, only moving your hands slightly along his length.

“You’re…you’re driving me wild, Pixelstick, I didn’t think you had it in you,” Yunho rasped huskily.

You hoped to get Yunho to come quickly in your mouth but it seemed like since he had been edging himself, he wasn’t quick to release himself inside of your mouth. You whined in frustration and that made Yunho chuckle. “What’s wrong, loser? Are you having trouble? Want me to take care of you?”

You released his cock from your mouth and scowled at your rival. “I’m not having any trouble at all.”

“If you’re shy, I could fuck you without us facing each other. It’s cute you don’t think you can stare me in the eye while I’m balls deep in you, Pixelstick.” Yunho folded his arms behind his head, confident in his words.

You groaned in frustration and left to go find some condoms. Yunho caught your wrist and pulled one from his pocket. “You think I didn’t come prepared? You're a career woman, after all, you’d never risk getting pregnant on a hook up.”

You really didn’t like how well Yunho knew you. “I will get you to come and then you will leave, do you hear me?” You knelt on the couch, thighs against the arm of the couch, as you braced yourself on the tops of the arm. You pulled up your skirt and looked over your shoulder. “Will you hurry up already?”

Yunho split open the wrapper of the condom with his teeth and then slipped on the bright pink condom easily. You turned your head, not needing to see how nimble his fingers were, working on rolling the condom down his length. He probably kept condoms on him because his cock really was that big–damn it!

“Ready for me, loser?” Yunho whispered into your ear. His breath was hot on your ear and the head of his cock rubbed against your cunt, your underwear still firmly in place.

“If you call me loser while we fuck, I will kick you out so fast,” You bit at him.

“So… should I call you lover, instead?” Yunho mused.

You reached around Yunho’s head and gripped his hair harshly in your hand. You brought your lips dangerously close to Yunho’s. “Fuck me or leave, Yunho,” You snarled lowly.

“Yes, Ma’am,” Yunho chuckled.

He pushed your underwear to the side and pushed slowly into you. “Oh fuck,” Yunho cursed again. He fucked you slowly and that made you frustrated instantly.

“Don’t you dare edge yourself inside of me–or edge me!” You shouted.

“You should be groaning, not scolding me. Hmmm, something isn’t right,” Yunho said out loud. He adjusted his stance behind you. He pushed your legs together and pushed your hips further against the arm of the couch. “Oh shit, you’re so tighter like that, fuck, that backfired.”

You would have cackled in glee until Yunho started to move and you squealed in pleasure. Yunho was right. Something about this slight change made everything a little bit more intense. “Did you like that, lover?” Yunho purred from behind you. “Do you want more?”

“This isn’t about me right now,” You said through gritted teeth. “Just fuck me already, Yunho.”

It was getting harder and harder to keep the whine out of your voice as Yunho fucked you. You were trying real hard to keep quiet but the way Yunho was fucking you was so good, it was hard to keep your noises silent.

“You’re going to mark yourself, stop that,” Yunho commanded quietly. He pulled your hand from your mouth and a low whine built up in the back of your throat immediately at the odd gentleness from the man that was constantly poking at you.

“Yu…yunho…” You panted. “Hurry up!”

“Just admit it,” Yunho said quietly, “Admit that you like the way I fuck you.”

You had had enough. You still had code to write, you were turned on beyond reason at the fact that your rival was fucking you in your office right now and you were tired of fighting with yourself.

“Yunho, please,” You begged.

“Please what, lover?” Yunho growled, hips still moving against your ass.

“It’s good,” You whined, “Just make us come.”

“What’s that?” Yunho teased you, “Could you speak up? Did you just say I was fucking you good?”

“Yunho!” You shouted coarsely.

“Say it properly,” Yunho instructed.

“Your dick is fucking me so damn good,” You cooed and Yunho melted against you.

“That’s my girl,” He hummed back at you. “Gonna fuck you into a nice orgasm and melt your stress away, huh? You won’t have a bad thing to say about me then, hmm?”

Yunho’s hands were firm but gentle on your hips as he fucked you from behind. He coaxed you to an almost-orgasm quite a few times, if only to hear you plead and compliment him. Your voice grew hoarse from the amount of times he denied you, and himself, an orgasm, just to get you to say everything he’d been dying to hear.

Yunho had always wanted to be your peer, someone to share the ambition you both carried, but you had always seen him as your rival. So he played your game; played to be the man you continued to see him as. But this time, in this very important race for a coveted contract from the biggest tech firm in the business, Yunho found an opportunity to get everything he wanted.

When Yunho finally let the two of you come, you were sweating and whining and a total mess beneath him. Yunho had not fared any better, breathing heavily and coming so much, he swore the condom would be bursting when he pulled out of you.

It had all started with finding you in said office late one night, fingers in your tight little cunt, whining his name. It had been a god awful hour and you had probably been certain that no one was in the building, but Yunho had been double checking the other programmers work and had been dragging himself home when he had heard the small noises coming from your office. He hadn’t meant to spy but when his name had left your lips, he had convinced himself then and there that he would get you to say his name while his actual cock was inside of you.

“Try to not be so loud when you masturbate in the office next time, huh loser?” Yunho told you as he patted your ass and pulled out.

“You–what? Fuck,” You cursed softly. “Is this what this is about?!”

Yunho pulled his phone out of his pocket and airdropped a note with his phone number. “When you decide your fingers can’t possibly do what I can do for you, you message me, how about that, Pixelstick?”

How you managed to fix your skirt, walk back to your station and work on your code was a mystery to you. Especially when you were daydreaming of getting Yunho to come in your mouth next time… wait, there was going to be a next time? Perhaps Yunho had fucked all your common sense out of you, because that sounded like a mistake just waiting to happen.

🥀Day Eighteen: size kink 🥀Mini Masterlist 🥀Day Twenty: Soft dom-sub/ Roleplay

[obwjam]

I don’t know why I didn’t do this before, but if you’re still writing marvel g/t could you do another Scott lang one or Bruce Banner one? Maybe x hurt!tiny? They’re both so underrated and are amazing characters. I love your writing 🙂

i’ll do you one better anon: what if i did scott AND bruce with a tiny? yeah i think i’ll go with that

———-

Bruce Banner’s morning started out normal, which maybe should have been his clue that things were going to go spectacularly off the rails. All was quiet at the Avengers complex upstate -- Tony was at some tech conference, Clint and Nat were doing spy business, Thor was in some other realm, Vision and Wanda were cooped up in their rooms upstairs and Steve, Sam and Bucky were off sparring together in a completely different wing of the building. Bruce was on his way down to the lab, and Scott was upstairs, munching on chips and watching TV.

“Chips at 10 in the morning?” Bruce asked with a laugh.

Scott shrugged, stuffing another handful into his mouth. “There was nothing else!”

Bruce, who was standing in front of an open fridge full of food, raised an eyebrow.

“...Nothing else I wanted,” Scott said, his attention turning immediately back to the TV. “Oh my god. Look at that kitchen! Man, can those property brothers design or what! I wonder if I can get them to do my house.”

Bruce rolled his eyes and grabbed the energy drink he came for. It was going to be a long, restless day of calculations and experiments without Tony around to help.

It was just his luck that he would never even get to start.

You had stayed up all night borrowing. It was rare for the complex to be this deserted, but it was your one chance to stock up on everything you needed in one big trip -- food and water from the kitchen, pieces of soap from the bathroom, and everything else you could ever want from the lab downstairs. 

Everything was going great. Nobody had infiltrated the kitchen for a midnight snack. Someone had remembered to replace the soap. And the lab was stocked full of sharp metal for building, flat metal for creating, strings for hooks, and so many screws and nails and bolts. It took over a dozen trips up and down the tables to get everything, and you were just about finished when your greed got the best of you.

You were trying to stuff the most you possibly could inside your bags. They were overflowing. You were on your way down the leg of the table when a few pieces of metal started to slip out your bag.

“No no no no no...” you mumbled. The metal falling out of the bag wasn’t itself a big deal -- it was the noise it would make when it hit the ground that scared you. As you scrambled to stuff the metal back into the bag, your hold on your rope started to slip. You didn’t realize how tired you were until right now, and what turned into you trying to pull yourself up became your muscles giving out and your hand being unable to keep its tight grip.

You tumbled to the ground, which wasn’t that far away, but when you tried to stick the landing, your legs tangled up and you crumpled down. The metal clattered everywhere, making you wince. You waited a moment. No human. Okay. They must not have heard. You sat up, using your arms as support behind you, but when you went to stand, pain shot through your leg and you fell right back down.

Your stomach fell. “No… nononono, this can’t be happening…” 

You forced yourself to stand, keeping your right leg completely straight and dragging it along as you shuffled to the table leg for cover. “No, I gotta get out of here. I can’t--”

You froze at the sound of Bruce bounding down the stairs, cracking open his drink and taking a big sip before slamming the can down on the nearest table. He blinked. Did he just... hear a whimper?

His eyes scanned the room. You were moving as fast as you could, but adrenaline could only push you so far. Your leg throbbed in pain and you cried out as you fell back to the ground again. Your shaking hand flew to your mouth. I’m done for.

Okay, he definitely wasn’t hearing things. That sounded like someone yelling. He took cautious steps forward, hoping not to make too much noise so he didn’t startle whatever he was hearing.

Your heart was practically beating out of your chest as the giant started walking toward you, clearly looking for something he had heard. He stopped walking almost right on top of you, and you couldn’t help but gawk up at him towering above you like a skyscraper. The mere thought of being discovered by the human was enough to induce tears, which you desperately tried to push away as you got back up and started moving again.

Bruce heard a choppy breath and froze. That sounded close... but he was standing in the middle of the room. Nothing was behind him, in front of him or beside him... so the only option was... below him.

He looked down and gasped. He had no idea what he was looking at, but he suddenly felt sick. “Holy shit…” he whispered, putting his hands on his knees and leaning down. As soon as he uttered those words, you whipped your head up and around to meet his gaze. For a moment, he was surprised. He felt an influx of nerves when the tiny person stared at him, completely shocked. They looked terrified. 

“H-hey, little guy--” he tried, but you had already turned around and started limping toward the table. Wait… limping.

Bruce, for his part, couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He watched as you ducked behind the cover of the table leg. You knew it wasn’t going to help, but you just needed to get behind something so you could sit down and feel like you were hiding. Bruce felt a pang of pity. Not only was this little thing hurt, they were terrified of him.

“Um...” Bruce couldn’t even begin to formulate words in his head. He bent down, getting on his hands and knees and crawling to the side so he could fully see you. When you locked gazes, Bruce almost looked more nervous than you did. Your whole body was shaking. That’s when he noticed.

“Your leg… it’s bending all the wrong way,” he whispered, almost to himself. You blinked. Even if you wanted to say something, you couldn’t. You knew this giant -- this was one of the scientists who frequented the lab. He didn’t seem as… rough as the other one, but you were pretty sure this was the one who turned into a monster when he got angry. As if he wasn’t big enough already. 

He noticed how you flinched at his words. He felt his heart swell at the tiny movements, yet guilt pierced his stomach at seeing the pure terror you exuded.

“No, no, it--it’s okay,” Bruce stammered, holding his hands up. “Who... what are you?”

Your lips were trembling. How were you even supposed to answer that?

“You’re right. Bad question,” Bruce muttered as soon as he saw your facial expression. “You can understand me though, right?” 

Meekly, you nodded. Bruce smiled softly. “Good, good. Do you, uh... do you need help? Do you...” he trailed off. He took note at how your eyes seemed to be burning as you stared at him in horror. He tried to speak as slow as possible to not startle you any more than he already had.

“Do you have a name?”

Your words got caught in your throat. Part of you wanted to say, but another part stopped you from saying anything. You didn’t need his help. You’d be fine. As long as you could make it back to base...

Pain shot through your leg and you bit your tongue, trying desperately not to make a sound. Bruce stared as you contorted your face. It was clear you were in pain.

“H-here, let me…” he started, reaching his hand out toward you. On instinct, you yelped and scooted back, hugging the table leg for support. No. You couldn’t let him touch you. He would hurt you even more.

“Sorry, sorry!” He stared at your tiny, trembling form, his mind racing. How could he help you? If he were three inches tall and incapacitated on the ground, he wouldn’t want the help of a nervous giant either.

Maybe he couldn’t help, but someone small enough could.

“I’ll be right back!” he shot up, completely missing the way you winced back at his movement. “Don’t--stay right there!” You watched in confusion and fascination as he ran up the stairs. This was your chance! All you needed to do was get up, get your rope and hobble all… the… way… across the room…

Who were you kidding? You could barely even stand without falling right back down. You were trapped. The giant was obviously going to get a jar to put you in to show you off to all the weirdos who lived here. 

This is it, you thought as you began to cry. This is how it ends.

“Scott!”

Scott coughed on his chips and turned around in surprise. “Bruce?” he asked, but it came out sounding like Brrcsh.

“Get your suit.”

“What?”

“Your suit! Your costume. Your… Ant-Man thing.”

“Oh! That suit. What do you need it for?” Scott frowned. “You don’t want to take it apart, do you? Did Tony put you up to this?”

“What-- no! I’ll explain in a minute. Just go get it!”

“Okay, okay!” Scott folded his chip bag and ran upstairs. Bruce was pacing and tapping his finger on the counter when Scott came back down, helmet in hand.

“Wow. You change quick.”

“I’ve been working on it,” Scott grinned. “Now can you tell me what the hell you’re so worked up about?”

“You’re not gonna believe me,” Bruce started, “but down in the lab there’s a tiny person who’s badly hurt but I would hurt them even more if I tried to help and they’re pretty scared of me so I need your help to calm them down.”

Scott blinked, processing what he had just been told. Of all the things in the world that Bruce could have told him, the existence of tiny people wasn’t at all shocking. In fact, Scott had pondered this possibility many times while traversing the world as Ant-Man. Some things were way too conveniently set up for it to be a coincidence. But a tiny person here? In this giant complex full of temperamental superheroes? That was no place for someone so small.

“You really thought I wouldn’t believe you? You know my thing is shrinking, right?”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Well, yeah, I-- you’re really just going to accept all that?”

“I can grow and shrink at the press of a button and you turn into a giant green rage monster when you stub your toe. Aliens attacked New York once. This is like, a three out of ten on the surprise scale.”

Bruce stared, waiting to see if Scott would say anything else. He didn’t.

“Well, will you help or not?”

“Of course I’ll help! I guess you need me to--”

“--yeah, if you could just--”

“--okay, okay. Here I go.” Scott slipped his helmet on, pushed the magic button and in an instant, he was three inches tall. Bruce laid his hand down and Scott jumped on, using his thumb for support as Bruce bounded back downstairs.

Your breath hitched when you heard booming footsteps coming back down the stairs. You wished so deeply that you could have escaped, but a part of you knew that could never happen. The giant would probably find you again, anyway. 

You quivered when the giant re-entered your vision. Why did he leave? Was he going to get help? You didn’t see any help. You didn’t see him carrying a jar, either.

That is, until Bruce took a knee next to you and lowered his hand. You gasped and your eyes went wide when a person wearing very odd clothes and a weird looking helmet hopped off his palm and kneeled down next to you.

“Hello! I’m Scott,” the person -- Scott -- said in a cheery demeanor. You didn’t know what was freaking you out more, the silhouette of the giant in the background or Scott sitting a foot away from you. He certainly looked like a borrower... but if there were other borrowers, you would have known about it. And no way a borrower would be hanging out with a bunch of humans. You couldn’t figure out who, or what, he was.

“It’s okay! Don’t freak out,” he said, scooting a bit closer. He felt a pang of guilt at the terrified expression on your face. “I’m--we’re here to help.” He gestured up at Bruce, who gave a small, awkward wave. “That’s Bruce. He’s gonna help us get off the ground. Can I help you up?”

You stared at him in disbelief. They… really wanted to help you?

“Here.” Scott stuck his hand out. You looked at it for a cautious moment before grabbing it and letting him do the hard work of hoisting you up.

“Ow!” you cried as Scott pulled. It was almost impossible to stand. Your face instantly flushed red when both Bruce and Scott shot you a look of surprise after hearing you speak.

“Hold on,” Scott said calmly. He slid his arm underneath your shoulder, acting as support while you tried the best you could to stay standing. You were leaning heavily on him to keep from falling as he stood up fully.

“You got it?”

You nodded, refusing to make eye contact. Your eyes were locked on your two bags beneath the table, scrap metal scattered everywhere. Scott followed your gaze.

“Is that your stuff?” he asked. You froze. You weren’t going to answer that. Scott took note. “Okay, well, we’re going to try and walk now-- woah!” One step forward and you instantly lost your footing. Your stomach dropped as he turned up to Bruce, who was watching intently. “Think you can give us a lift?”

“Oh--sure,” Bruce stammered. He was reluctant to try and bring his hand close to you again. 

“No!” you blurted, instantly regretting it. Scott turned to you.

“No? Why not?”

“B-because…” you tried, but your words failed you when you looked up at Bruce. He was gigantic. One wrong move and he could break you even more than you were already broken. “I…”

“Hey, it’s okay. He’s not going to hurt you. He doesn’t look like it, but he’s really gentle, I promise.”

“Hey!” Bruce protested.

“What? You should see what you look like from down here, man,” Scott shrugged. You were shaking, and Scott could feel it. “You can close your eyes if you want. We just gotta get you off the ground. It’s not safe here.”

You sighed. You knew you had to do this, but it certainly didn’t make it any easier. Following Scott’s advice, you squeezed your eyes tight as you felt the sudden push of a large mass behind you. Knowing this was Bruce’s hand, your arm tightened around Scott’s back as you fell down into his palm, legs dangling as he very slowly stood up. Scott didn’t blink, but even with Bruce going slow, the speed was still dizzying to you. 

Bruce was trying his best not to shake. Not only was he holding Scott, but he had this very hurt, very scared tiny stranger at his mercy, too. This is not how he thought he’d be spending his day.

He gently lowered his hand to the table, but you were in no position to merrily jump off. Scott took instant notice.

“Hold on, let me go get something for you,” he said. You blinked in shock as he jumped off the table and… grew… to full size. This human could shrink himself? Or was he a borrower that could grow? You had never seen him here before.

“Scott! Where are you going?” Bruce asked nervously.

“Just going to get his,” he said, grabbing a clean cloth from a nearby table. He folded it neatly next to you and in an instant, he was tiny again. Were you in so much pain that you were hallucinating?

“Sit on this,” he said, gently lifting you from your spot on the edge of Bruce’s hand to the cloth. You flopped down, grateful to have some soft support for your aching body. Scott took a seat next to you, and Bruce pulled up a chair and bent down to get his face to your level. You eyed him nervously.

“I hope after all this, you feel like you can tell us your name,” Scott smiled. 

You kept your eyes trained on the ground. “I’m… I’m (Y/n),” you said shyly. 

“That’s a nice name,” Bruce said, quietly this time. He frowned when you didn’t even look at him. “What… why are you here? I-in the lab? What happened?”

“I…” you couldn’t believe what was happening. Were you really about to give your whole life story to a giant you met five minutes ago? Well, giants, but one of them was choosing not to be big around you. That had to count for something. And Bruce had gone up to get his help, just to make sure you were okay…

“I-I’m… I live here,” you said so softly, you didn't think Bruce could hear. “In the complex. This is my home. I was… gathering supplies. I--I didn’t want anyone to h-hear me, but… I slipped off my rope going down the table.”

“Oh, man,” Scott muttered. He looked over to where Bruce had spotted the tiny rope contraption. He couldn’t believe he was looking at a shoelace tied to a paper clip. 

“This is what you use to get around?” he asked, pinching the paper clip between his fingers and holding it up. 

“Yeah,” you said sheepishly. It was almost scary how small your rope looked when he held it.

“That’s incredible,” Bruce breathed. “I--I mean, the ingenuity to create something like this, and-and actually use it to climb up and down? That’s really impressive.”

You blushed. He genuinely sounded impressed. “Th-thanks,” you mumbled. 

“What do you need all that scrap metal for?” Scott asked, letting his curiosity get the best of him. 

“Uhm… I use it to… build stuff,” you said plainly. “And to like, cut things and… you know.”

“That’s so cool,” Scott said with a smile. “I don’t think I could ever do what you do. You know, climb up tables and sneak around? Well, I mean, I do do that…” he stopped when he saw your confused expression. “I could never do it for a living, is what I mean.”

“How do you… you know, eat? Or bathe?” Bruce asked.

You shrugged. “I, uh, I just take whatever I can find. Stuff you guys won’t notice is gone.”

“That’s… wow.” Bruce was beside himself. This tiny person was living an entire life out under their noses every single day and he was none the wiser. As happy as he was to have made this discovery, he was even happier at the fact that you weren’t nearly as tense and scared as you were before. “I--I have so many questions!”

You knew the human would want to know everything, but the thought of answering a million questions about your secret life still freaked you out. You gave Scott a nervous glance. He instantly understood.

“Well hey, why don’t we try and patch up your leg and bring you upstairs for some breakfast?” Scott turned to Bruce. “Can we do that? Can we give breakfast to tiny strangers?” 

Bruce smirked. “We can do whatever we want. As long as (Y/n) is okay with it.”

“I can make my world-famous San Fran-cakes!” Scott said excitedly. “Well, world famous might be a stretch. And I guess they’re just plain ol’ pancakes if I’m in New York--”

“Scott…”

“Right, right. Oh, and we could watch TV. Have you ever watched TV? You gotta see what the property brothers can do to a kitchen!”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. No, you had never watched TV, and you didn’t know what a property brother was, but maybe now would be a good time to find out.

“(Y/n)?” Bruce had laid his palm down flat beside you. “We’ve got some gauze upstairs. I can try and make you a cast while Scott makes breakfast.”

You stared at his hand, and somehow, that crippling sense of fear you felt before was gone. Maybe it was all overwhelming, and you still didn’t feel like this was all real, but Bruce was kind and Scott had willingly made himself tiny just to calm you down. You were very glad it had worked.

Scott helped you up from the cloth and over to Bruce’s hand, where you situated yourselves between his thumb and held on tight for support. Bruce’s heart skipped a beat.

“Hold on, you two,” he said, slowly standing up. Scott was going on about something completely unrelated, and Bruce was smiling as he kept his hand perfectly steady. Bruce grabbed the cloth with his free hand and in an instant, the junkyard of a lab was just a background. You had never seen it from this angle before. It looked massive and uninviting.

You were glad to leave it behind. Whatever San Fran-cakes were, you were more than excited to try them. 

[interstellarflare]

Bend and Break || Homelander

-PART SIX-

Warnings: Gore, violence, course language, angst.

Summary: People can only bend their morales so far before they break. Homelander is the world’s greatest superhero, and you, a tech analyst, somehow become entangled in his world when he learns that you provide intel to The Boys. He makes it his personal mission to find out exactly what you know, but he never expected such resistance from someone as damaged as you. But broken things can be mended, sometimes in the most unexpected ways possible.

Author’s Note: As a bit of a disclaimer, I have only seen snippets of The Boys. I haven’t actually watched all of it, so forgive me if there are some details that are wrong, as well as the many spelling errors that will undoubtedly be in this series. There is a tag list open for those who wish to be added. I apologise for the long chapters. Gif by @xmichaelmyers​

|PART ONE| |PART TWO| |PART THREE| |PART FOUR| |PART FIVE|

After activating the pager hacking device after you had entered the building, you and Homelander went your seperate ways for the night.

You watched as Madelyn Stillwell hung off of his arm, smiling and pretending that she was actually interested in tonight’s events as Homelander indulged politicians and government officials in small talk. You however, stood in a secluded corner of the room, waiting for your device to break through Vought’s firewalls whilst idly sipping a glass of champagne. You didn’t know how long he had been there, but Black Noir stood by your side, his arms folded over his armoured chest as his suit blended perfectly with the shadows to your right.

You were growing more anxious as time went by. You expected to hear a small beeping noise when your device had finished its task, but the growing fear that the device wouldn’t work caused your palms to become increasingly sweaty. You loosed a shaky breath, taking a small sip of the champagne in your grasp. You found small comfort in the fact that Noir was by your side, grateful that at least someone else knew what you were up to.

From your position in the corner, you could hear various topics of conversation. However, the majority of them were about you. ‘Who was that woman with him?’ You heard someone question, that someone turning out to be the wife of the Secretary of Defence. ‘Who is she? I don’t think I’ve seen her around before’. ‘Her dress is beautiful, no wonder Homelander chose to escort her inside’. ‘He was probably being nice, she doesn’t really belong here’. You felt Noir step out of the shadows and move to your side, his arm brushing against yours as he stood defensive and tall. As soon as he appeared, the conversations about you stopped, everyone averting their gaze to anywhere else in the room but towards you and the Supe. No doubt he would have heard all of the negative chatter his stern stance giving off a pissed off vibe loud and clear.

“Is it normal for you to intimidate people who piss you off?” You asked teasingly, a smirk growing on your lips as you finished the last of the champagne. Noir nodded wordlessly, his helmeted gaze not leaving the gathered congregation before him. You rolled your eyes, laughing quietly as you anxiously peered down at the clutch in your other hand. Still nothing. You huffed through your nose, your anxiety being replaced with frustration. What if all of this was for nothing? What of at the end of the night, the device didn’t go off. What then?

Slow music began to play, a choir of violinists, cellos and various other instruments beginning a long classical piece which you knew would likely last the entire night. “Excuse me, can I have a word?” A toxically sweet voice spoke softly, causing you to turn your gaze and meet the emerald eyes of the blood red reporter from earlier. She smiled a viper’s grin, her eyes turning a shade darker as she towered over over your smaller frame. You blinked in surprise and confusion, unsure as to why this woman was even speaking to you. As if sensing your confusion, her grin widened “I only want to interview you in regards to your entrance with The Homelander himself, it was quite spectacular I have to say”. You laughed breathlessly, unsure of what to do or say. So you shrugged your shoulders “Oh, uh, thank you? To be honest it wasn’t really that-”

“Tell me, is there a secret relationship going on between the two of you behind closed doors?” She pried, her question catching you off guard. You choked, shaking your head in disbelief “I’m sorry? I don’t think I understand” You spoke lowly, standing as tall as your heels would allow. The reporter smirked evilly, knowing that she had gotten under your skin. She stepped closer toward you intimidatingly close with her hands propped on her hips. “Well one would assume that something was going was going on between you two with the way he escorted you inside” She spoke lazily, staring down at you with a bored expression “everyone has been talking about it, you know”.

Your eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, one that even made the Supe at your side flinch with how much hatred and ice radiated from your form. “He was just being chivalrous-” “Oh, I’m sure he was...” The reporter interrupted sarcastically, picking at her red painted nails through her hooded eyelashes “then again, why else would he associate with someone as dull and uninteresting as you? I mean, look at you. You don’t fit in here, you’re hiding in a corner for gods sake...”

Dull and uninteresting...is that how people saw you?

You tried to maintain your composure, you tried not to take the bitch’s words to heart. But why did they hurt so much?

Dull and uninteresting, boring and plain. You averted your gaze from the reporter’s and casted your eyes across the room. Where your eyes met his. And you knew. You knew Homelander had been listening, given by the stern and unreadable expression on his face. Damn his superhuman hearing, damn him to hell. You could feel him staring after you as you weaved your way through the dancing crowd. You could feel him staring after you as you climbed the main marble staircase, disappearing down the hall and onto a stone balcony. You leaned against the balcony, breathing deeply to try and prevent the tears in your eyes falling.

Why were you hurt so much by this? What did it matter what people thought about you? Why did it matter what he thought about you?

Why? Why did it matter?

It was peaceful out on the balcony, the noise of the Gala inside was nothing but distant rumbles. The music still clear as day. A gentle but cool breeze caressed your skin, brushing strands of your hair out of its well-kept do. Footsteps echoed on the balcony. They were heavy, but taken in a stride that was light and cautious. You didn’t have to turn around to know who was standing behind you.

“Do you think I’m dull and uninteresting?” You asked him, keeping your gaze ahead and on the night cityscape before you. You heard Homelander sigh, but he made no attempt top move toward you. When no answer came, your chest tightened painfully. Of course, he thought you were dull. Of course, he thought you were uninteresting. He was The Homelander. And you...you were just a nobody.

“It’s John...” You heard him sigh out lowly, his tone of voice showing no sign of teasing or malice. With your eyebrows furrowing in confusion, you spun to face The Worlds Greatest Superhero with an expression of pure bewilderment. “What?”.

Homelander chuckled, a genuine sound resonating from deep within him as he stepped toward you, his cape billowing slightly in the wind. “Yesterday...” He began, standing beside you and leaning his hands against the stone railing “you asked if I had another name Homelander, otherwise you were going to call me prick or arsehole. My name is John”. You laughed lowly, nodding your head as you leaned back against the railing with an amused smile. So he did have a name. “It suits you” You responded, looking over at him with a soft smile. John nodded, giving you the same smile in return. “And you know what, any woman that can speak to me with such sarcasm, wit, and foul language, and live to tell the tale, is definitely interesting in my eyes”.

Your laughter echoed out from the balcony and across the city. It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. It wasn’t like the small sarcastic chuckles, or the amused scoffs you would always give him. This was genuine, this was pure. And he loved every second of it. But why? Why did he enjoy your laugh? Why did he long to see you smile, why did he long to always see you as happy as you were now? You turned to face him again, the frown on your face now non-existent as you grinned. “You know, this is why I don’t leave my apartment” You joked lightly, causing the Supe beside you to scoff. “I don’t think I’ve seen you wear anything other than an oversized shirt and sweatpants” He teased, shying away slightly as you lightly slapped his shoulder. He laughed as you pouted, folding your arms over your chest as your eyebrows furrowed.

The music from downstairs floated up on a graceful wind, a slow waltzing piece that would have no doubt been played at a dozen luxurious events prior to this one. John stood up from his position by the balcony, moving to stand in front of you with a soft smile. “Dance with me” he spoke suddenly, holding his gloved hand towards you with a smirk tugging at his lips. Your expression became more confused as you looked up at him with an expression that couldn’t have been more confused if you tried. “What? You want to dance with me?”.

“Why not? It’s a Gala, we might as well” John tried to reason, rolling his eyes as you laughed loudly once again. Placing your clutch carefully on the balcony, you shook your head slowly as you placed your hand into his own. He immediately pulled you close, wrapping one arm securely around your waist, and intertwining his other with yours. The two of you began to sway slowly, your cheeks flushing a bright red at the amount of limited space between you. Your heart was beating so loud, that you were sure the man before you could hear your heart beating wildly in your chest without his superhuman hearing. The thought alone caused your stomach to flutter. Pushing down your nerves, you forced yourself to look up, and almost fell apart. John was staring down at you with an expression you couldn’t read. No one had ever looked at you like that before, with such emotion, with such raw-

Pain...there was so much pain.

For a split second, you couldn’t breath. The air was taken from your lungs as John flinched, his grip on your form tightening as his eyes widened in pure horror. Blood splattered the front of his uniform, tiny horrifying droplets coating his skin. A strange warmth suddenly spread over your chest, a deep rumbling cough caused the pain to increase. Blood dribbled from your mouth, your blood. You collapsed forward, the world suddenly spinning in dizzying stars. The ringing in your ears became louder and louder, drowning out the terror-filled shouts from downstairs, and John’s frantic cries. You could make out your name on his lips, his arms wrapping around your form as he lowered you to the ground. You were scared, terrified. What happened? 

You suddenly felt tired, your eyes becoming heavier with every second that passed. It was cold, so very cold. Everything suddenly became numb, consumed by the agony and pain that everything slowly began to fade. You never saw the figure emerge from the doorway, you never heard what John said to that blurry image of a man.

But the last thing you saw was his furious expression. His blue eyes glowing a bright red in rage, hatred, and pure madness.

Tag List: @lauraaan182 @tardis-23 @freshmakertaco @shilsvampsinger @cynthianokamaria  @delicatetimetravelarcade @coloursunlimited @clean-soap @themarch-oftheblackqueen @soft-hargreeves @kennedywxlsh​ @itskatrinahere​

[writingindulgence]

Painting Nails with Gojo Satoru (x reader)

Pairings: Gojo Satoru x (unspecified-gender) reader

Genre: Good friends with some mutual pining, a bit of fluff and a bit of uncertainty, reader has their mind in the gutter for a split second 

Lmao, how long can someone write about painting nails T.T 2800+ words

When you recently mentioned that you had no free time to refresh your nails due to the influx of odd jobs here and there, you didn’t think that it would lead to your long time friend, Gojo Satoru, sneaking into your room at the Tech with a bag full of nail polish.

He was in the middle of laying them out haphazardly onto the coffee table. Colours ranging from neon bright to the darkest of shades stood before your very own eyes on full display. Their shapes were as varied as the palette. Standard round, rectangle shapes, funky stars and fragile butterflies just to name a few. 

The shock of what was transpiring had yet to register in your mind, a dumbfounded look creeping onto your face.

It wasn’t even the first time that this has occurred. Once in a while you would come back from a mission in another city, ready to fall down onto your bed in the one place that you could call home, only to have this excuse for a friend barge in on your time of relaxation. Sometimes, you didn’t inform anyone when you would be back in the hopes of being left alone but he always seemed to find out the best time to annoy you. When you were tired. 

“What the actual fuck are you doing in my room Gojo-san?”, you drop your tattered bag onto the ground before closing the door. 

The feeling of his incoming whines and guaranteed pout had become something of a sixth sense to you now. You thought that maybe he would grow out of it after his teenage years but the gods weren’t as merciful as you once believed them to be. 

“(Y/n)-channnn, why are you so mean to me? I haven’t done anything for you to call me that”, he dramatically groaned out before flopping onto your bed. 

Glancing at the table, you notice that his sudden movement knocked over some of the bottles.  

You also know what he meant by that. You only ever call him ‘Gojo-san’ when he screws up or when you are both in the presence of his students. 

As much as he likes to tease you in front of important people, you aren’t that unprofessional as to disrespect him as an educator in front of the students that he teaches. The kids already make fun of him and if you were to join in at the same time then you would begin pitying the man. 

You walk over to the sprawled lamp post of a human and indicate with your hand to scoot over before proceeding to throw yourself down beside him. 

“What is this about, Toru-kun?”, your eyes lazily scan over the nail polish. Of course you know what is going on but Gojo Satoru is a man that enjoys being humoured. 

Poor Ijichi-kun ends up as the victim of a lot of his whims when you’re away. Scratch that, even when you are around the unfortunate fellow gets bullied like a kindergartner at a playground.

“So~ I’ve noticed that your nails-,”

“I mentioned it.”

“.. have been looking rather-,”

“I mentioned it.”

“..duller than usual so-”,

“I-”, 

His body flew up from the lying position and a hand suddenly came into your view. Before you could do anything, Gojo clamped it over your mouth, an unseen eye-roll definitely going off under his blindfold. 

He wasn’t really irritated but you took it as a win for all the times he irked you in the past month.

“I NOTICED YOUR NAILS LOOKING DULLER THAN USUAL SO I WENT OUT OF MY HUMBLE WAY TO BUY THESE,” he finally lets you go after finishing what he wanted to say.

The sheets under you have become disheveled, your thrashing around to get away and shut his loud mouth in case Principal Yaga hears brought about no results. There was no rule against being in the same room, you weren’t some silly teenagers and even if you were, the Tech wasn’t that strict anyway, but the thought of his disappointing gaze burning into your soul…

Your thoughts are disrupted when Gojo throws two pillows onto the floor. Knowing that there is no escaping this, you dust down your clothes and gracefully sit down. 

Who knows? This may actually turn out to be relaxing. Even if you’re wrong then spending time with friends is precious, no matter the activity. Especially in this line of work. There is no telling when one might hear the news of their comrades’ death. 

Gojo sits on the other free pillow and smiles. “Any colour pulling you in? If not then I would love to recommend, you know, I’m sort of an expert at this.”

You laugh slightly at his confidence before agreeing to his proposal. As long as it’s not too ugly then you really don’t mind what he ends up picking. 

In fact, you trust his judgement when it comes to fashion. His casual outfits always end up taking your breath away. You’re forever glad when he forces you to go along with him to the shopping district. You know your style and what you’re comfortable with but Gojo presents you with something unique every time.

“Hmmmm...then, what about this one?”, the hand that was under his chin as he was contemplating leaves its position and he quickly picks up a (f/c) nail polish. 

The container is cute too, a glass cat face. Though how did he figure out what colour this was with that blindfold? Only Gojo knows. 

You reach out for the item but he leans back and pulls it to his chest. Your eyebrows scrunch in confusion. 

“(Y/n), (Y/n), (Y/n)...,” he creates an X with his arms before continuing, “Bzzzt! Did you really think I would be so rude as to leave you alone with that tedious job? Who do you take me for?”. 

He grasps the fabric where his heart is located and fakely sniffles. Oh, so he wants to paint them for you. Figuring out that you may as well indulge in a little care, you extend your hand for him to hold. 

Gojo twists the nail brush open and dips it into the bottle a few times. His tongue is poking out as he tests how much of the liquid is on the brush. You don’t even question how he will paint your nails without seeing properly. Understanding his infinite capabilities has become second nature to you. 

Instead, you focus on the feeling of his hand when it grasps yours. 

It’s bigger and somewhat rougher, though not uncomfortable. Really, it feels secure to have around your own.

Jerking back at your line of thinking, you can feel the heat growing on your face by the second. Calm down there, no need to get ahead of yourself. You’ve held hands many times in the city before so that you don’t get ‘lost’, how is this any different?

“Hey now!,” Gojo grips your hand more firmly than before. 

“Sorry, sorry. I had an itch,” you come up with an excuse and double down when you scratch your shoulder with a free hand. 

He doesn’t say anything in return, there are none of his usual comebacks. That’s suspicious, he always needs to have the last word in no matter what. 

Instead he applies the first stroke of nail polish on one of your nails. 

His movements are steady, no shaking, and he doesn’t miss any spots. The process is...pleasant, being attended to by another. 

He moves on to your second finger, repeating the action from the previous one, applying just as much attention. 

Now that you are sitting still, barely breathing as you look on, his hold has become almost airy. Unless you focused purely on the skin to skin contact, it was as if your hand was levitating. 

Ah, technically he could be using ‘Infinity’ and keeping your hand away but...it made you feel weirdly unhappy. Your mouth tugged down in dissatisfaction unconsciously.

At the same moment, Gojo grasped the next finger on the list, the sudden feeling coming as a surprise. You barely held in the shocked gasp, tingles travelling up your arm. 

He didn’t say anything and continued the procedure. 

You peeked at his face to see if you could read him but there was nothing at all to go off on. No smile, smirk, pout or frown. 

Sheer concentration. 

It wasn’t unwelcome, in fact it was peaceful without the usual banter. And it wasn’t unbearably serious either. If you had to put a word on it then it felt...intimate.‘Wow, what the hell? Chill, he’s only a friend and this is simple nail painting’.

The clock in your room ticked continuously until eventually your fingernails were all finished. It took extra long because Gojo insisted that the proper way to do it was to paint two layers. So in the end you had to sit through another few minutes that honestly felt like an eternity. 

You hoped that you hadn't sweated with how warm it had gotten on your end.

“Alright! It’s your turn (Y/n)-chan,” he made finger guns and pointed them at your bewildered expression. 

“It isn’t fair if only you get this spa worthy treatment, no?”.

“Satoru, I think you overestimate my ability to paint nails. Of course, I do a fantastic job on myself but I am hopeless when it comes to others,” you explain. 

You may have over exaggerated a bit but if this goes on then your thoughts will enter dangerous territory, not that they haven’t already.

Distractions aren’t helpful when you are a jujutsu sorcerer, particularly in the romantic scene. 

Have you daydreamed about such scenarios? Yes. 

Would you like to experience them? Definitely. 

However, what you want and what you can have are at odds with each other.

“Don’t be a bore, come on, come on,” he sticks out his own hand before thinking up something and reaching towards his blindfold. “Let’s make it a challenge. I had such a difficult time so you have to suffer too”. 

He frees his eyesight and stands up. You’re about to follow but he shakes his head and kneels behind you. 

The smooth fabric covers your eyes and the pressure as he tightens the blindfold rubs against the back of your head. This feels like the beginning of a dirty situation-

A resounding smack travels in the enclosed room as you slap your cheeks simultaneously. This isn’t the time nor place.

“I’m accepting my resolve,” you throw out before Gojo can ask you why you hit yourself in the face. 

You hear him shuffle back to the pillow as well as glass tapping against glass. A nail polish bottle is shoved into your unprepared self. “I’m in your hands now,” he laughs stupidly to himself at his own pun. You can’t help cracking a small smile too.

Blindly, you fiddle around in front of you, wanting to start this. Clicking your tongue, you’re about to give out but Gojo finally decides to stop being a prick and gives you his hand. His shakes from laughter make themselves known but you ignore him. 

Unscrewing the bottle cap, you get to work. 

Only, you have to feel around for his fingernail. It’s impossible to hit the target without searching around first. 

You become overwhelmingly aware of the close proximity yet again and your heart skips a beat. The fact that you can’t see anything makes it far worse as your sense of touch becomes more sensitive. Your shaking hand dabs the point where you think the nail polish goes and you begin painting. 

Gojo’s amusement must have stopped too since you don’t hear him chuckling anymore. Is he looking at you? Or is he looking at his poor skin whenever you miss the fingernail? He doesn’t have his blindfold on so his eyes have to be focused on something. 

But what?

The silence becomes unmanageable and the constant skin against skin friction twists your insides. Is it just you? Or does he also think the same way?

“You know, you have pretty eyes. If you start an Instagram page with photos of them then you’ll get a following in no time,” you offhandedly mention to start a conversation. Knowing Gojo he’ll take the compliment, tease you a bit and move on. You shift around in the pillow before progressing onto the other hand, having speedrun the first, before he starts talking.

“That’s not a bad idea. You can do the eyeshadow and we can make some money,” he hums in agreement. The sound of extra cash nearly makes you drool but then a realisation hits you, like a truck an isekai protagonist. If you were to do the eyeshadow then you will no doubt have to be very close to his face. No way.

“On second thought, I don’t think we have the time,” you laugh it off. 

His disagreement comes soon after. 

“Haaaaaaah?! Then why did you mention it?”. His muscles tense, about to pull back to cross his arms but he remembers that you’re in the middle of painting his nails. 

After that, you both fall silent again. 

In the end, you get through the last finger and close the nail polish bottle. You tried your best, having taken your time despite it making you feel a certain way whenever you had to touch him longer than is necessary. 

You get up and reach out to unhook the blindfold but larger hands stop you in your tracks from behind. They pull yours away and drop them at your sides. 

“Allow the amazing gentleman, Gojo Satoru,” he gently takes it off as you stand unmoving. 

When light from the window hits your face, you scrunch your eyelids shut, waiting to adjust to the bright atmosphere. A hand patting down your hair makes them shoot open and you turn around to complain. 

Whatever you were going to say gets caught in your throat as you look up into his light blue eyes. His expression is serene, free of any worries but his eyes seem to be trying to speak a thousand words. 

They too look composed but you get the feeling that he’s trying to communicate something to you.

Swallowing, you clench your hand (conscious of the recently dry nail polish), and place it over your chest. “Satoru..um,” you pause, not fully comprehending what you want to say, or rather, how you want to say it.

Your eyes widen when you notice his hand traveling towards yours. 

Clumsily spinning around, you head for the pillows and shake off the dust that accumulated on them. 

“Thanks for today. I’ll have a nap, since I’m still tired from the flight.” 

You show your gratitude but hide the words your heart wanted to really express. 

You don’t turn around to see his expression. The sound of his blindfold going over his eyes is what you hear first. Then, 

“Don’t worry your sleepy head over it! Sweet dreams, (Y/n)”.

The door opens and closes gently behind you. 

Once you’re sure that he is far down the hallway, you throw yourself onto your bed, put the pillow over your face and scream. Feeling a little foolish, you stop and look over your nails. 

He really did a great job.

-Next Day-

The sun is shining brightly therefore there is no better time to take a walk. Which is why you aren’t surprised when you stumble upon Sukuna’s vessel, Itadori Yuuji. 

The teenager has a tub of ice cream with him. Maybe you should get some too? Gojo is bound to have some in his mini freezer.

“Ah! Hello, (L/n)-san,” the boy waves his hand in greeting and jogs over. 

“Itadori-kun, is it alright for you to be outside like this?,” you ask with concern. 

There are only a few people that know about his current state of being alive. When you heard that he died, you came as fast as possible to comfort Gojo. 

“It’s fine! Everyone is gone and Ijichi-san is on the lookout at the front gate. He’s meant to give me a ring you see”. He looks down.

“Oh! You’ve got some nice nails there,” he points out as he takes a bite out of the dessert. “You match with Gojo-sensei,” he adds after a second.

You pause your appreciative smile at his compliment. Excuse me? 

“Excuse me? Match?,” you prod him to elaborate.

The teenager scratches his cheek. 

“Ehh, but he said the plan was to match all along. Though they don't exactly look the same”.

Your eyes tear up in embarrassment at the turn of events. You’re matching nails? You thought for definite that he would wash them off when he gets back to his room. Not only that but putting the blindfold over your eyes must have been his sly way of making sure that you don't notice they're the same colour. 

Itadori shakes his hands in front of him before bowing. “I-I’m sorry (L/n)-san! I did not mean to insult the way you painted Gojo-sensei’s nails. They are a bit tactless compared to yours but that’s okay,” he apologises profusely, mistaking the root of your shame.

‘That dumbass Gojo Satoru’

[lala-ladybug]

Healing Hands: Chapter 1

Hello hello! First fic here, it’s a Maribat AU with a side of Sword Art Online. Or what I remember from having watched the show once about five years ago. We’ve got Marinette and minimal class salt, Young Justice but only the good parts, and primarily Jasonette. Please spread the word (I am a tiny sideblog) and let me know what you think <3

Read here on AO3

Next

Chapter 1: You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you

Friday, at long last. Marinette could not have exhaled a bigger sigh of relief. It was mid-way through the school term, her commissions were ramping up, and Hawkmoth had become frustratingly active. Her duties as class president had only increased as she and her friends neared the end of lycée, not to mention all the studying she was doing for the baccalauréat on top of her regular school work. Commissions were booming now that her popularity as the anonymous designer MDC was soaring worldwide. She wouldn’t give any of it up for the world, but she might enjoy getting more than three or four hours of sleep for once.

There was only part of her life that had gotten easier since that day three years ago when she was entrusted with a pair of spotted earrings and an old god to match. Ladybug started out with one partner, but she now had a whole team to share the responsibilities of keeping their city safe. Ryuko and Viperion became permanent fixtures of the Parisian rooftops, and Bourdonne replaced Queen Bee after the infamous (albeit self-inflicted) unmasking of Chloe Bourgeois. The people of Paris looked to these heroes with pride and trust.

And Marinette Dupain-Cheng, now the Guardian of the Miraculous, looked to her partners with trust as well. She had decided that with her in charge, she could no longer keep secrets from her friends, from her new Order of the Guardians. She discussed it with Chat Noir, and he had smiled and agreed that it was time. And one day, when Ladybug gathered her teammates on a remote rooftop in the dead of night, she said only “I trust you,” before allowing her transformation to fall.

She wasn’t nervous, not really. She knew Kagami and Luka had good hearts, and she had seen firsthand how much Chloe had grown. Those three accepted her civilian self, her true self, without half a thought, and followed their leader in dropping their transformations as well. Chloe got her quips in while Ladybug looked to Chat Noir.

He passed his gaze over the faces of their friends and smirked like he was holding in a laugh. As he said “Claws in,” Marinette could hear the laugh in his voice, an intonation that sounded so very familiar, and oh. Of course.

Adrien Agreste beamed at his friends, both in the mask and out, and said fondly, “I’m so glad it’s you.”

The rest, of course, was history. For the year and a half since then, the five heroes of Paris had kept the city safe from threats magical and mundane alike. Hawkmoth had, of course, gotten craftier and more vicious with his attacks, sometimes choosing to send bursts of weaker akumas over the span of a week, sometimes waiting a month before sending an especially brutal villain their way.

But it was nothing that the Order of the Guardians couldn’t handle. Even though it could get exhausting after a while, which is why the incoming weekend was a welcome reprieve. There was another reason why this particular weekend was so exciting, which was that a new video game, Mindscape, was debuting. It would be released at midnight EST, which was 6:00 in the morning for Paris.

“Today’s the day, girl!” Alya squealed as she flagged Marinette down on their way to the classroom. “We are so lucky that our class won that raffle to get these exclusive passes. I bet I’ll be the first blog to get the scoop on this new tech they’re using!”

Marinette giggled and started to reply, “Super lucky, right? I’m excited too, I heard--”

“You know,” Lila cut her off as she sidled up to Alya. “I’m not saying that I didn’t enter us to get those downloads, but I was a big help with beta testing.”

How she managed to time that comment just as the three girls crossed the threshold of the classroom, and how she managed to know that nearly the whole class would already be there to hear it, Marinette would never understand. She only had to wait a moment before the rest of their friends rushed to the door to thank Lila.

“This opportunity is amazing, we are incredibly grateful!” Max was first in line, ever the technology-enthusiast.

Kim pushed his shorter friend out of the way and vigorously shook Lila’s hand. “You have no idea how many baddies I’m going to blow up because of you.” Lila looked a little overwhelmed as he continued to shake her hand all the while, and she gave him a nervous smile.

He was soon pushed out of the way as Alix muscled her way to the front next. “I definitely owe you for giving me the chance to kick his ass in a brand new way!” She jerked her head to where Kim had landed on the floor, pouting at her.

As the rest of the class who would be joining them in the game’s premiere expressed their thanks, Alya looked on with an affectionate smile. She was so very happy that she now had two kind, selfless best friends. Her smile fell a little as she noticed Marinette stoically edging her way around the crowd and up to her seat, not having said a word to Lila. Alya just wished that her two besties would get along.

Alya put a hand on Lila’s shoulder and smiled her thanks before following Marinette to what was once their shared desk. “You really should thank her, you know,” Alya implored hopefully.

Without turning around to face Alya, Marinette paused and shared an incredulous look with Adrien, who was already seated at his shared desk with Nino. She then shrugged and replied, “Lila never actually said that she got us the passes,” before continuing up the steps to her seat at the back of the class. Alya shook her head and sat down. It was always like this, a cool indifference from Marinette whenever Lila came up. They were both such incredible people, Alya couldn’t understand why they didn’t get along.

As for Marinette, she was semi-content to let Lila be as long as her lies didn’t hurt anybody. Her unrealistic promise to take away all of Marinette’s friends was never fulfilled, and honestly the amount of emotional energy it used to sap from her just wasn’t worth it anymore. Marinette had no idea how Lila was going to get her hands on a copy of the game when Mari was, of course, the one who had won the raffle. She distributed the special access passes herself, and Lila certainly hadn’t gotten one. If this was the way that she wanted to make friends, she would eventually have to face the consequences.

But for now, Lila was basking in her praise. That is, until she glanced at her phone and gave a small gasp of dismay.

“What’s wrong?” Rose asked, concern already etched on her face.

Lila covered her mouth with one hand and started rapidly blinking back tears. “It’s my VIP copy of the game. There was a mixup in the mail and it won’t get here in time for tomorrow morning! I’m so sorry everyone, it looks like you’ll have to do it without me....” She buried her face in her hands and her shoulders trembled with barely restrained sobs.

The class shared a worried look, and Sabrina piped up, “It’s okay Lila, you can borrow my copy.” Lila immediately looked up and surged forward to clasp the hands of her friend.

“Really? But won’t it have the same problem?” Sabrina smiled and shook her head. “Nope, it’s a digital download! I don’t mind, you can always trade it back when your VIP pass arrives later.”

Lila gave her a brilliant smile, any tears long-since dried. “Oh, thank you so much Sabrina! I’ll see what I can do about getting you a VIP pass too once mine gets here.”

At that moment, Chloe walked in, and one look at the scene displayed in front of her had her rolling her eyes at her former best friend. She gracefully swept up the steps to join Marinette at the back of the classroom and whispered to her, “Aren’t they all digital downloads?”

Marinette, who had started unpacking her bag to prepare for class, inclined her head and gave the blonde a meaningful look that indicated yes, they were indeed all digital downloads. Chloe snickered and started preparing her own side of the desk.

After the fiasco of outing herself as Queen Bee, Chloe had lost the minimal support and tolerances she had been allowed before. It gave her time to truly reflect on how she acted and treated other people. She had since been quietly making amends with those she’d wronged, and the person on the top of that list was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It took time and a lot of effort on Chloe’s part, but she mellowed out and did a lot of growing up. She still spoke her mind, though.

“Huh that’s strange, I got the VIP package too, but mine was a digital pass,” Chloe loudly proclaimed, studying her nails nonchalantly as the rest of the class turned to look up at her.

Lila grit her teeth into a forced smile and replied sweetly, “Well that’s because mine was an original beta testing copy that they had to update for the full game.” She turned her attention to Marinette and a note of false concern crept into her voice. “Oh Marinette, I hope you’ll still have time to come too! I know you’ll be busy this weekend with planning the spring class field trip. It would be such a shame if it didn’t happen because you were too busy playing a video game.”

Marinette suddenly felt very warm under the gazes of the entire class. She stammered out, “Oh-of course we’ll get to go! Don’t worry, I have a meeting with the school board on Monday.” Trust Lila to sniff out the one thing that had slipped below her radar.

Lila’s eyes lit up with an opportunistic gleam. “That’s great! Where will it be?”

“Well, uh, the school board has to review the location, so I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I can tell you that it will be in, um,” her eyes flicked around wildly and landed on the posterboard of different flags from the prior week’s lessons. “America!”

The class burst into excited chatter moments before Madame Bustier arrived and the late bell rang. Marinette released a breath and sagged in her seat. Saved by the bell.

Chloe gave her a sidelong glance and murmured, “America, huh?”

“Shut up,” Marinette shot back.

* * *

Madame Bustier tried to get the class to pay attention, she really did. They struggled through their lessons before lunch, the volume of side conversations between deskmates swelling all the while. The moment the bell for lunch dismissal rang, the students exploded into conversation as they left the classroom.

Marinette waved as Chloe and Adrien walked off to go meet Kagami and Luka at a nearby cafe. She breezed into the patisserie across the street from Francois Dupont and gave her surprised Maman a kiss on the cheek.

“I thought you were going out with your friends for lunch?” Sabine asked, balancing a tray of eclairs on her hip. “I forgot I have to plan our class trip!” Marinette replied cheerfully as she hurried into the kitchen to quickly fix herself a croque-monsieur. She gave her Papa a hug as she finished preparing her meal. He shouted up at her to not make a mess as she retreated into her room to eat at her desk.

She gave a small snort at that. It was nearly impossible for her to make a mess of food when she had over a dozen Kwami there to clean up after her, but he didn’t know that. She greeted said Kwami with a delighted grin and a wave as she set her plate down by her desktop computer.

“Marinette, why are you back so early?” Tikki asked, “is everything okay?” The other Kwami swarmed around her as she woke her computer up and logged in.

The girl waved one hand nonchalantly and opened up a web browser with the other. “Everything’s fine, I just forgot about planning the class trip!” She took a huge bite of the sandwich and started typing furiously. Several Kwami dove after the crumbs that sprayed everywhere.

“Ohhh, I see! Do you have an idea of where to start?” Tikki zoomed around Marinette’s shoulder to hover next to the monitor screen.

Marinette had the same determined gleam in her eye as when she finally found the perfect fabric for a design. She said confidently around a mouth full of ham, “America.”

* * *

By the time the lunch break had finished, Marinette had a preliminary list of cities on the East Coast of the United States. She had researched Gotham first, but it looked far too dangerous and gloomy. Next was New York City, which she determined was too big. Philadelphia was historic, but in a way that would definitely bore her classmates. Boston was too cold despite its excitement. Which left Metropolis as the perfect candidate. It was also protected by the perfect superheroes, Superman and his family, so she was absolutely confident the school board would approve of the city.

Of course, the meeting on Monday would need more specifics than just the city, but she was pleased with her progress so far. Marinette shut down her monitor, grabbed her backpack and plate from lunch, and went downstairs to the kitchen. She quickly scrubbed and dried her plate in the sink before waving to her parents as they bustled around, accommodating the tail end of the mid-day rush.

Marinette walked across the street with a spring in her step and, spotting a tall flash of blue hair, half-jogged up to her group of friends.

“Hey guys, sorry I couldn’t make it to lunch!” She grinned apologetically at Kagami and Luka.

“That’s alright Melody,” Luka gave her a side hug, “Chloe told us you were busy planning your class trip.”

Adrien slung an arm around Kagami’s shoulder and pulled his girlfriend closer to whisper conspiratorially to her, “I hear we’re going to America.” She laughed softly at his antics and at Marinette who stuck her tongue out at him. Kagami then said to Marinette, “That sounds delightful, Marihime. I trust you will still be joining us tomorrow morning?”

Marinette’s eyes lit up with excitement at the prospect of playing the game with her friends all weekend long. “Definitely! I’m going to finish preparing for the school board meeting tonight so that we can play the second it comes out.”

“If you can wake up on time,” Chloe teased.

Marinette crossed her arms defensively and stated with pride, “I already set three alarms, thank you very much!”

Adrien burst out laughing at that. “Leave it to our everyday Ladybug,” he winked. Her face flushed as she pouted. He chuckled again and kissed Kagami on the top of her head. “See you later, mon coeur.”

She and Luka waved to the rest of the group as they left to return to their own schools. The three Francois Dupont students watched them go for a moment before returning inside.

“So, you and Kagami have plans?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah! Our parents gave special permission for a sleepover at my place tonight so we can play the game right when it comes out tomorrow.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous habit he had never quite abandoned. “But I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to be online with you guys after this weekend. You know how busy our schedules are....”

Marinette elbowed him lightly as they walked. “It’s a blessing you both managed to convince your dad and her mom to let you come to the launch at all! We’ll play together when we can, it’s no big deal.”

Adrien smiled gratefully at her and held the door open for both Marinette and Chloe as they entered the classroom. Alya was already there, and once she spotted her best friend (well, one of them), she skidded down the steps with a huge grin and held an invisible microphone up to Marinette.

“Thank you Nadja, and good afternoon Paris! This is Alya Cesaire, and today I am joined by young fashion designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, can you give us an exclusive scoop on the trip you’re planning for your class?”

“Good afternoon Mlle. Cesaire,” Marinette giggled, “Unfortunately, the trip has yet to be approved by the school board so no details just yet. But I can tell you with certainty that we will be visiting the resident city of some popular American superheroes.” She winked as she finished in her best interview voice.

Alya gasped and dropped her pretend microphone as she hugged her best friend. “Really!? Oh my gosh girl, you are the best!”

Marinette laughed and hugged her back as Alya jumped and spun them around. Once they pulled apart, she told the brunette, “As soon as the school board gives me the green light, you’ll be the first to know.”

The late bell rang and the girls practically skipped to their respective seats as Madame Bustier called the class to attention. Well, “attention” in the loosest sense of the word. They struggled once more through the majority of their lessons, but Madame Bustier seemed to sense defeat and she let them chatter excitedly for the last twenty minutes before dismissal.

Kim and Alix were boasting about how they were going to stay up all night, while Max encouraged them to maximize the time they would be able to play the next day by getting a full night’s sleep in before the launch time.

Lila bragged about her role in the creation of the game from its conception to even having suggested the highly anticipated date of release. Adrien pointedly ignored Lila in the row behind his and discussed the music they had recorded and mixed for the game with a very enthusiastic Nino.

Sabrina looked on a little sadly until Mylene, Ivan, Rose, and Juleka invited her to join their Disney movie marathon double-date instead. Mylene was too nervous to play the game so Ivan chose to sit out to support her, and video games weren’t really Rose and Juleka’s style. Sabrina’s face softened as she gratefully accepted their invitation.

Nathaniel turned around in his seat to talk to Marinette about the art rendering and the programs they used while Chloe scrolled aimlessly on her phone.

By the time the bell finally rang, the class was beyond excited to go prepare for the launch the next morning.

Marinette, to her credit, swallowed her enthusiasm and sat down to fully plan out their trip to Metropolis. It was grueling work, researching the safest hotel that was still in a central location. It had to be affordable but not shabby, too, because they had a limited budget. She eventually settled on the reputable Wayne Hotel, apparently part of an enormous corporation called Wayne Enterprises, and then began to build an itinerary with different events from there.

She worked nonstop the rest of the night, with the exception of a brief dinner break, and it was nearly 11:00 at night by the time she finished. Marinette sat up from her desk chair and stretched, then double-checked that her alarms were set before finally heading to bed.

[pettyprocrastination]

Rip Out Our Seams and Stitch Us Together

Chapter One Word count: 1.9k Warnings: Uhhh brief talk of race, some language.  Chapter summary: You’re a seamstress in dc, with a tiny but successful shop run by your and your spunky cashier. Today you get a visitor that is far out of your usual demographic.

tag list: @captainsamwlsn @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa @readsalot73 @zeldasayer

(yes that’s a marilyn monroe pic she’s a major look for Valerie alright.)

Many believed that the eyes were the window to the soul, your father disagreed with that. He believed the truth of somebody's character was in their hands. 

“Shows a lot about them, little bee.” your father showed his own hands to you, wrinkled and scarred with tiny nics from years of work as a tailor. You were nine at the time, just last week you had completed your first sundress! You spent your afternoons after school in the shop with your father, doing whatever he asked. “-If they're a hard worker or if they don’t do anything at all. These little fellas will show you just that.” He wiggled his fingers at you before poking at your stomach, causing you to burst into a fit of giggles.

Twenty five years later and his words still ring true. When you first meet somebody, you don’t look at their clothes, or their smile, or even their eyes. You look for their character in their hands. 

So the moment the tiny bell rang at your shop door, your eyes were taken away from the pinned gown in front of you and towards the lithe fingers wrapped around the door handle. 

Manicured nails painted a deep red, fingers daintily curled, skin unscarred and void of all blemishes. Absolutely perfect. 

Who would expect any less of Maxwell Lord’s wife?

Your only other employee, Cassandra, a sweet sixteen year old girl you hired to watch the register and sweep floors, squeaked. 

“Hello,” She lifted the sunglasses from her face and set them utop her blonde curls. Her eyes zeroed in on you with an analytical gaze. In comparison to her floor length  fur coat and satin blouse, you suddenly felt flushed in your ripped trousers and patterned button up. “Are you the owner?” She put such infliction on each word you couldn’t tell if she was judging your store or the fact that you owned it.

Either way you felt like you were supposed to be offended. 

“That I am.” 

She slid her coat off, looking at your coat rack with a wrinkled nose before finally setting it on the hook. She walked around your store, taking in the little knick-knacks that lined the counter and the racks of clothing with a judgmental eye. 

Her eyes flicked to Cassandra, who still stood behind the register with her jaw dropped open. 

Mrs.Lord smiled and tapped the underside of her chin and she snapped her mouth shut. 

“You made all of these yourself?” Her voice was smooth like silk, but had a sharp edge to it. You felt as if you were waiting to embarrass yourself in front of her. She took a white sundress into her hands, feeling the fabric between her fingers. 

“Most of them.” You answered. She froze and raised a sculpted brow.

“Most?”

You shrugged your shoulders. “Some of these are thrift store finds, just altered and restyled.” Her ruby lips bent into a frown, glaring at the dress she held with disappointment. 

“That one is an original though.”

She stared at the dress for a moment, face scrunched up in thought before she regained her cool composure and tossed it to you over her shoulder, which landed on your face. “Be a dear and hold that for me, would you?”

You didn’t get a chance to answer. By the time you lifted the lace that obscure your vision, she was already looking at another dress. You followed behind her. 

Why the hell not? You thought to yourself as she handed you a satin blouse. You didn’t have any other customers at the moment, and you aren't being met with for a design consultation for another three hours. 

Besides, how often is it that Valerie fucking Lord walks into your store like a frequent customer?

She continued to walk around your store, red heels echoing throughout as she stopped at certain dresses and tops (mostly those of silk or lace) to admire them, before either adding them to the growing pile in your arms, or setting them back on the rack with a sour look. The entire time she did, you wondered what it was that drew in her to your tiny shop. 

The woman before you had been a big deal since she was born. Before she was Valerie Lord, she was Valerie Ackkerman. Her father had been a Hollywood director in the fifties who married an up and coming actress hot to the scene. The couple dominated the big screen and became a loved pair to America, that is until her mother got a baby bump, got demoted to supporting roles for the rest of her career, and her father continued to go on and  make films many to this day still consider iconic. 

You considered most of them to be a racist and misogynist, but you suppose they were simply a product of their time. 

And a shitty director. 

Valerie Ackkerman became Dr.Ackkerman, psychiatrist with multiple books surrounding a vast majority of subjects that can affect one’s mental state. Such as greed, fame, and the lack of proper paternal figures to shape your childhood.

Which made her choice in marriage all the more ironic. 

Maxwell Lord the fourth was a man as American as apple pie and the corporate greed that came as a table side. He’d taken over his father’s company at the ripe age of sixteen at his passing, having been groomed for the position since he was a child. 

Maxwell Lord was known as a ruthless tycoon, a tech mogul who will smile wide in his commercials before making a grown man cry in his boardroom. His wife was just as feared as him and seeing her before you now, you perfectly understood why. She was prettier than sin itself and just as rich. Which begged the question…

Why in God’s name was she in your shop?

“How long have you been sewing?” A floor length skirt with a slit up the leg was tossed in your arms. 

“Since I can remember.” Her fingers ghosted along the hangers before plucking a pink slip dress off the rack and holding it up against her body. “My father was a tailor. He taught me everything he knew.” She turned to the mirror on the other side of the room and looked at her reflection while smoothing out the fabric of the dress. “When he passed away I took over the shop, but I basically ran it already.”

She chuckled, shaking her head as if your father's death had tickled her so. “Sounds like somebody I know.”  Mrs. Lord turned to you, the dress pressed against her body. “Thoughts?”

Your eyes roamed over her body as you tried to form sentences, but nothing came out in fear of saying the wrong thing in front of a woman so powerful, she could burn your shop to the ground with a single call to her husband. 

Beautiful. You wanted to say. And terrifying. 

“It suits you.” 

She turned back to the mirror, her eyes focused on your reflection instead of her own. She tilted her head to the side and hummed. You felt like you were on display, being examined, picked apart and analyzed by the prettiest blue eyes you've ever seen in your life. 

“I know.”

When she walked past you to the register and you got a waft of her perfume, something sharp and citrusy, most likely belonging to a brand you wouldn’t dream of wearing. 

Cassandra rang her up in silence, nervously looking up from each item to the woman standing in front of her. Her hands trembled so bad you could see the fabric shake when she picked them up. 

You would have taken over for her, but  you were trying to ignore the burning sensation in your face at her judgmental gaze. You’d seen it all before, from women like her. Rich, white, beautiful, and privileged as all hell. You knew the way her eyes scanned your clothes, critiquing your curls, the cut of your jeans and the pattern of your button up that lay partially open against your chest. 

You wish you could say you were sick of it. But mostly? You just didn’t give a shit. 

Cassandra’s shaking hands dropped the bag into the floor before it reached Valarie’s, she looked about ready to cry before you stepped in. 

“Oh god I’m so-”

“It’s fine Cassie.” Her red lips snapped shut at your interjection and blase tone. 

You swiped the plastic bag and held it out to the woman with a neutral face.“Eighty-nine fifty.” You told her. She looked at you as if you had grown a second head. 

She must not be used to being treated like something other than royalty. 

But that look was replaced by a coy smile. She took the plastic bag full of clothes from your hands and handed you a thick wad of cash that was well over the amount she owed. Red, manicured nails trailing down your palm as she did. 

You suppressed a shudder. 

“You know-” She took the lace sundress out of her bag, thumb trailing along the seam. “-Your work is on par with some of the brands I wear.” You weren’t sure why the sight of her stroking something you made felt so damn intimate, but you felt like you needed to look away as if you were interrupting something.“-Maybe even better than them.”

Christ, you needed to get out more. 

“Well yeah.” You shrugged matter of factly and crossed your arms. “That’s because I’m driven by artist integrity. Not making some shoddy dress and slapping a fancy brand on it, in hopes that some trust fund baby will wear it to her next yacht party.”

The moment those words left your lips you realized you had said them to the wealthiest customer you ever had. 

Who laughed. 

Cassandra went pale as a sheet while you spoke, looking between you and the woman worth more than your entire store like she expected an explosion. 

Mrs. Lord smiled at you. “We’ll you're right about that. I have to agree.” Her hands ran down the side of the dress and stopped when she felt a fold in the white fabric. “Are these-”

“Pockets?” You grinned, like it was your greatest achievement. Honestly? It kind of was. “Sure are. Decently sized ones too, can fit your whole hand in and everything.” To prove your point, the heiress stuck her entire hand into the pocket and wiggled it with a laugh. 

“There’s still more room in it!” She sounded so in awe and excited, it reminded you of a child on Christmas. 

Her joy was infectious. 

“Every dress I make has pockets, it’s sort of like my signature.”

“Every dress?”

You drew an X over your heart. “Stitches guarantee.”

Mrs. Lord grinned. “You're certainly one of a kind miss...”

You told her your name, and she repeated it back. The way she said it made it sound like the brand name of a thousand dollar purse. 

“But you can call me stitches.” You said simply. “Everybody does.”

Cassandra looked at you with wide eyes, shocked that you went from accidentally insulting her to being chummy enough to share the silly nickname you got from customers. 

“Do they now?” She walked to the coat rack and slipped her jacket on. “Well tell me this, Stitches-” Mrs.Lord took the glasses off the top of her head and slid them over her eyes. “Do you do commission work?”

You blinked for a moment. “Well I do, but-”

She squealed and clapped her hands. “Oh perfect! We’ll be in touch then.”

“Wait-” You faltered, trying to run from behind the counter after her, but all you succeeded in doing was banging your hip against the corner. “Fuck! Who’s we?”

“Oh don’t you worry about that.” She opened the door and looked over her shoulder. “One more thing though, do you make suits as well?”

A/n:SHE’S HERE BABY WOOOOO. Iv’e been talking headcanons with @ithinkhesgaybutwesavedmufasa for like a week and a half now about this bad boy and im so excited to get the ball rolling! I love max and i love poly ships so HERE WE ARE Valerie lord owns my ass yall. Anyways please don’t feel shy to send me messages about these babes, asks, critiques or just come say hello! Let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list, i hope you all have a good and safe day <3

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Once Bitten, Twice Stupid prt 170

170

Lance lavished Keith with extra attention as they got ready for the day ahead. Today was finally the day that Curtis was freed from his curse. Waking feeling ill, Lance kept it to himself. Keith was fighting his own dose of anxiety, coupled with lingering pain from bottoming though that had been a good 15 hours ago now. Making extra coffee, Lance had cooked a few of Curtis’s favourite foods, and comfort food for Shiro, assuming being an anchor for his boyfriend’s soul would be quite taxing on their friend. They weren’t allowed on the same floor as their friends, so Pidge and Hunk were coming with them to Platt, told by Coran to be a few hours late.

When Hunk picked them up, Lance was glad he was the one driving. Keith had hit that angry stage of anxiety, a little snappy and overly apologetic. Lance unable to keep from thinking about the house and Curtis on the drive. Hunk trying to cheer them up as he and Pidge talked tech. The house was clearly an unsaid no go topic for the day. Plans shifting to making the most of the road trip down to see Keith’s father once Curtis was up for it. Keith barely contributed. Lance ignoring safety in favour of sitting in the middle back seat with just a lap belt to be able to hold Keith close to him. Honestly having so much in his head distracted from the discomfort in his belly. A growing feeling something was wrong left him teary, though he knew he’d done everything he was supposed to be doing to keep the pregnancy progressing smoothly.

Parking in the staff parking under Pidge’s direction, Lance was hit with vertigo as he climbed from Hunk’s car, resulting in him tripping on his own feet as his left ankle rolled. Something felt very wrong. Again, he knew it was his anxiety blowing things out of proportion... Embarrassingly, Lance found himself on all fours throwing up. Keith yelling his name as if he’d been shot or stabbed, and not something as damn common as him falling over. Grabbing him around the shoulders, Lance hacked, spitting in his puddle of mess with his nose scrunched up

“Babe?!”

“I’m okay...”

“You collapsed. Do you have a fever?”

Keith smacked him in the head as he tried to check. Lance sighing heavily

“I’m fine. I tripped...”

“You...”

“I tripped. I’m okay”

Ugh. Stupid ankles. It didn’t matter how fast and how strong you were, ankles would get you every time

“We should get Coran to check you”

“Babe, I’m okay... help me up”

Keith hovered. Hunk hovered. Pidge had a bounce in her step as she led them to her office. Everything within VOLTRON was running smoothly. People going about their jobs. No blaring alarms. No one was hurt. No big bad jumped out them. He was being stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. The only thing around to fear was Lance and his paranoia... and his paranoid anger loaf who’d made Hunk carry the picnic basket, then started “helping” him along as if he was old and decrepit, reducing him to shuffling along. Thank god no one else was there to fuss, his anxiety hadn’t settled as it was, now it’d decided to kick into overdrive there’d be no settling it until Keith finally stopped fussing and they could see their friends again.

*

Keith couldn’t stop thinking about Shiro. He hadn’t called him. He hadn’t wished him good luck today. He’d said nothing to his brother and he hoped his brother took it to mean he trusted things to go smoothly, and not that he was giving up before things had started.

Settling in in Pidge’s office, she shared her space with three other technicians. Keith would have gotten lost if he hadn’t been following her as she confidently led them to the lab. With his arm around Lance, he found himself torn between who to fret over more. His boyfriend who’d fallen over and then promptly thrown up, or Shiro who would acting as Curtis’s anchor right about now. Thank fuck that the fellow lab techs weren’t in at the moment, because he wasn’t sure he could keep his damn temper in check over the situation. He didn’t blame Lance for throwing up. It’d been a while since it’d happened outside... His boyfriend had spent the morning trying his hardest to be reassuring, but when his rock started crumbling, Keith didn’t know what to do. Lance kept him grounded. Lance had to be okay. Plus Lance had totally nailed him the night before and he worried the slip of his ego had somehow upset the twins. Keith had been swept up in Lance’s scent and the way his boyfriend’s body moved. He’d rushed in, over sensitised and flipped some kind of switch inside Lance. He didn’t regret it. Even with his vampire side showing, Lance hadn’t hurt him. His grip firm, without being painful, pleasure pounded into him until he had to touch himself for relief.

Now Lance was sitting in a chair Pidge stole from another technicians desk, his boyfriend rubbing his stomach as their little gremlin grabbed a case for him to rest his feet on. Keith had seen plenty of those cases before. Normally they contained things that someone shouldn’t be putting their feet on. “Dusting” her hands off, Pidge beamed

“Okie dokie, guys. Lance has decided he needed the royal treatment, but do you guys want to see my lab?”

Pidge and Hunk had showed they were they’re for them, by being physically there for them. Pidge was keeping them smiling, as she’d done at the house, using her “gremlin powers” as a force for good. Going to the house had been a sobering experience for them, and Keith had let his duties as the cool mature older friend slide by providing very little comfort to her, despite the fact both her brother and father had been held there. Leaning back in his chair, Lance nominated him

“Keith would love to. I’m going to chill here and be pregnant. Maybe think about breaking into the locker room and appropriating some toothpaste... the options are endless”

Pidge poked Lance in the back of the head, Lance swatting at her hand. How could the pair of them act so normal? Hunk seemed the only one worried outwardly. Lance letting Pidge tease him only served to annoy Keith. His boyfriend might be clumsy, yet he felt there was more going on with Lance that what met the eye

“If you’re feeling that much better, you can come on the tour too”

“I’m busy growing two humans at the moment...”

“You’re on a roller chair. Hunk can drive you”

“Piiiiidge, I promise I’ll listen, but I’m not feeling great. Show Keith and Hunk around, brag about your job. You deserve it”

There was no one there that Keith trusted Lance’s health too. Allura helping in the summoning ritual, and Keith now realising he hadn’t been worried about the two faes. He should be worried. A demon against Coran and Allura... That wasn’t as simple as a werewolf with a cavity. They could be seriously hurt if the summoning went wrong. Catching him staring, Lance held his hand out of him, Keith moving to automatically grip it

“I’m going to be okay. You’re not leaving me. You’re not leaving the room. It’s all psychosomatic from what I can tell”

“So something is wrong...”

He’d known it. He fucking knew it. Now Lance was admitting it so it had to be true

“Just a little pain in my stomach, and a little bit of dizziness. I’m fine now I’m sitting”

“You should have told me”

“I know. But I’m in the best place I can be and I’m like pretty sure that maybe it’s because I’m worrying about our friends. They’re going to be okay. Coran knows what he’s doing. They’re going to be okay and we’re all going to in relief once it’s over, you’ll see”

“But what if something’s wrong?”

“The most important thing we can do is be calm. Go check out the tech. I packed my phone, so maybe Pidge can play with that?”

Keith had forgotten about Lance’s phone. His head felt foggy from the moment he’d woken up. Too many thoughts were taxing his brain power. Crossing her arms, Pidge huffed

“I do not play. You guys should appreciate my genius”

“Trust me, Pidgeon, we do. Hunk, Bud. It’s all going to be okay. You’re allowed to be here, so you don’t have to be nervous. Kolivan isn’t here to kidnap you guys, and Coran loves you. I’m sure that engineering side of you is dying to tinker. You’ve already signed a non-disclosure, and as your amazing legal advisor I’m telling you it’s totally fine to relax”

Hunk worried his pointer fingers together

“I’m worried about you. Oh, man. I said it. Dude, are you sure you’re okay being here... You’re pregnant and pregnant people should be resting and we went to the house and you didn’t look very well then and...”

Lance gently interrupted Hunk

“Sunshine of my life, all bromo and no homo, I’m okay. You don’t need to worry. I’m older than you, remember, plus I’m a vampire. A little trip isn’t going to hurt the babies. My stomach didn’t even touch the ground. Go forth and tinker. Maybe you can swipe something useful?”

Lance liked to think he was magically easing everyone, but Keith could tell differently. He felt it, that Lance wasn’t being completely honest, yet Lance did like to stress and worry too much... He felt kind of weird being in the labs without being at work. He’d start back tomorrow, provided everything went well today. Lance had probably already thought about that too. His boyfriend being so thoroughly himself by trying his hardest to support him. Leaning down, Keith kissed the top of Lance’s head. He was being silly. He was letting his anxieties blow things out of proportion

“I’m sorry. I’m not handling this very well”

“Babe, none of us are. But we’re all not handling it well together. We’re a pack remember, it’s natural we’re worried for our family. Now, give me a kiss...”

Keith did as he was told, Lance smiling at him toothily, before continuing

“... and don’t go touching anything”

“Why not? You said Hunk could”

“Because Hunk could probably rebuild anything he broke. We have to face it, babe, we’re a little bit dumb when compared to these two. Not that you are dumb. I have no doubt you could rebuild any weapon you get your hands on, I’m just saying there’s no way I could fix a microscope if I broke it”

Keith got it. He was no wiz when it came to tech

“That’s true. We’ll be... somewhere in here, if you need me call me”

Lance slowly rubbed the underside of his swell

“You know I will. Me and our cupcakes are just going to chill”

*

Not knowing how long the summoning would take, the wait dragged on. Keith had taken to borrowing a roller chair, keeping himself preoccupied as Pidge worked on Lance’s phone with Hunk. Rolling over to his boyfriend, Lance raised his leg, pushing lightly and sending him rolling across the room. Yeah. They’d hit level of boredom. “Running” back across the room on his tip toes, Pidge pushed her chair back to stop him

“If you two keep this up, I’m going to evict you”

Lance sighed at Pidge, pulling himself up in his chair

“Don’t get snappy at him”

“Then don’t get mad when your phone explodes!”

Lance rolled his eyes, not phased by an angry Pidge

“Is it just me, or does our gremlin sound like she needs another dose of coffee?”

Coffee sounded great. Plus it’d give him something to do with hands

“I’ll go!”

Pidge huffed at Keith’s enthusiasm at leaving. He could have brought Kosmo and taken him for a walk while they waited

“Say how you really feel. You’re supposed to be helping me with the interface”

“I can’t help you until we get there”

Lance wheeled himself over to Hunk

“Hunk, the coffee nerds are fighting. Want to come get the coffee with me?”

Hunk nodded, playing along as he whispered loudly

“They’re scary when they fight”

“I know. I’m surprised Pidge hasn’t invented a Roomba that knives ankles when someone gets between her and coffee”

“Man, don’t go giving her ideas!”

Pidge pushed her chair back, crashing lightly into Lance and Hunk

“You two suck. I hope you both know that”

Lance raised his hand to ruffle her hair

“So Pidgeon doesn’t want a coffee? I guess I shouldn’t get cookies either”

“If you dare come back without cookies, I will end you”

“Many have tried. I’m having cupcakes with the last hunter who came to do just that. You might be a gremlin, but you’re facing a creature of the night”

Pidge sighed at Lance

“You’re a dramatic arsehole, you know that, right?”

“I have been told my arsehole is very dramatic and I don’t even know what that was. Hunk, do you want to come for the walk?”

“Sure... are you up for walking? Shouldn’t you be resting?”

“I’ve rested and I need to pee. Besides, Keith is cranky. He needs sugar and caffeine”

Keith scowled at the pair of them. He should be the one going for coffee, not his pregnant lover

“Why don’t I get to go?”

“Because Pidge might need your help. We’ll be back soon, babe”

Wheeling herself back to her desk, Pidge mocked him

“Yeah, babe. He’ll be back soon, babe. Don’t worry, babe”

Pidge could pull off being a summoned demon with ease. Keith glad she was using her powers for good instead of running a top class criminal racket

“You’re evil”

“I know”

“Guys, we’re all family and we all love each other. We’ll be back soon. Babe, it’s okay. I love you and I promise I’ll get your order right”

“I know you will. Love you, too. Make sure Hunk doesn’t get lost”

What the heck was that? “Make sure Hunk doesn’t get lost”? What a time to be awkward... Lance snorted

“Pfft. I’ll make him hold my hand and look both ways before crossing the road”

Hunk groaned at them

“Why am I being treated like a kid?”

Lance smiled happily at Hunk

“Because you’re our Hunk and we love you. Pidge, do you want any real food?”

“Nope. I’ve got my own fridge with adult food and everything. You two losers go get the coffee already”

“Ma’am, yes, Ma’am”

Lance shot Pidge a sloppy salute, Pidge over exaggerating rolling her eyes at him

“Go already! Keith, why do you put up with him?”

“Because I love him”

“Acceptable answer. Okay, come over here and pretend to make yourself useful”

*

The bad feeling Lance had hadn’t left. Leaving VOLTRON the world felt warmer. The sunshine and busy streets distracting with their overness. So many people were talking he couldn’t narrow in on one particular sound. With each step away from the building, he felt better. The pains in his stomach hadn’t abated at all. Yet if something was wrong, all he could do was wait for Coran as it was. Noticing his distracted mood, Hunk held his hand, Lance smiling and he shook his head when it first slipped into his.

Unable to stop from over ordering, Hunk was on coffee carrying duty, as Lance carried the two bags from the bakery back. The pain now starting to get to the point when he had to slow down, and rest every few metres. Reminding himself he only had to make back to the next block, he tried his hardest to ignore it. It’d pass. It’d pass and the twins would be okay. He didn’t so much care for himself, he’d heal, but them... He couldn’t lose them. He’d give himself an hour. If things hadn’t improved in an hour he’d head down to the infirmary and let them poke at him.

Hunk noticed the stops, the big man slowing to a snails pace to match his. Making their way through the bookshop and into the elevator, Lance dropped the bags as he grunted, staggering into the elevator wall. Something was wrong. Something was very very wrong. These... this felt like... his fake contractions but a hundred times worse

“Lance!”

“Call... Keith...”

Gripping his stomach with one hand, Lance held himself up, bent over with his hand against the elevator walls. A second wave of pain made him moan in misery

“Fuck, okay, okay, okay. It’s only a little further...”

Wetness trickled down his legs, Lance immediately panicking at the warmth

“Call Keith!”

Behind him Hunk had hit the button down to the labs, the elevator doors sliding shut. They’d only just started moving when elevator shuddered, some kind of barely audible boom causing it to shudder around them as it came to a stop. Shit. This couldn’t be good

“I can’t get through to Keith. The call won’t connect!”

“What do you mean you can’t reach... agh!”

Gripping his stomach, Lance’s knees bent, nearly buckling under the pain. A wave of something evil seemed to tear through the air, the hairs on his skin standing upright as his body erupted into goosebumps

“It says no signal! What do I do?!”

Hunk was freaking out. Lance was freaking out. He hated being trapped. He hated elevators but knew the doors would open, so ignored the discomfort of being in one. Above the lights flickered, red replacing bright white light as an alarm started ringing. Something had gone wrong. Something had gone wrong with the summoning. That was the only thing Lance could think of... fuck... fuck it hurt... it hurt so much his head dropped as he swore violently in time with the wave of pain

“Fuuuuuck!”

This couldn’t be happening. He’d done everything right. Every demand placed on him, he’d done it. He’d stabbed himself over and over with those damn injections. He’d drunk Keith’s blood. He’d eaten until he started to hate food.

Coming to his side, Hunk had set the tray of coffees down. Placing his hand on Lance’s lower back, he leaned around him

“Lance? What do I do?”

“Hunk, I need... need you to check... if I’m bleeding...”

“Wha...”

“Just put your hand on my arse and tell me if you see blood”

Hunk moved, his moved hesitant as he pulled down the back of Lance’s pants exposing his underwear. Thank god for elastic maternity pants

“N-no...”

Okay. Okay. That was good. Forcing down a deep lungful of air through his nose Lance released it slowly through his mouth

“I think I’m in labour. The summoning’s gone wrong... I need you to check the elevator doors. See if you can get them open”

It didn’t matter what floor they were on. Coran had built the place with a labyrinth of hidden stairs. If they could get out, they could get help. He could send Hunk through the car park to call Krolia, Matt and Rieva

“On it... Dude, do you want to sit? I don’t know what to do...”

Poor Hunk. Lance had to keep strong for him, but fuck... He needed Coran, like right now!

“No... no... standing... is better... fuck... fucking fuckery fuck...”

[nahimjustfeelingit-writes]

Imagine:

Erik is a Sub and Reader is a Dom.

This will definitely be two parts because I want to be very thorough.

Mama? Can I eat your pussy, please?

It was a terribly busy day at the office. Phones were going off the hook, meetings were being held, and paperwork needed finishing. Y/N was currently in her management office on the 10th floor in Cyber Security. She started as an Analyst when she first got the job at the age of 23 and now she was an Information Security Manager. Security Managers play a key role in avoiding security disasters by identifying any areas that might make your information systems vulnerable. These are the professionals who are tasked with assessing current security measures and mitigating future attacks against your company's computers, networks, and data.

Jimmy Choo suede pumps on her feet, high waisted midi pencil skirt hugging her hips tightly, and satin blouse stretched over her copious chest, Y/N paced the floor. The Infinity Shag Onyx Black Rug on her office floor masked the sound of her heels as she walked back and forth, her eyes on her phone from the text message that came through. It was from one of the new hires; an Analyst by the name of Candice. Such a sweet girl. Very sexy too. Nice and thick, short curly fro, a pretty round face, and lips so full she could probably suck a golf ball through a straw. Y/N has a thing for full lips on women and men. Y/N typed out a quick reply to the chick before taking her seat again so she could check her emails.

Candy, mama is working really hard, okay sweetie? Save that appetite for lunch break.

Y/N put her phone on the charger and went to work answering other company managers and clients back via email. That literally took up an hour of her time. Now, she was currently waiting to be pinged into a video conference that would take another hour and a half to get through. Y/N was growing tired already. Thirty minutes before her video conference began, Candice sent her another text with a picture attached to it. Y/N side-eyes the phone, picking it up swiftly to see what this little girl was up to now.

See? This is what’s happening to me right now just thinking about sucking and licking your pussy for you, mama. Please, let me serve you in the quiet room! My mouth is drooling for your sweet pussy juices.

“You nasty little girl,” She spoke softly as her eyes focused on the phat pussy Candice had between her succulent thighs. Her tiny labia and clit were engulfed by those plump lips. Two sets of fullness; one on her face and one between her legs.

“Fuck,” Y/N licked the brown butter gloss by NYX off her lips from how much she nibbled and licked on them because of Candy’s raunchy photo. Glancing at the time on her phone, she could get in a quick session before the conference. She was going to make Candice work for it too since she fucking begged so much. Flipping her silk pressed hair back, Y/N gets up from her desk chair, walking with her phone in hand around the large glass desk and out the double glass doors to her office. The usual tech sounds and phones ringing filled her ears as she walked down the aisle that split the room into two sides with the same set of cubicles for all the Analysts, and Web Developing Crew. In the second to last row, three cubicles down, was where Candice resides. She had a headset over her head, short curly fro is crinkled from a braid out she did the other night. The turtle neck dress she wore left nothing to the imagination and the ALDO Loviecia open toe shoes on her feet gave Y/N a peek at the pretty mauve color on her toes.

Y/N placed a single squared red acrylic nail on the desk in eyeshot, tapping it lightly with her other hand on her curvy hip. Candice smiles softly at her computer before turning to her boss, with worry in her eyes.

“Hello, Miss Y/N, is something wrong with the network again?” She spoke in a silvery smooth tone. Very tranquil.

“No, but I think you need to come along with me, Miss Williams, I have about twenty-five minutes before my video conference so I suggest you move swiftly.”

Thank God for cubicles because this office was filled with nosy people. Y/N never did this with someone she worked with. On the job “relationships” weren’t the best to have but Y/N couldn’t resist the looks Candice gave her. Candice got up from her seat, following behind Y/N and through a set of doors that led to restrooms, the break rooms, and finally, two quiet rooms. There were two on each floor for Employees to escape to. Y/N entered one of the rooms, holding the door open for Candice before shutting it behind her and locking it. Candice stood facing her Mama, back straight and eyes were unblinking.

“Candice, you little slut,” Y/N seductively walks up to Candice causing the girl to swallow spit, eyes fighting to drag up and down Y/N’s gorgeous body.

“Didn’t mama tell you that I was busy?” Y/N spoke in an even tone.

“Yes, mama,” Candice answers, “But I’m so horny-“

“On your knees, now.” Y/N walks away towards a suede olive green sofa. They really needed to re-decorate these rooms, the color scheme was awful. Y/N looked through a wall mirror, spotting Candice on her knees behind her. Y/N toyed with her hair before giving Candice more instructions to follow.

“Crawl to me.”

Y/N could hear Candice moving closer. Finally, she felt the girls heat against the back of her exposed calves. Y/N arched over the couch, her ass poked out at Candice. Candice took in a sharp breath at that sight.

“Get up and unzip my skirt. Do it slowly, mama wants you to focus on what your unwrapping, sweetie.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Good Girl.”

Y/N could feel Candice reach behind her while still in a kneeled position, grabbing that tiny zipper and ever so gently pull it down. Candice watched as the material began to peel apart to reveal the crammed cheeks of Y/N. All that ass spilled out and damn near smacked Candice in the face.

“Mama, you’re ass is getting fatter,” Candice spoke with a shaky tone. Y/N had on a black lace thong that disappeared between both cheeks.

“Thank you, princess. Don’t worry, your face will be in between my ass soon enough. Now...pull my thong off completely.”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Good Girl.”

Candice removes the thong.

“Lick the crotch of my thong.”

Candice wasted no time to pull the fabric apart, licking Y/N’s wet crotch. It tasted like her; sweet and tangy like pineapples. This woman drove her crazy.

“Such a nasty little bitch. I bet you would suck on the crotch of my panties if I told you too, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, Mama. I’d do anything you told me to.”

“So, you would let my underwear sit in that mouth so you can drool all over it?”

“Yes, Mama, oh my God, yes,” Candice was grabbing her breasts now and rubbing her thighs together.

“Don’t touch yourself. You want to give it to Mama, right?”

“Y-yes.”

“Then you only get to please Mama. Pulling me away from my work because you want some pussy in your mouth. So damn nasty, shame on you, Candy.”

Candice had a pout on her lips, “I’m sorry, Mama.”

Y/N squatted on the couch, her phat puss and ass hanging over the edge of it.

“Get over here and eat this pussy. Eat me like you’re starving since you’re drooling so fucking much.”

Candice crawled to her, turning around to lay her head back so Y/N could rest her pussy onto Candy’s mouth.

“Open up, sweetie.”

Candice opens her mouth.

“Don’t touch me unless I tell you to, bitch.”

“Yes, Mama.”

Y/N sat that pussy on Candy’s full lips. The girl went to work placing soft kisses there; lingering kisses. Y/N bit down on her lip. Candice used the strength of her tongue to part the phat lips, Y/N’s large labia and clit resting against her saliva-coated tongue. She starts to french kiss her inner folds, Y/N’s juices leaking into her mouth over and over.

“Mmm, that’s right, eat my pussy like that.”

Candice would alternate between french kissing on Y/N’s labia and clit and flicking it with her tongue. The girl was working those jaws to give Y/N exactly what she wanted and then some. Y/N could hear Candy’s lips smacking and she just knew that from the vision Candice received that the girls tongue was swimming in her juices. Candy always had Y/N wet as fuck.

“Suck on my fucking pussy, bitch.” Y/N spoke in a dominant tone.

“Like this, Mama?” Candice showed her how she thought Mama wanted to be sucked. As soon as those full lips wrapped around her clit and pulled, Y/N shuttered, ass cheeks clenching and asshole winking from how much she convulsed.

“Just like that, oh, you working me, girl, you’re sucking me up!”

Candy sucked on Y/N’s clit like she was sucking on a jolly rancher. Y/N would ride her face, causing her clit to pop out of Candy’s mouth only for the girl to suck on again.

“You’re stroking the fuck out of my clit with that slutty little mouth of yours. You’re gonna make Mama cum all over your pretty face since you’re so hungry for this tasty pussy!”

Now Candice alternated between sucking and flicking her tongue on Y/N’s engorged clit and inner folds.

“Yesss! Yesss!” Y/N slaps her own ass, “oh, you bitch, you nasty little bitch I’m cumming!”

She could feel her cream and liquid oozing from her pussy. Candice wrapped her entire mouth over Y/N’s inner pussy, sucking like those fishes stuck to the side of the tank. She had Y/N’s eyes rolling back, another cum so close behind the one she just had.

“Look at you! You’re so hungry, sweetie! Oh my God, oh my God, yes, yes, oh my God, I’m gonna cum, I’m gonna cum, fuck, I’m gonna cum, oh my God, Yes!”

And Y/N sure did cum. More than the last time. The shit was spilling down the sides of Candy’s face. Candice only used her mouth to work her Mama to orgasm. Y/N lifts her sweaty face from the couch cushion to check her phone in hand. She had about eight minutes to get her pussy out of Candy’s mouth before the girl took it up a notch and ate her pussy again. Y/N just knew that Candice was sopping wet. Y/N will reward her.

“Get up and wipe your face off, sweetie.”

Candice lifts from the floor, grabbing some Kleenex from the coffee table covered in magazines to wipe her face off. Instead of wiping her lips, she licked them, wanting to get the last bits of her Mama’s juices off her lips. Y/N put her skirt back on and thong, her pussy lips twitching from cumming twice and wanting more. She turned to the mirror, fixing her hair quickly before leading the way out of the room.

“I want you to go to that bathroom and put the vibrator inside of you. I will control it from my desk,” Y/N grabs Candy’s neck, pulling her towards her to kiss those luscious lips.

“Mmm, I can still taste myself,” Y/N whispers in Candy’s ear, “Do what I say so I can make that phat pussy cum, Candy.”

“Yes, Mama,” Candice was in a trance. When Y/N let go, Candice almost lost balance. She clutched the wall and watched Y/N, her Dom, walk away with a switch in her hips and back to her office. Candice wasted no time to grab her vibrator from her purse so Y/N could control it from her office.

——————

She made it just in time.

The minute she returned to her seat at her desk the ping popped up, Y/N accepting it and watching the Wakandan Outreach logo swirl on her screen before all managers popped up in the live video. There were two other videos to wait for. One was for King T’Challa, the other for Prince N’Jadaka. Y/N said her hellos to the other managers from other floors except for the very top floor; the 15th floor. That floor belonged to the CEO, CFO, and the Chairmen of the company. There was limited access on that floor with gel fingerprint analysis and eye scan that the Cyber Security Department themselves constructed.

A dinging sound caught her ears, letting her know that both the King and Prince; CEO and CFO, were arriving in live video. However, only one showed up this time. It was Prince N’Jadaka. King T’Challa’s video was still dark and not in use.

“Good afternoon, Molo ngokuhlwa,” The CEO and CFO always greeted everyone in both English and Xhosa. Y/N wanted to fully learn Xhosa to be more fluent. They offered classes there at the outreach to teach the Wakandan language. Everyone said Good afternoons the exact same way. Prince N’Jadaka was currently standing in front of the holographic screen that he used to talk with everyone. Something the Software Systems Developers on the 9th floor created. They worked closely with Cyber Security.

“I’ll keep this brief since the King isn’t here. He had to visit the UN. So don’t worry, I won’t keep y’all for an hour. Thank me later.”

Everyone laughed at that.

“Now, as you all know we are trying to tackle and control violence. There was a hacking attempt that could have jeopardized every single department here at the OutReach. Besides Stark Enterprises, we are one of the most wealthiest Companies in the world.”

Y/N used to intern for Stark Enterprise while she was in college earning her degree in Cyber Security. When she found out about the OutReach almost four years ago, she was among the first individuals to be hired. Now, she was staring at the CFO and Prince who moved her up rank because she did such an amazing job. She never got the chance to personally thank Prince N’Jadaka. She wished she could thank him in a few ways; hugging him and sucking his dick.

Prince N’Jadaka sported a chestnut-colored turtle neck with a pair of grey Burberry slim fit slacks. He wore his gold-rimmed glasses today and his dreads were braided back with a fresh line up. She wondered if his hair smelled like mango butter. He was tall and large, his body probably covered in muscles. He had that tapered waist that she liked and strong toned legs. Prince N’Jadaka always got her hot and bothered through the video calls. The Dominatrix in her wanted to overpower him. It burned her desire to control a man who was so much bigger and more intimidating than her. Bring him to his knees, put him in chains and cuffs, beat him with a paddle and whips. Scratch his skin, bite him, edge him until the tip of his dick purpled with the need to erupt like a volcano, make him moan, use that mouth of his to sit on like her favorite chair and ride him like a madwoman, grab his dreads and ram his face into her pussy...

Y/N snapped the pen in her hand. She was that turned on that she applied force to one of her pens. All of that sounded nice, making Prince N’Jadaka her sex slave; her sub. But she was never going to meet him as far as she was concerned.

“Any questions?” He asked with his husky voice. A series of “no” spilled from everyone’s mouths.

“Good, you know what to do if something comes to mind. Shoot me an email and I’ll have my team get back to you so we can schedule a one on one chat. Enjoy the rest of your day, ukuvalelisa (farewell).”

“ukuvalelisa” Everyone said back before the meeting adjourned. Her screen went black, the OutReach Center logo spinning in front of her indicating that her computer was asleep. Y/N had a lot of paperwork to take care of so she may have to skip lunch. Grabbing her phone, she pulled up the app to control Candy’s vibrator. Without warning the girl she set it on a pattern that she created before cracking her knuckles to get to work. A message came through on her phone that she glanced at but refused to respond to. She made her cum hard now it was her turn.

Mama! I almost fell out of my chair! Mama my pussy is throbbing omg!

Y/N smiles mischievously before increasing the intensity on the vibrations.

——————

@tgigoldie @soufcakmistress@chefjessypooh@chaneajoyyy@pananegra@theblulife @becincere@blaqwidow91 @fish-outta-watah@moonlight-night-sky @eyeknowmywrites@crowngold@njadakillthiscookie@blktinkerbell@luvanxi@sheisexcellent1@chocolatedippedinhoney@brandithecrystalgem@dababydababydababydababy@soulfulbeauty19@btitannaaa@sunkissedebony97@youngblackndgifted@harleycativy @rbhp@thee-germanpeach@thadelightfulone@bugngiz@palmstreesallday@skylahb @bakaris-shorty@nizzle-mo

[6blackfilin9]

Just decided to show that I'm still alive over here

So guess it's LongShitpost Time

A very long post about The Batman's (2004) Penguin

And well, I've been thinking about making it for about a year, so.. here we are, watching me behaving like an easily surprised kid babbling about Oswald and how much I admire him and why

Actually nothin' important or highly moral here. If you still wanna read then just forget it's talk about a character from a kids show, I take this sh🐧t seriously and barely speak English

I like to take a lot of screenshots but can't use here all of them uuUUuUuuUUUUUGH

It's all about the 1st episode of 2nd season of The Batman (mostly, I also mention other my two fav episodes with Oswald)

I like it so much cuz this all just starts with "cat-mouse play" kind of cooperation which leads to "well guess you two will be chillin' in jail in pure mammalian harmony" and ends up with "oh no no no, this is your thievish girl, so you take her back"

"— You two pointy-ears make such a cute couple: his and hers."

"— Hm, made for each other."

I just crack up at this plot line so much

But well, being more serious, this episode unveils some of Oswald's personality traits quite vividly.

Going back to the first episode when he appeared, from the first sight it looked like the most of the time he acts like a mindlessly arrogant jerk who has no clue about what he’s doing, as most of kid-show villains, and tends to lose his temper fast , but if you look closer you’ll see that huge amount of his conduct lines are just a part of the games he plays

Like, he came to the Bruce's party just to take the damn list of guests, that’s the goal

But because of his behavior in public's eyes he wasn't the "strange quiet guy who's been looking around for all the time, than took the list of rich guests from butler and than left while there are robberies of rich people occurring in the city". He was "arrogant snobbish freak who thinks he's some sort of royalty (despite his family lost its place at the top of Gotham's society) so he acts around them as if they were peasants", so, for everyone it looks like the only thing he came for was attention, plus, influenced by negative emotions, people didn't notice such a potty movements as putting some paper in his jacket. I mean none even managed to notice that he stole the motherf🐧cking tray

(Well, for sure Oswald's quite snobbish about his family and it's "blue blood", can’t deny that, though he doesn’t behave that defiantly all the time and the only time when he completely loses it, cracks and explodes about this was when he became enraged hearing Alfred's words whom he took hostage in Bruce's house. That was a very bad day for him)

And come on, Oswald had patience and intelligence to figure out how to teach different predatory birds like ravens and owls, who actually tend to be wayward and even agressive time to time, to steal damn stuff from houses and how to make those f🐧cking badass high-tech umbrellas himself

So, cool man

If that episode showed his enormous arrogance, devotion to his family, resourcefulness, intelligence and hidden potential, this one shows how cunning, selfish, cold, ruthless and at some point insightful he can be

Back to the episode, it literally opens with the start of the strategy competition between Oswald and Selina

First they meet they start with a direct verbal flight for the Cat statue, which Oswald wins. So Selina, willing to get what she wants, desides to get down on a more manipulative subtle level playing love interest

So, of course Oswald gets stunned at first, I guess not every girl treats him this way every day, but he effectively uses this state to figure out his following plan and actions, and immediately starts behaving as a school boy in love.

So the man literally changed his tactics in a couple of seconds and figured out the new plan with the new “puppet” involved. Selina didn’t even notice anything thinking that she managed to hook him up easily so she now can manipulate him as she wants.

(guess Bruce was right, these two are worth each other: both prideful as heck)

So later their game enters the new fervent phase: they both play love interest in front of each other, and Oswald nailes his role just perfectly, making Selina even more convinced of his naivety so she reduces her alertness completely.

But guess he enjoyed this at some point. Like, Selina is a charming beautiful woman able to maintain a pleasant conversation with couple of dry sarcastic notes, so, I think this shade of sincerity helped him to play his part

And well, for quite huge amount of time Oswald makes that devil face with crooked grin which makes him look like a f🐧cking Satan, or just beings grumpy hardened journalist who had seen some shit which makes him look like he's about to have a severe breakdown, but here as he is around Selina in the first part of the episode he's completely calm like a damn fat cat, serious, focused and straight-faced, that's just gorgeous

He cracks up a bit ahead of time just once, when she manages to get the Bird statue

But as it goes to the showdown he doesn’t show even a hint of genuine sympathy or regret, he’s just like “well get reked Selina” and takes English leave

Well, I know it’s a kids show, Bruce saves the day and stuff, but Oz did literally put the bomb in the f🐧cking handcuffs so in case one of the two tries to put them off before the police arrive they actually f🐧cking die. I mean, that's kinda rough. But at the other hand it’s quite nobly but shortsighted of him to leave his enemies alive having a chance to interfere him later

And well, maybe Oswald isn’t good at etiquette, but he have never beaten Selina or any other lady if it came to close fight, while Batman did. Ozzie is a gentleman, shame on ya Bruce

And just to be said, the motherf🐧ucker didn’t even blink when the f🐧king half of his god damn umbrella was cut off right in front of his f🐧cking face. And oh my god, how f🐧cking firm Oswald's grip is that the hella heavy umbrella all made of f🐧cking metal didn't even swayed from the impact in the most stout place. Badass.

And just for a second, Oswald managed to dig to the bottom of that legend about the Bird and Cat statues and started putting the plan into action only after he had found all the necessary information about it (which he had to translate himself from ancient Egyptian), so that the first time he used it, it didn't turn out that he missed something and summoned some ancient shit so now the whole world is in danger (as it happens with villains in movies sometimes).

(The saddest part is that the only single thing that prevented the shit from happening was immense amount of luck. mean Bruce has all kinds of gadgets for literally any situation and knows literally everything just in case. Like, it was very useful of Bruce to study ancient Egyptian just in case someone decides to use egyptian artifacts for evil stuff. And they were so f🐧king lucky the the birds weren’t hungry and didn’t try to peck their faces off while they were climbing the god damn lighthouse which is already hella dangerous even without the maniac birds trying to knock you down)

Well, what do we have so far

Even if Oswald does have some temper issues, he's capable of making some keen psychological tricks, making strategies and keep his head above water, the only thing that actually hampers him is his own pride (like in the episode with Team Penguin. He does have some leadership qualities but he turns from leader into boss quite quickly thinking of himself only)

And, importantly, he is being at some level realistic and objective realizing that none actually takes him seriously.

He understands that for most of the people he’s just a deformed and depraved man with a funny voice, who’s also a descendant of the aristocratic family which ran out of money and lost former authority.

And he uses it for his own good. He couldn't if he didn't, otherwise he'd choose way less twisted ways of behavior

He knew what would the people at the party see in him, so he could predict what behavior would cause the result he needed.

He understood Selina wouldn’t take him as a serious opponent, seeing him as a lonely slow-witted man or whatever, being sure that she can hook him as any other in such an unpretentious way she thought she would be able to make him do all the work instead of her. His awareness made her plans all exposed and clear

But all this negligence combined with his pride does hurt him though, no doubt. There’s a whole episode about it, when he occupied Bruce’s house.

He has his own reasons to envy and hate Bruce, by the way. They both are from rich families, both intelligent, strong and talented, but Bruce is more young and handsome, plus, his family business remained successful. At this point he is much more luckier than Oswald

I mean even if it gets to falling Bruse safely falls on tent and Oswald falls on the dirty ground through hell, fire and high boiling water (I don't give a shit that it had been made for the comedy matters)

Basically, the only thing Oswald is doing is trying to restore not only the family’s honor, but also his own with help of money and growth of his authority. Maybe even to show others and himself that he’s something more than just a garbage. That he's something more than he seems to be at the first sight

But as far as I can see Oswald has never been that type of poor kid with low self esteem crying in a shower with the lights off and who then starts to hide behind the wall of arrogance as he grows up. I mean right in this episode he says that his mother had always told him that he was a handsome one, so I think his parents loved him, maybe even spoiled at some point, and gave him confidence and warmth he needed.

Though well, to be fair, children are cruel, and of course they would react to the child who lookes like a victim of a crazy geneticist's experiment in a very specific way. Some would avoid him no matter what it takes, for sure some would get used to him and communicate normally, but some would mock and bully him severely. So of course he would start to protect himself

But sadly he went in wrong direction, since his confidence became arrogance and his ways became much more twisted and radical

Even as an adult he’ve chosen a really slippery slope, though. He could've chosen a different path, but (as I guess) he couldn't overcome his sense of injustice and his resentment towards people around him, who actually neglected and loathed him. So he just sank in his negative experience and sharpened himself as the lone survivalist, which made him egotistical to the point when he doesn't care about the others and can actually stumble in some situations, being sure he can't be wrong

His actions can't be justified, but they can be explained. Oswald is really very understandable character

So

There is actually no moral of the post

Just me coming to conclusion that The Batman's Oswald appears to be quite deep in the first seasons

Yes, I just wasted about 5 minutes of your life, and you can't take those back

But I can leave you with a question besides frustration

Why in the bloody hell are they holding each other?!

I mean come on

Few hours ago they revealed mutual betrayal, he almost killed her, dropped her on the froor so she couldn't run away with the thing he needed, and now they hold each other flying away on a jet-umbrella

And don’t f🐧cking tell me they do this because of the fear that if one of them falls the other will too

No f🐧cking way

Just imagine flying on the f🐧cking jet-umbrella, you will cling to it so tightly that one day you will take it into your grave with yourself because you will not be able to unclench your f🐧cking fingers after a single flight, but instead of holding the motherf🐧cking umbrella they hold each other

So is it a weird joke or a very thick hint?

Who knows

[sunmoonandeddie]

but here i am

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

word count: 4,187

summary: After years of being separated from the Avengers, Bucky finds you during a job.

prompt: ‘You told me not to fall in love but here I am.  Coming back to you again was not the plan.  Barely coming up for air, what can I say?  Baby, I’ll go anywhere you take me’ - Pull Me Deep - Logan Henderson

warnings: swearing, violence

a/n: This was written for @fvckingavengers Writing Challenge!  Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy!

 “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

That stupid ass smirk tugged at James lips as he took in the sight in front of him.  Me with a knife in hand and standing over Harold Carr, billionaire and tech extraordinaire. There’s not a single hair out of place, my Valentino dress as pristine as ever.

“It’s been a while, sugar,” he said, and my attention is captured by the way his tongue flicks out over his lips.

I wanted to punch that stupid look off his stupidly attractive face.

I pointed the knife in my hand at him, the other hand going to rest on my hip.  “Get out. I got here first.”

“No can do,” he said.  As he sauntered closer, I just continued to hold the knife up.  He eyed it without a drop of fear.  He was too accustomed to being threatened with sharp objects.  “I’m an Avenger, remember?  That means that I have seniority over you.”

“Bullshit!” I snapped, my frustration growing.  “You don’t get to take over whatever you want just because you have a fancy ass suit!”

Carr’s eyes were flickering back and forth between the two of us, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to make sense of our relationship.  Or whatever you’d call it.  It was more of a love-hate thing, with him loving antagonizing me and me hating his guts for it.  The fabric I had torn from the curtains and stuffed in his mouth muffled anything he had to say about it.

“You used to have a ‘fancy ass suit,’ too, remember?”  James took a step closer, not even flinching as my knife pressed into the soft skin of his neck.  With just one flick I could slice his jugular.

He was trusting me not to.

“You really are stupid, huh?” I asked.  The sounds of the party wafted in through the cracked door.  A horde of rich cats all too preoccupied with playing a game of Who Has the Best Life to realize that their host had disappeared over thirty minutes ago.  “I could kill you right now,” I said, though even as the words fell from my lips, I knew that I wouldn’t.  That I couldn’t.

Even though I’d never admit it, James Barnes had wormed his way into my heart years ago and had never quite left.

“But you won’t.”  He swallowed and the knife nicked him.  A small drop of scarlet trailed down his porcelain skin, staining the crisp white shirt he donned.

“James.”  I dropped the knife and rushed to look at the tiny cut.  It was nothing compared to the injuries the both of us suffered almost daily. I hadn’t even realized what I’d done until a fond smile lit up his face.

“Told you.”

I opened my mouth to shoot back some smart ass response, but the look on his face stopped me.  There was a glint in his eyes, but it wasn’t malicious.  He wasn’t trying to taunt me.  “James,” I breathed, suddenly finding the dress I was in very, very restricting.

I swore I could see the raging ocean in his eyes as he towered over me.  His breathing stuttered as he tried to joke, “I think you’re getting soft for me, sugar.”

The moment that lingered between us was ended by the groans coming from the man currently tied to a chair.  With the spell broken, I took a step away and willed my heart to stop beating so god damn fast.  “You need to leave,” I said, clearing my throat as I turned to look back at my target. The feelings I’d harbored years ago were drifting out of the box I’d thrown them into in the back of my mind.

“Come on—”

“James.  Leave.” My voice was cold, and my eyes even icier.  There was a tone of finality to it, despite the fact that I was going against what my heart wanted.

But listening to my heart will get me killed.

I’d seen it all before.  People like us thinking that they could be normal.  That they could be in love and nothing would happen.

Then they ended up with a bullet between their eyes.

I’d almost been one of them, once upon a time. And then I learned that none of us get a happy ending.

The ballroom was filled to the brim.  There was hardly room to breathe, let alone walk.  Dignitaries from all over the world had come together for this one event. It was a modern day Babylon, with the myriad of languages floating around.

But as much as you wanted to drink your weight in champagne, you had a job to do.

“What’s your status, sugar?” His voice crackled in my com.

“Heading for the control room now, Sarge,” I said under my breath, ducking my head so that my hair fell like a curtain to shield me from the others at the party.  I sipped at a flute of champagne as I made my way towards the staircase.  My movements were languid, slow, as though I didn’t have a care in the world.

The super soldier’s chuckle fills my ear and I can picture it—him sitting in the limo outside that’s waiting for me, surrounded by surveillance equipment.  He was in his gear, ready to burst in at the first sign of trouble.  Wanda was probably rolling her eyes at his antics as she lazily watched the screens. “You know what calling me that does to me, baby doll,” he purred, mischievous even though it was most certainly not the time.

“Can you two not flirt when we’re on a mission?” Sam asked from where he stood at the bar.  He was playing lookout, making sure that no one followed me.  James had thrown a fit during the briefing when he’d been told that he was going to be stuck out in the van with Wanda.

But then Rhodey had reminded him that he tended to get reckless when it came to me, and it shut him right up.  It also helped that Sam had actually gotten an invite, since he’d taken on the mantle of Captain America about a year prior, and him sitting calmly by the bar made it seem as though the Avengers weren’t onto the operation’s antics.

If only they knew.

The hub of the operation we were working to take down was easy enough to find.  All I had to do was try each door until I found the one that was locked.

“Oh, the magic of a good bobby pin,” I said as I crouched down.  I slipped one of the pins out of my hair and bent it so it was a little easier to get into the keyhole.  With a few twists and jimmies, I had the door opening without so much as a creak.  It revealed rows after rows of computers, though it was clear that the most important one was the one situated on a huge desk at the front of the room.  “I think they’re just trying to do our jobs for us at this point.”

The door shut behind me with a soft click and I slowly made my way across the room. It felt too quiet and it was stupidly easy for me to get to the control room.  Everything I knew about this kind of situation was telling me that something really, really bad was about to go down.

“Something feels off.”  But even as I voiced my concerns to my team members, I took a seat at the head computer, plugging in the drive.  Hacking into it was easy enough, but it just added to my anxiety.

“You okay, L/N?” Wanda asked.  “I can send in Barnes if—”

“No,” I said, cutting her off as I began to load the files onto the drive.  “Sometimes I forget that people think they’ll never be caught and don’t bother with better safeguards.”

But even as I said it, it felt like a lie.

“Or they think we’ve all retired,” James offered.

Despite the dread that was pooling in my gut, I watched as the files loaded themselves onto the drive, willing it to go faster so that I could get the hell out of there.  “Come on, come on, come on,” I muttered, my leg bouncing.

My eyes kept flickering to the door, knowing that if anyone came in, I’d be screwed.  There was one entrance into the room, which meant one exit.  If I was lucky, I could hope that the monitor would turn off fast enough that I could duck down beneath the desk.

But, of course, luck wasn’t on my side.

I heard the twist of the doorknob before anything else, and I quickly turned off the monitor before scrambling to take cover under the desk.  The drive was still stuck in the computer, hopefully still loading files onto it despite the monitor being dark.

“I swear, I saw someone come in here on the cameras,” a strange voice said, and I cursed.

We hadn’t found any evidence of cameras in the blueprints of the building, and it would appear that it had come back to bite us in the ass.

Well, more specifically, my ass.

I couldn’t even call for backup.  The men were too close and Sam, Bucky, and Wanda wouldn’t make it to me in time.  My best bet was to stay completely silent and hope that they left.

“I think you’re seeing shit, Davies,” a second voice said.  It was much gruffer and it sent chills down my spine.

I let out slow, carefully measured breaths through my mouth, ensuring that I didn’t make a peep.  Even the softest of sounds could alert them and I had no desire to get caught.  My heart jumped in my throat as I heard one of the desks scrape the floor with the same jeering quality as nails on a chalkboard.

It was quiet for several long moments, and I could hear them start to make their way back to the hall.

“I swear, I’m gonna tan your hide if I check that security feed and no one’s there,” the second voice snapped.  The door opened and I was sure that I was in the clear.

“Y/N, are you okay?  What’s your status?” Sam asked, and my heart stopped as I heard the footsteps stop.

They’d heard it.

In the stark silence of the room, Sam’s voice was as loud as a gunshot.

My heart pounded against my ribcage as I prayed to whatever God there was that I was wrong, that they hadn’t heard him.  I slipped my hand down to the slit in my dress, my fingers curling around the handgun strapped to my thigh.  If I was fast enough, I could get the jump on them, but I’d have mere seconds—no, milliseconds—to shoot.

Steeling myself, I jumped out from behind the desk and fired in rapid succession.

One.

Two.

Three.

Four.

Four shots total.  Three of them hit their targets, though nothing vital.

The men in front of me thundered towards me, anger twisting their faces.

“Y/N, I’m on my way!” Sam said, though I barely heard him as my gun was knocked from my hand.

Hand-to-hand, then.  I ducked as the larger of the two—the one with the gruff voice—reached for me, kneeing him in the groin.  The smaller man—Davies—tried his hardest, but he was easy to take down.  Even with my evening gown on, I flipped myself up and wrapped my thighs around his head, twisting until he fell to the ground.

But before I could get to my feet, the other had his hand around my throat, choking me until the edges of my vision went black and I went limp in his arms.

“You know I can’t do that,” James said with a deep sigh as he watched me twirl the knife in my hand.

Scoffing, I kept my eyes locked on Carr’s.  There was a twinge of fear in the cold green orbs of the tech genius gone terrorist.  Despite the front he put up, he knew what I could do.  What I could do.  “Why not?” I asked calmly, as though we were making small talk about the weather.  “You’ve done it before.”

Even Carr knew how low of a blow that was.

The super soldier stood so close behind me that I could feel the warmth radiating from his broad chest.  He always was some kind of human heater.  Memories of him holding me close in the cold of winter flashed through my mind.  A mission in Siberia that had resulted in us taking shelter in a safe house without electricity.

It felt like a million lifetimes ago.

“Really, Y/N?”

Even after all the years we’d been apart, my actual name slipping from his lips sounded foreign.  From the second we’d met, I’d always been ‘sugar’ or ‘baby doll’ or sometimes even ‘kitten,’ if he really felt like annoying Sam on the coms.

I didn’t want to admit how much his presence affected me.  How my entire body felt tense with him being so close.  How badly I wanted to turn around and throw myself into his arms, pretend that the years we’d been separated hadn’t happened.

But I couldn’t.

The pain of being left behind had seared my heart, left me reeling.

So I pushed aside the twisting in gut, gripping my knife so tightly that my knuckles went white.  “So, Harold,” I sneered, “are you going to tell me about your little operation or am I going to have to put in a little elbow grease?”

“Are you actually going to ignore me?”

“Are you actually wanting to have this conversation now?” I asked, my tone running over my teeth as I tried to control my anger.  I just wanted to finish this stupid job so I could collect my paycheck and go home to a nice bubble bath and a bottle or two of wine.

James crossed his arms over his chest, the Kevlar doing absolutely nothing to hide his thick muscles.  “Yes.”

I stared at him incredulously.  I couldn’t believe he was actually trying this right now.  “I’m working!”  I pointed at the man in the chair, the knife coming close to slicing his nose.  “I’m doing a job that I’m getting paid for. If you wanted to talk, you could call literally any other time.  I know that you all have my phone number on file, even though I’ve changed it at least seven times!”

“If I did call, you wouldn’t talk to me,” he said, his jaw clenched so tightly that I was sure his teeth were going to shatter.

“Maybe that’s because I don’t want to talk to you,” I hissed.

Both of us stopped as we heard a sputtering, turning to see that Carr had managed to spit out the wad of fabric in his mouth.  “Not that this isn’t riveting,” he drawled, not at all sounding like a man currently being held hostage, “but can you two stop your little lovers’ quarrel long enough to finish this?”

“We’re not lovers!”

“Stay out of it!”

Carr raised his eyebrows.  “Because that clears things up.”

I rolled head to the side to glare at him.  “Did anyone fucking ask you, Harold?”

The man looked a little taken aback, his mouth hanging open. It was clear that he wasn’t used to be talked to in such a way.  But, then again, most men like him weren’t.  Rich, white men were used to having the world bow at their feet.

There was no way in hell he was getting that from me.

“You were the one who left, Y/N,” James said, interrupting the stare down that I was in the middle of.

I whirled around, pointing the knife at him yet again.  “Don’t you start with that shit.  You guys are the ones that left me for dead!”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat as I slunk through the doors of the Avengers compound, still limping from the gun shot that had grazed my thigh over a week earlier.  I hadn’t gotten to shower since I’d managed to escape my captor eight days before, and I knew that I smelled like something fierce.

But it didn’t matter.

Because I’d escaped.

Agents were starting to notice me, stopping in their tracks and staring at me as though I’d risen from the dead.

And in a way, I had.  When I’d finally made it back to civilization after two days of wandering the forest surrounding the abandoned house I’d been held in, I’d found that I’d been held hostage for a little over seventeen months.

I knew that the whispers from the agents surrounding me were going to reach the people who used to be my team within minutes.  Being an agent of the newly rebuilt SHIELD was like being in a sorority.  Since everyone worked, lived, and breathed each other, anything new spread through the group like wildfire.

It was a little concerning when I realized that the doors still opened for me automatically.  The A.I. controlling the locks still recognized me.

“You should really update your security,” I said coldly as I stepped into the conference room that my team was in.

No, not my team.  My former team.

Sam, Rhodey, Bruce, and Wanda were all standing around the table staring at a hologram.  But the second I’d walked in, they’d frozen in place.

“What?”  I took a step forward, ignoring how badly I wanted to collapse from sheer exhaustion.  “No words?”

The door behind me opened once again, and I could feel who it was without even looking.

“Sugar…,” James said, completely breathless.  “Y/N… You’re alive.”

I didn’t turn around.  Didn’t even look at him.  My fists clenched at my sides, sweat on my brow from willing myself to keep standing. I was in so much pain, it was insane. “Do you want to know what’s worse than being kidnapped and tortured?” I asked, hating the waver in my voice.  The five of them were watching me with something akin to horror.  “Realizing that your team—your so-called family—isn’t coming for you.”  Sam took a step forward and I shook my head, taking a step back. “Don’t bother,” I said.  “I’m done.”

I turned on my heel and made to leave the room, but stopped in my tracks when I saw James staring at me with heartbreak in his eyes.  He looked just as beautiful as he had the day I was taken, with his dark hair half-pulled up.  Everything I had felt for him seemed to come back ten-fold but I pushed it away.  Taking a shaky breath, I brushed past him and began to head for the exit.

As far as I was concerned, I was done with the Avengers.

“Y/N! WAIT!”

I ignored the man calling after me, walking as quickly as I could.  It was a lot harder and had a lot less impact with a limp.

James quickly caught up, moving so he stood in front of me, blocking my path.  “Y/N, please.  Wait,” he said, blue eyes blown wide as his hands went to my shoulders.

I roughly shoved him away from me as though I’d been burned, eyes narrowing.  “Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarled.  “Did you even try to find me?”

“Of course, I did.  I—”

“Then how did you not find me?” I asked.  My chest was heaving from the exertion.  “I was in an abandoned house in upstate New York.  I managed to get out and find my way back here in eight days.  I’ve been gone for almost a year and a half, and I was in the same god damn state.”

James looked at me as though he’d had his heart ripped out and tossed to the ground. “Y/N, please…  I’m sorry we didn’t find you,” he croaked, his eyes watering. “Please, stay.  You…  You don’t have to be a part of the team, but—”

“Why?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.  My face was flushed as I tried to keep myself steady.  I needed to get to a hospital, or at least a place I could take care of my wounds myself.  “Give me one reason to stay.”

“Because I love you!”

I froze, my heart stopping.  “No, you don’t.”  I moved to walk past him, hyper aware of the stares we were attracting.

“Would you listen to me?!”  He chased after me, easily keeping up.  “Y/N, I am falling in love with you, okay?!”

“Well, don’t!”  I pivoted, almost causing the super soldier to crash into me.  I felt like I was going to combust from anger and frustration.  How long had I waited for him to say those exact words?  I’d waited for a year before the Snap, then desperately tried to get him back for five years, and then waited two and a half more years for any return of my feelings. But now it was too late.  “Okay?!  Don’t fall in love with me!  Because I’m done!  I’m done with this team!  I’m done with this family!”  The energy around the two of us crackled, like lightning was about to strike.  I took a deep breath, grounding myself.  “I.  Am. Done.”

“We searched for you!  For the entire time you were gone, we never stopped looking!” James retorted, his face red.  The vein in his neck was popping out against the rest of his skin.

My hands were shaking as I thought about that time.  I’d been so scared, even though I couldn’t show it. “I spent a year and a half waiting for you,” I said.  The tremor in my voice betrayed how hurt I actually was.  “And I waited years before then for you to want me the way I wanted you.”

“Sugar,” he said, earnestly searching my eyes.  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.  “Baby doll, please.  I love you.”

“I told you not to fall in love with me,” I whispered, though there was no conviction behind it.

A small smile tugged at his lips.  “I’ve never been good at following orders.”

“I’m still here!”

Scowling, I pointed the knife at Harold Carr, who got real quiet, real quick.  “We’re having a conversation.  Don’t be fucking rude.”

James straight up smirked at that, his tongue running over his teeth.  “So those feelings you had for me—any chance they’re still there?”

“Don’t be an ass, or I’ll carve up your face next,” I threatened, even though we both knew it was empty.  There was no way I’d touch his pretty face.

As if to prove that point, he pursed his lower lip and sauntered towards me.  His chest pressed against mine, his flesh hand moving to cradle my face.  “I’m in love with you.  Always have been.  Always will be.”  His calloused thumb rubbed against the soft skin of my cheek.  “If you don’t have feelings for me, I’ll walk away.  But if you do…”  His hot breath fanned over my face and his lips were so close.  I just wanted to kiss him senseless.  “Please.  Let’s figure this out.”

Everything that had happened over the years flashed through my mind.  My first time meeting him, realizing that I was in love with him.  Pining after him and spending five years trying to bring him back. Resigning myself to being just his friend after the Snap was reversed and he didn’t anything.  Being taken and praying for him to find me, only to rescue myself and walk away from life as an Avenger.

As much as I hated it, I missed it.  I missed being a part of a team.  Sure, the money was better doing freelance work like I had been since I left, but it was so lonely.

And there was no James.

My heart pounding in my chest, I grabbed him by the collar and pressed my lips to his.  Pieces inside me clicked together like a puzzle as his arms wrapped around me. Everything that’d happened faded away as my fingers tangled in his hair.

He was the one to break away first.  He leaned his forehead against mine as we savored in the moment.

“I love you.”  My nose nudged against his as I stole another quick kiss.

“I love you more,” he said, refusing to let me go.  There was a sort of magic that hung between us. A spell that could only be brought on by a kiss so right that it was as if fate had written it.

A spell that was broken by the man you had been interrogating before James had interrupted you.

“I still here!” He bellowed, his ugly face twisting.

“I guess we should take care of that, huh?” I asked, though my eyes didn’t break from the super soldier’s.

His lips brushed against mine in a promise of a kiss to come. “’We?’”

“Yeah,” I said, as though it was obvious.  “We’re a team, right?”

[boogiewrites]

Reports & Repertoire 17: Resentment & Return

Characters: Eddie Brock x Venom x Candace Miller (OFC)

Summary:  Candy tries to find her way about the world after being roofied and hushed by the media. Eddie is hit with a strong dose of karma, and it's two against one.

Warnings/Tags: Angst. Talk of past trauma and drugging. Revenge plots. Violence and threats.

Click on my icon then go to Mobile Masterlist in my bio for my other works and chapters. 

On the navy comforter of her queen size bed, sat in the middle of her minimalist white and grey room, Candy sits with her best friend Steph who is currently threatening her if she blinks one more time.

“You act like you’ve never put on eyeliner before.” Steph remarks with her judgment not hidden in her tone or expression.

“It’s different when other people are doing it!” She whines. “The makeup artist at work doesn’t do it as hard as you.” She mutters. “She’s also a lot nicer.” She shoots an accusatory brow her way.

“Well she’s getting paid isn’t she?” Steph smirks.

“Fair point.” Candy responds without nodding her head. “But you love me so you should be nice to me. I’m about to go do some important stuff I need support.” She reaches out and grabs at Steph’s unoccupied hand desperately as she bites her tongue and titters.

“Yeah, that’s what you got Eddie for now.” She snarks and shakes her head. “Speaking of, what does he think about all this?”

“He’s as pissed as I am so he’s down. He’s my backup.” She answers with a sultry lilt.

“I’m sure you are backing it up on that beefy, award-winning journalist.” She teases with a fanciful swipe of her hand. “Tell me. When you two have sex do you both have a press conference afterward to discuss the transaction?” Her face remains without a hint of sarcasm as was her skill set.

“As a matter of fact we do. It’s very productive.” She retorts with sassy. “The copy is good to keep and read later alone.” She grins.

“You fuckin’ nerds.” Steph mumbles and shakes her head. Steph was more skilled when it came to makeup than Candy. So for this undercover mission to the rich tech club where the drugging happened, she was helping her not look like herself.

After the initial turn down of her idea to expose the apparently rampant problem she’d been a victim of, she does what few journalists choose to do and gives away her story to someone else. There was a smaller female journalist who did some excellent work at a small newspaper locally. Candy offered her help to give her some footage, evidence and lend the story and support to the endeavor.

The night for the first recon mission was finally upon them. Eddie sits nervously in the modern and cozy living room, knee bouncing and knuckles white with worry. Venom tries to console him, assuring him they would never let anything happen to Candy. Eddie knows, finding his counterparts attempts at comfort to be failing. Putting his favorite person in danger wasn’t really something he could be talked into being excited about. Not a worst-case scenario by far, but a loudly nagging issue, was having to sit and listen to the men hit on Candy all night and that alone was raising his blood pressure.

Candy had pulled out all the stops when it came to mission from the glasses that had a camera inside and nail polish that reacted to Rohypnol, or Roofies. She had to specially ask for the kick starter to be sent to her before the release with the promise of free advertising after the fact to get it. She reveals her disguise, exiting from her bedroom, Venom slithering around the back of the couch to see her before Eddie. She was in something that looked entirely unlike her. A short and tight black dress, a push-up bra with chicken cutlets and enough makeup to give her flashbacks to middle school cheer competitions.

“How do I look?” she asks with a scrunch of her nose.  It’s usual button shape now straight with the help of Steph’s contouring.

“Not like you.” Eddie remarks with an approving nod.

“A big titty goth girlfriend.” Venom says with no humor or irony and the girls begin to laugh. “Why is this funny? This is what Eddie says. Why are you embarrassed Eddie? Large mammary glands and gothic styling are wonderful things in a girlfriend. She wears black. Like me.” he grins as Edie blushes.

“It’s a...an old internet thing, dude just… don’t go around talking about titties so freely. It’s rude.”

“I did not mean to offend… thought it was a compliment.”

“Good use of slang there, hun.” Candy praises his efforts. “I appreciate both of your thinking I have big tits though. It’s just the bra.” she laughs and shakes as Venom’s grin grows wider.

“Calm down.” Eddie groans.

“We are calm,” he says retracting himself back to Eddie’s shoulder. “Are you ready? We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

“Let’s check the camera first.” Candy says with a clear enthusiasm Eddie did not share.

They run the tests and she learns how to direct her gaze most efficiently. They’d gone over the plan a dozen times. Arrive alone, sit and be bait while Venom lurked on the roof and kept a lookout for her and her victim. They left the house separately, both in taxis that picked them up at places other than her house. She arrived as planned and sat, and waited.

For a girl that looked like her, in a bar like that, it didn’t take long once it was established she was alone. No one recognized her, but she didn’t expect them to, Steph’s contouring really was a miracle worker. She played fun and easy, and it took a few guys, but late enough in the night she finally caught one as she played drunk on top of everything else. She didn’t see the guys who had drugged her before, which was a letdown but anyone who would do this deserved it right?

She talked him up, a trust fund baby who, with his father's money, had a tech start-up. It took no effort on her part to get him talking about his genius and how HE would run Tesla if he had the chance. There were a lot of “Oh my god that’s CRAZY!” and “That’s SOOOO smart.”’s from her but he was so caught up in hearing himself he didn’t notice the soundboard answers as they came from her like a kid hitting buttons on a customized keyboard. With the mere suggestion of her excusing herself and asking him to get her another drink, he was antsy to put his own plan into action. On return, she tested it while distracting him with her chest. A task that proved almost too easy. She fake drank for a while before claiming to feel sleepy and wanting to “get this show on the road” before it got too late.

With a short walk, not even a few blocks down, she knew her alien accomplice was close, slinking in the darkness of the rooftops. The disguised Candy pulls the unsuspecting predator out of the street lamp lit sidewalk and into the dank shadows of the greasy alleyway.

“I  just can’t wait.” she giggles “I don’t want to chance my roommate being in and I want you all to myself.” she coos with a bop of her manicured finger to his nose.

“I mean, your roommate can join in too if she wants.” he offers with a smug smirk.

“Well, the problem is my roommates a dude.” She answers with an upward inflection.

“Ah, red flag much?” he laughs.

“No. He’s my boyfriend… and inhabited by a symbiote.” Her delivery goes flat, sober eyes meet the pursuer turned victim.

“What the fuck? You goth girls are fuckin’ crazy, man. Not even the drugs could come up that shit.” he shakes his head, still laughing.

“No. Really. He’s huge and dangerous and doesn’t like you. You’re a piece of shit who tries to drug women to sleep with them because you're a pathetic excuse for a human who can’t get laid on his own.”

“Wait, what?” he stutters, suddenly standing up straight as Venom drops from the rooftop behind her in an impressive slinking mass. She has to admit, the look of horror on his face did things to her. The sheer terror that only being faced with death could give a dense, self-worshiping asshole like him.

“We’re going to eat you. First that big head of yours...then slurp up your organs like fava beans and then drink your adrenaline glands like a nice  chianti.” His dagger teeth drip with drool, proof of his hunger and intention.

Candy beams with pride for the completion of their plan, stepping back and chuckling quietly at the reference Venom made. The guy doesn’t even have time to scream. There’s not a drop of blood or splatter left of him to find. It’s like it never happened at all.

Candy is left with a deeply satisfied, albeit disturbingly good feeling in her gut. “I’ll see you later, babe.” she whispers and just as quiet as they’d came, they fled.

This continued for a few weeks, the footage of the drugging is stored on an external harddrive Candy kept in her safe. Eddie thought it’d only happen once. But it happened again, twice, three times more before there were articles about mysterious disappearances of the young rich elite in town. Was it the work of the Illuminati some articles asked? She read them with her coffee every Tuesday and smiled knowingly. It pleased Venom. Finally, a human that understood him and his need to kill to eat and protect this planet and its people. But Eddie was more worried than relieved at this point.

—- “You made us stop hunting when we got too much media attention. And now you want to go out and do it again?” Candy could hear the concern for her in Eddie's voice but her own was too strong to heed his warning.

“I wanna find the guy that originally did it to me, Eddie.” Her eyes give away the hurt that’s been fueling her anger as her hands move animatedly while she argues her point. “These are awful people, same as who you get rid of, there’s no reason not to give it one more shot.”

Eddie sighs and puts his hands on his hips, feeling as if he was talking to his old self. “Candy, I don’t want a fight alright? I get why you’re upset and I’d be upset too!” His voice inflected hugger pitched with feeling, “Hell, I AM upset! I get it. I do but ya know you can’t keep pushing it. Your luck will run out… like mine did. You’ll push it just one step too far because of your pride and then boom, it all falls apart.”

“Am I supposed to just let it go what they did to me? To the countless other girls they’ve done it too?” He saw the tears she fought back and his heart hurt for her. He suddenly understood everyone that had tried to warn him of the same thing in the past. It was weird karma to witness.

He sighs and gives her sad and tired eyes, much like the ones she was giving him. “You aren’t… losing by moving on ya know. You can’t win them all, just believe me, babe, please. I’ve BEEN where you are alright? I GET it! I swear I do but you can't fix every wrong out there. You just can’t… I’m sorry.”

“I’m going out tonight. And you’re going to be there. That... I hesitate to call him a person but that asshole will be there who did this to me. I just know it. Let me do it just one more time and I’ll stop okay? Please Eddie?”

He groans and feels Venom wants to give his two cents. He was on Candy's side. But of course, he was, he didn’t grasp the situation fully because he couldn’t, he was damn near indestructible right now and one more buffet of bad guys seemed like it had no downsides when you took into account it meant making Candy happy. And they both wanted that, so desperately. She’d been so much happier since they’d started this after the funk she denied she’d fallen into after the roofie.

“Fine.” He says with more anger. “But just one more time Candy I swear to god, this is the last time I’m helping you do this.” He wags his finger and she doesn’t care. She doesn’t notice. She’d already gotten her way.

—— She had her ritual now she liked to do, the getting ready and primping. The adrenaline rush was enough to get anyone hooked on the feeling. Perhaps it was what made her go against sound advice. Perhaps it was the lack of justice for herself, feeling like a martyr to take on people who seemed untouchable. It was the origin story she’d dreamed of since she was young. A woman wronged, going against the bad guys for the ultimate revenge and winning against the odds. It was everything she’d wanted. And she foolishly thought she could have it.

She was right about one thing. The guy that drugged her was there that night. She and Venom only used this convenient coincidence to shut Eddie up. “It’s a sign!” They’d hissed together.

“It’s a bad idea.” was Eddies defeated reply.

Candy enjoys this one a little too much, a little too true-crime podcast subject for Eddie's liking.

She leads him to the alley with her curves and promises. Her heels giving her no trouble but her wobbly ankles playing like they did all the same to the target.

“You believe in karma?” She proposes, lips so close she could taste the alcohol in the air on his breath.

“Nah, you get what you work for. You gotta step on some toes sometimes to prove you’re the best. If you lose you didn’t try hard enough.” He cockily answered. Something he’d probably picked up from the few interactions he had with him billionaire father growing up. His trust fund was a shield against his own evil deeds.

“That’s a shame. Because I do.” She sighs.

“I don’t think we have to match up on our philosophy 101 ideas, babe.” He chuckles. “Don’t have to have anything in common at all to do what I wanna do to you.” His hands lead to her hips and next thing he knows there’s a knife pressed into his neck. This was new. This wasn’t part of the plan.

Eddie's heartbeat picks up as he sees through Venom's eyes what’s happening. She was in too deep and she was only going to dig herself deeper.

“I’m glad we have one thing in common for what I’m going to do to you.” She snarls, taking her wig and glasses off.

“What the…?!” He says with no fear and only surprise. “Wait aren’t you? Holy shit you again?” He laughs. “So you’re the one doing this little vigilante justice thing. How cute.”

“Cute? You were going to rape me and my friend you fucking disgusting, baby dicked piece of shit.”

“They're onto you sweetie.” He grins. “You can do whatever you want to me but you think killing the brightest minds in the world was a smart idea? Like no one would come looking? You really are stupid.”

“You can call me whatever you want because you’ll be dead and I’ll be able to breathe a little easier knowing one less asshole like you is in this world.”

“Do what you want little girl, but I’m gonna put up a fight you can’t win.” He smirks.

“Doubtful.” Is Venom's response as he appears looking over Candy in the dim and dank alley.

“Good riddance.” She says angrily, putting her wig back on. She continues to mutter curses and name call while her eyes well up with a long-held release that was a long time coming.

“Are you-“

“I’m FINE.” She snaps and wipes at a falling tear. Venom recoils noticeably. “I’ll... see you later.” She rushes out before stomping off.

“Eddie?”

“I know man. She’s just… going through a lot.”

“We are worried.”

“Yeah. We are.”

-----------------------------

@hardygal69​ @marvelgirl7​ @emerald-bijou @brianaisasongbird​ @vale0413​ @izzy-the-ginger​ @chortletortoise @onomatopoetic-aesthetic @anrm1 @jademox​ @nightcraver​ @venomous-possibiities @tinastarkandco​ @chipster-21​ @ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes​ @queenof-wakanda @s-h-e-w-r-i-t-e-s​ @peakys-mystic​ 

[archdukecaleb]

Monochrome Week 2020 — Day 6: Music AU

Word Count: 1757

The halls of Beacon High were empty as Blake walked down them with her hands in her pockets. The final bell had rung mere moments ago, and most of the students had already gone home. The few that remained in the building were here because of various clubs and extracurricular activities. The faunus with black hair and amber eyes, however, did not fall into that category.

She adjusted the guitar case strapped around her shoulder. She was headed for the band room so she could play her guitar. Some of her friends always asked why she did not want to play at her house and, although she could, she preferred the privacy of a big, empty room. She always felt a bit self-conscious when other people heard her play.

A few posters on the walls caught her eye. The school was hosting a concert where students could try out and perform.

Blake would be lying if she said she had not thought about trying out once or twice. Ultimately, she knew she could not do it. She loved playing her guitar, but she could never handle being on a stage all alone. She sighed and kept her eyes forward.

On her way to the band room, she began to hear something. It was so faint at first, she could not put her finger on what it was. As she got closer, she realized it was a voice. Someone was singing their heart out and it sounded beautiful yet heartbreaking.

With her curiosity piqued, Blake followed the song and found herself at the doors to the auditorium. She slowly pushed the door open and was met with a massive, dark room. The only light was on the stage, and it shined over a single girl in white.

Blake sat down in one of the many vacant seats near the back. She was mesmerized by what she was hearing. The song was almost like a lullaby, but it made her feel distressed instead of sleepy. She did not realize she sat through the entire song until the girl stopped singing.

“How was that? Should I do it one more time?” the girl in white asked through her microphone.

Blake furrowed her brows and followed where the spotlight was coming from. She saw a few people—the tech crew, she inferred—give the girl a thumbs up. The music started up and Blake felt herself grow excited to hear the girl sing again.

She only listened until she got to the part she heard when she arrived and left the auditorium. The girl in white had a beautiful voice, and Blake adored hearing it, but she still wanted to play her guitar for a little while.

Finished with her little detour, Blake found herself humming the tune of the song she just heard. She finally made it to the band room and went into a closet near the back where she knew was an amp she could use. After plugging the amp into an outlet, she unzipped her guitar case, plugged it into the amp, and sat down on a cooler near the back wall.

Blake took a moment to tune up her guitar and strummed a chord. The sound of her guitar gave her chills every time. She went through a few chord progressions all while the song she heard dominated her mind. The chords she played soon began to match the song and she had to stop herself.

She gasped as an idea popped into her head.

I should make a cover of that song…

Giddy about her idea, Blake re-tuned her guitar and chose a key that was different from the original song’s. She did not want her cover to sound so familiar that she would be accused of copying the girl in white’s song if anyone heard her playing.

She started off slowly. Her style matched how the girl in white’s song began. It sounded like a lullaby and made her feel distressed. After the first chorus, she paused until a smile found her face. She cracked her knuckles, increased the tempo, and changed the style a bit. Now, it sounded less like a lullaby and more like a statement. It made her feel rebellious. She loved the sound and kept it that way until the next chorus. From here, a chuckle escaped her lips and she kicked it up a few more notched. Her fingers flew across her strings and her head bobbed to the beat. She felt amazing and powerful. By the time she was finished with the song, she had to take a deep breath.

Blake snapped her head to the door at the sound of someone clapping.

“Wow! That was incredible!”

Blake blushed as she locked eyes with the girl from the auditorium.

She had flawless, white hair and the crystal eyes of the lightest shade of blue Blake had ever seen. And she was coming right for her.

“You’re really talented! I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone play like that,” the girl laughed.

Blake’s cheeks grew redder, “Really?”

“Well, I suppose I have seen other people play like that,” the girl tapped her chin, “all of them are professional guitarists!”

Blake frowned, “Oh…”

The girl laughed, “That was a compliment.”

Blake looked up, “Oh!”

The girl laughed again and pointed to the cooler under Blake, “Do you mind if I grab a drink?”

Blake flinched and hastily stood up, “N-no. Not at all… Sorry.”

“It’s alright,” the girl smiled.

Blake watched as the girl opened the cooler and plucked a water bottle from the ice.

“Want one?” the girl asked, looking back at Blake.

“No, I’m good.”

The girl shut the cooler and greedily drank from the bottle until half the water remained, “That’s better. Singing for that long can really make your throat dry up.”

“Yeah, I bet,” said Blake.

The girl turned to Blake and extended her hand, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

“I usually like to keep to myself,” Blake chuckled, “I’m Blake.”

“Nice to meet you, Blake. My name is Weiss,” said the girl as Blake shook her hand, “So… That song you were playing… It sounded like it would fit perfectly with the song I’m performing at the school concert. All that would need to change is the key. Can you play that again in C-sharp Major?”

“R-right now?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, I just want to hear it,” said Weiss as she grabbed a microphone off a table nearby and plugged it into the amp, “Well, go on. Sit down!”

Blake blushed again and reclaimed her seat on the cooler. She looked up at Weiss.

“Ready when you are,” Weiss smiled.

Blake swallowed hard and tuned her guitar again to better fit C-sharp Major. When her fingers strummed the guitar, it started out slow again. The passion in her heart led the song until Weiss began to sing along. Blake watched Weiss’ expression.

Weiss’ eyes were closed as she nailed each note with perfect pitch and tone. She was gorgeous…

Blake began playing the first chorus and Weiss sang just like she did in the auditorium. She felt her heart flutter as Weiss opened her eyes and winked at her.

As she did the first time, Blake increased the tempo slightly and altered the style. She was surprised to hear Weiss do the same.

Now, Weiss was putting more passion behind her words and was having trouble stopping her body from moving with the beat.

Blake felt her smirk return as the next chorus came by, and Weiss sang it flawlessly in this new style. She readied her hands to increase the tempo again and was blown away by the sheer power behind Weiss’ voice.

Weiss was pouring her heart into the next verse and when the final chorus came along, Blake could not help herself from joining in.

“I’m not your pet!”

“Not another thing you own!”

“I was not born guilty of your crimes!”

Weiss opened her eyes again and grinned as she moved the microphone so they could both sing into it.

“Your riches and your influence can’t hold me anymore!”

“I won’t be possessed!”

“Burdened by your royal test!”

“I will not surrender,”

“This life is mine!”

Suddenly the room was quiet and Weiss stood by Blake, breathing heavily.

“That was amazing!” Weiss cheered as she spun in a circle with a laugh, “There are a few things we could work on, but I love it! It’s like a rock version of my original song! God, it’s almost like your accompaniment was made for this!”

Blake laughed and scratched the back of her head, “Who would’ve thought? Ha ha…”

“Ugh, I feel so powerful right now!” said Weiss as she turned to Blake with a massive smile on her face, “I want you to be on stage with me at the concert. I want to perform this version of the song!”

Blake blushed and looked down at her guitar, “I… I don’t know…”

Weiss crouched in front of Blake so she could see her, “Please come on stage with me? You are so amazing, and I really want to perform this song! Pretty please?”

Blake found herself lost in Weiss’ pouting eyes. She was irresistible.

“Okay,” Blake smiled, “I’ll do it!”

“Yes! Thank you!” Weiss laughed as she squeezed the life out of Blake with a crushing hug.

After the shocked expression on Blake’s face disappeared, she reciprocated the hug.

Weiss pulled away, practically bouncing where she stood, “I have to let the tech crew know about the change. In the meantime, there are some things I want to look at and practice before the concert. How about we meet up later and discuss it over dinner?”

“Dinner?” Blake asked.

“Yeah, we can go wherever you want,” said Weiss, “What do you say about tonight?”

“Uh…” Blake felt her heartbeat skyrocket, “Sounds good to me.”

“Excellent!” Weiss cheered as she turned, only to turn back, “So… It’s a date?”

Blake was caught so off-guard she almost forgot to answer, “D-date…? I’d like that.”

The smile on Weiss’ face doubled in size. She spotted a marker on a table and snatched it. After looking for a piece of paper and not finding one, she grabbed Blake’s hand and scribbled a few numbers on her palm.

“See you tonight,” Weiss giggled and walked out of the band room.

Blake looked down at her hand and sighed as the butterflies in her stomach faded away.

“What the heck just happened?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The song I used in this is called “This Life is Mine” from the RWBY Volume 4 soundtrack by Jeff Williams

[indigomez]

Second time’s a charm

A/N: This was requested! Lmao there’s so many soft boy peter smut in my inbox it’s honestly fucking hilarious.

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader! 

Genre: Fluffy and smutty ;)

Warnings: None, other than soft! Peter parker sex. ;))))))

Summary: You and your boyfriend have been dating for three years, now being seniors, you two decided to try something new, so here’s your second try :)

It was a late night in Queens on a Saturday night. Peter said he had Avengers things to take care of since Tuesday this week, but not anything out of the norm. You’d only see him in school or during Spiderman duty,

But tonight it was pretty lonely, your parents were gone for two weeks because of your mother’s popular new book she just published, and along with your father being the Ceo of the new school’s tech division board, they were pretty busy. Leaving you alone in your city high rise apartment.

You tried calling Peter but he never answered, only texting you by the time you’ve fallen asleep. But tonight you were stumped by writing this essay, over the stupidest shit to man you just sat there at your desk with your laptop mocking you, the flashing of the typing bar screamed just fucking type something but nothing came to mind.

You groaned, rubbing your face when you felt a light tap at the window, turning your head, you saw the familiar red and blue spandex suit. Smiling like a whole idiot you ran towards your window, quickly sliding it open. Smiling wider as he climbed through your window with a grunt, placing the large plastic back on the floor before cupping your face in his hands, 

He was quick to lock his lips with yours, he missed holding you, your warmth, the taste of your lips was always something familiar to him, you moved some of your desk nicknacks aside as he pushed you backward, you quickly hopped onto your desk, not losing the connection of your lips on his, he stood in between your thighs, running his hands up and down your curvaceous body.

“Oh god, I missed you so much.” He whispered against your lips, smiling as he slowly pulled away, you looked into his warm chocolate eyes. “ I missed you too love...” He smiled and pecked your lips one last time before walking away, you quickly hopped off the desk. “So, how you been?” 

“Good, Mr. Stark wanted me to do some training and run some tests.” You hummed, as he sent one last text to may before placing his phone on your nightstand. “Have any plans tonight? You know that new lego’s movie came out-” 

“Uh, I was actually thinking... We do something else.” Peter muttered, turning towards you with a heavy blush on his cheeks. “Oh, well. What did you have in mind.” You asked, Peter fiddled with his fingers, not daring to stare at you. You were dressed in an ‘ I survived my trip to NYC’ shirt and your favorite soft lace panties. You smelled sweet and citrus, your watermelon and mint body wash along with the cocoa butter lotion made his mind go haywire.

“Uh... Uh- are your parents, home?” He asked, you nodded your head no. “They're gone for two weeks.” His eyes bulged out of his head, his head popped up as he looked at you. “Really?” 

“Yeah, for two whole weeks, and remember. Schools out this week because of property damage.” You laughed, the blush on his cheeks softened as he laughed, remembering what happened. “So, we- we have the world to ourselves huh?”

“We sure do, so. What did you have in mind?” You smiled, walking up to him as he instantly put his hands on your hips. “I-I dunno-”

“Well, I was thinking. Since you know we have nothing to do. My parents are gone, there’s no school.” You rambled on, your fingertips tracing the intricate design on his suit. “We can, try again.” You looked up at him, pressing the spider pendant on his chest, his suit falling off of his shoulders as his eyes stared at your every move. Your eyes watched as you pushed his suit off of his beautifully toned body.

“Fuck,” You whispered, looking back into his eyes as he stared back at you. You cupped his face, placing a sensual kiss on his lips before kissing his jaw, then down his neck. He shuttered by the warmth of your lips against his skin, moaning at the feel of you biting on his ear and your hands roaming his upper body.

“Y-Y/N” He muttered, his hands snaking his way up your back. You moved back, staring as his god-given abs before looking back up at him. “This isn’t fair.” You chuckled as you lifted the hem of your shirt, throwing it onto your dresser as his eyes never left your chest. “Sheesh Peter, never seen tits before? We were in the same health class.” You laughed, throwing your arm around your chest to cover up, but he was quick to hold onto your wrist, locking his eyes on your beautiful chest,

“No... there just...” He muttered, walking closer to you. He put his hands behind your thighs, lifting you up as if you weigh nothing. His lips lock on yours as he walks over towards your bed, sitting you down on his lap. His hands were excited to hold your soft breasts, “P-Peter wait-”

He stopped all movements, looking up at you with his wide puppy dog eyes. Afraid out of his mind that he hurt you. “Let me get the box-” He laughed in relief as you hopped off his lap and towards your closet. Smiling as your ass bounced with every step you took. Good god, he was so lucky.

When you came back with the familiar pink wooden box in hand, you tossed it to the side of you and Peter as you sat in his lap and opened the box. The familiar red tint staining your cheeks as you saw the packets of unopened condoms.

“Uh, uh- um, which one? Are you.” You stuttered, turning the box towards him, he chuckled. Grabbing the Trojan Bareskin packet from the variety of different condoms from the box, Damn, did condoms always look this weird?

“Pete?” He looked up at you, you slightly shifted, getting comfortable on his lap. “Are you nervous?” You muttered, your heart pounding against your chest as you looked into his soft warm eyes. He smiled, kissing the tip of your nose. “Of course I am, this is my first time, our first time. But don’t be scared to tell me if something hurts, please.” You nodded, smiling back at him as you pushed him onto his back.

“Are you sure you wanna do this?” He panted, his heart racing and banging against his ears as he looked at your face, sweat coated your face as you opened your eyes, nodding with anticipation. “Yes Peter, please... Do you wanna-”

“You already know, just making sure.” He huffed, looking down between your bodies, as he aligned himself against your core, you shuddered by the feel of him against you, you smiled. Biting your lip as you try to keep your composure.

“Okay... okay.” Peter whispered to himself, giving you one last look of reassurance. Giving him a quick nod, he slowly pushed in. His hands gripping the sheets tightly as you both moaned at the new feeling. “Ohh, fuck.” He hissed, moving in deeper slowly, it was driving you crazy.

“Peter.” You sighed, grabbing onto his damp shoulders, “huh- yeah?” 

“Move, please move.” He started off at a decent speed, your whole body relaxed as you let out a soft moan. “F-Faster- Fuck!” He knew at this point he had to be doing something right, he could see the goosebumps on your skin, your nipples on your breast hardened under his fingertips, he could feel your chest hum with each moan. Your back arched off the bed as you scratched onto his shoulders, he hissed at the feeling of your nails digging into his bare skin. And good god did he love it.

“Y/N... I’m so close.” He whispered into your ear, his hips becoming jagged with every thrust, he placed his head into your neck, kissing, licking, and biting your neck and earlobe as you were already on edge. You grabbed on to his hair, your fingers getting tangled into his messy brown curls.

“Peter- “ You felt the roughest wave of orgasm you’ve ever felt. Stamping your eyes shut as you grided your clit against him as he continued thrusting into you, it was body shaking, like the first time you’ve ever given yourself an orgasm. This one felt straight groundbreaking, your core shook as you cried out his name, 

Peter soon came too, as you were slowly riding out your high. He moaned your name as he held onto your hips, riding out his orgasm as you rubbed your swollen clit. “Fuck, fuck!!” He cried, his thrust growing sloppy as he rode out his high, with one final thrust, he let out a huge moan. His body collapsed onto you as you held him in your arms. Catching your breaths you both laid there in peace, letting your fan cool off your sweaty bodies. 

“T...That was, amazing.” He muttered against your chest, slowly rolling off of you and pulling out, before sitting his head on the pillow next to you. You turned to your side facing him, smiling at his red face. “It was, second times a charm right?” He chuckled, pulling you into his chest and kissing your forehead. 

“I’m glad we did this, I’m glad my first time was with you.” You looked up at him, almost tearing up at the sincerity in this kids eyes. “I feel the same way, I wouldn’t change it for the world.” Kissing his jaw, he hugged you tighter, “Hey, you think I’m gonna become Spider-Woman?”

“What on Earth makes you think that?” He laughed, “I mean, you got bit by the spider, and that gave you powers. And we had sex-”

“Y/N, that is not the same thing.” He chuckled, you leaned on your elbows, facing him as his arm still held you. “Yeah, but wouldn’t it be fun? Us fighting crime together? Spiderman and Spider-Woman, common you can’t beat that!” He laughed at your enthusiasm, the light in your eyes glistened as you rambled on, he cupped your face before planting a large kiss on your lips, pulling back with a ‘muah!’  

“I’d hate for you to get hurt.” He muttered, his smile falling a little at the thought. It was your turn to cup his face, smushing his cheeks together. “I understand, but if I do end up getting powers, or anything. I’d still help you with anything, even fighting Mr. Criminal.” 

He gushed, wrapping his arms around your waist, rolling you under him as he slathered you in kisses. “Peter! That tickles!! C-come on, let’s shower. Then we can watch a movie.” He nodded, helping you up out of bed, letting you go into the bathroom first, smirking giving you a nice slap on your left cheek. “Or how about round two?” Smiling at him with a cocked eyebrow, you giggled. 

“You got a deal.”

[fernwehbookworm]

Woke The F*ck Up- Chapter 24

April 28th, 2018

Lena tries Kara’s cell one last time, scanning the room as panic grows. After five minutes, she had grown irritated, after ten, worry had begun to gnaw at her, now it had been fifteen and Lena had called Kara four times while asking patrons and bartenders alike if they had seen her. No one had. The bartender waved her in the direction of the manager's office. It was locked and dark. The schedule posted outside the door said he was off today. Finally, Lena gives in and calls Alex, cringing as it rings to voicemail. She calls again immediately.

“What Luthor?” Alex asks irritably, clearly being interrupted and sounding a bit breathless.

“K-Kara..” Lena’s eyes dart around the bar again,

“What about Kara?” Alex bites through a gasp.

“She… she…”

“Lena, what is it?” Worry starts to tint Alex’s voice.

“She’s missing”

“What do you mean?”

“She went into the bar for my jacket and never came back. No one has seen her. She’s just gone. She won’t answer her phone either.”

“Are you sure she isn’t doing her night job?”

“And just left me standing on a sidewalk, alone, drunk, in front of the bar?”

“Shit, your right. Okay. Stay right there. Sam is on her way to get you in a Lift and take you back to the hotel. Don’t go anywhere alone. I’ll head into work and see if we can pull security feeds.”

“Okay. Alex?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m worried.”

“Me too. But let’s try to keep level heads, okay?”

“Okay.”

**

April 29th, 2018

Kara’s head throbbed; man, she drank way too much last night. Then she remembers she didn’t drink at all. Her eyes snapped open and immediately shut under the harsh fluorescent lighting. The fuzzy images of being drugged in the manager's office pull at the edge of Kara’s brain but she can’t make out the face of whoever it was. Kara moves to sit up and rub her eyes, something heavy clanks as she lifts her arms.

“What the…”

Manacles clasp around both wrists with a heavy chain, another chain leads to between her legs and the manacles around her ankles. Already the skin of her wrists was tinged red with irritation. It takes effort for Kara to focus her eyes through the pounding of her head. She’s in a small, bare room with only one light above her. The stench makes her think it used to be a janitor's closet of some kind. A harsh mixture of chemicals and mildew. Kara groans and rubs her temples. The door bangs open, making her wince and shrink away from the noise.

“Marvelous, you’re awake. I was worried that my dear Corben here had used too much.” Kara looks up at the voice sending chills through her. She knows that voice. She’s heard it before. From Lena’s hotel room.

“Veronica,” Kara growls out.

“Wonderful, you do remember me.” Veronica’s smirk sits like poison in Kara’s stomach. Instead of responding, Kara just glares at the woman lording over her. The figure behind her steps into the light as well. A man Kara had beat in the ring a couple of times, John Corben. He was the best of the underground fighters until Kara showed up.

“I’ve heard that you were the strong silent type. Always just showing up to a fight, collecting the money, and leaving without a word, isn’t that right? Andromeda?” Kara stiffens at the use of her alias.

“Yes, that's right. I know who you are. That’s why your here after all.” Roulette continues, unprompted.

“You see, no one ever leaves my games. There is only one way out of my service and no one ever takes it. So you see, my dear Andromeda, this is not something you can walk away from. You will fight for me. Then, if you live through your trials, your skill sets will be sold to those willing to pay for them.”

Kara somehow finds it in herself to laugh. This was a stereotypical villain rant that made Kara think of a bad movie or comic books. Veronica looks at her with disdain.

“What do you find so humorous?”

“Just this whole ‘You will work for me, or else’ spiel. Very good Veronica. Very Good.”

“Oh but my dear Kara, you will work for me or else. You see, I know your whole life now.” Kara stiffens at that, thinking of her other, other alias.

“I know where your gym is and where all your employees live. I know where your sister’s apartment is. And yes, I know where Lena Luthor is staying currently. Also, I know where the girl is, what’s her name? Ah, right. Ruby. She’s currently at a sleepaway camp in England. So yes, you will fight. You will win. You will win or die trying. Then, if you live, I will begin selling your services to the highest payers. Unless you want something to happen to those closest to you.” With every word, fear lances through her heart. The only hope was that Veronica seemed not to know about Power Girl.

“Veronica, please. Don’t do this.” Kara begs.

“Ah, ah, ah.” Veronica wiggles a finger at Kara.

“Its Roulette to you. Now, Corben, get Andromeda ready for her first fight. Try and escape and I think I’ll start with that lovely front desk girl at your gym. The pretty little blonde one.” Veronica leaves with a flourish.

Kara digs her nails into her palms and swallows past the lump in her throat. This was unbelievable. She was happy. Everything was going perfectly. Then she was so focused on making sure Lena was safe that she forgot to check her own surroundings. Kara groaned inwardly as she thought of the ‘I told you so’ that she would get from both Lena and Alex. Her thoughts are interrupted by Corben throwing a bundle of clothing at her face. He then bends down to unlock her manacles.

“Change. Don’t try anything. We have cameras and men everywhere. I’ll be right outside.”

Kara sighs and looks at the clothing in her lap. Basically identical to what she used to wear in fights. Blue boxers shorts, a sleeveless blue hoodie, and a dark blue face mask. Black tape was also in the bundle for her wrists. Kara sighs again and begins to dress, at least Veronica seems to want to keep Kara’s identity secret.

**

Lena hugs Sam tight as she picks her up. They head back to the hotel and Sam forces Lena to sit on the couch while she whispers encouraging words and they wait for Alex. It’s hard. Lena feels dread seep into her chest. The past year of her life running in circles through her mind, over and over again. Something is nagging at her but she can’t figure out what. The only possibility is that some criminal or someone had figured out that Kara was Powergirl. Lena’s mouth tasted dry and like bile as she fought the urge to be sick. Panic raced through her veins as Sam sounded like a droning in her ears. It could have been hours or even days before Alex knocked on the door. Sam got up to let her in and hugged her tightly. Then Alex sat in front of Lena on the coffee table. Lena’s watery gaze met Alex’s distraught one.

“It’s not good. The footage was corrupted. We think whoever targeted Kara paid off someone in the bar to get in and out unseen. One of our tech guys found the van used for the abduction and was able to trace it back through traffic cameras to a street corner about two miles away. This is all we could get.” Alex produces a folded paper with a picture printed on it. Lena squints at the sheet, trying to make out the grainy facial features.

“Fuck.” Lena whispers.

“What is it?” Alex asks.

“I think… I think that’s John Corben.” Lena manages, flashing back to drunken nights in Veronica’s private back offices of her clubs as the man stood silently by. No doubt hearing the sounds Lena made while in those offices. She wasn’t embarrassed then but she was now.

“And who is that?”

“He’s Veronica Sinclair's personal bodyguard.” Alex visibly winces when she says Veronica’s name.

“I take it Kara told you everything then?”

“Yup. But why would she want Kara? Does she know about Powergirl?”

“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think Powergirl did anything to interfere with Veronica’s business…” Lena trails off, remembering what one of her businesses’ was.

“Lena?” Alex waves her hand in front of Lena’s face as she zones out. Lena shakes her head and looks at her.

“Alex, do you know what Kara’s alias was in those fight clubs?” Lena asks slowly, putting the pieces together even before she knows the answer. Alex looks shocked that Lena even knew that.

“I...uh… yeah, she went by Andromeda.”

“Dammit, Kara!” Lena stands to pace and run fingers through her hair.

“What is it?” Alex follows Lena as she paces.

“Andromeda was Veronica’s biggest moneymaker. When she disappeared, Ronnie was pissed. Like didn’t even want to have hate sex, pissed. She swore to hunt down whoever it was and force them to work for her again. She rattled on and on about more and more illegal jobs and how she would target her family to make sure she couldn’t refuse. It was scary. And now, now she has Kara and obviously knows who she is. And now Kara is God knows where being forced to do illegal things just so Veronica won’t hurt me, or you, or your mother. And-”

“Lena! Breath!” Alex stops Lena’s frantic pacing by grabbing her shoulders. Lena jerks to a stop by the strong hands on her upper arms. Alex’s eyes are fierce.

“So you are saying. Veronica Sinclair is behind the underground fights?”

“And gambling clubs, and around forty percent of the drug trade. She goes by Roulette.”

“Dammit, Kara!” Alex groans and begins pacing herself.

“Okay. Well, that’s more than we had. Let me make some calls and reach out and figure out where the next fight is.”

“Don’t bother. I know where it is.”

“What? How?”

“Veronica still wants to win me back in her own twisted way. She sends me invitations to her private viewing box still. It’s so one-percenters can watch the fights and pick from her muscle for higher, and indulge in other activities.”

“Wait, like actual invitations?”

“Yeah, wait hold on.”

Alex sat on the couch next to Sam who had been letting Alex and Lena work through things. When Alex leans forward on her elbows and lets her head hang between her shoulders, Sam starts rubbing circles between her shoulder blades. Lena disappears into the bathroom and rummages around.

“You’ll find her. I know you will.” Sam whispers, Alex relaxes under her touch.

“Here!” comes a triumphant cry from the bathroom. Lena reappears with a crumpled paper as she shakes of a tissue and a floss string. It looked like it used to be nice. Gold trim and black calligraphy.

“It’s just an address, downtown in the warehouse district.”

“Perfect. I’ll get a team ready.”

“We can’t just charge in. Not until Kara is safe. Veronica may want to have revenge but if I know her, she will settle for simply killing her.”

“Lena, I am a Federal Agent. My priority is Kara’s safety. But this could be big. Roulette has been a mystery in the FBI for a long time. The DEO has even been consulting on it. This needs to be called in. Undercover team first, well, address first.” Alex holds out a hand. Lena starts to hand it over but hesitates.

“One condition. I come with you. Undercover.” Lena clutches the address to her chest, out of reach.

“What? No! It’s too dangerous.”

“Either I go with you or I go alone.” Lena raises an eyebrow in defiance. A solid five seconds pass before Alex relents.

“Fine. Give me the damn address. I’ll text you when and where to meet me.” Alex stands and takes the proffered paper. She heads to the door, stopping when Sam grabs her hand. Sam presses a hard kiss to her lips. Alex kisses her back with surprising passion.

“Be safe,” Sam whispers.

“I’ll be back.” Alex reassures her, “I’m not done with you yet, I don’t think I’ll ever be.”

Then Alex is gone. Leaving Sam staring after and wondering just what she means.

“Wow, that was… intense.” Lena chimes in behind her.

“Yeah…” Sam says faintly, then she shakes herself out of the trance.

“I need you to be safe too. I don’t like you doing this.”

“What? No kiss to go with that?” Lena teases, avoiding the seriousness of it. Sam just glares.

“Come on, let’s get you ready. What does one wear to a secret underground fight club that one’s ex runs?”

“Oh, God. I don’t even know.”

**

Lena decided to keep it simple. A long black dress with a slit up to the mid thigh and elegant black Louboutin’s and a silver wrap. When Lena reached out to Veronica about RSVP-ing with a plus one, an hour later the bellhop arrived with a simple white box. The box held two masquerade masks.

Though I wish to see your lovely face, no one else should.

Sam was dressed in jeans and a sweater, she had convinced Alex to let her sit in the surveillance van. Which Lena teased her about having the Agent wrapped around her finger.

“I can’t just sit here and wait for my best friend who may or may not live. At least there I’ll be closer and apart of it.” Sam defends.

“Sure. You're just worried about me. Not a very butch lesbian who is showing her soft side in concern for her sister. That way you can pretend it's not doing things to you.” Lena drawls out. Sam flushes in embarrassment.

“I know it’s not good. I mean Kara is in danger. But the whole, take charge and savior aroura she has going…” Sam trails off and bites her lip. Lena throws a pillow at her to snap her out of it. Lena cackles at her friends startled expression before there is a knock.

“Ass…” Sam mumbles standing to let Alex back in.

Alex is wearing a dark blue dress that takes Sam’s breath away. It hugs her hips in a war that tactical pants do not. The deep neckline interrupted briefly to have a small window just below her breasts and it makes Sam want to just stick her fingers in and tear it open. Sam swallows.

“Hey, sorry. It took too long to convince the director to move on this. It is technically an FBI case so there will be a lot of paperwork later. But we are ready now. Are you two ready?” Alex is too busy talking to notice Sam’s staring.

“Yes, here. Veronica sent these. I’m guessing the rich and powerful don’t like being known.” Lena holds out one mask to Alex. Ignoring her friend's obvious short circuit.

“Okay good. Sam, you can sit in the van, but please do what they tell you. Sam? Sam?” Alex finally notices her staring, mouth slightly agape.

Sam swallows hard. “Yeah, uh. Van. Got it.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Just...uhh… dress.” Sam manages.

Lena grabs her clutch and mask before brushing past the two still standing in the doorway staring at each other. “Useless lesbian.” Lena mumbles.

“Bisexual!” Sam cries indignantly.

“Still useless.” Lena retorts as Alex follows them into the hotel hallway. Sam is about to retort again when she feels Alex’s fingers brush hers and instead twins their fingers together. It’s a small thing but it makes Sam’s pulse race.

**

Kara doges and side steps as the punch rushes towards her face. As far as she can tell it’s the third fight in as many hours. Her limbs feel heavy and sluggish. Still, she manages two quick jabs to the man’s ribs and feels at least two crack. He wheezes and collapses to his knees. Cheering and grumbling erupt as money changes hands. Kara leans over and puts her hands on her knees before the large man in charge of her comes to show her back to the small closet like cell she is being kept in. There had been a hard bench that was long enough to lay on and a camping toilet added after the first fight. Kara lay on the bench with a groan. A bruise was forming on her forearm from a particularly hard block. All her muscles were screaming at how hard she was pushing them.

“Next fight is in an hour. Here’s water. The VIP’s will be here soon so you better fight like your life depends on it. Because it does.” The man says in a gruff voice, tossing two bottles of water towards her, falling short to skitter on the floor. Kara groans as she bends to retrieve them, a bruise on her ribs protesting at the movement. Kara chugs half the first and uses the rest to rinse the sweat off her arms and face. Then she begins to sip the second and stare at the wall while she counts the seconds to her next fight.

**

The bouncer takes note of the masks and waves Alex and Lena towards the nicer door. Another man opens it for the two of them. It leads to a dark staircase that they climb and shouting grows louder.

“All teams, check in,” Alex commands into the earpiece. Lena hears the odd echo of her voice directly in her ear also.

“Alpha Team Set. Main entrance clear.

“Beta Team Ready. Roof is clear.”

“Gamma has South Ally clear.”

“Delta has North Ally clear.”

“Copy. Stand by. Remember, we want to capture as many as we can but Veronica Sinclair is the priority. Wait for my signal.” A chorus of “Copy that.” follows and Alex follows Lena into a dimly lit but well-decorated room.

The furniture is lavish with leather couches and regal chairs. Attractive men and women flit from group to group serving a melody of drinks from the bar on one side. Music floats from somewhere, doing nothing to obscure the shouting reverberating through the floor to ceiling windows. Lena’s eyes trail through the room before she drifts over to them. Below is a much rougher crowd of people standing around a makeshift cage as two men circle each other and exchange blows. She feels Alex join her.

“I can’t believe this is where Kara would go. She would have rather been here than with me.” Alex whispers.

“No. This is where she came to release all her anger. This is where she came to be the darkest part of herself. She couldn’t so that with you. But she doesn't need that anymore. She needs you now.” Lena whispers back.

“You’re right. Don’t jump people are watching so I’m going to put my arm around you.” Lena nods and points below, pretending to talk about one of the fighters. She leans into Alex as she slips an arm around Lena’s waist.

“This is one-way glass. We can see them, they can’t see us.” Alex points out. Lena nods, grabbing two drinks from a passing waitress and offers one to Alex.

“No. I have to keep a clear head.”

“Just sip it. It will look weird otherwise. I’ll drink half and we can switch.”

Alex just nods and refocuses below as the match ends. She’s looking for any signs of her sister. Her and Lena continue to whisper observations in order to look as couple-y as possible to the other members of the upper floor. Everyone wore masks and people flirted with whoever nearby. On one table were little white lines of premium cocaine. In another corner was a man dispensing pills like drinks. Veronica was for sure using these events to get rich people hooked on her products. Who better than to get addicted than the rich who could buy it on a consistent basis.

“Well look who finally accepted an invitation. I never thought you would.” A silky voice disrupts the couple. It sends chills up Lena’s spine but she plasters on a smile and turns to her ex.

“Ronnie, dear. How are you?” Lena tightens her arm around Alex’s waist and Veronica’s eyes narrow at that.

“Oh good, just being successful in my business endeavors and wondering why you finally decided to join me, with a plus one.”

“That’s wonderful. Well, this lovely woman is an extra from one of my new music videos. She wanted to see how the other half lived, so I’m giving her the full experience. Plus with the whole kidnapping and helping put my brother and jail with my mother next, I think I could use some more muscle around. Just in case.”

“Well then, it’s lovely to meet you…” Veronica indicates to Alex.

“Jessica.” Ales holds out a hand which Veronica ignores.

“Let me know if you see something you like Lena. I’d be happy to help with anything.” Veronica walks away, swaying her hips to indicate to Lena that she was an option also. Lena sighed and turned away. The ring below was getting rowdy again as the audience prepared for the next fight. Lena catches a flash of blonde under a blue hood. The face is obscured by distance and a mask but Lena would recognize Kara anywhere. Blue eyes flick up to glare at the windows on the second floor, Lena inhales sharply at the split skin on Kara’s cheek and the red stains on the tape on her hands. She’s been fighting a lot, Lena can tell by the slump of her shoulders.

“There she is. We should move.”

“How do you suppose my agents get through that crowd of people, most of which are likely armed? Then get up here to arrest Veronica?”

“Point Taken. What do you purpose?”

“Well, she thinks you’re here to hire muscle. So we watch enough fights to see a selection, then see if you can get a close up look at some of them. Hopefully, we can get them both separated then.”

“Okay.” Lena switches hers and Alex’s glasses, “now go get a refill.”

Alex saunters over to the bar with the empty glass and flirts a little with the pretty bartender while Lena watches as the other fighter is brought out, a bald overly muscled man who grunts and spits. Lena slips into the mask that Kara had so long accused her of using for her singer persona. Alex slips easily back around her, playing the part of the awestruck D-Lister who was getting her dream come true. Lena managed not to flinch as the bell rang and the man let out a war cry and charged. Kara easily sidestepped him and kicked the small of the back, sending him slamming into the chain link fence that separates them from the rowdy audience. He bounces off and right back into Kara’s fist in his eye.

The crowd seems to flinch together at it and then man sprawls on the ground. He tries to stand while blindly swinging and receives a knee to the jaw. His head snaps up before he hits the ground again, unconscious. A little blood dribbles out and Lena fears for a moment that Kara killed him. But then he groans and moves just a little. Two more burly men scramble into the ring to lift the fighter up and take him away. Then another man escorts Kara out by the elbow. And she goes without a glance back.

“Wow,” Alex says softly.

“Wow,” Lena repeats.

“I always forget how badass she is. I just always see that scared little girl that my parents adopted.” Alex waits for a response but all she hears is a loud swallow. She looks at Lena who is clearly flushed and breathing shallowly.

“Lena, god I can’t believe I’m saying this, but are you turned on? Right Now? Seriously?” Alex hisses.

“No!” Lena squeaks out, “okay, yes. Sorry, but she did that so casually. It just-”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Alex says sternly. Lena just laughs.

“Enjoying the show?” Veronica’s poisonous voice drifts from behind them.

“Very much. Who was that last one? She was impressive. Anything better?”

Veronica raises an eyebrow. She holds a hand out and a drink magically appears by way of a handsome waiter. She reclines in a high back chair and raises an eyebrow, looking Lena up and down. Lena looks away to push a hair off of Alex’s forehead, trying to feign uninterest. She must succeed because Veronica takes a drink.

“Yes, she is impressive. She goes by Andromeda. Undefeated so far but I still have a few fighters up my sleeve.”

“Oh? Anyone I might want to hire?”

“Possibly. I’ll let you decide later.” Veronica throws another wink before standing fluidly and sauntering away again, a queen in her queendom.

**

That was way too easy. Kara knew it was too easy because the fights had been getting progressively harder. Kara paced her small room trying to figure out why it was so easy. She didn’t break a sweat. The only thing was she had this feeling pricking at the back of her neck, like she was being watched. Which was crazy since she was, all the time. Even now she knew Corben was just right outside the door. Soon he opens the door again and prods Kara back into the ring. She stands alone this time and the crowd quiets.

The air is thick as Kara’s eyes dart about, confused. Her heart drums as adrenaline pour into her veins. The quiet is so loud that Kara could probably hear a pin drop. And then she does. Or the soft shink of metal on metal and her head jerks up. A shadow moves just above the light, then yells follow the shadow down. Kara gasps and flings herself out of the way. Kara tucks and rolls to spring right back to her feet. Twin thuds hit the ground as two men land. One pulls a dagger from the thin mat where he had plunged it in an attempt to catch her off guard.

“Shit.” Kara curses as she takes in the lean muscled men, both brandishing knives, both with murder in their eyes.

They circle in opposite directions, attempting to flank Kara. Kara keeps one on her left and one on her right. She can’t let one get behind her. Does Roulette actually want her dead now? Is she insane? Maybe she’s made enough money in the last twenty-four hours? Or has it been days? Kara has no idea anymore. But maybe Veronica has made enough money that Kara isn’t worth it anymore. A flash of metal and kara has to bat a knife out of the way and step out of the way to put both men in front of her again. She’s so tired that she had zoned out and nearly paid the price. The man stumbles into his partner who catches him to keep him from falling.

Then they both charge and Kara sinks into that space in her head. The one where nothing else matters. Where she can practically see every move before the opponent thought of it. The space where time means nothing, everything moves too slow and too fast. She flips the first man over her back, the second she knocks the knife away and jabs his gut. Then she grabs the scruff of his neck and throws him on top of his companion. They scramble to their feet again, one losing his knife in the flailing limbs. The other lashes out and Kara isn’t prepared for it. The blade grazes her forearm, sharp and burning. Bright red splatters on the ground and over the men’s dirty clothing. Kara stumbles back and grabs the wound on reflex.

Laughter and jeering echo around her as the men get to their feet. Kara takes a deep breath and re-focuses and sinks back into the empty space. Block, punch, spin, kick. Each move only using as much energy as necessary. Parry, punch, sidestep. There is the opening. Grab, twist, squeeze. The knife falls into Kara’s other hand, on instinct she takes it and plunges it right back into the man’s stomach. She ducks under a swing of the other man and steps behind him grabbing the back of his head and slamming it into a fence post, knocking him out. The man she stabbed is gasping on the ground, hands pressed over hole pouring blood out. Kara just waits to be escorted out the ring as the ‘nurse,’ a very loose term for the ex-marine with battlefield medical knowledge, rushes to stop the bleeding. Kara has seen the wound before. He should live. Corben tosses her a half used tube of antibacterial cream and tape. Kara applies it as she walks, tearing the tape with her teeth after tightly binding her bleeding arm. She’s so distracted that she doesn't even notice that Corben shoves her in a different room. A room with all of Roulette’s top fighters. Kara turns back to see Corben smirk.

“Wait here. No fighting. Speak to the patrons and be shot.” And he slams the door shut.

Kara walks over to and unoccupied bench in the spartan room and sinks into it. Making sure her hood and mask are still in place before shutting her eyes, ignoring the other men and women in the room.

**

“What is happening?” Alex whispers, seeing her sister standing alone.

“Shit. Look. Above her.” Lena points. Alex sees the two fighters perched above the ring in the rafters. Kara’s head jerks up just before they fall on her. They watch the fight unfold, Lena gasping and clutching Alex’s arms as she notices the small sharp blades. Lena can barely breathe for the next ten minutes as  Kara fights. She almost cries when she sees the blood sprout across Kara’s forearm. She barely contains another gasp as Kara stabs the man. And bites her lip to stop a cheer when the last man is knocked unconscious.

Lena flags down a waitress to ask for Veronica to get her a closer look at the product. The woman seems unfazed by the remark and nods. Lena finishes her third drink to still her shaking hands.

“She’s fine. She’s fine. She has faced worse.” Alex mutters, half to Lena, half to herself.

It just takes a few more minutes for a buff looking bodyguard to appears to escort them deeper into the building. Lena grabs Alex’s hand and swings it a little between them to try and keep up the flirtatious pretense. Veronica waits for them outside a door with an armed bodyguard. A large assault rifle in his hands. That could pose a problem.

“Lena, I’m glad to have piqued your interest. Robert, Be a dear and line them up.” The large man nods and enters the room. Shouting is heard before he holds the door back open for the women.

Lined against the wall are the fighters that Lena and Alex had already seen today, many fierce and scared, most underdressed to show off as much muscle as possible. Only one stands as a splash of color in the dull room, head down as she leans against the wall they are lined up against. Her knee juts out from her foot prooped on the wall, arms crossed, the injured one bandaged. When the door shuts, Kara stands and looks up. Dead blue eyes meet Lena’s then Kara stiffens and tears spring to her eyes. They crinkle at the corners as the only indication of the smile behind the mask. Lena’s eyes dart away to appear interested in the tall muscled woman near the middle of the line. Alex hangs back, trying to inch near the man guarding the door.

“These are my best that are here right now. I have a few that are temporarily hired out for jobs.” Veronica stands back, trying to act casual but her eyes dart between Lena and Kara. No doubt worried about recognition. It would look odd if the undefeated champion wasn’t here.

“However, be aware that their record reflects the price of hire,” Veronica adds as Lena circles the very large woman.

“Of course. I’d expect nothing less. Do you have rates and records written anywhere? I would like to know what I’m working with.”

“Yes, of course. Robert, please give Miss. Luthor the List.” Veronica asks her guard as Lena circles closer to Kara.

It happens almost too quickly to follow. As Robert relinquishes one of his hands on the gun to rummage in a pocket. Alex grabs the muzzle and yanks it sharply down while throwing her shoulder into the man, throwing Robert off balance and tearing it from his grip.

“Move In!” Alex shouts. Putting her back to the only exit of the room and training the rifle on its occupants. Robert reigns his feet and makes to lunge at Alex when a blue streak slams into him and into the wall. One quick punch knocks him out and Alex doesn't flinch her gaze away from Veronica as Kara stands. Shouts and running can be heard in the corridor A couple shots of gunfire but it doesn't seem to be a full firefight. Alex is getting a constant stream of updates in her ear as each room is cleared and as many people handcuffed as possible. Veronica tries to protest but Alex flashes her FBI Badge and hands Kara the handgun strapped to her thigh to keep the muscled men and woman at bay who look like they have murder in thier eyes. Lena had moved to stand next to her armed compatriots as they wait for the team to retrieve them.

“I can’t believe you, of all people, are working the Feds.” Veronica sneers from across the room.

“My dear Ronnie, You took something of mine. I had to get it back. Despite how much I hate my family, I am still a Luthor and that simply could not stand. Also a chance to get you behind bars so you can stop showing up in my life. You, are a poisonous snake Veronica Sinclare, always striking when I’m at my lowest.” Lena holds herself proud and above it all. Veronica is about to retort when a quick knock on the door and it is opened.

Agents pour in, in full tactical gear and begin handcuffing each person inside. Alex waving them off Kara and pulling her and Lena from the room. Alex quickly leads the way through the hallways and back onto the street. Assault vehicles and flashing lights of police cars and ambulances add chaos to the night and a tall, dark-skinned man calls Alex over.

“Director. Any casualties?” Alex asks when she reaches him. Kara and Lena still on her heels.

“None. A few injuries. Only one gunshot wound. Many of ground floor escaped but I understand we have Roulette.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good Agent Danvers. Miss Danvers, please see one of our medics for your injuries before signing the release papers. You too Miss Luthor. Agent, I expect you in at eight sharp to fill out all the paperwork for all this as well.”

“Yes, sir.” Alex barely manages to suppress an eye roll as he turns away.

“I’m sorry, they know Kara is Andromeda?” Lena asks.

“We know everything. All right medic, now.” Alex steers Kara towards the truck holding the DEO medic. Kara tries to protest, but at this point, she is too tired to.

Once safely inside the truck, away from prying eyes, Kara pulls down her hood and mask. The medic does a quick look over Lena then begins a much more careful one on Kara. He unwraps her arm and cleans the cut, deciding it doesn't need stitches. The medic turns Kara’s face side to side as he cleans the cuts there as well. But Kara doesn't notice. Her eyes are fixed on Lena. They burn into Lena and The air is tense. Even tenser when the medic asks Kara to take off her shirt to check the bruising on her ribs. Finally the medic has them both sign a release form and instructs them to wait until Agent Danvers returns to escort them home before he leaves and closes the door behind them.

“Hi.” Kara rasps out.

“Hi.”

“You came for me.” Kara states.

“I did.”

“Because Veronica took something that belonged to you?” Kara raises an eyebrow.

Lena clears her throat. “Yes, well… I had to… I mean…” Lena searches for an excuse.

“Fuck it.” Lena lunges forward across the center of the truck to kiss Kara’s cracked lips. Kara winces and Lena tries to pull away with an apology already on it’s way out when Kara pulls the back of her head closer. They stay like that until Lena needs air. She pulls away and sees the deep desire in Kara’s eyes.

“I can’t just stay friends with you anymore.” Lena whispers.

“Me neither. Can we start over?”

“Yes, please.”

[marvelmando]

tempest [p.parker x o.c.] - five

notes: im trying to write the far from home part but it’s just turning out so terribly! whatever, hopefully i get back in the groove soon

contains: some swearing, some violence, heights

pairing: peter parker + fem! o.c.

word count: 3k

previous chapter next chapter tempest masterlist

"PLEASE BE SURE ALL CELLPHONES ARE TURNED OFF."

Marin watched as Ned hesitantly turned over his phone to the lady waiting outside the auditorium, and she felt a pang of sympathy for him. Peter had yet to show up from his tryst from the previous night, and both her and Ned were growing increasingly worried. Marin was equally angry that he was going to miss the competition and nervous that something had happened to him. For all of the grief she gave him, Marin knew that Peter was truly loyal to his friends, and wouldn't have missed the competition if he could've helped it.

The beginning of the competition had gone by quickly—hours of Marin sitting backstage, waiting for the science portion of the event, chewing anxiously on her thumbnail and pacing incessantly.

Eventually, Marin was brought onstage for the science questions.

"What is the relation of the speed of the fluid flowing out of an orifice to the height of the fluid above the opening?" The moderator asked.

Marin pressed her buzzer immediately. "Torricelli's theorem." She squeaked out, relaxing when the moderator confirmed the correct answer. The team gave her pats on her back, and Michelle even nodded approvingly with a tilted smile.

Marin was only able to answer a few more questions, and time had blurred together as they approached their final questions. The teams were tied—the moderator announced they had entered sudden death. Marin was so nervous, her head swimming with restless nerves that she didn't register the question that was asked.

But then Michelle pressed her buzzer, and Marin sucked in a breath. "Midtown Tech?"

Michelle looked bored. "Zero."

"That is correct!"

The team erupted with cheers. Marin was the first to wrap Michelle in a hug, with Ned following. Michelle, she could tell, seemed unfazed by the victory, but smiled at their reactions nonetheless. Flash jumped out of his seat and ran across the length of the stage, whooping and hollering with delight.

"Midtown takes the championship!"

+++

It was Liz's idea to celebrate their triumph by going up in the Washington Monument. Marin was giddy with an adrenaline rush and she figured that all things considered, she would be able to handle the heights.

"Told you we didn't need Peter!" Flash was saying, waving around the championship trophy.

"Flash, you didn't answer a single question." Ned pointed out with a funny look on his face, causing Marin to snort rather embarrassingly.

Inside the lobby of the monument, while they waited to go through security, Ned pulled out his phone and dialed Peter's number. "Peter! Are you okay?" Ned whispered.

"He picked up?" Marin whisper-yelled at him, reaching for the phone.

"Don't worry, it's safe; it's in my backpack!" Ned responded, holding the phone firmly to his face so Marin couldn't grab it. He set his backpack on the conveyor belt, and while he was distracted, Marin nabbed the phone.

"Peter! Peter, what the hell—"

"—the glowy thing is dangerous!" Peter was yelling. Marin's eyes widened dramatically as she whipped around at Ned.

"'Glowy thing'?!" Marin hissed, staring daggers at Ned. "You brought it with you?!"

Marin could still hear Peter shouting when the phone was snatched out of her hands by Liz. "Peter, is that you?" She ranted at him. "You flake! You are so lucky we won. You know, I want to be mad, but I'm more worried. Like, what is going on with you?"

"Miss, all items on the belt, please." A security guard interrupted Liz, who nodded and place the phone on the conveyor belt without hanging up. Marin could only follow behind, as one-by-one, the team passed through the metal detectors and retrieved their belongings. By the time Marin had passed and reached Ned, the call was disconnected and Ned was tucking his phone into his jacket's pocket.

"What did he say?" Marin said mutedly to Ned.

"Call was already ended when I picked the phone up." He shrugged, as a tour guide corralled the Midtown team into the elevator. Flash, still holding the trophy, asked Mr. Harrington as the doors to the elevator slid shut: "Hey, Mr. Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?"

Marin rolled her eyes and the elevator ascended with a jolt.

Marin wasn't paying attention as the female tour guide monotonously recited facts about the obelisk. At one point, Mr. Harrington even tried to talk to her about his ex-wife, but Marin was too busy gnawing on her lower lip to notice. She was picking at her nail when a familiar magenta glowing light caught her eye.

"Ned—" she began to say, but suddenly the light grew violently brighter until it erupted, damaging the elevator shaft's framework. The car screeched to a jerking stop.

The car rapidly filled up with smoke, briefly obscuring Marin's vision, but Ned was close enough to her for her to see him drop his bag in a panic. "Oh god," she muttered to herself. The Chitauri core detonated much like a bomb—the electromagnetic waves from the x-ray machine must've set it off. And now, they were trapped in an unstable elevator box, some five-hundred feet in the air, with a bomb. Marin just hoped it wouldn't go off again.

"Oh, my god, look at the ceiling," Flash said, voice trembling. Sure enough, a glowing ring of red had burned through the roof of the elevator.

"Just stay calm, everyone." Liz tried to soothe.

Abe whined, "Oh, we are all going to die here."

Ned looked at Marin, visibly panicked. "Can you do anything?" He whispered in her ear.

Marin reached to her side, where her water bottle would be—but it wasn't there. Then she remembered she'd left it on her nightstand, figuring that she wouldn't have needed it, as she assumed they would have provided bottles of water at the competition if she ever got thirsty. She didn't even consider the possibility that she'd need to use her powers. "Shit," she cursed weakly. "I don't have my water." Ned clutched his head.

"We're freaking screwed." Charles lamented.

"Okay guys, I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working." The tour guide attempted to calm the group down, but someone started coughing, sending the rest of them on edge. "We're very safe here."

Marin knew it was a lie—they all did. As the seconds passed, the sounds of metal creaking were beginning to be heard. Marin could've tried to siphon water from the bodies around her, but it required a lot of energy that Marin didn't have. The altitude was making her dizzy, and she knew that even if she managed to gather enough water, her energy would deplete too quickly for her to do anything with it, and she'd been rendered not only useless but an unconscious burden.

The groaning of the framework deepened as the passengers moved about. Debris pinged against the roof of the car, and the tour guide had Mr. Harrington hoist her up to the hatch in the ceiling. Marin could barely make out the sight of park rangers opening the shaft's glass panels. Cindy was the first to be lifted through the hatch, and Marin could hear cords snapping. She grabbed Ned's arm.

Sally was next, then Charles, then Abe. Marin heard the distant sounds of helicopters. "Okay, who's next?" Mr. Harrington motioned to Liz.

She moved to grab his shoulder, but Flash shoved her out of the way, still clutching the goddamn trophy like a lifeline. "Me! It's my turn!" He cried, hoisting himself on Mr. Harrington's shoulders.

"Flash, seriously? What are you doing?!" Ned scolded, as Liz scoffed indignantly and Marin frowned at the boy's cowardly actions.

He was barely outside the hatch when the elevator shook violently, throwing everyone into a panic.

Flash thrust the trophy into the outstretched hands of the park rangers. "Take my trophy!" He moved to stand on the roof, and the car shook again, dropping a couple of inches.

"This is your last chance!" Marin vaguely heard the police cry from outside.

Flash had just been lifted out of the shaft when there was one last vicious groan of metal, the roof of the elevator ripping off and sending the car into a free-fall.

Screaming was all Marin could hear as she clutched the railing with one hand and Ned's arm with the other until the car came to an abrupt stop. Looking up, Marin saw a web connected to the outside of the car. She had only a moment to breath before she heard glass shattering and they were falling once more.

The car caught on something, and a figure crashed into the elevator as it halted. The momentum of the body hitting the floor caused the car to jolt and start falling again. Marin had never been on a roller coaster, but she absently assumed this was what it felt like—the swooping of her heart and the weight dropping her stomach into her feet.

Spider-Man aimed another web at the top of the shaft, bracing his feet on what remained of the broken metal roof, stopping the car yet again.

In the brief silence that ensued, Mr. Harrington, Ned, Liz, and Marin all stared at Spider-Man in a combination of shock, terror, and relief. Spider-Man cleared his throat roughly, adopting a thick New York accent. "Hey, how you doin'? Don't worry 'bout it, I gotchu." He began pulling the car up.

"Yes!" Ned cheered, pumping his fists and making the car wobble with his obvious excitement. "Yes!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Big guy! Quit movin' around!"

"Sorry, sir. So sorry."

Marin noticed the exertion Peter was putting out, lifting the car up one hand after the other. A quick glance over at Liz showed that she was thoroughly confused, probably as to why the hell Spider-Man had shown up in D.C., of all places.

Suspense grew thickly as Marin watched the car approach the top of the shaft. The park rangers pried the doors to the elevator open and pulled Mr. Harrington and Ned through. "Alright, this is your stop," Peter quipped, but his voice was tight with tension. "Go, go, go! Everybody out! Move it, people—move it, move it!" Marin looked up, and saw the metal bend under Peter's feet, ready to snap any second. Reacting on instinct, Marin pushed Liz through the door and into the arms awaiting her to safety—just in time for the ceiling to collapse, and the car to drop under Marin's feet.

Marin screamed, reaching her arms to grab Peter's, but missing it just barely. "No!" Peter cried out, instantly grabbing her wrist with a web.

He held himself up with his feet grabbing at a web while pulling a dangling Marin up with his hands. It was a strange sensation, the web attached to her wrist—chilled and a bit slimy, but secure and steady nonetheless.

"You're okay, you're okay," Peter repeated in a chant, sounding genuinely distressed. He grasped her hand when he pulled her up enough, not letting go until she was safe on the observation deck.

Marin stared into Spider-Man's mask, hoping to tell him something—anything—but her heart twisted when she realized that he was instead staring at Liz, his bionic eyes widened. "Is everyone okay? Are you guys okay?"

He went silent as Liz nodded, seemingly in a weird trance as she returned Spider-Man's stare. "Yeah," Marin mumbled, but it went unnoticed.

Then, the web snapped, and Spider-Man fell down into the empty shaft. The spectators gasped and peered into the darkness to watch the hero plummet. "Thank you!" Mr. Harrington called down.

Flash pushed Marin to the side to lean over the mangled frame, still holding the freaking trophy, to yell, "Are you really friends with Peter Parker?!"

+++

Initially, the team was supposed to stay in D.C. for another full day. But once everyone was brought to the ground with the help of many teams of policemen and firefighters, it was kind of a unanimous decision to head back to New York as soon as possible.

Once statements were made and their physical conditions were cleared by awaiting paramedics, Marin overheard a policewoman tell another that Spider-Man was nowhere to be found—he'd simply vanished. Before Marin could worry that he'd been injured (or worse), Peter had suddenly ran up to the group, claiming he'd gone for a walk early that morning and fell asleep in some park. No one really believed him, but everyone was still shaken up from the day, and they were more relieved to see that Peter was okay and unharmed.

Marin had gone to tackle Peter with a hug, but Liz had beat her to it. So that left Marin stopping short, feeling awkward and embarrassed, especially when she realized that Peter had barely even glanced her way, instead, fussing over Liz and her well-being. Marin had selfishly thought that she was the one who had really almost died, and Liz was perfectly okay and didn't need so much of Peter's attentions; but chastised herself immediately after, reminding herself that Peter had known Liza lot longer than he'd known Marin, and it was more likely that Peter would be more concerned for the older girl. It didn't make the sting of mild rejection any less painful, though.

But what surprised her most was Michelle coming to greet Marin with a swift hug, though she'd broken away almost immediately and acted as if she hadn't just expressed such relief. But Michelle's voice wobbled with concern, which was more than enough for Marin's eyes to well with tears.

Back on the bus, everyone sat close together, though no one really talked. Peter was with Ned, probably recounting the events that kept him away for the night, but Marin was too enervated to care. Whenever she closed her eyes, she was haunted with horrifying memories of the floor dropping out from underneath her and plagued with feelings of lingering helplessness. So she asked Michelle if she had a spare book, and Michelle handed over her now-finished copy of Invitation to a Beheading wordlessly, pulling another book from her bag.

Her eyes blurred and she didn't register the words she read at all, but it gave her something to distract her mind with. Distract her from the burning feeling in her chest whenever she let her thoughts run aimlessly.

It was dark outside when they reached the high school. The team scrambled off the bus to find their families.

Marin was the last to descend the steps, watching as her new friends embraced their parents and siblings and loved ones with open sobs and declarations of love and concern. Peter was enveloped into May's awaiting arms as she cried with relief. The sights made Marin's heart ache.

What if he wasn't there? Marin thought to herself. What if Spider-Man hadn't shown up to save the day? She wondered that if her parents were still alive, would they be just as happy to see her safe and sound? The hole in her chest where she normally felt empowered made her begin to believe otherwise.

Her wandering mind was interrupted when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. It was May, with one arm around her shoulders and the other tilted up, with her hand tenderly cradling the back of Marin's head. Marin returned the hug and began to cry.

+++

Back at the apartment, May made the teens hot chocolate and microwaved dozens of pizza rolls. They ate in silence, no one wanting to address the day's events. They were just fine with being in each other's presence.

Eventually, once all the food was gone and their mugs were drained, May retired to bed, kissing each of them on the temple, and wishing them a good night.

"Can we talk?" Peter rasped once May had disappeared down the hall. Marin nodded, following him into his room.

They sat together on the lower bunk, and a moment of silence passed as Peter summoned the words he needed to say.

"I'm sorry." Peter finally spoke, his voice cracking slightly. "I'm sorry—about what I said last night, and for ditching you guys, and almost getting you killed—"

Marin twisted and pulled him into a hug. Peter wasn't crying, but he was trembling in her arms, and Marin felt a pang of guilt for not considering how scared he must've been. They had both endured falling from that height together, and he even had to climb up the outside of the monument just to reach them. Not to mention, he was still probably traumatized from plummeting into the lake, not a few nights before. She clutched him tighter, shushing him gently.

"It's okay, Peter." She whispered into his hair. "You showed up, you were there, and you saved us, okay?" She pulled back to look Peter in the eyes. They were glassy like he was holding back tears. "You saved me. And I'll always be grateful for that."

He nodded, sniffing lightly. They peeled themselves apart, taking a moment to compose themselves.

After a while, Marin asked, "Why didn't you tell me, though, Pete? Why didn't you tell me before you made the decision to go fight those guys by yourself?" Her voice was surprisingly steady. "Did you not... I don't know, not trust me, or something? Because I thought we were in this together." She didn't mean to sound so needy, but yet it did.

"We are in it together, Marin." Peter urged. "I just... I know you like Mr. Stark, too, but if I told you that I needed to hack into the suit to disable the tracker, I knew you'd—"

"You hacked into your suit?!" Marin exclaimed. "You fool! What if you messed with something important and got yourself killed?!" She scolded, smacking his arm.

"Hey!" He grabbed where she hit him defensively. "I knew you'd object! 's why I didn't tell you! And then, you got upset with me—understandably so—" he pointed out at her vexed glare. "—and I didn't want to force you."

Marin sighed after watching his reaction, placated. "Fair enough, webs." The corner of her lips tilted up in a crooked smile. "What else did you do to the suit, then?"

Peter laughed, looking excited. "So, it turns out my suit comes with my very own AI lady..."

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