#i feel like someone stuffed my nose with an exhaust pipe

[x-azier]

They could be filming THE byler scene rn and we wouldn’t even know…

[mackeydoodledoo]

The Fifth Lord: Chapter 4

Pairing: Alcina Dimitrescu and (Fem!Dragon)Reader [non-romantic], Bela Dimitrescu x (Fem!Dragon)Reader

Summary: Your name is Y/n Dracul; The only ‘mutant’ that doesn’t have the Cadou Parasite. You already have some sort of power that impressed Mother Miranda; you were the first known Human-Dragon Hybrid. Although you have your own house, “House Dracul”. Your ‘house’ itself is basically an unused wing of Castle Dimitrescu.

Warnings: Heartbreak, sadness, game spoilers [I’m sure everyone has watched or played Village]

A/N: So like- The fly Bela left Y/n is all nice ‘n toasty (Y/n can produce body heat to keep it warm) when they’re outside of the castle. 

“Fairy Tail Main Theme - Slow Ver.” Yasaharu Takanashi [Play this when Cassandra says, “Y/n...”]

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You lost two of your favorite people in the world, one of them being the love of your life. however, that couldn’t be on your mind at the moment. You have a mission; protect Cassandra. You continue down the hall slowly, trying to inhale the air; attempting to pinpoint Cassandra’s location by scent. Once you reach the end, you’re met with the House Dimitrescu house crest on the door. You take Bela’s key and unlock the it. 

“Lady Cassandra?” You call out

No answer...

"Lady Cassandra!!" You call out to her

But no answer.

Damnit... Crying doesn’t help when you’re trying to track a scent... But, she must be in an area where she can't hear me... Or she’s thinking I’m Ethan... Or both.

You noticed how your crying stuffed your nose and blurred your vision ever so slightly. 

"Lady Cassandra!!" You scream, in an attempt for her to come to you

Again, no response.

She's close though.... God please be okay....

You take the doorway straight across from the entry hall from the hidden doorway. 

"Lady Cassandra?" You call out to her, opening the door

She wasn't anywhere to be seen in that room however, look under a fireplace and see a hole; big enough for someone to crawl through.

It's getting stronger...

Without even crawling, you maneuver into the hole and into the armory room.

"Lady Cassandra," you sigh in relief, running over to her

"My lord, what the hell are you doing here?" She asks, turning to you

"Ethan Winters- in our castle- he killed Bela and-and Daniela, he's coming here next," you say, “I must get you to a safe place...”

Before you could continue explaining, the door opens from the other room.

It's his scent... I have to get Lady Cassandra out of here.

"I have to get you out of here," you state, looking for a way out of the armory other than the one you came through

"Like hell I’m running away," Cassandra says, materializing into her fly swarm

"No! Lady Cassandra!" You say, “I have to get you to Alcina!”

But she didn’t listen to you. 

“I was worried my sisters have gotten to you first,” Cassandra laughs, taunting Ethan

“Cassandra!” You yell, “No!”

You try to hold her back and for the both of you to head for the exit. However, she elbows you in the gut and pushes you off of her. You’re knocked into a couple of armor sets.

“Cassandra!” You yell once more, “You must get out of here!”

“I told you already my lord I am going to finish what my sisters could not!” She growls at you

It’s not that Lady Cassandra... I can’t afford to lose you... My Lady cannot afford to lose you too...

However, what you notice is what Ethan is carrying in his hand. You forcibly move out from the fallen armor pieces and lunge at him.

“Cassandra!” You yell, “His hand! He has a pipe bomb!!” 

However, Winters throws the pipe bomb towards the crevice in the wall. At that point you tried to pick yourself back up to reach for Cassandra instead of Winters.

“Look out!” You scream, your arm outstretched to Cassandra

“What?” Cassandra asks you, confused 

However, just before you could reach her, the pipe bomb goes off, knocking the both of you away from each other. You get knocked into some barrels and you wheeze out for air. Cassandra’s screams of pain are muffled. 

“Lady.... Cassandra... We.. Have to... R-run...” You groan

“You’ve ruined the hunt!” Cassandra snarls at Ethan

Once you gained your bearings and your vision, you look up and notice Cassandra getting shot at. The screams and pained grunts had sent something up your spine and to your legs.

“Lady Cassandra!” You yell, forcing yourself up from the debris of wood

A bullet grazes your shoulder as you shield Cassandra from oncoming bullets. You let out a frustrated growl as you begin emitting body heat in an attempt to reverse the decreasing metabolism on Cassandra. However, you coil one arm around Cassandra as the both of you begin falling to the ground. 

“Get away from her!” You scream

However, your other arm throws a fireball at Ethan. He dodges but faints in the process.

“Come on heat,” You tell your own body, “Don’t let Cassandra die on me!”

“Y/n...” Cassandra says, hugging you, “Stop...”

“I’m not going to watch you die in front of me!” You scream, a fire emitting your entire body

“You’re... Warm...” Cassandra says weakly, “I don’t feel how painful the fire is...”

You let out a human scream as you continue to try and warm Cassandra with your dragon-like fire based abilities.

“Y/n.... It’s no use...” Cassandra says weakly once more, “Stop before you overwork yourself...”

“I cannot watch you die too!” You yell, confessing why you were so persistent on getting her out, “I watched Daniela die... I had come too late for Bela... I can’t let the same thing happen to you...”

“I. Y/n.. It’s okay. I Can’t turn back.. Anyway..” She groans

“We’ll figure something out but for now I have to get you out of here and to get you to-”

“I’ll be able to see my sisters... Won’t I?” She asks you, tears forming into her eyes

You pull away from her to look at her; she’s continuing to crystalize, “You will...”

You try to smile for her but it only turns into an ugly crying frown. You were still trying to emit enough body heat for her however the constant incoming cold air doesn’t help your case.

“It’s okay y/n,” She smiles at you

She smiles as she begins allowing her body to go limp.

“No no no no no no no...” You stutter, trying to figure out how to get her out of the armory

“Tell mother that I... I’m sorry...” She says before reaching out to your hand, “I’ll be seeing my idiot sisters soon...”

Before you could touch her hand she crumbles in your lap and in your arms. You pick the torso up from the pile. You let out strangled gasps as you begin sobbing once more, clutching the torso. 

Damnit damnit damnit.... Not Lady Cassandra too! DAMNIT ALL!!!!

Deja vu, you hear a gun cock behind you. You look up and slowly turn your head to Ethan; severely burned.

“Thanks to you, I’m never getting out of here!” He yells

“Thanks to you.... The family I’ve ever loved is gone...” You growl, smoke coming out of your mouth

He immediately puts his gun away at the sight of the combusting gas in your mouth. 

“You’re going to pay,” Your two voices coming out of your mouth

You were caught off guard when he was running towards the other side of the room. You were questioning him why he was reaching for an animal skull mount. You only watch him run out of the armory. Your own body goes limp when you look back at Cassandra’s crystal torso but still having your fingers firmly holding onto it for dear life. 

“I’m sorry too Lady Cassandra,” you choke on a sob, rocking the torso back and forth, “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you...”

You finally leave the armory and make your way to the bedchamber. You kick open the door, startling Alcina. She stands and begin turning her body to face you however, she stops when she hears your knees make impact with the ground. 

“I... Couldn’t save.. H-her...” You stutter over your words, “I-I tried all I could- I. I tried to get her out I really tried...”

Your voice trails off as Alcina walks up to you, taking the torso from your hands.

“’Tell Mother that I’m sorry’,” You say, “Those were Cassandra’s last words...”

You could easily tell that Alcina had been crying. She hides it well. But you? You were a crybaby. As soon as you smelled Bela’s remains, that was it for you. You haven’t recovered yet. You strongly believed you never will.

“Where is Winters now?” Alcina asks, gently but firmly

“I don’t know...” You sigh, hanging your head low, “I was still in shock... Cassandra and Daniela died in front of me... I found Bela too late...”

“I’ll go and find him,” Alcina says, walking past you, “You stay as long as you need dear. You’ve done all you could. Let me finish things here...”

You hear the door shut as you let your body fall onto the floor, seeing Daniela and Cassandra’s remains from across the room.

“Why does everyone I want to protect die in front of me?” You ask yourself, looking at Daniela and Cassandra

You didn’t realize how much time had passed until you jolt your head up when you hear roaring, faint roaring.

My Lady... She must have found Winters.... 

You exit the bedchambers and begin trudging through the halls, where the roars and gunshots were getting louder. You were exhausted; from crying for the last several hours. You just wanted everything to be over and for you to go back to the way things were. However, you could never go back to the way things were. Because, the people you cared about most in the world were non longer there with you. 

“Only The Lady is left...” You say to yourself, entering the hall, “I have to get to her...”

You run across the angel statue hall and push through the heavy doors.

Chapter 5

[honeydarlings]

Can you please write a one shot about yandere!All Might in his hero form stalking the reader (knows their schedule, habits, etc.) and in his mind, he’s just protecting them? Then later on, he notices the reader isn’t back home at their usual time and finds them hurt after being mugged in an alley way. Perhaps he takes them back to his place to fix up their wounds and when they want to leave, he won’t let them since he’s overprotective.

First request !!! I hope you like it !!

I'm Doing this for You

TW || Stalking, kidnapping, manipulation, drugging, gore and violence.

7:30pm, you walked through the front door to your apartment. Right on time, as always. Whenever you got home after work you would tie your hair back just to get it out of your face as you started cooking dinner. All Might loved the way you looked with your hair back, he got to see more of you. He sat atop a building right across from your apartment window with a pair of binoculars. Everyday he watched you. He would watch you wake up, take the train to work, eat lunch, return home. Almost everywhere you went he was watching. “7:45, you always turn on the radio.” The hero mumbled to himself as you turned on the small radio sitting on your kitchen counter. He smiled, happy to know your every move. At first he was unsure about following you, worried he would be found out by you or another hero. But then he realized he was doing this for your sake, to protect you. It’s a dangerous world out there, especially for someone as delicate as you. As 8:15 rolled around so did your dinnertime, you sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. “True crime.”He muttered. True crime indeed, you turned on one of your favorite true crime shows as you began to eat. Suddenly All Might’s phone buzzed, startling him a bit. “All Might we have a situation downtown, we need you here” The text read. “Damn.” All Might huffed, couldn’t it wait until after you went to bed, so he knew you were safe?. Another text came through, “It’s urgent.” He scowled and got to his feet, leaping off, leaving you all alone.

8am. He barely made it, watching you wake up was one of All Might’s favorite things. Your messy hair and groggy face. You were so damn adorable, he couldn’t help but smile. Everything you did was absolute perfection to him and he wanted nothing more than to stay by your side and keep you safe. You departed for work, walking to the train station. All Might following close behind, leaping from building to building. He made sure that you safely boarded the train before going off to do hero work. After all, even though it tore him up, he couldn’t watch you all day, he was still a hero.

By the end of the day, All Might was exhausted but he still rushed to get to your window to watch you come home. 7:30, on the dot. He sat, staring at your front door. It didn’t open. He felt a pit form in his stomach. “Maybe they’re running a little late.” He reassured himself, trying to stay calm. He waited five more minutes, still no sign of you. The panic had now settled in, All Might quickly stood and raced to find you. He followed your exact route to the train station, you weren’t there. He scrambled to the small library where you worked and peered through each window, you were nowhere to be found. He quickly made his way to the train station, checking every shop. He had never felt like this before, he had never been this panicked fighting villains or saving others. He reached the alleyway you always cut through and was met with a sickening display.

You were sprawled onto the pavement, covered in bruises and blood. Soft whimpers escaping your lips. A tall lanky figure stared down at you with a led pipe in their hand, your bag in his other. “What the hell is going on here.” All Might boomed, trying to maintain his composure. The figure looked up at All Might with fear and then took off in a sprint, dropping the led pipe but still holding your bag. “Bastard.” All Might growled, chasing after him. It didn’t take long to catch up to the criminal, seeing as All Might was much faster and could cover more ground. He grabbed the thief’s shoulder and pulled him downwards onto the pavement. He landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him. All Might made sure that he was out of your sight, then picked the man up by his head, gripping it tightly. He started to squeeze. The man screamed, clutching All Might’s massive hand trying to pry it off. “You are lower than scum.” All Might snarled as his hold tightened. A crack rang out through the alley. Blood started pooling out of the man's eyes, nose and mouth as All Might continued to squeeze. Another loud crack followed by silence as the criminal's body went limp. Blood and teeth were splattered onto the ground as the man’s corpse hit the pavement. The blonde hero shook drops of blood off his hand then wiped the rest off on the corpse's jacket.

All Might returned to you, your bag in hand. “Are you alright?” He asked softly. You slowly shook your head, unable to get any words out. “Please, let me take you back to my home, I can patch you up and keep you safe.” He gently wiped your tears from your cheeks as you nodded. He smiled and picked you up bridal style. “You don’t have to tell me what happened yet, we can wait until you’re all fixed.” You nodded again, clutching his chest. Once the two of you reached his house was when you managed to speak up. “Thank you, All Might.” You said in an almost whisper. The hero’s stomach fluttered, you were so damn cute! “Of course, anything to keep you safe.”

He walked you through his massive mansion, up the stairs and into his bedroom. He set you down gently onto his large bed. The sheets against your bruised skin was like heaven, you’ve never laid on anything softer. “Wait here while I get my medical supplies and something to drink, I shouldn’t be long.” All Might said as he exited the room. You laid in silence, still trying to process everything that had happened. You were mugged, some creep attacked you with a led pipe and took your bag. Good thing All Might showed up when he did, if he was even second later you could have been killed. The thought made you shudder. You looked around his large bedroom which was surprisingly empty. Nothing except a bed, dresser and a TV mounted on the wall. You were still trying to process the fact that you were inside the number one hero’s home. Does he give treatment like this to all civilians he finds injured? Your thoughts were interrupted by All Might entering the room holding a tray with painkillers, bandages, tissues and a tall glass of water. He set the tray down and grabbed the tissues. He lightly brushed the soft paper against the semi dried blood that gushed out of your nose earlier. “Is it broken?” You asked. “No, but pretty close. You’re lucky I showed up.” He said. He sounded stern and a little bit angry. “Here, take these. I’m sure those bruises are hurting.” He said handing you three small pills and a cup of water. Without hesitation you swallowed the pills with a big sip of water. All Might continued to work in silence as he bandaged your hand, suspecting it to be sprained, and cleaning out the scrapes that covered your hands and knees. As he worked you started to feel dizzy. All Might noticed as your wrist went limp in his hand. “Feeling sleepy, y/n?” He asked. “H-how do you know my name.” Your speech was slurred as your body relaxed into his bed. He brought his hand up to your face and caressed your cheek. “Y/n, sweetheart. That’s not important right now. You should rest. I’ll finish patching you up.” Suddenly all the worry you just felt went away as you drifted off. “You’ll be safe here, y/n. Safe with me.” All Might whispered as he gently kissed your forehead. “I’ll be back in about an hour, my dear.” He stood and planted a kiss on your limp hand. He picked up your bag and fished out your keys. He sighed and shrunk down to his small form, leaving his house and catching a taxi.

The blonde hero stood outside your apartment fiddling with your keys, trying to find the one that fit into the keyhole. “Bingo.” He muttered with a smile as a silver key slid in perfectly, unlocking your door. He stepped into the darkened room and inhaled. He couldn’t believe it, he was in your house! It smelled just like you. He rushed to your bedroom excitedly. He stepped inside and grinned. The whole room just screamed “you”. Even your bedsheets reflected you. All Might grabbed a suitcase laying on the floor and began to pack things for you, inspecting every single one. He smelled every shirt and sweater. After a few minutes he closed the suitcase and was about to head to the bathroom to pack more but then he noticed something on the top shelf of your closet. It took no effort for him to grab it, seeing as he was still massive, even in his small form. A small All Might plushie, a soft shade of pink dusted his face as he held the stuffed toy. You were his fan. He toyed with it before gently placing it in the suitcase. He then made his way to the bathroom grabbing your toothbrush and toothpaste placing them in a plastic bag and then inside the suitcase. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to check the time. 9:01. “Shit! They’ll be waking up soon!” He rushed out of your front door, quickly locking it behind him. Once he reached the street he changed back into his muscle form to get to you quicker.

You slowly opened your eyes. You were still in All Might’s house. Why would he keep you here for so long? Footsteps quickly approached the bedroom. You groaned and sat up, still groggy. All Might burst through the door. “Ah you’re up! How did you sleep? Feel better?” He questioned as he rushed to get by your side. “I slept well, and I’m feeling a lot better, thank you.” You smiled. “I should probably start heading home soon though. It’s really late already and I have to work tomorrow.” You swung your legs off the side of the bed and tried to stand. All Might jumped in front, knocking you back onto the bed. “I can’t let you do that, y/n.” You stared up at him, wide-eyed. A pit formed in your stomach. “What the hell do you mean?” You shouted, instantly regretting when you did. “I can’t let you leave. It’s way too dangerous for you out there. I’m the only one who can keep you safe.” You tried to stand again only causing All Might to push you back down. “Please listen to me y/n. I’m doing this to protect you!” You were too scared to move anymore. “Wh-MPH!” All Might pressed his thumb over your lips, shutting you up. “The only place that you’ll be safe is here, with me.” Tears stung the corners of your eyes. He pulled his thumb away, letting you speak. “You’re scaring me.” You whispered. All Might’s face fell. He was scaring you? “Darling, I’m so sorry. I just want to keep you safe! Isn’t that what you want? To be safe? To be with me? I planned everything out! Here, I’ll show you!” He ran out of the bedroom only to return with your suitcase in hand. “I packed all your clothes and I even brought your All Might plush!” He held up the small toy, smiling wide. You started sobbing. “I want to go home. Please just take me home.” You choked. “Darling. I don’t think you’re in the right headspace right now. You’re still a bit woozy from the sleeping pills. You can’t possibly be thinking straight right now. How about you sleep on it again and then we’ll discuss this again in the morning?” He picked your legs up and placed them back on the bed, pulling the soft sheets over top. You were frozen with fear. He kidnapped you. He drugged you. “You’re a monster.” You whispered as he placed a kiss on your forehead. “It might seem that way right now darling but, in time, you’ll see that I’m doing all this for you. We’ll speak more about this tomorrow.” He smiled and left the bedroom, locking you inside. He had you now. And he would never let you go.

(This was so fun !!! Feel free to request as much as you like while they’re open !!)

[nagito-kissmaeda]

Horny on Main Disease - Komaeda x Reader

Summary: Reader catches a strain of the despair disease that means she says everything she is thinking. Kind of awkward considering all she can think about is how much she wants to jump Komaeda's bones. This is intended to be sort of funny, but i still wrote it pretty seriously, just want to make it clear that i did not half ass the smut. i whole assed it.

Word count: 4444  Contains: fem reader, they/them pronouns, despair disease, explict sexual content, unsafe sex, voyeurism Read on AO3 ミ☆ Please send me a DM or an ask if you’d like me to write something for you!

It’s not even a particularly hot day, and yet you’re sweating bullets as you walk over to the dining hall like you do every morning. Your legs are wobbly and your head is aching something terrible, you assume that you’ve caught a cold or something , whatever the problem is, it’s going to be a question for Tsumiki when you meet up with her at breakfast.

Kuzuryu is standing out by the pool, pensively staring into the still water. He probably misses Pekoyama, but you’re smart enough to know not to-

“Hey, Kuzuryu! I bet you miss your dead girlfriend, huh?”

He just stares at you, and it takes a good few seconds for you to even realise what you just said out loud. You clap a hand over your mouth, horrified.

“I don’t know why I said that!” You squeak

Kuzuryu doesn’t look...angry? He shakes his head at you and sighs, “you’re acting weird today too, aren’t you?”

“What? Weird? Who’s weird?”

“Owari was here a few minutes ago, bawling her eyes out on the ground.” He crosses his arms and looks away from you, “I think the bear is planning something again.”

You nod sternly, “anyone with tits as big as Owari has nothing to cry about! Something is definitely suspicious.”

Oh god why did you say that??

“Oh god, why did I say that??”

You just keep saying everything you’re thinking!

“I just keep saying everything I’m-“

Kuzuryu grabs you by the wrist and starts tugging you towards the dining hall, “something is definitely fucked up.” He looks down at where his hand is gripping yours, “Jesus Christ, your skin is on fire!”

“Yeah, cause I’m hot !” That was already an embarrassing thing to say, you are horrified when your mouth drops open again to follow it up with, “bow-chicka-wow-wow!”

There is definitely something wrong with you. In general you are the sort of person who takes the time to carefully curate every word that leaves your mouth, the fact that you are just speaking without even thinking about it is bizarre and alarming. The ache in your head is also steadily growing stronger and you’re starting to feel dizzy, maybe you’re just delirious with flu? It doesn't make sense for you to catch the flu on an abandoned island, but weirder things have happened already.

It is at this moment that you realise you have been (only semi-coherently) mumbling your full internal tirade outloud to Kuzuryu, who is now helping you up the stairs to the dining hall. He has very diplomatically, been either ignoring, or at least pretending to ignore everything you have been saying.

“You’re nice. Probably the politest yakuza i’ve ever met.” you pause, “I’ve never met another yakuza, i'm not sure why i said it like that.”

Kuzuryu scoffs and tugs you up at the last step. Deigning to give your comment any sort of response.

As you step up onto the dining hall landing, you freeze. This is dangerous. Your nails are biting into the skin of your palms, and your already warm face feels even hotter. Don't look at him, don't think about him, don't look at him, don't think about him. Kuzuryu is giving you a look, you must be verbalising your own mental gymnastics, but that is less embarrassing than the alternative.

“Don't look at him, don't think about him, don't look at him, don't think-”

You look up, like an idiot . Komaeda is sitting by the window with his chin in his palm, just sort of staring off into the middle distance, not really looking at anything. The morning sun cascades through the window and catches in his hair. It shimmers. Your heart twists and turns in your chest, you have been trying to keep this little fascination of yours under wraps, but he slowly closes his eyes and takes a deep breath in through his nose and-

“He looks like an angel .” You say, and you say it loudly.

All eyes in the room turn to you. Hinata especially is looking at you with his particular brand of exhaustion, that says this is not the first weird thing he has heard today. You scramble, trying desperately to think about anything other than Komaeda, to stop yourself from saying anything stupid. In your desperation, what you say is: “Yes hello! I was talking about anyone in this room apart from Komaeda. Please do not be confused, it was not Komaeda. I want to make it crystal clear that i am NOT attracted to Nagito Komaeda. This is a very convincing lie and you all believe me!”

Mioda straightens her spine and salutes you, “Roger! You are not attracted to Komaeda, I believe you!”

Your sweating even more now, it’s getting hard to breathe, “Forget I said anything!”

Mioda salutes again, “Consider it forgotten!”

“What is happening?! ” Hinata exclaims, gesturing wildly to you, Mioda, and Owari who you suddenly notice is leaning against the far wall and sobbing, “This is not normal!”

Your eyes slip to Komaeda again. He is looking at you and he is blushing-

“He looks so...cute…” You whisper, and Hinata yelps.

“Why are you all being so weird???? ”

Monokuma takes that as his cue to finally show up. Waltzing on into the dining hall like he owns the place, clearly buzzing with excitement, “A good question!” He says, clamoring up onto a vacant chair and holding a paw in front of his face to hide his laughter, “ Oooh , this is my best motive yet! Looks like three members of the class have come down with a bad case of the despair disease!”

“D-Despair Disease?” Tsumiki contributes, nervously playing with her hands, “I’ve never heard of such a thing!”

“Yeah, well. It’s pretty self explanatory!” Monokuma says, “The main symptom is high fever, along with some other fun despair related effects! It’s a bit of a mixed bag though and no two cases are the same! For example, Moida is suffering from the Gullible Disease...Owari has the Cowards Disease.” Then, Monokuma points his stubby little paw in your direction, “And you have the No Filter Disease. You just say whatever you’re thinking! It’s been lots of fun so far, upupupupu~”

“Oh, does that mean all those things they were just saying about Komaeda were the truth?” Sonia says. Her brows draw together, and she taps her lips with a finger, “How interesting.”

“It’s not my fault he’s gorgeous!” the words escape you before you have a chance to stop them. You squeal and clap a hand over your mouth before you start talking again. Komaeda is now bright red to the tips of his ears.

“That was true? GROSS!” Saionji exclaims.

You glare at Monokuma, “If you wouldn't kill me for doing it, I'd rip out all your stuffing right now.”

Monokuma withers a little, “Aw~ Is that what you really feel? Here I was thinking we were great friends.”  

“I’ll gut you like a fish.” you pause, “a bear-fish.” another pause, “a fish-bear.” You groan, “UGH, I can’t stop saying stupid things! I’m all sweaty! This sucks !”

Tsumiki steps over to you, her hand is shaking as she brings it up to your forehead.

“Oh…” you breathe, “your hand is cold.”

“S-Sorry! I’m just checking your temperature.”

“You smell like lavender.”

She recoils a little, “It’s j-just my shampoo!!'' Then she shakes her head and turns to the rest of the group, “Monokuma is telling the truth. They’ve got a fever.”

Hinata hurriedly presses his hand against the foreheads of both Owari and Moida, confirming that they’re also burning up, “What do we do, Tsumiki?”

Before she can answer, Monokuma pipes up again, “did I forget to mention? It’s contagious~~”

Saionji squeals and backpedals all the way to the stairs, “Contagious!?”

“Yeah and I'm a conta- genius . Get it?”

Souda gives you an uncomfortable look and scratches the back of his neck, “How much space in your brain is taken up by bad puns?”

You’re feeling really dizzy now, “A lot of it! But usually I don't say any of them!” your knees wobble and you almost fall over, luckily Tsumiki is still close enough to grab you before you topple to the ground, “I am going to kill that goddamn bear .”

“Could-could someone help me?” Tsumiki squeaks, “If i keep holding them up like this we-we’re just both going to fall over.”

You giggle a little, slipping into a semi-delirium as you cling to Tsumiki for dear life. Hinata and the others start working on a plan to keep everyone safe until the illness runs its course, “Hey Tsumiki…” you whisper, “Komaeda’s got real nice hands, huh?” she is too busy trying to keep you upright to answer, “I want him to carry me. Unless I'm too heavy, Tsumiki, am I too heavy?”  

You’re all but draped over Tsumiki now, who is trying in vain to shuffle you over to a nearby wall, when you suddenly hear her sigh in relief, “Oh...Th-Thank you. I’m not very s-strong…”

You manage to flop your head around to face the other direction, lacking the strength to turn your neck properly. Komaeda is looking down at you, it might just be the fever, but you feel like you’re going to burst into flames.

“Aha, I’m sure i'm not much stronger than you, Tsumiki.” He says, gently wrapping his arm around your shoulders and tugging you over to him. You might have moaned, you can't be sure, “But I do have the height advantage.”

The utter tsunami that leaves your mouth is unavoidable. Literally medically unavoidable, but that doesn't stop it from being the most embarrassing moment of your life.

“He’s touching me. He’s touching me…” your head has come to rest on his chest and you are practically hyperventilating, “He smells like chamomile soap and clean laundry...His hands are cold, his shirt is soft...Oh god i'm so sweaty, he probably thinks i'm disgusting! Komaeda, i'm so sorry , this was meant to be a secret!!! I wasn't going to tell you, everyones gonna think I'm weird!” your thoughts are leaving your mouth faster than you can think of them, if Komaeda is reacting to anything you have to say, you don't notice because despite your mouth running a mile a minute you still have an ounce enough of shame and bury your face in his chest to hide from your own words.

The world is spinning, your head feels heavy, everything is so hot , “Your hair is nice, did you know your hair is nice? God, I've wanted to run my fingers through it since day one. This is so fucked up, you almost killed someone! I want to stop talking , i feel like i'm gonna pass out, i'm gonna pass out, i'm gonna pass out. Im gonna…”

***

“I think I passed out.” Is the first thing you say when you wake up. You’re still hot and the back of your neck is sweaty, but you can see that you are now in the hospital, and that you’re wearing a hospital gown.

“Who undressed me?!” You exclaim, disappointed to find that you still can’t help saying everything you think.

At the sound of your voice, the door to your room opens, and Komaeda steps in.

“No! Not you!”

He freezes, withering under your gaze, “Ah, I see. Being greeted by garbage like me in your current state, it must be insulting .”

You feel like an asshole .

“That’s not what I meant! Please don’t go, I never want you to go.”

Komaeda laughs a little, still lurking nervously in the doorway, “You’re confusing me.”

“I don’t want you to hear what I’m thinking. I want you to stay, but all I can think about is how much I want to suck on your collarbone.” You freeze the second you stop talking, a high pitched whine leaving your mouth as you hide your face in your hands, “I’m so sorry! I can’t stop it!”

Stepping further into the room, Komaeda quietly closes the door behind him. Your heart is pounding.

“I’m nervous.” You say.

He tilts his head, walking over to the side of your bed, “I can still leave if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“No, I’m not uncomfortable.” You shrink under his gaze, “it just, the way you closed the door it makes me feel like you’re planning something, like maybe we’re going to have-“ you manage to cover your mouth before the rest of the sentence escapes. Keeping your hands tight over your lips as all you can think about is his long fingers, his soft hair, his half lidded eyes.

“Are you...still talking behind your hands?”

You nod.

A smile crawls up the side of his face, “are you saying something embarrassing?”

“I wanna stick my tongue in your mouth.” You say, loud enough that even the tight grip of your hands doesn’t muffle it.

Komaeda remains remarkably calm, “You keep saying those things. This disease...means you say whatever you’re thinking, doesn’t it?”

“Yes. It’s driving me crazy, I’m just being such an idiot and I’m probably freaking you out. I’m sorry.”

“No, that’s not it.” He sighs, moving slowly as he sits down on the side of your bed, “Honestly, why would you let such thoughts about scum like me take up so much real estate in your mind?”

“I can’t help it!” You exclaim, “I’ve been trying not to think about it, but I just can’t! I want you so badly. I…..I-“ you hold your breath, you can’t let that last part out, no matter what, you can’t say that last part. You’ll die of suffocation before you let him hear it.

“You...what?” He asks

Oh god. You can’t stop thinking about it. Your lungs are aching, screaming for you to just open your mouth.

“What are you hiding, hm?”

It’s too much. The nerves, your sick and weakened body, him right there . You can’t do it, you can’t stop it, the next time you see Monokuma, you are drop kicking him into the sun.

“I’ve touched myself while thinking about you!”

The words echo off the walls of the room like a gunshot.

For a moment Komaeda just stares at you, but then, his shaky hands reach out and wrap around both of your wrists. His throat bobs.

“Hng. I want to suck on the side of your neck, I want to see you covered in marks from my teeth-“ you try to cover your mouth with your hands again. Komaeda grips your wrists tighter.

“No.” He whispers, trembling, “keep going.”

“ God, your hands are so big. I want to know how deep your fingers would reach inside of me. I bet you’re good at it, I bet you’re really good at it.” He just keeps staring at you, ghostly green eyes blown wide, chest heaving , “Are you turned on? Is this turning you on? Just pin me down and fuck me, do it, do it, do it!”

“How...how often are you thinking about me like this?”

“Oh, all the time.” You freeze, mentally (and therefore also verbally) berating yourself, “Not all the time! Just like, a normal amount. However much that is.” He is still just looking at you, the pad of his thumb slowly brushes across the pulsepoint in your wrist and you shiver, “Yes, yes! I’ve wanted this intimacy with you for so long . I couldn't tell anyone, I couldn't tell you. During the first trial, when you went on your weirdo rant about hope and despair. I was scared, i was so scared, but oh god- ” you can't stop yourself. Every thought in your head is pouring out of your lips. Filling up the room, the mortification is drowning you . All you can do is squeeze your eyes shut to avoid looking at him, “I was wet , Komaeda. I went back to my cabin and came three times to the thought of you, I am reprehensible . What do you think the others would do if they found out, huh? That all i can think about is you fucking me over my trial podium. They’ll tie me up next-”

The bed squeaks, and Komaeda brings his knee up and over your hips.

“-Oh my god. You’re doing it aren't you?”

His other leg comes up on the bed, and he settles, hovering up above you. He shrugs, “I honestly don't understand why this is something you want,” he leans down over you, resting his palms on either side of your head, “but who am I to deny the wishes of an ultimate.”

If not for the warmth of his lips pressed against yours, you are sure that you wouldn't be able to shut up, based only on the number of thoughts tumbling through your head like they’re on a spin cycle. You are still sweaty with fever and probably look disgusting, but Komaeda shuffles down in between your legs and hikes your hospital gown up to your waist. So you are suitably distracted.

He laughs as he hooks his fingers around your panties and tugs them down your thighs, “I cant believe that you want scum like me to touch you like this. Usually I would assume that you are lying, or taking pity on me.” He grins, running a finger up the length of your sex, “But everything you say to me is your exact thoughts, isnt it?”

“Yes! Touch me, please! ” You’re quivering beneath him, barely able to breathe in between your frantic pleas, “You feel so good, you feel perfect . I want your fingers inside me so bad .”

He hisses as he slips his middle and ring finger inside of you, eyes glued to where your entrance is swallowing him up, “Ahaaa...you’re drenched . You really do want me don't you?” he pistons his fingers in and out slowly, slowly and deliberately, “Someone like you, desiring me so terribly. It’s such a waste , but i can't help it. I must be selfish and take this chance while i can.”

“Not a….waste....” You force out, helplessly grinding on his fingers, “Want you....want only you…”

“Oh- Ohhhh .” He moans, “I can feel you, squeezing around my fingers. You’re so wet...so warm…”

You hear a zipper coming undone, and your thoughts go into overdrive, “oh my god, oh my god. Komaeda’s going to jerk off in front of me, wanna watch, wanna watch! ”

His fingers still inside you for a moment as he tugs his boxers down far enough to slip out his cock. Your eyes follow the movement of his long fingers as he slowly curls them around the base, and tugs them up again, rolling the pad of his thumb over the head. His hips buck, and you moan.

“You...you’re tightening around my fingers…” he breathes, choking on a moan as he pumps his cock again, “you like watching me touch myself?” Your hips stutter, grinding your clit against the meat of his palm as he continues stroking himself. His eyes are wide as he watches you writhing beneath him.

“The face you make when you do that...it’s so cute.” You say, whining as his fingers start moving inside you again, “it’s even cuter than I imagined. Your cheeks are all red.” You swallow, “and your cock is so pretty...I want you to cum inside me, so bad .”

His breath hitches, “you want me to cum, inside you?” his cock is leaking with pre-cum now, painfully hard in his hand. His chest is heaving.

“Yes yes yes! ” You plead, “I want you, please! ”

“I don’t understand.” He breathes, and you whimper as his fingers slip out of you, “How could someone be so desperate for my pathetic seed?”

“Fill me up , Komaeda!” You exclaim, at this point you are long past embarrassed. The words leaving your mouth are the absolute truth and there is no way you can deny them.

He groans at that, an octave deeper than you are used to hearing and it seems he is having trouble denying you. His own desperation mingling with yours and overtaking his painful self-doubt, he wraps a hand around the base of his cock, and slowly edges the swollen head against your entrance, “f-fuck…” he mutters as he slips inside you, “you’re so warm .”

You can barely even register what you are saying anymore, it’s little more than a string of compliments about how good he feels inside you. About how handsome he is. Your tongue feels weird and loose in your mouth from overuse, but you still can’t stop talking.

He looms above you, halo of white hair bouncing as he thrusts in and out of you, the unmistakable jangle of the chain hanging from his jeans. All things that confirm it is Komaeda inside of you. Your heart races with the fact.

“Th-thank you, for permitting me to do this with you.” He stammers, sweat slowly dripping down his brow, “it’s...so good...it feels like I belong inside you. ”

A moan rips through you, and you hook your weak ankles around his waist, “you do belong inside me. You fit so perfectly , I was made for your cock. GOD I sound so filthy…..I- I can’t help it.”

“ No.” He hisses, eyes meeting yours, “Keep talking.”

“You say that like I can stop.” You dip your head lower, and wrap your lips around his left collarbone, moaning as you suck hard enough to leave a bruise. He keens above you, hips snapping against yours even faster, “Your hip bones are digging into my thighs…”

He squeezes his eyes shut, “I-I’m sorry, do you want me to-“

“Don’t you dare stop, Komaeda. You’re mine , I want to feel every inch of you.”

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

You bring a shaky hand up to his cheek, he nuzzles into your palm, “You aren’t hurting me. It feels wonderful.”

He kisses you then, messy and wet, his lips taste like desperation. Even with his tongue tangled with yours, you are still trying to speak. Sweet nothings, forceful demands, anything and everything that comes to mind is trying to force its way out of your mouth. Something is in the pit of your stomach is twisting tight and you moan greedily into the cavern of his mouth as his hips meet yours again. You can feel that he’s losing his rhythm.

“S-sorry. I’m...im close…” A moan rips from his throat and he buries his face in your neck.

Your hips have started canting up to meet his, you want so badly to be close to him, to feel all of him, “M’close to. I love having you inside me, i want to do this again and again and-”

Komaeda freezes, eyes turning to the door on the other side of the room. Footstops.

“Who is it? Did they hear? Are there going to come in? What do you think they’re going to do if they see you inside of-”

Komaeda covers your mouth with his palm. You’re still talking, but at least it’s muffled now. Kuzuryu and Hinata are chatting in the hallway, the footsteps seem only to be growing closer. You can't stop thinking terrible, horrible things, and while Komaeda’s hand keeps you quiet enough that they can't seem to hear you from outside, Komaeda can definitely hear you.

“I wanna keep going.”

His eyes are blown wide, but you feel the tell-tale throb of his cock inside of you, “ What?! ” he hisses, “there’s no way you can keep quiet like this...they’ll definitely hear us.”

“I don’t care if they hear us, I want them to hear us. I want them to know what you’re doing to me.”

His hips twitch, and he bites his lip hard to keep in a moan, “You're not ashamed to be seen intimately with someone as despicable as me?”

You coo at him, running your index finger down the front of his throat and over the mark you left on his collarbone, he tentatively removes his hand from your mouth and pushes some sweaty hair away from your forehead, you smile, “I’m not ashamed of you. I’m in love with you.”

Komaeda sucks a breath in through his teeth, and it is only then that you realise what you have said.

“Oh GOD. I didn't - I'm so sorry.” your eyes are wide, you’re ready for him to jump up and bolt out of the room, “I just thought it and then i said it, and jesus christ im so sorry-”

You’re cut off by his lips. The kiss is gentler, less desperate, but filled with the depth of passion. He starts thrusting in and out of you again, and you gasp in surprise at the feeling. He pulls away from the kiss, and rests his forehead against yours, his breathing heavy as one of his hands slips down under your knee. He pushes your leg up higher and you choke on a moan at how much deeper this new angle feels.

A high-pitched whine leaves his throat as he continues moving inside of you, he swallows, “I...I love you too.”

“Aaah... ahhh .” You’re so close at this point, the coiling in your stomach is about ready to snap, “I love you so much, I want your cum, please! ”

“I’ll give it to you, I...hah...I’ll fill you up...is that what you want?”

His hand slips down to your clit and you shriek , clenching hard around his cock, “Yes, yes, yes! I’m close...i'm so close…”

“I’m gonna...I...I…”

A moan rips through you as your climax finally hits, for the first time this day your mind is void of thoughts. All you can do is feel . Your fingers dig into the bedsheet under you, and your legs tighten around Komaeda’s waist. He writhes and moans above you,  he just keeps going, harder and harder and harder, and then, with a heavy groan you feel him release inside of you.

“Thank...you…” you mutter, “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…”

Before Komaeda has a chance to say anything in return, someone clears their throat on the other side of the door. The two of you freeze.

“Are you two done?” Hinata asks, he sounds exasperated.

Komaeda clears his throat, “Um...yeah...pretty much.”

“His dick is literally still inside of me! Maybe give us a few minutes!” You wince at the blunt sentence that just left your mouth, Komaeda is clearly trying not to laugh, you huff “Sorry Hinata! I can't help it!”

This disease was going to be the death of you.

[fizzingwizard]

The In Between Times

AO3 link, because why not

So, current events in the Digimon reboot, the kids have 72 hours to fix the power outage in Tokyo before it's a total blackout. Until episode 16, there was a time lag as well, meaning time in the digital world ran faster than in the human world.

But the show is a fast-paced shonen anime so it’s all about action!! and not so much the little moments of downtime and camp-out camaraderie that let us really feel as if time is passing. I miss that.

SO! Since I can't get a job on the writing staff... here’s a fic about What The Kids Did At Night. Didn't think I'd write a fic for this series this early on but the muse does what she will!

Last note: I have no idea how large the time lag is, so I’m just putting in a “night” wherever I feel like one is needed. Three days RL = maybe six in the digital world. Mainly because that’s how many nights I feel like writing about.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - The First Night

Taichi wasn't paying attention to the time until Sora stopped, a hand shading her eyes as she peered at the treetops.

"The sun's getting low," she said.

"I can't see very well," Mimi added, rubbing her arms. It wasn't particularly cold, but Taichi didn't say anything about it.

Instead he looked down at his feet, where his shadow had grown long, getting lost in the tangle of undergrowth on the forest floor. All the ferns and bushes were tinted a reddish-gold. High above, stars studded the purpling sky.

"Should we... find somewhere to sleep?" Sora asked after a beat, something leading in her tone of voice.

He very slowly realized they were waiting for him to say something.

"Uh... sure," he said. "I mean, it's not that dark yet, we could maybe walk another hour or so."

Mimi looked crestfallen. Oh - she had been hoping he'd agree. "My feet hurt!" she whined.

"We could keep going," Sora said. "But don't you think if we wait to stop till it gets darker, it might be hard to see what we're doing? We need to eat, make a fire..."

"I can take care of the fire," Agumon piped in.

"Yeah, fire's no problem for us." Taichi patted the top of his partner's head. Agumon's chest swelled. "So we'll have light, don't worry about that."

Sora still looked uncertain. "I just... would feel better if we didn't push it," she said at last, brow knit. Next to her, Mimi's hands were clasped together, as if in prayer.

This was getting ridiculous.

Taichi shrugged. "Okay, fine with me. Let's stop for now."

Immediately the two girls perked up. "Alright!" Mimi threw her arms in the air.

"We'll be sleeping on the ground outside though," Taichi warned her, expecting her to complain a little. At home Mimi probably slept on two mattresses covered in fluffy blankets, ensconced in plentiful pillows, with a host of stuffed animal attendants. And all of it would be pink.

But she waved away his concern. "Oh, I slept on the ground in the palace Palmon and the Tanemon built for me anyway," she said. Ah... he'd forgotten she'd been here longer than him. (Also, that place counted as a "palace"?) "If you can stack enough of those big leaves and fronds it's pretty comfortable."

"W-Well... cool." He glanced at Sora, but she had already knelt to the ground and was going through her bag of supplies. So apparently they were going to camp right here, then. "Uh, then I'll leave it to you to find the best leaves to sleep on. And Sora, you guys can get started on food?"

Sora nodded without looking up. She'd pulled out a couple bottles of water and some plastic utensils. Piyomon appeared to be trying to carry an entire picnic blanket herself. Taichi thought about mentioning to Sora that she was chewing her lip, like she often did when she was thinking. It was a habit he knew she was trying to kick. Something stopped him though.

Then Agumon plucked his sleeve. "What about me?"

"Warm up your muscles," Taichi grinned down at him. "We're gonna do some heavy labor."

He'd only seen it in pictures in his Scout's Companion Guide to the Wilderness, but a makeshift lean-to didn't seem particularly difficult to figure out. At least, not with a Digimon companion to do most of the work. Taichi helped where he could, dragging logs Agumon found or felled back to their campsite, patting down the foliage until it somewhat resembled a floor. They had some trouble tying the branches off until Mimi and Palmon came back and Palmon's vines made short work of wrapping the rope around the trees. Then it was just a matter of lining the logs up diagonal to the frame they'd made and packing them with leaves. The end result, well, it wasn't very pretty. But it didn't have to be. It just had to work.

"Wow, that looks great, Taichi-san!" Mimi exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Sora hummed in agreement. "It'll be good to have if it rains."

Taichi laughed and decided not to point out it would be totally useless if it rained. They'd be lucky not to get covered in mud if a strong gust of wind knocked it over on them. But the girls were already moving the leaf beds and picnic blanket under the lean-to. Whatever. At least they were happy.

It was dark without question by now, and Taichi felt exhaustion wash over him. Building that contraption had taken more time than he'd thought. Belatedly he realized the others were gathering for the dinner Sora had prepared, probably a while ago. He dragged his tired legs toward the fire Agumon had made and dropped down in front of it like a rock.

Dinner was slices of fruit from the Tanemon village Mimi had in her bag, along with sides of biscuits and wakame rice from Sora's emergency supplies. The biscuits were hard and chalky and the rice watery, but they were all so hungry no one much cared. And the fruit was delicious. The taste was similar to honeydew melon but with a texture like cream cheese. It'd be perfect in a cake, Mimi declared.

After eating they cleaned up, and since everyone was having trouble keeping their eyes open, they wound up going straight to bed. Taichi crawled under the lean-to and kicked off his shoes and socks. Next to him, Sora and Mimi were doing the same.

"I hate sleeping in my clothes," Mimi sighed, picking at her feet. "I wish you had spare pajamas, Sora-san."

"Spare pajamas weren't on the list of emergency supplies," Sora murmured. "But I do want a bath."

A groan. "My feet look like a man's!"

"Aw. Those blisters look painful. You need better hiking shoes."

"Well, it's not like I knew I'd be hiking all over! I wish you could find a plant that makes good skin lotion, Palmon. Like aloe vera."

"What's skin lotion?"

"Hold on, Mimi-chan, I'll get you a bandage."

Taichi listened to the girls' chit-chat lying on his side, facing away. Tired though he was, his mind wouldn't stop whirring. He didn't even know what to think of first. Getting across the ocean. Stopping the blackout. Getting home...

He felt something poke the small of his back. Then Agumon's nostrils sent a puff of warm air over his skin as his partner snuggled up to him.

"Taichi..." Agumon gave a huge yawn. "I'm sleepy."

"Your breath stinks." Reaching around, Taichi pulled Agumon in, and it was better than having an electric blanket. Funny, Agumon looked like some type of cold-blooded lizard, but he gave off heat like a furnace. Agumon's eyes closed. Taichi let his fingers trace feather-light along Agumon's snout, up and over the bridge of his nose. Agumon didn't seem to mind. He was already deep in sleep.

Taichi wasn't even sure how soon he wanted to go home.

---

"Taichi."

Someone was shaking him awake. "Whuh?"

"Your digivice. I think Koushirou-kun's calling you." Taichi blinked bleary eyes until he could make out Sora leaning over him. Her tousled hair was full of sticks and leaves. Some things were inevitable when sleeping in the woods.

It was dark except for the glow of his digivice, which was beeping incessantly. Taichi looked over Sora's shoulder at Mimi, but she seemed still asleep. For that matter, so did Agumon. "Okay, I'm gonna talk to him outside," he said, standing up. (Though their shelter didn't quite qualify as "inside.")

He didn't bother with his socks, stepping right into his shoes and tramping towards the remains of their fire pit. "Koushirou?" He squatted down with his digivice held close to his ear.

"Taichi-san?"

"Hey, it's me. Everything cool?"

"Yes. It's 'cool.' Were you sleeping?"

"Yeah, but no biggie."

"Oh, is it nighttime?"

"Huh, your fancy computer can't tell time?"

Koushirou gave an indignant huff. "First of all, time is a construct. Second, yes it can tell time, but given that the environment here never changes, it's hard for me to keep track."

Taichi frowned. "What d'you mean, the environment never changes?" He picked up a stick, scratching circles in the ashes.

"I mean it's just a never-ending white void."

"Oh, that's what things looked like when I came here the first time. But now we're in some sort of jungle."

"Kabuterimon told me the true digital world is full of trees and plants and even oceans, but I haven't seen any of it yet." Koushirou sounded a bit forlorn, Taichi thought.

"Catch up with us quick. Then you'll see lots. More than you want."

"Will do." He paused. "Well, I guess I should let you go back to sleep. I'm kind of tired too, even if it doesn't feel like night."

"Wait a minute." Taichi's stick hovered in the air. "You still haven't told me the reason you called."

"Huh? O-Oh, I... there was no reason. I just hadn't heard from you in a while so I thought I'd check in."

"Hmm." A grin tugged at his mouth. "Were you bored? Lonely?"

"N-No! A-Anyway, I've got Kabuterimon with me."

"H'llo," boomed a strange voice, which Taichi assumed must belong to Koushirou's partner.

"Hi, Kabu... terimon." Taichi's tongue tripped over the unfamiliar name. "Hey, could you tell Koushirou to take a nap? Even if there aren't any stars where you guys are, human beings still need sleep."

"Taichi-san! I don't need mothering! Wait, you can see stars where you are?"

"Yeah, I told you, it's night and we're in a jungle or something."

"Wow! Do you see any constellations you recognize?"

"Uh..." Although knowing he wouldn't be able to tell one star from another even in his home world, Taichi still craned his neck back to gaze at the stars above. "Not really?"

"Interesting... It sounds as though the digital plane where you are is a facsimile of our world, so I wonder if the stars themselves look the same. That would be singularly impressive, given that the stars are always moving. I wonder which hemisphere they replicate."

"Dunno. Get your butt over here and see for yourself."

"That's the plan," Kabuterimon chuckled. "Koushirou can sleep on my back and leave the flying to me."

Taichi started to agree, but yawned at that exact moment.

"Okay, I get the hint." Koushirou sounded amused. In his mind's eye, Taichi could see the shy smile unfurling on his face. "Talk to you later, Taichi-san."

"Yeah, see you."

He stuffed his digivice back in his pocket and headed back to the shelter, stifling another yawn. He almost tripped over Sora, who was sitting up, arms wrapped around her knees.

"You didn't have to wait up for me," he said as he flopped down on the leaf bed, which was not half as comfortable as Mimi made it sound. Probably needed more fronds.

Sora gave a subdued shake of her head. "What did Koushirou-kun say?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Nothing much. Just wanted to talk, I think."

"Oh." He thought she looked a bit relieved. He couldn't blame her, a call from Koushirou most often meant another update on the increasingly volatile situation back home.

Sora pulled her knees in closer. "Hey Taichi... sorry if I sounded annoyed earlier."

"Huh?" He picked a few twigs out of her hair. "When?"

"When we were deciding if we should stop for the night or not. I just -"

"You were annoyed?" His fingers rubbed together, snapping the twigs into tiny pieces and leaving them in the dirt.

"No, well - not at you, I mean, the situation. But - I thought you might think that I meant you."

"... Huh?"

She gave a soft laugh. Her lip popped out from her teeth, and he hadn't noticed she'd been chewing it again. "You know what, never mind."

"Never mind what?"

"Go to sleep, Taichi." She turned away from him, and that meant she was done talking. He understood body language.

He rolled his eyes though, shifting so that he could tuck Agumon back under his chin. Sora might be basically his best friend, but she was still a girl. Girls were so weird.

He really was tired though, and drifted off without giving it too much more thought.

- o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o -

So that’s how the first night went down! Now you know. I’m sure you were wondering. At least my muse is appeased, if nothing else.

[rosemaidenvixen]

In the Fullness of Time

Chapter 1: Today

When a fight leads to unintentional magical consequences, Douxie has a painful secret exposed. Prompting him to share part of his past to his friends.

Or, the tale of how Merlin and Douxie first met.

Ao3

Halfway through watching Wizards for the first time, I came up with an idea for how Merlin and Douxie met. I liked it so much that it stuck with me even after I saw their canon meeting, so here we are. For the sake of this story Merlin didn't die, and they were able to defeat Bellroc and Skrael by locking them in the Darklands (and while I'm at it Draal is alive and is spending his honeymoon with Nomura wrestling alligators in the New Jersey sewers).

Shout out to @yellowmagicalgirl for giving me the kick in the pants to get this story off the ground and @archaeopter-ace for the title.

-

Douxie ducked to the side to avoid the fireblast “Jim, on your right!”

Jim nimbly doged another fireblast and used Excalibur to vault over a fallen tree, continuing pursuit of their quarry without missing a beat.

The Warlock swore and tried to turn and retreat. Only to come face to face with Toby, Steve, and Claire. The boys wielding their hammer and axe while shadows flickered at Claire’s fingertips.

“Going somewhere Buttsnack?”

The Warlock made a mad dash in the opposite direction, but was instantly blocked by Krel’s serrator.

They all closed the gap on the increasingly anxious looking Warlock. Douxie summoning his staff as they moved in “It’s over, there’s nowhere for you to run. Surrender and we’ll go easy on you,”

The Warlock narrowed his eyes and growled “I will not yield my power to that blasted coward Merlin. Not in this life, or the next,”

Douxie’s eyes widened as he realized what the Warlock was about to do.

“ Everyone get back! ”

He slammed the end of his staff on the ground, forming a shield around the Warlock just as he started to chant.

Less than a second later the Warlock was consumed in a ball of white fire, the shield around him swelling and straining as Douxie struggled to contain the blaze.

Thinking quickly, Claire summoned a portal on the ground inside Douxie’s shield, siphoning some of the white hot energy away.

Their combined efforts had an impressive effect but it wasn’t enough.

Douxie’s shield shattered, the Warlock erupted with a blinding flash of light and a concussive wave. Blasting them all into the trees like leaves in a gale.

Head swimming, Douxie blinked to clear his vision, slowly managing to detangle himself from the roots and shrubbery. It didn’t feel like he’d been injured too badly, but something felt...off. At first he thought he was just recovering from the blast, but upon standing he immediately knew something was seriously wrong. And when he raised a hand to pull a loose twig out of his hair, Douxie froze when he saw that his shirt was practically falling off his arm. A quick glance up and down revealed the rest of his clothes now fit in the same baggy manner.

But it wasn’t so much that his clothes had gone from small to extra large, more like Douxie himself had gone from nine hundred and nineteen to four or five.

“Oh fuzzbuckets,”

Even as he spoke he cringed at his higher, lisping voice. From around the clearing he saw everyone else groan and get to their feet. It soon became apparent that Douxie wasn’t alone in his predicament.

“Guys, guys! The Warlock dude made everything bigger!” a much smaller Steve wailed, trying and failing to lift his axe.

Rather than bother to try and move his now oversized hammer, Toby opted for the simpler option of shrinking it down and tucking it into his pocket “Actually I think we got smaller,”

Krel sat on the ground, blinking at his four stubby, childish limbs “Kleb,”

Douxie had never heard the Akiridion word before, but based on the context he could give a pretty good guess as to its meaning.

Once she finished helping Jim up, Claire turned towards Douxie “What happened, why are we all fun-sized now?”

“Our friend here,” Douxie gestured to the smoking crater in the ground, all that was left of the Warlock “Rather than get taken to Merlin and have their contraband magic stripped away, chose to unleash it all at once and try to take us all out,”

He picked up his staff from where it had fallen “We were able to dampen it, which is why we’re not ash right now, but I have no idea what they were juicing themselves with, or how to undo it,”

The blue stone in the head of his staff flickered as he tried to summon his magic, only to have it elude him. With a sigh he lowered it “And being tiny like this, I don’t have much power,”

“What! Are we stuck like this?! I can’t win Spring King again if I’m all shrimpy, they won’t even let me be a duke!”

“For once I agree with the oaf. I will not be small again, and I refuse to let Aja see me like this,”

“Calm down guys,” Douxie knitted his brows and tried to tuck his staff away, a normally easy task made monumentally difficult by his lack of size and power “We just need to get back to Merlin and he can help us figure this out,”

He allowed himself a small grin as the staff finally reduced back into his cuff, with no small amount of effort on his part, only to swear when the cuff  nearly slipped off his arm. Douxie glanced at both wrists before sighing and slipped both the cuff and bracelets off, stuffing them into his pocket. Better to take them off now than to have them fall off later and get lost. But still he almost felt naked without them.

Jim tugged at Excalibur’s hilt with a frown “But what about our weapons? We can’t carry them back like this, and I don’t think it’s a good idea to leave them out here,”

“I’ll do it,” Claire’s sclera darkened as two small portals formed beneath Excalibur and Toothache, ferrying them away. Less than a second after the weapons vanished Claire’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the ground.

“That...that took a lot out of me,” she panted as Toby and Jim helped her to her feet.

Douxie hurried up to check on her. Much to his relief while she was sweating with exhaustion, her eyes were focused and clear and her nose wasn’t bleeding “Ok, no more magic. Our bodies just aren’t up to it right now,”

“Wait, does that mean we have to go back on foot?” Steve said incredulously.

“Unfortunately yes,”

“Aww man,”

“Double kleb,”

“C’mon guys,” Jim said while heading to the front of the group with Douxie “The sooner we start the sooner we get back, and the sooner we get back the sooner we get back to normal,”

With only minimal grumbling, the group set out through the woods. Jim and Douxie in the lead.

They stumbled their way home through the roots and undergrowth, struggling with shorter, weaker limbs. As they went, Douxie tried to come up with a likely explanation for their condition. It couldn’t be a de-aging spell, greater Wizards than that Warlock had tried and failed to obtain eternal youth. What if it was a spell intended to do something else entirely but had gone wrong? Maybe the Warlock had tried to cast a spell to strip them of all their abilities but it went haywire when--

“Hey Doux,” Claire spoke up, shattering his train of thought “What’s that, on your wrists?”

Douxie stopped in his tracks, hands unconsciously going to cover his wrists; his heart plummeting like a stone down into the bottom of his stomach.

How could he have been so careless? He didn’t have the bracelets or cuff to cover them any more, and he’d forgotten that they’d been a lot more noticeable at this age.

The rest of the group stopped to, perturbed by his reaction.

Krel squinted “Are those...scars?”

Douxie bit his lip, tightening the grip on his wrists.

Jim’s expression went from curious to soft “Hey it’s cool, you don’t have to tell us,”

“Yeah,” Steve piped up “If you say it’s none of our business, it’s none of our business,”

Claire’s face flushed “Sorry, forget I asked,”

Krel and Toby chimed in with similar reassurances.

Hearing them all try to comfort him, the subject of the marks on his wrists willing to be dropped as quickly as it was brought up; heavy, not unpleasant, emotion settled in Douxie’s chest.

These were his comrades, more than that his friends. They’d fought side by side and he trusted them with his life.

He could trust them with this to.

“No….it’s...it’s ok,” he pried his fingers away from his wrists, wincing as the marks underneath were exposed “It’s just….a hard story to tell,”

Empathy washed over Jim’s face “You don’t have to tell us if you--”

“It’s ok,” Douxie cut him off “I want to tell you,”

He took a deep breath as they all looked at him, expectantly but patiently.

“I got these,” Douxie started slowly “I got these when I was the age I appear to be now…..”

-

Notes: (Content warning for mentions of cannibalism)

For the magic system I'm setting up in this story there are functional differences between a Wizard and a Warlock. A Witch/Wizard is someone with innate magical abilities, whether they came naturally, like Douxie, or developed after contact with the magical world, like Claire. A person without magic of their own that still uses magical tools and objects would be referred to as an Alchemist.

Warlocks occupy a dark middle ground between the two. Warlocks are those that lack intrinsic magical abilities of their own, but consume or inject themselves with the essence of other magical creatures in order to gain their powers. These artificially gained magical abilities fade over time, so Warlocks constantly need to replenish themselves with outside magical sources. There are literally thousands of ways for a Warlock to accomplish this, but the most common method is by directly cannibalizing a Witch or Wizard. So while the words Warlock and Cannibal are not synonymous within magical communities, they share all of the same negative connotations.

The main point is that while being a Warlock doesn't make one inherently 'evil', the steps and ethical choices a person has to make to become a Warlock and to maintain that status informs a lot about their willingness to harm others for their own gain.

This won't come up in the rest of the story, I just wanted to elaborate on some of the worldbuilding.

[soaringsearingphoenix]

6, 14/15 and 18 for the unusual asks!!

6: Your opinion about your body and how comfortable you are with it

Appearance-wise I have no problems with it. I'm not especially interested in bodies as a thing to look at overall, but I am fascinated with the way that bodies carry marks of their history. Sometimes if I drastically change my hairstyle it takes me a split second before I recognize myself in the mirror but that's beside the point. It's the prosopagnosia. Don't worry about it. Anyways, while I generally prefer that people don't comment on my body at all, it's more about not being particularly interested in attraction most of the time, and not that I don't believe people if they tell me I'm pretty or handsome or however I am dressed that day.

I do have kind of a fraught history with my body but it's the functionality that is the problem. It used to be more about the physics, and lately it's become more about the chemistry, and that's something I'm working on. I think we're all learning new things about our brains and our emotions this past year. I've had a hard time working the basic necessities of self care into an unstructured schedule.

I do tend to think of my Self as a vague incorporeal thing within the body, and the body as a distinct thing that I am caring for more than being. I've joked before that "me, myself, and I" means my body, my brain, and my consciousness.

So Im not sure if i recognize my body as entirely Me, in the same way i used to conceptualize my shadow more as an imaginary friend than as an extension of me. Like, it exists as a thing attached to Me - even inseparable from Me, a thing that is a result and a projection of Me, an image that, if captured, would be an image of Me, and yet. It is Me the way Renee Magritte's Treachery of Images is a pipe - the appearance of Me is not the thing itself.

I'm deeply enthralled with my face. I only sort of have a memory for faces, so every time I look closely at my face I'm surprised by something I notice - in a cool and fun way, it's like, always entertaining to me.

So all in all my body is kind of a hassle but I like it, anything that was like "I would change this if I could" I have already done so, and now I just need to focus on the long term maintenance.

14: What is your least favorite word?

As far as the meaning, like, obviously any word that is designed to harm people. But like, slurs and insults go without saying.

As far as texture, I love to hate words that sound like something else. "Agnostic" sounds like a nasal condition, like your sinuses are all stuffed up - I used to have a dumb joke with my mom where we would pinch our nose and say to the other, "sorry if I sound funny, I'm feeling a little agnostic today." It really means someone who is not religious. I think "anosmic" is a word that means you can't smell. I think that's why it sounds that way to me.

There are words I don't like the sound or mouthfeel of but I can't think of them at the moment. I'm sure one will come to mind as far as this post is too far to scroll back and edit.

15: What is your favorite word?

I love big science words that are really specific jargon. So like i know it's my name, but Perihelion. And as far as a word that I haven't claimed as a name, spaghettification.

I also love onomatopoeia words that sound like what they describe, like "buzz" and "crash." Words you can say really expressively.

18: A reason you’ve lied to someone

Most frequent lie throughout my life was probably to parents and teachers about how much I'd actually worked on homework. To be fair, even "simple" assignments took me exhausting hours of fighting my own brain. And like, I tested well enough that until college I passed most classes doing the bare minimum of homework.

More recently - I don't really lie anymore, actually. Which is kind of a shame because I love lying, and I'm good at it. I don't want to be in situations where it feels necessary to lie. But inconsequential, group-sanctioned lying is a lot of fun. Like, I lie in character playing RPGs. I LOVE card games like BS and Coup. (I should have a poker night sometime.) I loved being imposter in Among Us before I got tired of the game (mostly the random players). I love the kind of lying that requires you to kind of stay on your toes - I love improv and I love memory games and lying is basically exactly that. So inconsequential lying games are some of my favorite kinds of games.

But I don't really have any reason to lie much. I don't keep a lot of secrets. I wouldn't go so far as to call myself an open book but I don't really have anyone currently in my life who I feel the need to hide things from.

Mostly I lie through omission now. Like. I guess technically my most frequent current lie is about having a stash of snacks in my room, which I am not supposed to have (but which is important enough to justify). Or the kind of "lie" where like you turn in an assignment late because "something came up" and technically that is true and they don't need to know that the "something" in question is that, like, you spent two hours watching a hawk and didn't realize so much time had passed. The best cases are where you can make true-but-vague statements and let your professor or whoever fill in the implied context themselves. Because then it's not technically lying. As long as it's not hurting anyone I think that's fine to do.

I really can't think of a memorable or funny story about a time I've lied right now. I'm sure there is one but it would have been a while ago.

I recall a few little lies, like an arachnophobe in my class asking "what's cupped in your hands" and me saying a grasshopper when it was really a spider I was trying to move outside before she saw it. I think that one was for the best.

[phobidawg]

This is insanely late, but I finally finished up my fic for the Renegades Fic Exchange, hosted by @narcissacronin and @ruby-assassin! It’s for @onecannotbebravewhohasnofear with the prompt of “something with Callum.” I hope you like it! <3

SUPERNOVA SPOILERS!

And AU where Callum survived Supernova, and all the team is grown up. It’s Giving Thanks Day, and Nova is completely overhwelmed with preparations, so Callum offers to babysit the kids. 

Word Count- 1728

Callum turned the lock, patting the granda victorian doors fondly. The wooden sign above them read “Treadwell’s Treasures.” The name had been an offhand thought of Nova’s. Though Maggie has scoffed, Callum thought it was charming. And so, the three of them had pooled their money, and bought Callum his dream museum. The museum hosted a wide variety of historical objects and presentations. The council even let Callum showcase many of the unused prodigy objects in the artifacts room, under the condition that they could access them at any time they needed. 

Treadwell’s Treasures was his favorite place to be in the world, hence why it had been open even today, a national holiday. Giving Thanks Day was to honor the gifts they had. It was a holiday that Callum himself had suggested to the Council, and they’d readily agreed.

There was a beep, and Callum looked down at his Renegade watch. He picked it up, and was met with a distressed Nova yelling at someone “no the other pot, there’s already something in that one!”

“Nova, are you okay?” Callum could sense the anxiety and Nova’s overwhelmed state of being through the phone. 

“Hi Callum, it just wanted to remind you that dinner’s at- Andromeda please don’t touch that it’s hot!”

“Dinner?” From the sound of it, that was the last thing Callum expected Nova to tell him about. 

“Yes it’s at 5… OSCAR PLEASE-”

“Do you need a hand?”

“Oh no you don’t have to do that,” There was a bang and a squeal that sounded suspiciously like Oscar in the background. It sounded like Callum did to do that. “I’ll be there in 10!” Callum reponsonded brightly, before hanging up and jogged to his bike. 

Callum never went anywhere by car, he believed that saving the environment was in the small things. He also always wore a helmet, which he buckled now.

Passing through the streets, Callum admired the improvement the Council had made to the dilapidated suburbs. The project was a huge undertaking, and when he had time Callum liked to help the effort. Though the main priority was making them safe to live in, Callum liked it when  the helpers repainted a house a bright color. The reds, yellows, greens, and blues really brightened the atmosphere of the whole place.

Callum turned a corner, smiling at people as he passed. Soon he neared a pretty, light blue house. Parking his bike, he knocked on the door.

Nova opened it, and promptly ushered him in.

“Happy Giving Thanks Day!” She began to hug him, but a “Nova! The pasta is on fire!” quickly recalled her back to the kitchen.

Callum wasn’t alone for long, only moments passed before a little girl came to hug his legs.

“Uncle Callum!” She squealed. He laughed, swinging her up over his head. She shrieked gleefully and he kissed her cheek. Callum loved when Nova’s kids called him Uncle, even if they were by no way related. 

“Andromenda! How’ve you been? How’s Bear?”

Andromeda showcased her stuffed cat proudly. “He got a cut above his eye, but I gave him stitches myself. Callum peered at the stitching. “Wow! You're going to have to give me lessons! I ripped my pants yesterday gardening, can you fix those too?”

Andromeda considered, before nodding, determined. “I’ll fix them!”

“Whew, what would I do without you.” He set her down, and she scampered off to find Nina, Oscar and Ruby’s daughter.

“Callum! Nova said I would find you here.” Adrian clapped his shoulder. The two exchanged greetings as Adrian led him to the back room. “Thank you so much for offering to help out, it’s really hectic- Oscar, his mom, and Ruby’s parents and grandmother are all in the kitchen trying to cook over each other while she leads them, and Ruby and I are busy setting the table and finishing up decorations… it’ll only be for a half hour before my dads and everyone else come and they’ll be fine on their own.”

“It’s no problem! I’m glad to help.” Callum responded, and Adrian sighed in relief. 

“Thank you so much.” He ran off to find Ruby again, and Callum was left with the kids.

There were three jumping kids, and one in a bucket seat. Andromeda and Nina, the 6 year olds, and Lucas, Ruby and Oscar’s 4 year old son. The one in the bucket seat began to cry, so Callum went over to pick the child up. Cradling the baby, he looked down and bopped it’s nose.

“Why are you so sad Diana?” He cooed, moving around a little bit to soothe her. Diana waved one little fist, sucking on the other. Callum caught the first, and enclosed it in his hand. Diana made a gasping sound, and her eyes widened as she wondered where her fist had gone. Callum smiled, and opened his hand. The little girl goggled at her newly reappeared hand, tears forgotten. Callum bounced her a little, and reached over to get the sash from the table. He handed the little girl to Andromeda for a moment, and put the sash over one shoulder and under the other. He took the baby back and settled her in the hammock like space that was made before turning to face the other children.

“Lucas, Nina! I believe it’s been a full week since I saw you last. Have you been good for your parents?”

The two bounced on the balls on their feet, nodding profusely. Callum smiled at them. “I’ve been good too!” Andromeda piped up. Callum laughed, and dug around in his pocket. Pulling out his hand, he extended it towards the three and opened it. The squealled gleefully when they saw the little caramel chews. Callum mimed a shushing motion, “your parents won’t be very happy since caramel gets stuck in your teeth, but a little extra sweetness has done nothing but help people.” 

“Thank you Uncle Callum!” They chorused, unwrapping them eagerly. 

Diana gurgled, and Callum reached over to grab her bottle. “I didn’t forget you.” He reassured, handing it to her.

“What were you doing before?” He asked when the candies had been eaten.

“We were playing family.” Andromeda informed. 

“I was the baby.” Nina complained, crossing her arms. “I wanted to be the dog!” She exclaimed, “And plus we already have a baby.”

“But Diana can’t play with us, and not every family has a dog.” Andromeda reasoned.

“I’m the Dad.” Lucas stuck his chest out proudly, looking at Andromeda for approval. She was too busy arguing with Nina though. Callum told Lucas he looked very manly.

“Well I can’t see why Nina can’t be a dog, not every couple has a child. Look at Aunt Danna and Aunt Narcissa!”

Nina began to grin, and Andromeda paused, considering.

“Well, they don’t have a dog either.” She said, as if that settled it. 

“That’s because Auntie Narcissa is allergic to dogs.” Lucas pointed out. “If she wasn’t they might!”

“Oh…” 

Callum was a little lost on the logic of toddlers, but could sense it was going to work itself out.

“Does that mean I can be a dog?” Nina was looking between them, equally lost. 

Andromeda didn’t answer, eyebrows furrowed, but Lucas told his sister that of course she could.

“Yay!” Nina jumped up and down.

“Wait, what’s Uncle Callum going to be?” Andromeda asked.

Callum considered, “the next door neighbor?”

“You can be the grandpa!” Lucas giggled, and Callum laughed, joining the game.

~*~

 Once the company began to arrive, they all congregated in the living room. Danna, Narcissa, Maggie, Ruby’s brother’s, Max were all there. After the battle, the last four had become a Renegades team, along with another girl (who couldn't make it tonight.) Hugh and Simon were in their way, as well as Leroy and Danna’s parents. 

Callum took a seat next to Maggie. She and the boys from her team were engaged in a very serious game of Connect 4. It was Maggie and Max against the twins.

Callum whispered something in Maggie’s ear. She grinned and a moment later, she and Max had the twins beat.

“No fair! They cheated!” Jade pointed at him accusingly, but Max and Maggie couldn't hear of the sound of their whooping.

The two hours passed in a joyous blur of talking, friends, and intense games of Uno (Danna won every time.)

Food was served, and the rest of the guests came, the meal was ended, people left to play games in the other room, and an exhausted Nova took a seat next to him.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, taking a bite.

“Aaaaaah.” Nova yell sighed. Callum pat her hand. “This is all amazing, you’ve done an outstanding job.” He reassured. She smiled at him.

“Hosting is hard,” she admitted. “It’s all much better now that I’m sitting though.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He laughed. “Well, I hosted a museum, but that’s very different.”

“Speaking of, how’s your Day of Triumph exhibition going?”

Callum nodded. “Very well, I think the people will walk out understanding both sides, the losses of both, and how it didn’t stop further problems- though a victory nonetheless.”

Nova nodded, fingers tapping her glass. “Are you doing another one of the ‘stand really still and look like a statue’ fundraisers soon? Because Narcissa loved it.”

“She did tell me that afterwards, also she said she had some good books I could borrow for my next exhibit.”

“That’s great!”

There was a pause of silence, before Nova said, “Thank you for coming over and watching the kids today. I know they’re a handful, but it was a huge help.”

Callum just smiled and waved it away. “Anytime, and it was no problem! Love the kids.”

Nova stood up. “You’re the best. Now I have to go wash the dishes.”

Ruby popped her head in the room. “Danna and I have got the dishes!”

Nova looked doubtful. “Clear the table…”

“Adrian did that.” Ruby informed.

“Oh!” Nova was surprised and clearly relieved. Callum gave her a gentle push towards the living room, where Adrian and her other friends were waiting for her on the couch. “Go!” 

Callum watched her sit and give Adrian a kiss on the cheek with content. His friends were happy, Gatlon was on the rise, and all was at peace in the world. He was most definitely thankful.

[calumcest]

i want to teach you a lesson (in the worst kind of way)

me writing 5.6k in 4 hours and pretending my essays/presentation/exams/dissertation don’t exist? it’s more likely than you think

thank u jex for listening to me scream abt this for the past 4 hours and for always being the sweetest and most encouraging person in the world you are truly such a positive influence in my life 

also this is based off a prompt i got i think in 2014 never say i don’t provide! i would link the post but honestly it’s just got my 16 year old self’s embarrassing screams on it so frankly i would rather not so instead i will provide you with a screenshot of the ask under the cut 

[ao3]

-

“Who’s that, sir?” Lily asks, jabbing at the window.

“The new PE teacher,” Michael says.

“He’s cute,” Sarah says, and a couple of the girls nod vigorously.

“He’s also twice your age,” Michael says. “Go on, off to your practice rooms.” The girls groan, but one by one pull themselves away from the window and start to wander off. Michael stays by the window, one eye on the girls to make sure they actually go where they’re supposed to and one eye on the new PE teacher, who’s dividing the class up into groups and handing out footballs. He is kind of hot, Michael supposes, if you’re into muscular guys who are clearly good at sports. Which Michael most definitely is.

-

Michael Clifford loves his job. 

Sure, the staff room politics can get a bit exhausting (although Michael would be lying if he didn’t admit to loving all the drama he wasn’t personally involved in), and the kids can drive him up the fucking wall, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing he’d rather be doing than teaching. 

Except today. Today, when a good portion of 10C has somehow exploded into an argument over whether or not Julia snatched a guitar when Sam was about to take it, he thinks he’d rather be a human guinea pig for infectious diseases, or something. It probably pays better, anyway.

“Sam,” he says sternly, and he turns to look at Michael, anger written all over his face. “There are plenty of guitars in the cupboard. Let Julia have that one.”

“But sir, that’s the only one which-” 

“I don’t care,” Michael says, holding up a hand, because he’s perfectly aware that it’s the only guitar which stays in tune longer than thirty seconds. He’s been begging for a budget increase since the day he joined the school. “It’s one lesson, it’s not an exam, you can deal with it for forty-five minutes.” 

“But Mr Clifford-” Lucy pipes up, ready to defend Sam. 

“No, Lucy,” he says firmly. “I want all of you in the practice rooms, now.” Sam glares at him furiously and stomps off without an instrument in his hands, Lucy and Pip running behind him to one of the practice rooms outside the main classroom. Michael decides he’s got enough on his plate without inserting himself into hormonally-charged teenage drama, so he lets them go, rounding on Noel and Olivia, who are still arguing with Julia, Brandon hovering awkwardly nearby. 

“I don’t want to hear anything else about this,” Michael cuts in, and Noel and Olivia round on Michael instead. 

“Sir, she stole it from-”

“He was about to pick it u-”

“I don’t want to spend my lunchtime in detention, and unless you two do I suggest you get your instruments and go to your practice rooms,” Michael says curtly, trying to refrain from pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance. He’s getting a stress-induced headache already, and it’s the first lesson of the day. 

“Fine,” Olivia spits, full of the kind of melodrama only a fifteen-year-old can summon, and Michael tries not to roll his eyes as they stalk off to one of the practice rooms at the back of the classroom without so much as another glance in his direction. He’s pretty sure he hears one of them mutter fuck you under their breath as they walk away, and he feels momentarily bad before he remembers they’ll have forgotten about it by their next lesson. 

“Don’t do it again,” is all he says tiredly to Julia, who nods meekly, and scampers off to join her group in one of the other practice rooms at the back of the classroom. That being sorted, Michael turns back to the rest of the class, to find about eight of the girls gathered at the window, chattering excitedly. 

“That doesn’t look like composing a short piece on three instruments to me,” he says, wandering over, and a bunch of the girls look back at him with a look of excitement on their faces. 

“Who’s that, sir?” Lily asks, jabbing at the window and leaving a mark. Michael peers over their heads to see a distant figure standing on the field with a class that looks like it might be 7A. All he can make out is that it’s a guy, with what looks like a mess of dark brown hair and a couple of tattoos on his (very muscular, Michael notes with approval) arms that he’s waving around, clearly explaining something. 

Michael vaguely remembers Paula, the headmistress, saying something about a new PE teacher starting this week, but he’d been too busy whisper-explaining to Luke why Magic: The Gathering was a great game and he should definitely play it with Michael to remember what she’d said the guy was called. 

“The new PE teacher,” he says, hoping they won’t ask what he’s called.

“He’s cute,” Sarah says, and a couple of the girls nod vigorously.

“He’s also twice your age,” Michael says. “Go on, off to your practice rooms.” The girls groan, but one by one pull themselves away from the window and start to wander off. Michael stays by the window, one eye on the girls to make sure they actually go where they’re supposed to and one eye on the new PE teacher, who’s dividing the class up into groups and handing out footballs. He is kind of hot, Michael supposes, if you’re into muscular guys who are clearly good at sports. Which Michael most definitely is. 

Huh, he thinks, pushing himself away from the window and heading to the first practice room to make sure Noel, Olivia and Brandon have calmed down a bit. Sarah’s kind of right. 

 ------- 

 Michael has a free period fourth period, and even if he usually wouldn’t be seen dead on the field, it’s a beautiful day, and it is on the route to the staff room. Well, it’s on a route to the staff room, at least, and if that route happens to be five minutes longer than simply walking through the building and over the quad, then Michael doesn’t need to know about it. He could do with the exercise, he tells himself. It’s nothing to do with the new PE teacher. 

When Michael gets down to the field, the PE teacher’s gathering up the footballs from the previous lesson and stuffing them in the big netted bag that’s been threatening to break for about five years. He turns around after picking up the last one and spots Michael (who is definitely not staring) cutting across the top part of the field. He raises a hand, and Michael’s not really sure if he’s waving or telling him to get the fuck off the field, but then he’s gathering the bag in one hand and jogging over, and Michael’s absolutely not watching the lines of his muscles as he makes his way over. 

“Hi!” the guy says, grinning widely, and fucking hell, he’s even hotter up close. He’s got dark brown eyes, crinkled at the corners with the brilliant smile currently gracing his full lips, and his dark hair is curled, falling into his face slightly. “I’m Calum. Calum Hood. I’m new.” 

“I’m Michael Clifford,” Michael says. “I’m not.” He curses inwardly as soon as the words have left his lips - he should be legally restricted from talking to hot guys, honestly - but Calum laughs, laughs, and it’s not fake, if the twinkle in his eyes is anything to go by. 

“I gathered,” he says. “So, what do you teach?” 

“Music,” Michael says. “You’re PE?” Calum nods. 

“Music’s my second, though,” he says. 

“Oh?” Michael wants to die. Of course hot PE guy can teach Music, of all things. He was literally crafted by God to upset Michael. 

“Yeah,” Calum says, with a smile. “I mean, I’m sure I’m nowhere near as good as you, but I play guitar, and a little piano. Bass is my real love, though.” 

“Bass?” Michael says, trying his best not to imagine Calum’s long fingers flying across a fretboard. 

“Yeah,” Calum says. “I played in a band, for a bit, but, y’know.” He gestures at himself. “Clearly didn’t work out.” 

“That’s pretty fucking cool, though,” Michael says, genuinely impressed. “And hey, bassist to secondary school PE teacher is an upgrade.” Calum laughs. 

“Fuck you, man,” he says, but he’s grinning, and Michael feels a warmth spreading from his toes to his cheeks. “Hey, are you heading to the staff room?” Michael nods. “Mind if I tag along? I’m still finding my way around.” 

“Sure,” Michael says, shrugging and hoping it conceals the fact that he kind of wants to turn back to the safety of his music room and bang his head on the wall until he forgets someone as perfect as Calum Hood exists on the same planet as him. 

“Sweet,” Calum says, beaming at him as he holds up the bag of footballs. “Let me just lock these in the shed and I’ll be right with you.” 

Yeah, sweet, Michael thinks, as Calum turns on his heel and jogs away from Michael over to the tiny shed in the corner of the field which houses all the outdoor equipment. Not like Michael’s already head over heels in love, or anything. 

Sweet. 

 ------- 

 Calum’s officially introduced in the staff room at lunchtime on his first day, but Michael has lunch duty on a Monday so he misses it. Luke and Ashton tell him Calum’s a big hit in the staff room, “really charming, and have you seen his arms?”, which just puts Michael in a bad mood, because he now has competition. 

It’s three days before Michael bumps into Calum again, in his free second period, which he’s spending catching up on all the marking that was due, like, two weeks ago and is still unfinished. 

“Hey, Michael!” Calum says cheerfully, sitting down opposite Michael at the desk that he’s entirely covered with a careful class-organised system of marking. “Oh, shit, are you busy?” 

“No,” Michael says immediately, because what’s his job compared to conversation with the hottest guy in Australia? “What’s up?” Calum shrugs. 

“Just wanted a chat,” he says. “Haven’t seen you in a few days. You been hiding from me?” His eyes are twinkling as he says it, and it makes Michael’s stomach flip, because it’s pretty friendly for a guy he’s met once. If Michael were anyone else, he would say Calum might almost be flirting. Maybe Calum’s just like that, though. Maybe it doesn’t mean anything. 

“Been catching up on marking,” Michael says, indicating all the papers on the desk. “I’m literally going to stop setting homework, I swear to God.” 

“Can’t say I relate,” Calum says, with a grin. “Perks of being a PE teacher.” 

“Yeah, but you have to deal with, like, concussions, and shit,” Michael says, capping his pen. 

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, and all that,” Calum says breezily, and Michael snorts. 

“Typical PE teacher,” he says. “I could have had my leg cut off and my PE teacher would have made me keep running.” Calum smirks. 

“Well, you have another leg, don’t you?” he says, and laughs when Michael scowls. “I’m kidding. I’d let you do push ups instead.” Michael rolls his eyes, but he’s grinning. 

“How generous,” he says. Calum grins back at him, and Michael’s heart does a fucking backwards somersault, or something ridiculous. 

“That’s what you get for saying PE teacher is an upgrade from bassist,” he says. 

“Hey, that’s just the natural order of things,” Michael says. “It’s not my fault bass is at the bottom of the musical food chain.” 

“What’s music without the rhythm section?” Calum says, stretching, and Michael tries his best not to stare at the sliver of skin that’s exposed under his shirt. 

“Acoustic?” Michael offers, and Calum huffs out a laugh, bringing his arms (and shirt, Michael thinks wistfully) back down. 

“Fuck,” he says agreeably. “Guess my band could have carried on without me.” 

“What kind of music did you play?” Michael asks. Calum shrugs. 

“A bit of everything,” he says. “We started on All Time Low, Fall Out Boy, that kind of a thing, got more Radiohead and Tame Impala vibes as we went on.” Jesus Christ. Michael has literally died and gone to heaven, because there is absolutely no way a man this perfect exists anywhere other than in Michael’s imagination. 

“Mate, I fucking love All Time Low,” Michael says, and a smile unfurls on Calum’s lips. 

“Have you heard their new album?” 

“Yeah,” Michael says. “Fuck, Monsters? What a fucking tune.”

“Right?” Calum says enthusiastically. “And Basement Noise?” 

“Fucking sick,” Michael agrees. 

“You’ve got good taste,” Calum says approvingly. Michael opens his mouth to say something - you’re just saying that to get in my pants is on the tip of his tongue - but he’s interrupted (or possibly saved from eternal embarrassment) by Ashton sitting down heavily next to him. 

“Hey, Michael,” he says, throwing a dimpled smile in his direction. “Hey, Calum.”

“Hey, Ashton,” Calum says. “How’s the Year 10 clay project coming along?”

“Oh, you know,” Ashton says, leaning back in his seat and pushing his curls out of his face. “Two busts have been decapitated so far, so we’re doing pretty well, all things considered.” 

“Nice,” Michael says approvingly. 

“I know you’re talking about the decapitations, Mike, you don’t fool me,” Ashton says knowingly. Michael scowls. 

“Was it Sam?” he asks, needing to know who to high-five in his next lesson.

“No, Noel,” Ashton says. 

“10C? Short kid, really fucking fast?” Calum asks. Michael shrugs. How is Michael supposed to know how fast he is? It’s not like Noel’s Naruto running through the music room. 

“Yeah,” Ashton says, because apparently Noel’s Naruto running through the art room. 

“He’s really fucking good with a ball,” Calum says, and Michael bites back an awful innuendo with a lot of difficulty. Not in front of Ashton, he tells himself. 

“He’s lacking a passion,” Ashton says. “He’s good at art, but he messes around too much.” 

“Same with Music,” Michael says. “He’s got a temper on him, too.” 

“Well, maybe I can get him to channel it into football,” Calum says seriously. “Kids need an outlet, and something they feel like they’re good at. He needs something to be proud of.” 

Fuck, Michael thinks, as Ashton enthusiastically responds in kind, staring at Calum as he nods along to whatever Ashton’s saying with a thoughtful frown. He’s definitely in love. 

 ------- 

 Calum and Michael fall into a bit of a routine. 

They don’t share a lot of free periods together, only the fourth on Monday and second on Thursday, but Michael will wait at the corner of the field for Calum to finish clearing up after his last lesson and they’ll walk to the staff room together, sitting and chatting shit for an hour about nothing in particular. 

Michael learns that Calum’s got a sister, Mali, who’s in the music industry and whom he’s incredibly proud of, and that he’s half-Kiwi, half-Scottish, and grew up in western Sydney, not too far from Michael. He learns that Calum loves dogs more than he loves either bass or football, loves his dog (Duke) more than he loves anything else on the planet, likes playing Fifa and eating ice cream, and that his biggest fear is not having an impact on the world. He learns that Calum genuinely loves teaching, that Noel’s finding his feet with football and he’s really enjoying it, and that Calum almost went professional with football. 

(“Is there anything you aren’t fucking talented at?” Michael says grumpily, when Calum tells him that. Calum laughs. 

“Asking cute boys out,” he says, throwing Michael a grin, and Michael’s stomach flips.) 

And so he also learns that Calum’s gay, and that he’s been single his whole life. 

(“Are you serious? Michael says incredulously. Calum shrugs. 

“I’m not a blushing virgin, Michael,” he says, seeing the look on Michael’s face, and Michael scowls. 

“I didn’t say you were,” Michael says sullenly, but he’s secretly more than a little jealous of these nameless, faceless boys that have had the honour of fucking Calum Hood.) 

Of course, Michael’s not the only one in the school to notice Calum. 

A majority of the girls, and a good number of the boys, sing Calum’s praises to Michael every opportunity they get. He hears them talking in the corridors when Calum breezes past, smiling at them but eyes lighting up when he brushes past Michael (which Michael tries desperately not to think about when he’s staring out of the window daydreaming in the middle of a lesson). The staff are no better, either - Brenda and Caroline have been gossiping about Calum’s muscles so loudly that Michael only half-jokingly threatened to file a sexual harassment suit against them on his behalf. 

One thing that having an incredibly hot PE teacher has done wonders for, though, is school morale. 

It’s the only reason Michael’s standing at the corner of a wet field on a freezing May afternoon, wrapped in a thick coat and scarf and somehow still shivering, huddled between Luke and Ashton, whom he’d bribed-slash-threatened to join him because he didn’t want to be too obvious about it. 

(“Mike, I don’t think you could be less obvious about being in love with Calum if you tried,” Luke had said, rolling his eyes, but then Michael had pulled out his trump card - he’d give Luke his coveted spot in the corner of the staff room - and Luke had agreed to go.) 

“I fucking hate you,” Luke mumbles into the scarf currently covering a good half of his face. “I’m so fucking cold. This is not worth it to get you laid.”

“Fuck you,” Michael says automatically, eyes on Calum. He’s shouting encouragement and tactics at the Year 12 football team - not that Michael can hear it above the cheers and boos from the rest of the school and their opposition - but he looks so fucking good, brow creased as he focuses on the game. 

“Are there usually this many people at football games?” Ashton asks, looking around in wonder. “There aren’t, are there?”

“How d’you expect us to know?” Luke asks, exasperated. “We’re not usually at football games either.” 

“We’re being good friends,” Ashton tells Luke, a little sternly, and Luke huffs, but doesn’t say anything else. 

Their team scores, and the crowd erupts into cheers, because it’s now only two minutes until the end of the game and they’re two-one up, so it’s unlikely the result will change. Calum still looks determined, though, muttering something to Ben, the Year 12 captain, who nods and jogs back across the bitch to prepare for the kick-off. 

“I hate this,” Luke whines after a minute, because that’s apparently as long as he can keep quiet without reminding everyone how miserable he is. “This is why I’m a Maths teacher.” 

“Shut up,” Michael says, and then the final whistle blows and Calum’s face is finally relaxing, tension dissipating from his posture as he cheers with the rest of the crowd. 

“Calum looks really good tonight,” Ashton says, sending a glance in Michael’s direction.

“Alright, fuck me, I guess,” Luke grumbles. Ashton rolls his eyes. 

“You’re such a fucking bitch sometimes,” he says, but he looks around furtively before snaking his arm around Luke’s waist and giving it a quick squeeze. 

“Everyone knows you’re fucking,” Michael comments, still staring at Calum. “You don’t have to be sly about it.” 

“No they don’t,” Luke says, leaning into Ashton’s touch. 

“Yes, they do,” Michael says, and then he forgets what he was going to say next because Calum makes eye contact with him from across the pitch and gives him a huge grin, and Michael’s stomach bottoms out. “Fuck, he’s grinning at me.” 

“Well, grin back, idiot,” Ashton says, so Michael does. Calum holds his gaze for a moment, and then turns back to his team, leaving Michael feeling a little unsteady. 

“I’m in love,” he declares, for the nintieth time that week. 

“We know,” Luke says grumpily. 

 ------- 

 Michael’s halfway through marking 8A’s elements of music test when there’s a knock at the door. He looks up, expecting to see Luke or Ashton, not Calum. He looks out of place in his football kit in the music room, and Michael’s brain short-circuits as it tries to reconcile a hot man in Michael’s music room. 

“Hey,” he says, sticking his head around the door. “Am I disturbing you?”

“No,” Michael says, because Calum could walk in on him taking a shit and wouldn’t be disturbing him. “What’s up?” Calum steps into the room, clicking the door shut behind him, and throws himself down on a seat opposite Michael’s desk.

“So,” he says. “You know All Time Low are here next weekend?” Michael nods. He’s planning on going with Luke and Ashton. “I might have got two tickets to Sunday night.” 

“That’s sick,” Michael enthuses. “Who are you going with?” Calum throws Michael an odd look, somewhere between exasperation and amusement. 

“Well, I was hoping you’d want to come?” he says. Michael blinks. 

“Me?” he says. 

“Yeah,” Calum says, and there’s definitely a hint of amusement in his tone now. 

“I, uh.” Michael’s not really sure how to speak without saying yes, please, and please let me suck your dick while I’m at it. He swallows, hoping it’ll make the words disappear from the tip of his tongue. “I’d fucking love to.” Calum grins, looking relieved, and Michael realises that he must have been nervous . Something about that sends a thrill coursing through his veins - he’d made Calum nervous, somehow. 

“Sweet,” he says happily. “Text me your address? I’ll pick you up at five.” Michael just nods, not really trusting himself to speak, and Calum pulls himself up out of the chair, throwing him one last smile before he leaves the room. 

Fuck, Michael thinks, as the door swings shut behind Calum, pulling his phone out to Google how to fall out of love with a colleague. 

(It doesn’t help him at all.) 

 ------- 

 Next Sunday comes around faster than Michael had expected, given how much he’s been thinking about it. 

Luke and Ashton had been a little incensed when he’d told them he was no longer going with them but with Calum.

(“What?” Luke had said crossly. “Michael, you already bought your ticket.” 

“Yeah, but it’s a choice between third-wheeling you or one-on-one time with the love of my life,” Michael says dramatically. “What do you expect me to choose?”) 

At five to five, Michael’s sat in his living room, leg jiggling nervously as he checks his phone every two milliseconds just in case he’s somehow missed a notification from Calum in the time it’s taken him to blink. 

Calum, though, doesn’t even text to say he’s arrived, just rings the doorbell at five on the dot, scaring Michael shitless. 

“Hi,” Calum says, smiling, when Michael opens the door. He’s wearing a Nine Inch Nails shirt and straight-leg blue jeans, which should look incredibly nineties and not good at all, but somehow makes Michael want to drop to his knees right there and then. Although, he supposes, that’s what Michael wants to do regardless of what Calum is wearing, so it’s probably nothing to do with that. “You look gorgeous.” Michael has to bite his cheek to check whether he’s still alive and not, like, ascended to heaven.

“Thanks,” Michael mumbles when his mouth floods with pain and it becomes clear that yes, he is actually still alive, feeling heat rise to his cheeks from the sheer intimacy of this moment with a colleague-slash-friend-slash-soulmate-but-he-doesn’t-know-it. He’s so used to seeing Calum in the context of school that it feels strange to see him in normal clothes, standing on Michael’s doorstep. 

“Are you ready, or, like, d’you want me to stand here all evening?” Calum says after a moment, and Michael steps out of the house with a scowl. 

“Fuck you,” he says, trailing behind Calum as they walk to his car. 

“Maybe if you’re lucky,” Calum says, and Michael chokes on his next breath. Calum, however, doesn’t seem to notice, as he’s getting into the car and starting the engine. Michael takes the opportunity to splutter for a second, re-learning how to breathe for the first time in twenty-five years, and takes a deep breath before getting in the passenger side of the car. 

“What d’you reckon’s going to be on the set list?” Calum asks, reversing out of Michael’s driveway and setting off down the street. Michael hums in consideration. 

“Aside from the obvious?” he says. 

“No, Michael, tell me that Dear Maria’s going to be on the set list,” Calum says sarcastically. Michael scowls. 

“I’d punch you if you weren’t driving,” he tells Calum, and Michael sees him grin in the dim light. 

“I’ve found my shield,” Calum says, running a stop sign. Michael squawks as they swerve into the road, grabbing onto the handle on the door. Calum rolls his eyes. “Don’t be so dramatic, I’ve seen how you drive.” 

“Fuck off,” Michael says, scowling, but he can’t deny it. Speed is more important than safety, is his motto - mainly because he always sets off at least ten minutes late. 

“So?” Calum prompts. “Set list?” 

“I hope Monsters,” Michael says. “But honestly? I’d love some of the older stuff on there too.” 

“Yeah, I miss Stella being on the set list,” Calum says wistfully. 

“You saw them when Stella was on the set list?” 

“Yeah,” Calum says, a tad smug, and okay, fuck him. 

“Fuck,” Michael says, and he can’t even disguise the envy in his voice. Calum just laughs, throwing Michael a glance, and his eyes are glittering in the sunset, making Michael’s heart hurt a little bit. “You don’t deserve that.” 

“Hey,” Calum says, aiming for affronted, but he’s still grinning. “Don’t antagonise the driver.” 

“I can antagonise you all I want,” Michael says. “You’re not going to kill us on the way to an All Time Low gig.” 

“Might kill us on the way back, though,” Calum points out.

“Yeah, well, I can probably die happy, then,” Michael says, with a shrug. 

“True,” Calum agrees. “Good music, pretty boy in the passenger seat, what more could you want?” 

“Exactly,” Michael says emphatically, and it takes him until Calum’s started talking about the merits of Nothing Personal as compared to Don’t Panic to realise what Calum had just said. 

Michael’s in the passenger seat.

 ------- 

 The show, as expected, is amazing. 

Michael’s seen All Time Low, like, five times now, and they never fail to disappoint. He voices as such to Calum on the way home, running on a high of adrenaline and having seen Calum jumping in the pit, screaming the lyrics to every single song, which had only made Michael’s whole being-in-love-with-the-hot-PE-teacher situation a little more difficult to handle. 

“Right?” Calum enthuses, speeding along the almost-empty highway. “I’ve heard it so many times, but Therapy live just hits different.” 

“God, I know,” Michael groans, tipping his head back and closing his eyes, letting the memory flash in front of his eyes. “I actually heard the full band version live, once.” 

“Yeah?” Calum asks, a tinge of envy in his voice. Michael savours the moment. 

“Yeah,” he says, a touch smugly. “It was fucking sick.” 

“I can imagine,” Calum says. “I told Alex that they should play it like that tonight, but-” 

“Hang on,” Michael says, cutting Calum off, because he cannot be understanding this correctly. “Alex who?” Calum suddenly looks a little guilty. 

“Uh,” he says. 

“Alex who, Calum?” 

“Gaskarth?” Calum offers after a moment, and Michael gapes at him. 

“You know Alex Gaskarth?” 

“Well, y’know, I used to be in a band, and we opened for All Time Low, and-” 

“You opened for All Time Low?” Michael asks. Calum chews on his bottom lip. 

“Yeah,” he says. “I’m- look, I’m sorry for not telling you, okay? I got the tickets through Alex, but I thought if I told you you might just want to go for them, like, you wouldn’t get it, and-” 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you know All Time Low,” Michael huffs, sinking down in his seat. Calum throws him a worried look, so Michael adds: “I knew there was a reason I kept you around,” which makes Calum smile as he turns into Michael’s road. 

“Fuck you,” he says, but the concern is fading from his face as he parks on the road by Michael’s house this time. They both get out of the car, and then Michael hovers awkwardly by the little path that leads to his house. 

“You’re a traitor,” he says, when Calum rounds the corner of his car and comes to stand opposite Michael. He’s lit up in the orange light of the streetlights, dark brown hair surrounded by a halo of amber, and Michael doesn’t think he’s seen a prettier sight in his life.

“I had to make sure you were coming for me,” Calum protests, a smile playing at his lips. Michael blinks at him. 

“What do you mean?” he says, nonplussed. 

“Well, y’know,” Calum says, shrugging. 

“I don’t know,” Michael says. Calum looks at him oddly. 

“Wait,” he says. “You...you know this was a date, right?” Michael gapes at him. 

“Are you- wait, what?” Calum’s face falls, and he takes a step back, and no, no, no, that’s not what Michael wants. “Wait, no, I-” 

“Fuck,” Calum says, laughing uncomfortably as he cards a hand through his hair. “I probably should have made it clearer, huh? I did say I was bad at asking out cute boys.” 

“Me?” Michael’s voice is a good three octaves higher than usual. “You think I’m cute?” Calum smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

“Michael, I’ve been flirting with you since, like, the minute I saw you,” he says. 

“You have?” 

“Jesus Christ,” Calum mutters, and then seems to pull himself together. “Look, I’m sorry if I, like, overstepped, made things uncomfortable, whatever. I’m happy to keep it professional, and-” he cuts himself off when Michael laughs. “What?” he says, and it comes out snappy. 

“Are you serious?” Michael says, and he’s grinning now, so much he thinks he probably looks a little creepy. 

“You’re kind of being a dickhead, now, you know that?” Calum says, a little sharply. 

“No, Calum, I- fucking hell,” Michael says, and a bubble of manic laughter escapes from him. “I’ve been kind of in love with you since, like, before we met.” Calum looks at him for a moment, expression unreadable

“Before we met?” Calum asks carefully. 

“Yeah,” Michael says, nodding. “10C pointed you out, in first period, and I kind of stared at you for half the lesson.” Calum says nothing for a moment, just keeps looking at Michael, and it’s starting to get a little unnerving, when-

“Oh,” Calum says, and a small smile is creeping onto his face. “You- wait, so, like, I didn’t misread it? You do like me?” 

“I mean, I did just say I was kind of in love with you, but sure, I like you," Michael says, and Calum grins, lit up by the streetlights and his happiness, and Michael thinks he’s found space in his heart that he didn’t even know he had since meeting Calum. 

“So,” Calum says. “This was a date?”

“This was definitely a date,” Michael agrees, feeling his stomach flip pleasantly at the words. 

“Would it be cliché to kiss you goodnight?” Calum asks, and Michael grins. 

“Definitely,” he says, “but I’ll kill you if you don’t.” Calum grins back, and takes two steps forward to close the space between them, bringing a hand to Michael’s jaw and pressing his lips to Michael’s gently. It’s chaste, sweet, slow, languid, and Calum kisses like Michael’s the only thing that matters in the world. He smells like mint and pine and vanilla, pressed close to Michael’s chest, slipping an arm around Michael’s waist, and Michael groans into the kiss as he thinks about Calum’s long fingers splayed across the small of his back. 

“Too much?” Calum asks, breaking away, and Michael shakes his head, pressing his forehead against Calum’s shoulder. 

“Not enough,” he says, because he doesn’t think he’s ever going to get enough of Calum Hood. Calum pulls him in for a proper hug, pressing a soft kiss to his temple, and Michael’s glad Calum’s got strong arms because he feels like his knees are about to give in. 

“Do you want to come in?” he mumbles against Calum’s shoulder. 

“Is that a proposition?” Calum says, smile evident in his voice. 

“Do you want it to be?”

“Maybe.” Michael swallows. Jesus Christ. 

“Then it is.” Calum pulls back and looks at Michael, suddenly serious. 

“Hey,” he says. “This isn’t- this isn’t just sex for me. I really like you, Michael. If you don’t want to, that’s okay. I want something more with you.” Michael grins. 

“Have I got to repeat the whole ‘kind of in love with you’ thing again?” he says, and Calum grins back. 

“Alright,” he says, and Michael hears his car squeaking to indicate it’s locked. “You’re making the excuses when we turn up to school tomorrow, though.” 

 -------

 A few students give them strange looks when they get out of Michael’s car in the morning. 

“Is this seriously the sportiest thing you own?” Calum grumbles for the fiftieth time, picking at the green hoodie and black jogging bottoms that Michael had chucked at him that morning. 

“Quit complaining,” Michael says, locking the car behind them and starting across the car park to the school. “Green’s your colour.” 

“Oh, that’s why you picked it,” Calum says, jogging a little to catch up with Michael. 

“Yeah,” Michael says with a grin, unashamed. Calum shakes his head, but he’s grinning too. 

“I’d kiss you right now if I could,” he says, as they turn into the building. 

“What’s stopping you?” Michael asks, as they make their way up the stairs to the staff room. 

“Uh, code of conduct? The contract I signed when I joined the school?” Michael rolls his eyes as he pushes open the door to the staff room. 

“Morning!” he chirps, heading straight for the desk Luke and Ashton are already sat at, Calum in his wake. 

“Morning!” a few people in the room chorus over the general buzz of post-weekend chatter. 

“Hey,” Luke says loudly, frowning. “Why’s Calum wearing your clothes?” 

The room goes still, and Michael just grins. 

[saijspellhart]

Okay, Floofy-eared Chat Blanc... Mari is asleep in his bed... he’s wide awake watching her sleep... her smell is just intoxicating to him... and all these fluffy, sweet scenarios keep running through his head... at first he hates it... but the scenarios begin to sound better and better.

Something started Chat Blanc from a very restful sleep. He jerked up, ears swiveling wildly in every direction, wild eyes searching the confines of his studio apartment.

He’d thought that for a fraction of a second he saw something red zipping around his miniature fridge. His pupils narrowed to focus on that area.

Nothing. Just the empty stillness of an abandoned building, and its creaky old pipes.

Outside the city continued to thrive, with its chatter and cars, the usual city din. Somewhere several floors down, rats scurried. He only heard them occasionally because they never dared to get close to his apartment. His scent covering everything on that floor warning them to stay far far away.

He tried shifting to get a better view of his surroundings, but something mumbled a protest and tugged at the bell on his chest. Finally Chat took notice of the weight in his lap, and across much of his chest.

His head cocked down, blown pupils fixating on the woman sound asleep on his bed. In his bed. On him.

Large fluffy ears swiveled forward, suddenly fascinated in her even breathing, and sleepy murmurs. Moments passed spent simply listening to her, and finally Chat’s own breathing calmed. His muscles relaxed bit by bit until he was reclining comfortably against the head board of his bed again.

“Hey,” he prodded, shifting muscles beneath her in an attempt to rouse her. “You shouldn’t be here.” Chat attempted to peel her away, pushing her hand from his bell. “It’s time to go.”

Marinette moaned, and tightened her grip, snuggling deeper against him.

Fuck, she was cute.

Chat’s head thumped back against the headboard, and he expelled a hard sigh.

“You’re not cute,” he argued at the ceiling. “You’re annoying and pesky. A relentless little mouse with a tenacious spirit who won’t stop invading my nest.”

“Mmmm.”

“Don’t ‘mmmm’ me. You’re exhausting.”

She didn’t respond, clearly still asleep despite her murmurings.

Chat took a sharp inhale and the length of his tail lifted off the bed, the nuances of the scents in the air causing it to curl.

He took another breath, lifted his head and sniffed in Marinette’s direction.

A pause.

Suddenly Chat stuffed his nose into her hair, and took a long inhale.

Thoughts scattered, and a thrill of excitement arced down his spine into his tail, causing it to whip and slap the top of the bed.

The sudden whap noise was enough to startle him form the spell, and Chat recoiled away from her hair. He gave a snort to clear the scents from his nose, blinking away his blown pupils in an attempt to compose himself.

“You don’t smell that good,” he insisted to no one, and had to turn his head off to the side.

Despite his declaration he attempted to not breathe through his nose. Then tried to bury his face in a nearby pillow, but her scent had pervaded that as well. Finally he thumped his head against the headboard again.

“See, this is why I don’t want you sitting on my nest. Everything stinks of you now.”

Marinette stretched a bit, and he thought she’d woken up until she snuggled back against him, her thigh settling between his legs. The friction caused him to seize up and dig his claws into the bedding.

Nope. Chat panted through clenched teeth, trying to control his sudden spiking heart rate. No. no. Nope. She shifted in his lap again, and Chat had to suppress a growl. Nopenopenope.

It’s because I just woke up. That’s all this is.

He took another stuttering breath and cursed her smell tainting all the air in the apartment.

Her scent does not turn you on. She’s not cute, you do not want to entwine yourself around her like pocket full of headphone chords.

Chat began kneading the blankets in an attempt to calm himself, and to distract his traitorous hands. His eyes wandered down her backside before he forced himself to stare at the ceiling again.

You do not want to knead her ass. This problem is not because of her. It’s very early morning and you probably need to pee, that’s all this is.

Without permission the memory of when Marinette nearly kissed him resurfaced. It was a memory he’d spent many nights lying wide awake meticulously dissecting. Now it was haunting him with a vengeance, until all he wanted to do was pin Marinette to the bed and ravish her mouth.

Find out what that kiss would actually feel like. Find out what she actually tasted like.

Hear the way she mewled beneath him and against his lips.

And why shouldn’t he? Chat’s ears perked forward. His nose scented the air again, eyes losing focus, and this time his mouth parted like a cat’s when it smelled something it very much liked.

Why can’t I kiss her? What’s stopping me? She clearly likes me. Touching, petting, she could be petting him. Or he could be petting her, his mind mused. His thoughts swam like someone had overturned a bucket of fantasies in his head.

“Chat?” Marinette’s sleepy voice disrupted his thoughts. “Are you alright?”

Chat Blanc snapped his mouth shut immediately, and tried to blink away his blown pupils. “I’m f-fine,” but his voiced came out much rougher than usual.

“You were panting really loud, are you sure?” She still sounded pretty groggy, but there was honest concern there.

“Yes,” he snapped, finally managing to reign in the all the traitorous emotions that had overtaken him before. “I’m just hot. It’s fucking hot in here—get off of me! Go lay on someone else you annoying woman.” Chat dumped her off his lap and lurched up from the mattress. He staggered from the bed and had to stop himself from cupping his crotch.

“Where are you going?”

“To take a shower,” he snapped. “Mind your own business.”

~000~

Still trying to finish up a few of these prompts you guys sent in. This is part of my Floofy-eared Chat Blanc AU. If you like this AU you can check out more of it here.

[schrijverr]

Operation Nappy Change

After staying the night at Alfies place Tommy accidentally puts on the other mans shirt. It’s way too big and he panics, luckily Alfie has a plan to save him.

On AO3.

Ships: Alfie x Tommy

Warnings: mentions of sex

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Fuck” Tommy cursed as he rushed around the room, he was late and he couldn’t afford to be late, because he still had to get to another part of town, get into the lobby, collect himself and pretend to his brothers, who were coming to pick him up, that he had been at the hotel for the night, not at Alfie's, the person he was supposed to meet later.

Yeah, that’s right, the great Tommy Shelby was quickly grabbing clothes off Alfie Solomons floor. He wasn’t really looking at the items, just quickly pulling them on and making them as presentable as he could, which is why he was quite annoyed at his shirt that just wasn’t working with him today.

It was way harder to straighten it out without weird bumps in his pants, the piece on his chest would puff out a bit and getting his arms in his suit jacket was a challenge if he wanted his sleeves to sit correctly in them.

He practically ran into the kitchen, where the bastard himself was calmly enjoying his tea in a luxurious robe. The bastard in question greeted Tommy merrily: “Good morning, Tommy dear. Why the rush on this sunny morning?”

Tommy tried to glare the grin of the others face while simultaneously stuffing the piece of toast in his mouth that Alfie had handed him. Through the bread he choked: “Fuck you, Alfie. You shouldn’t have let me sleep in.”

“After all that exercising last night, you needed it.” Alfie smirked.

Tommy gave him a slap as he walked past towards the door and threw a “I’m going to murder you, Solomons.” over his shoulder.

The sound of Alfie chuckling followed him out the door.

He wanted to run down the street, but he had a reputation to uphold, so he strutted as fast as he could to the hotel he had booked a room at for pretenses. He had gone a day earlier under the pretense that something came up with one of his secret informants. Arthur and John would come a day later and they would meet him at the hotel in the morning. The hotel he was not currently at.

Fuck.

He checked his watch again and tried to straighted out his shirt, no luck on either. He groaned and rounded the last corner, slipping through the hotel door as his brothers came barreling down the street in their car, sadly John behind the wheel.

Tommy took a few calming breaths, he had made it, then he calmly walked out the door like nothing peculiar had happened that morning. Arthur greeted with a bellow, Tommy just nodded back and got into driver seat demoting John to the back.

“First order of business, a potential partner on the docks, Mr. Rodger. I heard he is a dick, but he has connections and he can help, so no fucking fighting unless necessary.” Tommy began the conversation.

“What falls under necessary?” Arthur asked.

“Yeah, does looking wrong count, looks can be very meaningful.” John piped in.

Tommy sighed and said: “No looks, or direct insults for that matter, count. We only fight if I give the signal, like I said, this man has connections, we don’t want him as an enemy.”

His brothers looked unhappy with that statement, but they didn’t argue, which Tommy counted as a win. He let it be for now and let him mind go to his strategy with this guy.

They were a bit early to the meeting spot, so they smoked while they waited. Tommy also used this time to take a better look at what was wrong with his shirt. It was still floofing up at multiple points and it bunched weirdly in his sleeves. He pulled on the underside of his sleeve, his shirt was tailored for him, so it was supposed to make it sit nice and straight inside his suit jacket. This, of course, was not what happened.

He pulled and it extended over his hand, more fabric coming out than should have been possible if it was tailored right, which Tommy knew it was. Then it suddenly hit him like a gunshot, it wasn’t his shirt. No, his shirt had subtle blue stripes while this one was completely white, it wasn’t his shirt, because it was Alfie’s.

He almost choked on the smoke of his cigarette as his eyes became wide with the realization. He quickly tried to cover it up by tugging his shirt sleeve back up his suit jacket sleeve and smoothing down the front of his shirt. Once he had convinced himself he looked okay and it didn’t stand out as odd, he allowed himself to be sucked into a small meltdown.

Okay, he thought to himself, Alfie’s shirt. Fuck. I can’t be seen in this, when we get back Polly will notice, fuck, fuck, fuck. I need to burn it, burn the evidence. But how? I need to have a shirt and Mr. Rodger is almost here. And how will I get my shirt back? Everything sucks, luckily Arthur and John haven’t-

“Mr. Shelby, I presume.” a too smooth voice cut off Tommy’s inner rant.

The meeting began and even though it went well and they got a favorable deal, Tommy was uncomfortable the entire time. He had to resist the urge to tug at his clothes the entire time and he had never been more relieved that a deal was done.

~

When he was back in the car, this time allowing Arthur to drive, he tried to form a plan of action, but he couldn’t do it alone, he had to talk to Alfie. Of course, Alfie could help!

“I need to get to a phone booth.” Tommy told Arthur, who luckily did what he was told.

Once he had shoo-ed his brothers away he grabbed the phone and rang The Bakery. After a second Ollie picked up and Tommy said: “Give me Alfie, tell him it’s urgent.”

He felt his breathing pick up while there was fumbling on the other side, he let out a relieved sigh once he heard Alfie’s voice, he didn’t know how much he’d wanted to hear it until he did.

Alfie picked up on and asked: “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I have a problem, well not just I, but we.” Tommy was fumbling over his words, “We have a problem, yeah.”

“Did you piss Rodger off?” Alfie asked, “Tommy, I don’t want to be dragged into a war with him, that would fucking suck, wouldn’t it?”

“No, not that, no.” Tommy suddenly felt stupid for overreacting, so he said in a small voice: “I left something at your place.”

It was quiet for a second, then Alfie said: “That’s not that big of a deal, innit. What did ya leave, I’ll get it and slip it to ya, problem solved. That’s the thing with things, right, you can just get them back if you know where you left them, quite handy that they don’t move on their own, you know.”

Tommy was certain that Alfie could go on about how useful it was that stuff didn’t move unless someone else moved them, but he didn’t have time for that, so he cut him off by snapping: “I left my shirt at your place, okay, sorry if my reaction seems out of proportion.”

“Your shirt?” Alfie sounded curious.

“Yes, my shirt.” Tommy snapped again, why didn’t Alfie see how serious this was?

“Are you joking?” Alfie said, “You must be joking, dear. I saw you this morning, you were wearing a shirt.”

“It could have been not my own shirt, eh.” Tommy said.

On the other side Alfie swallowed, then he lowly said: “Are you wearing my shirt right now?”

Tommy stayed quiet, he could feel a blush creeping up his face. When the silence went on Alfie commanded: “Dear, answer me.”

“Yes,” Tommy whispered, “I didn’t notice until later. It’s one of the white ones and it very big on me. Fuck, people might notice, Alfie.”

“Fucking hell.” Tommy could visualize Alfie rubbing his face after that statement.

“We need a plan to get me out of this shirt and into my own before I drive home this night. I’m too busy worrying someone might notice to think, so ideas are welcome.” Tommy said.

“Hm.” Alfie replied, “Get your stuff from you hotel in the back of your car before you come here, I think I have something, but it’ll work better if you’re not in the loop, okay.”

“Okay, see you then.” usually Tommy would be more suspicious or annoyed that he wasn’t in the loop, but he was so exhausted that he was just glad Alfie had a solution.

They said their goodbyes and hung up.

With a lighter heart he exited the phone booth and got into the car. There he said: “I’m going to my hotel, if I check out now I won’t have to pay for an extra day, let’s go.”

Arthur started the car and John asked: “You seem better after that call. What was it about?”

Without missing a beat Tommy lied: “You remember that I had to go early to solve that problem? It’s solved now.”

John seemed pleased with that answer.

~

Tommy was buzzing with nervous energy when they got to the bakery an hour or so later. He didn’t let it show, but he could feel the hum under his skin as he wondered what Alfie had planned.

Inside Alfie was waiting for him, Ollie next to him and one of his man a few feet away, resting on a barrel. As they walked towards them Alfie opened his arms as he welcomed them with a: “Tommy!”

The moment the name left his lips there was a flurry of moment as the henchman's head shot up and he dove forwards, breaking Tommys nose as he tackled them. There was a short scuffle on the ground, which was ended by Alfie whacking the man on the head with his cane.

Tommy got up and felt the blood flowing down his face, he was mentally cursing at Alfie about what the fuck had gotten into him, when he realized blood was soaking into his, no Alfies, shirt. He smirked behind his hand as he wiped his face, then he stoically asked: “What the fuck was that about, Alfie.”

Alfie shrugged and said: “We’ve been getting trouble from a guy named Tommy Marshall, yeah. Heard the name and thought it was that guy, probably. That’s the problem with dumbasses for personnel, innit, they’re too stupid to see context. Anyway, you got something to replace that with, you look like you murdered a baby.”

Tommy looked down to asses the damage, the shirt was ruined, but that had been the point, he could also throw away his tie, a pity, because he quite liked that tie. He grumbled in response: “I think I have something in me car.”

Alfie clapped his hand: “Fabulous, Ollie will help you with that nose and I’ll get your brothers a drink, sound good? Good, let’s go.”

Tommy rolled his eyes at that, but gestured to Arthur and John to just follow Alfie as he himself followed Ollie in the opposite direction.

Ollie lead him to a small room where he got a bowl of water with a piece of cloth. He said: “I think your nose it broken, so I’ll have to reset it. Do you want a countdown?”

Tommy settled on the edge of the desk and shook his head, a countdown only made it worse, you wanted to be unprepared. Ollie shrugged and got in position, right when he was about to snap he casually commented: “So, you and Alfie are quite close.”

Tommy chocked on his spit while simultaneously trying to groan in pain. When he had regained his senses a bit he said: “What the fuck was that about.”

Ollie shrugged, when one works for Alfie Solomons it’s hard to be scared or impressed by someone you see on a weekly basis in friendly context. He explained: “You needed a distraction before I set your nose and, you know, it is quite interesting. I had a hunch of course, Alfie doesn’t like to meet outside the Bakery and he usually doesn’t meet that often with business associates, but until now there was no proof. Though, I had to admit I was worried for a second when he loudly yelled ‘Who wants to hit Tommy Shelby for five pound’, after he had hung up the phone loudly.”

Tommy couldn’t help but snort at that, immediately wincing because it hurt, just because it was so typically Alfie. He shook his head a bit, before getting serious again and saying: “I hope you know the smart thing is to never make a comment or say a word about that again.”

Ollie put his hands up: “I won’t, you know I won’t. I’m pretty fond of my limbs, life and family, if I’m being honest. Besides, I don’t mind, ever since you started showing up more he’s been in a better mood, we had to hide less bodies.”

“Good.” Tommy replied, it should be quite concerning that Alfies good moods were measured by the amount of bodies that had to be hidden, but in this line of work it was pretty usual, so Tommy didn’t bat an eye.

Ollie then grabbed Tommys shirt from the table and handed it over. Tommy changed quickly.

He handed Ollie Aflies shirt with his ruined tie and said: “Burn it.”

Once that was done they left for Alfies office where Arthur and John would be. Tommy just hoped there wasn’t a fight already. He got lucky, they were sitting there with a drink in hand and even though the silence was tense, it was still peaceful.

When they opened the door Alfie greeted the with: “That took you long enough, were you having a tea party over there.”

Without thinking Tommy shot back: “No, we were just conspiring together to murder you.”

Normally Alfie would laugh at this and tel him that he couldn’t murder him if he had murdered Tommy first, but this wasn’t normally. So, the silence that followed got even more tense, but it was quickly broken by a pale Ollie who said: “No, I would never- he’s not- I won’t.”

Ollie could be casual about murder, but only when it wasn’t his boss who was threatened and it wasn’t by him. He knew that Alfie had a short enough fuse to maybe take this seriously, which would be terrible for Ollies health, because he would die. The two leaders looked at each other as the tension rose, Tommy could see his brothers reaching for their caps and he knew he had to stop this before it got out of hand. He said: “Your guy broke my nose, it had to be set and I had to change, it’s gonna take more than a second, eh.”

Alfie gave him one squint, before letting his shoulders relax a bit and exclaiming: “Well after that harrowing and painful experience you could use a drink, just to numb it down a bit, then business.”

Tommy nodded: “Sounds good.”

After that things went smoothly, they talked business, something that they really needed to do before this point, but they had never really gotten around to it. Tommy found it quite of nice to get a clear oversight and he even managed to up their percentages a bit. He also felt more comfortable in his own shirt, without the constant fear of getting discovered it was easier to relax. But, a part of him kind of missed it, the too large shirt felt as a claim, a claim like the bruises on his thighs and chest. It had been soft and safe.

Then after a while Alfie announced: “Well, it’s time for me and Tommy to talk in private for a while, leader to leader, it’s important for trust and expanding. You wouldn’t know and that’s the point, innit? Sometimes it’s better to be left in the dark for a while, makes it easier to keep everything under the wraps and all, nothing personal. Ollie could show you the best pubs in town.”

Arthur and John gave Tommy a look, who replied: “It’ll be good for bonding, eh, but not too much we still have to drive home tonight.”

Then the three left and he and Alfie were alone together once more.

Alfie sagged in his chair, with that terrible posture that Tommy was always hounding him for, and sighed: “Well, Operation Nappy Change was a success.”

“Operation what?” Tommy shot back.

Alfie smirked as he spelled out: “Operation Nappy Change, that’s what I’ve been calling it in my head. Seems fitting don’t you think? A boy in too big clothes, who needs help to get changed?”

Alfie tutted a bit as a hot blush swept over over Tommys embarrassed face. He now felt even more like a baby, especially when he thought back about the softness and safeness of it all. He looked stubborn, though, as he said: “It was your fault that I got into this mess in the first place.”

Alfie chuckled, Tommy was pouting and embarrassed, it was a cute look. He then asked: “How come, I don’t recall giving you my shirt to put on.”

“You woke me up late.” Tommy huffed, “I had to rush because of you, so I didn’t have time to pay attention and an error was made, your fault.”

Alfie raised his eyebrow and said: “Sounds to me like it was you that made the mistake by not paying attention. You’re just lucky I got you out of this big mess.”

Tommy wanted to object, but Alfie ignored it and went on: “I even gave up, getting to watch you squirm and be uncomfortable, while that is such a pretty sight to see. Pity. Bet you looked like a darling in my shirt, dwarfed you, made you even smaller than you already are, my dainty little thing, that’s what you are.”

Tommy swallowed as the blush got redder, he said: “Yeah, it came to my knee, almost a dress. The sleeves covered my entire hand.”

“You’re making me regret helping you.” Alfie told him, then the man gave him a devilish smirk as leaned forward and said: “Next week you can make it up to me.”

“Really?” Tommy asked, voice higher than normal, “How?”

“Well, you can start by wearing my shirt again. Just the shirt.”

[papipopsicle]

AFTERTASTE PART FOUR

Pairing: Archie Andrews X Short!Reader

Genre: fluff, smut

Summary: In which two best friends since childhood test whether friendship and can co-exist without causing conflict. Including my OC's Flick & Cherry, a lesbian couple and best friends of Y/N. Set Pre-Veronica.

Song: Feeling Good by Sofi Tukker

Warnings: Dom!Archie, Oral (fem receiving), swearing (probably)

Words: 3K

MASTERLIST

feedback is always appreciated

!PING!

Y/N giggled as soon as she saw the picture Archie had posted, it had been taken a few hours ago at lunch. She hadn't even realised he had taken one, off guard beaming up at Moose as he told the group how the Andrews boy had face planted the turf during football practice. The caption read ‘when you're having a lousy day, i'll try my best to make you smile like an idiot’ and her face lit up at the kind gesture.

Today had been utter shit; Michelangelo had gotten into a fight with one of the neighbourhood cats and lost very badly, Josie picked a fight for no reason in Maths and called her a ‘brain dead bimbo’ in front of everyone, and to top it off she'd overheard Chuck sharing very private, personal details with his friends like they were nothing.

She felt miserable and hopeless, wanting nothing more than for this day to be over already. While the boy wasn't there with her when any of these events happened, he knew as soon as he saw her saddened expression that it was his duty to turn her frown upside down. After an hour of cheesy jokes bad enough to make her father proud, Y/N felt a little bit lighter.

Now, the two sixteen year olds were being blackmailed into making dinner for themselves, Y/N's family and of course Fred too. It wasn't uncommon for this to happen though, since Y/S followed in her mother's footsteps when it came to cooking abilities, and they felt bad for always making Y/D cook. So the blonde had rolled up the sleeves of her grey sweatshirt and pulled her hair into a messy bun, while Archie gathered all the ingredients for the perfect steak dinner.

"Okay," Y/N huffed out, putting her arms up and looking over the boy's broad shoulders to see the recipe, "what's the first step, Nigella?"

Two frustrating and hilariously messy hours later, the two teens were serving their masterpieces. Y/N showered while waiting for the steak to cook, her hair now in damp ringlets as she wore a black concert t-shirt and a burgundy pair of gym shorts.

She carefully placed the piping hot plates in her mother and sisters respective places, returning for her own and Archie's as the boy brought out ones for their fathers. Y/D and Fred sat at the heads of the table, with Y/S and Y/M on one side and Archie and Y/N on the other. It had been that way since the very beginning, the teen's chairs always closer than necessary.

The radio played hits from the eighties and nineties in the background; the atmosphere warm and cozy as the group began tucking into their gourmet meals happily. Conversation flowed easily as usual, soft smiles mirrored around the room in the amicable scene.

"How's school been today?" Y/D asked casually as he piled food onto his fork dangerously high, it disappearing into his mouth seconds later.

"Shit." Y/N answered with a shrug and a wry smile as she copied her dad's actions and stuffed her face. Her eyes closed for a moment to fully appreciate the perfection of her cooking, but in that moment she missed the sad look the redhead threw her way. Everyone at the table was aware her high school experience wasn't rose tinted, and she was never able to lie to her family about it.

"McCoy's girl again?" Y/S asked defensively, rolling her eyes in annoyance as she even brought up said name.

"It's no biggie, honestly. She's just holding a grudge against me for something that literally happened over a year ago. She'll have to let go of it sooner or later." The y/h/c girl ended the conversation, continuing to fill her mouth with copious amounts of food. While her parents had moved on to talk about another subject, Archie kept his eye on her and she knew it.

Y/N didn't hate being pitted per se, but she couldn't stand to be watched by loving eyes when the person those eyes belong to wishes to fix her problems for her. Knowing that's what his mind was preoccupied with, the girl turned to Archie sharply and began chewing with her mouth wide open, sticking her tongue out for emphasis.

The redhead gagged and couldn't stop himself from snorting in laughter and Y/N took this as her queue to close her mouth. Not truly phased by the grotesque sight, Archie returned it for just a second, leaving them both giggling. Finishing the mouthful, she bumped shoulders with the boy, keeping her head resting there for a few moments as she spoke with a grin, "You've already done enough, stop making my issues yours. We do everything together anyway, leave me this little slither of sardonic sanity, okay?"

She sat up straight again and sent Fred a wink upon finding his knowing grin slung in their direction. Looking around the table, three other faces have the exact same looks, and Y/N only rolled her eyes, "Can we have just one family dinner without planning our wedding? For all you guys know we could both be gay and just use each other for style advice."

Y/D scoffed, eyeing up his daughter with amusement, "You're not gay."

"What?!" The blonde's cutlery clanged against her plate as she threw her arms up in exasperation, "I could be!"

Y/M cackled her usual laugh and rolled her eyes, chiming in, "Darling, have you seen your wardrobe?"

"Cherry and I share clothes!" Y/N defended herself, only halfheartedly as she knew the conversation was completely false, but still stood her ground.

"Yeah, well, she has a blue-haired girlfriend and you only share dresses when you're going out because you're the same size. I'm pretty sure she'd rather be dead than wear a pair of your heels." Y/S interjected and received her sister's glare with a smug grin.

Archie silently ate his food, but soon his best friend turned to him, "I could be bi, right? Like Elizabeth Olsen and Sebastian Stan both own my life."

"You can be whatever you want to be, Tiger." Taking a sip of his drink, the boy continued, "But, to be fair, have you seen The Bronze? Like if there's someone I'd turn for, it'd be Sebastian Stan."

"See!" Y/N raised her arms in the way Will Smith had when showing the world his beautiful wife, "This is why he's my best friend!"

They high-fived with matching grins and the bubbly atmosphere carried on until Fred left for the night, Archie staying over in lieu of helping with unfinished homework. After washing up, the three teenagers headed up to bed.

But before the elder Y/L/N daughter fully entered her room, she swung back on the doorframe and locked eyes with her younger sister in a deadpan manner, "I haven't slept properly in three days, please have the decency to wait until I'm asleep before you start boning, thanks."

Y/N swivelled in the direction of her room, cheeks dusted pink at the insinuation. She closed her curtains and headed straight for bed, exhausted by everything the day forced upon her shoulders. Finding her phone, she sent a round of goodnight streaks and scrolled through Instagram before the bed dipped and a tuft of red hair came into view.

"It's only just gone ten, you lightweight." He bumped her shoulder with his bare one, soon copying her actions with his own phone but not finding anything nearly as interesting.

"Well, I fancy wasting time on my phone instead of doing anything productive, problem?" The blonde hummed, not turning away from the device holding her attention. A few moments of silence and mindless scrolling passed before Y/N's phone was ripped from her grasp and set down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, I do have a problem with that, Tiger." Archie grinned at her clueless expression, climbing on top of her, either elbow caging her face in his hold. A light pressure appeared between her thighs with a small twitch, forcing a giggle from the girls lips. She hooked her thighs around his waist and linked her feet together, pulling his entire being closer to her own.

"Oh," Y/N forgot all about whatever had been on her phone screen moments ago, hands now brushing through Archie's fiery locks, "and what would that be."

The boy dipped his head without warning, lightly pushing her jaw to the left to expose her soft neck. His tongue slowly ran from her collar bone to the bottom of her ear, kissing small pecks along her jawline until their lips met. Y/N smiled into the kiss, lifting herself up while pulling his torso closer into her own. Her hips moved on their own accord, needing more friction to scratch an itch only his mouth could fix.

Archie broke the kiss, looking down at the petite girl with lustful eyes as his hand found her neck once more, "There's so many better ways for us to waste time than on our phones. But I'm going to need you to stay quiet for me, Tiger. Can you do that for me?"

As the words left his lips, his index finger lifted from her neck and pressed against her own. Y/N couldn't help licking a stripe down the back of it, taking the digit into her mouth and letting it drop with a popping sound. She nodded her head in agreement with an innocent smile and wide expectant eyes.

Archie watched her for a moment in awe, giving her throat a small squeeze before moving down her body. He lifted her ‘All Time Low’ t shirt up, planting wet kisses from her bra line to the waistband of her lycra shorts.

“You okay?” The boys soft voice sounded through the room, any dominance dropped from his tone but ready to be picked up if he got the right answer. Y/N sat up, planting each hand on either side of his face and pressed her lips to his nose lightly.

She grinned down at him, “I’m sure.” Her excited tone couldn’t be missed, and without hesitation she hooked her fingers into the shorts and pulled them away from her velvety skin, flinging them to the floor carelessly. Archie felt another grin filled kiss skim his forehead, a small hand carding through his hair as the girl relaxed back into the plush bedding.

Y/N closed her eyes in content as hot breath traced her thighs, up and down in a slow rhythm, leaving goosebumps of anticipation in its wake. Her hips rutted upwards needing some kind of contact, but Archie’s firm hand pushed her back into the mattress and held her in place. He settled with his legs hanging off the edge of the double bed, pushing her legs to rest open. The girl resisted the urge to squeeze her legs together, desire overcoming her body but submission overpowering her mind.

Archie’s lips left trails down her silky thighs, plotting temporary marks by nipping and sucking at the delicate skin. He enjoyed feeling her squirm under his touch, showing how much she needed his touch. This was more than just helping each other get off, there was a raw urgency and need within them for only one another. He licked around the edge of her pink thong, another unintentional jut from her hips pushing him closer to her heat as a whine escaped her lips.

The redhead’s hand moved from her stomach to her neck while he forced her to look down at him, “No noise, kitten. Okay?” He warned and Y/N’s bottom lip curled under her teeth as she sent him another nod. With that, her underwear, if it could be even called that, was pulled from her body and joined her shorts on the cool wooden floor moments later.

Archie carried on teasing the girl, licking down her inner thighs and getting dangerously close to what her body was pleading for, but he enjoyed watching her struggle to stay silent and it was far too easy to bring her to the edge by barely doing anything.

“Please.” Y/N’s voice begged with a shaky moan she’d tried so hard to keep in. The boy smirked up at her before giving her exactly what she wanted, feeling her fingers tighten in his hair as he latched onto her clit. But as soon as the pleasure started, it ceased once more.

“You want me to carry on, little girl?” Archie asked in a low tone, watching his best friend panting in want from the smallest of actions. “Want me to make you feel good?”

“Yes, please, Arch. Please.” The girl nodded again, never needing a release so badly in her life before.

Archie’s tongue lapped small circles around the bundle of nerves, pausing again to elicit a small noise of bliss, “I need you to stay quiet for me though, Tiger. Don’t want Y/S finding out what a slut her little sister is.”

In any other circumstance, Y/N would slap someone for calling her something like that, and Archie would never let the word slip from his lips. But in this moment, with his tongue skilfully taunting her clit and a finger dipping inside her wet pussy, it sent a wave of pleasure and praise through her entire body.

He was her drug, one touch and Y/N was completely intoxicated, whatever he wanted is what she wanted and there wasn’t a single thing she would say no to.

It didn’t take long for Y/N to reach the edge of release, with Archie’s fingers pulsing inside her while switching from licking at her clit and sucking on it with his tongue swirling her into a trance of ecstasy. He wanted to play with her more, keep her tilting on the edge until she couldn’t handle it any longer.

But Y/N had a difficult day, he could tease her any time he wanted, for now he just wanted to give her one reason for this day to be good. With that, he tactfully curled his fingers bringing them in and out of her hot core, not stopping his mouth from all but assaulting her over stimulated clit. Her hips buckled once again and this time Archie didn’t stop her, then they began rutting back and forth riding his face until her body couldn’t take any more

“Oh god.” Y/N whined in a hushed tone, her body convulsing in euphoria she finally toppled over the edge of her climax. Archie pressed a final kiss to her clit, resting his head on her spread thighs for a few moments as they both caught their breath.

The girl giggled as Archie appeared back at her side, pressing her lips to his not caring about the taste of her lingering in the air.

“You okay?” He whispered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her under the duvet with him. Her head rest in the crook of his neck, leg over is stomach and hand lightly tracing patterns over his muscular chest.

“More than okay, pretty boy.” Y/N hummed into the dark room with a bright smile adoring her features. “Arch?”

He mumbled an agreeable response, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Archie’s hand found her thigh and he gave it a small squeeze, keeping his hand there to hold her close.

“Can we play a game?” The girl sounded apprehensive yet excited with her words.

She felt him nod, “What kind of game do you want to play, Tiger?”

Y/N couldn’t help but smirk at her idea as the words left her lips, “I’m proposing a little bet.

Clearly were both attracted to each other, and it ends there, yes? Nothing romantic, just two horny best friends who need an outlet. So, why don't we have a little fun with this? We tease the other to breaking point, bring them to their fucking knees begging for it, and the first one to cave, loses. Nothings off limits, but you can't kiss the other, otherwise you lose."

At this, Archie lifted his head wearing a matching smirk, though it couldn’t be seen as the street lamp sending orange hues into the bedroom only lit up their silhouettes, "What does the winner get?"

"Whatever the fuck they want.” Y/N’s hand made its way to the boy’s neck and she tilted her head upwards to whisper into his ear, “And, when I win the first thing I'm going to have you do is eat me out again."

The boy chuckled dryly and shook his head, "Tiger, I'll be doing that when I win anyway."

Y/N giggled, tempted to throw the bet immediately if the consequence was his head between her legs once more. “Game on, Andrews.”

Archie couldn’t help but chuckle at the absurdity of this situation, though he had to admit he couldn’t wait to see what his best friend would do to try and make him lose.

“Okay little girl, it’s time to sleep I think.” His voice felt more authoritative this time, and Y/N loved that about him, he wasn’t afraid to tell her what to do.

“Goodnight, Arch.” The girl said with a smile in her tone, anxious to see what Archie would do to her over the coming weeks. She felt his head shake once more, knowing a grin was etched into his lips. Y/N rolled onto her side, the boy’s arm tightly wrapped around her still as she drifted off into a fairytale land where this was all real. Not just two friends messing around.

PART FIVE

[werewolfdays]

1 from the prompts?

1. Someone stole the blankets.

Being a light sleeper means that I usually wake up whenever Nadya gets out of bed. I always keep myself awake until she comes back in case something’s wrong. Also, I soon found that it was almost impossible for me to sleep anyway when she wasn’t beside me. She didn’t get up in the middle of the night too often, so I never really minded the slight disturbance whenever it happens. 

There was something different about her tonight though. All day yesterday, Nadya was sniffling quietly or trying to stifle a cough. And tonight she was stealing all the blankets, which wasn’t that unusual, but she was also tossing and turning quite a bit. I sensed something must have been off, but I figured it was just allergies or whatever. At least that’s what I’ve heard humans complain about in the past, but now I could hear her start to retch inside the bathroom after she stumbled out of bed. I quickly got to my feet and rushed to the door. 

My knuckles tapped the bathroom door, “Nadya, what’s wrong? You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just a little—” Nadya’s hoarse voice was cut off by a violent cough, followed by more retching. 

“I’m coming in.” I announced, not waiting for any protest before opening the door. 

Poor Nadya was sitting on the floor, basically hugging the toilet and sniffling miserably. She brushed her hair back, which was sticking to her forehead by a thin layer of sweat. Nadya’s skin was always the shade of a darker tan, but the ashen tone it had adopted tonight was the palest I’ve ever seen her. Her head slowly raised up to look at me like it weighed a hundred pounds and she shivered even though she was wearing a long sleeved shirt. The sight was more than a little heartbreaking. 

“Oh, love...” I kneeled beside her, rubbing her back soothingly, “What’s wrong?”

“The flu, I think.” she mumbled, sounding like her whole head was stuffed with cotton. 

The back of my hand went to her forehead and I could immediately tell she was running a fever. “Jesus, babe. You’re almost as hot as I get when I shift.” 

“Yeah, downside of being a human. We get the flu.” She stated dejectedly. 

I managed to give her a crooked grin to lighten the mood, “You sure you aren’t pregnant?” 

Even with her stuffy nose, Nadya managed to snort at me like that was the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever said, which it was. Then her snort turned into a weak laugh and I was glad to see some brightness in her weary brown eyes, “You’re funny.”

“Well, we do have sex a lot.” My shoulders lifted cheekily. 

Nadya shook her head, still laughing at me, which made me feel a little better about the state she was in, “Shut up.” She scolded in amusement. Then her eyes suddenly went wide and she turned her head down to the toilet to puke again. 

I clenched my jaw and brushed her hair over her shoulder to hold it out of her face while I continued to rub her back until she was finished. For once, I was going to have to be the one to nurse her back to health. Only, I wasn’t entirely sure how considering I’ve never been sick like this. I was worried about somehow making it worse. 

Nadya spit any remnants into the toilet and I left only to quickly fetch some water and a box of tissues. When I came back to sit beside her, she accepted a tissue I offered and said, “I’m sorry if I woke you up.” 

“You have nothing to apologize for.” I told her while I urged her to drink some water. “In sickness and in health, remember?” 

She rinsed her mouth out and chuckled, “I didn’t know we were married yet.”

An amused grin parted my lips, “Only if you want to be.”  

“Sure, let’s say our vows right here in front of our toilet.” Nadya replied sarcastically. 

“Maybe a romantic ceremony is overrated.” 

She raised an eyebrow at me. “This coming from you?” 

I rolled my eyes and brushed her ashen cheek with the back of my finger, “Drink your water and tell me how to keep you from dying.”

Another coughing fit shook her shoulders, but it thankfully didn’t make her vomit again. After a few exhausted sighs, Nadya told me, “Fluids. Rest. You’ll have to go into town tomorrow and get me some flu medication.” 

I was relieved that I got the water right so far, even if that did set the bar pretty low. “Okay, I think I can manage that.” 

Her eyes twinkled at me knowingly, “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine. I’m not as breakable as you think.”

“I don’t think you’re that breakable.” I said honestly, “If anything, I’m more breakable than you are.” 

She gave me a genuine smile that was obviously an agreement with that statement, “Well, there you go. I have total faith in you.” 

“You done?” I asked, nodding at the toilet. 

She nodded in confirmation, “Think so. For now.”

“Okay, let’s get you back to bed.” I stood up and flushed it for her, then offered my hand. 

Nadya accepted my outstretched hand and I carefully pulled her to her feet. My arm went around her waist as I led her to the bed, carefully laying her down. Before tucking her into the blankets, I went to the closet and pulled out the flannel that she liked to steal from me the most. She smiled excitedly when I helped her into it and sank back in the blankets with a happy wiggle that made me laugh a little. 

“Where are you going?” Nadya asked when I went to the front door.

“I’m gonna go get you some tea, I’ll be right back.” 

For the rest of the night, Nadya was in and out of consciousness. Waking up to sniffle, sneeze, and cough for hours was taking its toll on her. I heard it in every frustrated huff she made after she regained breath. The only bright side was that she didn’t have to get up to go puke any more. If all the stores in town didn’t close so damn early, I would’ve gone to get her medicine immediately, but she had to endure this night. I stayed awake, sitting up in bed and doing my best to make her as comfortable as I could. She seemed content enough with having her head in my lap and being as close to me as possible. 

Nadya gave up on trying to get a good night’s rest just before seven in the morning. I looked down at her while my fingers combed through her hair to see her eyes, though half-lidded, were open and staring at the wall. Hoping that she might drift off anyway, I didn’t say anything until her stomach growled loudly. 

“Hungry?” I asked softly, tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Mhm.” she simply hummed and nodded. 

My thumb caressed her shoulder, “How about I make you something to eat and go get your medicine?” 

“Can you have Toby or Skye go and get it?” Nadya rubbed her eyes sleepily, “I don’t want you to be gone too long.” 

I smiled to myself, “I’m sure they won’t mind.” I bent down to place a kiss to her temple, feeling the abnormal heat of her fevered skin against my lips, and then I carefully slipped out of bed, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Keep trying to get some sleep, okay?” 

“I’ll try.” She promised. 

The first place I stopped by was Skye’s room. I knocked on the door a little louder than necessary since it was early in the morning and she was likely still asleep. A few seconds passed without a single sound on the other side of the door, so I tried knocking again with more force and called her name. 

“Skye, come on, wake up. I need a favor.” 

There was a loud muffled groan, followed by some shuffling and then stomping feet as they trudged towards the door. When the door opened, I was greeted by a messy haired, tired looking Skye as she blinked at me in irritation, “What do you want?” 

I got to the point, “Nadya’s sick, I need you to go into town and get her some flu medicine.” 

Skye scowled, “Why can’t you do it?” 

“Because I need to make her something to eat.” 

She just stared at me like I hadn’t spoken English, “You know it’s like seven in the morning, right?” 

I rolled my eyes, “Just go get the damn medicine. She barely got any sleep last night.” 

“Ask Toby.” 

“Toby’s working.” 

“Fine.” She relented with a long sigh, “Let me get dressed.” 

“Thank you.” I told her gratefully, then I reached out to stop the door as she was closing it, “Wait, it’s chicken noodle soup, right?”

“Huh?” Skye asked in slight exasperation. 

“What humans eat when they’re sick.” 

She actually thought about it for a moment and shrugged, “Well, if modern cinema has taught us anything.”

“Right.” I mumbled more to myself than Skye because she didn’t wait for me to reply before closing her door. 

It was simple enough to find a recipe, even more simple was the recipe itself. Just some noodles, chicken, and vegetables with broth. For being so easy, it looked and smelled pretty appetizing and I hoped that Nadya would be able to keep it down. I had it poured into a bowl and set on a tray with some crackers and freshly squeezed orange juice by the time Skye returned. 

“Here’s the medicine.” Skye announced as she entered the Den’s kitchen, plopping a grocery bag on the counter next to the tray I had set up. 

“Thanks.” I said as I started rummaging through the bag. There were several boxes and bottles that made me think she had bought every single type of flu medicine that exists. “Um—”

Skye answered my question before I got the chance to ask it, “I didn’t know which one to get.”

“I guess I did forget to ask Nadya about that…” Buried in the pile of medicine were a couple of packages of marshmallow pumpkins absolutely covered in orange sugar with faces piped on them. I raised my eyebrow at Skye. 

“Figured that would make her feel better more than your stupid soup will.” My sister teased. 

I chuckled and nodded, placing them back in the bag, “Yeah, you’re probably right.” 

She looked too proud of herself, “Now, go take care of your sick human. I’m gonna go take a nap because someone, who shall remain nameless, pounded on my door at seven in the goddamn morning to make me go get her fiance some flu medicine.” 

I smirked at her, “Get out of here.” 

Once I got back to my room, Nadya perked her head up from a massive ball of bunched up blankets at my arrival. Even being as sick as she was, she still looked adorable. Though my heart still seized when I heard her sniffle and cough. 

“Hey, I got some stuff for you here.” I motioned at the tray and plastic bag in my hands. “How are you feeling?”

“I threw up again.” Nadya said, sounding far less than pleased about it. 

My chest pinched in sympathy, “Then it’s a good thing Skye bought out the entire pharmacy.” I set her soup down on the nightstand beside her and set the bag on her lap.

Nadya went for the medicine first, “Sheesh, you weren’t exaggerating all that much.” She noted as she sifted through the bag. Then she noticed the marshmallow pumpkins and lit up faster than a Christmas tree. 

I plucked the package out of her hands before she got the chance to tear it open, “Medicine and food first. Then you can eat the sugary garbage.” 

She pouted at me for a second before realizing I was right and then settled on some liquid flu syrup. That wouldn’t have been my choice, it reeked of medicinal and chemical awfulness, but Nadya downed a dose of the stuff with nothing more than a grimace. I tried to hide how impressed that made me. After that was over, she eyed the bowl of soup on the nightstand and gave me a sweet smile.

“Did you make this?”

“Of course,” I returned her smile and got back into bed, “Like I’d ever let you eat something out of a can.”

“You don’t always have to spoil me.” She said, placing the tray in her lap with an excited grin on her face, “Canned things do the trick sometimes too, you know.” 

“In the apocalypse, sure.” 

She shook her head and laughed at me through a cough before bringing a spoonful of soup up to her lips. Her smile only grew at the taste, “Okay maybe you can keep spoiling me a little bit… just a little bit though.” 

I grinned and kissed her cheek, “I can work with that.” 

“You sure you can’t get sick?” Nadya asked warily. 

“Positive. Why?”

Her lips pursed like she didn’t believe me, “I was gonna say that you probably shouldn’t be kissing me right now, just in case.” 

“Don’t you worry, I have the super werewolf immune system.” I reminded her, leaning back in, “Which means I get to kiss you as much as I want.” 

She chuckled softly as I planted light pecks all over her face, “You must really love me if you think any part of my face is kissable right now.” 

“Mhm, that’s why I gave you this.” My hand went to her left hand where my fingers started to twist her ring around. 

“I guess that is good proof.” Nadya remarked and continued to eat her soup. 

She took her time with it. I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or if it was hard for her to put anything down. Either way, I was pleased to see that she was able to eat the majority of it, as well as the crackers and juice. After she put the tray aside, I noticed that she had gotten sluggish and hoped that the sleepless night was finally catching up with her. 

“That medicine helping at all?” I asked after I had put the excess boxes and bottles into the bathroom. 

Nadya nodded at me from her blanket nest, but still shivered, “Yeah, just a bit. You don’t have to stay with me all day, the stuff I took should knock me out any minute.” 

The tired pace of her sentences confirmed that, but I still frowned at her. All the blankets on the bed were pulled over to her side, even more than she usually hogs them, and she was wearing two layers of long sleeves, yet I saw her shiver again. 

“You look cold.” I noted in concern. 

“It’s normal and shouldn’t last too long,” she said through chattering teeth, “Just sucks that I can’t get warm enough right now.” 

I gnawed on my bottom lip while I tried to think of a solution. Then an idea popped into my head, “I think I know what might help.” 

Nadya tilted her head at me curiously when I pulled my shirt over my head, “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna shift.” I answered while I continued to undress. 

She opened her mouth to respond, but then shut it and I noted an amused twinkle in her eyes. Since she didn’t object, I smirked and summoned my wolf to start my transformation. My eyes ignited with gold, then my bones started to shift and pop back into place, white fur sprouting out of my skin until I felt the familiar moment of vertigo. Once I was a wolf, I shook my ruff and stretched my limbs to work through any remaining discomfort, then I hopped up on the bed. 

“There’s a joke here about how you shouldn’t be allowed on the bed like this,” Nadya quipped, “But I’m too tired to make it.” 

I gave her an annoyed grumble, which only made her snicker, and curled my large wolf body around her. The added heat of this form with my fur should offer all the warmth Nadya would ever need. Nadya wrapped her arms around me, pulling herself as close to me as possible, and buried half of her face in my fur, sighing in relief at the comfort it gave her. I felt more content too and nuzzled her head lovingly with my snout. 

“Thanks, Jay.” Her mumble was slightly muffled and she snuggled against me before finally settling in the perfect position to drift off.

[ilovereadingandilovebreathing]

Could I request Tony having a stressful day and Peter giving him a hug? Cause heck they both deserve hugs and Iron dad does not get nearly enough ^-^ thank you so much if you do!!

Absolutely yes. I can’t remember when you sent this, precious anon, but I finally have an answer. Sorry this is WAY more IronFam than you probably wanted, but that’s where my brain went. Sorry. I hope you like it. ♥ Canon-wise....we’re ignoring it, as always. Endgame ended less painfully.

Warnings for strong language, needle reference (EpiPen), minor Good Will Hunting spoilers

Ever have one of those days where everything seems to go wrong from the moment your feet hit the floor?

Tony’s having one of those days, and he hasn’t even gotten out of bed yet.

.................................

It’s exactly 3:47am when the entire lake house is suddenly lit up brighter than Christmas; every single screwed-in bulb in Tony’s house is on as bright as it will go, and just moments later the emergency alarm is blaring in Tony’s ears.

“Holy shit-” Tony groans and pushes himself out of bed as quickly as his aching muscles will allow. Pepper shoots up beside him, her hands thrown over her ears as she looks to him in a panic. “FRIDAY, what the FUCK is going on?!”

“Security breach detected on the roof, Boss; a window at the back west entrance.”

“I swear to GOD, if Peter tried to sneak in without waking me up again-”

“Mr. Parker is not scheduled to arrive until approximately 4:47 this afternoon, Boss-”

“I know, FRI; I know. Thanks for the update.” Tony runs a hand down his face as Pepper shoots out of bed and toward Morgan’s room. “Do we have a visual on the break-in point?”

“There are not currently cameras within that vicinity, Boss.”

“Why the hell not? Clearly it’s not secure.”

“Here, Boss.”

Tony grits his teeth when his own voice accompanies the screaming emergency siren. “We don’t need to spend any more time or money on the damn security cameras, Hap; we’ve covered damn inch of the house and a whole acre around it with surveillance. Only bugs could get in here without us knowing already.”

“Okay, okay, wise ass. Turn off the incriminating evidence.” Tony grabs a bluetooth earpiece and activates his wrist gauntlet while hustling toward his bedroom door. He’s just gotten downstairs when FRIDAY pipes up again.

“Incoming call from ‘Forehead of Security,’ Boss.”

“Put him through.”

“Tony?!” Happy’s voice is somehow groggy and alert at the same time. “What the hell is going on?”

“About to go investigate, Hap. A breach on the roof.”

“Oh my god, Tony-” 

“I know; I know. You told me so. Trust me, FRIDAY covered that already.”

“Tony, I don’t think you should go alone-”

“Then get someone up here ASAP. I’m going. It’s 4 in the damn morning, and I’d love to at least get some peace before my 7am meeting.” Tony slowly peels the front door open and pads across the porch and into the yard. He slowly circles the house, Happy’s breathing the only sounds in his ears. “Don’t see anything....” He murmurs before crossing to a compartment he built into the side of the house to house (read: hide) ladders. He’s just propping the aluminum against the roof when Happy speaks up.

“Wait, is that a ladder? Tony, are you sure you’re okay to-”

“It’s fine, Hap.”

“Tony-” 

Tony is on the roof before Happy can protest any further. The exhausted engineer carefully creeps across the roof toward the window. “FRI, where exactly am I going?”

“According to security sensors, the first window pane facing the west; I believe it should be around the corner from your vantage point.”

“Gotcha.” Tony approaches slowly, hand extended and ready to shoot if necessary. “I don’t know who the hell you are or how the hell you got here, but-” He rounds the corner and freezes, his blood boiling from his head to his toes. 

“FRIDAY. Remind me to update security protocol to ignore idiotic birds who can’t figure out that windows don’t move.”

“Done, Boss.”

-------

By the time Tony makes it back inside and upstairs, and Pepper and Morgan are waiting for him in their bed. Pepper smiles at him tiredly. 

“Job well done?”

“No job to be done.” Tony grumbles. “The idiot bird killed itself before I even got to it. Not a pretty sight.”

Pepper cringes, and Morgan whines and reaches out for her father; Tony’s heart clenches at the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“It’s okay, Morguna. Just a rogue bird.”

“Careful, sweetie-” Pepper guides Morgan into Tony’s arms, taking care around his puckered skin. The girl settles in Tony’s lap, chest to chest, and snuggles against him.  

“Well, so much for a good night’s sleep.” Tony grumbles as he rubs Morgan’s back absent-mindedly. 

Pepper sighs in agreement and settles in beside him, pulling up the covers and switching on their television, volume down low. “At least we can have a slow morning, right?”

“A very slow morning.” Tony pulls out his phone and thumbs through the messages that have accumulated already; Morgan and Pepper doze quietly around him. 

When the clock hits 5:30, FRIDAY quietly speaks up. “Might I suggest food and a shower before your meeting? You have plenty of time, so it could be an easy morning. I am sure your doctors would agree.”

“Oh but my dear, FRIDAY,” Tony whispers. “If I were well, they wouldn’t get paid as handsomely.”

The AI is silent, and he sighs. “Fine.” Tony gently nudges Pepper awake, explaining the plan, and she takes their daughter, burrowing back into the covers with her for a few more precious minutes of rest. 

Tony soon finds that FRIDAY is right (not that he would ever admit that to her); somehow the steaming water makes him feel less icky (it’s early, okay?), and he’s soon in the kitchen with the stove on, cracking an egg with one hand and stifling a yawn with the other. This soon proves to be a mistake, though, because the egg misses the pan and lands on his foot with a silent splat.

“Ugh, really?! I just cleaned that foot....”

After an otherwise uneventful breakfast, Tony heads to his office to video call into his meeting which ends up being far more eventful than he bargained for, but he supposes in the end that can only be expected when government officials are involved.

“Stark, we can’t keep this quiet anymore. The public needs to know what our plans are going forward.”

“And they will once we actually have them.” Tony licks his teeth in frustration. “I’m tired of talking in circles. We’ve been at this for 3 hours, and I’m over it. I’m not wasting anymore time here today. Next time we meet, please have something drafted that we can actually look over. In the mean time, I’ll be with my daughter.”

“Stark-”

Tony hangs up and sighs, sinking back into his chair. Simultaneously, his office door creaks open. “Daddy?”

“You psychic or something?” Tony turns in his chair and opens an arm for Morgan. 

“FRIDAY told me you were done.”

“Oh, how kind of her. Were you asking her constantly or was she just that nice?”

Morgan shrugs, and he kisses her temple. 

“What’s the plan for today, little miss? Aren’t you happy Mommy and Daddy put you in a school where you get Friday’s off?”

Morgan shrugs again and tucks closer against his side. 

“What’s up, buttercup?”

“Mommy doesn’t feel good.”

Tony’s brows crease at that. 

“Yeah? How so?” 

“She’s on the couch with a washcloth on her face; she told me I need to be quiet.”

“Shit.” Tony picks up Morgan with one arm and opens the door with the other. He keeps a finger over his lips as they quietly cross into the living room where Morgan has set up a barricade of stuffed animals around her mother. “Nice touch.” Tony whispers before placing a peck on Morgan’s nose. He carefully sits the girl on the floor before crossing to Pepper. “Hey, Pep.” Tony whispers as quietly as possible; his heart stutters when he sees silent tears tracing down Pepper’s cheeks. “Let’s go upstairs, huh? I’ll handle business down here.” 

Pepper nods as minutely as possible.

Tony carefully slides an arm behind her back and helps sit her up; he gently coaxes her to her feet and takes as much of her weight as he can, leaning their heads together as he walks his wife upstairs. Once he’s helped Pepper into bed and loaded her up with everything she could need, Tony places the tenderest of kisses on her lips. She sighs and settles as he leaves.

“FRI, let me know if she needs anything. Even if she doesn’t ask.” Tony whispers as he heads back downstairs.

“Of course, Boss.”

“Daddy? Is Mommy gonna be okay?”

“Yeah, baby, she’ll be fine, just not right now. Mommy gets migraines sometimes.”

“What’s that?”

“You know when your head hurts sometimes?”

Morgan nods.

“Like that, but sometimes Mommy can’t see, either.” Tony decides that’s all the detail Morgan needs to know that it’s serious. 

“That sounds scary.” Morgan bites her lips. 

“It can be, but we’re taking good care of her, so she’ll be fine. What about you? What’s the plan for today?”

Morgan shrugs. 

“It’s pretty outside today. We can play in your fort if you want.”

Morgan nods and goes to gather her drawing materials. “Can you read to me?” 

“Why don’t we read to each other? You’re supposed to be learning, right? How about Curious George?”

Morgan nods again and scampers off to get the book. 

Tony sighs in one of the few moments of solitude and true peace he figures he’ll get that day. At least Morgan’s fort faced away from the gory sight on the roof.

-----

Tony wishes he could trade in the ESP he’s seemed to have developed for bad days. He spends a few calm hours in the fort with Morgan; they read multiple volumes of Curious George and color multiple pictures of kittens before lunch time comes around. 

When Tony has his back turned, gathering Morgan’s crayons amid the overturned box, his daughter lets out a screech that makes his blood freeze. He whips around to find Morgan squatted on the ground with one hand gripping the other tightly and tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?”

“I-I-I think I g-got biiiiiiiiiit!” Morgan wails, and Tony quickly sees that she does indeed have large, red welts covering her hand as well as a few stray, tiny ants.

“Shit-” Tony abandons the crayons and grabs up Morgan, knowing that the bumps should not be that big or swollen. Tony races into the house with Morgan, and calls, “FRIDAY? Call the closest hospital and have the car ready with the route.” He digs through the kitchen medicine cabinet and pulls out the EpiPen that Tony had insisted they keep around in the rare event that Pepper came into contact with strawberries. Call him paranoid, but apparently that would pay off today.

“On it, Boss.”

“Is Pepper awake?”

“Not currently, Boss. She has fallen asleep.”

“Thank god. If she wakes up, fill her in.”

“Of course, Boss.”

“Okay, Morgs. This is gonna hurt a little, but just a pinch. It’ll make you feel better, okay?” Tony braces himself before stabbing the EpiPen into Morgan’s thigh; the girl cries and jerks but ultimately just holds on tighter as her father whispers soothing words into her ear.   

They’re in the car and speeding down the road before Tony can properly breathe again, Morgan strapped in the backseat and still whimpering. 

“It’ll be okay, baby; I promise.” This is his mantra all the way to the closest emergency clinic. Thankfully, Morgan’s allergy isn’t life-threatening, but after doing all the research he could about allergies and anaphylaxis because of Pepper, Tony had refused to risk it.

It’s 2:30 when they finally get back to the silent house, and Tony carries a slumbering Morgan to the couch and collapses. He knows he should put her in her bed to nap, but moments like today remind him to keep her close. 

Tony doesn’t even realize he’s fallen asleep until he hears the front door open. He cracks an eye to find Peter Parker frozen in the doorway and staring at him and Morgan on the couch. 

“I can go-” Peter mouths and thumbs back to where the car that brought him is idling. 

“No, it’s fine, kid.” Tony groans and stretches as best he can with Morgan still clinging onto him like an octopus. “If we don’t get up, we won’t sleep tonight.” 

“If you’re sure....”

“Get over here and help an old man with his clingy koala kid, will you?”

Peter laughs unexpectedly and waves the driver outside away.

“Morgan? Mo? Guess who’s here? It’s your favorite boy-”

“You’re my favorite.” Morgan mumbles sleepily.

“Faker.” Tony squeezes her tight and then releases her completely. “I’m not a boy; your old dad is an old man.”

Morgan scrunches up her nose in protest and curls back into him. 

“Go see Peter; Dad needs to pee.”

“TMI, Mr.-uh, Tony.” It’s Peter’s turn to scrunch up his nose, and Tony just grins.

“I’m a fan of transparency, Pete.”

“Since when?”

Tony rolls his eyes as Peter scoops Morgan into his arms. 

“Hey, monkey.” Peter all but cooes at her, and Tony suppresses a grin. No one turns men to putty like Morgan Stark. “You can cling on to me for a little bit, okay? Your dad needs a break.”

Morgan whines for show but immediately wraps her arms around Peter’s neck and burrows her face into his shoulder. 

“Where’s Miss-um, Pepper?”

“Migraine.” 

“Ooo.” Peter frowns in sympathy. 

“Yeah. I’ve been on Morgan duty today. Fill you in when I get back.” Tony scoots out of the room, and Peter laughs after him.

“Only about the rest of the day, please!”

Tony chuckles in return. When he comes back out, he finds Morgan awake and propped against Peter’s side, a stuffed animal squished in between them as he reads quietly from Curious George. 

“George is a hit today, it seems.” Tony comments and sits on the other side of Morgan. 

“Ssshh Peter’s reading!” 

“I see that. You know what we should be doing is eating because I know three Starks who skipped lunch today and a Parker who has a crazy big appetite.”

“Can we have s’ghetti?”

“Spaghetti?”

“S’ghetti!” Morgan insists and giggles.

“I suppose so, though I’ll make sure to include more ingredients than you do letters. Come help me.” Tony gestures and both kids rise and follow him to the kitchen. 

Peter cuts vegetables for the salad; Morgan hand-shreds lettuce and butters the garlic bread, and Tony handles all things pasta and sauce; they all chat amicably between them, Tony and Peter filling each other in on that Friday’s events with Morgan pitching in to Tony’s side often. 

Beckoned by the smells wafting from downstairs, Pepper manages to come down for dinner, looking tired but functional when she sees her little family settling in for a meal together. Peter quickly crosses and helps her to the table; she embraces him lightly and places a kiss in his hair before sitting, steering him back to the kitchen with a light pat on his back. 

Morgan eagerly serves her mother her salad, also receiving hugs and kisses from the quiet woman, and settles in at her seat. 

Peter smiles at the two and turns to the kitchen to find Tony dishing up the pasta and facing away from him. Before Peter can really think about it, he’s crossed the floor tiles and wrapped his arms around Tony’s waist, his head resting heavily against his father figure’s back. 

Tony tenses for a moment before his brow creases in worry. “You okay, Pete?”

“Fine.” Peter breathes. “Just happy to be here.”

“Me, too, buddy.” Tony squeezes Peter’s arm, knowing the implied conversation that has passed between them countless times since he got Peter back. They stand like this for a moment, appreciating the quiet peace after a chaotic day, listening to Morgan and Pepper quietly talking in the next room before Peter sighs and steps back. 

“Want some help?”

“What? You think I can’t carry four plates of spaghetti on my own?”

“No, and you probably shouldn’t try.”

“You’re probably right.” 

The meal passes peacefully, the main issue being Morgan’s inability to eat pasta and tomato sauce in a clean manner, and soon Tony and Peter are alone in the sitting room, Good Will Hunting playing quietly on the television as they stare languidly at the screen.

“Big day, huh?” Tony chuckles as Peter settles heavily into the couch next to him. The boy’s hand and arm are propping up his head, his eyes hooded. 

“Yeah. I kinda skipped the patrol details so Morgan wouldn’t freak out.” 

“When did you patrol?”

“I’m on minimum day this semester.”

“Right, right.”

“Yeah, I, uh, stopped an armed robbery. A lady up in one of the swankier districts that doesn’t have super tight security.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. She was really nice. Offered me a reward,” Peter yawns and stretches. “But I couldn’t take it, you know? Didn’t seem right.”

“And you made it out without a scratch this time?”

“For once, yeah.”

“You’re improving.”

“So, ant allergies, huh?”

Tony sighs. “Yup, so we’ll have to fortify Morgan’s fort from now on. I’m amazed we didn’t find out sooner, quite frankly.”

Peter hums in reply. 

“Hey, Tony?” Peter pipes up after a few minutes of silence. 

“Yeah, Pete?”

“You’re a great dad....And mentor.” Peter stutters out after a moment of hesitation. 

Tony looks over, but Peter refuses to look back, his eyes pointedly glued to the screen where Will Hunting is sobbing and holding on to Sean like a lifeline. Tony sighs and taps Peter’s shoulder. “Come here, kid.” 

Peter sighs, making a big show of how tired he is and how troubled by Tony’s request he pretends to be, but he melts against Tony when the man hugs him against his side and remains there when Tony lets go. 

“Comfy?”

Peter nods, nearly cross-eyed from trying to keep his eyes open, and Tony chuckles. “Go to sleep, kiddo. We can finish this tomorrow.”

Peter scrunches up his face in protest, but Tony feels the teen’s dead weight against his side. “Seriously, kid. I can’t sleep here, and I can’t carry you upstairs. Let’s go.” Tony turns off the television and coaxes Peter to his feet; he keeps one arm around Peter’s shoulders to guide him upstairs and to his appointed room.

“Good night, Peter.”

“Good...night.” Peter slurs before pulling Tony in for a tight hug and collapsing into his bed. 

“Clingy today, huh?” Tony comments as he tucks the kid in.

Peter’s words are light and wispy as air as he breathes out, “May says...hugs are the best...remedy for a bad...day.”

“She’s a smart lady.” Tony runs a hand through Peter’s hair. “Night, bud.”

Peter just hums quietly before turning over.

Tony quietly slips into his room and into bed, careful not to disturb Pepper. He settles in with a deep sigh, and stares at the ceiling as he wills himself into sleep. As his mind wanders, he reflects on the insanity of the day but finds for once that a warmth has settled in his chest. He thinks of Morgan, safe in her bed, and Pepper, safely beside him, and Peter, safe in his room, and the quiet support from all of them, and for once, Tony Stark slips into a full night of restful sleep. 

[thirsty-pixie]

Richie x Reader

Part 1

Part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

I know Richie is gay in the movie but I do what I want lmao. This is kinda something I've had rolling around in my brain for a while.

Back story: Y/n is a creature similar to it, she was born from her mother which was human but her father was Pennywise. It was getting lonley and wanted to have someone else who could live as long as him and keep him company. Though humans were much to fragile and died quickly he decided to impregnate a Woman. The pregnancy nearly killed the woman leaving her bound to a wheel chair. The child received some of its abilities like strength, speed and she feeds off of fear, she is also connected to it physically. When it gets hurt she feels the pain and she is immortal, she stops physically aging at 36. She feeds on fear but not by eating children, just being around someone who is scared is enough.

Last day of school.

Is was the last day of school and I was already sitting outside of the front doors watching the students leave the building. Mrs. Ripsom was waiting put in the road with the police looking for her daughter. I still remember the blood on my dads chin when I walked in on him eating and the sickening thud when poor Betty fell to the ground of the sewer. He never let me see him eat and that day I found out why. I seen four familiar boys walk out of the building Bill, Stan, Eddie, and Richie.

I enjoyed hanging close to this group because Eddie, he was a hypochondriac and was always scared of something. I watched as they walked passed me Eddie looking up at me then quickly back down to his feet. I chuckled shaking my head,the walked over to a trash can to dump their bags which was a common thing for kids to do after school let's out for the summer. The door opened again this time Bowers and his gang walked out, Patrick winked at me like always as they passed earning an eyeroll from me.

They walked towards the four boys who were starting to walk home. I felt something snap when Bowers grabbed Richie's bag and pulled him backwards into Stan. Within a few seconds I was standing between Bill and Henry, I heard Richie say shit when I shoved Bowers back. "The fuck is your problem" I yelled at Henry causing him to get angry, "it's none of your business now be a good little bitch a run along." He stepped closer but I didnt back down.

"I'm sorry. Did I stu-stu-studer? I said run along." He tried to push me with his chest but I didn't budge "you don't scare me Henry" suddenly fear radiated from Henry as he looked behind me make eye contact with his dad. "This isn't over losers!" He huffed before turning to leave. "Holy shit! Do you have a death wish? He will literally kill you" I turned and Looked at Eddie and shrugged. "I'm not afraid of Henry he's just a scared little kid" I stuffed my hands in my pockets and looked at Richie and Stan who looked shocked. "I'm Y/n.... by the way" I smiled and began walking away.

I heard the four of them running to catch up with me "that was totally cool" I looked down at Richie how was now walking next to me "I mean he's honestly not that scary...." even though he was only a couple years younger than me he was pretty short. "So I'm Stan, that's Bil, Eddie and hes Richie." Stan walked on the otherside of me introducing everyone. I smiled and kept walking "where are you going?" I heard two of them ask in unison. "Well I gotta get home to my mom and hang out with her until the next nurse comes..... theres a gap in the shift change." I mumbled the last part and I turned the street.

"What's wrong with you're mom? She a vegetable or something?." Richie blurted. I heard someone punch him followed by and ouch causing me to laugh. "No she's just in a wheelchair so for an hour after school I take care of her then the night nurse comes." I looked at the Four who had slowed their pace and walked behind me. "Then I think tomorrowim gonna go swimming" I stopped at my driveway and looked at the boys who were following me like puppies. "W-w-well we are going to gu-go to to the ba-barrens. Want to come?" I smiled at Bill and Richie flung his arm over Bill's shoulder "yeah we can stop by here and get you then hit up the quarry after the barrens" I nodded "yeah I'll see you all tomorrow then"

I walked inside to see my mom asleep on the couch, I covered her with a blanket and turned the tv off. I went to my room and changed into my workout outfit and waited till the night nurse arrived. "She's been asleep since I got home I made her dinner it's in the oven.." the nurse smiled and I walked out of the house. I began jogging to the sewer drain that was closest to my dads hideout.

I looked to make sure nobody was watching before I slipped inside. The walk wasn't long before I heard him humming. "Daddy?" The humming stopped when I spoke and he popped his head around the corner in his human form. I smiled and walked into the large room hugging my father he smiled at me and kissed the top of my head. "How was your last day of School Y/n" I shrugged and looked up at the children floating some with missing appendages. "It was fine....Daddy must you display them like they are trophies..." i frowned and he sighed looking down.

"I'm sorry its how I lived for a really long time it's hard to change....." I nodded and flopped against the pile of toys. It sat next to me and sighed "so I've told you how I used to sleep for 27 years at a time..." his voice was shaky and he spoke slowly causing worry to build up inside me. "Yeah.." I rolled onto my side and looked at him, his eyes had prominent dark circles and he looked exhausted. "I'm getting weak and tired and I will be going back to sleep for another 27 years in about a month or so..." he scanned my face as I sat up.

"So you're leaving me for 27 years?! Mom wont survive another year.... what will I do?" I stood up and glared at him. He stood up and hugged me "I know I'm sorry I stayed as long as i could. You'll be ok you're strong just promise me you'll come back when I wake up...." I had started crying when he hugged me but by the time he finished I was sobbing. "I'm going to miss you Daddy...." I knew he was a horrible monster but he was my father.

~~~Time skip~~~

I had on my black and red backpack on that I had filled with snacks, I sat on my stairs with my bike waiting for the boys to come by. After about 15 minutes I heard Richie's loud mouth about a block away so I stood up and got on my bike. "Ready Chicka?" Richie asked and I nodded smiling, the barrens was only a 5 minute ride from my house so. We walked down the trail and to the drain pipe that fed into the creek, I could smell the rotting flesh unbeknownst to anyone else. My senses were 100 times better than an average persons.

I scrunched my nose at the smell and followed Bill into the drain listening for my dad. I heard Eddie complaining about the water and laughed when I heard Richie say it doesn't smell like caca to him. Bill picked up Betty's shoe and turned around, "guys" every one froze and looked at Bill. I zoned out remembering seeing my dad as a clown mouth dripping in blood, I was brought back to reality when I head someone scream for help. The screaming continued but they sounded like painful screams like someone was hurt, no one else could hear it.

Moments later a kid came splashing down the creek falling into the water a few feet away from us. "Oh shit" we all rushed over to the kid to help him, I could feel his fear from back where I was standing before I went to help and the closer I got the more invigorating it was. I was in bliss as he rode on my pegs to the drug store, we stopped in the Alley leaning the bikes against the wall as Eddie looked at Ben's stomach.

They rushed inside leaving Ben, Richie, and I out in the alley "glad I got to meet you before you died" I looked at Richie and hit his arm playfully. He looked at me confused "not nice" I said before lifting Ben's shirt again. "Fucking Bowers.... I'm gonna kick his ass for this" before Richie could say anything the guys came rushing out their arms full of supplies. "What'd you do rob the place." I watched as Eddie meticulously tended to his wound, a few moments later I heard someone coming through the alley.

"You ok that looks like it hurts" I looked up seeing a redhead girl standing next to Bill I tuned the rest of the conversation out as I walked to the end of the alley. I popped my back and watched as people walked along the side walk oblivious to horrors that lay below the streets the drove and walked walked on. "Y-yo-you coming Y/n?" "Yeah pull your head out of the clouds and kets goooo" I smiled at Richie and Bill as I walked back to my bike.

Posted 9/30/2019

Part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6

[irishtowriteabook]

🌸Jealous -David+Natalie

A longwinded starter of a multitude (or should I say multiDUDE cause I’m cool) of fanfics.

-English isn’t my first language-

Summary: After the whole Ilya confessing his feelings to Natalie thing David struggles to withhold his “pshhh” attitude. And in turn develops an attitude. David Dobrick essentially turns into a David Doprick for tidbit.

—

Jason was making some semi self deprecating jokes but despite their hilarity and golden vlog material David couldn’t focus. His gaze constantly flitted over towards the view finder in his worse for wear camera that was in a precarious position atop the dashboard. His viewers on Tuesday or Wednesday or whatever-day he uploaded this would probably think he was checking himself out or lost in thought. He wasn’t. Hah! He was looking at them, Natalie and Ilya, laughing up a storm in the backseat. Storm Katrina who?

Their laughter was so loud it probably broke the sound barrier. Ilya was still somewhat erratic due to the drugs in his system and either Natalie found his hijinks cute or she had entered protective friend mode, David couldn’t tell anymore, he just couldn’t read her lately. And that frustrated him more than the time where his video editing programme crashing and his early morning work had vanished. Just like that.

“And Jeff goes up to the girl at the counter playing the whole good son act: Ah yes ahem my dads getting old and it’s hard seeing him that way but someone has to take care of him you know? And I suppose he thinks I don’t hear him, that I’ve actually got deaf like he said I had and-“ David tuned Jason out and fiddled with his camera now, craning it around the car towards the backseats so as to capture the twos reactions. They however were much too caught up in some whispered joke.

A slightly audible gulp left David’s throat as he watched Natalie through the view finder. Her head tilted back, showcasing her smooth neck and chest, as she giggled wholeheartedly. Pangs formed in David’s already weighty chest. ‘Why can’t I ever make her laugh like that?’ She looked like she was glowing today! And that wasn’t because of that highlighter shit, she was just- she was just stunning.

All of a sudden Natalie’s deep brown eyes met his over the rim of the camera and she shot a small smile at David as Ilya flopped down against her shoulder, grumbling. David’s heart ached as her smile visibly faltered as he didn’t return one. A snap sounded in the car due to the forceful shutting of the camcorder, David now fully turned around.

This abruptness caused even a dazed Ilya to quieten down. Jason kept his eyes mostly on the road but glanced towards David’s general direction, shifting his hands on the drivers wheel. “Uh you okay Dave? I wasn’t finished my bit. Your subscribers will be left on the edge of their seats!” He said with his signature wheezy laugh. David tucked himself into the innermost corner of the car seat and just fumbled with the holding string piece off his camera. “I have enough footage. It’s cool.” He muttered with a half arsed grin. Jason looked through the parking mirror to Natalie.

Her brows were furrowed as she watched David, not paying attention to Ilya who was pressing his entire tongue against the back window at oncoming traffic. Jason hitched his eyebrows once before returning his focus to the road. The rest of the ride was mostly silent except from the whispers of Natalie and Ilya and Ilya’s nonsensical mumblings.

—

The very moment the car came to a standstill David was rushing out the door, so fast the door hinges very nearly gave way. “Gotta edit. Help yourselves to some drinks.”

Jason turned around almost immediately to face Natalie despite the constraints of the belt digging into his chest.

Even in the cover of the night he could clearly see she already seemed deep in thought. “What’s uh- what’s going on with David tonight eh? Stress?” Jason questioned and allowed Ilya to play with his hair. “I don’t know.” She drummed her fingers and pouted her lips a bit. “He seemed fine up until after Ilya’s wisdom tooth removal.” Natalie leans forward, her eyebrows still creased in genuine worry. “I’m going to go after hi-“ She was cut off by a drawn out “Natalieeee” from a drowsy Ilya. Nat paused in her movement and looked to Jason for a little help. He nodded towards her with an understanding smile. “You go, I’ve got this- Come on sleepyhead”

-

“Hey Dave!” Natalie paused as she swung around the ledge of the door into David’s room where he lay splayed out on the bed. He didn’t respond, instead just moving his toned arms to cover his eyes and forehead area. “..Want a drink? I’m getting Ilya some water to flush out the bloo-“ “Nah but thanks.” Natalie was taken aback by his not necessarily rude but unusually blunt response.

She leant her head tiredly against the wood and watched him carefully. Down the hall there was an uproar of laughter as Ilya entertained the other squad members arriving on the scene. Just as David thought she had left she spoke again. “Listen David I know it’s been a long day but I feel like something else is bothering you. I’m your friend too, not just your assistant.” A pained scoff left David’s throat, now he’s been downgraded the friend? “I’m fine, Natalie. Just tired is all. I just want some space..can you do that?” And for the first time in a long time Natalie was at a loss for words.

Her frown pierced his skin through his hoodie and she pursed her lips, something she always did when she was annoyed. It just didn’t make sense. He always wanted people around him, talking or not. “Sure. I’ll be in the kitchen with the others.” She quipped shortly after a few seconds of silence and took a sharp turn on her heel towards the kitchen.

Eventually the chatter and laughter faded as the gaggle of vloggers moved over into the living room. It was then, and only then, that David removed his arms from over upper face. His eyes were shiny and glistened in the dark of the room with unshed tears. He muttered a curse and stared at the spot where Natalie once stood.

David sniffled and harshly rubbed his nose with the palm of his hand before opening his laptop up, connecting the camera cords and transferring the files. His eyes stung as her pushed himself through the editing process. And then he stopped. A clip lay there, one he couldn’t look at till now. The bit about Ilya confessing his fucking feelings. David couldn’t- David couldn’t help but notice the way Natalie was looking at Ilya as he slowed it down, in awe almost. “Shit.” David whispered as a singular tear trailed down his cheek.

—

Natalie tried to focus on Zane’s video ideas, she really did, but her eyes kept drifting off down the hallway where David still residing. “I can’t wait for David to hear these man!” Zane chuckled and the various heads nodded. Here it comes. “Hey speaking of, where is David? Haven’t seen him all night. You didn’t leave him in Chicago did you?” Heath wondered and draped an arm around his girlfriend as all eyes turned to Natalie. “Oh uhm he’s a bit tired, you know how it is. All the..travelling.” She smiled.

“We’ll leave him rest up then. Can’t get that coin without the creator!” Heath suggested with a laugh. “Who wants more drinks?!” Zane exclaimed and danced over animatedly to the countertop. Whoops and hollers left the mouth of most people in the room, the rest too hungover, passed out or worried about David.

—

Did they even notice he was gone? Did they even want him around? As a friend, not a medium of income. Did Natalie even want to be here? All these thoughts buzzed through David’s head despite his attempts to just..silence them. His computer was now strewn away to the side as sat on the edge of his bed, palms digging into his eyes with his elbows on his knees.

With a hefty sigh he dragged himself out of bed and crept out the door towards the kitchen. His heart tugged in his chest as he noticed Natalie pressed up against Ilya on the couch. Everyone’s attention was on Ilya, grasping on his comedic tales. No one noticed David. Or so he thought.

Natalie got a sinking feeling as she took heed of a forlorn looking David, watching as he sneaked into the kitchen.

“Are you going to talk to me then hm?” David almost jumped out of his skin as Natalie’s voice piped up from behind him. He pretended to continue looking in the presses just so he didn’t have to face her. “What do you mean?” He faked a laugh, his nervousness seeping through. He stuffed a biscuit into his mouth, one that he doesn’t like she realised, before turning around. Natalie stood there looking far too cute in her pajama shorts and black top with her crossed arms and tapping impatiently foot.

Natalie stormed up to him and plucked the biscuit packet away from him. “You don’t even like these!” She spluttered out and slammed them onto the counter. ‘How do you even know what I like and don’t like? You’ve been so busy with Ilya lately it’s like I wasn’t there too.’

“Great. Now my biscuits are going to be all crumbly.” David pouted. Natalie in the meantime looked like she either wanted to rip her hair or his hair out in utter frustration. She stepped forward to him and stared him down. “What. Is going. On?” Natalie questioned stonily, her brunette hair sticking out from her earlier anxious ruffling.

David froze as he could almost feel her breaths and angry huffs on the skin of his chest. “I-I dont know what you want me to say Nat- is it still okay if I call you that?” Natalie was outright confused at his words. “Of course it’s okay? Stop diverting the subject!”

“You’re worrying too much. I’m fine, exhausted but fine!” He laughed flatly and bravely placed his hands on her shoulders. A burst of pain shot through his veins as she shrugged off his hands. It brought back memories as to how she’d always be so affectionate with Ilya and Zane and yet shied away from his hugs on video. Usually that wouldn’t upset him but shit. “David!” The pair were interrupted by a grinning Carly as she bounced on in. “Good to see you! Just grabbing a drink!” She said brightly. Natalie didn’t face her, instead she kept her gaze locked on David who smiled at Carly. The moment Carly went however David’s smile dropped. And Natalie seen that.

“Dave..” She sighed out as he shuffled past her, blank faced. “Go have fun Na-“ David’s words got caught in his throat as she latched onto his hand and tugged him back to look at her. “Have I done something wrong? Why won’t you look at me? Did I mess up when I was recording you and Ily?” Ily? Nickname stage. Great. David stole a look at Natalie and studied her worried face, feeling all shades of bad over being the cause of her discomfort. She should be out there with her- their friends.

He gently pulled back from her vice like grip and she let her hand fall slowly to her side. “I’m going to bed okay? I’ll see you in the morning or something like that, I’ve got a lot of editing to do so I might be in my room all day. Go out with the gang though. Enjoy yourself! Go wild!” He plastered on a smile. Natalie hitched an eyebrow at him and recrossed her arms, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet.

“You’ve done your editing though? We just watched your video inside there?” Natalie said and saw David’s arm go back to scratch at his neck. “Second channel stuff. You know? It takes ti-“ “No I don’t know David! I’m not a vlogger. I usually just help you choose which bits are the best bits. Usually! Tonight you can’t seem to get away from us fast enough, from me.” David opened his mouth to respond as he finally gained the courage to meet her eyes.

Hurt and confusion and despair swum in them and he had never felt so much guilt. Not even when Jonah felt into the pool off the motorcycle. “Nat I-“ “No, forget it. You call me when you need me, boss.” Natalie replied sarcastically and saluted him, sauntering off, doing her best to maintain her composure. She hated when David was mad at her. She missed him and his smile and his jokes and his laugh and it had only been a few hours. Felt like an eternity though.

—

David sniffed as he tapped through the Instagram stories of his friends; laughing, joking, dancing, food tasting reviews. A knock on the door shook him out of his- I don’t even know what.

Natalie crept in, avoiding looking at his vest (barely) covered torso or him as he sat up in his bed. She edged the door to a close with her foot before setting the tray of breakfast foods down on his seemingly constantly clouded nightstand. “You didn’t need to Natalie. I was going to make my own in a little while.” David said, subdued. “No you weren’t, I know when you’re lying to me Dobrik. We have been friends since kindergarten after all.” She shrugged and straightened back up, his eyes following her every shuffle. Natalie seemed so down this morning and although David felt his distancing wouldn’t affect her enough to cause it, it was. He thought she wouldn’t notice.

“I’ve cleared your schedule for today. Told everyone you were sick so we’ll be staying at home.” She murmured and looked everywhere but at him. “We?” David unknowingly voiced his thoughts aloud and she looked at him as if shocked he was even asking that. “Yes Dave! We! You and me!” She snapped. Her eyes grew sad as she noticed his posture once again deflate and his eyes sink downwards. Natalie tugged the covers off of him and flung open his wardrobe doors seeing an array of black clothing. “Come on. Get up and get dressed. You might feel a bit better and get out of this funk you’re in. Are you frustrated about videos? Is that it?” She pondered and riffled through the hangers as David stood beside her. “You go relax, I can take care of myself” David spoke gently, his husky morning voice sending shivers down her spine. “No.” Natalie spoke vehemently and sifted through the hangers with more force than before, eventually yanking some band shirt and baggy sports pants out and laying them on his bed.

“This isn’t a vlog David. You don’t have to condense all your feelings down in 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Not with me. I’m here to listen to whatever is bothering you-“ David opened his mouth “-Ah ah ah! And I know something’s bothering you. I’m here as long as you need me. I want to be here. So I really really don’t get why you’re acting like I’m some stranger.” Natalie said as she shut his wardrobe door closed.

“Nat-“ David tried to intercede. “No David!” “Nat!” He tried again but she shook her head as she pushed past him softly to grab his duvet, doing her best to ignore the stinging feeling of tears in her eyes.

This time round however it was her breath that caught in her throat as David’s strengthy arms slipped around her core, tugging her against him. And just like that her stoic posture just melted like butter against him. David was cautious that she’d pull away but as she quietly wrapped her arms around his neck he took that as the go ahead to tighten the hug. Natalie was so warm and soft against him, her faded perfume filling his senses.

Natalie let her nails scrape against the nape of David’s neck and a smile snuck on her face as a small hum escaped his mouth. She loved the feelings of his arms around her, so secure and safe. His five o clock shadow was scratchy against her cheeks but she didn’t care. What she did care about however was how this feeling was barely familiar to her. ‘How long has it been since I’ve hugged him?’ Thinking back she could clearly remember the awkward embraces shared with Zane and Ray and Ilya but..David? Nope.

Natalie pressed herself flush against him and ensured that there was no space between them. She wanted to get closer and closer and- “God I’ve missed you Nat.” David groaned out, his lips tickling the skin of her neck that his face was now pressed into. Her eyes fluttered to a close as his thumb gently scraped and rubbed a slip of showing skin from her short sleeved black top. “Have I not been here Dave? Hm?” Natalie murmured and leant back just slightly to meet his eyes. “I-“ He adverted his eyes but she grasped the left side of his face firmly and stroked his cheek with her thumb. The other arm stayed locked around his neck.

“You have been here yeah. But so has everyone else. I guess I’m just used to having us time. Do you get me? Do I sound selfish? I’m sorry, I’m not good at this whole sharing feelings thing.” He whispered. “Yeah I can tell!” She breathed jokingly hoping to get a real smile out of him. He managed a tiny one in her direction. Her heart fell.

“Oh David-“ Natalie pressed a kiss to his cheek before moving to his ear to whisper, smiling as she felt him freeze. “You’re my best friend. Okay? Only you! Not Casandra, not Erin, not Ilya, you.”

David leant back, a grin steadily forming on his lips, of which she struggled not to stare at. “You mean that?” He stuttered out, vastly happier. An affectionate smile took over Natalie’s face as his eyes lit up more and more. Natalie took a second to just admire the man, sliding her thumb across his jawline as her eyes flitted from one of his eyes to another. “Of course I do, David” She smiled and reluctantly pulled back as he pulled back.

“It doesn’t make it okay that instead of talking to me you just blanked me and everyone though.” David looked even more guilty at her words but nodded along as they needed to be said. “I’m sorry Nat. I really I- I am. I wasn’t thinking and even that’s not an excuse.” He fumbled with his pants pockets. Natalie softened as the sincerity shone in his eyes.

“Cmere dork. It’s okay, I forgive you! I still love you even though you can be a major dick.” Natalie giggled and pulled David against her once more.

‘I’ll show you.’

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Until next time! Comments or likes are appreciated if you’re able to spare the time! -Ella x