#i know for a fact there's prob typos in this chapter

[daddyplasmius]

hand on my stupid heart flashbacks

this is a No One Knows AU & Full Hazmat AU where Danny ended up in the Ghost Zone & didn't go back into the human world initially because he thought he was dead. by the time he realized he is, in fact, at least half alive, he'd already been missing for at least 2 weeks. will probs never finish homsh sorry. i wrote this a couple years ago in a haze & just haven't been able to finish it because i can't replicate the style, which i find is what i love about this fic the most. it wouldn't be the same without it. posting the flashback introsーwhich are meant to be read between chapters/the actual plot, starting after chapter 1ーcuz fuck it. excuse typos & shit, i never properly edited it, as i forgot it existed immediately after i wrote it original description of homsh: Danny Fenton has officially been missing for over a year. Maddie & Jack Fenton refuse to give up on their son. Sick and tired of the police running them in circles, and the case getting colder by the day, the Fentons turn to their last resortーPhantom. 800~ words (full unfinished fic is 20k~)

-

When Danny woke up surrounded by thick, green fog, and couldn’t breathe without swallowing heavy air that was more like water than anything, he was sure he was dead. The portal glowed behind him, illuminating the pitch darkness around him in soft, yellow, warm light.

He almost went back.

Almost.

He was dead. His parents were ghost hunters. They had drilled into his head from the moment he was born that he could never, ever panic in death. That he would accept it. That he would not be scared. So he would be prepared to be brave in the face of death and would not become a ghost.

He panicked. He did not accept it. He was terrified. And so he woke up in the Ghost Zone.

-

Danny went back through the portal when he saw some ectopuses acting… strange. Like they had an idea in their heads. Like they had a plan.

Which was weird, with animal ghosts. He had only been in the Ghost Zoneーmom and dad called it that, he rememberedーfor a couple weeks. Or, he had already been there for two weeks. Or maybe time worked differently and he was there five minutes, or four years orー

The ectopuses went through the portal and, despite everything, Danny went after them.

While he was busy reeling at being home, the ectopuses immediately attacked dad. Danny was horrified. Jack was overwhelmed. Danny stepped in, in a moment fueled by sheer adrenaline and stupidity, snatching a Fenton Thermos™ off a shelf and releasing his shaky invisibility. The ectopuses didn’t stand a chance. And when they were safely in the Thermos, he slowly turned around to dad, ready for the confrontation. Ready for the “what happened to you?” and the “where have you been?” and the “we’ve missed you”.

Dad scrambled to shoot at him.

Danny fled.

His parents didn’t recognize him.

-

The Lunch Lady attacked when Danny was mourning Halloween.

He’d waited all year. He made a costume that summer. He wouldn’t get to go trick or treating with Sam and Tucker this year. Or any year. For the rest of his lifeーor existence. Whatever.

The Lunch Lady appeared in the school and demanded in straight fury, “Who changed the menu?”

Everyone pointed at Sam.

Danny hadn’t known just how powerful ghosts could be. His parents never told him the specifics. Just that they were dangerous.

This ghost grew and her aura hit him like a hurricane, almost physically pushing him back. It was so strong that the students in the Casper High cafeteria seemed to feel it too.

The Lunch Lady was a much harder opponent than the ectopuses. She levitated meat. She used it as a weapon, and seemed to bring it back to life. She created weird meat creatures that grew sharp teeth and claws out of bones. They were mindless, attacking everything that got too close to the ghost. Danny would have run away without hesitation, if Sam hadn’t been in the crossfire.

Danny fought the Lunch Lady. It was a long struggle, but he caught her in the thermos after over an hour. When he turned to Sam and Tuckerーboth of whom he had to save due to Tucker trying to jump into the fightーall three of them bloody and bruised, he cringed. But a part of him hoped. Desperately.

Surely they would know him on sight.

“Wh-what are you?” Sam gasped at him finally.

Danny flinched as if she had struck him. “J-just… your friendly neighbourhood phantom.”

-

Danny didn’t know what possessed him. Oh. Pun not intended.

He just barely caught the Fentons leaving in the GAV, dragging suitcases behind them. He couldn’t help himself. What on Earth were they doing?

They were going to Vlad Master’s mansion for their college reunion.

It was a whole thing. But something was off. Besides all the adults reminiscing about the 80’s.

Danny sensed ghosts immediately but he couldn’t see anything. Unfortunately for him, Vlad could also sense him. It was two days of Danny staying invisible, and Vladーthe halfa? Is that what Danny is?ーtrying to kill Jack. Somehow, Danny managed to fight off Vlad, not turn back, and without the Fentons getting hurt. His secret intact.

VladーPlasmius, also learned about Phantom. And Vlad hated him. The manーghostーwhatever, seemed to only care about one thingーpossession. Of money. Of things. Of people. He was more ghost than Danny had ever seen. Vlad’s obsession was overwhelming.

Danny couldn’t believe someone so much like himself could be so disturbing.

[b-o-s-t-o-n]

The Calm Of Burgundy- Nineteen

And it was all yellow.

The short walk to the taxi outside of Penelope’s apartment was difficult. Not only were the heels I was wearing hard to walk in, but my stomach also hurt. I was feeling a mixture of nervousness and sadness. Nervousness because of the somewhat blind date I was about to attend and sadness because it seemed like I had lost the friendship with Reid that I had only recently gained.

Even though I started off hating him, Reid had really started to grow on me. When he wasn’t in one of his Dilaudid-inflicted mood swings, he was actually fun to be around. He was a sweet man deep down and I had been enjoying getting to know that side of him.

But now it seemed like he wanted nothing to do with me. Why? I still had no clue. Maybe he had a problem with Anderson and didn’t approve of me going out with him. Or maybe he just had a problem with me.

The taxi ride to the restaurant Anderson had decided on was short, which made my stomach hurt even more. I was banking on at least ten minutes in the backseat of the taxi to mentally prepare myself. Unfortunately we pulled up in under five minutes and I was abruptly faced with what I had been dreading.

I was starting to have second thoughts. I had no idea why I had even agreed to this stupid date in the first place. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to disappoint the girls. I really didn’t know anything about this guy other than the fact that he worked at the BAU. For Christ’s sake, I didn’t even know what he looked like.

After a little internal prep talk, I made my way into the restaurant and walked up to the hostess booth. I gave her my name and who I was expecting to dine with and she told me to follow her. She lead me over to a table set for two where a man was already sitting at.

The man had short brown hair and cement blue eyes. He was wearing a white button down shirt and a blue tie. It matched his eyes nicely.

I looked him up and down, inspecting his features. He looked about my age, maybe a little older. He also seemed put together, like he knew how to properly dress himself. Most importantly, he was quite attractive.

So this was Grant Anderson.

“Hi,” I said awkwardly as I sat down across the table from him.

“Hi,” he laughed nervously.

His shine was yellow, which, for some reason, surprised me. I had expected him to have a manlier color such as dark blue or green. it looked familiar but I couldn’t quite place where I had seen it. I needed him to speak more than one word so I could see more of it.

“So, have you been here before?” Anderson asked.

I stared up at the cloud of smoke his words had created and my entire body turned cold. I remembered where I had seen that exact shade of yellow before. It was dark, almost mustardy, and nearly crossed over into the orange spectrum. But it was definitely yellow.

It was burnt yellow.

My mind went whirling back to when I had encountered that shine. It was the day that Strauss had sat us all down and showed us the bullet that had killed Gideon. The bullet had two distinct shines. Gideon’s brown and the killer’s yellow.

His burnt yellow.

I thought back to what Strauss had told us that day. She had lifted the order of protection on us and allowed us to go home, but only if we stuck together. I remembered her exact words when she had warned us.

“We don’t believe you are in any immediate danger,” Strauss replied.

“Why’s that?” Emily asked.

“Because, unlike Jason, none of you will be alone. Our profile of the unsub suggests that he won’t strike unless the victim is secluded and their guard is down.”

Anderson had taken me away from the protection of my team members and brought my guard down. He had pretended to be interested in me romantically when, in reality, he wanted to kill me. And the entire time he had been hiding in plain sight. Who would have suspected Gideon’s killer to work at the BAU? It was genius, really.

“I, uh, have to use the bathroom,” I excused myself as I scrambled to my feet.

I darted towards the back of the restaurant and found the women’s restroom. Once inside, I checked under the stalls to make sure no one else was in there and locked the door.

What was I supposed to do in this situation? I thought about the different scenarios I could choose. I could call the police, but I doubted they would know how to handle it correctly. I could try to take Anderson down on my own, but I didn’t have my gun with me and I wasn’t trained in hand-to-hand combat. Or I could call someone from the BAU and have them call the rest of the team to come rescue me and take him down.

Calling someone from the team seemed like the best option. I pulled my phone out of my purse and called the first number I could think of.

“What?” Reid answered angrily.

I sighed in relief at the sound of his voice. Never in my life had I been so relieved to see burgundy smoke swarming around me.

@reidtome @ultrarebelheart @tippy06 @emaywhyayy @hoshicafes @dontshootmespence  @cynbx @pleasedftbaforever @blitzz11 @pinkobsessedfreak @rawritsmolly @foursetsofcoursets @at-lo-levad-comets @hoshicafes @bucky-eats-plums @birthdaycakeandburglary  

[a6nice6person6]

Hi! I don’t have the ability to write this, but it would be lovely if someone wanted to write something like this..

So it’s an au where Lena and Kara were gfs for three years (and besties since they were like 9) but because Lena was enlisted in the military (she was 18 then), she had to go away for a long time. They decide to break up since it’s gonna take a long time for Lena to return but Kara is determined to wait for her. They keep in touch until something happens and Lena stops responding to Kara’s messages. Obviously Kara is devastated thinking the worst as time passes and she gets no news from Lena. Years later (maybe 10?) Kara and her soon-to-be husband (u know who dat is) walk into a crowded bar to meet up with their friends when suddenly a very distinctive face catches Kara’s gaze...... Oprah!! no jk it’s Lena (duh lol) A wave of relief and also hurt curses through Kara so after a moment of hesitation she approaches her without anyone noticing. (Lena, unaware of the blonde, flirts unashamedly with a man next her.. or maybe she could be her lonely self wallowing in her misery.. idk which is better for the story). Suddenly shy Kara is only able to call her name once but it’s enough to get the brunette’s attention, they stare at each other for a moment, until Lena finally snaps out of it and finally asks.. “sorry, do I know you?” ...( yep you guessed it, she has amnesia)

Idk how to continue that but i mean there’s the whole lena-gets-injured-and -after-surgery-she-doesn’t-remember-anything so obvs she wasn’t able to go back to kara and kara-spent-like-ten-years-griefing-her-first-love-and-possibly-the-love-of-her-life situations but whatevss... they keep seeing each other throughout the next months getting to know each other (again), eventually Kara tells Lena their story but leaving the being exes part out (for the sake of angst i guess)

Lena starts to fall in love with Kara (completely unaware of their past as lovers,( BUT, to make it spicy, maybe Lena is oblivious to her own sexuality and thinks she’s feeling friendly feelings) and is conflicted with her emotions because Kara’s about to get married in a couple of months so she keeps her strange feelings to herself. Meanwhile, Kara struggles with the fact that maybe she’s not entirely over her ex but Lena shows no signs of having feelings for her so maybe it’s time to put an end to that chapter in her life.

... fast forward to Kara’s bachelorette party, they get drunk and end up having a passionate night in their shared hotel room.. and yeah you know the drill they’re endgame but my mind couldn’t come up with a way of that happening after their night together, maybe more angst and miscommunication happens up until the wedding day but yeah (i mean because I guess Lena still doesn’t know that they had a past as girlfriends so there’s the whole “why would you not tell me this important detail about us” thingy soo) :) also it would be lovely if you put lena x brainy brotp somewhere in there in the story.

There’s denial, angst, fluff , jealousy maybe from both sides, probs smut but that’s up to you, hurt-comfort, but most importantly happy ending hehe

Does this makes sense?? idk but If you decide to write this please let me know!! i don’t even want credit i just want to read it c: thank u

//note: i’m not from the usa so i have no idea how the us military actually works but who cares🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s for the sake of angst

Note2: sorry for the typos if there are any, english is not my first language

Note3: also idk maybe someone already wrote something like this but i haven’t read it yet so.. that’s that.

[imagine-loki]

The sniffles

TITLE: The sniffles CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: ONE SHOT AUTHOR: fanfictrashdump ORIGINAL IMAGINE: 

After the Chitauri attack on New York, imagine Loki being sentenced to public service on Earth, specifically in aiding people who got hurt during the attack. His magic has been limited to only be enough to aid keeping Odin’s spell in place so he wouldn’t turn blue. His task is to help people with special needs, to do house chores, help them get around, do their grocery and keep them company while they recover. He is assigned to a girl who ended up blind after one of the Chitauri shot at her.

+

Imagine that against everything you both thought possible, Loki gets the flu. 

RATING: T NOTES/WARNINGS: It’s getting to be chilly season, so the flu is lurking about. Get your flu shots! Be careful! Socially distance! Language, maybe? Mostly fluff. Mentions of illness? (Do people tag that?) Not beta’d or edited, really–probs lots of typos.

SUMMARY: Loki gets sick, though he insists it’s just allergies. Charlie puts on her bossy pants and shows Loki she’s a bamf. Loki is a Nervous Nelly.

X

Loki had nearly frowned himself into an alternate dimension when it first happened–a simple sneeze. He had been sorting through some paperwork that Stark had asked him to complete, a mindless task meant to keep him occupied under the guise of his rehabilitation. With a shrug, Loki aired out the papers, assuming dust had tickled his nose for the briefest of moments, but thought nothing more of it.

Two years into his exile to Midgard and working under the tech guru, Loki had pretty much worked off his sentence in Tony’s eyes. According to anyone with half a brain, depriving Loki of his magic, the major condition of his exile, was punishment enough for the Prince (Loki would never admit that the act of cleaning a whole kitchen to perfection on his hands and knees was methodical and soothing, but it was one of the many joys of his near mortal existence). Still, it turned out that Stark was a bleeding heart and could recognize the tell-tale signs of a son who never got proper validation from their father (or enough hugs). It could have also been the fact that the former hissing-serpent-of-an-Asgardian all but turned into a golden retriever after he fell in love. Or maybe, just maybe, it was the fact that Stark was deathly afraid of the five-foot-nothing woman Loki now shared an apartment with, and who would most definitely cause him bodily harm for overworking her boyfriend.

All in all, within the constraints of this supposed punishment, everything was wonderful.

Then, Loki sneezed again.

And continued to do so.

But, of course, he wasn’t ill.

Achoo!

Charlie started, letting out a half-strangled shriek that soon turned into a groan as objects clattered on her desk. Her jaw clenched together so tightly, she thought her teeth would crack.

Now, Charlie wasn’t irritated that her dork alien of a boyfriend was sneezing in her presence while she was trying to get work done. No, she was irritated because she had sent him to bed (again, for the sixth time) twenty minutes ago when his fever and chills started to turn him into an unintelligible, hallucinating mess. She thought she had been quite clear in her order for him to get some rest. After all, it had been three days since Loki first sneezed, and though he had brushed it off as a bad case of seasonal allergies, his denial was starting to get ridiculous, not to mention, harmful.

Turns out thousand year old demigods-turned-mortal are no better at following orders than any other man on the planet. In fact, Charlie was pretty sure he was being more of a brat than any other mortal… not that she’d ever tell him.

Pushing away her keyboard, she stood away from the desk, taking a second to orient herself and stare in the general direction she had heard the sneeze come from.

She schooled her facial expression into what she hoped was a no-nonsense expression. “Go. Back. To. Bed.”

Loki grumbled, his voice particularly hoarse and gravelly with an added nasally quality from his blocked passages. “It’s allergies and I have things to do,” he retorted stubbornly, ignoring the fact that his whole world seemed to tilt ever-so-slightly with each step he took.

“Allergies, my ass. Loki Odinson, you have the flu. You belong back in bed. Don’t make me be the bad guy here.”

He let out a half-hearted snort, pretending that he did not at all feel the need to double over and repeat whatever little breakfast he was able to get down his gullet that morning. “I am not sick. I haven’t been sick in four centuries. Your sorry Midgardian microbes cannot infect me.”

“Yeah, when you had your full powers. Now, though–”

“I’m fine-d.”

It was a small, momentary miracle that Charlie wasn’t able to see the way he swayed on a spot, holding his head pathetically against the sudden bout of vertigo that assaulted him. At least he thought she couldn’t. Though Loki could not explain the fact that her hand grasped him by an elbow a moment later with what appeared to be no difficulty. Clearly he was off his game, and he didn’t even bother complaining when Charlie half-dragged him all the way to the sofa and forced him to sit.

He couldn’t help but smile at the brows knitted together in worry or the lower lip being chewed within an inch of its soft, supple life. The extreme gentleness and care she took in smoothing back his hair and pressing the back of her hand to his forehead made his stomach twist in the most pleasant way. This was the best antidote, he supposed, just watching her fuss over his shivering body. Loki certainly wasn’t used to being taken care of in this manner. It felt almost wrong to succumb to the desire of slumping into the pillows and letting her dote on him.

“I love you,” slipped from his lips before he was even aware that his brain had attempted to convey the message.

Charlie beamed in response, cheeks turning warm copper with a blush. Her fingers trailed down the sides of his face to cup his cheeks. “I love you, too, sweets, but if you don’t stay still and rest, I will put on Stark’s suit and make you.”

Loki smirked, twining one of her curls around his finger and letting it bounce back with a gentle tug. “Have I told you how attractive I find you when you get all bossy?”

“Only every single second this week, Lo.”

“Well, I firmly believe in truth-telling, dove,” he added, voice betraying the exhaustion that seeped into his bones. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that the gentle circles she drew around his temples were some sort of ancient magic. “I’m late for work,” he protested, making an effort to sit back up. He would admit that they way Charlie shoved him back onto the cushions was a little distracting for two entirely different reasons: one, he was weak enough that Charlie could push him down like it was nothing; and, two… it was sort of… sexy. He would take them both to his grave.

“I called Tony and told him you were sick.”

Loki frowned. “What did he say?”

“He asked FRIDAY to queue up ”Ding dong! The witch is dead“,” she joked, lips tugging up in a smirk. “He said to take the week off. No one needs your Asgardian super bugs rolling around the Tower.” Charlie’s lips pressed against his forehead, followed immediately by a sigh. “You’re burning up again, Loki.”

“Everything hurts,” he conceded in a small voice, feeling like a failure when the concern etched in her features deepened further.

Charlie took in the complaint with a resolute nod.

“OK. I’ll go to the pharmacy down the street for some medicine and some electrolytes. You get some rest.” She patted his cheek and made to stand when Loki’s hand wrapped around her wrist.

“I’ll come with you.” He assured, at once, hoping the edge of nervousness wasn’t obvious in his voice.

“Nice try, super spreader.” Her fingers peeled his, dexterously. “No. Get some rest. I’ll be back in twenty.”

“But–”

“I promise you I will be fine, Loki. It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”

Loki was still reluctant as he watched her cool and confident expression. He shifted awkwardly. He knew that Charlie was entirely capable of any task and she had adapted well to the technology available to her as a non-seeing person, but… Norns, he was just a pathetic mess when it came to her. The thought of anything happening to her… “I know, but–”

“You worry. I understand, but this is important, Loki. You’re important and you’re sick and you need me to go get you medicine.”

He sighed, resting his forehead against her hand for a long moment before finding the courage to speak. “Just… be careful, alright? Maximum alertness, yeah?”

“I promise,” she assured in a whisper, leaning in to kiss his crown. “Please get some rest until I get back.” Her fingers were back to scratching his scalp, combing through his shaggy locks until he could no longer fight against the heaviness of sleep. He uttered half a protest before drifting off, leaving Charlie to cover him up with the spare blanket she kept on the sofa and tucking him in.

Charlie would not say that she was nervous about going out without Loki, but she was certainly not not nervous. She wrapped herself up warm to ward off the autumn chill and triple checked her belongings: keys, phone, card wallet, cane. Her head turned over her shoulder on instinct, as if attempting to spare a glance at Loki sleeping on the couch, before she closed the door behind her.

Loki awoke with a start what felt like an eternity later. His hair was sticking out in all directions and his clothes felt like they were pasted to his body with sweat. He was no longer on the couch, but in bed, and he felt… marginally better. Still, his heart was thumping loudly against his ribcage with a sense of uneasiness.

Charlie.

Where was Charlie?

“Oh, gods, please no.” It was too still. Too quiet. “CHARLIE!?” He called frantically, kicking the covers off of himself, despite the fact that his head disliked his sudden change in momentum. He grit his teeth against the nausea that rose immediately after. He needed to get out of bed and–

“Oh, you’re up!” Charlie chirped happily from the doorway.

His head snapped toward her voice to find her standing with a tray and very carefully balancing a bowl of soup, a sports drink and a bottle of water atop it. The grace with which she was managing to balance the liquids over the wooden serving tray was uncharacteristic–Charlie had never been particularly poised due to her impatience and going blind had not helped matters. After a minute, she placed the tray beside him on the bed and managed to sit down without any major spillage. Loki beamed at the satisfied look on her face and the anxiously flitting and hovering gaze she got when she was particularly excited.

“You’re back,” he breathed softly, fingertips trailing over the hand resting closest to him.

“I was only gone for fifteen minutes.” Charlie giggled. “Do you not remember taking your medicine and coming to bed?”

Loki shook his head before remembering his replies had to be aloud. “Er… no. No, I don’t.”

“You were pretty out of it,” she admitted, not thinking anything of it. “We had a lot of extra veggies, so I made you soup.”

He swallowed at the lump in his throat to no avail as he watched the perfectly cubed pieces of vegetables floating in a golden broth. He could practically feel her efforts radiating off the bowl with every plume of steam that rose enticingly. “You cooked?” His voice caught slightly.

“Yeah. Don’t tell me if it’s no good. It took me forever to chop things, so I might actually cry,” she replied, only half serious.

He picked up the bowl and tentatively sipped at the broth, letting out an involuntary moan when the rich taste flooded his taste buds. “Charlie, it… it’s perfect. It’s delicious.” The satisfied grin she gave in response made the remainder of his pain float away like dandelion fluff. He sipped some more before letting out a contented sigh as his bones warmed. “You are a wonder of wonders, Charlotte Camden.”

Charlie snorted. “I went to the pharmacy and managed not to burn down the apartment. I am middling, at best.”

“Say what you want, but I am proud of you,” he whispered, enjoying the blush on her cheeks as he slurped down the rest of his soup.

He knew she was secretly pleased with the praise, even if she didn’t admit it. Loki was aware that he worried all too much about giving her extra independence with all the what-ifs that popped up in his head. She was always so eager to challenge herself and had proven time and again she was capable of so much more than what she did on a daily basis. Loki was still in her life because she desired it, not because she needed anything from him.

For goodness’ sake, here she was, minding him.

“Thank you for taking care of me, Charlie. I feel restored, already.”

“Finally, he admits illness!” She snickered under her breath while Loki grumbled. “Of course, Loki. It is my distinct pleasure.” She leaned in just enough to prompt Loki to proffer his cheek, skin warm from the flush that could only half be attributed to the warmth of the broth. Her fingers trailed over his scalp, making him shudder from head to toe. “Drink all your fluids and back to bed,” she ordered gently before disappearing back out the bedroom door.

Loki wasn’t used to being taken care of like this but… he could get used to it.

[likelightningafterthethunder]

Like Lightning After the Thunder: Chapter One: Damned Smile

Fic Summary:

His breath wavered as he stared into Katsuki’s eyes. He knew he could get out if he tried. He could knock Katsuki out, hope that no one else would find them, and run back into the shadows where he belonged. Katsuki may have had him pinned down but he was in Denki’s range now and it would take little effort to send a charge through Katsuki to paralyze him temporarily.

It would take barely any additional effort to kill Katsuki.

As the sparks began to charge, lighting up the air around him, Katsuki refused to back down.

–

Katsuki always knew he was destined for great things.

He didn’t think he’d have to turn his back on all he’s ever known to get there.

Rating: T

Warnings: Eventual major character death, implied/referenced child abuse, psychological trauma

Other Tags: Bakugou Katsuki/Kaminari Denki, slow burn, alternate universe - canon divergence

Read on Ao3 (links to corresponding chapter) or read below

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Fic navigation to read the fic on tumblr 

--

Even years later, that damn smile haunted his dreams.

There was absolutely no reason for him to still think about the event. Everything had been taken care of when it had happened― injuries were treated, authorities alerted, information secured, and a press conference to tie it all up in a big red bow. There were no loose ends, no surprise second coming, no physical reminders of what happened lingering in his daily life. Katsuki would have labeled it as done, dealt with, and no longer relevant, shoving it aside in his memory so he could focus on actual important shit.

Except his mind had different plans.

When he was lucky, he could completely forget about the event for months. Other times, his dreams would be filled with nothing but that damn smile, taunting him with its silence. He could usually predict when the dreams would come― the anniversary of the event for example― but other times, it seemed like anything could trigger the memory. He once saw a bright yellow balloon and for the rest of the day, every time he closed his eyes he saw that damned smile, never wavering despite the curses and insults Katsuki spewed.

He wanted to forget it. He wanted so desperately to forget it. For the image to erase itself from his mind, for it to take the feelings away with it. He could deal with the anger, he could always deal with the anger, but when his memory reminded him of the wave of hurt and betrayal that nearly blinded him…

When his alarm jolted him from his sleep and freed him from the smile, he couldn’t get out of bed fast enough. He woke up drenched in a cold sweat, sheets singed and smoking lightly as he unclenched his hands, and Katsuki was, for once, very relieved that not all of his sweat was explosive. He slapped the singes a few times to ensure that all of the embers were put out before heading for the bathroom, cursing under his breath as he flinched at his own reflection in the mirror.

There was nothing particularly wrong with his appearance, if you didn’t count the dark circles under his eyes from a fitful night’s sleep or his clammy skin, but after being plagued by the smile, Katsuki could barely look at himself. His reaction to the smile made him feel weak, like he couldn’t handle himself and that there was something wrong with him. It was just a smile after all. There was no reason for him to react to it like a nightmare, no reason for him to lose sleep over it or to feel overwhelmed by emotions at the thought of it.

Yet when he saw the smile and saw how the corners of his mouth were tugged a bit too tight, how his eyes were open a bit too wide, how the only shine in his eyes were the reflections of light on tears that refused to fall…

Katsuki cursed.

The icy cold shower did little to help distract him from the memory, nor did his morning run nor the steaming shower he took after. He wasn’t supposed to head into the agency today, so he didn’t have any planned beatdowns for today, and yes he probably shouldn’t be hoping for it, but part of him hoped for a sudden emergency villain so he could distract himself by focusing on beating some villain’s ass into next week.

A few hours later when his phone refused to stop buzzing, Katsuki wondered if throwing his phone across the room until it stopped would be close enough to beating villain ass to work. He reluctantly decided that talking to people so they’d leave him alone was probably less hassle to deal with than having to replace his phone and distribute his new number (even if it would give him an excuse to ghost some of these damn extras).

A few individual texts and a group text were the cause of the buzzing. As the group text’s new message count continued to rise, he figured it would be easier to respond to the individual texts first. Just in case he changed his mind about destroying the phone.

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): Hello Bakugou, this is a reminder about the upcoming Class A reunion. As the head of the reunion committee, it is my duty to ensure an accurate headcount for the event, and I have yet to receive your response about your attendance. Please ensure to respond via the following link by this Friday at 11:59PM. [Class A 10 Year Reunion RSVP]

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): In case you missed the previous messages regarding the reunion, the event is March 28th starting at 7PM at the Shinjuku Hotel in Musutafu. If you need to rent a room for the night or the weekend, please alert the Shinjuku Hotel staff that you are part of the Class A reunion party by next Wednesday for an event discount.

Katsuki frowned. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to the possibility of being surrounded by all of his former classmates and even less at the idea of being socially obligated to spend the entire evening with them. At least when he met up with his friends elsewhere, he could always claim needing to leave early so he could make the last train or that work needed him to come in early the next day.

He closed out of the conversation, figuring he still had a few more days to decide if he really wanted to deal with his classmates for an entire evening.

Midoriya: Hey Katsugou! I was wondering if you’re going to go to the reunion? Tenya said the deadline to RSVP is coming soon and we haven’t heard from you, so I just thought I’d check in!

Katsuki: The fuck is Katsugou?

Midoriya: Oh sorry!! Typo!!

Midoriya: Anyway, are you coming?

Katsuki closed out of the conversation and moved on to the next one.

Shitty Hair: Katsuki! Are you coming to the reunion or not dude????

Katsuki: Fuck off.

Shitty Hair: Aww dude that’s no way to talk to your best friend, you know you love me!!

Katsuki: I’m blocking you.

He did not, in fact, block him. But he did close out of Eijirou’s texts.

Save for the newest text sent directly from Eijirou, all that was left was the backlog of texts in the group text. It had kept going off while he was reading the other conversations, so Katsuki figured it meant that everyone was either off for the day or on their lunch break.

Raccoon Eyes: guys!!!!! the reunion is COMING UPPPPPP!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: i cant wait to s

Raccoon Eyes: ee all of u guys again!!

Tape Face: lmao you saw us last week

Raccoon Eyes: yes

Raccoon Eyes: an eteRNITY ago

Raccoon Eyes: and like

Raccoon Eyes: kats left early so we didnt have everyone

Raccoon Eyes: so it doesnt count

Shitty Hair: Yeah Katsuki don’t leave early next time!!

Raccoon Eyes: we just have to hold him hostage next time

Raccoon Eyes: or like

Raccoon Eyes: AMBUSH him

Tape Face: i can always tape him up

Raccoon Eyes: YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES

Raccoon Eyes: tape him to the wall

Raccoon Eyes: and then like

Raccoon Eyes: steal his wallet

Raccoon Eyes: cant get on transit w no moneys

Raccoon Eyes: ei and han hold him down

Raccoon Eyes: i run to hide his wallet where he cant fi

Raccoon Eyes: nd it

Raccoon Eyes: probs keeps kats tapped to the wall all night

Raccoon Eyes: free up his arms so he can have a drink????

Tape Face: explosion palms dude

Raccoon Eyes: oh u right

Raccoon Eyes: he can just have a cup w like

Raccoon Eyes: a REALLY REALLY long straw

Raccoon Eyes: make sure u tape him up w his hands behind his back

Tape Face: you got it

Shitty Hair: He’s in this chat guys he’s going to see the plan

Raccoon Eyes: whatevs we can still totally blindside him

Raccoon Eyes: ANYWAYS

Raccoon Eyes: ure all going right?????

Tape Face: ya I rsvpd a while back

Shitty Hair: Yep!! Wouldn’t miss it for the world!

Raccoon Eyes: what about u kats

Raccoon Eyes: kats???

Raccoon Eyes: KAAAAAAAAAAAAATS

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: a

Shitty Hair: I’ll text him separately

Raccoon Eyes: t

Tape Face: he probably has this muted lmao

Raccoon Eyes: s

Raccoon Eyes: !!!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: how dare u ignore us

Raccoon Eyes: after everything weve done for u!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: thought we were ur ride or die hoes

Raccoon Eyes: dont tell me ur not going!!!!!

Raccoon Eyes: im so offended

Raccoon Eyes: how could u do this to us kats

Shitty Hair: Maybe he’s at work today?

Raccoon Eyes: boo

Raccoon Eyes: how dare he prioritize wo

Raccoon Eyes: rk over us

Raccoon Eyes: his best friends

Raccoon Eyes: the suns of his life

Raccoon Eyes: the bit of happiness in the cold

Raccoon Eyes: cold

Raccoon Eyes: cold

Tape Face: coooooooooold

Raccoon Eyes: COOOOOOOOLD

Raccoon Eyes: thing he calls a heart

Shitty Hair: Lmao

Tape Face: its got a bit of warmth

Tape Face: most of it is his temper

Raccoon Eyes: boom boom POW

Raccoon Eyes: well while we wait for kats

Raccoon Eyes: help me pick some photos for the slideshow!!

Tape Face: are you doing only UA pics or some stuff since then

Tape Face: somehow iida managed to not specify lmao

Shitty Hair: The info email was like ten pages, how did he miss it

Tape Face: idk

Raccoon Eyes: ive got plenty for both!!

Raccoon Eyes: momo said pref UA pics but some new stuff is good too

Raccoon Eyes: show how far weve come n all that

Tape Face: oh cool let me get some opinions then too

Shitty Hair: Anyone have any pics of the camping trip from second year?

Raccoon Eyes: before or after todoroki and kats’ fight turned it into a icy hot springs

Shitty Hair: Both lmao but probably before it went to hell

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: ofc ive got us chillin in the springs

Raccoon Eyes: well most of us

Raccoon Eyes: kats u never get in the water w us :C

Raccoon Eyes: lets go to the beach next time!!

Tape Face: hed prob boil the water w you in it if you dragged him in lmao

Tape Face: spicy acid time

Raccoon Eyes: id like to see him TRY

Shitty Hair: Don’t tempt him lmao

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: i got like a shit ton more

Raccoon Eyes: should i send some of THE FIGHT

Shitty Hair: Maybe not

Tape Face: yes

Tape Face: well

Tape Face: depends on how many pissed off katsuki pics youre putting in lmao

Raccoon Eyes: OH

Raccoon Eyes: OHHHH

Raccoon Eyes: OHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Tape Face: ?

Raccoon Eyes: dude

Raccoon Eyes: do u have the POMERANIAN pic

Tape Face: o shit

Tape Face: image.png

Shitty Hair: I still think Katsuki should’ve taken that pup home

Shitty Hair: They’re matching!

Tape Face: image.png

Tape Face: i also have this one

Tape Face: when she tried to bite his nose off lmao

Raccoon Eyes: kats couldve named her king explosion murder

Raccoon Eyes: or just murder

Raccoon Eyes: p sure she wouldve tried to murder kats at least o

Raccoon Eyes: nce

Tape Face: lmao she basically tried when he found her

Shitty Hair: Maybe it’s for the best that he didn’t keep the pup

Tape Face: look what i found

Tape Face: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: AWWWW YES

Raccoon Eyes: LOOK AT USSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: we look FABBBB

Shitty Hair: Is that from the dance?

Tape Face: ye

Raccoon Eyes: guys what if we recreate that pic at the reunion

Raccoon Eyes: the fits?

Raccoon Eyes: immaculate

Raccoon Eyes: the pose?

Raccoon Eyes: perfection

Tape Face: hotel?

Tape Face: trivago

Shitty Hair: I’m down for recreating some pics!

Raccoon Eyes: yessssss

Raccoon Eyes: u have no choice either kats u gotta do it

Raccoon Eyes: wherever u are

Shitty Hair: Oh he replied!!

Raccoon Eyes: SWEET

Raccoon Eyes: what he say

Shitty Hair: He said fuck off

Tape Face: as expected

Shitty Hair: Lmao he threatened to block me again

Tape Face: thought he said he was blocking you last week

Shitty Hair: Yea exactly

Raccoon Eyes: HOW RUDE

Raccoon Eyes: as punishment for not paying attention to us

Raccoon Eyes: im gonna send this

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Tape Face: LMAO whend you make that

Shitty Hair: Is that Katsuki with a cat face and ears

Shitty Hair: Dude I don’t know if he’s going to kill you for that or for the pink hair first lmao

Raccoon Eyes: lmao made it just now

Raccoon Eyes: well MAYBE if he ANSWERED us

Katsuki: Delete it.

Tape Face: O SHIT

Tape Face: you summoned him

Raccoon Eyes: NO I WILL NOT

Katsuki: Delete it Raccoon Eyes or else I’m coming for you.

Tape Face: are you coming for the left shoes and shittin in them

Raccoon Eyes: NOOOOOOO not my shoes!!!!!!!!

Tape Face: its just the left shoes tho

Raccoon Eyes: BUT THATS MY FAVE SIDE

Katsuki: What the fuck are you two going on about?

Raccoon Eyes: DONT COME FOR M

Raccoon Eyes: Y LEFT SHOES KATS IM SORRY

Katsuki: I’m not coming for your fucking left shoes. Or any of your shoes.

Katsuki: I will be coming for you if you don’t delete that picture, though.

Raccoon Eyes: FORGIVENESS

Raccoon Eyes: I BEG

Raccoon Eyes: PLSSSSS

Katsuki: Delete the picture.

Raccoon Eyes: ugh fiiiiiiiiiine

Raccoon Eyes: its deleted

Raccoon Eyes: i wont send it to momo for the slide show

Katsuki: Good.

Raccoon Eyes: IF U COME TO THE REUNION

Katsuki: Fuck off.

Shitty Hair: C’mon Katsuki!! It’ll be fun!!

Tape Face: ya it wouldnt do if we didnt have our exploding star

Raccoon Eyes: ill send momo WORSE if u dont come

Raccoon Eyes: nd u wont know WHAT til AFTER

Raccoon Eyes: so PLSSSSSSSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: PRETTY PLSSSSSSS

Raccoon Eyes: PLS COME TO THE REUNION

Raccoon Eyes: ill spam u a lot worse if u dont show us proof of rsvp

Raccoon Eyes: pls kaaaaaaaaats

Raccoon Eyes: kaaaaaaaaats

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: a

Katsuki: Ugh fucking fine, I’ll do the RSVP now then.

Raccoon Eyes: t

Raccoon Eyes: YAY

Four Eyes (Rocket Legs): Good afternoon, Bakugou! I just wanted to confirm with you that I have received your RSVP for the Class A reunion. As a reminder, if you need to rent a room for the night or the weekend, please alert the Shinjuku Hotel staff that you are part of the Class A reunion party by next Wednesday for an event discount.

Katsuki: image.png

Katsuki: image.png

Katsuki: Four Eyes is watching the RSVP form like a fucking hawk apparently.

Raccoon Eyes: YAAAAAY URE RSVPD!!!

Shitty Hair: You know him, always dedicated to his work

Tape Face: sweet

Raccoon Eyes: are u guys getting rooms

Tape Face: yea musutafus too far for a round trip

Tape Face: esp since itll prob end late

Shitty Hair: I got one for the weekend!

Tape Face: wbu mina

Raccoon Eyes: booked a room already!!

Raccoon Eyes: kaaaaats wbu

Raccoon Eyes: u should

Raccoon Eyes: we could have a brunch or lunch or s/t thats just us

Raccoon Eyes: plsssssss kats

Katsuki: I’ll think about it.

Tape Face: better than a no lmao

Shitty Hair: If they run out of space or if you decide last second, you can room with me dude

Raccoon Eyes: awww why not a yes

Katsuki: I haven’t asked the other Four Eyes for the time off yet.

Tape Face: is this four eyes no4 or no15

Raccoon Eyes: four eyes no69

Raccoon Eyes: no wait

Raccoon Eyes: no420

Tape Face: haha blaze it

Raccoon Eyes: BLAZE IT

Shitty Hair: It’s number 7

Katsuki: Fuck you, I don’t have that many Four Eyes saved in my phone.

Shitty Hair: I’d be surprised if you had 420 contacts period dude

Raccoon Eyes: would b hilarious tho

Katsuki: Yes, it’s Four Eyes number 7.

Shitty Hair: I was right!!

Katsuki: Why would I ask any of the other Four Eyes for time off? They’re not my fucking bosses.

Tape Face: dunno

Raccoon Eyes: idk maybe ure secretly dating one a

Raccoon Eyes: nd have to confirm that its ok

Raccoon Eyes: ARE U SECRETLY DATING A FOUR EYES

Raccoon Eyes: U HAVE TO TELL US IF U ARE

Raccoon Eyes: URE LEGALLY OBLIGATED

Tape Face: o shit

Tape Face: scandalous

Katsuki: Shut the fuck up, I’m not dating anyone, secret or not.

Raccoon Eyes: thats what they all say

Katsuki: Whatever. I’m not dating anyone.

Raccoon Eyes: kats n four eyes no420 sittin in a tree

Raccoon Eyes: k

Raccoon Eyes: i

Raccoon Eyes: s

Raccoon Eyes: s

Raccoon Eyes: i

Katsuki: I’ll blow up all of your left shoes when you’re not home.

Raccoon Eyes: n

Raccoon Eyes: NO

Raccoon Eyes: IM STOPPING DONT DO IT

Shitty Hair: Hey what do you guys think of this photo

Shitty Hair: image.png

Tape Face: dude yes

Raccoon Eyes: AWWWW OUR FIRST BILLBOARDS AS PROS

Katsuki: Do we really need to send them pictures? It’s not like we fucking forgot this stuff already.

Tape Face: you can be a killjoy if you want lmao

Tape Face: im sure mina will send more than enough to cover for you

Raccoon Eyes: U BETCHA

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Raccoon Eyes: image.png

Tape Face: lmao why do you have a pic of katsuki throwing ei

Shitty Hair: I still can’t believe you did that bro

Shitty Hair: WITHOUT WARNING TOO

Katsuki: I gave you plenty of fucking warning.

Shitty Hair: Saying “I’m throwing you” AS YOU’RE THROWING ME is NOT PLENTY OF WARNING DUDE

Raccoon Eyes: im always ready to document golden moments

Katsuki: Shut the fuck up. We won the training exercise so what’s it fucking matter?

Shitty Hair: YOU THREW ME!!

Katsuki: Tape Face caught you before you could get hurt.

Shitty Hair: YOU /THREW/ ME!!!!!!

Tape Face: barely caught

Katsuki: Whatever.

Raccoon Eyes: im still impressed by how eASY u made that look

Katsuki: What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?

Raccoon Eyes: o look conveniently timed distraction photo spam

Katsuki sighed as he continued the conversation, commenting here and there on the photos his friends sent for judgement. In retrospect, he probably should have tried to talk to Shion first, since there was a chance she would have denied the time off for the reunion. Although, knowing her, she would have accepted just to force Katsuki into socializing. He opened up a new text message, figuring that if Shion did decide to deny the time off, he would at least have a screenshot to send to his friends explaining the sudden change in plans.

Katsuki: I need March 28th and 29th off.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Do my eyes deceive me? The great Katsuki Bakugou, asking for time off?

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): I’m amazed! Usually I have to ask you to take the day off!

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Nay, not ask, but force!

Katsuki: Are you going to give it to me or not?

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Depends! What do you need the time off for?

Katsuki: Class reunion.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Oh those are fun!

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Fill out the proper time off paperwork and have it on my desk by Monday. I’ll approve the time off.

Four Eyes (Shitty Shion): Just keep your phone on you in case we need you to come in for an emergency, but I’ll try not to ruin your reunion with work.

Katsuki: Thanks.

Well, so much for an easy way out.

Katsuki pinched the bridge of his nose when he noticed that his phone had already accumulated another thirty texts in the past few minutes, no doubt primarily from Mina. He scrolled through the backlog, sending a few mostly empty threats when he saw photos he did not want projected for the entire class to see, freezing when his gaze met a pair of familiar amber eyes.

Shit.

In his scramble to close out of the photo, to escape the genuine smile that somehow was more haunting than the one in his dreams, he left the group text completely. He briefly thanked his past self; he’d impulse or rage quit the group text plenty of times before that this wasn’t unusual behavior. If he was lucky, his friends wouldn’t have noticed the timing of his departure and would assume he was just fed up with the notifications or the conversation.

Shitty Hair: You okay, Katsuki?

A weak laugh escaped Katsuki’s lips as he read the newest notification. Of course Eijirou noticed.

Katsuki: I’m fine.

Shitty Hair: Okay

Shitty Hair: We don’t have to talk about it

Shitty Hair: But if you want to, I’m here dude

Shitty Hair: I’ll tell the others that you left so your phone would shut up and not to add you back yet

Katsuki: Thanks. Really.

Shitty Hair: No problem dude

Katsuki put his phone down, silently praying for the smile to leave him alone.

When he finally laid down for bed that night, he repeated the short prayer, for a peaceful night’s rest free of the smile, of the hurt, of the pain, of the guilt.

But as always, the smile came.

[tottymatsuno]

In The Peach Pit, Saw You Fake It

Chapter 3: Stop following, weirdo!

Author: Roro (tottytown)

Fandom: Osomatsu-san

Pairing: Todomatsu x reader

Category: Romance, technically exes? enemies to friends to lovers, coworkers, fake dating, tsundere Todomatsu, eventual bedsharing, eventual fake strangers

Rating: PG-13 (cussin)

Summary: The day at work ends, you drop that asshole off at his train stop and you hear him talking shit.

Word count: 3102/prob 50 or 60k unedited and segmented away

Warnings: Todomatsu is mentally ill LOL

commentary: the fic's name comes from a Say Anything song: Orgy of Critics. I really like it a lot, especially the lines "you brought me to my knees, your art it brought me to my knees" anyways i'm hoping to god ill be able to upload another chapter tonight. as always pls dn mind the typos i have disabled hands ;w;

Your morning shift comes to an end at 3pm with nothing really keeping you to linger. Aside from the lunchtime awkwardness you had a pretty decent day all things considered. Things probably won’t be too bad from here on out, which makes you optimistic as you exit the staff room. It's a nice slightly chilly spring afternoon so putting on your hoodie really warms you up.

A moment of silence to savor the small things in life that make you happy. The sounds of life outside of the bookstore, the sun rays on your cheeks, the plush lining of your hoodie, the wind teasing your hair, and the fact that you still basically have all day to yourself to enjoy.

You wonder what you should do after your errand, maybe you should go out and have fun? An idea of what was fun flashes before your eyes and you quickly veto it. Fun isn’t getting blackout drunk in the middle of the day anymore so no. Maybe you should go buy some plants? Your home does feel a little dark, maybe some greenery will lighten it up some?

You think about these things while attending to your final touches of appearance. Company policy prevents more than one set of earrings on the clock and you would die if your piercings closed because of work, so carefully you walk at a glaciers pace into the street and place each pair in.

You're always the last to leave the staff room because of the amount of primping it takes to get your punk aesthetic somewhat back in place.

Once completely out of the threshold of the store you hear someone exhale sharply in aggression behind you.

"Ugh, it's you again. Get lost, I don't want to see your creepy face anymore today." Look who's making another dusty appearance. You were in a decent mood til you heard his fairy prince-esque voice.

You actually laugh at this as you keep walking straight ahead placing the last of your studs back in.

"I'm in front of you, dipshit. You can't see my face, fucking idiot. Anyways thanks for the latte art." You manage to snort out. You super maturely stick out your tongue and flip Matsuno the bad finger once more after the last of the studs were placed in your ears. Now that your appearance was back to perfection you can finally leave and walk at your normal pace. You have long legs so your strides are always much faster than people expect which comes in handy especially when you have somewhere to be.

And you do have somewhere to be! You've got some shopping to do, there was an email just in time letting you know that your local supermarket was having a huge one day sale on all of the household goods you needed to stock up on.

Without much further thinking you were already over half a block away. Your walking pace was slower than usual because you need to double check the sale items and your shopping list to make sure they align, plus there's a few goodies to get just because.

You need to budget carefully because isn’t there another event coming up for F6 in two months? You’ll need to save in advance to get some of your bias’ merch.It's not until you hear the sound of footsteps pounding on cement that you think to look behind you.

"What the fuck are you doing, you creep?!" You don't hide your disgust by any means, dude the fuck. There's Matsuno right behind you panting because he's out of breath. "Why'd you run after me?" You start digging in your Kuromi bag for your unofficial self defense tool. An ornately decorated metal hat pin your great grandmother gave you from her time in the west.

It's sharp.

"I... Ah! Whoo, just gi-gimme a second... It's not that I -" Matsuno huffs to regulate his breathing pattern. "It's not like I wanted to follow you! I don't remember how to get to F station from work." Matsuno admits defensively.

"So you followed me." You grip the hat pin tighter. "How long were you gonna follow me, stalker-kun?"

"Tch, gross! Like anybody would want to follow you around all day! I just wanted to learn how to get to the station, not stalk around the Bride of Frankenstein." Matsuno is arguing way too much for someone who has a cell phone with an amazingly efficient map application.

"You don't even know if I have to go to F station." You point out.

"Ryoko-san said you do so take me with you."

"Use your phone, I'm busy." Once again you take off this time at your regular pace, but every time you glance behind you there is a flushed Matsuno trying to duck behind something. He's extremely far away, but with contacts in you can see him easily. This bastard is really getting on your nerves, you really wanna light up a cigarette to calm down. The urge is intense, so you turn away to dig in your bag for the nicotine gum.

After catching him do this six times you have to admit there’s many twists and turns you finally call out to Matsuno, "C'mon hurry up then. I don't have literally all damn day to babysit your slow ass. Let's go!" Matsuno finally runs up with a slightly sheepish smile. "Thanks."

You slow down which drives you insane when Matsuno still has to jog to keep up. You drop him off at the station wordlessly because you refuse to talk to him more than necessary. You feel Matsuno's eyes trail after you when you don't enter the station with him.

"Where are you going?" He asks you surprisingly soft before flinching and course correcting, "Not that I care. I'm just curio-" You left in the middle of his explanation.

You wouldn't owe him an answer even if he were your boyfriend, let alone rude n w coworker. Plus there's a lot on your mind that requires an actual battle plan. Entering the grocery store at this time will be a war that requires strategy. Dropping off Matsuno took valuable time from getting there early, so now when you walk in the chaos is in full swing.

It takes a lot of ducking, dodging, weaving and maybe a honest to God punch or two to leave victorious, but thankfully your war paint, intimidating face and deep voice left you mostly unscathed. You'll sport a black eye tomorrow but your pocket book thanks you as you triumphantly leave with the next two months of supplies and a week's worth of groceries at a deep discount.

Your arms are killing you by the time you make it back to the station's general area. Thankfully your apartment is extremely close to it so you're happy to see it again. Just around one more corner and you're home. The second you walk through the door you realize a full day of work, getting into a physical battle with a buncha super strong old women over discounts, and then finally carrying them all home without any assistance has left you more than exhausted.

You ain't cooking today, lmao are you kidding? It's not in your budget right now to order out right now but thankfully your area has a great convenience store with cheap pre-made meals right by the station.

You are legit about to have sensory overload at this point, so the giant "don't you fucking dare talk to me" headphones are on and your happy F6 playlist is on. Contacts are off, and you have a pair of transitional glasses on since all the lights are too bright everywhere.

When you finally drag your tired corpse into the convenience store to pick up today's second lunch and tonight's dinner plus some teas the vibe of the store is weirder than usual. You get the feeling of an enemy being nearby but internally laugh it off as a weird misplaced anxiety.

Like that thing from mindcraft about not being able to sleep or whatever. Oh yeah, maybe you should finally check that game out. You keep hearing people suggest it. You turn down the music just enough to pay better attention to your surroundings to ease your paranoia but not enough to freakout from sensory overload.

You've had a tough day socializing today and you refuse to be exposed to anymore bullshit. These are your thoughts as you wander around the store to double check if there's anything else you want as you will not be stepping outside of your home until your next shift.

Oh yeah. Maybe a few sour candies are in order as a treat? Plus you forgot to pick up the latest issues of a few magazines at work due to what a fucked up day today has been. You start hearing the muffled voice that sorta reminds you of one of the idol's from F6.

Sounds like your favorite one which is especially nice to hear considering you have a Totty love ballad playing right now. Speaking of which, isn't that Matsuno's nickname? He must've stolen it, the loser. But oh well, Matsuno isn't anywhere near as cute as the real Totty. This makes you pay closer attention to what the guy was whining about now that you are closer to the source.

"I wanna quit. I know... I understand that! Yeah, I know." Aw, poor guy.

"Yes, I'm aware it's my first day! But Choro - but he quit without finishing a whole shift! Why?!" You feel really bad for this guy, the way he's whining this must be his first part time. He's probably very young.

"Because there's a girl I rejected that works there who hates me and wants to make my life hell!" You spot the issues you want while pitying this poor poor guy.

You don't look over at him because you wanna keep being nosy. People usually get all weird about private conversations when they notice someone else listening. You however are perfect at eavesdropping and your headphones are the best disguise.

Aw, that's not even a nice thing to say to your son even if it's true. You hear this guy's mother scream that he "couldn't reject anyone as an adult virgin and stop lying to get out of working!" That's really harsh.

Even virgins should be able to pick a comfortable workplace and their partner. Losing a virginity should be at least sort of special and done with some discernment you think. You know you would have chosen different.

Oh, this guy's flipping through the alt fashion magazine you wanted. That's neat, you think reaching over to grab your own copy. Small world. You like that guy's nail polish too. Where'd he get it, does it come in black?

"I could've totally rejected her, I might be a virgin but I still have pride as a ma...!" Something made the dude physically jump as if he were burned badly. His phone clattered to the ground near your feet so you remove your headphones apologetically reach down to pick it up.

"Are you hurt?" You begin to ask before checking if his screen cracked. "The phone's okay, but you might wanna case. I went through so many phones before because of butter fingers." You laugh lightly while wiping off the screen and dusting it off.

"I have the same brand of phone so I know...."

When you extend it as an offering you know exactly why this dude jumped.

"Ah. It's Matsuno." You shove the phone back into his hands and walk to the register. It's a blur after that before you're home, you left with your music back on full blast and didn't stop when you heard someone call behind you. Not once.

Time drifts away by a few days with you avoiding the cafe by all costs. Not because you were embarrassed by what Matsuno lied about. Instead it was the exact opposite, if you saw Matsuno those creepily large eyes would be bruised shut and his ugly cat smile would be lacking a tooth or two. You more than anything want to beat his ass.

But you don't want another assault case. You could almost get off on the idea of humbling that snobby two faced liar. The picture of your fist deeply embedded in his flushed face comes naturally. A fat lip would work wonders for him. So you bring bentos from home and eat in the break room exclusively for the next week.

It isn't until Ryo texts you asking if something was wrong is when the anger mostly dissipates. She rarely texts you outside of the work group chat so that's a surprise. Well maybe not since you left the work chat a few weeks back.

When you finally go back for lunch, Ryo quickly sends Matsuno to the storage area to count the straws.

"Hey, stranger..." Ryo's pitying voice is always very comforting. She cares, y’know? Pride shouldn't get in the way of appreciating someone giving a shit when they aren't obligated to. Besides you two are only work friends so her even noticing is a big deal for you.

"Yeah, hey." You mumble mostly to yourself.

"So uhm. There's a lot going on right now so are you okay?" Ryo asks gently.

You sigh out just about your wits end. "I just wanna knock his teeth out."

"That’s understandable." Ryo has probably been trying to stay neutral this whole time. She actually has to work a lot of shifts with this guy, and as much as you'd like to get him fired that's not in your character. Violence is, but the disruption of a livelihood is typically a last resort only.

"I kinda don't wanna talk about it, so can I just have a pretzel and iced coffee? I like it with a lot of mocha and caramel with a bunch of cream and light sugar." You just wanna get in and outta here as fast as possible.

"No latte today?" You notice the disappointment in Ryo's voice while ringing you up. "No thanks, I'm good."

"Let's talk more after work later." Ryo suggests as she hands your order. With food in tow you slink back into the safe underbelly of the break room. Daisuke's seated at a table, when he notices you wander in like a Saint incarnate invites you to sit with him.

"How are you?" A standard greeting but it balms the bruises on your ego.

"Eh, could be better. What's new with you?" You sip from your coffee before taking a page outta Daisuke's book and checking your phone.

You glare at it since your notifications are still comments about the latte art. This is your personal account, you ain't an influencer or content creator so this entitled behavior of strangers trying to dictate your uploading habits is getting hella annoying. You should have never listened to that tiktok about SEO.

No you aren't posting more Matsuno anytime soon, no you don't have to take more full body pictures of your outfits, no you don't have more money for kawaii hauls, no you don't want to upload makeup tutorials unless you feel like it, and Goddammit if one person sends a latte request instead of coming in and ordering it their damn self you'll scream!

You have a decent amount of followers but it's pissing you off. You're so close to deactivating your account.

Well maybe their engagement isn't what's making you so angry, but it certainly isn't making you feel all peachie keen either.

What'd he say? You forgot you even asked Daisuke a question. "Huh? Repeat that, please?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I was just asking if that's all you're having for lunch today." Daisuke is a nice guy, being concerned about you like this.

"Yeah, I'm not very hungry right now." You reply, picking at the pretzel.

"I saw you were taking lunches from home for a while, it made me really jealous because they always look so good. Do you make them yourself?"

You find yourself smiling at Daisuke, "It depends. If I'm too tired to meal prep the night before, then no. Most of the time though I manage to slap something together."

"It must be quite the honor to eat your cooking. If you don't mind I'd love to eat the lunch you brought if you're not going to." Daisuke has a cute little laugh, especially when he's complimenting you.

"Sure, go for it. It's in the fridge." You aren't a high schooler anymore so the big deal behind making your crush a bento has lost its luster but it's still nice to have your hard work acknowledged. That’s what you appreciate about Daisuke; he finds you capable. He never babies you or treats you like a weirdo, and he’s never condescending. Daisuke treats you like an equal who can handle your fair share.

Lunch ends quickly after that with Daisuke lifting your mood immediately. Then the rest of your shift is alternating being on the register and checking inventory until a little old lady needs help finding a very specific reference book.

Takes up the last hour of your shift and then some but she's a cute granny so you don't mind. Especially after she commented on how beautiful your hair is which is the highlight of your day.

You texted Ryo you'd be late, so when you finally rang up granny and clocked out it was already thirty minutes past the scheduled end of shift. You don't bother putting all of your many piercings on this time or redoing your makeup since you're so late. You also check to see if Matsuno is lurking about and to your relief he already left.

When you catch up with Ryo you apologize.

"Sorry! You know how it is with grandmas."

Ryo smiles, "It's okay. You seem to be in better spirits." You nod. "I thought it was normal that Matsuno-san was upset about whatever happened between you two, but it was really weird that you were too. I thought since you're a shift manager you would be thinking about the buyout." Ryo's pensive voice surprises you.

"Buyout?" Is all you can manage to say.

"There were talks about it online for a while, but all of us managers got an email confirming it this morning."

Ryo, this is the first you've heard of this!

"I didn't get one I checked my email multiple times today and nada one. " "I thought the shift leaders would get one too, though." "Not me then. What the fuck." Ryo sighs aloud and despondently kicks a stray pebble. "They're going to make a lot of changes that they swear are for the betterment of the store. I dunno though, because I've heard the places bought by them tank within a few years because how shitty they treat their crew." This must be weighing on Ryo more-so than you thought. "Well at least hopefully they're not the type of company that replaces the management positions with their own people, right?" You offer out hoping to sound considerate. Ryo instead sucks through her teeth and grimaces at you. "I dunno, they said I have a new performance eval due in another email. Here's hoping."

[your--isgayrights]

Okay i actually have no clue on how tumblr works (hope I'm doing this right lmao) but I'm writing my first fic (I still can't really move on from orv so I decided to make my own content lol.), I really love your writing style, do you have any tips??

Hmmmm tips tips tips tips.... First of all I’m really flattered that you like my writing enough to ask me about it! I’ll try to give my best answer... I think that I used to read a lot of people’s “writing tips” but ultimately I ended up not really understanding them until I started writing a lot? Either way it’s fun to read how other authors think... It’s really cool that you’re writing your first fic and you thought to come to me... did I already say that? Okay long post under the cut.

I don’t think this will be all that helpful, but this is just things that I think about if that’s interesting!

For me a lot of writing is like struggling with motivation (I have ADHD so that’s probs why), I really have to pace myself while writing because I can’t just force myself to do it. If I go in every day and think “I have to write today I’m not doing anything so I should be writing” I can get burnt out really easily, even if I really like the thing I’m writing and know how it’s supposed to go. So one of my big things is that when I’m not thinking about writing I’m not thinking about writing. that gives my brain a break and refreshes me when I get back to my google document.

Something I’ve also struggled with having to remember is that there’s like. Never a perfect way to write. What I end up doing is thinking up ideas and fragments and sentences in my head and the very moment I think of something I like I have to write it down in my notes app. Most of my writing process ends up being like. Filling in the blanks and connecting the dots between scene fragments. 

For fics in particular I’d also just recommend rereading your favorite parts of the og work! I’m the kind of person who has a pretty good reading memory, so people may have noticed that I include a lot of little details referencing the text in my fic. Just reading the work kind of helps you remember the voices of the character and the style of the narration, and if you just like. internalize it. you can probably replicate it pretty well if you wanted to.

OKAY I say that but don’t worry too much about replicating things in the og work perfectly. I find that a lot of times when I’m writing I’m inserting a lot of personal touches and putting things that are a part of me in the work. Writing is always going to be like. an extension of your voice, no matter what you’re writing. I think that when I heard about stuff like that from authors in the past I was always like. What? I’m not writing about things that happened to me. I’m writing about grown adult men having emotional issues, silly. But there’s like a lot more nuance to writing about yourself, I guess. Like you don’t have to have like a self insert or be projecting onto a character to have yourself reflected in something you’ve written.

I’d say that like, whatever you write as your first fic is going to be lovely, but when you grow up as a writer and look back on it, you’re not going to remember who you were when you wrote it. I think that’s why a lot of people look back on their first works and are like “I can’t believe I wrote that, what was I thinking, cringe cringe cringe ugh.” Like I definitely do that sometimes, but I’ve found that the old work I’m happiest with nowadays is the stuff where I can recognize myself in it, even if I’m not in that fandom anymore or if there’s old jokes or typos I don’t remember making. 

With that being said, I’m the kind of person who always gives myself a mission statement when I’m writing. I sort of mentally go, okay, I’m writing this kind of thing, and this is why I’m writing it. It can be something like oh I’m writing this fluff piece because I love this character and wish they had a happier ending, or  oh I want to write this multi chapter fic exploring an issue touched on in the original work but I feel like with my own experiences I could expand on it more than the author did. Just something that tells me why it is important to me to write this thing when I’m writing it.

AAAH I feel like I made that sound more dramatic than it really is, that’s just how I think I guess. I’m the kind of guy where its like things need to have like MEANING to me when I do them. I’m dramatic and gay and that’s my personality I guess 😔.

Hmmm maybe it’s also my BIGGEST writing tip tho. Like kind of just thinking things through when you’re writing is pretty important. When I was first learning to write at all (talking about baby baby me here this is like sort of a side tangent sorry) I think that a lot of times I would copy phrases and developments that I had liked in things that I had read without really fully considering why I would include those things other than the fact that that was just what I thought writing was. It’s important to consider what importance every scene and sentence has to do with the flow of the story. Are they just things that are happening, or is there a reason that the audience needs to know these things? The weight of your words should have some sort of consequence as a result of you writing them. Are you telling the audience information they need to know? Is it about how the character feels? What does this say about the character? Etc.

I suppose that’s sort of my own writing style. You’ll probably notice that I don’t write a lot of descriptive prose if you read my fic. The thing about me is that I never want to write something that makes my audience question why they’re reading it, I guess. I’m sort of self conscious and think about the reading experience a lot. All of the things I choose to describe are usually so that the reader can understand where people are in the scene and what emotions they are having. There’s a lot of emphasis that I put in like. A reader’s ability to read into things, which works against me sometimes because I’m not always certain if people picked up on different things that I put a lot of thought into (the curse of being seen... sob).

ALSO use paragraph breaks. In my first fic (that I’m not going to tell anyone what is even though its on ao3 because im shy) the thing I always regret the MOST is that there are big chunky paragraphs that are hard to read through at the start. Like my eyes get lost. I mentioned I have ADHD before but even though I like. physically can’t read a big chunky paragraph I will always write them that way if left to my own devices. Paragraph breaks don’t have to just be broken up by dialogue they can be wherever you feel like doing them. You need a lot of them. This post should probably have more of them... oh my god it’s so long...

OKAY FOR REAL THOUGH IF YOU COULDN”T SLOG THROUGHT THE REST OF THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP IS RIGHT HERE: 

JUST LET YOURSELF WRITE

I have a lot of like. academic trauma, so maybe this is just me, but the reason I didn’t write fic until I was like 16 was because I was always really scared that whatever I wrote wouldn’t be good enough for some impossible standard I was setting for myself. I was always telling myself that I had certain bad writing habits or that I was terrible for never being able to focus on things for very long and all of my projects were doomed to failure before I even started. But then I wrote my first like 8 chapter fic in the summer of my junior year and I was like... oh. that wasn’t so bad. Like. It’s okay to know your limits, but you don’t really know them until you start writing. Like I wrote an 8 chapter fic, and then a few one shots, and then I tried to take on a very complicated project that ended up being over 40 chapters and I had to put it down because I just wasn’t really at the writing level to finish it. I would advise against writing fics that take so long to write that you start hating the way you wrote the first chapter, basically lol. Know how whatever you’re writing is supposed to begin and end before you start writing it.

Nowadays I always have like. plot outlines in my head when I start a fic. Like okay this needs to happen here this needs to happen here etc. I like making lists if it seems to overwhelming when I’m writing something long, just to organize my thoughts. 

OKAY I JUST TALKED A LOT. SORRY IF YOU DIDN’T WANT TO READ ALL OF THIS BUT I’M A LITTLE CHATTY IF YOU DIDN’T NOTICE.

Defo feel free to dm me if you have like questions or just want to chat about orv or whatever. I’m a lonely little man out here floating on my pile of words, and I’d love to hear what your fic is about!! 

[fanfictrashdump]

Universe in a Jar, 3 - Phase 4 fic

Recap: Some days ago, I reblogged this post about the magical trio. And then my brain went off on a monumental tangent and, I wrote Universe in a Jar.

Characters: Stephen Strange, Loki, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, OC

Rating: T?

Warnings: Language! Nightmares, sass, terrible storytelling, and typos prob.

Summary: Baby-sitting beings arguably more powerful than him goes awry for Doctor Strange. He knows one person who can possibly keep them isolated and out of trouble. Well, he knew someone who could… he hasn’t seen them in decades and for stupid reasons.

Previous Chapter

~*~

While tensions had eased in the household, Stephen maintained a respectable distance from Seph, if only to ensure his continued breathing. During the day, he took to reading in familiar spots, comfortably nestled amongst memories or doing chores that felt comforting in their nostalgia. During the night he tossed and turned in a bed he had once known as well as his own, hoping against all hope that his brain could shut up and allow him to rest, if only for a few hours.

The Hale house had six bedrooms, bigger than his own home with four, despite only ever having two occupants. Wanda and Loki had chosen two rooms at the end of the hallway that overlooked part of the farmland surrounding the houses. Persephone had taken over the grand bedroom on the other side of the hallway. Stephen had debated taking one of the guest rooms on the lower floor, but one step into each of them had his skin crawling in an uncomfortable manner. He wasn't meant for those rooms.

You're family, Stephen. Stop ringing the doorbell, Demeter Hale had once announced, exasperated, one chilly winter morning. And she was right. Stephen practically lived there. Hale manor was quieter than his own home and had a plethora of books on odd topics he had never even heard of–it was a wonderland.

Family, as it were, slept on the top floor. The room Wanda currently occupied was where he would typically drop his clothes in when he stayed over. Though, if he were honest, there was seldom a time he slept over that he made it back into the room for the night. It was a bad habit that spread to high school and beyond, ignoring the propriety of what their parents would explain was not OK for friends to do. But Stephen and Persephone had never been interested in each other that way. Well, at least that they would admit. So, he always stayed in her room.

Tonight was no exception.

Wanda turned in first, as usual, taking solace in the quiet and solitude to mourn her family in silence… or figure out how to get them back. Stephen wasn't exactly sure which one she was on, at the moment. Later, he watched an all-too-flirty Loki amble to his quarters, not before getting a long, drawn-out hug from Persephone (likely more, when he wasn't watching… which he wasn't). Then, she would offer him a shy wave before hiding in the grand bedroom.

After a while, he stopped contemplating the closed door and turned into the bedroom across the hall. It looked… exactly the same way it had when he last stepped foot in it–posters, pictures, school banners, strings of lights littering the canopy. Across the desk chair, an old hoodie, that he could clearly tell used to be his, was discarded. He had raised it to his nose when he first entered the bedroom. It still smelled of him, but there was the faint scent of her perfume permeating the fabric. If he were a sentimental man…

He fell into 'his' side of the bed with a groan. As a way to ease his mind, he had spent some time in the garden, picking tomatoes and berries and tilling a bit of stubborn dirt at the far west corner. His back now burned in protest, but it was a welcome distraction from the monotony. Wong had told him in no uncertain terms that Wanda and Loki needed to settle before they dealt with issues with the Multiverse. It would be a moot point to correct some magic when their owner was simply going to re-do the whole mess the second they could. In all fairness, this was mostly an issue with Wanda. Loki, despite being a stubborn mule and refusing to explain his reasoning, had not done too much damage. It would likely be a while before he slept in his own bed again.

Stephen blinked into the darkness, turning on his side and attempting to sleep in that position. Ten minutes, then thirty, an hour later–no sleep. Amid the cricket chirps and frog songs, a small noise broke the trance-like state of his insomnia. It was ridiculous how quickly he recognized it, and even more pathetic how naturally it brought him to a sit. He glanced at his door, deciding if he was really going to cross the hallway this time. He chickened out the first three times he had heard it, but there was something desperate about the sound tonight. It was bound to be a bad one.

"You've died a thousand times in the hands of the Dormammu. You can go check on Seph, you loser," he berated himself, pushing the bedsheets off and wrenching the door open.

He tiptoed across the hall and gently opened the door. Whatever it was he was expecting to see, it certainly was not this. Persephone was tangled in her sheets, her pajamas of plaid shorts and another old sweatshirt of his rumpled across her body. With every pained, nightmarish pant, a universe exploded around her, encompassing her in iridescent light before fading away. It was like she was locking herself in the same box she had trapped him, killing herself every other breath. Reflected in the glass was every ghost and ghoul that haunted her dreams, sadistic grins flashing down at her weary body.

So this was why she was so exhausted.

Carefully, he clambered to her side, grateful to find that he could easily reach past her barriers. His fingers gripped her shoulder and shook her gently. "Come on. Wake up, Seph." She whimpered again and the glass changed in color. Reflected on its surface was his own face, years younger, nary a single grey on his head. He looked terrifying, even to his own eyes; cold, detached. Stephen shook her more firmly; the barriers flickered.

"Stephen–" Her voice trembled and her whole body quivered. "Please."

His other hand pried hers from the bedsheets and twined them together. "Peep, I'm here." He found himself hunching, speaking the words in a decisive tone in her ear. "It's just a dream, Persephone."

Another shudder ran through her before her hand tightened around his. It took a moment longer before she was able to blink awake, though her eyes were wild and disoriented in the darkness.

His other hand pressed into her back in an effort to soothe her when she shot up with a gasp. "I have you, Peep. You're OK." A second, two, twenty–and she broke into a heart wrenching sob.

Stephen wasn't any good with tears, a fact he gently reminded her of, mid-sob.

Her eyes, still spilling tears, bore into his in disbelief.

"You're absolutely right. I'll shut up now," he hastened to add, awkwardly patting her shoulder.

Seph wiped roughly at her eyes. "Just go, Stephen. I'll see you in the morning." She wrapped herself tight, knees braced against her chest and her line of sight lost elsewhere.

"Peep, don't be like that."

Her brows pulled together and her mouth set into a grim line. "Don't call me that, Steve."

A ghost of a smirk tilted his lips at the annoyance radiating off her. "Why not?"

"I'm not a child."

"I know you're not. You're a grown-up doctor. Well, a psychiatrist, at least." He smiled and nudged her side with his elbow to get a rise out of her.

She didn't take the bait. The ball she had molded herself into tightened.

"I don't practice, anymore."

Stephen's head snapped towards her, instantly. "What?"

"I quit."

He sputtered. "What? Why? And, when? I got your information from the hospital–"

With a groan, she clenched her eyes tightly closed, trying to block out the world as if she wasn't just trapped in a murder box of her own (unconscious) design. "Jesus Christ, you talk a lot. The Blip. I quit after the Blip."

"But, the kids you treat–"

"On a personal capacity," she cut in, hoping the conversation stopped there. Of course, she had known Stephen for far too long to expect that.

"You love your job, Seph. I've seen you pass up box tickets to the damn Philharmonic for a counseling session."

A half shrug left her. "I was alone and I wanted to feel it. So I made this whole mess." Seph gestured at their surroundings with a vague wag of her finger.

"I don't understand."

"I know you don't. Work has always been enough for you. It wasn't the same for me."

He sighed. "Maybe then, but now–"

"It's still the same. You're doing farm chores you never even did when you lived here because you need things to do. You try to shake Loki down every other hour for information on whatever the hell he was doing that prompted you to grab him. Wanda's sick of you. You can't just ever settle down!" There was a sharp edge to her voice that was not lost on him.

Stephen blinked, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, how did this become about me?"

Seph growled under her breath, releasing her limbs and narrowly stopping herself from smacking the living daylights out of him. "Because it is about you and your fucking inability to relate to anyone about anything! Not everything is logical! Wanda lost her family! Loki got bounced around fucking realities! And you're annoyed that you can't get back to the Sanctum until you figure the Wonder Twins out."

"I have other responsibilities–"

"Which Wong is taking care of."

"Wong might think… wait, how do you know Wong?" His head tilted like a distracted dog.

"You might have not reached out to me, but others did. He wanted to know who you were; you had just started training. I told him you were an asshole and that I never wanted to see or hear from you ever again. We exchanged numbers."

He sat in silence for a long while before glancing back up at her. "Why didn't you come to Kamar-Taj?"

"I wasn't invited."

"And the Sanctum?"

"I. Wasn't. Invited."

He chewed at the inside of his cheek, ignoring the weight of her gaze on him. "Come back to the Sanctum with me."

"Nope. I'm fine where I am."

"You're on a farm in rural Nebraska in a town where you are the extent of the diversity."

Persephone sighed, reaching up to brush the overgrown stubble on Stephen's cheeks. "But it's home."

"You're alone, though."

"And you're lonely in a city of five million people."

He pretended to ignore the sting of the comment, opting for some sweet-talking, instead. "You'd like it, though. So many books."

"That is a new bar of low. Don't bribe me, Steve." She scoffed unconvincingly, he caught the slip.

"Like, a loooot of books. In all different languages. Would probably keep you occupied several years."

He knew her too well. She hated it.

"I'll think about it." He smiled a little too brightly. "Just think. No promises." More silence came to keep them company.

He hesitated before wincing. "Does this happen every night? The suffocating and exploding?" She nodded. "You should definitely come. We can figure something out, Wong, you, and me." Another nod. He straightened the fabric of her headwrap and tucked a runaway curl underneath with an easy smile. It was an excuse for contact, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care and she didn't seem to mind. He retrieved his hand with a sigh. "You're tired. You should get some sleep." He braced on his arms to shuffle out. A hand wrapped around his wrist and held him there.

"Don't go. Please."

Stephen smiled and nodded after a moment. He gestured with his head. "Scoot over, Peep."

"Steve."

"Quiet. You'll get us caught," he whispered, and they both giggled like it was the millionth time those words were said. It probably was. They curled up under the covers and drifted off.

~*~

Stephen was now beyond curious about Persephone's magic.

As the early morning broke over the horizon, he found himself up and about the house, doing little chores that felt like muscle memory. When the coffee was brewed, he took a mug and sat on the stairs to sip, watching as last night's roommate woke and barely acknowledged him as she drifted down the steps, pausing only to ruffle his already messy hair. She stopped at the entry hallway, jumping slightly backward at the floating cloak hovering in place. The words had stuck in her throat, and Stephen watched between the banister poles with a smile on his face.

"Ste–shitshitshit." She inched backward as the garment glided over and stopped in front of her. The cloak lifted a bottom corner to gently glide over her left hand, rubbing itself against her skin before settling around her shoulders in a warm embrace. It urged her forward and to a side table that held some keys and a vase of flowers. Beside the vase, a double-fingered ring sat innocuously. The cloak gestured in its direction and then back at her.

The Sorcerer leaned forward to see what she'd do. With shaking fingers, she picked up the ring and turned it in her hands. The cloak, impatient as ever, grabbed the ring and slipped it over her fingers. All at once, the barriers containing the house inside of the apartment glimmered and symbols etched themselves in brilliant orange light across them. Stephen could barely understand half of them, but the ones he could seemed like they were building blueprints and math that would make the inexplicably large fit into the inexplicably small. It was like staring at the source code on a computer and breaking down the software into its components. He broke out of his reverie by the fourth Stephen being called. He jumped down the remainder of the steps and turned the corner.

Persephone was staring, half fascinated, half horrified at the markings, and was drawing the cloak tight around her shoulders–the cloak was loving it. He stopped beside her and she reached out for his wrist, clasping it as tightly as she did the night before. "Ho–how does it know my magic?"

"You can read this?"

"Yeah, it's in plain… you can't?" Stephen shook his head. "How's it doing this?"

"Not 'it'. You. This is you. The ring's just a conduit. The cloak's just a nuisance." There was a whisper of a huff from the fabric and Seph pulled it tighter, smoothing her hands down the red contours. A rustle like a shiver followed. "Don't get comfortable. This isn't permanent."

"I wasn't assuming…"

"I was telling them." He glared at the cloak. "She's not your new pet. Settle down." His eyes lifted to hers. "They get familiar. Sorry."

"It's OK. They're sweet. After you get over the fact that it's a garment with a mind of its own."

"Are we under attack?" Wanda startled the both of them. They turned to see the witch still in her pajamas, hair mussed up and hands glowing. "Why are we warding?"

"Not warding. Seph put on my sling ring and this happened. It's her magic."

"Oh. She has Chaos magic wards in her repertoire." Wanda pointed at several spots and they lit up red with her magic before fading back to orange.

"I don't know what that means," Seph spoke up meekly, barely breaking through the intense debate the other two were now having, trying to identify the remainder of runes.

Stephen traced a rune with his finger. "Anything dangerous?"

"No. Just protection runes. Over and over and over. Every type under the Chaotic sun. Loki might know about the others, though."

"I still don't know what that means."

"It means you are all sorts of impressive, Peep. I'll pop in on Wong and grab a few books." He offered his open palm for the ring, which she happily gave. However, when the ring came off, the symbols didn't fade. Instead, they crackled like embers and seared themselves into the invisible veil surrounding the space. Stephen frowned. "Maybe I'll take you with me." He turned to Wanda. "Can you and Prince Emo behave while we're gone or do I have to drag you along, too?"

Persephone elbowed him in the ribs. "Stephen–"

"Right. Relating." He drew a breath and his shoulders slumped. He tried again. "Could you and Loki stay put while Seph and I go to the Sanctum? I need to show Wong. It's important."

Wanda and Seph exchanged a lengthy conversation in facial expressions alone before the witch smiled. "We'll be fine. I was just going to sit and read on the porch. Loki won't be awake for a couple of hours."

"OK. Good. Thanks." He stood silently ruminating in his head before abruptly snapping out of it and shaking the cobwebs from his mind. "You ready to go?"

"I'm in my pj's, Steve." He blinked blankly at her and she rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Sure. Can I put on shoes, at least?"

He was already opening a portal by the time she finished asking her question. "No need." With little hesitation, he reached for her hand and stepped through the portal with her in tow.

Persephone barely managed to contain the gasp of wonder at the surroundings. Books, artifacts, paintings–it looked like a museum and it was all functional and there for the students. Stephen had been in a hurry a second before, but just watching her undistilled awe made him pause. His thumb brushed the back of the hand he had twined with his; a familiar gesture that barely pulled her attention. Her free hand reached for a tome lodged between jars of off-looking coins. It rippled in a kaleidoscope of colors upon contact.

"Miss Hale?"

Seph glanced over her shoulder to smile at Wong. His brows were pulled together as if he was trying to work out a particularly hard problem in his head. The problem, most likely, was, how are you not murdering him right now? You seemed pretty adamant about it when I last talked to you.

"Master Wong. How are you?"

Wong smiled kindly. "I'm doing well, Persephone." He seemed to sense the withering heat of Stephen's gaze and reluctantly turned to face the Sorcerer Supreme. "I didn't tell you because I doubted you wanted to hear how she hated your guts. In excruciating detail. And after what you did to her, you forfeited the right to know a thing about her. So save me the glaring."

Stephen pointed at himself. "Sorcerer Supreme."

"And an asshole. They're not mutually exclusive." He glanced at Seph. "You didn't even let her get out of her pajamas."

"She has the cloak!"

"Were you raised by wolves or what?"

"Doesn't matter right now. I have to show you something," Stephen declared in exasperation, tugging the sling ring off and handing it off to Seph.

She held the metal tentatively between her fingers before the weight of expecting stares forced her to slip it on. The magic rippled slower than it had in her house as if it were more hesitant to show itself, but soon there wasn't an inch of wall, bookshelf, or display case that wasn't burning bright orange and twinkling in the dimly lit Sanctum.

"How did you teach her that?" Wong had his eyebrows gathered up high, taking in every marking around him with awe.

"I didn't. I thought it only showed her magic but… it's everyones. It's like she can open them up, like a book. Peep, can you read these, too?" Her eyes danced over several objects before lighting on a sword mounted on the wall.

She pointed at it with a grin. "That one was supposed to be a joke but the spell actually worked." Seph tilted her head as she continued searching. "Actually, a lot of them were jokes that actually work. What are you supposed to do with enchanted dice?"

Wong opened his mouth to comment, but Stephen held a finger up to buy himself some extra time. He opened his palm and Seph dropped the sling ring in it. The symbols still didn't fade.

Wong looked, surprisingly, unimpressed.

"Can I talk now?" Seph giggled under her breath and Stephen gestured him along. "She's a psychiatrist. Why are you surprised she can access the root of magics? She probably became one because she could read things so well, naturally."

"Without training?"

For a second Wong looked like he was deciding whether or not Stephen was stupid. "Hence, why I said naturally."

"And the portals?"

"If you understand how the fabric of the Universe works, you can weave it to your will. We do that all the time. You're just astounded that she can do it naturally because it took you forever to understand. Is this really why you dragged her out of her home in pj's?"

"The symbols don't fade without the sling ring."

At this point, Wong was convinced Strange was stupid. "She's never needed the ring. The ring is a conduit, she can do magic on her own. If you distract her a–BOO!"

Persephone shrieked, jumping back as Wong jumped towards her. Sure enough, the symbols fizzled into the ether, though two, in a rainbow of colors, glimmered on the floor before her and an ominous ripple of red fabric fluttered around her.

"I see the Cloak of Levitation has found a new friend. They're even protecting her."

"They like most people more than me."

Seph rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me?" She absently stroked over the fabric covering her arms.

Stephen ignored the jab. "What books would you recommend she start with to learn how to control her abilities?"

Wong was quiet for a long while. "There's a few about the magics of quantum mechanics, but if she's been able to do this her whole life, I doubt she needs them. Why would she need training? Barring an incident–" The two friends glanced shortly at each other out of the corner of the other's eye. "You two had an incident. What did he do?"

Rustling her curls, she scuffed her toe on the concrete floor, eyes downcast. "He was being dumb. I tried to kill him. Well, I blacked out and the power took over. Loki had to break him out of a killing jar."

"Quantum magics, then… and maybe some yoga." He gestured at her with his head. "Come on. I'll show you the library."

Her eyes widened with almost innocent excitement. "This isn't the library?"

With a doe-eyed stare, she followed Wong; Stephen close behind, pretending not to grin. The second Wong opened the doors, Persephone let out a long, disbelieving gasp. She trembled as she walked and the cloak had taken to wrapping itself tightly around her to keep her calm.

Wong smirked. It wasn't often that he received anyone who was this honestly happy to see a room full of books and not think about the bothers of having homework. He began to pull tomes from the shelves, stacking and weighing his options between similar texts. When his pile was nine books deep, he settled them on a table. "This should get you started. When you're done, you can come back and I'll lend you some more. On any topic you like."

"I never got to choose which books I read," Strange defended.

"Because you were annoying and she's not." Seph snickered in her spot, fingers toying with the spines of the stack. "Truly, come back when you're ready, and you're not actively trying to kill the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Tell him not to annoy me and I won't," she defended, though she smiled. "Thank you, Wong." She eagerly hefted the pile and gestured at Stephen. "Hurry up. I have things to read."

"Why don't you just make a portal?"

"Because it's rude to make them in other people's homes without permission," she started pointedly, "and I'm carrying books. Now, please." She smiled brightly at Wong and nodded. Stephen rolled his eyes petulantly. "See you soon, Master Wong." She stepped in the direction where Stephen had made a portal opening straight into her kitchen.

"See you soon, Persephone."

[we-work-hard]

Green: Part Two

Pairing: Early 20s AJ Styles x 45 year old Shane McMahon (he hasn’t come back to WWE in this fic)

Summary: Shane kept being drawn back to the NXT Performance Center by one of the wrestlers trying out for a contract in Part One... now the boy’s being sent back home... 

Notes: Prequel to the filth that was Room 117 – trying for more than ‘~SUDDENLY: PENETRATION!~’ (which is really HARD FOR ME, you guys *CRIES*). AJ is supposed to look like this during this chapter, btw

Warnings: Age difference, mention of religion, adultery, typos probably, no penetration... yet 

Tagging: The peeps who were nice about Room 117 or the first chapter of this one/some Tumblr NetBots probs/and peeps who just put up with this bullshit (thank you all again for being so lovely and supportive to this hole of thirst and mess, it means a lot to me) – and yeah, if this totally isn’t your thing, please do scroll on by, that’s cool x... @llowkeys @scriptor @cruxcantare @komegamanx @castielscamander @unabashedwwesmut @athoughtfulmindwrites @the-geekgoddes @your-darkdiva @toosweetme @osanabria2377 @stylessection @cookiemonster2017 @princessgailr-blog @secretagentfangirl @artemisapalla316 @loveambrylayn @tvrnbvckle @kingslayers-angel @immalittledinosaur01 @wrestlingbabe @wweconfidential @aintnopartymd @blondekel77 @missmcmahon @wycliffegordon @imlivinthebilife @xepa123 @idle-vanity @alexahood21 @mylittlepartofthegalaxy @alliedbiscuit @violas87 @wweshesaro

Green: Part Two

He’s found him.

"AJ – you okay?”

“Holy frick, it’s you… You know my name?” 

“Of course I know your name, Allen Neal Jones – you know mine?”

He’s struck by how different AJ looks in the early evening sun away from the artificial light of the Performance Center. This close, he can see the slight scarring across AJ's cheeks from what must have been bad skin as a teenager. The gold hoops in his ears. He’s wearing a white cap turned backwards, faded Hollister shirt, and ripped-up jeans that don't quite look fashionably old. They look like AJ needed this break and the extra money a developmental NXT contract would have given him. He’s well-fed and strong though, clearly takes care of himself – his big scuffed-up hands show he works hard for everything he gets, too. 

AJ gives a smile at Shane using his full name, eyes going from taken aback to warm when they really lock in, catching. They’re light blue, slightly too far apart on his face.

Shane’s getting to see more of the real person, not just the smile and goofing around from tryouts. And the real person in front of him looks… really good. Too good. But mixed in with the attraction he feels a powerful need to help the younger man, reassuring him that his intentions for running out here can be right and not selfish. Shane will ignore what’s making his pulse speed up; he has to. The guy's had a huge knock back today, so Shane will see him right, send him on his way, and wish him well. Then he’ll forget the boy he saw at the Performance Center that time that stirred up all those strange feelings.

He takes a stabilising breath and tells himself he can do that. 

But he’s getting caught up in a loop of looking and smiling back instead of making sure the boy's okay... AJ breaks the contact first though, looking down for a beat, thinking about Shane's question, then looking back up to give his answer with a teasing spark in the blue.

"You're the guy that don't work here but keeps sneaking in. Security in there ain't too good, they keep letting folks in off the street."

AJ creases his face up, closing one eye to look up at Shane in the sunlight, smiling his crooked smile. He settles back down onto the bench and folds his big hands together between his legs, waiting for what Shane will say to that.

"I guess that's right." Shane feels his own smile getting bigger.

"Annnnd," AJ draws the word out, "You nodded at me on the first day I was here... And you can't cross your eyes; I know that, too."

Shane folds his arms across his chest and nods slowly, pretending to be impressed with the facts that younger man has put together about him so far. "You're very perceptive, that's good. Anything else you know about me?"

"Well, you look like Shane McMahon, but…” AJ narrows his eyes and makes to look him over some more, acting like he’s really thinking about it. "Your hair’s different," he says, smile still teasing and light eyebrows raised. He’s chipper enough to be hitting Shane with all this sass so he must be doing okay after the shitty news, Shane thinks with relief. Okay, that's a start.

"The grey throwing you off, huh?" Shane smiles, pointing at his hair. 

"Naw, I know you; did soon as I saw you on the first day,” AJ says, dropping the teasing. “And the grey looks okay, I guess."

"That means a lot to me that you think that, thank you – can I sit?'

"Sure thing, Shane."

Inside, Shane’s thrilled that AJ feels comfortable enough with him to skip the formalities. But then AJ falters, the easy confidence seeping away. "I mean, uh, Mr McMahon. Sir."

Shane sits, turning to him to talk. 

"’Shane’ is good. You like ‘AJ’ or ‘Allen’ better?"

"AJ. Yeah. My dad calls me Allen." His father seems to be a sore point, from the shift of his shoulders. Shane’s not going to make him talk about that.

“Okay; AJ... I wanted to find you, come talk to you for a while. Just make sure you're okay – alright?" AJ swallows and nods, relaxing again. Shane craves this connection they'd seemed to have instantly formed earlier in the week, before they’d even spoken. Not to be seen as an authority figure to be kowtowed to. It’s strange to feel so comfortable, and comforted, by a person’s presence like this – someone he doesn’t know at all. But then, AJ seemed to catch on to the feeling, too.

AJ straightens back up. "I need to sign any more forms, I messed up on anything in there?"

"No, no, no – nothing like that. They wouldn't send me out for that. You’re right; I don't work there."

"Guess that's something we have in common then,” AJ frowns, settling back down. “So, you heard, huh?"

"I did,” Shane can’t help but sigh, angry on AJ’s behalf, noticing how stormy AJ’s eyes have gotten, too. He’s got fire in him – NXT could have used that if they’d taken the time to look for it. “You have somewhere to go? I heard your flight got cancelled – they couldn’t get you another one tonight?”

“There’s a flight for me tomorrow booked already – don’t worry about me, Shane”. He clears his throat at using Shane’s name so casually, squeezing his hands together tighter.

“You staying with one of the guys?”

“Hoping to – just waiting for them to come back.”

“AJ, just come back in. Let the company book you another room.”

AJ lets out a frustrated noise and looks away, shaking his head.

“No.” 

Shane’s not pushy, but then he’s also not used to being told no.

“No?”

“Nope. I’m not goin’ back in there.”

Shane sees how firm AJ’s mouth is; stubborn and set on this idea. But Shane’s set on the idea of helping him out, somehow. To make up for what’s happened. To make sure he has a comfortable night. And as some kind of thank you for… Shane doesn’t even know. Smiling at him? Cheering him up? Getting him to at least come to terms with the business he’s been running from for years? Sitting with him for a few minutes?

“Fine, you don’t have to go back in there.” AJ nods at Shane, like ‘yes, I am not going back in there’.

“But you shouldn't have to pay for a room, and you shouldn't have to stay on anyone's couch, okay? Let me organise you a place to stay tonight, if they’re so terrible,” he offers, nodding his head back at the building behind them.

AJ's mouth twitches with amusement at the dismissal of the family company, but stops himself. “I told you – I don’t need help.”

“How will you feel, rooming with people who are coming back here to train tomorrow? Can you do that?” Shane asks softly, seeing AJ frown.

“It’ll be sucky...”

“I thought so.”

“But, I don’t take hand outs. Never. I’m sorry to be so rude to ya – I appreciate your kindness right now, I really do. But I won’t take it."

Shane feels his exasperation rising at the offer being rebuffed.

“AJ – I am not leaving a kid out here waiting for a room he might not get-”

“I’m not a kid,” AJ blurts, incredulous.  

“You are to me,” Shane counters.

“I bet everyone’s a kid to you, though, huh?” the younger man grumbles down to his hand, picking at a hangnail.

Shane lets out a chuckle at the attitude. “Better watch that mouth – I saw your moves in that ring, and I know all the counters.”

“Pffft,” AJ blows a breath out of the side of this mouth, turning his head to look at Shane with a grin again. Seems he doesn’t stay irritated for long. “You wanna wrestle over this?" He pulls himself upright and slaps his knees. "I wrestled Greco-Roman at High School you know, got a pretty good record. You wanna try me?”

“Hmm, I don’t think I have a good chance of winning, then – High School was a long time ago for me. But then, you’d probably noticed that. What with the hair, and all.”

AJ sniggers, then sighs and scratches at his arm, creasing his face back up. “You ain’t gonna lay off me about this, are ya?”

“Nope,” Shane echoes AJ’s earlier assertion. “Look – the hotel I’m at is pretty good, pretty cheap, so it’s no inconvenience, really,” Shane makes sure to say. It’s not cheap, he doesn’t stay in cheap hotels, but AJ doesn’t need to know that. He just needs to stop baulking at 'taking a hand out', let Shane help him get a place to sleep. And then Shane won’t be tormented by the memory of leaving him out here on his own.

And, hopefully, he won’t be left with this mixed-up feeling. If AJ accepts Shane’s help, will this stop the fascination? Shane looking out for him; trying to be fatherly instead? Maybe Shane’s intentions are partially spurred by his own guilt at wanting to look at him so much; okay. Maybe… maybe this can assuage that. And he can at least partially right the wrong that’s been done by WWE today, kicking a talented guy back out into the world and telling him his dream won’t be coming true.

“Cheap, huh?” AJ says, completely unaware of all the turmoil Shane’s trying to squash down just next to him. He's onto Shane's lie about it being cheap, though. “That’s perfect, then – I’ll pay for-“

“No, you won’t,” Shane takes a breath and really looks at AJ, willing him to understand why he needs to help him.

“They should have taken you on, okay? They should have.”

AJ slumps down a little, taking the words in and believing them. Shane can see in his eyes how much he needed to hear that.

“This wasn’t right. You should be in there and training with them. They made the wrong call today. And I can’t let… Please, let me do something for you. Please.”

AJ’s eyes gaze over Shane’s face, considering. After a few seconds, he nods. “Okay. But only because you won’t let up. And I wasn’t brought up to be rude to my elders.”

Shane can’t stop himself from laughing again, rubbing a hand over his face and nodding back at AJ, taking in his mockingly serious look.

“You really do have a mouth on you, don’t you? Well, that’s okay. I need food – you can recommend something quick and horrible to me in the car, I bet. And maybe if you eat it'll stop that mouth of yours sassing me so much.”

“I doubt if anything can stop that. But you can try.”

***

"Your taste in music is terrible, ya know."

Shane's driving to the hotel with AJ in the seat next to him finally, both windows open and blowing cool air through the hot car. AJ’s taken his cap off to ruffle his hair, slumping back in the seat with one arm hanging out over the door. He’s scrolling through Shane’s iPod and curling his lip.  

"’Debussy’? What in the heck is that?" 

And AJ allowed him to take him to get food. AJ’d wanted to go to Sonic for a cheeseburger and a milkshake... which was disgusting, actually, but Shane was in the mood for disgusting. A self-administered punishment for enjoying being around AJ so much, perhaps.

"Oh, shoot; now look at this – you like ‘Tony! Toni! Toné!’?! We're listenin' to that, right now..."

AJ's cheered up a lot since he's had the opportunity to look through Shane's iPod and laugh at his music collection.

"Are you even old enough to remember that song?"

"I'm not that young," AJ scoffs with a smile hitting play and sitting back in his seat, tapping his fingers against the leg closest to Shane. 

He emphasises the 'g' on 'young', and his ‘I’ comes out as ‘Ahh’. Shane’s always loved Southern accents, and AJ’s is almost guttural in its thickness, but smooth. He could listen to him talk for hours. So far, he’s been treated to hearing AJ’s thoughts on Shane’s music taste, and the story of how he came to his faith a few years ago during a difficult time at college. They’ve also covered the current state of politics in America (AJ thought Bush was underrated as a President. Well, okay – Shane hasn’t heard much different over dinner with this parents), and conspiracy theories AJ is into (the moon landing, the earth maybe being flat, the Avril Lavigne theory… that’s not one Shane’s heard in detail before. He isn’t convinced. Also, he doesn’t really know who Avril Lavigne is. Or was). Plus, AJ’s favourite topic – wrestling.

“You must have met people younger than me working in the business.”

“Sure – but they knew the earth is round; they seemed older in that way.”

“All I’m sayin’ is, when we go our separate ways? Look into it, man.”

Their separate ways. That’s not something Shane wants to think about right now. Right now, he’s got a light feeling in his heart, one he hasn’t had for years. AJ is funny, and a goofball, and… Shane’s trying to ignore the other feelings he’s still getting, having him so close to him. He wants to look after him and see him fed and housed for the night, that’s all. If he likes talking to him, well, AJ’s a likable guy. And if he likes looking at him, when he turns his eyes to the side, well… Shane hasn’t come up with a reason for that. At least not one he wants to examine in any detail.

The gold of his wedding ring winks in the sun as he turns the wheel and the guilt flares up again. He knows exactly why he likes looking at AJ so much. AJ is… beautiful. That’s the only word Shane can come up with for him. He’s like the statues his wife dragged him around Florence to look at a few years ago – perfect in form; a masculine kind of beauty. He hadn’t understood that concept at the time, didn’t think it was possible for the male form to be beautiful. But AJ is. He’s vital; full of life and silly jokes. AJ’s turning out to be like Shane’s version of cat nip. If Shane was capable of purring, that’s what he’d be doing right now.

His phone starts ringing. AJ looks at the name on the screen from where it lays on the dashboard between them.

“That your wife?” That sobers Shane up.

“Guess so.”

“How long you been married?”

“Long time.”

“You’ve got kids, right?”

“Yup. All boys.”

AJ sits back in his seat and looks more serious, all the giddiness sucked out of the car.

“You gonna answer it?”

“I’ll call her back later.”

AJ crosses his arms, waits for it to ring out. He starts to talk quietly when the phone goes silent – Shane struggles to hear him over the music in the car.

“I always wanted to get married, have kids n’ get settled... I’ve got a girlfriend, been with her for about a year now. Met her at a church social.”

He pauses to swallow, lick his lips. “I love her, I think.”

Shane wonders why he’s being told this, and turns to flick his eyes to AJ and then back to the road. “You only ‘think’?”

“I don’t know,” AJ shrugs, looking ahead blankly. “How do you know?”

“You just… want to be with that person all the time, I guess. Can’t imagine not being with them. That’s how I felt.”

AJ doesn’t answer, just pulls on his lower lip.

“You feel like that?”

AJ’s face stays blank as he replies, eyes sliding to Shane and then back away. “Sure.”

They don’t talk again until they get to the hotel.

[ac-ars]

you taught me about your past, thinking your future was me

after this dramatic title don’t think its a fic im just messing around but listen to this song its very pretty 

because i am very bored and @proudtobeadepphead tagged me (thanks dear from saving me from english vocabulary thoughts)

about me (yay)

looks xdddd 

im a blondie i guess but dark blondie what in polish is double funny and im using it recently v much, i guess i have blue eyes that are sometimes blue sometimes grey depends on retrica filters (no that was a joke, i dont really know), bc im basic bitch give me a pair of jeans and i will wear it until it gets ripped, i love sweaters gimme all of them when its cold (now) + i can walk the world in converses or flip flops hehe 

make up who

jewelry who

i brush my hair i guess and when im too lazy i just pull a ponytail, depends really

personality

im a petty bitter bitch but i guess thats bc im polish and we are this kind of ppl (no no dont judge others, dont listen to me) and i love memes so as a result i am a big meme and if you wanna talk to me prepare yourself for many dumb jokes and probs random song lines

im trying to be nice person tho i have my bitch moments (barbara says we all do so i guess its not the worst) but generally im very funny (people tell me so) and supportive and i think patient (bc patience is a virtue ofc), you can joke to me about everything you want unless my mom or my friends and i wont be mad or dramatic really believe me

tho i am v dramatic in general like making fun or sth, i remember all shit, everything unless daily basic stuff like doing the laundry or sth (sorry mom ily) and i can get jealous over the smallest shit (nobody’s perfect), im generally anxious when it comes to ppl i am not comfy around - unless it’s internet, in the internet i love everyone and send hugs yay

i think i like too much shit in my life and writing them all here would make you get bored even more /if you survived until this moment thanks you are v strong ily/ but mostly i like music because well i listen to music like all the time except classes, i also like reading books and fanfiction plus movies (because tv shows and me this ship won’t sail, it keeps sinking) but i also like stupid shit like cleaning or cooking bc it chills me out and idk im weird i also like doing shit in excel dont ask me i really do 

i like making playlists on spotify and sending  dumb snaps

relationship status

who

fun facts (i doubt fun but whateverrr)

when i was seven i got hit by car (i think i can blame all shit on it)

im studying transportation and its super fun no it’s not this is shit because i hate physics and i barely passed math im sorry science who, once i went to rossmann instead of physics and i spent shit ton of money hehe

im a mess a chaos but yk like they said in the beginning there was only chaos so i dont really mind, i never proofread fics so if you find a typo thats your problem not mine

word “chapter” scares the shit out of me and it’s very intimidating

give me a song i will give you its lyrics

ive seen now you see me movie like a fuck ton of times (pierdyliard hi polish ppl)

i have more friends in the internet than irl boo but if you are my friend i will confess my love to you a billion times a day

is anyone even reading that

my phone is dying all the time, the earlier one because it had shitty battery and new one because it has too good battery and i forget to charge it at night bc why would i if it will work hehe

i deeply love masterchef and project runway with my whole heart plus i love watching makeup videos on youtube even if i dont know how to makeup

i have no sleeping schedule, i can sleep 10 hours but also 6 or 4 or 2 there’s no difference really 

im anxious as fuck when it comes to relations with other people no matter how sure of them i am bc i am lil shit 

i change my phone homescreen every week or so and yet my laptop wallpaper is the same since august 16 xD

i like to curse using astronomy words lol

I HAVE PLUSHE SHARK ALMOST AS BIG AS ME HIS NAME IS TONY HE SAYS HIII

i tag

it is super fun and i want this fun for you guys @sky-girls, @deliverydefresas, @aquietgirlsmess, @over-the-pink-moon, @alla-voy, @lunambar

you’re welcome ily

[fanfictrashdump]

Universe in a Jar, 6 - Phase 4 fic

Recap: Some days ago, I reblogged this post about the magical trio. And then my brain went off on a monumental tangent and, I wrote Universe in a Jar.

Characters: Stephen Strange, Loki, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, OC

Rating: T?

Warnings: Language! Mentions of sexual encounters, sarcasm, terrible storytelling, and typos prob.

Summary: Baby-sitting beings arguably more powerful than him goes awry for Doctor Strange. He knows one person who can possibly keep them isolated and out of trouble. Well, he knew someone who could… he hasn’t seen them in decades and for stupid reasons.

Previous Chapter

WARNINGS: Language, fighting, mentions of death, Stephen with a kitten

XX

Stephen dragged his sneakers through the loose dirt of the beaten path as he meandered, handful of tools hanging limply from his hands. Every now and then, he'd stop and take a survey of the land before continuing for no other reason than he could. He was delaying his arrival at the small, cornflower blue barn just beyond the hill. Despite the fact that he had been doing mindless farm chores non-stop since they arrived at the Hale Estate and this was the first time Seph had ever physically asked him to help with something. Persephone needed him to take a look at the tractor, a small one for her moderate crops. He knew it was merely a ploy to get him out of the house and away from the ticking time-bomb of a witch, but he was dreading the hell out of it, all the same. It wasn't because he thought he couldn't do it–he grew up on a farm in a small town of very rural Nebraska; he knew how to fix a tractor. It wasn't even that he thought his hands would betray him (not that she had even considered that a possibility. Seph knew that he was the most dexterous of the lot, shaking hands and all). He just really hated it.

As he approached the well-worn wooden structure, he shuffled the tools to fish the key to the padlock out of his pocket. With a loud clang, the lock sprung open, evidence of needing a little greasing apparent in its ear-shattering metallic whine as it turned open to be removed. With little more than a huff, he tugged one of the leaves open to have a staring contest with the four-wheeled piece of equipment that he'd most likely lose.

Then, there was a noise.

Tossing the wrenches and clamps onto a nearby work table, he shuffled around the small shelter, looking under tables and in buckets, until he found the source in the wheel well of the tractor. Smiling, he kneeled on the floor before sitting cross-legged, watching the wheel well with interest until out from the shadows, a little tuft of ginger emerged.

"I don't suppose you're the mechanic," he jested, only to be replied by a determined meow. "Tractor elf, then? Here to fix things while we sleep?"

The ginger tabby, sure as any creature he had ever encountered in this or any Universe, padded across the dirt floor and clambered into his lap. It took less than a minute for the kitten to begin purring or for it to continually bump its head affectionately against his awkwardly jarring hands. Stephen was careful, a notch forming between his brows as he focused on gentleness and applying appropriate pressure, in not suddenly squeezing. Not that the kitten was paying any mind. If anything, the sudden spasms in his hands were met with increased rubbing and the occasional batting of one tufted paw on his hand, pulling it closer to its dirt-stained face.

"I've known you for forty three years." Stephen glanced over his shoulder to find Seph leaning against the open barn door, arms crossed, grin on her face. "Every single time you're sent to do something you don't want to, you always end up with an animal in your lap. How does that even happen, Stephen?"

He shrugged. "I'm just a lucky guy, Peep."

The kitten had scaled up his t-shirt and anchored against his chest. One paw rested on his chin while his hands held the creature up against him. Even from several feet away, Seph could hear the loud, buzzing drone of purring of the cat's delight, warming her insides at this portrait of happiness.

A mew of contentment echoed in the barn, the sorcerer having buried his fingers in the orange fur and tickled down its spine. Stephen chuckled in response, making an altogether too soft noise at his new friend. "I didn't know you kept a barn cat."

"I don't. That little guy is from the Smith's farm down the road. Their barn cat, Cooper, was knocked up. This little stowaway comes and goes. Never lets me touch him, though." Her amusement was apparent at watching Stephen Vincent Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, Surly Man Extraordinaire all cuddled up to an orange tabby, melting under its quiet meows. She dropped to her knees beside him, brushing her hand under the cat's chin and quickly realizing it was not her touch the kitten wanted, as it burrowed further into Stephen's chest. A little laugh escaped her. "I think you have a barn cat."

"I don't have a barn." The response was automatic.

She snorted. "Yeah, you do. I can see it from here."

Stephen lifted his gaze from orange fur to the run down barn across the way and then the house it lived behind and sighed, dropping his chin back onto the kitten as in comfort. He didn't exactly know what to say to that, if anything at all, but Seph didn't let him suffer for long.

"What did you make of the house?"

The question prompted him to close his eyes and fidget in place. "I didn't go in. I sat on the porch for hours, held the key. I couldn't do it."

"Stephen, that's your–"

"I know. I know. It's just… their ghosts… I can't–"

She drew an arm around him and pulled him into her body, relishing in the little sigh and the untensing of his shoulders as he settled into the crook of her neck. "Empty houses are not that scary. I promise." He nodded minutely. "I'll go with you."

"You don't have to."

"I know. I'll do it, anyway."

A stretch of silence surrounded them, broken only by the white noise of purring. "Are you sleeping with Loki?"

Seph laughed, turning her head to kiss Stephen's crown. "Are you?"

His brows pulled together and his mouth twisted. "Not regularly, no."

"Ditto."

"So, you have."

"Have you?"

He rolled his eyes and groaned. "Look, I'm not judging you, I'm just–"

"Comparing yourself. Which is stupid–"

"I know, I shouldn't–"

She continued as if he had said nothing. "–because I also sleep with women. There's no chance in hell you two break the top ten."

Stephen scoffed, though the corner of his mouth turned up. The kitten in his arms shuffled with the vibration and settled back into another comfortable position. "Do you have to be such a dick?"

"Learn how to use yours and I wouldn't have to." With a grin, she kissed his crown again. "You know you have to sleep with me to be ranked, right?"

A dusting of red covered his cheeks. "Yeah."

"Just making sure."

The little ball of orange fluff stretched luxuriously, untangling from Stephen's arms just enough to wander and drape itself across the place where both of the humans' thighs touched. Seph gently traced one of the fuzzy ears with her fingers, watching them twitch at the contact before the feline pushed its face firmer against her touch.

Stephen could only smile to himself. He could understand the feeling–initial apprehension, weary observation, eventual surrender. Persephone was an intense person and sometimes it was scary to exist within her same aura until she showed that she was there to be gentle. He supposed he could always feel that she was a little different. Her powers made sense to him now, and he could admit that his child's intuition was not great at discerning that the odd feeling he perceived when she was in a mood was not apprehension or annoyance but power.

"I've messed up a lot of stuff with sex." The words slipped out before he had even noticed them.

"Oh, I am well aware. I went to college with you. And med school."

A wry laugh echoed in the barn. "Such a dick."

"Stephen, we were each other's first kiss. First naked look at the opposite sex. First to tell when anything remotely interesting happened to us. And then, we fell into a world of magic and aliens. I think we'd survive." Stephen remained quiet beside her, merely shuffling a little further into the warmth of her half-embrace, making her smile secretively at the softness of the action. "You know she didn't mean it, right? Implying that we were being useless."

He nodded a bit. "I know. She's just upset about her family."

"She doesn't know you. She doesn't know how much it hurt or how their ghosts haunt you. You also didn't have to go that hard on her."

"I know, but what was I supposed to do, Peep?"

"Tell her that you know exactly where's she's coming from. You know her pain better than anyone. Why is it so hard to make that vulnerability known?"

He straightened up, gaze falling to the far corner of the barn to avoid looking at her. "Because who would fucking trust me, then?"

Seph snorted. "Honestly? A lot more people. Half the people we went to school thought you were either a robot or a sociopath. Being an unfeeling thing doesn't lend you credibility, it makes you look like a maniac."

"I don't think that's–" A crash made the two of them start. "What was that?"

She shook her head. "I don't know." She gently pried the kitten off their legs and set it down on the barn floor before jumping to her feet. "Sorry, buddy. Noises need attending. You can catch a nap later."

She waited for Stephen to similarly right himself before the two took off in a sprint towards the house. The pair slammed the kitchen door open to find everything in a disarray. Tables upturned, flowers on the floor, knickknacks broken and a dozen or so people in black, military style uniforms fighting against Wanda and Loki.

"What the fuck is going on?" Persephone yelled over the sounds over fighting.

"Former employers, long story," Loki hissed through gritted teeth.

Seph watched as Loki turned one of their glowing batons against the soldier to presumably electrocute them, only to give a startled gasp when they disappeared in a cloud of stardust.

"Little help, Seph!" Stephen grunted, trying to subdue one intruder while the Cloak kept another off his back. She stood frozen in panic. He did a double-take on her still form. "Pretend they're me and try to kill them!"

For a moment she blinked at him in surprise before another growled chorus of her name roused her. Despite almost killing Stephen several times within the course of the month, Persephone was not good at managing that part of her abilities on command. And, even when she did, the abilities were fleeting, at best. Concentrating, she latched on to whatever feelings of rage and desperation she could scrounge up, feeling the world slip away from her as her eyes began to glow. The two soldiers attacking the Sorcerer were suddenly surrounded in a glass prison. Wanda had four soldiers strung up from red threads of magic like marionettes and slowly moved them across the room where they joined Seph's prisoners. Loki, deciding he had had enough of niceties, was going around the living room, wielding a baton like a sword and dispatching of anyone who came too close to him.

"Are you OK?"

She flinched at Stephen's hand on her shoulder, her eyes still fixed on the boxes with rapt attention.

"Peep, talk to me."

"I'm OK." Her voice sounded both hollow and too dynamic, echoing eerily.

Strange nodded. "You know how I told you earlier not to open the veil? Well, maybe disregard that and throw these guys elsewhere?"

There was a beat of silence before she responded. "I don't have to." She clapped her hands together and both boxes collapsed into nothingness. '

Stephen swallowed thickly, squeezing her shoulder once to try and ground her. "Where'd you–?"

"Antarctica. They might die." She said it so matter-of-fact that it was almost worrying.

"I assure you," Loki started, "they won't. They will be found within a few minutes, if not already."

"Hey." Stephen bent at the knees to level his eyes to hers, though she stared right through him. "Let go of it. You're OK." She blinked at him but her expression turned from blank to furrowed brow. "That's it. Come back." He rubbed up and down her arms, feeling the air shift around him like oxygen was coming back into the room. He looked up at Loki and Wanda. "Do you know where they got in from? This place is warded to the teeth, I find it hard to believe they found a crack."

"Are you telling them or shall I, dear?" Loki offered with a wide smile that didn't quite catch their eyes.

Wanda fidgeted before groaning. "They knocked at the door. I opened without checking."

"It's OK." Seph leaned against Stephen, clenching her eyes shut against the migraine starting to brew at her temple. "It's happened to me before. Not with anyone who wants to kill me but, y'know, religious groups who make me want to kill myself. I have–have contingencies." The last of her words came out slurred.

"You're not looking so good, Seph." The witch rushed over to help her sit on the sofa, full mothering mode on.

"I think I just overdid it." She sank into the cushions, letting out a steady breath before trying to get back up. Stephen promptly pushed her back down. "I need to move the house."

"You're not doing moving of any kind right now." Persephone frowned at what she had deemed his doctor voice, though was having trouble deciding which of the two Stephens was the one she needed to be glaring at.

Loki frowned. "Strange?" He got a hum of acknowledgment back, the sorcerer too busy pretending he wasn't worrying over Seph. "Who's that on your jeans?"

"What?" Stephen looked away from the sofa and glanced down. Hanging off the bottom hem of his right pantleg, a tiny ball of orange fur batted at the playfully swishing Cloak around his shoulders.

"That's his barn cat," Seph supplied, a drunken giggle in her voice.

"Precious." Stephen rolled his eyes at the glittering smile of the demigod, though it turned into more of a wide-eyed stare when he continued, "Didn't know Midgard kept Flerkens."

Wanda tilted her head. "What's a–oooh, that's different." She grimaced at the split jaw and tentacle-like features attached to the mouth, batting at the Cloak.

"Stephen," Seph started, "I take it back. I'm not OK, I'm hallucinating."

Strange drew a deep breath, closing his eyes and letting the air filling his lungs soothe him. "No, mom. I don't want to be a farmer. I want to be a doctor and move to New York city. And now you got a fucking alien following you around, you dipshit," he muttered angrily, before bending down. "Hey, no eating the Cloak!" The tentacles retracted, jaw fused back together and a kitten was once more sitting on the carpet. "I should've stayed on the fucking farm."

[fanfictrashdump]

Universe in a Jar, 4 - Phase 4 fic

Recap: Some days ago, I reblogged this post about the magical trio. And then my brain went off on a monumental tangent and, I wrote Universe in a Jar.

Characters: Stephen Strange, Loki, Wanda Maximoff, Wong, OC

Rating: T?

Warnings: Language! Mentions of sexual encounters, sarcasm, terrible storytelling, and typos prob.

Summary: Baby-sitting beings arguably more powerful than him goes awry for Doctor Strange. He knows one person who can possibly keep them isolated and out of trouble. Well, he knew someone who could… he hasn’t seen them in decades and for stupid reasons.

Previous Chapter

XX

Persephone stepped lively out of the portal and gave Wong one last haphazard wave before dropping her book hoard onto the kitchen table. Wanda didn't even look over her shoulder from the pot of oatmeal she was stirring at the sound, despite the fact Stephen started slightly at the booming thud. Seph threw herself into one of the wooden chairs, cross-legged, only to find that she was hovering slightly above the seat as the cloak fluttered around her. After a gentle stroke of the fabric, she grabbed the leather-bound tome at the top of the pile and opened it to the first page.

Wanda gave a yawn and started ladling oatmeal into bowls. "What did Wong say?"

"Not much. Just that Stephen was an unobservant idiot," Seph quipped back, turning the page, devouring the words on the page as if they were to be taken away from her at any second.

"So, nothing new, then?" The two exchanged a smile, but Seph remained silent.

Stephen made an offended noise like a strangled scoff. "I am still standing here." He threw himself into another chair with an undignified pout, only to have Seph blindly pat his hand. "That is in Sumerian. How are you even reading it?"

That comment was enough for her to raise her eyes up at the surly Sorcerer with a question in her eyes. "What?" She stared at the page for a long time before humming acknowledgment. "Hm. I guess you're right." She shrugged and continued her reading, leaving Stephen to make an exasperated noise.

"How can you read it?"

She scrunched her nose. "I don't know. I just can."

Wanda flicked her hands and all the books floated up above their heads. "Food first, reading after." Seph stared at the surface of the oatmeal with a certain hesitation. "I asked Stephen how to make it."

The hesitation on her face turned sheepish at the clarification. "Oh. Thanks, Wanda."

"You're welcome. I need to keep myself occupied and I feel bad for imposing on you like this," she replied, sitting down with her own bowl at Seph's other side after sliding one toward Stephen.

"You're not imposing. I should probably get out a little more, as it is." She smiled, stirring her breakfast absently. Hazel eyes cut briefly sideways, watching Stephen shovel a spoonful of hot cereal into his mouth. He did a double-take when he caught her gaze briefly and smiled before giving her the smallest of nods, unbeknownst to the other occupant. A spoonful of her own promptly went into her mouth, leaving her to determine whether she was going to be able to finish this bowl. While it was a little on the sweet side, it wasn't eliciting the same headache-y response other attempts at food had done. "Is Loki still asleep?"

"Pretending to be," Wanda responded. "I don't think he actually sleeps this much, but he likes keeping to himself in the mornings. Why?"

"He asked to see the flowering greenhouse. I was going to take him for the early blooms."

"That's sweet. He's certainly a contradiction, isn't he?" Wanda looked like she had more to say, but opted to look between Stephen and Persephone with an inquisitive eye.

Stephen scoffed. "Not the word I'd use."

"That's because you're salty. That is not his fault, Steve."

"I'm not salty–" Both women leveled a disbelieving stare at him. "–I just wonder what he has to do for you two to see he's trouble."

Seph put down her spoon and leaned against the table. "So, you're upset we think he's a good person even if he hasn't lived a perfect life while simultaneously being annoyed at you for making mistakes, even when you've lived your life in what you perceive to be utter perfection?"

Stephen shifted in his seat, his shoulders tightening in on themselves with discomfort. He avoided her gaze as he pushed oatmeal around his bowl, silent.

"Shit, you're good," Wanda muttered, smiling into her coffee.

Pushing another spoonful into her mouth, she reached out to him, again. This time her hand lingered on his and she continued her breakfast eating with her non-dominant hand. After a few extra minutes of silence, steps thudded down the old, creaky staircase and Loki swept into the kitchen like a hungry storm. He walked around the table, stopping to press a kiss on Persephone's crown, on his way to the stove.

Stephen made to slip his hand away at the gesture, only to find that 1. Seph tightened her hand around his, and 2. he actually couldn't will his hand to move, despite his desire. A cursory look around to room showed him that Loki was still dealing at the stove and Seph had managed to fish her book down and propped it to float at eye level while she ate. Wanda was the only one smiling to herself, looking up only when Stephen's glare was too heavy to ignore. He mouthed an irate stop it only to have her shrug like nothing was the matter.

Loki took his seat on his other side, glancing around the table with an impish grin. "Oh, are we holding hands, today?" He grasped Stephen's other hand, paying no mind to the spoon in it, and tucked into his own breakfast. "I can't say we've ever held hands, darling. A shame, considering we've held pretty much everything else of each other's, haven't we, Sorcerer?"

The man in question stiffened, eyes falling closed with a heavy sigh. Wanda and Seph looked up from their tasks, and at each other, before turning back at them with curiosity. "I have to–your carrots are overdue…" he muttered quietly, pushing his chair back and finding he could move at will, once more. He fled the kitchen as quickly as he could.

Seph departed from her text to glare across the table. "Loki–"

He waved her serious tone away. "It's only sex. There is no reason to be so touchy. Truly."

"He doesn't like being reminded of mistakes."

Loki laughed, hand over heart in mock offense. "Ouch, kitten. Low blow."

She rolled her eyes. "Just… there's enough tension in this house, as it is. Don't antagonize him, please."

"I make no promises," he retorted with a wolfish grin before taking a spoonful of porridge. "What have I missed? What's all this?" He gestured the floating books and the cloak wrapped around her.

"I could show you if I had Stephen's slin–" Loki twisted his hand and produced the ring out of thin air. "Is that why you were holding his hand?" Loki shrugged, but smiled, nonetheless, tossing the ring in the air. Seph caught it easily and slipped it around her fingers. The walls lit up in bright sigils for Loki to peruse.

"Quantum magics. How pedestrian."

"Ass." She smiled to herself and pulled the ring off, pinning it in the waistband of her pajamas.

"Oh." He sounded more amused this time around. "Now this. This I can get behind." He watched curiously as the sigils sizzled and settled into the fabric of reality. "Asgardian, Vanir, Jotunn, Celtic, Elemental, Chaos, Eldritch–how worried are you about your safety, pet?" He pondered over a bite of breakfast. "Or is it a linguistic error?"

Wanda frowned. "Linguistics?"

"Security for safety." He tilted his head and fluttered his fingers, symbols rearranging themselves in the ether. "You longed so hard for a place to feel at home, secure, that you essentially made yourself a fortress. Fascinating."

"I'm glad my emotional trauma makes for an interesting study."

"Says the woman who just psychoanalyzed the most annoying man on Earth into silence," Wanda teased, standing with her empty bowl and mug and placing them into the dishwasher.

"I can't help it. I've been doing it all my life. If figuring out Stephen Strange to save him from himself paid dividends, I'd be a fucking millionaire by now."

"Nice to know the conversation is still on me," Stephen quipped as he dropped a basket of carrots on the table, dirt caked on his arms and smudged on his face. "And maybe if you'd gone into a better specialty, you'd be a millionaire."

"Aww, but who would oversee your mandated psych hold when you finally crack under the weight of your own expectations?" She flashed him a saccharine smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

Despite Stephen's best efforts to remain stone-faced, he smirked. "Well, you got me there, Peep." He glanced at Loki. "My ring."

The Asgardian smirked. "I do not have it, Strange."

Persephone whistled, holding his sling ring aloft while she turned a page with her other hand. Stephen reached to retrieve his ring. Seph did not release it immediately. Instead, she slid a scrap of paper to hold her place and looked up at him. "You want some help? Gathering my crops or do you have some weird, period movie-style brooding to do in the fields?" He nodded. "OK. You stay here, buddy." With gentle hands, she coaxed a reluctant cloak off of her shoulders, only able to shrug it off with the promise that she'd be back later.

Pulling on her boots at the door, she followed Stephen onto the sun-dappled green fenced-in with chicken wire. They kneeled in neighboring rows and worked silently for a while, stopping every so often to straighten their backs and stretch. It was a companionable silence that fell between them, only the sound of earthmoving and vegetables being tossed into large baskets cutting through their thoughts.

"You know, Loki had already mentioned it to me."

Stephen frowned, loosening the dirt around a particularly stubborn carrot. "Mentioned what?"

"That you two had a fling."

He snorted. "Fling is a strong word for what we did, Peep."

"Quickie hate sex, then. I was being delicate." She smirked. "Unlike you and Mischief."

"Is there a point to this conversation? Other than reminding me of my poor judgment."

"You don't have to feel awkward about who you sleep with, Stephen."

"I don't feel awkward that I slept with him. I feel awkward that it was a topic of discussion at breakfast. And why were you talking about that with him, anyway?"

"He was curious if we had ever hooked up. Something or other about collecting a full set."

He breathed in, stretching his neck side to side to disguise the little bubble of irritation that rose within him. "Oh, so you slept with him?"

It was her turn to laugh. "Fuck no. My life is as complicated as I want it right now. Sex with a demigod sounds like everything I don't need. Why? Was he any good? Is this a Yelp review?"

"I am not talking to you about this."

"Oh, come on! We've told each other worse!"

"Exactly! I still can't the image of Zach Curtis sobbing while they wheeled him off to the hospital. It's been twenty-six years!"

Seph hummed, lost in thought. "Yeah, that was a pretty bad day."

"Aggressive technique. Poor kid was in agony for a month."

"He kept saying 'harder'! I got annoyed," she defended vehemently, throwing a clod of dirt in his direction. "I bet Loki would like that."

"He would not," he riposted, automatically, only catching himself after the fact when she gasped. "Fuck. Not another word. Besides, you punched Zach in the balls so hard you gave him torsion. No one wants that."

"Is he secretly very gentle and sappy? Needs to be nurtured? Come on, give me something!" He remained quiet, stacking his accumulated carrots in the basket before digging his hands back to the earth. "You're no fun."

After a long while, he mumbled. "If you want to know, jump him yourself."

She shrugged. "Maybe I will."

"Fine. Go right ahead." Despite the message, his tone sounded unconvinced.

Persephone piled the last of her carrots into her basket, stood, and dusted off her knees. She hefted the basket and balanced it on her cocked hip. "Why are you even doing this by hand? Don't you have some impressive universe-bending powers?"

"It's soothing. And quiet," he shot her a look, "most of the time."'

"What do you need to be soothed about?"

He didn't turn his eyes away from the clod of dirt he was breaking apart. "I spent five years inside the Soul Stone. Aware that time had passed but with no way to understand why. Worried out of my mind for the people with me and the people outside. Worried my plan would fall through and we'd be stuck there forever. Half the Universe, stuck there forever because I could not make our one chance come through. I have a few things."

With a sigh, she put the basket down beside his and sat cross-legged between the rows. "I'm sorry. I was being a brat."

"It's not your fault, Seph. You didn't bring Thanos." He shot her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Managing my feelings isn't your job, anymore."

"It never was my job, Stephen. I did it because I cared. I still do."

He looked over, deadpan. "You tried to kill me."

"Yes! I was upset and heartbroken and I still couldn't get over the fact that I cared for you. And despite the fact that I tried to kill you, you still checked up on me because I had a nightmare." She sighed. "Let's face it. We're stuck with each other. No matter how far we try to run, we always come back to each other."

With a heavy sigh, Stephen sat back onto the dirt, folding his legs up so he could rest his arms on his knees. When he looked up, Persephone recognized a familiar sort of ache in his eyes. It was the same pain whenever they were going in for a test he didn't feel prepared for, or his first ER rotation where barely had a chance to think before reacting.

"I-I don't know what I'm doing, Seph. I'm supposed to be in charge of protecting reality and I haven't got a goddamn clue wha–" He sighed, hanging his head.

One of her hands grasped at his, and his head snapped back up. The vision of his shaking digits in hers had him pulling back. Her own, faster hands closed around his before he could slip away.

"Don't do that, Stephen." She smiled. "You can probably still suture faster than I can."

Something like a smile tugged at the very corner of his mouth. "Probably. You were always a slowpoke."

She rolled her eyes, though an affectionate squeeze went through his hand. "We're going to figure it out, Stephen. I promise."

"You'll help me?"

"Of course. Lord knows you have no authority over those two. At least they listen to me."

"Thanks, Peep." Sincerity rang clear in his words.

"You're welcome, hon." He smiled, then, at the long-forgotten term of endearment. "Come on, before Loki eats me out of house and home. Maybe I can get a vegetable in him," she added easily, gesturing the carrots.