#i know my phones fine because it charges RIDICULOUSLY fast now

[snickerdoodlles]

Apple wants me to upgrade soooooo bad

[reareaotaku]

Rafael Barba Headcanons

Tw: Violence

You're a Defense Attorney and you go up against Barba a lot

You are friendly in a professional sense

“I sure hope your cops did their job, Barba”

“Your client confessed, L/n.”

You smile, handing him a court paper, “A forced confession and I’m going to get it thrown out. See you in chambers”

At first, neither of you liked each other. You were a pest in his side and made his life harder while in your eyes he was a servant of the corrupt justice system

But as time grows, you do happen to grow fond of each other

Making snippy little remarks at each other

"Am I joke to you?"

"If I thought you were a joke, you'd know"

He smiles, sarcastically, "Aren't you a sweetheart?"

You slowly became friends and would go out to eat luch and/or dinner together

"Are you asking me on a date, Barba?" You fiddled with his tie as he gives you his signature smirk

"Maybe. Depends on your answer"

Barba isn’t scared of much, but there was a phone call that nearly gave him a heart attack

You had been attacked in your home and SVU got the case because there was also a woman raped near by and they happened to find you. They took both your cases

Rafael had never rushed anywhere so fast in his life

“I’m looking for Y/n L/n. How is she?”

“She’s very lucky they found her when they did or she would have died-“

“Is she up?”

“She’s still unconscious, but she’s stable”

He waits at the hospital until you wake up

Was so scared he was going to lose you

When you finally wake up, he’s estatic

You didn’t want him to see you like that

“Y/n” You hear a familiar voice call you, but you don’t look up at him. He grabs a chair and pulls it near your bed

“How do you feel?”

“Ridiculous. Foolish. Stupid” You remark in a snippy tone

“It’s not your fault-“

“God, I hate this. I’m not a victim. It’s not a big deal. Everyone’s being dramatic,” You finally look at him, but he’s frowning

“Y/n. You were attacked in your home. You were beat while you were asleep. That’s a pretty big deal”

“I feel fine”

“You have bruises covering your body. There’s an open wound on your forehead and you had a concussion”

“I didn’t realize you were a doctor”

He signs, rubbing his temple, “Well, if it helps you feel better, the doctor says there was no sign of tearing and fluids or spermicide, so you weren't raped”

"Oh yeah, he didn't rape me. How lucky I am," You roll your eyes, before looking up at him

Rafael reached for your hand and you look up at him, “I promise I’ll find who did this and we will put him in jail.”

You look away, while also pulling your hand, “It doesn’t matter. The system is screwed, what makes you think you’d win?”

There’s a moment of silence, before he speaks up,”Well, thankfully he won’t be able to get the best attorney I’ve ever met”

You lightly chuckle, “You’re just saying that to be nice”

“When do I ever say something to be nice?”

“Fair point”

“You know… When I got the call that you had been attacked, I’ve never been so scared in my life. I thought….. I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Good thing my attacker didn’t know what he was doing,” You joke, but Rafael doesn’t look away from his hands

“I’m serious Y/n,” he says, now looking at you, his eyes downward, almost as if was going to cry

“Me too. Besides I’m fine”

He’ll spend a lot of time with you while you’re in the hospital

He doesn’t want to leave in case something happens to you

He makes your case top priority

He wants to catch the guy who did this to you

He doesn’t care if the person tries to plea, Rafael wants to go for the max. He’s definitely going to give him the worse charges

“I’m going to make sure you rot in prison”

He has friends in high places, some higher than yours, and he will abuse his power when it comes to you

Your relationship with Rafael becomes harder to hide and he doesn’t make it any easier

You stop taking as many cases when he’s the prosecutor

It’s better for him too, because he knows he wouldn’t be able to handle himself in court with you

If you do take a case he’s on, he’ll try and plea your client down, so you don’t have to go to trial

“Why did you give them a plea?” Olivia will pester, causing Rafael to swiftly turn towards her

“I don’t question how you do your job, so don’t question how I do mine”

But there was one case that ruined your career. You took a plea for your client, who you knew for a fact was guilty, there was so much evidence against him, that gave your client less than half the time he would have served if he was found guilty. Though, when he found out you were ‘friendly’ with Rafael, he made a remark towards your boss and wanted a retrial, but he’s not given one. Instead you are fired. Your boss stood by your side, but he said it would ruin your career and it was better for you to leave quietly without anyone knowing what happened

Rafael comes in to talk to you in your office, surprised to see you packing your stuff

^ "What's going on?"

^ "You didn't hear? I got fired-"

^ "Why?"

^ "It doesn’t matter." You shake your head, "Sorry. Someone has to take the fall for that case. I’m just the fall person." You shove the top onto your box, before awkwardly smiling, "It doesn't really matter. I just wasn’t cut out for this life I guess, it's no big deal"

"Let me go talk to him," He tries to reach for you, but you flinch away from him

"No. Don't make it any worse. I'll figure something else out. It's fine.”

Since you aren’t a lawyer anymore, Rafael becomes more open with his relationship towards you

“I would love to stay and chat, but I have a date”

“With?” Olivia asks, teasing him

“Y/n”

“Y/n? As in Y/n L/n ex-Defense Attorney who was your court rival?”

Rafael smiles before nodding his head, “Yeah”

“Huh. I never would have thought” Fin remarks, surprised

“You and me both. Seriously though, I need to go. I’ve had this reservation for months”

He’ll ask you for advice on cases (that the media already got ahold of) asking what you’d do if it was your case

He has a picture of you on his desk

^ When he’s working late, he loves to look at it and sigh in bliss

You still have your snippy comebacks towards each other, but it’s in a more romantic way

^ It has like a ‘I have in crush on you’ vibe to it

[centralperkchenford]

Chenford prompt + getting stuck in an elevator and it causes Lucy to have a panic attack (post barrel of course and preferably post canon/together romantically)

Once again this one just came to me (along with the title). Anyway I hope you enjoy this anon! This one was fun & interesting to write.

Mention of small space; panic attacks nothing too bad but just wanted to make sure to mention it if that triggers anyone. Also mentions of Caleb and Lucy in the barrel.

This also inspired me to write a 4x17 rewrite because I just rewatched it and Lucy was so upset. How did they keep them together?? And he just apologized like that’s the thing to do. No. I mean yes. But then you comfort the person or ask what they need. 5x22 Tim didn’t even ask what Lucy needed he just knew.

Okay I’m done 😅😅

Chenford prompt + getting stuck in an elevator and it causes Lucy to have a panic attack (post barrel of course and preferably post canon/together romantically)

But the monsters turned out to be just trees When the sun came up you were looking at me

Lucy giggles as Tim backs her into the elevator at the ridiculously expensive restaurant that Tim somehow managed to get reservations at. It was at the top of a very high building, and the inside was so intricate and shiny. It made Lucy dizzy, Tim wanted to take her out to eat and surprised her with this. The food had been amazing but the company had been better. Lucy didn’t even look at all the details in the restaurant because she was looking at Tim the whole time.

And now they were going down 24 floors to get to the parking garage (which was an extra $15- Tim almost had a heart attack).

Tim has her backed against the back of the elevator his knee between her legs, they were the only ones on the elevator and Lucy leans in to kiss when the elevator comes to a halt, it shakes for a minute and then the lights flicker on and off. They stay off and Lucy is thankful she’s so close to Tim because she grips his shirt so tightly that she’s afraid it might rip.

“What the fuck?” Tim mutters. He pulls out his cell phone and turns the flashlight shining it around.

“Hold on babe.” He mumbles into her hair. “I’ll figure this out.” He steps away from her and she bites her tongue from whimpering and clenches her fists to keep from reaching for him. He presses a button but the elevator is still. Tim is muttering to himself in the corner. He’s trying the buttons again and again but to avail.

Lucy watches him her beating fast and hard. She didn’t like small spaces.. especially after Caleb when she was literally stuffed in a barrel to die. She tries to control the panic that is building up inside of her, tries to control her breathing.

You’re safe. It’s okay. Caleb is dead. It’s just an elevator. She chants to herself. In and out. In and out.

Lucy knows that this is different it’s an elevator and she’s with Tim who would figure out a way to get out.

Right?

She slumps to the ground her purse falling off her arm and spilling everywhere.

“Fuck.” She says and Tim turns around from where he’s messing with the buttons. He frowns when he sees her on the ground, mindlessly picking up her stuff.

“Luce?” He says and he bends down to help her. “Are you okay?”

She wants to say she’s okay to Tim, she wants to brush past her pounding heart and the sweat that is forming on her forehead. She wants to say she’s okay despite that fact that she has started to shake. But Tim is well Tim and he knows her better than anyone. He will see right through her lies. But Lucy is Lucy and she tries anyway.

“I’m fine.” She says trying to steady her voice. “I just dropped my bag.”

Tim gives her a dubious look and helps her put everything back into her purse and then helps her up.

“Lucy.” He says his voice firm. “What’s wrong?”

She shrugs and doesn’t say anything. Tim sighs and shines his phone onto the buttons. “You would think for a expensive restaurant that charges $30 for a salad they would update their elevators.”

Lucy let’s our a nervous giggle that has Tim spinning around to face her. “Lucy. What the hell is going on with you and don’t say nothing.” He warns and Lucy knows he’s using his firmest TO voice but she hears his concerned boyfriend voice and she knows she’s not going to be able to hide it much longer.

“I don’t like small spaces.” She admits looking away from him. “Ever since.. the barrel. I..”

The elevator jerks again and the lights flicker in for a few seconds and then they go out again. Lucy yelps in surprise and slumps down on the floor. Lucy can only see Tim’s face because of his phone flashlight and she sees the worries lines on his face.

“Baby.” He says gently and he lets the flashlight guide him to her. He gets down on his knees and lifts her chin up to look at him. “Breathe. Just breathe Luce. You got this.”

Lucy blinks back the tears in her eyes, and shakes her head. Her heart is pounding so fast now and she feels herself getting warm.. everywhere. The cold sweats were starting and she hated them the most. They made her want to crawl out of her skin.

“N-No. I need to—” She jerks away from Tim and puts her head between her legs and breathes. She feels Tim rubbing her back and it helps but she just needs to get out of here.

She has had two other panic attacks since Caleb, one was when she got stuck in a stairwell trying to get to her car. It was in a parking garage, and everyone was moving too fast and eventually she got pinned against a wall as all the walls in the small space started to close in on her. The second was in an elevator but it only got stuck for about 15 minutes. It wasn’t a horrible panic attack but it was enough to make the other people in the elevator concerned.

“What do you need baby?” Tim asks. Lucy takes a shuddering breath in and then out.

“I need to get out here.” She says weakly. “Doesn’t this god damn elevator have a help button?”

“It’s not working.” He says and he continues to rub her back. Lucy reaches a shaking hand into her purse to pull out her phone. No service. She assumes Tim’s phone says the same thing.

“I-I’m sure so-someone will realize it’s not w-orking.” She manages to get out and then adds: “Right?”

Tim hums and instead of answering her, he asks his own question. “How long have you been having panic attacks Luce?” He asks gently and it’s not accusatory or judgmental. She knows he just wants to help.

“I honestly have only had two and this one. So three but the first one was maybe two months after Caleb. I-I don’t know.” She admits and then she’s lifting her head to look at him.

“I’m fine I promise.” She says and even if she can’t see all of Tim’s face she knows he doesn’t believe her.

“Have you told anyone about these?” He asks and he’s trying his cell phone while simultaneously rubbing her back.

“No-no it’s embarrassing. I-I don’t like small spaces and I freak out. Why would I tell anyone that? Chris told me to—” She stops when she remembers she did tell someone about her panic attacks. She had told Chris when she walked up flights and flights of stairs instead of taking the elevator but it had been after the first elevator incident and she wasn’t going to take any risks. He had told she needed to stop thinking about Caleb he was in the ground. He had gotten over Rosalind. (As if being stuffed in a barrel was traumatic enough). He had said the only way to get over it was to move on. He never actually understood her trauma, he proved that when he hummed the song she sang while she was dying. Which had triggered her. And even after she has forgiven him he still dismissed it like it was nothing.

“Chris told you to what?” Tim says and she knows he has his eyebrows raised and a frown on his face.

“He told me to get over myself and not let Caleb in my head all the time. He said I was obsessed with—”

“That son of a bitch.” Tim growls. “He actually said that?”

She sighed. “Yes, but I mean I got over my fear right? I take elevators all the time now.”

Tim comes closer to her, putting his phone down so the flashlight was shining up.

“Lucy, you shouldn’t have to get over your trauma or your fears. You should work through it. It’s always going to be a part of you but you are a survivor, you survived. You fought and you got out of there. You are the strongest person I know, and not just because you survived but because you found strength afterwards to keep going. You never gave up.”

Lucy blinks back the tears in her eyes that she knows aren’t just from her panic attack. He always found the right words to say, he never diminished her trauma or her worries. He always asked how he could help.

“You saved me Tim. That day and every day after. You were my strength to keep going.”

It was true and even if they weren’t at the point they are now, the day Tim gave her back her right was the day she started living again. He saved her in ways he didn’t even know.

Lucy’s heart has stopped pounding and she feels the cold sweats start evaporate. She reaches up to cup Tim’s face with a still shaking hand. “I love you.” She whispers.

She doesn’t see him smile a watery smile but she does feel his lips press against hers as he pulls her in even closer. They are chest to chest now and she’s not surprised she instantly feels calm. She always does with Tim. He’s her safe place, her soft place to land when things get rough.

“I love you too Lucy.” He mumbles. “More than I can put into words.”

She buries her face into his chest, pulling on the suit jacket he insisted on wearing. He rubs her back his large hand on the opening in the back of her dress.

“Someone has to know the elevator’s not working right?” She asks him again her voice surprisingly calm. “I mean there were like what 10 people in that restaurant?”

“You would think.” He agrees and then picks up his phone to look at it.

“One bar. Hold on baby.” He dials the number on the help button while still holding Lucy close.

“Hello?” He says and the relief is palpable in his voice. “Yes we are stuck in an elevator on the 22nd floor.”

“I don’t know! The fucking help button doesn’t work, I just got service. We have been stuck for about thirty minutes.” Tim says and Lucy can tell he’s frustrated by whatever he’s being told.

“No, it’s just my girlfriend and myself.” He says and Lucy hears a man voice over the phone. But she can’t understand what he’s saying

“Okay thank you.” Tim hangs up the phone and he goes back to rubbing Lucy’s back.

“That was like pulling teeth. The bastard didn’t think we were stuck. Thought we stopped it on purpose.”

Lucy laughs a little to herself. She would rather walk down 24 flights of stairs before she got stuck in an elevator on purpose.

It’s a few minutes later and the lights flicker on and stay on and then they are moving again. Lucy blinks and she finds Tim looking right at her his blue eyes bright.

It’s a fast ride down and when it stops at the lobby, Lucy lets out a relived breath. They step out of the elevator to a man in a suit who looks stern but apologetic.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience. Sometimes they just need a jumpstart to keep moving.” He explains. Tim gives him a look but nods nonetheless and wraps his arms around Lucy and leads her out to the parking garage.

“Tim?” She says and she loves how secure she feels tucked in at his side.

“Hmmm.” He hums and he kisses the top of head for good measure to let her know he’s listening.

“I don’t think we are expensive restaurant people.” She admits. “I think we are more..comfort food?”

Tim huffs out a laugh but stops and pulls her close so they are chest to chest. “Oh I agree Luce. I’m sorry I just thought—”

“Hey!” She says firmly. She hates that he’s blaming himself over something he had no control over. “It’s not your fault Tim. It was a freak thing that happened.” She reaches up to kiss him and he falls into the kiss right away.

“Despite the elevator incident.” Lucy says as they start walking again. “I had a good time.”

“Yeah?” Tim asks shyly. They make it to his truck and she leans against the passenger pulling him by his jacket to her. They just stare at each other for a few minutes, before Tim is leaning down to kiss her on the lips.

“Chris is a bastard for treating you and your trauma that way.” He says pulling back. “You never should have felt you had to hide something because he didn’t understand it.”

Lucy nods because she he’s right. Chris always was comparing his trauma to hers. Lucy should have seen the red flag then and there.

“Let’s not talk about Chris, Caleb or Rosalind anymore okay?” Lucy says. “I want the rest of the night to be about you and me.”

Tim grins at her. “I can work with that.” He says. And he kisses her and everything that happened tonight.. the elevator, the panic attack and everything else faded from her memory. At the moment all she sees is Tim and she’s perfectly okay with that.

[pikipekarmy]

raiding

well so ok, the ostensible purpose of the alt account was to be able to do raids. we did try to do a five-skull raid, me and my friend and The Alt, and we failed horribly with just the three of us, but it was Tapu Lele and we hadn't researched ahead of time and just let the computer decide on what counters we were going to use. So it went poorly but that doesn't mean we could never do a T5. Apparently Lele is just a bitch. I don't know. We'll try again someday.

But in the meantime I have the spare phone so I'm rocking around Buffalo like a weirdo with two phones, and I am off work this week trying to catch up on errands, so I'm out and about anyway. So I was like okay! Experiment time!

I tried a one-skull shadow raid, and the two of us beat that mareep in like fifteen seconds flat. Well that was fun and easy. Okay.

Next I tried a four-skull Mega Swampert.

Hoo boy.

Well so we went to a gym quite near my house, and there's an apartment complex next door to that gym. So I went and hopped in the raid lobby and refined my squads, since I'd pre-prepared them, and then I looked up and there was a third person in the lobby. A name I've seen around defending gyms a lot, and I can surmise lives in that apartment complex as I see the name in kind of a radius around the area.

Damn good thing too. A level 39 player, who had activated a mega-evolve on one of their attackers that gave us all boosts. And without that I don't think I'd've succeeded at the raid. My main got all its dudes fainted, and had to revive and rejoin. Meanwhile the alt got its last attacker fainted and then the screen just stayed up with the attacker's charged attack circles showing at the bottom? So I bemusedly kept tapping the screen and the charged attacks kept filling so I kept tapping them. I think the charged attacks were still happening, but as there was no character on the screen for me, I don't think any fast attacks were actually taking place? Needless to say, the alt was not doing a whole lot of damage to the raid boss, so it was just Me and Rando to carry off the rest of the raid.

Which we did, with a little margin of time left to spare, so huzzah, high-fives all around... well, as I never saw my random savior, I did not high five myself because my hands were full of phones. But anyway.

I went home, but the next day I went out to try my luck at three-skull raids. And I did a Lapras In A Scarf raid, which went just fine except I could not catch the fucking Lapras afterward on my main account. So now the alt has a Lapras in a jaunty bowtie and the main does not, but that's fine because I already have a Lapras in a hair bow so like. How many Hatchu Lapras does one person need.

But then we went and did a Gyarados raid and it was awesome, we managed to beat the thing in perfectly reasonable time and then both accounts caught one afterward. And they're beefy!! Over 1900CP for both, and both were high three-star ratings too. Delighted, and I want to do more of those.

BUT

The alt is only level 29, which means he doesn't get max revives in loot drops? And he doesn't seem to be getting revives either. I carefully spun only the photo disks of gyms for two days, and on my main I got like, 25 revives, I have so many more than I need it's ridiculous. The alt got just enough revives to handle a rocket battle or two per day plus reviving the dudes that he put in gyms. I can't do another raid with him because at the moment he's got a deficit of revives, several fainted guys who are returned gym defenders and whatnot. It's maddening.

So anyway if you're doing a gyarados raid please let me know and send my main account an invite, I've got a couple of remote passes and I don't quite think I could solo one, and I can't use the alt because I can't get revives for him. M A D D E N I N G. I just want a squad of gyarados.....

[spicysoftsweet]

A Thorn In The Side - Gojo x Reader

Summary: Infatuation enduring from high school is more of a problem than you or he think (~3.4k words).

Warnings: fem pronouns, fem!reader, noncon, kidnapping, yandere, wlw mention, gojo is a pos

A/N: Part of @suedebunn​‘s Hanahaki collab! 

When the strongest jujutsu sorcerer to have ever lived wakes up in the early am with the sensation of thorns scratching his throat and fullness in his stomach, he’s baffled.

Even more so when he doubles over in bed to cough profusely to the point of near emesis, shocking for a man who rarely gets sick. He stares blankly at a pillow covered in droplets of flecks of red, and his eyes widen with trepidation, until he realizes those large drops strewn across his bed come from flowers rather than blood.

He must be dreaming, Gojo Satoru tells himself, but the satiny feel of the scarlet petals between his fingertips is very real.

Or perhaps a curse.

“So you expect me to diagnose you over the phone?” 

Shoko pulled a drag of her cigarette as though for dramatic effect, blowing it out with a sigh, but continued to listen. She had to be up early anyway and ignoring Gojo would only make him more annoying in her experience.

“So what are your symptoms again?” she asked.

“Apparently my insides are trying to match my beautiful outsides~” he sang.

Shoko rolled her eyes, and as though he could see her, Gojo laughed loudly.

“In all seriousness, I’m turning into a garden. Coughing up flowers apparently.”

“Coughing up flowers, huh?” She leaned a little further against her balcony, her eyes setting on the early morning sunrise she could view from her high rise apartment. “Do you think it’s some type of curse?”

“It’s… different,” he replied, somewhat noncommittally. “I don’t think it’s cursed energy, actually.”

This was unexpected.

“What else do you feel?”

“Uneasy…”

It was Shoko’s turn to laugh. An interesting choice of words coming from him.

“Any ideas?” Gojo insisted.

“I mean, it could be some kind of undetectable curse. I’d know if I got to see you… How does your heart feel when you cough up the flowers?”

“It races.”

“Your mind?”

“Also races… lightheaded.”

“Any thoughts?”

“None.”

“As expected.” she teased, laughing again until she realized that for once, Gojo was silent on the other end of the phone. She scratched her head, then ran her fingers through her fingertips.

“Come in at 2pm today, okay? Don’t be late.”

---

“Well, you’re right,” Shoko stated, stepping back from the examination table, and crossing her arms as she set herself down on a stool to formulate her assessment. 

Her friend, already graced with the palest of color palettes, did actually look ill, dark circles prominent enough to match hers marring his porcelain skin. He sat, legs spread apart, and leaning onto the weight of his hands besides him, raising an eyebrow quizzically..

“It’s not cursed energy, alright,” she said, with a sigh. She stretched out her hand.

“You brought the sample, right?” 

Gojo, uncharacteristically a bit listless, tossed her the bag of vomited petals from this morning, covered in now dry saliva and other fluids. Not batting an eyelash, Shoko slipped on a pair of gloves and felt inside the bag, petals crumbling at her fingertips.

Definitely not cursed energy. She placed the bag on a disorganized counter behind her, making a mental note of scrutinizing it further under a microscope.

“Ideas?” Gojo asked after he’d decided that the time he’d given her to think was enough. It turned out the idea of being sick irritated him more than he expected. 

The very idea of being vulnerable made him slightly nauseous.

Shoko let out a chuckle that sounded more nervous than she had intended.

“My only other thought is Hanahaki disease.”

“Hanahaki?” Gojo repeated.

“Yeah,” she stated. Crossing her legs, she relaxed into her stool further as she watched the young man carefully. “Who’s the unlucky one?”

“You mean?”

“Who’s the unfortunate soul you’re in love with?” She asked again, waiting for his response. The truth was that she was quite shocked at the idea of Gojo being afflicted with Hanahaki, that he of all people could have such a pure, destructive form of love given his track history.

She’d known him long enough to know that his body count was near ridiculous.

He tilted his head, then burst into laughter.

“Myself, duh.”

“Well, auto-Hanahaki isn’t a thing, but I suppose if it was, you’d be the one to be afflicted with it.”

She decided not to press further. “Whoever it is, I’d recommend you settle your feelings as soon as possible,” she added. “People don’t usually die from this but you look surprisingly like shit so I’d be careful.”

Gojo ran a hand through his hair, hopping off the table and pulling back on his shirt.

Settling his feelings may be more complicated than either of the two of them expected.

---

You were in the middle of your drive home when Shoko’s name finally flashed on your dashboard. Grinning, you picked up on the car speaker, mischief in your voice.

“It’s 7:03 and you promised me you’d call at 7 sharp, babe. What do you have to say for yourself?” 

“You’re going to hold 3 minutes against me?” Her sultry voice filled your ears as you made the last turn between the grocery store and your apartment, and you hoped she’d be inside your home waiting for you so that you could actually hold something tangible against her.

“I did say I wasn’t going to tolerate you being late for anything anymore, didn’t I?” You teased.

“Bold declaration for someone who isn’t even home yet,” Shoko retorted.

In minutes, you were walking through the door, arms charged with bags full of groceries for dinner you’d planned to cook together. Shoko greeted you with a kiss on the forehead as you placed them on the counter.

“Did you miss me?”

You did, but you stuck out your tongue at her instead. Her hand intertwined with yours briefly before you separated to unpack items for dinner.

“I promise I’ll be less busy,” she offered as the two of you worked in tandem. Your stomach was already growling, so the sooner you had food on the table, the better.

“It’s no problem,” you replied, and you meant it only half-heartedly. It’s true she was less busy than a regular civilian doctor, but it seemed recently that her clinic was getting overrun with more and more curse victims. Things had been bad recently in the world, you figured. 

You were happy to step back from the world of sorcery, but small reminders like these persisted.

“Did you still manage to fit Gojo in today?”

She had complained earlier today that Gojo always managed to make a bad day worse.

“Mmm,” is what she offered over the sound of chopping vegetables. You understood that she couldn’t say more, on top of the fact that any discussion of Gojo was already a sore subject. It didn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t have been, but this was what it was.

“Hope he’s okay,” you offered, as you turned on the stove.

“He’ll be fine,” she replied, her voice now quieter than usual.

---

The first and last time Gojo fell in love was in the spring of his third year, he suddenly recalled in the middle of a tryst, as an upsettingly subpar blowjob allowed his mind to wander. The young woman whose gags sounded almost theatrical when compared to the amount of pleasure he was actually receiving was starting to get on his nerves, but instead he took matters in his own hands, wrapping her long ponytail around his wrist before guiding the back of her head so she took him deeper.

If she was gonna choke, she should commit to it.

He’d fallen in love with you at first sight. It was a strange feeling for him to immediately be enamored with someone upon first glance instead, having always been the recipient of many an awe-filled or fawning look.

You were a transfer from the sister school, already a rare occurrence, and what was even rarer was the fact that you both had little affinity to jujutsu and little interest in getting better. One could wonder why you even showed up in the first place, much less why you’d moved from one school to the other. 

You’d quit as expected just before graduation, but not before you caught his eye. 

“You’re pretty shitty at this,” he’d remarked, attempting to win you over with humor when he’d been assigned to you for both orientation and possible tutoring. “Of course, you can always ask me for help,” he added, flashing pearly whites at you.

He was the opposite of successful in wooing you.

“I suppose since this comes easy to you, this is just funny, right?” You’d quipped.

Your words cut more than both you and he anticipated, but it didn’t exactly matter. You were not interested in him, the way he was interested in you. 

But Shoko was different.

You became fast friends and upon your departure from the technical college, you’d remained in contact despite withdrawing from everyone else related to magic. 

Even if Gojo tried many times to either bring you back to this world you’d left behind or be part of your new one, you’d rebuffed him every time. Harshly. 

“I don’t know why you expect everyone to worship you,” was the last thing you’d said to him. “I’ve already made it clear that I don’t want to be part of this life,” you’d insisted. “Why would I change my mind just because you asked me to?”

You were right. 

And yet you loved Shoko.

The young woman whose name he’d forgotten’s face was now pressed against his pubic bone and she now began to squirm, slapping and scratching at him like some kind of trapped animal as she struggled to breathe, reminding him that he’d daydreamed for too long.

“Sorry,” he offered, as he released his grip, leaving her to sputter and choke. Looking at her, knowing that she was not you suddenly made him want to choke himself, to bring forth that impromptu garden of unrequited feelings.

He patted her on the back gingerly, and once it looked like she’d restabilized, pulled her in for another kiss. 

If only her lips tasted like yours.

---

Shoko’s hand glided against the curve of your hips, taking in the image of you sleeping softly on your side, facing her. She dipped down to kiss your nose; it was the only time the fact that she had such an issue with sleep benefited her, this ability to almost always wake up before you.

You looked incredibly peaceful while sleeping, and she had to admit this angelic view of you was even better than your features twisted in a pleasured mewl (not that it wasn’t a close battle).

There was a nagging concern in the pit of her stomach, however.

Gojo suffering from unrequited love could be a problem, if the object of his affections did happen to be you. But it had been years ago that he’d pursued you unsuccessfully, why present now?

Why present to her office of all people? Gojo could be inconsiderate, but not to this extent. 

But what if he didn’t know that this was what he was feeling? Suppressed feelings taking root and morphing themselves into the tangible he couldn’t ignore?

She sat up, resting her back against the backboard, the lack of a cigarette between her lips being palliated with the gnaw of her thumbnail. 

It couldn’t be. Not you. 

Please, not you.

---

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Shoko checked in about a week later.

Gojo didn’t share that he’d spent the entire morning in a coughing fit of petals, now definitely streaked with blood, and the entire last night vomiting enough flowers into the toilet that it had overflowed.

He didn’t comment on the entire scarlet sage plants with large green leaves that threatened to sprout from every orifice, not just his throat, but his ears and nostrils, possibly from behind his eyes.

He didn’t know what was next, only that it was getting worse.

The constant fire in the pit of his stomach, the shivers, the chills, the incessant flash of you running through his mind, your name moaned in the darkness, his body drenched in sweat.

The fact that he knew it was because he loves you and cannot find an alternative for you.

The fact that he must have you, and only you.

“Has it gotten better or worse?” Shoko asked.

“I’m fine,” Gojo reassured her, masking the exhaustion in his voice, and she made the mistake of believing him.

---

You awoke in darkness with an icy cold searing into your skin.

It took you a moment to let your eyes adjust to the light and for your body to resume the motor control it had briefly relinquished in sleep before you could reorient yourself. You were laying on ground of some sort, maybe hardwood which implied that you were in some kind of building. 

Your head throbbed viciously as you shifted slowly to a sitting position and you almost expected there to be blood as you ran your hands over the back of your head, checking for injury. But there was nothing, just the normal feel of your hair, and the steady thump of your temples in time with your pounding heart.

Looking around, your eyes soon fixed to the low light, not actual darkness to center on a figure in the center of the room.

You let out a gasp of surprise.

Gojo.

Not only had it been a while and he was the last person you expected to see, he looked stranger than he ever had.

He sat perched on a chair backwards, chin leaning on the top of the backrest. His head was tilted, and he watched you warily but fixedly through eyes that looked sunken into their orbits. Their clear blue was still sharp in the darkness.

His skin had taken on an almost ghostly cast to match his hair, and he was thinner than you remembered as though he had been slowly withering away since the last time you saw him. That was ages ago.

Your limbs froze in anticipation. You didn’t have to be a genius to recognize that whatever was happening or was about to happen was bad.

“Why did you bring me here?”

He stared at you blankly for a moment, unmoving. If he weren’t so extraordinarily fatigued, he would have sat up straighter in his chair and offered you a smile. You were still as pretty as the day he first laid eyes on you, after all. What a welcome sight.

“I guess I missed you,” he responded instead, quietly. 

Your teeth gritted as you flared up in indignation.

“Excuse me?”

He cut you off with a loud, exasperated sigh, mustering the little bit of energy he had left to run a hand through his hair.

“Listen, I thought I’d forgotten myself, but it turns out that I’m being betrayed by my own body.”

As though to add effect, a coughing fit began just at the end of his sentence, and you watched as he spat flowers into the palm of his hand, lowering them for you to see.

“And it seems like you’re the cause of this.”

Your eyes widened as you took in the sight of bloody petals falling through his fingertips and hitting the ground.

He was completely out of his mind.

“I…,” you shakily got yourself up to your feet, not letting your gaze leave Gojo for a second. He didn’t get out of the chair, but he did shift so that he leaned back in the seat, a wicked smile on his face.

“You...?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” You spat. “Where the hell am I and how did I get here?”

He finally did get up, although it was done in a dramatic, strained movement. He really had lost weight, you noticed, picking up the flash of pale wrists before he shoved his hands in his pocket.

“I know it sounds crazy but apparently, according to your girlfriend, I’m suffering from lovesickness.”

He bared more of his teeth now, looking more like a grimace than a grin by this time. “I didn’t believe it either, but then I started seeing you in my mind every single waking moment.”

In the split second it took for you to blink, he had crossed the distance between you, so that he was now in your personal space, the palm of his hand inappropriately caressing your face, as tender as you’d expect from Shoko.

And you immediately jumped back and backhanded him as hard as you could.

The crack of your hand was loud and exaggerated, reverberating in the room. For a moment, you froze in shock, surprised the slap had actually landed, before shaking out your now burning hand and following up with a hiss.

“Don’t you fucking touch me.”

Gojo’s icy blue eyes glint, demonic in their delight.

“That’s the feisty bitch I remember.”

---

It was nearing 24 hours since you’d failed to reply to Shoko’s text and the normally collected woman was terribly anxious.

She’d stayed at work late, and still, not a single message from you. 

The nagging feeling in the back of her mind returned.

What if it were you?

Gojo couldn’t be that insane, could he?

When she entered your home to find traces of red salvia scattered throughout your home, it only confirmed her fears.

---

“I don’t want to do this either. I mean it.”

It was hard to believe him when he seemed to savor every brush of the lips as he trailed kisses along your inner thighs, spread open with the force of his hands. Gojo had always been deceptively strong, even now, when it looked like he was wilting just as much as the flowers he coughed up. 

Your wrists were bound to a fixed point at the head of a foreign bed, and your ankles to the bedposts anteriorly to prevent you from fighting. Not that you would have been able to fight back anyway, but the severe fatigue permeating his very bones made him less willing to risk anything.

When his lips made it to your center to circle your clit, you writhed in disgust, forcing back the sighs of pleasure that would inevitably ensure.

“Y-you can’t - ah - make me love you…”

Gojo paused the swishing of his tongue to give you a look that reeked enough of apathy that it was almost startling.

“I’m aware, but there’s no harm in trying.”

---

“Where the fuck is she?”

Satoru had the ostentatiousness within him to receive the phone call on speaker, so that you could hear Shoko beg to find out your whereabouts.

“She’s with me,” he replied, calmly to her, holding the phone in one hand and pumping fingers in and out of your slippery cunt with the other. 

By this time, Gojo had gotten tired of your expletives which no longer retained the initial cute charm, so your screams for help were muffled by a gag over your own wet panties shoved into your mouth.

He’d been at this for hours.

There was a pause on the phone from Shoko’s end that sounded like something crashing to the ground, maybe a plate breaking.

Her tone changed immediately.

“P-please don’t hurt her.”

“I’m not.”

He glanced at you who glared back at him with reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. You looked even prettier when you were so totally helpless.

“I would never,” he added.

The pump of his fingers slowed but did not stop.

“This won’t fix you,” Shoko warned, almost in a low protective hiss, her own voice breaking. “This won’t fix anything, you bastard.”

He cut off the phone abruptly, and let out a sigh before shifting his attention back to you.

“Where were we?”

---

Maybe if I pretend, he’ll stop?

Or will he continue? Will I just affirm that he won?

His thrusts were relentless, as was the constant tugging at your hair, the teeth sinking into every inch of your skin, the moans and groans whispered into your ears or your bosom.

A violation in every sense of the word.

You were running out of tears.

The fact that it’s pointless, you and he both know it. Your true love knows it, that this is just an excuse to get back at you. For what? Rejection? 

He would die anyway. You would never return his feelings, if there even truly were any. 

He continued to rut into you, and flowers started to stain every inch of your bodies, covering them in a deep scarlet.

Red. Red. Red.

Blood. Rage. Power. Passion.

You probably didn’t need the restraints anymore. You had no fight left in you. 

Just the satisfaction, however small, that regardless of what he did to you, he would still eventually succumb to nature and perish in a bed of putrid efflorescence.

[extremelyblackandwhite]

innocence - 38

  PAIRING: bodyguard!bucky barnes x innocent actress!reader

WARNINGS: angst, smut (18+), oral (male receiving), handjob, slight innocence kink 

A/N: not me still not fully recovered from the “you wanna see what i can do with leverage” moment. oof, still gets me heated up. anyway, this smut was mostly inspired by my pinterest board showing me this and this which i feel would be something y/n would wear for bucky. enjoy xx 

NEXT CHAPTER

She didn’t know she was running, but she was. She ran off that room before he could catch up to her but through the middle of her thoughts she could hear him yell out for her and run after her. Maybe it was an adrenaline rush, the thought of getting severely hurt or any other thing but she had managed to outrun him, running into the main corridor where everyone was awaiting for the judge to announce the results. As Mr. Hawthorn screaming her name registered in her brain, she rushed to Bucky, taking him by surprise. Out of instinct he wrapped his arms around her, looking down to see her hiding her face in his chest. 

As Bucky started to wonder why she had suddenly appeared and even why she had left in the first place, Mr. Hawthorne made his way down the hall yelling out her name made it all the much clearer. Bucky held her slightly behind his back, hand tightly holding hers as the man made his way to them. Bucky held out his metal arm in front of him, stopping Hawthorne from getting any closer to her. 

     - Give me that phone, Y/N. Now. - he wasn’t yelling, his tone was constant as he starred both Bucky and Y/N down. She moved her phone behind her back, typing while maintaining eye contact with the agency director. - I said ...

      - Back off, man. - Bucky tried to remain calm, he knew having a major fight or even yelling at the man in front of him wouldn’t put him in a good spot. However, he’d be caught dead if he allowed that man to even dare to touch his wife.

      - C’mon, Y/N. You wanna play with leverage? At least step away from your guard dog and confront me or are you already too comfortable with being a housewife? 

      - You wanna see what I can do with leverage? - Bucky pushed him slightly backwards but Y/N stopped him before he could do anything else, squeezing his hand and handing out the man in front of the two of them her phone. Before Bucky could even complain about getting her phone back, Mr. Hawthorne left the two of them in a fast pace. - What the fuck was that? What did he do? Why did you give him your phone? 

      - Trust me, okay? - she cupped his face, leaning her forehead against his when she wasn’t even sure if what she did was going to work. Her eyes darted slightly across the hall, seeing Chuck with the lawyer but quickly returned to Bucky. - I love you. 

      - What’s wrong, princess?  Hm? What did he do to you?

      - I love you too would’ve been nice, Buck. - she teased.

      - You know I love you too that’s not the point. You’re trying to distract me. Don’t shut me out. 

      - I am not shutting you out, Bucky. Nothing happened, it’s fine ... he’s just ... upset at me. 

      - Why is he upset at you? 

      - I ...

      - Mr. Barnes. - the lawyer approached the two of them, interrupting her just  as she was about to start her sentence. - The judge has called everyone in, let’s go. 

      - Has the jury made a decision? - Y/N’s grip on Bucky’s hand tightened and she was almost frozen on the spot as he started to walk to back to the court room, but she didn’t move. 

      - Hey, it’s just us, princess. Just us. - Bucky smiled at her, kissing the top of her head but she could barely register things.

She couldn’t hear anything as the two of them walked to the court room’s door where they were separated again with Sharon, Steve, Sam and Chuck accompanying her to the bench while Bucky took off with the lawyer. She sat down on the harsh, cold wood, her heart beating fast as she tried to read Chuck’s face yet she couldn’t. The jury and judge arrived, and suddenly everyone was on their feet, waiting for whatever decision the jury had taken; however, the jury looked confused, almost puzzled by the fact they were back into the court room. 

      - It has come to my attention that further evidence as been found. As such, bailiff, take the witness Mr. Hawthorne into custody where he will be charged for the harassment and stalking of Y/N Barnes as well as obscuring justice. In the matter of The People vs James Buchanan Barnes, this case is dismissed. Mr. Barnes, you are free to go. 

A few oh my gods erupted into the court room which went into complete frenzy as the bailiff took Mr. Hawthorne into custody who merely stared her down and shouted out in disbelief. She turned over to Chuck who took his phone off his pocket and played the exact same audio which she had played to Hawthorne just a few minutes ago.

     - I could kiss you. - she hugged her friend, a big smile on her face.

     - Please, don’t. I am still largely afraid of your husband, he would crush me like a soda can. Do you want me to die such a painful death? After I had to somehow understand your typo filled text with the worse recorded audio I have heard. Sincerely, Y/N, Bucky would’ve done a better job and he is what? As old as dinosaurs?

     - You’re the best. - she kissed her friends cheek before going over to Bucky who was being swarmed by both his friends that had come to congratulate him, his lawyer and some reporters.

She smiled at him, standing in the back of the crowd and catching his eye despite everyone surrounding him. Bucky couldn’t care less about those people surrounding him, congratulating him and even some complaining that he once again had avoided paying for his mistakes. All she cared was catching her eye in the middle of the crowd, as if a spotlight shone onto her. 

     - I hope you enjoy being being out of a job for 10 years. - Mrs. Olson said as she passed by to probably be with Hawthorne but Y/N didn’t say anything. 

She knew what was on the line but she would throw it away for Bucky. If it came between Bucky being free or her career, she would always pick the first option. However, it didn’t sting any less.  Yet, this was not about her, not today. Today was Bucky’s day. The day where he got rid of the problem that she had brought upon the two of them and while it was now gone, it still occupied a tiny spot of her mind which screamed at her about her own guilt in this whole situation. The flashes were bright and she kept being pulled to the back as more journalists and reporters tried to get some time with the former Winter Soldier but he avoided them, breaking through the crowd to be with the only person he actually wanted to celebrate this with. 

    - What did you do, princess? - he wrapped his arms around her, turning to exit the court room and leave all this experience behind. - And don’t say it wasn’t you, the lawyer told me it was you.

    - He could be lying. 

    - You could’ve gotten hurt. Why didn’t you tell me? 

    - It was just a guess ... I didn’t want to raise your hopes over a guess. I’m sorry. - she leaned her head against his covered arm. - It’s my fault this whole thing happened and I thought if I fixed it, I’d feel better.

    - It’s not your fault this happened. You could’ve gotten hurt, he could’ve hurt you and then what?

   - He was not going to hurt me. - she scratched her neck. She knew it was a lie, everyone is capable of everything in her business. - I had to do something for you. I am ... I am so tired of being weak. 

    - You’re not weak, what are you talking about?

    - Weren’t you in this trial? They talked about you as if you were some cold blooded murderer and me as if I were the weakest person ever. As if I wasn’t standing in that room and hearing to it. If I could defend myself, if I had put my foot down none of this would’ve happened. 

Bucky’s heart broke as he heard her talk, tears pooling in her eyes as what she had been feeling for the past weeks of meeting, court days and witness speeches seemed to finally explode, breaking free from the pressure she had been putting on it so it didn’t show, so she didn’t feel weak. He had never felt weak before, helpless maybe but never weak. Even as the Winter Soldier he could easily overpower his handlers if he wanted to, he could overpower new recruits and pretty much everyone who he was presented with. He’d never felt weak, he’d never know what it was like to feel weak and he had never even considered she felt weak because he just did not see her as weak. She was soft but not weak, she had strength in her softness, in her kindness. She’d done things he couldn’t see himself doing in his mid twenties. 

     - Hey ... - he flushed her close to him, drawing invisible circles on her back and kissing her temple. - Do you wanna get cheesy chips?

     - I need to go say goodbye ...

     - It’s fine. - he combed her hair away from her face to kiss her forehead. - I don’t want you to get caught up in a mess with photographers. 

     - I’m ridiculous. - she cuddled against his side as he led her out the back of the court where he had parked his car. - I should be comforting you, not the other way around.

     - You’re not ridiculous. This was as bad for me as it was for you. - he opened the car door for her. - Besides, I love comforting you. 

     - Really? Because from what I know, you were the one in danger of being in prison for at least 5 years. The only danger for me was trying to get naked during spousal visits. 

     - Aw, princess. You were willing to get naked in prison, for me?

     - You’re ridiculous, Barnes. 

     - So are you, Mrs. Barnes. - he smirked. - You are not weak and you are not ridiculous. Are we clear? 

     - Don’t use your sergeant voice on me.

Bucky chuckled, putting the key onto the engine and turning it on as the car started to roar up. She leaned her head against his shoulder, mindlessly listening to the song on the radio, probably one of Bucky’s favourites. On that moment, she didn’t care her career was on hold for the next 10 years because he was here and he was free like he deserved. As he pulled in front of the chippy shop nearby his flat, she perked her head up to kiss the corner of his mouth. 

    - Can we do takeaway? I wanna go home. - she cuddled against his shoulder once more. 

    - Sure, princess. Stay in the car and I’ll be right back, yeah?

    - Yeah. 

He left the car, loosening his tie as he entered the shop, leaving Y/N in the car. She rose her hand up, looking at the wedding band on her finger. It had barely registered in her that she was married, she of all people. She knew she wasn’t attention’s sweet centre and she knew she definitely did not deserve a guy like Bucky. God, in her wildest dreams she’d never thought she’d even end up with a man as caring and thoughtful as he is. It was almost surreal she’d even gotten married without having to fight her agency, at least too much. Her lips stretched in a smile as her husband came out of the shop, a toothy, childish grin on his lip as he waved the brown paper bag on his way to the car door.

He drove the two of them back to the flat and once they were inside, her shoes were thrown to one side as well as his tie and jacket and the couple made themselves comfortable on the couch. Y/N sat on Bucky’s lap, takeaway on her lap while he held his on his hand with the other searched for something to watch on TV, eventually landing on The Honeymooners.

    - I need to take you on a honeymoon. 

    - I don’t need a honeymoon. 

    - Bullshit. - he held her close by, hearing her giggle through the small digs onto the plastic container. - Where do you wanna go? C’mon, entertain me. 

    - Hm ... - she looked up, nose slightly scrunched. - Italy. 

    - I was stationed in Italy for a while. Nice place, great food. Where about?

    - There’s this movie called Letters to Juliet, it’s in Verona, and I always thought it looked so romantic. 

    - Okay, princess. Whenever you want, I’ll take you to Verona and we will have a nice month long honeymoon. 

    - Month long? 

    - Yeah. If we go any less, we won’t have time to do any sight seeing. 

    - Why is that?

    - Because I do intend to have sex with you in every part of the hotel we stay in. - he kissed the crook of her neck, taking the takeaway container away from her and placing it on the coffee table. - Maybe even try it in those tiny Italian balconies.

    - You just escaped five years of prison and you’re thinking of vouyerism already?

    - You shouldn’t look so pretty, then. - he hooked his finger under her chin and turned her face towards him, giving her a long drawn out kiss. His hand climbed up from her thigh up to her dress, pushing the sleeve down to expose her shoulder. His stubble rubbed against her soft kiss as he laid a kiss on the subtle skin of her shoulder.

   - Mhm, Buck ... - her hand pushed his shoulder back and he immediately pouted. - I have to shower. I smell like the dusty, mouldy court room and I’d like that smell off me. 

    - Mind if I join? - he pulled the sleeve off her other shoulder but she held her dress against her chest before it could fall down. - I can give you a massage.

   - If I allow you with me in the shower, there will be no showering. - she got off his lap, pushing her dress up. - I’ll be back. Try to keep the pouting to the minimum until I’m back. 

   - Just so you know, you’ll need another shower after you’re back. 

Y/N rolled her eyes, before padding into the bathroom, leaving Bucky on his own in the living room shuffling through various channels. The shower on the background was running until it was running for too long, Bucky turned his head around, looking at the door that led to the bathroom.

    - Princess, everything ok? - he prepared to get up and check on her but was. interrupted by her opening the door.

She stood against the door wedge with her typical shyness which made her so endearing to anyone who met her, yet, this time, it was something other than endearment that Bucky was feeling when looking at her. She was dressed in a white corset and knickers with a small floral print and small pink ruffles at the edge of her underwear. The corset was also adorned with a blue ribbon and small blue bow, everything covered in with one of her many short satin robes that she normally used over her pyjamas or over one of Bucky’s shirt which always looked like a dress on her. 

    - Were you wearing that ... - he cleared his throat, trying not to stare at her perky chest. - Were you wearing that today? 

    - No, I bought this one in case you won. - she closed the door of the bathroom behind her, padding barefoot over to the couch, standing in front of him, her robe slightly slipping of her shoulder. - Do you like it? 

    - Fucking hell, princess. - he leaned forward, hands wrapping around her waist to pull her close to him. 

    - It looks silly, doesn’t it? I don’t know, I just thought I’d wear something nice and do so ... - Bucky interrupted her rambling by kissing her, his hands pushing the robe fully off her and throwing it somewhere in the living room. His hands massaged her thighs and upper body until they were cupping her face, kissing her as if he hadn’t seen in her in ages. 

Her hands rest upon his shoulder, lips melded against his in a long, drawn out kiss. She whined as Bucky moved his lips from hers to her jaw and slightly under it, sucking the subtle and sensitive skin he found there. She allowed herself to get lost in the feeling of his slight stubble against her sensitive skin, drawing kisses and leaving hickeys with slightly rough lips. His hands scouted her corset for the square brackets, loosening the garment and pulling it over her head before leaning to kiss her again. She smiled against the kiss, breaking it to look at him which greatly annoyed Bucky, who tried to kiss her again. 

    - No... - she pushed him back against the couch as he tried to kiss her collarbones. Her hands toyed with the fabric of his shirt, fingers trailing up and down his chest. - Let me do something for you.

    - Princess ... - she ignored his pleas and attempts to pull her in and distribute more kisses all over her body.

Instead she climbed off his lap, standing on her knees in front of him, eyes looking up to him with a devious like innocence which was intoxicating to him. Her hands ran up his thighs, nails racking over the fabric of his trousers until they reached his belt. She bite her lip, unbuckling the accessory and tossing it aside before pushing his trousers down along with his underwear. She gripped his cock in her hand, her finger swiping the pre-cum off his tip before he started to move her hand slowly up and down.

    - Oh fuck ... - Bucky groaned, throwing his head back with his eyes shut. She smirked at this reaction, continuing to move her hand up and down in a painfully slow motion. 

Bucky groaned and moaned, head pressed against the headrest of the couch, eyes closed and lips opened. Her confidence grew at the sight of her completely blissed out husband and she stopped her motions. Before Bucky could whine about it, she kitten licked his tip before licking a broad stripe up his cock eliciting a low grumble from him. He looked down at his wife through half closed eyes, locking eye contact with her. Y/N gave him an innocent smile with innocent eyes before taking him in her mouth. Bucky breathed out, high gasp as his hand gripped onto the couch cushions. He moved his hips forward unconsciously, his cock hitting the back of her throat. She breathe through her nose as she bobbed her head up and down his cock slowly, cheeks hollowed out as she made it upon the spot. 

   - Fuck, princess. Fuck, you’re so good, fucking hell. - Bucky breath harshly as she picked up the pace, her movements almost matching up with his breathing tempo until she started to vigorously suck his tip, getting him almost shaking before returning to take him inside her mouth once more. - Fuck, stop. Stop. 

  - Did I do something wrong? - she pushed her hair behind her ears.

  - Come here. - Bucky helped her up and on top of his lap, pushing her underwear down her legs before he did so. She held herself up by holding onto his shoulders, staying slightly taller than him as he holstered her up. 

She looked down as he looked up, his eyes gazing onto hers as he lowered her down onto his hard cock, silencing her whimpers with a consuming kiss. Her skin seemed to flush hot and cold at the same time as he filled her to a halt. Bucky let her accommodate to his size, kissing down from her lips to her collarbones.

    - Fuck, you’re pretty. - he panted, moving to kiss her neck while his hands held her still. - So fucking pretty, princess.

    - Bucky, please ... move. - she hide her head in the space between his shoulder and neck, a hot flush settling in her cheeks. 

    - I’m not gonna ... fuck ... I’m not gonna move if you hide, princess. - he spoke through moans, voice strained due to the grip of her walls around him, pulsating. - Look at me, look at me when I’m fucking you. Let me see your pretty face. 

Y/N whined, moving to look at him as he flushed her chest against his. She probably looked a mess yet had no time to worry about that once he started to push her hips up and down on him, eventually leading her into riding him. Her hand slide from his shoulder to his chest as she bounced on top of him, the sound of skin slapping against each other along with the moans and groans of both of them as they chased their high. She felt her own walls pulsating with each thrust, her lower belly coiling up as she continued to move up and down his cock as if she were going to die if she stopped. She gasped and whined, continuing with her movements as the coil continued to tighten up and her movements sped up. 

   - That’s it, princess. Such a good girl. - he moaned against her ear, silencing some of her moans with messy, wet kisses. - You wanna cum on my cock, hm? I know you want to.

   - Buck ... - her gasp was high as her walls spasmed and her body tensed. The grip on his dick led him over the edge just a few seconds later and he pulled her completely flush against him, feeling him cum fill her up and leak onto both hers and his thighs. She hide her head on the crook of his neck, mewling while she regained her breathe. 

Bucky chuckled through his breathlessness before slipping out of her which caused her to let out a small whine before he laid her down on the couch, arms wrapped around her. 

   - Make that a 3 month long honeymoon. - he cuddled her against his chest. 

   - How much of that will be sex? - she looked up, completely blissed out.

   - You’ll get a week of sightseeing if you keep pulling this on me.  

   - Right. - she rolled her eyes. - I forget that you are old and cannot take this much excitement. 

   - Are you teasing me, Mrs. Barnes?

   - Maybe. - there it was, the little playful smirk he loved so much. 

   - Oh, princess ... - he lifted her up as he got up from the couch, walking towards their bedroom. - You’re gonna regret that. 

taglist: @disasterbi @lookiamtrying @buckysteveloki-me @americasass81 @jamesbarnesappreciationclub @lostinthebeans @mariahthelioness29 @oh-nohoney @peaches-roses-sins @theadorasabditory @sipsteacasually @saiyanprincessswanie @booktease21 @noiralei @learisa @everythingisoverratedbutgreat @uglipotata72829 @naturalthrone22 @husherstan @mandiiblanche @vicmc624 @itsallyscorner @chipilerendi @emzd34 @writerwrites @bluevxnus @that-girl-named-alex @captnrogers @nsfwsebbie @sarge-barnes-sir @niki-is-a-thing @cynic-spirit @tenaciousperfectionunknown​ @buckyswillow​

[sagamemes]

the sheridan tapes  📼  part one.   here and under the cut, you can find a little under 120 lines of dialogue from the horror podcast the sheridan tapes, specifically from episodes one to three, edited for roleplay purposes.  tw: police, murder, supernatural elements, mentions of apocalyptic scenarios, near death experiences, injuries, vehicular crash, recreational drug and alcohol use.

❝  jesus, [name]. you’re not making this easy, are you?  ❞

❝  makes you wonder... do these things follow me because i chase them, or were they always following me?  ❞

❝  darkness and complete disorientation does a number on the human brain.  ❞

❝  i don't think he was a werewolf.  ❞

❝  i’d call it the customer service smile. you know, the one that says  ‘ thank you for shopping with us, please die now ’.  ❞

❝  i’ve found the more showy the text, the less impressive the actual phenomena.  ❞

❝  my job here is kind of… shaky at the moment.  ❞

❝  [name] was also engaged in the study of the impossible in his free time.  ❞

❝  so it’s just me who drives you up the wall then?  ❞

❝  well, you’ll be happy to hear i haven’t been having any fun. no weed, no ghosts.  ❞

❝  there hasn’t been a new lead on her case in more than half a year.  ❞

❝  so here i am, wrapped up in a blanket, staring at my little fireplace, so bored i actually decided to call my sister for once.  ❞

❝  it’s a little town near bandon. very little. nice little mini-market, and that’s about it.  ❞

❝  i doubt i’ll sleep much tonight. that’s okay. i just feel like looking at the stars for a while.  ❞

❝  it's probably for the best. i am simultaneously exhausted from the drive and absolutely wired from the coffee.  ❞

❝  i wonder if there will still be ghosts out there when that happens?  when the earth is gone?  ❞

❝  glad to hear you’re enjoying yourself, then.  ❞

❝  knowing doesn’t make things any easier, but it does make them a little less frightening.  ❞

❝  that’s all just a lazy way of saying that the real explanation is too difficult—or too horrible—for them to accept.  ❞

❝  it almost killed me, but in the end it settled for putting me in pt for a year while i figured out how to use my hands again.  ❞

❝  he muttered something about my time being up. or maybe he said it wasn’t up.  ❞

❝  i don’t really care that i didn’t get any writing done today.  ❞

❝  nothing. not a single idea worth writing down, no itch i needed to scratch or question i needed to answer.  ❞

❝  guess there really is no such thing as bad press.  ❞

❝  i have no idea what a writer’s  ‘ process ’  usually looks like, but i’m pretty sure it’s not this.  ❞

❝  see what i have to deal with?  god… siblings, am i right?  ❞

❝  what can i say?  i have a soft spot for gothic architecture.  ❞

❝  computers have never been very good at reconciling paradoxes.  ❞

❝  they’re pretty much over funding my little expeditions.  ❞

❝  that kind of smile doesn’t normally show that many teeth.  ❞

❝  you know, that’s only scary the first few times you do it.  ❞

❝  one day, it will be dead. one day all the stars will burn out, go dark and silent. one day, everything will be so dark and so cold that no new stars can ever be born. the old ones will blink out one by one, like candles going out, and then… nothing. silence. darkness. void.  ❞

❝  the simplest explanation is almost always the right one.  ❞

❝  i don’t remember getting in my van, putting the key in the ignition, or speeding away from that house, but i must have.  ❞

❝  no, no, i’m fine, i’m fine, just go bother someone else.  ❞

❝  i haven’t eaten, moved, or written anything all day.  ❞

❝  but maybe that's just the fact that it is two in the morning and my brain is running mostly on caffeine.  ❞

❝  given how good a [job] he is, i know it’s not the first time he’s done it.  ❞

❝  i escaped, but i knew that whatever was in that house has just marked me as prey.  ❞

❝  calm down. think. you’re just going to confuse yourself.  ❞

❝  just wanted to tell you a couple of us are headed out to marvin’s for drinks if you want to come.  ❞

❝  one of the most disappointing things about living in america is the lack of genuinely haunted houses. out of all the supposed haunts i’ve visited, maybe one in ten seems like the real deal.  ❞

❝  sounds… peaceful. not many distractions, then?  ❞

❝  something tells me this tape wasn’t played in court.  ❞

❝  one of the neighbours must have called 911.  ❞

❝  my infamous accident. it almost killed me.  ❞

❝  i just woke up to footsteps in the kitchen. i don’t know who, or what, but there’s someone in here with me!  ❞

❝  could you shut the door on your way out, please?  ❞

❝  uh, wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.  ❞

❝  the fire that i said went out?  yeah, it just started burning again.  ❞

❝  so i asked him to lie.  ❞

❝  it'd really be just a few of us. maybe me and [name] and one or two other tagalongs…  ❞

❝  apparently, the press had a lot of questions too.  ❞

❝  i’ve driven more than 8 hours and drunk enough bad coffee to give an elephant heart palpitations. i’m sure as hell going to get my money’s worth.  ❞

❝  oh sorry, am i bothering you now? what happened to  ‘ call anytime you want, [name] ’ or,  ‘ you’re always welcome here, [name] ’ ?  ❞

❝  i’ve forgotten to charge my phone. again.  ❞

❝  i… think i’m going to turn around now.  ❞

❝  well sorry if i wanted to have a nice talk with my sister for a change.  ❞

❝  will it just be left there forever? our legacy? look upon our works, ye mighty, and despair?  ❞

❝  no matter how far away from home you are, no matter how different the constellations might look from where you’re standing, you can always look up on a clear, dark night and feel like you’re about to fall right into it—the terrifying, endless expanse of nothingness.  ❞

❝  i know authors can do some crazy things to get out of writer’s block, but i’ve never heard of one resorting to arson.  ❞

❝  why do you always think there’s something wrong?  ❞

❝  ours is not to question why, ours is but to digitize and stay the hell out of trouble.  ❞

❝  so let’s try walking backwards. just keep an eye on it.  ❞

❝  i got lucky. or maybe i was just fast enough to escape.  ❞

❝  maybe there are secret passages behind the walls and corridors.  ❞

❝  no matter how far i walked, i couldn’t find the way i came in.  ❞

❝  well, i /know/ i’ve had worst nights. i just can’t think of any right now.  ❞

❝  i do want you to have fun, [name], i just don’t want you to get yourself killed doing it.  ❞

❝  i mean, obviously, i do care, that’s the whole reason i made this trip. to get away from the noise and focus.  ❞

❝  i might have… forgotten to tell anyone where i was going.  ❞

❝  before i get started, there’s just one thing i need to say. i have absolutely no patience for the unexplained, or the things people call  ‘ unexplainable ’,  ‘ supernatural ’, or  ‘ paranormal ’.  ❞

❝  i told [name] that i needed to get out, to get inspired.  ❞

❝  okay, if someone is messing with me, they’re going to be very sorry, very quickly.  ❞

❝  [name] lied his ass off to save yours.  ❞

❝  a crash like that does funny things to your head.  ❞

❝  i still don’t know how he got there without me noticing.  ❞

❝  any plans i had to travel abroad went up in smoke.  ❞

❝  i thought of pulling out the bad cop routine.  ❞

❝  strange how something so dead can be so beautiful.  ❞

❝  it hated me:  hated what i do, and more than that, hated who i am.  ❞

❝  lots of tall tales. and more than a few ghost stories.  ❞

❝  oh good, you’re still here!  ❞

❝  reviewers absolutely grilled it:  said it was a nonsensical rip off of the dark tower, whatever that means.  ❞

❝  i jumped out the window. cut my hands on the glass, but thankfully not bad enough to need stitches  ❞

❝  i told her, tonight.  ❞

❝  for a minute, i wondered if that would really be so bad. it was a fitting way to go, given my… well, everything.  ❞

❝  i suppose that’s a universal constant—maybe the only one.  ❞

❝  i never let myself get this turned around. especially not at night.  ❞

❝  i don’t know if it’s actually haunted. but if not, then it was sure as hell convincing.  ❞

❝  i’m not one of those people who thinks she’s the spawn of satan or something ridiculous like that.  ❞

❝  unless i’m prepared to accept that she was murdered by something that crawled out of a funhouse mirror, this isn’t much help with the case, either.  ❞

❝  i have to try and work some actual cases the rest of the time. you know, cases that might have some answers i can find.  ❞

❝  it's cold, damp, and dark as night. i'm in my element, at least.  ❞

❝  your place is waiting for you.  ❞

❝  yeah, i’m all good. great… hanging in there, you know?  one day at a time.  ❞

❝  oh, i see you. you think i’m still scared of [thing], huh?  think you can freak me out?  ❞

❝  trust me, i’ve had a hell of a day, and you do not want to mess with a pissed off…  ❞

❝  and tell my sister i'm sorry.  ❞

❝  oh god, it's cold.  ❞

❝  the night sky really is beautiful out here.  ❞

❝  tell him he shouldn’t have been such a good liar.  ❞

❝  i’ve been listening to this for the last two weeks now.  ❞

❝  it’s not even that i’m having bad ideas. i’m not having any at all.  ❞

❝  can’t get away from the work, no matter what i do.  ❞

❝  i made sure i switched off my phone before i came up here, just in case.  ❞

❝  god, these things smell of weed.  ❞

❝  yeah, well… just wanted to make sure you’re okay, you know?  ❞

❝  [name] is dead. that's all there is to it.  ❞

❝  no, i need to get out of here. it’s been a long day.  ❞

❝  a lot of the art i found was just paintings of a night sky full of stars.  ❞

❝  my job is to look the facts dead in the face and find an explanation. one that will hold up in a court of law.  ❞

❝  personal and career choices, i guess you’d call them.  ❞

❝  damn. i could’ve sworn i felt something strange about this place when i hiked through this morning… or maybe it was a different part. hard to tell this late at night, anyway.  ❞

❝  well, let’s just say a middle-aged man-child running out panicked and tearing at his eyes would hardly be a marketable image.  ❞

❝  i didn’t mind that i’d be alone—i always expected that to be how i went.  ❞

❝  i’m sure that’s on my personnel file by now, as if it could get any more problematic.  ❞

[unsaidmar]

Call.

a/n: hello peeps! this is a request! thank you for liking what i write, it means the world to me. love y'all. requests still open. 

wc: 1.5k hehe

warning: mentions of death, curse words, sad stuff.

pairing: spencer x bau! reader.

plot: For the first time, you’re not where he is. It drives you crazy. 

--------------

You considered yourself quite the resilient person. Emotions got to you but never incapacitated you. Danger was a given in the career path you had chosen and the prospect of it was something you were used to, but never like this. It was always your own life you were worried about, but the BAU had taken the grasp you had on your job and your reality and completely redifined it.

Being guarded with your emotions and affections was a defense mechanism you had developed thanks to your experience in law enforcement. People always got hurt and you had to move on from it, that’s just how it was. But the BAU was the one to break the mold.

Those people had been through a lot together, the good, the bad and the ugly. They had seen it all and done it all, and now you were a part of it. They took you in and accepted you like you hadn’t just joined the team and you let them. Soon enough, Rossi was walling you “kid” and kissing both your cheeks when he greeted you, Morgan was fist bumping you when you made stupid jokes and you were going out to dinner with Emily, JJ and Penelope. Not one of them hesitated to put their life on the line with or for you, and it shook your world.

All of a sudden it wasn’t just yourself you had to worry about, because every person walking into burning buildings and hostage situations with you was your family. You loved every one of them and losing them scared you a lot, enough to feel like your heart was beating out of your chest whenever they were in danger.

And still, you had to go and fall in love.

Spencer had woven himself into your life, your routine, your work life and eventually your heart. It felt like he was marking his territory before he knew he was doing it, something resembling a person moving into your home, but the things he left behind were more than a toothbrush or a book. He left his mark in little things you incorporated into your life and it slowly transformed the both of you into a collage of each other.

He started drinking soy milk when you convinced him it was not bad and that subjecting himself to the pain of being lactose intolerant and still consuming milk, wasn’t worth it. You stopped leaving your windows open at night when he freaked you out about stray cats taking residence in your couch and potential burglars getting in. And those absolutely inconsequential things were forever going to be a gift you had given each other, no matter what came out of your relationship, even if you went your separate ways. Which, you never did.

Three years into working at the BAU, and two into your relationship with Spencer, you got married. The both of you figured that the wait was not necessary because you knew very early on that that was it, you were it. Next thing you knew, your fourth wedding anniversary was coming up, and so were many other things.

After getting kidnapped and shot, you were never the same. You had come to terms with dying, you wanted it to happen so you didn’t have to deal with the inevitable trauma that came with surviving, but you weren’t that lucky. Everyone had been worried about you and the living ghost look you were sporting. It looked like you were re living the situation in your head every moment you were awake, and that was indeed the case. It haunted you when you were sleeping and it consumed you when you were awake, so Hotch made you take a break.

Stubbornness was your thing, so he took away your badge any other form of ID that could get you into the building, he didn’t answer your calls and only texted your work cellphone to ask you to stop asking him to reinstate you. Being alone with your thoughts was hell. Having your family out there risking their lives without you was even worse.

“Hey Spence, it’s me again… um... could you let me know if you’ve been getting my texts? It’s just that… you never not text me back and I’m getting worried. Is that too much? I’m probably being ridiculous. Anyways, call me back. Or text. Just let me know you’re okay. I love you.” You sighed and put your phone down for what felt like the twentieth time in the last half hour.

This had never been the case. You were never the worried spouse that had to rely on phone calls or texts to communicate or to even know your husband was alive. It made you empathize with Will, with Haley. It made you want to ask them for advice on not going crazy. Your mind was already going rouge.

I can’t be a widow. I can’t mourn the love of my life, how does anyone? What happens if I lose him? How foolish of me to have dismissed this when we got married. We’re FBI agents, for the love of God. We point guns and have them pointed back at us for a living. I’ll have to take my ring off. Do I keep it? I can’t look at it if he’s gone. Who picks out the dress for the funeral? If I have to do it, I’ll go insane. I can’t bury him; I can’t go watch them lower him to the ground. I will just cremate him and split his ashes so his mom has him too. His mom. That woman won’t be able to bear outliving her baby. God, please pick up the fucking phone.

You: Honey, please text me back!!! Have someone text me for you, idc.

You: Spence, charge your phone.

You: Why is Derek not texting me back either?

You: Are you angry at me?

You: I’d rather you tell me if you’re angry. Don’t ghost me when you’re on a case.

You: Spencer.

You: I’m calling Penny.

Three rings it took for Penelope to answer.

“Hi my sweet, beautiful, ____. How can I be of assistance to you at this indecent hour of the morning/night?” She chirped, her tone already relaxing you. She would be the first to know if something had gone wrong.

“Hi Penny, do you have any word on the team? I keep calling and texting Spencer and he hasn’t gotten back to me. It’s been like three hours.” You said, holding back the tears.

“Oh, sweet stuff. Last I heard, they were delivering the profile. They’re in Kansas and there was a tornado warning. The power is out. Maybe all of their phones ran out of battery.” She tried to reassure you, like always, already knowing what was happening in your head. “Is everything okay? Have you slept?”

“Not really. Spence stopped replying and I got anxious.”

“Don’t worry hun, bad news travel fast.”

“Yeah, yeah… you’re right. I should…”

Before you could finish your sentence, the door creaked open and you saw a defeated looking Spencer hang his jacket and take his shoes off trying to be quiet, assuming you were asleep. You felt the color come back to your face and you dropped the phone on the couch without even making sure you had ended the call.

“Oh, thank God.” You ran to him and aggressively hugged him. Much to your embarrassment, the tears you were trying so hard to hold back were now streaming down your face.

“Hey, hey…” He took in your appearance and instantly worried about you. “What happened? Is everything okay?”

“What the fuck happened to your phone? And everyone else’s for that matter!” You said, letting go of him and raising your voice without meaning to. Spencer knew you never yelled, so he was taken aback by your words.

“It died, ___, four hours ago, the power went out and the generator wasn’t working. Why are you screaming?” He rushed out.

“Because you never texted me back and I thought you were dead!” Your voice was a lot calmer now, much more frustrated and tired.

“Honey, I’m so sorry, everything happened so fast, I didn’t even think about my phone. I didn’t mean to make you angry; I promise.”

“I’m not angry, baby. At least not at you. I hate being here and not out there with you. I can’t sit around and wait for you to give me proof of life. it’s driving me insane and it has only happened once.” You groaned, choking back quiet sobs now. “I can’t lose you. I can’t be the last to find out.” You fell to the couch like your legs had stopped working.

Your husband was looking at you like he didn’t even think about that, like the realization had just hit him. You couldn’t blame him, neither of you were used to that dynamic of checking your phones because the one person you would want to update was always along for the ride.

“Baby, you’re not going to lose me. I’m so sorry, I promise I’ll care more about my phone. I didn’t mean to worry you.” He said, crouching to be eye to eye with you and taking your hands.

“No, no..I’m sorry. I’m being ridiculous, I went crazy. You shouldn’t have to do that…” You kissed his knuckles and slid down the couch to sit on the floor with him. All you wanted was to be near him. You put your arms around his neck and whispered. “I love you, I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was losing it. I’m not used to this feeling of not knowing where you are or if you’re okay, I felt helpless.”

“It’s okay hun, I get it, I love you too. We’re both new to this whole being-a part thing. If I’m honest, I don’t like it.” He pulled you to his lap so you were tangled up like a koala.

“I hate it. It 's the worst. I’m done with this break”

“Hotch is just looking out for you, he wanted to give you your space after the accident. You can talk to him and see how he feels about you coming back.” His reassuring words were already lightening the mood, and you were grateful he was fine. Once the adrenaline died down, the sleep you had been missing hit you like a ton of bricks. You stifled a yawn and planted a kiss on Spencer’s forehead.

“You’re tired. Let’s go to sleep.” He took notice of your droopy eyelids and went to stand up. “Have you been awake all this time?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t just go to bed.” You replied, removing yourself from his lap and taking his hand.

“Come on, let’s crash. I’m off tomorrow, we don’t have to wake up early.”

Oh, thank the lord.

“I’ll go to sleep, but I have one condition.” You said with your best attempt at a mischievous grin.

“What is it?” Spencer asked, knowing that tone and that face all too well.

“Get a stupid portable charger.”

[razorblade180]

Attitude adjustment

Yang:*bowing* I’m sorry.

Principal:Mrs. Xiao Long, this this third time your daughter has been apart of fight at school and I must make it clear there will not be a fourth. Any more incidents and she’ll be-

Yang:Expelled, I know. I just....*sigh* I’m trying everything over here. I worked things out with the other students’ parents where I’ll write apologies out and believe me when I say I am not happy about this whatsoever. All I’m asking is you don’t hold her back a year and give her extra time on the late assignment.

Teacher:And why would we give special treatment to the most problematic child in Menagerie? Surly you don’t believe Veronica Belladonna deserves special treat-

Yang:*claps hands together* Please......

Principal:......

Nine year old Veronica Belladonna sits in chair outside the office, kicking her feet. Her nose crinkles up along with the bandage on it from soreness. Annoying or not, her classmates were heavy handed like nobodies business. Yang finally walked out office, taking Veronica by the arm and dragging her away.

Veronica:Ow! That’s tight!

Yang:Good. Do you like me coming up here? Were daily phone calls from teachers about disruptive behavior not enough? Veronica they want you kicked out.

Veronica:Yeah I heard.

Yang:Then I expect you to act like that’s a big deal and shape up!

Veronica:I don’t give a damn!

Yang:Hey! Watch your fu- oooo don’t swear at me. Don’t swear at all! Work with me here.

Veronica:There’s nothing to work.

Yang:Kid, your attitude needs serious working on. I know that you know that you can not just go around picking fights and hurting people.

Veronica:And if they wanted a fight!?

Yang:Never give it to them. You know that.

Veronica:That’s unfair! It’s all their fault. Mom would understand! I want her right now!

Yang:Blake is working!

Veronica:Uuuuuugggggghhhhh!

Yang:Yeah well the feelings mutual right now. You know what, you’re grounded.

Veronica:For what!?

Yang:*red eyes* Fighting! For a week you will come straight home from school and go right to your room! No tv, free time, grandparents house-

Veronica:But grandpa and grandma were gonna teach me to surf!

Yang:Well I guess you’ll just have to learn another time. Learn to behave like a good girl before anything else.

Veronica:*tearing up*........I hate you.

Yang stopped dead in her tracks. She looked back to see Veronica in tears, her ears folded back and tail rigid. The girl kept tugging and struggling from Yang’s grip, all but flailing as a means to escape. Yang remembered being a kid. She remembered throwing tantrums so violent that it must’ve wore her dad out. She remembered saying she hated him too. Being on the opposite end, that really put things in perspective. Despite her best efforts, Yang could tell she was shedding a few tears.

Veronica stopped her struggles the moment a tear drop hit her hand. Suddenly, the fight in her left. Her ears dropped down with her tail. Now she had another reason to leave. Guilt. Her arm jerked as a reflex. What should’ve been in vain wasn’t. Veronica thought her words had made her mother loosen her grip. That was until she saw her wrist actually pass through Yang’s fingers. In shock, she looked at her mother in equal confusion.

Yang:.....Did you just....?

Veronica:Ma, I.....

Afraid of her own words, Veronica ran. She ran as fast as she could with tears blurring her vision. Yang watched in disbelief for a moment before running after her.

Yang:Veronica!

Veronica:Just leave me alone!

Yang:No! You just used your semblance!

Veronica:So what!?

Yang:We don’t know how it works! You could hurt yourself!

Veronica:Why would you care!? I said that I hated you!

Yang:And!? That’s a one way street. I don’t hate you, and I know you don’t actually hate me; even if you said it.

Veronica:You’re lying! I know you hate me. I’m different from you! Humans hate faunus! It doesn’t matter that I’m your daughter!

Yang:Who told you that!?

Veronica:The students!!!

Veronica wasn’t paying a attention and tripped into the road. Her eyes locked eyes with a cyclist struggling to stop. Veronica braced for impact when she suddenly felt Yang yank her out of the way and into her arms. The little girl was a little shaken. So much in fact that her nails slightly dug into Yang.

Veronica:Ma, I...I-

Yang:What else did they say to you?

Veronica:.......*shivering*

Veronica:Our family would fall apart, and you’d leave me. Because that’s what humans do. We don’t get along; you just pretend to love me. I said they were wrong, but they just kept pointing. Laughing at me. I....I knew they were lying but...I just can’t stop thinking about it! *hugging her* I don’t want you to hate me!

Yang:......

xxxxx

Teacher:*typing*

Yang:*opens door* Teach, let’s talk.

Teacher:Mrs. Xiao Long!? Why are you-

Yang:So is there any good reason when I was here the first time nothing was mentioned about the kids telling my daughter that her family will fall apart because I’m a human and I can’t love my kid?

Teacher:Wh-What!? I...I was unaware of-

Yang:Really!? Are you really about to tell me that in your own classroom, you had no clue what was said? Not a single clue? Because unless my daughter is a liar, which she isn’t, you didn’t do shit about it.

Teacher:That’s ridiculous!

Yang:That’s what I want believe too. Because you know, it’s one thing for a kid to act like a kid and say something stupid. It’s an entire different thing if an adult in charge heard such a thing and didn’t intervene because oh I don’t know, their not particularly fond of humans either?

Teacher:....

Yang:Now I know that can’t be the case since an adult in charge of creating safe spaces wouldn’t actively let their own bias affect children; especially the child of a human. If that adult did have problems then they would no doubt say it to that human’s face and not take out any grievances on a actual child, right? Unless they’re too pathetic and scared to be an actual adult?

Teacher:....Is there anything else you’d like to bring to my attention?

Yang:To you, no. But I’ll be sure to mention this possibility to your boss, and let the parents know I will not be sending apology letters and instead be notifying them on what went on in this classroom. Oh yeah, and I may or may not bring this up later tonight to my wife. You know, the activist?

Teacher:........

Yang:Still nothing to say huh? Fine by me. Actually, it’s also fine if you never speak to me or my daughter ever again; since you’re obviously so good at that. Don’t even bother with the assignments. I’m thinking it would be best if Veronica took a step back and we’ll find a different class for her. Maybe even a school? You just keep worrying about anything else. *walks away*

Teacher:.........This job is all I have.

Yang:Yeah, don’t give a damn. *closes door*

The blonde bruiser took a breath to calm herself down. She looked over to see her child still wiping her face. Without a second thought, Yang put Veronica back in her arms and kept walking

Yang:Did you hear all of that?

Veronica:Maybe.....

Yang:Good. Now you know just how serious I am about you. And look, I didn’t hit her once.

Veronica:You should’ve.

Yang:Oh I wanted to, believe me. But that does nothing but make more problems sometimes. Listen here, those kids were jerks. Still, I need you to try really hard to keep calm and if nobody around feels helpful, just remember you’re coming home to me and mommy. We’re always gonna raise a little hell for you. Hate to break it to you but you’re stuck with me. I’m not going anywhere. *kisses her cheek* Never.

Veronica:*sniffles* I’m sorry I made you cry.

Yang:I’m sorry I just got upset without letting you explain yourself. That was bad.

Veronica:We both need working on. Am I still grounded?

Yang:Hmmmmmm noooooo. Gods, I’m too soft. We need to find you a good outlet. How about you spend some time with me after surfing and I’ll teach ya some cool moves. Just in case you actually need to hit something. Sound good.

Veronica:*red* I guess we can spend time together. *purring* If you want to so badly.

Yang:Hehe, I love you.

Veronica:....I love you too.

[luxaofhesperides]

my body slaughterhouse

In the quiet moments in-between everything, Yoo Joonghyuk looks to Kim Dokja. Or: Yoo Joonghyuk just wants to care for Kim Dokja if only he'd stay still for a goddamn second.

joongdok, 2.7k; an orv fic about gentleness.

also on ao3, with author’s notes if you want to read that sort of thing.

. . .

Yoo Joonghyuk is not used to being soft. His hands are made for breaking things, not saving them; he has never been able to save anyone, including himself. The lives he’s lived, going back to that fateful day the world ended, have made him cold and cruel. There is a distance between him and the rest of the world that no one can cross.

He walks this world alone. He knows better than to expect anyone to keep up with him.

He knows better than to get attached.

But Kim Dokja, impossible and unpredictable, forced his way into Yoo Joonghyuk’s life and declared them companions. And suddenly Yoo Joonghyuk is not the one walking ahead of everyone else, alone; now, he chases after Kim Dokja, time after time, reaching for him, always a step behind.

Kim Dokja is here, in this regression, and that is all that matters.

 It’s quiet, tonight. There is no terrible tragedy hanging over their heads, or an enemy lying in wait for them. Tonight, they can rest.

Compared to his past regressions, everyone is lighter. They are not the same as they were before, at the beginning. No one is. But that heaviness they carried, that burden that slowly dragged them down, it’s not here.

Shin Yoosung smiles as she talks to Kim Dokja. Lee Gilyoung is relaxed on the ground, leaning back against Kim Dokja. They’re just kids, thrown headfirst into the scenarios, and Kim Dokja saved them, like he saved everyone else here. It’s no wonder they’re so attached.

Yoo Joonghyuk is too, even if he can’t bring himself to say it.

The others chat quietly in between eating. Something warms in Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest as he watches everyone enjoy his cooking. Kim Dokja too was taking time to savor his food. He was glad; he had put the best pieces on Kim Dokja’s plate.

It’s hard showing care, when he’s so used to everyone he cares for dying. It’s hard to show care when he’s the only one left in the end, and nothing he does can save them.

Kim Dokja meets his eyes; Yoo Joonghyuk had been staring for too long.

-Do you have something to say?  he asks through Midday Tryst.

-No. Go back to eating.

Kim Dokja doesn’t look like he believes him, but that doesn’t surprise him. Out of everyone, Kim Dokja knows Yoo Joonghyuk best. It still stuns him, the lengths he’ll go to ensure Yoo Joonghyuk survives.

It’s not just the world Kim Dokja intends to save, but Yoo Joonghyuk also.

So used to being to one in control, leading others and taking charge in the scenarios, it’s strange to be on the other side of that. To follow after someone else, to have faith in them to get through anything. To be willing to die to see their goals come to being.

Kim Dokja is the only one Yoo Joonghyuk would feel this way for. No one else compares.

Under his gaze, Kim Dokja flushes and ducks his head. He urges the kids to eat and does not look at Yoo Joonghyuk again.

That’s fine. Yoo Joonghyuk is satisfied with keeping Kim Dokja fed. It’s the least he can do for someone who died for him time and time again.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping,” Yoo Joonghyuk says. It’s more an accusation than a question, and perhaps that’s what makes Kim Dokja glare at him. Yoo Joonghyuk glances down at the phone Kim Dokja was so focused on, looks at its blank screen, and irritation quickly fills him.

“I wasn’t aware I had a bedtime,” Kim Dokja says, staring up at him defiantly. The circles under his eyes are dark, and will likely get even darker. For someone who always saves him, he doesn’t care for himself at all. It irks Yoo Joonghyuk.

“How do you expect to fight well if you’re too tired to function?”

“I’ll be just fine. It’s not like I need a lot of sleep in the first place.”

Yoo Joonghyuk is familiar with the urge to punch him, but it’s particularly strong at that moment. “Don’t be stupid,” he growls instead, “You’re no good to anyone when you’re exhausted. Go to sleep.”

Kim Dokja rolls his eyes. “Honestly, Yoo Joonghyuk, you’re worried over nothing. I’ve gone without sleep before, I can do it again.”

That such an infuriating man could give hope to so many others baffles him. That such an infuriating man is someone Yoo Joonghyuk is willing to die for is even more ridiculous. But this stubbornness is exactly why they’re all here today. He’s not as mad as he wants to be; he never is when it comes to Kim Dokja.

“Come,” he says, grabbing Kim Dokja’s arm, “I will make sure you sleep.”

“Yoo Joonghyuk!” He tries to pull away, but all that does is make Yoo Joonghyuk tighten his grip. “This is ridiculous! Let me go!”

He doesn’t bother answering. Instead, he drags Kim Dokja to his room and all but throws him on the bed. Kim Dokja sits up and stares at him.

“What has gotten into you lately?”

Yoo Joonghyuk considers. He wants to take care of Kim Dokja. Repay him for everything he’s doing for him, for all of them. He wants Kim Dokja to care a little more about himself, but until then, Yoo Joonghyuk is content with doing it for him. He wants to be gentle to the man who saved him, reminded him of the value of life, gave him a reason to continue on. He wants to hold Kim Dokja close so that he doesn’t die again, wants to protect him because one of these days his death will be permanent and that is the one thing Yoo Joonghyuk absolutely cannot survive.

He doesn’t know how to say all this. It gets caught in his throat, his chest. So he says nothing.

“Yoo Joonghyuk?”

Kim Dokja looks confused. Lost. There’s red in his cheeks and a tremble in his hands. It makes Yoo Joonghyuk’s heart ache.

He walks to the bed and guides Kim Dokja away from the edge. Kim Dokja lets him, watching his movement with wide eyes.

Yoo Joonghyuk climbs onto the bed, sits against the headboard, and pulls Kim Dokja to rest against his side.

“Yoo Joonghyuk?” he asks again, voice quieter, softer. Pressed against his side, with Yoo Joonghyuk’s arm around his shoulders, Kim Dokja feels vulnerable. Soft, like he might break at any moment.

Everything he feels tangles into a knot in his throat. What he wants to say won’t come out. Instead, he says, “I will stay and make sure you sleep.”

Kim Dokja stares at him for a long moment, then slowly, tentatively, relaxes against him. It feels like a testing of waters, a careful surrender.

It’s something Yoo Joonghyuk has noticed bust hasn’t given much thought. Kim Dokja doesn’t touch others easily. If he does, it’s quick and easy to miss. A hand on a shoulder, a pat on the back, here for a moment then gone in the next. He keeps a physical distance between others, save for the kids, and Yoo Joonghyuk has to wonder, has anyone really touched Kim Dokja? Held him as Yoo Joonghyuk does now, let him know the warmth of others, how grounding the weight of another can be?

This is not a question he will ever have answers to. But he does know that he is holding Kim Dokja, can feel the weight of him on his chest, not an unpleasant weight but a comforting one.

Kim Dokja turns his face into Yoo Joonghyuk’s chest. When he speaks, his voice is muffled. “If you plan to sleep here, then don’t sleep sitting up. I don’t want to hear you complaining about a sore neck tomorrow.”

He doesn’t know how much time passes, but Kim Dokja falls asleep, relaxing completely as his breath evens out. In sleep, his face is much softer. He looks younger when he’s not planning how to save everyone but himself.

The sight brings back that ache in his chest, which hurts in the most pleasant ways. How lucky he is, to have Kim Dokja in this regression. As long as he’s here, Yoo Joonghyuk will continue on. 

  Lee Jihye is brighter in this regression. She laughs more easily and is quick to tease others. It makes him wonder what she was like before the scenarios, before she killed her best friend and walked out of that school as its only survivor. It’s hard to remember that there was a before that haunts everyone here, when it’s all Yoo Joonghyuk has known for years.

She’s not as strong as she was before, but that’s alright. There are others that will help her when she needs it. All Yoo Joonghyuk has to do for her in this scenario is teach her how to fight; Kim Dokja will teach her how to live despite everything.

In this regression, Lee Jihye is still a teenage girl before she is a maritime general. There are still days she wakes up in tears, gasping her dead friend’s name, and withdraws into herself for a few hours. In past regressions, this has made her fight harder, more recklessly, uncaring of her own safety. Now, Kim Dokja watches over her carefully, speaks to her in low tones, and sends Jung Heewon to comfort her.

Yoo Joonghyuk wonders how things could have changed if he reached out a little more. Had he been less focused on clearing the scenarios and more focused on helping those around him, could they have survived?

He knows the answer, and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth. He tries not to think about it.

Lee Jihye grins when she sees him walk into the clearing they’ve claimed for training. For a moment, as she sits on the ground holding her sword, Yoo Joonghyuk sees her dead and bloodied. Then she stands and says, brightly, “Master! What are we doing today?”

Yoo Joonghyuk takes a moment to focus on the present, then says, “Start with warm ups, then do your katas fifty times. Then I’ll show you how to disarm someone without getting too close to them.”

Lee Jihye beams and gets to work. Yoo Joonghyuk observes her for a moment; she’s steadily improving, but she could be stronger. They could always be stronger, because they were are enough.

(The memory takes over: Yoo Joonghyuk, not fast enough, not strong enough, not clever enough to outwit Kim Dokja. Yoo Joonghyuk, holding Kim Dojka’s dying body, helplessly watching as he turns to dust, ejected from the Star Stream, unable to save him yet again.)

Yoo Joonghyuk makes his way to the other side of the clearing and unsheathes his sword. He, too, needs to be stronger. Strong enough to take on the constellations. Strong enough to save Kim Dokja from himself.

He trains for a few hours, teaches Lee Jihye new attacks, spars with her to let her practice. She’s the only one he found this regression; the others all gravitate around Kim Dokja. He only needs to look out of her and Mia in this regression.

Even so, Lee Jihye, like the others, turns to Kim Dokja as well. Despite how often she teases him and insists she doesn’t care for him, she is deeply affected by his deaths just as the kids are.

They stop for lunch, and Yoo Joonghyuk leaves Lee Jihye to her own devices as he considers the hidden scenarios he could go after in this area.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, come here,” Kim Dokja calls from where he waits by the door. “Are you going after the hidden items?”

He makes his way to Kim Dokja, already wary at the calculating gleam in his eyes. “I am,” he answers.

“Great! Let’s go then.”

“I don’t need you to come with me.”

“I wasn’t planning on giving you a choice.” Kim Dokja smiles, and it makes Yoo Joonghyuk want to both shove him away and pull him closer. He keeps his hands carefully still by his sides.

“I can get these on my own,” he says, knowing that would never be enough to convince Kim Dokja to let him leave alone.

“That’s not going to stop me.”

He leaves first, without looking back to see if Yoo Joonghyuk is following; he is, of course. He’s always following after Kim Dokja.

And because this is Kim Dokja, he can't go two minutes without trying to cause problems. “I’ll be getting my share of the items too, of course. Don’t expect me to guide you without expecting payment.” He smirks at Yoo Joonghyuk, waiting for him to respond.

He grabs Kim Dokja’s arm. “Pull your weight and do some of the work and I’ll let you have some.”

“Ah, always so violent, Joonghyuk-ah, can’t you have one conversation without threatening the other party?” He tries to break free of Yoo Joonghyuk’s grip, but now that he’s got Kim Dokja close, he has no reason to let go.

“What part of this is threatening?”

Kim Dokja gestures to his captured arm. “Do you not have working eyes? Most conversations don’t require such brute strength.” Yoo Joonghyuk wants to laugh at that. When has Kim Dokja ever had a normal conversation? He’s either planning something that will piss off the constellations, or antagonizing everyone around him. He avoids normal conversations as much as he can, as though speaking genuinely to someone for the sake of speaking to them will make him break out in hives.

“You can let go,” Kim Dokja tries, still trying to pull away.

Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t bother to reply to that. He leads the way to the first hidden scenario in the area as Kim Dokja continues to struggle, then abruptly goes still, allowing the hold on his arm.

Another thing that Kim Dokja avoids: touch. Yoo Joonghyuk wants to keep him close, hold him at every opportunity, but Kim Dokja is quick to keep his distance and disappear. Even Yoo Joonghyuk has never been to physically isolated from others in past regressions. Kim Dokja seems touch starved, and that makes Yoo Joonghyuk want to touch him even more.

He slides his hand down from Kim Dokja’s arm to his wrist, and allows himself a small smile with Kim Dokja doesn’t try to pull away.

   “What are you doing out here?”

Kim Dokja’s voice is the first thing in a few hours to break the silence on the roof. Yoo Joonghyuk sits near the edge, looking out over the broken world. Everyone had been hit hard by the last scenario, and he had to escape and be alone before he drowned in his own thoughts.

It takes a long moment before he finds his voice. “I wanted some time to myself,” he answers.

Kim Dokja hums and doesn’t leave. He sits behind Yoo Joonghyuk, barely any distance between them.

“Are you thinking about everything that went wrong? Comparing this to your past regressions?”

Like always, Kim Dokja knows exactly what he’s thinking. It’s a relief that he doesn’t have to explain it when Kim Dokja already knows.

“You shouldn’t focus on what went wrong. There are too many things to go over. You should focus on the fact that we’re all still alive, and we made it through another scenario.” His voice isn’t pitying or overly gentle. Kim Dokja speaks as though this is obvious, and Yoo Joonghyuk feels some of the tension in his shoulders lighten.

“Have you already begun planning for the next scenario?”

“Of course. But we’ll go over that tomorrow, after everyone’s had some time to rest.”

There is nothing more to say for the night. Yoo Joonghyuk focuses on the sound of Kim Dokja’s breathing, and leans back just enough that their shoulders touch. It feels like a hard-won victory when Kim Dokja doesn’t startle or shy away. Instead, he leans back against Yoo Joonghyuk, pressing their backs together. A weight drops onto his shoulder; Kim Dokja’s head, tilted back so he can look up at the steadily darkening sky.

They stay until the sun sets completely.  It’s the first time he’s felt so at peace since the scenarios started.

That’s the first night Kim Dokja follows Yoo Joonghyuk to his tent and settles in besides him. He refuses to meet Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes, tense and nervous as though he wasn’t sure he was welcome.

Yoo Joonghyuk reaches out for him.

   Kim Dokja reaches back.

[writers-blogck]

Creeper in the Snow ( Karasuno x Manager!Reader )

Warning(s): Weird old man lol. Is this good, probably not. This is more of a crackfic than anything in my head. But here it is! Title: Creeper in the Snow Pairing: Karasuno x Manager!Reader Fandom: Haikyuu! Word Count: 2.047

        The cold cloud escaped your lips with every breath you took. Snow still lay on the ground from that night's storm. The roads were cleared though the sidewalks still had the inch or so of snow that hadn't melted at all with the rising sun. Your shoes would be soaked by the time you got to the gym but by then you could switch into your indoor shoes. All you had to do was get there and open up the gym before any of the team got there. 

        You were in charge of getting the gym set up before the team got there, or at least starting the process. It was normal for one of the boys to arrive at six-thirty to see the doors already open, net material brought out (you were too small to set it up by yourself without one of he poles falling on you), and freshly cleaned balls. On certain occasions, you went even earlier to set everything up for the boys. You were a second-year, though you got mistaken for a first-year often. Screw you chubby face! 

        This meant that it was your second year managing for the team and it would be a lie to say you hadn't gotten attached to your little family. So, what was the harm in doing something special every now and again? On Valentine's Day, you had made everyone chocolates and put cute hearts everywhere in the gym. Christmas, you went all out. Lights, a tiny tree (with gifts included), and anything you thought could make practice a bit more special. You would only be in high school together for so long, you wanted to make the most of it! 

        Today wasn't a special day, perhaps, but you were still out in the chilly weather at the ungodly hour of six a.m. on a Saturday. Why you may ask? Well, thank you for asking disembodied voice! You decided to be nice and get to the gym before the others to turn the heat on. This way, when they finally did arrive, they would enter a warm gym instead of what would feel like the icecream fridge at Ukai's store. Weren't you just an amazing manager?  Kiyoko had early lessons on the weekends and Yachi lived farther away than you. 

        It took one small metro ride and a twenty-minute walk to get to the school, but you didn't mind. You normally liked the time by yourself, it gave you time to think. Most days you would have one of your earbuds in to listen to music or some podcast but today, your phone and headphones were tucked away in your schoolbag. Today was not going to be a relaxing trip, not in the slightest. 

        Everything had been fine until you stepped off ar your stop, one you normally left alone. All of the other passengers had other stops to get to, you were the only regular passenger that got off this stop. It was hard to keep your stomach was sinking when you noticed a man in his late thirties get off at the same station. At first, you didn't think anything of it but when you noticed the man had his phone out, your anxiety began to swell. Was he following you? Perhaps he worked in the same area. You were just being ridiculous.

        As you went over the practice plans for the day, you noticed that even after five minutes of leaving the station, the man was still following you. You thought about the phone stuffed deep in your bag, hidden by your binders and pens that you had casually tossed in that morning. Should you call someone? Who would be up this early? You didn't want to wake someone up just because you were scared. You often worried over Hinata when he got hit by one of the volleyballs and ended up being called a worrywart. You overreacted to the tiniest little thing, this was just something like that. 

        Or so you wanted to believe. 

        As you saw the gym approaching, you shoved your numb fingers in to fish out the keys. The man had slowed down his pace but you still saw glimpses of him when you turned corners. You were ready to just be inside the gym and be able to lock yourself inside. The others could knock when they arrived, they would understand if you told them what happened, right? You were so close to your paradise when a loud cough startled you enough to drop the keys in the soft snow beneath. 

        "Ah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." It was the man with a friendly look on his face. Everything about him screamed of a normal man. He probably was a father or some upstanding businessman. He wasn't like the creeps the metros warned girls about. 

        "It's okay..."

        "I didn't know you were going to Karasuno or I might have walked with you. I'm here for a teacher's meeting? I've come from out of state and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to go. You go here, right? I was hoping that you could help me find my way to the library." 

        See, you were overreacting. He was just some lost teacher, that wasn't so bad. You could almost hear Tanaka and Nishinoya's voices teasing you about you being a scardey cat. You spent most of your time with the chaotic boys due to being in the same grade as them which led the three of you to form a strong connection. They always made fun of you for being so jumpy like Asahi. Maybe they were right, you were too skittish. 

        "Oh, well, all you have to do is-"        

        "I was hoping you could show me where the library was, I'm not good at remembering things. I used to be able to when I was a youngin but I can't seem to remember things as well anymore." He joked, taking a small step in your direction. Instinctively you took a step back of your own, hitting the locked doors of the gym. You could feel the hint of cold metal even through your clothes. 

        "My team will be arriving soon so I don't know if I have time-" 

        "Here, let me get that for you!" The older man kept interrupting you anytime you tried to object to his 'friendliness'. He bent down to grab the keys you dropped and just as you heard the click of him phone taking a photo, everything bubbled over. It all happened so fast! You could hardly tell what had even happened until it was all over and you could look back once everything calmed down. 

        The first thing that happened was the sound of a collective cacophony of male yelling. The creep had been shoved face-first into the cold snow with a foot pushing into his left hand with no care of how much force they were using. The phone he had been holding lay a few inches away before being picked up by someone else. You blinked owlishly as you finally looked up, taking in the entire chaotic situation around you. 

        Five boys were standing there, each with a unique expression on their face. Tanaka stood out the most as he had been the culprit who pushed the man into the snow. His foot didn't leave the creep's hand as he stared down at him with a snarl. There was that well-known Tanaka glare. He was one of the team members that was the most (outwardly) protective. If Noya had been there, they would be a deadly duo. No one could win against the two guard dogs of Karasuno! Still, your red-headed kouhai seemed to be taking the place of the rolling thunder warrior. He was just as bouncy, though he was staying a few inches behind Tanaka.

        Daichi had been the one to grab the phone, the terrifying dad look on his face. Suga's arms wrapped around you, pulling you away from the mass of bodies that were piling up and the chaos that was growing. The last one who had stayed silent from the sidelines was Asahi, a worried look in his eyes. Of course, all of the upperclassmen would be some of the first ones to arrive, that was normal. It was surprising to see Tanaka and Hinata so early and so awake. How many times had Tanaka stumbled in three minutes before practice started, jacket on backward, and a wild look in his eyes? 

        "You think you can get away with being a pervert to our precious manager, huh?! Delete those picture, you creep!" Tanaka's voice echoed across the empty schoolyard, the only other witnesses of the event being the birds high in the trees. All you could do was stand in confusion as the boys figured everything out. Tanaka was one to overreact but Daichi always had a level head. Seeing him with such a rage-filled look in his eyes was scary. Sure, the guy had made you feel uncomfortable but Tanaka didn't have to be so aggressive. 

        "I-Please..." The older man's cheek was becoming a bright red as the snow from his fall was sliding off slowly. His hand had to be going numb since he wasn't wearing any type of glove and Tanaka refused to move his foot. They had spoke about pictures....what had he taken a picture of? It was too early for you to put two and two together but the boys had seen it with their own eyes. The guy had been taking a photo of under your skirt as he 'helped you' with the keys. 

        "Don't try it!" Hinata bounced up, head peeking over Tanaka's shoulder as if the upperclassmen was a shield for him. It would have been funny if you weren't so confused about what was going on. 

        "He was just trying to get directions," You murmured to Sugawara, watching Asahi grab the keys and begin to open up the gym. It felt as if the boys were split into two different groups: the ones that were dealing with you and then the ones dealing with the old man. Sugawara and Asahi ushered you inside, leaving the other three to finish up what they were doing. Before the steel door shut you off from the outside, you heard the distinct sound of shattering glass as something was tossed to the ground. 

        Then they were gone, the door blocking out any noises that may come from outside. 

        How had that all happened in less than ten minutes? The clock read 6:45, fifteen minutes until the practice was supposed to start. You would have normally been here for nearly a half-an-hour before any of the boys showed up. You were thankful for whatever reason brought the boys here earlier than normal. What would have happened if they hadn't shown up? What had even happened to begin with?!

        "Are you alright?" Sugawara's hands were hovering over you like a worried mother as he brushed off any stray snow that may have gotten on you. They were right to call Suga the team's mom, he was the best at making sure everyone was okay. He knew exactly what to say at the right moment and always was there to lend a shoulder to lean on when you needed some help. 

        "Yeah...He was just asking for some directions, he said that he had a meeting in the library today."

        "There isn't a meeting today, is there?" Asahi spoke up, more to himself than anything. Suga shot a glare in his direction causing Asahi to quickly change his tone. 

        "Don't worry about it. Let's get it warmed up in here!" Asahi offered his kind smile, his hand resting on your smaller shoulder. 

        "I was planning on getting here early to do that but then that guy distracted me..."        

        "No worries, they say the cold can do the body some good." Suga glanced over his shoulder to flash a comforting look before going back to turning on the heat. Even though the room was filled with the chill of winter, you felt warm with the knowledge that you would always have your team to keep you safe.

[emiefaunwrites]

Hi!! I couldn’t stop thinking about the possible friendship that Kokichi and Taka may develop (LOVE your interpretation of Kokichi btw!) and I wonder if there will be a day where Kokichi FINALLY makes Taka laugh and eventually warm up to him. Really love Taka and Kokichi’s dynamic! So chaotic and I love it!!

Heyyyy!

Ahhh sorry on the delay with this! Exams ended and then my husband wanted to treat me to a nice meal and film night. So aaaaall my spare time disappeared haha! But I'm here now!

Ahhh thank you! Kokichi is one of my favourites from V3 (number one spot is my man Gonta though!) and I like to hone in on the idea that he's actually a softie that's just scared of being hurt. And I like to think, if you looked hard enough, you'd spot the truth amidst the lies.

And of course he'll win over Taka! How could he not? He's just SO GODDAMN GREAT. He just has to find the right trigger...

And here it is! Thank you so much for the ask and I hope you enjoy!

***************************

• Kiyotaka is a man of his word.

• He said to Kokichi that he would hang out with him, and so he does.

• It wasn't the BEST day of his life, that's for certain.

• But it was tolerable.

• And it's true - he REALLY does make people laugh.

• Maybe not Taka directly - but Leon's laugh always makes Taka smile.

• So you know. Close enough, right?

• But there DOES come a time where Kokichi FINALLY finds his in.

• And it is the most random thing ever.

• It's Makoto's 19th birthday and he's decided he wants to have a fancy dress party.

• The theme: Heroes and Villains.

• Leon LOVES a good fancy dress party - particularly where he can show off his cosplay skills.

• Normally, he and Taka go for couples costumes but this he was roped into being Pain from Hercules so that Hiro could play Panic and Mondo could play Hercules.

• They tried convincing Taka to play Hades, but he didn't feel it was right.

• And thats fine! Leon can wear a costume without pairing up with him!

• But he does now have to worry about a costume.

• A lot of people try to give him advice, but nothing really sits right with him.

• Why not Batman? He'd want Leon as his Joker.

• Okay, maybe Genos? He's want Leon as his Saitama.

• Wait, wait, SURELY he could be Light again? Ahhhh but Leon would make an adorable L...

• UGH! Everything he can think of means that Leon should be opposite him!

• It's just hopeless. He'll have to tell Makoto he can't make it...

• But then Kokichi bounces over one lunch time, grinning his usual grin and asking who he's going as?

• OBVIOUSLY Taka gets rattled and is a little blunter than necessary when replying.

• But that doesn't deter Kokichi.

• 'If you've got nothing better to do, then WE should pair up!'

• 'What?'

• 'It'll be fuuuuuun, Taka! Us besties dressed up together! Doesn't it sound GREAT?!'

• It sounds awful. But Taka's struggling for options.

• 'What did you have in mind?'

• Kokichi, upon not being rejected immediately, beams happily and whips out his phone - showing the most ridiculous pairing ever.

• At least, it SHOULD be.

• But a lightbulb switches on in Taka's head.

• This. Is. PERFECT.

• Grabbing Kokichi by the wrist, he immediately heads for the entrance.

• 'Wait, where we going?'

• 'To by our costumes.'

• YES! YES YES YES!

• It had only been a silly thought, but now that he can see a fire in Taka's eyes, Kokichi is FULLY invested.

• They talk strategy the whole way there - Kokichi rapt with the acting advice that Taka is giving and throwing out ideas that Taka LOVES.

• And once they have the costumes, they head back to Kokichi's room to practice.

• They even get ready together on the night of the party - Taka opting to do Kokichi's make up for him to make sure they match.

• They get themselves in sync, although both boys crease up every now and then when they catch the other now they're fully dressed.

• But when Leon, Hiro and Mondo knock on the door to pick them up - they're ready.

• The door opens, and all three burst out laughing in awe.

• Because stood there is Taka as Dr Evil and Kokichi as Mini Me.

• 'Holy shit, it's perfect!'

• As planned, Kokichi charges forward to bite Mondo but Taka holds him back with a quote - Kokichi waddling back to his side.

• And that's only the start of it.

• The boys perform BANG ON all night - Taka is the PERFECT Dr Evil and Kokichi's chaoticness leads to perfect interactions.

• They do air quotes at the EXACT same time.

• They both have a teddy cat to stroke in sync.

• Kokichi pretends to hump the sofa which leads to Taka shouting the quote about humping the laser at the top of his voice.

• And everyone LOVES it.

• It's no surprise that the evening goes super fast and just like that, the party's over.

• Taka and Kokichi chat the whole way home - laughing and joking together and are already planning their next costumes together.

• And Leon isn't sure whether he should be hsppy or jealous that Taka changes his profile picture to him and Kokichi...

[btswishes]

Love me for who I am now

Bucky x Reader ( Chapter 1 )

Part1 / Next 

Summary: You apply for the Stark internship and end up getting it, so now you have 5 months to make a good impression to continue working with the Avengers.

A/N: This is my first Marvel fic and I am taking it as a challenge. It is opposite of what my account was made, but here I go. Sorry for any mistakes made, hope you enjoy it even a tiny bit.

Word count:  3,281

Warmings: fights, harsh language, not part of the original MCU 

Y/N- Your name Y/L/N:  Your Last Name

                                   --------------------------------------

  Through sleepless nights and dark circles, books and pens, through months of work you reached your goal. The moment you received the acceptance letter from Stark University you almost flew out the window without a fear in your mind. This was it!

  Time had passed since that moment, but it is still engraved in your mind- a memory keeping you strong during the hard midterms and piles of work, even the small glimmers of regret. Trying your best wasn’t an option, you could do only that and no less. It was no easy task, lost social life as much as you tried to keep it. You were really lucky you had good friends that understood and supported you. University wasn’t easy for anyone making this one even tougher. People of all ages, backgrounds and cultures were piled up with you in this building. The best of the best as the slogan said, the ones that proved themselves and emerged victorious.

  When you were young ,you used to spend a lot of time with your uncle at his places outside the country. He would introduce you to his work colleagues and things you had never seen before. There was a time where you would spend months on end with him. Not many memories were left from those moments in your head. At one point you spend a few years with him, your mother thought it would be good experience for you and it turned out to be nothing but the truth-at least you hoped so. You learned a lot from him and his friends, it felt like each spend day would offer you more knowledge in areas you never knew of. Computer work, ways of thinking and so much more that had become second nature to you.

  The sky was tinted in a wash of oranges, reds and yellows bleeding one into the other, swirling around the sun emitting them. The day was ending, but you found yourself filling up an application in the library, covered by the silence and smell of exam worry.

  Sponsored and founded by the one and only Tony Stark, this establishment offered an internship. Being part of the Avengers, Tony didn’t let just anyone from the students attending in, even if they were the best labeled by the school. It had been a year and a half since you started pushing yourself harder to be able to apply and there was nothing that could stop you. Pressing your finger over the enter button was very nerve wrecking yet simple. Even if it didn’t work out this year, you planned to do it again and again ,till he had no other choice but give you a chance.

  Usually F.R.I.D.A.Y. went over everything and left only the applications worth going over by Tony himself or Pepper. The next 5 weeks for you were very stressful, but there was nothing more you could do but wait and focus on your own work. The first person you wanted to tell about this was your uncle. He went to work in some distant place where they had no internet so you switched to mail. Not as much paper under his name passed through your hands, as he had stopped answering you. You missed him, but the muddy childhood memories kind of compensated for that.

“Did you send it in?” the phone muffled a bit the sweet voice coming from the speaker 

“Yeah, a few days ago actually.” You answered with a gentle sigh

“And no answer yet?” the girl’s pitch rose at the end of the sentence, amazed at that what she just heard

“I know, I know. Think about it though Nea. Who knows how many applications get submitted. Someone has to brush through them after all.” defending the situation was a form of coping for you, made you feel hopeful.

“So you are trying to tell me Tony Stark’s interface or whatever it’s called, can’t sort them out in a couple of hours? Come on Y/N! You and I both know you are trying to make yourself feel better.” The small pause made you anxious over what Nea said “Listen.” A breathy start of the sentence “ I don’t mean to brag, but I think I am one of the people who know exactly how much you deserve this. You were never the studious type, plus that you were gone for years on end with that mysterious uncle of yours. I never expected you to suddenly go for Stark University. Your dream changed you, from this quiet kid to crazy ol’ you right now on the call with me.I ain’t letting you bust yourself up over this just because it didn’t happen the first time around-”

                Ding ding

  Nea’s deep speech was cut off before she could unleash herself completely, by the slight ring of your phone’s notification.

“Who tf has the audacity to text while the great me is giving this legendary –“

                Ding!

  The second time the sound sung out made her choke up with anger, you could almost see the fumes coming out of the phone.

“WHO IS IT!” a loud hiss pierced your ear

“Maybe if you gave me a minute I could answer your question.” Pulling the call down, your finger ran over the screen to the email, making your notification lamp blink like a car. Almost instantly it opened before your eyes and you gasped. The action made you swallow suddenly and cough out a bit ,giving poor Nea an idea about the level of shock you were in.

“What?What? You can’t just almost die and not tell me what is going on.” She proceeded with a not so tasteful interrogation.

“I-…they accepted my application…” at the end a small smile flowed over your lips contorting the sound coming out

“Stop!?” she choked up as well “You gotta be fucking with me!? No fucking way this is real!”

“I am honest. It says here that they liked my skill set, my grades and the way of thinking I presented in my essay. I got the spot Nea! I fucking did it!” you threw the phone on the bed letting it bounce as you started dancing.

“Of course you did! I told you! You will be working with THE AVENGERSSSS!” at some point it sounded like your best friend was more excited than you “When do you start?”

“Well…” taking a second to calm down and re-establish contact with your phone, you looked up the schedule that came attached with the email “…ok…so it says here that I will be starting on Monday so~ in 2 days? “

“So soon! Any requirements for the job miss Avenger’s sidekick?” and the teasing begins

“A list, surprisingly.” Rolling onto your back, you held the screen away and above your face, scrolling past “ I guess my first job will be with Dr. Banner in the lab. Apparently I will be given some sort of assignments throughout the 5 months work span. I will be monitored by Dr. Bruce Banner and the grading, I guess if you can call It that ,will be done by Tony Stark himself.”

“Basically Hulk will be your babysitter.” once this girl starts teasing she never stops even in amazing situations such as this one, good thing you loved her “That sounds so cool though! You will be able to meet Captain America and Black Widow~! I am so jelly of you I swear! When you leave work make sure to wait for someone from the group to walk by, omgggg I am fangirling so much right now.What if you go to dinners with them!?AAAAA!”

“Fun thing about that.” Your eyes landed on the last paragraph of the email “It says here that I am supposed to move into the compound and stay there till further notice. The whole idea is that if I do things well I will get a permanent job. Weird…” you hummed

“Weird !? How? That is so cool! Who knows you might even become an Avenger! You will be living with them anyways.” at this point Nea was either not breathing or hyperventilating so fast you couldn’t hear it

“Don’t be ridiculous.” your attention landed once more on the thought process you had a moment ago “I don’t get one thing. They say here that my PE grades combined with my IT and overall studies make me a great candidate, but I don’t remember sports being a requirement at all, or even providing them in the first place. Does it mean that if my grades were low in that department I wouldn’t have gotten the spot?”

“I guess people of science aren’t that flexible. Who cares anyways! You got in, no ifs and buts. I am telling you, at this point you could be an Avenger.” poor girl began thinking of names and suit designs for you “ Hurry up and pack those bags before I drop by with take away, so we can gossip over Steve Rogers’s abs.”

“Um…don’t get me wrong he is super hot, I just see the Cap more like an older brother figure than anything.” It was true, you looked up to him since the first time you studied about the Civil War. Fearless, gave his life in a way for his people, astonishing man over all.

“Hey! Let me drool over him! You were always more of a Winter Soldier fan anyways.” Nea pouted audibly . Her words made some lone memory pop up in your head, but it was as murky as the rest. “I don’t know why I am interested in him. Somehow his look is very nostalgic and rugged. Anyways. ”you shook your head out of the mental image of the soldier “I will go pack up, tell my parents and fix up all my documents. Probably find some stuff from former Stark employees online. I want to have a bit of an idea of what he expects and what I am getting myself into.”

“Fine fine, you could have just said you like troubled guys. You were the one who was happy Loki got a second chance after all. I will be over in like 3 hours.” She informed you

“Hey! He deserved to redeem himself, he was used!” a firm Loki supporter as always “Ok then, see ya.”

   Hanging up the call you placed your phone to charge and rolled off your bed. The email gave vague information about what you needed, but clothing wise you would still be able to come home and get stuff if you had to. What was on top of your priorities were papers, documents, all your research materials and tech. Those things had to be organized no matter what ,since they got you this far in the first place.

  Nae came over as planned and you two had a nice sleepover talking about you know who. The night came and left, letting the morning find you in your bed at 11am. Your forearm rested on top of your forehead in a relaxed manner, letting enough space for an exhale to linger in the air in front of you. Your mind was going over everything that was about to happen to you. It was one of your dreams, you worked for it nonstop day in day out, so why were you so worried about meeting the rest of the Avengers? Maybe it was just anxiety or fear of the unknown, yeah made sense.

  All you did during the day was make lists for every piece of tech you were binging with yourself. Things seemed to be in order, but worry kept nibbling on your bones. The moment of truth finally rolled up and so did your suitcase in front of your house. Nea came to send you off as she promised.

“Sweetie, make sure to call us every day. Eat well, don’t overwork yourself and-“ your mom went off with caution about anything and everything that came to mind

“Mom, you know I am going 3 blocks down from here right? Plus I can come home at any time I want to. I am not moving to Mars or getting arrested.” You smirked the panic away from her, giving them a big hug.

“Call me or text me when you get there.” Nea pulled you in, whispering in your ear as quietly as possible “And don’t forget to sneak me a booty pick of good ol’Cap. You know what they say-”

“That is America’s ass.” Your voice came out in a mocking tone

“That i-…let me at least finish it by myself! Geez!” she pushed you towards the door “Ok ok, go now before you spoil me something else” her arms crossed in front of her chest

  The walk wasn’t that long, you were too invested in your own thoughts to notice when the time and distance had passed. The glistening windows of the compound building shined into your eyes. Your lungs filled up with a breath that they kept in for a moment, before releasing it back in the outside world. Pulling out the documents you stepped in. The fresh smelling air hit you making you close one eye for a second.

People were walking around you fast and concentrated. Some looked in a hurry, others were on break with a cup of coffee and a strain-leaving expression.

 Your feet, as slightly shaky as they were, took you right up to the front desk were a lady with a dark rich red colored uniform looked at you. She flashed a professional smile, her eyes asking for your purpose.

“Um, hello. My name is Y/N -Y/L/N.” she saw the logo on your papers and gasped

“You must be the new intern Mr. Stark told us about.” She signed something and reached out “Can you give me your hand for a second.” Your fingers didn’t go past the surface of the desk when she pocked your skin. Pulling in your extremity, your palm wrapped around the spot that began to sting a bit “Don’t worry about it. This is your identification pass. Fancy, no?” she smiled winking. Her body stood up as she pointed at the elevator far in the back of the foyer.

  Instructions were given with each step of the way, calming your nerves a bit. The moment you found yourself inside the elevator she pulled your hand to the sensor on the wall next to the buttons.

Recognized: Code 2514. Welcome Miss Y/N  

 Your head shot up when F.R.I.D.Y.’s voice echoed in the small space. The women smiled giving you a small nod and stepped out of the vicinity. Once her body was outside ,the doors slid closed. Over them glowed a protective blue light layering over the material like a soft veil.

 It felt like you weren’t moving an inch. Your body flinched when the sun stung at your eyes from the window. Your gaze landed over the view of the city, as you went higher and higher, ascending into the clouds  The blues and yellows were covering the inside of the elevator, such vibrant and lovely colors warming your body. For a moment your heart felt heavy- lost memory tugged onto it again. An often occurrence lately, yet you kept brushing off as deja vu. 

Floor 134. Welcome to the Avenger’s compound Miss Y/N

“134!?” the numbers cracked out with your voice. The interface made you turn towards the opposite opening doors revealing a room as big as a hall, if not almost a stadium. The ceiling was high being the lid to this round area. Your heart beat increased pumping blood to your body, dilating your pupils at least twice their original size. It look amazing, almost like you had just entered heaven. The walls were white, the furniture was perfectly placed and cream colored. Stepping outside you jumped at the sound of the elevator doors closing behind you. 

“Wow” escaped your lips, your hand pulling the suitcase closer. So this was the common room or the shared space. The windows were so big they were practically a wall of their own. The bright rays were making themselves at home giving the white paint a new color with each passing minute. The ceilings were probably the equivalent of 3 floors in height. There was this weird feeling of home inside, a bit of isolation maybe mixed in. 

“Miss Y/N?” your head swung to the side when you recognized that shy but bright smile. Throwing the papers on top of your suitcase, you extended your arm at the man.

“Ah.” Good thing your mind automatically responds politely to people without you giving it much thought “Dr. Banner. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.” you shook his hand gently a couple of times and let go ,finding the papers and showing them to him “My name is Y/N-Y/L/N.” gentle bow and a smile followed the words skillfully chosen

“Welcome Welcome. Tony is out right now so I might be the only one actively walking around the compound. Well…”he scratched the back of his neck, lightly hunching over with a sheepish smile “I am one of the people you will be working under anyways, so I guess it is good that I came to get you. I would love to show you the lab, but I am sure you would like to set up your things first.” You nodded and he showed you to your room. The corridor had 3 tall doors scattered on the walls, all looking modern and elegant.

“This is the side where usually we have our female members. Natasha and Wanda will be your nextdoor neighbors. Hope it won’t be any trouble.” Bruce looked at you ,when an aggressive shake took over your neck

“No, no. Not at all sir. I am very grateful to have such amazing heroes next to me. As a matter of fact won’t they be troubled with me here?” and here came the normal anxiety that you had for everything

“I am sure they will like you. Don’t worry about it.” Bruce stepped next to the door and waved you over “You don’t have a key or a door handle as a matter of fact. Tony’s idea, don’t ask. If you got up here on your own I assume he made the girls downstairs give you an identification implant. That is basically your entrance for everything here. Kind of an Avengers thing.” You nodded and him wiggling his fingers like a spell. Placing your hand on the door like he told you activated F.R.I.D.A.Y.

Recognized: Y/N. Access and ownership granted.

  The metal frame slid open and you found yourself standing before a big room. It was nicely furnished. The desk was big enough for you to work on it and have everything around. Bookshelves empty and ready to be used on your left and a large bed on your right flush against the wall. The window was once more its own wall right in front of you standing behind the desk. The bathroom door was opening a space before the shelf the same color as the paint in the common room.

“I will let you set up. If you need anything F.R.I.D.A.Y. is always here. The room is interactive, you can ask exactly what works under the interface’s control. The door is one.Take your time.”he was on his way out “Would you like some coffee or tea?”

“I would like some tea, thank you very much.” Bruce flashed you a smile “F.R.I.D.A.Y. the door please.”

Door closed 

  Done as said and requested, clicking behind you. 

Would you like an extensive list of my functions as an assistant?

“Please do.”

[spencersawkward]

switchblade faith // spencer reid - chapter 2

summary: one month after joining the BAU, Clea is still settling in. between solving murders and getting acclimated to DC, the only comfortable thing in her life is her friendship with Dr. Spencer Reid.

word count: 3.5k

masterlist

Richard Slessman's bedroom looks like something straight out of a serial killer documentary. floral wallpaper taunts Morgan and I as we walk inside. a model airplane hangs above his bed; cheap medals-- the kind kids get for participation-- decorate the area above his desk, which is littered with books about forensics. there's a carousel of CDs, too.

"whoa." is my brilliant analysis.

"we should have Garcia check out this guy's laptop." Morgan starts to wander around the room, trying to piece together Slessman's head just by examining his things. a group of cops are already huddled at the table with the laptop open, and I realize too late what they're doing.

"log in password." one of them plucks a post-it off the screen, starts to type it in.

"wait, wait--" Morgan and I nearly lunge toward them, but the crackling sound of a fizzing motherboard tells me we're too late. the screen goes black.

"it's not turning back on." Genius #1 observes. Morgan sighs and squeezes his eyes shut in frustration.

"yeah, and it won't. it's a false password."

the cops stare up at us blankly.

"it triggers a complete shut down of his system." I clarify. they share a look, deservedly feeling stupid. I want to roll my eyes, but Morgan's told me that the police on these cases get defensive most of the time; they don't like us on their turf. one glance from my partner, though, and those guys flee the room without another word.

I pull out my phone and dial Garcia's number in the hopes that she can salvage whatever's left of this asshole's computer. we arrested him an hour ago and we can only hold him with probable cause because we don't have any charges yet. this house search could be our only chance to get him in custody.

"well hello, my fresh-faced beauty queen." Penelope answers on the second ring. a slight smile turns up the corners of my mouth.

"hi, Penelope." I watch Derek plugging something into the laptop, then opening another monitor next to it. "listen, Morgan's trying to set up Richard Slessman's computer and I was wondering if you'd be able to hack into it."

"oh, kitten," she sighs contentedly. "that's my bread and butter."

"great. I'm putting you on speaker." I press a button and wait for Morgan to talk. he's typing furiously until a tab pops up with the words "Deadbolt Defense" in bold above a box for a password.

"what's the six at the bottom of the screen mean?" I ask.

"remaining password attempts until it wipes the hard drive." Morgan replies. shit.

"Penelope, there might be a journal or document or something that tells us where Heather is." I inform her.

"what system are we talking?" she asks.

"Deadbolt Defense?"

"Deadbolt is the number one crack-resistant software out there, hon. you're gonna need to get inside this guy's head for the password."

my heart sinks. when my colleague double takes, it makes me think that this is a rare occurrence.

"babygirl, are you serious?" Morgan complains. my shoulders droop. Penelope has been nothing short of genius since I got here. slicing through sealed files and unfurling secret criminal records is always ridiculously easy for her.

"sorry, handsome."

"thanks anyway." I hang up and shove my phone into my back pocket. "so... what now?"

"now," Morgan takes another look around the room. "we get creative."

...

somehow, I wind up in the attic. I don't really know how this happens, seeing as I started by flipping through discs in Slessman's weird quasi-childlike bedroom, but it's certainly an interesting space. Christmas lights are strung about, along with some shawl-like material that drapes raw ceiling.

the laptop sits in front of me, password cursor blinking mockingly while I sit in the chair. my head is aching. despite having the unit go through every single one of the CDs in search of the most-played one (hoping it'll crack the password), there's been nothing.

at least there have been other successes since we got here: we know that Slessman isn't operating on his own. he's the submissive in a partnership with Timothy Vogel, a prison guard where he was incarcerated a while back. the problem is that Vogel was onto us and fled to the kidnapping site, which we can't find. I feel useless sitting here with nothing to offer.

I consider going back downstairs and perusing the room again when I hear footsteps on the stairs. Reid's head pops into the room, spinning a bent paper clip between his fingers.

"hey." I greet curiously.

"I've been thinking about the CDs." he responds, walking over to me. I rub the heels of my hands against my eyes.

"we tried it, Reid. there's nothing there," I slam my back to the cushions with an exasperated groan. "if we don't find something, this girl is dead."

instead of replying, Reid bends down next to the laptop in front of me, squinting at the DVD slot in the side. he pokes the end of his bent paper clip into the small opening.

"I think we may have missed the obvious." he murmurs, working diligently. I scowl.

"what do you--?" in response to my question, the DVD slot pops open and out slides a copy of a Metallica CD. Reid and I look at each other with wide eyes before I snatch the disc out of of the computer and stare at it. "what made you think of this?"

"it was the only empty case." he shrugs. I grin at him.

"okay, okay," we still don't have the password. I read the cover of the case he hands me. "I'm an insomniac who listens to Metallica to fall asleep. what song would make me do that?"

Spencer frowns, grabs the thing back from my hands, and scans the track list within the span of a second.

"'Enter Sandman'." he says. I watch the puzzle pieces fall into place in his brain, those lips parting with a slight smile playing at the edges. his eyes gleam with satisfaction.

"you are a national treasure." I type like the wind, unlocking the screen and immediately digging into his files. Spencer peers over my shoulder as we search for any indication of Heather's location.

"fucking bingo." I mutter when a video feed pops up. it's black-and-white, showing a crate in the corner of the room with a light hanging above it. Heather's inside, eyes duct taped and hands tied in front of her.

Spencer is already dialing Hotch's number. the blood drains from my face as I watch her trying to breathe through the gag in her mouth.

nothing in the feed is helpful in terms of finding out where she is. it's a nondescript room with wooden floors, mostly shrouded in darkness except for the light hanging overhead.

"wait a minute." I pause what I'm doing.

"hm?" Reid asks. I hit a few keys, trying something.

"I'm lining up the last twelve images." I explain as he watches me work. the photos sit in a grid on the screen, causing my heart to stop in my chest when I notice what I've been meaning to find. "look at the light."

"it's shifting positions like it's swaying," he notices. "like the earth is tilting."

"the ocean." I nod. we share another glance, both of our hearts hammering. we're so close to solving this, I can feel it in my chest. "we need to tell Hotch. find out if there are any piers or docks near here. there's no way he could get the webcam image from the middle of the ocean."

Reid nods, runs downstairs as fast as he possibly can. when he goes, I notice the board in the corner of the room: Go, mid-game. I've never learned how to play.

...

by the time I get back to my apartment that night, my limbs feel like jello. I collapse into the chair by my door and rub my eyes again. my head is still pounding now that the adrenaline rush has subsided. we ended up finding Vogel at the docks; Heather is safe. Hotch was shot in the arm, but he'll be fine. and I'm still a little in shock.

I hate the rumble of my stomach as I realize I haven't eaten since this morning. my head was too full of other thoughts to even consider food and after such a long day, I can barely fathom getting up to change into pajamas.

my phone buzzes in my pocket and I pull it out to see that Garcia texted me.

what are you up to? followed by a series of emojis that make me smile. I sink deeper into the seat before replying.

nothing why?

can I bring over takeout?

I stare at the message for a second with surprise. Garcia is fun and we've had drinks as a team, but I've never hung out with her one-on-one before. I'm curious.

sure. what genre of food should I expect?

Thai. send me your order!

that sounds so good right now, I almost order it myself. part of me is nervous about hanging out with a team member by myself, except she's been so friendly to me. Penelope was the first person to make me feel at home, aside from Prentiss.

I wait patiently for her to arrive, watching some TV and working my way through some leftover paperwork. my thoughts are everywhere right now, but when she tells me she's downstairs, I try to put it all out of my mind.

"hey!" I open the door to see Garcia with an armful of plastic bags.

"I have your curry, and I got chicken satay and spring rolls and fried rice in case you're still hungry." she beams at me. her bracelets make a pleasant clinking noise as she waves the goodies around.

"a woman after my own heart." I smile, stepping aside to let her in. we head upstairs and before long, we're settled on my couch with a full display of food on the coffee table. I heap my plate while she looks around my space.

"this place is so cute!" she says through a bite of spring roll.

"thanks. I've had it for about two years now. that window over there was really the selling point." I point to the enormous view of downtown DC, which is sparkling right now. there's another chair set in front of it, where I sometimes read or nap in my free time.

as we eat, Penelope and I gossip about work and the city and everything else. she's really easy to talk to. when I ask about her life, she doesn't seem guarded at all; unlike a lot of FBI agents I've met, she wears her experiences on her sleeve.

"how are you liking the team so far?" she asks a similar question as I received this morning. I smile to myself before answering truthfully.

"everyone is great. Hotch is kind of terrifying, but I've worked with people like him before." I shrug. he reminds me of one of my old professors: perpetually stoic to the point where he doesn't even seem like a real person. she laughs.

"he's super nice once you get to know him."

"really?" I look up.

"definitely. he's just always got that scowl on his face. don't let it put you off." she pats my hand reassuringly. I sigh, finish chewing my bite. there's been something prodding me since visiting Garcia's tech lair for the first time, when she showed me her collection of puppy calendars and fuzzy pens.

"can I ask you a question?"

"anything, my love." she smiles warmly. I hesitate, hoping I don't ruin the moment somehow.

"how did you get involved in the FBI? you just don't seem very..." my sentence trails off.

"government oriented?" she laughs. "I used to do a lot of hacking in my free time, and I got into some stuff that the government didn't like. and, um-- you know that saying, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'?"

I nod.

"it was like that, except they hired me. and I love it." she finishes the last spring roll. I think on this, imagining Penelope doing something so serious that the American government hired her on the spot for her skills. it's interesting.

"so you don't profile at all." I state.

"technically no, but I've picked up a couple things." she smirks.

"oh, yeah? like what?"

"well, it's obvious that you're never home, based on the lack of decoration here." she refers to the mostly blank walls of my apartment. aside from a couple photos of my friends and family, there's not much unique to me. "and you've obviously got a candle addiction." she points to the various spots around the living room, where half-burned pots of wax sit patiently awaiting their next light.

"that's definitely true." I laugh. she gets up and starts to smell the various candles.

"I like this one a lot." she sets down my chai vanilla one. I let her go through my things, despite the fact that Garcia is incredibly reserved about people touching her own little office trinkets. she picks up stray books and memorabilia, occasionally making a comment.

while she does, I finish my curry. I'm way too tired to resist her search, anyway. I'll be curling up in bed soon and praying that tomorrow is a paperwork day. eventually, she settles onto the cushions again.

"you seem tired," she says when she glimpses the dark circles beneath my eyes. "I'll get out of your hair."

"what? oh, I'm sorry." I draw myself up a little more. "this last case just took a lot out of me."

"they all do." she gives me a soft expression, then pats my knee as she stands.

"Penelope." I say as she gathers up her coat and purse.

"yes, darling?"

"thanks. for the food and for coming over." I smile gratefully at her. the tech analyst stands at my door with a look on her face that makes me think we're going to be good friends.

"anytime." she heads out, leaving me on the couch. I stare at the mess of empty takeout boxes that I told her to leave. now that I've eaten, getting up to clean the space is even more difficult. I trudge about the apartment, wash some dishes, and head off to bed.

my body is too exhausted to remember the dreams.

...

"oh my god, I'm so sorry!" I practically sprint into the conference room, swinging my bag down by my feet as I grab the last open chair. JJ is standing at the front of the room with a new case on the screen. everyone stares at me as I settle in. "my train was super delayed."

"everyone is allowed to be late," Hotch barely glances up from the case file. "once."

a chill runs down my spine and my face flushes an embarrassing red as JJ passes me the remaining file. keeping my head down, she notices my discomfort and clears her throat.

"okay, you guys are heading to Arizona today." she clicks a button. some pictures pop up for us to see. "Bradshaw College in Tempe has had six fires in seven months."

it's a video recording of a building from the outside, and two students talking about a fire inside. the camera shifts to show them in their own dorm, examining a strange wet spot leaking into their room. and then one of them catches on fire.

he burns to death on tape. it's jarring, the shrieking noises he lets out as the flames engulf his body. they travel up his legs alarmingly fast, so much so that it's obviously chemical.

"the first fire was in March, the second in May. the third didn't happen until September." JJ explains once the clip is over. "and then two weeks later, there were three that happened in one night."

"he's speeding up." Prentiss observes from her spot next to me.

"82% of arsonists are white males between seventeen and twenty-seven. female arsonists are far less common, with motives usually limited to revenge." Reid sits across the table, adjusting his watch.

I raise my eyebrows at his fact and look more at the crime scene photos. burned flesh is definitely an uncomfortable sight, one that makes my stomach churn.

"sounds like he's a student." Morgan taps his pen against his fingertip and leans back in his chair.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Hotch continues to read the document. "we don't want to rely too much on precedent."

at this, I press my knuckles to my chin and try to think of other suspects. he's obviously doing these during the school year, but that doesn't necessitate that he's a student. he could be working on campus-- a professor, even.

"there's a rapid escalation. he's gone from the damage to a building to something far more satisfying." Morgan closes the file and we all look to Hotch.

"wheels up in thirty." he says. I get up to grab my go-bag and gather some things from my desk, my cheeks burning at the memory of being late again. I've never done that before, but I don't want to start now. maybe it's best if I start coming in early, just in case my train gets delayed again. I can't risk losing this job, or being moved to a different department. it was enough of a hassle switching from sex crimes to the BAU. I really want to settle into this position, and that includes having the unit chief not hate me.

"hey." Prentiss catches my wrist just as I'm hurrying out of the room. I turn to her.

"hi."

"a little birdy told me that you and Reid pretty much single-handedly solved that case yesterday." she smiles.

"oh, no. it wasn't just us." I shake my head.

"quit being modest. nice job." she nudges my shoulder as we walk down the steps to the bullpen. "also, I brought a couple of those horticulture magazines that I told you about. we should read them on the jet."

"no way!" I pause at my desk, grinning.

"one of them has a whole section on caring for orchids."

"orchids?" Morgan overhears her from his desk. he appears deeply concerned with our discussion.

"if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand." she smirks. he turns his attention to me in hopes of a clearer answer.

"it's plant care." my explanation seems to be enough to bore him, however, because he just shrugs and returns to packing his bag up. Emily waves the stack of magazines at me before I head over to her desk.

she doesn't really seem like the type of person to be into it, but when Emily caught sight of the air plants I've got scattered on my desk my first week, we got wrapped up in a conversation about them. there's a special magazine subscription as well that has a bunch of helpful tips about where to buy and how to keep them healthy.

I'm flipping through one of the copies on the way to the elevator, my nose buried in a section about how much to water Hoyas, when Reid and JJ pop in next to me. the blonde is on the phone with someone, presumably the Tempe police. I haven't seen much of her recently-- she's been staying behind for most cases-- but she sends me a sweet smile before returning to her call.

"what are you reading?" Spencer's eyes hungrily run over the paper, as if seeing something he hasn't already absorbed in that big brain is unbearable. his hair is slicked back as usual, and his tie is sort of crooked; he's not aware of it. I hold the material between us so he can take a peek.

"a magazine about plants that Prentiss and I like."

"fascinating. can I see?" he grabs it before I can answer, although I don't think he means to. his fingertip runs down the page quickly, and then he's flipping them like mad, staring at the pictures. my eyes widen at how eager he is; I guess his curiosity is enough to override any awkwardness.

"did you know that owning indoor plants is actually correlated to overall mood improvements?" he asks me once he finishes reading, attention still focused on the back cover. the elevator door to the main level slides open.

"no, but I'm proof of it," I take back the reading material and put it in my bag. we walk out into the lobby. his long legs mean that my pace has to quicken a bit in order to keep up. "something about taking care of them is quite nice. they don't need as much attention as a pet, but they still rely on you."

"interesting." he nods.

"I like to think so."

"maybe I'll get one." he muses more to himself than anyone else. I smile at his open-mindedness, keep my eyes on the tiles we're walking over. maybe he, Prentiss, and I can have our own affinity club. he would become more knowledgeable than both of us combined within the span of a week.

[girlmeetsliv3]

Lilies of the Valley III

A/B/O!BTS x Reader

Flowers can have different meanings depending on the flower shape, color, and method in which they are presented. Lilies are my favorite for such a simple flower can have so many distinct meanings.

In the language of flowers, yellow lilies are said to represent both deception (perhaps tied to the notion of concealment) and graciousness.

Release Date: 05/25/20 @ 7 pm

previously ~ next

        Yoongi shook his head, black fringe swaying slightly. “That’s ridiculous. You’re staying with us.”

        “Absolutely not!”

        The refusal was out of her mouth before she'd even thought about it. Both men flinched at her rejection but didn't look surprised. YN however was beginning to be upset, of course they would try to take advantage of the situation. I shouldn’t have expected any different. The tension was beginning to rise between the two and YN suddenly remembered that Yoongi liked to provoke people. Suddenly Jimin raised his hands as if to show no ill will, "We don't mean it like that." His hands raked through his perfectly styled hair, "It's just that you're our mate. Legally now too."

           “It wouldn’t look right. Plus it would be dangerous.” Yoongi finished for him, leaning forward and uncrossing his arms. He tentatively reached across the table, placing his hand over hers. It was warm and softer than YN would’ve imagined, she didn’t remove it and she couldn’t quite understand why. Maybe because it was meant to comfort her and it had been a long time since YN had been comforted. She almost found herself getting lost in its warmth until she reminded herself of who she was with and stopped herself. Sensing her discomfort the betas rushed to speak again. “We have this small cottage in the back, it’s newly refurbished and has plumping and everything. All it would need is a bed.”

           “I don’t know if I would feel comfortable living with all seven of you...it’s a lot.”

           Yoongi sighed, “We understand, though it isn’t like you have much of a choice. No place will take a mated omega. The law won’t permit it. Only...” He didn’t have to finish for her to know what he meant.

           Only the boarding house.

           YN looked up at the men and spoke as clearly as she could, "I'm not your mate. I'm not your omega," she saw how every word was spoken physically deflated them. "However, thank you for helping me. It's only temporary until I find another solution." Something flashed quickly in both men's eyes, but it was far too fast for YN to comprehend what it was. They only smiled and nodded with jovial excitement. Jimin began to talk about furniture that would be added while Yoongi pulled out his phone and seemed to text someone. She realized her hand was still under his and tried to retrieve it, Yoongi didn't allow her too. Before YN could say anything he gave her hand a quick squeeze and released it. Putting his left hand into his jacket’s pocket.

           “So it’s set. We’ll be by later to pick up your things .”

           YN nodded feeling a numbness spreading throughout her body, as she finished her tea and placed the cup down. Her eyes met theirs, dark empty pools, and she wondered if their inner scale was tipped. Were they more animal than human? Beasts? YN would soon find out.

            “Swear you’ll be okay?” Rosé asked, her fingers intertwined into YN’s. They swung back and forth, their arms shaking slightly. The air was silent, save for the things left unsaid.

             "I'm sure. I'll be safe. They won't hurt me." The smile hurt YN, but she forced her lips to spread open for her best friend's sake. She couldn't possibly leave Rosé out for the wolves, even if it meant she would be jumping right into their den.  

           “Don’t forget to text me. Oh, and call me every night.”

YN rolled her eyes but laughed. "Yes, mom. I'll make sure to write you a letter every day."

           “For a year?”

        The two girls giggled and embraced as YN willed herself to stick to her word. Just as she was beginning to doubt herself, someone knocked on the door. When the door opened, it was Yoongi and Jimin again; both with smiles on their faces - ones a little too big to be done out of politeness. They stayed by the door, if they entered their scents would linger and that wouldn't look good on Rosé. Betas did have a scent, but unless they were purposefully trying to emit it, only other betas would sense it. "Are you ready to go?" Jimin spoke after he had waved at Rosé. YN nodded, grabbing her bags resting by the door and handing them off to the two waiting betas. Feeling like it would be a while until YN saw her again, she turned around and gave Rosé one last hug. Rosé leaned deep into their embrace and whispered into YN's ear, "If anything happens. Call me, I'll be there immediately."  

           Tears almost welled up in YN’s eyes but she fought them back, merely giving her a reassuring squeeze before walking out and closing the door.

           Wow, what a fucking house. YN's jaw slackened at the sight of it, though her parents were well off it hadn't compared to this. Then again, combining the wealth of seven of the richest families in Seoul was bound to bear its fruits. Judging by the smirk on the two men's faces, they enjoyed her reaction. So, she did her best to school it immediately. There hadn't been any words exchanged by the three of them in the car, thankfully, and YN hoped it would remain that way. Instead of taking her to the front entrance, Yoongi and Jimin guided her to the side of the house. It once they reached the backyard that her breath was truly taken away.  

           The area was huge with a swimming pool, patio area, and botanical garden. However, it was the tiny home in the back with a garden of lilies that called to her. “It’s like the one at school.” Was the first thing she noted. It wasn’t as large, but it seemed to have similar flowers and evoke the same feeling.

           “Do you like it?” Yoongi asked, looking at her from his peripheral.

           “I love it.” There was no hesitance in her words, they were sincere.

They guided her to the tiny house; which the closer she got wasn't so tiny at all. It was one floor with a large bed, a television mounted on the wall, a small closet, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. There was even a small bookcase filled with familiar books: they had been the assigned reading when she was in school. Probably filled with annotations and other such things. YN wished she still had her copies, but she had donated all but her favorites to school when she graduated.

           Jimin cleared his throat, “Sorry the closet isn’t bigger, but we can expand it later.” YN shook her head, “No, that’s alright. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Yoongi placed his hand on her shoulder, “Dinner will be served in about an hour. You can meet everyone then.” Meet them again. YN felt her throat dry up, she wasn’t sure about how she felt being a room with all seven of them just yet. She had wanted to delay the inevitable, but considering she was staying in their home - it was the least she could do.

           “Sure.”

The two of them seemed pleased at her lack of resistance. Jimin smiled, "Go get cleaned up and we'll come to pick you up when it's time." YN felt it was more of a command, then a suggestion but she didn't care. Once the two of them left, she jumped on the bed and decided to take a small nap. The pillow smelled fresh and clean, only lulling her faster into sleep.

       "I'm very sorry for what's occurred to you, YN. But I want you to know it isn't your fault and that we are here to help." Officer Kim sent a comforting smile, trying to ease YN's nerves. YN remained silent, her grip on the blue blanket thrown around her shoulders was so strong her fingers were white. The officer sighed, tilting her head slightly to send a look to the people behind the screen. When she looked back at YN, all she saw was the teenager's glassy widened eyes. It had been an accident, a terrible one, but teenagers tended to be reckless. If the gruesome bite on YN's neck was anything to show for it.  

           “Do you want to press charges?”

           YN shook her head, caving in on herself even more. Jungkook’s sorry wails still echoed in her head. It didn't matter, what's done is done. YN looked up to meet the officer Kim's warm golden eyes. Her lips parted and she could see the anticipation building up in the cop's face only for there to be a disappointment once YN actually spoke.

           “I just want to go home.”

           Loud knocking tore her away from her dreams, as she saw a shadow-like figure standing outside the doors.

         The door opened slowly, only once he'd stepped in could YN recognize him. "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't know you were asleep." Kim Taehyung had probably undergone the most significant change out of all of them: transforming from a lanky teen to an able man. YN didn't realize she had been gaping at him so openly until he smirked. "Um, no don't worry." She scrambled to get off the bed and smooth down her clothes, getting rid of any creases her short sleep might have caused.  Taehyung tilted his head, his eyes roaming her body until they landed on her poorly concealed mark. YN flinched when he stepped forward, but instead of grabbing her Taehyung held out his hand.

           “Dinner is served and it’ll get cold if we wait any longer.”

            As attractive as he was, truthfully they all were, and as much as something inside her willed her to grab his hand - YN refused. Walking past him and outside the double doors to the garden of lilies. The sun had long set and now the half-moon shined brightly in the night sky. Casting a beautiful glow on the garden, the lilies, and YN herself. Perhaps, that is why it took Taehyung such a long time to step outside her room, the man still in the shadows. He was simply basking in her glory. Or perhaps, he was trying to control his rage at his mate's reaction in a way that would frighten the already tense YN.

           When he stepped out a charlatan smile was present on his features, “Let’s go then.” Together the two of them walked side by side until they reached the house. Faintly YN could hear the sound of jazz music and muffled voices, goosebumps rose on her arms as her stomach twisted and turned. Here we go. YN’s hands balled into fists as she dug her nails into her skin, trying to remain calm despite the voices growing louder and louder. Eventually, she could pick on the scent of one...two...four alphas and hear the soft bell-like nature of Jimin’s laugh. They were all here. Now’s the time.

          The conversations began to die down and YN knew it was because they sensed her. She prayed to whatever god's existed that everything would go well. They turned a corner and YN suddenly saw them. All seven of them were wearing what could be deemed business casual attire. They were all littered across the room, but all seemed to be in a circle surrounding a red velvet chesterfield where the lead alpha was seated. His dark hair combed back, a white button-down, and tight black jeans. One by one they all turned to face her, but he was last. His warm chocolate eyes lingering on the glass of wine in his hand before they slowly traveled to meet hers.

           YN finally realized what situation she was in. A prey in a predator's territory and sadly, she'd already been branded. She remained frozen on the spot, unable to look away from the alpha's eyes, she didn't know if it was courage or brazen recklessness. Then he smiled, a warm charming smile that reminded her of the early days. When the two would speak in hushed whispers and aid each other in assignments and tests. Times when YN looked at him with admiration, care, and maybe a tiny bit of love. She did have a small crush on him back in those days, nothing to act upon since she knew he was destined but enough to make her feel happy to be around him.

           He stood up and crossed the room, a steady stride which was a blend of natural yet calculated. As if he was measuring how close he could get without scaring her, it was when he was two feet away that YN slightly stepped back. The action caused him to stop, as he finally spoke.

           “Welcome. It’s been a while.”

Soon they all crowded around her offering kind smiles. Their scents were strangely muted now, YN guessed that was being done on purpose in order not to frighten her - or send her into a pseudo-heat. Not that it would occur considering the suppressants she was on. Conversations started back up again, but YN didn't participate in any. She noticed Jungkook was strangely quiet too but didn't pay him much attention for fear he might get the wrong idea. It was a couple of minutes later that a worker announced the food was served, YN went to follow him but someone tugged at her hand pulling her back.

           “Mind if we have a chat?” Namjoon asked, a hint of mirth in his smile.

           "Sure," YN noted how most of them walked away, Seokjin was the only one who remained but stayed near the threshold.  

           “Wow, you’ve changed. Grown, I mean.” His awkwardness caused a slight chuckle to escape YN’s lips. “Says the person who is now seven feet tall.” At that his smile grew. The glass of wine in his hand was placed on a top nearby and now that his hands were empty, Namjoon took a hold of hers. His large warm hands cradling hers, as his thumbs ran soothingly across her knuckles. “How do you feel?” YN didn’t know why she was so at ease around Namjoon, maybe because they’d known each other before everything happened. He had demonstrated that he was a good person, who had simply made a mistake. As opposed to the other’s who she only knew vaguely and had been forced to get to know because of what happened.

           “Fine. Good.” YN smiled gently, her heart didn’t race as it did before but she felt comfortable around Namjoon in a way she didn’t around the others. It might’ve been that he was the leader: the one who could make everyone fall in line at his command. It might’ve been that she trusted him. YN didn’t want to dwell on it for too long. “Thank you for letting me stay.” She spoke to both him and Seokjin who straightened up.

           “It’s no problem, YN. Your welcome as long as you’d like.” Seokjin’s words were polite and YN was thankful he didn’t mention anything about mates. In fact, she hoped the whole conversation would be avoided the entire evening.

           Namjoon drew her attention back to him, “What’s ours is yours. Whatever you need, don't be afraid to tell us.” Before YN could say anything, he pulled her towards the exit. “Come. Everyone is waiting for us.” He sent her a flirty wink before Seokjin joined them, walking on her other side.

            “So YN, what did you study?” Hoseok wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin.

           “Sociology.”

           “Sounds interesting. Did you like it?”

           “Yeah, it was interesting.” YN wasn’t the most social person, not to mention she found it difficult to speak when all eyes were on her.

           “Did you get the flowers we sent for your graduation?” Taehyung asked, beside her. He was less intimidating in the warm yellow lighting of the dining room. Ah the flowers. Her parents had delivered the flowers when they went to visit and though YN had been all smiles, she’d thrown them in the trash the second she’d gotten back home.

           “Yes, they were lovely. Thank you.”

           It all seemed too perfect, too surreal, nothing bad had occurred yet and it had YN on the edge of her seat. This wasn’t how she was expecting the night to go at all. It had been years since the incident and though YN was aware that people could change, they seemed so different. People are different during heats. It’s more animal instinct than anything. That may be true, but it felt like she was at a reunion rather than a dinner with her supposed ‘mates.’ It seems the jovial atmosphere was beginning to be too much for someone else because Jungkook finally broke.

           “Aren’t we going to talk about it?!” His hands slammed down against the table, causing everyone to turn and look at him. Jungkook was near the end of the table, right next to Seokjin which faced Namjoon at the head. Talk about what? It seemed his question was more intended for his pack members than for her, but it still left YN curious. Seokjin who seemed unfazed continued cutting his meat, “Kookie, stop it.” This seemed to only anger the youngest more.

           “No, we agreed -” Just as Jungkook was standing up, Hoseok pulled him back down to his chair. Oh no. Alpha’s butting heads was never a good sign. She might’ve assumed this was normal but seeing how tense Yoongi, Taehyung, and Jimin were this was clearly unusual. The sudden growl that Jungkook let out was all the proof she needed.

           Adrenaline began to pump through her blood, as her instincts were about to kick in. If there was going to be a fight, she wanted no part in it. It was then that Taehyung and Jimin both placed their hands on her knees, keeping her still.

           “Calm down, Jungkook. Stop being a brat.” Seokjin scolded him once more, his jaw now locked. The young alpha wasn’t listening, didn’t care to. Suddenly all his attention zeroed in on YN as he spoke. “We have to complete the mating bond.” Anxiety began to trickle into YN’s mind and body. No. no. no. no.

           “No.” YN pushed the chair away from the table and stood ready to walk out and leave the house. She should have known better than to trust them. This had been their plan all along, to get her into a situation where she couldn’t escape. As she passed by Namjoon his hand shot out, gripping her wrist, tugging her towards him. The lead alpha had remained silent during the whole ordeal, as YN looked at him with irritation. Namjoon spoke in a calm mellow tone, “Down.” Just like that Jungkook dropped to his knees and began to cry.

           “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you.” Now YN was even more terrified. What the fuck is going on.

    Rosé: Hey, how’d your first day go?

    YN: Terrible, I don’t even want to talk about it.

     Rosé: Did something bad happen? Did they do something to you?

     Rosé: Are you okay?

     YN: I’m okay. Things are just really strange here. I don’t know how to describe it.

     YN: It's like everyone's on edge, but they're pretending they aren't.

     Rosé: I mean isn’t that kinda normal. You are their mate and you did reject them, so it makes sense.

      Rosé: You never did tell me why you rejected them though.

      YN: It’s a long story and I’m tired. Ttyl. Night.

      Rosé: Good night.

Hope you enjoyed the story. Tag list is in the comments.

[bluegarners]

“Damian takes a pic with a mall santa, chaos ensues”~ anon

For 12 Days of Batfam prompts

“I do not see why traveling here was necessary.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Dami! We’re going gift shopping!”

“Clearly. However, actually going to this cesspool of idiots is ridiculous. The internet exists for a reason, Richard. It is about time you learned how to use it.”

“That takes all the fun out of it though,” Dick pouts, landing a hand in Damian’s perfectly combed hair. “It’s practically like a tradition at this point. Besides, it’s a lot more fun to actually look at what you’re buying and not just try and guess what it’s like through a screen. What if it wasn’t like you wanted? What then?”

“Returns exist as well,” Damian grumbles, swatting at the hand still latched firmly to his scalp. “If the purchase is void, then a simple return is all that is necessary to begin again.”

“For once,” Tim sighs, cringing a bit at the obnoxious mall-music and over enthusiastic sales people trying to approach him, “I agree with the brat. This is uncomfortable and just… over the top. I know what I’m looking for, and reviews on products help determine if the thing is actually good. There isn’t any reason to be here, Dick.”

“On the contrary, my beloved brothers,” Dick grins, mouth stretching impossibly wide as his eyes land on something in the distance, “There is actually a fantastic reason for us to be here.”

As if deciding on something, Dick nods to himself before quickly turning around and clapping his hands together. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’re already here and it would be a waste to drive back after it took us an hour to get here, so we are staying.”

Cue the simultaneous groans.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Dick reprimands. “Let me finish. You guys can do anything you want. It’s the freakin mall, so it’s got other stuff than just stores. I don’t care what you do, as long as it’s legal. You could even just hang out in the food court, as long as you’re doing something. I need to do a couple things, but I will call you when I’m done and we’ll rendezvous somewhere.”

“You are leaving me here?” Damian asks, surprised. “With Drake of all people?”

Dick leans down to ruffle his hair again, but Damian moves away, a dark scowl edging its way onto his brow. “No, I refuse to be left alone with this imbecile.”

“As if I’d want to babysit you in the first place,” Tim mutters, glaring at the youngest.

Dick smiles pleasantly, a contrast to the way he squeezes both of their shoulders tightly, pulling them closer to him. 

“We’re not going to have any problems, right boys?” he asks sweetly, eyes crinkling. “Because it would be a shame if I had to make use of that lovely return policy on all the gifts I had planned this year.”

“Do you take me for a child-”

“Seeing as this is the last week I have left in Gotham, it would be quite the disappointment if I didn’t get to train surf with either of you before I leave again too.”

Damian shuts his mouth quickly, the idea of banning dual patrol before the eldest’s departure more threatening than lost gifts. 

“I don’t like train surfing,” Tim says smugly, crossing his arms in victory, “and I don’t like playing babysitter.”

Dick slowly tilts his head towards him, and the strain in his smile is enough to make Tim wither a bit. 

“All I’m asking for is maybe an hour of alone time while I get some stuff done. You don’t have to do anything together, you don’t have to go shopping if you’re so adamant on doing it online, and you don’t have to eat. Just please stick together. That’s all. Please, Tim.”

His resolve lasts all of four seconds before it crumples, and Tim looks to the side as he groans out a forlorn, “Fine.”

“Great!” Dick exclaims, an easy smile blooming back onto his face. “I’ll see you guys in an hour.”

And just like that, Dick disappears into the crowd, leaving behind two very disgruntled boys in his steed.

They stand there, refusing to acknowledge one another’s presence, before Tim sighs again and thinks, Well, might as well be a big brother. Holiday spirit and all that jazz.

“Okay,” he starts, half-way turning to face the youngest again, “Is there anything you want to do?”

Damian doesn’t say a word.

“Any stores?”

Silence.

“They, uh, have a movie theater in here. Any movies?”

Damian still refuses to open his mouth.

Well, fuck me, I guess, Tim bemoans, having the inability to think of anything worse to do than spend his Saturday afternoon looking after the gremlin in his charge.

Suddenly, Damian turns on his heel and begins walking away. Tim frowns, chancing a quick glance behind him to see if Dick was secretly watching them and if he could make a break for it, but decides against it at the last second. A happy Dick Grayson was infinitely easier to deal with rather than a disappointed one.

Everyone knew disappointment was worse than anger. 

He follows Damian quietly, keeping his distance and sidestepping the insane amount of people and sellers, all looking to get something. Tim doesn’t hate people, per-say. He finds them fascinating at times, but when he’s not looking to be fascinated, he just finds them uncomfortable to be around. Noisy, touchy, and all around obnoxious. There were precious few people Tim could say he liked to be around, and these strangers in the enormous mall were not them.

Damian walked with purpose, easily evading others and taking turns as if he knew where he was going. Perhaps he did, but Tim can’t recall a time where any of them actually frequented the mall often enough to know where things were. At least without looking at a map or asking an employee.

A minute later and Damian vanishes from sight. In a blink, he’s gone from the endless swirl of people and Tim panics slightly. How does someone lose a child so quickly? How is that possible? He was literally right in front of him, Tim had his gaze locked on the green hoodie, but it’s as if the brat was made of air. Poof, gone.

He pauses, turning this way and that in search of the elusive Wayne. It was unfortunate that the brat was shorter than the average 13 year old, if only by half an inch, but now was not the time to goad over heights. Tim is tempted to just text Dick and say he lost Damian, but hearing that in his head, after literally five minutes of being alone, does not sound like a fantastic idea. He can practically predict the lecture that would follow, words of, “Come on, I know you guys don’t get along super well, but he’s your brother,” and “I was gone for all of two seconds- how did he escape so easily?”

Tim groans, a common thing he’s been doing ever since they stepped into the epitome of capitalism, and resigns himself to continuing the search. Oh, he was so going to beat the brat during their next spar. This entire thing was not worth the discounts.

.

.

.

Damian smirks as he watches Drake fiddle around like a fool, searching blindly for him. If Drake had actually been paying attention, he would have seen Damian step into the small candle store to the right, hiding behind an outrageous depiction of Saint Nick practically shoving some holiday scent down his throat. 

As it were, though, Drake was a twit with half the brains of a goldfish, and Damian feels a sense of satisfaction wash over him as the older teen walks away in the opposite direction. 

He was free and alone. Perfect.

Well, not really.

Damian had agreed to go to the mall in the first place on the condition that it would just be he and Richard. It had sounded somewhat enjoyable, Richard hinting at some sort of surprise, but he was greatly displeased at the sight of another figure waiting for them in the car. Of all the people in the world to choose from. Of all the available and useless ignoramuses out there, Richard just had to ask Drake to come along.

Of course, he immediately protested because he had been promised that it would just be the two of them, but Richard insisted and used that horribly childish face with wide eyes and saddened sulk and giving in, at that point, was the only wise decision Damian could make from then on. In no way did he plan on spending this hour with Drake, awkwardly attempting conversation and suggestions that sounded boring enough to sleep to.

So, his plan of action was simple and executed flawlessly. All he had to do for the next 50 minutes was stay out of sight of both Drake and Richard, and the rest of that time was his to do with as he pleased.

He had already chosen gifts to present later on in the week, there was no need to do extra shopping, so all there really was to do was explore. 

Which is exactly what he did for the next forty minutes before he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his back pocket. He pulls it out, squinting at the caller ID of Grayson.

He lets it ring for a few seconds, some part of him thinking the wait as some sort of pay-back for betraying his promise, and answers on the last ring.

“Damian?” Richard says, urgency coloring his voice.

Instantly, Damian is paying more attention. “Yes? What is it?”

“I need you to meet me at the center, it’s important.”

“The center?” Damian mutters, scanning the crowded walkways for a map. “Why? What is happening?”

“I’ll fill you in when you get here, okay? Just get here as fast as possible.”

“Affirmative.”

Richard hangs up first and Damian begins searching for the nearest wall-map. He finds one and tsks when he sees he’s in the far west region of the mall, the center, if he walked like a normal person, taking upwards of about five minutes to reach.

He’d been given no details, nothing except the urgent lilt in Richard’s voice, a dead give away to how nervous he was. Nervous about what though? What could possibly make Nightwing frantic in an area like this? It must be something mildly bad, or at least dangerous for civilians, for Richard to call him. Crowd control possibly.

He hadn’t heard anything other than the usual noise of the populace, so Damian rules out a fire or some maniac shooting. There doesn’t seem to be an urgency in the way the crowd shifts, no clear tell for panic. 

His phone vibrates again and Damian immediately answers.

“Where are you?” Richard asks, that same nervousness pitching his voice.

“I am near a clothing store: Urban Outfitters,” he responds, picking up his pace slightly.

“Hurry,” Richard pleads. “You need to be here in two minutes or less or else I might- just hurry, please. When you reach the center, there will be a large Christmas tree off to the right. I’m over there. Find me when you get here.”

“Wait, Richard-” but Damian can’t get anything else in before the older man hangs up again.

The vagueness of the situation begins to worry Damian as well, doing as asked and trying his best to weave in between people and their annoying need to create a stiff, horizontal line wherever they walked. He curses when a little girl holding an absurdly shaped stuffed animal darts out in front of him, oblivious to the obstruction she’s caused.

She trips and falls, slapping into the smooth tile. Damian is tempted to walk around her, unmoved by her pitiable cries for her clumsiness, but when he glances back and sees no one else, no parent or sibling or literally any other bystander willing to help her, he rolls his eyes and turns back around. He holds out a hand and pulls the little girl to her feet, her tears silenced by the strange act of kindness.

“Where are your parents?” he asks gruffly, anxious as the precious seconds tick by.

“Uhhhh….I don’t know.”

I should’ve kept walking, Damian thinks to himself.

.

.

.

Tim is practically giddy with excitement. Dick stands behind him, arms crossed and peering over the heads of countless other parents and children, in search of Damian.

After having wandered around in a vain search for the brat, Tim had finally given in and texted Dick, apology in tow, when Dick had told him to meet him in the center of the mall. There, Tim had spotted the eldest standing in a long line filled with kids no older than eight and tired parents, disheveled and attempting to keep their children’s hair neat.

As soon as he’d tapped on his shoulder, Dick had reared around, the biggest shit-eating grin on his face as he said, “It’s tradition to get a picture with Santa.”

Tim less than fondly recalls his own picture with the infamous mall Santa, the old man smelling of cigarettes and too spicy cologne to mask it. All the bat-kids had taken a photo with the cheap Santa at some point or the other, Tim having been the oldest to do so at fifteen. Dick had taken his when he was ten, and Jason at eleven. 

However, once he registers the actual words that had come out of Dick’s mouth, Tim feels something close to euphoria rise in his chest as he now understands it was the brat’s turn to sit on off-brand Santa’s lap and have his picture taken. Oh, would that be a sight to behold. Chaos to be sure. Most likely some screaming as well. A lot of protest and cursing. Maybe even some tears.

A sight to behold.

“I knew you guys wouldn’t stick together,” Dick explains, “So I figured I’d call you over here earlier. Then, I’ll call Damian once we’re close to the front and act like it’s an emergency so he’ll have no choice but to come quickly.”

Tim was impressed. “You know,” he says, eyeing Dick, “You’re a lot more evil than everyone thinks.”

“The term you’re looking for is evil mastermind, Timmy.”

“Uh huh,” Tim jokes, excitement building in his bones as he notices they’re only two spots away from what is destined to be the greatest moment of his life. 

“Look! I see him!” Dick exclaims, pointing in the far distance.

Indeed, there was Damian in his green hoodie, half-jogging, half-walking as he headed towards the Christmas tree Dick had directed him to.

“We’re next,” Tim says anxiously, glancing at the teenager dressed as an elf, who was probably wondering why the two of them were standing in a line meant for children.

“It’s fine,” Dick reassures, his own thrill building. “He’ll be here.”

And, as if one cue, because malls are where miracles happen, Damian calls out, “Richard!”

Dick waves him over, compulsion in every movement of his arm. “Hurry, Dami!”

The teenager elf is now guiding them into the “Miracle Circle” and Dick yanks at the sleeve of Damian’s hoodie before he can even register what’s happening. Tim has to keep a hand over his mouth in order to stop himself from snickering at the bewildered look on the youngest’s face, eyes blown wide as he takes in the bright lights and tinsel.

“Richard,” he growl-whispers, “What is this?”

“Tradition,” Dick answers, tugging him closer to the overweight man sitting on the massive throne. “And it’s time you partake in it. I let you get away from it last year because I lost track of time, but not this year. This year, Dami, is where you finally experience,” he leans in closer, nearly whispering, “the joys of a mall Santa.”

“No,” Damian says, aghast as Dick pulls him closer and closer to the center. “No, I refuse. Unhand me this instant.”

He is powerless though against Dick’s firm grasp and excellent navigation skills. Everyone is watching. Everyone is staring.

“Hello there, little one,” mall Santa booms, arms out stretching as he reaches for Damian. “Come sit on Santa’s lap and tell me what you’d like for Christmas.”

“Richard,” Damian pleads, struggling as he eyes the suspicious fake beard, “If you do this, I will never forgive you.”

“I’m sorry, Dami,” Dick amends solemnly, a lie written all over his face. “I have to. It’s tradition.”

Faster than even Damian can react, Dick is sweeping him off his feet and plopping him onto the lap of a complete stranger.

“What’s your name?” mall Santa asks, Damian recoiling at the rank breath.

“Let me go,” he demands.

“Oh ho ho,” mall Santa chuckles, stomach jostling like a gross bowl of jelly. “We haven’t taken our picture yet!”

Mall Santa points a little off to the right, and it is with horror does Damian spot not only Richard, but Drake, Father, and Pennyworth aiming cameras at him.

Drake waves at him, shit-eating grin plastered shamelessly on his face. Richard is cooing through his phone, oo-ing and awe-ing at the scene. Father looks at least a little bit sympathetic, pity spelled out over his face as he watches his youngest son try to free himself from the mall Santa’s surprisingly strong grip. Pennyworth takes one picture, quickly putting away his phone. 

Damian is sure that the one picture is enough to spell doom for the rest of his life.

“You know,” mall Santa whispers, nearly suffocating Damian in the vice-like hug he’s trapped in, “Most kids smile when they take pictures with Santa.”

“I am not inclined to smile for a pedophile,” Damian snarls back.

“Well,” mall Santa sighs, voice suddenly less cheery, “I guess that means you’re on the naughty list then, you little shit.”

Damian stills in his struggle, eyes widening as he turns to meet the green eyes of the man who holds him.

“Todd?” he hisses, humiliation rising as the man just chuckles, winking.

“Happy holidays, little boy,” Jason cheers, playing up the act. “If you’re good, Santa might-”

The next morning, the top headline from the Gotham Gazette reads, 

Christmas Chaos: Youngest Wayne Punches Santa!

The article gets framed above the tree in their living room, and Damian waits for the day to exact his revenge. Soon. Soon.