#i say as if i’ve gotten many new followers besides the ones from that punk tommy drawing

[codgod]

i don’t get the hype on impregnating qbbh when qslime is right there. actively wanting to give birth in canon

[thewildwaffle]

Humans are Weird - Helium

It's been a while since I got a new story up. I'd been working on some other projects, then had some pretty unhappy life events happen. I am doing fine, so don't worry. Hopefully, now my muse is back and will stick around a while :)

This story is from a prompt ao3

*** *** ***

When you bring together a wide variety of races from different planets and environments, you tend to have an equally wide variety of needs that need to be met from species to species. Ships were typically staffed by a food and nutrients safety team. Custodial teams were careful about residual chemical and oil cross-contamination between particular races. Sections of hab suites had controlled ventilation systems that could be set to various atmospheric needs. Outside the hab suites, at work stations or in communal areas, some species have to be fitted with atmospheric filters. Over the years, these devices have gotten less uncomfortable, thankfully. They weren’t the best, they were a bit bulky, noisy, and in some cases obstructive to the wearer, but hey, being able to properly breathe on a ship with beings who had different atmospheric needs than you was more important than comfort. When the humans joined the galactic community, the newer filters started becoming noticeably smaller and less obtrusive. Many were concerned that the changes would make them less effective, but leave it to the humans to tinker around and invent the impossible when they really wanted to. The latest models were supposed to be so small and comfortable, you could sleep with them on. Heck for some races, you could barely tell they were wearing an atmospheric filter at all. Not only that, they were up to 40% more effective at filtration and gas delivery for many species. This opened up crew rosters for ships. Species who couldn't reasonably be stationed in the same ship due to the gases they breathe being dangerous to others, or vice versa could now be on the same crew.

That included duibs like Marvi who breathe large amounts of helium. She’d been serving aboard Galactic Coalition ships for more standard solar rotations than many of her fellow crewmates had been alive. It helped that duibs were long-lived, of course, and in her time, she’d seen many new technologies come and go. If you pressed her hard enough, she’d likely say that the atmospheric filters the humans developed were by far her favorite. Being able to safely and comfortably pass through different atmospheric biomes was an important ability when you had a long list of custodial and maintenance duties each rotation. Marvi huffed a deep sigh as she rounded another corner. Lighting beam replacements weren’t heavy, but maneuvering them around corners like this was a bit of a pain. “Need a helping paw Marvi?” Marvi turned to see a dark gray priso steadying the end lighting beam she was carrying. The furry face was relatively expressionless, but a clear look at his flicking whiskers and triangular, alert ears and bright eyes told her that he was holding back laughter. He must have just come up from around the other corner and seen the small duib struggling. “Oh, hello Aurrin. I definitely would appreciate some aid, though I would understand if you are busy right now,” Marvi replied politely. Honestly, the help would be very nice and she hoped the offer was serious. “I’m waiting for Human Karl, I can help until he gets here,” Aurrin rose to his back paws awkwardly and grabbed the ends of the light beams in his dexterous front paws. Priso were normally quadrupedal on flat ground, but the forested terrains of their homeworld meant they were at least somewhat adept at grabbing and climbing. He followed along, holding on to the light beams and kept them away from the walls and corners as the pair walked. “I was actually just installing something by the hab suites over there,” he tilted his head back to gesture behind them, “I’ve got something I wanted to test before I go off duty. After that, I’m looking forward to two whole cycles of rest and whatever I want to do.” The corridor here was darker and Marvi stopped walking. This was where she needed to replace the light beam. “Two whole cycles, huh?” She set down the light beam carefully, Aurrin following suit. She pulled out a tool from her hip pack and started working on opening the control panel. In order to open the panels to install the new light beams, she had to make sure power was redirected for safety. “What are you going to do with your time off? Any fun plans?” “A few plans. They might change depending on how my experiment goes.” Marvi worked quietly, waiting on the priso to expound, but other than chuckling to himself, he didn’t say anything more on the topic. Well, Marvi supposed it was not really her business, so she changed the subject and chatted cordially until the new light beam was installed and she rerouted power back to the panel. The darkened hall was filled with bright, cheerful light and Marvi let out a satisfied sigh. “Well, that’s that. Another task down.” The old light beam would need to be taken back to her shop for a repair and gas exchange, or refill, or whatever it ended up needing to get it up and running again. “Thank you again for your help. I should be able to get these back alright myself, I don’t want to take up too much of your time if you’ve still got your experiment to run.” From around the corner of the corridor, the distinct sound of a hab suite door opening was followed by approaching footsteps. A light on Aurrin’s comm device flashed and the priso’s long tail flicked excitedly back and forth. “No worries, it looks like my experiment is already underway.” Marvi felt the frills all along her body perk in curiosity, but before she could ask anything else, Human Karl rounded the corner. He grinned without showing his teeth, as it would have been a sign of aggression to many species on the ship, and gave a small wave as he approached. “Hey Karl,” Aurrin started. Marvi only partially listened as he started in on a spiel about his upcoming off-duty

plans. Instead, she was more interested in a quiet hissing noise and was trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. It sounded like… well it sounded almost like an atmospheric filter, one beside her own. Hers was in light operation since she was in a sector of the ship that was tuned to a generalized setting, but this noise sounded like a filter at full power output. Did Human Karl hear it? Could he hear it? Surely Aurrin could? She studied them, they didn’t seem to notice. The noise had started when Karl arrived, did that mean…? Her suspicions were confirmed the moment Karl opened his mouth to reply to Aurrin. “I’m actually on my way to…” What. The. Frewan? Human Karl’s voice, which was usually a calming deep tone, was disturbingly high and unnatural. The surprised expression on his face made Marvi’s core freeze. That meant this vocal change wasn’t some weird human thing? What was going on?! “I, woah,” the squeaky voice stuttered, “is this… helium? What is this? What’s going on?” He looked at the comm device strapped to his wrist and pulled up the readout. Sure enough, it was an increase of helium output from his atmospheric filter. The skin on his forehead wrinkled as he looked from the readout to Marvi and Aurrin, his eyes finally locking on the latter who was fiddling with something on his own comm device readout. “You punk! How did you do this? Change it back!” Karl started laughing a bit, Marvi wasn’t sure if it was directed at the ridiculousness of his voice or if it was because the helium was affecting his cognitive functions. She worried it was the latter. Panicking, Marvi approached to see if there was some sort of override. She had to act fast! Humans didn’t breathe helium, he could die! Before she could do anything though, Aurrin spoke up while trying to muffle his laughter. “Okay, okay, hoooo… I’ve deactivated it, you’re good. Keep talking though while your voice turns back to normal, you’re hilarious.” Karl gave him a look that Marvi couldn’t interpret. “What was that? How did you do that?” His voice was already back to normal and it sounded like a mix between annoyed, intrigued and amused. “When you came out of your hab suite, you passed a sensor I set up that overrode your atmospheric filter controls. My latest invention. Imagine this: a ship gets attacked and boarded. Normal defenses prove insufficient and the crew is in grave danger. As the hostiles pass hidden sensors, their atmospheric filters are overridden and they fall asleep, get loopy and confused, or simply pass out before they can get to and harm any crew.” Marvi and Karl blinked in unison while Aurrin’s tail swept side to side proudly. Marvi was the first to find words. “Your… your experiment?” Marvi glanced between Aurrin and Karl worriedly, “Is this what you were experimenting with? You ran it on a crewmate?!” “Well,” Aurrin’s ears pulled back slightly, but his whiskers still kept their amused look, “I say experiment pretty loosely. This was more of a field test. I ran all the actual experiments long ago. I knew exactly what would happen. And I did research on humans and I found out what effects helium has on them and I had to see it for myself. That’s why I was waiting for Karl.” The human in question was still laughing a bit - of course, a human would be able to laugh after nearly being asphyxiated, they’re crazy - before he ran his hand over his head to compose himself. “So this was a prank?” “For science.” “Of course. For science.” Karl’s smile suddenly morphed into a thoughtful frown. “Wait. Is this payback for the soap thing I pulled on you last week?” Aurrin’s face was statuesque and solemn as he stared silently at the human for a moment. “Yes.” “You’re the worst.” “Thank you.” “Want to go do this again in front of Aylin? She and Maruti-kar would think it’s hilarious.” “I had been planning on it. But only if we can get video evidence of it.” “For science?” “Naturally.” Marvi watched, hearts still beating rapidly from her panic, as Aurrin and Karl deactivated and retrieved the sensor to reenact the stunt she had just been a witness

to. Almost reflexively, she started tracing the side of her atmospheric filter. The quiet hum and hiss were calming. Helium to her was life. She’d thought it was toxic to others. And yet Aurrin thought it fine to use it on a human, and Karl was not only unworried about it but found it funny. Was it not dangerous?! And his voice? Why did it do that? She pulled up a search screen on her comm device and searched in the human database. Helium. Breathing. Voices. Apparently, helium took up space in their lungs that normally would be filled by oxygen, so yes, it was dangerous because they could asphyxiate. It also amplified higher-pitched tones of their vocal tract while simultaneously dampening lower tones because of the gas’s low density. That explained the voice change. And for some reason, the funny noise was enough of a reason to play around with deadly materials. Well, if anything, she supposed humans did keep to their MO pretty well. She picked the spent light beams back up and headed back to her shop, careful to not hit the ends on any walls or corners.

[qianinterprises]

Summer '78

Pairing | bully!Jeno x chubby!Reader

Warning(s) | bullying, harsh words, cussing, sexual assault, name calling, fat shaming, poor shaming, face slapping, angst, hurtful comments, yelling, the Dreamies are not nice people (I know I did Jaemin wrong, I'm sorry)

Synopsis | Jeno was a bully, and you were his primary victim. Nothing should have changed, but Jeno began getting tired of bullying the girl he was in love with simply because she didn't conform to societies beauty standards. So she was chubby? So what?! His friends didn't see it that was.

Genre | ANGST, retro-flashback

Author’s Notes | So I wrote this a while back for an event of NCTA, which was basically writing a retro fic. This fic is very different than the fics I usually write. For one, it is told in Jeno's perspective rather than the readers. For two, this is a "chubby fic." Meaning the reader is seen in the fic as having a larger body weight, which, may I add here, is not a problem, nor should it ever be. If you are being bullied for anything, please don't let it go unreported. Report it as many times as you have to because bullying is not ok, whether it's done at school, at home, or anywhere else. Also, there is a possibility that there will be a part two, I have had some people (before posting it here) request a part two but I'm on the fence about that, but perhaps a part two will show some change and growth on Jeno's part. So we'll see. Tell me your opinions though! I hope you enjoy~

Word Count | 3.5k

Taglist | @treasuretaeil @hachanbaecon @nschitty

A group of six boys sat around a table talking and laughing until a loud crash resounded through the snack shack that brought their attention to a waitress on the floor, yellow heels scattered behind her, empty tray in her hands and spilled drinks everywhere as well as on a girl by the table the waitress had fallen at.

“Clutz,” one of the boys, Jeno, mumbled, shaking his head.

“Fatass,” Jeno’s best friend, Jaemin responded.

The other four muttered something along the lines of agreement as they watched the waitress cowering on the floor with a bright red face as the girl now covered in cola shrieked about her ruined clothing and hair.

Jaemin got up from his seat angrily.

“What the hell are you doing to my girlfriend!” he yelled, approaching the pair.

“Jaeminnie! She poured soda all over me!” the girl pouted, running into Jaemins arms.

Jeno rolled his eyes.

Jeno shook his head. Out of all of the boys in their biker gang, Jaemin just had to be the most gullible, falling for the Queen Bee of the high school who used him for nothing more than his money and face.

“She ruined my shirt,” Jeno heard the girl whine.

Jaemin embraced her tighter.

“You’ll have to pay for her clothing, fatty!” Jaemin demanded.

The waitress was someone Jeno recognized. (Y/F/N) (Y/L/N). She had been one of his best friends when he was a shy ten year old trying to fit in. They both befriended Jaemin and the rest of their group and somewhere along the way, he’d gotten muscular and tall while she’d gotten chubby. With Jeno’s looks, he’d always been popular with girls, but when he became interested in them as more than friends, he’d dumped the girl in favor of girlfriends.

She was a bullied girl wearing outdated clothing that made adequate grades. A nobody. She didn’t fit into any groups. She drifted through high school being shoved against lockers while her books were thrown across the hallway and what little lunch money she had was stolen. More often than not, Jeno or one of the other guys was the perpetrator.

“I can’t…” (y/n) muttered, looking down at the floor.

Jaemin kicked the carrying tray away from her, making the girl flinch.

Something in Jeno’s heart snapped against his chest, but he’d never allow it to escape. He watched tears gather in the corner of the girl's eyes and Jeno fought the urge to pull her to his chest.

Feelings began to stir their first year in high school when he and (y/n) had been seated side-by-side in homeroom and he’d leaned over to tease her about her recent, awkwardly styled hair when he’d met the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.

The feelings made his stomach twist in knots and his body tingled. Feelings and sensations that only grew stronger when their skin brushed or when her angelic voice met his ears.

The feelings were what drove him to brash treatment. His hands shoving her shoulders against the lockers as he demanded for her money. Fingers harshly tugging at the ends of her hair. His voice yelling horrible things at her just to hear her speak back.

He couldn’t tell anyone how he was feeling either. Dating the chubby girl would cause him to lose whatever popularity he had obtained along with his pride and his gang. Their leader couldn’t be seen as the weak punk who decided to date the chubby girl from a poor family.

Jaemin sneered down at the blushing girl, taunting her loudly and Jeno watched her feeble attempt at hiding her face.

“Jaemin! Let’s go. Chubby over here isn’t worth our time,” Jeno called loudly, voice filled with authority that had Jaemin immediately moving away from the girl.

“Fine. But she owes us free meals for a week! Those clothes were expensive!” Jaemin whined.

He kissed his girlfriend's cheek and walked to the door to wait on the rest of the gang who were stuffing their last few fries in their mouths or finishing off their milkshakes.

“Let’s roll,” Jaemin called, a grin on his face.

Jeno shook his head at how fast the male changed perspectives. He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of his chair, sliding his arms into it and let it snap against his back.

The last few members finished their plates, leaving them on the table before grabbing their own jackets and following Jaemin out the door. Jeno took the end, stopping by the waitress on the floor.

“Maybe get some heels your fat feet can walk in, huh Dollface?” he sneered.

Her face flew red again and he rolled his eyes.

“And you should stop blushing. You look like a tomato. Vegetables aren’t attractive. Although it’s fitting. Tomatoes are plump.”

He walked out the door without another word, heart hammering painfully in his ears. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was, but that was a problem. He couldn’t think chubby girls were beautiful. What would his friends think?

The loud purr of an engine met his ears and he sighed happily, most of his regret getting washed away, uprooted by the smell of motor oil and tires.

Jeno’s ride was a cherry red 1960 Harley-Davidson motorcycle with shiny silver wheels that didn’t match the rusted gas tank or muffler that Jeno was now saving to restore among other things. The black leather seat was slightly cracked from wear over the years and the breaks didn’t always work great. His headlight needed a new spark plug and the oil line leaked. Still, with all of these issues, he loved his bike. Each new issue gave him something to work on at night in his father's tiny little garage when all he wanted was grease on his chest and a wrench in his hand.

“Let’s go Jeno! I wanna ride!” Donghyuck moaned from his spot on his own bike, revving the engine with his right hand.

Jeno rolled his eyes at Donghyuck’s whining. Out of all of them, he was the one that loved traveling the most. They’d gone all the way up the coast the day they’d let Donghyuck lead them.

Jeno nodded and threw his leg over his bike, kicking the kick start lever and sighing happily as the bike roared to life beneath him. He pushed off his kickstand and allowed it to roll forward.

“Let’s go!” he called.

He rolled to the front of the group before revving the engine and turning onto the main road leaving the beachside snack shack behind.

~

When Jeno pulled into the driveway of his house, he parked his motorcycle beside his elder brother's black and gold Harley, letting the kickstand rest against the dirt driveway and dismounted..

He made his way into the house where his older brother, Jaehyun, was sitting alone in the living room flipping through channels.

Jeno’s heart hurt. All through the ride, he thought about (y/n) and the pained look in her eyes every time someone teased her. He knew it wasn’t right to bully her, especially for something as shallow as her weight or her clothes, but when the girls Jeno dated began mocking her, Jeno joined in, and pretty soon, she was alone. It hurt that Jeno could have stopped it. He could have kept her as a friend instead of ditching her, and now, here he was, hopelessly in love with the girl he bullied and too afraid to stand up to his friends out of fear that they would dump him.

“I have a problem,” he groaned, flopping down on the couch.

Jaehyun turned the small box television off and turned his attention to Jeno. Jeno rolled his head back on the plush green sofa and sighed.

“There’s this girl I like…” he started.

Jaehyun groaned in disinterest.

“So tell her. Not like you can’t get any girl. I heard you’re one of the kings of your class,” he replied.

Jeno whined. It was true. He could virtually have anyone he wanted, yet the one person he couldn’t have was the one he desired.

“I can’t. My friends wouldn’t approve and she’d never go for me… not after everything I’ve done,” he muttered hopelessly.

“Why do you care so much what your punk friends think? Do what you want, not what they want you to do.”

Jeno sighed. It wasn’t that easy and Jaehyun should know that.

“She’d never go out with me anyway and I can never tell her!” Jeno whined, hoping his brother would understand.

He was far too ashamed to come out and say exactly why she wouldn’t. “There’s girls that don’t like you?” Jaehyun asked, clearly shocked.

Jeno nodded sullenly.

“Just one…”

That seemed to make the links click in Jaehyun’s mind and Jeno wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

“You don’t mean you like the poor girl you always bully, do you?”

So Jaehyun knew about that. No wonder his brother had grown distant since Jeno had started high school.

“Um… yes…” he mumbled.

Jaehyun shuffled around on the beige chair he was sitting on before one of his dirty socks was being chucked at Jeno’s head.

“Hey!” Jeno snapped.

“You don’t treat people like that! You and your friends are assholes! That poor girl won’t forgive you for what you’ve done to her!” Jaehyun yelled.

Jeno wanted to yell back, but he knew Jaehyun was right. He was an asshole.

“What do I do to get her to like me… I don’t know how to stop this mess…” he mumbled. Jaehyun groaned and grabbed the large remote, flipping the television back on.

“You make things right. Stop bullying the girl and apologize like you mean it. Even then, it may be too late,” Jaehyun answered before his attention was back into the heavy box television.

Jeno sighed. He knew his brother was right.

~

The next afternoon, Jeno pulled his motorcycle into the parking lot of the snack shack, parking alongside Jisungs rusting brown one he refused to let Jaemin or Jeno strip and repaint.

Jeno dismounted and walked into the shack. His friends were crowded around their usual table, talking loudly.

Jeno walked over to the table and slid into the booth beside Renjun.

“What’d I miss?” he asked.

Jaemin was cackling and fishing ice out of his soda glass.

“(y/n) is on our table today!” he smirked.

Jeno’s heart dropped. That meant they’d be extra cruel to her today and Jeno really couldn’t do anything to tell her or his friends how he felt. The universe must really hate him.

Jaemin got the ice out of his cola glass and held it in his palm, his faze shifting to where (y/n) was shuffling around in her red striped shirt and black pants, wearing those same yellow heels.

“What are you gonna-”

Jeno was cut off as Jaemin smirked and launched the ice cube across the table, getting enough air to fly across the room until it dived down into the low cut v-line of (y/n)’s striped shirt.

“Yes! 10 points!” Jaemin cheered loudly.

(y/n) squeaked at the sudden intrusion of ice, a sound that Jeno found oddly adorable, even if it wasn’t a good kind of squeak.

Her face flamed red and she hurried back to put her notepad down on the chef’s counter before moving back to their table.

“Can I get you guys anything else?” she asked, her voice having gone up an octave from embarrassment.

“I want a chocolate milkshake,” Renjun answered.

(y/n) jotted it down and moved to look at the rest.

“I want a burger that’s charred on one side, but not too charred. Don’t bring me burnt meat or I’ll make your fatass eat it,” Jaemin said.

Jeno sighed at his friend, shaking his head subtly.

“I want a burger with a dollop of ketchup and three pickles. Don’t you dare give me any more or less than three pickles,” Donghyuck ordered.

Jeno rolled his eyes. Donghyuck didn’t even like pickles.

She glanced at Jisung and Chenle, both who were contently sipping their cola’s and completely ignoring her existence, so, after scribbling down everyone else’s orders, she turned her eyes to Jeno.

“Coke with ten pieces of ice and a burger.”

(y/n) nodded, writing all of the information down and shuffled off to the counter again.

“Do we really have to be that mean to her? She looked like she was going to cry,” Renjun muttered.

Jaemin rolled his eyes.

Jeno nodded in agreement to Renjun. Her face was sullen and her eyes glistened with tears that hadn’t fallen. His heart sank at the thought that maybe something had happened at home or that their words had finally gotten to her. In all the time they’d been bullying her, she never once said anything much to them, and they’d never seen her cry.

“Do you think we should lay off her?” he suggested.

Donghyuck and Jaemin snorted at the same time.

“Why would we do that?” Donghyuck asked.

Jeno shook his head. His friends could be such assholes sometimes. They wouldn’t even stop for someone that seems to be almost crying, they just use it to play more games. More buttons to press.

“If you’re so worried, Jeno, go check on her,” Chenle challenged.

“Yeah, go check on her!” Jaemin cackled.

Jeno shook his head and sighed, getting out of the booth. He knew very well what they expected him to do, or at least, what they wanted him to do, but he didn’t know if he could take calling her names anymore. Not when it felt like his soul was screaming at him not to.

He didn’t have much of a choice as he made his way over to her, however. He couldn’t control what his friends wanted and what he was obligated to give.

He moved up behind her and while her back was turned, he brought his hand down hard on her butt as his friends cackled loudly from their table. Jeno’s ears burned in embarrassment and guilt. If his mother knew what he’d just done, she’d be dragging him out of the snack shack by his ear.

He didn’t really know what to expect from (y/n). What he didn’t expect however, was her body whirling around rapidly, her hand raising angrily, and the sharp stinging sensation across his cheek.

“YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! I HAVE DONE NOTHING TO YOU, AND YET ALL YOU ARE YOUR ASSHOLE BUDDIES WANNA DO IS BULLY ME! WELL PISS OFF! I DON’T NEED THIS!” she screamed.

Jeno’s eyes widened. This was new…

“YOU ARE A BUNCH OF PUNKASS BOYS WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO, BUT I SWEAR THE NEXT TIME I HEAR A COMMENT ABOUT MY WEIGHT, CLOTHES, OR HAIR, OR ANYONE TOUCHEs ME, I WILL SHOVE MY FAT FOOT UP YOUR BUTTHOLE!” she screamed angrily.

The cackling from the table had stopped as the boys gaped at their waitress in shock.

“AND YOU IDIOTS CAN GET YOUR OWN DAMN BURGERS!”

The snack shack had gone deathly quiet. Jeno stood as still as a statue, face still stinging, but not quite as painful now. The outburst from this usually quiet and reserved girl shocked him to his very core, but it also made him feel worse. Sure, the ice throwing, name calling, and excessively stupid orders had added fuel to the fire, but it was Jeno’s action that had thrown her over the edge.

“I-I’m… sorry…” he stammered out.

“DON’T SAY SORRY TO ME AFTER THE HELL YOU’VE PUT ME THROUGH!” she screamed.

Jeno’s heart pounded in his chest and his eyes gazed at her fearfully.

“I think it’s time you go home, (y/n), calm down and come back tomorrow,” the owner of the snack shack said, walking out of his office.

(y/n) nodded and let out a sniffle. Jeno didn’t know when she’d started crying. She grabbed the bag the owner handed her before running out of the shack.

“And you, young man. You and your boys get out of my shack. You’re all banned for a week. Come back in here acting like that and you’ll be banned permanently,” he said, eyes fixed angrily on Jeno.

Jeno turned to look back at his gang and sighed, waving a hand for them all to follow.

~

After the incident, Jeno hadn’t felt much like going on a ride with the rest of the gang. They were all perfectly fine, cackling and talking about the outburst, but Jeno couldn’t stomach it. The way she’d screamed. How upset she’d looked. He was done being a bully. Now he just needed to figure out how to go from bully to courting her, if that were even possible.

He parked his bike beside Jaehyun’s again, happy to see his brother was home and not at the rusty body shop he worked at.

He ran into the house, taking the front steps two at a time, and when he was inside, he made his way to the room he shared with Jaehyun.

“I need to borrow your boombox!” he yelled at the male.

Jaehyun, clearly not expecting the sudden intrusion, jumped off the small bed, stuffing the adult rated magazine he’d been “reading” under his mattress. Jeno rolled his eyes. He didn’t have time to find ways to ruin Jaehyun’s relationship with his girlfriend or rat him out to their mother.

“I. need. Your. boom. Box!” he enunciated.

Jaehyun stared at him incredulously.

“Uh… Why?” he asked.

Jeno shook his head angrily and shoved past Jaehyun to siffle through his side of the room searching for the large, heavy, cassette playing boombox his brother had bought a month ago.

“I need it to fix my (y/n) situation!” Jeno explained as he searched.

Jaehyun groaned.

“Movies aren’t real! That won’t work!”

Jeno ignored him. The guy always showed up at the window of the girl he was hoping to impress and the girl always forgave him. It’d work. It had to.

Jeno grabbed the large boombox from beneath Jaehyun’s bed, groaning at the weight. He heard Jaehyun sigh.

“Good luck then.”

Jeno didn’t need it. This would work. It had to work.

~

The ride to (y/n)’s house had proven to be a bit difficult as he struggled to hold the boombox against him. The box was large and heavy, with a small cassette player at the top that already had his chosen tape resting inside it.

The trip over was one of many stops and repositionings in an attempt not to drop the box that could very well make everything alright. He could just imagine her grinning in glee and running down to meet him, forgiving him for everything he’d ever done to hurt her.

By the time he got to her house, dusk was falling. He had maybe ten minutes before darkness engulfed the sky. Ten minutes in which he’d be tasked with making everything better.

He moved around the side of the common two story house and found (y/n)’s window easily. She appeared to be dancing to the music playing from the vinyl record player he could almost see perched by the window. It brought a smile to his lips. She looked so happy and carefree.

He could watch her all night, but he was here for a reason. He had to apologize for everything he’d ever done and confess.

He found a rock likely from her driveway by her window in the grass and picked it up. It was only one so he had to make it count.

He pressed play on the cassette player portion of the boombox and ‘It’s sad to belong’ came flowing out melodically from the speakers.

”Met you on a springtime day,”

He threw the rock hard against her window, flinching as he heard the rock bounce off. He was surprised it hadn’t broken the window.

”You were mindin’ your life and I was mindin’ mine too. The window opened and Jeno’s heart hammered in his chest.

“(y/f/n) (y/l/n)! I am so in love with you it hurts. I am so sorry for everything I’ve ever done to hurt you! All the bullying. All the teasing. I’m so sorry. You’re not fat or ugly! You’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen! I just couldn’t show it! But I don’t care what my friends think! I love you! I want to be with you! I want to court you! Please forgive me!” he pleaded, not giving the girl a chance to say anything.

When he finished speaking, the song was nearing an end and his body was shaking. The girl looked almost close to tears again and Jeno grew hopeful that in any second, she’d run downstairs and jump into his arms.

“Yes it’s sad to belong to someone else when the right one comes along.”

“You love me huh? Well you have a funny way of showing it,” she sneered.

The window slammed shut and the drapes were immediately dropped, leaving Jeno alone in the darkness of the evening, his hopes dashed across the grass.

He’d waited too long to apologize.

[sinner-as-saint]

You Were Made To Be Mine - 1.

Pirate!Bucky x Mermaid!Reader

Part 1 of this series.

Run-through: Bucky is one of the greatest pirates ever known. Living peacefully in his vast and flourishing archipelago; filthy rich and respected by all those around him. He is the leader of his people and his massive fleet, and is viewed as no less than a king by his crew and the people on his lands. He, however, has a secret that he keeps from everyone. The infamous and brawny pirate has lost his heart to one of the most beautiful creations he’s ever seen – you. Ever since the moment he saw you, he knew that you were meant to be his. But he belonged to the earth, you to the ocean. Could love and resilience somehow find a way to unite two worlds?

Themes: mermaid!reader, mythological elements, pirate!bucky, fluff, slight angst

Bucky looked around in triumph and pride as he raised his goblet of ale to join the others for the toast they were making. 

Today had been an exceptionally fruitful. Good loot, good day. So they got together for a feast, to celebrate like they always did. They were quite a large mass of people, but the main hall of Bucky’s very grand fortress accommodated them all comfortably. Bucky’s home, more like his own personal castle, was situated on the main, and largest island in the middle of the archipelago he owned and ruled peacefully alongside his people.

The world called Bucky and his people thieves and looters, but really they were just doing what they had to do to support themselves and their families. Sure, along with that came a lot more money than they could ever need but that was secondary. Bucky made sure that his people knew that family and friends came first in life.

At the current feast, people cheered; some already more drunk than others. Torches lit the room beautifully, food pilled on the tables, happy faces around him, gold from his recent loot were being passed around in abundance and everyone chanted his name and told him how great he was – life couldn’t have been better. Although, as Bucky looked at the empty seat beside him, he felt a pang of heartache in his chest.

He had everything; loyalty and trust of the people he led, a massive fleet of ships ready for whenever, money, chests and chests of treasure – almost everything a man like him could ever want and need. All he lacked was you, physically, by his side. Sure, you were there in his mind like always. You were there in his heart, always.

But he craved nothing more than to just be able to hold your hand as you sat beside him, partaking in the celebration of his newest victory. He wanted to have you in his arms at all times, and show you off and shower you with love and affection. But he couldn’t.

He couldn’t because while he walked the earth, you roamed the deep waters of the ocean. And you were a secret of his, one which he intended on safeguarding for a while longer. Most people around him didn’t believe that your kind existed. Even he thought the same, until the day he met you.

Bucky caught himself smiling at the thought of the day you two first met…

-flashback-

It was a September evening, and Bucky and his men were near their harbor, exploring the new ship they had just gotten made. Another addition to their ever growing fleet. And as a way to make the new ship truly ‘their own’ and following a makeshift tradition of theirs, the men decided to have a friendly swords fight. The rules were simple, first to disarm their opponent wins.

So the men began. And the shouts and the cheer and the applause and all the clanging of the metal caught your attention as you were swimming by there. Cautiously, you surfaced to find a ship filled with people. You swam closer, and hid behind a rock and peeped at them. You recognized them and their ship, they were the pirates who lived nearby. You saw two men fighting on the deck of the anchored ship. One with slightly blond hair, and the other with luscious dark brown hair. The kind that blew with the wind majestically. The kind that made you swim just a little closer. The man turned, and you got a good look at his face and something inside you fluttered instantly. And there was this pressing need to swim closer and get a good look at the handsome, muscular human.

The night was getting dark so you knew none of the men would see you anyways. The sounds of the cheer got louder and louder until it broke into a loud roar. And given you had sensitive hearing, it made you wince just a little. You assumed that one of the men must’ve won, judging by the applause and the noise.

But then you also heard something drop into the water. You quickly got beneath the surface to check, and indeed saw that a metal sword was making it’s descend in the deep water. You swam to the surface just in time to see who it belonged to.

“…what you did, you punk! Now my new sword’s gone!” the one with dark brown hair complained to his friend and smacked him on the shoulder.

The one with blond hair clutched his chest and laughed out loud, joined by the other men. You read the situation quickly and concluded that the blond must’ve disarmed his dark haired friend and the latter was upset over his new sword being lost forever in the deep waters.

Hmm, surely there was something you could do…

-

“Come on, stop sulking over a sword. You have around a hundred of those in that fortress you call a home.” Steve threw his arm around Bucky’s shoulder and walked him towards the deck again. “Tonight, we feast in celebration of the new addition to our fleet!” Steve’s words earned a round of cheers and applause and roars.

Bucky eventually joined in. He congratulated his men and promised them many more ships in exchange for their fidelity. The men celebrated in the ship that night; getting drunk as usual. And Bucky had some ale but he made sure he didn’t get too drunk because his men’s safety was his responsibility and he figured he should at least stay sober and make sure everyone is alive and well till the next morning. Everyone eventually passed out in an ale coma. And Bucky was left alone. So he reached the top deck and leaned over the side of the ship and admired the shimmery water, illuminated by moonlight. It was peaceful. And beautiful. The sea had been Bucky’s first true love. He loved everything about it. The calm waves, the rough seas, the world unexplored world underneath--

“Psst!”

He heard a voice. And his flow of thoughts stopped immediately. Bucky looked around, all of his men and Steve included, were all passed out on the deck. Someone was even somehow in the empty barrel of ale. Surely no one on the ship ‘psst’ at him.

But then he heard it again.

“Psst!” followed by a loud splash of water and something shiny moving right below the ship. Bucky looked down to find a moving figure. A large fish? He was confused.

“What the hell?” he whispered to himself and went to grab a nearby burning torch, hoping it would provide at least some help, aiding him to see what was going on.

-

You heard his sharp intake of breath as soon as the golden light illuminated the part of the water where you were swimming. Not knowing what to say, you let him look down at you, hoping he’s see that you were harmless.

“Sir, I mean no harm.” You said after noticing that his eyes were getting wider and wider. And he leaned on the side of the ship so much you feared he might just fall. “Your sword, it fell earlier. I’ve come to return it.”

He gasped again when he heard your voice. Then he left the side of the ship and disappeared.

Oh well, you sighed. You waited for a few seconds but you didn’t see him. So you began swimming away, his sword still in your hand. You made up your mind that you’d keep it as a souvenir of having witnessed the existence of such a fine specimen of the human male specie. You hoped he hadn’t gone mad after seeing a mermaid, because most tend to-

Your thoughts were interrupted just about when you reached the large rock. You heard the sound of something in the water and out of instinct, you went and hid behind to rock. You clutched the handsome man’s sword to your chest and waited.

“Hello?” you heard a voice. A velvety, smooth and deep voice. You figured it must be the owner of the sword, but you were shy so you stayed hidden behind the rock, lowering gradually into the water; hiding.

Bucky had placed the burning torch at the front of the rowing boat, another sword by his side just in case, as he rowed closer and closer to the large groups of rock not far from his ship. He could feel someone’s presence and the voice in his head screamed what it was but he refused to believe it until he saw it for himself.

The closer he got, the louder he heard the sound of your nervous breaths. You were just as scared of him as he was of you. Yet, he was fascinated. And he sure as hell wouldn’t leave until he talked to you.

“I… I mean no harm either.” He spoke as he stopped right at the rock behind which you hid. He heard the splash of water again and then his breath hitched in his throat as you slowly emerged from behind the rock.

It felt to him like the most beautiful secret of the universe was unravelling right in front of his eyes. The moonlight and the golden light from the torch made you look ethereal, angelic almost like a goddess. You were easily the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And he was speechless once face to face with you. And so far he had only seen half of you.

He was glad your hair covered your chest because he wouldn’t want to come off as inappropriate by staring at your chest. Which would be hard even if you didn’t have long hair which covered your breasts because even now he was having trouble moving his eyes away from your face.

Something inside him fluttered as you cautiously swam closer to his boat. He couldn’t believe it. He wondered, is this what love at first sight feels like?

“I… uh, you… you’re beautiful.” He managed to whisper, which earned him a little smile from you. You felt your face heat up. Then you remembered why you were here face to face with a human in the first place.

Oh he was beautiful as well. Long hair, rough stubble, strong built and pretty eyes.

You swam closer to the rowing boat and carefully slid his shiny sword beside him inside the boat and you moved back a couple inches. You wouldn’t lie, his gaze was making you a little nervous. But Bucky was nervous too, being so close to something so beautiful and rare was making him lose his mind.

It got a little too quiet so you began moving away more and more, and Bucky noticed. “No wait!” he called out, stopping you from swimming away.

You stopped. “Yes?”

“I… uh,” he stammered. “Can you stay for a little while?”

 And that’s how it all began that night. After he asked you to stay for a while, you smiled and nodded. Truth is, you wanted to be in his company for a while longer as well. Bucky sat in the boat and you swam beside the boat, and the two of you talked for hours. He had countless questions, to which you had answers and vice versa.

He was a little awkward, which was understandable because he had met a mermaid for the first time. At some point, you noticed he was hesitating to ask you something.

“What is it?” you asked gently, tilting your head to the side a little. He chuckled nervously.

“I hope this doesn’t sound too weird. I’m sorry if it does but… can I see your tail?” he had to ask, he couldn’t hold it in anymore. He hoped he hadn’t offended you but judging by the smile on your face, he confirmed that he hadn’t.

“Oh, of course!” you beamed at him and excitedly took a dive, making sure your tail shows above the surface. You liked showing it off, it was your favorite thing about yourself.

Bucky watched in awe how you showed off your tail. It was breathtakingly beautiful; the scales were as shiny as the jewels he often found in his treasure chests. Your tail was a mixture of royal blue, azure and lilac – almost like it were the vibrant work of art of a god. The moonlight and the light from the burning torch made it glow and your fins were large and looked shiny and silky and almost luminescent.

Your upper body surfaced again, with a smile on your face. “How’d you like it?” you asked playfully.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” he stated with excitement like a kid. And you two shared a laugh over how he was amazed by how pretty your tail was.

He was funny, he made you laugh a lot that night. And each time you would give him a piece of information about your world, he’d listen attentively. That night was magical, it was pure bliss for both of you. Then the sky began getting brighter and both of you realized that you had in fact spent the entire night talking.

He asked you about where you lived, and you told him that there were underwater caves under the little isles; not far from the larger islands he lived on, and that was your home. He was blown away by how you lived quite close by but he had never seen you. Or any of your kind.

“Merpeople are good at hiding.” You replied. He smiled down at you softly.

“Well, I hope you won’t hide from me anymore.”

You talked for a while longer, then the sun began to rise on the horizon. “I should go.” You said, really not wanting to.

Bucky wanted to spend more time with you. “We will meet again, won’t we?” he asked, voice laced with hope and chagrin already because you were leaving.

“Sure. We will.”

“How will I find you again?” he asked, worried that this might be the first and last time you met. And he knew he had to see you again because he won’t be able to stay away for too long.

You answered before you swam away. “Come by the isles at nightfall whenever you want. And call out my name, I’ll be there.”

Bucky smiled as he watched you swim away, knowing that he was already whipped and catching feelings.

-

Heeding your words, two days later Bucky found himself rowing to the isles, where you said you’d show up if he called out your name. He did, and a few seconds later, he heard the splashing of water and within the next second or two; you swam towards him.

“Hi! I didn’t think you’d come back again.” you smiled as you approached his boat again. He smiled brightly as soon as he saw you.

“I had to. I needed to see you again.”

You two ended up sitting on the rock, by the shore of one of the smaller isles and you talked again; after Bucky managed to take his eyes off you. You found his amazement rather adorable.

“I heard humans say that staring was rude.” You teased softly.

He chuckled and looked down at his feet dipped in water, right beside your beautiful fins. “Sorry, you’re too pretty.”

Something inside you fluttered again. And it did so each time he rowed towards the isles to come and meet you.

And as time went by, he came by more and more frequently. And you found yourself rejoicing each moment spent with him.

He did the same. Making his way to the isles and meeting you became his favorite thing to do. And each time, you would share more and more about your life with him, and he did the same. Your conversations would get deep and intimate and personal often. Over the first few weeks, he learnt more about your family. How you didn’t have parents, and most of your siblings and friends had migrated elsewhere. And you learnt about how he grew up with his best friend Steve’s family, and he had never met his own parents.

You laid your head on his shoulder the night he told you all about his childhood and how he missed his parents. Bucky circled an arm around you and pressed his cheek to the top of your damp hair. You grabbed his hand and held it in between yours.

“It’s okay,” you said softly. “You’re not alone anymore.”

Your words meant so much to him. It made him feel warm and complete. He had never felt this way before, definitely never felt this way for anyone else.

-

The night he first kissed you was just as emotional and raw.

“Must be so beautiful down there.” He said in awe, referring to your life underwater. You smiled.

“It is. Very beautiful, but it’s also lonely.” You replied.

“Why so?”

You then explained to him how it all worked down there. Merpeople was slightly different than humans when it came to choosing a partner and settling down. Most merpeople found their partners at an early age and over time their bond grows stronger and stronger until they’re grown adults and are able to migrate wherever they wish to go and have families of their own.

You continued, “Almost everyone I know have found their mate, and it won’t be long until they all leave to live their lives and have families. And I’ll be left here alone because I haven’t found my one.” you sounded so upset that Bucky felt as though someone had pierced a dagger through his heart.

He reached out and held your chin and turned your head towards his. He admired your face, and your features. “Perhaps you’ve been looking in the wrong places.” He whispered, enchanted by the look in your glossy eyes.

Your heart skipped a beat at the proximity. “Perhaps I have.” You whispered back and before you could think of anything else, his lips were on yours.

He poured everything he felt into that first kiss. His adoration, his warmth and his feelings – you could feel it all. His soft lips brushed against your own as he gently cupped your face and deepened the kiss. His tongue slipping into your mouth and stroking the top of your mouth gently. He bit your lip and made you smile through the kiss. He pulled away to allow you sometime to breathe, he rested his forehead against yours and kept his eyes closed as he relished the feeling of you being in his arms.

“I am hopelessly falling in love with you.” he whispered after he recovered from the kiss. It was true because he had never felt this way with anyone before. Being with you brought him comfort and warmth and he never knew he could love someone this much.

You smiled and pulled away to look into his shiny, ocean blue eyes. “I think I am falling for you as well.”

 From then on, your love only grow more and more and it solidified as it went.

-end of flashback-

 “Buck! Where are you going? You can’t leave yet, we’ve barely begun!” a tipsy Steve called out after Bucky as he tried to get away from the feast as sneakily as possible because he was already late for his rendezvous with you.

“I…uh, there’s something I need to take care of. Be right back!” he shouted at his friend over the noise of the celebration. He lied, Bucky knew he would be with you on the rocks by the shore of the isle at least until sunrise.

He got to the harbor and took a rowing boat and hurried over to you. He knew you’d be waiting, as always.

Bucky smiled as he got closer and closer to the isle. And despite having done this almost each night for the past many months, he could still never get used to the sight of you sat there waiting for him. On the highest rock by the shore, you smiled as you saw his boat approaching. Bucky could never get over how pretty you looked, with your long, damp hair down and your shiny tail. You looked no less than a goddess when the moonlight shone down on you.

Bucky always found it adorable how your fins would flutter quicker and quicker against the rock in excitement as he got closer and closer to you. He left the boat on the shore then hurried his way over to you on top of the rock, engulfing you in his strong arms immediately.

You wrapped your arms around him at once, embracing his warmth as he embraced the cold droplets of water on your skin. He kissed your forehead and you looked up and he whispered, “Hello, my love.” and he bent down to kiss your lips.

You kissed him back and pulled away to look at him. Just the sight of his face filled your heart with warmth. “I’ve missed you.” you said as he made himself comfortable beside you and scooted closer to you.

He smiled and reached up to stroke your cheek with his warm hand. “I know,” he cooed and lazily caressed your damp skin, “I was at the feast and they wouldn’t let me leave early.” He explained and you seemed all excited at the sound of the feast.

“Tell me all about it!” you placed your head on his shoulder as he told you all about how they were celebrating yet another victory of theirs. You could listen to his voice forever; it was calming almost like a lullaby.

When he finished giving you all the details, you sighed and mumbled, “I wish I could be there.”

He sensed the sadness in your voice. “I wish so too, sweetheart.” He tightened his grip around you, letting you know that no matter what barrier there was, he was here with you.

You pulled away from him and stared into his eyes. “I went looking again today. But…” you sighed again, closing your eyes briefly. “I won’t give up, Buck.”

Bucky knew what you were talking about. “Sweetheart, it could be a myth. I don’t want you to risk your safety and all that you have while looking for something that may not exist at all.” He reasoned.

You shook your head, a little stubborn as always. “No, you’re all I have. I want to be with you in the long run. And I’m not giving up on it.”

What you were talking about was a story that you had heard since you were a kid. Amongst merpeople, there was a legend that stated that in the depths of the ocean, somewhere in a deep cave lied a magical potion which could give merpeople the ability to walk the lands. The story goes that long, long ago, some of the first merpeople created said potion using ancient magic as a means to protect their kind from extinction. Should the oceans get too dangerous and inhabitable one day, merpeople could then move on land and continue existing in human form.

You had heard the story countless times, and no one ever really believed it just like most beings don’t believe in myths. But now, now that you had met Bucky and fallen in love with him, you wished with all your heart that the legend was indeed true and that you could find the potion one day, and hopefully share your life properly with Bucky. And for a while now, you’ve been obsessively looking for it.

When Bucky first heard you talking about it, he was thrilled. Then, he began thinking; was he being selfish by helping you nourish this hope? What if it was indeed a myth, and didn’t exist? Was he being selfish by encouraging this desire of yours to walk on land, when you belonged to the ocean?

“You’re awfully quiet today.” You pointed out when you noticed that he seemed deep in thought.

He voiced out his concerns regarding you finding that potion. “I mean, I can’t help but feel as though I’m asking for too much. You were born here, and I’ll be asking you to leave it all behind. For me. It makes me feel selfish.”

You sighed and laced your fingers with his. “What if the situation was reversed? And you somehow find out that there’s a way for you to come and live with me in my world. Would you do the same for me?” you asked.

He was quick to reply. “In a heartbeat.” He lifted your intertwined hands and placed a kiss on the back of your hand. “You know I would do anything for you.”

You smiled at him. “It’s the same for me. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Just trust me on this, it’s only a matter of time before I find it. And then we can be together, actually together. And you can show me around your home.”

Bucky wanted that as well. He would give up anything and everything just to have you beside him all the time, to bring you home and share his life with you. But he was worried. The ocean, as beautiful as it was, it was also unpredictable and dangerous. And the thought of losing you because you went after this potion was scary, and he was sure that if something ever happened to you while you went looking for this potion, the guilt would kill him in no time.

He wasn’t too much of a fan of your obsession with finding that potion. If it truly existed, if, then it was said that the path which led to it was dark and dangerous. Deep waters where supposedly monsters lurked around, protecting the potion from getting in the hands of wrong merpeople. The thought of you getting hurt down there where he couldn’t reach nor help you made Bucky tremble in fear.

“Just be careful, alright. I can’t lose you sweetheart, I just can’t. Okay?” he made sure you understood how serious he was regarding your safety.

You nodded smiling, and leaned in for a kiss.

 Bucky got back on his boat to leave just before the crack of dawn. And as usual you swam alongside his boat till you could, seeing him off as he went away for the day. Then you would always part with a sweet kiss.

Bucky held your chin gently as he leaned down for a kiss. You remained by the side of his boat for a while longer. And then he saw your eyes getting glossy again. He reached out to stroke your cheek, “You always get teary when we get here.” He pointed to the shallow water.

You sniffled. “I just wish that one day, I can go further than this. With you.”

Bucky sighed as your reply. He didn’t like how you often blamed yourself for the barrier that was there, naturally, between the two of you. “Hey,” he tilted your head up slightly. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

He smiled and kissed your forehead again. “Now go and get some sleep. And don’t go wandering off too far.” He always told you that, fearing that one day you might swim too far and won’t be able to find your way back to him.

That fear of his formed on the day you told him that once when you were a kid, you wandered off too far from home and got lost and couldn’t find your way back until one of your older siblings came to find you. The mere thought of you lost and alone in unknown waters and the idea of never seeing you again sent unpleasant chills down his spine.

You giggled at his warning and swam away. He watched you as you went, heard the splashes of water as you swam further away. Then it all stopped, meaning you were in deeper water, on your way home.

Bucky cared a lot about you and he didn’t want you to be heartbroken over not being able to find that potion. Yet at the same time he wanted you to find it so you two could be together forever. But then he was always filled with the guilt of being selfish for even thinking so.

He didn’t want you to change, despite how much you wanted to do so, just to be with him. Yet, the thought of letting you go was next to impossible. Bucky was conflicted, and so were you sometimes. But the one thing you were dead sure about was one another and both of you were willing to do whatever it takes to preserve your love. Bucky just hoped that it doesn’t get to a point where the only option would be letting you go for your own well-being.

Then again, no love story came without challenges and tragedies…

[yikesharringrove]

Egg the Cat

Chapter 2

Read on Ao3

-

Nancy flinched as an engine revved, a sleek blue muscle car pulling into the lot. 

Steve let himself focus on it. It was better than dwelling on his fucking essay, his impending shitty night spent with Barb’s parents, like he didn’t feel horrible enough about that whole situation. 

He watched the car pull into a space at the front of the lot. 

California plates.

“Who’s that?” Steve could picture Nancy wrinkling her nose as she said it, too focused on Billy getting out of his car to turn and see it for real. 

He narrowed his eyes at a young redhead getting out of the passenger side. 

Billy hadn’t said anything about a sibling. 

“That’s Billy. I met him last night.” He finally looked back at Nancy as Billy set off towards the school. “He found Egg downtown.” 

Nancy’s eyebrows flew nearly to her hairline. 

“Steve, I’m sorry, I forgot. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, Billy got her safe and sound. Still don’t know how she got out, though. Let alone made it all the way downtown.” He locked his car as they headed towards the high school, the warning bell sounding through the parking lot.

He reached for Nancy’s hand, his heart soaring when she let him take it. 

Sometimes she said his hands were too clammy. 

He walked her to her first class, kissing her softly by the door. 

Billy glared at the tiny brunette sitting in front of him. 

Steve hadn’t said anything about having a fucking girlfriend last night. 

And really, Billy should’ve known. He’s a hot guy, living in a town of not a lot of hot guys. It makes sense some girl would snap him up. 

It just felt like a slap in the face. 

It’s not like Billy thought he actually had a chance with Steve, but now all of his daydreams, any of his dirty thoughts featuring one Steve Harrington were gonna be tainted, by this prissy fucking bitch. 

Billy just spent all of his AP biology lecture boring holes into the back of her head. 

He didn’t really give a fuck if people noticed, thought it was weird. He was too busy channeling all of his anger, all of his hatred onto this skinny little priss. 

He hoped she could feel it, like maybe his anger gaze gave off palpable heat or something. 

Based on how many times she stuck her hand up to answer every question posed by the teacher, no, she couldn’t feel the heat of Billy’s rage. 

He couldn’t get out of there fast enough, only to find they shared all three of their morning classes. 

Because fuck Billy. 

And then he had to watch, had to stand there like a stupid gay fucking idiot as Steve lifted nancy off her feet, and made out with her against her locker. 

He stomped past, hoping to go unnoticed by-

“Billy!”

Fuck. 

He stopped dead in his tracks, taking a few deep breaths before turning, plastering his best I am so charming and I don’t hate your girlfriend for no reason smile on his face. 

Steve was all sunshiney again today. Billy mentally kicked the little voice in his head saying that sunshine is for you. 

“Hey, man! How’s your first day going?” Steve had his girl tucked under his arm. She looked like a frail little bird. Billy hoped Steve’s cat ate her for breakfast one day soon.

“Well, you got mad at me last night when I called this place a shithole, so I’m just going to heavily imply it.” Steve laughed, his head tipping back a little, eyes crinkling at the corners. 

Billy tried to think about his dad, tied to think about the shelf bruises on his back. 

And then Steve was pressing a sheet of paper into his hand, and their fingers fucking brushed and Billy tried, tried to think of a broken arm and cops at his house, and not holding fucking hands with Steve Harrington. 

He studied the paper, just to look somewhere that wasn’t Steve’s eyes. A lighter shade of brown in the fluorescent lights, a shade bordering on green. 

Come and get sheetfaced. 

“Hawkins parties will probably be lame compared to what you’re familiar with, but I mean, it should be fun.” Billy just nodded, eyes trained on the little ghost. “We’ll be there. Nancy and I.” Nancy. That’s a stupid fucking name. “Y’know, if you aren’t too cool for us by then.”

Steve was smirking at him a little when Billy finally looked up. 

“I’m already cooler than you, Harrington.” Fuck. It sounded way meaner than Billy had wanted, sounded actually rude, not like a little ribbing. Not like a little tongue-in-cheek reference to last night. Cold shit. 

But then Steve tossed his head back, and he laughed, a full belly laugh, and he clapped Billy on the shoulder, and Billy has never felt gayer in his entire life. 

“Harsh, man. Real harsh. Wait ‘til I tell Egg you said that, she’ll never want to see you again .” And Steve was still smiling at him, and he had maybe, alluded to Billy seeing his cat again, which meant seeing Steve outside of school, and Nancy was looking down the hall, like this conversation was below her pay grade, and Billy wanted. 

“See, that’s why I’m cooler than you. I don’t go telling my cat all my lame drama.”

“That’s because you don’t have a cat,” Steve said playfully, his face falling a bit. “Wait, you don’t have a cat, do you?” Billy shrugged.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” And Steve smiled at him, and the bell rang, and Nancy rolled her eyes before pressing herself out from underneath Steve’s arm, and Steve’s big sweet eyes snapped onto her. 

“I’ve got to get to Calculus.” Billy’s heart sank. They shared four classes so far. 

Steve just leaned down to kiss her, one hand cradling the side of her face. Billy looked away.

“I love you.” He had to suppress a snort as Nancy said it back, her voice all pitchy and off. 

But Steve reached out to clap Billy on the shoulder again. 

“I better see you tonight!” And he was off down the hall, and Billy, once again, made a point not to look at his ass. 

-

“You gotta be home by nine-thirty, okay, Shitbird?” Max rolled her eyes again. 

“Billy, I know what time I need to be home by.”

“Just making sure, because you know if you don’t make curfew, I’m somehow gonna be blamed for it.” Billy had only gotten out of playing babysitter this evening when Max had nearly thrown a full tantrum at the idea of trick-or-treating with adult supervision while she’s trying to make friends. 

She just looked at him sharply, her lips pursing a bit. 

“I’ll be home.” Her voice had an edge to it. Billy didn’t really know how to take it.

“Be safe.” She didn’t acknowledge him, just got out of the car, a little Michael Myers heading into the swarm of children. 

He pulled down the road, the party address only a few blocks from where Max was meeting her friends. 

He slammed a beer the minute he entered the party, didn’t want to be sober for a second of this shitfest. 

Steve had been right. This party didn’t hold a fuckin’ candle to what he frequented down in Cali. 

He tried to make the best of it, beat the keg stand record, found some stupid jocks that were more than happy to parade around him all night. 

He just had to get to that sweet spot, drunk enough he would actually get hard with a girl, but not too drunk he’d get whiskey dick. He didn’t need that to be his reputation in this shitty town. 

He was being pulled through the crowd by some freckly fucker dressed as the guy from Karate Kid. Max had made him take her to that movie six times in the theaters. Billy had slept through it every time. 

He was feeling pretty okay, the beer settling into his system, giving him a warm buzz as he studied the party. Maybe he could find some punk kids, score some weed or-

Steve Harrington.  

The karate guy had shoved him in front of Steve, had said, guess who’s the new Keg King, Harrington?

Steve was glaring at the guy, drawn up to his full height, shoulders squared, all of that melting as he turned to Billy, smiling warmly at him. 

Fucking sunshine. 

“Nice job, Dude!” And Steve took Billy’s hand, and he pulled him into a one-armed fucking hug. 

Billy was absolutely stunned. Maybe a little bit hard as he pat his hand against Steve’s back. Felt his muscles moving under his jacket. 

But then Steve pulled back, his eyes trailing after his fucking girlfriend, and he was gone, followed her into the kitchen. 

Billy wanted to tear out his fucking hair. 

He went the opposite way as Steve, pushing through the sweaty crowd. 

He really didn’t need to see Steve coddling his girl. 

He shoved his way into the backyard, vaulting the low fence on the porch, making his way out of the yellowed light spilling out of the house. 

He pulled out a cigarette, lighting it quickly. 

Fucking idiot. You knew you couldn’t have any fucking boy in this goddamn town.

But Billy had come into this town really not expecting any boy to actually catch his eye. 

Not like Steve has. 

Steve with his stupid big eyes, and his stupid big hair, and his stupid cat named fucking Egg. Who names a cat Egg? That’s a dumb fucking name. 

Billy lit his next cigarette with the dying remains of the last one. 

He thought about calling it quits, heading home early. 

But it wasn’t even ten yet, and really, he needed to fool around with a chick tonight. He needed to establish himself as a lady killer. 

Sleep with one girl, and the rumors would build enough that he probably wouldn’t have to fuck any others, just not deny it when any girl claims they had a wild night of passion. 

It was safer that way. Gave him some cushion. 

Then, if any of the lies began to unravel, he’ll just fuck another one, and let the rumor mill do its trick. 

Besides, he can find a brunette, make her take it from behind. If he’s lucky, the party’ll be loud enough he can tune out her moans, picture someone else, picture him -

The backdoor slammed against the wall as someone stomped outside. 

Billy just took another deep drag, hoped he wouldn’t be noticed. 

But, of course-

Steve didn’t even ask, just took the cigarette out of Billy’s mouth, taking a long fucking drag. 

He rolled his shoulders, let his head fall back, blowing the smoke out towards the sky. 

“Y’know, I fucking quit smoking because of her. Not like I did it a lot, but still .” Billy just stayed quiet. He really didn’t want to talk about Steve’s fucking girlfriend. “Because I actually cared .” Oh, now wait a minute.

“What happened?” 

Steve shot him a dark look.

“You weren’t inside?” 

Billy just gestured to the cigarette Steve was now sucking on once again. Billy kept his focus on Steve’s left earlobe. Didn’t care to get a semi just from looking at his lips. 

“Lovers’ quarrel?”

“Does repeatedly being called bullshit and having her tell you she doesn’t love you count as a lovers’ quarrel?”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah.” Steve tossed the cigarette to the ground, stomping it out. Billy didn’t know what to say. 

What he wanted to say was you ever sucked dick? And then maybe take Steve’s mind off of everything by fucking his face, but that felt a little forward, felt a little gay. 

“ Fuck .”

Oh, shit. 

Steve was fucking, Steve was gonna cry. Standing outside with Billy, barely lit by the light filtering through the small frosted bathroom window. 

“ Next week .” Steve’s voice cracked. “We would’ve been together one year next week. And she was pretending .” Steve slumped back against the wall, his face buried in both his hands. “I, I changed everything for her. I stopped seeing my friends because she didn’t like them, I stopped smoking because she said it was gross, I changed who I am as a fucking person. And you know, granted, I am a better person. But I’m different, because of her, and she just, she threw all of it away.”

He sniffed loudly, his shoulders stuttering. 

Billy felt like his guts were on fucking fire. 

“Fuck her. Fuck her. You are a good guy. And if she’s too much of a bitch to see that, she doesn’t deserve you.” Steve didn’t acknowledge him for a while. Billy just let it be, lit another cigarette. 

“I think I’m gonna go home. I wanna see my cat.” Steve sounded like a little kid. Like a heartbroken little kid. 

“You good to drive?” And Steve finally pulled his head out of his hands. 

His big eyes were shining, his cheeks wet, glistening in the low light. 

“I don’t drink anymore. Because she said I’m an asshole when I’m drunk.”

Billy weighed his words carefully. 

“I’ve got a bottle of tequila in my car if you wanna stick it to her.” Steve gave him a watery smile. 

“You wanna follow me to my place?”

[thran-duils]

Nowhere to Run (P.1)

Title: Nowhere to Run (Part One) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Stony. Reader was caught unknowingly stealing from the capitol harvest and is drug to the capitol for punishment. She is offered an option to go to trial or accept work in the main government building. Upon her tour, she ends up in trouble and catches eyes of two of the Master Council that decide she needs to be broken in by their hands. Words: 1,847 Warnings: Non-con, servitude, forced orgasms, verbal and emotional abuse

Author’s Notes: I don’t intend for this to be a super long series. This chapter is setting up the non-con to come. Read at your own risk, 18+ as always. Also, the picture under the cut is the mood in the world that I am seeing; kind of steam punk? AND, song inspo.

Part Two || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

You were being led through the long halls of the capitol building, a collar around your neck. The guards could give you a small shock whenever they so pleased if you tried to run or do anything unsavory.

They had found you stealing fruits off one of the carts in the market. Normally, you would have had your hands whipped and spent a night in jail. But this cart that you had so stupidly failed to see had the symbol of the capitol on it. It had been dark, early morning, and you had failed to see it as you snuck around. The envoy had apparently come to the market as the vendors were arriving to fetch the best of the crops for the council members. Stealing from the capitol meant trial there and you were drug from your mountainous outskirt town to the city with others to face the highest court for your crime.

You were brought to a room and shoved inside; the door closed behind you. A man was sitting behind a desk, waiting patiently.

“Sit,” he invited, gesturing at the chair on the opposite side of the desk. “My name is Tsu. I’ll be your counselor for the day if you decide to utilize my offer.”

Cautiously, you did what he asked, sinking into the chair. He picked up a device — you had only ever seen guards that patrolled through your town with them — and clicked it on. A picture came to life, and you watched with awe as he was able to control it with his movements of his hand in the air.

“I have your basic information that they collected upon your arrest. Name, date of birth, crime. But I need to know what it is you do...”

“‘Do’?”

“Your profession.”

“I don’t have a profession. I’m going to trial.”

“Everyone has a profession.”

You stayed silent, not wanting to give this capitol worker any more information than he already had on you. Your town did well enough staying out of their way and business, keeping to yourselves besides when they demanded crops. Giving away too much about yourself seemed unwise.

Tsu eyed you and asked suspiciously, “Was it a, let’s say, less prestigious profession that you are more inclined to not disclose?”

You saw he was eyeing your arms and then neck causing you to you ask, “What do you mean?”

“Do you know women here in the city — and many other places in the kingdom for that matter — are tattooed?”

“I’ve seen people passing through with them yes.”

“Tattoos are normal, expected even. Your body is a canvas. And having the freedom to do with your skin as you please is a status symbol.” You stared at him dumbly, not picking up what he was trying to get at. He sighed, lowering the technological device and leveled with you, “Ladies of the night do not have tattoos. They’re not free and their skin is kept clear to show that. And to me, you look like ink has never touched your skin. Am I correct?”

Heat came to your cheeks, and you sputtered offended, “I’m not a lady of the night! I worked for the local librarian if you need to know! It just didn’t pay well, and I was hungry!”

So much for not giving him information. But he had provoked you. You were always told you had a temper.

“So, you’re saying yes your skin is clear?”

“Yes it is but I’m not a trollop!”

“It matters not. It will invite unwanted attention from people here in the city. And trust me, the higher up they are in status, the bolder they will be about assuming you are... open.”

Exasperated, you asked, “What does this have to do with my trial?”

Tsu shrugged, “With my help, you may not have to go to trial. You’ll just be sentenced to work in the capitol building. Here. I’m just trying to explain to you briefly how some things work. And I was merely asking what you did so I could better place you. If you were working nights, then, there is a spot for you, despite your immediate disdain for the profession. But, if that’s not the case, then I can find you something else here.”

“For how long?” you asked upset.

Tsu shrugged and said, “The typical time for a crime in your bracket is a year.” Your stomach dropped. An entire year spent here? Wearing a collar? Away from your home. “If you are outstanding — and someone happens to notice, which is rare — you could have a couple months shaved off. The other way, if you are unsuitable or enrage someone, they could seek to extend your sentence.”

“So, I am to be at the mercy of these wealthy, spoiled assholes’ whims?” You demanded before you could stop yourself.

That drew the briefest of smirks out of hum before he cleared his throat and said, “As assuming as it is for me to hear you share that behind closed doors with me, because it is true, I would watch your tongue very closely. That’s something that would most certainly get your sentence extended.”

“Noted,” you muttered, sinking back into your seat.

Tsu turned the tablet towards you and said, “If you would prefer to do what I am offering instead of facing trial and time in a cell, sign here stating you understand the conditions.”

You stared at the tablet, weighing your options. This way, you knew exactly what you were getting into and having knowledge and a plan seemed a comfort than going in blind. Reaching forward, you held out your hand.

“Use your finger. There’s no pen.”

Tracing your name, you watched it appear in gold before solidifying in black in the document.

“Perfect. Let’s get you changed into a servant’s gown. And get that collar off.” The collar was going to come off? He must have seen the shock on your face. “You’ll be given an ankle bracelet. It will look delicate, beautiful even, but trust me, it won’t break. And they’ll get an alert if there’s a lot of pressure aka you trying to do so. And that can also get you added time.”

<><><>

It only took half a day for you to find yourself in more trouble. You had been following Tsu as he gave you a tour around the castle and you had stopped as the two of you crossed a bridge. You had been transfixed by the sight of the city, your hands coming to rest on the balcony as you took it in.

You felt a hand at your ass before it cupped, and breath was hot on your ear.

“My, my, I don’t think I’ve seen you before, lovely,” the man rasped.

“Don’t touch me, you piece of shit!” you exclaimed, whipping around and shoving him. He stumbled back away from you, barely catching his balance having been so caught off guard by your reaction. You doubted the people here ever received pushback from servants. He looked furious.

“What did she just say?” the man demanded, coming for you but someone stepped in his way.

This other man was blonde, short haired. “There’s no need to maim the girl here in public, is there?”

The first man looked ready to explode but he grated, “Did you hear what she said to me, Master Barton? She—"

“I have ears and they’re perfect, so yes I did hear what she said,” Barton replied coolly.

Tsu had come back to your side — how far had he gotten, talking to himself, before he realized you were not behind him? He pulled you a few paces away.

“What’s going on, sir?”

Before Barton could say anything, the man spat, “That little wench shoved me and swore at me!”

Tsu inhaled deeply before hissing in your ear, “Did you hear nothing of what I spoke?” You opened your mouth to protest but he continued on in a hushed whisper, “This whole thing can possibly be fixed if you just go apologize. And if you do this I’m going to have to grab the back of your neck without any resistance from you.”

“Gods,” you breathed.

“I’m serious.”

You gave the slightest of nods before Tsu’s hand was tight around the back of your neck and he walked you past Barton to the man. He was staring at you ferociously, like he wanted to tear you apart.

“She’s just arrived today but that doesn’t excuse her actions. She would like to beg your forgiveness,” Tsu told him, and his fingers flexed, signaling for you to start.

You had dealt with bullies before. You could do this.

Trying to keep the disdain out of your tone, you said, “I’m sorry for being enraged and acting impulsively. It was uncouth of me. I’m new and I am trying to learn how to act respectively with your customs. I beg your forgiveness.” You quickly added, “Sir.”

The man straightened out his shirt before sneering, “These little whores keep getting more brazen. Keep them in line!”

With that he turned on his heel and stormed off.

Tsu let go of your neck and he breathed easier that it had not escalated, and the man had begrudgingly accepted your apology. You caught Barton watching and he winked at you before turning on his heel and leaving as well.

<><><>

Tony was watching the screen of the security footage with arousal swimming in his eyes, his fingers at his lips at the woman. He was insatiable at times with his lust — the whorehouse a place he frequently relished in. He turned his attention to Steve.

Steve was cold at first, displeased by the mountain girl’s behavior towards one of the council members. But upon seeing her come back and apologize, a small smirk broke out.

“Thought you might find that interesting,” Clint commented, leaning against the wall. “Seems there’s a little hellion now in our midst.”

Tony paused the recording on a close up of her face and Steve leaned forward. He studied her for a few moments before telling the guards.

“Send her our way,” he ordered. “We’ve needed a new chambermaid. And I haven’t had to break a new one in in a while.”

“Cause she definitely didn’t mean a word of that apology. Look at that fire in her eyes,” Tony chuckled, strolling closer to the screen, looking at her face on the paused screen. Quietly to himself more than anything, his fingers tapping his lips, he said, “No... no you didn’t, did you, little vixen?” He was drinking the sight of her in, and he adjusted his pants, already titillating himself at the thoughts playing in his mind. Turning away from the screen on one foot, he went back for his goblet, taking a drink. He smacked his lips and vowed, “She’ll mean it when we ask for an apology. Of that I am certain.”

“Whatever she’s been assigned, reassign her to our villa community,” Steve added. “She’ll have plenty work there to learn her manners.”

~~~

Marvel tags: @coconutqueen21​ @undecidedsworld​ @holl2712​ @agustdowney​

[americasass91]

Is there a chance you can do my request. It’s the stucky fic I suggested earlier, though if you struggle you can make it Steve and reader. I would send the whole request again, but I can’t copy it sorry. Thanks!

Here’s the original request:

So here is my first ever Stucky fic! I’m sorry this took me a little longer than normal. I’m extremely nervous to post it. Only because I want to do Stucky justice! I hope it was what you had in mind with your request! I did go smutty with it. Not as smutty as I normally do. But as smutty as I was comfortable with going. Anyway thank you so much for the request and I hope you enjoy it!

Rating: Explicit of course

Words:2.6k

Warnings: smut, hand job, oral, male/male, Steve being cocky

Hidden Feelings

Saturdays should be for sleeping in or being a lazy bum on the couch. The day to relax after a long ass week.

They should not be for working out.

God Bucky hated working out. But he especially hated it on Saturdays. Which is why he was laying in bed, contemplating just staying there. The only reason he even agreed is because Steve had asked him and well he can’t really say no to Steve.

Steve.

Steve with his stupid, perfect blonde hair. And his stupid ocean eyes. And his stupid bulging biceps. And his stupid sculpted torso. And his stupid thick thighs that Bucky just wanted to bite-

Whoa.

Wait.

When did Bucky start feeling that way about his best friend? Sure he had always thought Steve was attractive but feeling anything sexual towards him was new. Bucky had always thought himself as straight. But judging from the bulge in his pajama pants, that may not be the case.

Bucky shook his head to clear it of the inappropriate thoughts he was having for the blonde super soldier. He just hasn’t been laid in awhile. Yeah, that must be it. He’d have to fix that soon.

He decided to finally get out of bed and get dressed for the gym. Maybe a good, hard workout will help clear his head.

The first thing Bucky did when getting to the gym was look for Steve. After all, he did invite him to workout. Yeah, that’s why he was looking for him. Not to gaze at his handsome face. Nope.

It didn’t take him long to spot him at all. And when he did, he could feel his blood start to boil.

There he was on the pull-up bars doing one armed pull-ups. That’s not what had Bucky so upset. No, it was the fact that there were at least 4 female agents crowded around the bars. They were all trying to chat with Steve who Bucky could tell was just eating the attention up.

After a few more sets, Steve hopped down in front of the waiting ladies. They were so obviously swooning over him. He just smiled and ran his hand through his hair while one of the girls had the audacity to squeeze his bicep.

That was it. Bucky couldn’t stand to look anymore. He grabbed a water from the fridge and hurried to the other side of the gym where the weights were. He needed to lose himself in a workout, get out of his head.

He had just laid down on the bench press when Steve appeared before him.

“Hey, Buck! Thanks for joining me today! I know you like to sleep in but it’s just nice to have someone to workout with.” Steve headed over to the bench press right beside Bucky. He started adding weights to the barbell.

Bucky couldn’t help the roll of his eyes as he glanced back over to the group of girls who were slowly making their way towards them. “Yeah, looks like you would’ve been real lonely without me.”

Steve follows Bucky’s gaze and chuckles. “Yeah, they can’t resist me. What can I say? They like the muscles. Can’t say I blame them” He flexes to make them even more prominent. Bucky was doing his best not to look. He didn’t need to get a boner right now.

He scoffed. “Okay. Whatever you say, punk.”

Steve gets all of his weights added and sits down on the bench. He slaps Bucky’s shoulder. “You know they want to go out sometime. I bet I can talk one of them into going out with you. We could double. It’s been awhile since we’ve gotten laid. I don’t think we’d have to convince them much.”

Bucky grabs the barbell and lifts it up to begin his reps. “No thanks. I’m not into shallow women. And besides. They all seem to want you.”

Steve chuckles. “I know! Isn’t that great?”

Bucky finishes his first rep and puts the barbell back in place and sits up to face Steve. “Yeah I guess it is. But there’s no reason to be a brat about it.”

Steve’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Did you just call me a brat?”

Bucky takes a swig of water and lays back down. “Well yeah. I couldn’t think of a better word.” He lifts the bar once again and begins his next rep. Just as he’s finishing it up, he hears giggling next to him.

He puts the bar back into place and looks over to see Steve doing his own reps, surrounded by the same 4 women who were watching him do pull-ups.

“Wow Steve. You’re so strong! I bet you could do reps with me.” One of them said in a sickenly sweet voice.

Steve sat up and smirked. “Oh that’d be too easy, doll.” He leans forward and grabs the girl and lifts her up so she’s perched on his shoulder. “You weigh practically nothing. It wouldn’t even be a challenge for me.”

She giggles as he puts her back down. Bucky can’t help but wonder what it would be like to be manhandled like that by Steve. Shit. He needs to stop with those thoughts. He could feel his cock stir. Okay. Unsexy thoughts.

Um. Tony’s boring team meetings. Sam talking about how cool his wings are. Nat attempting baking. Steve’s ass in his uniform. Fuck! No! Bruce talking about chemistry and physics. Wanda attempt- Bucky’s train of thought gets interrupted by loud squeals.

He looks over just in time to see Steve removing his shirt. “It really does give me more range of motion to workout shirtless. Thanks for the suggestion ladies! Now who am I lifting next?”

One of the girls points at Bucky. “Why don’t you bench press him? I bet his metal arm will make it a little difficult.”

Steve looks over at Bucky who is already shaking his head no. “Oh, come on Buck! Just let me prove these lovely ladies right.” He gives Bucky a hopeful look. Fuck. He can’t resist those eyes.

“Okay, fine. But only a few!”

Steve winks at him. “Okay I’ll lay down on the bench and you lean backwards towards me. I’ll place one hand between your shoulder blades and the other on your left upper thigh. Cool?”

Bucky had to stop the shiver that was trying to wrack his body at the thought of Steve’s hand anywhere near his thighs. “Whatever man. Can we just hurry it up? I need to get back to my reps.” He was trying his best to act annoyed to push down his arousal.

Steve claps his hands together and turns toward the girls. “Okay ladies, you’re gonna have to count for me!” He winks at one and sends them into a fit of giggles. Bucky can’t stop the eye roll this time.

Steve lays down on the bench and holds his hands up, waiting for Bucky.

Bucky starts taking deep breaths as he leans back. Goosebumps erupt down his arms when he feels Steve’s hand on his back. Before he even has time to enjoy his touch, he feels his hand grip the back of his left thigh and lift him into the air.

Bucky can feel his cock twitch. Fuck. He needs to think of something else. He starts going through the list of people killed on Game of Thrones when Steve starts his reps.

Jesus Christ. Bucky makes the mistake and looks towards the mirrors behind them and he gets mesmerized by Steve’s biceps. They were really bulging now. Every vein was popped out and on display. All Bucky wanted to do was follow them with his tongue. Fuck. He was starting to get hard.

Luckily this is when Steve decides he’s shown off enough and sets Bucky back down.

“Alright ladies! So how many di-“ Bucky doesn’t even hear the rest of what Steve says. He just takes off towards the locker room. He couldn’t stop all the blood rushing south this time even if he wanted to. As he opens the door, he vaguely hears Steve calling after him.

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

Finally Bucky is alone in the shower and can take care of his problem.

He turns on the water to a warm temperature and steps under. He hangs his head down and looks at his betraying, hard cock. He didn’t want to have these feelings towards Steve. He knew they’d never, ever be reciprocated. He had to figure out a way to suppress his feelings.

He places his metal hand on the wall and grips the base of his cock with his right. He hisses at the contact. He’s never been this hard in his life. He starts off with slow strokes, tightening his grip just like he likes it.

He doesn’t hear the approachI get footsteps as he starts to speed up his strokes.

“Need some help there, punk?”

Bucky freezes and whips his head towards the voice he’d know anywhere.

Steve is standing there in all his naked glory, cockily smirking at Bucky. His blue eyes are trained on Bucky’s hand that’s still stroking his cock.

Bucky can’t help his own gaze as it lowers down Steve’s body. God damn is he beautiful. He gulps as his eyes take in the cock between Steve’s legs. Not only is it big, but it’s rock hard and seems to be pointing directly at him. He carefully moves his gaze back up and locks eyes with Steve. “Those girls got you really worked up, huh?”

Steve smirks again and saunters slowly towards Bucky. He stops in front of him. “Nope.”

Bucky furrows his brows. “Then what has you all worked up, Steve?”

Steve lifts his hand and tucks a piece of hair behind Bucky’s ear. “You, handsome. Nobody can get me as hard as you can.”

Now Bucky is really confused. Steve has never given any hints about being sexually interested in Bucky ever. He knew Steve had even slept around with a few of the female agents. The confusion must be showing on Bucky’s face.

“I’ve been trying to avoid it, Buck. But I just can’t hide it anymore. I’m attracted to you. Always have been. Even when I was just a little, asthmatic shrimp. Now..” His gaze lowers to his fisted erection once again. “Is that for me? If not, I’ll leave and we can pretend this conversation never happened. If it is, then I’d love nothing more than to help you with it.”

Bucky only has to think for 3 seconds. He nods his head. “Yes, it’s for you.”

Steve grips the back of Bucky’s neck and pulls him in for a heated kiss. Bucky pushed his body against Steve’s and both men let out a groan when their cocks brush against each other.

“Fuck, I’ve wanted you for so long. Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to jerk you off until you’re coming all over me. Then we’re going back to my room to….explore this further. Got it?”

Jesus. Bucky liked bossy Steve. He just nodded his head.

Steve removed Bucky’s hand that was still fisted around his cock. He replaced it with his own. He gives Bucky a few experimental strokes before Bucky groans out,”harder.”

Steve grips his hand harder around the aching cock and speeds up his strokes. Bucky goes to grab for Steve’s cock but his hand gets slapped away. “No. Right now is about you, handsome. Just close your eyes and enjoy it.”

Bucky decides to listen to him. He braces his hands on Steve’s shoulders and leans his head back with his eyes closed.

Steve takes this opportunity to attach his lips to Bucky’s neck. He needs to mark him as his. Bucky must be enjoying it if the little groans escaping his mouth are anything to go by.

Steve tightens his grip and speeds up his strokes even more. He looks down at Bucky’s cock. It was thick. It was leaking so much pre-cum. Steve knew Bucky had to be close. He all of a sudden needed him in his mouth.

He removes his hand from Bucky and lowers himself to his knees. Bucky raises his head in confusion and almost comes at the sight of Steve on his knees before him.

“What are you doing, Stevie?”

Steve grips Bucky’s cock and looks up at him. “Needed to taste you big guy. Need to feel your cum sliding down my throat.”

Fuck. If Bucky wasn’t close to cumming before, he sure as hell was now!

“Fuck, Steve. I’m not gonna last long.”

Steve just shrugs and sucks Bucky’s tip into his mouth. Bucky grips Steve’s shoulders again and throws his head back in ecstasy. Nobody has ever made him feel this good, ever.

Steve does his best to take all of Bucky into his mouth. He gags a little as the tip hits the back of his throat. “So fucking pretty choking on my fat cock.” He feels Bucky’s right hand thread through his hair and tug. He lets a groan of his own slip out.

His left hand travels down and he starts stroking his own cock.

He feels Bucky’s cock starting to swell. He knows he’s close. Steve swallows Bucky’s cock all the way down again, this time hollowing his cheeks and sucking on the way down. He then takes his free hand and gives a tug to Bucky’s balls.

That’s all Bucky needed. He throws his head back and shouts Steve’s name into the room. Steve quickly raises his gaze to Bucky as he feels his cum shooting down the back of his throat. He does his best to swallow it. The sight of Bucky in a state of pure euphoria sends Steve into his own orgasm. He cums all over the floor of the shower.

He removes his mouth from Bucky and continues licking him clean. Bucky finally gets his breathing under control and lifts Steve to pull him into a kiss. Bucky groans at the taste of his own orgasm on Steve’s lips.

Steve pulls back and cups Bucky’s cheek. “Are you ready to wake up now, punk?”

Bucky furrows his brows. “What?”

Steve smiles at him. “I said are you ready to wake up now?”

Bucky jolts awake at the feel of someone smacking his shoulder.

He sits up quickly and his gaze falls on Steve’s smiling form. “You alright, Buck? I was worried when you didn’t meet me in the gym this morning. You never sleep in this late.”

Bucky runs his mental hand through his hair. It had been a dream. Fuck.

Steve looks down at the floor as his face turns red. “I realize now that I must’ve interrupted a good dream. You were, uh, moaning in your sleep.”

Oh, fuck. Bucky hoped he didn’t moan Steve’s name. He makes eye contact with him. “Yeah. I, uh, was having a dream about that new girl down at the coffee shop.”

Steve raises his head and smiles. “Oh, man. She’s gorgeous! You should ask her out! If she got you that worked up in a dream...imagine what she could do in real life.”

Bucky looks down at his lap and smiles sadly. Steve was never going to want him in the same way. He might as well forget it. He couldn’t get that lucky.

“That’s a great idea, punk. Sorry for missing the workout. But will you wait for me in the living room while I get ready? I’ll need my wingman if I’m going to ask out a pretty girl.” He gives Steve what he hopes is a convincing smile.

Steve returns the smile. “Of course! Maybe she has a cute friend for me.” He winks at Bucky and heads into the living room.

Bucky sits there for a second and allows one tear to escape. He hated having hidden feelings about his best friend.

Permanent Taglist: @stargazingfangirl18 @drabblewithfrannybarnes @harrysthiccthighss

[jamilelucato]

Faking It || pt. 4 [F.W.]

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader; Fred Weasley x reader.

Part 1 || Part 2 || Hogwarts Masterlist

Summary: You’re a Slytherin dating Draco Malfoy and life is pretty normal until Fred Weasley decides that the best prank against Draco involves you; this won’t end well, will it?

*gif not mine 

Warnings: cheating; a bit angst

Words: 4k+

A/N:  I’m so late and I’m so sorry! But here it is! Final part!

Tag List: @marvelsmalfoy @naomi02hook @elf-punk @enjoying-fantasyland21 @stuckindilemma @moosewingsimagines @happiestsparkleofall​ @gredvb​ @sillypotterheadcrus

—

After the second kiss, y/N and Fred couldn't stop anymore. Fred was thriving, of course. His plan was working like he dreamed it would, and although at first, you didn't want to talk — you planned on keeping things impersonal so you could separate Fred from your real boyfriend —, he found his way around you to keep things a little more talkative.

"So, how was your day?" he asked once she walked inside the empty classroom they had agreed to meet in.

You stopped at your tracks, not completing your action of reaching for his hair. Was he asking about your day for real? Was he interested? You stared at him for a long second; it seemed so. His eyes were looking at you eagerly, waiting for your reply.

"It was busy," you had no idea how to answer that, it wasn't like you very familiarized with the question — your family never asked, you had no close friends to bother with that and Draco never seemed interested. "Had a lot do."

"Like what?" he encouraged you to continue, placing his hands softly at your waist, not making any more movements to rush to the snogging part.

You looked down at your feet, not sure of what to say.

"I had to do homework," you started but realized soon enough how simple that sounded. "'Cause I've been avoiding it all week — I hate doing it right away, you know?"

He pulled you closer to him, supporting his own body on the empty table.

"How about you?" you asked, remembering good manners.

"Busy being the third wheel to my brother," he said with a faded smile. "Can't say I didn't miss you."

"Fred..." you said his name as a warning, and it was all he needed to laugh it off, almost like an angry laugh.

"It's the truth," he said. Although it wasn't for much — he hadn't been thinking about you all day —, he had just missed you when he had to watch his twin kissing Angelina. He wouldn't admit, but he had grown fond of your kisses.

"This is not supposed to be happening, Fred," you kept going, leaning back, finally staring him in the eye. "If you..."

"It's out of my mind; puff!" he rushed to say, miming an explosion with his left hand.

He finally kissed you and with his lips on yours, any worrying thoughts you had, disappeared.

It took around two more making out sessions for you to start talking to Fred about Draco. It never occurred to you that he could use the information for something wicked, and you had already passed the stage were only mentioning Draco around Fred made you insanely guilty.

As soon as the first tip came out of your lips — Draco and the other Slytherins Quidditch players were going to be training around one a.m. for the following week —, Fred and George started shaping their prank.

Fred was careful not to leave anything that could track back to him and his twin, so you wouldn't be able to accuse him. And you never blamed him, because most of the time, you never heard about the pranks. Draco felt too exposed if he had to tell someone what was happening to him — papers missing for no reason, homework's pages blanc just after he had done them and all the team's brooms were now having defects (he was feeling bad for this one since it was his father that gave them to the players).

So you kept meeting Fred in the middle of the nights, hiding in new spots every day and empty classrooms you never knew existed. You felt sinful most of the daytime, especially when you were having a meal next to Draco, but when the nights fell, you felt anxious, desperate and desirous.

Every night with Fred was different — you two manage to find new ways of touching each other every time, even after you made him promise he would not push for sex, at least not the proper thing. There were many diverse ways... that, well, you weren't so reluctant to try.

But that wasn't all of it. You two didn't spend every time attached to each others' throats; there were evenings that you'd meet at the Astronomy Tower to chat and eat midnight snacks. Spending time with Fred was more than carnal; it had become emotional.

That was when you knew you had to do something. You couldn't keep cheating on Draco. At any time were you correct of doing it, but at least in the beginning, you convinced yourself it wasn't so wrong. After all, it was what your relationship with Draco was missing — touches, kisses. More than before, your boyfriend had become distant for those things.

Fred never pushed you to break up with Draco so you two could be public. In fact, he even asked about Draco quite often — things of "how was Draco's day?", "is he gonna practice Quidditch this week?",  or "is he gonna buy the whole team new brooms?" were questions you had answered.

A part of you believed that was Fred's way of telling you he didn't like the situation.

It was lunchtime when you decided you were going to break up with Draco Malfoy. It was going to be horrible, of course, but not because of you or him. The relationship was decadent anyway. The hard part would be listening to your parents complaining of how you let go of an excellent marriage chance, an opportunity of rising, even more, your pureblood status.

Oh, Merlin and when they would find out about you and Fred, how angry will they be! They despite Arthur Weasley and his "more muggle than pureblood" family.

You were also worried about Narcissa Malfoy; how nice and kind she had always been to you, and you were going to throw that all away for Molly Weasley — you heard a lot about her from Fred, and according to him, she would not like you at all.

But, even if it was going to be a living hell from now on, you had to do it. You were going to break up with Draco Malfoy.

***

Fred Weasley was hiding inside Harry's invisibility cloak, and the owner of it was right behind him and his twin — invisible as well.

"That was wicked," he whispered to the boys, "but now we have to rush out of here."

They walked out, slowly but steady, of the Slytherin's common room after watching Draco opening a special present they had sent him. The whole place had exploded with the worst smell of all time, and Draco even got blamed for it.

They were able to walk in firstly because they were invisible; secondly, because Fred walked you in your house last night and he happened to hear the password.

Once they were inside their common room, George breathed relieved.

"We could have gotten caught," he said, sitting down next to his twin in one of the red couches.

Harry sat in front of them, next to Hermione and Ginny, whose attentions were once at a Potions book.

"Nah," Fred replied, "it wouldn't be that bad."

"Of course it wouldn't be bad for you, Freddiekins," George said, not realizing what he was revealing before it was already out. "Your Slytherin princess would've come to your rescue."

Fred hit his brother on his neck, and George let out a loud "ouch!"

However, Ginny's and Hermione's eyes didn't even lock with theirs, as they expected.

Fred kept staring, confused.

"What?" Ginny asked. She noticed her brothers' worried looks before giggling. "As if we don't know about y/N."

"GEORGE!" Fred shouted, hitting his twin again, trying to be more painful this time.

"Stop it, mate, it wasn't me!" George shouted back, leaning away from his twin's hand.

"It wasn't him, Fred," Ginny spoke a bit louder so her brother would calm down immediately. "It was you actually."

George smirked before revengingly punching his twin.

"Me? I'm pretty sure I never even mentioned her to you."

"There was no need," said Hermione, closing the book and readjusting her posture.

"Firstly, you are very obvious," said Ginny. "Staring at her all the time, and frowning when she gets near Draco."

"Secondly," she continued, not allowing her brother to protest like he clearly did. "There needed to be an explanation of why you knew Draco's schedule from top to bottom."

Fred exchanged looks with his twin, who just shrugged in response. Harry tried not to laugh at the situation — he also knew everything about Fred's messing around.

"Besides, we caught the two of you holding hands in the hallways a couple of night ago," Hermione said, tilting her head towards Harry, making clear she had a witness.

"Okay, little Sherlock Holmes, you guys caught me," Fred sighed, leaning his back at the couch, relaxing. "But wasn't it worthy? Wasn't it super fun watching Draco and the rest of the dimwitted from Slytherin suffering?"

"It was the best time ever!" Harry celebrated, and Fred couldn't help but laugh with the boy.

"See?" Fred raised a brow to his sister. "Someone knows how to have fun."

"Oh, we had fun, Freddie," Ginny smirked, "and we will have so much more when it all blows up."

Fred pretended to be shocked, putting his hand over his heart. "Poor Draco Malfoy," he laughed.

"No, brother," Ginny continued, dropping the smirk as her tone got more serious. "Poor you."

*** Fred and George were walking side by side after Quidditch practice. They wanted to be running, but after the killer look Mr Filch sent them when he saw the two, they decided it was best to avoid it even if they were hungry.

George decided that if they simply washed their hands and faces, it'd be enough to walk in the Great Hall, so that was what they did. Their Quidditch jumper was a bit dirty, but they thought it was best to overlook it and simply eat.

Ginny, however, was running through the corridors, looking desperately for her brother. Once she found them, she had a little trouble stopping on her tracks, and her face almost ended up dirty because of George's jumpers.

"What the bloody hell, Ginny?!" Fred asked, holding one of her arms.

"Fred!" she shouted, a little breathless. "Y/N and Draco! They...!"

"They what, woman?" demanded George, rather impatient as well as his twin.

She took a deep breath before finally sharing. "They broke up, Fred. Y/N and Draco broke up."

Her words hovered in the air, Fred hoping he hadn't heard Ginny right. But there was no mistake as he noticed his siblings staring at him, both worried.

So you had broken up with Draco. Oh, Merlin, you had broken up with Draco! That completely ruined his plans! How was he going to know the Slytherin boy next steps?

"Fred," George started, slightly touching his twin's arm, "you have to do something."

"I know," Fred replied, not facing his twin nor Ginny.

"Are you ready to do it?" Ginny asked, but Fred couldn't understand what she meant. He had to tell you to forget about him; it wasn't that hard.

The three Weasleys kept walking towards the Great Hall, but George and Ginny left Fred behind when he stopped walking at the sight of you.

Ginny's question was starting to make sense as he tilted his head to the secret passage he wanted you to follow him through. He wasn't ready to break things up with you.

You followed him, no longer afraid if people were watching you. You weren't the one to blame anymore — you were, after a long year, single again.

Fred, however, wasn't patient enough to wait until you two were completely out of sight and he shouted at you as soon as you two had turned to another corridor just a few steps away from the Great Hall's entrance.

"How could you?!"

"What?" you asked, confused.

"How could you break up with Draco?" he asked loudly, finally looking at your [y/e/c] eyes. He regretted almost immediately, but he couldn't look away.

"Oh," you sighed, relaxing your tense muscles. "It had nothing to do with you."

"Really?!?" he frowned in a fake smile.

You gulped, "Well, you influenced the decision — it's true — but this doesn't mean at all that I expect you to propose or something."

He tilted his head to the left, pressing his fingers over his eyes.

"Then, why — why — did you break up with him?"

His hostile tone was turning you angry too, even though you had been feeling relieved a couple of minutes ago.

"Why?" you repeated, nervously giggling. "Oh my, Fred, why do you think? Because what I was doing was wrong! I was cheating on him! Don't you see how it was a bad thing, for both me and Draco?"

He looked back at you.

"It wasn't all that bad if we had so much fun," he wrinkled his nose and raised a brow.

"Well, Fred, it can still be fun!" you couldn't understand what his problem was. At first, you thought he was afraid of commitment, but you had assured him that he didn't need to be your boyfriend right away. Now it seemed as if he enjoyed being a love affair.

"No, it cannot!" Fred replied, shaking his head without having a good reason why.

You gulped while turning away from him. Though you didn't leave, you just needed him not to see you crying. That was when you noticed you had an audience.

Ginny Weasley wasn't watching you two; she was pushing Pansy Parkinson away from the scene. Fortunately, they were the only two present. You hid your face in your hands, waiting for Pansy's smart comments. There were none, however.

You glanced up at the Slytherin girl, who offered you her sympathetic look.

And that was how you found out.

Pansy had been telling you how on Earth the Slytherin players were so unlucky — with their brooms and all (you hadn't paid attention to that part) — and she wondered how people even discovered they were training at midnight.

Their practice hour was the most kept secret that the Slytherins tried to hide at all costs, particularly because if a Professor ended up knowing, they'd get punished, as it was forbidden.

At the time, you had ignored her remarks, as you were too distracted trying to figure out why there were so many girls around Fred, at the other side of the Courtyard.

However, now you knew. There was someone outside of the Slytherins that knew about the unusual Quidditch training sessions, and that was someone unusually notable for hate your team.

You turned to face Fred, with a killer expression, one he got afraid of at first sight.

"You used me," you said, your voice just a whisper because you didn't want it to be true.

"What?" he asked gulping.

"You used me!" you now shouted, one step away from getting your wand and hexing him.

He didn't say a thing and took a step back. Wrong move, Freddie, you thought.

"How oblivious have I been, oh, Merlin!" you kept roaring. "Draco's hair shorter one day after he left the library — he said he didn't want to talk about it—; the brooms of my team, all broken..."

You connected all the dots as Fred leaned away from you, and that was it for you. Reaching for your wand, you screamed: “Diffendo!"

Fred got his wand as well. "Y/N, stop! I don't wanna hurt you, please stop!" he screamed, defending himself from the spell. "I don't want to hurt you."

You lowered your wand, taking a deep breath. Hurting Fred wasn't going to turn back time, and you couldn't prevent yourself for having fallen for him. Shit, you had to realize it now?

"Don't worry, Weasley," you said, using his last name to sound as indifferent as you could. "You already did."

***

Your life was just going to classes and your dorm. When you felt hungry, you'd go to the kitchen and ask for the house-elves to prepare you something. Sometimes, Pansy Parkinson appeared with food.

You didn't expect her to turn out as your friend, but she surprised you by being very nice towards you. She kept you informed about what was going on in the school since you no longer felt like walking around it.

She was even kind enough to not gossip to everyone about you and Fred — although you couldn't be sure about that since you didn't ask around about it.

You didn't felt like leaving this routine soon. Every place in the castle seemed to hold its particular memory of one of yours and Fred's snick outs. Apparently, you two had made out all over the school, which made it harder for you to pass through hallways without remembering.

Stupid! How could you still miss someone that was just messing around with you? He used you for information about your ex, and yet, there you were, thinking about him.

***

Fred was miserable. He didn't think he would be, but he was.

After that whole scene he and you caused, he felt no longer hungry. Ginny told him she'd ask George to check up on him later, so Fred was free to disappear.

"I knew it was a bad idea," George said, sitting next to his brother on his bed, "but you were so happy..."

"Don't look very happy now, huh?" Fred sighed.

"You should talk to her."

"Are you kidding? She tried to 'Diffendo' me! Next time, I'm sure she won't hesitate to cast Avada Kedrava," Fred stared at his twin.

"Can you blame her, though?" George raised a bow at his brother.

And Fred couldn't. He knew you were right, and he was the wrong one, the one to blame. It was all his fault.

However, he did not stay locked in his room because he expected to see you around and corner you. But you weren't there in the meals, and you weren't walking around the corridors.

Oh, the corridors. Fred could point out every hidden spot he had used to kiss you, squeeze you. At this point, he had to accept he had gone mad.

It was not only until a particular Potion class, that he came to the undeniable realization of being in love.

"Merlin, why is this class smelling like chocolate?" he asked out loud to his brother, after walking in late. "Slughorn decided to offer us a chocolate frog, is that it?"

Some of the students around them started laughing.

"It doesn't smell like chocolate at all," George denied, frowning.

Fred thought about it — there was something else, but it was definitely chocolate. An exact type of chocolate, one he was missing the taste.

"That, my dear Mr Weasley," said Slughorn, coming near the boys," is the Amortentia Potion our dear Hannah is helping me prepare" and the Professor pointed to a girl messing with a cauldron.

George and Fred exchanged looks. The older twin gulped.

"Chocolate, huh?" Slughorn continued. "Is that what does it for you?" the entire class sprang laughing at the comment.

Fred knew what the Amortentia was: a love potion that left a smell of the thing one loved, imitating the scent of a loved one.

And there was only one girl Fred had kissed that smelled like chocolate.

***

"You got to do something about it," exclaimed Ginny, after hearing everything about the Amortentia. George was the one to fill her in.

"I will, little sister."

"Because if don't..." Ginny kept going only then realizing her brother's answer. "You will?"

Fred nodded affirmatively.

"How will you find her, though?" she questioned. "She's not leaving her room."

"She tried this morning," meddled Ron, who was eavesdropping all this time. "But she received a Howler, an extra loud one. From her mom — she was disappointed with her daughter for breaking up with Draco."

Fred sighed; there was nothing he could do about that. Besides, he had no idea of how to counter you.

That was until he saw Pansy Parkinson leaving the kitchen with a tray of food. Fred knew immediately to who she was taking it.

"Give it to me, Parkinson," he asked, not very politely.

"Get out, Weasley," she tried outrunning him, but failed because she was scared of dropping the food.

"Come on, we both know she can't stay hiding anymore," Fred said, "and we both know I'm the only one able to stop it."

She seemed to think about it before sighing and giving in.

"Go, lover boy," she handed him the tray.

Fred walked just two steps before turning back at the Slytherin girl.

"What's the password?" he asked, smiling embarrassedly.

"No way I'm telling you," she crossed her arms.

"Oh, come on!"

"I'll come with you," Pansy rolled her eyes and guided Fred to the dungeons.

***

The Slytherin common room was not crowded, which Fred was very thankful because he managed to walk through it without getting stopped.

"It's that door," Pansy informed him, pointing out a door to the left.

Fred breathed hard before walking in.

"Pansy, thank you for..." you froze once you noticed it was Fred. "What are you doing here?"

You stood up, showing the least formal clothing Fred had ever seen you wear. Sweat pants and a jumper, a red one even, much similar to the ones his mom makes him every year.

"We need to talk."

You rolled your eyes while he carefully positioned the tray over one of the beds.

"Weasley, I know everything I need to know."

"No, you don't," he contested. "You think you do, and perhaps at the start, it was true. I used you to get info on Draco."

You reached for the door. "That's all I need to know," you said, "Care to leave now?"

"Stop running from me, y/N, I'm not gonna hurt you," he remembered your words from days before and added: "Not anymore, anyway."

You groaned, closing the door.

"You have a minute."

He smiled at the opportunity.

"You don't know everything, okay?" he started, putting his hands in his pockets. "You don't know how I wait for the day to turn night just so I could see you again, kiss you again..."

"Have you as mine, even if for a couple of hours, was better than any prank I could have pulled on Draco," he kept going, staring straight at your eyes. "And at first, I didn't want to admit it. I wasn't brave enough to assume I was in love, not until I kinda did it in front of the whole class."

At the mention of the word "love", you felt your heart skip a beat. Could he be serious?

"You told everyone you were in love with me?" you asked, confused and curious.

"Not like that," he answered. "Have you heard of Amortentia?"

You nodded positively. You had studied it at the beginning of the year.

"Mine was smelling like chocolate," he continued, "and I told it to the entire class. They didn't realize what it meant, of course, but I did."

You stared at him, expectedly. Chocolate was it for you too — at least, it was the first thing you thought he tasted like when he kissed you that night many days ago at the Astronomy Tower.

"There's only someone I've kissed that tasted like the finest chocolate ever," he said, pressing his lips together, scared of your reaction.

"Freddie..." you started saying but didn't know how to proceed. You had to stop his puppy eyes from coming out; you had to stop him from looking at you like that — like you were his deepest desire.

But at the sound of his name coming for your lips, his heart melted just a little more.

He looked at you, expecting you to continue talking. His hand ran to his hair, nervously, just like he did at the Astronomy Tower.

"Nothing," you said, smiling acceptingly, repeating your words from that night as well.

And he remembered. He remembered every moment he spent with you.

So he rushed towards you, reaching for your chin, holding it tight so you wouldn't disappear But there was nowhere else you wanted to be.

His lips met yours, not taking long for it to get passionately. You two missed each other too much to pretend not to be eager. And he tasted like chocolate, just like he did before. Just like he would always taste.

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 8

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  2083

Rating:  E

Warnings: sex talk

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 8

“We need to talk.”

Bucky’s words hang in the air, heavy and foreboding.  A list of possible reasons for Bucky’s tension ran through his head.  Something had happened to Geo.  Or Bucky had decided he wasn’t up to babysitting anymore. Or the intel he’d gotten was some terrible bombshell like your husband never died but instead, he’d been made into some kind of super soldier and now he was trying to have you killed.  It wasn’t like Steve to have quite this level of paranoia, but it also wasn’t like Bucky to want to talk.

“Can we sit?”  Bucky asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Steve said.  “Sit.”

Bucky sat down in the recliner, but the way he perched made it look like he was ready to run at any moment.  Steve sat down on the couch and you sat next to him.  Steve put his arm around you, almost protectively, like he was worried that whatever Bucky was about to say would send you into flight mode.  Steve waited patiently as Bucky seemed to steel himself, running his hand through his hair and taking a few deep breaths.

“I need to… I gotta…” Bucky said and shook his head.  “You both need to know that I - I don’t want to mess up what you have.  I’m really happy for you both.  You deserve to be happy.”

Steve furrowed his brow, now completely confused as to what Bucky wanted to talk about.  Bucky let out another breath and shook his head.

“I need you both to not ask me for relationship advice anymore,” Bucky said.  Steve went to say something but Bucky cut him off.  “I love you, pal.  And that’s the ‘why’ of it.  I … I have feelings… for you… both.”

Your jaw actually dropped open and Steve felt like his heart stopped beating and then tried to escape his chest out his throat.  “I’m sorry… what?”

“I just… when you both come to me, it hurts and I don’t…” he shook his head.  “I know neither of you feels that way about me …”

“That’s not true,” you said, interrupting Bucky.

Bucky looked between you and Steve, blinking in shock.  “What?”

Steve was in shock too.  His brain had just locked up and he wasn’t sure what to do.  He’d never imagined that Bucky had felt the same way about him as he felt about Bucky.  He couldn’t even imagine how long Bucky might have been feeling that way.  Was it new?  This was really the first time Bucky had seen Steve dating, did this newly healing man see a relationship and just confuse wanting to have that, with wanting to have them?  Did it go back earlier?  Did the post Winter Soldier version of Bucky confuse friendship for romance?  Or did the reset in time and the relearning of who he was and his place in the world mean that he had fallen for Steve recently?  Did it go back to before?  Did he start getting feelings for Steve once he’d seen him on the serum?  God forbid it happened before that and he had been pining for Steve just as long as Steve and been pining for him.

“Bucky,” you said gently, leaning forward and touching his hand.  “I know you just said both of us.  And I promise, what I’m about to do isn’t dismissing that, but you and Steve really, really need to talk right now in private, so I’m just going to go to bed.”  You turned to Steve and rubbed his leg.  He could see your eyes glistening like you were trying very hard not to cry.  He cradled your jaw and wanted to hug you or kiss you or do anything to tell you that the bombshell that had just been dropped wasn’t going to change anything.  But that wasn’t true.  It was going to change everything and both of you knew it.  He hated the idea that he was now in this position where someone could get horrifically hurt and that he was most likely going to be the cause of that.  He did love you though and he didn’t know what to do.  “It’s okay,” you said softly.  “It’s okay.  We all might need time to think but whatever happens … you gotta go with your heart.  Not your head.”

He nodded and leaned in and kissed you.  You ran your hand back through his hair.  The contrast between the softness of your lips and the way your nails scratched gently over his scalp made his skin prickle.  You pulled back, and he chased your lips for a moment, reluctant to let the moment end.  You stood, smiling sadly.  “Goodnight,” you said and ran your fingers through Bucky’s hair as you passed him on your way into Geo’s room.

Bucky turned back to Steve when you left and swallowed thickly.  “Steve?”

His voice came out soft and gravelly and as scared as he’d heard it in a long time.  Steve took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.  He feared the words he was about to say but he also yearned for them.  “Buck,” he said.  “I’ve been in love with you since we were kids.”

Bucky seemed to freeze in place.  Steve wondered if he’d gotten the same brain freeze that he had suffered from a moment ago.  “Really?”

Steve nodded.  “Yeah, Buck.  Really.”

Bucky moved over to the couch, taking the spot you had just been occupying.  He leaned in a little and god, how Steve wanted to bridge the difference, but he couldn’t.  Not yet.  Not when so much still hung in the air.  He put his hand on Bucky’s chest and caressed his collarbone with his thumb.  “I can’t…”

Bucky pulled back and seemed to shrink down. “Right.  Right.  Of course.”

Steve took Bucky’s hands and held them to his heart.  “Buck,” he whispered. “I just need time.  This is… a lot.  I can’t just switch feelings on and off like a light.  I love you, but I love her too.”

Bucky shook his head.  “I get it.  I didn’t expect…”

Steve laughed and leaned forward, nosing at Bucky’s cheek.  The stubble from his beard that had started coming through, and it scratched the tip of Steve’s nose.  “You’re telling me.”  Bucky laughed quietly and leaned into Steve’s touch.  “How long?”

Bucky sighed and his hands tightened in Steve’s.  “Since we were kids.  You were 16.”

Steve laughed and tried to imagine if things might have been different if either of them had actually admitted how they felt back then.  It was hard to say because so much happened.  Bucky might have still ended up falling from that train, and it still would have rent Steve’s heart in two.  But they could have had some time before the world had fallen apart.  They wouldn’t be in this mess right now.  “Well, we’re a couple of fucking idiots aren’t we?”

Bucky huffed and nodded his head.  “Yeah.  We are.”

“Can I have time to figure myself out?”  Steve asked.

Bucky nodded without raising his eyes. “It’s been 70 years in the making.  What’s another week or so?”

“Thank you,” Steve said.  Bucky gave Steve’s hands and stood.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, punk,” Bucky said.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow,”  Steve agreed as Bucky headed for the door.  “Buck?”

Bucky turned back to look at him with an eyebrow raised.  “Yeah?”

“I love you, Buck,” Steve said.

Bucky chuckled.  “Yeah, I love you too, Steve.”

As Bucky left the room, Steve got up.  He had imagined Bucky telling him that he loved him so many different ways with so many different outcomes.  There was no version of that happening that Steve imagined feeling as much pain as he did right now.

Steve woke the following morning with less clarity and more anxiety than he’d been feeling when he’d gone to bed alone the night before.  The two of you were planning to finally add something physical last night and instead, he’d gone to bed alone for the first time in over a month.  He loved you.  He did.  But he loved Bucky too and now he’d have to choose.

Rather than actually do the mature thing and confront his feelings and maybe talk about how he felt with you.  He hurried out to the office, looked at the intel, formed a team that didn’t include Bucky, and took off to Madripoor.

“You really think going out into Madripoor like a bull in a China shop is the best idea?”  Natasha asked.  He was sitting in the back of the jet with her and Wanda while Clint and Sam were in the cockpit.  “You know they’re basically a hive of criminals because of their no-extradition thing.”

Steve sighed.  He didn’t want to admit he’d just rushed into a mission to avoid talking about feelings, but that was exactly what it was.  Punching bad guys was something he could do without thinking at all.  “I just want to get a lead on where this combat enhancer is coming from.”

“So, how about this,” Natasha suggested.  “We send Clint in with Wanda to check out his old contacts, and the rest of us stay back in the jet unless we’re needed and you can tell me why we just took off to Madripoor with no preparation or even a plan.”

Steve conceded.  If he’d really thought about it at all, he probably would have just sent Clint in with Natasha alone.  Maybe with a couple of the unknown agents to go undercover and follow the leads Clint dug up.  They put the jet down on the far side of the island under cloak and Clint and Wanda headed out in street clothes to find some leads.

“So, spill it,” Natasha said, stretching out on one of the medical gurneys and peeling open a protein bar.  “Why are we here besides tracking down the combat enhancers?”

“Did Bucky talk to you?” Sam asked.

Sam whipped his head around to look at his friend.  Of course, Bucky had needed to speak to Sam first, but to actually admit what he did, Steve was more than a little surprised.  “You know?”

“Yeah,” Sam admitted.  “I thought it would be good for him so he wasn't feeling so shit all the time.  Didn't expect you to run off on him.  That's… Pretty shitty, Steve.”

“Oooh… What is it?  What happened?” Natasha said sitting up.

“Last night, after we got back from our date, Bucky told us that he had feelings for us,” Steve explained.

“Bozhe moi,” Natasha cursed.  “So you don't feel the same way.  He's your best friend, you don't just cut him out. I wouldn't have expected such an asshole move from you, Rogers.”

“It's not that,” Steve said, putting his hands up defensively.  “The problem is I do have feelings for him.  I love him.  But I'm seeing someone and I love her too.  I don't know what to do.”

“And he said he had feelings for you both?” Natasha asked, tilting her head to the side as she assessed him.

Steve nodded. “Yeah… it’s a mess.  And I guess… I run into battle rather than dealing with emotional stuff.”

“Hey, look at you,” Sam teased.  “Spouting back shit you learned in therapy.”

“I don’t see what the problem is.  He likes both of you.  You like both of them.  Is she not into him?” Natasha asked.

“I have no idea.  They seem close,” Steve said.  “What are you suggesting?”

Natasha groaned and rolled her eyes.  “Haven’t we already had this conversation?  You’ve seen that monogamy isn’t the only way to be happy with me and Clint.  Find the thing that makes the three of you happy.”

Steve furrowed his brow.  Growing up while he wasn’t so ignorant to not realize when friends he had were gay or that there were people who might be married they also had someone else on the side, he’d had it drilled into him, it was man and wife.  He’d been excited when he’d woken up and found out that gay marriage had been legal.  Still, he’d always just pictured that ‘two people and picket fence’ life.  Even with Natasha and Clint seeing each other and anyone else they thought might be interested, they still chose each other first.  “Can I do that?  That… I can’t actually do that, right?”

Natasha rolled her eyes again, while Sam shrugged.  “How about you take a little something for yourself for a change, Cap?”

// NEXT

[starryknight09]

Surprise?

Febuwhump Day 27: identity reveal

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

“Hey do you want to come over tonight?” Ned asked as they stood at their lockers, shoving their books into their backpacks.

“I can’t.  It’s a Friday remember?” Peter said, feeling kind of bad.  He knew he’d been neglecting Ned lately with everything that was going on in his life.  Juggling decathlon, school, homework, Spiderman, and his internship made it seem like there was just never enough time in the day, or week for that matter, for all the stuff he needed to get done.

“So?” Ned frowned.

“I have my Stark internship on Fridays.” He reminded him.

“Oh right.” Ned nodded as they walked down the hallway toward the school doors.  “So, are you going to tell Mr. Stark about you know what today?”

“Um no.” He winced.  He’d applied for the Stark internship on a whim a year ago and had actually gotten it.  The day he’d found out he was going to be interning directly under Tony Stark, he’d almost wet himself, but after almost a year of working with him, that had definitely faded.  As Mr. Stark would say, he sassed him more than he complimented him now.  

When he’d gotten bit by the radioactive spider six months ago, he’d thought about telling Mr. Stark about his new powers, but by then they’d grown close enough that he was worried Mr. Stark wouldn’t allow him to keep being Spiderman if he found out.  And then Ben had died.  And thoughts of anything else had gone out the window.

“Peter.” Ned chastised.  “It’s been weeks.  You should just tell him.  He’s going to figure it out soon anyway.”

“Not necessarily.  Spiderman’s been around for the last six months and Mr. Stark hasn’t figured it out yet.” Peter hedged.  Ok, so realistically he knew Mr. Stark would eventually figure it out, but he’d been extra careful ever since the man had started up his hunt to find out who Spiderman was.  Besides, Peter had an advantage.  He worked directly with his enemy, so he was always one step ahead of him and Mr. Stark had no idea.

“Yeah he’s been around for six months, but Mr. Stark has only been looking for him for the last three weeks.” Ned argued.  “He’s getting closer and you know it.”

Peter did know it.  On Wednesday Mr. Stark had shown him a clip of Spiderman swinging into an abandoned alleyway to change.  His mentor had been so sure he’d had him, but then a garbage truck had driven by the entrance of the alleyway just as Peter was leaving in his street clothes, luckily obscuring his identity.  Mr. Stark had sworn up a blue streak and Peter had made a mental note to be much more cognizant of city cameras whenever he was getting in and out of the suit.

“But if I tell him who I am then it’ll take all the fun out of it for him.” Peter smirked.  He’d known Mr. Stark long enough to know that as much as he kept complaining about ‘this webhead’ he was enjoying the challenge of it.  Peter didn’t want to spoil it for him.  At least that’s what he’d been telling himself the last few weeks ever since Mr. Stark had told him he wanted his help to find Spiderman.

“You’re playing with fire dude.” Ned warned as they passed through the school doors to outside.

“Why?  What’s he going to do to me if he finds out?” Peter said with false bravado.  “Ground me?  He’s not my dad.”

“Does he know that though?” Ned joked.  “Didn’t he pack you a lunch for school when you stayed over at his place last week?”

“Yeah.”

“And didn’t he spend all day watching a Star Wars marathon with you last weekend when he doesn’t even like Star Wars?”

Peter made a face.  Ok, so Ned kind of had a point.

“And don’t him and your aunt have like coffee dates every month now just to talk about you?”

“Ok ok I get it.”

“So how do you think he’s going to react when he finds out you’ve been keeping this from him?” Ned asked.

“He’s going to be pissed.” He decided.

“Right.” Ned nodded.  “And do you think he’ll be more or less pissed if he finds out on his own instead of you telling him about it?”

“Definitely more.” Peter agreed.

“Ok so you agree you should tell him today.”

“No.”

“Peter!” Ned shook his head.  “You’re hopeless.”

“It’s all a moot point anyway.  He’s not going to find out.”

“Hopeless and in denial.” Ned said.

Peter rolled his eyes.

“Whatever dude.  It’s your funeral.  Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Ned clapped him on the shoulder and turned to start walking home.  “Text me if you want to hang out this weekend.”

“I will.” Peter said and made his way toward the nondescript Audi waiting for him.

“Hey Happy.” He greeted the man behind the steering wheel as he crawled in.  Or as he liked to think of him, not-so-Happy.

Happy didn’t respond to his greeting as he started driving away, but Peter still liked to think he was slowly growing on the man.

“Guess what we did in chemistry today?  Our teacher said—”

“I’ll give you this snickers bar if you don’t talk for the next ten minutes.” Happy interrupted, holding up said candy bar as proof.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.” He stared out the window.  The man was bringing him candy now.  He was definitely growing on him.

**********

Ned was wrong.  Mr. Stark didn’t figure out Spiderman’s identity that week.  Or even the week after.  Or the week after that.  Although Peter did have another close call with a traffic camera he didn’t know was installed nearby when he’d taken his mask off to deal with a bloody nose.  In the intervening weeks, he’d thought more seriously about coming clean to his mentor because Mr. Stark was getting a little obsessive and it was making Peter’s life a lot harder.  He had to completely avoid the area near his apartment now because Tony had come up with an algorithm to track where Spiderman was sighted and he was using it as a tool to try to narrow in on his possible residence.  Admittedly smart, but super annoying for Peter because now he had to walk at least ten blocks home every night after Spidermanning.  And his mentor had even figured out the components of his web fluid, although he hadn’t been able to successfully reverse engineer it yet.  Part of Peter felt a spark of pride at that even though some of his Mr. Stark’s failure might’ve been his fault.  He’d been trying his hardest to slow him down.  But now that his mentor knew the web fluid materials, he was looking for people who had bought large quantities of those exact chemicals.  At least Peter was safe in that regard, he still mooched everything from his chemistry class.  But by now even Peter had to admit it was only a matter of time before Mr. Stark thought of something even Peter couldn’t foresee or deter.

Ned had been on his case the past week about telling the man and Peter was seriously considering it for the first time.  

“Hey Mr. Stark!” He greeted as he walked into the man’s lab, feeling his usual flash of wonder.  After a year, having access to Tony Stark’s private lab still hadn’t gotten old.

“Hey Mr. Parker.” His mentor said, spinning in his desk chair to face him.  “How many more times am I going to have to tell you to call me Tony?”

Peter shrugged.  Honestly, he did it now solely because he knew it annoyed him.  “What are you doing?” He asked, sidestepping the question and pointing to the holoscreens Mr. Stark had pulled up over his desk.

Mr. Stark narrowed his eyes at him as if trying to decide whether or not to push the name thing, but after a moment he twirled back to face the screens, letting it go.  “I’m hacking into a bodega’s security camera.”

Peter walked over to him, dropping his backpack on the ground next to the desk with the weight of the knowledge that it held the suit of the very vigilante Mr. Stark was looking for.  He stared at the screens over the man’s shoulder.  They looked oddly familiar.  “Why?”

“Because I’ve finally got the little pipsqueak.” Mr. Stark said with eager excitement.

“What are you talking about?  Because you’re starting to sound a little supervillainy...” Peter joked.

“Spiderman.” Mr. Stark answered.  “I finally got him.”

Peter’s heart leapt into his chest as he asked nervously, “You did?  Um h-how?”

“He repeatedly patrols around this area.” Mr. Stark explained and pointed to the corresponding area on the map of Queens.  The part right by Mr. Delmar’s shop.  Oh shit.  He hadn’t thought of that and he thought he’d been so careful.  “Ever since I realized it, I’ve had FRIDAY continuously scanning the traffic cameras and we got lucky.  She caught him going into this alleyway here.” Mr. Stark pointed to the alley on the screen.  “Now watch.  A minute later someone comes out.”

Peter watched himself exit the alleyway with his navy hoodie pulled up over his head to obscure his face.  He breathed a silent sigh of relief.  There was no way you could tell that was him.

“Now, I know you can’t see his face, and I couldn’t get a good enough angle from any other cameras in the area, but I managed to follow him the next three blocks to this bodega.  I screened the footage from outside of it for the previous hour before he goes in, and if I’m right, it should be completely empty except for him.”

Yeah, that tracked.  No one had been in there when he’d visited Mr. Delmar and Murph yesterday.

“So?” He asked, sensing Mr. Stark was waiting for him to do so.

“So my young grasshopper, whoever this guy is goes in with his hood up, but when he comes out ten minutes later, look.” Mr. Stark pointed to the screen.  “His hood is still up but the strings around it aren’t pulled tight anymore which means…”

“He took it off in the store.” Peter mumbled in shock.  He had taken it off in the store.  He’d thought he was safe, and he hadn’t wanted Mr. Delmar to think he was being a weirdo punk.

“He took it off in the store.” Mr. Stark repeated with satisfaction.  “So, if I can hack into the bodega’s security footage, I can finally figure out exactly who this little twerp is that’s been evading me these past couple months.”

“Uh huh.” He said distractedly as he tried to figure out a way out of this, but no ideas came to mind.  Shit.  He never should’ve stopped for a sandwich yesterday during patrol.  It didn’t matter how hungry he’d been or how good they tasted.

Mr. Stark continued typing away and moment later declared, “Ah ha!  I’m in.”

“Um Mr. Stark, there’s something I need to tell you.” Peter tried to nervously interject, but his mentor was in the zone.  Peter could’ve been screaming he was on fire and Mr. Stark wouldn’t have heard him.

“Get ready to be amazed kid.” Mr. Stark said, cocky as hell as he brought up the footage from the camera behind Mr. Delmar’s counter.  “It’s finally time to see exactly who you are Spiderman.”

“Uh…” He really needed to say something or do something or—

Too late.  The feed from Mr. Delmar’s camera came up on the screen.  He froze.  There was Mr. Delmar, and Murph lying on the counter, and there he was walking in with his hood over his head.  Shit.  His hand moved up to his hood.  It was a lot like watching a train wreck in slow motion.  And his hood was off.  His profile wasn’t very descript, but he knew any second he’d turn toward Mr. Delmar and be facing the camera straight on.  And yep.  There he was.  In all his idiot glory.

“Wait.” Mr. Stark frowned and leaned closer to the screen as if he didn’t believe his eyes.  “That looks like…”

Peter winced and a split second later Mr. Stark whirled to face him, face showing absolute shock.

“You.” Mr. Stark accused and then said in disbelief.  “It’s you.”

He fake shrugged, holding his hands out, palms up.  “Surprise?”

“What the f—”

“I’m sorry!”

Mr. Stark stood from his chair so fast it fell over backward.  He pointed a finger at him.  “You’re Spiderman?  This whole time I’ve been looking for him and he’s been in my own lab?  My very own intern?”

“Um, it looks like it?”

“Don’t be cute.  Yes or no.”

“Yes.” He nodded, backing up as Mr. Stark slowly advanced toward him.  Peter’s eyes widened.  “I was going to tell you!  I was!  But then I just…didn’t?”

“You were helping me look for him!”

Peter made a considering face.  “Well, I was pretending to?  But really I was trying to stay one step ahead of you.”

He bumped into his desk chair and fell into it.  Tony stood over him, arms crossed, still looking more than a little angry.

“How.  Did.  This.  Happen?” Tony ground out.

“Um, remember that field to Oscorp that I went on about six months ago that you said I shouldn’t go on?” Peter asked nervously.

“Yes.”

“Turns out you were right.” He said as he nodded.

“What?”

“I uh got bit by a radioactive spider, and it made me so sick I thought I was dying, but then I woke up and I was this.” He gestured at his body.

Mr. Stark’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Oh.  Um.” He lifted his shirt so Mr. Stark could see his perfectly chiseled six pack abs.

“Jesus kid.” Mr. Stark shook his head.

“Oh and I lied about getting contacts.  I didn’t.  I just don’t need glasses anymore.  The bite fixed all of that.  And I don’t have allergies or asthma anymore either, so you can update that on my employee form if you want.”

“Yes because that’s what’s important right now.” Mr. Stark scoffed.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated although it seemed like Mr. Stark’s anger was cooling.  He didn’t look like he was about to have an aneurysm anymore.  “I should’ve told you when you started looking for Spiderman.  I know I wasted your time.”

“No!  You should’ve told me six months ago when it first happened!” Mr. Stark yelled.  Ok, so maybe he was still pretty mad.  “You thought you were dying and you didn’t tell anyone?  And then you woke up with superpowers and you still didn’t tell anyone?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.” He grimaced.

Mr. Stark put his hand over his face as she shook his head.  He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before dropping his hand and meeting Peter’s gaze to ask, “So no one knows?”

“Well, um, Ned knows because he caught me sneaking into my room as Spiderman, and now…you know.” Peter answered.

“May doesn’t know?”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently.

“Of course not.” Mr. Stark scoffed. “Because why would you tell a responsible adult you’re going out at all hours of the night to fight criminals.  Jesus.” Mr. Stark shook his head again in disbelief.  “You’re going out at all hours of the night to fight criminals.  Well that ends today.”

“No!” Peter shot to his feet and raised his chin as he faced Mr. Stark unflinchingly.  “I’m not going to stop!  And you can’t make me!” He knew the wording made him sound like a petulant child but he didn’t care.

Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows at him in challenge and Peter had to force himself to stand tall and not wither under his gaze.  Sometimes he forgot Mr. Stark was Ironman, Tony Stark, but at times like these, getting stared down by the man, he remembered.

Mr. Stark shook his head and said, “You’re fourteen years old.”  

“I’m fifteen!  And I know you know that!  You got me a birthday present.” He accused.  “Besides, I’ve been doing this for six months and I’ve been fine.  I’m not going to stop now.  And this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you!  I knew you’d go all nuts about it!”

“Yes because not wanting to let a child run around in the middle of the night fighting crime is nuts.” Mr. Stark rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a child!”

Mr. Stark frowned and the next second he suddenly spun on his heels and marched over to where he’d left his backpack, lifting it up to his desk and opening it.

“Hey that’s mine!” Peter protested, hurrying over to him but it was too late.  Mr. Stark fished out his Spiderman suit from the bottom of it and held it out.

“This? This is what you fight crime in?  It’s a onesie!”

“No it’s not.” He frowned.  He’d put a lot of work into making that.  He didn’t appreciate Mr. Stark making fun of it.

“What is it then?”

“My super suit.” He smiled.

“We are never watching The Incredibles again.” Mr. Stark shook his head.  “And what are these?” His mentor asked, holding up his goggles to his own eyes.  “How the hell do you even see anything through these?”

Peter snatched them from his hands.  “They help.  Ever since I got my powers all my senses are have been dialed to eleven.  There’s way too much input.  Those help me filter it out and focus.”

Mr. Stark frowned, looking at him in a way he never had before, like there might be something wrong with him, which didn’t make any sense.  He’d never once looked at weak, little, half blind, asthmatic Peter Parker the way he was now looking at Spiderman.  Peter didn’t like it.

Mr. Stark dropped his suit to his desk with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “So let me get this straight, you got bit by a radioactive spider, almost died but didn’t, woke up with super powers and then decided to sew a onesie and start swinging around town fighting crime?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Tell me why.  Why are you doing this?” The man ordered and Peter could tell this was important.

“Because…when you can do the things I can and you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” He explained solemnly and tried not to think of his uncle lying limp on the concrete, bleeding out.

Mr. Stark sighed and dropped back down into his desk chair, resting a fist over his mouth as he examined Peter.

Peter tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

“If I let you do this, we’re doing it my way.” Mr. Stark finally spoke.

“Yes!” Peter thrust his arms in the air and then threw himself at Mr. Stark to hug him.  “Thank Mr. Stark!  Thank you!”

Mr. Stark patted his back awkwardly.  “Yeah.  All right.  All right.  Don’t thank me yet.  There are going to be ground rules.  A lot of ground rules.  And a curfew.”

“Aw come on.” Peter complained as he pulled away.

“And I don’t want to hear any sass about it, because you can say I can’t stop you all you want, but you and I both know I can.” Mr. Stark held a finger up at him in warning.  It was true.  He did know.  “First of all, I’m going to make you a suit.”

“Really?” His eyes went wide.

“Really.  You’re in dire need of an upgrade.  I can’t let you keep swinging around town in this.” Mr. Stark poked at his super suit as if was a stinky pile of garbage.

“It’s not that bad…” He argued but the thought of having a suit built for him by Mr. Stark made him want to jump up and down in excitement.

“And I’m telling May.” Mr. Stark said.

“No!  Please Mr. Stark, you can’t tell her!”

“She needs to know kid.  You’re her responsibility and you’re out there risking your life.”

“Risking my life is kind of an exaggeration.  I mean I don’t do that many dangerous things.  I’m more like the friendly neighborhood spiderman.”

“I saw a video of you webbing up bank robbers last week.  They were shooting at you.  Very real bullets.  Very real life risking danger.” Mr. Stark said, not amused.  A second later he frowned as he stared off in the distance at the wall behind Peter, looking like he was deep in thought.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter prompted.

“Just replaying in my head all those videos I’ve seen of you doing stupidly dangerous stunts.”

Peter rolled his eyes.  “They’re not that bad.”

Mr. Stark arched an eyebrow at him.

“Please don’t tell May.” He pleaded.  “If she knows she’s going to freak out and then I’m going to freak out and she doesn’t need this kind of stress right now, not after…” He trailed off, not wanting to talk about his uncle’s death.  He could tell Mr. Stark understood though because he made the face everyone made whenever Peter mentioned Ben these days.

Mr. Stark ran a hand down his face and nodded.  “Ok fine.”

“Thank you!”

“But I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.”

“Fine.” Peter didn’t like it, but it was better than the alternative.

“So.” Mr. Stark sighed and slapped his thighs before standing.  “That web fluid.  You made that yourself?”

“Yeah.”

Mr. Stark smiled, and Peter didn’t think he was imagining the pride in his eyes.  “Where’d you get the supplies?”

“Chemistry class.”

Mr. Stark snorted.  “Of course you did.  You want to walk me through how you make it?”

Peter grinned.  “Sure.”

Huh.  Maybe Ned had been right.  Mr. Stark finding out hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought it would be.

[shotsbyshae]

Stone Cold

Warnings: Language

Words: 2.8k

Pairing: Ransom Drysdale x Fem!Reader

Summary: Ransom has one last interview left for his book. 

Sequel to In the Dark

Ransom Drysdale Masterlist

*Spoiler free: no movie connections whatsoever.

God knows I tried to feel, Happy for you. Know that I am, even if I, Can’t understand, I’ll take the pain.

The door to your apartment creaks as it opens, and your entire body goes numb as you see the man step into view. The remorseful look in his steel blue eyes tells you everything you need to know, but you ask anyway.

“He stayed with her, didn’t he?”

The tears well up in your eyes and Barnes closes the short distance to wrap his arms around you, sinking with you to the floor as silent tears stream down your face.

“I’m sorry – I’m so sorry, doll.”

“No – no,” you whisper quietly.

After everything.

Natasha.

Tony.

You can’t wrap your mind around how he could do this.

“Hey,” Ransom’s voice brings you back to the present. “What do you think? Wilson said he knew Rogers the longest, but I can’t get him to return my calls.”

You sigh because you’re not sure it’ll do any good. Sam had settled with a phone interview because he and Barnes were away on a mission, but Barnes had refused even that.

“I’ll talk to him,” you remark quietly. “He usually listens to me.”

Ransom stands from the chair in your living room and begins to approach where you stand in your kitchen, his head tilting curiously, “Really?”

You take a bite of the frosted flakes cereal from the bowl in front of you, shaking your head at him as you do so. “Nuh uh.” You mumble around the food in your mouth. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” he smirks. “This is – classic.” You take another bite of cereal as Ransom leans against your counter. “You were pining and the best friend swoops in to – comfort you.”

“It’s not like that,” you state flicking your eyes over to him. “We’re friends.” You clench your jaw in annoyance as Ransom continues to stare at you with that boyish grin.

“Friends,” he reiterates not believing you.

“There was one tequila infused night that we don’t talk much about – okay.”

“I knew it!”

“Don’t make me stab you,” the words slip past your lips only half threatening as you point your spoon at him.

“With that?” Ransom questions, eyeing the utensil.

“It’ll hurt more,” you reply before shoving it back into bowl of cereal.

Later that afternoon

You spin quickly, but he grabs your wrist instantly. The vibranium is cool against your skin and the mechanisms in his hand make an almost ominous sound as his grip tightens and he flips you onto your back.

“You’re rusty,” Bucky remarks before helping you up from the sparring mat.

“Says the hundred-year-old man,” you state under your breath.

“I’m kicking your ass, aren’t I?”

“Oooohhh,” you cut your eyes over at him. “That new haircut is making you cocky.”

Tossing him his water bottle first before you take a long drink from your own, you contemplate how to ask your next question. With a sigh you finally do it, “Will you talk to Drysdale – please?”

A groan escapes the man in front of you and a look of annoyance crosses his face, “So, that’s the reason for your visit.”

“And to let you kick my ass,” you smirk at him, trying to ease his irritation.

He shakes his head at you, “I’ve seen photos. He looks just like him, doesn’t that bother you?”

“At first.”

Bucky stares at you for a moment, “Why do you care – about the book?”

You glance down at the bottle in your hand, wanting to give him the same excuse you’d given Sam when he’d asked you the same question.

Because Fury had asked you to.

However, you know Barnes can see through even the slightest of lies when it comes to you. “Regardless of what he did,” your words come out slowly. “Steve was the best of us.” You glance up at your friend. “I can’t let my feelings get in the way of that.”

A grin crosses his face, “He used to say that you were the best of us.” Your brows furrow in confusion and Bucky continues. “That even if the whole world sees the devil, you would only see a fallen angel.”

Your lips turn up in a sad smile, “Of course he did – jerk.”

“He was a punk,” Bucky comments reminiscently.

You fold your arms across your chest, “He was never mine, Buck. Part of me knew that going in, and I did it anyway.”

“But you don’t regret it.”

You shake your head slightly, “I don’t, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.” Bucky’s hand reaches for your shoulder, pulling you into a loose hug. You accept the embrace and wait a moment before continuing. “So, you’ll talk with Drysdale?”

Barnes sighs, “I guess.”

“Thank you.”

2 Days Later

Ransom’s phone vibrates from the dresser in the hotel room, and he quickly looks to see a new message from you.

My place 2pm today. Bucky will be here for your interview.

He smiles as he types his response.

Good job. You two better be dressed when I get there. No Tequila.

Your response is quick.

Shut up. Also, it's been a long week and I plan on binging Netflix while eating my body weight in pizza tonight, so the interview better be over by 5.

Drysdale laughs at your statement.

Promise. Besides I have a date at 7.

With who?

Girl I met in the hotel lobby.

Careful, if she’s named after a flower or food, she’ll expect payment at the end of the night.

Ransom sends two laughy face emojis, followed by the middle finger one.

 You had offered up your apartment as a neutral meeting ground for Bucky to have the sit-down interview with Ransom, that didn’t mean you wanted to be present.

“Where’s –” Drysdale begins to question Barnes as he shrugs off his coat, looking around the apartment for you.

“She went for coffee,” Bucky responds, watching the man closely.

“Coffee – sure,” he states, pulling a notebook and pen from his bag, part of him disappointed that you aren’t present for the interview. Given your history with Barnes, you might be able to pull more information from him than Ransom could alone.

Bucky spends the next forty-five minutes answering questions about the years he spent with Steve before the serum – the war. All while trying to figure out the man sitting across from him who looks eerily similar to his best friend. Barnes doesn’t trust easily, especially trust fund, playboy types who seem to have ulterior motives.

It only takes an hour for those possible motives to make an appearance. Barnes had spoke earlier of Steve’s relationship with Peggy and Ransom had gotten his opinion on their dynamic, but it isn’t until Bucky mentions your name that he notices a shift in Drysdale’s demeanor.

“What can you tell me about their relationship?” Ransom questions with his phone lying in the center of the coffee table, recording every word they’re saying.

“Is that important to the book?” Bucky asks, almost defensively.

“Well – yea,” Ransom responds. “I want to show that relationship as well. To lose the love of your life, wake up seventy years in the future. Having to learn so much, including how to love again. She loved him, that much I know.” He hesitates a moment. “And he loved her.”

“He did,” Bucky practically cuts him off.

“O-kay,” Drysdale replies. “And – then he left.” Barnes stares at him threateningly before he leans back on the couch, folding his arms across his chest as Ransom continues. “I’m just trying to figure out why.”

“Why?”

“It really seemed to affect her,” Ransom replies, watching the man across from him curiously, unsure who’s interviewing who now.

“Of course it affected her,” Bucky states. “Don’t sit there acting like you know her – you don’t. I was there – you weren’t. I thought this book was about Steve.” Drysdale shifts in his chair as Bucky continues. “Is that what all this is really about – her?”

Ransom narrows his eyes, “No.”

Bucky leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “See – I’m beginning to think it is. That’s why you tracked her down, because she didn’t fall into bed with you. Then, to your surprise, you find out about Steve and it gives you the perfect reason to hang around – a book.” He watches Ransom’s jaw clench. “I’ve known men like you. Always wanting what you can’t have and trying to burn the whole world down just to get it.” Bucky can see the anger on his face, but he doesn’t ease up. “All because – why? Your mother didn’t hug you enough as a child?”

“Careful Barnes,” Ransom sneers. “You’re sounding a bit jealous.”

Bucky laughs, “Trust me, I’ll never be jealous of you.” He stands up from the couch, glaring down at Ransom. “Because, I know her, and she’ll never be able to look at you and not see him.” A small malicious smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “She’ll always see Steve.”

Drysdale drops his notebook on the coffee table as he stands up, eyes narrowing at the man across from him, “Keep telling yourself that, if it helps you sleep better at night.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “Although, I would think that would be the last thing to keep you up at night, being a former Hydra assassin and all. Exactly how many people have you killed Mr. Barnes?”

Bucky’s fists clench at his sides, “Too many, but I can always add one more.”

“That’s enough, Buck,” you state angrily, glaring at the two of them.

They were so wrapped in up asserting their dominance, neither of them heard you come through the door. Your arms are folded across your chest angrily and both of them look at you in surprise.

“I should go,” Bucky states, crossing the room towards you.

“Yea,” your answer is sharp. “We’ll discuss this later.”

He gives a curt nod, already hearing your voice yelling at him in the back of his mind.

You and your overprotective big brother bull shit.

You’ve used the phrase once or twice with him before.

Your gaze follows Bucky as he exits your apartment.

The tension in the room is heavier than it’s ever been.

No doubt because of the conversation with Barnes. He hadn’t let him see it, but his words had affected Drysdale. Your eyes drift back to Ransom and he can see a softness there – you aren’t angry with him.

There’s a touch of sadness in your eyes and his brow furrows, “He’s right, isn’t he?”

“What?” confusion apparent on your face.

“You see him,” Ransom’s tone turns hard – cold. “When you look at me – don’t you?”

Your shoulders drop – voice quiet, “Don’t.” There’s a pause as he glares at you, your eyes pleading with him to stop. “Please – don’t do this.”

“You were in love with him,” he begins angrily. “So, it’s nothing about me. Everything you’ve done for me is because of his face. Because he was a better man than I’ll ever be – right?”

You fight back the tears as you raise your voice, “Stop!” You take a forceful step towards him. “You’re right, I did see him when I first met you, and yea, just looking at you was the hardest thing I’d ever done.” Ransom watches you carefully, determined to know the truth. “Part of me hated your face, because he fucking left.”

“Why?” Ransom questions, and you start to shake your head. He watches you bite the inside of your lip. “Why would he leave – abandon you?” He knows that word that will set you off.

You glance over at the picture of you and Steve on your shelf, “He knew I wouldn’t be alone. I’d have Sam – Buck.” The words angry as you swallow the lump in your throat. “So, he didn’t abandon me. Or us, because he knew the three of us would have each other. I guess that’s what made it okay in his mind.”

“That’s fucked up,” Ransom says quietly. “If he loved you –”

“She had his heart,” you reply sincerely. “I could never compete with that.” You glance back to the man in front of you. “So no – I don’t see him. I haven’t for a while, Ransom.” Your voice barely above a whisper as you admit it. “I only see you.”

His breathing falters at your statement and he reaches to turn off the recording app on his cellphone before he sits back down on the sofa. You move slowly over, glancing at the coffee table where the notebook is. Reaching for it, you half-expect him to stop you, but he doesn’t. You begin to read over some of the messily jotted down lines.  

Steve Rogers believed in doing what was right, regardless of the consequences.

A true hero (more than once) when the country needed it the most.

Rogers was a friend to everyone and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for a friend.

He was loved twice by women (not only beautiful, but smart and strong) with such passion – ferocity – most people are lucky to experience that kind of love just once in their lifetime.

A smile tugs at the corners of your mouth as you read the last lines and Ransom speaks quietly, “Are you still in love with him?”

You glance at him thoughtfully for a moment, “No, but there is a part of me that will always care for him.” There’s a hint of disappointment in his eyes and you change the subject. “Why did you track me down?” Hearing Bucky’s question earlier had brought it back to your mind. “Because I know it wasn’t easy – and it wasn’t over a wallet.”

“I don’t know,” he flicks his eyes up at you, seeing the expectant look on your face. “Maybe it was the fact you were just so – real. I mean – aside from the fact you were lying.” You can’t help but smirk as he continues. “Even as Natalie, you weren’t fake with me. I’d never experienced that before.”

There’s a warm smile on your face as you lay the notebook back on the coffee table, “Well, when you finish this book, maybe you should get out more.”

“Funny you mention that,” Ransom stands as you start toward the kitchen. “I have an idea for another book I want to run by you.”

You turn around curiously, “Run by me – why?”

“Well, Granddad is known for his murder mysteries,” Ransom begins, eyeing you closely for your reaction. “I thought I might give it a shot, maybe put a different spin on it. Instead of far-fetched ideas, going more of a ‘based on actual events’ route.” Your mouth begins to open slightly as you see the grin forming on his face. “Granddad’s leading characters were always men, so I’m thinking for my leading character a female secret agent perhaps.”

“Me?” the look of shock on your face is hilarious.

“Well,” Ransom smirks. “She would have to be smart. Funny. Attractive is a given.” You fold your arms across your chest as he takes a few steps closer to where you stand. “Intimidating. Definitely a bad ass.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

His face lights up, “All the missions you’ve been on, all the secrets S.H.I.E.L.D.’s kept, I might could shadow you on future ops.”

“Absolutely not.”

Ransom’s face instantly falls, and he looks similar to a sad golden retriever.

“If you want to stay in New York – stay.” you remark, watching him carefully. “But you’re not writing a book about me.”

There’s a smug look on his face as he responds, “It’s not about you – it’s about Natalie.” You narrow your eyes at the man, and he holds his hands up defensively, “Okay – fine.” He turns around and walks back over to the coffee table and begins to gather his things.

You watch him for a moment, remembering he’s going back to his hotel, probably to get ready for his date with random lobby girl. The feeling you’re having makes you want to scream into the nearest throw pillow.

What – why?

Are you seriously jealous right now?

You can feel the heat starting at the base of your neck and you take a deep breath before speaking, “Hey – do you wanna stay?” He stops packing his bag to glance up at you, seeing something unusual on your features – trepidation. “We could order in – watch a movie.”

He gives you a genuine smile, “Sure.”

There is nothing he wants more than to spend the evening with you, eating take-out and watching old movies, because you see him and not many people do.

But who in their right mind leaves a beautiful blonde waiting in a hotel lobby across town for a date, without so much as a call or a text to let her know he can’t make it?

He does.

Because after all –

Ransom Drysdale’s an asshole.

Tags:

@sagechanoafterdark @cake-writes @mom—nicole @xetoilerouge @sleepingspacedragon @caffeinated–writer @marvelfansworld @shikin83 @jennmurawski13 @letsby @kcd15 @titty-teetee @geeksareunique @hysteria87 @reminiscingrogers @iwantutobehapppier @what-is-your-plan-today @atthediscowithoutpanic @rcvenqers @cheeseburgersstuff @mustangshelby04 @adepressedstudentslife @shikin83 @eggingamazinglove @corneliabarnes @on-your-left-birdie @givemebooksorgivemedeath @retrxbarnes @sprinkleofbooty @kelbabyblue @southerngracela @jamielea81 @sophiria @emmandhercoffecrisp  @xbuchananbarnes @harrisbn @immajustreadwritereblog @retrxbarnes @bemysugarbean @warm-tuna-sandwich @shikin83 @songforhema @sleepingspacedragon @annimalq  @patzammit @starklokison @bucky-rrogers @meltingicequeen @arpiii @000bananaclip000 @run-through-wa11s @marvelloonie @darcia22 @elatedmarvel @shanominom @angelynmay @lookalivefrosty @ella-solei @spideyparkerstark 

[worldwidebt7]

Hell[L]ing || 04

§ — Pairing: Chimera!Taehyung x Empath!Reader (with mentions of Reader x Other Members)

§ — Genre: SciFi AU, fluff, angst, smut, horror

§ — Wordcount: 3,416 § — Rating: M § — Warnings: None. Kookie being the sweet helpful bun that he is.

§ — A/N: So, banged this entire chapter out in a day and a half because, well, QUARANTINE. I should have been working on my commissions or my Webtoon contest entry, but I had an itch to get the next chapter of this out because it’s about to get GOOD. Oh, and there’s a decent amount of Jungkookie in this chapter~ Enjoy!

 Summary: You moved out into the wilderness to live a calm, peaceful life. Your abilities made it impossible to live in crowded places, so even if you wanted to you couldn’t return. But when something happens outside the realm of even your normalcy, you start to think that maybe having everyone else’s emotions bearing down on you isn’t such a bad alternative to being trapped with your own.

Today, it was raining. If you had the ability to have the sky open up and rain on you every day, you would do it in a heartbeat— you loved the rain. It was the only time where you felt fractionally normal around other people. The constant interference of energy caused by rainfall created something like a static that made it easier to drown out invasive outside emotions. You could have a conversation with someone and not get barreled over by wave after wave of their feelings. Plus, you couldn’t resist opening the windows of your home to let the sweet, clean air left behind a recent rain shower wash away any stagnant atmosphere that may have accumulated within its walls.

Beyond that it was raining, it was also, suddenly, surprisingly, pleasantly, Friday. After the short, but no less exhausting, encounter with your neighbor, Seokjin, and his sickly roommate, Taehyung, the rest of the week passed by with little excitement. Namjoon had given you the look—one you were expecting to get, but nerve-wracking nonetheless— once he found out that you had yet to write basically the first 75 pages of your novel, though at this point he was not surprised if the lack of spike in his aura suggested anything. He had given you until Thursday to write at least an outline of events so he could have a better understanding of how the heroine falls into the unfortunate situation she finds herself in. Thankfully, you had been able to accomplish this task, and was even able to send in dialog samples. Namjoon, for now, had been placated.

The other thing about Friday, or this Friday in particular, was that it was the third Friday of the month signaling your bi-weekly visit from your favorite grocery delivery boy, Jungkook. He would be arriving a little after 4pm, as he kept your delivery to the end of his route. Good thing too; the two of you have recently gotten close and your chattering would often cause tardiness to Jungkook’s other appointments. Not to mention you lived fairly far out of the way for your delivery boy who drove nearly 45 minutes just to drop off six measly bags of filled with the food items you had texted him the previous day.

Honestly the boy was too helpful for his own good. There was one Friday where he had popped by with your things when you off-handedly mentioned how the ice-maker in your freezer wasn’t working properly and making too much ice. The angel that is your delivery boy spent the next 20 minutes with your irritating ice-maker, chipping away at the ice that had frozen over the rotator and fixing the setting all so you wouldn’t have to go with your original plan which involved defrosting your freezer, losing your frozen goods, and cleaning up a cold, wet mess afterwards. He had not complained once. Not about the ice, not about having to use a screwdriver as a pick, not even when his fingers had become so cold that you could feel the pain— literally.

This was one of many examples of his unbridled kindness, and one of the many reasons you were always excited to see the boy. As you straightened your house and rearranged your pantry to fit the incoming foodstuff, the rain continued to strike the outside of your house, mixing in well with the low-fi hip-hop you had playing in the background on your stereo system. It almost made you sleepy, but your relaxed state wasn’t enough to deter the building anticipation towards your future visitor.

When you were pleased with your pantry, you backed away and closed the door, just in time it seemed, as there was a quiet knock at your door. You sighed happily— you hadn’t felt the boy coming at all, bless the rain and its emotion-jamming effects. Ah, wait, the rain…

You zipped over to the door, realizing a bit sluggishly that Jungkook would be standing outside in the rain with all of your groceries until you opened it for him, as he was always the model citizen and wouldn’t enter without your knowledge. Clad in only socks, you slide across the hardwood flooring and straight into the door, hitting it against your shoulder with a slight ‘thud’, before regaining your footing and flinging open the front door. On the other side was a wet, mop-headed delivery boy, looking rather shocked at the speed in which you had approached the door and more than likely hearing the impact your body made with it.

“Sorry, sorry!” You said, picking up the reusable bags that he had lugged from his car and sat on your front step. Before you could grab a third bag, his hands shot out to stop you, fingers grazing your arm and allowing you to finally get a clear read on his emotions— he was like the air after the rain: sweet, clean, and refreshing.

“Noona, you don’t have to do that, I got those.” He said, picking up the other four bags, two in each hand, before following you into the house and, albeit with some trouble, kicked off his boots. Jungkook really had no wicked bone in his body, not one. He never had a second agenda, never said something he didn’t mean, never held a grudge; and his emotions reinforced all of these facts regularly. It was no wonder you liked being around him— you never needed your abilities to tell you what he was really feeling or thinking. He was an open book for you, and he did so with the knowledge of what you were capable of.

“Thanks for coming all the way out here for me, I really appreciate it.” You chimed, setting the bags down on the counter, Jungkook following suit. He gave a light-hearted shrug before ruffling some of the water out of his own hair.

“It’s okay, you are paying me after all,” A small huff escaped your lips at his comment as you placed your new gallon of milk into the refrigerator. Humor spilled into the air as you became accustomed to his energy despite the rain and he stifled a laugh at your reaction. “I’m only joking— well, no, you are paying me— you know I like hanging out with you!” You cracked a smile, not even able to continue to pretend to be mad at him.

“Yeah, yeah… took you long enough to talk to me though!” Teasing him had quickly become one of your favorite past-times. He was so easily embarrassed, and the way he always touched his ears when he was especially bashful entered dangerous territories for your heart. Precious boy.

“Yeah, well, I’m not, I didn’t, UGH. You know what I’m trying to say!” You sputtered out a laugh, not even the least surprised that you did, in fact, know what he was trying to say. He had confided in you shortly after communication had been established that he got nervous around new people, most specifically women. You weren’t sure why, he was a kind, bright, good-looking young man, and he had never produced much of a reason for it either. That’s just how he was. Perhaps he didn’t want to overstep any barriers and make people uncomfortable? Though now that you knew him, being uncomfortable with Jungkook was entirely impossible. And at his pink cheeks and pout, you caved, throwing a grape at him just to make him flinch.

“Alright punk, I forgive you.” You said before popping a different grape into your mouth. The dark-locked boy rubbed his chest where the grape had bounced off, feigning offence, the continuous stream of humor flowing off of him enough for you to know that he was enjoying your banter.

“Thanks, noona, really appreciate it, almost a year later!” He crinkled his nose at you as if he were irritated before tumbling into a fit of laughter, where you joined him merrily. Precious boy.

“So, what have you been up to? How’s school?” Routine questions, but you honestly wanted to know. He looked thoughtful for a moment, clearly trying to think of any recent changes in his life. You raised an eyebrow as you closed the door to your fridge once you finished putting away the chilled goods. As expected, he shrugged.

“The usual.” He began helping you by unloading the canned goods onto the counter top. “My film class is getting pretty interesting though.” Folding the tote bag the groceries were in, he placed it on one of your bar stools and then looked at you. “What about you? Anything interesting happen lately? Any more birds fly into your window?” You rolled your eyes at his teasing— living out here by yourself, you rarely had anything substantial to share with your friend. This time, however…

“Well, I’ve got new neighbors…” You revealed, picking up a few of the canned goods. Jungkook raised his eyebrow, following your lead and collecting a couple of cans to help you on your way to the pantry.

“Oh yeah?” You hummed, nodding your head as you placed your cans on the shelf.

“Mmhm. A tall guy with purple hair and his roommate that’s apparently always sick.” You elaborated, not mentioning names for now. “They’re… nice.” At your hesitation, you felt a slight buzz of uneasiness from the man beside you. You looked at him, knowing he was aware that you felt his change. “What?”

“Just nice?” His brows furrowed slightly as he looked at you like he was trying to read your energy, which you believed with little doubt he could. You spent too much time by yourself anymore and you long had forgotten how to properly dress your expressions for social interactions. You let out a breathy chuckle at his concern.

“Yes, nice.” You reiterated, plucking the cans from his arms. He gave you an unimpressed look that was garnished with a pout. With a sigh, you indulged him. “I can’t get a good read on either of them…” Your confession only left him more confused.

“You mean your empath stuff, right?” A nod of affirmation. “Why can’t you read them? I thought you didn’t know how to turn it off?” You hummed thoughtfully, taking the last can from him.

“It’s not that I can’t read them, it’s just that…” You turned from the pantry after placing the last can on the shelf and ran a hand through your hair. “The one dude is always freaking out— panic, panic, panic— all the time! I’m afraid that he’s going to give himself a heart attack! But beyond that, I have a gut feeling telling me that he’s a good person, even when he deliberately lies to me.” Arms crossed, Jungkook looked at you pointedly.

“So… a good liar?” He asked, trying to understand your instincts. You shrugged with a groan.

“Maybe? I don’t know, I really do think he’s… good.” You stepped back over to the counter to grab your new paper towel rolls and plastic wrap to be set in their proper locations. Jungkook slid onto a bar stool and leaned against the counter.

“Okay, not really sure what that means, but…” You glared at him, and he grinned at you, obviously trying to hold back laughter. “What about the other one?” At that, you paused. How were you supposed to explain ‘the other one’? Caught up in your thoughts, you didn’t bother putting way the items in your hand, rather opting to just set them on the counter again.

“Well, uh…” You trailed off, not entirely sure if he would believe you seeing as the last time you tried to explain something improbable with Yoongi didn’t go as you had hoped. However, looking at the wide-eyed boy in front of you, everything about his aura was open and trusting and you knew that if you told him, he would believe you. “His emotions come in ‘blips’.”

“’Blips’?” He repeated— not in a condescending way, but rather as if he were trying to place the definition of the word. You nodded, less than prepared to explain yourself.”

“Yeah, I can’t feel his emotions all the time, they go away and reappear like radar blips. But they’re always super intense.” Resting your forearms on the counter, you let the edge press into your ribs a bit as you leaned forward. Even without your abilities, you could tell that Jungkook was trying to think of an answer, anything that could be the cause. You almost smiled at his thoughtfulness— there was nothing to suggest he didn’t believe you.

“Well,” he started, breaking you out of your trance. “You said he was sick all the time, right? Maybe that could affect your readings?” You had thought about that possibility as well— you had never been knowingly near a significantly ill person, so you couldn’t say that it wasn’t conceivable; though saying that was the only issue would be erroneous. Still, seeing as this was the only reasonable explanation you had come up with, you chose to put your faith in it.

“Maybe,” You agreed, nodding. You didn’t bring up the midnight visitor or the crawly feeling of being watched the last week or so, knowing the kind boy in your kitchen would likely throw a fit trying to figure out a way to help you. To be honest, you kind of wish he would, though that was only in your own selfish interests. Since you hadn’t had any real incidents besides that one, you decided not to worry the boy.

Unfortunately, Jungkook’s visit this time around had to be cut short, as he had other responsibilities to attend to in the evening. You gave him sass of course, stating that you couldn’t believe that he had something more important to do than keeping you company. He laughed and apologized, though a small twinge of guilt in the air made you realize that he knew the hidden meaning in your friendly repartee.

You were lonely.

You were also aware that he knew you’d be able to feel the minute change in his emotional state even with the rain, but neither of you commented on it before you ushered him out the door so he could drive home while it was still light out. He bid farewell before sprinting to his car to avoid getting completely drenched and you waved from inside the doorway, flinching when he peels out of your driveway like he was Brian O'Conner from the ‘Fast & Furious’ franchise.

Sighing, you stood in your doorway for a bit longer, listening to the rain and watching the reflections in the puddles dance. This was the part you hated most— the emptiness that follows the end of social interaction. You were used to being alone, and the longer you were alone the more used to it you became. However, the small instances when you were able to talk to another person, be near them, smile and laugh with them… they reminded you that humans were codependent on each other. You needed other people. As much as you were physically pained to be near them, you needed them. As you spent more time in isolation from the world, the more you yearned to be normal.

The sound of a blunt object hitting the glass of your window wall had you spinning on you heel out of reflex. As Jungkook had teased you earlier, it was common for birds to fly into the large window panes. More often than not, they were fine and they flew off. But every once in a while, they injured themselves, and you took it upon yourself to assess their injuries and making them comfortable if need be.

So, imagine your surprise when there wasn’t a small, winged creature on your back patio, but rather a tall, soaked, handsome boy with his palm pressed against your French doors. You blinked a few times for good measure, hoping this was just an illusion and that you weren’t currently looking at your sickly neighbor with the weird readings standing in the rain outside your house. When you realized he was just going to continue to stand there looking into your house until you greeted him, you quickly shut your front door and hastily made your way over to let him in.

As you got close, you realized there was a buzzing in the air, like it was vibrating, again in blips like radar. You recognized this as anxiety or nervousness and quickly deduced that it was coming from your neighbor. You paused before opening the door— you didn’t know this man; you’d barely met him more than once and only heard him speak a single time, and it wasn’t even to you. Plus, you still couldn’t shake the unnerving feeling you got whenever he was within your range; there was too much similar between how you felt about the boy in front of you and the thing you saw that night. Were you really about to let him into your house?

Almost like he could feel your hesitation, his hand slipped from the door and he looked at the ground dejectedly. A hole appeared in you doubt at this innocent act, and a quick, shooting pain pierced your chest. You couldn’t tell if it was your own guilt setting in or his emotions afflicting you, but you opened the door without another lingering moment to think about how bad of an idea this was.

‘He’s sick and shouldn’t be in the rain,’ You told yourself as you now stood in front of this near-stranger without the protective barrier of your glass door. You swallowed, your own nerves now wreaking havoc on your body, though the dark-haired boy in front of you look more shocked and more nervous than you did. In fact, if you didn’t get him to calm down soon, his nerves would probably cause you to throw up. And the fact that his emotions only appeared like explosions in the atmosphere around you wasn’t helping. Still, the way he looked down at his feet rather than at you, just…

“H-hello…?” You greeted; your uncertainty evident in your shaken speech. He made the smallest movement, like he was flinching at the sound of your voice and you almost wanted to backtrack. Good lord he was skittish. “What, uh, what are you doing here? I-I mean, can I help you?” Fumbling over your words wasn’t new for you, but for some reason you were especially aware of your tongue’s missteps at the moment.

He stood there for a moment, contemplating you surmised, before peeking up at you through his wet bangs. You made eye contact and— sweet heavens— you forgot about the alluring abyss that was his gaze. It only lasted for a moment before he looked at his feet again, which, you finally noticed, were completely bare.

“You said…” Now it was your turn to be startled; only now remembering how deep and velvet-like his voice was, even with how soft-spoken he currently was. “…that I could come….” He shifted, his nervousness beating around you like drums as you let his words sink in. You said he could come… you said he could come? When did you—

“Oh, um, well my house isn’t too far from yours…He’s welcome to stop by from time-to-time if he’s able… It’d be no problem… It’d be nice to have company every once-in-a-while.”

You suddenly remembered that, yes, you had invited him to visit you during your interaction Monday afternoon. At the time, you had your reasons, reasons that you couldn’t remember for the life of you at the moment. What on earth possessed you to tell a stranger it was fine to wander over to your house just because you were neighbors?!

And yet, the way his large body looked so small in front of you, like he was pleading with you to let him in…

“I-I did…” You relaxed your face enough to smile at him, your nerves still eating at you and a headache starting to set in from the intensity of his. You stepped aside to let him in, to which his head shot up and his eyes widened— you suppose he didn’t think you would actually let him in, but the sudden, yet agreeable change in his emotional blips was enough to tell you that he was relieved, pleased even, as he stepped in from the rain. “I should probably get you a towel, huh?”

Tags:

@sana-b​ @beach-bitch-bitch-beach​ @babbitybabo​ @softmxchi​ @halijahfan @chimchimsauce​ @coolavidreader​ @beesthoughtsblog​ @breadcaaat​ @lucian-kinnder​ @wolfgirl-m​  @sogrossstuff  @kpop-nolife​ @unoriginal-username15432​ @cvbachacbitch​ @rhayad​ @lladyow​ @jiminot7​ @parkminhee​ @ditttiii​ @sathom013​ @megazdl​ @sugabased 

[xuxunette]

My own translation of MDZS, chapter I.

My own translation of MDZS, chapter I.

Done for fun and for free.

Rebirth - Part I

“Wei Wuxian is dead! Everybody celebrate!” Not two days after the frightful assault on Shambled-Tombs Mound1, the news flew to every corner of the Daoist world as if it had sprouted wings — spreading with more speed than the erstwhile flames of war. Suddenly, whether famous masters from prestigious schools or wandering practitioners from mountain tops, everyone was discussing the punitive expedition led by the allied Four Great Clans, who had charged into the fray ahead of a hundred smaller sects.   “Great, great news! Everybody celebrate indeed! But who could have slain the Master of Monsters Mountain2?” “Who else could have done it? His sworn brother, the young chief Jiang Cheng, of course! He led into battle his own clan from Misty River, alongside the Jin Clan from Orchid Hill,  the Lan Clan from the Maiden Forest, and the Nie Clan from Honest Creek3. He upheld justice over family ties by destroying the ‘Shambled-Tombs Mound’ where Wei Wuxian had dug his lair.” “I’ll say a fair word: good riddance!” Someone immediately cheered on loudly, “You're right, good riddance! If the Jiang Clan hadn’t picked him up off the streets and raised him, that rascal Wei Wuxian would have remained a common vermin from the slums all his life... let alone become anything else! The former Jiang patriarch raised him as his own son, but him? He openly rebelled and made enemies out of all the other sects. Not only bringing dishonour to the Jiang Clan, but also causing them to be nearly wiped out. That’s the definition of being an ungrateful cur; he bit the hand that fed him!” “I can’t believe Jiang Cheng tolerated that punk’s arrogance for so long. Were it me, back when he defected, I wouldn't have let him off the hook with only a stab wound. I’d have purged his whole sect straight away, and he wouldn’t have committed all those atrocities afterwards. With scum like that, there is no ‘consideration for a childhood friend’ and ‘regard for a co-disciple’ to be had.” “But that’s not what I heard, is it? Hasn’t Wei Ying4 gotten his comeuppance from his devious sorcery backfiring on him? Wasn’t he torn apart and gnawed to pieces by the demonic generals under his command? I heard he’s been mawed alive and turned into fine bone powder.”   “Hahaha… That’s karmic retribution for you. I wanted to say it all along, those demonic servants he kept? They were just like badly-leashed, rabid dogs, waiting to bite. That they ate him in the end only serves him right!” “Be it as it may, if Jiang Cheng hadn’t carefully planned the assault around the Master of Monsters Mountain’s weaknesses, the expedition may not have succeeded at all. Don’t forget about the artefact Wei Wuxian possessed, and the time he decimated an entire army of three thousand skilled practitioners in a single night.” “Wasn’t it five thousand?” “Three thousand or five thousand, it's all the same. Though, I bet it was five thousand.”　 “...The rampage of a true madman!” “At least he destroyed the Yin Tiger-Tally5 before his death. That’d count as paying some amends. If he’d left the cursed object in this world to inflict further suffering on humankind, his sins would have been even greater.”The crowd fell silent as the three words “Yin Tiger-Tally”  were pronounced, as if everybody had turned to contemplation. Eventually, someone sighed.“Alas... To think that, back in the days, Wei Wuxian was an exalted practitioner: the illustrious scion of an influential clan. He wasn’t without merits either. He made a name for himself at a young age, and lived in boundless fame… How he ended up where he has, I wonder…”  At the changed topic, the chitter-chatter of commentaries ignited anew. “It goes on to prove that orthodoxy is the only way to practice the Discipline. Deviance and heresy may yield flitting glory to gloat about at first, but look at what happened to him in the end.”The crowd cried out at once, “Death with no whole corpse left behind5!” “The path he chose in his practice wasn’t the only cause of his downfall, though. Ultimately, it was Wei Wuxian’s

despicable character that did him in — angering the heavens and vexing men. As the saying goes, good and evil each reaps their rewards, and the heavens see to it that what goes around always comes around...”Thus, judgment was passed upon Wei Wuxian’s cold remains. The content of the debate never varied much, and a consensus was soon reached. The few, faint dissenting voices that rose on occasions were swiftly quelled. However, the shadow of a worry still lingered in people’s hearts. Although the Master of Monster Mountain’s carnal envelope was said to have perished at Shambled-Tombs Mound, no one was able to summon his injured soul to dispose of it.  Perhaps the demons had devoured it at the same time they did his body... or perhaps had it escaped. If it was the first, then all was well. But the latter was also far from impossible: the Master of Monsters Mountains had been so powerful, he could upturn the skies and trample the earth, move mountains and change sea’s tides — or so it was told — and resisting the summon would be for him no feat at all. 　 Hence, should the day come that Wei Wuxian managed to restore his soul and snatch a body to reincarnate into with his powers still intact, all of the Daoist realm, or even all of humanity, would inevitably face his dreadful retaliation. His wrath would then only be augmented many times over, bringing about the reign of darkness without the bright of dawn, gales of pestilence and tempests of blood. Consequently, one hundred and twenty beastly-stone guardians were erected on the peak of Shambled-Tombs Mound whilst the largest clans carried frequent soul-summoning ceremonies. Incidences of demonic possession were strictly investigated, information about abnormal occurrences was carefully collected; all practitioners remained in a state of highest alert. The first year went by, and all stayed calm. The second year went by, and all stayed calm. The third year went by, and all stayed calm.… The thirteenth year went by, all still stayed calm, and people started to relax at last.  Maybe Wei Wuxian hadn’t been so powerful after all. Maybe his soul had perished as well. And even if he once could, with a wave of his hand, overturn the skies and command the fall of rain, he had been the one to be toppled over in the end.   Besides, nobody could be dreaded above the gods forever. Legends, after all, were only legends.

Notes:1. 乱葬岗 (Luanzang gang) lit.: ‘disorderly burial mountain ridge’. 2. 夷陵老祖 (Yiling Laozu) is Wei Wuxian’s honorary title/nickname. In this case it is an informal one. Yiling lit.: ‘barbarians’ mountain’. Laozu lit.: ‘venerated ancestor’. 3. Jiang from Yunmeng, Jin from Lanling, Lan from Gusu, Nie from Qinghe. These clan names hint at the four cardinal directions, as well as four different settings. Note that xianxia typically take place in China’s southern regions, following the tradition of Water Margins, and as represented in The Untamed web-series. I chose to translate the region names to convey some of the flavor that transpires from the Chinese text. See appendix on names from the story for further details. 4. Wei Wuxian’s birth name. At this point all three names of our protagonist have been cited: his birth name — given at birth (Wei Ying), his courtesy name — given upon adulthood (Wei Wuxian), and his honorary title/nickname — given for achievements (Master of Monsters Mountain). 5. Yin refers to Yin-Yang, the dual principles central to Daoist beliefs. Yin being the negative/feminine/lunar/shadowy/deadened side, to Yang or positive/masculine/solar/light/alive side. I've seen it translated into ‘stygian’, on youtube, which carries the notion of ‘hellish’ — although this translation mixes in a western concept (the Styx River from the ancient Greeks) it’s not an error insofar as Daoists consider the underworld ‘yin’ in nature. A Tiger-Tally is a historical artefact used by generals to confirm the deployment of troops. 5. In Chinese beliefs, the body of the deceased not being conserved integrally is considered a desecration of the worst sort. This is why Meng Yao's actions later on are considered so cruel.

[voidcat]

of Pamphlets & Bass Guitars

– Should I Call These Pamphlets?

Word Count: 1.7k

A/N: I could go a little longer, my original plan was to hold the debate in this chapter but I’ve noticed people tend to read shorter stuff more often so... yeah... Now that I’ve seen Leto (2018) and have a brand new list of punk songs to listen to, get ready for more updates. I can’t wait to write the gigs & the dance scene (wink wink @ Nic )

also uh i never said anything abt it but i can have a taglist for this if anyone wants, leave an ask!

Warning: Swearing, but this will be a given from now on.

Pants (ch 2) | chapter 3 | ch 4 (coming soon)

ao3

Screw classes, is the mood of the day. Hoping the topics are already the things you know, you open a new page of your notebook and get to work.

Writing.

If they want to go and take advantage of an action for their own selfish reasons, they should expect getting called out. The two you’ve met earlier, Matsukawa and Hanamaki, seemed nice enough but you can never depend on looks to tell one’s character, especially when it comes to people.

Pulled out of your trance by a hand on your shoulder, you realize it’s break time. Grabbing your notebook, you rush out to your friend’s classroom as fast as you can. Almost tripping on your feet once and crashing against people few times, you hope he hasn’t left yet.

“Seiji!” Holding onto the doorframe like your life depends on it, you look around hurriedly and spot him, looking like a deer in the headlights. Can you blame him though? It’s not often you directly meet him in his classroom. Slamming the notebook on to his desk, you look at him while catching your breathe.

One look at the papers and eyes back on you, he looks unimpressed. “Hello to you too.”

“Yes! Hello! Never mind, I have an urgent question…” Looking around you to see if anyone is listening- wait for how long have Seiji and Iwaizumi-san been classmates?- nodding to him when you both make contact, you scout closer to Seiji in a secretive manner again.

“The paper. Does the next issue include something I wrote?”

“This was the urgent question?-“

“Just answer me Seiji.” You fix him with a glare, more like try, those glares never worked on him as long as you’ve known him.

With a sigh, he speaks. “It doesn’t”- raising a finger in front of your face, he adds: “And I should know, I am in charge of your little corner nowadays.”

“Good! Good, now read-“ opening the page and pushing it in front of him, you smirk. “This.”

Doing such a thing on a short notice wasn’t easy but it was worth the effort. Even if it requires you to be at school hours before classes started.

Looking behind to make sure no one was around and passing the gyms carefully, you enter your first target. Papers tucked under your arm and a tape in your hand, you get started.

Taping as many as you can on the announcement boards, walls and any surface you see fit, you walk around the whole school in no time. Sure, more tiring than you could’ve anticipated but it’s worth seeing your words actually printed on a paper that’s not the school newspaper, hanging on the walls, waiting to be read is quite satisfying.

Double checking to see if you’ve missed any spots, you check your watch. Has it been an hour already? Not wanting to be seen by anyone just yet, you walk outside and find a new way to kill time.

When you cross the school gates for the third time today, you can see walking figures in the distance, probably some sports teams are already done with their morning practices.

On your way to class, your eyes get caught on one of your papers, should I call these pamphlets?, again. You can’t help but smile. Few meters outside your classroom, it’s these two from yesterday, standing side by side. The one with light hair, Hanamaki was it?, holding the paper and the other reading from over his shoulder. You walk up to them and stop by Hanamaki’s left.

“Hey guys, what are you looking at?” Did that sound too friendly? Would they mind if it did?

“Hi there. We’re reading that paper taped all over school campus. Mattsun says it was aimed at us for yesterday.” The boy nods at you when he hears his theory mentioned.

“Hmm, let me see.” You say and start reading, more like pretending. You don’t hear the incoming footsteps approaching you.

From your- Mattsun’s right, comes a voice. “Ah, there you are! I see you’ve already read them too. It’s aimed at us, wouldn’t you agree? I think it’s that g-“

You look up to see it’s Oikawa Tooru talking, holding one of your papers in one hand, wearing a tacky leather jacket. The way he looks at you is unsettling and yet he carries an amused smile on his face. Two can play this game, you put on your blank face.

“What was that shittykawa? You know who put these on?”

“Patience Makki dear, not yet. But I have a theory of my own.” Hanamaki looks at Oikawa expectedly, waiting for him to continue.

“Is there anything new or is it the same blabbering from yesterday?” Makki doesn’t sound too eager to listen to what Oikawa has to say.

“What! Of course not. It’s just nothing major, we can wait for Iwa-chan to come and I’ll explain later.”  

“Speaking of Iwaizumi, where is he?” Mattsun speaks up at last.

“Showering.”

“We all did that. What’s taking him so long?”

“Or who is.” Makki adds with a grin and raised eyebrows. Both you and Oikawa roll your eyes at his comment.

With a shrug, he answers the two. “He said something about ‘standing under the water for five minutes not counting as a shower.’ Followed by a typical Iwa-chan grunt.”

“Well he does have a point.” With all the looks directed at you, you realize a little too late you’ve said it out loud. Again.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Well… Even rinsing, with or without a soap, can do a lot better than just standing under the water. And you guys stink of sweat. Like, real bad. Maybe use deodorant next time? Or don’t, the odor gets worse if you’re already sweaty.” Your volume lowers down as you keep talking. Both Makki and Mattsun seem entertained whereas Oikawa sniffs the air discreetly and shoots you a stern glare. Then he walks away.

Waving the remaining two bye, you enter your classroom at last. It’s going to be a long day.

And you just had to be right, this time proven right by some of your teachers and the vice principal visiting each class. Talking all about how they’ve noticed the recent conflict revolving the dress code and letting you all know that they’ll be holding a meeting at the end of the day, open for students to participate in and state their minds on the issue. And right before they exit, they have the audacity to add “Oh, we decided to hold this in the form of a debate. We figured this might be a good practice for all of you.” This does not stop you from yelling- objecting against this.

“And how are we supposed to prepare for a debate that will be taking place in under 10 hours? How fair is that? Either give us more time, if you wish for a debate so bad or just listen to what we have to say and settle on a decision with the students.” They don’t look so amused by your sudden outburst.

Waiting by the entrance of the conference hall, trying to see who’s inside, Seiji comes from your back.

“I assumed you’d be here.”

“Yeah. Are you joining as well?”

“I can’t, club stuff. Plus father wants me home early. But I’ll be rooting for you, good luck.” With a smile, he goes as it starts breezing. You take a deep breath and enter the hall room. Some students already on your black list for numerous reasons stand by on one side of the table. It’s clear where will you be standing, unfortunately you back is to the door.

With an arm draped over your shoulder out of nowhere, you flinch. “So cap, what’s the plan, we winning yet?”

In the past week, you’ve gotten familiar with Oikawa Tooru’s voice, you don’t need to look up to confirm that it’s his arm being a menace.

“If you’re here for getting to wear more unfitting leather clothing, I suggest you go and side with them. This is not a game or a joke for me Oikawa.”

“And what? Let those scumbags win again? No way.” The harshness he puts into the insult does not miss your ears. Looking up to his face, you notice a bruise by his jaw.

“Oi shittykawa, where have you been?” The sudden call startling Oikawa, you use it as a chance to get his arm off you and step aside. Looking back to meet the source, you see Iwaizumi-san.

“Heey, Iwa-chan! I’m a busy right now. Tell the coach I’ll come later.” Eyes going back and forth, to the teachers, the guys on the other side and lastly landing on you, Iwaizumi sighs and leaves. So this is who they were talking about by ‘Iwa-chan’.

“See? I actually care about this thing. And I’ve been wanting to see the idiots get crushed by someone besides me for a while.” Oikawa says again with a smirk.

“Does ‘getting crushed’ include landing a punch on you?”

“Oh doll, look at the guy second to the right carefully. He is wearing concealer to hide the black eye I gave him.” Squinting your eyes to get a better look, you can spot the imbalanced color transition on his face.

Then you turn your head back to Oikawa fast. “Do not call me that ever again.” He looks unimpressed by the sudden change in your tone.

“Sure, whatever you say.” He replies with a shrug. “But if you wanna know why I punched the bloke-“

“I don’t care Oikawa.”

“Oh but you should. See, it can be used to our advantage in this upcoming… whatever this is.” Motioning to the people in the room with one hand, he intrigues you.

“Okay, sure, spill. I don’t have anything better to do than give a speech on patriarchy and the constant victim blaming in the society anyways.”

As some girls who just spotted him, come near to approach the two of you, he sits on the table, legs crossed, with a ‘I know your little secret’ smile on his face. You hope the last part was just your imagination.

[ofstarsandvibranium]

Good Business: Part 2

Fandom: Marvel (Mob AU)

Pairing: Chubby!Bucky x Reader

Summary: Bucky Barnes is a ruthless mobster. He’s also referred to as Big Buck due to his towering strong frame as well as his round stomach. You’re the owner of a small diner, a place that Big Buck decides to visit. Based off this drabble.

Over his meal, Bucky watches you behind the counter when he can. He watches how you’re overall sweet to each customer. You smile and laugh with them and he’s wishing you could be that way with him. But he understands your hostility towards him. He’s one of the most feared men in New York. How can you not be weary around him?

“You finished?” 

Bucky looks up to see you staring down at him expectantly. Your eyes glancing to his now empty plate and back to his eyes. He clears his throat, “Yeah.” 

You take the plate and any trash around him, “I’ll bring out your dessert now.” You feel his eyes on you as you walk over to the display case, cutting him a slice of the Boston cream pie and setting it on a plate. You walk back to him and place it before him, “There you go.”

He politely smiles up at you, “Thanks, sweetcheeks.” he breaks off a large piece with his fork and shovels it into his mouth. With mouth full of pie, he asks, “So how long have you had this place?”

You roll your eyes at his poor table manners, “Five years now. I always dreamt of having my own cute little diner. So I double majored in business and culinary to get where I am now.”

Bucky swallows and points to the pie, “You bake these yourself?”

You nod, “All the desserts, yeah.”

“Well, sweetcheeks, your cream pie tastes amazing,” he says with a wink. 

Again, you roll your eyes, “You’re not as charming as you think, Big Buck.”

He gives a shrug, “You’re a tough cookie.”

“I may be tough, but I’m no cookie, Big Buck.”

He grins up at you, taking some last few sips of his milkshake, “Don’t I know it, sweetcheeks.”

After he finished up his pie and shake, Big Bucky paid and he left with promising words of coming again soon. You didn’t doubt him. 

While you began to wipe down the counter, Sharon came up to you, “Holy shit. I honestly thought he was here to kill you for yesterday. Turns out he just wanted to eat.”

You give a shrug, “No one can resist my food, Share.”

“Seems so, especially if it’s your pie,” she nudges you with her hip at her innuendo and continued to pick up her ready orders. 

____________________________

Bucky entered his home, letting out a groan as he rubbed his belly in satisfaction, “That really hit the spot,” he stated as Steve approached him.

“Enjoy lunch?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Did you talk to the diner chick?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Did you ask for her number?”

“Hell no.”

“Why not?” 

Bucky scoffed, “Steve, she don’t want nothin’ to do with me. She knows who I am and what I do. She’ll never fall for the likes of me.”

“But you’re still gonna go to her diner,” Steve stated with a smirk and Bucky caught it. It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. 

“Well...yeah. The food’s good and her pie, Stevie, her cream pie was delicious!”

Steve snickered, “You tasted her cream pie, huh?” 

That received a thump on the head, “Hey! None of that! But yes, I ate her literal cream pie and it was fucking delicious. Like my ma used to make.”

“You’re shitting me,” Steve scoffed.

Bucky shook his head, a big grin on his face, “Nope. Not shittin’ ya at all. One of the best pies I’ve ever tasted after ma’s. And you know that’s the highest compliment I could give to someone.”

Steve whistled, stuffing his hands in his pockets, “Hmmm...beautiful gal who’s a businesswoman and makes amazing pies. Maybe I should I ask her out myself.”

He immediately received a shove, “You wouldn’t dare! Besides, I saw you makin’ eyes at the blonde waitress there. Stick with her!”

“Whatever you say, Buck.”

Bucky opens his mouth to give a retort, but in rushes Sam, panting and his knuckles bleeding, “Sitwell’s spilling everything now.”

Bucky clapped his hands, “Yes! This day keeps gettin’ better and better, Stevie, boy!” and he follows Sam to the basement with Steve following closely behind.

____________________________

Two hours. Just two hours to go and you could close up shop. Not to say that you loved owning and working the diner. It was your baby, of course, but it can be exhausting sometimes. So in just two hours, you can close up and go home. 

“Hey, sweetcheeks!” oh what the hell?

You turn towards the door looking annoyed, “When you said that I’d see you soon, I figured you meant tomorrow or maybe next week or something. Not,” you look at your watch, “Less than twelve hours later.”

Bucky walks over to you and pinches your cheek, “You’re cute when you’re sassy, you know that?”

You slap his hands away, “Touch me again and I won’t hesitate to cut your hands off.” 

A blonde man accompanying Bucky, who you realized was the same man from yesterday, snickered, “You really are the fiesty one.”

“Yeah, no shit. What do you guys want now?”

The blonde spoke up, “Buck here told me he tried your Boston cream pie. Said it was almost as good as his mom’s. Figured I’d try it myself.”

“That so?” you cock a brow at Big Buck.

He shrugs, “It’s true. Haven’t tried a pie that tastes as creamy and delicious as my ma’s, well, until I tried yours, sweetcheeks,” he gives you a wink and you sigh. 

“Yeah. Okay, whatever,” you look over your shoulder and holler, “Sharon! Can you c’mere please?”

Sharon steps out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, “Yeah?” she cautiously eyes Big Buck and the blonde.

“I got some stuff to finish up so can you serve Big Buck and his friend-”

“Steve.”

“Huh?” you look at him and you see he’s suddenly blushing.

“M-My name is Steve.”

“...yeah..okay. Anyway, can you serve Big Buck and Steve while I finish up what I gotta do?”

Sharon nods, her fingers nervously fiddling with her apron around her waist, “Yeah. Sure. You got it, Y/N.”

“Thanks,” you mumble as you give her a reassuring pat, a silent good luck. You walk behind the counter and to the cash register, opening it up and beginning to count your earnings. You hear someone clear their throat and you look up to see Big Buck standing there, “What now?”

He chuckles as he sits onto a nearby stool, “Long day, sweetcheeks?”

“Yes, and I have a name, you know.”

“That I do know, but sweetcheeks fits you well.”

“’Cause of my sweet ass,” you scoff out.

He shakes his head, “Nah. ‘Cause of that adorable face of yours,” he pokes at your cheek and you swat his hand away, “But yeah, your ass is lookin’ sweet too.”

“Whatever. Why’re you here anyway? Shouldn’t you be with your-I don’t even know who he is-your friend? Your minion?”

“He’s my best friend and right hand, but to answer your question, I came here for him, yeah, but not what you think.”

“Oh?” you ask somewhat intrigued but you didn’t want him to know that, so it came out disinterested and plain.

“Think he’s a bit soft on your waitress there. The blonde-”

“Sharon-”

“Yeah, Sharon. Saw him ogling at her when we were here yesterday. Thought I’d give him the opportunity to meet her himself.”

“That’s sweet of you,” you mumbled softly, eyes still focused on counting the money.

You hear Bucky chuckle, “Yeah. Steve and I grew up together. He’s my brother. That punk was a small, skinny, sickly kid. Was always in and out of bed, but he loved to pick fights. Whenever there was a kid messing on someone else, Steve always had to step in, even though he knew he’d lose. Course, he’s my best friend, so I had to jump in and help him. Do you know how many times I’ve gotten in trouble ‘cause of that punk? Way too many!” he lets out a laugh and you find yourself laughing with him. 

Both of you then stop when you realize what you’re doing. You pull in your lips and go back to counting, “That’s-uh-I think that’s sweet of you to have done. Even though you knew you’d end up getting just as hurt and in trouble.”

“Someone had to look after him. His mom, bless her soul, fought tooth and nail for him. Ended up working herself too hard and she got sick. Steve was orphaned when he was ten. My parents adopted him after.”

“So when you say he’s your brother-”

“I mean it in every sense of the way. I’d do anything for him, even drag him to a diner where I know I’m not welcome,” he says softly, looking down at his twiddling thumbs. 

There’s a silent pause between you. His words struck a chord in you. You always had this philosophy of treating everyone with respect no matter who they are or what they look like. Yet here you are being a hypocrite.

You sigh, setting the money back into the register and looking up at Big Buck, “Why did you come back today? This morning and now? I mean, I’m sure you didn’t have to escort Steve back here just so he could talk to Sharon.”

He scoffed, “Trust me, sweetcheeks, I had to,” he licked his lips and scoot closer to you in his seat, “And to answer your question, I did mean it when I said I wanted to eat..but I also wanted to see you again. You got this fire in ya and it’s so-I don’t know-refreshing? People see me and they cower in fear, and yeah, that’s on me. But you? You walked right up to me and kicked me outta here. It was amusing, ‘cause you got guts, kid, but it was also admirable.

“I get it. This is your place of business and you didn’t want my shit to fuck it all up. That’s understandable.”

“And yet you still come by.”

“I don’t plan on bringing of my dirty shit here, Y/N. I promise you that,” he reaches across the counter and gently places his hand on top of yours, “I just wanted to try your food and maybe get to know you a bit more. No one has ever stood up to me like you did and it was fucking awesome to see you do that.”

Bucky’s words have you frozen. Not only did he sound genuine, but the fact that he actually said your name caught you off guard. 

“You’re not lookin’ to fuck and dump me right? Like, there’s no game you’re playing right now?”

He shakes his head, “No games. Promise. I just-I don’t know-I think you’d be a good friend is all. Don’t gotta be anything like sleeping with each other and shit. Although, I wouldn’t oppose it,” he says with a chuckle, “But just friends is fine.” he senses your hesitance and lets out a sigh, pulling his hand back, “But I understand if you don’t wanna. I got a lot of bad shit connected to me and I know you don’t wanna get connected to all that.” he pats the counter and gets up with a grunt. He begins to walk away but stops when you call for him.

“I-I guess we could be friends?”

He nods gratefully, “Great, Friends. And call me Bucky. All my friends do.”

[dontcare77ghj]

Snapshots

Stucky x reader

“Your stance is off again.” Bucky called from across the room. You made no sign of acknowledgement and continued to beat the red bag.  You didn’t hear him walk across the room to stand behind you, but you jumped when he wrapped his arms around your waist and held you close. “What’s wrong doll?”

“Nothing Buck.” You said leaning back into his chest. “Just tired is all.”

“When was the last time you slept properly?” He murmured running his fingers along your arms.

“When Stevie left. I just get worried when one of you goes out on missions and we get no contact. ” You replied quietly, looking down.

“I know the feeling doll.” You turned, wrapping your arms around his waist, and looked up at the man. The bags under his eyes were dark and he looked paler than normal, he looked as tired as you felt.

“I wish he’d come back sooner.” You whispered. Bucky nodded in agreeance, he held you for a few more minutes before unwinding your arms and leading you over to the mats. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going to get some sleep and stop being worrywarts.Steve will be fine, we just have to trust him and stop being stressed over nothing.” He answered as he laid down on the mats and pulled you on top of him. You were too tired to say anything in response, you feel your eyes getting heavier at the steady sound of his heartbeat. “Go to sleep doll he’ll be back soon.”

The two of you feel asleep like that quickly and didn’t register the flash of a camera coming from Clint’s nest. The two of you didn’t register Steve walking in and laying down beside you and wrapping his arms around the two of you before drifting off as well. The flash from the nest went off again and the archer stashed his phone and crawled out through the vents. He’d keep them for later.

“That’s too much sugar.” Steve scolded.

“No, it’s not.” Bucky argued with the blonde. “It’s a perfect amount.”

“It’s going to wreck your teeth.” The blonde stated crossing his arms. “Y/N back me up here.”

“It’s a cake Stevie. Live on the edge with us.” You smirked cracking the eggs. Bucky stuck his tongue out at Steve and kissed you sloppily on the cheek. “Gross Buck.” You crinkled your nose.

“I can live on the edge.” Steve pouted, you grinned at the tall man and wrapped your arms around his waist.

“Sure, you can spangles.” You agreed craning your neck to look at him. Steve smirked at you before cracking an egg on your head. Bucky laughed loudly as yolk ran down your face, you glared at Steve and leaned backwards to grab flour which you flung at the blonde.

Steve spluttered in shock as you ran to hide behind the still laughing brunette.

“Y/N.” Steve whined.

“You kind of deserved it Steve.” Bucky said between gasps. You and Steve looked at each and nodded. You grabbed another handful of flour and Steve another egg which you two soon threw at the laughing brunette.

A full-blown food fight broke out. After a half hour of eggs being launched, flour being rubbed into hair and laughter echoing throughout the kitchen, the three of you sat slumped against the wall, breathless.

“Well that was fun.” You said sarcastically with a smile.

“Definitely.” Bucky agreed.

“Well it’s not going to much fun now because now we have to clean the kitchen.” Steve said moving to stand.

“And our Steve has resumed his regularly scheduled programming.” Bucky stated with a smirk.

“I say Steve should clean. He started this.” I say with a wide grin.

“You know what doll I think so.” Bucky said wrapping an arm around your waist. “Well there you go punk, have fun.”

“Now hang on a second.” The blonde started. “No, you two get back here.”

“Hurry up Stevie and you can join us in the shower. Love you.” You called as you were pulled out of the room.

Steve hurried after the two of you trying to get you to come back and help him, and Natasha smirked from her hiding place behind the wall. She had her phone out was smiling at the photo she’d taken. Steve held you in his arms, you were slightly off the ground and Bucky was coming toward you with the bag of flour. The three of you were all smiling and looked very much so in love. Yep she’d keep this for later.

“Well this is a nice surprise.” You said as you and Steve walked into your apartment. The two of you watched as your other boyfriend looked up from the small kitchen counter.

“It sure is.” Steve said from behind you. “What’s the occasion jerk?”

“I don’t need an occasion to do something nice for you two.” Bucky said while stirring the pots.

“The last time you tried to cook, you almost burnt your hair off.” Steve commented following you into the kitchen.

“One time.” Bucky mumbled under his breath while rolling his eyes.

“Don’t worry babe.” You chirped. “I believe in you.” You added as you sat yourself onto the unoccupied counter.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite.” He said to you. 

Turning to Steve you gave him a teasing smile and poked your tongue out. “ Sorry not sorry, Stevie.” 

Steve moved over to you and stood in between your legs. He brushed the hair back from your face, with a smile and leaned down to kiss you gently. The two of you gave each other short, gentle kisses, when Bucky sai something that shocked you.

“Marry me.”

Steve and you jumped apart to stare at the blushing brunette in shock.

“Shit, that’s not how that was supposed to come out.” He said shoving his face into his hands. “It was supposed to be this whole romantic dinner and I was going to say it over wine and I was going to give this speech I’ve been working on for weeks and now I’ve gone and ruined it all.” Bucky rambled, looking crestfallen.

“Hey stop that. “You said jumping down from the counter. “You didn’t ruin anything.” You continued wrapping you arms around the tall man.

“She’s right Buck. You just shocked us.” He added hugging Bucky from behind.

“But it was supposed to be perfect. That’s what you deserve.”

“No, we deserve you.” You told him firmly. “That’s all we need.”

“Exactly.” Steve agreed. “We don’t want perfect and we don’t need it. Frankly I don’t care where I am or what’s happening as long as I’ve got the two of you.”

“Steve’s not wrong there. I just need my boys and that’s all I could ever hope for. So, if your serious about marrying you, you’re not going to get a no from me.”

“Or me.”

“Wait here then.” Bucky said moving from your arms and running into your bedroom. “Y/N, Steve, I know I ruined the moment but to hell with it.” He said coming out of the room with his hands behind his back. “I don’t care whose name we take, or how were going to do this but will you two marry me?” He finished bending down on one knee as he pulled his out from behind his back. He held two rings one in front of you, and the other Steve.

Tears built up in your eyes at the sight before you. “Yes, you dummy.” You cried.

“Of course, jerk.” Steve responded at the same time. Bucky smiled as he stood, he first placed the ring on your finger and then Steve’s.

“Oh, crap now I’m crying.” You laughed as you were pulled into a kiss from Buck and then Steve. You watched as they kissed before pulling the two of them into a hug. The three of you stood there until you could smell Bucky’s meal burning.

“Maybe we should just order a pizza?” Steve asked as Bucky rushed to the stove. You laughed as Bucky nodded sadly.

“Don’t worry Buck, one day you’ll get it right.” You laughed.

“Finally.” Tony said from behind the monitor. He had gotten JARVIS to snap a photo of the exact moment Bucky had proposed. Of course, he knew about the proposal, he’s overheard as Bucky had asked Wanda to help him with the meal and decided he needed a photo for later.

“A toast the new throuple.” Tony called into the microphone, raising a champagne glass. Your big day was finally coming to an end, after months of stress and arguments over color and best man and maid of honor the day had arrived much faster than you thought.

The wedding had gone very smoothly. With Thor officiating, Sam as Bucky’s best man, Tony as Steve’s and Wanda and Natasha sharing the role of maid of honor, the whole team had had with the wedding as much as you three had.

Steve and Bucky looked as handsome as the day you’d met them and, in their eyes, you were as radiant as ever.

“And before we conclude the toasting’s the Avengers and myself have a surprise gift for the happy throuple.” Tony added with a smirk. The three of you turned to the rest of the team with questioning glances, to which they all just smiled at you. “Bucky, Steve Y/N, the three of you have been together for a long time and over the course of your long relationship the team and I have taken it upon ourselves to personally document your journey. So, without further ado we present your story.” He concluded and gestured behind him to a screen that had lowered in his speech.

What appeared to have been a, very well, edited home movie began playing. The song ‘Perfect’ narrated the flood of photos and videos of the three of you. Various photos of memories you would always hold dear and videos of days you couldn’t bear to forget flooded the screen.

The three of you napping in, random, various places, content looks plastered to your faces.

Bucky and you laughing at Steve who was covered in flour.

The three of you laughing and smiling, always laughing and smiling.

Bucky and Steve kissing both your cheeks.

Steve giving you a piggyback as you two ran from a smiling Bucky.

You and Steve covering Bucky’s arm with magnets.

And of course, Bucky’s proposal. A full video of the moment the three of you shared.

The video ended with claps and cheers from your family and friends, the three of you were grasping each other’s hand tightly. You turned to Steve and kissed him quickly before tuning to Bucky and repeating the action. You leaned back as your boys kissed each other and when they pulled apart you three of you made sure to always be touching some of part of each other the whole night.

Those were the snapshots of your love. Moments the three of you had shared together and would continue making for many years.

Show feedback. Buy me a coffee