#i would show you some of the builds i’ve been working on but shhhh they’re a secret 👀👀👀

[radioves]

goooodd!! hwo bout uu

i’ve been doing goood been on that crafting grind yknow how it is

[btsslowburnfic]

The Arrangement Ch 17

Story summary: Desperately in need of money, you answered the questionable ad. AKA-Arranged marriage AU featuring Y/N and Yoongi

Chapter Summary: Part one of the photoshoot

Previous Chapter here

The work week proceeded as normal. Well, what had become normal. Delivering coffee and reminding Yoongi to eat, answering emails, trying to figure out which meetings Yoongi actually needed to go to and which ones were a waste of time. Of course you always went to the meetings, and holy shit you couldn’t believe the topics couldn’t have been discussed via email. You were looking forward to this particular day because you got to go visit Hoseok in the style department and Jimin had decided he was tagging along “for funsies.”

Yoongi was supposed to go and get measured and try on clothes for his photoshoot. When you reminded him that morning he laughed at you, “Uh no. Hoseok knows what size I wear. He can figure it out. Go look at the clothes and I might try some of them on tonight.”

You and Jimin met up for lunch and then headed up to the styling department.

“I’m excited. I’ve never been to a photoshoot before.” You said bouncing up and down in the elevator. 

“Yeah, they’re pretty boring actually. Like if it’s with some of the hotter models it’s a little fun for the eye candy, but then you feel bad for them because they have to sit for so long  making awkward faces. They are constantly getting their make-up and hair touched up. Touch base with craft services to make sure there’s plenty of water. The lights are bright.”

You took out your phone, “Oh thanks. I wouldn’t have even thought about that. Any other tips?”

“It’s Yoongi. It won’t take as long as it does with the other people. He’ll show up, do it, and leave. JK and Tae, especially Tae, want to chat with everyone on set and if they are together it takes foreeeeevvvveeeeeerrrrr.” 

“Huh, ok. Thanks.” The two of you arrived at JHOPE Fashion and walked through the rainbow vomit doors. 

Hoseok was wearing glasses with yellow lenses today, which made his dramatic facial expressions stand out even more. He immediately rolled his eyes. He pointed to you. “You are not Yoongi.” He pointed to Jimin. “And you are not Yoongi.” He put his hands on his hips. “So why are the two of you here?” 

“I’m sure you can guess why.” You responded dryly.

“Ugh. That ungrateful man. I had lovingly hand stitched these pieces. For him. These patches...” Hoseok pressed his fingers together as though he was praying. “Fine. Fine. You. Y/N. Come. You. Jimin. Wait right there.”

Jimin’s eyes went wide. “Me? Why do I have to wait here?” 

Hoseok turned from where he had started to walk towards the back. “You will thank me in a minute. A certain someone is coming to get his fitting in a few minutes.” He raised an eyebrow and then turned around, his heels clacking against the red tile floor.

Jimin started to blush profusely and before you could ask, Hobi interrupted, “Come new girl. We have work to do especially if that boss of yours refuses to come here and experience these magnificent beauties for himself.”

You followed him through the large door, which led to lime green hallways and then to a quiet, more muted workspace. The walls were lined with fabric bolsters, the middle tables with ribbon, thread, patches, paint. Paint? 

Hoseok sat down. “From what I understand, this album will have an acoustic feel to it versus his previous albums. For that reason I have chosen these natural materials such as cotton, linen, and denim.” He spread out several pieces onto the large table. “I have also opted for a more neutral pallet, as much as it hurts my soul. I have chosen colors found in nature. I have chosen brightly colored accessories such as these silks to stand in contrast with the stiff fabric and more neutral colors he will be wearing. Additionally, I avoided black. We’ll see if he notices.” 

You watched as he draped the red and purple silks over the top of the clothes. For whatever reason, you found it mesmerizing watching the fabric juxtapositioned in such a way.  “It’s so cool to hear you tell a story just using clothes.” You said, somewhat enchanted.

Hoseok flicked his eyes up to you, “Thank you. That is what I try to do with my collections. Everyone’s outfit tells a story, even if they don’t mean for it to. May I?” He asked, stepping back and gesturing at you.

“Oh man. You know I don’t dresses fancy--”

“Shhhh you don’t tell me.” He looked at your outfit. You had opted for an Aline skirt and blouse with a casual blazer.  “You had meetings this morning, that’s obvious by the jacket. You usually dress cuter. Which means you are either sick or not feeling great. You look fine. So I’m guessing...you are on your period. Sorry, this just comes out, I can’t stop it,” he paused for a moment as your jaw dropped open slightly. He stepped closer, inspecting the shoulders of your jacket. “The blazer is at least ten years old but you shouldn’t have had a blazer ten years ago unless it was for your school uniform and that isn’t a school jacket. Which means it probably belonged to an older sister or aunt. You are very responsible and well organized otherwise you wouldn't be Yoongi’s assistant. Therefore you are most likely the oldest or only child so that is your aunt’s jacket. Your blouse is nice. You actually like it, you’ve worn it twice in the week you’ve been working here. You bought it at a thrift store. You don’t spend a lot of money on yourself, but you are very confident. Therefore, it’s not that you don’t think you deserve nice things, it’s just that you can’t afford them so you likely grew up poor and it has continued into your adulthood.”

“Holy shit. You should be a detective.” You said to him.

“The shoes, I gave you last week. They don’t have a story yet, other than a very good -looking man in a suit helped you out because Jimin said you were a nice girl. You wear zero accessories which shows a lack of both funds and sentimentality. Most people have at least one piece of jewelry that means something to them, but if you have one, you don’t wear it.” He smiled at you, his white teeth gleaming. “ Now, how much am I right about?” He crossed his hands in front of his chest.

You clapped your hands as though you were in an audience. “All of it. Although I am still weirded out that you know I’m on my period. Next time I’m going to wear something skin tight to throw you off.” You joked.

“Well,” he started, “At least now that you work here you don’t have to worry as much right?”

Given the shitshow you went through this weekend you weren’t sure about that, but you shrugged, “It definitely pays better. And money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure helps make some things less hard.” You gestured to the pile of fabric on the table, “So...what do I do? Take these clothes with me for Yoongi to try on or will they be at the photoshoot tomorrow? Do I need to bring them to the photoshoot?”

Hoseok sighed dramatically, “I could dress Yoongi drunk, in my sleep. He can just show up tomorrow and I will dress him then. My staff will make sure the clothes and accessories are at the photoshoot. Here,” He walked over to one of the garment racks. “More clothes for you. I know you have a big closet. And if you run out of space, just take Yoongi’s, he only wears like three things despite my best efforts.”

You laughed, “Yeah, you’re not kidding. Ok thanks,” You took the clothing. “I appreciate it.”

“It’s no trouble. Feel free to see yourself out, I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh and please make sure the catering has strawberries.”

“Strawberries? Got it.” You were learning so much today. 

You exited the backroom and saw Jimin over near one of the pedestals. He was chatting with JK who was getting fitted with a corset. What an itty bitty waist, you admired. The two of them seemed to be having a good time and you had a new list of things to do so you waved at Jimin and headed to 1802 to drop off your new clothes. You had forgotten Hoseok knew you lived with Yoongi. The week had flown by.  

You sent a text message to Jiwoo asking if you could stop by her desk and ask her a few questions to make sure everything was set up for tomorrow and then stopped by the apartment.

You conferred with her and learned how to navigate catering requests via the company website; apparently it wasn’t available on the app, good to know. you felt much better about the shoot tomorrow but still nervous and excited.

You knocked on the door to Genius Lab. No answer. Never any answer. You typed the code in and saw Yoongi wearing his headphones, lost in his own world. He had told you to just wait on the sofa when this was the case and that he would eventually notice you. Normally the smell of coffee was what alerted him to your presence, but you had come empty handed today. You sat down on the couch and took out your phone.

YN: I don’t mean to alarm you. But there’s something behind you.

You saw his phone light up. He ignored it for a minute, presumably to finish listening to a song, and then picked it up. You heard him laugh and take off his headphones.  “You are the worst.” He spun around.

“So mean. Hey. Tomorrow is my first photoshoot. I checked on the outfits for you. By the way, Hoseok is like Sherlock Holmes with clothing. I learned I’m supposed to contact catering, I have hair and make-up requests in. Do I need to do anything else?”

Yoongi thought for a minute. He never really participated in that side of the photoshoot, now that he reflected on it. He walked his way through a day on set.  “No. The changing rooms and photography are handled by other departments. Check with Jiwoo or Jimin, they’ve both set up a shoot before.”

“I did. I’m getting ready to send in the last food request. Any requests?”

“Mandarins. I don’t like to eat a lot on set because I don’t want stuff getting stuck in my teeth.”

“That makes sense. Ok. I’ll let you get back to it then.” You got up and stretched.

“Tomorrow will go fine. If you forgot anything, it will be somewhere in this building.” He reassured you.

“That makes me feel a lot better.” You said honestly. “Alright, I’ll see you around.”

“Later.”

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

The next day arrived with Yoongi heading off to the hair and make-up department and you heading to the 11th floor to see what the photo set up looked like. You exited the elevator. Man your hands were sweaty, you followed the sounds of voices and made your way to the shooting location. The lighting crew was checking their overheads, a stand-in was posing on the various props they had set out. It looked as though there were three separate “areas” for shooting photos. One area had a large white couch, complete with coffee table, rubber plant, magazines. The whole set up designed to look like a living room. A second space was a blue sheet with a white background. The third space was a kitchen, complete with an island, stovetop, and refrigerator. Holy moly this space was huge. You marveled at it.

“Hello, can I help you?” An older man walked over.

“Oh hi, I’m YLN. Yoongi’s assistant. I was stopping by to check the set up. It looks incredible.”

“Thank you. Yes. Here, let me walk you through it.”

You received a tour of the set and also an overview of the order of shooting. You also found out that next week, weather permitting, there would be a second shooting at the park across the street. You got catering checked in, or at least pointed to the table and felt like you did a thing. The same happened when the clothing team showed up. You pointed to dressing rooms and the vanity where the accessories trunk should go. You were thankful no one had asked you any questions so far. This was a steep learning curve. You had hoped someone you knew might be here today to help ease your nerves, but so far, it was all new faces.

Finally, you saw one familiar face. Alice walked in, carrying a small case with her. You waved.

“Hey! It’s nice to see you again.” She said. “I had no idea you were Yoongi’s assistant until today.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I didn’t mention that. I was so overwhelmed that first day,” you smiled.

“No worries. He was just telling me and Bongcha that he had an assistant now. He’s almost done. His make-up is setting. I’m on hair today which isn’t my strong suit, but it’s not like he’s needing a fancy up-do or anything and it’s good for me to practice.”

“Ok great. This is my first time at a photoshoot, so if there’s something I’m supposed to be doing but I’m not, can you let me know?” You confided in her. 

“Absolutely. It looks like most of the stuff is set up how it usually is. Just remember,” she got closer to you and spoke quieter, “You are Yoongi’s assistant. Some of these people, especially these older guys will try to get you to do stuff like get their coffee, grab them snacks. That is not your job. It’s not by job. If they have an assistant, it’s their job.” 

“I knew I liked you when we first met,” you smiled at her. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Anytime Unnie.”

She walked over and took out her hair tools and placed them on the table reserved for hair and make-up. A few minutes later you saw Yoongi walk in wearing a black shirt and grey sweats. His face looked even more beautiful than normal. Next to him was a petite girl with long black hair pulled up into a ponytail, dragging a make-up train behind her.  Yoongi looked around for a second, and then locked eyes with you. You saw the tiniest smile threaten to come out as he walked over.

“Hey. Everything here looks good.” He gestured to the room.

“Thanks. I didn’t do most of it, I just pointed and people seemed to know what to do already. Your face looks good.” 

Yoongi chuckled, “You can thank Bongcha for that. Bongcha, this is YN.”

Bongcha stuck out her hand, “Hi. Nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Nice to meet you as well. You do good work. I give his face a 10/10. Highly recommend.” 

“Well, it’s easy when you have such a great model to start with,” She smiled while looking up at Yoongi.

Yoongi had started to blush between the pair of compliments. “Is Hoseok here yet?”

“No not yet.” You took out your phone to see if you had any messages from Hoseok. Nope. You looked back up, “Bongcha, I’m sure you already know, but the make-up table is over there.  Alice is setting up right now.”

“Great, thanks!” She headed over, her shiny hair swishing behind her. 

Speak of the devil in blue himself, Hoseok strutted in at that exact moment wearing an electric blue suit. His crisp white shirt underneath popped beneath the jacket, and his pocket square had little sunshines on it.

“Wow. You look like the sky.” You said before you could help it.

“Thank you. Indeed. It was my inspiration today. It’s a crime to be indoors beneath these artificial lights on such a beautiful day. Oh well. It can’t be helped.” He laid eyes on Yoongi, like a predator gazing on its prey, “Yoongi. Baby. Come.”

Yoongi scrunched his face. “Don’t call me baby. If you miss the sunlight so much, leave. I know how to dress myself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, you don't know which pieces go together.” Hoseok grabbed Yoongi by the shoulders and started leading him over to the clothing section, leaving you to laugh at the pair of them. You went over to the table you had set up for yourself between make-up and the food. You had printed off several lists that morning to help you stay focused. You checked off several action items. Satisfied, you sat your clipboard down and looked around. It was a well-oiled machine for sure. You walked over to the hair and make-up table. “Hey ladies.”

“Hey! Have you two met yet?” Alice asked, referring to Bongcha.

“Yep, we just did.” Bongcha confirmed, putting on her make-up apron and filling it with various powders and brushes.

“Ooooo we should do a make-up party sometime.” Alice squealed. “We try to do it with all the new girls. And since Yoongi is” she hushed her voice again “One of our favorites. We have to take care of his assistant.”

You smiled, “Sure. That sounds nice. Excuse me.” You decided to go see how the clothes were going.

“Yes. Yoongi’s assistant. So glad you’re here.” Hoseok turned to you.

“She has a name, it’s YN.” You heard Yoongi say from behind the curtain.

“Yes yes. I know. We talked yesterday, remember? At that meeting I scheduled for me and you that you did not come to. Anyways, here. The outfits are now coordinated. They have tags on them corresponding to their accessory in the accessory trunk. Some pieces have more than one option that the Director of Photography and Yoongi will decide on. Got it?”

You looked over the set up. It seemed simple enough since Hoseok had organized it so well .”Yep. You going out to enjoy the sunshine?” 

“Honey, I am the sunshine. I’m off to get laid after having to deal with this cloudy baby.” He gestured to the changing room.

“Don’t call me baby.” Yoongi shouted from behind the curtain. You just laughed as Hoseok turned around and left. You waited for a few minutes. 

“You ok in there? Need me to come help you put your pants on?” You teased.

“Not necessary.” Yoongi slid open the curtain. Why was everyone teasing him today? He pouted without thinking about it.

You walked over, straightening the collar of his shirt “Hey now, you can’t go around pouting like a baby and not expect people to call you one. Here,” you handed him a mandarin. He scowled at you as he took it. “Such a pretty face” You laughed. 

“Yeah whatever. I can eat this while they set up the white meter. You should be fine to just hang around at this point.”

“Alright. Sounds good.” The two of you walked over to the main part of the set where the Director gave Yoongi instructions about where to sit as they practiced the blocking and softbox placement.

“Oh my god he looks so good eating that tangerine.” You overheard. Your eyes bugged out slightly and you turned around. A group of women from the photography team were looking at the images to check the saturation and focus, as well as apparently the model. Damn. NEXT CHAPTER

@lidda  @anpanman-sonyeondan   @firefairy1  @cuteipat​  @sugaslittlekookies​  @janeelizabeth1216​ @deeepvibes​ @gxldenhunny​ @livelyjay​ @niniita-ah​ @bobbyboops​ @honeysunandsoil​ @deathkat657​

[citrine-eyed-witcher]

Give You Peace

Word Count: 1.7k

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x Reader

Summary: When he can’t sleep, Geralt turns to Reader (who is a healer) for relief. 

Warnings: None

A/N: So here’s my first work for The Witcher. I’ve only seen the show on Netflix, but I’m reading The Last Wish right now and I’m gonna try the game when I go home for the holidays. I do apologize if there are any errors or if Geralt seems out of character and would also greatly appreciate constructive criticism! 

Geralt has fought countless monsters in his many lifetimes, but the one that always seems to come back and haunt him is the insomnia. He’ll go for stretches of days or even a week or two at a time with minimal sleep. Sometimes he won’t be able to fall asleep at all, and that alone is worse than any wound or curse he’s endured. Such prolonged restlessness leaves him irritated and desperate, seeking any source of relief that the world has to offer, even if it means toying with darker forces. Any effort is worth the slightest bit of peace.

But there is one mercy that the universe has afforded to him, and that mercy is you. On the edge of a lake, there sits a stone cottage, covered in endless tangled vines of emerald ivy. A vast garden of herbs and spices thrives on the side of the house closest to the water, and just the scent of lavender in the air is enough for Geralt to begin to relax as he urges Roach down the narrow dirt path. Once he’s close enough, he dismounts the mare and ties her to the post just a few yards from the house, leaving her to rest and graze as she pleases for the night.

Geralt is silent as he enters the house, not wanting to frighten you in case you’re already asleep for the night. Through the window he can see the silver glow of the moon on the surface of the lake, and if he weren’t so tired, he’d stand to appreciate it longer. It’s not often that he has the chance to admire such beautiful scenery. He’s used to swamps and ruins and barren lands.

He takes a few steps in the direction of your bedroom, pushing the door open as soon as he can reach it. The witcher’s brows furrow in confusion, however, when in the soft light of the fire he finds that your bed is empty. He steps further into the room, his eyes searching for you, but he’s stopped in his tracks as the edge of a blade kisses his throat. Exhaustion delays his reaction time more than he’d like to admit, but as soon as his hand wraps around the wrist of his attacker, he lets out a breath. He knows it’s you before he sees you.

“I’ll have to admit, this isn’t my favorite way to be welcomed home,” he murmurs, voice low as he releases you. Geralt then turns, his golden eyes meeting your soft gaze. The dagger falls to the floor then, and he wastes no time in taking you into his arms.

“Geralt, you can’t scare me like that. I could have hurt you,” you reply, and he closes his eyes as you cradle his face in your hands.

His lips turn upward and he hums in amusement. “I’m confident that you wouldn’t let me die at your own hand,” he says. Geralt is quiet for a few long moments then, taking in a deep breath of your scent. There’s something so intoxicating about the combination of honeysuckle and lavender. Maybe because it’s so distinctly you that nothing else could ever hold in comparison.

“I thought you’d be asleep,” he whispers, his words slurring minutely in his exhaustion, and though he’s not aware of it, he leans more and more into your touch, letting you take more of his weight.

You frown slightly, brushing a few strands of hair from Geralt’s face and sighing softly at the dark circles under his eyes. “No, but you should be. When is the last time you slept, my love?,” you ask, expression twisting in concern as you speak. You’re well aware of the restlessness that Geralt faces all-too-often, but it still breaks your heart every time he comes to you in this state.

“It’s been days. Every time I close my eyes just...nothing,” he admits, shifting to rest his forehead against yours, and all the while his eyes remain closed. By now the exhaustion has settled deep into his bones, and he wants nothing more than to be able to finally get some rest.

You sigh softly, gently running your fingers through Geralt’s long, white hair. “How about a hot bath first and then we can sleep?,” you ask, knowing that some of the oils you usually put in the water might help him fall asleep.

Geralt hesitates for a moment. He hadn’t come to you to be an inconvenience, though he knows that you would never see a bath before bed as an inconvenience, especially if you thought it would help him. Finally though, he relents with a soft sigh. “Alright,” he murmurs.

You smile softly then, slowly separating from him so that you can go to heat up the water. While he waits, Geralt takes a seat on the edge of the bed, listening as you go around the house gathering the other things you need.

Before he knows it, Geralt is being pulled up from the bed and led back to the small bathing chamber in the next room. Soon, he’s undressed and sinking into the steaming water, and he leans back against the edge of the wooden tub, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of lavender and chamomile. “You’re too good to me,” he tells you quietly.

“You say that as if you don’t deserve to be treated well, Geralt,” you reply softly, shaking your head. You then step into the tub with him, taking a clean cloth with you. He opens his eyes as you join him, grinning at the questioning look on your face.

“Let’s just call it a luxury seldom enjoyed,” he murmurs, reaching out for you and pulling you against his chest in the water, “but one that I could get used to.” He presses his lips to yours in a slow, longing kiss, caressing your face in a careful, gentle movement.  

“I can’t say I’d be opposed to having you around more often,” you whisper against his lips, threading a hand into his hair.

Geralt hums softly in response. “Witchers don’t take vacations,” he quips, resting his hands on your hips.

“Well then, I guess the next time you come in need of a healer, I’ll just have to take my time. Keep you here for a while longer just so we’re sure you’re alright,” you tease right back.

“You won’t hear any complaints from me,” he tells you.

“Good,” you say, capturing his lips in another kiss. “Not that you had a choice in the matter.”

—

Once you’re both clean, you climb out of the tub, drying off quickly before dressing in clean sets of nightclothes: you in your nightgown and Geralt in a pair of soft trousers. And while you go to find one last sleep remedy, Geralt stokes the fire in the bedroom, building it up enough that it will last the rest of the night without dying out.

You step back into the bedroom with a small vial in your hand, which you offer to Geralt as he stands to meet you. “What is this?,” he asks, taking the vial and holding it up to examine the dark liquid inside.

“Valerian. It’s what I use to put people to sleep when they’re in pain. It’ll do you some good,” you explain.

He raises an eyebrow, but pulls the small cork anyway. “Are you sure this isn’t part of your plan to keep me here forever?”

You laugh softly, shaking your head. “You’ll never suspect when I decide to do that. Trust me,” you reply, going right along with his teasing. You watch then as he takes the valerian in just a couple small sips, taking the vial from him when it’s empty. “Go lie down. I’ll be there in just a second,” you urge him, turning and leaving the room once more.

Geralt nods, more than willing to finally lie down after waiting so long for some decent sleep. He pulls back the covers, settling himself onto the mattress and sighing at the immediate comfort that it brings him. With the heat of the fire at his back, he’s finally able to truly rest for the first time in a long time. Already he can feel the valerian beginning to pull him under.

By the time you return to the bedroom, you can tell that Geralt is hardly coherent anymore. You let out a soft, contented sigh, climbing into bed next to him and pulling the quilt just over his hips. He hardly stirs at the movement, and you know then that you’ve been successful in giving him relief from the insomnia. You settle down next to him, gently caressing his face, though you’re surprised as his hand comes up to wrap lightly around your wrist.

Geralt opens his eyes just enough to see you lying there in front of him, and he hums lowly in content, pressing a kiss to the underside of your wrist. “Thank you,” he murmurs, fighting against the exhaustion that pulls him so strongly. It takes all of his will just to keep his eyes open.

“Shhhh. It was nothing,” you whisper, running your thumb along his cheekbone. Your expression softens at his gaze, at the unparalleled love and admiration held in his amber eyes.

“No…,” he trails off, his eyes slipping closed. “It was...more than that. You’re…,” he stops again, and you smile, thinking that he won’t even be able to finish his thought before he falls asleep. Your heart swells at the sight, happy to see that he can finally rest the way he needs to.

“...You’re my only peace…,” Geralt breathes out. And with that, what light grip he hand on your arm fades to nothing. And already you can see that he’s fallen into blissful slumber.

You let out a soft breath, eyes burning just slightly with the threat of tears at his admission. You place one last kiss on his temple before resting your head on the pillow next to his. “I love you, Geralt,” you whisper to him, closing your eyes and drifting off beside him just moments later.

[the-final-sif]

Actually, now that I’ve talked about my headcanon that Katsuki was kidnapped several times as a child, let me talk about a complete random scene/story arc inspired by that and the fact that Katsuki + Izuku + Shouto are all interning with Endeavor now.

Overhaul breaks out of jail and gets his arms back somehow. He’s gone quite a bit nuts. A lot nuts. He’s surpassed ‘focused villain trying to do one thing that he sees as right’ to more of a ‘just want to watch the world burn’. To that end, he sets about getting a team together to catch a certain group of meddling heroes, and to rekidnap a certain child.

A second hideout raid of sorts is planned and goes down, only this time, it was a trap. Izuku/Shouto/Endeavor/Hawks/Kirishima/Tamaki/Fatgum/Tsuyu/Ryuko/Ochako were on the raid team and were caught. Aizawa who was watching over Eri while she had a playdate with Tsuyu’s younger sister, Satsuki, are all also captured. Overhaul had a very specific team set up, knew about them in advance and planned out counters for each person. Alongside that, he used his quirk to create a giant beast like robot that’s made of metal able to withstand even Deku’s punches and Shouto/Endeavor’s flames. Said robot is roughly modeled/made to take on the LOV’s nomu, but non-organic. Notably, Katsuki wasn’t on the hideout raid team (or aware of the raid), because he had a Obligatory Family Trip planned on the same day and so wasn’t at the internship then.

Izuku had managed to put in a distress call before he was taken down, but all the heroes + victims were moved to a different location afterwards in an old long abandoned hideout in the middle of the woods, and there’s about no chance of anyone tracking them down any time soon.

So that leads us into the main scene. The heroes are all captured/restrained up near Overhaul whose ranting on about using Eri to destroy the world/destroy quirks once and for all and then rule over it with a robotic army which is the only thing he considers “clean” anymore. Meanwhile, Eri and Satsuki are down in a different location in a cell of their own (to prevent the heroes from comforting the children), and there’s a camera system in place so the heroes can see the helpless children.

Overhaul demands Eri be brought to whatever Evil Machine he’s devised, and one of his goons goes to get her, but Satsuki fights back against the goon and actually does a pretty damn good job of it. Which leads to Overhaul demanding that the goon kill her.

There’s nothing any of the heroes can do. Satsuki fights back as best she can, as does Eri, but they’re both only 6 years old and Eri’s quirk isn’t working. They struggle, but it’s looking hopeless, and Aizawa tries to tell Tsuyu to close her eyes because he knows what’s about to happen next.

And then the entire dungeon the two girls are in shatters.

Everything is chaos for the next minute as Overhaul tries to figure out what the hell just happened, getting his cameras back in order until finally he gets a visual and contact with one of his goons just before they get taken down and it’s Katsuki.

He’s in a flannel, regular pants and his combat gloves, very clearly confused/pissed off/not prepared for whatever the hell is going on here, and it takes them awhile to figure out what’s going on.

As it turns out, Katsuki has been hiking a trail near this hideout since he was 4 years old. His family drags him up to a nearby location to visit some extended family, he has 0 interest in doing that, so he goes and hikes/camps along a trial instead. Every year he hikes this fairly long trail, and every year he sees this weird abandoned building that he’s gone to explore a few times, and every year the first thought in his mind is ‘Man, that place looks exactly like a villain hideout’.

Then this year, he comes up on it, minding his own business with his headphones in, and he sees the building active again with people with weird masks running around in it, and he’s got a super bad feeling in his gut that just slams into him and he goes ‘Alright, fuck it.’

So now Katsuki is here, he grabs the kids and gets them to a semi-safe location, getting info from them and trying to understand what’s going on. Once he gets it, this turns into a game of him keeping the kids safe from Overhaul, taking down his goons as he goes and working his way towards where the other heroes are. Only, we’re going with the aforementioned headcanon that Katsuki has been kidnapped a bunch of times as a child and never realized that wasn’t normal. This leads to the heroes watching him on the cameras with an increasingly pissed off Overhaul as he walks the two children through how deal with being kidnapped as if these are normal everyday life skills.

Overhaul really, really wants him dead, but unfortunately his team was handpicked to counter the heroes who he’s already captured, and he wasn’t counting on Katsuki showing up. Katsuki’s quirk is flexible and very destructive + Katsuki’s combat skills means he’s pretty much a worst case scenario for Overhaul. Even worse, Katsuki successfully took down the com lines so there’s no communication through the scattered goons, and Katsuki played in this abandoned hideout as a child so he knows his way around it. 

Ideal things happening during all of this:

Aizawa torn between being overjoyed that Katsuki saved Eri and then horrified/so done with this child as he walks Eri and Satsuki through how to use knives and grenades.

Katsuki being confused that neither Eri nor Satsuki know how to use a knife.

“Okay, did I have a weird childhood or did you two have a weird childhood. I can’t tell.”

Katsuki gives both children knives, and gives Eri a second knife when she loses her first one (and by loses I mean it ends up embedded in a bad guy’s shoulder)

Izuku keeps pulling notebooks and pencils out of seemingly thin air since Katsuki is openly discussing his quirk/aspects of it with the kids as they make their way through the base and by god he needs to write it down. Overhaul keeps taking his notebooks/pencils but the moment he looks away Izuku somehow has another set.

Katsuki keeps mentioning offhandly things from his childhood and the more things he mentions the more all the other heroes are like “????????”

Finally, Overhaul realizes there’s no chance of his guys taking down Katsuki as Katsuki finishes off the last or second to last one, and so he unleashes The Robot.

By this point, Katsuki already called for backup, but it’s at least half and hour out. He sees the robot and he’s like “Ah fuck.”. Eri and Satsuki already told him a little bit about it and particularly that it’s built to withstand anything short of a nuclear weapon. Not to mention it’s decently fast/agile.

And then when Eri is hurriedly relaying all this to Katsuki, she mentions that Overhaul built it himself.

Katsuki: “Wait like, he actually designed and built it. Overhaul’s the guy with the weird purity/evolution obsession right? He made this? Not somebody smarter?”

She confirms and Katsuki is suddenly No Longer Worried: “Okay, you two chill here, I got this.”

So then he goes to fight the weird beast robot, and nobody’s really sure what he’s planning. As he starts fighting it, he seems to be blasting it’s head into stuff a lot/slamming it around, but that’s not doing any actual damage, right?

Wrong.

See, Overhaul’s somewhat of a moron who put all of the robot’s processing/”brain” into the head area, because that’s how things are supposed to be in his mind. Katsuki figured the guy would probably pull something like this, and so he gives the robot a bunch of repeated strikes to the head area/knocking it around. Because even if the outside is super tough, that kinetic energy still travels through and can do damage to delicate circuit boards.

In layman’s terms, he gives the robot a series of minor concussions until it adds up.

The robot starts to malfunction, going somewhat rouge/pausing/getting stuck places/etc. But it’s still not destroyed and the heroes aren’t sure what Katsuki’s planning next. Katsuki is quite sure of what he’s planning next though. He lures the robot outside and then traps it in place with some large rocks or some rope or something. It’s not going to hold it for very long, but it’s enough to keep the weakened robot in place.

Then he takes aim with one arm as if he was doing an AP shot.

Everyone (heroes and Overhaul included) are kinda like ‘okay what the heck’ because even Katsuki’s strong blasts aren’t enough to really damage the robot’s exterior. Why would trapping it change that?

Then blue starts to spread up Katsuki’s arm along his veins, his hand starts to crackle and there’s 1-2 seconds of “wait WHAT” before Katsuki unleashes a blast on par with that of a small nuclear weapon. The explosion is bright blue, narrowed down to a fine point like Katsuki’s regular AP spot, but once it hits it’s target, it explodes outwards disintegrating the robot and taking out a good chunk of the surrounding land. The whole hideout is shaken to it’s foundation. Windows shatter, some cameras crack, and when the dust clears, Katsuki’s standing tall.

His left arm is still covered by that spiderweb blue though, and it’s hanging limply at his side.

Okay, so this is 90% me making up science but shhhh

So as the heroes quickly learn as an exhausted/barely on his feet Katsuki stumbles back to the kids who of course have questions, this is apparently something Katsuki has been able to do since he was 6.

He calls it “Blue Core”, and it makes his explosions super powerful by pulling nitrogen from the rest of his arm/blood stream/flesh and stocking it all up.

However, he basically never uses it because it comes at a really high cost, namely it takes several seconds of charging, does a ton of collateral damage, and by using it it takes whichever arm he used out of commission for at least the next 24 hours. He can still use his quirk a little with the other one, but it’s heavily weakened.

Obviously he can’t use this in training either, so he never thought to mention it to his teachers.

The heroes + Overhaul just watch stunned for like a solid minute as he starts making his way towards where the heroes are being held hostage with the kids because what the fuck.

Finally though, Overhaul snaps out of it and goes to fight the weakened Katsuki. The kids hide when Overhaul comes out and he throws Katsuki against a wall or something b/c he’s heavily weakened and can’t really fight with his quirk anymore, and then he struts over to him monolouging and ready to claim victory as Katsuki is laying there, slumped over and barely breathing.

And then the moment Overhaul gets close to him, Katsuki is up in a flash and the heroes can hardly even see what happened, but the next thing they know Overhaul is on the ground screaming bloody murder clutching his eyes and Katsuki is holding a blood stained knife. Then he gives Overhaul a curb stomp and he is OUT.

It should be noted, this is not any of the knives that he gave to Eri/Satsuki.

Someone, maybe Aizawa: “How many knives does he have???? I thought he was hiking????”

Shouto: “Oh yeah, at one point during the remedial courses we were babysitting kids together and he mentioned to me that he had 7 knives that day, and I honestly couldn’t tell if he brought more or less knives than he normally carried because of the children. Still not sure actually.”

Izuku: “I know he usually carried around 4 knives when we were kids but part of that was he had limited areas to hide them back then.”

Fatgum and Tamaki are both completely baffled and trying to fit this guy they’ve just been watching with the person that Kirishima described Katsuki to them as.

Anyways, so then Eri & Satsuki get the keys and go to free the heroes which are fairly close by while Katsuki guards Overhaul to prevent him from pulling a ‘gotcha’ on them. And also because the heroes are up a flight of stairs and Katsuki physically cannot walk up them right now.

It’s very emotional as Eri rushes to Aizawa and Satsuki rushes to her big sister who is now crying. And then the group heres a noise and all eyes go back up to the camera screens which are still somewhat up and running, currently focused on where Katsuki and Overhaul’s battle went down.

Turns out, before this whole mess started, the LOV sent Dabi to go take care of Overhaul because He Cannot Be Allowed To Have Arms, Goddamnit We Were Making A Point With That.

But then Katsuki went ahead and did Dabi's job for him, so Dabi radioed back to Tomura and Tomura changed his objective to "You know, while you're there anyways and he's weak, might as well grab the kid."

There’s two endings to this:

1)

 The door to the room Katsuki is in swings open and fucking Dabi waltzes in probably saying something like

"So, is this a bad time?"

Katsuki turns to look at him and in the most done, tired, angry, voice: "You asshole."

After drugging Katsuki somehow (because unlike Overhaul, Dabi is not stupid and isn't getting with 10 feet of Katsuki without being damn sure he's down for the count), Dabi kidnaps Katsuki for the second time and the two of them are teleported out of the area about 10 seconds before Aizawa/the other heroes are freed just barely too late to do anything about it.

This ending would mostly be because I'd want Dabi and Katsuki to have back and forth banter of Katsuki being so 110% done with everything and Dabi being like:

"Yeah, I'll admit, this is kinda a dick move and the universe definitely has it out for you today."

"You don't get to say 'the universe has it out for me' when you're the one kidnapping me asshole"

And also because it sets up some serious hurt/comfort.

or, ending 2)

Katsuki stumbles his way over to a doorway on the other side of the room to go grab some rope so he can tie Overhaul up. He opens the door, and Dabi's just standing there, having been about to open the door so he could capture Katsuki.

They just stare at each other wide eyed for several long seconds before

"Is now a bad time-"

And Katsuki slam's the door shut.

"N o !"

He takes five seconds to just stare at the door being pissed and then is like "No, fuck this, I have dealt with enough today." Then he proceeds to barricade the door as he goes through various forms of the words 'No, nope, fuck that, not happening', still exhausted and beaten up and done but 100% N O T   H A V I N G   T H I S.

The heroes get down there to help and and they search for Dabi only to discover on the camera footage that after Katsuki slammed the door on him, he apparently thought it was so funny that he just kinda shrugged, turned around and actually fucking left. Because, you know, his main objective was already completed, and he didn’t really feel like going the extra mile today.

All of this is on camera too, so it quickly spreads as a meme, along with other choice moments from the whole hideout fight including several ‘vibe checks’, one of Satsuki throwing a grenade into the face of on of the goons that was harassing her before, and also ‘knife check’ becoming a thing.

[shiftytracts]

Stop Wanting More, part 2 of 2 (T/M/A fic)

In which season-four Jon tries to quiet his hunger for live statements by gorging himself on paper ones, and Daisy tells him what she used to do when she got shaky between hunts. Part one here.

Content warnings for this half:

Nausea, and brief descriptions of prior vomiting

Vague discussion of Daisy’s passive suicidality

Animal cruelty and death: Daisy talks about hunting rats for sport

—

“Statement of Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, regarding—”

“Shhhh! You’ll wake the tape recorder.” Her hand clapped over his mouth so hard his teeth buzzed like mugs in a cupboard. He did his best to say Ouch. The salt on her palm made his inner lips itch. Daisy sighed: “Too late; I can hear it hissing.”

At once the cushions began to lurch again, and his stomach contents with them. On her way past him off the couch Daisy managed both to step on his trouser leg and elbow him in the sacrum. Chills curled up in the shadows of heat she’d left on his forehead, stomach, legs. Her way back into her prior position went smoother, though. She even remembered how tightly to press his belly with hers. Why did returned warmth always make him shiver?

“Alright—skip the spiel. Just Ask.”

“What did you used to do when—” Daisy cut him off with a hollow laugh, which Jon seconded. As soon as he’d begun to speak the tape recorder clicked back on, as he’d suspected it would.

“Whatever; just do it.”

“You won’t be too self-conscious?”

She shrugged. “Won’t matter; I’ll be compelled.”

Jon bit down the wave of remorse and resentment her words stirred inside him. She’d agreed to this—cajoled him into it, even. He could examine those feelings later, when she’d gone to bed. When he was alone, and warm, and.

Unbidden into his head came the passage from Tristram Shandy about the “beds of justice.” He’d never read it before, having got through hardly ten pages of that book, and wondered now for half a second how Beholding could have thought this would help, until there thundered across his mind the words, I write one half full,—and t’other fasting;—or write it all full,—and correct it fasting;—or write it fasting; and Jon swallowed, as if that would make it stop. Less than a second later he could feel his stomach trying to expand around it.

Last week he’d tried reading an encyclopedia—vore-ing it, cover to cover. No good; he quit a third of the way in, when it bored him so much he caught himself fantasizing about its giving him a paper cut he’d have to get up to attend to. Eating fear-free trivia was like trying to fill up on tic tacs. Only when stuffed could he even feel it going down.

He told himself if he didn’t Ask her for her story now he’d only spoil his dinner with more useless facts.

“What did you used to do when you got shaky between hunts?”

“I hunted rats around my flat,” Daisy said at once, in the expressionless way of compulsion. In a voice more like her own, she went on, “Not inside, not at first, just—around the dumpsters. First my building’s, and then some nights the whole block. However long it took before I got too slow to enjoy chasing.

“Then one night I thought I saw one dart past in the corridor. So I left out bait for it, half hoping it’d attract more rats into the building. It worked; I found three in there that week.”

“What do you mean bait?”

Again her first sentence emerged as though she were reading it off a list. “Leftovers, mostly. Wasn’t hard—I didn’t have much appetite for” (in one-handed air quotes, with a huff of laughter) “'people food,’ anyway. I’d just make sure to leave a few bites unfinished, and stick them under the mat at the top of the stairs. Sandwich crusts usually, nothing gross. When I got Chinese takeaway I’d use the cabbage they put in the box.”

To make air quotes Daisy’d had to fish her hand out from under the blanket. Now she returned it to its slot on the side of his gut where hip gave way to bloat. Jon almost wished she hadn’t; he feared the reminder might weigh him down. He felt giddy and light, like if he stood and walked, hell, ran, it might not hurt his legs and chest. Like if he flapped his hands instead of wringing them he’d bump the ceiling. For Daisy to comfort his body he’d have to remember he had one.

“How did you catch them? It does—uh.” Whichever Watcher department took charge of compulsion seemed to know his question ended here, because Daisy responded before Jon could finish his follow-up sentence. (It doesn’t sound like you laid traps, he’d meant to say.)

“By the tail. I ran after them and stepped on their tails and then.” She paused for an entire second and closed her eyes tight, but by the time Jon realized what this meant she’d already concluded: “I snapped their spines with my shoe.”

That was all she said, but not all he learnt about it. The Eye let him—made him hear the crunch. For an instant it shared with him the satisfaction Daisy’d felt at the finality of that sound. It had been a sore spot for her, a then-recent wound, how many monsters didn’t die when you broke their necks.

Then her satisfaction left him, and he felt intensely sick.

“Stop—don’t say any more—I’m sorry Daisy, I didn’t—”

She snarled a sigh. “Yeah, I know. Guess I should’ve told you not to ask about that part.”

“Oh. No, it’s. I'm alright, I just meant, it looked like you… didn’t want to tell me that.”

“No I didn’t,” Daisy concurred, in a tone so flat he wondered whether he’d somehow compelled it.

“Is there anything else you don’t—er. What other questions about this would you prefer I didn’t ask.”

She shrugged. “Everything else is fair game.”

“Okay,” Jon said, wishing that answer reassured him more. “You don’t—need a minute, or?”

Again she shrugged. “Yeah, alright. You look like you might, anyway. How’s your gut feeling.”

It took him a moment to realize she meant his actual gut, not like. When he did he answered without thinking: “Not bad? Ignorable, mostly, but. That in itself is.” He looked down at his fingertips for some loose skin to peel. “I’m… stronger, now, already, my. My limbs feel like.”

Daisy nodded. “Like they could carry you without having to think about it.”

“Quite,” Jon agreed, though he wished as soon as the word left his mouth that he’d picked a different one. Something that sounded less like he wanted to talk about the phenomenon’s downside, its sinister implications. He very much did not.

“The rats, did you… eat them?”

“Ew, Jon,” she replied, like it was obvious. “Not literally, no. Didn’t have to. You don’t literally eat statements either, yeah? I just killed them and it… fed me.”

“But didn’t satisfy you,” Jon suggested.

“No. They didn’t make me less hungry, just made it easier to sleep. And they made my belly swell up like yours.” (She patted his; he huffed in pretended offense.) “That’s why I only did it after I’d gone home for the night: it made me slow. I’d know I’d had enough to go to bed when I couldn’t run after them anymore. When I tried to go without—I couldn’t keep my eyes closed. Soon as I stopped thinking about it, they’d fly open. Or at least, it never felt like I slept. Guess I must’ve done, though, ‘cause sometimes I’d find myself chewing on the bedding.” Daisy shook her head, with a sigh interpretable also as a laugh. “Think I’ve started doing that again. I keep finding holes in Basira’s sleeping bag.”

“Not yours, though?” Jon knew she and Basira slept with the edges of their two sleeping bags zipped together. (A frankenbag, Daisy called it.)

Daisy grinned: “No. Hers is a better texture.”

“Thought you said you didn’t remember doing it.”

“I don’t, but mine looks like it’d be grosser to have in your mouth.”

In reality, Jon had never seen her sleeping bag up close, but now Beholding showed him what it looked like. Once kelly green but now faded grayish, like a pond; the fabric was all over pills. It smelled like wood smoke, Ritz crackers, and the lone sock one finds at the bottom of every suitcase.

“That’s fair,” Jon allowed, hoping the strain in his voice would sound to her like a laugh. Somehow this piece of information, about the godforsaken sleeping bag, had brought his stomachache back way above the “ignorable” waterline. The nauseating smell, maybe? He tried to steady himself with a deep breath, but, well.

“You look sick.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“You’re not subtle, Jon,” she scoffed; “you gasp and writhe.”

Jon tried to shrug, tried to laugh. “I’m fine. It’s just… a lot. I’m alright, I’ve just never.” What, been this full? Compelled an eldritch snack after having already eaten his weight in paper? As if that weren’t obvious. He drew in breath to speak, but still hadn’t thought of an end to his sentence. Then he felt Daisy’s hands—both of them—start to dig shallow trenches, one up each of his sick sides. His breath came out in a shaky sigh.

“That help?”

“Yeah.”

Each time they reached his ribs—or, in the left side’s case, the place where his ninth and tenth ribs used to be—her hands turned back, in a slight arc so that they made narrow ovals, each a little closer to his stomach’s center than the last. Until they met in the middle, then worked their way slowly back out to his sides.

“Could you… keep doing that while I hear the rest of your.”

Her laugh had an edge to it that miiiight have been contempt? But she said, “Sure. What do you still want to know?”

“Uh.” He pretended to have to think about it. “Why don’t you hunt rats now?”

“I don’t want to kill things just because they’re weaker than me.” Daisy’s hands had frozen in place while she spoke these words; now they resumed. She sighed, but Jon wasn’t sure at what. “Rats are fine, they don’t need to die.”

“I wouldn’t say they’re fine,” Jon scoffed; “pretty sure they serve the Corruption. They spread hantavirus, ratbite fever, lymphocytic”—he paused to swallow a wave of nausea, hoping it was the ugliness of these facts and not their sheer bulk that sickened him. He hoped also that she’d assume his voice had caught on the pronunciation, rather than. He cleared his throat and continued: “Lymphocytic choriomeningitis, and leptospirosis. And the plague, of course, though not without help from.”

Daisy groaned, her teeth bared to the canines. Jon could feel her fingers curl into fists, though thankfully none of his skin got trapped between her nails and palms. “That’s exactly the kind of judgment I’m trying not to make anymore. They’re—they’re also good, okay? Rats. Had a friend with a rat once, when I was a kid.” For an instant Jon wondered if she meant Calvin Benchley. Then the Eye told him she did. “You can teach them tricks. Like dogs. His knew how to fetch, roll over, go through mazes to find treats. And they’re affectionate, friendly. The tails are weird, but—they have sweet eyes.”

A huff of laughter tumbled out of Jon’s nose. “All animals have sweet eyes. That’s a pretty low bar.”

“Don't flatter yourself.”

The Ceaseless Watcher seemed to side with her on this, showing him the eyes of lemurs, flies, goats, anglerfish (the regular kind).

“Either way, I hardly think that outweighs the plague.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Daisy insisted, still sounding querulous. She’d retracted her hands now, and held them balled together close to her chest—like Jon himself did when he felt too shy to stim outright. If they hadn’t been talking about rats the attitude probably wouldn’t’ve struck him as rat-like, but.

“It doesn’t always need to matter which one of those things is more important,” she went on. “It feels like it does, but—sometimes that’s just a habit we get into. Some things just are, okay? I like not having to think about it anymore.”

“Right, that makes sense, we can….”

“Besides. I didn’t care about any of that when I was hunting them. The diseases or whether they’re part of the Filth or whatever. I just knew they were gross, and that people were scared of them. That’s the main reason I killed monsters, too.”

“What if you just… caught them and let them go?”

“Monsters?”

“No, rats.”

“I don’t want a substitute, Jon. I’m alright going cold turkey.”

“But it’s not cold turkey, it’s—no turkey.”

Daisy looked at him for the first time in what felt like a while, and smiled, but furrowed her eyebrows. “Just what do you think ‘cold turkey’ means?”

“I know there’s no actual turkey,” Jon sighed, trying to ignore the Eye’s barrage of suggestions for where the phrase might have originated. God, his stomach hurt. He missed having her hands there to rub away some of this nausea and ache. Wondered what he could say to bring them back. Doing it himself at a time like this would’ve felt so. “I just mean, withdrawal is—different. It can kill you, but you’re still abstaining from something that people in general don’t need to live.”

“Aaaand you think people in general need the Hunt.”

“Of course not. I know you know what I’m getting at,” Jon persisted. “You’re talking about starvation—which, unless for some reason the Fears are too sentimental to throw their old husks away, means it will kill you. Not just—‘can.’”

“Maybe. Probably, yeah. If some monster doesn’t come around to kick me off the wagon first. I’ve told you that before, though.”

“…Okay. Yes, you have, that’s. Yes. So then—?”

“What?”

“Why are you giving me a statement!?”

“To commiserate,” Daisy recited first, in the flat tone of compulsion—and then, “Shhh!”

“Tape recorder’s already on.”

“Yeah but Basira’s out there; she might—be asleep. It’s not a statement,” said Daisy. “Just a story.”

As usual Jon let himself fall into the trap. Was it a statement? By Institute standards, maybe not; he wasn’t sure it counted as a supernatural encounter, except from the rats’ perspective. And most of the fear in it was the rats’, too. He supposed you could call it an encounter with her own changing nature? Statement of Alice ‘Daisy’ Tonner, regarding her supernatural hunger and how she.

“But why would you feed me a story when the answer you come to at the end of it is that it’s better to starve?”

This time he didn’t mean to compel her—was sure he’d phrased it indirectly enough not to. But Jon was surer yet Daisy wouldn’t have given the answer she did except under compulsion:

“Because I felt sorry for you.” Then she winced, bared her teeth, shook her head; Jon wondered if she’d felt that one. It seemed like people usually didn’t—just heard themselves speak words they hadn’t meant to, and surmised what had happened from that. But maybe after so many in a row she’d begun to feel the static.

“For what? Why?”

“For feeling evil. Because it reminded me of me.” In her own voice: “Think maybe I wanted it off my chest, too.”

So, what? The moral high ground was alright for her, but he was too weak for it? Or, or not, what, spiritually advanced enough to walk that plane? Because he hadn’t been conscious for his six-month limbo between life and death, like she’d been in the coffin?

“But you resist, so—? Why wouldn’t you think I should starve too?” On the ocean floor of his stomach something evil emerged from its hole. “Hhh—wait, don’t answer that, I’m—”

Too late. “Because eating the statements doesn’t hurt anything. The ones already written down—just recording them, it’s harmless. And you can’t give me bad dreams anymore, so—ugh.” Jon opened his eyes to find Daisy clawing at her temples. She shook her head, to the extent she could without knocking into his. “I told you I'm trying not to do that anymore.”

I’m not ready, Jon had meant to say. But seeing how little she liked having answered, he wished he could claim it was for her sake he’d tried to stop her.

He still wasn’t ready to hear or think or talk about this, really. The top half of his belly seared with such pain he couldn’t think straight; lower down it squirmed. He felt perilously sick. His whole body wanted so badly to curl into a ball that his legs wouldn’t quit twitching against Daisy’s. He pressed his elbows into his sides, while his hands hovered, pathetically he was sure, just over the top and center of a stomach he feared would pounce if he dared touch it.

But he felt like owed her some proof he’d been listening. “Do…?”

“Judge people. Decide what’s right for them.”

“I see,” Jon lied; that was all he could manage for now. In truth he needed a break before he could even parse what she had said.

“Turns out I can’t lie to myself under compulsion either. I didn’t think that was the reason?—thought I was just not judging you.”

“I think”—he pushed himself back from her, sure for a second that he was about to be sick. It passed, but his breath caught on it as on panic, so he couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened.

Especially not since Daisy too shot upright, her nails loudly scraping the cushion behind her as she hurled herself against it. “Shit—turn around—not on the couch—”

“I’m okay, it’s.” He did turn around, just to ease her mind, but the motion required had quite the opposite effect on him. Jon heard the sounds of ragged breath and whimpering, then recognized his own voice behind them.

Daisy’s hands came to perch one on the back of his shoulder, the other on his side between rib and pelvis. “Don’t worry about it, just get it out. We’ll clean it up later—just like last time, remember?” The fingertips of the hand on his side twitched back and forth at his stomach’s very outer edge.

“N—o, I.” He swallowed. “I think I’m alright.” Tried opening his eyes. Nope, not ready. His breath shuddered again. Daisy’s hands vanished from his shoulder and side; he heard the flapping sound of a blanket being shaken out, then felt it flutter and settle on top of him. Must’ve got dislodged when he rolled over, though he was warm enough now he hadn’t noticed. Dimly he recognized this as a victory.

Her hand moved to stroke his back; she kept saying Shhh, but not in the harsh way she had earlier. “You, uh.” Again Jon swallowed, though what ailed him was a lack of spit rather than excess of it. “You weren’t nearly this nice last time.”

“What?” The hand on his back stilled. “I was too! I tied your hair back for you! I let you ruin my jumper by wiping your pukey mouth on it! I sat with you, on the cold hard floor, in front of the toilet, and let you babble all your egghead theories to me about vomit and the Corruption, even though I’d been sick not two days before, and could barely stand the smell even without you philosophizing about it—”

“No, I meant—the time before, when you. Never mind.”

“Oh—when I had to clean it up?” Jon nodded, hoping she’d be able to tell that from the back of his head. “Yeah, well. Guess I like you better now.”

“Can’t imagine why.”

“Me neither.” And yet she scooted closer to him, hooking her chin over his shoulder. Her hand came to rest on his belly again, its heel in the hollow at the edge of his pelvis. “This okay? You alright with touch right now?”

In response Jon felt around for her hand. When he found it he slotted his fingers between hers, pulled her hand to a sicker-feeling place a few inches higher up, and left his there on top of it.

“Right,” Daisy laughed—“my mistake.” She dragged their combined hands very gently back and forth across the place he’d brought them to. “This where you’re feeling yuckiest?”

His breath caught again, but with surprise and relief this time. With his free hand Jon covered his eyes, willing himself not to think about how ridiculous he must seem to her right now. “That’s, er. That’s perfect, yes.”

“Sure.”

“Though actually—do you think—maybe a slightly… longer stroke?”

Again she laughed. Her hand went limp under his. “Backseat driver. Alright, show me how it’s done.”

It took him a minute to determine that himself. He tried pulling her hand back and forth past his navel, but that grated against something sharp inside. Supposed he couldn’t consult the Oracle for this. Up and down, maybe? Yes, that would do. Or a circle perhaps. Anti-clock—? No, clockwise, definitely. Much better.

Once they’d got that sorted out, Jon said, “I wonder if… you’d let me Ask. One more question.”

“Seriously? I can feel how stuffed you are; how could you possibly want more? Five minutes ago you nearly puked.”

“I’m just—curious, alright? I won’t be sick, I promise.”

“Fine.”

“Did you ever… throw them up?”

“I didn’t eat them, Jon. Told you that already.”

“Alright, poor choice of words. Did you ever—” he tried to think how best to phrase it. “When you threw up regular… people food. Did something of the rats ever come up with it?”

“Yeah. I only got sick once in the time I was doing it, but, I think so, yeah. Thought I was just really out of it at the time though. They didn’t make me sick, I don’t think—just another stomach bug, like the one I gave you. One of those bugs where everything has to come out? And it came on me in the middle of the night, so the last thing I’d”—a pause to sigh; her hand slipped out of his, presumably to make air quotes, but then took it again before he could think of somewhere else to put it—“‘eaten’ was the rats. Not as many as usual; I was already feeling slow that evening. But, yeah. They… it wasn’t their actual bodies, though, okay? I thought I was just dry heaving at first—you know when you’re hanging over the toilet bowl because you know you’re gonna be sick—”

Jon squirmed, fighting a temptation to cover his ears. “Yes, thank you, I’m familiar with—”

“—but you can’t get anything solid up yet, you just retch and drool and cough into the bowl. Well it started then, and then, some of it got mixed up with my sandwich. It was like I… felt their fear, like I—became them, for a second. Each one of them.”

She’d been right; it was too much. God, please don’t make him be the rat! Jon bit his lip ducked his head to his chest curled his toes bent his knees, anything, trying to barricade the doors against the onslaught of information. He pressed his and Daisy’s combined hands hard into the place where his stomach jutted forth from ribs for fear if he didn’t try to equalize the pressure inside from without he might burst like a sheep in clover and flood this whole room in half-ruminated text, a cloud of serifed letters scuttling heinously all over himself and Daisy like half-formed spiders.

“I don’t know how I knew that’s what it was,” Daisy went on. “It wasn’t like I saw the scene again, or heard the crunch, or felt the. Anything like that. I just—was the rat. I was prey. Just for a second. And knew that I—me, as in.” Again her hand slipped out of his. “The Hunter, was about to kill me. And… then it faded and I was me again until the next one.”

Her hand returned to the dome at the top of his gut where he’d last set it, but its ghosts on his palm and between his fingers remained cold. She brushed the hand up and down his belly, airily—oblivious to how its muscles clenched and undulated. Jon panted and forced himself to focus on her hand and nothing else. How it bumped and shuddered when his stomach’s shape morphed under it. How at the end of his every exhale her touch became so light it tickled. This was the present Daisy, and the present Jon. Here on this couch in the Institute basement. Both thin, her bony ilium pressed closer to his sacroiliac joint than was quite comfortable. Warm, except up one leg where the blanket let in a draft.

The one who’d tried to prey on him was long gone. If anything he was the one feeding on her, now. And they just laid on the couch together, massaging her horrors into more comfortable shapes inside him.

“That enough?”

Jon grunted an incredulous huff. “Too much,” he admitted, unable to keep the strain out of his voice. “You were right—I, uh. Didn’t know stomachaches came this size.”

Her laugh sounded affectionate. The lines up and down his stomach morphed into circles around it. “Ha—look how much higher your belly comes up on this side. That must be where your ribs were.”

“Yes, I’ve. Noticed that before, thanks.”

“Think you’ll keep it all down?”

“Hope so.”

“Good luck. Wouldn’t want you to have to relive the rats again.”

Oh, god.

“The less said about it the—better I’ll feel, I think.”

“Well that’s a change,” Daisy mused, patting his stomach as though in summation. “I should get to bed. Be alright on your own?”

“Er.” No, no, no, god please no, not alone yet with all these? “Yes, alright. I should be fine.”

She laughed again. “I’ll stay til you fall asleep.”

--

(For Daisy’s take on “the time before,” when she had to clean up his vomit, see Abyss of Possibilities; to view the drawing in less-bad resolution, see this post)

[just-some-random-blogger]

December Dates

Seventeen Summary: In the spirit of Christmas, boyfriend!svt is here to take you on a date. Word Count: 3k+ Warnings: Fluff, crackkkkkk, v many typos,etc.

R E Q U E S T

my friend: seventeen + cute

A/N: HO HO HO MERRY CHRISTMAS YOU HOS (jk) HAHAHAHAHAHHA. Also ashdiepl because im writing on a tab, i couldnt add any gifs so aksjemksksmsksksmskskdk alsO im so sorry i dont remember if the request is platonic or nah but kaksksksk this is what u get soz

-----

Alright

So no gifs

Imma just do a header real quick so u know wassap

S. Coups

Das better

hi header

I might delete u later if i get on a pc

But firsT seuNgcheEolL

*deep breath*

Ho u lucky enough to breath the same air he does

N now u are on aa date with him

WoWw

So bf!seungcheol is a cute lil snowflake

Which means he'll buy u an ugly ass Christmas sweater and matching gloves

THAT MATCHES THE ONES HE BOUGHT FOR HIMSELF OFC

then yall go out and play in the powdery snow outside

ImGine seungcheol grabbing yOuR hand 

cebAuse u a dumb loser that slips on nothing

Also warmth

pulling your scarf up a bit because he can tell you're getting cold

Then like a gentleman

will pUSH U INTO THE SNOW

AND START A FRICKIN SNOW WAR

HE'll hit ur dumb face he dont care

He'll maKe u wish u Stayed damn home

Rapid fire frikin snow granades man

Course iz all a bita fun

Then he'll let u win

Cause he does care Bout ur dumb Fce

Also he soft for u gross

Then once that's done he'll start laughing

Not because of post-snow ball fight adrenaline

But because he thinks himself so funny

When he busts a lung screaming "dO Ya wana biLd aSNOEMAN!!!!!"

AND THEN U decline and leave him in the snow

"YAAAAA WE HAVE TO BUILD A SNOWMAN THOUGH!" he'll laugh

U literally wana leave him and his annoying ass

U stomp away

He laughs and goes after u

His hot breath is visible 

and hits your ear when he comes up and wraps his arms around you from behind

U be like, "listen stupid, u corny af, lets break up"

Seungcheol would pout and kiss ur cheek, "nah, u still owe me hot choco. Break up with me after paying me back."

"Ew, why would i pay u back tho"

"Uh cause if you don't imma do thisss," then he proceeds to shove u into the snow again

"CHOI. SEUNG. CHEEOOOLLLLLLLLLLALAKAKAOKS!"

Ok well i have to cut this here first cos there are 12 boys left

Oh Hi hello u here back to ur regular programme

Jeonghan

Yiz

Unlike cheol

Dis ho not about to get cold 4 u uhm

Leave the cold for someone else

But get warm together

I mean

Wink wINKkkkk

Jk gtfo

This is a wholesome headcanon

Git warm he would gladly

So u know what dat means

CUddlEs

Imagine cuddling jeonghan

BoIii

It's da holidays

Which mean he bout to get dat $$$leep

Of course u dont mind that ur just sleeping in

Gurl if ya do

Let me stress out

If you mind sleeping in and cuddling with yoon jeong han

GUrL

Wathu doin????

AnYWAY

ITz u and him right

Ur in bed reading the novel he got u beforehand right

Look at u looking cute in knit sweater and glasses

EVEN IF U DONT NEED THEM THERE ARE GLZSSES

IM TRYING TO MAKE A SCENE HERE WORK WITH ME

it could be jeonghan's ur using it as a headband shhhh

So like ur sitting down

N beside u its jeonhan v slightly snoring

Right right right

Then ur like "man i want something to eat cause i've been sitting here reading all day"

But also ur always hungry

Cause who isnt tho lol

ANYWAY UR ABOUT TO STZND UP

but jeonghan like a needy ho is like noooooooooooodontgo

N ur like

aww wat a needy ho

"Jeonghan im just gonna get something to eat"

"Eat laterrr, i need u now"

He'll keep his eyes shut and shimmy over

Securing an arm on your  hip so u wont go

U roll ur eyes and put your book away on the cabinet next u

"Jeonghan ive literally been next to u since last night. I'm just gonna get something to eat, and 4 u 2!"

He'll flutter his eyes open only to close them and move even closer to place his head on ur lap

"I dont want toooooo"

U roll ur eyes again and shimmy out of his grip

But only to get into his arms and hide your face in his chest

"You're so needy," u note

"Says you who's tangling themselves on me"

"Touché"

Joshua

Okay

Get this

Joshua and gingerbread houses

He probably used to build one growing up

And he has just the person in mind he wants to rekindle the tradition with

Congrats u filthy animal

So he took the liberty of getting allll u and he would need

And so much more

Im talking chocolate bars

Shipped cream

Candy canes

Busicuits

Edible glitter

Gum drops

Shrek 1 2 3 4

Is there a four

Im too lazy to google it

And omg u so special to him he loves u so much

Screw u

He wants to share the love with the carats

So he vlives it all

And at first ur shy

Like what if the joshua stans come 4 u

Ok but in this story yall had already annouce ur relationship

AND EVERYONE HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO BE COOL WITH IT FFS LET UR FAVES DATE WHOEVER THEY WANT ISTG

so

Joshua is like "noo don be shy they'll all love u"

(':

N ur like ok cos i love u sm

But not like the company sm tho *barfing noises*

So yall build a gingerbread house and do a whole ass tutorial about it

Except u dont

Cause yal are morons and could stop messing up or earing the ingredients along the way

Sorry honey ur morons i dont make the rules

"Stop eating the marshmallows!"

"U literally finished the bowl of mnms tho Joshua!"

"Uh no that was the gingerbread man,"

ANd then u all bicker like children because u are omfl

And it excalates

fooD FIGHT

U smear cream on joshuas face

He sprinkles sprinkles on ur head

U press graham crackers against either of his cheeks and ask him what he is

"A sexy graham sandwich"

"Ew no wrong answer," u reply

Can i just point out that that chocolate syrup stain is never coming off

*cough cough cough moron cough cough*

Jun

Imma bout to yeet

Junhui is also feeling nostalic

super soft super baby

And since he's probably feeling bit homesick somewhere in there

he thinks he can remedy it with a bit of chinese home cooking!!!

And whiney needy cuddles also yay

Moving on so

Will it be good?

Damn straight

itll be fikin delish

Will you try to to help him

Of course u gotta help ur man

But like duh

u have eyes

And seeing him all focus and busy and hot

Is really distracting

So like ur as useful as a broken button to him

He doesnt mind tho

He thinks ur cute

Also lovng the attnstion

But the thing about not helping

Not really

And being distracted by a cutie pie

Is that it's basicaly a disaster ending to happen so like

he's efficiently stirring up so hot stuff right

And ur like "man jun's some hot stuff"

And then BaaaaM

U knock over the damn chopping board with the knife and everything on it

Thank goodness the thing didn't chop through your foot of anything

And jun is like "oHMYGOSH DA HELL R U OK"

"... i- im sorry i knocked over ur potatoes"

"My poTaToeS! Listen rn im glad u didnt chop ur foot off"

Jun sighs and looks at the cubes of taters scattered on the floor

You frown, feeling useless

Both of u pick up ur mess

Jun puts down the kitchen utensils in hand

u picked up the last of the potatoes

"Hey we could always wash those, it's not like the floor is mud or anything, even then , potates came from mud"

"Yeah but im sorry, i wanst really helping in the first place"

Jun smirks, "nonsense! U were feeding my ego! That's enough for me!"

You snort and jun comforts u with a tight embrace

Hoshi

AlrighT fam

I thought of something pretty cute but pretty dumb for hoshi

He's like "imma do something super romantic for Christmas"

So he's like "wear something cute we gon do smth fun" @ u

So u do

U get a cute little red dress just for the occasion

And soonyoung his like "BRO MY GIRL SO SUPER CUTE"

And ur like a blushing mess cause he looks super excited with his big smile and cresent eyss

ahhh Hhh myHOSishiii fealzssmsmmsms

Anyway u think ur gonna go to some cute restaurant right

But hoshi brings u to the mall

To instead join the couples dancing contest

Soonyoung gets super nervouse at ur surprised reaction

He's like, "omg is this a super bad idea i thought it would be cute but like i guess not we dont have to go we could always just drop out"

You laugh and shake ur head, "no it's all good, but i mean like, we don't have a choregraphy, and im not like you who can just break it down."

Soonyoung lets out a breath and chuckles, "nah don't worry. It's not really a compation-competion, and regardless, they're going to show ius a choreo and the couple that best interprets wins a a romantic date for two, fit for a dancing king and queen"

And then u break into a big uwu

"Omg u are super romantic soonyoung"

He struts a pose and chuckles, "i mean, i try"

So you both participate in the contenst

Kinda zumba it out by folling the instructors

Soonyoung is helping you out with your form and explaining to you the steps

He gets a little competative so he doesn't really want to mess us

Up hearing you giggle when you do a s pin breaks his competative spirit

And all he really cares about is having a good time with you

Aleight

But admitedly

He was pretty annoyed when they annouced the winner

Were not the two off you

i mean you lot were the cutest it can gt

Who else could trump that

But then you both saw that the winners were 80 something yesr olds holding hand and looking at each other like the other was their world

and then soonyoung was like "okay valid"

You pout, "aww i hope we end up like that"

Soonyound and you turn to each other

He grins for ear to ear, "then lets go on a romantic date as well"

"I thought you'd never ask"

Wonwoo

LiNda

I hope you're ready for wonwoo 

Because i sure as hell am not 

So in case youre wondering 

Youre crazy I mean youre reading this arent you 

Prolly at midnight hi fam 

Again i dont make the rules 

Well just a btw Almost every 

Christmas tradition is pagan 

Like the tree 

The wreath 

And SANTA IS SO CREEPY YALL NEED TO GET UR CHILDREN AWAY FROM HIM 

SO MAYbe ur not all that crazy 

For not wanting to continue them on 

i mean sure u can give new meaning to things 

But you wanted none of that

 Which was whyyyy you decided to DIY the decorations to your entire house 

Nnd who else are you going to do that with other than your loving bb boyfriend wonwoo 

Wonwoo doesn't mind 

He thinks its cute 

Because it is a cute date idea 

Youtube tutorials 

Pinterest ideas and paper snowflakes and all 

Yeah 

so wonwoo is there cutting up some of the paper you folded 

You're glueing some popsicle sticks 

He's water coloring some designs in 

Youre pulling on the tape dispenser 

It's all going great 

"Jagiya... i don't want to sound mean but-"

 "They're all ugly as hell. I know Wonwoo." 

Wonwoo gives an apologetic look. 

For a moment u two dont speak 

And then you both brust into laughter 

"Aww whatever, lez stick em on!" 

And do you get your badly painted slowflakes 

Your wolf drawing 

"That's a wolf?" 

"Duh what else would it be wonwoo?" 

The letters that spelled merry chrsitmas 

And the doodle cutouts of the seventeen members 

in personalized ugly sweaters 

And placed them all over the place 

You look around basking in the glory of ur craft 

Its all very colorful 

And crafty 

And looking like a child made it 

Then like an imbecile 

U break into laughter 

"It looks like a kindergartener's classroom" 

U end up roasting yourself 

Making fun of your sloppy handwork 

And wonwoo watches u 

with adoring eyes

 "I almost forgot," wonwoo speaks up and pulls out a piece of paper 

You recive it from him and break into a smile 

"Is this us?" 

Wonwoo snorts, "no its jeonghan hyung in a dress holding my hand sweetheart"

For a moment u believe him

But then he breaks out into laughter

Woozi

Boi imma fite u

Christmas carols

Okay idek why i ended up so serious with wonwoo

But listennup

Im not about to maypke it crackier

so back to christmas carols

Dis boi is about to serande you with a christmas themed love song

So its around 8pm at night

Jihoon has is guitar

and ur just chilling right

and ur on ur phone letting him do his thing

but then from the floor he was sat on

he turns to you on the couch

And pats ur leg

"Yo i just finished my song u wann hesr"

You squeak and jump of the couch next to him

"Duh dummy!"

And he starts singing

He's talking about stars and warmth

He's spittin fire about the smell of hot choco

The  he's talking sbout how lame joshua's gingerbread house was

Next thing you know ur  crying

because omg that ginger bread houseWAS UGLY

also jihoooooooooooooon just serenaded you

Dont u just

Then jihoon catches you and panicks

"You okay? Why are you cryin?!"

"HowDARS YOU ASK ME THAT LISTEN UP U JUST SAID SOME SWEET WORDS TAKE RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!!!"

JIHOON CALms down

But u crybaby cant stop crying

and of course jihoon panicks again

So he starts singing some other Christmas song

And then u start crying about poor rudolf

And remember regina george

But then eventually you calm down

And decide to nuzzle up against jihoon who replaced his guitar with you in his arms

Then us fall asleep with him sweetly singing about the spirit of Christmas

DK

 Liz gittit

Of course this ray of light just wants to give off energy to the world 

And since he 

And u u forgetful ass 

Forgot to go shopping for presents 

You decided to go on a dec 24th shopping trip! 

Hurrah! 

But it was too eady for u two 

Like wtf 

Gift giving Is suuch and easy task 

And shoping a day before Christmas 

pshhhhhhh 

Its a heartbeat

 "Whoever gets the best gifts gets for the best price gets to boss the other around until new year," seokmin grins 

You knit your brows deeply at his words 

And wonder what the hell he has in plan for him to think of doing something so ensnaring 

So being the smarter one in the relationship 

"Uh no??" 

Seokmin was like "ok then the other has to do whatever the other says for the entirety of Christmas" 

"???? Whyyyyy?" 

"Because its not challengeing or fun if there isn't any condition" "Ugh fine" 

So the two of you zip around looking for the best gifts you could get 

You try to stay away from the people doing their last minute shopping 

Seokmin doesnt dare go in between an old lady mouthing of another customer 

Tbh its super stressful 

wtf 

what kind of date is this 

Only morons would do this wtf 

Both of you got shoved constantly 

There wasnt really much space to move around 

And there wasnt really anything to choose from 

But hey guess what 

Seokmin found some really cool gifts 

"Daheck did u get that shirt?" 

"Isle five. There were a bunch of people grabbing some stuff and this fell to the ground and so i picked it up and thought it was pretty cool"

You on the other hand got like ok gifts 

I mean theyre not bad

 But da hell did dk get a frikin eeyore onesie idek 

It was no contest.  

Seokmin defo won 

"Yisss so i win therefor u have to make me some Christmas cookies tomorrow" 

"U ho did u really just make me suffer through that so you could ask me to make cookies 4 u???" 

"Yes but we really didn have gifts tho." 

U roll ur eyes 

Seokmin's face falls, "r... r u like mad @ me?" 

"Uhhhhhhhhhh" 

You knit your brows at him but release a smile when u see his nervous look 

"No babo. Im jusy tired, lezgo back home" 

He sighs and nods, kissing your cheeks 

"Dont worry baby, ill carry all of this back home" 

Which he does 

And when u get back 

He says he forgot something in the car

then comes bzck 

And then forcefully turns u around 

Ur about to protest

But the you realize he's putting on a silver necklace on u 

"Yahhhh seokminie, u shouldnt have. Where you even get this"

"I bought it a while back, duh" he chuckles then kisses you on the cheek 

"Merry christmas jagi" 

Mingyu  

You are a genius for getting boyfriend like mingyu 

uh and super lucky like fu-- 

BUT TODAY 

Ur extra glad that mingyu is 10ft tall 

Because ur going to be decorating your very own tree 

Wow 

You bought he prettiest glass ornamnets

 and the sparkliest streamers 

"I have a vision," u explain 

Mingyu nods in understanding 

U and him lift the tree into the living room 

And then u start decorating the tree from the bottom up 

Its all rly chill

 You lot are chatting about whatever 

He's tellling you about ur tour n stuff 

U put on some Christmas tunes for flare 

And then u stand up from the floor and boogey with each other 

Yall shake ur butts 

and go around the tree wrapping it in tinself 

Mingyu steals one of the ornaments from u

 and u try to take it back from him like the genius u are 

Except hes holding it over his head 

N u cant for the life of u reach his hand up there 

So u step on his foot 

And punch his stomach 

And he bends down in reaction 

In pain

Soz

He was asking for it

U steal the decor back 

Then he proceeds to chase u around because aparently ur the bully 

*instert pikachu meme here* 

N then u get back towork 

Or i mean take a break 

And u eat a bunch of holiday special junk 

And then u get back to work 

"ok nows for the star" 

U hand him the star because its the entire point of his existance

getting that star up ther 

with his longass arms 

He turns to u "u dont wanna put it" 

BOI 

u suck in a breath 

"I cant frIKICN REACH IT U LIL" 

He give a face, "there are ways" 

"My go-- just put the AHHHHHHH"

AND THEN THE NEXT THING U KNOW

 Hes crouching down pulling ur legs on his shoulders 

"MINGYU PUT ME DOWN" you say, about to rip of his face 

Mostly because u have nothi to hold onto

but he stands 

with u on his shoulders

and walks to the tree 

"Put the damn thing on before u fall!!" 

Wow its ur fault again

And screaming u put the star on 

And mingyu putz u down 

"Okay that was stressful" 

U punch him in the gut again 

The8  

Minghao is super tired 

But super looking forward to spending time with u 

So u defintely go on a date 

But its of the lazy movie watch variety

Im talking all the chesey romance movies 

Set in december 

that has like mistletoe kisses 

And snow scenes 

And also those holiday specials

 For catroons 

And non cartoons 

Even the one with arnold swartzimacallit 

You pull out the laptop 

And get on netflix 

There's popcorn on 

And hot tea 

Or whatever the hell 

Its all just very warm 

and u and minghao are wrapped together in a warm blanket 

Ur nestled in between is legs and ur super warm and cozy and im so soft bleh 

"Oh oh, u should see this part, its my fav--" 

But u stop uourself when u turn and see minghao fell asleep

 U coo and let him obvi 

taking unflattering pictures duh 

But also cute ones because 

#couplegoals 

He doesn't sleep through all the movies though 

You end up watching non christmas themed films too 

Like toy story4 

OKAY I CRIED AT THE ENDING 

PIXAR IS REALLY COMING FOR MY WIG 

"You look really cute cuddled up against me" he'll randomly blurt 

U feel ur cheeks brun at that 

but no he cant have that 

"I thought i was always cute" 

He chuckles and groans as he hugs u tightly 

U laugh at his reaction 

"Of course you're always cute" 

"Ok but the teddy bear u got me is actually cuter" 

"Nononono, the teddy is cute but uuu are cuter" 

"Were u always this gross?" 

Seungkwan 

Okay 

before u tell me these are getting worse and worse every passing member 

i would first like to say i know 

and  that seungkwan bought u a cute dress for Christmas 

and took u to a fancy restaurant 

Ok ur welcome 

But like even if it werent fancy 

U'd still like it 

cause holy guacamole 

imagine holding seungkwans hand as u walk around

Jsut being so head over heels

and super in love with the cutie

Groooossss 

LinDA 

The feeling is mutual for him when he's around u 

so he stops mid conversations 

just to take ur pic 

Its kinda annoyig 

but kinda cute 

"Hey unknow hansol told me about-- what are u doing"

 "No go on, im just talking ur picture"

 Literally the bst hype man alive 

Will make take dozen upon dozen photos of u 

And will make u pose for aethetics 

He will go on making sure everyone knows u da hottest ho in the place 

n ur like "seungkwan stfu u embarrassssing meee" 

And then oml  

Some moron tries to hit on u 

and seungkwan sqwares up ready to hit a fool 

would he actually do it i mean 

Like 

prolly Not 

but then again he looked really mad 

So u calm him down 

and u go bzck home 

And the cuddles 

"Baby girl im sorry if i embarrassed u"

 "Nah itz chill i mean i know u have good intentions"

U smile and he takes another candid phto of u

"Broooooo!!"

 "Im donnnr. Now hows about we get rid of that dress" 

Vernon  

okay im willing to guess hansol loves drinking hot chocolate in the winter

So he's like 

"Lets do a hot choco review" 

And buys 897 types of hot choco 

Or like ten 

wtf eight hundres pluss is too much 

So ur like okay i like hot choco 

and then he pulls out his phone and does a vlive 

"No i am not jealous of joshua hyungs vlive with his gf" 

Yall make like ten cups of hot choco 

and is chaotic 

Idek how u could get injured 

But hey 

It wasnt even the hot water invovled 

but the wrapping of the choco powder 

"Technical difficulties hansol is a big moron" 

U get him a bandaid

"Ya! I am not" 

Yall start reviewing anyway 

*insert try guys eugenes voice* 

Im rihght

 Ur wong 

Shut up 

After trying the first onw 

Ur like wow dis is good 

the second was even better 

The third one u hold

then u realized there were eight more cups 

And that u made so

much 

so u were like "omf there is too much "

then u debated whether or not calling seventeen to drink the rest 

But then hansol was like "ther isnt enough for themm"

Then ur like 

"okay whatabout making a super hotchoco" 

n vernon was like 

???? 

"THATS THE BEST IDEA UVE EVVER HAD" 

SO YALL GET A BIGASS POT 

MIX THE REST IN 

REALIZE U HAVENT RATED THE other cups

 Shrug it off 

and get a cup of the hot choco mix 

"Tastes like corn" 

"Bish dafaq" 

Dino 

Yikes 

so 

Chan is a dumb ho 

and got himself sick at Christmas so 

nononoono thats a no to any cute date ideas 

and its just you and him staying at home 

U personally dont mind 

but hes like "awww but i had so many ideas"

 but obvi U cant risk him getting any sicker than he already is 

So you stay home and take care of him 

and all he can do is complain about everything 

about the cold 

his runny nose 

The lack of taste of the food

 His head ache 

The fact his bed is hot 

And that fact that u have to take care of him 

And treat him like a baby 

"I am not a baby" 

"Listen up, u are always gonna be my baby" 

"Not u toooooo najsjsjjs" 

You make him some hot cocoa 

And hes like "im not drinking that if u call me baby again" 

"Babybabybabybabybaby" 

Ugghgg "If you keep doing that im not going to give u the gift i gotchu" 

"Well das on u" 

And then u end up going ona glaring contest 

Chan ends up giving it to u anyway 

"i hope u choke on it" he grumbles with insencerity 

U coo when u see that its a handwritten letter 

And then u end up crying because hes super soft

N ur super soft

And gahhh u love him so much

 Chan pats ur back because he doesnt want to get u sick if he hugs u  

U sniffle and wipe ur eyes 

"Who's the baby now, cry baby" 

You snarl and pinch his side 

And now i say

This was probably hecking bzd but i hope u enjoyed 

merry CHRISTMAS 

ITS MY FABORITE HOLiDAY 

TAKE CARE Of urselves mwaah

Support me on ko-fi

[vagrantblvrd]

I would love for a superhero!au dusk boys prompt that features villainous Rimmy Tim? :D

Oh, wow, okay, I love this a lot?

I’m just.

I want to set this in a world where people who have superpowers aren’t viewed as being inherently dangerous.

There are obviously ones who are, but for the most part it’s just like Macy down the street can shoot lasers from her eyes and Bob in accounting can communicate with plants. Sheryl from marketing can fly and turn invisible and only uses one of those powers on a regular basis because she’s shy. (Harry in IT is just weird, but everyone knew that already.)

People with powers can tick off a box when they go in to get their driver license or ID card so if they’re  in an accident EMTs and the whatnot know to take proper precautions and suchlike, but it’s not a whole Thing, just like.

Huh, interesting.

(Because I’m saving the Angst and Drama for Other Things later on. :D)

Not everyone bothers with secret identities, but the ones who do go all out, okay? Kind of high-key hilarious for the people around them who figure it out and decide not to tell them just to hear all the ridiculous explanations why their superhero/sidekick buddy was late to work or missed a meeting or whatever else.

I like to imagine there are sitcoms/reality shows built around that too? Like. They never reveal the superhero/sidekick’s alter ego but they fuck with them so hard. And other such things because the potential? Omg, so much potential for those kind of shenanigans. (And you can always tell who has a secret identity because they’re always griping about those kind of shows and it’s just another level of hilarity.)

There are specialized school and programs to help people manage their powers even if they don’t plan on going into the superhero/sidekick career field so they don’t accidentally hurt someone. (There are programs for supervillains too.

Outreach and whatnot with the hope of winning potential villains/villains over to the good side if they’re lucky. Realistically though, they’ll settle for helping them learn to control their powers to minimize casualties and such. (A few of the more level-headed villains out there may or may not be responsible for similar programs because they stand the risk of the superheros/military/whatever coming down hard on villains as a whole if they don’t help police their own?)

ANYWAY.

Trevor’s this normal(ish) enough human in this AU, right? May or may not be a master thief out Thieving and living his best life. Gallivanting around the world where rare and valuable items just happen to go missing.

Sometimes the local authorities will bring him in for questioning and discover he has something of a spotty record. Juvenile offenses and misdemeanors. (But the thing is it’s clear it’s been…altered, and while there’s some confusion as to who is behind it, there’s no denying he’s had something to do with Serious Criminal Incidents in the past. All these clues and witness accounts and all this placing him there and yet! Nothing worse on his records than those misdemeanors.)

He’s got famous parents, you see. Big shots in the supers world and love story of the ages.

One was a hero and the other was a villain who gave up their wicked ways  for love and so on and so forth.

They were happy for a while there, had their loving family and played coy with the press when they came around asking how they made their relationship work and how did their children handle knowing about past villainous exploits and so on and so forth, and it was a bit of a circus some days, but it was good until it wasn’t.

(Isn’t that always the way?)

Trevor was young when the inevitable happened so of course he grew up on “Son, what would your parents say if they could see you now?> and oh, oh, Trevor doesn’t know, officer, what would they say? Oh right, there’s no way to know because they’re both dead, aren’t they?

Plenty of people who always said it would happen sooner or later. Just the kind of thing that happens when you got around making all those devil’s deals and turn your back on it all thinking just because you’re done with it, it’s done with you or however that goes. (Always, always a price to be paid.)

He’s had plenty of people try to console him with the fact they were together when it happened, protecting one another to the bitter end and it’s such a slap to the face because, you know, because.

The ones left behind to pick up the pieces and the whole world wanting answers to questions they were never entitled to.

Losing the only other person who could understand how Trevor felt to building anger and resentment and other ugly little things until Trevor had no choice but to leave. (No place for him there anymore, and really it was for the best, wasn’t it?)

Slipped away like a ghost in the night and it was just…easier to steal a thing here, another there to get by until he fell in with the wrong crowd. Got in over his head a bit and dragged along with the current until he got some kind of ground under his feet again. Tarnished reputation and all kinds of disappointment being heaped on him, but that was fine because there was no one left to care.

And then!

And then he realizes someone’s been looking out for him, clearing up the worst of his little mistakes – if you’re going to go bad, you do it well, and he hadn’t, so thank you for that oh, so mysterious benefactor. (Pays to befriend a hacker, doesn’t it? Especially one who’s kind enough to keep an eye on you for your own sake, God bless all the little hackers.)

He drifts along for a little while longer, gets better at his craft even though it’s not his passion, and then one day he gets a call. (Half expecting it because he’s been keeping tabs on everything (everyone) he left behind and there have been situations and incidents and a whole lot of Things in general.)

The call is pretty much what he expects, but there’s also some come home and please and I’m sorry.

He would have ignored it, because he’s a hard soul these days, you know. Tough as nails and cold and steel and all that, but he’s never gotten an apology and it makes him…curious.

So he goes home, wry little twist to his lips as he passes the statues of his parents in a prominent location. Monument to their legacy Trevor could never live up to and all these people who glance at him and frown like they feel they should know him and don’t know why.

There’s a fancy building in the heart of the city’s business district. All gleaming glass and the kind of place villains love to target for the spectacle of it all.

Trevor head there, flashes the doorman a little smile, tips his head at the guard in the lobby. Another smile and a wink for the receptionist at the main desk to get a look in return – she remembers him, and isn’t impressed because he’s been gone a long time, hasn’t he?

Still, she doesn’t stop him as he breezes past on his way to the elevator bank.

Presses the buttons in a pattern that lets it zip right on past the other floors and anyone who’d love to get on the elevator between the ground floor and the oh so glorious offices on the top floors. (Stops counting past the executive level because shhhh, secrets.)

He gets off the elevator in a narrow little hallway with all kinds of hidden cameras and security measures. Presses his hand flat against a scanner and presents his eyeball for another. Ridiculously outdated things, but it’s the presentation of it all, and then a pair of heavy doors disengage to reveal a long hallways, stark lighting and very cliché isn’t it?

Still, he continues down the hallway to another pair of doors and waits.

Little panel to the side slides open and he glances at it, then at the hidden camera he knows is aimed at him.

“Open sesame,” he says, tired of this little game, and the doors slide open.

Bit of a light show as he walks through and then -

“Trevor.”

Trevor tips his head to the side, gaze flicking over the people in the room.

The man who called him home and two others?

Around his age, give or take, and confused as to why they’re here and trying to hide it. (Fair enough, he’s had longer practice at it.)

ANYWAY.

There’s a man in a lovely little suit, all perfectly tailored and the whatnot. Looks older than Trevor remembers, but that’s what you get when you take on the task of running a multi-billion dollar business and the whatnot. (Among other things.)

“Hello, Ryan,” he says, and it has been a long time, hasn’t it? Long enough that Trevor doesn’t know if he’s still angry at Ryan or some other pesky emotion. “You like like hell.”

Ryan raises an eyebrow, but it lacks the usual arrogance. (Looks tired.)

The strangers in the room are watching curiously, aware there’s some little bit of Drama going on here but not sure what, and that’s interesting, isn’t it?

But then Ryan clears his throat and turns to them, all nice and charming and the very fine actor he’s proven himself to be as he leads them all to this little setup he’s had put together. Several chairs and a projector and Trevor has this very odd flashback to school and the terrible little films they had to watch, but that’s a bit of a digression.

“Gentlemen,” Ryan says, “I’ve invited you all here for a reason.”

Trevor glances at the strangers, notices them watching Ryan warily as he flicks the lights off and the project whirs to life. (Ryan really did gold old school with it, didn’t he?)

News footage of what looks like an attack on the city – industrial area. Warehouses with a familiar logo (same one as on the side of this very building, in fact!) - general sort of mayhem and destruction and a blurry figure behind it all.

Little flashes of purple and orange and at the end a surprisingly low body count. (One is always too many, but for the destruction they’ve just seen it’s somewhat impressive.)

Ryan tells them about this new threat – clearly someone with superpowers of some sort – that’s been targeting Ryan’s company. Hit and runs and targets of opportunity, and while the police and such are looking into the things the main superhero team in the city hasn’t been taking it seriously.

Trevor looks away from the blurry image of the villain in questions till up on the screen to see Ryan frowning, scowling, really.

“That doesn’t seem right,” one of the strangers says, British accent and dubious as hell. “Didn’t people die?”

Ryan sighs, giving the man a wry smile.

“Not enough.”

Not in this city, Trevor knows.

A superhero team as famous as theirs fields the most dangerous threats to the city and those like the one targeting Ryan’s company…well. Until they do something that makes the general public wonder why he hasn’t been dealt with, he’s not really their problem, now is he?

Plenty of smaller teams and solo heroes out there who could handle someone like that and anyways, they’ve got bigger fish to fry. (It’s happened before.)

“So you’ve brought the three of us here to handle your little problem,” Trevor says, and oh, there’s still some anger in him, isn’t there?

Ryan looks at him.

“You’d rather I let things go on as they have been?” he asks. “People have died. No doubt more will die before this is over.”

Ryan talks like he knows something about it, and Trevor -

“Okay, so there’s some kind of history between you guys, right?” one of the strangers asks, which means he must not be from here. “Because damn.”

Ryan goes all awkward and stiff as he informs the man he’s not wrong, that Trevor’s his brother -

“Step-brother,” Trevor interjects sweetly, as Ryan was so kind to point out the last time they spoke face-to-face. “Blended family, you know how it is.”

He gets the satisfaction of seeing Ryan wince at the reminder, but it’s a hollow sort of victory.

Ryan goes on to tell the three of them the plan he’s come up with. Housing and pay, all the tedious little details.

A building of their very own that’s been retrofitted with proper training facilities and the whatnot and Trevor eyes the strangers curiously.

Supers, then, but which is very interesting indeed seeing as how fond of them Ryan usually is.

It makes sense, though, doesn’t it. Better mouse trap or…something to catch this pest that’s digging the foundation out from under Ryan’s feet all this time.

Ryan tells them he understands if they choose to decline, tells them to take time to think it over and all that.

There’s this little pause like he’s debating whether or not to ask Trevor to stay behind, but Trevor doesn’t wait for him to come to a decision. Just leaves with the others Ryan picked for this meeting of his and the three of them file out the room and spend an awkward elevator ride together. Trevor’s aware of the curious looks he’s getting, which is fine. (Expected.)

Ryan’s one of the most important people in the city and Trevor is…Trevor.

He gets a question, though, just before they reach the ground floor lobby. Gets asked if Ryan’s on the up and up about this team he’s trying to put together, and honestly?

Trevor doesn’t know.

And oh, the looks he gets for that because they’re (half) brothers, aren’t they? Shouldn’t Trevor be the best qualified to know and all?

The elevator doors open with impeccable timing, and Trevor shrugs, and tells them it was a pleasure and all that as he walks out.

He fully intends to get the hell out of the city, let Ryan clean up his own mess – and it must be his, if he’s willing to involve supers in this - but.

Trevor makes a little stop first.

Quiet little neighborhood he hasn’t been to in years, but it hasn’t changed much.

Rings the doorbell to a jaunty little tune he heard on the radio a few days ago on a door and waits, and then waits some more before he hears sounds of movement. Muffled voice tinged with annoyance and when the door opens, Trevor’s already smiling.

“Hi, Matt,” he says, and laughs at the flatly unamused look on Matt’s face.

For a moment he thinks Matt’s just going to slam the door in is face - rude - but then he sighs and lets Trevor inside.

The place is as cluttered as Trevor remembers it as he follows Matt to his lair.

His computer setup has been vastly upgraded, all shiny and the like.

“What do you want?”

Trevor grins, because Matt’s just like that, isn’t he? So he brings his phone out and shows Matt the photos he took of the two men Ryan had recruited for his team while no one was paying attention.

Not the best lighting or composition, but hopefully enough for Matt to dig up information on them.

And, sure. Trevor could ask Ryan, but where would the fun be in that? (Also, Trevor may or may not have learned not to take Ryan at his word some time back, so there’s that as well.)

Matt gives him this look, and snatches Trevor’s phone out of his hand as he goes to do his technical wizardry.

(Not quite an exaggeration, given Matt’s powers.)

Trevor pokes and prods the collectibles and other knickknacks and whatever else Matt has laying around while he waits.

Eventually Matt calls him over and hands him a little USB and Trevor thanks him, little tip of a hat he’s not wearing and Matt just sighs because yes.

Trevor goes off to that motel room he has, classy place with (almost) nary a suspicious stain to be found anywhere! :D

Plugs that USB Matt gave him into his laptop and does his homework like a good little thief.

Finds out that the British one is a young hero recently arrived in the city by way of Rooster territory.

Powers that have to do with probability manipulation that he can directly utilize in extreme circumstances and so on. Curious blank spot even Matt couldn’t fill in regarding how that was discovered, because you don’t go saying something like that without an Event, now do you? Some kind of incident for that discovery and all, but never mind that for now.

No reason listed why he left his former team to come here of all places, and Trevor is honestly baffled as to why Ryan would be interested in someone with his abilities. (Not a great believer in things like luck and so on, Ryan. Loves his sciences and hard facts and clear results, doesn’t care overmuch for anything else.)

The other one makes more sense, though. Reactive adaptation with a focus on combat – and my, my, my, what an impressive resume he has in that regard. All sorts of qualifications and certifications and rankings and so on.

Quite the list of teams he’s been on that have since disbanded, its members going on to join larger teams and so on. Only good things to be said about him and his past feats and exploits.

Nice upstanding young man with a bright future ahead of him, and he’d come here of all places.

Astounding.

Trevor sits back and stares at the photos and screen grabs Matt had included of the two of them.

The British one seems to stumble into trouble of one kind of another on a regular basis, from simple misunderstandings to God knows what. Has made headlines here and there, identity unconfirmed and all, but Matt knows what he’s about, and Trevor learned to trust his work a long time ago.

One Gavin Free who manages to pick his way clear of any trouble he finds, comes out on top with a cheeky little grin and maybe it’s down to his abilities, maybe not. (Definitely, yes, though, Trevor thinks. Too coincidental otherwise.)

Odd mix of powers Ryan has there, with these two. Mr. Diaz, yes, okay. Easy to explain away? But Mr. Free?

Most curious.

Makes no damn sense at all, but maybe Ryan’s just that desperate. (He called Trevor home, after all.)

Trevor’s phone buzzes, and when he checks it there’s a new message from Ryan asking to talk, and he has to applaud him for the timing of it.

Shuts his laptop down and heads out to this little meeting of his and isn’t at all surprised when a sleek black limo pulls up alongside him after a block.

Trevor gets in because it’s cold out, so close to winter. Ignores the look Ryan gives him as he rubs his hands together to warm them up because they aren’t kids anymore and it’s none of Ryan’s concern, now is it?

They drive along for a while without a word. Clearly no destination in mind, and Trevor starts to think maybe he should just bail before things get any more awkward?

But then Ryan starts talking. Telling Trevor that yes, alright, he’s made some missteps, Ryan has. Got too caught up in his grief over losing their parents, and there’s that little snap of anger again because understatement? (And when, oh when, was the last time Trevor heard him call them that with any kind of sincerity behind it instead of that seething resentment?)

But he doesn’t interrupt Ryan, no. Let’s him talk about his feelings and all, other mistakes he made. (The rift with his relationship with Trevor and so on.)

Trevor eyes him because Ryan sounds remorseful about it, but he’s a very good actor.

“Never thought I’d see the day you’d sponsor a team of supers,” he says.

Ryan may be smart enough not to voice his disdain for said teams and their ilk these days considering how popular they are with the public, but Trevor knows all about it, doesn’t he.

Heard the rants before he left, the way Ryan’s opinion of them did that sharp about face after their parents’ deaths, the way the city’s heroes didn’t lift a finger to help and so on and so on. How so many of them are chasing fame and glory and riches rather than out to do good. Cared more about their image, whether they’d get paid than doing what they were meant to. (Loyalty and the lack thereof.)

“Times change,” Ryan says, odd note to it as he watches the city blur by. “People change.”

Trevor snorts, but he can’t help but notice the limo driver seems to be headed somewhere now, not just driving aimlessly in circles. Glances at Ryan who is still focused on the view outside the limo and keeps his silence until they pull up to a building.

The one Ryan showed Trevor and the others in that little meeting earlier, because of course.

Ryan looks at Trevor then, head cocked, and Trevor doesn’t have a good reason not to follow him as Ryan gets out.

They go on a little tour of the building, Ryan showing him the amenities and whatnot, and they end up on one of the training areas. Obstacle course that takes up an entire floor. Must have cost a pretty penny and all -

“I could use your help,” Ryan says, sounding less like the blowhard Trevor remembers him as and more like the brother he grew up with. “Gavin and Alfredo have potential, but they need someone like you to keep them focused.”

Well that’s a bold-faced lie.

Trevor doesn’t know what Ryan’s up to with this team of his, but it’s definitely suspect.

“I doubt they’d appreciate working with someone who has a record like mine,” he says, half-hearted attempt at humor.

The Roosters aren’t as strict in their hiring practices as most teams, but even they would have thought twice about bringing someone like Trevor on board.

And Alfredo?

Well, no knowing his thoughts on the matter but his past teams were of the goody two-shoes sort.

Ryan laughs, mouth quirking as he glances at Trevor.

“You’d be surprised,” he says.

And.

Trevor stares at Ryan, all these reasons to say no in his head. Some are even valid, but truth be told Trevor’s a bit of an idiot.

“I guess we’ll see,” he says, and bites back a smile at the surprise he can just feel rolling off Ryan who was expecting more of a fight.

Anyway.

Trevor agrees to be the leader of this new team, moves what possessions he has at the motel to the team’s HQ and sets about putting things to order.

Is pleasantly surprised when Gavin and Alfredo show up a few days later. Gavin first and Alfredo a few hours behind him.

Gives them the same tour Ryan gave him and leaves them to pick out which living quarters they like as he wrangles paperwork. (Endless amounts of it involved in any sort of team.)

He gives them a few days to settle in, get comfortable with the place before he calls them together for a meeting. Tells them there’s a mandatory physical before they can begin training and then montage?

Trevor putting them through their paces starting with a standard obstacle course and moving on to the ones designed for supers to test their reflexes and response times and whatever else. Standard training exercises and Alfredo’s powers are super impressive, right?

Has Gavin all :DDDDDDDDDDD because it’s just real cool and Alfredo is aw, shucks about it because it’s just this thing he does?

Doesn’t even have conscious control of it half the time because ingrained training and instincts and reflexes and all that, but hey, thanks?

And Gavin is like, no, no, it’s really cool!

Trevor is just hmm because it’s nice to see them getting along, but most of the time Alfredo’s powers kick in because Gavin’s go a little haywire?

Sudden accidents and general bad luck, and Gavin deflates because yeah, okay.

There’s this whole thing where he may or may not have annoyed someone who has the sort of powers that could affect his when he was still with the Roosters?

Snap of their fingers when Gavin pushed them a little too much and Gavin’s good luck turns to shit. And since his powers extend to those nearby Things Happened around him.

It was supposed to be a temporary thing, just a few days and hopefully Gavin would have learned his less, but his former teammate got sucked into a long-term mission somewhere and it slipped their mind to fix Gavin’s powers before they left, and just.

There’s only so many times your luck can turn on you and those around you until it becomes a Problem. (Before someone gets hurt.)

Gavin felt he was being a bit of a burden on his team with his bad luck and all interfering in their heroing and was all :DDDDDDDDD as he told them he wanted to try working solo for a bit. Change of pace and all and somehow Ryan scooped up him for this team of theirs? (Guilt heavy in his chest for all the close calls his run of bad luck caused and lesson learned but that’s not enough to break that little jinx, is it?)

Trevor and Alfredo share a look because Gavin puts up a good front, but it’s clear the whole situation is affecting him, so.

“Well, we’ll just have to find a way to make that work in our favor then,” Trevor says, and Alfredo is totally on board and just.

Team Bonding?

Alfredo brings up the whole thing about being tired of working with all those gung-ho goody-good types?

Just.

Strict and close-minded and sometimes a little too religious about following the rules, and after his last team disbanded thought he’d try the solo thing for a while? See how that worked for him, and then Ryan popped up and hey, someone has to do something, right?

And Trevor is just.

Huh.

A little uncomfortable to admitting the whole Master Thief thing? But since they opened up he can’t do  any less.

Mentions the fact his parents were heroes – big names as that kind of thing goes – but he doesn’t name names. (Knows they’ll figure it out eventually if they stay in the city because hey, the press loves dragging their names up every now and then. Talking about the family drama that followed and so on and so forth., but figures that’s a Future Problem.)

There are more montage scenes where they continue to train, teamwork coming along nicely and friendships developing and such, and then!

One day Trevor’s out on a jog or walk and runs into this odd little figure.

Literally. (Well, almost literally.)

Glances down at his team communicator gadget on his wrist when it buzzes – Gavin with another of his   bizarre hypotheticals – and has to do this awkward little stop-stumble-shuffle to keep from running into this guy.

On the short side of things and this look on his face as Trevor comes to a flailing stop. Also -

“You’re being lied to.”

???

Trevor stares down at this stranger because cryptic much? And of course he has to follow him after that because clearly that’s the smart thing to do in such a situation?

They go over to a park bench where the guy brings out this bag of frozen peas and feeds the ducks that come over curiously hoping for food – and slides Trevor this look.

“Bread’s bad for them,” he says, defensive note to his voice.

(Because yes he is playing out a spy movie cliché while carrying a bag of frozen peas in your coat pocket, but at least he’s being conscientious about things.)

The guy tells Trevor he’s being lied to about Ryan’s little team, all these little stories and secrets about what’s really been happening and Trevor listens because of course he does. Files everything he’s being told away to double and triple check later with Matt and other contacts he still (hopefully) has around the city because he’s not stupid.

Still, what he’s being told does sound an awful lot like the Ryan he remembers, and it’s -

It doesn’t hurt, not that much anymore. Not like it did at the start of it all. Now it’s just this dull little pain, like a bruise you didn’t know you had until you put pressure on it or knock it against something. (Quiet, lingering thing.)

The guy ran out of peas a while back, but there are still a few ducks hanging around, occasional little quacks and other sounds out of them hoping the idiot humans will feed them again.

But no, no, because the guy tucks the empty bag into a coat pocket and wipes his hands on his pants before he gets up to leave. Gives Trevor this look – sympathetic and walks away.

Trevor looks down at one particularly persistent duck, greedy little fiend and tells it he might bring something for it the next day if the weather’s good and goes back to the base Ryan gave him and his odd little team.

Sits on all the information he was given for a few days until he heads over to see Matt, who is just this side of Done with Trevor’s nonsense regarding the doorbell ringing serenades.

“A gift to that shrine you seem to be building!” Trevor chirps, bright and cheerful as he shoves a bag of  collectibles and soon-to-be knickknacks that he couldn’t help notice Matt was missing on his earlier visit.

Matt sighs, because that’s what Matt does sometimes and Trevor doesn’t ask because he wouldn’t want to pry.

And then he asks Matt if he would mind looking into a few things for him?

Matt grumbles but hey, it’s almost impossible to find the collectibles Trevor brought him and it is Trevor, so.

“Fine, not like I had my hands full with other shit, but why not?”

Trevor beams at him and goes off to visit his other contacts around the city.

Gets back to HQ to find Alfredo and Gavin fucking around in one of the training rooms, Gavin laughing like an idiot as he snipes Alfredo with a Nerf gun? There are other similar weapons littering the area, and Trevor realizes they don’t know hes there, so he just.

Watches for a while.

Gavin coming up with ridiculous test scenarios and Alfredo agreeing or letting Gavin talk him into them and while it’s hardly scientific, there is some kind of method to their madness?

Sure, it’s mostly them goofing around, but it’s also weirdly productive? (Besides team bonding and the whatnot.)

And then Alfredo starts chasing Gavin for Revenge and Gavin almost runs into Trevor and it’s this oh, shit moment because the boss/team leader caught them goofing off?

(Trevor’s hardly been a terrible team leader to them, but there’s definite Distance between the three of them, feeling like the two of them have been forced on him and he’s not super duper keen about things, so. Yeah. Not sure how to read him and all that. Trust, sure, don’t really know which way he’d jump if things got rough.)

Alfredo rounding the corner all a-ha! Gotcha! And his oh shit moment when he sees Trevor.

Little standoff, Gavin backing up until he bumps into Alfredo who’s eyeing Trevor warily. (Wants to trust the asshole, right? But - )

Trevor smirks and pegs Gavin with one of the Nerf guns he picked up earlier and while Gavin and Alfredo are processing all that he pops Alfredo too.

Smirks, because he’s totally laughing at these two dorks, and challenges to best out of whatever, right?

Gavin and Alfredo share this look because ??? and Trevor feels guilty for not giving the two of them- his team – his all the way they deserved and hopes they’ll give him another chance and all that.

The three of them “train” for a while longer and Trevor realizes that yes, okay, they make for an odd team but Gavin and Alfredo aren’t that bad as people go and he puts more of himself into this Team thing.

Keeps running into the guy he met (not quite so literally) and getting cryptic bits of information from him about goings on and so forth.

And then there’s an attack on one of the company facilities the team gets called out to stop and things go about as you’d expect because they’re still not a team-team yet. Haven’t worked out the kinks in regards to teamwork and get in each other’s way. Come out of with minor injuries and property damage and nothing much to show for it.

Ryan isn’t pleased with the whole mess and Trevor steps up to shoulder the blame because he knows he’s not been the best team leader and so on and so forth. (Gets this look from Ryan who backs down easily enough and tells Trevor he hopes they’ll do better the next time there’s an attack and leaves to deal with the mess.)

Gavin and Alfredo just watching and realizing Trevor’s doing his best to do right by them so of course there’s bonding going on and all that.

Also, more training which means ~montage sequence~ and so on.

Trevor and meeting with Matt and his contacts and Mystery Duck-feeding Guy and all that.

And then!

Another attack, larger in scope and the Dusk Boys are holding their own for a while until some bruiser comes along and just. Flings them aside like annoying little flies.

Trevor getting back up in time to see Gavin about to get flattened, but then!

Then another hero type appears out of nowhere and takes care of the bruiser for them. Just bulls on in and takes all these hits before knocking the bastard out, and Trevor is just staring because its Mystery Duck-feeding Man. (Of course it is.)

The guy disappears before the authorities get there to clean up the mess from the fight, leaving Trevor and his team to deal with all of that, but Trevor is like HMM.

Lies about knowing who the guy that saved them was – this little pause from Gavin and Fredo because they know he’s lying, but they follow his lead when they’re questioned about it.

Things are quiet for a bit after that, Gavin and Fredo wanting to know what the deal is with their mystery savior and Trevor, but don’t want to alienate Trevor when they were just becoming a real team.

Ryan coming down to Talk to Trevor privately, seems troubled by the whole thing but Trevor lies to him too and Ryan -

Sighs and lets Trevor have his secrets and goes back to running the company and such.

And then!

More attacks and Trevor’s friend popping in to save them from time to time. Ryan popping in every so often and warning Trevor that things aren’t always what they seem and be careful who he trusts, which is a bit ironic, given the everything.

Matt and Trevor’s contacts get back to Trevor with the information he sent them hunting for and it’s enlightening, to say the least.

Goes to his suite at their little HQ and reads all about the shady things Ryan was rumored to be involved in before and after Trevor left to wander about willy-nilly.

Noted coolness towards the supers teams in the city, particularly towards the one their parents were once part of.

The way he had this focus on not quite replacing the hero teams in the city as being an auxiliary group for them? Providing support alternatives – so many villains and all that, teams can’t be everywhere.

Training programs for non-supers, gadgets they could use to suppress various powers and all this legal red-tape to wade through because talk about potential complications? (Whispers he might have take too much after his mother – first born and some never believed her heel-face turn was genuine. Just a ploy, and they’ve seen supervillains fake their deaths before. And, and, he’s always been a bit odd.)

Makes Trevor feel a little sick because it makes a terrible sort of sense – Ryan was so angry when their parents died. Even if the rumors about their mother faking her death are bullshit, Ryan’s feelings about that were never in doubt.

All this new information has him looking at Gavin and Alfredo in a new light. He doesn’t think they’re in on it, if Ryan’s up to something Nefarious, but maybe???

Before he can do anything about it, there’s another attack.

There have been so many, building up to something big, and this one takes place at the opening of one of those training facilities of Ryan’s for a private security force kind of thing. Most meant to look after the company’s interests, but contracts available to the city at large and all that.

City and law officials in attendance, instructors and investors, all that.

Ryan in a lovely little suit, and they get attacked.

Trevor was watching from a nearby roof, and Gavin and Alfredo are off…somewhere. (Day off and shenanigans to be had, you know.)

Trevor running before he knows it because they may not see eye-to-eye, but Ryan’s still Ryan.

Gets there in time to see the instructors and whatnot bundling the officials and reporters and whatnot off to safety. Realize that Ryan’s the target this time, and oh, what a time to be so unprepared.

No powers, just the training he’s got under his belt and all these dirty little tricks and this bastard of a supervillain who takes a hit like it’s nothing.

Full-face mask and something familiar to him – but he doesn’t get a lot of time to dwell on that because of all the fighting???

Anyway.

They keep fighting, Trevor doing his best to keep the bastard away from Ryan and the others who have sought shelter inside the facility, trying to reach the security center to put out a call for help and all. (In case people watching the live broadcast and all missed the commotion?)

The two of them are playing this cat and mouse game, Trevor ignoring the taunts being flung his way – bastard’s using a voice modulator so it’s extra creepy?

Uses little throwing knives and shuriken and the like because yes, and realizes after he ducks into hiding that the supervillain isn’t impervious because there’s some blood splattered around. Not enough to constitute a serious injury, but nice to know he’s not up against someone who isn’t even feeling any of Trevor’s attacks.

And then when the guy rushes him realizes he’s not just shaking off Trevor’s attacks, that he’s letting Trevor get hits on him so he can use his own blood to create armor???

Calls it up on his forearm to block or encases his hands with it when he attacks, sharp spikes that cut through Trevor’s clothes and the thin armor undersuit he always wears as a matter of habit? (Dangerous world out there, and even more so for someone in his line of work without powers of his own to speak of. The fact that the only armor undersuits Trevor trusts are made by the company Ryan’s run is just a coincidence, really.)

It’s kind of gross and impressive as hell – rare too, because (haha, not a joke) bloodlines and so on and this whole stigma of powers like that being mainly supervillainish?

And then!

The guy knocks him aside, tosses him through a display case or something and goes after Ryan and the others. Trevor struggling to get up, which is when Gavin and Alfredo show up – Dramatic Timing! - and he waves them on ahead because he’s not seriously hurt, okay.

Staggers after the two of them because can’t sit this one out and he’ll be fine in a bit, just needs to let his brain settle.

He follows the sound of fighting, gets to where the commotion is long enough to see Gavin’s bad luck kick in, see the little idiot get pinned under something and Alfredo rushing to his rescue and the supervillain go in for the kill.

Tosses out a normal little flashbang followed by a smoke grenade. (Has a pair of his special little goggles on because he’s no idiot and same principle behind the body armor and all? Like Batman only slightly less emotionally constipated.)

Turns out the supervillain’s face mask might have similar tech because he lunges out of the smoke at Trevor who grabs a bit of broken wood or something along those lines and swings out. Manages to crack the supervillain across the side of the face just so to dislodge the face mask. Twist it, bend it, whatever it’s broken/uncomfortable the bastard has to rip it off as he throws himself backwards just out of range.

Chest heaving and utterly furious and Trevor can’t do anything but stare, because he fucking well knows the asshole.

It’s Mystery Duck-feeding Guy!!!

This little stare-down until someone makes a noise – Gavin while Alfredo’s trying to pull him free – and  Mystery Duck-feeding Guy looks at them.

At Trevor.

Wipes one of his hands through the blood on his face thanks to the blow to the head from Trevor and Trevor watches as he forms this deadly little dagger out of it.

Sleek, elegant. Deadly looking.

Does the whole slow Evil Smile bit and goes for Trevor’s idiots like oh hey, not going to get Ryan today? Why not take out of the idiots he’s hired instead?

Trevor reacts without thinking because no, his idiots, and finds out first-hand that hey, wow, a blood-knife (ugh, gross) will go through the armor undersuit as easily as those damn blood spikes.

Also, he’s kind of stabbed. A lot? A lot.

He gets  Mystery Duck-feeding Guy all up in his personal space and glaring down at him like he didn’t want to do this, look what you made him do Trevor.

“I tried to warn you,” he says, and then he’s snarling again as Gavin and Alfredo double-team him, Trevor watching as they chase him off.

(Too much of a hassle to try for Ryan now, what with the sirens they can hear incoming and a pair of riled up supers. Missed opportunity and he’ll succeed next time.)

And then it’s Gavin and Alfredo rushing over to him, Ryan and the others who took shelter filtering out now the threat’s gone.

Ryan dropping down beside him and Trevor swears, swears, Ryan looks concerned. None of that careful distance, bland little smile he gives the media and just about everyone else to see now.

Might be the way he’s bleeding out, Alfredo doing his best to stop the bleeding and Gavin looking a little paler than normal trying to get him to focus, stay with them, c’mon you bastard.

All of Trevor’s blood insisting it wants out and he feels cold. (Winter’s coming on, though, so that’s probably it.)

Ryan makes this noise, awful to hear, and then he’s pushing Gavin out of the way – not angry, just like he’s in the way.

Says something to Alfredo Trevor doesn’t catch, and then he’s pressing down over the stab wound with those goddamned mitts of his, all these callouses he shouldn’t have anymore Trevor can feel, and cold.

Colder than the air outside, the chill in his bones seeping in as his blood goes out.

Something Trevor remembers from when they were kids, when their - Ryan’s - mom would tut over skinned knees and other small hurts.

Rest one of her hands over the injury and use her powers – dark, wrong everyone said, and only supervillains had powers like that – and made them go away. (This song she’d hum to distract from the sting of it, tissue and skin knitting back together.)

“Oh,” Trevor says, because it’s been a long, long time since Ryan’s used those powers he inherited, turned his back on the whole deal after their parents died. “Huh.”

…and then he passes the fuck out because he might not be actively dying, but he lost a lot of blood and also shock and the whatnot. (And y’know, Plot Reasons.)

Trevor wakes up in a hospital some time later and there’s this weight against his legs. Looks down and sees Gavin asleep in a chair with his head pillowed on his arms, elbows just brushing Trevor’s legs. (Can’t be in any way comfortable or good for his back, and Trevor totally doesn’t smile at the sight of it, no.)

He looks to his right when he hearts this little snorty-snore thing he definitely remembers fro way back when and Ryan’s in a chair beside his bed. Dozing off and looking awful the way he used to when he pushed himself too far.

It’s.

He doesn’t know what to make of that at the moment, or the odd chill he can still feel where he was stabbed - lingering almost tingly feeling of Ryan’s powers. (Ryan’s mother’s powers.)

“Hey,” Trevor hears, quiet enough not to wake Gavin or Ryan. “Congratulations on not being dead.”

Trevor blinks, because okay, yes. That is quite the accomplishment, and looks to the other side of the bed where Alfredo’s sitting.

Closer to the door, back straight and even with the lights turned down the way they are he can tell Alfredo looks tired.

“Thanks,” Trevor says, croaky little thing because his throat is dry and everything is kind of terrible. “I try.”

Alfredo hmms as though he’d very much like to dispute that but since Trevor probably looks as pathetic as he feels he lets him have that for the time being.

Alfredo fills him in on everything that happened after the whole passing out thing Trevor did. The police showing up along with the usual crowd of paramedics and all that, Ryan dealing with things and sending Alfredo and Gavin with Trevor while he dealt with the press.

Trevor side-eyeing the idiot in question because hey, yes.

Might be seen as a bit cold on his part, but he knows Ryan. How exhausted he would have been, “useless” if there was another attack and getting the three of them out of there while he did his best to appear in control of things.

Ryan wakes up just as Alfredo finishes catching Trevor up on things, has this look on his face like Trevor doesn’t even know, okay. (Some guilt to it, regret. Worry and concern, all sorts of things.)

“We’re, uh. Gonna leave you two to it, grab something to eat and all that” Alfredo says, shaking Gavin awake and pulling him out of the room so it’s Trevor and Ryan and their issues and all that.

Ryan clearing his throat because talk about subtle on Alfredo’s part, and then it’s Ryan’s turn to talk.

“I may not have been entirely…forthcoming with certain matters,” he says, which is an understatement.

Trevor is like “Oh? Do tell.”

So Ryan does.

This whole Thing that started after their parents died, all that anger and resentment he felt because he knew something was off about the explanation they were given?Their parents were members of the main hero team in the city and there was always this rift between the others members and them. They didn’t trust her after she gave up her villainous ways, resented her for ensnaring their leader’s affections and all, blinding him to “what she truly was” and all that.

So he stepped down as leader, let one of the others take over since they obviously felt his judgment was flawed. Stayed with the team for a while, few years, but it never got better.

They had Ryan and Trevor to think of, happy little blended family, (Ryan from his mother’s previous relationship and Trevor from his father’s) and the strain with the team had them considering retiring from the hero business altogether to raise their kids and all that?

Focus on using the company to good via charities and programs and so forth and so on to help others where possible.

But then the Incident with their mother’s former allies and a call for backup that went unanswered – too many conflicting accounts as to why.

An attack the rest of the team was dealing with elsewhere and no chance to send someone to help them.

Equipment jammed by baddies so they just never got the call. Other things along the same lines and this sense he got those were all lies  - feigned remorse and guilt and so on in news releases, at their parents’ funeral and everything after no one else seemed to notice? (Not even Trevor.)

And then he started looking into things, found indiscrepancies and such and thought there was something bigger to this. Loose end of a conspiracy he started working to untangle and when he realized the scope of it – hazy glimpse – he realized he needed to Get Trevor out of the line of fire?

(Typical kind of conspiracy, self-interest and greed. Deals made with the wrong people for the wrong reasons and blackmail? Worry that Ryan’s mom knew, might Do Something about it and better get her out of the picture before they were exposed. And her husband too, because he’d never rest if he thought   she was murdered for reasons other than the usual villainy.)

So he turned himself into a bastard, drove Trevor away and threw himself into taking over their parents’ projects with the company and untangling the conspiracy.

Didn’t like doing it of course, but better Trevor be far away from the mess instead of smack in the middle of it like Ryan was.

There were a few incidents here and there. Attempted assassinations and so on because the wrong people knew he was looking into things and the people close to Ryan insisting on a bodyguard, so in comes this bodyguard, right?

Bright, cheerful little asshole who sees right through Ryan’s cold bastard faced and befriends him, wins him over. Becomes a good friend, trusted confidante.

(Jeremy insisting on teaching Ryan to fight in case Jeremy’s not around or down for the count and Ryan being amused because look, okay.

His mother was a supervillain (reformed), and his father (step-father) was a superhero, and Ryan knows how to fight, but yeah, okay. Sure.

All these sparring matches with the usual shenanigans and Jeremy being all :DDDDDDDD at finding out Ryan can keep up with him and Ryan all >:D because vice versa)

“You would have liked him, I think,” Ryan says, sad little smile and all this hurt to it Trevor doesn’t quite understand.

But then Ryan keeps talking.

Tells Trevor about this one attempt on his life involving a super, and Jeremy – because of course it’s Jeremy – being forced to use his powers to save Ryan’s life and how scared he was afterwards.

Because, look.

That whole stigma about the blood armor/blood weapons thing he could do? Only villains have those kinds of powers and on and on and on because people are real, real dumb?

Jeremy lying and telling people he had some kind of kinetic energy absorption powers and all that when what he was creative use of his powers to protect/defend himself. (Took a lot of training to fool people like that, be so precise with it no one had noticed or realized.)

And Ryan okay.

He inherited is mother’s powers, ability to heal using darkness and all that. Their parents had kept it quiet because they knew how people were about that kind of thing, didn’t want him to be ostracized as a kid.

Told Ryan he could do what he wanted about it when he was older and his mother made sure he had control of his powers because it’s as easy to use them for harm. (And when he started on exposing this conspiracy decided it was best to act as though he didn’t have powers to speak of because reasons.)

Jeremy being all “Oh,” about it, and the two of them growing closer after that. (Trevor being ah at that part because he gets what that sad little smile was about now.)

And then!

Ryan bringing Jeremy in on the conspiracy thing of his and the two of them running across something big, something major.

Something that made someone panic, go after Ryan with intent, and Jeremy there to stop it.

Got grabbed, and the baddies knew he was important to Ryan, right? Were looking into Ryan as much as he was looking into them and oh, what a terrible thing to have a weakness like that, you know.

Because one of the baddies is a genius when it comes to brainwashing and they turn Jeremy against Ryan.

Take him and convince him Ryan’s the real enemy here, and Jeremy should do something about it.

So he does.

Goes after Ryan and this company he’s so proud of.

The two of them fight once or twice, Ryan reluctant to hurt Jeremy because he has this vague hope he can get through to him somehow and Jeremy using everything he can to hurt Ryan. (Scraps of memory of their friendship and almost something more they never quite got around to putting into words because idiots. Wore him down, broke his heart.)

And then people got hurt and Ryan -

He didn’t know what to do. Knew Jeremy needed to be stopped – for the innocents being pulled into this mess. For Jeremy himself, even if he never knows why.

But he doesn’t know who to trust, can’t trust the main hero team. Isn’t sure about the others in the city or the cops.

Looks into independents, and finds out about Gavin. Alfredo.

Thinks hmm, and maybe, and realizes they need a leader. Only really one person he’d trust, and all this time spent trying to come up with an alternative because he doesn’t want Trevor anywhere near this mess, you know? Went to extremes to make sure he wasn’t involved in the first place, and now with the Jeremy Thing -

But he doesn’t have a lot of choice in the end. (Trevor’s the only one he can trust to do what needs to be done because Ryan is well and truly compromised, and wow, wow. Don’t think he doesn’t feel guilty about putting that on Trevor without telling him why, but he’s at the end of his rope.)

So he calls Trevor home, and lies to him about things. (Nothing new there, and the guilt about that cuts the way it usually does, because he cares about his idiot of a brother that much.)

And then!

And then he thinks there’s a chance it won’t end in disaster when he gets Trevor’s reports about the team working well together. About their training and settling in to things. The way Trevor seems not to hate him as much as he used to. (It’s what Ryan wanted, after all, right? To keep him safe, and Jesus Christ, that’s a fucked up kind of reasoning.)

But then he hears about Trevor meeting with this strange little man – Matt and other contacts – and he Worries.

Tries to talk to Trevor about it but Ryan’s not the only one who learned to guard their secrets.

And then the latest attack and Trevor and Ryan not giving a fuck about keeping his powers a secret. (Also, you know, explanations long overdue.)

Trevor just stares at Ryan who’s looking down at his hands waiting for his reaction.

“My God,” Trevor says. “You really are just that stupid, aren’t you?”

Ryan flinching because look, harsh if not untrue.

Trevor hugging the idiot with this ache in his chest because goddamn is Ryan stupid trying to take all that on by himself.

(Angry too, because he didn’t need to do any of that on his own. Sure, Trevor doesn’t have powers, but he’s hardly helpless. And the lies, good God the lies. Gonna be a long way to good between the two of them with all that, but at least there’s a chance there now that Trevor knows what the hell has been going on with Ryan all this time.)

Alfredo and Gavin come back and Ryan fills them in too, tells them they understand if they want to quit the team after that. (Lies being no way to base any kind of relationship on and all, even a working one.)

Trevor stays quiet, lets them make their own decisions, which you know.

They’re shaken by the Conspiracy Thing, but of course they’re going to stay, because friendship. (And Doing the Right Thing.)

And then, you know.

Long, long fight ahead of them trying to pin Jeremy down.

That time he and Ryan end up trapped together somewhere and forced to work together to get out of the situation?

Ryan trying to get through to him even though Jeremy thinks he’s the literal worst?

The time Trevor, Gavin, and Alfredo end up stranded somewhere with one of them seriously injured and are forced to realize oh, no FEELINGS. (Ryan laughing at them because he saw that one coming a mile away, and happy because Trevor’s happy???)

Baddies getting tired of Jeremy just not killing Ryan (there was this one time he kind of did, but Ryan got better, and Jeremy’s brainwashing cracking before Ryan got better because what is this emotion he’s feeling as he stares at Ryan’s body???) so they take matters into their own hands and Jeremy forced to work with the Dusk Boys to protect Ryan.

And then you know, Climactic Battle where Jeremy’s given the choice to kill Ryan or turn on the baddies and decides to save Ryan. (Hasn’t broken the brainwashing, but over time he’s come to realize the baddies aren’t telling him everything? And in spite of their many battles and the whatnot Ryan and the Dusk Boys never tried to kill him, okay. Stop him, sure. Kill? No.)

After the dust clears and the Conspiracy exposed, all guilty parties behind bars or whatever, Jeremy’s still not back to himself, but he doesn’t have reason to be a villain anymore.

(Also, they find out there’s no way to reverse the brainwashing, so there’s that little bombshell.)

But he also needs to Think, so he disappears for a while. Gets bits and pieces of memory back, enough to know his head’s all fucked up and wanders for a bit more coming to terms with that. (The feelings he has for Ryan – conflicting and confusing as hell and he doesn’t know what he wants there either, so even more wandering because of course.)

Eventually he heads back home because he’s tired and still confused, but he’s not going to find his answers wherever he’s been roaming around.

Stays under the radar for a bit, long enough to find out the Dusk Boys are making a name for themselves in the city. That Ryan’s company is going strong, all these programs and such doing a lot of good for the people here.

The main hero team has disbanded, a new one taking their place and new faces. New villains too.

Kind of laughs at himself when he goes to help the Dusk Boys out in a fight, and sees their surprise, hesitation – not sure what he’s doing back or helping them? - but they shake off any concerns they have about that because civilians in danger!!1!

Afterwards they drag him back to their base (he doesn’t put up much of a fight on that one) and call Ryan up and it’s this.

Thing.

Because Ryan’s surprise at seeing him again. And this. Jeremy won’t call it hope at seeing him with the others, because Ryan locks it down so fucking fast, but it’s something that makes him think he made the right call in coming back?

After that Jeremy sticks to himself – still working things out, trying to shake the brainwashing that’s more of a curtain between Now Him and Before Him instead of what it was in the beginning. (This burning jagged thing in his head, wrong, but he could never understand how or why.)

Trevor hints that Ryan could use a bodyguard – with the main baddies gone you wouldn’t think he needs one? But he’s a super duper tempting target and he’s got business enemies too. (Also, also, known supporter/creator of the Dusk Boys so their enemies will be going after him, which lol.)

Jeremy isn’t so sure about it what with doing his best to kill Ryan all those times? And Ryan is like. He doesn’t want to put Jeremy in a difficult spot, but!

There’s an attempt on Ryan’s life and Jeremy protects him without a second thought and oh, hey, okay. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst possible thing?

Jeremy chips away at the brainwashing the longer he’s around Ryan, remembers how things used to be between them in little glimpses and so on. (No way to break it, but without the person responsible for it reinforcing/refreshing it/whatevering it around, it weakens over time.)

They fall into old habits that has Ryan all ow, my heart at how familiar it is, and Jeremy all feelings???

Ryan doesn’t push, doesn’t want to hope, but Now Jeremy is so similar to Before Jeremy and he forgets sometimes.

Brings up in-jokes and so on that feel so familiar to Jeremy and he’s not sure why? (He is, he just doesn’t get the context.)

Ryan always apologizes and Jeremy always tells him he doesn’t need to and it’s awkward between them.

But then ~FEELINGS and the start of something new between them because Ryan isn’t expecting anything from Jeremy and Jeremy comes to respect Ryan – to like him.

And just.

Angsty hurty bittersweet feels for them as they fall in love a second time, because I’m That Person.

And then, you know.

Happily(ish) ever afters for everyone???

[grimmseye]

A Little Evil — Chapter Two

Read on Ao3

How Venomous gets his favorite minion. 

Chapter Warnings: Violence (specifically against a child. Many people get hurt in this chapter). Negative Zones are run by villains and don’t have good moral standards. 

-----

The Meeting

He is six months into his quest to engineer the perfect minion. 

Six months is a longer struggle than he’s faced in a long, long while. Ordinarily a challenge would be exhilarating, something to finally pour some passion into. He craves anything that would occupy his mind, but for once the challenge is unwelcome. Venomous has made no progress. 

Rats, cats, birds, lizards, snakes, plants, a few dozen other bases, all have amounted to a waste of time and resources. He’d even taken humanoid embryos to treat, but none of them survived a few days out of their tanks. They didn’t exhibit the necessary sophistication and were duly discarded, or their organs began to shut down, their cognitive functioning regressed. Nothing was working. 

Venomous, apparently, still lacks the ability to create life with just his own hands. The moment he starts toying with strands of DNA, programming nonlethal viruses to rewrite the genetic codes in every last cell, something goes horribly wrong. 

He’s probably going to end up disposing of yet another half-grown creature tomorrow. Somehow, the thing’s cells managed to induce the virus’ lytic cycle, and its cardiac cells are rapidly lysing at this moment. Another failure amid all of its predecessors, and this marks a brand new problem for him to decipher. 

It isn’t working. He’s hit a roadblock. Can’t make his powers stronger, can’t bring them back, can’t even build his own minion from scratch. All his failures have compounded to him having no powers and no strength and no friends and no name and no no no fucking nothing — 

Venomous snarls to himself, grimacing down at the sidewalk. He’s tired of venturing into these negative zones. The next villain to try to jump him is going to be on the receiving end of his newest creation — the result of octopus tentacles treated with special steroids and given an independent neural network. Given the right stimulation, they grab, crush, and tear whatever is in their grasp — the more struggling and screaming, the more aggression behind each move. 

The thought makes him smile and give a soft laugh. That would be fun. He hopes someone might try it now. He just needs to determine how to clearly exude both weak and wealthy to lure someone — 

The thought is interrupted by a sudden scream of pain. It’s a common sound here, and Venomous doesn’t so much as bat an eye while continuing down the block. What does catch his attention, though, is the cacophany that follows — shouts, angry, “Get that fucking brat!” 

A kid? His eyebrows rise. Venomous veers towards the noise instead of away, telling himself it’s idle curiosity. Maybe something opportunistic rearing its head, yes, that’s it. He can always use more humanoid blood samples. An impromptu spinal tap may be in order as well. 

He saunters around the perimeter of a large building — some kind of laboratory, though its exact field isn’t clear from the outside. There’s an undignified yelp, a man screaming “ I can’t fucking see!” in a way that suggests he may have just lost an eye. Venomous feels a smile creep over his mouth and kicks up the pace, very much wanting to see the carnage now. 

There’s a high-pitched, furious shriek that splits the air, all senseless noise. It nearly drowns out the bellow of “I’m gonna break your fucking neck!” 

The screaming is suddenly choked off. Venomous rounds the corner. 

Out here is what seems to be a collection of guards wrangling a small child. A shock of white fur and washed-out pink hair is flailing in one’s grasp, a hand closed around her neck. Squeeze too tight, and those tiny vertebrae would crack. 

Now, Venomous is probably certifiably evil at this point, may even show up on a POW card of his own soon, but he’s not a monster. Kids can be put down, knocked aside, those rookie heroes need to be driven back from the scene before they get any significant power. But he’s never had patience for those who go too far. World domination sounds lovely, but there is a line. 

Venomous pulls a ball out of his pocket and a bottle of water, dousing the dark-green orb. When he feels its smooth exterior start to squirm, undulating in his grip, he gives it an underhand toss. It sails over the heads of these goons in a smooth arc, bouncing twice on the concrete before erupting into a mass of tendrils. 

Shrieks ring out. Venomous strolls forward, lifting his palm to his mouth to sink his sharpened teeth into the meat of it. Blood bursts around his fangs and pools over his skin. Most of the goons are lucky enough to tear themselves away with little more than some bruises, maybe a sprained ankle or a dislocated arm as the tentacles try to seize their prey. Two get caught in the thick of it, a series of cracks sounding amid their wails of pain as their legs are engulfed and constricted. 

He’s not necessarily a sadist, but he can appreciate someone getting their just desserts. Attempting to murder a child — that’s far beyond villainy. 

And speaking of the child. She drops, not even enough breath to scream. Venomous breaks into a jog before his creation can seize a new thing to break, casting his wounded hand out in front of himself. The taste of his blood has the tendrils calming and parting for him, letting him pick his way through without complaint so he can scoop the creature up out of harm’s way. 

She’s tiny. Fits into the crook of his arm, her white fur stained bright red around his mouth and paws. Her breath comes shallow and quick, face pinched in abject terror. As Venomous extracts himself from the tendrils, leaving them to finish off their prey, red eyes snap open. Albino, then. 

She squeaks, and then bares her teeth. Before she can try to bite, Venomous pushes her head down, fingers safely tucked away from her mouth. “None of that,” he scolds. “I just saved you, you shouldn’t be so rude.” 

“Down!” She screams — or tries to. Her voice is cracked, and the sound makes her gasp and cough. A frown pulls at Venomous’ mouth. 

“Shhhh,” he soothes, kneeling down. The last of the screams have been smothered at last, leaving them in blessed quiet. Those out on the street are likely and rightfully minding their own business. “You’re bruised at a minimum, don’t strain anything. That was very impressive though, kid. A bunch of tough grown-ups, and you send them screaming.” 

Even in her exhausted, terrified, angry state, that gets a smile cracking briefly over her mouth. Venomous chuckles at her weary glee. He sets the child down in front of himself, remaining on his knees. He supposes this is it, then. His heroics for the day are over — he has places to be. 

The child rubs her throat with a paw, wincing. “Why’d you do that?” she croaks. Her eyes narrow, mouth stretching into a sneer. “You a hero?” 

Venomous gives a faint shrug. “Nah, not a hero. But those guys were just…” He pondered the right explanation. “... the kind of people I really wanted to see suffer.” 

Her eyes go wide. Not fear, as he might have expected. They’re shining. 

It’s a look he hasn’t faced since the death of Laserblast. Something curls in his chest, not a bad thing. 

He tamps it down, clearing his throat and getting to his feet. “Well,” he says, awkward. “... Bye.” 

Venomous turns to head back onto the main drag, hands sliding into his pockets. He needs to pick up a new shipment of illicit materials if he doesn’t want his next commission to be late. Someday he’ll figure out how to get shipments into the neutral zone, but until then it’s regular flights here and doing the smuggling himself. 

He’s two blocks down when he realizes he’s being followed. There’s a soft, “Watch it, brat,” that catches his ear. Venomous halts, head swinging, just in time to catch the little rat child ducking behind a newspaper dispenser. 

Oh hell no. 

A frown twists his mouth as he picks up the pace, crossing another street (no actual signals, just firing a laser gun into the road until the vehicles stop trying to hit pedestrians). He turns his head. There she is, pretending to study a sign. Another block down. Turn. She ducks into an alleyway. 

Venomous grimaces. He could just ignore her. She could follow him all she wants, eventually he’ll just get on a plane and she’ll be out of his hair.

Something has him pacing back towards her. He comes to the break between buildings, finding the alley she’d ducked into. There’s a dumpster back here, open — and a frizz of matted pink hair peeking over the rim. 

It twitches as he comes closer. “What are you doing,” he drags out, watching the fluff jump before her head pokes up. 

“Nothin’,” she rasps, glaring as though to dare him to argue. She clutches a tattered-looking doll in her arms. Doll is generous. It seems to be scrapped together from garbage. 

“Following me, you mean,” Venomous corrects. 

“Nuh-uh,” she shakes her head, or tries to before even that little movement makes her wince. She glares at him. Venomous stares back. He raises an eyebrow, their gazes locked for several moments before she cracks. Stubborn. Brave. 

“Fine!” She spits. “I wanna see you — you’re strong! I wanna be strong. Then no one’ll mess with —” She gasps and breaks into a coughing fit. It looks agonizing, her paw clutching her throat and her eyes brimming with tears when she’s finally able to wrangle it into control. 

She’s got spirit. She’s a fierce little beast. She’s smart enough to speak coherently when he’s certain she’s had no formal education. She follows him for the purpose of observation, learning.

Venomous gets an idea. 

“... Okay,” he says, already feeling like he’s going to regret this. “Tell you what, kid. I’ve been needing a minion.”

Her eyes narrow, but she inclines her head for him to continue. He smiles as he says, “You want to learn how to be like me? Come with me. I’ll teach you everything you want to learn. How to read, write,” she makes a face and he changes his tune, “and just how hard a big man can fall.”

Something shifts in her hair. He wonders if she has ears to match her whiskers and tail. There’s that glimmer in her eyes, but it hardens again, glowering at him. Distrust. Clever, too. “What d’you get outta it?” 

“A minion,” Venomous says, and shrugs. “Someone to help in the lab. And look at me,” he gestures to his skinny frame. “If a big guy grabs me, and I can’t reach my weapons? I need someone to save me.”

And that’s what seems to do it. The mistrust melts out of her face. She’s just a little kid, after all. She’s exhausted, hurt, scared. Venomous offers a hand, even if his skin crawls looking at the garbage she’s perching in. “So — what do you say, kid?” 

She stares at his hand, at his face. A smile cracks across her mouth. Her eyes are glossy, and he does not know what to do if she cries. But her paw clasps his hand and she beams, voice hoarse and shaking as she says, “You’ve got a deal, boss.”

[nerdydork]

Tag 8 Facts- Alistair Glomgold and Jonah Dove

So on Devianart, I’ve been tag four times from my two accounts. Since two of them are about my ducktales ocs (Though I never showed them on here) I thought, ‘Hey why not place this tag on here and tag some of my tumblr friends so they can join the fun’ So here is Alistair Glomgold and Jonah Dove 8 fact Rules - Post all rules - Post 8 facts about your character - Tag 8 other people - Post the characters’ names with their owners

*~*Alistair Glomgold*~*

1 Alistair Glomgold is the son of Flinthart Glomgold. The reason behind Glomgold’s plan of having any sorts of family was sort of a show off to Scrooge ( Example ‘Hey scrooge, you only got nieces, nephews and grandnephews, but I got real family. I have a son and grandkids! Ha!’) So in reality Alistair view him and his family existence was because of Glomgold’s need to better than Scrooge. However, he doesn’t let that effect his life.

2 Alistair is an inventor. At a young age he was creating his own gadgets to help him with his day to day life, becoming proud of all his inventions to help better life. However, his grandfather Glomgold, took his inventions to use as weapons against Scrooge without knowing what they’re suppose to do.

3 When Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby first met Alistair, they though he would be a copy like Glomgold, a rival..but in reality, seeing how Alistair would act ashamed of his grandfather’s actions and even tells Glomgold to stop or it won’t work. That was when the kids realize Alistair was normal and no way a rival but a cool kid to be around.

4 Flintheart may not be Scottish, but Alistair sure is. His father was born in Scotland, his mother was born and raise there. And Alistair was born there and for a short period of time was raised in Scotland thus making him a true Scottish Duck!

5 Later in Alistair’s life he ends up working for S.H.U.S.H as someone who creates gadgets and little inventions for missions. 6 Alistair actually ends up marrying a girl named Bonnie ( @doodles-delights​  ) who use to work for F.O.W.L 7 This boy loves Jazz music. It’s his favourite type. He listens to when inventing and because of his love for it, he learned how to play the saxophone. 8 Alistair is a workaholic and very anti-social. With the anti-social it’s not that he’s rude, that’s not the case. It’s more so that he prefers to avoid talking and socializing. It’s not his scene thus making him more so a hermit. He’s very ingulf with his work that he doesn’t realize that beauty of life and enjoying the moment… because of this it could become a big downfall in his life if he’s not careful *Bonus in the future when Alistair has his second child, he felt like he was a pro at this and didn’t need any help. There was one major slip up, he lost the egg in the store but he found it..but Bonnie doesn’t know that..shhhh. *~* Jonah Dove *~* 1 Jonah doesn’t meet Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby..or any canon characters until highschool. Much like Pearl, his story is more so meant for the kids as teenagers/highschoolers. 2 This boy species is a white dove, but that’s not all. His first name Jonah, means dove! Heh his name all around means exactly what his species is. 3 Jonah is very much the typical smart yet dorky character. As my friend @doodles-delights​ would say ‘Just like Peter Parker’ ((haha Spider-Dove)) 4 After his final year of highschool, he ends up moving to Australia with his family. Sadly for him and April Von Drake (  @doodles-delights​) it meant their relationship broke off ((they did try for a while but it wasn’t going so well after several months) 5 Jonah background is Greek and Turkish. He knows how to speak a little Greek and Turkish. Just enough to hold a conversation but nothing more. 6 In Jonah’s future (as an adult) he ends up having three biological kids ( Cole, Jem- first wife, Corella|   Annabelle- Second wife April  @doodles-delights​  ) and two stepchildren Nathan and Danny (April’s son  @doodles-delights​ ) 7 Speaking of Jonah’s future. He has two wives. The first one with a Cockatoo name Corella from Australia. It ended with a divorce due to…certain subjects, which he gain full custody over his children and moved back to Duckburg to married to his old highschool love, April Von Drake ( @doodles-delights​ ) 8 Jonah may not be an inventor but he loves to build things. Ever since he was a child he would play with legos or blocks and build little buildings and such. Once entering highschool he join the robotics. Tagging (optional) Ash De Spell Chen- @webby-dings​ Faith Timberwolf - @creative-draws-stuff​ Travis Downfeather- @doodles-delights​ Lula Berglin- @lelula1​ Angel Willows- @petras-crazy-cartoon-world​ Pippi or Cynthia- @icenicemice​ Dixie- @theneonbunny Isa- @jojo-draws8 Brayden- @brooke-quackery-draws

[symphonic--chaos]

Empires of Brick and Blood Chapter 3 - Currere Rating: PG-13 This chapter is set to the song: Rev 22:20 - Puscifer

Also posted on AO3

Being hidden away was something that Bane had been used to his entire life. Since he was born, since the plague hit, the day his adoptive parents died to it, while he dealt drugs in the alley, and even when his real parents died. Always out of sight, always out of mind. He was taught it was always smart this way, it was the best way to keep attention off of yourself, to become part of the shadows where you were safe. Though, once he’d lost everyone, he decided there was no reason to hide anymore. Who was he going to live for anyway? “Who’s she?” He asked quietly, pointing a finger at the woman in the old photograph with his free hand. Bodies lay all over his bed, most asleep, but some were idly enjoying their high and staring at walls and the ceiling, or listening to the two at the head of the bed. “My great grandmother, Cat. She was a lot like me according to my mom, she said I look just like her.” “You do, sweetpea. You could both be twins,” Bane’s hand lifted from its spot on her shoulder to ruffle her bright blue hair, his lips meeting her forehead in a loving kiss. “That why you dyed your hair blue? To match her?” Her smile told him he was correct and he gave her a wink before looking down at the…one, two, three, four, five- five bodies on his bed. “Have we found homes, yet?”

“Mm, yeah, but they’re all worried Alec is gonna find them, looking for you.” Bane’s brows furrowed at that, his teeth catching his bottom lip and nibbling there in thought. It had been seven months of avoiding the eldest Lightwood sibling, he was tired of running, he was tired of having to plan his every move and hiding space. Alec certainly had become a pain in the ass, literally and… The hand around his throat held him up against the wall, their panting and moans echoing against the empty alley walls. The lack of blood flow was sending his mind into the sweetest natural high and his smile had gone from teasing amusement to sheer pleasure, only added to by the way Alec had angled his hips. Teeth were biting into his shoulder and he could feel every single wave of anger emanating off the taller man, the frustration and irritation with what they’d somehow come to doing when no one was watching. His teasing and flirting, his daring steps to even touch Alec in a way that someone trying to pet a potentially vicious dog and ready to move away had been accepted on a day that was just right. Alec had been in a mood, and it wasn’t the normal mood that would have ended in Bane’s death. As the hand moved down to join the other in gripping his hips, he could feel the bruises already forming and Alec was telling him how much he hated him, how he– “Bane?” He snapped out of his thoughts and cleared his throat, looking over to Alissa with an apologetic smile. Lost in his thoughts again, though he knew that she was aware he did it often. “Yeah, I’m here. Let’s wake them up and get some food into them, okay? Jacob dropped off some bags with clothes, have them take showers and get changed, we’ll wash their clothes up.” “You’re too good for us all, you know that?” Alissa said after looking up at him for a beat, her lips forming a soft smile. “Most people wouldn’t take in us ‘strays’ and get us back on our feet, but you took that risk.” “Sometimes we all need to take risks if it means making this shithole a better place. There’s just different approaches from everyone, and one single end-goal.” Another kiss was pressed to her forehead before Bane slid off the bed, his own words resonating in his mind. Even if it meant sacrifices and risks, there were people all over this city that wanted nothing but the best to see it all turn around, to bring a true change for good. Alissa was working hard on helping him round up the addicts that needed help the most, letting them crash in his place or finding them somewhere else to sleep, all while they worked on finding them jobs and homes. Jacob was taking in his own strays, all dogs though, and training them to be companion animals to those that needed it, mostly those mentally affected but not consumed by the plague. Izzy was stealing Zydrate from her own family’s labs to help Magnus, keeping him company and, most importantly, keeping him sane; showing him the meaning of a best friend while he worked his ‘magic’ on the drug to make it so it wasn’t addictive and not only gave the high, but healed people inside and out, as well. ~10 years ago~ “Bane? Why Bane?” “Why not Bane? You came up with a fake name of your own, I can go by whatever I want to.” The boys mother looked at him skeptically, his returned gaze challenging her to really pick something wrong with it when the name she went by was false as well. “It’s just so… negative…” “It’s mine now, so let’s go with it, Niida.” A sigh of defeat paired with a triumphant smile, which only faltered when her long arms wrapped around him and pulled him into a tight embrace. Bane knew she was just being motherly, wanting the best for her only child while they played keep away from the Largo’s and the Repo men that hunted the city for anyone on their ‘unpaid’ list. This was the case when it came to several members of their family- his mothers lungs, his fathers kidney, and, much to the corporations dismay, the device that kept his own heart beating. A replacement heart wasn’t something he’d wanted, it was fake to him, something that would take away who he was. If he had someone else’s heart, the one he had, which his mother told him was so big and full of love, would be obsolete. Bane would cease to be himself and he feared being someone cold and vicious like the men in masks that haunted their streets. “Your boobs are smothering me,” came the muffled complaint after succumbing to the hug to have her moment, his hands flailing behind her in slight panic. “Shhhh, just accept it, go to sleep.” Both laughed as he managed to yank himself away with a muttered 'You crazy bitch!’, her eyes glinting with the same playfulness that was always in his own. Her hands shot out to grab him again and, with a quick duck, Bane was skirting away and making a quick exit out of their home with a wave behind him`. “Go find your father for your training! He’ll be pissed if you don’t, and you remember the last time you pissed him off!” The call came from the window right as the jingle of her comm announced she was getting a call, no doubt from whoever her employer was. They were always bothering her day and night, something she passed off by saying 'The life of a nurse will always be busy.’ “Yeah, yeah, go find him so he can kick my ass again…” Bane muttered as he tugged his long dark brown hair up and into a low, messy ponytail, his hood soon pulled over his head as well. His father meant well in training him how to fight, but sometimes he just didn’t know when to stop pushing so hard and it wound up in both being frustrated at each other. It was never something that lasted longer than a day, Bane’s mother made sure of that, usually scolding one or both of them in the end. “Sometimes the toughest people just need to be reminded that not everyone is bad. Bad at doing something, being a certain way, or just a bad person in general. Trust is a really, really tough thing to come across lately. All you can do is ask that your father gives you a chance to prove that you’re trying.” ~2 months ago~ “Listen, before you kill me, hear me out, okay? I need to give you something.” The grunt was full of desperation, Alec’s hand tightening around Bane’s throat as he was pinned against the crumbling brick wall of an abandoned building. Through the triumph laced anger in Alec’s eyes, Bane could see a curiosity there, since he wasn’t flirting with him like normal. Bane’s hand tightened around the wrist holding his neck as he tried tugging it off, taking in a deep breath as it finally gave way and Alec released him. It stayed close, Bane noticed, though he couldn’t blame him considering all the times he’d run and the months spent chasing him. Bane’s hand went into his pocket, producing a small, dark blue vial of the Zydrate he’d been working on and he handed it to Alec with some hesitance. Alec’s face said it all when he saw the vial, the irritation and impatience over Bane probably trying to distract him with the drugs he peddled on the streets. When the eldest Lightwood’s lips parted to deny the vial, his hand coming up to push it away, Bane lifted his free hand and sighed. “It’s not me trying to give you drugs. You have one of my people in your prisons. He’s hurt and he’s an addict. This is … Zydrate that’s been modified by me. I’ve been working on changing its composition to heal. Injuries, addiction, all while they get their high and don’t know any better.” Alec’s face had gone from irritation to disbelief, but not the one Bane would have hoped for. “Bullshit. You want me to believe you of all people can change something like that? You’re a dealer, not a scientist.” “I’m serious,” Bane near growled as his eyes narrowed, “I’m not a scientist, I just… I can do things. I’m uh…” He felt nervous suddenly, but still he lifted his hand to brush his bangs aside, revealing the cat-like pupil beneath. Alec stepped back quickly, his hand going to the prod at his side, ready to defend himself even if realistically he knew that if Bane were rabid, he would have attacked months ago. How could he have not noticed it before? His mind raced as he thought of all the times he’d caught Bane, of any times his hair had shifted. There’d been an eyepatch quite a few times, and other times the eye had been closed when exposed or solely covered by his hair. The threat was still there to him, he knew that those with the plague had something wrong with him, and Alec was in no position or will to believe it was solely Bane’s eye. “I don’t know how I can do it, but I’m able to adjust and gather energy to change the air around me, change the compositions of different things and… I don’t know what it is. I didn’t ask for it, I almost lost my life unwillingly receiving it. I didn’t want it until I realized I could do this, and that I could help people. I made the best out of the worst.” Bane took a deep breath and stepped forward, offering up the vial again as he kept his other hand up in a sign of defeat. This time, Alec didn’t step back, though his hand stayed on the prod. “Give this to him. He had agreed to let me test it on him before you caught him. He’ll need more and I have more to give. Three vials, one week. That’s all I’m asking. If he shows no signs of changing, I will turn myself in and you can do whatever you want. I don’t go back on my promises, I always keep my word.” The simplest thing to do would have been to say 'No.’ Alec had every chance to take him, cuff him, throw him into a cell and dust his hands of Bane, but in the back of his mind, the words 'he is the key’ resonated. No matter how much he tried to shake the thought off, it repeated over and over, until it was all he could focus on, like someone was there in his mind with a megaphone, shouting it. “Fine! Fine.” Alec nearly shouted, startling Bane, who took a small step back with a raised brow. “Give me that.” The vial was taken and inspected as an irritated sigh, the taller man’s gaze rising to stare Bane down. Bane was standing straight, staring him in the eyes with confidence and Alec resolved to taking his word for it… for now. “One week, unless he dies. Then I will send every last person I have after you.” ~ A week passed and for once, Bane hadn’t run. He had seen Alec walking the street with his crew of 'cleaners’, and for the first time in those 5 months, he approached Alec. The two times before had been hesitant drop off’s in a rather rough pass by, one that left his shoulder aching even now. Alec caught sight of Bane and seemed surprised that he would approach like this, but once he’d sent the guards down different directions, he headed towards the alley Bane usually frequented. “Did it work?” Bane asked eagerly as he approached Alec, his arms crossed over his chest as if it would stop his heart from hammering inside of it. 'Please, please work.’ he thought to himself. Alec was silent for longer than Bane would have liked as he weighed out the options of continuing to get this altered drug on the downlow, behind his parents back, or to just arrest Bane and have them force the fix out of him. Did he take the route that he would have chosen, put aside a grudge that was forced into him by his father and risk everything to work with someone who actually gave as much of a shit about the city as he did, or would he be his father? “It worked. If you want to stay out of the cell, you’re going to need to either tell us what you did to it, or give us more.” Bane could have danced, yelled, celebrated in every way possible, but he contained it all sans the bright smile that crossed his face. Alec was caught off guard by it, his pacing paused as he stared at Bane, a strange feeling stirring in him. Maybe he was getting sick. “I can get you more. Izzy–” Bane stopped suddenly as he grimaced. Alec knew that Bane was who his sister was always spending time with, going to clubs and joyrides in the middle of the night, but Bane still felt bad ratting her out, even if accidentally. “Bella has been stealing you Zydrate. I know.” Alec took a deep breath and tilted his head, first this way then that, a solid crack coming with each one. “I’ll get you some as well. You tell no one what we’re doing, do you understand? If my father catches wind, he’ll kill both of us. He doesn’t give a shit about this city, he cares about the power and the money that comes with the job.” “Bella?” Bane asked, his face screwing up in confusion. “You call her Bella?” “I-” Alec looked frustrated then before shaking his head, “Not for her name, for the literal term. It’s been a thing since we were younger.” “Bella?” Bane asked again, laughing when Alec shoved him. “It’s kind of cute. Thanks for letting me in on your little secret. If you get me more, I can make more, and I know people that really, really need it. If you can help me help them, I can get them off the drugs, off the streets. That’s less for you to worry about, and more responsible people to pay you back. Deal?” “…Deal.” ~Now~ Bane could feel the heat moving through his body and to his hand, a faint glow of blue beginning to spread like a fire beginning to take hold of kindling, growing until it reached the light blue vial and turned it a darker blue. Smoke rose from the lid of the container as he placed it down in the small box it came from. The next vial was removed and his magic worked on it, then the next, and the next sixteen after that. By the time he’d finished he was damn near drained and he closed the lid of the box, flopping back onto the couch behind him with a lack of his normal grace. He, Izzy and Alec had been secretly working together on getting as many vials put together as they could without being caught, though there had been a few close calls. From this, they had learned that Bane’s idea of sneaking into the Lightwood residence was not a fantastic idea, that all interactions would have to be held in the alley’s or, only with Izzy, at his own home. Letting Alec know where he nested was the very last on the list of good ideas, as that meant he could take advantage of it if anything went south.  It would stay this way for as long as he could keep it like that, the apartment blissfully silent other than the sound of the fan rotating in front of him and the sound of the crickets outside. Bane’s mind wandered as he leaned back on the couch, his head resting against the back, his eyes falling shut. He was grateful for Izzy and Jacob, all the help and companionship they’d provided, also thinking then how he would have to introduce them and Alissa to complete their small friend circle. It went to his little alley 'children’, all the people there that looked up to him for their high. It went to Alec and the way his mothers words, his courage to act on them, had brought the man originally attempting to catch and imprison him to instead become an ally. It had forced the two of them, enemies, to work together for a good greater than their own rivalry. His courage, again, paired with his flirtatious nature had brought them to… The sound of his zipper lowering was brief in the silence, but the sound of his breath catching seemed louder than everything.

[sweetmorninglight]

Supernatural AU!Guardian Angel (Jooheon)

Rushing through the crowd, you had to stop at the red light for walkers before crossing the street

Your company building was just two blocks away, yet you’d be late for the third time this week

You knew your boss wouldn’t be happy about it and you also knew that extra hours were on your way

You’d probably had to stay until dawn next week to compensate for delaying the company’s schedule

“Oh, c’mon!” you tapped your foot on the sidewalk without removing your eyes from the red pedestrian traffic light, hoping it would turn green if you stared angrily enough at it

It finally did, and you took a step forward, ready to cross

But your lateral vision warned you of a car that wasn’t going to stop

You held yourself back on time, but someone else didn’t

The only thing you managed to do was grab their arm and pull them back as strongly as you could

The car honked when transgressing the signal at a ridiculous speed

“ASSHOLE!” you screamed and couldn’t stop shaking, thinking how that irresponsible driver could have killed you and the other person

You turned to see if they were alright and a guy dressed in a white shirt, with almost equally white hair, and a cute face was staring at you as if he had seen a ghost

Maybe it was the shock, he would have been hit if it wasn’t for your quick reflex to grab him

Speaking of which, your fingers were still tightly wrapped around his forearm and you apologized before letting go

“You’re…” he pointed at himself “You see me?”

“Hm, yeah” you replied trying to breath in a regular pace to slow down your increased heartbeat

“Really?! Oh, this isn’t good” he seemed worried and you didn’t understand

He looked up to the sky and pressed his lips together, showing two cute dimples on his cheeks

He was very good looking, but you didn’t have time to think about it

Now you’d be twice as late as before because the traffic light was red for walkers again

“I can’t believe this” you sighed and started thinking of a plausible excuse to give your boss

You could totally say that you were almost hit by a crazy driver, which wouldn’t be a lie

But almost being run over wouldn’t last more than a minute and you were almost forty minutes late

Fuck your life

“Hey, you should come with me” the guy by your side said and you looked at him like he was insane

“You gotta be kidding me, I’m late for work, I’m not going anywhere”

“I’m serious” he replied more sternly. “You can see me, something isn’t right” he was whispering while staring at your face.

“Who? I see no one here” you looked away and began to think that he was probably a maniac

You shouldn’t have saved him, now he was going to stalk you and murder you

Great! At least you’d have a decent excuse to be running late!

Your boss would totally understand it when he attended your funeral

Maybe dying wasn’t so bad after all

“You know what? Let’s go” you grabbed the guy’s wrist and walked among the crowd

“Wait, wait, we have to hide” he said in a hurry

“Sure, why not?! I’ll probably have to hide for the rest of my life, but who cares? Just let me go withdraw all my money in the bank and we can move to Buenos Aires and live there without anyone knowing” you replied the same way and entered a café

“Sit down” you said angrily and placed your bag by your side, sitting as well

“Don’t be mad” the guy said softly, and something inside you stirred as if calming down from a raging storm

“Don’t be mad?” you scoffed “Don’t be mad?! I hate my job, but I have zero qualifications to get a better one, my boss hate me, I hate him back, my coworkers are snakes, I have no social life, and lately I’ve been so upset with everything that I’m not sleeping at all. I’ve been running late for work this whole week and to top it all I almost got hit by a freaking lunatic behind a wheel, so don’t tell me to not be mad. I am mad and I have all the right to be mad”

The guy blinked a couple times before calling the waitress with his hand

“An Americano for me and two cranberry muffins with a chamomile tea, no sugar, for her, please” the waitress nodded and you stared at him in disbelief

How. Did. He. Know. Your. Order?

“You’ll be better after the tea, don’t worry” he said placing his hand on top of yours, but you broke the contact as soon as you felt it

He seemed quite disappointed, but you didn’t care

“Who the hell are you? How do you know what I would order?”

“I’m Jooheon. Because I know you”

“But I don’t know you. Have you been following me?” you grabbed your purse and was ready to flee if things got even more weird

“Yes” he replied so simply you had to hold your laughter

Running away to Buenos Aires now wasn’t such a bad idea

“Oh my God…” before you could do anything else, the waitress was back with the drinks and your muffins

“Enjoy your breakfast” she said smiling to the guy and you felt weird

“Eat, please” he said when you didn’t touch the muffins

“Why? You’re gonna lock me up and only feed me twice a week? Is this my last meal?” you were sniffing the muffins and it made your stomach groan. You hadn’t eaten since the night before and you were actually starving

“Just eat it” he took one and bit it. “Wow, they’re good. And I have no intention of locking you up”

“Then why have you been following me?”

“Because that’s my job”

“Who hired you? I have some money, I can pay you” he laughed

“I don’t work for money” there you go, now you’re either dying, being abused or both!

“Oh, God…”

“And that’s who ‘hired’ me” he did the quotation marks with his fingers

“What? Who?”

“God” he pointed upwards and smiled a bit

“Right… Now I’m not sure if I should report you to the police or to a madhouse!”

“You’re seeing me, so you’re the one who’s crazy, not me”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You ask who I am, who I work for, but you don’t ask what I do”

“You follow me, that’s what you do”

“Yeah, but why?”

“Cause you’re insane?” you replied raising your eyebrow and making a weird face

“Cause I’m your guardian angel, duh!” he mimicked you

“You’re my what now?!”

“Shhhh” he placed his hand on your mouth and you licked his palm

“Ewww, disgusting” he rubbed his palm on his jeans

“Don’t put your hand on my mouth again or I’ll bite you! And don’t you dare follow me” you got up and left the café

This was all too much for you to handle, you shouldn’t have left your bed today

The best thing to do was go back to your apartment and wait for this terrible day to end, and maybe start looking for another job cause you’re certainly fired!

The ride back to your place was quicker than you thought, and soon you were home removing your shoes

After placing your bag on the side of the door, you threw yourself on the couch and closed your eyes trying to cope with life

“Are you better now?”

WHAT THE FUCK

You screamed your lungs out and the guy, Jooheon, your guardian angel or a maniac - you still didn't know which - place his hands over your mouth to shut you up

Well, you bit his palm as hard as you could until you tasted blood

It was his turn to scream

“You bit me!”

“I told you not to put your hand on my mouth!”

“You were screaming!”

“Yeah, cause you're inside my house, you maniac!”

“I've always been here, you crazy!”

“I'm calling the police” you said in an underbreath and reached for your bag, but he grabbed you midway, holding both of your arms

“Let me go”

“No” he said calmly

“I'll bite you again” you threatened

“Do it” he provoked

You turned your head to try to bite his fingers, but you stopped

“I bit you” you looked at him

“Really? I felt nothing this time” he was confused

“No, before.. I bit your palm until it bled, but I don't see blood”

“Ah, I healed” his answer made you furrow your eyebrows, so he decided to show you

“See? I'm better now, but not thanks to you” he was almost pouting when showing his palm

Not quite believing your eyes, you took his hand into yours and gently rubbed your fingertips on his palm where you thought the mark was

You didn't notice, thankfully, but Jooheon was blushing a little with your touches

“How?” you were trying to understand

“I'm an angel, this body can't be hurt”

“Are you serious? Are you an angel?”

“Yes, I’m your guardian angel” he replied “And we’re probably in trouble because you can see me”

“How long has it been?”

“Well, since this morning, I think.. Or have you seen me before?”

“No, I mean your job. How long have you been my guardian angel?”

“Hm, since you were born”

Holy shit! He’s been following you and taking care of you in silence and anonymously for your entire life! How?!

How can guardian angel be real? You always thought it was something religious people believed in, but you’ve never been one of them, to be honest.

“Have I done something wrong?”

“What?” Jooheon was confused

“I must have done something wrong, that’s why I’m seeing you”

“Oh” he let out a sigh and invited you to sit on the couch by his side. “You see, I was the one doing something wrong”

“But you’re an angel”

“It doesn’t mean I’m perfect, I’ve failed my duties”

“I don’t think so”

“Really?” he looked funny at you. “You said it yourself: you have a job and a boss that you hate, your coworkers are snakes, you have no social life, and you’ve been so upset with everything that you’re not sleeping at all and have been running late for work. This is the third time you’re late and it’s still Thursday. And this morning you’d be hit by a car if it wasn’t for your fast reflexes. It was my job to hold you back, but you were the one doing it with me. I’ve put your life in danger and that’s the worst that could happen to a guardian angel. I’ve failed my job and I’m gonna pay for it”

“Are you going to be punished?” you asked concerned

“In a sense, yes”

“But I thought God was… benevolent?” you chose the best word you could, you didn’t want to cause any more trouble.

“Oh, He is. I’m not being physically punished, if that’s what you’re thinking”

“Don’t I get to say something about your job? I mean, you were taking care of me quite well so far, you’ve done a nice job because, honestly, I’m not the easiest person to watch over”

“There’s no mistakes in being a guardian, you either do it well or you don’t. And lately I haven’t been watching out for you the way I’m supposed to”

“Oh, c’mon! You just had a bad week, that’s all, no need to punish you for that!”

“There’s no use in arguing now, you can see me already”

“And that’s bad because…?”

“Because they are already breaking our bond” you knew Jooheon was devastated, even though he tried to force a small smile

“I’m sorry” that’s all you could say to him. You had no idea how to cheer up a guardian angel.

“What’s happening now?” you asked after a few minutes sitting in silence by his side.

You remembered that all those times when you were lonely at night and felt a sudden comfort inside your heart was because of his constant presence around you

Jooheon took care of you in silence for all those years and you were extremely grateful for it.

He did an excellent job, in your humble opinion, and you couldn’t even think where you’d be now if it wasn’t for him

“Now we part ways” Jooheon said

“But what if I don’t want to? I mean, I can tell them to keep you with me, right?”

“Like I said, they’re already breaking our bond and no, you can’t ‘keep me’ because you won’t even remember me” he used his fingers to do the quotation marks

“What?!” you almost screamed

“They’re gonna erase me from your memories”

“No, no, I’m not gonna let them mess with my head. they can’t do something I don’t want to, I have free will!”

“I’m sorry, but this means nothing in this particular case. You get assigned a new guardian, I get assigned a newborn soul and that’s it” he shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t get it, I really don’t” you shook your head in disapproval. “How come we’re getting punished by something so trivial like a bad week? Has anyone in this world with a guardian angel never had a bad week? Please!” you scoffed.

“You had this bad week because I broke the most important rule”  Jooheon’s eyes caught yours in a loving, almost tender, look. “I fell for you, and my feelings got in the way of my duties” he sighed. “ I was spending most of my time just watching you, noticing your every move, seeing how your expressions changed when something bothered you, how you would feel so happy binge watching tv shows on weekends, how you always helped people whenever you could, how you smiled when I touched you in your sleep… I just… I lost myself in you and forgot about why I’m here”

Thick tears were making their way to your lips and you let out a muffled pained scream, clutching your heart as if it was being ripped apart inside your chest

Jooheon suddenly sat up right and you knew something was wrong

“You’re only making things worse, Jooheon” you heard a deep, but kind, soothing voice and looked up, but saw nothing

“She’s gonna forget it anyways, I might as well get this out of my chest”

“Who’ this?” you asked looking to a specific point near your TV because that’s where the voice came from

“I’m Raphael, child, I came for your guardian angel”

“You came too early” Jooheon’s face showed you everything he felt at the moment and his most prominent feeling was disappointment

“This needs to be solved quickly” Raphael spoke clearly beside you, although you still couldn’t see him

“Is there any way for him to remain being my guardian angel? I don’t wanna lose Jooheon” you said through your tears

“I apologize, child, but your request is impossible”

“It wasn’t his fault, you know? These things happen all the time”

“Not for us” Jooheon said quietly. “I’m the third angel to ever fall in all human history”

“And this is why we should get this over with, the sooner the better” Raphael said

“Yes, chief” Jooheon stood up and straightened his clothes. “Can I have a moment to say goodbye?’

“Don’t take too long” Raphael’s strong presence left and you could breathe a little bit better

“I…” you didn’t let Jooheon finish his sentence, you were already clutching his body like your life depended on it, and he held you the same way

He was warm, and nice, and everything you needed at the moment

Your tears were wetting his white shirt, but you couldn’t hold yourself from letting them flow

“It’s going to be okay, darling, don’t worry, this will all be over soon for you” Jooheon’s whisper tickled your ear.

“But not for you”

“I can’t get hurt”

“I’m not talking about your body, Jooheon. I can see in your eyes the pain and burden you’ll have to carry and I’m sorry”

“Don’t be. My heart will suffer, for sure, but I’ll be at peace knowing that you'll be fine”

“I won’t. Not with you by my side”

“You won’t even miss me” he joked

“I may not miss you consciously, but my heart always will. I could feel you, Jooheon. All those nights I could feel your touch on my dreams, but I never knew what it was until now. Why do we have to be apart?”

“If you can feel me in your heart then we’ll always be together”

Your heart’s broken pieces somehow gathered again under his soothing touch on your back

You wish you could stay longer in his arms

“Isn’t there a way for me to see you again?” you mumbled against his chest

“Yeah, but it’s illegal”

“Well, we’re already breaking the law anyways” your reply made him laugh

“Hold on, this is gonna get serious and we won’t have much time” Jooheon let go of you and made you step back. He closed his eyes and turned his palms upwards.

You had no idea what he was going to do until you felt a soft breeze on your face and suddenly huge wings were hanging from Jooheon’s back

They were HUGE! Nothing like you’ve ever seen portrayed in paintings of angels

Yes, they were white - the whitest white -, and seemed quite soft, but each feather also had a golden tip, as if they were dipped in the most precious and rare kind of gold that only exists in Heaven, probably

He was emanating a tremendous energy, almost lighting up like a fluorescent light, and you were even more attracted to his natural glow

“You’re gorgeous” you felt your tears running down your cheeks again, he was such a divine sight, you didn’t know how to react standing in front of such pure being like him

“You’re even more” Jooheon spoke quietly and you snorted unintentionally.

You watched attentively his fingers moving to caress a small feather near his left arm and pluck it

His face contorted a bit in pain, and you felt guilty

“Keep this hidden in somewhere safe. If you ever need me again you can use this to summon me. But it only works once, so use it wisely” Jooheon placed the small feather inside your right hand and closed your fingers

You shivered from head to toe as soon as it touched your skin, it was powerful and you knew that humans weren’t supposed to go near anything that like that

But you didn’t care, you wanted him with you by your side and would keep a fragment of his holy being with you until it was the right time to use it

“You should hide it now” Jooheon warned, and you went to your bedroom, opening your wardrobe and pulling out a wooden box that once belonged to your grandma.

You kept objects that brought good memories inside that box, like your childhood stuffed toy, the wrapping paper of the first Swiss chocolate you ate, some old family photos, and now Jooheon’s sacred feather.

Closing the box and putting it back made you think about all those memories that box held and how many of them were because of Jooheon’s presence in your life

You went back to your living room and his wings were gone

You hugged again, enjoying the last moments you still had, and you thanked him for being with you for so long, assuring him he did an amazing job

“If I hadn’t fallen, I could’ve stayed with you until the end”

“But then I’d never get to know you” you held his face in your hands and tried to memorize his features

He was truly a gorgeous being with cute lips and fiercy brown eyes that sent waves of pleasure through your body

You’ve always knew you weren’t actually alone, but never thought you had someone like him by your side all the time

“It’s time”

Raphael’s presence was so overwhelming this time you were glad you couldn’t see him

Jooheon kissed your forehead, smiling at you before moving to stand behind the couch, probably by Raphael’s side

“So it’s going to be her, huh?” Jooheon asked looking at your right, making you step away from whatever was there

“Yes, is there a problem?” you didn’t like Raphael’s tone

“Not at all, chief”

“Good. Let’s continue. Child, I need you to repeat after me: Angel of God, my guardian dear to whom God’s love commits me here…”

You repeated his words

“From this day be at my side to light, to guard, to rule and guide…”

As you were repeating, Jooheon’s face was getting gloomier

“Amen”

“Amen”

“Now you have a new guardian” Raphael said and you felt yourself crying again. “Jooheon, you know what to do”

“Yes” he looked at you one last time before closing his eyes and turning his palms upwards, setting his wings free again.

You had a weird taste on your tongue and felt like throwing up at any minute because of so much distress

Jooheon’s beautiful voice caught your attention

“My Father gave in charge to me this child of Earth from its birth to serve and save…

As he chanted, his body glowed even more than before, becoming unbearable to look at, making you close your eyes tightly

“... to rear and train by sorrow and pain in the narrow way…”

You were dizzy as if you were spinning non-stop for minutes, you were nauseous and also sweating a bit

“...and saved is she from Earth to Heaven”

Your body hit the ground full force, you couldn’t gather enough strength to get up, and your new memories were slowly fading away

You fought to keep them inside your head, you tried to hold onto his name, his face, his eyes, his lips, his overpowering presence, his hugs, his voice, but it was all in vain in the end.

The only thing you had left was a terrible headache and an emptiness inside your heart you knew deep down that couldn’t be cured by Earthly means.

[captain-kingliamsqueen]

The Morning After - Liam x MC

Continuation of “Ladies and Gentlemen The King Has Left The Building!” <---- you may want to have a ready of this before reading “the morning after”

Pairing: Liam x Riley 

Summary: … Its the morning after and riley decides to take advantage of the fact that Liam couldn’t remember the events from the night before...

Word Count: 2,483

Tagged : @starstruckzonkoperatorbat  @drakelover78  @queencatherynerhys @devineinterventions2 @jayjay879  @kawairinrin  @hopefulmoonobject @flyawayboo  @gardeningourmet  @blackcatkita  @syltti78  @theroyalweisme  @hhiggs  @mfackenthal  @bruteforcebears @pens-girl-87  @barbaravalentino @umccall71 @darley1101 @crookedslimecreatorpasta  @jamjar84 @starstruckpixelberryhistoryvoid @speedyoperarascalparty @katurrade @scarlettedragon @zeniamiii @annekebbphotography @liam-rhys @xxrainbowprincessxx @perfectprofessorherokid @mynameiskaylabella @marywrites-things @zaffrenotes @cocomaxley @innerpostmentality @alepowell @missevabean @romanticatheart-posts @smalltalk88 @sarwin85 @lodberg

 ASK IF YOU WANT TAGGED! SORRY IF I MISSED ANYONE! (USED THE TAGS FROM MY “ALWAYS” SERIES LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE WANTS UNTAGGED!!!)

I always notice every single spelling mistake or issue after I’ve posted…so apologies in advance! 

 The next morning Riley woke up to a weight lying ontop of her. She moaned and grumbled as she tried to move, but she couldn’t. “what the-” she mumbled as her eyes flickered open to see her husband lying ontop of her snoring away, both of them still fully dressed.

“Liam” she whispered trying to wake him without startling him “Liam!” she said louder causing him to groan and move slightly “Liam!” she raised her voice loud enough to wake up but not too loud to alert the guards outside.

“shhhhh Riley im sleeping” he groaned “get off’a me!” she chastised as she gently pushed him over, so he would move. He rolled over a little too far causing him to roll off the side of the bed, hitting the floor with a thud

“ouch! Riley!!” he groaned

“don’t you ouch Riley me!” she mumbled “I can’t feel half my body because you, Mr I’m going to drink a shit ton of alcohol and embarrass myself, fell asleep ontop of your wife after you got her all hot and bothered!”

“shhhh don’t shout” Liam mumbled quietly. Riley moved over to the side of the bed wondering why he hadn’t gotten back up yet, as she looked over she cursed under her breathe. There he lay falling back asleep. “LIAM!” she bellowed startling him awake!

“shhhh!!!!!” he grimaced as he covered his ears. “you’re so mean to me”

“that’s what you get for leaving me high and dry mister!”

“what?” he asked confused as he slowly sat himself up, leaning on the bed with his head leaning down on his arms “I don’t remember anything Riley, what happened?”

“what’s the last thing you remember?”

“um our conversation outside, just before we came back into the palace.”

“why are we still dressed? Didn’t we…y’know…?”

“no…no we did not “y’know”! I thought we were going to…the whole damn palace thought we were going to!”

“what?” he lifted his head

“oh yeah…you announced it to the whole damn party that I was trying to get into your pants and that you were going to bring me back to our room and…ohh let me see…what was it you called it?” she replied sarcastically “hmmm…oh yes that’s it…we were gonna play hide the sausage…and you were going to be parking the beef bus…in tuna town!” she yelled in a whisper. She watched as Liam's face reddened from embarrassment.

“i told the whole court?” he whispered in shock

“everyone that was still there!”

“oh my- how am I supposed to face them now!” he sighed

“oh…never mind the people of court…the poor waiter! You booped him!”

“I booped him?”

“right on his damn nose! THEN LAUGHED! REPEATEDLY!” she tried not to laugh but she couldn’t help it “poor damn waiter…his face was a picture though”

“Riley this isn’t funny…I’m a king for goodness sake!”

“yeah, a king who’s still sitting in his clothes from the party last night, sitting on the floor after falling off the bed, with a splitting headache!” she laughed

“riley…this isn’t funny” he smirked

“oh, my poor Liam…you think that’s bad you don’t know the worst of it!” riley laughed, she wanted to really get him back for leaving her high and dry, so she decided to mess with him a little bit.

“what?” he asked her seriously

“yeah…I’m not sure if I should tell you”

“Riley you gotta tell me…”

“are you sure you wanna know?”

“yes Riley! Yes, I want to know!”

“alright…well…you should probably avoid Bastian as much as you can”

“why? What did I do?” Liam answered seriously

“let’s just say your highness that you decided to play a little tonsil tennis last night and it wasn’t with me!” she was dying to laugh as she watched Liam's face go pale.

“what?” he gulped

“yeah…”

“how the hell am I supposed to avoid Bastian! Hes my damn security!! He follows me everywhere!”

“I don’t know maybe you should have thought of that before you went to first base with him” she chuckled

“Riley! This isn’t funny”

“I’m sorry I can’t help it…its hilarious!” she guffawed

“wait…why aren’t you hungover!” Liam asked knowing Riley had also been drinking

“because my lovely husband… I worked in a bar…I have mastered the talent of drinking without a hangover” she smirked

“you should really go shower, you have like thirty minutes before your first meeting with Francesco starts”

“oh no…how am I going to face him after last night?”

“I’m sure he won’t even remember, and if he does he’s not going to embarrass you Liam…you’re the king…he’ll probably act like he doesn’t have a clue what you’re talking about, just don’t bring it up”

“yes…but I know what happened Riley!...the things I said in front of him…in front of everyone” he groaned as he got up running his hands over his face and through his hair

“Liam you still have fake blood on your face…” realising he had just pulled it through his hair he groaned making his way over to the bathroom. Riley stood from the bed and made her way over to him, catching him just at the door.

“I didn’t get a morning kiss” she whispered shyly

“oh” he smiled softly, leaning down and placing his lips on hers.

“I’ll get you some breakfast to eat before your meeting” she smiled

“and som-”

“painkillers” she finished what he was going to say.

“yes…thank you” he placed a gently kiss on her head then headed into the bathroom to climb into the shower.

After a quick shower, the bathroom door opened and out walked Liam with a towel wrapped around his waist. Water droplets falling from his hair onto the small towel he had draped over his shoulders. Riley had just finished making his breakfast in the little kitchenette in the royal apartment, she walked into the bedroom, placing his plate of pancakes down on the small table with two painkillers and a glass of orange juice.

Liam stood in front of his dresser, drying his hair with the towel from his shoulders. riley headed over to the walk in closet to get some clothes for when she got out of the shower.

“Riley?” Liam called

“yeah?”

“can you come here for a second…”

Riley made her way out into the bedroom where Liam stood butt ass naked looking through his drawers.

“did you move my briefs?”

“Liam…why on earth would I do that?” she smirked

“because its you…” he smirked

“you want your panties you’re going to have to look for ‘em”

“Riley! For the millionth time they’re men’s briefs”

“what about…budgie smugglers?”

“Riley!”

“Banana Hammock?”

“no”

“Pickle pincher”

“Riley I swea-”

“MANTIES” she guffawed as she made her way back into the closet then walked out just a few seconds later with a black pair of men’s briefs

“you moved them yesterday” she smirked

“I did?”

“yes…before we had dinner?”

“yes that’s right I did!, sorry” he blushed

“its alright…now get your manties on before someone comes looking for you” she pinged his underwear at him then walked back into the closet laughing.

“you’re lucky I love you!” he called to her as he caught them.

“aww I love you too sweetie!” she chuckled

Once he was dressed Liam sat down to quickly eat his breakfast and take his painkillers whilst Riley went for a shower. After putting his plate on the counter in the kitchenette he went into the bathroom and slid the shower door open a little.

“ill see you later” he smiled

“see you later sweetie, I love you” Riley smiled as she placed a gently kiss on his lips careful not to get any water on him.

“I love you too” he replied with a smile before pulling the shower door shut then heading out for his meeting. Once he reached the door to the apartment Liam gripped the handle then let out a deep breath knowing Bastian would be outside the door. He opened the door with a smile on his face.

“good morning your majesty” Bastian greeted him with a curt nod

“yes good morning” Liam replied a little awkwardly, Liam stood not knowing what to say next.

“ummm…” he mumbled then cleared his throat “shall we?...” he gestured for them to head down the corridor.

“of course your Majesty…after you.”

“of course” Liam smiled slightly then started to make his way down to his meeting.

He had no idea if he should say anything about the night before or if he should just pretend it never happened…no he should say something…Bastian was his head of security but also a friend, he didn’t want it to be awkward between them.

“Bastian…I-I hope you will accept my apology for last night”

“no need your Majesty…”

“yes there is Bastian…”

“you were just enjoying the ball your Majesty nothing wrong with that…as a matter of fact…I quiet enjoyed the show” Bastian smirked

“you enjoyed it?”

“yes your Majesty…it was quiet entertaining”

“entertaining?” Liam whispered to himself

“don’t worry your Majesty…your secret is safe with me”

“no Bastian there is no secret, ive not got any secrets”

“what happens between two people stays between them” Bastian replied obviously talking about the kings behaviour last night, knowing that hardly any members of the court were actually still there, he wasn’t going to say a word to anyone about the kings kinky mind.

“yes…thank you?” Liam thanked him confused about the whole conversation.

Once they approached the door to his office, the two stopped outside.

“your Majesty…” Bastian pointed to his own lips trying to show the king that he had a little bit of his breakfast on his mouth. Liam's eyes widened, shocked as he took a step back

“Bastian! That is not appropriate!!” Liam exploded then turned and entered the room, closing the door behind him.

Liam spent the whole meeting stuck in his head, he couldn’t stop thinking about the conversation with Bastian…why on earth would Bastian think it was okay to do that? He knew he was married… The king rattled his brain trying to figure it out.

It was just twenty minutes into the meeting when Francesco grabbed the king’s attention.

“Your Majesty…if I may be forward…I wasn’t going to say anything but…it seems you have something on your mouth” Liam turned to see his reflection in the window beside him then he gasped “no…” he whispered as he removed the food, realising that Bastian had just been pointing out the food on his mouth.

“thank you Francesco” he nodded as his attention fell to the meeting. The meeting finished about forty minutes later, once Francesco had left the room Liam called Bastian in.

“your majesty”

“Bastian…I apologise…I shouldn’t have yelled earlier, I didn’t realise you were telling me I had something on my face”

“that’s quite alright”

“No Bastian it isn’t, you know I’ve been racking my brain all through that meeting about our conversation earlier…about last night…i was intoxicated…I should not have advanced on you the way that I did…it was unprofessional…”

“but your maje-”

“No Bastian I’m not finished, I am happily married…I have a wife…we are planning on having children…what happened last night was…out of character and I assure you it will never happen again”

“your Majesty I don’t recall you advancing on me”

“now Bastian…you don’t have to pretend because I am your king…I get it…you enjoyed it when I kissed you-”

“your Majesty! I assure you!-”

“Bastian, please, I was at fault, I shouldn’t have kissed you”

“I think you may have been a little more intoxicated than you think, your majesty…I assure you…you did not kiss me!”

“but Riley sa-” as soon as Liam realised what had happened, his face went bright red.

“god dammit Riley!…” he groaned

“Bastian…I’m sorry…could we continue this conversation on the way up to the apartment?”

“of course…after you.” Bastian smirked

As they headed up to the apartment Liam apologised to Bastian repeatedly, he explained to him what had happened, Bastian found it hilarious.

“wait so when I tried to tell you, you had something on your face-”

“yes…I thought you wanted a kiss” Liam chuckled as his face went red.

Once they reached the apartment, Bastian waited at the side of the door, whilst Liam walked in. Riley was sitting on the sofa, reading through some papers when Liam walked in. He stopped as soon as he seen her. When Riley heard the door open, she looked up to see him standing there with a smirk on his face.

“you!” he pointed at her.

“now Liam…” she said as she slowly got up from the sofa, putting the papers down on the table “just…take a deep breathe” she smirked then looked over towards the bedroom door.

“its not funny” Liam stated not moving a muscle

“I’m…just gonna go…” Riley bolted, jumping over the back of the sofa on her way towards the bedroom, with Liam hot on her tail…

“Riley rhys I swear to god…when I catch you!” he called running after her.

Liam chased Riley into the bedroom, laughing as they went.

“I cant believe you did that!” he smirked as he stood on one side of the bed and she stood on the other.

“I had some food from breakfast on my mouth before i went into the meeting, he tried to tell me by pointing to his lips…I THOUGHT HE WANTED A KISS!!!”

“I CAN’T…I’M GONNA GET A STITCH” Riley laughed hysterically.

“I can’t believe you did that” he laughed

“I had to…you couldn’t remember…of course I was going to get a little fun out of it.”

“you are so lucky I love you…no one else would get away with embarrassing a king like that” he smirked

“aww it’s because you love me so very much…”

“yes it is…but I think I owe you some payback” Liam slowly made his way around to Riley.

“come here sweetie” Liam smirked

“no…” she laughed

“awe c’mon…come here…” he laughed as he stepped closer to her

“Liam rhys…I am not stupid…”

“oh Riley…my sweet, sweet Riley”

Riley smirked as she stood with her back to the bed. Liam stepped closer to her, as he went to take one final step, Riley quickly climbed onto the bed, as she went to head for the door, Liam gently grabbed her feet. As she fell down on to the mattress laughing, she turned over to face him as he leaned himself over top of her, holding himself up.

“and what are you doing?” she smirked with one of her eyebrows raised and a smirk on her face.

“I’m just giving my wife what she deserves” he chuckled as he leaned down, pressing his lips against Riley's.

“why don't we get started on that family we talking about?“ liam whispered

“I would love that“

Just a short while later the two lay side by side under the duvet.

“and that…my dear husband…is all I wanted” Riley laughed as she cuddled into his chest.

If You like it, give it a wee Reblog <3

[lokibug]

Thankful...that I didn’t die trying to thank you

Pairing: Steve x Reader

Summary: Steve finds a family owned bakery in the “bad side” of town and to get away he goes there often. He notices you there and can’t help but feel drawn to you somehow. Meanwhile, you are completely shocked when you see that the man who saved your life a year ago is attending your friend’s parent’s bakery often, just as you do. You can’t muster the courage to speak to him and thank him so you begin to think of ways of how such a shy person like you could.

Warnings: None

A/N: Okay! So I didn’t base this story off this song entirely but, “I Think I’m In Love” by Kay Dahlia, inspired it and got me out of the writers block I was having. Also leave requests, feedback, anything, I live for that stuff haha

As Steve entered the vintage looking bakery, he took in his surroundings. The aroma smelt of coffee and fresh baked muffins, vanilla amongst the rest of the smells being the most evident. Being his first time there, he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted but everything within the glass case looked extravagant. He was greeted politely and served with what he finally decided on, a raspberry muffin and a cup of coffee.

Carrying his to-go bag he made eye contact with you from across the room. He couldn’t help but stare, you were just so beautiful in his eyes. There was something familiar about you that he noticed. Maybe it your hair or even the clothing you wore? Despite not figuring it out, he couldn’t help but feel he’s encountered you before. The way your shy eyes looked away from his finally snapped him back to reality. He resisted the urge to ask you and gave a simple smile instead before leaving a dollar in the tip jar and exited the bakery, the bell ringing as the door shut behind him.

While finally having some free time due to missions not being as consistent, this was becoming a normal thing for Steve. This is where you would reside for a few hours before the subway would take you to your interning job at the New York Times. Seeing him was a surreal thing to you. You knew exactly who he was. The great and shiny captain America, a hero to those in need. He was a role model to people and children all over the world, especially in New York City where Avenger’s Tower stood. His record was no secret to you, you didn’t doubt the hero he was. After all, he had been the one who saved your life during the invasion. Seconds away from being crushed to death by tons of concrete, Cap had rushed in and tackled you out of the way.

Ever since that incident you wanted to thank him for doing this. There was only one problem, you were undeniably shy. You never believed he would be in a hole in the wall bakery a few feet away from you, so simply imagining the day you would encounter him was easier than it actually happening.

Every day you said to yourself, “Tomorrow I’ll go talk to him before he leaves,” but of course it never happened. Steve rarely stood in the shop to long, he didn’t eat the same muffin he ordered everyday inside, he would leave the warm bakery instead. The owners happened to be your best friend’s parents. They loved Steve since he consistently came and left a tip. Your friend’s mother never hesitated to mention to you how much more sparkly his eyes were up close without the mask on. That was another factor that made you even more nervous. Steve was incredibly attractive and the way you interacted with beautiful people you had never spoke to before was, well nonexistent.

Finally deciding you wanted to meet him, you did what you do best. You drew. Without his knowledge, you snapped a side profile of Steve’s smiling face and slowly every day you would sketch more and more of him. Not leaving out one detail you made sure it looked amazing. Of course you would have your doubts, worrying he would see you as a stalker but, you were determined to just try.

—————

Today was the day. Today you would muster up enough courage to take the hero by his shoulder and ask to speak with him before he made his way back out into the city. Okay, you didn’t plan on grabbing him at all, but you would most likely just tap his shoulder?

Then, there it was. The ring of the bell on glass door. His tall figure paced towards the counter standing behind a few customers. You chewed on your bottom lip and you began thinking of what you would say to start off the conversation.

While you were thinking and looking at the table, Steve was having thoughts of his own. In the same spot you sat everyday, Steve admired your stature. You were beyond any woman he simply ran into on the streets, you looked like an actual person. He knew you had a story, a life, thoughts that were completely your own. He knew this because every time he had stepped foot inside this place, he analyzed you from a far. He always noticed you hard at work and it sort of intimidated him. Despite being the image of strong Captain America on the outside, he was still scrawny awkward, Steve Rogers on the inside.

With it being a bit more chilly outside, he decided he would take the muffin and coffee he had ordered today to a table by the window. He was directly in your view as his was out the window. You mentally argued with yourself before taking your sweaty palms off your knees and marched over to him. You had your drawing in your left hand before practically slamming it down in front of him. Another problem, the words became jumbled in your mind and you kind of just stood there.

Steve looked up at you and smiled softly trying to keep up a “cool” act. He gazed at the paper you had just placed in front of him and was in complete awe over your work.

“Hi.” You said finally. Rubbing your arm you swallowed the lump in your throat waiting for him to say something—-anything.

“Hi, is this me?” Steve questioned as he was bursting from happiness on the inside. He was realizing that you had noticed him just as much as he noticed you.

“Yeah um...” you blink a few times composing yourself, “it is...I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” He shook his head quickly, “No,no. Not at all. This is amazing. You even got my buttons right. Sit down, please?” He chuckled lightly, almost nervously.

You accepted and sat down on the black metal chair across from him. Your friend’s mother was right, his eyes did seem sparklier up close.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why me?” He questioned, taking his eyes away from the paper and placed them on yours.

You looked at your lap since his gaze was making you a bit more nervous. “I just wanted to say...thank you.” You looked up him again and he now had a puzzled look across his features.

“Thank you?”

“You may not remember...but um, last year I was walking to the classes I was taking at the time when the invasion had happened—I was going to basically die. When I was running, a part of the building was falling and well, you pushed me out of the way.” Suddenly Steve had a look of realization. He hadn’t felt crazy anymore, he had met you before, well briefly. Your image had been engraved in his mind in some way.

“Oh my, yes. I completely remember you now,” he was a bit shy himself at the crush he had developed on you, “you’re welcome—and thank you for this.” You smiled a bit at him and looked at the paper that was between you two.

“I’m sorry, I never really introduced myself. I’m Y/N...Y/L/N.” Your fingers tapped the top of the table near your delicately laid arm.

“Nice to you meet you miss y/n. I’m Steve, Rogers.” He held his hand out for you to shake. Your eyes shot down quickly and you mentally cursed at yourself for not shaking his hand first. As he shook your hand he smiled once more then at your things. “Would you maybe...perhaps want to join me?”

You had an almost look of disbelief. He actually wanted you to stay. You chuckle out loud. “Um...yes. Yes, I would love to. I’ll just go get my things before someone steals them.”

After gathering your items and coffee you came back to the table where Steve sat. In front of you was half of his muffin on a small plate. He had cut it in half so he could share it with you. Noticing you looking at the muffin he spoke, “They’re my favorite, I insist you try it.” The look on his face mimicked a child. He seemed so delighted and excited that you had joined him. He was.

“I know...well, you’ve been here every day for the past two weeks. I don’t believe you’re the quietest person at ordering.” You teased him.

He playfully gasped, “I’m sorry to interrupt your coffee drinking. I suppose I’ll just have to make it up to you.” Hearing his voice alter to one that hinted a bit of flirting you blushed softly.

You two had been sitting at the table for two hours already. There was never a dull moment or silence. Your conversation was more exciting to the two of you than anything you could ever encounter on the streets of New York.

The things you two discussed consisted of Steve admitting how much he loved reading the paper and seeing the illustrations in the back and you admitting that you’d do anything to be able to wear his armor due to how cool it looked.

“No way! You draw those? They’re hilarious.” Steve boomed throughout the shop. You would erupt in laughed before nodding.

“Yes yes, that’s me. I make those. I adore art.” You replied.

“Really? I’ll have to show you the sketches I’ve made...if I hadn’t joined the army, or become who I am now, I would’ve probably been aiming for what you are.”

“I’d like that.”

Moments later the suit conversation had played out.

“Please say it’s comfortable, it looks so cool! I feel like I would let a bus hit me because I’m convinced the suit is just that good.” You admitted. This time Steve was the one in a fit of giggles.

“Ah, well I’m not sure the suit would allow you to do that. Perhaps the shield would be more to your liking.”

“If you let me touch the shield you’re going to regret it. I’ll probably just hide it in my bag.” You teased back.

“Y/N I don’t think it’ll fit in—“

“Shhhh don’t crush my dreams.”

Once the time came for you to catch the subway, Steve had walked you out of the bakery. The wind brushed through your guys’ hair as you stood facing him.

The conversation of his life prior to the serum being in his system had come up a few minutes before you realized you had to go.

“Really? This was you?” You asked as your eyes scanned the photo from Steve’s wallet of himself in the 40s.

“Yep. Little ol’ Steve Rogers, the kid from queens with a big mouth and not the exact body to back it up.”

“You look adorable.” You smiled. This made Steve’s heart warm. He rocked back and forth on his heels a bit.

“Yeah?,” he chuckled, “not many girls were lining up to dance with me back then.”

You looked down at the photo then up at Steve handing it back to him, “Well, I would’ve loved to hop on the chance to dance with smaller Steve Rogers...the kid from queens with the big mouth...and big heart.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile as he slipped the photo away. A blush was evidently displayed upon his cheeks and it wasn’t from the cold.

“Is there any chance you’d hop on the chance to go dance with Steve Rogers, the much taller version...who had a great time with you today?” You smile and grab a pen from your bag.

Without a word you grab Steve’s hand and begin to write your phone number down upon it. He laughed lightly.

“I’d love that. Here’s my number, don’t leave me waiting—I know your morning routes.” You playfully threatened.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” You continue to smile in his cheery eyed direction.

“I’ll talk to you later Steve.” You turn on your heels and begin walking to the subway while Steve remains standing in front of the shop feeling like a kid on Christmas.

[megamanx1994]

Danny Phantom Chapter 1

(And now we begin phase 3 of the Fan Fiction Extended Universe. Danny Fenton is a young kid who goes to high school. His father is engaged to his girlfriend and together they build a machine that can allow them to travel into the world of ghosts. When production fails, Danny decides to look inside and then gets transformed into a human/ghost hybrid. But soon he must learn to use his powers to stop a powerful bio-human made of pure electricity from taking over his town. With the help of his friends, he becomes the hero he was meant to be.)

Chapter 1: Meet the Fentons (Disclaimer! I own nothing of Danny Phantom!) A young boy was setting up a camera. “Is it on?” he asked. The camera was flashing red signaling it was on. “Alright,” said the boy. He sat down. “Hello Amity Park, my name’s Danny Fenton,” said Danny, “Its been a while since I’ve done a video, but some things have been happening.” Danny took out a photo of his late mother. “For one thing my mom died, and its been a few rough years for me and Dad,” said Danny, “But we’re pulling through.” He put the picture back. Meanwhile a young woman was doing a vlog of her own. “Hey, its Jazmine Linton,” said Jazz, “And I’m back after a while getting over my dad.” “And so my dad’s been dating this woman,” said Danny. “My mom’s been dating this guy,” said Jazz. “She’s very nice and a bit of a science geek,” said Danny. “He’s very kind, but he’s kinda……. A goofball,” said Jazz. “And it turns out that….” Said Danny. “…he has this kid who goes to my school,” said Jazz. “Dannny (Jazz),” they said in unison. “Jazz somewhat looks out for me when I’m getting harassed by other kids,” said Danny, “But I also have help from my best friend, and the goth rockstar of school, Sam.” “He’s a funny guy but spends a bit too much time learning about ghosts,” said Jazz. “I don’t really know her that well, but she seems, alright,” said Danny. Later Danny was skateboarding across the school. One of the teachers saw him. “Mr. Fenton, do you wanna keep that board?” he asked. “Yes sir,” said Danny. “Well keep it off the floor in the halls,” said the teacher. He started walking. Meanwhile one of the professors with blueprints was walking by. “Can you please make some room?” he asked. A few of them dropped and nobody offered the professor a hand. Except for Danny. “Why thank you Mr. Fenton,” said the professor. “No problem Mr. Benson,” said Danny, “These look pretty important.” “Why yes they are,” said Mr. Benson, “They’re designs for a power grid for the school.” “Sounds interesting,” Danny said. He was heading outside to meet his best friend Sam Mason. There were people surrounding someone at a table. Somebody was dunking a kid near some lunch. He was dunked by the popular guy in the school, Dash Baxter. “Hey Fenton, why don’t you get a snap of this?” he asked. “Are you nuts?” asked Danny. The crowd was chanting, “Eat it! Eat it! Eat it!” “Ok, that’s enough,” said Danny, “Let him down.” “Take the picture first dingus,” said Dash. “Just put him down Dash,” said Danny. “Take the damn picture,” said Dash. “PUT HIM DOWN, CARL!” said Danny. “Oh shit,” said another student. “You’re so dead,” said Dash. He punched Danny in the face. He was about to wail on Danny when Jazz intervened. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Jazz. While Dash was busy, Danny helped the boy up. “Well would you look at that?” asked Dash, “The geek has his girlfriend standing up for him!” “You best cut that out,” said Jazz. “Or what?” he asked, “You think I’m scared of a little….” Before he could touch Jazz, she grabbed him by the arm and threw him to the ground. “I warned you,” said Jazz. Danny was in the bathroom wiping blood off his face. “You might wanna get some ice for that,” said someone outside. It was Sam. “Little birdie (Jazz) tells me you got in a skirmish with Dash,” she said. “Tell me about it,” said Danny, “But at least its all over.” He remembered what he met Sam for. “Oh, I just remembered I got this from the store,” said Danny, “You’ve been searching for it since 2017.” He gave her an album. “Holy shit!” said Sam, “Where’d you get this?” It was Chon’s latest album, Homey. “A little birdie told me that you like their music,” said Danny, “So I figured why not get this for ya.” Sam smiled. “Stuff like this makes me remember why we’re best friends,” she said. Back at home Jazz opened the door and saw Jack and Maddie kissing. She got out her megaphone and said, “Freeform Jazz is back.” Startling them. “Oh, its just you Jazz,” said Maddie. “Hey Mom,” said Jazz, “Mr. Fenton.” Danny rushed in. “What’s wrong, I heard screaming!” he said. “Relax son, no ghosts or anything,” said Jack. Maddie saw an injury on Danny’s face. “What happened?” she asked. “Its nothing Ms. Linton,” said Danny, “I just fell skateboarding.” “Why you kids ride those things I’ll never know,” said Maddie. “Cause its stupid and dangerous, like I was when I was his age,” said Jack. Danny noticed his shoes were in some kind of slime. “Hey what’s going on downstairs?” he asked. “Follow me and I’ll show you,” said Jack as he went downstairs. “You serious?” asked Danny. “Yes I am,” he said. Once downstairs, Danny saw a prototype portal. “Wow,” said Danny, “You’re actually working on this thing again?” “Well, it was actually Maddie that talked me into this,” said Jack, “But yes, in a few days the ghost portal will finally be open.” Danny was looking around at blueprints. “Did some of these blueprints come from Mr. Benson?” he asked. “Oh yeah that nice guy from your school,” explained Jack, “He’s so talented when it comes to inventing stuff, and back in the college years we called him Nicolai Technus.” “Hey when I came in I noticed a ring on Ms. Linton’s finger,” said Danny. Jack smiled. “Well son, I think its time I told you,” he said. “No way,” said Danny, “You actually did it!” “Shhhh, don’t spoil the surprise to your future step sister,” said Jack. “Got it,” said Danny.

[sailor-cresselia]

How much have you thought of the ex aid timeline?

Probably a bit too much. Here’s what I’ve worked out so far. Keep in mind that I’m not including anything from Mighty Novel X, any drama cds that may exist, or the two stage shows - I don’t have access to them, so I can’t source them.

2000: Kuroto (age 14) discovers the Bugster Virus, and soon proceeds to infect Emu (age 8). Later in the year, the car accident happens. (shhhh i know what the novel says i don’t care it was an accident shhhhhh)

Late 2010: Genius Gamer M collapses from exhaustion and a long term case of the game illness. Happy Birthday, Parad. If this was OOO you’d be getting a cake.

2011: Taiga becomes Snipe, and after what appears to be several months The Thing With Saki happens. I’m still unsure if this is Zero Day - They mentioned the term a few times in show but never specified what it actually was, IIRC.

August 2015, in the world of Build: Parad finds himself on the other side of a wormhole.

early 2016: Ghost and the 100 eyecons movie. I have no idea what goes down, but apparently there’s an ExAid cameo. I need to watch it, but I’m pretty sure that the cameo can be ignored?

April 17, 2016: Over at a previous season, some stuff goes down, Takeru comes back to life, etc.etc. Kuroto (As Genm) goes and practices his Shakariki Sports stunts on some Ganma mooks. (Kuroto has An Aesthetic and it is Zombies and these jerks are ruining it for him.)

Some unspecified time in between, when Takeru is celebrating his birthday: Takeru meets his future son! (aka Surprise Future 3: the surprising. Takeru hates time travel almost to the same level as Shinnosuke now, and is probably worried that he’s going to be a terrible father.) This is the next appearance of both Genm and Ex-Aid - but I DON”T KNOW WHERE IT FITS. I don’t want it to be on Takeru’s original birthday, but if it’s shortly after his revival, then it is physically impossible for Ex-Aid to appear. I just don’t know.

October 2016: Game Start. Emu becomes Ex-Aid.

Early December, 2016: Ex-Aid & Ghost. Technically, outside of Zaizen, his cronies, and Parad, Takeru manages to be the fourth person overall to find out about Emu being Patient Zero. Numbers one and two are Kuroto and Masamune, presumably in that order, and number three is Kiriya. Emu doesn’t remember a thing about the last part of that battle.

Christmas 2016: Episode 12. That is really all there is to say on the matter.

February 2017: Beast Rider Squad

March 2017: Okay, Parad, this is the definition of ‘cool motive, still murder.’ (AKA Kuroto dies.) Later in the month, ‘Chou Super Hero Taisen’ and the Gorider special occur.

April 2017: Kamen Rider Chronicle Begins

May 2017: oh. hey there kuroto. “welcome back” (also the proper introduction of Masamune / Cronus)

June 2017: Oh! Hey there Kiriya! Welcome back!

Early to Mid August 2017: Kamen Rider Chronicle Ends. (and so does the Season.) That Other Build appears, presumably from his 2015, and takes off one of Kuroto’s remaining lives.

I figure about a week passes between Masamune’s defeat and The Press Conference, maybe two weeks. No more than that. Enough time to get things done, like Taiga’s clinic being made official, Nico to graduate, Hiiro to get some new students, etc.

Late August to early September 2017: True Ending, wherein a terrible father is actually able to try and redeem himself for once in this franchise.

Here’s where it gets tricky.

In the True Ending post-credits scene, That Other Build appears, again presumably from his 2015, takes Ex-Aid’s power, and accidentally takes Parad along for the trip back through the wormhole. Parad is stuck in Build!2015 until Build!2017, aka Heisei Gen Final, at which point he and Sento hitch a ride with Kouta (the overpowered little–) back to the Main Timeline.

Build & Ex-Aid (Heisei Generations Final) is, with regards to the Main Timeline, canonically “one year after True Ending”, which would put it somewhere in the second half of 2018. 

I. Don’t like putting this film a full year after the season. It doesn’t fit with any of the other Movie Wars - most are at most set six months post-series.

(Well - most of the other Movie Wars.)

(We are studiously ignoring OOO & W for the purpose of comparison, because W’s final episode is set one year after the rest of the series, and the movie really requires that to have happened. To say nothing of the OOO section… *shudder*)

(And the Ex-Aid & Ghost film has no choice but to be in December, because of Certain Events In Late December, so it’s by necessity 8 months after the conclusion of… most of Ghost’s storyline.)

But putting Heisei Gen Final in 2018 makes several things awkward.

First: one year? really? Again, an unusual time gap. I just don’t like it.

Second: It screws with Sento and Ryuuga, who I maintain landed in the Main Timeline. I know I rag on Zi-O, and there are all sorts of problems and unreliable narration going on in there, but this has nothing to do with that. This is largely consolidation of characters. I assume that time stayed ‘synced’ when Enigma was shut down, so they landed in Mid to Late July 2018. (season finale time dilation in action, folks!)

IF Heisei Gen Final is in 2018, as canon claims, then there would be two Sentos and two Ryuugas running around at the time. Three people with the same faces, technically, because of Sato Taro and the black-haired Ryuuga.

That’s just mean and there’s too many paradoxes going around in Rider right now.

Also, Final being in 2018 will probably wreak havoc with the currently upcoming Heisei Generations Forever.

All of that to say that I personally put Final in December 2017, just to keep things nice and consistent.

The Another Ending trilogy in August 2019, two years after the series finale. (As is the Para-DX HBV.) That’s unavoidable. Two years post-finale is a good time span.

I can’t tell what the time span of the four is, though. They follow pretty much immediately on each other’s heels, but I think it’s… maybe a week, week and a half total?

A very, very long and tiring week and a half.

I have no earthly idea how far off Kiriya’s revival is, and that bugs me.

(… heh. bugs. like bugsters. i’m so sick of these puns you guys.)

Doing math like a normal human tells us that Another Ending is 2019 - they SAY two years after True Ending, but Rider Wiki insists it’s in 2020 - two years after the ‘technically canonical but really really dumb’ date of 2018… for Heisei Final. Normal Human math means that Mighty Novel X, canonically ‘three years after Another Ending’, is thus 2022, as oppose to where Rider Wiki lists it - 2023.

That’s as far out as I can go, so yeah. Little too much thought. I’m desperately trying to figure out the Heart and Mach specials for Drive - I know they’re here in 2018, but I’m not sure WHEN in 2018. (Mach Saga is going in November for the (re)United verse, no two ways about that, but I dunno about canonically.)

So that’s what I’ve been using for the Ex-Aid Timeline. Why do you ask?

[itsaudreyhornebitch]

Prompt 185: “Open Up”

For an anon. I didn’t realize that the prompt was under the “smut” category until I was like 3/4 of the way through writing this...so I had to go back and add smut. Whoops.

1 AM on a Friday night, and Karen was deep in a dream chamber, passed out diagonally across her bed still wearing her work clothes. It had been a rough week—with Ellison out of town “visiting a sick uncle” (a not-so-secret code phrase meaning he was staying with his “secret” girlfriend in upstate New York), Karen had been assigned to cover many of his duties, as well as her own. Which meant working her usual beat, as well as editing some of the work turned in by junior reporters (many of whom did not seem to know the difference between there, they’re, and their). She’d spent most of the day guzzling cups of crappy, break room coffee and trying not to take out her frustrations on the NYU intern. It had been fucking exhausting. Almost the moment she’d caught sight of her bed after work, she’d lost herself to unconsciousness.

And it was pleasant—the kind of deep, dark sleep that feels like it may be infinite. The kind where you wake up the next morning barely knowing your own name—confused and untethered and truly rested. The second Karen’s head had hit the pillow, she was gone—utterly lost to the world.

Until a sharp little tapping noise jolted her from her sleep.

“What the—” Karen was awake in an instant, bolt upright, heart pounding. She was a light sleeper—had learned from growing up with an older brother fond of nighttime pranks how to be alert at a moment’s notice. It took a few second for her head to clear; for the fog of sleep to lift, and for her to zero in on what, exactly had woken her so unceremoniously. It was a harsh and insistent rapping at her window pane.

Karen pressed a steadying hand to her chest, willing her heart beat to slow, and turned her head. It was too dark to make out much, but as Karen’s eyes adjusted, she caught sight of a large, shadowy figure sitting on her fire escape, pressed right up to her window. Human-shaped.

“What the fuck?!” Karen’s heart stuttered in her chest, adrenaline flooding her veins in an instant. She scrambled from her bed quickly, falling to the floor and pressing herself flat against the rug, out of view of the window. Someone showing up on her fire escape in the middle of the night was never a good thing. People with respectable intentions used the front fucking door; people who wanted to murder you in your sleep used the window. Karen cursed herself—her gun was in the night stand on the other side of the bed—out of reach. In order to get to it, she’d have to pass by the window. Where the fuck was Frank when she needed him?

“Karen—please. Open up. It’s me.”

Oh. That’s where he was.

“Frank?” She popped her head up over the edge of the bed, eyes wide. What was he doing on her fire escape at 1 AM? Last she’d heard, he was on Punisher duty tonight, and she never saw him on Punisher nights. He’d made it very clear, since the beginning of their relationship, that he wanted to keep the vigilante part of his life separate from the Karen part of his life. Or, at least, he wanted to try. With Karen’s propensity for getting involved in the kind of trouble way above her pay grade, they hadn’t had much luck. But still, he always tried to keep the two parts of his life separate. Sometimes, though—tonight included, it seemed—he just couldn’t.

“Yeah, it’s me. Open the window, sweetheart. Quick.”

Even through the pane of glass separating them, Karen picked up on the strain in his voice. The tight undercurrent of pain.

He was hurt.

“Okay, sorry, sorry.” She tripped as she stood up, and remembered she was still wearing four inch heels. “I’m coming.” She kicked her shoes off quickly, not caring where they landed, and was at her window in seconds.

“Fuck.” Frank collapsed inside the moment he could squeeze through, falling to the floor with a thud. The groan he made was concerning, and Karen dropped to her knees, reaching out blindly to touch him wherever she could.

“Are you hurt? Are you bleeding? What’s going on? What happened? Do you need a towel or an ice pack or—,” she was grasping desperately at his arms, her hands coming away sticky and wet. A bad sign.

“Shhh, shhhh.” Frank slipped into his comforting voice, grabbing ahold of Karen’s searching hands, stilling them against his chest. “It’s just a surface wound, I’m fine—I’m fine. But you need to be quiet, Kare. Had police on my tail. Could be here any minute.”

“Police?”

“Chased me from the Garment District. Two cops—ditched their car when I started climbing fences and followed me on foot.”

“The Garment District?” Karen’s fingers were twisting into the front of his shirt. “What were you doing there?”

“Shh shh,” he squeezed her hands soothingly. “I’ll explain later. Just gotta keep quiet for a bit, okay?”

He was barely finished speaking before Karen heard the sound of heavy, purposeful knocking down the hallway, followed by the exclamation of “NYPD, open up!” It wasn’t at her door, which was a small blessing, but it sounded like the cops were at Mr. Harrison’s, two doors down. Probably canvassing the building.

“Fuck—Frank, what do I do?” Karen stared down at her hands, knowing they were covered in blood, but unable to confirm visually. All she could see were dark splotches spread across her palms. She figured it probably wasn’t in her best interest to turn on the overhead light and draw attention to her little apartment.

“Just—just stay calm. If they knock on your door—” Frank grunted as he lifted himself to his feet, stumbling toward the bathroom, “just tell them you were asleep. Can’t come in without a warrant.”

“Okay, okay.” Karen nodded to herself, before standing to follow Frank. “Are you sure you’re alright? You’re listing to one side pretty badly.”

“No, I’m—I’m fine.” Frank paused, breathing deeply, before turning to drop a kiss to Karen’s forehead—a reassuring gesture. “Just a scrape.”

She didn’t believe him—not for one second. But she’d dealt with enough of Frank’s “scrapes” to know that there was nothing she could do. The man was stubborn as hell when it came to taking care of himself. But she knew, deep down, that if  he were really in danger—injured beyond the pale—he’d tell her.

She watched him for a moment, then decided his limp wasn’t as pronounced as she’d first thought. Probably a sprained ankle if she had to guess.

“Okay. A ‘scrape.’ Whatever you say.” The skepticism was heavy in her voice. “First aid kit’s under the sink. Same place it was last time you got your ass kicked.”

“Hey,” Frank leaned heavily against the doorframe of the bathroom. “I did not get my ass kicked.”

“Yeah, well the blood on my hands says otherwise.” Karen folded her arms across her chest, and the moonlight was just bright enough for Frank to see the move. He wanted to laugh—it was classic Karen.

“You should see the other guy.”

“If he’s still alive, right?”

“Damn straight.”

Karen was about to respond with something snappy, but the pounding on her door cut her off.

“NYPD—open up!”

Taking a deep breath, Karen waited until Frank was in the bathroom, with the door closed safely behind him, before making her way to undo the latch at the front door. She grabbed a robe from the laundry bin on the way, wrapping it around herself and shoving her bloody hands in her pockets. It wasn’t great, but it would have to do.

“Hello?” She tried to make her voice sound as groggy and confused as possible as she peeked through the crack in the door. Two uniformed police officers stared back at her, flash lights mounted on their shoulders. She squinted against the bright beams directed at her face.

“Hello ma’am. Sorry to disturb you,” the younger one spoke, looking genuinely regretful for the inconvenience. Kid didn’t look a day over 22, Karen thought. “We’re chasing down an armed criminal who was last seen climbing the fire escape of this building. Have you seen or heard anything suspicious in the last twenty or so minutes? Maybe outside your window?”

“Uh...” Karen tried to ham up the ‘barely-awake’ act, blinking blearily for emphasis. (She almost brought her hands up to rub at her eyes, but caught herself just in time). “No, sorry officers. I’ve been asleep.”

“Are you sure?” The older, more grizzled of the two spoke up, craning his head and clearly trying to see behind her into the darkened apartment, “Do you live alone? Nobody else in the place we could talk to?”

“No I—” Karen managed a realistic yawn, and silently thanked her 7th grade drama teacher, Mrs. Hamilton, for showing her that little trick. “I live alone, I’m sorry.”

There was a pause, then the sound of something clattering to the ground in the background. Karen froze, recognizing the noise as coming from the bathroom. She forced herself to visibly relax, as though nothing were out of the ordinary, as she saw both officers place hands on their side pieces.

“Ma’am, what was that?” The younger officer took a step forward, ready to shove her door open and force his way in if need be.

Karen had to think fast.

“Probably my cat, officer.” She hoped that they couldn’t hear the staccato rhythm of her heart beating in her throat, and desperately shot for casual with the tone of her voice. “Little Willie. She’s always knocking things off of my dresser. Why? It illegal to own a cat in this neighborhood?” She put a little sass in her inflection.

“No ma’am.”

Both officers removed their hands from their weapons, visibly relaxing.

“If you hear anything—or see anything—please call 911.” The older cop spoke. “The man we are looking for is armed and highly dangerous.” Not to me, Karen though to herself. “Even if you aren’t sure—anything that looks suspicious, you need to call us, okay?”

“Yes. Yeah.” Karen nodded, yawning again. “Is that all, officers?”

There was a pause, in which both cops stared at her as though trying to read into her stance—her demeanor. It was quiet. Then the tension broke; she’d been deemed trustworthy.

“Yes ma’am, that’s all.” The younger cop spoke, nodding. “Thanks for you cooperation, and sorry to wake you up.”

“No problem.” Karen was itching to close her door and see what was going on with Frank, but knew that she couldn’t let her haste come across, lest she look suspicious.

“Well,” the older cop rocked back on his heels. “Good night, ma’am.”

“Yeah, good night.”

She waited until they had turned to the apartment across the hall before closing her door. She stood, for just a moment, breathing deeply and letting the adrenaline subside, before quietly tip-toeing her way to the bathroom.

“Frank?” She whispered, opening the door slowly, so as not to startle him. “They’re gone. We’re clear.”

Frank hadn’t switched on the overhead bulb, instead opting for the small night-light Karen had mounted in the outlet, which bathed the bathroom in a pale, blueish glow. It took Karen’s eyes a moment to adjust before she could understand what she was seeing: Frank, teeth gritted and shirtless, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, attempting to stitch up a bullet graze in his bicep using her very rudimentary first aid kit.

“Jesus, Frank. Let me do that for you.” Her voice came out little more than a murmur—the cops weren’t too far away, after all.  She stepped over his discarded shirt and fell to her knees in front of him, reaching out to grab the needle and thread from his hands.

“I got it.” Frank grunted quietly, gritting his teeth against the pain.

“Clearly you don’t.” Karen scoffed. “That’s some sloppy-ass stitch work. Gonna leave a big scar.”

“Oh no,” Frank deadpanned. “Not a scar.”

“Yeah yeah, you’re a big strong man with a million battle souvenirs.” Karen rolled her eyes with a smile. “I get it. But it’s going to take longer to heal with that messy work.”

“You can do better?”

“Can I?” Karen leaned back on her heels, letting her eyes rake over his body, covered in bruises and blood. “I’ll have you know that I earned my first aid merit badge from Buffalo Bayou Boy Scout camp faster than anyone else, specifically because of my stitch work. I patched up at least fifteen wounded oranges to earn that badge.”

“You were a boy scout?” Frank gave up, dropping the needle and letting it dangle from the thread embedded in his arm. Karen picked it up carefully—gently.

“We haven’t talk about this before?” She used her free hand to pinch together Frank’s skin, closing the flesh around the wound. He winced, but gave her a reassuring smile when she looked up in concern.

“Nope. Don’t think you mentioned being a Boy Scout. I’d remember that.”

“Huh,” Karen frowned. “So I never told you how I annoyed the scout masters into letting me tag along on all the camping trips with my brother? I even stowed away once—spent a whole four hours in the trunk of my dad’s car so that I could go on cavalcade. Eventually, they made me an honorary scout.”

“That explains so much about you.” Frank hissed through gritted teeth as Karen began to sew his wound together. She was much more delicate—more patient—than he was; and the stitching was clean.

“What? You mean it explains how I’m always doing my best to do my duty to God and my country and obey the Scout Law? How I’m always helping other people at all times; keeping myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight?” She rattled off the scout law as though it were second nature, and Frank found himself struggling to stifle a laugh.

“I was going to say how you’re always bullying people to get your way, but yeah. That too.” Frank shook his head.

“I did not bully anyone. I said annoy. I annoyed the scout masters to get my way.” Karen corrected, tutting as she finished up the last of her stitching.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Annoy is much better.” Frank bit back a smile.

“It is.” Karen reached into her first aid kit and rummaged around until she found a pair of scissors, cutting the excess thread from his stitches. “Now,” she leaned back with a huff. “You gonna tell me what else is hurting, or am I going to have to frisk you?”

Frank gave up hiding his smile. “No ma’am.” He shook his head. “That was the only wound needed attention.” He shifted on the edge of the tub. “Got a shallow cut on my side from a machete, major bruising on my ribs, a sprained ankle, and a shit ton of minor scrapes and cuts. But other than that I’m fine. Promise.”

Karen eyed him skeptically, lips pursed. She leaned forward, placing an arm on either side of him on the edge of the tub.

“You lying to me, Castle? I’ll know if you are.” She squinted in his face, her eyes serious. Frank probably shouldn’t have found it as adorable as he did. His Karen—never afraid to call him out on anything.

“No ma’am. Wouldn’t lie to you.” He raised a brow. And he seemed sincere. (Karen could always tell when Frank was bullshitting her—trying to downplay his injuries—as the right corner of his mouth dipped in just the slightest. It was a dead giveaway).

“Okay. Fine.” She nodded. “Now you wanna tell me how you got those wounds?”

Frank sighed, reaching out to run both his hands through Karen’s hair. He cupped her cheeks, tilting her head up toward his own.

“You know those Banucci goons you wrote about the other day? The ones running the prostitution ring in Koreatown?”

Karen nodded, Frank’s calloused hands warm on her cheeks.

“Tracked them down to a hideout in the Garment District. They weren’t too happy to see me. Managed to persuade one of them to give up the name of the guy in charge before shit when sideways.”

“Persuade?” Karen repeated, tilting her head to nuzzle her cheek into one of his palms.

“Persuade,” Frank repeated, nodding. Code word for ‘torture,’ obviously. “Until one of ‘em started shooting.”

“But I can safely assume they’re all dead now, right?”

Frank paused.

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Karen rose on her knees slowly, eyes locked to Frank’s. “I’m glad.”  And she was—she’d been tracking the Banucci gang for months; had uncovered the horrifying truth that they’d been involved in human trafficking and selling under-aged girls for years. The police, of course, had turned a blind eye; Frederico Banucci lined enough pockets in the NYPD to get a free pass for anything he chose to do with his goons. Karen had long ago hardened her heart to the reality that some men—some truly evil men—deserved to die without a trial.

Frank looked at her for a moment—his fierce, righteous Karen. In the soft glow of the night-light, her pupils were blown wide, and the blue of her iris was luminous. She looked almost like an angel with her golden hair backlit softly; like more than he deserved. Her breath hitched slightly, as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Frank’s with all the tenderness in the world.

It was a gentle kiss. An “I’m glad you’re safe; always come back to me” kiss. And it set his heart thumping wildly in his chest. Going out on his nightly runs as The Punisher felt different now that he had someone to come back to. Someone to check in with; to eat take-out and watching crappy horror movies on Saturday nights with; to tend his wounds and kiss away the dark corners of his mind. It made him feel a little more complete—a little more Frank Castle and a little less The Punisher.

His hands traveled down from her cheeks, fingers ghosting over her neck and scraping down her shoulder blades, before making their way to the small of her back. He tugged her forward, gently, until she fell against his chest completely. She made a little noise of protest, afraid of hurting him, but Frank just squeezed her closer, letting his tongue dip into her mouth and taste her sweet and fresh on his tongue.

“Mmm, Frank.” Karen pulled back slightly. “Don’t want to hurt you.”

“No.” Frank shook his head, yanking her back in. “Worth it.”

And his lips were on hers again—warm and strong and claiming. Kissing her like it was the only thing in the world to do. There were desperate little noises clawing their way up Karen’s throat, as the kiss deepened—teeth clashing and tongues sliding.

“Wait wait wait.” Karen pulled back again, and Frank had to fight down a frustrated groan. “Is it seriously fucked up to be making out right now? You are literally still bleeding from a showdown with mafia pimps.”

“Kare.” Frank shook his head, rubbing his thumbs back and forth along the small of her back. “If we weren’t allowed to make out every time I killed a bad guy, we’d never get to touch each other.”

“Hmm,” Karen tilted her head to the side, thinking it over. “Fair point.”

“Yeah. So let me kiss you, huh?” He leaned forward, chasing her lips.

“Hold on,” she shook her head, breaking away from his grasp to stand up. “Let’s get you out of those dirty clothes first. I can smell the blood on your pants.”

“Alright.” He rose with a groan, his back popping in protest. Karen cringed.

“Sounds bad, old man.” She turned to open the cabinet above the toilet, where she kept extra t-shirts and boxers for Frank. Mostly clothes he’d left behind, which she had laundered fresh for all the times he decided to stay over unprepared.

“Who you callin’ old man?” He grumbled, toeing off his boots, caked as they were with mud and blood.

“You, old man.” She leaned down to pick them up, setting them in the sink, where she would rinse them later. Glancing up in the mirror, she saw Frank slip off his pants and boxers, wincing at the pain in his side as he did. She bit her lip, trying not to stare. Even bloodied and bruised, naked Frank was a hell of a sight.

“Yeah, well,” He pulled on the boxers Karen handed him—the ones with little skulls that she thought were just hilarious. “Let me take you to bed and we’ll see who you’re calling old man.” He reached out to grab Karen around the waist, but she danced out of his grip.

“Ah ah ah,” she pinned him with a serious look. “Don’t you think you’re a little too banged up to make good on that promise, Frank?”

He stood, staring at her for a moment, that predator’s look in his eye, stepping forward with purpose. Before she quite realized what was happening, he’d bent down, his arm around the backs of her thighs, and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. (It had hurt like hell, but Frank decided it was well worth it, with the way Karen gasped, letting out a little yelp at being suddenly upside-down).

“Frank!” She whisper-yelled, smacking his ass gently. “Put me down! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

“Nope.” He shook his head, walking down the hallway to her bedroom, a man on a mission.

“If you pop your stitches trying to be a big, strong caveman, I’m going to kick your ass.” Karen tried for annoyed, but her voice lacked conviction.

“I’ll risk it.” He shifted, and suddenly Karen was being deposited, as gently as Frank was capable of, on her bed. She bounced a little as her back hit the mattress, and it took a moment for her head to reorient to no longer being upside down.

“Okay,” Karen shook her head. “You’ve proven how tough and totally-not-hurt you are. You win.”

When she looked up, Frank was staring at her, arms crossed, a grin on his face. And there was that softness in his eyes—that tender look that made Karen melt. Made her feel like a rare and precious thing.

Frank felt his fingers itching to touch her. The moonlight filtering through the bedroom window cast her with a gentle flush, and she looked so damn beautiful—long, pale legs; rosy lips; wide eyes, the kindest shade of blue. His gaze trailed down her body and he noticed, for the first time, what she was wearing. “You fall asleep straight from work?”

“Huh?” Karen’s brain was slow to play catch-up with Frank’s train of thought. “Oh,” she looked down at her pencil skirt and blouse. “Yeah.”

“Rough day?” He stepped forward, placing one knee on the mattress, bending down (despite the protest in his side) and placing a hand next to Karen’s hip.

“You have no idea.” She bit her lip, watching the way his gaze traveled the length of her, devouring.

“Hmm,” he grunted, bringing his other hand up to slowly begin unbuttoning her blouse. “See if we can make it better, huh?” His grin was just a touch devilish as he began leisurely popping her buttons, one-by-one, as though he had all the time in the world. The backs of his fingers trailed over silky smooth flesh as he went, and Karen found herself shivering at the touch.

Frank dipped his head, laying a kiss on her bare sternum, the stubble from his unshaven chin scratching at the swell of her breasts. She loved when he didn’t shave every day, letting his five o’clock shadow grow out. The best was when he left it alone all week long, then let Karen shave him over the weekend, sitting on the bathroom floor and tilting his head back over the tub while she carefully dragged the razor across his jaw.

God, she adored that jaw. The one currently rubbing its way across the cup of her bra as he dragged his teeth across her sternum.

“Frank,” she breathed, arching up, as his hand dipped lower, unfastening the last of her buttons, pulling the tails of her shirt from her skirt.

He climbed further onto the bed, planting both hands on either side of Karen’s head, fingers tangling gently in the hair that spread around her like a halo. They stared at each other for a moment, breathless in anticipation, before Frank ducked his head down to nuzzle at her cleavage. With his nose, he nudged aside one of the cups of her bra, exposing her breast to the cool air. Licking his lips, he watched her nipple pucker and tighten before him.

“Jesus, Frank.” Karen spoke his name again, and he flicked his eyes up to hers for just a second, before closing his mouth around her nipple.

She jolted at the feeling—warm and wet—as his lips wrapped around her bud, his tongue coming out to flick at her gently. Arching up, she brought a hand down to tangle in his hair, pressing his face against her in a bid to get him closer. He complied, letting the tip of his tongue circle her over and over, before sucking gently, eliciting a moan.

“Felling any better, Kare?” Frank pulled back briefly, blowing a stream of cold air across her nipple—wet with his saliva. Karen hissed, and he grinned.

“Oh,” her voice was breathless, and she used the hand buried in his hair to yank him toward her slightly. “Just a little.” Her lips crooked in a mischievous smirk.

“Just a little, huh?” Frank repeated, shaking his head before leaning forward to lave his tongue across her again. The little noise of approval she made was lovely.

Karen brought down the hand not grasping at Frank’s hair, using it slide behind her back and unhook her bra, letting it fall from her chest. Frank lifted his head enough so she could shrug out of her shirt, tossing it, and her bra, into a far corner of the room. He stared down at her—ethereal and delicate in the sparse light dancing through the curtains—and felt how intensely lucky he was to be with her at that moment. How beautiful life could be, allowing him to find her—to rest in her presence—after all the terrible things he had done.

Karen reached out, eyes soft, and threaded both of her hands through his hair, guiding his head down to her own. Her lips were tender and sweet, and kissing her felt a bit like taking Holy Communion.  Like worship in the only way he knew how. Slowly, he tore his mouth from hers, letting it drag down her throat, then her chest, leaving a wet trail in its wake. He let the knee resting on the mattress slide down, until he was kneeling on the floor, his lips playing at Karen’s stomach.

“Love this skirt,” he mumbled against her skin, reaching behind her to slowly slide the zipper down.

“I do too. So be careful with it.” Karen rose up on her elbows to shoot him a look. He’d torn too many of her favorite items of clothing (mostly dresses and panties and bras) for her to pass up on the warning.

“Yes ma’am.” He nodded with a wicked grin, before tucking his fingers into the band of her panties and dragging both pieces of fabric down her legs.

And she was bare before him—long, lovely legs and a pink blush working its way up her stomach. It was charming, Frank thought, that after how many times they had done this, Karen still had the capacity to blush. It wasn’t out of embarrassment, she’d explained to Frank one night, but because she hadn’t realized how much she liked being looked at until it was Frank doing the looking. Like a selective exhibitionist, she became a live wire only under his gaze.

“Jesus, Kare.” Frank’s large, warm palms glided their way up her legs, callouses catching on smooth skin, until they were resting at the luscious swell of her hips. “So beautiful.” He dipped his head, placing a kiss right above the thatch of hair between her thighs. His thumbs began to rub back and forth across her hip bones. Karen squirmed at the contact.

Frank nipped at the skin below her belly button, then leaned back on his heels. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled forward until her back was on the mattress, but her feet were resting on the floor. She made a surprised little noise, but didn’t lift her head.

“Sweetheart.” Frank slid his hands down from her hips, tickling her thighs as he went, before resting them on her knees. He gave a little squeeze. “Open up.” Karen’s body went magnificently limp in his grasp, and he gently pried her legs apart, exposing her completely before him. She was slick and pink, glistening in the dim light through the window. And perfect—always perfect, Frank thought.

He stared at her for too long, apparently, and Karen bucked her hips up impatiently, stretching her arms high above her head.

“Okay, I see ya.” Frank glanced up at Karen, waiting for her to tilt her chin down and make eye contact, before lowering his mouth to her slit. Slowly—with the intent to tease—he let his tongue drag up her folds, pulling away before he could reach her clit.

“Frank.” His name left her lips like a plea, and she circled her hips upward in an attempt to chase his mouth.

“Shh, I got ya.”

He blew across her wet core softly, until she shivered, then his mouth was on her again. Ravaging this time—open-mouthed kisses, flicking tongue. Like he was trying to devour her in one go.

“Fuck!” Karen’s exclamation was half-yell, half-whisper, and the heady feeling of pleasure shot to the base of her skull. Frank was so good at this—so fucking good at this. He ate her like he was trying to rip her apart, fingernails digging into her ass, hands tilting her hips upward for a better angle, stubble dragging across her inner thighs. When he was between her legs, the entire world slipped away into nothing, and all she could do was hold on to the electric buzz building in her gut.

Frank lifted Karen’s hips, and suddenly her legs were slung over his shoulders. With this new position, she was able to dig her heels into Frank’s back, pushing him closer—closer—for just that much more friction. The sound of his mouth on her—wet and sloppy and perfect—was almost obscene in the quiet bedroom. And it had Karen’s pleasure spiking to new heights; aural stimulation always seemed to do it for her—the slick little noises of sex so erotic to her ears. She brought her hands down to once again tangle in Frank’s hair, fingernails scratching along his scalp. He shivered at the sensation.

“Frank, I need—” Karen’s words were cut off by a gasp, as he let his tongue flick out to circle her clit. It was exactly what she needed. The man was a mind reader.

Slowly—then quickly—he let his tongue skim across her clit, licking with the broad flat of his tongue every once in a while, just to keep things interesting. He brought one hand from where it was holding onto her ass, and wedged it between his chest and the mattress. While Karen was gyrating her hips, pressing herself into his mouth, he let one, long finger enter her. Slowly.

She let out a whine—a soft little noise—as he began to crook his finger, hitting that spot behind her clit that felt like fire.

“Oh god. Yes. Keep going—keep—” she gasped as he added a second finger. Pressing into her—insistently now. Making her see stars.

The combination of his tongue at her clit and his finger tapping her g-spot was deadly. And she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was falling over the edge; could already feel the buildup of her release pulling tight the muscles in her back.

She didn’t realize how desperately her heels were digging into Frank’s back, or how rough her thrusts were, as she tried to ride his face faster. But Frank didn’t mind; he enjoyed it—feeling used by Karen. Knowing that she was near-mindless with pleasure, because of him. He grinned as he felt her walls begin to flutter gently; she was close.

And he began sucking—roughly, quickly—at her clit, knowing that it was a move guaranteed to send her flying. With a crook of the finger, and a flick of the tongue, she was gone.

Back arching impossibly high, head thrashing from side to side, and his name on her lips, like a whimper. She flew—in that way only Frank was capable of sending her careening out. Her legs were shaking on either side of his head as she came down, breathing heavily, sated.

He continued to lick her gently for a few moments, drinking in her release, until she made a small noise that let him know she was too sensitive to continue. Sitting back on his heels, he admired his handiwork—Karen looked completely wrecked.

“You—” she spoke up, panting. “You gonna come cuddle me or what?”

Frank chuckled. “Couldn’t keep me away.”

He helped Karen, who was feeling a little limp, shift her way back up the bed until her head was resting on a pillow. She rolled to her side and reached behind her in indication that Frank should spoon her. As soon as he did—warm chest pressed against her back, breath hot on her neck—she felt the hard length of him jutting into her ass.

“Mmm,” she let her hips roll gently back. “You want me to do something about that?”

Frank pulled her closer, stilling her movements and trapping her against his chest.

“No.” He shook his head. “Wanted to take care of you tonight.”

“Hmm,” Karen nodded, snuggling against him. “There’s always tomorrow though, right? You still up for Chinese and a movie? Or do you have to follow up on the Banucci info?”

“No. That can wait.” Frank dipped his head to nuzzle at the junction between her neck and shoulder. “I think I need to lay low here for a while until I can be sure police aren’t watching your building.” Karen made an understanding noise—she’d almost forgotten about the whole reason he’d shown up at her apartment in the first place. “Plus, Saturdays are for you.”

“Damn right they are.”

“Damn right they are,” Frank repeated, closing his eyes. He was at peace—despite everything else outside of her apartment being a total mess, he was at peace.