#i wrote it all in a blur today and have some things i wanna go back and fix or add but eh

[memorialbabe]

There's porn words in here I wrote em

Based off of this:

You never really knew what it felt like to be knocked out before and, in a way, you still don’t. There isn’t a lot you know for sure right now, but it feels safe to bet that you were knocked out, and that you have woken up after that, and that you are now in the trunk of a moving vehicle - probably a sedan from how cramped and warm it is. You do kinda have to pee. 

You’re gonna try to not think about that though because you are really starting to worry about not remembering where you were or what you were doing just before this. And also you don’t want to piss yourself right now, it’s a very bad time and it feels like whenever your kidnapper opens the trunk it will be a very bad second impression to have wet pants and to have pissed all over their car. Okay though, back up, will it just be a second impression? Who knocked you out? Was that the first time you and they have met? Is it just one person? If so, are they hot? This situation is very scary and you very much are not going to throw yourself at whoever did this but you have definitely thought about getting kidnapped in what was definitely a sexual fantasy before. You’re gonna try to not think about that either.

But alright, you’re clever, rack your brain for ways to figure out where you’re going based on what’s going on with the car. Go ahead. You can’t really move, and you don’t hear any noise except for the engine - seems to be a regular gas engine and not an electric or something - and the occasional car passing or being passed, so, great, you’re on a road, in a car. You figured it out. Well, there’s bumps now and then and those hurt, and there’s the other person in here, their knee is pressing on yours and it’s starting to hurt. 

Huh. There’s the other person in here. Explains why it’s so hard to move, and so warm, and a little humid, sweaty even. 

“Am I gagged?” you ask, in a way that is both useful and useless.

Then, too loud and right in front of your face, “Agh-” a thump, “fuck,” and you can hear that they trail off into a rapid, panicked breath for a second before that noise is overridden by them squirming just so much to try to get a look at you, which they can’t and don’t, and also they’re mostly just pushing off of you to turn toward you, and they’re already facing you, and also can’t really move anyway, so it’s even more useless than the thing you said. But hey, their knee is off of your knee, and that’s nice. 

“Uh, damn. Sorry,” you say with a tone very much implying you’d nervously scratch the back of your head while you said it if you could. Your hands can only move so much, though now that they know you’re in here with them there’s a modicum of space in between you - they had evidently been hogging all of it behind them - but the limits space-wise right now sorta restrict your arms to being very bent and in front of you and touching theirs. Their skin is warm, and yours isn’t really cold either, so neither of you is undead, good info, good knowledge. 

In all of the squirming they did, it seems like your legs are now actually more entangled than before while your upper halves have been pushed maybe a foot apart from each other. “Who the fuck are you?” is all you get back, which is a good question, and though it wasn’t asked politely, y’know, they have a certain huskiness in their voice that lets you get past it. That being said, you definitely have to work on your priorities here, but it’s not like you’re gonna not answer them. 

You say your name which gets no response, it’s a name, you have one, so does everyone else, not really special and they obviously don’t recognize it (if you have a weird name, they go “really?” and you go “yeah” and they move on). So, you don’t know each other. Just two strangers in the trunk of a moving car, kinda grumpy, maybe hungry, and oh yeah you have to pee. “I have to pee,” you say out loud, supposedly to your trunk-bound compatriot but somehow just to the air. 

“No you do not.”

“Yeah, I know, sorry.”

“Well you can’t, so.”

You pause.

“No. You can’t. Next subject.”

“Okay, what’s your name then?”

“Harmonica.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” 

(This plays better if you have a weird name.)

You pause again, and try to move your arm which is getting a little tired of being where it is, but they stop you and move it back.

“You can call me Harm, and please keep your hands to yourself.” You can hear the glare, it really presses on your chest and you can’t help but get a little red in the ears about the misunderstanding.

Okay wait a second, you absolutely cannot keep your hands to yourself, and neither can they. Wait, like, another second though. “They/them?” you ask, for some fucking reason. It’s like, really bad timing, but you’re narrating this in your head for the reader so you need the correct pronouns. 

“Really???? Keep your hands to yourself gets a pronoun check??” The implied glare is starting to bruise your solar plexus.

“I- alright. You know neither of us can keep from touching the other, what the hell? And it just- I just wanted to make sure, I dunno, for in my head.” You definitely tried some diffusing gesticulations here but at this point they have grabbed your wrists to stop you from doing any of that either.

“You were clearly going straight for my tits.”

“What????” Neither of you can fully absorb how much that doesn’t make sense to you just from how you asked, but it’s like, pretty close. “How was I supposed to know that, I can’t see shit, and I didn’t even know you had those, and also, uh, not really my first instinct, personally. You don’t know that about me, but I promise.”

“Huh.”

“Huh?”

They let go of your wrists, which is nice, they could probably have taken your pulse to tell you how far over 100 bpm it is. And then: oh. Oh yeah okay you were blindfolded and didn’t really notice, you kinda just assumed it was dark in the trunk. Which like, yeah it is dark, it’s dark enough that you can only really see outlines even though your eyes are pretty adjusted by now, but yeah what Harm said checks out, you definitely would have been reaching for their boobs. And yeah no wonder it’s cramped in here, awooga. They seem to be about your height and pretty big, fat most places but definitely fat and muscly on the arms. You’re honestly lucky you can see them at all, not just because they’re nice to look at, but it seems like you’re getting some of the tail light glow through cracks between the fabric trim pieces of the trunk. So, hey, it’s likely night time, that’s probably the first real clue you’ve gotten.

“Yeah, they/them. You?”

You say your pronouns.

“Oh, yeah, obviously.” You both chuckle at that. 

You wonder how much of you Harm can see. You’re further from the rear of the vehicle where the barest hint of red light is coming from, which means they’re all outlines and silhouettes to you, but for all you know they might be able to see your face if the angles work out just right. 

“So what brings you here, stranger?” Harm ironicizes at you. Genuinely super nice of them btw, they do not have to diffuse the situation for you, but they do. 

“Oh you know,” you smarm, smarmily, “probably a concussion.” You both let off some pressure laughs and you finally relax your shoulders. Somehow now, it looks like they’re how they’d be if you were both just lying down somewhere together, head tilted toward the floor because the stress has bled off and they don’t have to keep their neck rigid anymore. You can almost picture their face, and what it would look like while looking at you right now. 

“Yeah no same. Really sucks too because I can just feel where I got thumped from how much it hurts to have my head pressing against the wall. Or, uh I dunno, side of the trunk, whatever.” Yeah they are kinda further that way than you, above you if you flip the whole thing turnways. 

“Here, uh-” you offer something and they just nonverbally oblige, so now you’ve sorta scooted, but more like just rearranged your legs so Harm can scoot down, which they are relieved to do. And now, well. Your hands aren’t exactly any further from their boobs, and you’re basically hips-to-hips here.

“Ohmygodthankyou. So where’d they get you?”

“Like, on the head? Because I don’t really know, nothing hurts. Maybe they actually used knockout gas.”

“That’s not real. And also your breath isn’t that bad, so I don’t think so anyway.”

“Knockout gas gives you bad breath?”

“Well, it’s not real, so no, but I imagine it would.”

“Yeah okay.” You both let it sit there for a second before Harm cuts back in.

“No wait, I meant like, where geographically.”

“Oooooooh. No idea, I straight up do not remember how I got here.”

“Thanks for being straight up with me. I appreciate it.”

“Of course, of course.” They’re very much letting you smarm, which you appreciate. 

You keep letting the conversation lie which leaves these pauses where you’re noticing things like how you’re definitely pretty leg-locked here, one of theirs on the bottom, then one of yours, theirs, yours. That’s left you both pretty stationary, which means neither of you has room to move but the bumps in the road don’t affect either of you as much. And you’re pretty sure you can feel your leg, the one between theirs, getting a little warmer. Checking, checking… okay no, you haven’t peed, great job. It’s uh- checking again… okay well they didn’t pee either, but it’s definitely Harmonica. Well. You would do one of those “is that a harmonica in your pocket or are you just happy to be pressed up against me in the trunk of a stranger’s car after getting concussed and kidnapped” jokes but honestly you don’t wanna draw attention to it. They diffused the tension for you earlier, you can ignore the hot fat person’s boner. 

“So uh, is that a harmonica in your p-” a particularly bad bump in the road cuts you off thank fucking christ. Seems like a pothole big enough to cause a flat because the tire is ka-thumping and your hand ends up on one of Harm’s boobs. They either don’t notice or don’t bring it up.

“Oh fucking sick, nice, yes.” They are so hype about this - the flat tire not the hand-boob action - they are bouncing up and down - very nice for the hand-boob action - or like, left and right but y’know, your orientation. “Okay so like, wherever the fuck they were taking us, no way we’re getting there now. I don’t - like, no way they just let us go, right? But also way better than going to Destination Who-Fucking-Knows. Probably.”

“Here’s hoping.” Hard to get a lot of words out when you are spending a lot of your mental power focusing on the whole hand-boob thing. Not even lecherously - though there is that - but like if you draw too much attention to it suddenly it’s a whole thing and it’s not like you’re squeezing it’s sorta just on there and also you have to try really hard to not say some dumbass shit. But you’re powering through. 

“Do we have a plan?” They’re obviously looking at you expectantly even though you can’t see them doing that and also they were awake longer than you. That being said, you’re pretty active in your head, so who knows maybe you would’ve, but things being how they are, you’ve been distracted. 

Hm… a plan, a plan… No you definitely don’t have anything. You’re pretty sure it’s harder to kick out the tail lights than you’ve heard, and the situation definitely wouldn’t even allow for that. Plus like, what does that get you when your kidnapper is pulled over on the side of the road? Oh, now they know you’re awake and resisting, that’s great. You guess it depends what happens next. They have just pulled over, but are they waiting for like, roadside assistance or something? Not like they’re gonna be changing the tire, you’re in the trunk and that’s usually where all the spare tire and all the tools to put it on the car are. So yeah, roadside assistance. Wait for someone to come help and scream, easy peasy. “I guess we wait until someone comes to fix the tire and then we just scream.” Simple, you thought it through, you’re helping. And you totally forgot about how warm and sweat-moist Harm’s boob is under your hand. 

“That’s the best we got? I guess it’ll-.” You both choke up, hearts caught in your throat. No fucking way. This absolute horror that kidnapped you thought about this, planned for this. The car is being jacked up so that the tire can be changed. So, to be clear, this asshole was driving around with a spare tire in, at best, the back seat, for what, hours? Who knows, you can’t use your phone to search for the average length of being knocked out by blunt force (the real answer is not very long at all if you’re this coherent afterward, but whatever it’s a scary thought). 

Both of you barely breathe for the entirety of what is clearly a tire removal and replacement. It’s minutes, your kidnapper is not one of those guys that changes out tires quick for NASCAR - and no you’re not counting that as a clue - but you could see it taking you longer. The car is on all four wheels again, you and Harmony jostle into each other some at the jolt, and the engine turns over, and you’re in motion. The acceleration tells you that your kidnapper is getting back up to freeway speeds, and the momentum pushes you into Harm. 

Okay so like, you don’t wanna be weird about it, or make it a whole thing, but she definitely had like an entire hard on once it was obvious that your kidnapper was just fixing it. So, what? They’re getting off on the horror of the whole situation? The elevated heart rate from stress and the adrenaline just happened to give the thing blood flow? You mean, it’s not huge, it probably isn’t that difficult to get it up to full power, but still. And what? You’re just gonna go, “Uh, Harmony, why are you hard?” No wait, those quotation marks aren’t real right? You kept that as an inside thought, Right? 

“I- wh-” there are a few more false starts before they give up. Evidently it’s now quiet time. Even though you have your fellow kidnappee’s throbbing thing pressed pretty hard against your thigh, it’s quiet time. Even though your hand is in an arguably more entrenched position on their boob after all the jostling, it’s quiet time. Even though they’re breathing pretty hot against your ear, it’s quiet fucking time. Not like, a quiet time in which there is fucking though, oh no. Not that kind of quiet fucking time. They straighten their back a bit, probably so they feel a bit more composed, or, well, your hand is like, cupping boob now. But no, it’s for composure. “Whatever,” you hear, quiet and close. 

“Whatever is fine,” is all you can think to get out in return. Honestly, how can you even blame them, the slight bouncing and jiggling from the road could easily get you started if you put yourself in their shoes, especially now that you’re close, and to be honest the stress does get your heart going and it’s not like that isn’t exciting. Yeah, you could see it, especially if you start to notice how warm their thigh is on your dick, and y’know, you were already sorta halfway there just naturally - and honestly that’s controlled given the hand-boob situation that you have been very cool about - so like, yeah, you could see how you would and also absolutely do have your own boner pressing against their leg. 

And they don’t seem upset about it, they definitely aren’t bringing it up like you did, no they’re letting you get away with it. Hell, they’re being really nice about it, they’re kinda moving their hips so that, it uh, it feels pretty good. And they’re still basically pressed against you, breathing right into your ear, maybe a little faster now, and you’re both sweating from being this close and stressed and moving and you go for it. 

You say the quiet part loud - but with your actions so not at all out loud - you give the tit in your hand a gentle squeeze. They lean and shudder into you, breath as hot as ever in your ear and you really don’t want that to stop. Harm squeezes an arm past you on the above-side and wraps it around you, holding you close there like that, and it’s nice to have something soft against your back. They’re basically grinding on you now, you’re getting a lot of positive signs here but no words. Are they just too shy to say anything, even let out a moan? I mean, you wouldn’t really think of them as shy given your conversation so far. And fuck is it way too dark, you wish you could actually see them, see whatever look is on their face that would tell you what they’re feeling. All you have to go off of is the kiss they’re planting on you, which definitely seems to be yet another affirmative. 

“Is this okay?” you try to huff out, your own breath coming out in shovelfuls, but they’re just kissing you again, their other arm, bent and between the two of you near the floor, reaches up and strokes your cheek. Their kiss is maybe a bit too wet - though the whole atmosphere of sweat you’re submerged in is probably what makes it feel “too” anything - and their lips are big and soft and probably had some flavored chapstick on earlier that day, but now Harm just tastes like their mouth, and honestly it isn’t bad. 

You’re catching up to yourself here, because you’ve definitely been kissing back and, wow nice you were the one to introduce tongue here, though theirs is definitely longer and they are thankfully using it so much more than you. You’ve also been grinding back against them, the two of you at this point like pistons, in together, out together, the space there on the out togethers letting both of your dicks stand up properly instead of being pushed down against a thigh, under just a couple layers of fabric each. 

You’ve been playing it safe with your boob hand and just rhythmically giving Harm a nice squeeze with a little bit of push or pull. Obviously they’re into that, but the way they’re straightening their back and pushing their chest out to get your hand pressed harder against them and… and oh my god the whine they let into your mouth while they do, finally some actual noise! It’s so nice to hear that you can’t help yourself, you try to put your arm around them, but they stop you. Or, it seems like they went to grab your hand at the same time you went to do that.

Harm kinda lets up on the kissing so you pay attention and so that they’re clear, and they’re so fucking obviously looking in your eyes even though you can’t really see that, they’re really trying to send a message to you here. With the hand they grabbed they lead your fingers to the buckle of their belt and do their absolute fucking best to help you unbuckle it with just the one hand they have on this side of you. It’s a bit of a mess, and you’re both sweating onto each other and onto the floor of this stupid trunk, and you trade a chuckle a couple times as one or the other of you fumbles it, but it comes undone. 

You barely even notice the noise outside the car anymore, with the belt buckle done you still have to unclasp AND unzip their shorts but by now you’ve realized you have two hands and that frees them up to raise their hand to your chest and they do not play it nearly as safe. They don’t just do whatever to your tits like they own the place, but they’re trying some things and god whatever the fucking they’re doing to your nipple through your shirt now feels so good that you let out a “fuck” and you can tell that they’re kissing a little different for a sec because they’re smiling. But the smile and the kiss are both broken off once you finally get it out, once you get their cock in your hand, warm and hot and wet as all fuck from what obviously isn’t sweat, they shudder as chills run up and down them and they’re very much just mouthing a long, triumphant “ooooooooooooooooooooh my god.” Harmonica can’t help from letting out a couple of greedy little humps into your hand before squeezing the arm that they’ve had around you and pulling in close so they’re against your ear again.

“Now you, now you,” they let out in breathy whimpers, pleas. You nod and oblige them, but you don’t wanna stop grabbing their dick, you haven’t even really done anything with it yet, but it’s so hard to give it the attention it deserves while you and Harm fumble with your whole shorts situation to get yours out. You do your best, but you can tell every time you move your hand and end up peeling back their foreskin just a bit that they lose all fucking function. Or, their fucking function works great, they break down and fuck your hand a little, it’s all the other functions that stop. And honestly you’re not much better, you’re not even really noticing that one loud noise in the background, especially once all of your clothing between the hips and knees is pulled down below your balls so it stays there. 

The muggy air in the trunk isn’t that much different from how it was inside your shorts just a second ago but it still feels like a breath of fresh air before your dick is plunged into the soft but determined depths of Harm’s hand - and honestly in there it feels like you’re getting shocked because your whole body clenches up at it. It’s electrifying like that, it feels so good after all the build up. It’s hot around your cock, hotter than you’ve ever felt before, hotter than what you imagine having penetrative sex with someone who has a fever is. Don’t get sidetracked though or you’ll notice the weird red and blue lighting peeking through the cracks of the trunk’s fabric trim, instead notice how because you clenched up, you really squeezed Harm’s cock and, after the full fifteen seconds where they couldn’t do anything, they decide that you’ve made it a competition and they start stroking you like you were close to cumming. And maybe they’re onto something with that. So you plant your lips on theirs instead of just huffing at each other and you let out some choice moans into their mouth and you start jerking them off like you want them to plaster you into this trunk forever. 

Honestly, you’re doing too well, you’re absolute destroying them at this competition of who can make the other cum first or hardest or whatever the fuck - Harm’s hand has let go and they’re largely just shuddering against you from the pleasure - so you decide to make it a fair game and you wrap both of your hands around both of your cocks and press them together. From there, there’s nothing either of you could do, you both just make the fuck out and hump into your hands and into each other for what feels like an eternity and an instant. One of you lets out one of the dumbest little “I love you”s somewhere in the mess, and Harm gets it together enough to repay your efforts with the frotting handjob by finally reaching the hand they had around you down to your ass. Their fingers break the waistband and give your ass such a full fucking squeeze before - huh yeah you guess you’re sweaty enough that could work - they press against your asshole, toying, teasing. Holy shit how did they go from being shut down from a good couple strokes to fingering you while fucking your hands?

Well, those weird red and blue lights you didn’t really notice are gone and the car is moving again. Huh, shit, it was stopped. Wild. You’re too busy with the important stuff, like how Harm is biting your lip now just to tease you, or how you do it back and then neither of you really thinks straight for a fucking second because you tell Harmonica to turn around and they just nod. The movement of the car pushed you both toward the rear again so you back up a bit to give them room but they just extract their arm from behind you, spit on it, and jerk you off a bit more before doing their very fucking best to turn around. It takes a minute, and you can’t help but lean in and kiss them wherever you can land one while they keep making adjustments so they can fully spin in place.

It’s so worth the wait, you let your hands run up and down them as best you can now, and you feel like you can finally really picture them, or at least what they look like from here behind just before you’re about to put it in. They’re broad and their fat rolls over easily, giving them lots of curves and folds around their midsection and oh god their ass is fucking massive. You’re lucky this takes longer to read and think than it does to actually do or they’d be getting impatient, but you can tell they’re really getting off on how much attention you’re paying in this little moment, and once you start playing with their huge ass you can hear and feel them start to jack off again, so you decide to not let them finish alone. 

Holding it around the tip, you move it up and down between their stupidly soft cheeks for just a second, long enough for them to tease you back by pushing their ass up against you, so you’ll take the hint. You press your cock against their asshole, lubed by lover’s spit and ready to go, grab their hip on the above-side and thrust into Harm. “Oh my fucking god,” you both let out. If you were both being honest as you started fucking their ass, this is probably pretty mid sex, but the whole situation has made you like a couple of starving diners at a free buffet drinking water and going apeshit over it. But who’s gonna judge you for taking a deep drink from the only person stuck in this situation with you? Certainly not the person you’re inside of right now, who is definitely letting out yet even more foolish “I love you”s, but at this point you’re believing them and you’re saying it back, you’re saying you’re gonna knock them up and marry them and get kidnapped together for fun again just to have some really hot and sentimental sex. They laugh and start moving their hips just-so and pushing you over the edge. 

You make some huffy moans as a signal that you’re at the finish line and they just start pushing their ass against you in time with you as fast as you can both go in the trunk of this fucking car to let you know that neither of you is moving for it, just do like you said, knock them up, cum inside, you’re theirs, do it, they’re ready. They’re breathing just as hard, just as pathetic, no way they aren’t going to cum too. So you just let go, you two break pace with each other, it’s entirely uncoordinated but it’s not synchronized fucking, and you grab onto their hip as best you can and let everything you have go inside of them. Like five seconds later you can hear their hand slow down as they let out a groan that sounds like their soul is leaving and they shudder like their muscles are failing. 

“Holy shit,” Harm moans out after a couple of huffy minutes. “Fucking… cuddle me a bit, huh?”

You do, you were a bit but you wanted to give them space since you’re both huffing and sweating more than if you finished a marathon a second ago, but now you pull them in close, your dick still casually hiding between their cheeks. Harmonica snuggles up to you while you spoon them and wiggles their hips against you, but you both know there’s no round two here, it’s just cute fun. They move your hand so that it’s squeezing a boob again, all nonchalant, just for comfort. 

“Thanks, sweetie.”

“No problem, love you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

It’s still dark, you still can’t really see, the car is still moving down some road somewhere, but it’s a bit nicer now, and honestly, the whole thing has left you tired. You drift off to unconsciousness again, which is the only way you enter or leave this dark little trunk space, it would seem. 

You wake up before Harmonica, the sun rising on the now-open trunk. You’d be cold if you weren’t so entrenched in a post-sex cuddle, so you don’t move much while you figure out where you are. It smells arboreal, pine trees. That matches up with the pine trees you’re seeing tbh. You’re facing the sun from here, guess that’s a clue. The morning dew is definitely getting to you, you’re as wet as you were when you were sweating all over each other, but that doesn’t really tell you much. Oh fuck it, you don’t wanna move yet, maybe ever. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kidnapper finally made it, after a flat tire, police pulling them over, having to stop for a cow crossing, going through a drive thru, hitting a deer, a second flat tire, dead headlights, going the wrong way for like 60 miles, and a rest stop to shit. Finally. They pull the gun out of the glovebox just in case those two try anything and head to the back. They put the key in, and pop the trunk. 

Yeah those two fucked. And at least one of them pissed back there. Whatever, man. They go into their cabin and go the fuck to bed. Who even cares anymore. Leave the trunk open, maybe bears will get ‘em. 

[vivicanyounot]

"I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else! ^-^;" "..."

Amy Rose just did the biggest mistake of her life. She ran and hugged some other hedgehog AGAIN! And this one was not what she was expecting.

The last time was a white hedgehog minding their business drinking apple juice at some park and now THIS? This is just utterly embarrassing!

Here she was, gone and hugged a hedgehog drinking coffee quietly on a corner and she didn't expect them to be so into their writing-- She done bumped on his work with ink spilling everywhere. Before realizing her mistake, she noticed how soft this one's fur is.

"This one's really soft!---------------I, wait a minute..."

'Sonic's more of a fluffy kind rather than a soft one.' she thought.

She let go of this hedgehog and adjusted her eyesight to the bright light cascading on the window. This one's fur is BLACK, not blue at all! How could she have missed this?! She really needs to get her eyes checked.

This figure turned their head behind revealing ruby-colored eyes.

"I-I didn't know you were writing! I'm so sorry! I thought you were someone else!" Amy worriedly joked hoping that this hedgehog would sympathize at her. She couldn't help but feel like this hedgehog was someone familiar to her.

"..." Eyes continued to stare. Then to his book. Then back to her again. There was a pause and an incalculable look bared on his face before proceeding to glare this time.

"Now what are you going to do with all of this mess?" he croaks slowly, careful with his words. He points to his book utterly disappointed.

"I-I didn't mean to bump on what you were writing. I hope to make it up to you." Amy said begrudgingly at the last part. She doesn't want to waste time today since she needs to find Sonic as soon as possible. HE has an upcoming tournament and he's seen nowhere at all from the venue! Where could he possible be?---

"Make it up to me, you say?" the stranger asks. He puts his pen down and taps his fingers on the table. Amy gulped, nervously sweating from this hedgehog's threatening aura. Yet still, she wouldn't feel much harm from him at all. She just knows that he wouldn't hurt her weirdly enough.

"It'd be nice if I had a ghost writer. *I* dictate about the contents." He flips his book, almost covered with so much ink stains.

"YOU write on it." He points to Amy then to his book. She has no idea on how to write.

'How on earth am I going to write. Much less have the time to be working with you?!' she thought. She had her hands ravaging her hair. And suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a blue figure from the window. And they're ordering from a hotdog stand. Could it be?

"You're probably thinking how this is going to be arranged? Don't worry I've got you covered." He whips out his used napkin on the table and hands Amy his pen. Amy holds his fountain pen but she was distracted. She got other things to worry about like that blue hedgehog from afar already eating his 10 chilidogs. She is determined.

"Just write your number here." He taps on the napkin. Amy didn't think twice about anything she just wanted to get out and give that blue hedgehog an earful of her nagging. She wrote on his napkin quick and easy.

"Yeah yeah, we'll talk about this later. Bye!" She turned around ready to leave until her arm got caught by the stranger. Her emerald-colored eyes focused solely on him. His eyes staring back with a level focus.

"Expect a call from me, Rose." He hoarsed then removes his hand from her arm. Amy saw the blue figure blur past their cafe. She holds her wrist hurt from his handling then consequently left with an irritated look. She still feel his eyes boring into her back.

"What a weirdo." She whispered running out of the cafe.

'And h-he knew my name! Did he also ASK for my number just now?'

How is the world coming into for Amy Rose?

a/n: i just made this story now to support the drawing. should i do a comic of it now too? let me know!!! and maybe you guys wanna continue this story...?

[paradoxgavel]

Pit Stop - Sun/Reader

Oh hey I wrote a thing! Just some stress-related fluff.

You are currently running around the Pizzaplex with all the fervor and grace of an over-caffeinated emu.

The Pizzaplex has been understandably busy lately - it's Summer and all the kids are out of school and piling into the Plex instead. It's something you foresaw, but not necessarily something you were prepared for. Because more patrons means more messes to clean, more damages to repair, more potential animatronic-related accidents to prevent. (People REALLY don't like being told not to use flash photography on the animatronics.) And so, for the past few... weeks? Has it been weeks now? The days are blurring together. For the last few fuckin' whatevers, it's just been go go go go from the second you clock in to the second you clock out.

It's... not gone unnoticed. Freddy's been awful worried for you lately, always checking in with you whenever he and you get a free moment together - an increasing rarity. But he's always got a big ol' bear hug waiting for you when you need it.

Chica's always sneaking snacks into your supplies. One time you found a little pack of cookies she'd somehow managed to sleight-of-hand into hiding in your uniform's hood in passing.

Roxy's invited you to come hang out in her room with her for a bit. She says she needs someone to listen to some new keytar riffs she's been working on and "you'll have to do", but... you can tell she really just wants to hang with you for a bit.

Even Monty's eased off picking on you lately. He tried busting your chops one day recently, and you're pretty sure you gave him a cold death glare that could turn even an animatronic to stone. He's been giving you an easier time since then. Even offered to take you golfing with him in case you needed to get some of that stress out.

And when your job brings you to the arcade after hours, you can't help but notice a certain giant DJ playing some nice lo-fi beats for you while you work. You'd be lying if you said it didn't help chill you out after a day of unrelenting frazzlement. If that's even a word.

And then... there's Sun and Moon. Your best friends in the Plex. When it comes to Moon, he's noticed how bone-tired you are at the end of each day, because he's quite literally hard-wired to notice such things. And so, if you want to have any hope of getting any work done during the night, you have to keep an eye out for a certain mechanical jester who wants to scoop you up, have you stop what you're doing, and tuck you in - pillow, blanket, plushies, good night head pats... the works. He's managed it a few times now. The fiend. The blackheart. The dastard. (Buuut... you do always wind up waking up feeling a lot better. And your work always seems to be finished up where you left off - shout out to the STAFF bots, heh...)

And Sun. Sun, who is currently watching you hustle and bustle around like that aforementioned caffeinated emu through the transparent panes around the daycare. You've got a million things you need to do today - so many messes to clean and repairs to do and customers to deal with and bots to supervise and--

"Hoooold it!!"

A familiar yellow mechanical arm lowering down into your path through the open daycare doors as you begin to hurry past them interrupts your frenzied train of thought and blocks your path - like a barrier gate in front of a toll booth. One with jingling bells attached.

You stop in your tracks in front of the arm, glancing up at its owner - your solar-themed robotic jester buddy, grinning down at you, bouncing a bit in place. "Attention, citizen! I'm afraid your weary travels have led you to the Superstar Turnpike! You've gotta stop and pay the toll if you wanna keep going!" He says with a chuckle.

You blink, processing this for a moment, before your tensed up body relaxes just a smidgen, putting your rush on hold for a moment, though you can still feel it buzzing in your chest - like a big electric ball of anxiety forcing you to stay on high alert. You give Sun a small, weary smile, and one of your eyebrows raises as you play along with him. "Oh, yeah? And what's the toll, then?"

Sun giggles at that, pleased as punch by you giving his antics a moment. He holds a finger up in the air like he's making a grand declaration. "The toll is, of course, one great big snuggly hug with yours truly!" He answers proudly... before more meekly tagging on, "I-If you'd like one. No worries if not."

You look him over for a moment, then sigh, a fond, grateful smile coming to your lips. Your arms raise outward in invitation. "... Bring it in, big guy." A quiet chuckle leaves you, soft and warm even in the weary sound of it.

Sun's rays spin around a quick moment, his hands taking a second to flap, getting the excitement out, before you're scooped up off the ground effortlessly. You're pulled in to be gently tucked against his mechanical shoulder, his arms wrapped around you, keeping you securely aloft, holding you safe and steady and warm. One hand smooths up and down your back, in a slow, comforting rhythm, as your head rests against his neck ruffle. "Theeere we go, friend." Sun hums, his voice quieter, gentler than usual - toned down for your sake. "Is that good? Are we comfy?"

You nod, giving a little hum in the affirmative - that buzzing in your chest a little quieter, and that racing train of thought in your head slowing down for a pit stop. "Mhm..."

Sun's chin rests itself on your head, nuzzling against you just a smidge as he rocks side-to-side, slow and easy. "Glad to hear it! Now... I need you to take a biiig, deep breath for me. Okay? Can we do that?"

You nod once more, then draw a deep, slow breath in through your nose, feeling the air fill your chest up... And then you let it out just as slowly, feeling the air leave you, like it's carrying your tension, your rush, your anxiety with it. When you've finished that breath out, your shoulders slump, calm and at ease. Maybe not entirely relaxed, but... certainly much more than you were just a minute ago. You're okay. Everything's okay. Everything's still going to be there waiting for you when you're done taking a breather. And it's going to be easier to handle after you've given yourself a moment of rest.

You close your eyes and snuggle into the hug a bit more, focussing on your breathing.

After a few moments of that, Sun holding you and rocking you back and forth, quiet for a moment while he lets you sort things out in your head, you pull back a bit. And he pulls back as well, holding you in front of him so that his bright, grinning face can look you over.

"Well, gosh, buddy, you're looking better already!" The hand that was petting your back comes up to lightly brush some hair out of your face. "Now let's see here... Hug, check. Deep breaths, check. Oh, something's missing here, I just can't think of what!"

He makes a big show tapping his chin in thought, his rays retracting and extending again around his head in a wave, making him look like some kind of loading screen symbol. That earns a little giggle from you at his goofiness, which, in turn, immediately makes him brighten up.

"Oh, oh, oh! That's it, friend! There's that wonderful little smile of yours! And my favorite laugh in the whole wide world! Of course that's what was missing, silly me!" He laughs, turning around on his heels with you in his arms to give you a gentle spin, earning another laugh from you, before he sets you down on your own two feet, a little boop on your nose for good measure. "Sooo. What's the verdict, friend? Are we ready to get back out there?"

You nod, still with a little trace of your giggle fit not having quite left you.

"Are we absolutely, positively certain, friend?" He rocks back and forth on his heels a bit, letting his arms swing back at fourth at his sides in a steady, bouncy rhythm.

"Sunny," You put your hand on your hips playfully. "We are absolutely, positively, one million percent certain. I... I got this now." You say, and... you do really mean it now. Everything feels a bit more manageable. You can make it through today at least. Just... one day at a time, one thing at a time. You can handle that, you think. You'll try, at least. And, well... you know you don't have to go it alone. Yeah. You've got this.

Sun gasps dramatically. "One million percent?! Well, goodness gracious, friend, you really mean business! All your tasks oughta be shaking in their boots!" He gives you a big, goofy salute. "Go give the rest of this day what for, then! Godspeed!"

With that, he gives you that salute and closes the door with a grand flourish.

... Only for it to open back up a few seconds later.

"... also hi do you think we can hang out later? I really wanna hang out." He pokes his head back out, fingers tapping together bashfully.

You can't help but chuckle again at that, nor can you help the warm, genuine smile that spreads across your face. "Yeah. I'd like that, Sunny." He gives a giggle of excitement, his rays twirling. "Now... you and I both have jobs to get back to, yeah? Let's get it done, big guy. And I'll see you again when we're done." You give him a nod, picking your forgotten supplies up once more. "... Love ya, Sun Bun. And thanks. For being here for me."

"Aww, love you too, bestest buddy. I'll always be here for you. Always and always! Now... I'll see you tonight!" And with a big, excited wave, the door closes once more, for real this time, your friend skipping away to get back to work.

You watch him go with a smile. Then you look back down at the supplies in your arms.

One more deep breath. In... and out.

Okay.

Let's do this.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

Chapter 20

alright guys hit the showers. or the bathhouse. wait hold on i left my computer boy in there. guys wait don't open that

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

wow i wrote 10 pages for chapter 19 but i better take it easy so i dont burn out (writes 11 pages for chapter 20) anyway guess who's taking a break after this chapter

this is the one with togiri development but they're extremely not normal about it so it's almost blink-and-you-miss-it

@digitaldollsworld <- betapilled readmaxxer

Content warning tags: mild violence and injury description (non-graphic), description of depression symptoms and nausea, mild mention of eating disorder

< previous - from start - next >

He’s not sure how long he sleeps for, only that he wakes up still-dressed and laid out across his bed, his mouth dry and head groggy, the bedroom lights still on. As he checks his handbook’s clock, he finds he’s entirely missed Monokuma’s morning announcement, which is a good thing; he had no desire to listen to that bear’s irritating voice, especially not today.

But, he doesn’t have much desire to do anything else either. The library no longer feels like the safe haven it used to be, and he had no interest in going anywhere else and running into anyone else, when the atmosphere was still thick with the deaths of two people, and pity that Byakuya didn’t want. Much less, the possibility of encountering Makoto, who was the last person he wanted to see, so to speak.

He lies in bed a moment longer, unwilling to move. Everything feels sluggish, like he’s moving underwater; even his head feels stuffed full with cotton and wool. It's a strange, unfamiliar feeling, and unpleasant, too.

Grief. He thinks blearily at first, before rolling his own eyes at the thought, and pushing himself up with a grunt. Such dramatics didn’t suit him. He wasn't the kind of person to spare such theatrics, regardless of his circumstances.

He showers, brushes his teeth, and half-debates whether to try his hand at shaving before ultimately deciding against it (it didn’t feel like his stubble should be that noticeable, yet). He forgoes changing into a clean uniform in favor of his pajamas, and collapses back into bed with a sigh, hand searching immediately for his handbook - but finding nothing but empty sheets.

“Hello, there!”

He jerks upright immediately. Standing in the foot of his bed is Monokuma, rocking back and forth and looking as innocent as could be. Or, would be, if not for the handbook clutched in its paw.

Byakuya dives for it without thinking, but his perception is off, and he crashes to the carpet instead with a grunt. Monokuma sidesteps him casually with a laugh. “Whoa, there! Easy partner, don’t wanna hurt yourself!” It dances around his head, infuriatingly out of reach. “Didja miss me that bad? If you wanna hug, you can just say so!”

“Give it back,” He snarls, as he picks himself up. He’s in no mood for its jokes. “Give me back my handbook!”

“Your handbook? My my, but these were all mine first, weren’t they?” It shakes a paw disapprovingly in his face. “I just need to check it real quick, after all. I didn’t expect Mister Fujisaki to go and Macgyver anything onto here, so if it’s anything malicious, I’ll have to do a quick wipey-wipe!” Byakuya makes another lunge, and it juggles the handbook out of his reach, hopping backwards with a mad cackle. “After all, if it’s anything naughty, there’s no way I can let it fall in the hands of my precious students!”

“You miserable little-” Byakuya tries to rise to his feet quickly, but he hasn’t eaten since yesterday, and a bout of dizziness crashes into him like a wave. He sways and braces himself against the mattress, one arm still reaching out clumsily to try and grab at Monokuma.

But the bear has already flipped it open, scrolling so quickly through the screens that the little automated voice can’t keep up, the words blurring together. “Schoo-Stu-App-Day-”

“Whoops, too far.” It scrolls back. “Applications, that’s what we wanna see. And, what’s this?”

Byakuya feels his blood run cold. There was only one application there, the one Chihiro had downloaded for him. Alter Ego. The app was inconspicuously named ‘Test_App’ in the interface itself, but if Monokuma opened it-

“Well well well. Let’s take a look-see!” It crows, and Byakuya’s protest is frozen in his throat. He shuts his eyes, expecting to hear Chihiro’s voice-

“Black to E5.”

He opens his eyes again. What?

Monokuma also seems confused, tilting its head as it stares at the little screen. “What’s this? A chessboard?”

“Black to E5,” Alter Ego repeats, so digitized and monotone it was nearly unrecognizable. “Would you like to review the board?”

“Is this all it is? A chess game?” Monokuma sounds almost disappointed. Byakuya, seeing his chance, surges forward, snatching the handbook back and snapping it closed. He presses it to his chest, feeling his heart thud beneath it.

“Is that a problem?” He demands, and Monokuma shrugs, shaking its head.

“I guess not, but I thought it’d be something spicy, y’know? You’re a growing boy, after all!” It reaches out to pat Byakuya’s knee, and he steps backwards just in time, lip curling in disgust. “Aw, don’t act so mean to your headmaster, you’ll give me a complex!”

“Get out.” He hisses. “You got what you came here for. Leave.”

“Oh, alright…you sure know how to make a bear feel glum...” It sighs, kicking at the carpet, before it makes its way to the door. “Take care, now! Make sure you eat something, y’hear? I don’t want any hunger strikes in this house! And-”

No sooner had Monokuma crossed the threshold, had Byakuya jumped up, and sped forward to slam the door with a resounding bang. He takes a moment to breathe, leaning against the wall, legs suddenly weak.

How the hell did that thing get inside my room? He was sure he had locked the door - or he should have locked it, at least. Looking back, he actually can’t remember, but he double and triple-checks now, suddenly paranoid. He also flips off the light for good measure, leaving the room in complete darkness before he crawls back into bed.

Beneath the covers, he opens his handbook, and squints until he can make out the pale green shape of Alter Ego’s face on the screen.

“Is he gone?” Alter Ego asks, and Byakuya relaxes, the tension flooding out of his shoulders.

“Yes.” He whispers back.

Alter Ego makes a sound like a sigh of relief. “I’m glad. I got so scared when he grabbed me.” And its voice sounds so much like Chihiro's that Byakuya feels a strange pressure behind his eyes.

“How did you know?” He asks. “That Monokuma was there?”

“I could hear it. Through the microphone.” He reaches up and touches the tiny pinprick grid of the speaker, and feels the buzz of Alter Ego’s voice against his fingertips. “I didn’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about me. I think he would’ve just deleted you as punishment for me anyway.” He sighs. And then frowns, as a thought comes to mind. “If you could eavesdrop from the microphone this whole time, then you already know…?”

He doesn’t finish his sentence. But he doesn’t need to. Alter Ego makes a quiet noise like a sigh. “Yes, I know.”

“I’m sorry.” And he’s surprised to find that he means it genuinely, and almost laughs at himself. Heartfelt apologies were rare for him, and here he was offering one to an AI, of all things.

“It’s okay. He knew it might happen,” Alter Ego replies, and he imagines it might be smiling, a sad, helpless smile. “There’s nothing we can do about it now.”

“No, I suppose not.”

They’re quiet for a moment. In the darkness, Byakuya can almost pretend that he’s normal - unable to see in the dark as everyone else is. But it’s also the middle of the day, and he’s too restless to sleep, too uneasy to go outside. Too tired to mourn. Too mournful to do anything else.

“Can you really play chess?” He asks instead.

“I can, along with checkers, shogi, and backgammon and more.” 

“Play a round of chess with me, then. I’m bored.”

“Okay!” Immediately, the pale blot of their face on the screen is replaced by a square. “I’ll play black. What’s your first move?”

He smiles to himself. “E2, pawn to E4.”

—

Hours pass like that. He plays chess with Alter Ego (three wins, four losses, and seven draws), and a few rounds of shogi (one win, one loss, and two draws) for good measure. And then, huddled over his desk with his back facing the camera, he pores over lines of Dostoevsky and Nietzsche until he feels too sick from staring at the letters to even hear Alter Ego’s voice, reciting the words aloud beneath a dim ringing in his ears.

By the time he’s pulled out of his concentration by the sound of a knocking at his door, he’s too nauseous to feel hungry, but his throat is stinging from lack of water and there’s a slight pulsing in his head. His immediate first reaction is to ignore it, but that proves to be impossible; whoever was on the other side was clearly, very persistent, and had nothing better to do.

Even so, he lasts a full five minutes until he finally gets up to answer, irritated beyond measure. If it was Makoto, he was going to slam it closed again, reasons be damned. He didn’t even want to think about the other boy, lest he get pointlessly enraged about it.

But instead of brown hair, he’s met with pale white. Kirigiri stands at his threshold, hand partially raised, halfway through knocking, and they stare at each for a moment in silence, as if both surprised to find the other person there.

And then he slams the door shut in her face. Or tries to - instead of the satisfying bang of wood meeting wood, there’s a sickly crunch, and then she’s wrenching the door open, heedless of the way her fingers had just been crushed in the jamb. He almost winces in sympathy, but she’s too busy pushing her way in to offer much room for condolences.

“What is wrong with you?!” He demands, trying not to be too obviously perturbed by her lack of reaction; he doesn’t think he even heard her wince. She ignores him for a moment, attention focused on her hand, as she experimentally clenches and unclenches her fingers. Apparently they’re not broken, or maybe, she just had high pain tolerance. Or she was more insane than he thought.

“We’re calling a group meeting,” She replies, without so much as a waver. “Come to the bathhouse.”

“And why should I?”

“It’s important. I can drag you there if I have to.” It doesn’t sound like an empty threat either. Somehow, she seems impatient, though he’s not sure how he can tell; and it wasn’t just because she shoved her hand into the door in order to deliver the message.

He weighs his options - on one hand, he has no desire to speak with anyone, much less Makoto, who was bound to be there. On the other hand, he didn’t exactly have anything in the way of provisions in his room, and though he was still a little too light-headed to consider eating, it’d be embarrassing to collapse from dehydration at this point. That, and it seemed that Kirigiri had no intention of letting him refuse.

“...I’m going to get dressed first.” He says shortly. If he’s going to have to meet them, it will not be while he’s still in his pajamas.

“Hurry up.”

She makes no move to leave, and he realizes with no small amount of annoyance that she was making sure he wouldn’t be able to run or shut her out again. Somewhat affronted by this, and now wanting to go even less, he grabs a clean set of clothes from his dresser and goes to the bathroom.

Routine carries his hands through the motions, so he manages it relatively quick, but it’s only after he’s applying the finishing touches, that he nearly pokes himself in the eye as he reaches to adjust his glasses. It’s a strange sensation, feeling the bridge of his nose and finding nothing, and even though his original prescription was low and they were more an accessory than anything, he feels a little like he’s lost a limb.

She’s still there when he emerges, though now standing over his desk, bent over the books he has open. She looks up as he approaches, one hand halfway through turning a page.

“What?” He asks, chin turned up in challenge.

“Nothing. Just looking.” She closes the book, and he realizes, scandalized, that it was the one he was reading earlier. It was going to take him ages to find that page again. “You have predictable tastes.”

“Shut up. Are we going or not?”

He follows her out, his hands twitching all the while, smoothing down his shirt, his lapels, his sleeves. Making sure his buttons were lined up, that his shirt was tucked; he hadn’t had the time to put on garters or even try a hand at his tie, and he feels underdressed.

“You’re fine.” Kirigiri says suddenly, and he freezes, one hand resting on the button of a shirt cuff. “Stop fidgeting.”

He scowls. He was walking behind her, so what would she know. “I’m not fidgeting.”

“I can hear you fidgeting. Your buttons are fine.”

“Oh, can you hear my buttons now too?”

It’s a petty, childish remark, one that he can’t stop himself from muttering before he can even reconsider it. She stops at that, halting so suddenly in the middle of the hallway that he almost walks right into her, and turns around to face him, her head moving in a slow tilt from up to down - scanning me, he realizes - before she says: “You look fine. Are you quite done?”

She was checking for me. He’s not sure if he should feel grateful for the courtesy or irritated by her lack of grace. “Did the sound bother you that much?” He asks instead, patting down the front of his shirt one last time.

“...It wasn’t the sound.” Is all she says, with a sort of finality that indicated that no other questions would be answered on the topic.

They enter the bathhouse, and find everyone else there, gathered in a sort of semi-circle around the wall of lockers. Asahina and Ogami, predictably, are huddled close together on one of the benches. Celeste and Yamada sit on another bench, one fidgeting uneasily, the other sitting regally with legs crossed and hands folded. Hagakure is standing next to Owada, who doesn’t even stir when they walk in, and who Byakuya ignores in turn, gaze sliding past him uncomfortably. Fukawa hangs near the back of the group, and twitches when she sees him, though makes no move to approach.

Makoto is leaning against the lockers with hands tucked in his pockets. He looks up as they enter, and stands up straight immediately. “Ah-”

“We’re all here?” Kirigiri cuts him off, casting a glance around the room. “Good. Can you catch him up, Hina?”

“R-right,” Asahina looks between Kirigiri and Byakuya, then at Makoto, and seems to hesitate for a moment. “Um, so…last night, I couldn’t sleep, so I thought I’d go to the kitchen to get food. But on the way there, I heard something coming from the bathhouse - like, a weird, machine-y kind of sound? - and when I went in…”

She peters off. He raises an eyebrow, “And?”

“Uh, it’s going to sound a little ridiculous...”

“You act like nothing else is ridiculous about this situation. Get on with it.”

Her face flushes dark, embarrassed. He gets the feeling that Ogami is glaring at him, but since he can’t see it - and has no reason to act like he can see it, anyways - he ignores it easily.

“Right. I saw a ghost - I know it was a ghost,” She adds defensively, as Byakuya was preparing to scoff and roll his eyes. “It was glowing green and floating in front of the lockers, and…and it had Chihiro’s face.”

“That’s-” not a ghost, he’s about to say, but he stops, suddenly uncertain. The bathhouse had no cameras, but he wasn’t sure if Alter Ego’s existence should be revealed here, now, to everyone, especially given some of the individuals present. His hand reaches into his jacket pocket, where his handbook was. “That’s…and you’re sure it was Chihiro?”

She seems taken aback by how seriously he asks that, and nods quickly. “I know it was Chihiro! It was his face and everything!” She points in front of her, at a locker less than two meters away from her eye level. The exact locker, Byakuya thinks, where Chihiro was keeping his laptop.

He wonders if Makoto was thinking this too.

“...I highly doubt the existence of ghosts,” He sighs. There was no point trying to hide it with Kirigiri around, and better to do it now than later. “Instead of being in front of the locker, I think the thing you saw was inside it.”

He turns to the locker Asahina had indicated, and moves to unlock it - before realizing he doesn’t know how. If it was unlocked by key, he didn’t have it, and if by code it was even more impossible. But Kirigiri steps forward, nudging his arm out of the way, and the locker door clicks open under her hand.

Sitting inside is the laptop, its screen dark. After a moment, it hums to life, flickering green. A round, pale shape forms, and behind him, Byakuya hears someone gasp.

“Hello,” Alter Ego says, and their voice is clearer through the computer than through Byakuya’s handbook, and sounds so similar to Chihiro’s that it’s almost jarring. “It’s nice to meet everyone!”

Hagakure shrieks, arms thrown up in fear. “A g-g-gh-!”

“It’s not a ghost,” Byakuya cuts him off sharply. “It’s a program.”

“Yes, and it looks like something Chihiro made.” Kirigiri touches the keys lightly. “This computer was the broken one from the library. And the fact that it was placed here, out of sight of the mastermind, means that it was meant for us.”

“So, this is what I saw last night…” Asahina’s tone doesn’t sound uneasy anymore, but wondering, and she raises a tentative hand as the little Chihiro in the screen waves at her. “But, what is it?”

“You just asked, ‘what is it,’ right?” Alter Ego says, almost teasingly, making her and several others jump. “The short answer is, I’m an AI program based on as much of Chihiro Fujisaki’s personality, memories, and thoughts as he managed to transcribe into data…um, but if it’s easier for you, you can call me Alter Ego. I was made to try and break through the firewall around the school’s network and to analyze the files on this computer, but it’s been taking a long time. I’m only about 25% done.”

25%? That was already more than Byakuya expected, and he feels a thin, inexplicable strum of pride.

“Crazy…hey, isn’t this crazy?” Yamada is up from his seat, and sitting as close as he can, crouching on his heels to be eye-level with the screen. “This is so- so totally sci-fi, right? Isn’t the genre wrong?” He sounds excited, overly so, and his breath is a little fevered and fast. “Hey, Chihiro! Can you hear us?”

Alter Ego doesn’t respond. Byakuya suddenly remembers the night that Chihiro was installing the application on his handbook and how Alter Ego only ever responded after the sound of keystrokes. “You have to type what you want to say in order for it to respond.”

“Move.” Yamada scurries out of Kirigiri’s way, as she drops to a crouch in front of the open locker. There’s the sound of fingers clicking over keys, and then -

“It will take me a while longer to finish analyzing everything,” Alter Ego says aloud, a little sheepishly. “I can definitely finish it though! Actually, progress is moving faster than originally predicted, so you can leave it to me!”

“My, how dependable.” Celeste remarks. “It seems that Chihiro has left us an invaluable gift, does it not?”

“It’s…pretty crazy,” Hagakure agrees, scratching his head. “Wait, uh - can Alter Ego get online? Like can we call for help from outside?”

“Hmm, probably not.” Asahina hums in thought, crossing her arms. “We’re in a bathhouse after all.”

“Then, if we take it outside of here-”

“No.” Kirigiri says flatly. “We can’t take any risks. Taking it outside might mean that the mastermind will discover it.”

“Yeah, but, I think it’s better to get help sooner than later. You know…” He pauses for a moment, tilting his head pointedly towards Owada. Throughout this whole time, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader had been as still as a mouse, face turned downwards towards the floor. Hagakure clears his throat awkwardly. “Can’t we try it?”

There’s a sharp tap as Celeste laces her fingers, rings clicking together. “As stated earlier. We cannot take unnecessary risks. And we are not in the position to be pointlessly altruistic.” Her tone is casual, but Hagakure seems to shrink away from her, defeated.

“I…okay. Fine, sure.” He scratches at his head, then pauses. “Ah, wait a minute. Does Alter Ego, like, know…?

His question peters off, but the implication hangs over them like a heavy fog. Byakuya watches them cast uneasy glances at each other, then back to Alter Ego, as if trying to figure out who should break the news.

“It already knows.” He mutters. He’s not trying to be loud, but in the silence everyone could hear it anyways.

“...Not to say you’re lying or anything, Byakuya, but how do you…?”

Instead of answering Hagakure out loud, he reaches into his jacket pocket and withdraws the handbook, flipping it open and holding it up, screen facing them. Someone gasps.

“Yes,” Alter Ego confirms their unspoken question, and its voice echoes uncannily, doubled between the laptop and his handbook. “Master made it so I can be accessed through Byakuya’s handbook, so I could assist him with his visual impairment. I can also access the microphone function on this device, so I was able…I was able to overhear what happened”

The little, buzzing voice trails off sadly, and Byakuya suddenly feels uncomfortable, as the room grows all the more dreary. He clicks the handbook closed, suddenly irritated.

“That should explain it.“ He sighs. “Chihiro built Alter Ego to try and help find a way out of here, and at the same time gave me access so I could be self-sufficient. That’s the extent of my knowledge about it.”

He looks up and finds nearly all of them with their faces tilted towards him, and shifts, disconcerted. “What?”

“Nothing…it’s just kinda sweet that you’re, like, telling us this yourself.” Hagakure, ridiculously, sounds almost happy about this. “You never really talked to us about yourself before.”

“There’s no point in being secretive about it. Not when I was already forced to reveal it during the trial.” He sniffs. Immediately, Hagakure looks away, chagrined. From Byakuya’s periphery, he can see Makoto still facing away, his ears turning pink.

Kirigiri clears her throat. “...For the time being, it’s clear that we need to ensure Alter Ego remains a secret from the mastermind.” She says, and Byakuya watches as she types something out, a thick line of black characters. Every few keystrokes, she stops, and deletes the last word in a series of light clicks; listening closer, the sound was awkward and irregular, each press slurring into the next key. With a slight twinge of guilt, he realizes that the cause of it was her left hand - the one he had practically crushed.

After a moment’s consideration, weighing his conscience with what was at stake, he nudges her slightly with his knee. “Move. You type too slow.”

“And how would you know that?”

“I can hear it.” He replies flatly. “You type like you’re all thumbs. Move over.”

He half-expects her to stay where she is, to ignore him and continue, but to his surprise she actually complies, standing up and stepping aside. He crouches into the space she had just abandoned, sliding his hands over the keyboard until his index fingers find the tiny, tell-tale grooves of the position keys. The size and dimensions are different from his computer at home, but for a moment the feeling is so familiar that he’s almost nostalgic.

“What did you want to ask again?”

“If it has any contingency measures in place for if Monokuma - or the mastermind, or anyone suspicious - happens to find it.”

His fingers skim over the keys, clicking fluidly. A thin line of black appears at the bottom of the screen in time to his movements, but he can’t confirm if the output is accurate; judging by the way Makoto gasps behind him, and the way Hagakure whistles, he can guess that it’s more or less correct.

“Impressive,” Celeste says, in an appreciative tone. “I suppose being such an esteemed heir means you have many talents.”

He can’t tell if she’s mocking him, so he decides to ignore her, though he allows himself a small amount of smugness. He finishes typing: “Is this what you wanted to ask?”

Instead of replying, Kirigiri leans over his shoulder and clicks the ‘enter’ button. After a moment’s pause:

“Hm, to be honest, so far I’ve just been trying to be reeeally careful with when I’m active…though I guess that backfired last night, with me scaring Aoi.” Alter Ego hums in thought. “But, I do have a secret plan! If anyone comes around who I don’t recognize on my webcam…I’ll scream super loud!”

“That’s so basic!” Asahina blurts out, shocked by the simple nature of it.

“Yes, and it’s not likely to work at night.” Ogami grumbles. “The bedrooms are soundproofed.”

“Maybe we can try taking turns staying up?” Makoto suggests. “I can take the first night, I don’t mind…”

“I think such a sudden change in our patterns is likely to draw suspicion from the mastermind. Which would be rather counterproductive.” Celeste says, and Makoto ducks his head immediately. “Though, your thoughtfulness is appreciated.”

“Then it can’t be helped.” Kirigiri sighs. “I’ll leave my door open. I’m at the end of the hallway anyways, so if anything happens, I should be able to react the quickest.”

What a crazy woman. “You’d leave yourself vulnerable?” He scoffs. After all the precautions he’s seen her take, it’s hard to imagine her sacrificing herself to any degree.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take. Besides, I’m not so helpless. I have no intention of going down without a fight.” She pauses, mouth open like she’s about to say more, before she decides against it. “Anyways. We should avoid any mention or contact with Alter Ego as much as possible, to draw as little attention as we can.”

She claps her hands sharply, a sound that makes more than one person jump, and makes Byakuya almost flinch. “For the time being…let’s disperse.”

< previous - from start - next >

[perfectpaperbluebirds]

Sicktember #7

Prompt: “You’re A Jerk When You’re Sick”

Fandom/OCs: Rockstar ‘verse OCs (Vic)

Words: 2360

Sicknario inspo: Intentionally getting sick from this post and keeping someone company when they’re sick from this post. 

CW: Lots of swearing and general crass “locker room” talk but nothing explicitly s*xual. 

Author’s comments/background: One of my favorite things I wrote this year, and the next thing I write will also probably be for this AU. I was quite happy with how the banter came out and just loved being able to apply this scenario so flawlessly. Again, the prompt basically wrote itself, I just leant it some OCs and extra words. 

For those that recall my previous Rockstar fic from Sicktember last year, (or want to check it out here) this is set prior to Vic meeting Addison, but not much prior. This was probably the last time he got sick before meeting her, though I don’t have an official timeline for them at the moment. 

Same disclaimer as prior, I have no experience with the music industry whatsoever, so forgive any glaring errors if they exist. 

~~~***~~~

He had sat through plenty of recording sessions before, but this felt like the longest one of his life. Vic tried not to be too obvious as he checked his watch yet again. They should have finished more than an hour ago, and Chinese takeout was calling his name. He did his best not to glare at every single person in the room, but he was mad at each of them, whether they deserved it or not. 

He idly wondered why he was in such a bad mood. He used to love recording when he first got into all this. It was the place he felt the most like himself, the place he could ignore everyone else and just focus on the music. He’d sat through one too many sessions apparently, though, and he couldn’t stand one more minute of hearing other people’s opinions about his music. He just wanted to be alone for a while. 

He was about to mumble something along those lines to Fletcher, but was annoyed with himself when he turned to Fletcher's usual seat and Fletcher was not there, as had been the case for the last two days. He'd never been jealous of someone for having a cold before, but today he was. Fletcher was probably sitting at home in the peace and quiet, watching TV or snacking or doing whatever he damn well pleased. Which is exactly what Vic wanted to be doing. 

Then, Vic had an idea. He COULD be doing that… if he got sick too. And finding a way to see Fletcher would be an easy way to catch something… if he was actually willing to go that far. 

But was he? It was certainly a convenient time. The only things on his calendar for the next few days were publicity bullsh*t. And more goddamn recording. Which he could make up whenever. But was he actually considering going to another man's house and finding a way to infect himself with that man's germs? He glanced over to see the producer yelling at one of the sound techs. Yes, he decided. He was ready to do anything to get away for a few days. 

The rest of the session was a blur as he was lost in planning his great escape and psyching himself up for what he needed to do. He had a ready-made excuse to get himself into Fletcher’s apartment: Vic was already planning to get Chinese food, and he could easily pick some up for his sick buddy, especially since Fletcher loved Chinese more than anyone he knew. No, getting in the door would be the easy part. What came after that, though, required mental preparation. 

~~~

He was at Fletcher's door less than an hour after bolting from the studio, two greasy takeout bags in hand. He had to knock several times before the door opened, which made him panic a little, thinking his friend had gone somewhere else to recover. But the sick man finally appeared, clearly having been woken from sleep and none-too-happy about it. 

"The f*ck d'you want?" the Brit groused, rubbing his red eyes. "I was sound asleep, ya twat."

"Nice to see you too. You might wanna rethink how you greet someone who's bringing you food."

"Why the hell would you do that? You bloody well know I'm f*ckin' sick." Still, he eyed the bags hungrily. A helpful breeze blew the smell of the hot food right toward him, and Vic hoped he could smell it, though judging by his congested voice he probably couldn't.

"Obviously I know you're sick, that's why I'm doing it. I wanted to check on you, make sure you're doing okay. Also, has anyone ever told you you're a jerk when you're sick? Because you are."

"I'm always a jerk. And ya could've called before walking your ass to my door, wanker." 

"We basically just got out of the session. Didn't have much chance to call."

"Oh, so there was no chance at all to give a ring during the half hour wait for the food? Right, mate. I'll believe that." Fletcher rolled his eyes, but Vic could tell he was pleased. 

"Oh shut up. Ya gonna invite me in or what?"

The other man looked confused now. "No need for that. It's a f*ckin' biohazard zone in here. I feel f*ckin' disgusting. I know I look it too. Wouldn't want you to catch anything. I'll just take it." He held out his hand for the bags. 

Vic was persistent and didn't relinquish his hold. "I was actually planning to eat with you. I don't care about your germs, and I don't wanna deal with all the traffic back to my place before I get to eat. And like I said, I wanted to check on you. Keep you company for a bit."

Fletcher rolled his eyes again. "You're a strange one, mate. But whatever. Suit yourself. Just don't cry to me when you've caught this in a day or two."

"Oh I definitely won't," Vic thought to himself as he followed his friend inside. He made sure to be the one to close the door, grabbing the doorknob as soon as the other man let go, then nonchalantly rubbing his hand across his nose when Fletcher's back was turned. Everyone knows doorknobs are the place to start if you want to catch something. Speaking of which, the bathroom was his next target. The cleanliness of the bathroom in this apartment was questionable on the best day. Today Vic was certain it would be the perfect place to ensure his plan came to fruition. 

He set the bags of food on the coffee table as Fletcher flopped back onto the couch, where he'd clearly been spending a lot of time. Vic slid one of the bags to him. 

"I got you the beef and broccoli. And egg rolls obviously. Extra sweet and sour."

"Winner. Thanks for bringing this, by the way. If I haven't said that already." Fletcher took the food eagerly, looking pleased as he surveyed the contents.

"You're welcome. You'd do the same for me."

"No I bloody well wouldn't. The hell are you on about?"

"You're right," Vic laughed. "It just seemed like the thing to say I guess. Mind if I use the loo? Gotta piss like a racehorse."

"I'd piss outside with the bears if I were you. You don't wanna go in there. Ain't been cleaned since I got sick. And don't say loo, you sound like a tool."

"There's no bears in the city, assface," Vic replied. As if it were an afterthought, he picked up the mess of used tissues from the table, giving Fletcher a look as he gingerly began to carry them to the bathroom with him.

"Leave 'em. I was gonna take care of 'em."

"Well I'm not about to eat with them next to my food," Vic retorted. "Just shut up and eat."

He left the swear-y Brit muttering to himself about idiot Americans as he shut himself in the bathroom. 

He did dispose of the tissues, but not before thoroughly running his hands over them, feeling very strange as he did so. He reflexively cringed away as a finger hit a particularly wet spot, but upon further consideration, he rubbed that hand under and around his nose again, feeling dirty somehow. For the final touch, he grabbed a water cup from beside the sink which still held a few ounces of water, likely from the last time Fletcher had taken medicine. Trying not to think about what he was doing, he put his mouth right where his friend's had been and swallowed down the rest of the water, though he couldn't keep from making a face. Feeling thoroughly skeevy, but grimly satisfied that the deed was done, he actually used the toilet (because he really did have to piss) and pretended to wash his hands. 

Fletcher was steadily eating when he reemerged, but the sick man was clearly hampered by his dripping nose and kept scrubbing it into his shoulder or against his wrist. He really didn't look well and Vic felt sorry for him. 

"You need a water or anything?" Vic asked.

"Just sit the f*ck down and eat, Jesus. You're acting like a pussy."

Vic rolled his eyes but did as he was told, grabbing his own food at last. "I'm just trying to help. You seem pretty sick. Are you sure you're okay?"

He expected another smart-ass reply but Fletcher finally sighed. "I'm hanging in. Lila's been checking on me, making sure I have stuff. It's only a cold. I just like to piss and moan."

"Well that's good at least. Hopefully that means you're back at work soon. The sessions are such a drag when you're gone."

"Damn right they are. Has Sam pulled his head out of his ass about the new tracks yet?"

They delved into shop talk from there until they had both finished eating. Vic made his exit shortly thereafter, since Fletcher was clearly ready to get some more sleep once his stomach was full. Vic tried not to think much about what he'd done as he drove home, though a sense of shame continued to linger. Still, a few days off, days when he wouldn't even have to leave his bed if he didn't want to, would be well worth anything he was feeling right now. 

~~~

Two mornings later, he was thrilled when he woke up with a sore throat and an itchy nose, and he had to keep from smiling to himself as the cold developed nicely through the rest of the day. By evening his breaths were distinctly phlegmy, breathing through his nose was a lost cause, and he was catching more than a few stray sneezes into his elbow. Even the budding sinus headache didn't dampen his mood. He made it a point to make a big deal about his symptoms to anyone nearby so no one would be surprised when he canceled his obligations for the next few days. 

The morning after that, he woke up with the same disgusting cold he'd seen on Fletcher earlier in the week, and he wasted no time in calling everyone to say he would not be around for a few days, making sure to sound as sick as possible, which wasn't a difficult feat in his current state. He really did feel shitty and gross, but he could be home and feel shitty and gross. He could sleep and watch TV and play video games all he wanted. He needed that more than he could possibly express. 

His phone ringing interrupted that first languid afternoon. He shook himself awake from his most recent nap, expecting to ignore the call, but wanting to check who it was just in case. He frowned upon seeing Fletcher's name on the screen and decided to answer. 

"Oy! Where you at? They said you're sick, that true?"

"Yep, it's true," Vic sniffled. 

"Well shite. It's not what I have, is it?"

"I dunno. Maybe. I don't think I was around anyone else that's been sick." 

"Aww hell. Tough luck, that."

"It's whatever. I guess a cold was coming for me one way or another."

"Oh it's coming, all right. It ain't no cold though, mate. I have some kind of flu."

An icy finger of worry slid down Vic's spine. "Oh crap," the singer croaked.

"Got that right. Lila had to bring me to the hospital the day after I saw you. Started feeling strange the next day, couldn't stay awake and all spinny. I was burning by the time I saw Lila. Had a fever of 104 when we got to the hospital. They kept me overnight for safety. You had a fever at all?"

"No," Vic said weakly. "I don't think so anyway."

"Well if you caught what I have you will. Best keep an eye on that."

"But you're feeling better now, right?" Vic asked desperately. "You're back at the studio today."

"Hell no. I feel like hot garbage. Wearin' a sweater for the damn chills. Can still barely stay awake. I can't afford to miss any more work, though. And they were begging me. I had to."

"Well shit," Vic mumbled. "That's just great."

"Hey, you were the one that chose to come into my place. I told you not to cry when you got sick. But I wanted to call and warn you. Sounds like your fate is already sealed, though."

"Sounds like it," Vic sighed. "I appreciate the warning anyway. Hope you feel better soon, Fletch."

"You too. Cheers." 

The line went dead, and Vic let the phone fall, staggering to his feet as his head throbbed with sinus pressure. He scrambled to locate the thermometer in the medicine cabinet, popping it into his mouth immediately. He fearfully checked the screen when it beeped, but he was only at 99.0. Not really a fever… yet. 

He shuffled his way back to the couch and flopped down with a wheezy sigh. His best hope was that he caught a milder version of what Fletcher had, but now he would need to be checking his temperature regularly. He had no Lila to look in on him, no roommates, no one that would think to check on him, at least for a few days. He was on his own, for better or worse. Generally, that was how he preferred it. He had never considered before that living alone could be dangerous, though.  

But for now he was okay. For now, it just felt like a cold, and maybe it wouldn't progress beyond that. He let himself relax, and the sleepy fog of sickness was quick to cover him again. He had paid a price for this free time, and he was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

[softsky-daily]

1/1/2024

The first sky of the new year is a nice pale one.

Positive thing: I finished my 逃げ恥 rewatch and got to turn my brain off for the day.

Today really was a bit of a blur after finishing the last episode. I guess I was mostly trying to forget that I have work tomorrow which is extremely evil, and I have classes again next week which is even more evil, but there's no avoiding it so I'll just try and face it best I can. The nice thing is now I'm on my new work hours, so I only have to work until 2pm tomorrow.

I was a bit restless all day. Maybe it's hitting that I'm 26 and it's 2024 and time is passing at a rate I can't keep track of anymore. But at the same time, there's a kind of security that comes with that too - I get a lot less caught up in upsetting thoughts than I used to, and I have a better sense of direction in my life nowadays.

I think I just really don't want to go back to work tomorrow. Ugh. I hope my coworkers aren't there. I will definitely not be in a socializing mood. (They will probably be there.)

I'm thinking after work I'll go grab a matcha boba from the usual place I go to since it's been a while.

I was working on the Japan itinerary and since Google Docs was getting me frustrated I thought writing it out on paper would make it easier, but so far all it did was make me realize just how many things my friends and I listed out. I don't think we'll be doing all of them of course (some were just suggestions we didn't feel that strongly about), so it's just a matter of figuring out which places would group well together. It's a bit of work but honestly I find it kind of fun. Like I wrote there, it's like figuring out a puzzle.

Ugghhhh I don't wanna go to work. Let me just sleep in every day forever.

[empressofthesunwriter]

The Stick of Truth

Codename: Dovahkiin Part 1!

N.K. is angry at her parents. Not only did they move again, no, but they moved into a snowy hicktown named South Park! She was sure she would hate it there, yet surprisingly she gets to participate in the epic RPG the kids play and falls for the human princess and the elf king. Who is friend, who is foe and which side should she choose?

Main Pairing: New Kid/Kenny McCormick/Kyle Broflovski

Chapter 1: Quiet little mountain town

Dear Dairy,

so here we are again.

Moved after a few weeks in Seattle now to this shitty little town named South Park in buttfucking Colorado.

I already hate it here.

It’s a tiny hole, in the middle of nowhere, right at the Meridian of misery and suffering.

This town doesn’t even have a Game Stop!

How the hell I’m supposed to get new cards for my YU-GI-OH! Deck and buy new games and anime merchandise?

Back to Amazon, it seems.

Gosh, I bet these people don’t even know what cosplay is!

Why did we need to move again?

I was happy in Seattle.

I had a nice group of friends and hot Serena Matthews wanted to go on a second date with me!

And yet, poof, again, my nomadic parents had us moved.

I will never understand them.

I’m only eleven, my body started puberty and I can’t outlive it because my parents get this urge to randomly move us from here to there.

This is such bullshit!

I wanna be a pre-teen, watch anime and talk about it with friends. Play Duel Monsters and beat asses. Cosplaying and playing video games and dear heaven kiss girls, boys, or whatever!

Serena was such a good kisser!

And her red hair was so lovely!

In this hicktown, there aren’t for sure bisexual people like me. Or god forbid lesbians. I don’t think I will like the straight dudes in this town.

I’m allergic to straight.

Yuck!

Okay, jokes aside, why this little shit town?

Couldn’t we move to California, if it was so necessary to move?

I just want to again live on the ocean side.

A loud knock was heard on my door, followed by my Mamma’s voice: “Sweetie? Hon, you all dressed?”

I look up from my Dairy. I’m sitting against my bedframe, knees up, balancing my dairy on them, and writing about my woe.

I close it with my red glitter pen between the two pages I wrote for today.

“Yes, Mamma, you can come in.”, I let her know.

Not a second later both my parents enter my room.

“Hey, princess. How do you like your new room?”, ask me my Papà.

I look around the half-finished room with the still-to-open cartons. It was bigger than my room in Seattle for sure.

“It’s all right.”, I decide.

This makes my parents smile happily.

At least they are happy.

“I know it's a big change for all of us, but ... princess, do you ... REMEMBER why we moved to this quiet little mountain town?”, wants my Papà to know.

I frown and rub my head.

That’s actually a good question.

It is all sort of a blur.

I have this sometimes. That I forget things, and can’t remember them.

Don’t know why, it has always been like this.

I learned to live with it.

The most I remember from our last day in Seattle is asking beautiful Serena for a second date and she agreed. Then going with my gang to Game Stop to buy some more children’s card games and then…then I was in our car and my parents told me, that we are moving to South Park.

Yeah, that’s about it.

The rest is a black blurb.

I rub my head harder and feel a headache forming. It’s better to stop thinking about it.

“Because you got the itch to move again.”, I answer my parents with sass.

Normally I would get called out, but strangely my parents seem to be happy about it and are whispering to each other. I can’t quite grasp what they mumble to each other.

A frown forms on my face.

If this is not suspicious, I’m straight.

“Uh, sweetie, we want you to have lots of fun here.”, turns my Mamma back to me. ”Why don't you go out and make some friends?”

“Right, get outside and PLAY, princess. Like ... like normal kids.”, adds my Papà.

“Why do you have to say it like that?”, I wonder and frown deeper.

My Mamma gives Papà a little whack on the head, which makes him whine and rub the hurting spot.

“Don’t listen to your Papà, he is just being silly, right, Chris?”

“Sure, Kelly.”

“We've got some money for you on the kitchen counter, sweetie.”, informs me, Mamma. “Just ... be back before it gets dark.”

Not like I have anything better to do than to whine at my dairy. Maybe I walk will do me good. I hardly doubt I can make friends with these hicktown children.

I’m way too queer for them.

So I put my dairy on my night table and nod.

“Of course, Mamma. I love you both.”

Even if you drag me around all of America.

“Yeah, we love you too.”, say’s Papà for both of them and they leave my room with small smiles on their faces.

I put my hands in the pocket of my pink hoodie and sign.

Well, let’s go, shall we?

I sigh loudly and watch how my breath turns white in front of me.

I’m not fucking Elsa and the cold fucking bothers me anytime!

My parents know I love warm places more, but no we had to move to this snowy hicktown.

I hate everything.

I’m glad I put my black jacket over my hoodie and gripped a pink wool hat before I got out of the house.

Dear Ra, how can people survive in this climate?

I walk down the little path to the sidewalk and for the first time today, something interesting happens.

On my left side, a little barricade is up, with a red flag, and written on it is No Humans.

Well, that IS unexpected.

What could this mean?

I decide to go right, maybe I will find some clue about what that is about.

That is when I see two little fourth-graders, one dressed as an elf and the other in a long blue robe, fighting against each other.

These little dudes seem to give their all.

“You shall die by my Warhammer, Drow Elf!”, yells the blond-haired boy.

“Nuh-uh!”, disagrees the Drow Elf.

“I banish thee to the forest realm!”

“No way, I banished you first! AHA! You can't hold out much longer!”

“Help! Somebody!! I can't hold out much longer!! Heeeeelp!”

This is all very interesting I decide and has surely to do with the sign I saw. Are they LARPing, perhaps?

Anyway, this hicktown turned exciting from 0 to a solid 8.

I must know what this is about.

But for that, I should help the little blond dude.

So I grip the Drow Elf by his clothes and tear him away from the blond boy.

“Hey, no fair. That's cheating. I'm gonna tell my mom.”, whines the Drow Elf and runs away.

Probably to his mom.

The little blond-haired boy smiles up at me, I’m at least a head taller than him, and says: “Thanks, kid. I didn't realize he had a health potion. My- my name is Butters the Merciful. I'm a paladin. I live right next door to you. We should be friends!”

LARPing, called it!

I can live with that!

“It’s whatever.”, I wave Butters off. What kind of name is this anyway? Weird. “And sure let’s be friends.”

This makes the little dude happy and I get a new Facebook friend. Why this always happens when I meet new people I haven’t the faintest idea.

It’s one of a weird me things that I don’t get.

“Now that we're friends, you should speak with the Wizard King! He's been talking about your arrival. The Wizard lives this way. In the green house, over there.”

“Sure, why not?”

Not like I have anything better to do and I like LARPing. It is really fun.

So I follow Butter, while he asks me questions.

“Hey, where are you from?”

“Was born in Washington D.C., but never really lived there.”

“Where'd you live before moving here?”

“Seattle.”

“Do you like Colorado?”

“To snowy for my taste.”

“Why are you wearing your hair like that?”

“I like bob-cuts. Long hair takes way too much time to groom it.”

“You don't talk much, do ya?”

“Meh.”

“That's ok, I can talk for both of us!”

You surely do Butters. The little fourth grader is amusing. Really happy-go-lucky it seems.

We reach the green-colored house and my new friend knocks. A little fat kid who tries his hardest to be a wizard opens the door.

With my super detective skills, I detect that this must be the Wizard King. Yet, Butter screams it to the heavens.

At least they seem dedicated to their LARPing.

“So, you are the New Kid.”, guesses the Wizard King right. “Your coming was foretold by Coldwell Banker. I am the Wizard King. But the time for talk is not nigh. Let me show you my kingdom.”

“All right.”, I just say and follow the two smaller boys into the house.

“Ohh, who's your new friend, Eric?”, asks a brunette woman the Wizard King.

“Shut up, mom, not now.”

The Wizard King or Eric seems to be kind of a dick. I would never talk to my parents like that.

“Hello, ma’am, nice to meet you.”, I greet her with my best smile.

She can’t even answer as Eric tells me that she isn’t part of the game and I shouldn’t talk to her.

Wow, rude much?

He is a dick.

Still, I follow him and Butter to his backyard. I’m way too curious about what’s there.

“Welcome ... to the Kingdom of Kupa Keep!”, presents me, Eric, his backyard.

I must say, you see that the kids tried to make their best what they had and it’s kinda okay. Can’t expect a masterpiece from 10 years old.

So I simply say: “Nice, dude.”

The answer pleases Eric and he gives me a tour. First, he leads me to the Armory where a brunette boy with a silver helmet stands.

“Our weapon shop here is tended by Clyde, a level 14 warrior.”, tells me, Eric.

I give Clyde a wave and we move to the stables.

“Here you can see our massive stables, overseen by the level 9 ranger Scott Malkinson, who has the power of diabetes.”

What kind of power is diabetes?

From what I know it is a really huge hassle.

I nod to Scott and follow Eric to…Princess Zelda?

The person now before me wears a costume and a blond wig which reminds me a lot of her.

Is Link somewhere too?

Princess Zelda rip-off twirls one of her fake blond locks around her finger and gives a soft giggle.

She pats her eyelashes at me.

I have a feeling she is flirting with me…well she has really beautiful blue eyes from what can I see since her face is covered mostly by her orange parker.

 “And here, of course, is the breathtaking and lovely Princess Kenny. The fairest maiden in all the kingdom.”, presents Eric her. “Don't ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, it's just how he seems to be rolling right now.”

Ah, so the princess is actually a boy!

So either he/she is genderfluid or attracted to more than one gender or both since she is clearly hitting on me.

I’m damn happy that there is at least one queer kid in this town!

So nothing bad with flirting back.

I give her a wick and she giggles more behind her hand.

Nailed it.

I decide to talk to her.

“Hey beautiful, how it’s going?”, I ask her and path my own eyelashes.

Again she giggles cutely and…she wishes for a flower? Her speech is so muffled thanks to the parker that I only understood a part.

Where do I get a flower now?

I look around the kingdom and see a daffodil. That we will do!

Quickly I pick it up and present her the flower with a bow.

She gasps happily, taking it.

“A daffodil for me?? Teeheehee, you shouldn't have.”

“Its beauty is nothing against yours, your highness.”, I flirt, which makes her wave her hand before her face and I can see that she is turning red.

Still got it.

“Hey New Kid are you done now? We got shit to do.”, calls the Wizard King for my attention.

I send the princess a kiss and join up with him and Butters.

“You have been sought out, New Kid, because humans everywhere are in great danger. I need something from you and, in return, I am prepared to allow you into my kingdom. I know you are very excited. It's time for your first quest, but first - please tell us thy name.”

“I’m Novella-Karin Campo. But people mostly call me N.K.”, I introduce myself.

Both Eric and Butters stare at me. What’s up with that look?

“That’s a really-“

Butters can’t even finish his sentence, as Eric starts to laugh like a manic holding his chubby belly.

“Hahahaha, that’s the douche’s name I ever heard for a dude! Hahaha, New Kid, your parents must fucking hate you. Hahaha!”

…Did he just call me a dude?!

Oh jeez, not again!

People sometimes mistake me for a boy, I don’t know why.

I clearly look like a girl, even if I have a bob cut!

For Ra Sake, I already need to wear a bra! And both my ears are pierced!

Why is this happening again?

I open my mouth to tell chubby that I’m female and identify as one, as I see how Butters shakes his head and makes Aport-the-mission signs.

Clearly, I shouldn’t correct Eric.

Oh, I have a feeling, and also thanks to Butters, that Eric doesn’t let girls play with them.

But I wanna play with them.

So I have to pretend to be a boy.

Oh well, if Kenny a boy can be Princess Zelda, then I a girl can be Link. I still have somewhere my old Link cosplay from last year’s Comic-Con.

It’s not tragic.

Eric finally calms down from his laughing and grins wicked.

I don’t like this face.

“You know what N.K., since you already have a douche name I think it’s fitting for you to be called…Douchebag!”

Asshole.

I grit my teeth and fight against the urge to punch this fuckers face in.

What one endures, just to not die of boredom!

“You will now choose a class: Fighter, Mage, Thief, or Jew.”

“Jew?”, I repeated confused.

How can be Jew a class in a LARPing, isn’t it more a religion?

“Jew, huh? So I guess we'll never really be friends.”

“No, I was just surprised to hear that!”, I tell him. “I take the mage.”

“Then we welcome to our kingdom Douchebag the Mage!”, proclaims Eric.

Butters cheers for me, meanwhile I plan how I can take revenge on Eric for dubbing me Douchebag. If I ever get the chance to kick his ass, I will take it, whatever I have to do!

Butters hands me the Mage gear and I decide that I definitely will go home and put one of my cosplays on.

I have a beautiful Dark Magician Girl Cosplay, sadly I think I should probably go with Link for the time being.

So long till I get what beef Eric has with girls and how I can make myself so valuable in this game that he doesn’t kick me out from it.

It is quite clear that Eric calls the shots here.

Just my luck.

Now he wants from me that I get a weapon, so I walk over to Clyde.

“Would you like to see my wares, weary traveler?”, ask me the brunette boy. “Perhaps you would like to hear tips and rumors for two dollars?”

I have a feeling that this is a scam, so I just ask him to show me his weapons.

Sadly it seems I can only buy the twig since the weapons have levels and my level is apparently too low.

I give the kids this, they are really creative.

With my new weapon, I return to Eric. Time to learn how to fight!

Next

[annieintheaair]

Nothing makes sense the more you think about it, and I know I wanna do something with my time, even if it's all for nothing.

I've been meaning to write for days and just haven't gotten around to it but sometimes, when I'm feeling all of the feelings, there's nothing else I can do but write.

I should be in bed but instead, I'm awake, it's 11pm, and I'm drinking wine on my couch. During a quick Facebook scroll, I saw on the JWU Alumni page that one of my favorite professors passed away on Friday. I froze when I saw it. It felt like the world stopped for a minute. Just recently, we had been messaging on LinkedIn. He has cheered me on since I graduated and always said he hoped that someday he'd be on one of my flights. I'm sad that it never happened and absolutely devastated that he died. I guess one of the hardest things about getting older is that more people you know die.

On the same day that my professor died, I paid off my student loans. I was already on track to have them paid off by June but we finally got our profit sharing and while I'm putting aside most of that right now, I decided to close out my college chapter officially and pay the last $1200 that was owed. It feels so good to be done with that huge burden but it's also ironic that it happened on the same day that my professor died.

The last two weeks since I wrote have felt like such a blur. I worked some, and last weekend spent Saturday at a brewery with Matt where they had a margarita festival. Sunday, I finally got around to putting together some shelves in my garage to get organized, and then, since Todd's birthday was on Saturday, I surprised him by taking him to a roller skating rink. He told me so many times how much he loved roller skating and we never went the whole time we dated. After roller skating, we checked out a distillery and then saw the movie Here with Tom Hanks. The movie was kind of disappointing. Afterwards, we went back to my house and watched a movie, and tried some of the new beers I found at Trader Joe's.

My flights on Monday night into Tuesday morning canceled so I spent the night at home and ended up taking a trip to Maryland to visit my younger sister early Tuesday morning. Non-revving is such a pain and 9 times out of 10 I end up on the jumpseat, but it was worth it to spend a few days with my sister and her family.

I got home on Thursday night and stayed in, being lazy with my dogs. Friday I went to yoga and by the time the class was over, I already had an alert that my flight that night had been canceled. In a way, I didn't really mind.

I worked Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights and initially wanted to pickup a trip on Tuesday or Wednesday but nothing came up on Tuesday so I decided to enjoy the day off. I went to yoga in the morning and then celebrated Taco Tuesday at MiCocina with my favorite brisket tacos and a skinny smash margarita. I stopped for a coffee on my way home and then had to buckle down for the afternoon with work and a meeting.

Last night, Matt and I went to our favorite bar for music bingo. It ended up being a lot of fun but I was so tired and ready to crash by the time I got home.

Today, I was up early to go to the doctor. I was sick last month, went to the doctor, and got meds, which helped for the most part, but I've had a lingering cough. The cough has since turned into a sore throat and ear pain. My doctor did a strep test and it's not strep but ran some other tests that I'm waiting to hear back on. She started me on more meds and if I don't get better, she said I'll have to come back for blood work because I might have mono. I honestly don't think I've even been tested for mono since college when that was standard practice every time you go to the doctor.

I ran some errands today to get craft supplies, my prescriptions, and $5 sushi at Sprouts. At checkout, they asked if I wanted to pay $10 to donate a bag of food and I say no literally all of the time for these things but something in me today said to say yes. I don't know why but I felt like being extra nice. They were so excited and rang the bell and it was like paying it forward.

I worked on sweatshirts all day for my church group and finished most of them except for the embroidery on some since I decided I wanted to personalize them with everyone's names. They were all so excited when I brought the finished ones to church tonight.

Anyway, I have a glass of wine to finish, I'm tired, and I feel like it's time to relax.

xoxo

Annie

[hops-hunny]

Yo-yo’s Girl

Pairing: Kyoya Ootori x Black!Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 1.6k

Request: N/A

Summary: Kyoya’s girlfriend is a lot a bit different than what they expected.

Warnings: None, could be read as a chubby or plus size reader!

A/N: This was self indulgent. I wrote this at like 2 AM and didn’t know until I woke up.

"Do you really think this is going to work?" Haruhi asked, already done with Tamaki's antics. She knew this was a bad idea but with the promise of some of her debt being removed, she couldn't find herself to do anything but go along with the blonde's crazy scheme.

"Why of course it will! When have you ever known of my plans to go wrong?" He responded, placing a hand over his heart as he swooned around dramatically. Hikaru and Kaoru exchanged looks with each other before looking back at Tamaki.

"Do you really want us to answer that?" They chimed, causing Tamaki to deflate with a defeated look. He looked over at Haruhi with puppy dog eyes, hoping the girl would agree with him. She offered him a sympathetic smile, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen senpai, don't get me wrong, sometimes your ideas are great but isn't this...a bit much? I mean why can't we just ask Kyoya about his love life? Do we really need this elaborate plan?" She asked, hoping he would budge. She looked down as Honey hung off her arm, Mori trailing behind him.

"Don't be silly, Haru-chan! Kyoya senpai is a private guy. He wouldn't trust us with anything like that." He said, climbing off the girl and back onto Mori. She let her eyes drift to Mori in hopes he'd help but he just let out a grunt of agreement. She sighed in defeat knowing she wasn't going to get through to them. How had they gotten into this dumb plan in the first place?

It all started when Tamaki overheard Kyoya on the phone with someone and from the tone in the raven haired boy's voice, he assumed it was a girl. More specifically, his girlfriend. However, any other time Tamaki didn't wanna intrude so to avoid doing so, he decided they would all follow him after school to see if that's where he was going!

As they saw a familiar head of black hair walk towards the school gates, they all began to walk behind him, attempting to be as quiet as possible. They had been following him for a few blocks, leading to a nice but unfamiliar part of town; however as he stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, they all began to hide behind a bush but halted their motions when they heard him speak.

"Do you honestly think I didn't see any of you?" He questioned, not even turning around. They all stayed quiet in hopes that he would assume himself as crazy and continue to make his way down the street. But, as he turned around, parting the bushes, that idea flew out the window.

"Hey Kyoya! My dearest friend, I'd even go as far as to call you my bro-"

"Cut the bullshit Tamaki. Let me guess." He pushed his glasses up his nose before clearing his throat. "You thought that if you followed me you'd get to see my girlfriend, correct?" He asked, their wide eyes answering his question. However, where was the fun in that?

"That's exactly what we were doing! We wanna meet your girlfriend, Kyo-chan!" Honey piped up. The twins glared at him for his willingness to comply with Kyoya's questions so easily. Meanwhile Haruhi just sighed, slumping down even further.

"If you wanted to meet my girlfriend, you all could've just asked. I expected more from you, Haruhi. You should've known better." He chastised, watching the girl who's left eye was currently twitching. Without another word, Kyoya kept down his path towards the airport, leaving his companions to fight amongst each other.

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

It was Friday of the same week and the rest of the hosts were beginning to grow hopeless about meeting Kyoya's girlfriend. Was she even real? Perhaps Tamaki's senses had been wrong and the conversation that played out earlier that week was simply meant to teach them a lesson. However, as the hosts were shutting things down for the day, slowly gathering there things to go home, Kyoya cleared his throat. They all turned to him, curious to what he had to say.

"Leaving so soon? And to think (Y/n) was coming to visit today. Oh well, I'll tell her you all said hi." Kyoya started, turning around to face the window. 3, 2,.. a chorus of hot fire questions started around him causing him to chuckle under his breath. "One at a time, I can't answer you all at once."

"Why doesn't (Y/n)-chan go to school with us?" Honey started, staring up at the tall boy. Kyoya turned to face the group, brushing off his blazer as he did so.

"She does during a portion of the year. Due to her parent's line of business, (Y/n) does one semester in the United States and one here in Japan. However, she is originally from America. Next question?"

"What do her parents do?" The twins said, angry with each other that they had asked the same question. "I thought my question was original.."

"I'm sure you've heard of the (L/n)'s before. They specialize in state of the art technology of all forms. Best selling in all of Japan. However, (Y/n) also has her own business under her parents that deals with unbreakable fine china, some of the best of it's kind but I'm afraid I'm biased." He smiled at the thought of his girlfriend, catching the other host off guard. Who was this girl who was able to make Kyoya smile?

"What's she like, senpai? I'm sure she must be special to catch your attention." Haruhi inquired. Kyoya felt his cheeks heat up as he thought of the many things he enjoyed about his girlfriend. He turned back to the window, looking out it once again.

"She makes me laugh and she's beautiful. Don't tell her that though. She always gets a big head when you do." He muttered, checking his watch for the time. She should've been here by now.

"She sounds absolutely radiant, Kyoya! When is she going to show?" Tamaki asked, sighing dreamily at the thought of his closest friend in love with a beautiful girl. Kyoya looked at the clock across the room before frowning slightly.

"She was supposed to.." he trailed off at the sound of his name being screamed continuously and the sound of loud footsteps growing closer. All of a sudden a blur of brown skin and thick thighs stormed in, jumping onto the man. Mori put Honey down, ready to fight if need be but stopped once he saw Kyoya wrap his arms around the girl, embracing her tightly.

"Darling! I'm sorry I'm late, I got hungry and stopped by that little bakery you showed me the other day!" The girl said, looking up at the boy who had an uncharacteristically warm smile. Everyone was even more shocked as he let out a laugh, stroking some of the girl's braids behind her back. She was a short girl, full of curves and rolls in all the right places. Her outfit was very casual compared to the things Kyoya wore on his free time. She had on a jean skirt and a form fitting striped shirt that made the undertones of her soft brown skin pop.

"I told you to let me know if you plan on going places beforehand. You know how sidetracked you get. You easily could've gotten lost." He lectured causing the girl to roll her eyes. She pouted, crossing her arms around her chest.

"Okay and? Clearly I didn't. Lay off 4 eyes. I'm here now aren't I? That's all that matters!" She jumped out of the boys arms finally before turning to face the rest of them. They all had the same question: 'How could such an energetic girl be with Kyoya?' "You're definitely Tamaki." She said, pointing to the blonde. He had a flattered look on as he began to say something but she cut him off. "You look just as annoying as Yo-yo said." She finished. Hikaru began to comfort their boss in the corner as Kaoru began to laugh.

"Yo-yo?" He choked out, laughing a bit more. Kyoya's face began to heat up more as he looked down at the short girl, a pissed expression on his face.

"(Y/n) I told you not to call me that in public." He said in an angry tone, looking away from the girl. She pouted some more, bringing a soft hand up to his face. As she stroked his cheek, hot tears began to form in the corner of her (e/c) eyes.

"I'm sorry, Kyoya! I forgot. You know me, I didn't mean to embarrass you in front of your friends." He leaned into the girl's touch, looking down at her sad expression. How could he ever stay mad at that? He sighed quickly, leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead. She squeaked, unused to him initiating any sort of physical affection in public.

"Forgive me darling, I hate to see you so sad. How about I take you to one of those," his face turned slightly green as he grimaced some, "Commoner malls that you adore so much. I'll buy you anything you want. Hm?" The girl instantly perked, throwing her pudgy arms around her lanky boyfriend. He tensed a bit before hugging her back warmly, glaring at the twins who looked like they may say something to ruin the sweet moment. Haruhi watched in awe, feeling even herself grow emotional at how clearly in love her senpai was.

"Really? Let's go Kyo! What are we waiting for?" (Y/n) asked as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand, beginning to drag him towards the door forcefully. Once they were out she quickly peaked her head back in looking at the others.

"Well? Are you coming?"

[multifandomwhore-003]

Pregnant (Rewrite)²

Pairing: JJ Maybank x pregnant! Mexican female! reader

Summary: What would've happened if you did choose to have the baby?

Genre(s): Fluff.

Warnings: None!

Gif credits to whom it belongs

Part one and three on the masterlist! 𓆉︎𝙹𝙹 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚁𝚞𝚍𝚢 𝙿𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𓆉︎ REQUESTS OPEN, REQUEST HERE THIS IS NOT FREE USE, YOU CANNOT USE MY WORK Reblog if you like

Week 17

You stared plainly at the window inside JJ's room, "What day is it?" you whispered slightly gone.

"Saturday," JJ answered, you had asked that so many times the word 'Saturday' felt weird to say now.

"Right," you nodded, "JJ?"

He hummed in response hugging you closer.

"Where are my dads?"

"They're at a work trip on the mainland, they told us this morning, remember?" he placed the hair on your face behind your ears.

"No," you admitted.

He chuckled, "Y/N what did we breakfast today?" he just had to make sure.

You frowned, only being able to form blurs and fuzzy images, "I don't- I don't know," you tried to focus harder, "Pancakes?"

"No, that was last week,"

"Oh," you were slightly shocked, "Wait, ask me something else, like um, something about before I was pregnant,"

"Mmmm," he joined your sight into the beach, "Do you remember why I came here to your house for the first time?"

You were now scared, everything was a major blackout, "No," you mumbled.

"Do you want me to remind you?"

"Yes, please,"

"After we kissed for the first time on the beach you dropped your grandma's ring and I came here the next morning to return it, and that's when we-"

"We hooked up," you finished the sentence, "Thanks," you smiled at him

"No problem," he kissed your forehead.

Week 20

You were on the hammock outside the chateau after the pogues practically begged you to come, they hadn't seen you since Midsummer's and they really needed a baby update.

"Guys, come on, Y/N needs a people-break," JJ pushed them away from you.

"But I wanna continue talking to the baby," Kiara insisted.

"We'll come visit you guys for the gender reveal I promise,"

"Swear it," John pointed at him.

"I do, I swear it,"

"Swear it on the pogues," Pope stated.

"I swear it on the pogues,"

"Ok, fine," they sighed while walking inside.

"Thanks," you smiled.

As much as you loved the pogues, sometimes people visiting you could get a little overwhelming, so, you and JJ came up with a few secrets signs and codes for when you feel it was like too much. Whenever you would take off your ring it meant you were about to fall asleep, if you tugged on your left arm it meant you wanted to go to your room, and, as you did a few seconds ago, if you scrunched your nose it meant you wanted to be alone, well, as alone as you could get because JJ never left your side.

JJ helped you get up only so you could rest your head in his chest, it was way more comfortable for some reason, it was warm, calm, safe.

"J?"

"Yes?"

"Could you sing something?"

"What do you want me to sing?"

"I dunno, anything," you raised your shoulders.

"Ok, um," he cleared his throat,

"Look at the stars Look how they shine for you And everything you do And they were all yellow

I came along I wrote a song for you And all the things you do And it was called Yellow

So, then I took my turn What a thing to've done And it was all yellow," his voice was soft, low, and breathy, but soothing nonetheless.

Your eyelids began to feel heavy and you thank god because your sleep schedule had been the worst these days.

"Your skin Oh yeah, your skin and bones Turn into something beautiful Do you know You know I love you so You know I love you so,"

Right before you'd completely fall asleep, you felt a sudden flutter in your stomach, you opened you widened your eyes.

"Everything okay?"

"I think the baby just kicked," you placed a hand on your belly.

"What?"

Then you felt it again, a tiny little force moving inside you.

"Yep, it's kicking!"

"Oh my god!"

You grabbed his hand, but by then it had ceased.

"Keep singing,"

"Um- um," he stuttered,

"I swam across I jumped across for you What a thing to do 'Cause you were all yellow,"

And there it was, now it a constant pattern.

"It's kicking!" JJ

"Shhh," you covered his mouth, "The others might come," you whispered-yelled.

"You're right, sorry,"

Week 22

"Is it just me or does she look prettier?" JJ whispered to one of your dads as they both observed you sleeping on your bed.

"Oh, my God, I thought I was the only one who noticed," the man responded.

"Her hair is really glowy,"

"I'm not gonna lie, I genuinely thought she was wearing a wig this morning,"

"JJ," you muffled against the pillow as you began to wake up.

Your dad got out of the room before you opened your eyes.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he squat next to you.

"My belly is dry," you pouted.

"Let me get the moisturizer," he walked to your bathroom as you pulled the shirt you stole from him up, you looked over to your side finding his phone on the side table, you pressed the lock button to check the time, but before you could focus your eyes, the first thing that appeared was a picture of the both of you at midsummers, you smiled sightly blushing.

"Here it is," he walked back inside.

"Hey J?"

"What?" he began to rub your belly, you sighed at how good it felt.

"Have you thought about how are we gonna figure the whole parenting thing?"

"No, not really, why?"

"Because, we're not together and I mean, how- how is this gonna go?" you pointed at the both of you back and forth.

"Well we- we're friends, right? I mean I guess we would be like divorced parents, y'know?"

"Well, do you wanna be something more?"

"Do you?" he turned to you.

"Yes..." you trailed off.

His face lit up, and he crawled to kiss your lips, it was soft, tender, and it carried everything you both wanted since you started this journey together.

"So we're best friends?" JJ joked once you separated.

You chuckled, "You're such a dork,"

"Now I'm your dork" he kissed you again.

Week 24

"So?" Kiara asked impatiently.

"Ladies and gentlemen the sex of the baby is... Drumroll please," JJ said in a TV host voice.

Everyone slapped their thighs.

"It's a girl!" You both opened your arms.

The room filled with screams and jumps.

"Wait, wait!" Pope made everyone shut up, "Do you have a name yet?"

"No," you admitted, "But we're already discussing it,"

"Ooh! Can I suggest one?!" John raised his hand.

"No," you and JJ denied harshly.

Week 26

You groaned loudly, you turned around over and over again trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in, you huffed, you got out of bed whining at the back pain, you put your sandals in with every last bit of strength you had left and you left your room. You knocked on JJ's door.

He opened it rubbing his eyes, "You can't sleep?"

You shook your head.

"C'mere," he hugged you and kissed your hair.

"I have leg cramps J," you whined.

He grinned, "Do you want me to massage them?"

"Yes, please, but first, can you make me a sandwich?" you fluttered your eyelashes.

"PB and J?"

You nodded.

When he got back, you were magically fast asleep, he chuckled biting into the sandwich and then placing himself at your side, as soon as your subconscious felt him, you nuzzled your head in the crook of his neck.

Week 28

"Do you think we should talk to her?" JJ couldn't stop thinking about your doctor's appointment.

"Yes, but also, what would we tell her?"

"Maybe we could introduce ourselves," he hesitated.

"No... You know what we should be doing? Deciding a name,"

He rolled his eyes, "How are we supposed to decide if we always end up fighting?"

"JJ, I wasn't gonna name her Florence just because you secretly love little women,"

He scoffed, "And so you think Blair was a good option?"

"At least it's better than Belle!"

He sighed, "Do you got any new ideas?"

"A couple but, you're probably not gonna like them,"

"Just tell me,"

"Eden?"

"No,"

"Ava?"

"No,"

"Daisy?"

"No,"

"Kennedy?"

"No,"

"Alexa?"

"No,"

"Eliza?"

"Eliza," he whispered to himself, "Eliza Ruiz-Maybank, I like it,"

Week 30

"Alright, ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary fellas let the games begin,"

Joining a Mexican family was the best thing to ever happen to JJ, they were caring, warm, funny, and extremely loud. The firsts to welcome him were the elders, who surprisingly really supported your decision; then the uncles and aunties, they were a little more judgemental but they did prefer for you to have it instead of having an abortion; then there were your cousins, you have a million of them, and they all seemed to like JJ the minute they met him.

The baby shower was a lot, the music was extremely traditional, the presents were way too fucking big, the games and dares were a little confusing, and the fact that JJ had to learn and memorize it all didn't make it better.

"Oh, no!" Kie groaned as your grandma took off her bracelet

"Sorry Mija, you know the rules, you cross your legs, you cross your fate,"

It was an old tradition at any baby shower, you couldn't cross your arms or legs, if you did, another player had the opportunity to steal the little ribbon bracelet, the person with more bracelets at the end of the event would win a prize, a few weeks ago, your parents decided to buy a pull-out, it was small and simple but the minute the pogues saw it, they were determined to win it.

"Ok, who's ready for the next game?" Your mom spoke over the microphone, "All the men of the party would you step to the front please,"

You smiled knowing what was about to happen next.

"This is a game my ex-husband and I like to call 'Suck it, baby!' Unfortunately, he took it way too seriously, but with another man," the crowd laughed, "For this game, we'll fill the feeding bottles with beer, the first three men who finish will win three bracelets, the last one who does has to wear a diaper, so, are you ready?"

"Yeah," they all said.

"Ooh, you sound so excited," she said with sarcasm, "Come on, my mom can yell more manly than that! I said, are you ready?!"

"Yeah!"

"Ok, calm down you're not animals," she cleared her throat, "Ready, set, go!"

Thankfully JJ was one of the first to finish, and it still amazed you how he managed to beat your alcoholic relatives, John finished just a couple of seconds after, and unfortunately, Pope was last.

"Aw, I'm sorry kid," your mom padded his back, "Better luck next time,"

Pope frowned.

"Hey, don't be a baby about it!"

"Are you ok?" JJ hugged you from behind.

You nodded.

"Okay, let me know if you need anything,"

"I will," you kissed him.

"Alright love birds, get a room, I mean, you can't get any more pregnant,"

Week 32

You and JJ had just finished the baby's room and so, you were exhausted. You looked down at your breasts feeling them suddenly wet, before you had time to ask JJ for a baby wipe, your body tensed, and a sudden ache in your lower abdomen began to sting.

"JJ," your breath hitch, "I- I think I'm having a contraction,"

"It's okay, it's okay, just breathe," he grabbed your hand.

"I'm not going into labor?"

"No, this is completely normal, you're fine, these are just small contractions,"

"There's gonna be more?" you freaked out.

"Yes, but it's okay,"

"Easy for you to say, it hurts like hell!" you tightened the grip around his hand.

"Y/N, Y/N, sweetie you're hurting my hand,"

"Yeah well, your baby is hurting my uterus!"

Week 34

"I know, I know you're kicking! It's not cute anymore!" you yelled at your belly.

"I'm not going in there," JJ shook his head

"You have to!" your dads whispered-yelled behind the door.

"No! Have you heard how mad she is, she might kill me!"

"JJ?"

"Shit," he sighed before opening the door, "Everything okay, babe?

"No," you huffed,  "But cuddles might make it better..." you squinted your eyes.

"Oh thank god," he dramatically placed a hand on his chest, "Here I was thinking you were gonna kill me,"

You rolled your eyes.

"How's the pain going?"

"It's a bitch,"

"I know," he kissed your nose.

"Is it bad that I just want her to get out?"

He giggled, "No,"

"J?"

"What?" he gently rubbed your back.

"I'm scared,"

"Of what?"

"I don't know if I'm ready to be a mom,"

"You're gonna be a great mom,"

"But what if I'm not?"

"Well, at least you're gonna be better than mine,"

You laughed, "I love you,"

"I love you more,"

Week 36

JJ watched you sleep peacefully after a little weight had been released from your lungs, the baby was 'dropping' which meant you could now take big deep breaths. He got out of bed making sure you wouldn't wake up, he grabbed a chair where you'd usually put some clothes so you didn't have to move so much, he sat as close as possible to your belly.

"Um hi," he whispered, "I don't know if you can hear me, but Dr. Theroux said that I should probably start talking to you," he cleared his throat, "So hi, I'm your dad um- and I love you, a lot, I know we haven't met but I just love you with everything I was, everything I am, and everything I'll ever be, even tho sometimes I don't know what the hell I'm doing, I uh, I probably won't be able to spoil you a lot because I don't have any money and because your family already bought you like a lifetime supply of toys, I'm not kidding the baby shower was really insane, um, but eventually I will, your grandparents own a food chain and I'm doing online college so I can be with you, and once I finish I can work for them.

Your mom has two dads and they love you very much, um, I also have a dad but he doesn't know you exist, and to be honest, I don't want him to, he's in jail, so I can't really tell him either way. I haven't told your mom yet, but I'm also terrified of being a dad, I don't wanna freak her out which is why I'm usually calm around her but I haven't got much sleep just going over and over everything that could possibly go wrong and even when I sleep, I have a lot of nightmares," he sighed, "I still don't know how everything's gonna go down once you're born, things might get crazy and stressful, but I promise you I'll always protect you no matter what, sure, I'll let you make your own mistakes, but that won't stop me from being your dad, and you'll never stop being my little girl or boy or just kid, you never know these days, which brings me to my next thing, I'll never stop loving you no matter who you love or what you identify as, I will support you and I'll make sure the rest of the world doesn't get too much in your head because it's brutal out there.

I'll never do anything to hurt you or your mom, no matter how complicated or messy it could get, I honestly don't think I'll stop loving your mom either but who knows, people fall out of love but that doesn't mean it'll be your fault and it won't make us love you any less um- Your uncles and auntie love you too, I'd suggest you get closer to uncle Pope tho, he's the best, they all are but he's really smart sometimes too smart for his own good; if you ever need relationship advice, go to uncle John, he's the king of simps and he has better advice than any of us really, if it weren't for him me and your mom wouldn't be together; aunt Kie is cool, she really cares about the planet and all of that so always listen to her in that realm of knowledge. I think I'm just spit-balling here but the point is, you are very loved and I hope you never have to feel bad about anything, I can't really protect you from it all but I'll do my best to listen and comfort you when you need it. I love you, so, so, so much, and uh I'll see you soon I guess," he kissed your belly.

Week 38

"Are you sure it's a good idea for us to watch this movie while you're pregnant?" JJ was waiting for the next scare jump in 'Host'.

"Shhh," you covered his mouth.

The movie seemed calm for a few seconds and it carried the whole island with it, everything was quiet, time stopped. A monster came on screen making JJ scream slightly, jumping and hitting his head with the headboard.

"Y/N are you ok? We heard you scream," your dads stormed into the room.

You snorted, "Oh, I'm good, blondie here got scared," you pointed at Joe.

"Y/N," JJ mumbled surprised.

"What?"

"Your water broke,"

[hxt1b]

Why Can’t We? - Extended

Masterlist 

Jaehyun x Reader 

WC: 4.2k 

Genre: Angst (YouTuber Reader x Idol Jaehyun)

Warning: Smut and Swearing 

Original Post: Why Can’t We?

A/N: Hey thank you so much for the love on the original little blurb I wrote. I decided to write an extended version of it for you guys. I hope you like it! If you haven’t read the original I’ve linked it. This is sort of a part two but you could read this without reading the blurb as well hence why I don’t think it fits to call it a part two. Again the grammar may be iffy, I tried my best but things probably still slipped through, regardless I hope you guys like this. Let me know your thoughts. And if anyone wants to send me any requests you can go do that here. I appreciate them and will get to them as soon as I can!

You were slumped over your desk, staring at the work you had in front of you. Your business partner/ best friend was expecting this to be done by the end of the night. The video needed to be out by eight pm. It was already seven, you couldn’t focus though and you knew that if you called her and just explained to her that you fucked up. That you did the one thing you shouldn’t have. That you slept with Jaehyun. She’d help you. But you couldn’t process the fact yourself, you couldn’t process the emotions that were still running through you. You couldn’t believe that you ran. Yet you knew there was no other option. You knew how you felt about him, and Jaehyun never made any move to hide his feelings. Not from you. 

But it wouldn’t work and you knew that, you were so wrapped up in your YouTube channel and all the other opportunities that were coming your way, and he was… well he was Jung Jaehyun. You couldn’t see yourself by his side. Not with how much you’d have to hide it, not with all his fans. They’d find out, your whole life was on the internet, his was too. It wouldn’t work, it would only lead to more heartbreak. Heartbreak at a greater scale one that you could not take. 

You held yourself back as much as you could but last night you couldn’t. Not with the way he looked at you, his eyes showing every emotion he had inside him, not with the way  his mouth felt against yours, the way his hands moved against your skin. You could still feel his breath on your skin. 

A shiver ran down your spine and you were brought back to the computer in front of you. A video of you and your best friend staring back at you. You’d only edited the first four minutes, there was two hours' worth of footage waiting for you. 

Sighing you grabbed your phone, biting your lip you kept yourself from looking at the missed calls you had from him and messages he had sent you. You ignored the burning in you to open them, to reply, to call him back. Instead, you called your friend. 

Her happy voice coming through after the first ring. 

“Hey, dude what’s up?”  

“So listen, I uh I’m gonna need another hour to edit that video it’ll be a little late is that okay?” You said, your voice slightly shaking. 

“Yeah yeah, that's fine.” Her voice fell to a concerned tone, “Is everything okay?” 

“Sorry, yeah I just haven’t been having the best day ya know.” You ran your finger along the side of your desk as you spoke to her. Your mind wandering back to Jaehyun. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She asked. 

“No there’s nothing to talk about just one of those slow and tiring days.” You lied. She hummed on the other side of the line dropping the topic. 

“Take your time with the video’s its fine if it goes up late we can put it up tomorrow too. Just send out a tweet.” You nodded even though she couldn’t see you. 

“Okay, I’ll do that. Thank you.” 

Hanging up you opened your Twitter app. Quickly typing out the tweet. You scrolled through your feed as your tweet blew up, you weren’t huge on YouTube but you had a decent amount of subscribers that your posting schedule mattered. 

Minutes ticked by as you liked and replied to some tweets that came your way. But scrolling came to be a mistake. A thread about Jaehyun appeared on your feed and you couldn’t help but open it, your heart aching as the thread appreciated Jaehyun dimples. You loved his dimples as much as anyone else. The difference was that you had a front seat to him. You’d poked your finger into those dimples so many times over the span of time that you and Jaehyun had known each other. 

Quickly closing the app you came face to face again with all the notifications regarding him. Blinking as your eyes stung you bit your lip again. There was only one option in your head again, you couldn’t handle the ache that your heart felt right now imagine if it was on a grander scale. You had to stop this now. 

Opening his contact information on your phone you blocked his number, and on Instagram and every other platform he could contact you. Your vision blurred and your headached as you put your phone back down on your desk. 

You couldn’t edit the video today anyway. Getting up from your desk chair you made your way to your bed and buried yourself under your blankets as a few tears slipped down your cheek. 

Two weeks passed and Jaehyun was a mess, his head was somewhere else constantly, he couldn’t focus on his work. He couldn’t think straight. He just moved from day to day as he became more and more numb. He’d called you, texted you but you hadn’t returned anything. Short of going to your apartment, he’d done everything he could, and that was something he wasn’t going to do. Not after you blocked him. 

He dropped his head into the palms of his hands, the bitter pain of the action hitting him again. You’d actually blocked him. The tears gathered in the corners of his eyes again but he blinked them away. But it all hurt, everything hurt. His head hurt from the anger he felt towards you, yet his heart ached for you. The fight in him tired him out daily. The other boys were noticing, Johnny had tried to talk to him about it but Jaehyun didn’t know what to say. 

She fucked me and left, oh and while she left she ripped my heart out and stomped on it because there is no way she doesn’t know that I love her. 

Jaehyun knew you were cautious, he could sense your fear. But when you slept together that day he’d hoped you’d forget it, that you’d understand that it could work. That with you he’d make it work. He’d hoped that you’d see it. But clearly, you hadn’t. 

You hadn’t even given it a chance. 

You saw him everywhere all of sudden. You blocked him but you still saw him everywhere. It had been a month since you’d last seen him and noting was easier. You’d lied to yourself then and you would lie to yourself now. Because this was for the best.  

You sighed again as another clip of Jaehyun popped up in your Instagram feed. They’d just had another comeback and it was shaping into your biggest nightmare very fast. Scrolling again you came across a clip from a recent interview. He was smiling and laughing with Jungwoo. His dimples showing up as he threw his head back and laughed at something Jungwoo had said to him. Another sigh slipped out your lips as you scrolled again. 

“Oh, my fuck. I swear Y/N if you fucking sigh again I’ll knock you out into next week.” Your best friend was staring at you from where she stood setting up the camera for today's shoot. 

“What is even wrong with you. For the past month, you’ve been sad and angry and you constantly don’t want to talk about it and I respected that but today I’ve had enough.” Her hands had moved to her hips as she glared down at you. 

Looking away from her you ran your tongue over your drying lips. 

“Talk to me Y/N.” She demanded and before you knew it everything spilled out. From the day you met Jaehyun nine months ago, to all the flirting. You told her about all the dates you’d gone on, you even told her how you insisted on calling them friend dates. Watched movies in his room, kicking Jungwoo out so that it would be just the two of you. Making cakes in his kitchen and doing the most cliche things while making them. You told her all of it, how you slept with him and blocked him because you were scared. Obviously, she knew of Jaehyun she’d even met him on many occasions but she didn’t know the details, because for some reason your brain had told you that if your best friend knew them. That if you spoke of the events that the feelings would become real, that it would all become real. 

“You're scared?” She questioned her face contorting into an expression bordering on disgust. “Scared. You?” She was sitting beside you a scowl embedded into her face. 

“Dude, we don’t scare. We meet shit head-on. Our channel is thriving because we didn’t give in to the fear that we would fail. We got where we are with that practice. We don’t fear shit. Especially not the complicated shit because we always make it work we always try.”  

She didn’t even blink as she spoke, you knew she was right, but it was easier said than done wasn’t it? But she was right you didn’t fear failure with your work and it paid off and you loved it. 

“But it’s so much more complicated now. I don’t think I can fix this.” 

“You have to try. Because I can’t stand this behaviour anymore. Fix it, babe, at least try and if it doesn’t work I’ll be here and we’ll move past it.” You nodded as she spoke. Glad that she was your best friend. 

“So I should go talk to him? Apologize? Tell him what was going on in my head?” 

“Yeah, dude just talk to him.” She looked at you expectantly as she got up and went back to fixing the camera angle. 

“Okay can you set up the mic’s now, you can talk to him after we film. Now help me.” 

Three hours later you were dragging your feet towards his dorm. You’d planned out what to say and how to say it, after you filmed, in your mirror. Your best friend giving you the thumbs up when you left. 

Looking up as you neared the dorm, the air left your lungs. There he was walking towards you, smiling down at a beautiful girl. He looked happy. You watched them as they walked slowly talking about god knows what, your hands fisted at your side as she laughed at something he said. Your insides turned and you felt like you were gonna puke. But you had no right. You were the one who left, you uncurled your hand as your eyes began to sting. 

What did you think was going to happen? That you’d leave him and he’d sit around waiting for you. That when you walked into his dorm today he’d take you back with open arms like you hadn’t left his bed and then blocked him on everything. You shook your head blinking back the tears.  

You bit your lip and looked away from them. There was no way back into his life and it was clear and it was your fault., but you had to look at him again. Just one last time. Just to see that smile, those dimples one last time in person even if you weren’t the one he was smiling at. 

Turning your head back to him your entire body froze. He was already looking at you. Stopped a few feet back from the entrance of the dorm. The girl digging around her bag for something. Your heart thumped in your chest, your blood flowing fast, the rush of it the only sound in your ears. 

Your eyes stung again, you couldn’t cry. Not here. Turning away from him you walked away quickly. You needed to get away fast, he shouldn’t have seen you. You felt selfish that you’d stood there that long, that you’d tried to steal that last glance. You should have walked away sooner. The tears slipped down your cheeks, leaving cold wet trails in their wake. 

A hand grabbed your wrist, whipping you around. You didn’t look at him, you couldn’t. His hand tightened around your wrist. 

“So you’re gonna run away again?” You didn’t say anything back. What would you even say because the truth was yes. Yes, you were. He scoffed and dropped your hand, taking a step away from you. 

“You're with a girl, you’re happy I don’t want to intrude.” You still weren’t looking at him, keeping your eyes trained on the ground to your left. 

“Look at me.” He said his voice even. You refused. 

“Look at me!” His tone was harsher, slowly you turned your head to him your eyes taking in his face, from far he had looked like the perfect Jaehyun you always saw, but up close you could see the slight darkness under his eyes, the paleness of his skin, the sadness in his eyes as yours finally locked onto them. “Do I look happy to you? That girl is my cousin.” You stayed silent not knowing what to say. 

He let out a humourless laugh, “You don’t have anything to say. Why am I shocked?” He ran his hand through his hair and took a step towards you. 

“Fine then let me talk. Let me tell you about how you fucked me up, how for the past month I’ve been trying to figure out what I did wrong to have you block me, to have you kick me out of your life so easily. What did I do that was so wrong.” His voice broke on the last word as tears began to trail down his face. You were frozen in your spot, your hands shaking at your side. 

Everything that you’d wanted to say, everything you’d thought to say out your head. You watched as he broke down in front of you, your heartbreaking with each tear that ran down his cheek. Slowly you raised your hand taking a step closer to him, you hesitated only for a second before pulling him to you. 

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong. I'm the one that fucked up. I'm the one that ran away, and I’m the one that is so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything Jaehyun.” His arms wrapped around your body pulling you into him, his hands fisting at the back fabric of your coat. 

“I was scared, scared about everything. Scared that it would all only hurt us more in the end. I was trying to make it easier.” This time your voice cracked as you began to cry. His arms tightened around you. 

“I'm so sorry, I’m so stupid. I ran away and I’m so sorry.” It was hard for you to talk through your tears. You tried to calm down by taking in breaths of air. You needed to stop crying. “Please forgive me.” 

You looked up at him, his eyes were red from his tears that had stopped. His eyes softened as they took in your face. He didn’t say anything to you just moved his face to yours, softly pressing his lips against yours. 

“Let me make it up to you.” You said pulling away from his lips. 

You pulled him into your apartment, taking your coat off and throwing it onto your couch. Prompting him to do the same. You grabbed his hand once his coat was off and pulled him into your bedroom. Your mouth returning to his as soon as you closed the door. The kiss was slow and soft, both of you taking each other in. Pulling away from him you looked at his face, his brown eyes dark you were sure you reflected the same desire back to him that you saw. Pressing your lips back to his you let your hands trail down his chest as his stayed planted on your waist. Weaving your hand under his shirt you raked your cold fingers ups his abs earning a shiver from him. You smiled pulling away from him and pulled his shirt up over his head and tossed it aside. 

Your breath hitched as you took in the sight of his bare torso, pressing yourself back to him you pressed an open-mouthed kiss to his jaw, softly sinking your teeth into the same spot before sucking the skin into your mouth. Jaehyun moaned, his hands moving up the back of your t-shirt pulling you against him. You could feel his member hard and pressed against you in-between the both of you. 

Licking the spot to soothe the sting you pressed a kiss to the slowly darkening mark, before moving further down. You kissed down his chest, softly pressing your lips against his hot skin. You marvelled in the way his breathing became shallow as you moved onto your knees. Hooking your fingers into the buttons of his jeans you undid them pulled them down along with his boxers. You pushed him back towards your bed letting him step out the articles of clothing and sit down as you slowly wrapped your hand around his throbbing cock. He was already so hard. You looked up at him as you slowly moved your hand down before licking the tip, wiping away the moisture that had gathered there. 

He groaned at your action, his eyes locked with yours as you made your way down his dick kissing down the underside towards his balls before sticking your tongue out and licking back up to his tip. His cock twitched in your hand as you wrapped your lips around his head. One of his hands twisted into the back of your hair softly grabbing your locks. 

Jaehyun’s head fell back as you moved him further into your mouth, you went slow letting yourself feel each vein with your tongue as you fit him into your mouth. Soft moans spilled from him, flowing towards you as you begin to move him in and out of your mouth, using your hand to massage the rest of him that you couldn’t fit into your mouth. 

A soft growl fell from his lips as he pulled you off him. 

“You can finish that some other time.” He said, yanking you up into his lap you straddled him, as he kissed you roughly his tongue entering your mouth and quickly meeting yours. You moaned into him as his hands moved under your shirt one hand unclasping your bra. 

“Fuck.” he cursed pulling away from you before pulling your shirt off and throwing it across the room. He tangled his hand in the hair at the back of your head again pulling you towards him to press his mouth to yours as you let your bra fall off and tossed it onto the ground. The thumb of his other hand drawing circles at your hip. 

He stood up taking you with him, not breaking the kiss as he did. You groaned as his dick pressed against your clothed core, causing heat to rush through you. He tossed you onto the bed before quickly following you. 

“I’m so fucked.” He said before pressing his lips into your neck, sucking the skin as you had done before on him. You moaned letting your hand fly to the back of his head as he moved down towards your chest, leaving open-mouthed kissed until he got your breast.

He lifted his head from you and stared at you, his eyes almost black with lust. Your breathing was laboured as he smirked at you before returning his mouth to your nipple. He harshly sucked it into his mouth pulling it up between his teeth. You let out a breathy moan, his name flowing out of your mouth, as your chest arched off the bed following his mouth. He laughed before letting your nipple pop out of his mouth and pushed up you back into the mattress before kissing over to your other breast copying his action before moving his kisses down your stomach. 

You writhed under him as his mouth got closer to where you wanted him. Hooking his fingers into your legging he pulled them down leaving you in only your panties. He looked up at you before looking back down at your covered core. Your cheeks reddened as he smiled. 

“Your so wet baby, you soaked through your panties.” His voice was thick with lust, his face showing on full display his desire for you. 

“For you,” you panted back, as he pressed a finger to you over your panties. 

“For me.” He whispered to himself before pulling your underwear down. He hovered his face over your clit, you could feel his breath teasing you. Bucking your hips towards him wanting him to do something already. You snaked your hand down to his hair. 

“Please.” You whined pushing yourself up towards him again. He chuckled, taking your hand from his hair. He held it at your stomach pushing you down back to the bed before he ran his tongue up your slit. Your eyes closed shut as your loud moans filled the room. He repeated the action before taking your clit into his mouth sucking on the swollen nub.  

“Jaehyun.” You whined moving your other hand to his hair only for him to grab it and hold it down next to your other one. You whined trying to move your hips but being unable to as he held you down. You couldn’t take it anymore. You needed him now. 

“Baby please, you can finish that some other time.” You said stealing his words from earlier. “I need you.” He pulled back from you, his mouth covered in you. He let go of your hands letting you loop them around his neck as you pulled him back up to you. Immediately pressing your lips against his in a heated kiss, you tasted yourself on his tongue. 

A deep moan fell from your lips as he slipped his cock between your folds slowly moving so that the tip was hitting your clit. His hand wrapped around your head weaving into the hair at the top as the other one knotted into the sheets next to your head. 

He pressed his forehead against yours closing his eyes as he continued to repeat his action savouring the breathy moans that fell from your open mouth. 

“Please.” You whined when you had as much as you could take, “I need you. Please.”  You begged.  

His breathing mirrored your own, harsh shared breaths as he lined himself up at your entrance, slowly pushing himself in. Your eyes fell shut at the stretch, you clenched around him as he took his time sliding into you taking in the feeling of your tight walls around him. 

“Fuck,” He muttered against your mouth followed by a soft moan as he bottomed out. You both breathed heavily as he stayed still, agonizing seconds passed before he pulled back again before spanning his hips back to you. Your head twisted to the side as he picked up his pace. He bit into the soft skin of your jaw as he moved in and out of you. 

The sound of his skin slapping against yours filled the room along with your moans, overwhelming your mind as he fucked you into a daze. You drowned in your head with every snap of his hips, you could feel him hitting your g-spot with each thrust pushing you closer you climax. 

Sweat dotted his forehead as his thrusts sped up, throwing you off the edge into the depths. Your back arched off the bed, your chest pressing against his as he took your lips up with his swiping his tongue against yours mirroring the action of his hips as he thrust into you harsher chasing after his release. You moaned his name but it sounded far off to your ears as you shook underneath him. Your walls clenching around his cock, finally his dick twitched and he came spilling himself into you. A loud moan leaving him followed by heavy breathing as he looked down at you. He let his head fall into the crook of your neck as you both came down from your highs. 

“I’m so fucked,” He whispered to you. “Don’t run away from me again Y/N. I won’t be able to take it again.” He said and pressed a kiss to your shoulder. 

“I’m not going anywhere Jaehyun.” You said stroking his back with your hand. 

“Good because, Y/N, I really like you.” You turned your head to him, his eyes meeting yours as you did. You could see the emotion in his eyes, you could see the truth behind his words, the real words he’d wanted to say. 

“I really like you too, Jaehyun.” You said, also keeping the grander emotion with you. For now. You had plenty of time to say it to him. To hear it from him, because you weren’t going anywhere, but the three words rattled around your brain, your heart your entire being as you looked at him before pressing your lips against his. 

I love you. 

[ariadne-does-her-best]

Sparks Dancing Across Your Skin

Jason Todd x Reader One-Shot; Soulmate!Au

Word Count: 5,000+

Warnings: Mentions of death, gets very angsty but ends with a happy ending :)

Author's Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know that I’m trying to post once every two weeks on Sunday but its very difficult for me right now. I just started college this week so I haven't been very active on any of my socials because of my orientation schedule. Originally, this was going to be around the same length as the Dick one-shot but when I finished writing it, it didn’t feel complete so I may go back and turn this into a series. I’m not very satisfied with this but I did want to try and post regularly. Please let me know how you like this and if you would be willing to read a series with a similar plot. Thank you, Ariadne.

Summary: As someone with a busy schedule, you never really thought of who could be your soulmate. Rather you didn’t have the time. But lucky for you, it’s your friend. Unluckily for you, he’s a vigilante and you don’t even know his secret identity. 

You sighed as you packed up your belongings. You never meant to stay late but here you were, sitting in Mrs. Jones’s classroom, and if the clock was correct, Mrs. Jones herself had left more than two hours ago.

The class committee meetings weren’t supposed to take so long but that was only if the president, vice president, and secretary were all sharing the workload. As president, you had to pick up all of the slack that your friends left you. But you didn’t mind since you understood that they also have a life outside of school.

As you left the classroom, you made sure the door was locked on the inside before checking your phone. You only had one text and it was from your mother, telling you that she had to jet over to Paris to meet with an investor and that your father had gone to South Korea to look at some sort of textile for her. She ended the text by saying that she loves you and that she’ll try to be back in a week.

You stuffed your phone back into your pocket, turning the corner of the hallway towards the main entrance. You had parked your car in the back of the parking lot, something that you had started to regret once you saw how deserted the school really was. Remembering the fact that most people were kidnapped in parking lots, albeit grocery store parking lots, they were still parking lots at the end of the day. You sped up when you saw your car and yanked the door open before locking it after sitting inside. When you turned around to put your seatbelt on, you let out a scream when you saw that someone was in your backseat.

“Calm down, it's just me,” the boy said in the back, his red domino mask doing nothing to mask the laughter threatening to spill out of his mouth.

You sighed, running a hand through your hair as you stared at the boy who was laying on your backseat. Robin was organizing the items in your car, putting them into two piles. You watched him as he pulled out a piece of gum and popped a bubble. You smiled as you shook your head before coughing as you turned your car on, effectively grabbing his attention.

“You wanna go to the diner and tell me why you’re not with the Bat tonight?”

At that he pursed his lips, a small smile threatening to spill over.

“I dunno if I should…”

“I’ll pay.”

“Deal.”

*****

When you had first met Robin, it was after he had tried to help you escape from a mugger. Instead of cowering like he had expected you to, you had just grabbed the man's arm, twisting it as far back as you could without breaking it, and kicked him down. Robin had swooped down, laughing as he handcuffed the man and complimented you on your punch. You both were waiting for the GCPD when your stomach grumbled and you offered to treat him to some waffles at the diner across the street since it had started snowing. After that, you both kept meeting up frequently at night, him on patrol and you going home after finishing whatever official school-related event you had.

And soon enough, those nights all added up to you and Robin meeting up frequently to eat at the same diner from the first time you had met. You liked your friendship with Robin. Even though you had no idea who he was under the mask, you felt comfortable with him, like he was your rock to help keep you grounded.

As you sat there and watched him fiddle with the menu, you resisted the urge to grab his hands and instead looked down at your own hands. You started picking at the skin on one of your still healing scabs from where a cat from the animal shelter you volunteered at had scratched you.

“You should stop that,” Robin was looking at you, his bottom lip stuck out slightly in what you recognized as worry.

“You’re my distraction,” you waved your hand at him, “so go on, distract me.”

“What do you want me to talk about,” he asked as he leaned back, letting Linda, the waitress, put your regular orders down on the table. After a chorus of ‘thank you’s, you sipped your hot chocolate and contemplated on what to ask him. There was so much you didn’t know about Robin, such as his identity, but you didn’t want to scare him away.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”.

“Maybe a librarian,” he said after a long pause. You smiled at that and started stuffing your face with your hashbrowns, watching as Robin finished chewing his food.

“What about you, what do you want to be?”

You sat there, thinking. You never really knew what you wanted to be. Every year, you would have a new dream job but it never felt right to you. You just shrugged before turning the topic to books and different book recommendations, watching his eyes light up at the mention of literature.

“You should read Le Petit Prince,” you said as you both stood outside on the chilly November night. You had talked about different works by Shakespeare and had only started heading outside once Linda told you that it was ten. It was snowing slightly and Robin looked breathtaking with the white snow in his dark hair, his red mask creating a sharp contrast against the fairness of his skin.

“Only if you read it to me,” he said before grappling to the top of the veterinarian's office near the diner. You slowly walked to your car and turned it on. Robin was still sitting on the top of the building and as you pulled out of the parking lot, you waved goodbye to him before heading home, rolling your eyes with a smile when you realized that he was following you by running across the roofs of the buildings.

*****

“Hello, I’m (Y/N) (L/N), your tutor here at the Student Center. And you are?”

“Jason Todd,” the boy said, nodding at you as he pulled out his chair and sat down. You smiled at him and wrote his name down on the form you were given. You asked him basic questions about his grade, what class the assignment he wanted to go over was from, and what his reason was for visiting the center.

“All right, so it looks like Mr. Mijia wanted you to come in here and just have someone review your essay for you. Is he doing the extra credit padding before final exams again?”

Jason nodded his head and you marked the according box.

“Alright, the first thing I’m going to have you do is pull up an electronic copy and pass the hard copy to me. Then we’ll have you read it aloud so we can catch any grammatical errors.”

Jason nodded again before clearing his throat and reading his paper off of his screen, stumbling over the wording of his essay only twice. You were impressed, his style of writing was advanced, with him connecting his ideas throughout the whole essay.

“As time progresses, it is imperative to look--”

“Hey bestie,” you sighed when you heard the grating voice of Elsie Lager. You gave Jason an apologetic look before forcing a smile on your face as you faced Elsie.

“Hi Els, what are you doing here,” you asked, taking note of the way her eyes flitted over Jason, before landing on you.

“I’m just here to give you these,” she said, holding out a thick manilla folder. “Mrs. Jones said that we have to read through all of these proposals for the Spring Fling and Jackson and I thought that you could do it since you are the president. And because your mom is the famous torchbearer in today’s fashion world. It’ll just be soooo easy for you.”

You resisted the urge to smack Elsie with the manilla folder, aware of the fact that if you did that there was a witness, and instead took it from her hands before flipping through it. Great, there were over fifty concepts and designs to choose from. Taking out your planner, you wrote down ‘choose Spring Fling concept’ between your Taekwondo lesson and your animal fashion show at the shelter.

“I have that down, anything else I can do for you Elsie,” you asked with a strained smile. The brunette stood there, twisting a piece of hair around her pointer finger before smacking her forehead.

“OMG, I totally forgot! Callisto Barsotti told me that you should keep your ears open for an invite to one of his parties. I’ve gotta go now but you just have to tell me how you got Callisto to notice you, you lucky bitch.”

You watched as Elsie left the library, blowing a kiss towards you, in a blur of white. Sighing, you turned back around to Jason.

“I’m so sorry about the interruption. Why don’t you continue reading from where you were interrupted.”

“She’s a bitch,” Jason said. Your eyes widened in surprise and you watched as he leaned towards you, resting his face on his hand. “Why are you friends with people that take advantage of you like that?”

You sucked in your breath, keeping your face impassive as you stared down at him.

“You have no idea what my life is like Jason Todd,” you said evenly, setting the manilla folder to the side. “And because you don’t know me, why don’t we talk about something we do have some knowledge about: your essay.”

Jason just sighed before he started packing his items up, tugging the hard copy of his essay out from under your hands.

“You and I both know that I don’t need help with my essay. But if you ever need help, let me know,” and with a familiar wave, he left you sitting in the library, confused about how you had gotten his attention when you both weren’t even in the same grade.

*****

You scanned the room as you tugged your jacket around you. You normally didn’t attend parties, especially those that you knew involved alcohol, but your mother had pushed you to go after being nagged by Elsie’s mother by her daughter’s lack of invitation. And speaking of Elsie, she had left you alone as soon as she had entered the house. Which sucked since she had insisted on driving in her new Mercedes.

As you walked around the living room, making small talk with the people who greeted you, you couldn’t help but think about what Jason Todd had told you. It frustrated you that he took up so much space in your head, that he was all that you could think of since that day in the library.

He didn’t know anything about your life. While he had grown up on the streets, you had grown up with a silver spoon in your mouth, never having to worry about anything.

‘But you do worry,’ the small voice in your head said, sounding very similar to Robin. You needed a drink.

You were searching the coolers for a bottle of water when a heavy arm wrapped around your shoulders causing you to flinch and elbow them in the stomach.

“Ow, what was that for,” the person asked, slurring their words slightly. You looked up and sighed when you saw it was the host of the party, Callisto Barsotti. He smiled at you and rubbed at his stomach before holding his arms out, “I’ll let you go if you give me a hug,” he said, enunciating his words with grabby motions.

Normally, you would be on your best behavior, helping whoever was drunk by getting them water and calling their friends, but you were pissed. You didn’t want to be at this party, instead, your mother had forced you to go after Mrs. Lager had bitched to your mom about her precious Elsie not being invited. And to make matters worse, you were tired. So tired.

You were tired of your mother, for filling up your schedule with things you had no interest in, such as modeling gigs and piano lessons. Your father for never being there. Elsie for complaining to her mom and Callisto for inviting you to his stupid party. Jason Todd for being in your head for over a month. Robin for not reaching out in weeks. But mostly at yourself. You were upset at yourself for quietly taking all of this and then loading yourself up with more so you could be the perfect doll for your mother to brag about raising.

So when Callisto tried to grab you and hug you, you kneed him in the groin before deciding to walk home. Ignoring his cries and the looks you got from others at the party, you ran out of the house, only pausing to take a breath once you exited the gated property. You didn’t know where you wanted to go so you let your legs decide on what direction to walk.

Walking around anywhere in the middle of the night was not a great idea. But walking around Gotham in the middle of the night was one of the worst ideas anyone could have. Looking back at it, your night could have gotten worse, like you being kidnapped by a c-grade villain or something.

Instead, you ended up running into Robin. He didn’t look surprised to see you and instead gave you a small smile.

“So, do you wanna go to the diner,” he asked, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

“No,” you snapped, “Leave me the fuck alone birdbrain.” You pushed past him, a look of surprise etched on his face.

“(Y/N)! Wait!”

You ignored his calls and instead sped up, aware of the fact that he was catching up to you. At this point, you were walking near the actual city parts of Gotham so maybe you could get a cab to drop you off at your mother’s apartment near the business sector.

At that thought, you broke into a run, sprinting down the street before calling a cab, hyper-aware of the fact that Robin was staring at you with a look of hurt and confusion on his face.

*****

You felt bad for how you treated Robin. He didn’t deserve your cold shoulder and you certainly didn’t deserve him. With his witty jokes and the way he always followed you to make sure you got home alright, you had realized yesterday in the cab, watching the red and yellow of his costume jump by on the roof, that you didn’t deserve him.

You threw yourself back into your different activities and soon, you didn’t even have enough time to even think about what you were going to eat for dinner.

As you exited the school building, you walked slowly towards your car, being careful not to slip on the ice on the ground as you rounded the corner.

But you felt someone grab your wrist, making you scream and fall. The person cursed as they tried to pull you up but you slid as far away as you could from them so you could see their face. It was Callisto Barsotti.

“What the fuck,” you yelled, trying to yank your wrist out of his iron-like grip. When that didn’t work you got ready to elbow him but he twisted your other arm behind you, causing you to scream.

“Not today you bastard,” he growled as he started to drag you. You screamed and tugged against him, and when he turned towards you, you stopped pulling against him and stomped on his foot, making sure to drag your snow boots against the skin on his shin.

Callisto let out a cry of pain and you pushed him away from you, letting yourself fall to the ground out of shock.

“You little gremlin,” Callisto stuttered out as he started limping towards you. You panicked as you tried to find something heavy to hit him with. A rock or anything would do. But you couldn’t find anything so you got up on trembling legs to run towards your car.

But you didn’t have to worry as a figure in red and yellow dropped by and wacked Callisto in the back of the head. Your eyes widened as Robin took this moment to start kicking the fallen boy. You don’t know how long you stared at him, but you snapped out of your daze once you started hearing cracking noises.

“Stop! Robin, please stop,” you cried desperately. But he didn’t stop, he continued to beat Callisto.

“Please stop,” you cried, whimpering as you knelt down near Robin. When he didn’t listen to you again, you leaned forward and grabbed his face, turning it towards you. You were going to tell him to stop again but you then felt a warm sensation, different from the coldness from the March air, followed by the feeling of a shock. Your soulmate, Robin was your soulmate.

He stared at you in shock, allowing you to pull him off of Callisto. You pushed him towards your car, and he stumbled since he was still staring at you as a look of understanding passed on his face.

“Look,” you said, inspecting the blood on Robin’s costume, “you need to listen to what I’m going to say carefully. Go to my car and grab the cleaning wipes from the trunk. Clean yourself off as I call the cops. The story is going to be that you were patrolling the area and heard my screams.”

Robin stared at you, mouth slightly open as he reached to touch you with a bare hand. You let his fingers ghost against your skin, the shock from before still present as you pulled back to stare at him.

“Go.”

*****

It's been over five hours since Robin beat Callisto. Not half to death like you had expected but still pretty bad since he had a broken nose, arm, and bruised ribs. As you waited in the police station for your parents to pick you up (“The gang that you described could always come back for you,” the officer had said), you could only think about how scary it was, watching Robin hit someone so many times with so much anger in him. In the end, your parents didn’t come and instead, your older brother had driven all the way from Metropolis to pick you up.

You both didn’t talk to each other during the ride back to your house but you could tell he was worried by the way his eyes would flicker to you. When you reached the gates to your house, your brother had parked the car and turned to look at you.

‘(Y/N), I have no idea what's going on with you right now but if you ever feel overwhelmed or alone, just tell me and I’ll take you with me back to Gran’s in Metropolis.”

You smiled at him, eyes tired but filled with a small spark as you exited his car, making sure to express your thanks with a kiss on his cheek. As you entered your house, you took off your shoes and slipped on your home slippers before going to your room and taking a shower. Drying your hair, you walked towards your windows to close your curtains, letting out a slight scream when you saw a hand pressed against the glass.

You sighed when you saw it was Robin and opened your window, letting him come inside to your room. He looked around your room, studying the many medals and certificates you had accumulated from the years along with the magazines you had in your room, before turning towards you.

“Hey,” you said, walking to him slowly. Robin licked his lips slightly as he stared at you before coughing.

“Can I please touch you,” he asked, his voice breaking slightly. You nodded and watched as he took off his right glove before caressing your cheek with his hand. You watched as he smiled when he felt the same spark from before, a breathless laugh escaping his lips as he took off his left glove so he could hold you with both hands. You shivered as his thumb ghosted over your bottom lip, eyes closing before snapping open when you couldn’t feel the warmth from Robin’s hands.

“Don’t freak out,” he whispered in your ear, “I’m just going to close the window and then dry your hair for you. Just go and sit down and I’ll be right there.”

You nodded and sat down at the chair in front of your vanity, watching as he closed your window and pulled the curtains before grabbing your towel. You smiled as you watched him in the mirror, massaging your head with your hands before wrapping your towel around your scalp.

“How come you never asked me what my name was,” Robin asked as he brushed through your hair.

“You’ll tell me when the time is right.”

*****

“I should’ve asked him what his name was,” you thought as you walked near an alley, waiting for a sign of Batman so you could ask him what happened to your soulmate.

A couple of months had passed since you had last seen Robin in April. He had looked angry when you both had met up at the diner and he had further worried you when he ignored the ringing of his phone. As soon as he had seen that you were tucked into bed, he had given you a peck on the forehead before leaving through your window.

You were worried for him. Dressing up as a traffic light every night was dangerous, no matter how much you loved going out there and beating up criminals. So you had been following Batman for months, trying to find a moment to ask him what happened to your soulmate. But you never had the opportunity since he always managed to lose you by either disappearing or by just leading you into a dead end.

Months of following Batman has helped you as you were now familiar with the rooftops of Gotham, like the roof of the veterinarian’s office near the diner you and Robin used to meet up at. Sitting with binoculars, you let out a small gasp when you saw a familiar flash of red and yellow, watching as it ran across a rooftop. Scrambling, you started following the figure, zigzagging around multiple large gaps that you couldn’t jump before cursing when you realized that he was gone.

“Why are you following me,” an unfamiliar voice asked behind you. You turned around and assessed the boy, taking note of the fact that he was taller than your Robin and didn’t seem to have the same half-smile-half-smirk that he did. But the only way to confirm, for your brain to tell your heart to stop searching would be direct contact.

“I can’t find someone,” you started, voice shaky as your eyes filled with tears. The boy’s mouth twisted in a slight frown but he still let you continue.

“I just need to check that you’re not my Robin. Please, let me just hold your hand briefly or something. I just need to know.”

At this point, you were crying. When he hadn’t returned the next day, you had started to panic, wondering if he had really left you and gone somewhere else. But that night, you had started out of your bed, wondering what had woken you up when you felt a hollowness inside of you.

The boy patted your shoulder sympathetically before offering his hand to you. Sniffling, you pulled his glove down slightly so his wrist was showing and touched it.

There were no sparks, no warmth, as you collapsed on the rooftop and cried.

Your Robin was no more.

*****

You smiled as you entered the diner, waving at Linda before taking the booth that you and Robin used to eat at. Six years had passed since you had learned that he was no more and even though it was hard most of the time, you always moved forward. You had graduated high school and gone forward to become a librarian, your choice mostly influenced by your late soulmate.

As you waited for Linda to bring out your regular order, you looked around the diner, recognizing everyone except for a man wearing a red sweatshirt. He was staring down at his phone but was now looking up at you when he felt your stare. You flushed slightly and gave him a wave before looking out of the window.

When Linda came out with your packed regular, you left after giving her a large tip. You had to go back to work.

*****

When Jason came back to life, he knew something was wrong.

After finding out that you were his soulmate, he felt this familiar warmth inside of him, similar to the feeling from when Bruce had first made him Robin. But after the pit, that feeling was multiplied tenfold, to the point that it felt like he was being burned from the inside out. And then the random sparks started.

The first time was when he was with Talia. It had been months since she had started training him, helping him remember a bit of who he was beforehand. When she grabbed his wrist, he felt a spark. It wasn’t the same familiar, welcomed spark with you but it was still a spark. He had brushed it off as static electricity, especially since Talia didn’t seem to have noticed.

But the sparks continued. He felt it frequently when people would hold him, touch him, brush against him. It was an annoyance at that point. A reminder that something was wrong with him, especially since he knew that you were his soulmate and that the others seemed to have not noticed the sparks.

So when Jason saw you walking home one night, he couldn’t help but follow you to make sure you got back safe, just like in the old days. Except for the fact that it’s not like the old days and he was malfunctioning. He was too scared to meet you; he was terrified of the idea that he might touch you and that there would be no spark anymore.

Jason had decided to only follow you home and keep you safe from the shadows, to never interact with you directly. So why exactly was he bleeding on your couch?

He watched as you helped him out of his leather jacket, eyes following your movements to the best of his abilities. He then watched as you pulled out a pair of scissors and started cutting the area he was shot.

Your eyebrows were furrowed and Jason couldn’t help but want to reach out and smooth them. Instead, he settled for helping you by peeling the square of his cut shirt away as you prepared the gauze to apply pressure.

His head was spinning and his breathing sounded labored even to his own ears but Jason didn’t want to take off his helmet in fear that you would recognize him from the red domino. But you seemed to have other plans as you reached your hands towards his head, still applying pressure to his wound with your knee.

He tried to avoid your hands but it was difficult to do when his head started to spin. He just watched as your hands reached out towards his helmet and opened it.

A small, selfish part of him wanted you to pull off the helmet and accept him, regardless of whether or not the spark was still there. But from the two years that he had known you, he knew that you’d accept him as Robin, but he wasn’t sure that you’d accept him as Red Hood.

Jason watched as your eyes widened at the sight of his red domino but you didn’t go as far as to peel it off. Instead, you turned your attention back to his wound, gathering more gauze to apply pressure.

As he lost consciousness, he watched as your concerned face entered his vision. And then he felt the fated spark, and all he could think about was how right it felt.

*****

When Jason woke up, he was surprised. By multiple things. For one, you hadn’t called the cops on him. The second thing being the fact that he was, in fact, fine and not dead: he had checked by pinching himself. The third was that his domino was still on his face. And the last being that he could hear your voice clearly, it was distinct, like music against his ears.

He listened as you spoke, not understanding what you were saying but knowing that you were reading Le Petit Prince. After all, one of the first things he did after coming back from the pit was listening to the audiobook, imagining what you would sound like.

He heard the page flip and decided that now would be a good time to open his eyes and sit up.

His sudden movement startled you. You both stared at each other before Jason croaked out a ‘hi’. He watched as your eyes filled with tears as you hugged Jason gently like he was the most delicate, expensive thing in the world.

“I missed you (Y/N),” Jason whispered against your shoulder, feeling the tears form in his eyes as he pulled back.

Your eyes flitted down to his wound with a concerned look but he tilted your head up, towards his face as he pulled the domino off.

He saw a look of recognition in your eyes, knowing for sure that they recognized him when you whispered ‘Jason Todd.’

He nodded, watching as you slowly extended your hands towards his face, caressing it as you skimmed your thumbs over his cheekbones.

“I’m a terrible person,” Jason whispered, looking down into his lap. You simply lifted his face, shaking your head.

“You’re not a terrible person Jason. You were a hero back when you were Robin and you’re a hero as the Red Hood. You’ve always been one. Now lie back down before you pull your stitches and tell me what you’ve been up to.”

Jason smiled as he laid his head across your lap, smiling as the sparks now seemed to dance across his skin in joy, happy that he was finally home.

[kiliinstinct]

A Visitor In Sleep // Possible Future Fanfic?

I wrote a little thing today just to get an idea out of my head. And I'll be honest, I'm unsure if I'm going to continue it or not. (Especially with the other stories I have to do.) So I'm going to leave it up to anyone who reads this post!

You can send me a message here. Or click the link below and vote on it. Thanks in advance!

https://strawpoll.com/bvuk12xfp

---

Opening

It was a dream and he was it’s visitor.

Bright blue skies and clouds so thick she bounced atop them like a trail of trampolines: weightless. Guiltless. Nothing to hold her down like the pressures of reality. From tufts of cloud to thin sheets of clear mists she moved, flowing away like water, but she wasn’t alone. He was there.

With glowing eyes, a fanged smirk and glowing, pointed ears, he followed alongside her, an effervescent shadow who enjoyed each change in the world around them like a child experiencing a theme park. Nothing surprised him. Nothing threw him off. He took it in and smiled, a boisterous laugh echoing through the void of clouds and back again.

“Have you always been here?” She asked him.

He shook his head. “Not here, but I travel from vision to vision. You’d never guess how many different dreams are out there. Or how many are the same.”

“Is mine different?” “Only slightly.” His smirk told no secrets, eyes glittering as he reveled in the knowledge he knew, but would not share. When awake, she would have questioned this conversation. Wondered how she could see every line on his face, every detail of his expressions. How did she know this man? She didn’t. And nothing in her vision tried to convince her otherwise.

When the question came, she was just as stunned as he was, “Will I see you again?”

“Yeah, it’s possible.”

“How’s that?” She wanted to know.

“If I choose to leave without eating, I can come back as many times as I want.”

“.. eating?” Confusion and fear, it struggled inside her, but another voice, either the logic of reality or something else, urged her to ignore it. “Eat me? Or-”

“Your dreams.” He said plainly. “I can eat your dreams.” Somehow, the answer made her ears buzz, a quiet hum.

“Will you?”

“I can’t come back if I do.”

The hum grew louder.

“Why’s that?” “Agh, so many questions- what if I don’t wanna answer?”

“And why not?” “Because then you wouldn’t-”

And louder. So loud, she couldn’t hear him. Tuned out, she tried to ask again, to beg for him to repeat himself, but the vision began to fade, blurring at the edges. His words could no longer reach her and the last she saw before darkness overtook all vision was his reddish purple hand reaching out for her.

The loud buzzing echoed in Lucy’s ears and she groggily opened her eyes, whining in consternation as she blindly reached to slap her hand against the clock. The same dream, only different this time, but the echoes of memory sifted through like falling sand and once the alarm was stifled, Lucy couldn’t recall what she dream had been plaguing her mind at all. Just the colors and sense of freedom clung to her and irritation at the waking world ebbed into her bones while she stared angrily at her ceiling.

“Ugh… at least I got some sleep.” She muttered, wiping the sleep from her eyes as the sounds of cars drove by her window. “Maybe I’ll actually be able to focus for once.”

The day began and Lucy Heartfilia couldn’t help, but feel as if she was forgetting something. That something happened to be across town, jolting from his bed, tangled in sheets and grunting as he hit the hard-wood. Rather than start the day, he dragged his tongue across his fangs and stared at hands that no longer glowed in a burnt, reddish hue.

Someone had finally heard him. Why did it have to be when they were asleep?

[unfriedough]

'The Strike’- Zuko x fem!reader (waterbender reader)

Part 2 II Masterlist <3

An: GOOD DAY FRIENDS. Today I present to you: a Zuko not one shot! BASICALLY, I have an idea planned but for dramatic effect, I wanna have it as multiple parts. Honestly, this idea was made for my imagination - but I really love it so I just wanna write it, ya know? Also, I have way too many WIPS, someone HELP.

(p.s: I slightly edited this because I realised that the reader is a waterbender and I made them use firebending (I'm so dumb why didn't anyone point this out LMAO), so I just tried to make sense of what I wrote.)

Summary:

Zuko takes Katara and Yn to beat Azula, however things don’t go as planned.

Warnings: Crying, pain, fainting, death, angst.

So there you were. Riding on Appa across the tinted sky. Zuko and Katara were talking, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t trust your own voice in that moment, you couldn’t trust yourself to not break down. No, you had to be strong, if not for yourself, then for your boyfriend. The same boyfriend that has to now fight his own family member. This thought made you pity the firebender, he was so young, he didn’t deserve that. Honestly, if you could give him the world, you would do it in a heartbeat.

“Yn?” His voice sounded worried as he called out to you.

Your eyes darted to his concerned face, and you gave him a hum, as if to ask him what he needed.

“You okay?”

“Dandy.” You winked, “Don’t worry your pretty little head about it.”

You noticed the blush creeping up on his face, the face that wore a shy look on it. You giggled slightly before placing a hand on his shoulder, which made him relax slightly.

“Are you okay?” Zuko nodded.

“I’m fine.” He smiled warmly.

“Good.”

Only then did you notice Katara’s eyes on you, giving you that expression. As soon as Zuko’s gaze left you, you playfully stuck your tongue out at her, to which she rolled her eyes.

“We’re here.”

You felt a lump in your throat when you saw the princess. You felt bad, she was all alone. Maybe it was her fault, but she’s only fourteen.

She challenged Zuko to an agni kai, and being the idiot that he is, he agreed. You and Katara stepped back, and the battle began.

The blue and orange fire collided so beautifully, it really makes a person think about how fire may not only be a weapon of murder, but a way to create.

Everything was going smoothly until Zuko decided to tease Azula. Her eyes darted around, landing on Katara, and she shot a stream of lightning towards her. You froze as you watched Zuko’s body fall limp onto the ground, almost lifeless except for the frequent shaking.

“ZUKO!” Katara yelled.

All you could see was red. You wanted to end Azula, right then and there. But you knew better. Katara instructed you to heal Zuko, she was the better fighter after all.

You ran towards the injured firebender, and fell to your knees, quickly bending some water onto the wound. Until now you didn’t realise tears had been flowing relentlessly out of your glassy eyes.

As soon as Zuko regained consciousness, you pulled him into a tight hug, aware of his wound.

“I’m going to murder you in cold blood.” you whispered, to which he replied with a light chuckle. You helped him off to the side before sitting him back down, making sure he was okay.

Your heart skipped a beat when you heard a blood curdling scream. Everything blurred as you turned around to see Katara, who gripped her stomach tightly, and Azula, who stared at Katara maniacally.

You immediately sprung into action, water bending - the now passed out - Katara over to you and Zuko. You used that same water to propel yourself forward, pulling up a shield of ice which was quickly meted by the deranged princess. You shot multiple ice daggers to which she sloppily dodged, and you took note of the way she moved.

You decided you were going to hurt, but not kill her. It was clear she was faster than your water, but maybe there was another way - that didn’t need water. Lightning. Of course, you were a waterbender, but something told you that you could bend lightning.

Once you were far enough away, you generated some lightning, focusing entirely on the new found power coursing through your veins.

You pointed your fingers and it passed. You shot it at Azula! She fell onto the ground, and you ran over to her, chaining her to a nearby water vent, and she sat there - crying and shaking. You ran over to Katara, and began healing her, silently congratulating yourself for the victory. She woke up, her wounds (thankfully) not deep enough to cause serious damage.

“I didn’t know you could generate lightning.” Zuko pointed out.

“Neither did I,” you replied, smiling softly.

You got up, just before crashing back down to the ground, pain overtaking all your senses. You heard your friends panicking and asking questions, but ultimately, you couldn’t make out what they were saying - the ringing in your ear was louder. You could see blurry shadows, but eventually, you couldn't. Couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t feel.

You were numb.

Numb?

—

Zuko’s POV:

“Where’s Yn?” Sokka asked.

Katara looked at her shoes, pained at the mention of Yn. Aang’s eyes widened as he looked at the corpse on Appa, tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“H-how?”

I couldn’t handle it anymore, so I walked off from the rest of the group, unable to hear Katara try to explain. I couldn’t even believe it myself. I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to know that she wasn’t here anymore.

We won the war, but I lost everything.

An: WOW LOOK SHE WROTE ANGST! Sorry if this sucks =/, AS ALWAYS, hope you enjoyed this story, SEE YA!

[espinosaurusrexex]

Not Nice

In which Jeff and y/n have a heart to heart conversation about their relationship.

warnings: angst; just really sad, because that's what I do... BUT don’t worry, ya girl put some serious fluff in there, too!

a/n: Hello! God, it’s been a long time... How is everyone doing? I just felt like putting something out there again after not being able to write for so long. I don't know why; and I should actually be working on some term papers, but I found myself writing this so fast. I wrote this, because I felt like it, so it is not request related. I hope there are still some people whose feed this will end up on. I would love some feedback and as always: please enjoy! I hope you didn't forget about me :)

word count: 2.7k

It was a cool California night. Still not cold for February, but enough to send a shiver through your body when stepping outside. Y/n would normally not even consider going out right now, but the situation had called for it. David had called her minutes before, screaming at her through the phone to get her butt over to his house for a big problem that left him sleepless. She had fallen asleep on her desk trying to complete one of the assignments that were due by the end of the semester and basically fell off her chair when her phone rang annoyingly loud in her right ear. To say that she would rather be in her warm bed instead of her cold leather car seat was an understatement. But she knew that not helping David would leave her sleepless for days and seeing that it had already been 4 in the morning, she grabbed her keys and left. She was so tired that the lines on the road kept blurring in different directions. Just a couple more minutes, she thought to keep her focus on the road, but the exhaustion was unbearable at this point. A loud horn drew her back to reality when she accidentally served in the other lane. Shaking and flustered, she pulled over and rubbed her face with her hands aggressively. Pull yourself together Y/n. David needs your help. She looked up again, but the headlights of the few other cars made her eyes hurt, giving her an instant headache. That’s it. She was selfless, but not irresponsible. After searching for her phone in the passenger seat, she dialed Jeff’s number. Why she called him, she didn’t know. It was like an automatic movement to type in his number. The shrill beeping of the phone echoed through her head until Jeff’s sleepy voice broke it. “Are you Ok?“ He sounded confused and his voice reminded her of the time he had a terrible cold. Shit. “Oh my God. I’m sorry I didn’t think about the time. I-,“ but Jeff interrupted his friend with a chuckle. “It’s Ok. I was about to get up anyway.“ There was silence, and Y/n could hear him shuffling out of his bedsheets. “David called me and said he wanted me to help him with something.“ Y/n could almost hear the eye roll on the other line, and if she weren’t so tired, she would have probably laughed at it. “I’m guessing he called you, too?“ It sounded more like a question, but Jeff knew that he was right. “Yeah that’s actually why I called…“ She rested her head on the seat. “I’m on Linkin’ Road and I am too tired to drive… I was wondering… I- Could you maybe pick me up?“ She closed her eyes to focus on her friend’s voice. Jeff was grinning, she could hear it when he agreed to pick her up. Y/n’s heart beat faster at this. It was so insignificant and yet so attractive to her.

A couple minutes passed until Jeff’s car pulled up next to hers, sending vibrations through the floor and back to Y/n’s. She looked up and spotted a grinning man on the driver’s side rolling down the window to throw a holler at her. “Need a ride, beautiful?“ Y/n smiled, trying to hide the butterflies in her stomach. She got into his car taking in his woody scent and buckled up. Jeff threw a blanket over her legs and drove towards David’s house. The Drive was about 20 minutes and spend with Jeff humming to the calm tunes of the radio that sent Y/n straight to sleep. When they finally arrived, he tapped her shoulder lightly. “Y/n wake up. We’re here.“ 

They both walked into the house and went straight for the living room, where David was probably seated. It was so bright that Y/n had to rub her eyes. As soon as the brunette noticed his friends, he jumped up excitedly. “Now that everyone is finally here…“ It was just now that Y/n noticed that her whole friend group was scattered in the living room, snuggled up with fuzzy blankets or their significant other. Everyone was looking up to David, who was now standing on top of his couch table waving his remote control in the air. “It came to my attention that our dear friend Jeff has a problem.“ His grin grew wider with every word and if Y/n weren’t so exhausted, she would have probably noticed the mischief in David’s eyes. Jeff was looking around the room, trying to figure out if anybody could give him a hint on what was about to happen, and in his mind, a series of problematic things, he had recently done, were playing like a record. „What do you mean?“ He laughed nervously and scooted closer to Y/n. It always calmed him down to feel her next to him. David proceeded to pull his audience’s attention to the TV behind him. A blurry picture showed on the screen, displaying a woman in a tight blue dress and Jeff dancing in a rather inappropriate way. “Jeff, I think someone might have leaked something to the paparazzi.“ Before Y/n could process what was happening, the room filled with laughter. Y/n stood there as if she had turned to stone, too tired to show any form of emotion. She struggled to pull the corners of her mouth into a smile but she felt like throwing up then and there. Why did he not tell me about this? Why is this making me so sad? It was when Jeff’s hand had touched hers, that she was pulled back to reality. A wave of emotions came crushing over her, making her eyes water and her already pounding headache intensify. She was mad for so many reasons. Mad about David for pulling her away from a much-needed sleep by using her good conscience and selflessness to get her to his house for an immature prank that broke her heart. She was mad that she had not realized sooner how much of an impact Jeff actually had on her. And most of all, she was mad about the fact that something so stupid could even make her mad. It was all too much, and Y/n could not hold it any longer. Her thoughts had been weighing her down for too long now, making her feel like collapsing under their pressure. “Y/n are you okay?“ David managed to yell across the room. “What do you think of Jeff’s new girlfriend?“ Those words hit her like a truck. Girlfriend. The word made her shiver. Jeff did not have a girlfriend for the entire time they had known each other and Y/n never had to deal with the possible bother she would get from it. “I think they look great together!“ Someone said and this made Y/n burst. “You wanna know what I think about it?“ Everyone cheered, waiting for Y/n to drop a punch line. “I think that you’re an asshole, David. This is such bullshit!“ Low laughter were heard until David spoke again: “Don’t be such a drag, Y/n/n.“ Y/n tensed up again and Jeff tried to nudge her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, but she shrugged him off harshly. “You don’t know what it is like to have responsibilities. I am late on two assignments and the average amount of sleep I get each night is about 2 hours. And you know what I ditched those two hours for today? Your fucking stupid prank. You think you can order everyone at any time just to end up on a 4:20 min vlog. You live in some fucked up carefree parallel universe. But guess what! Not everyone has this reality. Grow up, David! I can’t do this anymore. Being your friend is beyond exhausting and you don’t even care. God! You are the worst person I know!“ The room fell silent until a quiet “That was so uncalled for…“ could be heard. Y/n searched the crowd for the source of that statement in vain. “I’m just saying what every-“ But Jeff interrupted her, “Y/n! That’s enough!“ She shot him a dark glimpse and left the house with a shaking head. 

Y/n trembled from head to toe when she burst through the door of David’s house and the brisk air hit her skin. She just started to walk with no direction in mind. Her view was blurry from the tears pooling up in her eyes, but she did not care. The exhaustion in her bones was making her body hurt. Y/n did not stop, though. She just walked in hopes of the pain in both her heart and body was going to fade after some time. It felt like hours until she finally stopped. Her feet had lead her to a familiar spot. A small clearing with a beautiful view over the city. She sat down and allowed herself to breathe for the first time in hours. What have I done?

It was still dark when Jeff's Car pulled up on the clearing. He sat in the driver’s seat for a while watching Y/n’s back shake and his heart felt squeezed. He always knew that he had a soft spot for her, but this felt different. Almost too much to process. He took a deep breath and walked up to Y/n, resting his hand on her shoulder once again. She looked up and smiled at him with this glimmering spark of sunshine in her eyes, but this time it wasn’t real. Not genuine enough for her. “I don’t get it. You seem like the happiest person in the world.“ Jeff sat down shaking his head while studying the floor beneath his feet. Y/n looked up. Anger flickered in her eyes as she realized what had slipped out of her friend’s mouth. “You wanna know why I’m always positive? You want to know why I’m always so ‚nice‘?“ Tears streamed down her face while she tried to hide the way her features cramped up in pain from the thoughts that flooded her brain like a tsunami. Y/n held her breath for a few seconds trying to collect herself before talking again. The attempt to cover up the ugly sobs that were about to slip her lips made her head feel like bursting. “I’m nice because I’m scared that if I speak my mind, people won’t like me anymore. I am positive because a lot of times I feel like that is the only thing that people could like about me.“ The words hit Jeff right in the heart. He caught her eyes for a second and shivered. He could see her breaking. Breaking to the point where it wouldn’t be a quick fix anymore that could be handled by a hug or kind words. No, the girl he saw in front of him, the very same girl that was sitting there, knees tucked to her chest, face hidden between it and her shoulders, was crumbling into a million pieces. Her body quivered as she attempted to hold her knees even tighter, trying everything to not fall apart any further. Jeff’s eyes started to water. It was a feeling he had never felt before. As if his heart was pulling on thin strains that were able to flood his entire brain with emotions yet so fragile. He hated seeing her like that. He hated everything about this situation. But the worst thing was that he didn’t know how to fix things. He wanted her to be happy, to be careless, and not let people’s opinions or some stupid assignment get the better of her, but he didn’t know how. It’s started to annoy him to the point where even the sky above him with the beautiful stars made him furious. “I had no idea…“ he trailed off after a while. Every word leaving his lips felt like one too much, but at the same time, he felt like he was not even able to say enough to fix things for her. “I’m so sorry.“ He just sat there shaking his head while moving some soil with his right hand. Y/n stayed quiet. She didn’t know what to say either. She felt bad for laying all her issues on him like that, but it felt so good. Iike a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. Before she could even think about a response, Jeff interrupted her again. “You should feel able to tell me stuff like this, Y/n/n.“ They locked eyes and Y/n could see the pain in his. “No, I know… It's just that-“ “That what?“ Jeff was desperately hoping for anything that could help him help her. “I don't want to be a bother… especially not for you.“ She hid her face between her knees again, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill. “Oh, Y/n… You could never.“ He grabbed her hands and basically forced her to look back at him again. Y/n could feel the wet soil squeezed between their fingers, making her hand tingle a little. “Never in a million years do or say anything that would make me think anything less of you than an amazing person.“ A genuine smile formed on Jeff’s lips. He could see her relaxing with his touch. Just like he did with hers. “That means a lot, Jeff.“ The way she said his name sent shivers down his spine. His smile grew even wider and Y/n took the tiny bit of confidence in her to speak again. “Especially coming from you… I-“ Secretly hoping he would interrupt her like he always did, Y/n looked up through her lashes. “I know. Me too…“ Jeff smiled. There was this twinkle in his eyes. Just a faint glimmer for every other person, but for Y/n it meant the world. Like a whole new galaxy had been opened just for her. There was something so obvious and unspoken between them now and Y/n loved that they both knew what it was. With no intention to address it, Jeff leaned in closer to her. He watched her face with intent, making sure that she was feeling better from her previous breakdown before he planned on doing anything else. But all she did was smile and hint a small nod his way. That was enough for him. He longed for her lips. His hand wandered back to her shoulder, squeezing it slightly as he bumped his nose against hers. Y/n moved her fingers towards Jeff’s face, touching the scruff on his jaw lightly. They could feel the electricity dancing in the centimeters that separated them. With a final look into her eyes, Jeff pressed his lips against hers, enjoying the warmth for a moment. They started to move in synch, devouring each other. There was nothing else at this moment. Nothing, except for the salty taste of tears and the overwhelming warmth of a loved one. Jeff’s chest felt like bursting from joy. He loved the feeling this moment was giving him. It felt like finally breathing after holding a breath for a month. Their kiss felt like a Valve that had finally been opened for Y/n. It was letting all the hurt and worry out of her system and made the moment even more enjoyable. 

Once they separated from one another, there was nothing but positivity lingering in the air around them. They looked into each other’s eyes until Y/n was ripped from the moment by a yawn that had been sitting in her throat for hours. She rested her head on Jeff’s shoulder and slowly drifted off to sleep. Jeff was stroking her head calmly. There were no more words needed anymore. This moment was perfect.

Jeff looked ahead and noticed the sun rising on the horizon, dipping the world into beautiful red and yellow tones. He took a deep breath, leaning back carefully and enjoying the considerably most wholesome moment to ever exist. 

Hey hey, it’s me again. I know it’s not the best and I know it’s kinda short, but I just wanted to get something out there again. It felt good to write, but unfortunately I don’t have a lot of time lately. I hope you enjoyed this little piece anyways. I would love to hear some feedback on it. Thank you so much for reading this far!

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Masks We Wear

Warnings: non-consent sex, depression, suicide, self-harm, drugging, overdose. If you don’t like any of these themes, do not keep reading. For real, it’s hidden under a keep reading link so you can check out now. Take care of yourselves, my dudes.

This is dark!Steve and explicit. 18+ only.

Synopsis: You find yourself at the end of your rope but someone unexpected picks up the other end.

Note: I wrote this for me and I won’t apologize for that. I love a sweet Steve that turns slowly. Heed the warnings.

Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)

I really hope you enjoy. 💋

<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!

You stared at the number. The digits slowly punched into your phone glaring back at you. Your finger hovered over the icon that would connect the call. The screen blurred in your vision as the tears rose again.

Had it really come to this?

You had to call. You knew that. If you didn’t…

You hit call and raised the phone shakily to your ear. You hugged your legs as you sat on the floor against the side of the couch. You still wore your work uniform, a navy shirt and dark pants. You played with your name tag as you waited for the line to pick up.

"You have reached the National Crisis Lifeline. If you are in emotional distress or suicidal crisis or are concerned about someone who might be, we're here to help. Please remain on the line while we route your call to the nearest crisis center in our network." The automated voice recited the greeting as you unclipped the tag and set it on the arm of the couch behind your head. 

It wasn't too late to hang up. To suck it up. You could help yourself. You were an adult. So why was it that you couldn't put the phone down?

"Hello, my name's Steve. Who am I talking to today?" The voice was placid, calm. You were thankful not to be met with the usual, fake, chipper customer service voice.

"Uh," you uttered. You stared at the window across from you and blinked. "Um, um, um." 

"Take a breath," the voice was male; soothing. "Whenever you're ready."

You inhaled and closed your eyes. You bent your elbow over your knees and dropped your head. You said your name and sniffed. " I don't know why I called."

"We don't have to talk about why you called. We can just talk." He offered.

You cleared your throat and wiggled your nose as you felt more tears prick at your eyes. "I don't have much to talk about. I work, I come home, I sleep, rinse, repeat. Even when I have free time I got… nothing. No one."

"You don't have family?" He asked.

"Not that I talk to."

"Hmm, have you ever thought of reaching out to co-workers? You already spend hours with them."

"Most of them are kids. College freshman who'd rather do anything else than hang with me." You sat up and leaned your head against the couch. "I'm a thirty-year-old loser. I work retail and eat ramen for dinner. I may as well burn my degrees… maybe along with this damn box I live in."

He said your name, gently. "I want you to take another breath and then tell me three good things about your life. Just three. It can be something that happened today, it can be something you own, it can be something you like about yourself, or even something you can do tomorrow to look forward to."

You scoffed and shook your head. He repeated your name and you swallowed your resent.

"Alright," you took a breath, "I have a roof over my head." 

"Good."

"I… I made a woman happy today by finding her a gift for her daughter."

"Mhmm."

"And… and I still have some of my favourite tea left."

"Amazing. See?"

"I guess but… but these things are so small and it's always the same. Nothing ever changes. Nothing's going to change and nothing is going to get better."

"Change is small, like those things, so sometimes it's harder to see those changes."

You were silent. Tired. 

"I want to ask you something, okay? You don't have to answer if you're uncomfortable."

"Alright?" You shrugged.

"Have you ever hurt yourself or thought of hurting yourself?"

The question made you squirm. The tears finally broke through and trickled down your cheeks.

"Yes… but it's better than hurting someone else, isn't it?"

"No, because you're still hurting someone. In fact, you're hurting the most important person in your life. Right?"

You were quiet again. You wiped away your tears and leaned your chin in your hand. 

"Sure."

"I want you to do something for me. Actually for yourself, okay? I want you to go get some of that tea and make yourself a cup. Then I want you to drink it slow and enjoy it. Every last sip."

"What?" You snorted.

"I want you to make it a habit. Every day I want you to do one nice thing for yourself."

"It's just tea."

"What kind of tea is it?"

”It's this blueberry lemon stuff I found down at the market. Nothing special."

"That sounds delicious." He said. "Where are you right now? Are you sitting? Standing?"

"I'm sitting by my couch. On the floor."

”Alright, baby steps. Stand up.” 

You huffed but did as he said. "Okay?"

”Now, let's go to the kitchen.”

Again, you obliged him.

”Now, let's get the kettle on and a mug.”

”Alright," you grumbled and took out everything you needed as he listened from the other end, ”Alright, it's all good to go.”

”And what are you thinking about?”

"The tea?" You said dumbly.

"And? Anything else?"

"No. Just…"

"When you get frustrated with standing still, it's not about making big leaps. It's about the small things. So don't think about what's happened or what's going to happen. Think about what you can do now. Think about the present and what you can do to make it a little better for yourself.”

You frowned. He was making sense. You hadn't been worried about your wasted years in university or the angry customers on your horizon, you had been thinking about the tea and what mug to use. All that stuff didn't matter in that moment.

"You said you're Steve?” You asked.

”Yes,” he answered softly.

”Thank you. I… I'm sorry if I wasted your time."

"You didn't. You're not.” He assured you. ”We can keep talking if you like.”

"No, no, I think… I'll enjoy my tea and you can help someone else."

"Alright, but will you do me another favour?"

"Um, sure?" You watched the kettle, a long way from whistling.

"I work every Tuesday and Thursday after six. Will you call me next week? I'll give you my extension. Just let me know you're okay and how the tea was, okay?"

"I…” you rubbed your chin and turned to lean on the counter, "yeah, I'll call."

📞

You decided to call Steve on Tuesday. The same nerve-wracking wait before the line picked up and you quickly punched in the extension he gave you. There was a beep as you were held on call waiting and you fiddled with the edge of the notebook where you'd written down his information.

He picked up after two minutes. The same greeting as before. 

"It's me." You gave your name and winced as you wondered if he even remembered you.

"Hey," he said smoothly, "Good to hear from you. Did you have a tea today?

"Um, now, I just got home."

"Well, did you do anything nice for yourself?"

"...no." You admitted.

"Well, then go make a tea and tell me everything else you've done this week to be good to yourself."

"I…” you stood stiffly and went to the kitchen. "I haven't… I went to the park on my day off," You filled the kettle and put it on the stove, "But I've been working mostly."

"That's it?"

"I've been busy," you said.

"You don't have five minutes for you?" He asked doubtfully. "You gotta make the time. Even if it's just five minutes to sit down and clear your head."

You opened the cupboard and stared at the line of mugs, each one different than the last.

"Steve…" you said carefully, "What do you do when you're not doing… this?"

"Tell me what you do and I'll tell you." He countered.

You sighed and grabbed the mug shaped like a teddy bear. " I work at a clothes shop. I know, it's exciting."

"What kind of clothes do you sell?" He asked.

"I don't know… mostly, uh, business stuff." You placed the cup down and fished out the blueberry tea. "I sell clothes to people with more important jobs."

"Your job is important. You help people. You told me yourself last week. You know, I help people too. How we help isn't as important as the fact that we do help."

You rubbed your chin as you fingered the chip along the handle of the mug. "How exactly do you help people, then?"

"Well, I do this," He answered, "And I work security."

"Security? Like at a bank or something?"

"Or something," He replied, "So, did you just call to tell me you're okay or did you wanna talk about it?"

"I told you, not much changes." You muttered.

"It will once you take my advice. One thing a day. Got it?" He urged. "I want you to start by going to the market tomorrow and getting yourself a new flavour of tea."

"I gotta work," you bemoaned.

"Five minutes on your way home," he said, "we're not looking for the perfect tea, just something new. Then you call me and tell me if it's any good."

"I thought… I thought you didn't work Wednesdays."

"You're right," he chuckled as if he hadn't realised. "Tell you what, I'll give you my number and you text me. Every time you do something for you, let me know… and if you don't, I'll remind you. Deal?"

"I… I don't know." You picked at your nail as you held your phone between your shoulder and ear.

"One text a day. That's all." He said. "Wouldn't hurt to have someone on your side, would it?"

"I g-guess," You stuttered as you caught your phone before it could slip. "I'll get a pen."

📞

The texts were small at first. ‘Had a tea’, ‘started a new book’, ‘read a chapter on my way to work’, or ‘bought a piece of cake on my lunch’. Each one seemed more absurd than the last but after a few weeks it became a habit. Steve nearly always responded quickly, just a few encouraging words but it made the days easier. It made life easier even when the big things got you down.

It was your day off. You took on a few extra hours the week before so you decided to go out for your treat that day. You went about your routine slowly, not your usual frantic I gotta catch the train pace. You preened yourself and pulled out a pair of pale jeans and a knit sweater. You tucked your feet into your comfy sneakers and headed out with your purse and headphones.

You would take a long walk through the park then sneak out the east gates to grab something special from the coffee place just across the street. Then you would head back and enjoy the scenery as you sipped at whatever overpriced concoction you settled on.

It was the early days of fall. The warm air was undercut with a cool breeze; an omen of the seasons to come. You put one earbud in and tucked your hands in your pocket as you walked along the winding path. The leaves were still green and lush and the air smelled of pollen. You stopped on the small bridge that crossed the small creek at the centre of the park.

You continued on and checked the time. It didn’t matter, you had the whole day to yourself. Like Steve said, think about now, not then, not later.

You came out onto the New York sidewalk and neared the curb. You looked both ways before dodging between the stagnant traffic and hopped up onto the pavement on the other side. You neared the short iron fence that edged the patio of the coffee shop and joined the queue of people as you looked over the menu.

Hmm, a rose-infused latte was different. You’d never thought of flowers in your tea but you never were overly creative. You ordered, the largest size despite your troublesome bladder, and waited for your turn to grab your cup from the ledge. It was busy that day and you hid against the wall to keep out of the way of others.

Your name was called and you grabbed your cup. You went to a table and slid your phone from your pocket. You snapped a frame of the drink and typed beneath it before you hit send. ‘Today’s little thing is actually a large :)’.

You pushed your phone back into your pocket and wove your wait to the exit. You were stopped as your name was called for a second time. You turned as a blonde haired man neared you. He was oddly familiar. Startlingly, actually. 

Steve Rogers was calling your name. Not such a strange sight in the city but you’d never chanced to see him beyond a television screen or magazine cover.

“Hey, what are the odds?” He showed you the phone in his hand; the picture of your drink stared back at you. “I never thought--” He smiled. “Oh, this is weird, isn’t it?”

“Steve?” Your eyes were round and your mouth fell open. “You’re… oh, wow, I…”

Someone else called his name and he peeked over his shoulder. “I’m up. Would you… would you wait for me?”

You nodded dumbly and watched him stride through the crowd to take his coffee from the counter. He gave a thanks and dropped a large tip into the jar. You watched in shock, barely stepping out of the way of another customer.

He passed through the opening of the fence and neared again. You snapped your mouth shut and swallowed. Your mouth was dry but the steam rising from the cup warned you it was too hot.

“How… how did you know it was me?” You asked.

“Well, I heard your name and then saw you with your phone and uh, well, the message was just confirmation of my suspicions, really.” He grinned. “Which way you heading?”

“Um, I came through the park,” You pointed across the street. “Probably not your neighbourhood.”

“I can make a detour,” He waved you towards the street and you hid behind a car as you waited to cross. 

He stepped out first and caught your hand before you could fall behind. He pulled you to the other side and you nearly stumbled onto the curb.

“Sorry,” he let go suddenly, “You know New York drivers.”

“No, it’s… fine,” You walked beside him as he neared the archway that fronted that end of the park. “I’m just… I’m gonna be honest I’m a bit shocked right now.”

“I know it’s weird and a bit… unethical. At the centre, we’re not supposed to associate with callers outside but… it’s all just a happy coincidence, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I, uh, suppose,” you lifted the cup and inhaled the sweet aroma of sugared petals, “but I’d hate to get you in trouble.”

“Nah, it’s fine, if you don’t tell, I won’t.”

“I… can delete your number.” You offered, “You didn’t have to--”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” He eschewed, “It’s fine. I just… you didn’t seem to like calling the hotline but I didn’t want you to get lost in the shuffle.”

You chewed your lip and played with the strap of your purse. You let out a breath, heavy and anxious. You’d never expected to meet Steve. More so, you didn’t expect him to be THE Steve Rogers. You had spilled out your ridiculous insecurities to him. God, he must have thought you were so pathetic.

“I’m fine,” you said, “I would’ve… been fine. I was just in a bad spot.”

“So…” He walked close to you. His cologne smelled of sandalwood. “How’s work?”

“It’s work,” you shrugged, “Wait, you said you did security. Jesus!”

“Well, I do, in a sense,” he chuckled, “You know they really don’t encourage me telling people I’m an avenger at the centre. It kinda shifts the attention in the wrong direction.”

“Hmm, I guess it would,” you muttered, “Well, thank you, for all your help. Really, you have helped.”

“I never expected… I don’t know what I expected,” he went on, “how I pictured you. I just didn’t-- Not that-- I don’t mean...” 

He shut up and cringed. He looked around at the trees and let out a sigh.

“You’re right, this isn’t a little thing,” he mused, “it’s beautiful out here.”

“Yeah,” you said rigidly and raised your cup to your lips and tasted the foam, “I guess I’m just happy it isn’t raining on my day off.”

📞

Steve walked you to the other side of the park and you left him there. You finished your latte in the block before your apartment. You were still shaken from the meeting. The chance of such an encounter was so vast you hadn’t even thought of it. You had built yourself up to talk to a stranger on the phone and leave it at that, not to face him and your problems all in one. You were embarrassed despite Steve’s friendliness. You couldn’t help but feel the taint of pity.

You tried to leave your shame on the street. You went up to your apartment and slid the chain into place. You turned on some music and did your leftover dishes, a sense of accomplishment as you wiped down the counters afterward. The rest of the day was yours to do with as you wished. But you were restless. The feeling that made you want to pace and chew your nails.

You flipped on the television and opened your phone to stream some mindless video from Youtube. You settled on a compilation of clips from a reality show and slumped onto the couch. As you laid back, your phone shook your hand and a notification flashed across the top.

‘Hope you got home safe.’ Steve’s message disappeared just as you read it. You pulled down the status bar and hit the bubble to open the chat.

‘I did. Thanks. Funny running into you. Hope the rest of your day is good.’ The message was clunky and awkward. The whole thing was weird and you just wanted to forget about the run-in.

‘So what else are you doing on your day off?’ His next message made your phone buzz and you blinked at it. He never really said much in return, just things like ‘that’s awesome’ or a few emojis. You thought of how excited he had been to see you. You were sure he talked to hundreds of people so why?

‘Watching TV’, you answered and put your phone down on your stomach. You tried to focus on the television but your phone rattled again.

‘I don’t want to overstep but can I ask you something?’ You were on edge as you read the message three times over.

‘Okay.’

‘You think you might want to get coffee again next week?’

You hesitated. Was he asking you out? No, that couldn’t be it. Was he merely checking in to make himself feel better? That was a better explanation. Believable. You let the screen turn black and thought. You could say no. Probably should.

You unlocked the phone as you heart pumped in your chest. It was Steve Rogers. What harm was there in saying yes? Maybe, for once, you would actually make a friend.

📞

You met at the same coffee shop. This time you sat down and got a scone with your tea. Steve got a coffee and nothing else. It seemed an afterthought as he only watched you pick at the crumbly dessert.

“Are you okay?” He asked as you sipped from your tea.

“Yeah, just… I’m sorry, I’m just a quiet person.” You shied away. 

“That’s fine,” he said, “I understand, you don’t talk to many people outside work.”

You frowned and sat back. He was right but it didn’t make the truth easier to hear. You nodded and shrugged.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. I guess I have the same problem, you know. I spend most of my time with my team members or talking to the press.” He rested his hand around his mug. “It’s nice to have someone who isn’t tied up in all of that.”

“I mean… I’m just… me.” You ran your nail down the side of your cup. 

“And? I don’t think you give yourself enough credit. I think you’re too hard on yourself.” He insisted.

“Well, you barely know me,” you countered.

“I don’t? How many people know about the dark times? How many people do you let know?” He asked.

“It’s not… it’s not their business.” You crumpled the napkin and tossed it on the empty plate.

“It might help if you opened up more. You said you were lonely--”

“I was having a bad day,” You snapped. “Steve, I don’t… I didn’t come here to talk about all of that.”

“Then why did you come?”

“Because you asked me to.”

“And why do you think I asked you?”

You shrugged and crossed your arms.

“I asked you because I see what you can’t.” He said evenly. “You’re kind, you’re smart, you’re beautiful to be completely honest, and you won’t let yourself see it because the world hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for you.”

“I-- I--” You sputtered and looked around. “No.” You stood and gathered up your dishes. “I gotta go.”

“You’re doing it right now,” He stood too and blocked your way, “Trying to run from the little bit of good.”

“I don’t know you. The only reason we ever met is because I was going to--” You gulped, unable to force the words out. “I think this was a mistake.”

You pushed past him and planted your dishes on the counter. You stormed out as Steve followed and the door jingled behind you. He trailed you across the patio and onto the sidewalk. He caught your arm and pulled you back.

“I’m trying to help you,” he hissed.

“I don’t need you to save me, Captain,” You yanked your arm away. “I’m not one of your missions.”

His brows drew together and his lips turned down. He had never looked anything but happy, neutral at worst.

“Fine, go,” He threw up his hand, “But I’ll be around if you need me. When you need me.”

You spun and stomped away from him. You were humiliated, assured of your worst suspicions. You were a pet project to him. He was trying to fix you. Another rescue mission for the First Avenger. Next time, you would listen to your gut and say no.

📞

Work. Again. It was dead and Marcy, your manager had you dusting the racks for the fifth time that day. You dragged the duster over the already shining rod that held hangers of dress shirts. You felt your phone vibrate and ignored it. Likely just another reminder to claim your daily prize in that stupid word game.

You kept on as you were, staring out the windows of the store front onto the shining street. Your phone buzzed again and you peeked over at Marcy. She was reading one of her novellas behind the large counter. She never hid it very well but really didn’t seem to care either.

You slid your phone out and moved onto the next rack. It had been over a week since Steve had messaged you. He had tried several times after the tense coffee date but had given up at your silence.

‘How are you?’ He asked as if you hadn’t been ignoring him. You pushed the phone back in your pocket and it vibrated for a third time. You should just block him already. You took it back out and ready the next message. ‘I know you’re working but you can answer me.’

You squeezed the phone and blacked the screen. You put it away and returned to your futile dusting. The door opened as you neared it and you stopped short as one of the only customers of the day stepped inside. You gaped as Steve looked around with a grin.

You heard Marcy clear her throat and you looked over at her. You shifted on your feet and lowered the duster.

“Hello, sir. Welcome to Silkz, how can I help you today?” Your throat was tight as he focused on you.

“You know, I need a gift for… a friend but she’s a bit hard to please.” He said. 

“Oh,” Your lip twitched as you tried to smile. Marcy was always nagging you for your resting bitch face. “Well, what were you thinking, sir? A scarf? Some jewelry?”

“Maybe a dress. I always tell her she needs to change things up and I think it would be a good switch up.” He replied and stepped a little closer.

“Over here,” You said abruptly and backed up as you waved to the wall behind you. “This is our new collection. Lots of reds this fall.”

You glanced at Marcy as she smiled primly and her eyes fell back to her tale of romance. Steve followed you closely as you touched a long-sleeved burgundy dress with a pleated skirt.

“This should be plain enough that it should fit anyone’s taste. Of course without being too plain.” You offered. “Did you know what size you would need?”

“Oh, she’s about your size,” Steve said, “And I was thinking something less… well something with more skin.”

You nearly tripped over your own feet as you tried to keep your distance from him and found a dress in a lighter shade of red with cutouts at the sides and a slimmer silhouette. You grabbed it and held it almost like a shield. He barely even looked at it.

“I’m sure it will look wonderful on her,” he remarked, “Can you show me the jewelry? I might get her something to go with it.”

The jewelry stand was in the other corner. Far from Marcy as she kept to one side of the counter and hunched over her book. You rounded a table of folded slacks and led him to the rack. He followed and stopped beside you as he took a necklace with a feather ornament and pretended to look at it.

“You haven’t been answering me,” he said under his breath.

“Yeah, might be a hint,” you retorted, “what are you doing here?”

“Checking in. Making sure you’re okay… since no one else knows how you can get.”

“Do you realise how fucked up this is?” You hissed. “I… You can’t bring those things up.”

“You won’t. You can’t outrun it forever. I see it in you. You told me yourself. You’re desperate for a change.” He hung the necklace again. “I can change everything for you.”

“What do you want?”

He looked down and took a bracelet from the rack; a silver band with a red rose ornament. He held it out to you. “I want a change too.”

You took the bracelet and backed away with the dress folded over your arm. “Is that everything?” You said loudly.

“For now,” he answered as he kept close and you kept away by rounding the other side of the counter, “I think she’ll love it… it’ll look great on her.”

“I’m sure it will,” you said as you scanned the items. “How are you paying, sir?”

📞

The rest of your day dragged by. There were no distractions to keep you from thinking of your run in with Steve. It was as if he had flipped a switch. No long the cheerful, concerned man, there was something sinister behind his otherwise caring words. The way he’d watched you, followed you so closely, the mere tone of his voice. He was angry and you couldn’t help but feel you had asked for it.

You left reluctantly as Marcy locked up. You caught the train, watching over your shoulder. You had never told Steve where exactly you worked, you realised as you swayed with the movement of the subway. There were dozens of clothing stores in the city, how had found yours?

You got off and climbed the steps to your apartment. Would it be too much to file a report? He hadn’t done anything but bought some merchandise from the store you happened to work in. But he had offered his number to a caller at the centre and he had pursued her beyond that. Yet, you had agreed to it all.

You were, as ever, so stupid.

You stepped off at your floor and your hands fumbled with your keys. You couldn’t calm down. There was something so off about all of it. Steve showing up, the way he spoke to you, the way he looked at you. You pushed inside and swung the door shut before you could process what awaited you within.

Steve leaned against the back of your couch, arms crossed, as he watched you expectantly. Your hand lingered on the door and he shoved himself away from the sofa. He tutted his warning.

“You won’t make it down the hall but I don’t mind a chase.” He sneered. “You’ve already taken me on one, haven’t you?”

“I don’t--Steve… whatever it is you think…”

“I think I’ve only tried to help you. I think you just like to be the way you are. Low, sad, pathetic.  I can make you more.” He neared and you pressed yourself to the door. “I will make you more. I will make you happy.”

“Please,” you whimpered as he took your purse from you and placed it on the table beside the door.

“Shhh,” he ran his fingers along your cheek, “You know what they always told us at the crisis center; you gotta hit bottom before you can lift yourself up.”

You shuddered as he dragged his thumb across your lip.

“This is your bottom, sweetie.” His hand dropped to your shoulder and ran down your arm. He took your hand and pulled you away from the door.

He led you around the couch and sat, taking you with him. You tugged against his grasp and he squeezed your hand painfully.

“Sweetie, I just got us a nice bottle of wine.” He smiled. “Take a breath, have a glass, relax. We’re going to figure this all out. Together.”

Your lip trembled as your thoughts bloomed all once; the confusion, the fear, the despair bubbled up and left you speechless. He replaced his hand with a glass of wine and held your fingers around it. He let go gently and you held onto the glass if only to keep from falling apart entirely.

“Go on, have a drink.” He urged.

You looked at the dark red alcohol. You were never much of a drinker. Your father had been a lush. Your heart sank as you found it impossible to move. He pressed two fingers to the base and pushed it up until the rim was at your lips. You drank and he tipped the glass until you emptied it. When he let you lower it, you were dizzy and your stomach burned.

You placed the glass down and fell back against the couch. You touched your hot cheeks and he leaned in as he watched you. “The alcohol will add to the effect but I’ll call someone before it’s too late.”

“Effect? What?” You touched your forehead and your lashes fluttered. You tried to breathe away the wine but the spinning only got worse. “What did you do?”

Your vision was blurry as you looked over at him. He put his phone to his ear as his other hand rested on your thigh. “Hello? Yes, I need- I need help.” His voice was frantic, perfectly believable. “My girlfriend, she-- she’s passed out. I found her on the floor… I think she took something. Please, I can’t get her to wake up.”

He played the part so well you even believed him as you were drawn deeper and deeper into the void. Your eyes rolled back as you heard him give your address and you slumped against the arm of the couch. Your limbs were heavy, your head heavier. You couldn’t resist the warmth that surrounded you.

📞

You woke up to steady beeping. The sterile smell of the hospital made your nostrils dry and you groaned as you fought to open your eyes. Your entire being hurt; inside and out. The bright lights made your head throb and a figure beside you moved closer. Your vision cleared slowly as you looked at Steve and he took your hand in his.

“I’ll get the nurse, sweetie,” He said. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“Wha-- St--” Your tongue felt thick in your mouth.

He left you and returned with a woman in green scrubs. She made a note on your chart and looked at the machines you were attached to. She was gone just as quickly and left you with Steve who once more clung to your hand.

“I’m here for you, sweetie. We’ll get through this together?”

“What… what did…” You mumbled, “what did you do?”

“I saved you,” he rubbed the back of your hand with his thumb.

“Alright,” The doctor swept through the open door, “Now, it’s good to see you stable, miss. That was a close one.”

“I--” You blinked as you tried to pull your hand from Steve’s but were too weak to do more than moan.

“We’ve managed to flush the drugs out of your system and your vitals have returned to normal. It is hospital policy to keep you under surveillance for three days but given Mr. Rogers’ crisis training and reputation, we feel it in everyone’s interest to release you to him.” The doctor explained. “We’ve explained to him the precautions to be taken and you should be confident in your safety under his care. Furthermore, we will have you return for some counselling when you are up to it. Again, you must already be aware that Mr. Rogers is also capable in that aspect.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Steve said as you stared.

“Please,” You said weakly.

“Remember, Mr. Rogers, your check-ins. Every four hours.” The doctor took a paper from his clipboard and handed it to Steve. “She’s lucky to have you.”

The doctor left and you watched helplessly. How could they release you to this stranger? How could they not keep you under their own supervision? Were you just another bed to be freed up? 

You grumbled as you tried to sit up and only did so as Steve helped you.

“I’ll get a chair and then we can get you dressed, sweetie,” he said, “you’ll be safe with me.”

📞

The world passed by you as you watched it through a haze. You couldn’t seem to break through the frosted window before you. Steve moved you from the hospital to his car to his building to his bed. You barely recalled any of it as you reclined against the fluffy pillow. You were trapped in a limbo; never quite awake and never quite asleep.

And then you were painfully conscious.

Steve was beside you. The room was yellow with soft sunlight. You felt lighter but not free. A thick arm slung across your middle and he drew you close. He rolled you against him and you pushed against his chest as you faced him. His blue eyes were on you, deep and dusky.

“I called your work. Let them know you were on an indefinite leave.” He bent his arm behind you as he hugged you to him. “Permanent if you want.”

“Steve, what are you doing?” You breathed.

“Changing your life. That’s what you wanted,” he brushed his nose against yours, “you don’t have to work. You can stay here and find your happiness. With me.”

“No, please, Steve…”

“You said you were lonely, you hate your job, that you’re running out of time,” his breath glossed over your lips, “I can fix all that.”

He lifted his head slightly and kissed you. You curled your fingers and clawed his shoulder. He rolled you onto your back as his tongue poked at your lips. You resisted but he was persistent. You let him in and moaned around the intrusion.

He pulled away and framed your face with his hand as he gazed into your eyes. “I meant it when I said you were beautiful,” he purred, “The moment I saw you, even the moment I heard your voice, I knew I needed you. I knew I was the only one who could make you happy.”

“Steve, you don’t know me…” You pushed against him. “You don’t even know me.”

“No one does because you won’t let them,” he traced your hairline with his fingers, “But I’m not going to give up. Ever.”

His hand closed around your chin and he kissed you again. He rocked his body against yours. You wore only a tee shirt and nothing else, the cotton thin between your bodies; his entirely naked, you realised.

His hand slid further down as his lips moved against yours. He pushed his hand beneath your shirt and groped your chest with a hum. You winced and sank your head deep into the pillow as you tried to turn away from him. He circled your nipple with his thumb as his cock twitched against your thigh.

He forced his knee between yours and you gasped as you ripped your lips away from his.

“Steve, what are you-- please.” You begged.

“I just want to love you,” He murmured, “You deserve to be loved.”

His hand crawled down your stomach and nestled between your legs. You flinched and your thighs tensed against him. You wriggled and crashed his lips into yours again. You tried to pull his hand away from you but he was too strong. You suffocated beneath him and against his will.

His fingers slipped along your cunt. It had been more than a year since you’d been touched. It was intoxicating despite your reticence. You shook and as his fingers flicked over your clit and you gasped into his mouth. He rubbed you until your arousal slicked his touch and you grabbed his arm as a tickle spread down your legs.

He turned his hand and pushed his fingers inside of you. He bent them and pressed his hand to your bud. He parted from your lips and rested his cheek against yours. He rocked his hand and the pressure inside of you mounted in his grip. You arched your back and bent your legs around him. You couldn’t resist the sudden flutter deep in your core.

You slapped your hand against his neck and  your fingers curved against his skin. You gulped at air as your orgasm rose against your will. Your muscles tightened all at once and the pleasure flooded from you suddenly. You drowned in it and let it carry you away.

Slowly, he removed his hand, leaving a trail over your stomach as he pushed your shirt up. He shifted and his cock prodded your pussy. He prodded your entrance and lined himself up he cupped your breast. He pushed inside a little at a time. Your nails sank deeper into his flesh and your other hand went to his shoulder.

He pushed himself to his limit. You had never felt so full. He tilted his hips and you moaned. You turned your head back and forth as he began to thrust; carefully, decisively. Each time, your voice grew louder. 

He caught your chin and kissed you. He planted kisses along your cheek and down your neck as he continued to rock into you. His pace built, little by little, and the bed quaked beneath your bodies. Your hands fell to the pillow and you clenched it as your body melded with his. 

You forgot all that had brought you there, the worries that hung over you endlessly, the fears, the doubts. You whined as another orgasm burst within you and you squirming beneath Steve. He grunted as he sped up, fueled by your cries, and pushed himself up as his hips moved against you.

He stared into your eyes as his sweaty blonde hair fell forward and his square jaw clenched. He saw back as he grabbed your hips and tilted you against him. He snarled and his motion turned stunted and strained. He growled through his teeth as he came, his nails cut into your flesh and he filled you with cords of hot cum. 

He stilled you and let out a long breath as his shoulder curled forward and he hung his head. He squeezed your hips and caressed your thighs. He lowered himself over you and turned onto his side, keeping you against him as he lingered inside of you.

“I’m happy,” he uttered, “Are you?”

Your lashes fluttered as hot tears rose in your eyes. As reality sunk in like concrete and you stared over his shoulder at the wall. You were numb yet your heart swelled in terror. You nodded as a tear leaked from the corner of your eye.

“Yes,” you lied.