#i’m just pissed off about some stuff i didn’t let bother me for a couple years

[emsleyanbluejay]

“uk politics” “i hate terf island” “fuck rishi sunak/margaret thatcher”

i’m usamerican. i know it was vague, but fuck.

[socialdegenerate]

Fanfic: If We Fall, We Fall Together

I started this fic back in late June, wrote 7k words in like 3 days, lost interest, came back to it and wrote the remaining 4k this afternoon — but I don’t remember that game at all beyond 1) the 3 Hopes characters are the 3 Houses characters if they went to therapy, and 2) the Sylvian/Yuri support chain was gay as hell

But I’m a Sylvix fella at heart so I can only use Sylvain/Yuri as a vehicle to get Sylvix together, of course

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes Sylvix | Sylvain Jose Gautier x Felix Hugo Fraldarius ; Sylvain Jose Gautier x Yuri Leclerc NSFW (but pretty mild for me, mostly just some hand and mouth stuff)  11,247 words

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“C’mon, Felix, you need to take a break at some point. You’re almost working yourself harder than Dimitri at this point, and I won’t be picking you up off the floor if you pass out.”

Trying for his best ‘kind of concerned, but not enough to piss Felix off’ face, Sylvain hoped it would be enough for Felix to actually do what he asked for once. His best friend had never been good at taking as much rest as Sylvain would have liked, despite the fact that Felix bitched regularly about Dimitri doing the exact same thing, and becoming the Duke had only made things that much worse.

“I told you, I haven’t even trained yet—”

“You’re just about the most highly trained person in this whole damn camp, you’re not gonna forget how to swing a sword if you take one night off to grab dinner at a reasonable hour and then sit down with me for a bit.”

It was the second part of that that Sylvan was really pushing for. Having forced himself to take a step back from his younger years of sex and scandal in constant rotation, he’d managed to find the time and the space to really think about what he wanted — and what he wanted was Felix.

Bitchy, recalcitrant, impossible to deal with Felix; but also loyal, quietly devoted, and unfairly fucking beautiful Felix. For all his whinging and barbed jabs, he’d never given up on Sylvain even when everyone else was well on their way, and in quiet moments together he could even be damn near affectionate sometimes. 

Hell, he’d even gotten into a physical fight because someone had dared to say something less than complimentary about the skirt-chasing heir to House Gautier.

Really, what else could Sylvain have done except fall in love with him?

Not love in the way he’d used to sweet talk about to convince a pretty merchant’s daughter to let him under her dress, but in the horrible, nausea-inducing, oh-so-addicting way he’d finally come to learn was actually real. And one of these days he might even manage to find the chance to subtly hint about it to Felix; if, of course, he could pull the man away from his to-do list for five fucking minutes so that they could spend some private time together.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Felix snapped, souring Sylvain’s little love-struck mood a little, “but some of us have actual responsibilities now.”

“Whoa, whoa, hey,” Sylvain said, holding his hands up in mock surrender, “I know, and everyone respects the hell out of what you’re doing — and what you have done for the last couple years. But no one’s gonna judge you for taking one evening off to hang out with your best friend.”

“It’s not about judging, it’s about the fact that we’re in a fucking war, Sylvain!”

Ah.

Truthfully, Sylvain was usually better at picking up on when Felix was stressed and knowing not to push him too much. But then again, when wasn’t Felix stressed these days, with the Empire breathing down their necks and thousands upon thousands of innocent citizens caught in the crossfire. Obviously he’d picked the wrong day to bother Felix, and he knew enough about military strategy to know when to make a tactical retreat.

It wasn’t that he didn’t care about the war; it was just that he coped by spending quality time with the people he loved, while Felix coped by isolating himself. Felix wasn’t wrong about that, necessarily, but Sylvain just wanted to make sure that he knew that Sylvain was always there for him.

“Felix, I—”

“I’m not done,” Felix interrupted sharply, and Sylvain really did not like that look in his eyes. “We’re not kids anymore. Some of us actually grew up and realised there are more important things going on than lazing about and pretending like everything is okay.”

It was nowhere near the worst thing anyone had ever said about him and yet, it hurt like it was. Of all the people who should have noticed that Sylvain really had cleaned his act up, had worked hard to become the kind of man he always should have been, Sylvain had thought that Felix had really seen him grow since they’d met again at the Academy.

Apparently not, though.

“You’re right,” Sylvain said before Felix could keep cutting him to the core with words as precise as his swordplay. “Sorry.”

Turning on his heel, Sylvain walked away from Felix’s makeshift office and towards the quieter areas near the stables. Of course, nothing was ever truly quiet around camp, but the last thing he wanted to do was have to put on a smile for everyone else while he wondered why he could never quite get on the same level as Felix.

In fairness, that was probably his divine punishment for the hearts he’d broken in his youth…not that he believed in things like that.

But if it was true, he definitely deserved it.

Fully intending to pet his horse and definitely not sulk until he felt a little better, Sylvain grabbed some of the grooming equipment from the stable’s storage area and headed over to where his true favourite lady was enjoying some well-deserved rest time. 

“You know what, I just don’t get him,” Sylvain murmured as he set to making his horse shine as beautifully as she deserved. “He whines about Dimitri not taking enough breaks, and then gets all rude at me when I try to stop him from working himself to collapse.”

His conversation partner didn’t seem to have much to say to that, but Sylvain didn’t mind. “And one minute he’s literally fighting people over my honour — yeah, yeah, not that I have any of that — while the next he’s treating me like I’m still the same jackass I used to be.”

Sylvain patted his horse’s flank and sighed, not quite knowing what he was hoping to achieve by talking to his horse. 

“Careful,” a voice said from deeper in the stables, Sylvain jolting in shock at the unexpected interruption. “Your mask is slipping.”

“Didn’t realise you’d taken up lurking in the stables,” Sylvain said as he turned to face Yuri, who was carefully picking his way through the muck in his heeled boots. 

“There can be good info to be overheard here, people seem to like talking to animals when they think no one’s around.” Playing with the ends of his hair in clearly feigned innocence, Yuri side-eyed Sylvain’s horse slightly and came to a stop just outside of biting range. 

Sylvain scoffed, not even bothering to try to play it off. Yuri had always been able to see right through him; perhaps even better than Felix did. But he saw through Yuri in return, and it was strangely easy to talk to someone like that. “And here I thought you hated getting dirty.”

“Oh, please,” Yuri said with a wink. “You know me better than that.”

Despite himself, Sylvain had to laugh. After their slightly awkward first meeting, Sylvain hadn’t quite known what to make of Yuri. He certainly hadn’t trusted him, which was something that had definitely gone both ways. With time and battles fought side by side, though, they’d built up a grudging respect and something that was almost like friendship.

And then, well, Yuri was hot and discreet and liked using sex as a tool to play with people’s favour; and while Sylvain had given up his terribly philandering ways, he certainly wasn’t celibate. It worked out well for them, even if Sylvain sometimes felt like he was catering to Yuri’s whims far more than the reverse

“Did you hear anything good this time?” Sylvain asked. 

Yuri shrugged, idly inspecting his nails with calculated casualness. “I could tell you — for a price.”

“And here I am, having spent my entire fortune on booze and women.” It was a stupid joke, if not one that felt particularly jagged considering the way Felix had treated him earlier. But if even his best friend still thought that he hadn’t made any progress then he might as well just run with it.

“What a shame,” Yuri murmured, patting Sylvain’s chest, and the way his hand lingered a little made it unavoidably obvious as to why exactly he’d emerged from the darkness to bother Sylvain. “So then, what are you doing tonight?”

Sylvain really had grown up a lot from his days of drowning in sex to avoid taking a good, hard look at his actual problems. He had! He’d genuinely made an effort to start dealing with things properly, and as annoying as it was, it really had made things better to start facing them head-on.

But he was still only human, and Felix’s harsh words had cut at his ego like only Felix could. And at least Yuri knew the score with Sylvain, and knew that things would only ever be casual between them. Sylvain even suspected that if he ever managed to give up his infatuation with Felix for long enough to develop so much as a single feeling for Yuri, the man would disappear into the night for the last time.

Thankfully, then, it didn’t seem like his feelings for Felix were going anywhere anytime soon, even when Felix was being really fucking rude.

And if Felix thought he hadn’t changed, then maybe he should prove Felix right.

Tilting his chin up with calculated flirtation, the kind he’d put to bed years ago and now felt surprisingly rusty, Sylvain raised an eyebrow. “You, I hope.”

“You’re hotter when you’re sad,” Yuri said, screwing up his nose. “But if I feel like it, I’ll meet you in your tent after dinner.”

Turning away, Yuri glanced back over his shoulder when he reached the entrance of the stables. “And make sure you bathe, I’ll leave if you still smell like horses.”

Shaking his head, Sylvain turned back to his horse and began to gather the grooming equipment he’d barely gotten to use. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you heard the orders. I’ll bring you extra treats tomorrow, okay?”

Sylvain was reasonably sure that his horse wasn’t aware enough of the conversation to be actively judging him, but it sure didn’t feel that way when she shook her head and snorted. 

“Can’t win today,” Sylvain sighed, petting her nose in apology. “Copping it from all angles.”

Taking a deep breath, Sylvain shook himself out and donned his emotional armour before stepping back into the world outside of the stables. Even though it was a shame that Felix certainly wouldn’t be joining him, he could pull himself together for dinner and a bath.

At least he had something to look forward to afterwards, for once.

—----------------------------------------------

The thing about Yuri, Sylvain had quickly learned, was that he very much worked to his own schedule. 

‘After dinner’ could mean anything within the span of about six hours, which was how Sylvain found himself beginning to drift off as he laid back on the cot in his tent while waiting to see whether Yuri would even show up at all.

At least it was beginning to get warm enough for him to be able to laze around without a shirt on, clad only in the loose trousers he favoured after bathing.

Being alone with his thoughts no longer terrified him as much as it used to, especially once he’d stopped fighting the way his idle mind tended to inevitably turn towards Felix. As fun as Yuri was, there was no question that Sylvain would have much preferred to have been waiting for Felix to retire to his — their, perhaps, if he felt particularly self-indulgent — tent for the evening.

Felix’s sharp edges tended to soften when he was tired, and he was almost painfully adorable when his hair was beginning to escape from the high ponytail he’d begun to favour after haircuts had fallen extremely low on the priority list during the war. 

Biting his lip, Sylvain let one of his hands fall flat against his bare stomach, fingers brushing against his waistband. If Felix were to come back to their tent, ready to crawl into bed with Sylvain, would he let Sylvain touch him a little to work through some of his pent-up stress? Would he let Sylvain worship him the way he deserved?

“Getting started without me?” 

“Fel—uck,” Sylvain recovered clumsily, ignoring Yuri’s too-knowing gaze. By now he really should have been more used to Yuri’s habit of sneaking up on him, but the man had an uncanny knack for knowing when people were at their most vulnerable. “You know, the only thing I really miss about the Academy dorms was having an actual door that closed.”

“Closed doors have never stopped me,” Yuri said casually as he let down his hair and  took off his shirt, leaving it neatly folded on Sylvain’s tidy little table. That…really wasn’t altogether surprising, Sylvain supposed, and once again he was glad that he and Yuri had settled into a relatively peaceful existence instead of the constant wariness and backstabbing they’d been heading towards at first.

Even if he didn’t entirely trust Yuri, it was much easier to have him sort of on Sylvain’s side rather than not.

Not to mention that the fringe benefits weren’t too bad either.

The beds at their camp weren’t particularly large, practicality being a far more urgent concern than luxury when on the battleground. Still, Yuri moved with utmost grace as he straddled Sylvain on the bed, neither of them interested in having a chat before they got into it.

“You were getting started without me,” Yuri said with a smirk as he rolled his hips, rubbing his cock against Sylvain’s much harder one through their trousers. 

Opening his mouth to say something that wasn’t admitting that he’d been fantasising about another guy while waiting for Yuri, Sylvain didn’t get far before Yuri’s tongue was in his mouth. As someone who’d tended to take the lead with the people he’d bedded, it gave him a thrill to give up a little control to someone else; especially someone who was shorter and slighter than him and, well, built a lot like Felix.

Sylvain had to admit that his fantasies about Felix had become a lot more realistic since he’d started sleeping with Yuri, even if he doubted that Felix would ever be as upfront about what he wanted as Yuri was.

Sylvain had known Felix his whole life and he still didn’t know what the guy wanted half the time.

”Focus,” Yuri murmured right into Sylvain’s mouth, biting his bottom lip with slightly more force than most people would have been game to. The sharp sting had Sylvain’s hips pushing upwards and he groaned when one of Yuri’s hands slid between their bodies, groping at Sylvain’s dick.

Still, Sylvain wasn’t about to let Yuri do all the work — he still did have somewhat of a reputation to uphold, of course — and so he grabbed Yuri’s hips and coaxed him into moving, letting him rub himself up against the back of his own hand. 

“Are you going to hurry up and fuck me?” Yuri asked bluntly, sitting up and tossing his long hair back. “Some of us like our beauty sleep.”

“And some of us like foreplay,” Sylvain grinned. Yuri scoffed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t seem particularly bothered as he broke away from Sylvain’s grip and made his way further down the bed, kissing along Sylvain’s bare torso as he went. 

If Yuri was good with his tongue when he kissed, that had absolutely nothing on how good he was with a cock in his mouth. Sylvain buried a hand in Yuri’s hair and groaned, barely managing to stop himself from thrusting further into Yuri’s throat —

And then the flap of his tent opened.

“Sylvain, apparently I might have been a little rude earlier, so…” Felix’s voice trailed off as he stared wide-eyed at the pair on the bed. All at once, Sylvain jolted in shock and broke Yuri’s rhythm, leaving Yuri coughing as he pulled away from Sylvain’s dick.

“Felix, I—” Sylvain started, completely forgetting that his whole cock was out now that Yuri had sat back, but Felix had already disappeared just as suddenly as he’d arrived.

“Awkward,” Yuri said, already swinging his leg back over Sylvain’s hips. “Tell your boy to knock next time.”

“On a tent?” Sylvain asked dumbly, before he caught up to himself and grabbed Yuri’s hips to lift him back off. “I don’t know if this is such a good idea.”

Yuri lifted an eyebrow, staring at Sylvain in that calculating way that always made him feel too exposed. “You’ve never complained before.”

“Yeah, well,” Sylvain said, pointedly looking down his body to where his cock had apparently decided that it no longer wanted to play. 

“Hm.” Rather than seeming offended, Yuri was still looking at him like a puzzle to be solved — and not a particularly difficult one. Rather than sit there with his pants down and wait for Yuri to pull his ego apart, Sylvain shuffled his trousers back up and then flopped back on his bed, slapping a hand over his eyes with a frustrated groan.

“I think I get it now,” Yuri said, and he sounded so smug that Sylvain had to move his hand to eye him suspiciously. “Would you get hard again if I did my hair more like this?”

Gathering his hair in his hand, Yuri pulled it up and held it in a messy imitation of Felix’s high ponytail, and Sylvain felt sick.

“Fuck off,” he grumbled, feeling simultaneously still somewhat emotional brusied from earlier, embarrassed at having been caught with his pants down by the man he loved, and guilty that he’d once again tried to use sex to smother his problems. 

His smug look fading into something more neutral, Yuri let go of his hair and nodded. “I suppose at this point, I won’t begrudge you one secret.”

Standing up and grabbing his shirt, Yuri dressed himself again and then crossed his arms, looking down at Sylvain. “But sort your shit out before you invite me back here again.”

“Noted,” Sylvain said. He didn’t watch as Yuri left, not wanting to prolong the awkward failure of a moment any longer, and then he shoved a knuckle in his mouth to bite down on the frustrated yell he really, really wanted to let out.

He kind of wanted to sink into the ground and never have to leave his tent again, but he didn’t like it when Felix was mad at him. Even when it was justified, which honestly Sylvain didn’t think it really was this time. With Yuri there were no chances of broken hearts, of bastard children, or of loud blow-up arguments that arose if his eyes strayed to someone else.

If anything, Felix should have been applauding him for his responsibility and maturity in finding appropriate ways to soothe his libido.

Snorting at himself, Sylvain flopped back against his bed and ignored the way it shook underneath him. Sure, in an idea world he’d have nothing to apologise for: he’d been in a private space, engaging in entirely consensual activities with someone he hadn’t misled at all as to their future together, and it was Felix’s fault that he’d barged straight in without at least announcing himself first.

But Felix was Felix, and considering that they’d just had an argument about Sylvain not taking the war as seriously as he should have been, Sylvain figured he could at least extend an olive branch.

“The things I do for you,” Sylvain muttered to himself as he shrugged on a shirt and stepped back out into the camp. “Now, if I were a pissed-off Felix, where would I be…”

There were still a few soldiers scattered around the training grounds, but surprisingly enough Felix wasn’t one of them. He also wasn’t in the empty dining hall, the tent that doubled as his office, the tent he slept in or the armoury. 

By the time Sylvain had found the war room, the market and even the fucking chapel devoid of Felix, he was beginning to worry. It had gotten late — surely Felix hadn’t left the camp on his own?

Fully prepared to do another full walk around the camp, Sylvain squinted into the darkness and started when he recognised a familiar figure in front of him

“Ingrid!” He said as he walked over to her, almost as glad to see her as he would have been to see Felix. She’d frequently taken part in the hunts they had to hold when Felix got worked up and disappeared, and Sylvain hoped she’d be able to help him out once again. “Have you seen Felix? I can’t find him anywhere and I need to talk to him.”

“Nope, not tonight,” Ingrid said, and Sylvain would have believed her if he hadn’t known her for as long as he’d known Felix. Her voice got a little higher when she was hiding something, although it was hard to pick if you didn’t know what to look out for.

“Ingrid,” Sylvain said, turning on the charm just a little. “Please let me know where he is, I’d rather sort this out now than let it hang over us for too long.”

“You really have grown up,” Ingrid said with a surprisingly proud look on her face. “But I promised him I wouldn’t say…”

She looked close to breaking, but Sylvain could only sigh. “Okay, okay, I won’t push it as long as he’s safe. If I make you spill he’ll only get mad at both of us, and you don’t deserve that.”

Clearly relieved, Ingrid nodded her head. “You know what he’s like. Give him the night to cool down, it’s not as if he can ever stay mad at you for long.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“He forgives you quicker than you think, it just takes him a while to forgive himself and stop being embarrassed over how he acts sometimes. And I’m only telling you this because I’m mad about him putting me in the middle of your little squabbles again, so please try to work it out as soon as you can.”

“Noted,” Sylvain said. “I’ll try to catch him during his morning training, then.”

Ingrid laughed, and the joyful sound made Sylvain feel just a little better about his absolute shitshow of a night. “You’re either a brave man or an idiot, confronting Felix Fraldarius when he has a sword in hand.”

“I like a little danger,” Sylvain shrugged. “Just — if you see him again, tell him I want to talk to him, yeah?”

“I will, and good luck,” Ingrid said. “Go get some sleep.”

“Of course I will,” Sylvain said, wishing her a good night as she turned and walked off into the darkness.

‘Some’ sleep turned out to be very little, as Sylvain spent the entire night alternating between lightly dozing and staring at the roof of his tent. Being in love with Felix was bad for his health, he decided, considering that he couldn’t get his brain to stop fretting about just how bad things would be between them this time. Even if he hadn’t actually done anything wrong (this time), it was obvious that Felix was hurt and unhappy, and there was no way that Sylvain could brush that aside as not being his problem.

So he’d catch Felix early, sort their latest round of nonsense out, and still have time to grab a little nap before the day began in earnest. It was the perfect plan.

…Except, of course, the Goddess (and/or the Empire) had other plans for them.

Sylvain was jolted out of a light doze when a messenger called for him outside his tent, announcing that the generals were expected in the war room while the troops mobilised. The timing couldn’t have been worse, considering that he’d barely slept and was still stuck on needing to sort things out with Felix before it could fester any longer, but the war didn’t care about any of that.

At least he was well-practised at getting himself presentable and into position with minimal brainpower, and time blurred slightly until he found himself sitting around the long table with the other generals.

Dimitri was explaining what they were rushing off to do, but all Sylvain managed to take in was that they were expected to go to some place and fend off an approaching battalion of Empire soldiers that a scout had spotted bearing down on a nearby city. The finer details didn’t matter, not when Felix was sitting at the other end of the table looking like death warmed up.

He seemed like he’d slept even less than Sylvain had, and he was very obviously avoiding looking in Sylvain’s direction. If it was anyone else, Sylvain would have considered quietly approaching them and asking if it was a good idea for them to be going into battle, but Felix would murder him for even suggesting that and then probably get himself hurt trying to prove that he was fine.

Shaking his head, Sylvain resolved to keep an eye on Felix as much as he could during the upcoming battle. If Felix ended up in danger due to a lack of sleep dulling his reflexes, Sylvain would never be able to live with the guilt

That was easier said than done, of course. Felix had his own troops to organise before the march and then when they reached the battle, as a mounted unit Sylvain was directed to take care of the further reaches of the city while Felix handled the closer areas on foot. As much as he wanted to leave his duty behind and go chasing after Felix, he wasn’t that stupid and irresponsible. People’s lives were in his hands, and he was going to take that seriously.

Still, it was a relief when they’d managed to push back the enemy from the north of the city, leaving their own people to guard particularly sensitive areas and allowing Sylvain to make his way back towards the centre of the city.

He was almost beginning to feel confident in their complete victory when he heard the sound of an explosion, looking up just in time to see a second huge projectile falling towards the city. Forgetting about looking for Felix, he urged his horse towards the sound of screaming, determined to get everyone out before more projectiles could rain down on them.

He could see Ingrid circling overhead, and when she spotted him racing towards the impact zone she swooped down and flew alongside him for a moment.

“Dimitri and I are going to find the source of the projectiles so we can stop them,” she yelled, no time for pleasantries on the battlefield. “Dedue and Felix could use backup straight ahead.”

“Got it,” Sylvain said, already urging his horse to go faster. While he couldn’t take a direct hit, Dedue at least wore heavy armour that could help keep him safe from debris that would be flying around from each impact; Felix tended to dress in lighter armour that was good against swords but less good against huge explosions.

If he was working at anything less than his best, he was in serious danger.

Adrenaline keeping him moving forward, Sylvain swept his lance through groups of enemies, his beloved horse knowing exactly where to take him and trampling on the stragglers as he went. How this many enemies had managed to sneak up on the city without advance warning, he didn’t know; and in the moment, he definitely didn’t care. What mattered was keeping the city safe, and making sure that Felix walked away from the battle on two legs. 

Rounding the rubble of a destroyed building, Sylvain could see Felix’s soldiers fighting further down the long street, but there were a lot of enemy troops between them. Throwing himself into the battle, Sylvain’s attention was split between the fight he was in and the fight happening in front of him. He just needed to know that Felix was still standing, and then he could put all his focus on cleaning up the troops that were stubbornly hanging on.

And then, like a gift from the goddess herself, some of Felix’s soldiers pushed the enemy back with a wave of reason magic and Sylvain had a direct view of Felix locking swords with an enemy assassin.

He looked like he was going to come out on top — and Sylvain would have expected nothing less from his best friend — but the amount of enemies still swarming around them made Sylvain nervous.

If he could just get a little closer—

“SYLVAIN!” Dedue shouted from somewhere off to the side, and Sylvain ripped his eyes off Felix just in time for his horse to wrench them both to the side as a huge boulder fell from the sky and landed right where he’d just been. But the boulders alone weren’t the only danger, and Sylvain yelled as a huge piece of debris from the explosion hit his body with unfathomable force, his brain unable to keep up with the pain and what was happening as he was thrown from his horse and headfirst towards the ground.

—----------------------------------

“Why isn’t he waking up?” Sylvain heard someone demand, the words coming through fuzzy and a bit too loud. He considered opening up his eyes to see what was going on, but his head was pounding and he felt a little like he’d fallen off a cliff.

“Mmph,” he said, aiming for ‘perhaps a little quieter, please’ and not quite getting there.

“Shh,” someone else said instead. “A head injury like that takes a little longer to recover from than a stab wound, even with this much healing magic. Besides, you should be resting as well, you’re injured too.”

“I’m fine,” Felix insisted — because even with his eyes closed and his brain refusing to cooperate, Sylvain could recognise that stubborn tone anywhere. “When is he going to wake up?”

“M’up,” Sylvain managed this time, and he forced his eyes to open. He wished he could say that he didn’t recognise the roof of the medical tent from the camp on sight, even with a serious headache and blurry vision, but it wasn’t the first time he’d woken up here.

What was less obvious was how he’d gotten here. He distinctly remembered going into battle, but everything after that was blank.

“Please don’t try to get up,” Mercedes said, leaning over Sylvain and smiling down at him. “How do you feel?”

“Ow,” Sylvain said, his body revolting against him when he tried looking around to see where Felix was. “Felix?”

“You idiot,” Felix said. He looked exhausted and dishevelled, and Sylvain might have appreciated his shirtlessness more if it wasn’t for the bandage wrapped around his chest. “You’re lucky to be alive.”

“He’s not the only one,” Mercedes said lightly, Felix looking away with a scowl. “Do you remember what happened, Sylvain?”

“There was a…battle,” Sylvain said, wincing when the words felt like they were tearing up his throat.

“Ah, one moment,” Mercedes interrupted, leaning away and then coming back with a vulnerary in hand. “Drink this.”

She held the bottle to his lips and he gratefully swallowed, everything feeling a little bit easier as the healing potion flooded through his system. “Better?”

“Better,” Sylvain agreed. “I remember going into battle, but…”

“You got hit by a fucking flying rock,” Felix snapped. “Like an absolute idiot.”

“And Felix here was stabbed when he turned his back on the enemy to run towards you,” Mercedes said, her voice as sweet as honey and her judgement as deadly as, well, a fucking flying rock. Felix scowled but looked appropriately chastised, Sylvain now able to turn his head enough to watch as he crossed his arms and sank down.

“Not my fault he clearly can’t look after himself.”

Sylvain barely managed a laugh that quickly turned into a pained gasp, the vulnerary only able to do so much for what seemed like it must have been a pretty nasty hit. 

“You need more rest,” Mercedes said, and all Sylvain could do was agree. “Do you want some help falling asleep again?”

“Goddess, please,” Sylvain sighed, well-acquainted with the soothing magic that Mercedes could wield to help her patients settle down. “Thanks.”

Her fingertips lightly touching his temples, Mercedes hummed lightly under her breath as soothing waves of magic sent Sylvain back towards sleep.

Still, he couldn’t help but feel like there was something he’d missed, considering that he didn’t remember anything since riding into battle on his—

“Horse?” Sylvain forced out, anxiety sluggishly spiking through his body. If he’d been hurt this badly, surely she—

“In the stables and recovering nicely,” Mercedes said, a gentle smile on her face as she continued to send that numbing magic through Sylvain’s body. “She saved your life.”

“That’s m’girl,” Sylvain slurred as sleep took over once again.

—----------------------------------

The next time Sylvain woke up, he felt damn near totally human again. Mercedes’ magic really did work like, well, magic. He even felt well-rested, although it was a bit disappointing to sit up and realise that he was alone this time. There were a bunch of purple flowers in a vase beside his bed, though, and Sylvain reached for the wax-sealed note sitting up against them.

Glad you’re not dead, it’d be a waste of good dick.

Well they probably weren’t from Felix then, Sylvain decided as he re-folded the note and tossed it aside. There was a semi-decent chance they’d be toxic, though, and so he settled for admiring Yuri’s gift from a distance as he hauled himself out of bed.

This time Manuela was pottering about in the tent, and she smiled at him as he left the patient rest area. “Ah, Sylvain, glad you’ve rejoined the rest of us in the world of the living.”

“How could I possibly die and leave my favourite beautiful doctor alone?” Sylvain flirted, knowing that Manuela wouldn’t take him seriously.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Manuela laughed. “As long as the dizziness is gone, you’re free to leave, but absolutely no physical exertion for at least another day. And yes, that includes sex.”

“You know me too well.” Or, at least, she knew his reputation too well; he hadn’t actually been planning to walk straight out of the infirmary and into someone’s bed.

“And if you see Felix, make sure he’s following my orders to spend the day resting. He might not have taken as bad a hit as you did, but he nearly fainted from exhaustion when we got back to camp yesterday.” From the look on Manuela’s face, she clearly assumed that Felix was ignoring her orders entirely, and Sylvain figured that was probably correct.

“Got it, I’ll try to pry him away from his training.”

“Thanks,” Manuela sighed, sounding defeated. “At least he let us heal him eventually: he kept insisting that no one should waste their magic on him until you were healed, even as he was actively bleeding out.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Sylvain said as his heart filled with a weird mix of exasperation and affection, and Manuela laughed.

“Yes, that’s what I said.”

—-------------------------------------------

Felix was, surprisingly, nowhere to be found at the training grounds. 

He was, however, sitting up at his desk when Sylvain stuck his head through the tent flaps, frowning at whatever he was working on.

“I heard you were told to rest.”

“I’m busy,” Felix said, not looking up. “The world didn’t stop just because you were asleep for the best part of two days.”

“Whatever you’re doing, it can wait. You got hurt too.”

“I’m fine.”

“Felix.” The serious tone in Sylvain’s voice made Felix pause and look up, treating Sylvain to a clear view of the dark circles under his eyes. “You need to rest.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?” Felix snapped. “You nearly died, and if I don’t have anything to focus on all I can think about is the way you sounded as you went flying off your horse.”

Inhaling sharply, Sylvain walked around the desk and squatted down beside Felix’s chair. Felix leaned away from him, just slightly, and so as much as Sylvain wanted to reach out and touch him, he didn’t push it.

“Hey, I’m fine. See? It takes more than a little rock to kill me.”

“That’s not funny.”

“Wasn’t meant to be,” Sylvain said. “Felix, please. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”

Felix didn’t say anything, but he also didn’t go back to what he’d been doing. Sylvain figured that was a win.

“What do you suggest I do, then? Mercedes already told the training master not to let me anywhere near a sword.”

Sylvain barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes — of course Felix had already tried that. Still, he hadn’t quite thought this far ahead and now he was scrambling for something else that Felix would let them do.

“Oh, I know! We can go on a little expedition, somewhere away from the camp for a bit?”

Felix didn’t look convinced, so Sylvain turned up the charm a bit. “I’ll beg some food from the kitchen, and it’s a beautiful day outside. And if you hang out with me for a while, I won’t complain if you want to do some more work afterwards.”

“Well…”

“And we need to talk. About…y’know.”

Felix sighed, looking like the entire world was against him, but Sylvain knew he’d already won.

“You’ll let me work in peace after?”

“I’ll let you work in peace after. Within reason.”

“Fine. Meet me at the gates in ten minutes.”

“Thanks, Felix,” Sylvain grinned as he hauled himself back to standing. “I promise you’ll have a great time.”

“Hm.”

—------------------------------------

The ride to the field passed in companionable silence, Sylvain mostly managing not to think too hard about the fact that he had to ride a borrowed horse because he’d gotten his own hurt. She’d seemed glad to see him, though, happily snorting at him and accepting the loving attention he’d lavished upon her, and he had no doubt that she’d be back in action shortly.

He pulled to a stop when they rode up to a private little space, nicely sunny but enclosed by enough trees that they wouldn’t be interrupted by anyone travelling past. He’d possibly scoped this out as a potential date spot, but there was no need to tell Felix about that.

Especially not when Felix finally looked like some of the tension had drained out of his shoulders, to the point that he actually thanked Sylvain when he’d offered Felix first chance at the basket of food he’d managed to charm the kitchen staff into handing over. Even Sylvain wasn’t stupid enough to ruin such an unguarded moment from the duke of poor social graces.

“So,” Sylvain said once Felix had finished a few small pieces of meat. “First up, I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Felix asked, looking genuinely confused.

“For screwing up the battle? And, uh, that whole thing with Yuri too.”

“Unless you got hit on purpose, which I doubt even you’re stupid enough to do, you don’t need to apologise for that.”

“But then you got hurt—”

“Sylvain, as much as you’re determined to think otherwise, not everything is your fault.” Felix sounded too close to clamming up again, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground, and so Sylvain didn’t push any further.

“In any case, I’m glad you’re okay. I would’ve been so annoyed if you’d died while you were still mad at me.”

“Why do you assume I’m always mad at you?”

“I don’t?” Sylvain said, confused. “But you were definitely mad at me because of the whole argument we had, and then the Yuri thing.”

“I was coming to apologise,” Felix pointed out. “Even I know when I’m wrong, despite what you think.”

“And then you were so mad at me that even Ingrid didn’t want to risk telling me where you’d disappeared to.”

“No, I needed space to think,” Felix said like it was blindingly obvious and Sylvain was an idiot.

“...Are you going to tell me what you were thinking about?”

“I had some things to figure out. That’s all.”

Sylvain blinked, not quite sure what to think about that. “And did you figure it out?”

“Not really.”

“...Well, if you want to ask me anything, I’m an open book right now.”

It was actually the truth. Away from the camp, from the military, from their responsibilities and any prying eyes, Sylvain was actually willing to be entirely upfront with Felix. It was the least he could do, after all the problems Sylvain had caused within the space of a couple of days.

There was a long silence and then Felix muttered something quietly, but even with how close they were sitting Sylvain couldn’t make it out. And, of course, Felix tended to hate repeating himself.

But Sylvain’s curiosity would always get the best of him.

“What was that?”

Felix glanced at Sylvain and then away, and Sylvain blamed the cool air for turning his nose and cheeks pink. “I said, why him?”

“Who?” Sylvain asked, genuinely not sure who Felix was referring to. 

Rubbing his nose, eyes still averted, Felix spat out the name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Yuri.”

Opening his mouth, Sylvain caught himself before he could make some stupid joke. That would more than certainly go poorly, and he was a changed man. Opening himself to genuine scrutiny was more agonising than almost being literally cut in half, but this was Felix.

Felix, who had seen the best and the worst of him; Felix who, above all else, had earned the right to a bit of truth from Sylvain.

“He’s hot, he knows how to make something casual work, and I,” Sylvain hesitated slightly, suddenly feeling a little bashful, “I like the way he takes the lead, I guess. Not something I was used to, y’know?”

Felix frowned, clearly thinking. “I should’ve known you’d only be interested in fucking around.”

“Well, with him, yeah,” Sylvain admitted. “Neither of us were interested in anything serious with each other.”

“Are you ever?” Felix said, the jab clearly pointed. It hurt a bit, for sure, but Sylvain wasn’t going to get goaded into an argument and have Felix storm off in a huff.

“For the right person? Sure.”

For you? Anything, he wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut. Nothing would have made Felix run away faster than going straight to that.

“I find that hard to believe,” Felix said. 

“I’m not as terrible as you seem to think I am.”

Picking idly at the grass they were sitting on, Felix clearly wasn’t about to face Sylvain directly. Still, he hadn’t left; so Sylvain would take what he could get. “I don’t think you’re terrible.”

“Oh, sure,” Sylvain snorted. “Just frivolous, idiotic, foolish and, apparently, incapable of feeling love.”

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?” Sylvain asked, his frustration beginning to boil over despite his best efforts. “Because I sure can’t interpret that any other way.”

“I meant,” Felix started, and that was clearly all he had. But Sylvain wasn’t going to let him wriggle out of this one, and he raised an eyebrow expectantly. “...I don’t know what I meant.”

“Then why did you say it?”

Felix shrugged, and there was going to be a bare patch in the grass from the amount he was pulling out in frustration. 

“I do have feelings, Felix, and they can be hurt.”

“I know,” Felix said quietly, glancing at Sylvain and then away again. “...Sorry.”

It didn’t totally soothe his bruised feelings, but getting an actual apology from Felix helped dissolve more of Sylvain’s irritation than he would have expected. Especially as this apology wasn’t being thrown at him while he was under another man.

“I appreciate that,” Sylvain said. “It means a lot to me — you mean a lot to me — and I hate it when we fight.”

“I really did think you were dead,” Felix said suddenly, picking some grass out of the ground beneath them. “You were so still and the enemy was bearing down on you and I didn’t even realise I’d been stabbed until after I knew you were still alive and everyone around you was dead.”

Sylvain’s chest hurt, knowing just how badly he would react if their positions had been switched. Perhaps it was the lingering effects of the head injury, or the fact that Felix was actually opening up to him for once, or even the near-death experience, but Sylvain’s unspoken feelings were crawling up his throat and he didn’t know how much longer he could keep them down.

…So he didn’t even bother trying.

“Felix?”

“Mm?” Felix hummed, something in Sylvain’s tone making him actually look up to meet Sylvain’s eyes.

Fuck subtle hints.

“I love you.”

“Wh-” Felix spluttered, his eyes wide and his face rapidly going red. “Sylvain.”

“Feels good to finally say that,” Sylvain said, pressing a hand over his rapidly beating heart and shooting Felix a crooked smile. “Don’t worry, I’m not expecting you to feel the same way or anything, I know I’m not the kind of person who deserves—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Felix snapped, still as red as Sylvain had ever seen him. “You might do stupid shit sometimes but you’re worth more than you think.”

“...Thanks, Fe,” Sylvain managed to say eventually. “I just meant that I’m fine with staying friends.”

“Is that what you want?”

“You barely tolerate me most days, so I figured that’s what you’d want.”

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Felix frowned. “You just frustrate me sometimes. And think with your dick too much.”

“Gee, thanks.” Sylvain wouldn’t lie, that hurt a little.

“I don’t mean it like that,” Felix said, and he actually stretched his leg out a bit to knock it against Sylvain’s knee. “I’m not good at…talking.”

“You said it, not me.”

“Sylvain,” Felix said, and as Sylvain watched he took a deep breath and visibly steadied himself. “When you went flying, all I could think about was that I didn’t want to live without you. Couldn’t live without you.”

The words were halting, sounding like it was taking all of Felix’s considerable strength to get them out, and Sylvain felt like he was going to melt on the spot.

He might have been an idiot and a fool and whatever else Felix liked to call him, but he thought he was pretty decent at reading between the lines.

“I wouldn’t want to live without you either,” Sylvain admitted, and the smile Felix gave him was small but so precious. “But I won’t push you into anything, so—”

“Sylvain, shut up and let me think.”

“Anything for you,” Sylvain said, earning himself a familiar eye roll. Still, he sat back and watched Felix clearly struggle through whatever he wanted to say, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he finally shook himself out and started again.

“So obviously you’re not opposed to,” Felix paused, looking embarrassed, “sex. With men, I mean.”

“Yuri is very pretty but he’s definitely a man,” Sylvain agreed, still looking at where Felix’s leg was touching his own.

“And you liked that he took the lead?”

“Hm?” Sylvain asked, not quite keeping up with where Felix was going. “Yeah, I guess.”

Slowly nodding his head, Felix seemed to be considering something. And then, with reflexes honed from thousands of hours of training and battles, Felix lunged towards Sylvain.

His hands grabbed Sylvain’s shoulders a little too tightly and his lips hit Sylvain’s own a little too hard and with an awkwardness that screamed inexperience. But the feeling still made Sylvain’s mind go blank and as the momentum made him topple over backwards, he was forced to choose between catching himself and wrapping his arms around Felix’s waist.

The last of Sylvain’s breath was knocked away when his back hit the ground, but he barely noticed it when he realised that one of Felix’s hands was cradling the back of his head to prevent it from getting hurt in their fall. 

Felix, who had knocked him on his ass (and his front and his back and, yes, his head) during training more times than Sylvain wanted to remember, had softened his fall and was now using their positions to keep Sylvain trapped in a clumsy but oh-so-hungry kiss.

Not that ‘trapped’ was the right word when getting away was the last thing Sylvain would have wanted.

“Sylvain,” Felix said when he finally pulled away, sounding as winded as Sylvain felt. “I won’t do…casual. So if you can’t be serious, tell me now.”

Despite the confidence of his actions, Felix looked more than a little petrified. When Sylvain tried to meet his gaze, his eyes kept darting away and then back again; and the hand that had slipped down from Sylvain’s shoulder and onto his chest seemed to be trembling. 

Unwrapping one of his arms from around Felix’s waist, Sylvain laid his hand on top of Felix’s and held it tight over his own heart. “I’ve never wanted to be so serious about anyone in my life, Fe.”

Even the chill settling in as night finished falling couldn’t be blamed for the way Felix’s face burned bright red. He looked so cute that Sylvain had to grab the front of his shirt and haul him in for another kiss, which naturally led to another and another and another.

When they finally parted for longer than a few moments, Sylvain’s wandering hands had knocked parts of Felix’s hair loose from its tie and left his clothes so askew that Felix was going to have a task ahead of him to fix them up. While he was fiddling with that, Sylvain took the opportunity to sit back up and rest his elbow on his knee, his chin resting on his palm.

“...What?” Felix said when he noticed Sylvain watching him, not quite managing to hide that it was embarrassment rather than annoyance driving his attitude. 

“Never thought I’d see you like this,” Sylvain murmured, his eyes tracking over Felix’s messy hair and kiss-swollen lips. 

“Don’t be an idiot,” Felix replied, his usual venom completely missing. Sylvain laughed, reaching over to coax one of Felix’s hands away from where it was straightening his clothes and lifting it to his own lips.

“If I’m an idiot, it’s only because my brain stops working right when I’m around you.”

Felix spluttered, his cheeks going bright red again, but he didn’t try to snatch his hand away from Sylvain. That was definitely a win, and Sylvain looked up to wink at Felix as he kissed the back of his hand once more and then let it fall away.  

He was probably laying it on a little thick, but how was he supposed to stop doing that when Felix was letting him do it?

“C’mere,” Sylvain said, still shocked that it took minimal coaxing to get Felix kneeling over his lap again. Another deep kiss, Felix already picking up how to meet Sylvain’s tongue with his own, and Sylvain wanted to touch him properly so badly; but he didn’t want to scare Felix off, and so he kept his hands on Felix’s waist this time.

And then, for the hundredth or so time that day, Felix shocked him by taking the lead and sliding his hand between their bodies with obvious intent.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Sylvain said as he grabbed Felix’s wrist, regretting that he’d bullied himself into being the good guy so thoroughly that he couldn’t just let Felix grope him with a clear conscience. “I know I said I like assertiveness but you don’t have to push yourself into anything you’re not comfortable with just because you think I want it.”

“Who’s not comfortable?” Felix asked, but then his eyes widened slightly. “Unless you don’t want —”

“Oh, believe me, that’s not the problem here at all,” Sylvain rushed to reassure Felix, his grip loosening and Felix immediately taking advantage to let his fingers resume their slow crawl. “But you’ve never struck me as that kinda guy, and I never want to do anything that we’re not both fully into.”

After a long, silent moment, Felix rocked his hips against Sylvain’s thigh and Sylvain had to bite back a groan at the sudden knowledge that Felix was just as hard as he was.

“Does that feel like someone who’s not into this? Besides, you let Yuri touch it,” Felix grumbled, his fingers still slowly inching down Sylvain’s stomach. “It’s my turn.”

“This isn’t a competition, you don’t need to prove anything —”

“You’re right, there’s no competition at all,” Felix said, haughty and proud even with his fingers prying open the front of Sylvain’s trousers.

“There really isn’t,” Sylvain sighed, trying not to sound so much like a lovestruck fool. Sure, Manuela had said no sex, but surely a handjob would be okay? “So if you wanna touch me that bad, you can go right ahe — ah fuck!”

Felix clearly didn’t have technique. Well, Sylvain assumed he’d at least handled one dick before, but the angles were slightly different on someone else; there was an art to it, and Sylvain had never really believed that enthusiasm could make up for a lack of practice.

But Felix already had him questioning everything he’d thought to be true, so what was one more thing to toss onto that pile. The positions of their bodies made it hard for Felix to get a decent motion going, but Sylvain couldn’t have cared less when that was his dick in Felix’s hand. 

“Tell me what you like,” Felix said, the words barely penetrating the pleasure fog that had descended on Sylvain’s brain. 

“I like you,” Sylvain managed, grinning dumbly when Felix snorted in amusement. “Just keep doing what you’re doing, baby, feels good.”

It was probably fifty-fifty as to whether Felix had decided to allow the pet name or if he’d missed it entirely, but Sylvain really hoped it was the former. To call Felix a pet name and not get his head figuratively (or potentially literally) ripped off was like a dream come true, and he tipped his head forward to rest against Felix’s shoulder as he let himself indulge in pleasure.

“A little faster and I’ll come,” Sylvain said, enjoying the way Felix shuddered against him. Always a quick study with something in his hands, Felix gradually increased his pace until Sylvain groaned, recognising the clear sign that he’d found the sweet spot. 

His hips rocking up to meet Felix’s hand as best he could with a grown man in his lap, Sylvain let his eyes drift close and wrapped his arms around Felix’s waist to hold him close. 

“Almost there,” he warned when the pleasure started to become too much, and while he wanted the moment to last forever he also wanted to completely fall apart under Felix’s hands. To make sure that Felix knew just how much of a hold he’d always had over Sylvain.

“Do it,” Felix said breathlessly, and before he knew it Sylvain was groaning as he came into Felix’s hand. All he wanted to do was clutch at Felix’s narrow waist and bury his face into Felix’s neck as he shuddered, and Felix’s free hand buried itself in the back of his hair when he went ahead and did it.

“Fuck,” Sylvain muttered against Felix, his breath coming fast as Felix stroked him through the last of his orgasm. “If you’re this good already, a little practice is gonna make you deadly.”

“I’ll add it to my training routine,” Felix said, so dry that Sylvain almost entirely missed that he was joking.

Still…that was some training that Sylvain wouldn’t need much convincing to join in with.

“My turn now?” Sylvain asked, because he might have been deep into his post-orgasm high but he was still a believer in immediately giving back twice as good as he got. Add on the fact that he had Felix in his lap and Sylvain would have kept Felix there with him for the next week if he’d thought he could get away with it. 

One thing at a time, though.

Waiting for Felix to turn his focus to wiping his come-streaked hand on the grass next to them, Sylvain took advantage of his distraction to grab Felix by the hips and haul him around until he was sitting between Sylvain’s thighs with his back against Sylvain’s chest. “This okay?”

“Show me that all that practice was at least worth it.” The way that Felix melted into him had Sylvain biting his lip, suddenly finding that his usual composure was deserting him in the face of, well, Felix.

The man always had been a force of nature to Sylvain.

“You asked for it,” Sylvain replied, gently catching Felix’s earlobe between his teeth as he loosened the front of Felix’s trousers. Felix felt so hard in his hand that it must have been close to hurting, precome already making the head wet. 

Setting a slow pace, Sylvain paid attention to what made Felix shudder and his breath hitch, completely entranced by every moment. His free hand was wrapped firmly across Felix’s stomach, holding Felix as close to him as Sylvain could manage without being physically inside of him, and Sylvain genuinely didn’t know if he’d ever be able to let him go.

Hooking up was great. Sylvain had done enough of it to know that. But hooking up with someone he loved?

Sylvain had never been so eager to please and so unwilling to let it finish.

“Is that good?” Sylvain asked, his lips moving against Felix’s jaw. He didn’t get a verbal answer, which he’d more or less expected, but one of Felix’s hands was gripping Sylvain’s thigh and he was beginning to squirm despite an obvious effort not to.

“You’re beautiful.” Trailing kisses along Felix’s jaw and the exposed parts of his neck, Sylvain could only laugh when Felix very unconvincingly called him a fool, his voice breaking slightly when Sylvain rubbed a thumb over the head of his cock. “I’ve wanted to do this for so long, Fe.”

“Less talking, more — that,” Felix groaned, his breath coming harder and his head lolling back onto Sylvain’s shoulder and exposing more of his neck to Sylvain’s lips. Even though Felix was being so open and pliant now, he was careful not to leave any marks: Felix would definitely kill him for that once his orgasm wore off.

Picking up his pace, Sylvain held Felix close to him as he brought him towards his climax, wanting Felix to know that he cared so much even without words. If Sylvain was feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing, he doubted that Felix would be feeling much better; but Sylvain wasn’t going to let him fall.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, not even caring if that made no sense to Felix. “You can let go.”

Lifting his free hand to tilt Felix’s chin towards him, Sylvain leaned over Felix’s shoulder enough to kiss him. Felix nearly bit him when his body suddenly jerked, teeth grazing off Sylvain’s lip, and it wasn’t surprising when Sylvain felt come splash against his hand a second later. 

Felix’s chest heaved as he slipped away from Sylvain’s lips, his expression as open and unguarded as Sylvain had ever seen it. “Sylvain…”

Not wanting to respond and break the moment, Sylvain just smiled and let Felix pull himself back together. He was slower to snap back than Sylvain would have expected, seeming almost reluctant to pull away and begin putting himself back in order. Surprisingly, his usual sense of distance didn’t return even after he and Sylvain had cleaned up as best they could and stood up, Sylvain offering his cleaner hand to Felix and letting the contact linger a little after he’d hauled Felix upright.

“Is this where you usually run off?” Felix asked once Sylvain let him go, brushing himself off and pointedly not making eye contact.

“Do I look like I’m going to run?” 

“...No,” Felix admitted, and he was right. It actually kind of scared Sylvain a bit how unwilling he was to let the moment end.

“Hey,” Sylvain said, lightly grabbing Felix’s forearms. “Look at me.”

It took a while for Felix to comply, emotional vulnerability never really having been his strong point, but Sylvain was patient. Eventually Felix’s eyes met his own, and Sylvain let himself smile as genuinely as he wanted.

“I was telling the truth, y’know. About wanting to be serious for the right person.”

Felix flushed again, and how had Sylvain never noticed how easy it was to get him to do that? “And what, I’m the right person?”

“Who else could it be?” Sylvain asked, simultaneously wanting to vomit from being so fucking genuine and feeling like a weight had lifted off his shoulders. “It’s always been you.”

Felix stared, silent for several long, torturous moments, but he didn’t try to pull away. “...Who knew Sylvain Gautier had actual emotions?”

“Wow,” Sylvain said, his tone matching the playful glint that had appeared in Felix’s eyes. “Treat a man to the best handjob of his life and this is the thanks I get?”

“The thanks you get is that I might let you do it again.”

“Promise?” Sylvain asked, trying not to sound as excited by the idea as he felt. Felix didn’t reply, but he did tilt his face up towards Sylvain in a playful challenge.

“I like you kind of a lot, Fe,” Sylvain admitted, leaning down to leave a quick kiss on Felix’s lips. 

“No, really?” Felix said dryly, and all Sylvain could do was laugh.

It was fleetingly quick, but Felix smiled and shook his head, his hand briefly resting on Sylvain’s hip before falling away.

“I’m not sleeping in the cold all night, let’s head back.”

“Wanna sleep in my tent?” Sylvain asked hopefully, not actually expecting it to work.

“...I suppose,” Felix said, and Sylvain nearly tripped over his own feet in shock.

“Then let’s get out of here,” he managed, and this time Felix really did look amused.

Fuck, Sylvain loved him so much. 

—----------------------------------------------

“Felix!” Sylvain called as he swept into Felix’s makeshift office. “Let’s go get lunch.”

“Some of us have actual responsibilities,” Felix grumbled as per usual even as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

“Yes, yes,” Sylvain agreed pleasantly, hooking his elbow into Felix’s and laughing when Felix immediately slipped away and shoved his side.

“Don’t push it.”

“I would never.”

The dining hall wasn’t overly busy when they arrived, Sylvain collecting two plates of some sort of meat off the soldiers on cooking duty and dramatically presenting one in front of Felix when they sat down. 

“How are things in Fraldarius?” Sylvain asked, sitting back to enjoy how animated Felix got as he discussed the homeland he was now in charge of. The sudden promotion had clearly worn on him at the start, but now he’d settled into his role so smoothly that it was sometimes hard to remember that he was only nineteen.

Halfway through a story about his mother effortlessly shutting up some old nobles who’d thought that Felix’s absence should have been filled by his uncle alone, Felix abruptly cut himself off and glared at something over Sylvain’s shoulder.

Confused, Sylvain went to turn around but froze when arms were hooked over his shoulders from behind.

“Fancy seeing you two here,” Yuri murmured, a little too close to Sylvain’s ear. 

“Tch,” was all Felix had to say as Sylvain tried and failed to extricate himself from Yuri’s grip. He didn’t trust this shit at all, and just hoped that Yuri would keep the potential for damage (to body, relationship and surroundings alike) to a minimum.

“It’s been a while, Sylvain. What are you doing tonight?”

“Uh,” Sylvain started, eyeing the way Felix’s grip tightened on his knife and wondering if he should duck and save himself or piss Felix off by preventing him from stabbing Yuri. Before he could do either, though, Felix relaxed as if nothing had ever happened.

“Me,” he said simply, surprising a laugh out of Sylvain who could only watch as Felix’s knife cut through his food instead of Yuri’s eyeball. 

“Well, isn’t that a surprise,” Yuri said, not sounding surprised at all. Patting Sylvain on the top of the head, his hand lingered a little even as his weight disappeared off Sylvain’s shoulders. “Congratulations, I suppose.”

“Yep,” was all Sylvain risked saying, even as Felix didn’t look the slightest bit bothered anymore. 

“Well, don’t expect me to wait around until he gets bored of you.” 

“You wish,” Felix muttered under his breath, and Sylvain was so touched that he barely heard Yuri’s footsteps as he walked away.

Not sure if he should voice his thoughts, Sylvain waited until Felix had taken a few more bites to put down his own knife and lean forward. “You know, I promise there’s nothing going on with him anymore.”

“Oh, I’m aware.”

“When did you get so cool, Duke Fraldarius?” 

“Somewhere around the time I realised that you’re so in love with me that you’re wrapped around my little finger.” 

Sylvain considered putting up at least a token protest to that, but he was well aware that neither of them would believe it. “Yeah, I guess that’s fair.”

Going back to his meal, Sylvain let a few beats pass before he looked up at Felix and grinned. “D’you promise that I get to do you tonight, though?”

Felix raised an eyebrow, although as had become much more common for him lately he didn’t look anywhere close to annoyed. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“Gotta stop getting my hopes up like this,” Sylvain said with an exaggerated sigh, although he almost dropped his knife when Felix’s leg pressed up against his own under the table.

“Maybe I’ll do you instead this time.”

“Fuck, Felix,” Sylvain cursed, trying not to think too hard about that in the middle of their bloody dining hall and failing miserably. “If anyone notices me walking out of here with a huge boner, I’m telling them exactly whose fault it was.”

Felix laughed, a too-rare sound that Sylvain was always going to treasure, and eventually their conversation returned to more appropriate topics as they finished their meal and lingered at the table, both of them clearly unwilling to part until evening.

Felix was the one who finally broke the stalemate, his sense of duty finally outweighing everything else. “I’ll see you tonight, Sylvain.”

“You bet,” Sylvain winked, and he wasn’t at all subtle in turning around to watch Felix leave. He looked so regal in his family cloak, his posture straight and proud, and there really was no way Sylvain could have even considered going back to anyone else. Felix really had been right, that day they’d sat together on the grass and finally sorted years of emotions out: there was no competition at all. 

Sylvain was in it deeper than he’d ever thought possible, but that was a lot less scary when he knew that Felix was right there beside him.

[zorinanana]

Kiss Me in the Dark is another illustrated fanfiction I made a couple months ago. It takes place in the same continuity as Like a Glass Bottle, but it's a completely separate story that doesn't really connect to that one. I also wrote this before Chapter 7 Part 1 or the Sunset Savanna event came out so there's some parts that definitely diverge from canon. There are also spoilers for chapter 6, by the way.

Rating: M (Strong language, suggestive content, A LOT of mentions of suicide and self-harm)

Pairings: Leona/Idia, background Malleyuu

Content Warnings: This story pretty much revolves around suicidal ideation, depression, and self-harm. I am serious, you probably don't want to read it you have a hard time with that stuff.

Word Count: Long as Fuck (~55k words)

<- Previous (Chapters 1-3)

“Did I maybe say you were… cute? Smart? Funny? I could keep going.” With each kind adjective, Idia would jump and then duck his head even further. Like Leona couldn’t tell exactly how happy it made him.

“Stop messing with me! You’re gonna give me a heart attack!” Idia whined. “You never said anything like that!”

“I didn’t? Huh, weird.” Leona’s grin faded. He looked down at the other man’s hand in his. Even in this darkness, his keen eyes could make out every little scratch on his fingers. Some of them must have been from building things, but he had a few callouses that seemed like they came from hard plastic controllers. This was the first time Leona had bothered to look that closely, and he was sure that Idia would be mortified if he noticed what he was doing.

But he wanted to. He wanted to memorize every inch. He wanted to know every scratch, every blemish, every long-healed scar, as well as Idia knew them.

Shit, he was in big trouble.

Chapter 4 - The Boundary

Five Years Ago

THUD!

A loud crashing sound rang out through the halls of their unusually quiet school.

Leona kicked the door to the lab open with as much force as he could muster, stomping into the room with all the fury of a mad lion. Somebody yelped, Leona’s gaze snapped in that direction and he saw Idia at one of the desks, shrunk back in terror.

“Damn it. I was hoping more people would be in here so they could see how fucking pissed I am.” Leona grumbled. He trudged over to the break futon and flopped face-first onto it, not even taking his hands out of his pockets.

“FUCK!” He yelled into the furniture, but the futon cushion muffled his voice and made it sound more like “FUDD!”

“V-Vil needed to get something from the botanical garden and Riddle’s researching in the library. Everybody else is eating lunch, I think?”

“I know.” Leona turned his head just enough to address Idia. “I just came from there.”

“…What happened?”

“The oh-so-great prince of Briar Valley happened.”

Idia flinched. He had tried to stay out of the weird little fight triangle that Leona, Yuu and Malleus were currently stuck in. They’d all talked about it before and settled on either “it’s childish” (Vil, Riddle), “it’s entertaining” (Azul, Jamil) or “it’s sad” (Ortho, Kalim). As for Idia, he wasn’t sure where he stood. He liked Yuu and Leona and was kind of casual friends with Malleus, so he was probably the only person willing to look at all their perspectives equally. As far as he could tell, all of them were being stupid.

“Did he say something to you?”

“It’s not what he says, it’s what he does. He thinks I’m gonna… I dunno, sucker-punch Yuu or something? So he keeps getting in between us whenever I try to talk to them. Then I tell him to back the fuck off, and Yuu gets mad at me for it. What the hell is their problem?!”

Idia tried not to sigh and tip off Leona to how exasperating this was. But it was no use.

“What’s that look for?” Leona growled from the futon. “Let me guess, you think they’re in the right, too?”

A while back, Idia would’ve cowered away from this conversation. But now that he was familiar with Leona’s modus operandi, he felt a lot more comfortable saying what he really thought. “It doesn’t have to be that black and white, Leona. You’ve all got good points.”

“What ‘good points’ could they possibly have?” Leona snapped. He lifted himself up on his elbows and twisted towards Idia. “I always knew he was a dangerous goddamn lunatic, and all he did was prove it. But Yuu’s too thirsty for his dragon dick to see that, and they’re gonna get hurt.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that as much as you think you do.” Idia shook his head. “Malleus is a weirdo but I’m pretty sure he’d never hurt Yuu. Or any of us. Not even you.”

“So you are on their side.” Leona growled.

“I’m not on anyone’s side! They’re being stupid, too. I’m honestly just impressed that the three oldest people here can be so toxic in the chat…” Fed up, Idia turned back to the component he had been trying to put together all day.

“I’m not toxic.” Leona flopped back onto the futon, all out of rage-energy.

“Right now your typing is pure Poison, Leona.” This was just exhausting, so Idia figured that if he rambled about nerd stuff a little then Leona would tune it out and go back to ignoring him. “But Malleus is probably electric/fire so you should be equally matched if it comes down to it.”

“If anything, I’m ground-type, so I’d be 4 times effective...” Leona mumbled into the futon. Startled, Idia stared at him until he spoke up again. “Cheka plays those games. He doesn’t know how to read yet so I help him sometimes.”

“Aww, cute.” Idia said without really thinking. Leona frowned at him and then stood, striding over to the desk.

“I’m not cute, either.” He huffed, pulling out a stool across from Idia. He grabbed another unfinished part and some of their tools and started working, pouring some of his leftover angry energy into something productive. It was probably good for him to do that, instead of falling asleep and stewing in it. Leona would never admit it, though.

“Well, you should at least try to make up with them before you kill yourself.” Idia said, casually.

“Duh. I’m not gonna do that ‘the last time I talked to him we had a big fight’ thing to them. I’m not that much of an asshole.” Leona picked up a piece of circuitry and held it up to the light to inspect it a little closer. “Not sure why they would bother being upset about it in the first place. I’d just be putting myself out of their misery.”

“They’ll probably have a big funeral for us.” Idia mused.

“They shouldn’t, it’s a waste. We’re just gonna disappear, who cares about some dumb little corpse party.” Leona grumbled.

“I think it’s more for them than for us. Y’know, like a… processing grief thing.”

Leona noticed that Idia’s hands hadn’t been moving for a while. When he looked up, he saw the other boy staring at the table. Leona could tell he wasn’t seeing a plasticky surface and scattered mechanical pieces right now, though. He was seeing something far-off, deep and dark.

“We didn’t even have a funeral when Ortho died.” Idia said, his voice little more than a whisper. “Maybe I would’ve been able to say goodbye if we had. Maybe I wouldn’t have turned into… This.”

“No point in worrying about ‘maybes’.” Leona said.

“If I go before you, will you go to my funeral?”

Leona really locked eyes with him for the first time since they’d started this conversation. Idia was watching him seriously; he wasn’t going to look away until he got an answer.

“Sure, why not.” Leona replied with a shrug. “You don’t gotta give me an invitation to it like a birthday party, though.”

He was shocked when Idia smiled at him.

“Good, I’m glad.”

---

Present

“…My dad is trying to call me.” Idia said, staring at his phone in the passenger’s seat.

Leona’s eyebrows shot up. It made sense, honestly. Idia had been gone for about a week and a half now, it was probably just starting to sink in that he wasn’t bluffing about leaving.

“Block him.”

“I can’t block him.” Idia was biting his lip, looking more upset than Leona had seen in days. “What if something happened to him or my mom?”

Leona wanted to snap that they’d deserve it, but he stopped himself. Idia might still love these people, after all.

“You know it’s not gonna be that. They’re just gonna give you shit.” And you’ll end up sitting down and taking it because they’ve trained you to have no self-esteem.

“You’re right.” Idia said, “But I still feel like I need to.”

Well, if he couldn’t stop Idia, he could at least give him some privacy. “…I’ll stop at the next rest area, you can call him while I go have a smoke.”

“Thanks.” Idia mumbled, but he looked like he was about to cry.

The rest area was perched on the side of a mountain. It looked quite picturesque in the reds and yellows of fall. Leona would probably have been impressed with the view, if he wasn’t so worried. He grabbed a few snacks from the vending machine and then found a spot out of the way to smoke. He took a seat at one of the picnic tables, staring out into the distance. He figured he’d head back in 10 minutes and see if Idia was done.

The parking lot was nearly empty, aside from a couple of minivans full of vacationing families. One person was taking their little yappy dog out to pee.

A woman caught his attention, near the stone and metal railing that blocked off the cliff on the other side. She was dressed in semi-formal clothes and carrying a small bouquet of red flowers. Looking out over the railing, she set the bouquet at the base of it.

He wondered what her story was. She stood there for a few more minutes, her long ponytail blowing in the breeze. Then she walked back to the parking lot, and Leona watched her get into a little silver car and drive away.

He knew he was being nosy, but, well, they were in a public place. He stood up from the picnic table and sidled up to the railing. As he got closer, he noticed an engraving that hadn’t been visible from back at the picnic tables.  Eventually, he was able to read what it said:

In Loving Memory of Leonard Greene

19XX-20XX

Always In Our Hearts

A memorial plaque by a cliff, hundreds of feet from the road. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened here. And there must have been witnesses, if they knew exactly where it was.

Leona wondered what that woman’s relationship with this person had been. He’d be in his 60’s now, if he were still alive, and she looked like she was in her late 20’s. So maybe a daughter, or a niece? A stepchild? A student? A close family friend?

It felt like an invasion of privacy, even though he was just speculating.

If someone saw Yuu or Idia putting flowers on my grave, what would they think we were? He thought. Friends, obviously, it was the logical conclusion to make about unrelated people around the same age.

But he hoped at least some of them would see Idia and think “Oh, that was the person he loved”.

The longer he looked at the plaque and the flowers, the sicker he felt. He didn’t really want to finish this cigarette anymore, but he wasn’t about to throw it in the grass. So he trudged back to the parking lot, leaving Leonard’s memorial behind.

---

As Leona rounded the back of the van, he was surprised to see Idia crouched in the parking lot, his drooping head supported by his crossed arms. He was still holding his phone in one hand.

“Shit, are you okay?!” Leona rushed over to him, crouching beside him and shaking his shoulder.

Suddenly, Idia stood bolt upright, his hair flared red and he threw his phone as hard as he could.

“FUCKING ASSHOLE!”

Leona’s jaw dropped. Idia stood there, panting with rage, for a few seconds before it dawned on him what he’d done.

“Shit shit shit!” He ran to grab his phone, luckily he had chucked it in the soft grass next to the parking lot and not the asphalt. It looked fine when he picked it up, just dirty and grassy.

Leona managed to pick his jaw back up. A chuckle started to bubble out of the pit of his stomach. Soon he was full-on laughing, pinching the bridge of his nose to stop himself from crying. Idia frowned at him and returned to the side of the RV, bopping him lightly with the flat side of his phone.

“Well, I’m glad one of us found that funny.”

“I’ve never seen you so pissed before!” Leona gasped out in between belly laughs. “I saw you sitting there and thought you were crying or something!”

“I probably will be later.” Idia grumbled. “Why’d I have to roll F-tier parents like that…”

“Shit. Sorry, I’m sorry.” Leona tried to breathe, but it was taking him a second. He hadn’t laughed that hard in ages. “What did he say?”

“The usual passive-aggressive bullshit.” Ida sighed. “Trying to guilt-trip me because they ‘raised’ me,” He held his fingers up in air quotes for that one, “and being vaguely threatening. He said I would never be able to ‘keep up my lifestyle’ like this, and it’s like… Are they talking about some secret third son who I don’t know about? Do they think I’m driving around in luxury cars and wearing expensive brand stuff? I’ve been eating instant ramen because I like it for over 10 years, I think I can adjust.”

Leona stood back up, shaking his head in disbelief. Idia glanced down at the cigarette he was still holding. Leona raised an eyebrow, then held it out to him.

“Wanna give it a try? Might calm you down.”

“Fuck it, why not.” Idia took it and brought it up to his lips. Leona’s heart quickened and time seemed to slow. A jolt of electricity raced down his spine, all the way out to the tip of his tail.

Fuck he looked really hot like that.

But that feeling passed almost before he could process it. About the same time Idia started coughing, dropping the cigarette on the asphalt. Leona’s eyes widened, he reached out to give him a few firm pats on the back.

“Yeah, you, uh, don’t smoke that the same way you smoke weed.”

“Gee, thanks for the heads up.” Idia gasped out in between coughs. “I’m never doing that again.”

“Probably for the best, yeah.” Leona said, stepping on what was left of the cigarette to snuff it out.

“I wish I still had some of it left.” Idia let out a couple smaller coughs, then he seemed to be fine. “Now I’m just gonna be mad about my asshole dad until I start feeling sad and guilty again.”

“You shouldn’t feel guilty. They’re the assholes here, not you.”

“It’s not that easy, sometimes.” Idia sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets and leaning against the RV. “…You know, every time this happens, I always end up thinking… About all the good things they did do for me. The few good times we had together. And then I keep thinking ‘am I really just overreacting? Maybe I’m a selfish, shitty kid?’”

“You’re not selfish for having basic fucking boundaries, Idia.” Leona took up a post leaning beside him. “They want you to think about the good times because it makes it easier for them to take advantage of you.”

“I know that, when I think about it objectively. But I guess I need a reminder sometimes.” Idia turned his head to smile at him. “Thanks for that, Leona.”

“No problem.” Leona mumbled back.

“I’m gonna go to the bathroom and grab a soda. I’ll be back in a bit.” Idia said, straightening up. Leona nodded as he passed and walked back inside the van.

Leona didn’t like being alone with his thoughts, lately. It felt… wrong. Like he was missing something. But when he glanced at the passenger seat and saw all of Idia’s crap spread out on and next to it, he felt his mouth tug into a little smile.

But then, just a couple feet to the left, there was his seat. And the box, barely visible in the dark compartment underneath. It had been getting harder and harder to look at it.

The edge of the overlook was right there, less than 20 feet from the front of the van. Just past it the ground dropped into a deep valley, into a place nearly untouched by civilization. A place that Leonard had thought would make a good final resting place.

And there was the box, still locked, still “empty”. He could just bend down and pick it up. Carry it right out the door and over to the railing, wind up and throw it as hard as he could.

He thought about that, and a minute passed. Then another minute. Then 3 more minutes.

Then Idia climbed back into the van, and he missed his chance.

“What’s up?” Idia asked, when he saw Leona still just standing there.

Leona shook his head. “It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go.”

---

eel wrangler: Good evening, Leona.

Leona: wtf do u want

eel wrangler: So much hostility right out of the gate.

What did I ever do to deserve that?

Leona: u want a list

eel wrangler: Now, now. I’m aware that you and I have never been on particularly good terms.

But we’re both adults. Surely we’re capable of at least speaking civilly with each other.

Leona: i dont care about ur restaurant that’s probly a $$$ laundering front

u wont get anything out of sucking up to me

but ill introduce u 2 my bro if u cut out this sycophant shit

eel wrangler: Oh thank god.

I was worried I’d have to keep that up for this whole conversation.

Fuck you, by the way.

Leona: fuck u 2

eel wrangler: I really just wanted to ask about Idia.

I’ve talked to him since it all went down, but you know how he is.

He never wants to admit it when he needs help.

Leona: y would u care about that

he aint rich anymore

eel wrangler: Wow.

You really have THAT low of an opinion of me.

He happens to be a genuine friend of mine, you know.

Leona: ye right

eel wrangler: Whatever, I’m not going to go out of my way to convince you.

But you should know that things were bad between him and his parents for quite a while before this.

Leona: wow no shit

never woulda guessed

eel wrangler: I don’t mean in the normal way.

They didn’t like that he was finally standing up to them.

So they took out everything in the emotionally abusive parent toolkit.

The silent treatment, bad faith criticism, passive-aggression, gaslighting. It was pretty bad.

Leona: shit

he mentioned some stuff like that

but he didnt go into detail

eel wrangler: Him taking that job was just the final straw.

I have some experience with this from when Riddle left his mother’s house.

It was objectively better for him, but it was still difficult for him to deal with.

He took a while to accept that he was safer with us than he was with her.

Leona: so what does that have to do with me

eel wrangler: I can’t be there with him. I’m too busy with the restaurant and getting ready for next semester, and it takes too damn long to get approval for a shapeshifting potion.

So right now you’re the closest friend he has.

Leona: well he’s doin fuckin fantastic

better than me tbh

if he stops bein fantastic then ill look after him, k

is tht wat u want to hear

eel wrangler: I don’t expect you to babysit him. He’s a grown man.

I’d just appreciate it if you kept me up to date.

If things go bad, there are other ways to get my hands on a shapeshifting potion.

But I’d prefer not to risk it; I don’t want to screw up the brewing process and drown myself.

Leona: just ask vil

eel wrangler: Yes, I’ll just ask international celebrity Vil Schoenheit to drop everything and brew me up an illegal shapeshifting potion that might kill me or leave me a disfigured mutant for the rest of my life.

You really are a genius, Leona.

Leona: but u just said idia was ur bestest buddy

ur brother from another puffer

eel wrangler: I’m not going to risk my life just because a friend of mine might be a little sad.

Leona: damn u can rly just admit that huh

thas cold

eel wrangler: Oh, spare me the lecture.

I do care about Idia. But it’s only natural to look out for yourself first.

I would’ve thought you’d agree with me on that.

Leona: well i hate myself so

cant imagine

eel wrangler: By the sea witch’s bountiful bosom.

Leona Kingscholar… CARES about OTHER PEOPLE more than himself?

What a shock. I’ve never been more shocked.

Leona: stfu

and never say that weird bosom shit again

eel wrangler: That actually makes a lot of sense.

You like to pretend that you’re a tough, scary loner.

Or a “tsundere”, as Idia would no doubt say.

Yet lions are known for forming close bonds with their pride.

Leona: and octopuses r known for being delicious

i suddenly have a craving for calamari

eel wrangler: That’s squid, you idiot.

Leona: same thing

eel wrangler: Wow. WOW.

I don’t know why I ever try to talk to you.

Leona: that makes 2 of us

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

Chapter 5 - Sky

Five Years Ago

Well, this was a surprise.

Idia hadn’t noticed him yet. He was too busy staring out into the cloudy night, perched on the edge of the roof. The air up here felt wet, it seemed like it would start drizzling at any moment.

“…Hey.” Leona said, all the way back by the maintenance hatch he’d just crawled out of. He hadn’t meant to startle Idia, but the skittish boy yelped anyway.

“L-Leona?” He questioned, twisting to look at him. “What are you doing up here?”

Leona shrugged. “Needed some air.”

They had been working in the lab for a few weeks now, and the deadline was starting to get to them. They didn’t have much time before the end of the year. Leona had pulled all-nighters with everyone by now-Riddle, Vil, Azul and Jamil. Even Malleus and Yuu, though they still weren’t speaking to him. Not that he wanted to speak to Malleus, of course, but he’d accepted by now that he was a package deal with Yuu.

Idia was the person he’d spent the most time with by far, though. He’d been annoyed by it at first, but now things felt weirdly natural between them. He didn’t have to pretend to be lazy and stupid around Idia.

“Oh.” Idia said. “Yeah, same.”

Leona strode up to him and took a seat beside him, dangling one leg over the ledge and crossing the other underneath himself. He followed Idia’s gaze to the ruined building across from them, still a burnt-out shell of its former self. It felt weird, seeing their campus this empty and torn apart. Most of the students had returned home when classes were cancelled.

But the 7 of them and a handful of close friends had stayed. For Yuu. He knew most of their parents wanted them to come back, including his own. But they had to understand that this was more important.

He hadn’t come up here for any reason. Maybe he just wanted to think about the concrete walkway directly below them, lined with fruitless apple trees.

“Hey,” Leona began, “You ever thought of jumpin’ off this thing?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Idia staring at him with wide eyes.

“What the fuck, Leona?”

“I’m just talkin’ to myself.” He said. He couldn’t look directly at Idia, though.

The other boy slowly deflated next to him, staring at the edge where their legs were dangling.

“…There’s a chance I might survive from this height.” Idia answered. “So no.”

“Good point.”

He’d seen it, back on the Island of Woe. Idia had felt the weight of it, and he’d been carrying it alone, too.

“Have you?”

“Nah. I don’t like the idea of blunt force trauma.” Leona replied. “I’d rather just fall asleep. Take a bottle full of pills.”

“Overdosing isn’t a nice way to go, either. And it’s unreliable. Sometimes you end up throwing it all up and surviving.” Idia sighed. “You’d probably like carbon monoxide poisoning better. It’s like going to sleep and never waking up.”

“I’d need a car for that.”

“No, you don’t. You just need an enclosed space and some coal or something to…”

Idia trailed off, and then started giggling. “Heh. Heheh. Hahaha!”

Leona turned, making eye contact with him for the first time.

“Pfffthahaha! Why are we talking about this?”

“Dunno.” Leona shrugged.

“I didn’t know that you…” Idia stopped and thought for a second, eventually letting out a sigh. “No, I figured you were like that too. It’s pretty obvious, honestly.”

“Really? I thought I was hiding it soooooooo well.” Leona lay on his back, staring up at the sky. A single raindrop landed on his cheek. He kicked his hanging feet idly. One of his sandals was loose, and he let it slip off his foot and drop. He’d just go down and get it later.

“How can you stand it? People act so weird when they find out.” Idia asked.

“Most people think I’m just lazy, I guess.”

Neither of them spoke after that. The wind picked up, whistling through the creaking towers built into the roof. Leona watched Idia’s hair flicker and dance in the breeze.

“What is it that’s keepin’ you alive, radish sprout?”

“You know what it is.” Idia drew his knees up to his chest. “It’s Ortho. I don’t want to do that to him. He’s already suffered enough, because of me.”

They both knew Ortho didn’t need it. He would miss Idia, definitely. But he was strong enough to get through it. Idia had built him that way, after all.

“Huh. That’s better than my reason.”

“What’s your reason?”

“Too much effort.”

“You’re lying.” Idia leaned over him, his mouth set in an unamused line. “I know you are.”

“You a mind reader now?” Leona tried to keep a straight face. Unreadable. Invulnerable.

“When it gets really bad,” Idia said, “Does somebody’s face show up in your head?”

Yuu. Cheka. Ruggie. “No.” Jack. Epel. Vil. Kalim. Jamil. Grim. Falena. Mom and dad. Me, when I was 12 and didn’t hate myself yet. When I still thought I had a future.

“Uh-huh.” Idia stood up, brushing the dirt off the back of his pants. “You keep telling yourself that.”

The other boy walked out of his sight. After a few seconds, he heard the maintenance hatch open and close with a metallic “thunk”.

“…Fuck.”

And now there was another face in his head.

---

Present

The Shaftlands were way too big and way too empty. Leona and Ruggie had spent most of this stretch of the trip complaining about how crappy it was, nothing but corn and weird billboards as far as the eye could see. Farther north, where he knew Vil lived, they at least had scenic mountain views and cute little valley towns to drive through. The most exciting thing that had happened to them so far was watching a teenager get mad at a gas station cashier for not selling her a six pack of beer.

That was probably why Idia looked so bored. He had retreated into his hoodie, hood up and legs pulled into it like a little tent, only his arms out so they could hold his game console way too close to his face.

But Leona could remember one place that was worth stopping for. As the sun began to set, he turned the RV onto a dirt road, surprising Idia when the ride suddenly turned bumpy.

“Huh?!” He exclaimed, fumbling with his game console and then clutching it close so he wouldn’t drop it. “Where are we?”

“I’ve got a place I wanna show ya. Me n’ Ruggie stopped there during our trip.” Leona explained.

“Now? It’s like, 6 PM.”

“Yeah, that’s the point. We’re camping out tonight.”

Idia’s face went pale. Leona couldn’t help but laugh.

It wasn’t like they’d be sleeping rough. The tent and sleeping bags were still in a storage compartment where he and Ruggie had left them after their trip. They had probably camped out like this more often than sleeping in hotels, or even in the RV itself.

“You’re not gonna make me run or work out or do some dumb little collect-a-thon, are you?” Idia grumbled. He still helped Leona set up anyway, putting the tent up with a surprising amount of ease and speed.

“Do I look like Coach Vargas to you?”

“Eugh, please, don’t remind me of that guy.”

Idia stopped to really look around for the first time. They’d somehow found a small lot of earth unclaimed by corn, instead covered in barren, rocky soil. The farmers around here probably didn’t want to bother with it.

It was still hot enough out that Idia had taken his hoodie off and tied it around his waist. Leona noticed the v-neck he was wearing and found it… distracting. Partially because of the anime girl printed on the front of it, but mostly because of how it clung to his body and revealed just a glimpse of his collarbone. Idia had apparently developed a sense of style in college.

“You think they’ve got enough corn out here?” Idia asked.

“I’ve heard they wait for it to dry out and then set it on fire to get massive fields of popcorn.” Leona said, piling sticks and kindling into an ashy circle that was already there. Idia laughed.

“Are we even allowed to be here?”

“It’s a real campsite. I think. The fire pit and log benches were here when we first came.”

“You think, huh?” Idia sat down on one of the log benches anyway, crossing his long legs at the ankles. “So what did you want to show me?”

“We gotta wait for a bit.” Leona replied. He tossed some larger sticks into the slowly growing fire, then took a seat next to Idia. “You wanna roast some hot dogs on sticks like in a cheesy movie?”

“Sounds good to me.”

---

Meg: Well, you know how men are.

They think “no” means “yes” and “get lost” means “take me, I’m yours”.

“I like this girl.” Leona chuckled. Idia didn’t seemed bothered at all by him leaning over his shoulder to look at his handheld console. Maybe they had just gotten more physically comfortable with each other over the past few days. “You sure she’s the same one, though? She’s wearing a different outfit than the keychain.”

“They redid a bunch of the art for this port.” Idia explained. His hands were a blur as the game transitioned back into the shooting sections. “People have mixed opinions on it. I think the new portraits are nice, but there’s something about the original pixel art that has so much more charm. Some people act like the new art personally came to their house and killed their dog, though.”

“Damn, people get that crazy over something like that?”

“You should see how they get over shipping. People will go to war over who gets to smooch the hero, Meg or the final boss.”

“…Isn’t the final boss his uncle or something?”

“Do you really think that stops horny people.” Idia raised an eyebrow at him.

“There’s a whole damn world here that I’ve never even heard of.” Leona whistled. “I can see why you’d get so sucked into it.”

“It wouldn’t be nearly as fun without the community.” Idia said, grinning. “The original game has a lot of detailed world-building, so the fanartists and fanfiction authors have plenty to work with. It’s fun to play around with parts of the backstory that weren’t really expanded upon. Ooh, like the space nymphs, they only show up early on as like a one-off thing, but they have this really interesting culture that the original concept artist went into once on her blog-”

Leona didn’t really know what he was talking about anymore, but he put his chin in his hand and watched his glowing face with nothing but warmth in his heart. This game had never seemed all that special to him before, but it was special to Idia, and that was nice. It was nice seeing him just be happy about something.

He could sit and listen to this nonsense all night, but a loud crackle from their campfire reminded him of where they were, and he had to tear his gaze away from Idia for just a second.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but…” Leona said, nudging Idia with his elbow. “You noticed yet? Look up.”

Idia paused his game and lifted his head, and Leona studied his face carefully. His eyes widened and a big smile stretched across his face. “Wow. It’s beautiful.”

The night sky above them was inky black and immaculate, a gorgeous spread of stars visible thanks to the lack of light pollution. The flat terrain around them created the illusion that they were under a vast, starry dome together.

“Imagine piloting a spaceship through all that.” Idia said.

“Betcha don’t get to see a sky like this on the Island of Woe.” Leona kicked back on the log bench and leaned back on his hands to get a better view. It was so much easier to breathe, out here.

“Yeah. It’s too bright there.” Idia mused. “…I missed out on a lot of stuff, when I was there.”

“You can see them pretty well from the Savanna.” Leona said. “At least from the palace. It’s so old, most of the lighting still comes from torches and braziers and they snuff them out at midnight. Unless there’s a party or something going on.”

“Can I visit you there?” Idia asked.

“Of course you can. Why would you think you can’t?” Leona blinked at him, confused.

“I’m technically a commoner now. I thought your guards might toss me out. They might think I’m a legendary hero come to slay the demon king.”

Leona smirked at the mental image of his brother as a “demon king”. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve had plenty of friends visit before.”

“Okay, then I will!” Idia gazed out into the distance, idly plucking at the fibers of the blanket in his lap. “Heh. Kind of hard to believe it…”

“Believe what?”

“That it’s so easy to just make plans. With friends.” He ducked his head down, too shy to expose his face to all this open air. “I never would’ve dreamed of that when I was 18.”

“You made friends in college, right?”

“A few. I ended up seeing Ortho’s friends pretty often, too.” Idia answered. “But I was never a social butterfly, if you can believe it.”

“Tell me about the ones you do have, then.” Leona said, leaning forward.

“Y-You don’t really want to know about that. They’re just strangers to you.”

“I want to know.” Leona said. I want to know everything I missed out on in your life. I want to know what it was that made you so strong.

Idia opened and closed his mouth a few times, trying to think of what to say.

“…M-Maybe later. I’d rather focus on the friend I’ve got right here.”

Leona stared at Idia, watching the color of his face shift as he thought about what had just come out of his mouth.

“I-I just mean! If we’re still friends!” He blurted out, turning to Leona with a frantic look in his eyes. “We are still friends, right? I don’t want to just assume we are if you’re not…”

“Idia, do you think I would be lugging your ass across multiple borders if we weren’t friends?” Leona replied. It was kind of a rough answer, but he tried to reassure him with a smile, too.

“…I guess you wouldn’t.” Sheepish, Idia returned to fiddling with his blanket. “It’s just… I know I overstep, sometimes. You can tell me if it’s annoying.”

“You’re not annoying.” Leona frowned. Idia was clearly doing a lot better these days, but it made sense that those insecurities would still bubble up sometimes.

“…Thanks. That’s good to know.” With a small sigh of relief, Idia returned to his game to save his progress and put it away.

They looked at the stars for a while longer, a comfortable silence settling over them. At least, that was what they tried to do. Both kept trying to sneak glances at each other, occasionally making eye contact by accident and forcing themselves to look away in a flash.

Leona’s heartbeat was painfully quick. He felt like a lovestruck teenager again, on an awkward first date where neither of them could make the first move. Maybe, this… Kind of was one?

He shook his head. No, that didn’t make any sense. They were adults. They were both adults. If he wanted Idia, and Idia wanted him, what was wrong with them admitting it? They basically had already, with all the flirting they were doing.

So Leona made up his mind. Tentatively, he reached for Idia’s hand.

Only for Idia to pull away at the last second.

Leona looked at his face and got a shock. Eyes wide and body rigid, Idia was clutching the arm he had tried to touch to his chest, shaking just enough that Leona could see it.

“Um.” Idia squeaked out.

“…Idia.” Leona said. “Do you not-”

Idia interrupted him with a wild shake of his head. “I-it’s not that! It’s something else. I just don’t want you to…”

Idia trailed off. His hand was squeezing the wrist of the other, the fabric of his sleeve bunching up.

…Leona was pretty sure that he knew what was up, now, but as soon as he opened his mouth, Idia started shaking his head again.

“Don’t look at me like that. Forget about this.”

“I can’t just forget-”

“Please just forget it.”

“Idia.” Leona said, keeping his voice soft and quiet. “Let me see it.”

“No.” Idia switched from fear to anger all of sudden and glared at him, surprisingly resistant. He clutched his arm even tighter to his chest. Figures that this was the one thing he’d be so stubborn about. Leona sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion.

“Idia. Please. I’m not gonna say anything mean or whatever it is you’re worried about. You know I wouldn’t do that.”

Idia considered it for a moment.

Gradually, he loosened his hold on his wrist and let his arm unfold in Leona’s direction. The beastman took his wrist, gently, until it laid out before him. He pulled the hem of his sleeve back.

The scars stood out, bright white against his already pale skin. Leona traced his thumb along one. There weren’t as many as he thought there would be, thankfully, and they all seemed pretty old.

“I haven’t done it in years.” Idia mumbled, just so they weren’t sitting there in silence. “After S.T.Y.X., I felt like doing it less and less. And eventually I just… didn’t anymore.”

“…That’s good.” Leona said. He wasn’t sure what else to say. It was good that he had stopped.

But he shouldn’t have needed to do it in the first place.

Leona poured over every memory he had of school, trying to think of a single time that he had seen Idia wearing short sleeves. He couldn’t come up with anything. There was the Starsending, but nobody had gotten very close to the performers, and Ortho must have edited the pictures to hide it.

He should have noticed, really. He should have expected it, considering what they were.

But Leona had never been interested in hurting himself. He just wanted to die, as quickly and painlessly as he could. Idia must have been different, though. More different than Leona thought.

“Do you remember that night you found me on the roof of the school? A little before the end of junior year?” Idia asked. He looked up again, like the stars were a deity that he could pray to for strength. When Leona looked at him, his tranquil face was framed by the gentle light of his hair.

Of course Leona remembered. The roof wasn’t normally accessible to students, but he had stumbled upon a hatch in a maintenance closet while skipping class one day. Leona liked napping up there sometimes, but he’d had no idea that Idia knew about it until they bumped into each other that night.

“Not really.”

“You asked me if I was planning on jumping.” Idia continued, “And then we talked about all the different ways we’ve thought of killing ourselves.”

“Ugh, I was so fucking edgy.” Leona grimaced, but Idia just laughed. It almost reassured him, hearing that laugh. At least he hadn’t scared Idia too badly.

“Ha! Yeah, but… I kind of needed that. To make a big joke out of it with someone who understood.”

Idia’s arm slid out of his grasp, until their hands were lined up. He flipped his around, so the tips of their fingers were gently resting on each other’s palms. The atmosphere around them felt a little lighter, now. “It made me think about… I dunno, how silly all of it was. Like ‘oh, this is dumb, I could be thinking about the next patch of my favorite MMO instead’.”

“I was bullshitting the whole time, Idia. I can’t believe that actually helped.” Leona chuckled. It was an obvious lie. That night was probably what changed everything.

“To you it was bullshit. But it meant a lot to me. A lot of things you said… m-meant a lot to… Actuallynevermind.”

Suddenly embarrassed, Idia’s hair turned bright pink and he had to look away.

“Hm…? What was that?” Leona grinned, leaning into Idia’s space. Oh, he just made it too easy. “What things could you possibly mean?”

Idia covered his face with his free hand, but it wasn’t enough to cover his embarrassed smile. “N-nothing! Just forget I said anything!”

“Did I maybe say you were… cute? Smart? Funny? I could keep going.” With each kind adjective, Idia would jump and then duck his head even further. Like Leona couldn’t tell exactly how happy it made him.

“Stop messing with me! You’re gonna give me a heart attack!” Idia whined. “You never said anything like that!”

“I didn’t? Huh, weird.” Leona’s grin faded. He looked down at the other man’s hand in his. Even in this darkness, his keen eyes could make out every little scratch on his fingers. Some of them must have been from building things, but he had a few callouses that seemed like they came from hard plastic controllers. This was the first time Leona had bothered to look that closely, and he was sure that Idia would be mortified if he noticed what he was doing.

But he wanted to. He wanted to memorize every inch. He wanted to know every scratch, every blemish, every long-healed scar, as well as Idia knew them.

Shit, he was in big trouble.

“…I should’ve said it.” He said, his voice feeling far too loud in the silent night. “I should’ve said a lot of things to you.”

Idia’s head shot up, his face finally uncovered. Leona studied his expression, a mix of embarrassment, terror, and joy. He probably didn’t realize how easy he was to read right now.

Idia’s mouth opened and closed a few times. He bit his lip before finally deciding what to say.

“…You’re too nice to me, Leona.”

“No, I’m not. I’m exactly as nice as you deserve, ya dork.”

Idia had to look away from him. He was obviously overwhelmed again, so Leona just smiled to himself and put Idia’s hand back down on his lap. He stood, stretching up to the sky.

But he could feel Idia staring at his back. It made his skin prickle with anxiety.

“What?”

“…Leona.” Idia began, choosing his words carefully. “Do you still want to die?”

“No.” He lied, reflexively.

The way Idia looked at him after that made his body coil into a spring, ready to sprint into this darkness and disappear forever.

He could tell, from the sharpness in those golden eyes, that he knew. He knew, and it was the most terrifying thing Leona had ever experienced. He suddenly knew what it was like to be prey stared down by a predator.

No. No, that wasn’t it. Leona wasn’t prey. He was a scared, injured kitten, and the “predator” staring him down was just a person trying desperately to save him despite how much he snarled and spit and fought and continued to hurt himself.

But he didn’t want to be saved. Not if it meant admitting that weakness.

“…I don’t believe you.” Idia said, finally.

Leona shrugged. “You don’t believe anything I say.”

His heart sank as soon as he said it. As soon as Idia looked away. A dying ember within their campfire popped, and distantly, the corn rustled as an animal ran through it.

Idia took a deep breath and stood up.

“We should probably go to bed.” He said.

“Okay.”

“Good night, Leona.”

“Night.”

“I’ll see you in the morning.”

Idia didn’t move, waiting for something. After a long minute of silence, Leona gave him what he wanted.

“…Yeah. You will.”

Idia smiled at him, and he knew he had made the right decision. At least for tonight.

---

Idia had watched Leona sleep plenty of times. All of their friends had, it was kind of his “thing”. But something about tonight, as Idia lay in that dark tent beside him, was different.

He felt that if he looked away, even for just a second, Leona would disappear.

At least part of that was his anxiety, Idia knew it wasn’t that dire in this exact moment. It was still worth worrying about. Leona was worth worrying about. He had worried about Idia, after all.

No… It wasn’t that. This wasn’t a transactional relationship where they just constantly paid each other back. Idia just… liked Leona. He liked Leona’s jokes, and his brilliant ideas, and the soft way he smiled when he thought no one was paying attention to him.

Idia loved seeing those things, and he wanted so badly for other people to see them. Even his introvert self was willing to climb to the top of the school roof and yell for hours about every single one of Leona’s good qualities, if that was what it took.

So the thought of Leona not wanting to be here, not wanting to exist anymore, made his heart feel like it was being crushed in a fist. It had been such a comfort when they were both younger, but now…

Now it actually felt real. Like Leona really could do it, and he was even willing to leave Idia behind.

He would probably sound like a flake to his younger self, but Idia didn’t care. He didn’t want to die anymore. Things had changed. He wanted them to change for Leona, too.

---

Leona: hey just outta curiosity

how did u and the lizard get together anyway

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): bruh what

What’s your game, mister???

Leona: just answer the question yuu

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): honestly it just kinda happened

we had this weird flirty thing going on for awhile

he wouldn’t tell me his name and I had to pretend I didn’t know exactly who he was and he had to pretend like he didn’t know I knew

so I made up the dumbest nickname I could and every time I said it he had to stop himself from cracking up

it was so funny

Leona: ok so ur both lunatics, got it

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): shut up im not done!!

It was fun actually

Made it feel like a secret torrid affair when we were really just sad outcasts hanging out in abandoned houses

I just kept finding out all these cute things about him that made me like him more and more

he was really sweet and I wanted everyone else to see how great he was too

then after his overblot he told me how he felt

he was so worried that I would leave and never come back

but I was always planning to lol

I just needed to get my cat and tell my mom to go fuck herself

Leona: damn that sounds cathartic

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): it was lol

and thankfully bitsy mitzi gets along great with grim

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD) sent a file “babbies.png”

Leona: god i wish that were me

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): You cant just say that about every picture you see of cats napping in sunbeams

Leona: u cant tell me what to do

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): so did my answer help you with whatever romance crisis youre having?

Leona: im not having a romance crisis i was just curious

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): it’s cute how you still think you can lie to me

Leona: uuuuuugh

fine it did

especially the part about wanting other people to see him like u do

its frustrating as fuck

he doesn’t even see himself that way

if I tell him anything nice he just thinks im joking or fucking w/ him or somethin

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): yeah

it takes a lifetime to build up good self-esteem but it takes almost nothing to tear it down

and he hasn’t had much of a chance to build his up yet.

so I don’t think he really gets that we actually do mean it when we compliment him

it’s good he’s with you right now

He cares a lot about what you think, yknow

Leona: he shouldnt, im a jackass

i only say stuff that should be obvious

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): the irony…

ya ever thought maybe the reverse is true

that he thinks youre amazing and he wants everyone else to see it too

Leona: im not tho

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): oh my god

for a genius you are the dumbest motherfucker Ive ever met

Leona: wow thanks

ur such a good friend

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): I can think youre amazing and dumb at the same time

Theyre not mutually exclusive

all im sayin is, he might want to tell you stuff like that too

so you should listen to him

Leona: I do listen to him

he mostly talks about video games i dont play and cartoons i dont watch

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): no he doesn’t

he talks about that stuff with me or lilia, but he talks about all sorts of stuff with you

ive seen you guys have conversations before that I can barely follow

and you always look like youre having fun!

Leona: I dont need u to convince me

i already know all that

we just don’t need to complicate things

not right now

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): I guess youre right

He is dealing with a lot

And so are you

Have you told him yet?

Leona: no

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): Leona… :/

Leona: its going to be a non-issue soon ok

im working on it

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): I don’t believe you

Leona: what do u know anyway

r u an expert in the ways of royalty now

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): I’m marrying into royalty

Leona: fae dont count theyre weird little freaks

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): true

but I also know it’s not ok to hide from your potential love interest

that youre only on a roadtrip bc youre trying to dodge all ur royal responsibilities

Leona: im not dodging anything

hes trying to take control of my life

its fuckin stupid and i shouldnt have to deal w/ it in the first place

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): you’re right, but when idia finds out you hid it from him he’ll be sad

he’ll think you don’t trust him

Leona: so what? its none of his business either

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): man

it’s gonna suck in a few days when youre texting me about how bad you fucked this up

and then idia is gonna text me about what an asshole you are

and im gonna have to juggle two separate conversations with two emotionally constipated manchildren

so just tell him, for my sake

bc if I have to take sides im 100% taking idia’s, sorry not sorry

Leona: if idia needed to know, id tell him

and he doesn’t need to know

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): cool cool cool cant wait to watch this dumpster fire

I love you all so much

youre my scrunkly little idiots who provide me with endless entertainment

dance, kitty, dance

Leona: oh go suck your fiancés scaly dick

plantmuncher dragonfucker (new name TBD): sounds like a great idea tbh

then at least one of us will be getting laid

Leona: barf

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

Chapter 6 - Promise

Five Years Ago

“So.” Leona said. “I guess this is the last day.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I guess it is.” Idia replied.

Everything was as ready as it was ever going to be. They had all their supplies ready, the frame they’d built, the date divined. All they had to do was wait and reconvene on the campus to take that final step. They’d already gotten Crewel’s word that nobody would be messing with their invention on his watch.

So everyone gradually trickled out of the school, heading home for the last summer vacation before their final year. First Kalim and Jamil, then Malleus and his weird little freak family. Vil had taken a car to the harbor, where he’d take the ferry to the mainland and the airport. Azul had walked straight into his mirror without even saying goodbye, too preoccupied with one of his eel buddies chatting away at him over the phone. And then there was Riddle, who spent a few hours standing around aimlessly with them before finally plucking up the courage to go back to the Queendom. He’d turned and offered them a shy little wave before he stepped through the mirror, though.

So now it was just Leona, Idia, Yuu and Grim, surrounded by all the other lollygagging students in the mirror chamber.

“Kinda feels like the finale episode of a bittersweet drama anime.” Idia remarked.

“I wish you guys could stay at Ramshackle with me.” Yuu pouted. They were cradling Grim in their arms like an oversized furry baby, the smug little fucker looking very pleased with the attention he’d been getting lately. “We’ve got the ghosts and all, but I won’t have anyone to play video games with or make fun of bad movies with.”

“Shit, same here. You’ve got those big old windows. Killer napping spots.” Leona sighed. “And I guess you’d be there too.”

“Hey, we’ll be back soon to finish up the portal! And we’ve always got online games!” Idia tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“But I don’t even know if I’m gonna be able to come back.” Yuu mumbled. “And even if I can… You guys will be seniors. Vil and Malleus, too.”

“I won’t be.” Leona chimed in. “I’m dropping out.”

Yuu and Idia looked at him like he’d suddenly grown a second head. “Wait, what?”

“Dunno why you guys are surprised by that.” Leona shrugged. “I can’t stall anymore, so there’s no point in me still studying here.”

“But… Your degree?!” Idia asked.

“I’ve already aced classes taught by some of the best instructors in the world. I can namedrop 20 people who have a thousand times more academic clout than anyone in this dump.”

Yuu opened their mouth to say something, before confusion got the better of them and they closed it, exchanging a concerned look with Idia.

“…Leona, I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while, but… are you doing okay?” They managed to ask.

No. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Yuu seemed to buy it, but not Idia. Idia wasn’t convinced in the slightest, he could tell.

“Well, I guess I can’t stop you from dropping out.” Yuu grumbled. “But you know I’d help you out if you needed it, right?”

“Of course I do.”

“And you, too, Idia.” They said, turning to face the other man. “You guys are… Probably some of the best friends I’ve ever had. I don’t want you to have to deal with stuff all alone.”

Then why are you leaving?  Leona wanted to say, but that would’ve been too cruel to ask out loud. Besides, he knew they had a life to live, on the other side of that mirror. Family and loved ones who they didn’t want to leave wondering about them. Yuu didn’t belong to him, or Malleus, or anyone else but themself.

Grim pawed at Yuu’s necktie, pouting up at them. “Minion, I’m hungry. You promised you’d show me how to use a can opener if I behaved until the end of the year!”

“Oh god, what have you done. How could you have offered him such tremendous power?” Leona said, feigning horror. Idia laughed at him, but Yuu just rolled their eyes.

“Haven’t you heard that saying about teaching a man to fish? If he learns to do it himself, he won’t wake me up at 5 in the fucking morning for his smelly canned trash.”

“You know he’s just gonna eat all of it in one sitting and overload his poor widdle kitty stomach, right?” Idia snickered.

“If it’ll teach him a lesson about being a glutton, I’m fine cleaning up cat puke for one day.”

“I’m not a cat!” Grim protested.

“You’re basically a cat.” Leona said, earning an annoyed hiss in response.

“Takes one to know one.” Idia mumbled, still snickering under his breath.

“What was that?”

Yuu shook their head in exasperation, an amused smile plastered on their face. “I really am gonna miss you two.”

Before they left to sort out dinner, they pulled each of them into a tight hug. They’d already done the same for the others. It wasn’t a goodbye; it was a promise. A promise that they would all see each other again.

Sending one last wave back in their direction, they pushed open the door of the chamber of mirrors. It swung shut as they stepped through, and then they were gone.

“We have to be off campus by 7.” Idia remarked.

“Yep.”

“We can’t stay here forever.”

“Nope.”

Idia leaned against the wall, his stuffed suitcase beside him.

“Y’know,” Leona began, “I bet Crowley won’t really check if we’re gone.”

“No, but he will send Vargas to do it.”

“I can outsmart Vargas.”

“For a little while, yeah. But what are you gonna do after that?” Idia let his head fall back on the cool stone wall, staring up at the newly-repaired chandeliers. “We’re not secret super soldiers in a stealth game. We can’t just hide out here all summer.”

“Where’s the bean sprout, by the way?”

“Ortho? He made friends with Epel, he went to his hometown to visit for a while. He was worried about me, but I don’t want him to be on the Island any more than he has to.”

“Then let’s go where he is.” Leona said. He was really just spitballing, he knew Idia wouldn’t go for it, but it was at least nice to fantasize about it. Just running away. “Betcha Epel’s family wouldn’t mind having another couple strapping young men around to help out.”

Idia laughed. “You mean one strapping young man and a radish sprout.”

“Hey, it’s a farm. Where else would you bring a radish sprout?”

Idia smiled wryly at him. Well, at least that seemed to cheer him up a little.

“That… might be fun.” Idia said. “But we both know that wouldn’t work.”

He was right, it wouldn’t. Leona was one thing, his family had long ago given up on wrangling him. But Idia’s parents still had an army of fucked up magic robots behind them, and they certainly wouldn’t let him just run away to an apple farm without a word.

Well, that was about what Leona expected. No reason to be disappointed about it. He sighed heavily and leaned against the wall next to Idia, following his gaze up to the flickering chandeliers overhead.

“I’m going to miss you.”

Leona almost didn’t hear him. When Idia’s words finally registered, he stared at his profile with widening pupils. He felt like he’d been completely thrown off balance, slid under a microscope where all his feelings and vulnerabilities were about to be exposed.

“…I’ll miss you, too.” Leona replied, and he meant it.

They stayed in that spot for hours, until they were the only students remaining. Until the sun started to set.

At 7:30, Vargas entered the chamber and yelled at them to get a move on. They trudged to their respective mirrors like prisoners to their execution. As Leona stepped through his portal, he looked back for just a moment and made eye contact with Idia. Then he blinked, and he was back in the Sunset Savanna yet again.

---

Present

“Queen to F6.” Leona said. “Checkmate, by the way.”

“HOW?!” Idia shouted, staring in disbelief at the chess app on his computer. “You can’t even see it!”

“You’re getting rusty, radish sprout.” Leona chuckled. Playing chess like this was such a good idea. It kept him from dozing off on this long stretch of road, even if not seeing the board handicapped him a little.

“Yeah, yeah, gg ez, whatever.” Idia sighed, closing the app in favor of a different one. “I gotta take a break, I’m doing some coding.”

“Yeah? What’re you working on?”

“A game. It’s my wedding present for Yuu and Malleus.” Idia explained. He was already typing away. “I want it to be good, so I’m trying to get a head start.”

“Wait. You’re making them a game as a wedding present?”

“Why not?” Idia only looked up to pout at him. “Yuu loves games. Malleus likes them too, when they’re not too crazy.”

“I’m not saying it’s a bad idea. It’s pretty genius, actually.” Leona shook his head. “What kind of game is it?”

“Just a puzzle-platformer. I want to make it simple enough for Malleus to understand how to play it, but the puzzles should be complex enough that they actually have a good time with it.” Idia returned to his laptop, resuming his furious typing. “I’m stuck on the storyline, though.”

“Make it about how they met.” Leona said, without really thinking. “Yuu loves cheesy shit like that, they’ll totally cry.”

“You know how they met?”

“They, uh, told me once.” Leona coughed into his fist. “They used to hang out in abandoned buildings. You could make a little story about them being stuck in an old mansion full of puzzles.”

“Ugh, that’s too cute. Those normies. They would love it.” Idia cackled.

“I’d call them goths, not normies.”

“Goth normies in love. Makes sense.” Idia agreed, nodding.

“You think Malleus ever makes them put on a gargoyle costume when they do it?” Leona smirked when Idia doubled over with laughter, completely caught off guard.

“Oh my gosh. I have to put that in, they’ll lose it. I’ll add you as a writing credit.”

“Maybe I am cut out for this writing thing.” Leona couldn’t help smiling as Idia giggled beside him.

“Hey, do you want to help me with it? Yuu would love it if the roastmaster himself did the script.”

Leona liked the idea, but he shook his head. “Yuu would, but Malleus would be pissed as hell. I wouldn’t want him getting mad at you because of me.”

“You know he actually likes you, right?”

“Huh?” Surprised, Leona glanced at Idia briefly just to make sure he wasn’t bullshitting.

“We all play together once a week or so. Sometimes me or Yuu hold a ‘Leona Theater’ while we’re queueing and we read funny texts you sent us. Malleus laughs harder than anyone.” Idia’s grin was ridiculous, but he didn’t seem to be lying. “You could say he’s a platonic tsundere.”

“Why are you reading my texts out loud?” Leona grumbled.

“Only the ones that aren’t about serious stuff, don’t worry. Anyway, he thinks you’re hilarious.”

“I’m never gonna understand that fucking guy.” He shook his head, trying to banish any annoying memories of all the times Malleus had pissed him off.

“Me neither, but I’m pretty sure he’d love it if you wrote the game. So you don’t have to worry about him getting mad.”

“…I’ll think about it.” 

---

“Let me give it a try.” Leona said, once they’d stopped for the night. They were hanging out under the loft again, just to get the hell out of the front seats. Idia had been typing away for the entire 12-hour ride, he must have made decent progress by now.

The other man still flinched like Leona had threatened to punch him. “But it’s not even done!”

“If you want me to write it, shouldn’t I at least play it a little? Come on, hand it over.” Leona held out his hand. Idia bit his lip, but he eventually clicked “play” in the engine he was using and handed him the laptop.

“It really isn’t that interesting right now, I’m just blocking things out. All the art is placeholder.”

It definitely did look like an unfinished sidescroller. The background was clearly some stock art he’d pulled from somewhere, but when Leona tried moving and jumping around he was surprised by how… weighty it felt. Like real gravity was affecting the character. They had a unique sprite too, a cartoony little caricature of Yuu. It didn’t have any animations yet, though.

“I’m trying to fine-tune the physics before I get into the real gameplay…” Idia mumbled, trying not to look at Leona’s face.

Maybe he’s scared I’ll hate it?

“It feels really good already.” Leona said. He explored the area a little more, pushing around placeholder boxes and experimenting with the little switches and puzzle pieces Idia had already programmed in. “You’ve made games before, right?”

“Just a few simple ones, for fun. I like to bang them out in between bigger projects. And I did a couple game jams in college.”

“What’s a game jam?”

“It’s like a game-designing challenge. You put together a team and try to make a game in a really short time, like 48 hours. I had a few friends I’d do them with. Ortho helped, too.”

Idia fidgeted awkwardly, looking embarrassed. “They were, uh, pretty bad. But they’re game jam games, they’re just practice.”

“I bet they’re better than you think.” Leona said, leaning in and putting his chin in his hand. Idia shook his head.

“Penny hated how they turned out, too. Um, she was one of my friends. She was studying actual game design, so she’d know.”

“You sure she’s not just a perfectionist?” Leona smiled at him reassuringly. “I could try ‘em out, I’m an unbiased third party.”

“You are not unbiased. You’re just going to say they’re good because you like flattering me, for some reason.” Idia shot him an unamused stare.

“Damn, am I really that obvious?” Leona laughed. “But I really do wanna try ‘em.”

Idia sighed, apparently resigned to his fate. “I have them in one of my spare drives, lemme dig ‘em up real quick.”

He reached out to grab his suitcase and rolled it closer, unzipping the top pocket just enough to fish out a portable hard drive. It looked like he’d just thrown a bunch of storage devices in there when he left home. Leona suddenly realized that most of Idia’s life was probably inside those fragile little hunks of metal and circuitry.

“I think it’s this one.” Leona handed back the laptop. Idia plugged a drive labelled “Games 4” into it and started sorting through files.

While he was doing that, Leona asked, “So what do these friends of yours do now?”

“Penny got a job at a mobile game company. She hates it, but it pays the bills, and she works on indie projects on the weekends. Olivier was in graphic design, they do a lot of freelance work now. And Will was. Um.”

Idia suddenly looked away. His hair started turning pink, but it quickly faded into an even darker blue than normal. Leona blinked. He was pretty sure he knew why Idia had stopped, but he didn’t say anything and just waited for him to continue.

“Will was in engineering, with me. We, uh. Spent a lot of time together.” Idia said, his voice little more than a whisper. “He got a job in manufacturing. Cars. He really wanted to, he’s really into cars.”

“Good for him.”

“Yeah.” Idia said. He’d stopped clicking through files and was now staring down at his still fingers hovering over the trackpad.

Leona waited. Eventually, Idia took a deep breath and continued.

“You know how I said I never had a serious relationship? That was mostly true. But Will was… The closest I ever got.” Leona could tell he was trying to choose his words carefully. It seemed like this was a pretty tough thing to talk about.

“We were making plans, looking for jobs near each other. But then… My parents called me, and they… convinced me to give up on that. So I had to tell him I couldn’t do it.”

Idia wiped his sleeve across his eyes, even though Leona could already smell the salt in his tears.

“I’m such a coward.”

“You’re not a coward.” Leona said. “You held out for a long time, Idia. And now you’re here, a long way away from them. That must’ve been hard as hell.”

“…I still feel like shit about it. He was so… He didn’t deserve that.” Idia sniffled. “I promised him all this stuff about the future, and then I let him down.”

Leona wasn’t sure what to say. He wanted to tell Idia that it was fine, that he hadn’t done anything wrong. But Idia was smart enough to know that that wasn’t true. He probably could have done things differently, done things in a way that wouldn’t hurt this person he had loved. But he hadn’t, and he had to live with that now.

Leona still hated seeing him like this, so he put his arm around Idia’s shoulder and pulled him close, startling him.

“Leona?” he squeaked.

“Just… be quiet for a second.” Leona grumbled. “Just listen to me when I tell you that it doesn’t make you a bad person. You don’t have to let your parents make you a bad person.”

Idia slowly leaned into him, resting his head on Leona’s shoulder. “…You’re right. I really don’t have to listen to them anymore, do I?”

“You don’t.”

“Thank you.” Idia closed his eyes. “Thanks, Leona.”

---

Idia's robot brother: Leona Kingscholar.

Do you have any interest in art?

Leona: weird thing to ask out of the blue but ok

i never rly thought about it

Idia's robot brother: Have you ever tried making some yourself?

Leona: for school i guess

it was all still lifes n shit tho those r easy

u just draw what u see

Idia's robot brother: Some of my friends at school would be very angry if they heard you say that.

But I’m not just talking about visual art.

There’s music, writing, acting.

Leona: idia mentioned writing 2

idk why but ppl have been saying i should write lately

Idia's robot brother: Oh, that’s a good idea!

Well, as long as you don’t try to write with the atrocious spelling and grammar that you use in your texts.

Leona: Obviously.

I do that on purpose. It actually takes me even more effort to be that sloppy.

I have to go out of my way to un-correct all the autocorrections.

Idia's robot brother: That’s an extremely weird thing to do.

Leona: It’s part of my branding, Ortho.

Never underestimate the power of a brand.

u see dont that shit look 2 much like some dumb thing vil would say

Idia's robot brother: I suppose you’re right.

You see, that’s why people have been saying that you should do it.

You have a unique voice. And writing is a very versatile form of art, so you could experiment with all sorts of genres and styles.

I think you could pull it off.

Leona: huh.

like a narrative that conveys its darker themes through subtle worldbuilding and well-structured character arcs

sprinkling in moments of levity to express their personalities as well as convey a sense of pathos

so the audience will sympathize with them and wont be overwhelmed by heavy-handed conflict and despair

Idia's robot brother: Wow.

I wasn’t thinking of anything that specific.

It kind of sounds like you already have an idea of what you want to do?

Leona: maybe

dunno if i should make it a book or a screenplay or what tho

Idia's robot brother: You could try making an indie game!

It’s pretty easy to just make a short little experimental one these days, and Idia and I can help with any programming.

Though I get the feeling you could just shut yourself in a room with a laptop and a few coding books and master it in a week.

Leona: my brain aint that enormous ortho

i wouldnt want to do it alone anyway

it might be fun to make somethin w/ u 2

Idia's robot brother: I think it would be fun too!

Leona: sounds like a plan robocop

Idia's robot brother: Please stop calling me a cop.

I only murder people who deserve it.

Leona: oof.

fuckin savage dude

wait was that a joke or have you actually killed ppl

Idia's robot brother: No but I know of at least 6 of our former classmates who have.

Leona: im assumin 3 of those are azul and his slimy psychopath posse

and then malleus and his weird mallgoth dad

but who’s the last 1

Idia's robot brother: Wouldn’t you like to know…

Leona: well if that aint ominous as fuck

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

Chapter 7 - Trap

Several days later, Leona was startled by the sight of an Acacia tree growing next to their spot in the RV park. He had noticed the forests they passed getting sparser and sparser, the air getting hotter and drier. He’d just been ignoring it, but he couldn’t do that anymore. Not with this familiar gnarled thing here, its thorny branches stretching out like clawing hands.

He remembered climbing up one of these things once, when he was a cub. He’d lost his balance, grabbed one of the branches to steady himself and ended up with a big hole in his hand and a sprained ankle for his trouble. It was the most painful thing he’d experienced at that age, and he’d spent a good 30 minutes sitting on the ground and crying until his brother found him. Falena had carefully picked him up and let him sob into his shoulder, not caring about the blood that Leona was smearing on his shirt.

Leona had hoped that their trip through the Shaftlands would take longer.

“I guess we’re getting close to the final dungeon.” Idia remarked. Leona knew he must look like a lunatic, staring at this tree, so he shook his head and walked along the RV, pretending that he was checking something on it.

You have no idea how accurate that is. He thought.

---

“Well! It’s not every day we get to see royalty here.” The middle-aged border agent smiled pleasantly at Leona, her tail wagging slowly behind her. “Welcome back to the Sunset Savanna, Prince Leona.”

“Thanks.” Leona mumbled, deliberately pretending to be occupied with something on his dashboard.

“Everything looks to be in order.” She handed back his and Idia’s IDs through the window. “Have a nice day!”

“I thought that’d be a lot more of a pain than it was.” Idia said as Leona drove through the checkpoint.

“Oh boy.” Leona huffed, slumping back in the driver’s seat. “Looks like I can’t pretend to be just some random anymore. Everyone here will recognize me.”

“Mm. I get it.” Idia nodded. “You don’t like being the center of attention, either.”

“Only if I’ve actually earned it.”

He could see Idia watching him out of the corner of his eye. He’d been doing that a lot, lately. Part of him was happy about it. Most of him was panicking. Leona was all mixed up inside, unsure of where they stood. The past few nights had been too personal. Too close.

He thought about Idia running out of the lab after kissing him. “I was overwhelmed”. And now it was Leona’s turn to be overwhelmed. It seemed like too simple of an explanation, but what else could it possibly be? He didn’t know what he should do.

Idia checked his phone, briefly, before speaking up again.

“…Do you still want to stop by that Shadowlands place you told me about?”

“Yeah, sure.” He didn’t, but at least he could use that to stall for a few more hours.

---

Leona had only been to this cheap little tourist trap once before, as a teenager, and only because a few of the servants close to his age had invited him to come along to one of their Halloween events. They’d used a fake ID to buy alcohol from a gas station and smuggled it in. Leona didn’t remember much after that. The next day his family’s driver picked him up from a run-down motel and his parents and brother spent a good four hours yelling at him. Once again, he felt out of his element.

Idia, on the other hand, was having the time of his life just taking pictures of the most random things. An archway sculpted to look like giant rib bones, a hand-painted sign, a trashcan shaped and painted like a miniature volcano.

“You look like one of those ‘normie’ guys who takes pictures of food and posts it to magicam.” Leona remarked when they stopped for one of their signature snacks. Idia didn’t look up, still searching for the best angle to take a picture of his cute little display of bone cookies.

“Food’s a part of theming, too. Not really my area of expertise, but anything can be inspiration.”

Apparently satisfied with the photos he’d taken, Idia finally sat down to look through them and chomped into a cookie. “It’s a shame they don’t have any custom rides, but that would be way more expensive than a few surface decorations.”

The closest thing was “Bat Outta Hell”, a generic roller coaster they had tried to theme on the cheap by painting the tracks and cars red and black and adding some smoke machines in strategic areas. The riders were supposedly escaping the volcano as it began to “erupt”. Leona had thrown up after riding it the last time he was here.

Idia still wanted to ride them, though, just for the hell of it. Leona thought that eating beforehand was probably a bad idea, but he also wasn’t drunk or 15 this time, so who knows?

They passed by an amphitheater on the way, barely visible from the path. They could hear the booming speakers playing the music for the show that was going on. High above the audience on a cliff set, two men in elaborate lion costumes fought while a few small pyrotechnic setups were set off. The shadow of the volcano that kept this area constantly dark helped making the lighting more dramatic. Idia watched them, a curious look on his face.

“I think it’s a show about the King of Beasts.” Leona explained, “Looks like the final battle with his nephew.”

“His nephew? I thought it was his brother.”

“Yeah, a lotta people think it ends there. In the original myth, the nephew comes back years later to avenge his father. The King still wins in the end, so most people just skip that part because it’s redundant.”

“That’s a shame. It seems like a way more interesting angle.” Idia mused. “Heroes and villains are both cooler when they’re morally gray.”

“Yeah, but people are stupid and need the morality spoonfed to them.” Leona shook his head. He’d always thought the story read better with the nephew’s revenge plot. It transformed a straightforward myth of war and triumph into the King’s personal familial tragedy.

“…I can’t imagine having to do that.” Idia said. He gripped the park map in his hand a little harder, the paper crinkling under his fingers. “Having to kill your own brother, even if it’s for the greater good.”

Leona didn’t say anything. He was grateful that he had never needed to make that choice. But Idia had, and he did. He’d chosen Ortho.

He would never admit it, but he thought was the most noble choice Idia could have made.

Leona’s phone started vibrating in his pocket, surprising him. When he pulled it out, he tried not to frown and tip Idia off. It was Falena.

“Hold on, I gotta take this.” He grumbled, gesturing for Idia to move on without him. He searched for a private place to take the call, eventually ducking behind a slightly off-model statue of the King of Beasts.

“What is it this time?” He sighed into the phone.

“Uncle Leona!”

“Cheka?” Leona was so surprised he nearly dropped his phone. “Where’s your dad?”

“Dad said I should call you! He told me you were gonna come home soon.”

“Oh.” Leona swallowed, hopefully not loud enough for Cheka to hear. “He did, did he?”

“Yeah! I really missed you, Uncle Leona. You gotta get here before Imani and her sisters leave.”

“Who?” He knew, of course, but some dumb part of him was hoping that Cheka was talking about somebody else. Somebody totally unrelated to this mess.

“Imani! She’s my new friend.” Leona could hear what sounded like another kid laughing in the background. They were probably outside, he guessed.

“Um, I think her oldest sister is the one you’re sposedta marry?”

Cheka said it so simply, but it still made Leona’s heart drop. Some invisible hand of fate had pulled it out of him, smashing it into the concrete walkway just below the roof of his old school.

“Right.” He managed to say. “So you made friends with her, huh?”

“Yeah! They’ve been staying with us for a while. I can never win against her at hide and seek, though.”

“Heh. Keep trying, you’ll get her someday.”

Despite the uncomfortable reminder of what was waiting for him at home, Leona was glad to hear Cheka’s voice. He was still so sweet. So innocent. It reminded him of when he and Falena were younger.

Back before Falena started treating him like an object to sell off instead of a little brother.

“Me and her are gonna be in the wedding.” Cheka went on. “Can I be a groomsman? Dad said I should be the ring bearer, but that’s for little kids…”

Leona couldn’t answer right away. He took a breath, staring into the eyes of the Beast King statue like it might give him more courage.

“Cheka, there’s not gonna be a-”

“Oh, sorry, Uncle Leona, dad wants to talk to you.” Cheka interrupted him. “Love you! I’ll see you soon!”

Before Leona could say anything, he heard the phone being passed to another person.

God, he could practically see the shit-eating grin on his brother’s face.

“You motherfucker.” He said.

“What’s that for?”

“You know what it’s fucking for. You really have to use your own son just to get your way?”

“I had him call you because he really has been missing you.” Falena sighed. “Do you think I’m trying to manipulate you or something?”

“Yes.”

“I’m not asking that much of you. It doesn’t have to happen right now. We can talk about this, all three of us.”

“I don’t even want to fucking speak to her.” Leona snarled. “I don’t want to know her name, I don’t want to know anything about her. It’s not happening.”

“Leona.” Falena said, “This could be a good thing for you. I know you’re not happy here. This is a chance for you to start something new.”

“Because I can’t be trusted to make my own decisions, right? I gotta get my big brother to decide my life path and hand me a wifey who doesn’t even know me.”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Leona.”

“Y’know what? I’m not gonna stand here and listen to you lie to my face.” Leona tried to breathe, he didn’t need to lose his cool and give Falena even more ammunition to use against him. “Your little guilt trip worked, okay? Tell Cheka I’ll be back in a day or two.”

“Thank you. Was that really so hard?”

“Fuck off and die.”

Leona hung up before Falena could reply. Great, now he’d have to hide how pissed off he was from Idia all day. He took a few deep breaths, staring up into the branches of the dead trees around him.

He could still just kill himself. After he dropped Idia off, he’d drive somewhere secluded and do it. But then… Cheka. Yuu. And if word got back to Idia, how would he feel? Knowing that he was one of the last people to see him alive?

It wasn’t fair. Leona knew that he wasn’t worth worrying about. He’d just be freeing them from the person-shaped disaster that was himself. Even Imani’s nameless older sister, who probably didn’t want to marry him either.

But somehow, all the people he loved had tricked themselves into thinking his life mattered. Into thinking that they really wanted him here. And he just didn’t know what to do about that.

When he caught back up to Idia, he was still thinking about it. Idia noticed his furrowed brow and lightly nudged his shoulder.

“Twisted Wonderland to Leona. You alright in there?”

“Huh? Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” He lied. “Let’s get in line.”

---

“Please don’t tell me you want to go on that again.” Leona groaned. Idia awkwardly patted his back while he crouched by a metal railing just outside the unloading area. He pressed his forehead against the cool aluminum and tried to get his head to stop spinning.

“Er… There, there?”

“You think this is funny, don’t you.” Leona grumbled, turning his head just enough to see Idia’s stupid grin.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Idia laughed. He was such an asshole, but his hand felt nice and cool on Leona’s back, so he was fine with it. “It’s just weird to see the great Leona Kingscholar so low on HP. I didn’t know you got motion sickness.”

“Me neither.” Leona mumbled. “I thought I was just drunk last time I was here.”

“Are you good?” Idia crouched beside him, his grin fading in concern. “You wanna take a break?”

Leona took a deep breath, and it actually did clear his head a little. “I’m fine. Just… I think I’ll sit out the next one.” He tried to stand and though he wobbled a little, he was able to steady himself with the railing.

“Let’s go on one of those cave tours instead.” Idia said. “You can relax a little.”

“…Yeah. Sure. Okay.” Damn it, when had this become Idia taking care of him? He felt like a flustered little cub, frustrated because he couldn’t do something that all the bigger kids could.

It’s just motion sickness, dumbass. It’s not… anything else. Stop being so goddamn dramatic.

Despite being one of the original attractions meant to draw people here, the volcanic caves weren’t exactly bustling. Leona wouldn’t have been surprised if they were the only people in here.

Small, dark, and strangely cool despite being in a volcano, they had to rely on the narrow walkway for navigation. Most of the lighting came from soft reflective safety lights on the railing. In lieu of a tour guide, some speakers and a button were set up near points of interests for guests to press for information. They ignored those, opting instead to just stop and look when they reached a spectacular pillar of hardened magma or some glistening minerals that made the cave walls look like they’d been painted over.

“It’s nice and quiet in here.” Idia sighed. “I was getting a little overwhelmed too, honestly.”

Leona leaned against the railing, his eyes following the long ridges and depressions winding through the cave. He imagined these must have been filled with lava once, a ribbon of blood in near total darkness. A path that no living creature would ever be able to travel. “We can leave, if you want.”

“I don’t, I just need a break.” Idia tilted his head at him. “…Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s just motion sickness.”

Idia took up a place beside him, his face somber. “…I wasn’t talking about the motion sickness.”

“Don’t go there right now, Idia.” Leona almost growled, but he didn’t have the energy to make it seem really threatening.

“You don’t want to go home, do you?” Idia asked. “I don’t need to hear the whole story, a yes or no is fine.”

“…No.”

“You don’t need to, then. Stay with me.” He turned his head to look at Leona, trying to give him a reassuring smile. “We can hang out at a hotel or an RV park until I find an apartment. And then you can just… Stay there.”

Was Idia actually offering to share his space? Voluntarily, for an indefinite amount of time? Leona couldn’t believe it. He wanted to say yes then and there, but brutal reality came crashing down on him a moment later.

“You know that wouldn’t work.” Leona sighed. “I’m not exactly some nobody, Idia. They’re gonna figure out where I am sooner or later.”

“…Yeah. Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Idia put his head down, hiding his face in his arms.

“I’m sorry for bringing you back here.”

“It’s not your fault.” Leona replied without any hesitation. “I told you I wanted to help. I would’ve had to come back eventually.”

Idia didn’t say anything.

---

After they left the cave, Idia suddenly gained an interest in every single show and event and non-motion-sickness-inducing attraction. Leona knew what he was doing, but he was grateful anyway. He didn’t even mind having to watch that show about the King of Beasts twice. The stunt work was actually pretty good.

In the middle of the final performance of the night, a little musical show on the main stage featuring a bunch of traditional Sunset Savanna folk songs, Idia turned to him and handed him a big wad of thaumarks.

“I gotta go to the bathroom.” He said, as serious as the grave. “Can you buy me a bag of those bone cookies from the gift shop before they close? The biggest one.”

“Sure?” Leona barely got the word out before Idia took off in the direction of definitely-not-the-bathroom.

Ten minutes later, Leona had the cookies, but Idia still wasn’t back. Leaning against the wall of the gift shop in the soft light of twilight, he watched the park visitors as they began to file out.

He waited until Idia came back into view before blatantly opening the bag and popping a cookie in his mouth.

“I didn’t say you could eat those.” Idia said, but he was grinning from ear to ear. Hm. Something good must’ve happened in the “bathroom”.

“I’m counting it as payment for being your personal shopper.”

The good thing about driving around an RV was that you could never lose it in a crowd of cars, even as the sun set and the parking lot darkened. Idia’s spirits seemed to have lifted significantly. He kept giggling quietly to himself over something.

“What’s so funny?”

“You. Getting sick on the roller coaster.”

Leona rolled his eyes. “I should’ve thrown up all over you. You wouldn’t be laughing then.”

“Probably not.” Still grinning, he kept up his poking and prodding at Leona’s expense. “I don’t see you that vulnerable very often though. But I bet you can cleanse that debuff with a good long nap.”

“Pretty sure motion sickness isn’t a ‘debuff’.” Making his way past the last row of cars before the RV, Leona pulled his keys out of his pocket. The acrylic keychain Idia had bought for him shimmered under the fluorescent parking lights, and he smiled at it without thinking.

“Uh, Leona?”

“What?” Idia was next to one of his front tires, leaning in close to inspect it in the dim light.

“I… think somebody slashed your tires.”

---

eel wrangler: So I just wanted to get this in writing.

When do you plan on introducing me to your brother?

Leona: dude idfc

i got enough shit to deal w/ rn

easiest way would be for u to come 2 the sunset savanna

n we can pretend were friends or smth

eel wrangler: You don’t think we’re friends?

Leona: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

oh wait were u srs

eel wrangler: No, I wasn’t. I just thought you might get a kick out of that.

Leona: y do u even want to talk to my bro

hes not interested in the restaurant business

and the savanna doesnt seem like a good spot for ur food neway

yall eat some weird shit

eel wrangler: Anyone who wouldn’t take the opportunity to network with a king is an idiot.

Even if he’s not a businessman himself, he most certainly knows some.

Besides, I’m not going to be limiting myself to the restaurant for long.

I have Plans.

Leona: ugh i can see exactly how smug u look rn

y did u never bother to try and talk 2 me tho

im still a prince

eel wrangler: Are you feeling jealous, Leona?

Leona: naw just seems inconsistent is all

eel wrangler: You would have seen through me in a second, so I didn’t think it was worth the effort.

Leona: but my bro wont?

eel wrangler: Leona, I’m going to let you in on a little secret.

When your brother gives interviews, he says some of the stupidest shit imaginable.

A reporter asked him about inflation once and he said “How do you inflate money? It’s just paper.”

So no, I’m not too worried about him catching on.

Leona: that aint a secret i already know that

drives me fuckin insane that ppl think thats like an endearing quirk of his

and not super fucking dire

ppl r literally starving on our streets

eel wrangler: I couldn’t care less what the socio-political implications of his stupidity are.

I have a bright future to work towards and if that means lying to royalty, I’ll fucking do it.

You all deserve it anyway.

Leona: we do tbh more power to ya on that

just let ur workers unionize at least

eel wrangler: I’ll consider it.

I wouldn’t mind joining in on a business venture with you someday, though.

Leona: wtf WHY

we both fucking hate each other

eel wrangler: And? Lots of business partners hate each other.

They’re just smart enough to set a hard line between personal and business relationships.

You have good ideas and the skills needed to see them to fruition.

Leona: and lemme guess u want me on ur good side

so i wont “raze your empire to the ground” and steal ur spouse while im at it

eel wrangler: …I didn’t realize that Ortho would be sharing those surveys with you.

I’m just putting the idea out there.

Who knows what the future holds?

Leona: nothing im gonna be dead before im 30

so dont get ur hopes up about that

still gonna steal ur spouse tho

how’s jamil doin lately

eel wrangler: I’m single. I meant a hypothetical spouse.

And why in the world would you jump to Jamil of all people?

Leona: i don’t think ive ever seen some1 flirt w/ a guy that hard and then try to play it off as some 1,000 iq chess maneuver

u should try bein more obvious about it and less of a smarmy motherfucker

he clearly thinks ur messing with him u gotta be more sincere

oh right i forgot the word “sincere” dont exist in ur vocabulary

“(adjective) free from pretense or deceit; proceeding from genuine feelings.”

there u go

eel wrangler: …Thanks for the advice.

Leona: no prob i love giving unsolicited romantic coaching to 2-faced assholes

---

Continued ->

[bubbletaeeee]

The Tease - Karina x Fem!Reader

REQUESTED: YES!

Content: angst, little fluff

Warnings: not really :)

A/N: So I mixed up the idea of enemies to lovers thing a little bit. I hope you like it 🥺 this took me a while. I’m still kinda new 🙂

WORD COUNT: 2.5k

You’ve been training at SM for a long time now. The days were long, stressful and painful. Being a trainee was always so difficult and tiring. But all of that changed once you were given the chance to debut with a group of girls: Giselle, Winter, Ningning and Karina. You’re called ‘Aespa’. Of course you had to get to know eachother and practice together before any kind of serious stuff like debut could happen.

It’s been 4 months so far with them and it has been great! All the girls were so sweet and kind. But Karina, she was always off with you.

Sometimes you even argued, and a lot of the time it would be about silly little petty things.

You’re sure that one time you had an argument in the dorms about a fricken onion, small petty rubbish always created a heated stir between you and Karina. The other members always felt the tension between you both and tend to cut in when they think things are going to get out of hand.

But you both knew that you weren’t going to ruin the chance of becoming successful idols just because you disliked one another.

So you just got on with it.

You ignored her most of the time and only really spoke to her if you had to be professional about something.

Over the time you’ve found yourself becoming rather irritated with some of her antics and acted up a lot more. Your sudden pettiness has only caused more tension with the taller girl.

Today you had dance practice with all the girls. You were working on your choreography to your debut song ‘Black Mamba’.

You didn’t mind practice too much, it was tiring for sure but you loved your whole concept and the song was totally energetic and got you going easily.

You came to a break after practicing the choreography 3 times. You felt so hot and sweaty already so you sat down on one of the benches for a drink and a quick breather.

The water bottle hit your lips and you let out a relieved sigh when the cold water washed through your tired body. As you put the water bottle back down onto the bench to your left. you could feel a presence next to you.

Turning to your right you could see Karina staring at you, almost into your soul.

It didn’t look like she was mad, nor happy.

She just stared at you.

So you looked at her with furrowed eyebrows, in confusion. Your expression obviously questioning her odd behaviour.

It didn’t seem like she got the hint so you asked "W-why are you staring at me, Karina?", for some reason it made you pretty nervous.

And with a sassy attitude she responded, "oh nothing", she leaned her head in her hand, still looking at you… up and down, hiding no shame.

"Ugh, jimin, what do you want?!"

She was starting to get on your last nerve now.

She always found little ways to piss you off.

But she just had to push her luck, "awh, why? Am I bothering you?", she cooed with a mischievous grin.

You took a deep breath to calm yourself.

From the other side of the room Winter could see you guys looking uncomfortable so she put on a cheerful face and sat between you both.

“Hey guys! Are you ready to get back to work?”, it was obvious she was attempting to distract you both and prevent anything nasty happening.

But you both ignored anything she was saying and stared at each other, almost like you were competing for who could look more intimidating.

But winter had enough and pulled both of you by the wrists to get back to practice. You just sighed in annoyance and did what you were asked.

After a couple of hours the girls all agreed they needed to stop and go shower, eat and take a rest.

Everyone separated to their dorms.

EVERYONE except you.

You stayed behind to keep practicing, honestly you were also tired but you wanted to push yourself to be better.

So you turned the music on and focused on the way you moved.

Every inch of your body ached, you were so exhausted. But you had to keep going.

So you did.

Until you gave out on your last attempt and fell to the floor on your knees out of breath.

You took a minute to stabilise your breathing and regain the energy to get up and finally get back to your dorm.

The sound of your heavy breathing was unexpectedly accompanied by the echoing sound of clapping behind you.

Your hand ran through your messy hair, turning around instantly to reveal one girl clapping her hands with no actual impressed expression.

You groaned weakly and stood up with a slight wobble in your legs.

"Karina… why are you here?”

She just chuckled quietly and handed you your water bottle.

"Just… don’t overwork yourself”.

She cared?

Miss Yoo Jimin?

You took a long sip of your water and looked at her expression.

She had a soft smile, but you couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or… genuine?

“Uhh- you- why do you care?”, you asked, authentically puzzled.

Instead of a verbal answer, she wrapped her hand around your arm and escorted you to her dorm.

You didn’t say anything and let her take you in.

As soon as the door closed you looked at her and went to say something but her oddly friendly tone cut you off, “take a seat”

You hesitated but sat down, not taking your eyes off of her, it was like as if you’d been kidnapped because the look in your eyes showed a hint of fear mixed with confusion.

Of course she noticed and pointed it out

"Gosh y/n chill out, I’m not gonna hurt you”.

This time you could actually reply, "then why am I here? Why did you bring me here?".

Her arms crossed over her chest and she rolled her eyes, “because… we need to start getting along. I mean, we’re going to be working together everyday for who knows how many years, and we have to live in the same building”, the way she explained it made it seem like it was so obvious and you were just absurdly dumb.

But it made sense, so you nodded slowly and agreed.

There was an awkward silence that filled the air.

It made you uncomfortable, and you’re sure it made her just as uncomfortable.

You anxiously played with your fingers until your voice broke the painful silence “umm.. do you wanna hang out. Or something then?”

Even though she was the one who brought you here and suggested you attempted to try and get along, you were still nervous she wouldn’t want to be around you.

But to your surprise she nodded and agreed before walking off into the kitchen.

You didn’t question it and just sat back on the sofa. A couple of minutes later, Karina came back with some snacks and threw them on the table in front of the sofa.

She sat down next to you and ate a little popcorn before turning on Netflix.

She looked to you and gave you a small smile before leaning back.

So… you guessed that you were going to watch a movie together.

You didn’t question it and just let yourself relax on the opposite end of the sofa. Throughout the film you both were silent, you nibbled on some sweets and ended up slowly drifting off to sleep curled up in a ball. About half an hour later, the movie ended.

Honestly you were so tired and sore from practice, you knew you pushed yourself a bit too hard today.

With a sigh, The girl next to you switched the tv off and looked over to your direction.

If we’re being honest, Karina didn’t entirely hate you. I mean, she always thought you were beautiful.

But seeing you fast asleep, she couldn’t wake you when you looked in such a deep, peaceful sleep. And looking over at you, she thought you looked absolutely adorable right now.

So instead she found a blanket and gently placed it over you.

Without a word, she left to sleep in her own room.

You see, the girl always liked you, but tried to deny it herself with jealousy. She tried to convince herself she was just jealous of your beauty, and that she didn’t really admire you like that. But deep down she knew she really liked you. To avoid rejection or judgement she never admitted it but instead just teases you as a way to cope with these feelings of hers.

The next morning, you were awoken by the sound of humming and running water.

Obviously Karina was taking a shower, but you didn’t remember falling asleep here last night.

You checked the time on your phone and stood up to go back to your dorm, it wasn’t far but you had to get ready for the day and get into the studio within the next couple of hours.

Just as you got up to leave, she’d left the bathroom, wearing just a towel, hair still wet.

You just froze and stared at her.

You couldn’t lie right now, the look of her made you nervous, butterflies appeared in your stomach at the realisation that the only thing covering her was a small towel.

She could see your nerves by the light blush on your cheeks and the flustered expression on your face. So she took the advantage to poke fun at you.

Smirking, she walked her way towards you, “going so soon jagi?”, you knew she was just trying to embarrass you more so you left quickly and went to your dorm in a hurry, leaving Karina laughing behind you.

You tried to forget about what happened and got yourself showered and all ready for the day. Almost 2 hours later, you found yourself in the studio with all 4 of the other girls, so of course including the girl you saw PRACTICALLY naked this morning.

But all thoughts were swept out of your mind quickly as you got to work with the other members. Soon enough, all of you were individually working on your own thing to get things done quicker and more efficiently.

Your job was the music, you felt still pretty new at this stuff so you had to focus real hard.

At one point you were stuck and you didn’t exactly know how to fix it.

Until you felt a warmth behind you and saw arms either side of your body, leaning over to press some buttons and help fix the small mistake you made. You just froze in place and let whoever it was do what they had to do to fix it.

Then a quiet voice spoke in your ear, "all fixed".

Slowly spinning your body around, you realised who’s voice it was. She didn’t even move, her arms still either side of you, leaning over you. She smirked and your gaze fell to the floor shyly, “uh- thanks”, you gulped.

Her hand came to your chin to gently lift you to look at her face.

“Y/n, why are you so nervous?”, the taller girl asked.

You’ve had enough of her mocking you just to see you all uncomfortable and nervous so you gently pushed her aside and spoke up, “I’m not nervous at all”.

And with that you left the room to get a snack and didn’t look back.

Honestly you couldn’t read Karina’s mind very well, but there’s always been a tension between you both, she always teases and makes fun of you and over time she quickly gained more confidence in taunting you even more. But you just couldn’t get it into your head why it made you so timid when she acted this way. She was almost like a bully, but never hurt you or even insulted you seriously, but she always did things to purposely irritate you a little or see you get worked up about it.

You thought a short walk to the vending machine down the hallway and a little snack could clear your head but the sound of footsteps behind took you to a halt and you stopped to turn around.

“Oh my god”, you whispered quietly and put your head in your hands.

“Karina… what do you want from me?”

Her footsteps approached you slowly.

“You’re cute when you’re all worked up”.

Heat made its way through your body and into your flushed cheeks. The comment made you blush but also frustrated you because you still don’t understand why she’s teasing you.

At this point, you felt like you’d had enough and started to ramble and let out your held in frustration and anger.

Until…

“I just don’t understand why you’re being like this, like you like me but you don’t like me and you’re just making me confused and craz-“

You were cut off by her lips on yours.

She was very gentle but it took you by surprise and made you take a step back to just stare at her with a hand on your lips, did she really just kiss you?

To not overstep your personal boundaries, she stayed where she was and spoke calmly.

“I’m sorry y/n. I just- you needed to stop talking”.

Still stunned, you couldn’t reply but instead still stared at her expression with wide eyes.

Karina began to explain herself, knowing that you were too shocked to actually say a word right now.

“Look… I’ve liked you for a while now. And I’m sorry if that took you by surprise, I just didn’t know how to tell you because well- it’s not exactly professional”.

After a moment of silence after her confession, you gathered your thoughts and had to question her just to confirm you weren’t hearing things, “you like me? like you LIKE like me?”.

Your confusion made her giggle in adoration.

“Yes y/n I like you… but it’s fine if you don’t feel the same, I’ll get it”.

You shook your head and ran to throw your arms around her neck for a hug.

Immediately her arms wrapped around your waist and pulled you closer.

“So… is this you rejecting me?”, she joked playfully.

You pulled back and tested her.

“That depends… are you going to keep teasing me like this?”

Her head shook immediately, “I promise I won’t”, she almost sounded desperate.

And her puppy eyes gave away all the emotions she held for you.

The look in her beautiful, dark eyes made you smile warmly.

Her new found sense of vulnerability gave you the chance to be confident.

Confident enough to once again press both of your lips together for a sweet, tender kiss.

She whined once you pulled away and held you closer

“More please”.

You giggled and fulfilled her affectionate request.

[uwusenpaiuwu]

Baji A.K.A. The Worst (Best) Matchmaker Ever

Summary: Baji dares you to call Mikey a ‘piss boy.’ You’re an idiot, so of course you say you’ll do it. Things don’t go as planned...or do they?

Pairing: Sano Manjirou | Mikey x Male Reader

Warning(s): mentions of omorashi (pissing), but there’s no actual pissing involved

You’re gonna die. Oh, dear God, our holy Lord and savior, you’re gonna fucking die.

Baji may be an idiot, but you’re an even bigger idiot for letting him convince you to call Mikey a piss boy.

It’s a pretty damn good trade-off, you foolishly reasoned when you accepted his offer: $10 and a spin on his motorcycle, which is basically hitting the jackpot for a broke, motorcycle-less middle schooler like yourself.

Now, what you failed to take into consideration, is that you’d literally be risking your life. Had you taken a step back and used your brain for a second or two, you would’ve realized that calling Mikey, of all people, a ‘piss boy’ isn’t worth the measly $10 Baji is currently waving in the air from across the room.

You open your mouth to chicken out. Baji pulls out another $10.

“You wanna waste your allowance? Fuckin’ fine,” you grumble under your breath, making damn well sure your icy glare is received and, yeah, the irritating smirk that widens across Baji’s face when you continue on your path to your demise means your message is read, crystal clear. He just doesn’t give a shit.

Taking a deep breath, you square your shoulders and practically march towards where Mikey is casually munching on fresh taiyaki, legs crisscrossed as he sits atop an old crate.

Oh, man. What would’ve been worse: interrupting one of Mikey’s naps or interrupting him mid-snack?

(Un)Luckily, you get to experience one of them today!

When your footsteps lead you to where you don’t want to be, you stop to stand directly in front of your target, who doesn’t immediately look up in your presence. Simply keeps munch, munch, munching.

It gives you a chance to hesitate, a chance to rethink your reckless decision, a chance to back out and save yourself from a one-sided ass beating.

Alas, the chance to make that split-second decision vanishes when deep, dark eyes flicker up to meet yours, the owner’s expression reading that he’s not exactly bothered to see you there, rather, simply curious to know what you want.

It’s the perfect moment to get this bet over and done with, so, along with your prayers, you just go outright and say it.

“‘Sup, Piss Boy.”

Mikey stops chewing, and you already feel your heart about to burst out of your chest.

The room comes to a dead silence, making it all the more nerve-wracking when, following a dreadful minute of absolutely nothing, Toman’s leader speaks.

“What.”

It’s the only word he says, voice low, emotionless, and instead of it being a question, it’s a demand, a challenge even, to dare you to reaffirm what couldn’t have possibly come out of your mouth.

You remind yourself to breathe, while mentally preparing yourself to get decked in the face, ‘cause it’s way too late to backpedal now. One of your feet is already in the grave; it wouldn’t hurt to speed things up and launch your entire body in there.

“Nothing. I just- I wanted to know how my, uh...my little piss boy is...doing?”

Well, you lived a good life.

Mikey stares at you, unblinking.

One second passes. Two.

Then-

“Are you into that?”

“I- Huh?”

“Baji said you’re into some weird stuff, but that’s pretty fucking dirty, (Y/n). Even dirtier than Ken-chin’s tastes.”

(”Don’t fucking drag me into this shit.”)

Seeing the horrified confusion on your face, Mikey’s head tilts ever so slightly to the side.

“You want me to take a leak on you, right?” he asks, and that’s when your soul says its farewell, leaving behind a red-faced corpse on the verge of combusting. Bringing a hand to his chin, he adds, “Or, did you want to piss on me?”

You thought getting beat up by Mikey would be bad?

No, no, no.

You’d gladly take that over this humiliation.

“Hey, Baji! What did the couple in your porn mag do? Did they take turns or what?”

And Baji, the piece of shit, can’t hold it in anymore and breaks out in the most obnoxious laughter, the kind that’s loud, unrestrained, and has him doubling over, gasping for air.

“Oh, fuck, this is gold!” He’s wheezing at this point, triggering a few of the others to start laughing as well, including Mitsuya, who, to his credit, at least tries to stifle his laughter. “Ask (Y/n) what he prefers! Ask!”

At the other boy’s persistence, Mikey raises an eyebrow at you, giving you his full attention as though genuinely curious to know what your pissing preferences are. It causes the flush coloring your face to turn 10 shades darker and 10 degrees hotter.

You don’t know what’s worse: the fact that your friends now think you have a piss kink, or the fact that Mikey is open to exploring said kink with you.

“So, what’ll it be?”

“I...” What do you even say in this situation?

“Do you want me to pee on you?” Mikey asks again in a much softer voice, hoping it’ll reassure you into giving him a direct answer. He doesn’t want to scare you, no. Knowing how nervous you get around him, he’s been doing his best to show only the good sides of himself to you.

That must be why he takes your hand in his, giving it a little squeeze to encourage you to speak up. What he doesn’t know, is that as opposed to being comforted by the kind action, it makes you feel mortified, especially at the insinuation of you wanting him to release his bodily fluids on you.

So mortified, actually, that the first thing that comes out of your mouth is an unintentionally shy, “Please, don’t pee on me...”

You realize your mistake the second those words are said.

Ahh! No! That’s not what you were supposed to say!

Why didn’t you say you don’t want anything to do with piss in general?!

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Your head is spinning, thoughts going haywire after misspeaking , but what really sends you over the edge is the, admittedly, cute little smile you catch on Mikey’s face. Now, not only is your head in disarray, so is your heart.

“Alright. Since it’s you, I’ll let you do it.”

Nope. That’s it for you. Time to clock out of consciousness.

Thump!

“Oh. He passed out.”

Abrupt as it is, your passing out is of no concern whatsoever to Mikey. Nah, he finds it endearing as hell and crouches down to admire your ‘sleeping’ face.

“He must’ve been super happy,” he fondly muses, completely ignoring Draken’s advice to make sure you’re still breathing in favor of stroking your head and pinching your cheeks. 

(”He might die, dumbass. I’m tellin’ ya.”

“He won’t. (Y/n)’s strong.”)

On the other side of the room, Baji has zero fuel left in him to bark out another laugh at Mikey and his gullibility when it comes to wooing the person he fancies, though he does have the energy to wipe away the tears at the corners of his eyes.

“Best $20 I’ve ever spent,” he blissfully remarks to Chifuyu.

“Baji-san, this isn’t how you play matchmaker.”

“Dude, this is exactly how you play matchmaker.”

To prove his point, the long-haired teen points back to where Mikey is sitting beside you on the ground, carrying out a normal conversation with Draken, like there isn’t an unconscious person right beside them.

“Ken-chin, where should I take (Y/n) for our first date?”

“Huh? Date? I thought he was just gonna piss on you?”

“That means he likes me, Ken-chin,” Mikey explains, sounding, for all it’s worth, similar to a parent teaching their child a new life lesson. “And if the person I like likes me enough to want to piss on me, then, obviously, I should take him on a date.”

It makes no fucking sense, but if Mikey wants to believe that your love language is spilling less than desirable bodily fluids on each other, then so be it.

Because for him, anything goes as long as it’s you.

Not only are you $20 richer, you also scored yourself a date with someone that would let you take a piss on them and vice versa.

Aren’t you a lucky guy?

[escapingmytrauma]

TRAIL OF RED FEATHERS

YANDERE HAWKS/TAKAMI KEIGO X ANXIOUS F!READER

CW/TW: Yandere behavior, mentions of stalking, kidnapping, nonconsensual drug use/drugging, anxious reader, dub/non-con, somnophilia (?), size kink-ish, minor praise and degradation, dirty talk, possessive behavior, overstimulation, dacryphilia.

A/N: Let me know if I missed any please.

W.C: 7.8K

 DARK CONTENT! DARK CONTENT! DARK CONTENT!

Takami Keigo/Hawks: Trail of Red Feathers

  The constant findings of a red feather always somehow intrigued your curious mind. It never bothered you, you just never understood how you always ended up finding them. You had even brought it up to your friends just for them to respond with, “Huh. I never see those feathers” or “I think your starting to hallucinate.” After those comments you just kept the findings of the red feathers to yourself.

Your mind trailed back to when you first encountered one. Bright colors always entice you and you could never stop your body from walking towards such a color. So, of course when you first encountered such a bold, bright colored feather you immediately picked it up. The softness of the feather brought such a comforting sensation through your fingers. You just had to rub it a little more. A bright smile surfaced on your lips as you took the feather home with you. Then, not long after you found another one; ever since then every time you found one you kept it and took it home with you.

Unbeknownst to you that a red winged, blonde haired man purposely had been leaving them there for you. It was something about your innocence, your purity that drew him to you; unfortunately, that fascination turned to obsession quickly. He would even follow you during his patrols, you occupied his mind every second and he CRAVED for it. The obsession grew substantially over the past couple of weeks to where he was now planning to keep you away from everything and everyone.

It never went unnoticed how many men looked and ogled you. You never understood the reasoning behind it, but you never said anything because your anxiety would always hit and hindered you from telling the person off. It pissed your admirer off that you never said anything for them to back away, but at the same time he understood just how anxious you got… after all you had to take your medication twice a day. The first one at exactly seven a.m. on the dot and second one twelve hours after. He had your whole schedule memorized, not that you had a routine you just liked to stay home often and avoid any social interaction, besides the walks you forced yourself to go on to get some fresh air and sunlight. He liked that, this gave him the upper hand in thinking you would not want to leave, and you would just want to stay with him.

Today your friends invited you to hang out at a local coffee shop, they were always considerate of your anxiety; but you always felt like a burden, you did not want your friends to hold back on having fun just to include you. You did the bare minimum to get ready; brushing your teeth and hair was a struggle within itself, but you forced yourself to do so. You slipped on some shoes and put a light jacket over your shirt. You stepped out of your apartment and made your way outside a small breeze fanning your face as you took a deep breath and walked your way to the coffee shop.

Halfway to your meeting point you felt it. Someone was watching you; sometimes, you thought you were overreacting, but the eerie feeling became more prominent recently. The thumping in your chest gradually became louder to where that was all you could hear; you bit your bottom lip as you so desperately wanted to go back and seek comfort underneath your blanket. A small sigh escaped your lips and you decided against that, you continued your walk as the feeling of someone watching you never left. You finally approached the coffee shop, but you had the urge to look in the direction from where you thought someone was watching. You looked up to your right but so nothing. Just a couple of strangers walking by you.

Was I hallucinating? No. I couldn’t have been.

As your name was called out your head quickly snapped towards the voice to come face to face with Cameron, her bubbly self suddenly calming you down almost instantly. She was the person you were closest to, and she helped you during your hardest times. Cameron frowned a bit noticing your tense stature. “Hey, _____... you okay?” She asked softly, genuine concern evident in her hazel eyes.

“U-uhm…” you hesitated. You did not want the start of this hang out to be clouded with your own delusions.

“Hey, when you are ready to tell me, I’m here for you!” Cameron gave you a wide smile. Relief pulsed through your blood as she gently too your arm and y’all walked inside the coffee shop.

The aroma of coffee beans immediately tickling your sense of smell. Cameron took a deep inhale as well. “Ughh... I just love the smell of coffee.”

A small giggle left your lips as you silently agreed. Cameron looked over to you with a genuine smile. She wanted nothing more than to see you happy.

After ordering y’all picked the corner table away from the crowd patiently waiting for the order and the rest of the group to show up (which was only three more). As they all slowly showed up one by one; your coffee had already arrived as your index tapped vigorously against the edge of the cup. You steadied your hands as much as you could, bringing the mug slowly up to your lips you took a small sip. The warmth of the coffee and the right amount of sweetness causing you to let out a small hum.

You heard the door chime and a couple of gasps were heard throughout the area. You looked up to see what the commotion was. A blonde-haired man with red wings walked in. You looked over to Cameron who was also in awe; you were so confused. You didn’t know who this was, but everyone else seemed to know. You tugged quietly at Cameron’s sleeve and she turned to you.

“Ah. I forgot you don’t really keep up with this sort of stuff…” she paused as he looked over to y’all. His golden eyes meeting with your eyes, your jaw dropped just a bit. That feeling again, as if someone was watching you.

Why does his presence feel familiar?

You blushed as he smiled at you. You quickly look down and fiddled with your fingers getting a little too anxious.

“He is the number two hero by the way,” Cameron finally finished out. Your eyes widened and you turned to Cameron. She gave you a small smile as you just nodded in understanding. You looked back up at the number two hero and saw how he was bombarded by so many people; yet it’s like he could sense you staring, and he looked your way once more. A small smirk appeared on his face making your face heated once again. You took another sip as you tried to focus in on the conversation your friends were having, but your mind was just focused on him, something about him, his golden eyes, his little smirk, it just edged into your mind.

Two hours had passed, and you were able to engross yourself into the conversation, chatting away about relationships and things of such. A small yawn escaped your mouth and you decided you should probably head home. You stood up to say your goodbyes to everyone and Cameron decided to give you a ride home.

“No excuses, I want to,” Cameron interjected before you could deny. You sighed softly in defeat knowing all too well she would not change her mind. Cameron said her goodbyes to everyone also and y’all left the coffee shop beside each other. Getting in the passenger side of the car the smell of sweet coconut filled your nostrils, Cameron had always kept her car tidy and it somehow always encouraged you to keep apartment clean.

“You know, I would say your anxiety has calmed down. I’m really proud of you,” she comments. A wide smile spreads across your face hearing that comment.

“Really? It’s just recently I’ve felt like I’ve held the group back so much since y’all accommodate to me,” You admit. You felt weight lift off your shoulders as it was finally said. Cameron let out a small hum.

“I can see how you think that, but hun...” She took a small breath, “If we genuinely feel like that than we are not your friends. Your wellbeing is much more important than me going to stupid club to shit faced and have a random hookup,” she finishes. You look down as you fiddled with your fingers.

How do I respond?

“Thanks Cameron, I owe you big time,” You say. Cameron parks on the side right in front of your apartment building.

“You don’t. You literally have been there for me through everything and despite your anxiety you were always able to be calm when I was crying… don’t question your ability in friendship,” Cameron reassured. You gave a small smile and reached over and gave her a huge hug that y’all both needed.

Releasing after a while you gave her a thank you and got out of her car. You watched as she drove off a small smile still portrayed on your face. You turned around walking up the steps to go inside and you stopped. There it was again, the feeling that someone was watching; you couldn’t help yourself you turned to the side and looked around. Your eyes glanced at the bottom of the steps.

A red feather.

You bit your bottom lip as your eyes gleamed with happiness. You happily walked down the steps and picked up the feather. A small chuckle interrupted your thoughts and you jumped in fright. You quickly turned around and met eyes with golden daunting eyes. It was Hawks.

“So, you’re the one who has been picking them up,” He asked.

“I-I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t know…” you stuttered out. You looked down in embarrassment, you heard his footsteps come closer and you could smell his faint cologne.

Do I give it back to him?

“Don’t be, it’s cute,” he admits, Hawks rubs the back of his neck and that is when you noticed blood staining the sleeve of his jacket. A small gasp leaves your mouth and you shyly bring it up.

“Your uhm… your arm… it’s b-bleeding,” You whispered out. He hums in curiosity and looks down at his arm.

“Oh… I didn’t even notice, guess I should probably get that fixed,” Hawks muttered. You didn’t even notice that he was baiting you to even invite him your house, this was exactly going to plan.

“U-uhm, I-I could patch it up for you…” you offered. A smile came across his face.

“You wouldn’t mind?” Hawks asked. You shook your head ‘no’, you walked up the steps as he slowly trailed behind you a malicious smirk playing on his lips. Hawks had every intention of making you his and nothing was going to stop him.

You were so nervous; your palms were sweaty, and your heart was thumping so loudly you thought Hawks could hear. Nervously fiddled with the keys to your apartment and suddenly you felt his chest push against your back as his arms reached across beside you and gently got the keys, “Let me help.”

You released the keys and watched as he got the key in and unlocked your door.  

“T-thank you…” you mumbled shyly. Another chuckle escaped past his lips as he enjoyed just how shy you were.

“Anytime sweetheart.”

You walked in as he followed behind you; relief set in you as you remembered you had cleaned yesterday. “U-uhm…. You can take a seat on the couch, let me go get some items so I can help you just a bit.” Hawks happily obliged as he watched you walk away, his eyes setting on your ass. He could not help but want you, you were just so tempting. He took a seat as he scanned your room, he spotted the jar of feathers and smirked. Hawks was so elated all the times he watched you take it into your apartment.

Your hands were fidgety as ever and you did not what to screw up his wound. You gave yourself a mental prep talk before you walked back with the items in your hands. As you walked back you saw him smile at you, but some glint in his eyes were throwing you off, it did not match his smile whatsoever. You cleared your throat and set the items down on the glass coffee table.

“So, I know you know who I am, but can I get your name?” Hawks lied through his teeth like nothing. He knew so much about you that it wasn’t necessary to ask.

“A-ah… I’m so sorry for not even introducing myself,” you answered and gave him your name.

How could I forget to introduce myself? I’ve been collecting his feathers and I could not even give him my name.

“What a beautiful name.” The way your name rolled off his tongue had you a bit speechless. It made your face heat up in embarrassment. You took a seat beside him as you grabbed the alcohol to clean his wound. You go to start but you realize that his jacket still in the way.

“Can you take off your jacket for me?” You asked. It almost felt so provocative to ask such a question. Hawks smiled and took it off and allowed you to continue, “Sorry, this might burn,” You warn softly. As soon as your fingers grasped his wrist, he went tense. Blood was rushing towards his cock, the urge to take you then and there was so tempting. His mind wandered to the most perverse thoughts he did not realize just how much your fingers were shaking around his wrist.

You were so anxious; you bit your lip hard trying to contain your nerves as you continued to clean his wound. You started wrap his bandage as firm and gently as you could. You sighed softly as you finally finished. You stood up and as soon as your fingers released from your wrist Hawks was back to reality. He wanted more of – no, he NEEDED more of your touch.

“Awe… done so soon?” He joked, but deep down he really was not. He needed a way to just get some of the drug into your system. You let out a small laugh starting to feel somewhat comfortable.

“Sorry, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was, so a little bandaging will do,” You explain. You were ready to bid him a goodnight, but before you can his eye glance towards your shelf and a smirk spreads across his lips.

“That looks like an interesting story to tell, I want to hear about it.” You gander towards what he was talking about and saw the jar of feathers. Your eyes widen in embarrassment and you were starting to get anxious.

How am I going to explain this, hm? Nice going. He probably thinks you’re obsessed with him.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear,” you squeak out. Hawks laughs and raises his hands in surrender.

“I’m not accusing of anything kid; I just want to know how you collected so many.” You sigh in relief as your chest continues to pound in your chest giving you a minor headache. You needed something to alleviate just how anxious you were feeling.

“Sure, would you like some tea or anything before I explain?” You offer.  

“I would love some, thanks.” You gave him a small smile and walk over to the kitchen and start heating a small kettle with water. You were trying so hard to keep your nerves down, but it was extremely difficult. Hopefully, with this tea it would calm you down just a bit.

Hawks took in everything that had happened just moments prior to you walking towards the kitchen. Your reactions were everything to him. He wanted so badly to make you his. Make you say the most perverse things.

He wanted to fuck you till you begged him to stop. He wanted tears leaking from your innocent eyes as he showed you no mercy. He wanted his marks, his finger bruises on your skin. He wanted to taint your innocence.

“Here you go,” Your voice cut his thoughts off and he cleared his throat. He grabbed the mug as he needed to calm himself down. “You okay there? You seemed to be lost in thought…” You trailed off. His golden lustful eyes turned to you making you regret asking. He quickly covered it up with a smile.

“Yeah, sorry. My mind wanders sometimes.” You accepted the answer not wanting to question farther. You sat down and took a couple of sips from your tea. The hot liquid soothing your body just a bit. Hawks pointed towards the shelf still wanting the story even though he didn’t need one.

You looked over to the shelf again but tensed up when you noticed something else. The clock.

7:13 pm

You let out a small gasp, “I’m sorry, give me a moment I have to take my medication.” Without letting him reply you quickly make your way over to the medicine cabinet.

How could I forget?!

Hawks watched as you were out of his sight. This was his chance. He quickly grabbed the small little bottle filled with liquid and poured just a little into your tea. He sat back down quickly grabbing his own mug and taking a sip as he smirked to himself. You came back in a panic as you popped the pill and took a sip of your mug to swallow it down.

“Now before we get into the feathers, sorry if I’m overstepping my boundaries, but what is the need for that?” Hawks genuinely questioned.

“Well, I have anxiety, which is pretty obvious, but along anxiety can come depression, and that’s just to help prevent it from getting bad,” you explained. He hummed in understanding; you nervously fiddled with your fingers and decided you needed some of your tea. After taking another drink you go on with your story about the feathers.

“…well somehow they just ended being places where I was at an- “you stopped midway as you started to get extremely dizzy. You saw Hawks as he faked concern slowly standing up. Everything was blurry and you felt your eyelids get heavy. The last thing in your eyesight was Hawks walking over to you.

This was it. This was the time to take you. You were limp in his arms a steady rhythm of your breathing as he looked at you. If he remembered correctly, they said a little could go a long way, so a little drop must be roughly two hours, it would probably take him ten minutes to get to his penthouse. Hawks quickly lifted you up and left your apartment. He needed to move quickly to get you settled in.

Hawks walked out of the building and took you to his place. It was a lavish penthouse. It was a three bedroom with an amazing view of the city. He wanted nothing but the best for you. Flying in from his balcony so he wouldn’t get trampled by fans in the front. Hawks proceeded to walk in, the sound of his boots stepping on the tiled floor being throughout the penthouse. Walking into his room.

The room was painted a dark grey, with minimal picture frames and paintings. A big fan hung from the ceiling as it pushed a breeze evenly throughout the room. The biggest source of light coming from the window that was in the place of the right wall. Hawks gently laid you down on his bed. Looking at you, so cute, so adorable while sleeping. He clicked his tongue debating whether he should handcuff you to the bed or not. Surely you would be too anxious to fight back. Right?

Hawks decided against it and left you to be. He walked over to his bathroom where he took a shower and wanting to get out of his hero costume. A hot shower should relieve some of his stress today. He was so pissed that he couldn’t say hi to you at the coffee shop. It didn’t sit well with him, don’t get him wrong, he loved his fans and the attention, but when the attention wasn’t coming from you, it annoyed him.  

He allowed the hot water to soothe some of his tense muscles as he rinsed and washed himself. Unfortunately, being in the water forced him to take off the bandage you so kindly put on him. Oh, how gentle you are, and how sweet you are. He was going to taint you in every single way possible. Then, of course, you stay with him forever so no one could ever see just how erotic you can become, or your tears. Only him could see that.

Stepping out of the shower he dried himself off and put-on pair of gray sweatpants, not even to bother putting on any boxers; he had every intention of stuffing his cock in your tight little cunt.

His thoughts took over as he walked over back to his bedroom. You lied there so defenseless, maybe a taste wouldn’t hurt. He slowly climbed on top of you; his thighs on both sides of your waist, he watched as your chest went up and down at a steady pace, your lips slightly parted as breaths escaped passed your lips. Just a taste. His feather cut through your shirt revealing your stomach and your cleavage. Hawks groaned softly, he slowly leaned down towards your lips, he stopped right before touching them with his own.

“Just a taste Keigo,” he whispered to himself. His lips ever so softly pushed against your lush soft lips. His tongue sliding in as he wanted to get more of a taste, the throbbing sensation in his cock pushing him to go a little further. His hands touched your sides, gently digging in his fingers as he started kissing your jawline. A pinching feeling causing you to slightly stir; Keigo paused, had he gone too far? He couldn’t stop now, he had you. He glided his lips down to your neck as he gave you open mouth kisses, sucking softly, purposely leaving marks. You stir again as you’re slowly gaining consciousness, immediately taking notice of your awareness he goes lower, unbuttoning your jeans and removing them. He continues as he slides your panties to the side and runs his middle finger in between your folds rubbing your slit and slowly rubbing around your clit.

You suddenly gasp at the feeling, your upper body weakly shooting up. “H-hawks what are you do- “

“Shh... just enjoy it baby…” He cuts you off quickly placing gently kisses along your navel. Your eyes fully open and adjust to your surroundings.

Where am I? What happened?

Tears blur your eyes as you start getting anxious. You were in an unknown setting with someone you barely knew; he was also violating your body.

“I’ve waited so long for this moment,” He whispers, the blurriness of your vision only giving you lines of a golden color as you looked to where the voice was coming from. Slightly darker yellow lines appearing as well. Goosebumps rising on your skin, a breeze continuously hitting against your sternum down to your abdomen some places colder than other as if a small amount of a liquid had been put in those areas.

Your hazy mind finally registering what he had said, “W-waited… long…” You whispered out. Your head gets a sharp quick stab as you tried to process what those words meant. Your thinking got cut off short when you felt it. Something was pushed inside of you. You let out a gasp as your fingers moved down to remove it out of you. It wasn’t big, no, it felt a little thicker than a pencil. No. It was a finger. His finger was inside of you. He curled his finger just a little; a small pathetic noise escaping your lips.

“Nng… No,” The word came out so feeble. Your hands trying to pull his arm away. Keigo continued his small torture on your now slippery cunt as he added another finger in causing you to let out a whimper.

“Baby, you’re so wet for me,” Keigo whispered in your ear. You choked back a small sob not being able to form words. He slowly picked up his pace in fingering you; you could faintly hear the small gushing sounds as he continued. Keigo brought his thumb on your bud rubbing it, curling his fingers as you let out a hitched breath. You body craved for more as you could slowly feel a sensation of needing to release grow in the pit of stomach slowly overcoming the small knots that were in there prior.

“Hawk- “

“Keigo, baby. Say my name…” He quickly interjected. It was more of a demand than anything else. You bit your bottom lip in a slight defiance, you couldn’t give him that satisfaction of hearing you say his name; you turned your head away and squeezed your eyes shut. As if picking up what you were doing, he started fingering faster and rubbing your bud quicker. A moan left your lips as you tried to so hard to conceal it. “C’mon baby, moan my name,” He encouraged.

Small pants left your mouth as you felt yourself clenching tighter around his digits that were going and fast pace. You felt two fingers roughly grabbing your chin and forcing you to turn his way. Leaving your eyes closed as you could feel your wet eyelashes touching the skin below your eyes. You heard a small grunt as the pressure on your chin increased greatly.

“Open your fucking eyes,” He demanded. Swallowing slowly, you obliged to be met with almost brighter golden eyes with a fierce lustful look. “Say it.” You felt his fingers pause where they were still in you.

“K-Kiego.” It was barely a whisper, you felt so exposed in an erotic way as his name fell from your lips while looking at him straight in the eyes. He let out a small hum of approval as he continued torturing your cunt with his thick fingers. Another moan falling passed your lips as the need to release was extremely prominent.

“You’re going to cum? Hm? Are you going to cum all over my fingers?” It came out taunting and teasing as he picked up the pace; he removed his fingers that were placed around your chin and placed the palm of his hand on the bed beside your hip. Your hands that were around his other arm gripped tighter as you tried to pull it out.

“N-no, I’m not,” You said in attempt to sound firm, but it came out more uncertain than anything else.

His other hand suddenly went around throat a little too harshly causing a gasp to escape, “Don’t lie. You’re clenching so tight around my fingers,” He said as he brought his face close to yours.

Why did that make me turned on? What the fuck is wrong with me?!

The attack on your clit became more forceful and you let out a small noise as his hand was still around your throat. You couldn’t hold it, his fingers inside you, his thumb on your clit was doing much more stimulation to your body than you could account for. Your hands released from his arms as they both went on either side of you; your fingers entangling into the duvet on the bed. You arched your back a little as you shamefully released your juices onto his fingers. With deep pants you fell limp against the bed as Keigo released his grip from your neck.

A small chuckle left his lips as he brought out his fingers, “My… my…” He tsked, you looked away in embarrassment. You didn’t want him taunting you even more. “My fingers are drenched with your juices,” Keigo whispered in your ear. You were so humiliated you couldn’t even look. He brought his drenched fingers to your lips and unconsciously let out a small gasp. He pushed his fingers into your mouth as his other hand smushed your cheeks forcing you to look at him.

“Suck.”

He’s not serious… no, he is.

Not wanting to do anymore you obediently sucked tasting your juices, the erotic flavor covering your tastebuds.

“Good girl,” Keigo gently praised. Releasing his grip from your cheeks his fingers tickled your body as he started feeling your stomach and even going underneath your bra to tease your nipples. You wanted this sexual torment to end; what made you more embarrassed is that your body was enjoying this. It craved for more of his touch; you hated it.

Keigo removed his fingers from your mouth and silently moved down to where his face was in front of your still soaking pussy. You saw as one of his feathers ripped the fabric of your panties so he could fully take them off.

You quickly trying to squeeze your thighs together to shield his sight from him. He pushes his hands against your thighs causing them to spread.

“Nuh uh uh… I’m going to enjoy this…” He says with an erotic tone as he looks up at you; he licked his lips before bringing his hot mouth on your folds. You let out a small gasp as your back arched up just enough for his tongue to slip through your folds.

“Keigo…” You mumbled. You weren’t exactly sure why you were saying his name.

Am I wanting him to continue? Or to stop?

Your brain battled itself. Keigo let out a soft hum in response to you saying his name. The vibration of his hum hitting your already sensitive bud causing you to jerk a little.

He enjoyed your reactions, and he was determined to make you cum again before he fucked you senseless. Keigo slowly ran his tongue up and down on your dripping cunt enjoying the taste of you. His eyes glanced up as you squirmed, but he his hands on your thighs to hold you from continuing to do so. Your eyes were closed, and your lips slightly parted letting out barely audible breathy moans. Keigo smiled against your cunt as he continued to torture you.

His tongue teasingly swirled around your bud, his fingers digging into your thighs to hold him from going feral. You let out a small whimper and this encourages him to go faster. He puts his whole mouth on your clit and starts sucking.

“K-Keigo.. Nnngh…” you moaned louder. You felt your body wanting to jerk away, but his fingers digging into your thigh not allowing you to do so. Your clit was sensitive after just having cummed all over his fingers. You let out pants as he didn’t bother to stop, in fact he sucked a little harder causing a whimper to escape. Your vision blurred as your tears were threatening to fall from the sensitivity.

Your fingers flung to his hair and grip his blonde locks as you pulled. Keigo let out a deep groan, once again the vibration of the action tingling your cunt.

“Keigo… Please… I can’t,” You begged desperately as a tear rolled down your left cheek. He momentarily pulled and hummed as if thinking if he should stop or not.

 He looked up at you and was just turned on more of your state: your flushed face, your eyebrows knitted inward, your watery eyes, your lips parted, your visible cleavage heaving up and down with each pant you took.

Keigo smirked at you, “You can and will.”

You let out a pathetic squeak as his mouth went back on your cunt. His tongue now teasing your tight hole. He greedily sucked up all your juices, his tongue poking at your hole wanting more. He glided his tongue back upwards licking your bud. Your weak moans echoing through the room as he continued to suck and lick at your cunt.

Oddly enough another sensation of the need to release was coming despite how sensitive you were. Your fingers could barely stay entangled in his hair as your physical strength (or at least the little strength you had to work with) was leaving you. More tears leaked from your eyes they rolled down your flushed cheeks as the sensitivity was increasing.

Keigo had no way slowed or gone any softer, the sound of smacking and gushing sounds filled your ears as your orgasm was close. Your inner thighs felt sore knowing all too well that Keigo had created finger bruises in those areas with how hard he was digging into your skin.  

You let out a small yell of pleasure as your back arched, bucking your hips into Keigo’s mouth as you released another wave of juices. He sucked every single last drop you’d given him. A couple more tears escaped as you once again slumped back onto the bed. Keigo stood up away from you and off the bed. You rolled over in relief that it was over.

You heard him shuffle around a little bit before you felt the bed slightly dip. Keigo’s hand snaked under your waist as he pulled you up. You weren’t exactly cooperating, but he knew that you most likely wouldn’t. He suddenly brought you all the way up to where your back was against his chest.

You felt it. It twitched against your back. Your eyes went wide and your hands blindly behind you, “NO! Keigo,” you warned. He let out a small chuckle before pushing you down into the bed. He pulled your abdomen up and his fingers pushing you on area forcing you to arch your back.

You felt his tip tease you at your entrance. Your head shot up and before you could say anything, he shushed you.

“I promise I’ll put it in slow,” Keigo promised. He leaned over to where his breath was fanning your earlobe, “I’ll put it in inch by inch, and we’ll count together.” It wasn’t even a suggestion and you knew that.

He pushed just the head of his cock into you as you let out a loud gasp. The length wasn’t what scared you anymore, the girth of his cock was going to stretch you to the max.

“Keigo… your girth... It won’t fit,” You rambled. You did not want to endure this. He ignored you as he pushed another inch in you. Your fingers curled into the duvet. Keigo let out a small hum if approval of how well you’re taking him despite how tight you are.

“I do believe that is two baby… so repeat the number.”

“T-two.” You were breathing hard as you the pain wasn’t exactly subsiding quite yet. Keigo pushed another inch you and your breath hitched, the girth on this man was unbelievable. You momentarily felt bad for anyone that had engaged into sex with Keigo. Your thoughts were interrupted as a stinging sensation was left on your ass; you let out a yelp in surprise.

“C’mon sweetie, you can count. How many is that?” He stated he softly pinched your hip softly.

“Three.” As soon as the word fell from your lips, he pushed another inch in causing a mewl to fall from your lips. You heard him as he took a sharp breath in.

“Jesus, you’re so fucking tight,” Keigo groaned out. You bit your lip refusing to respond to that comment. He slapped your ass again and you let out a whimper.

“Four.” You knew why he spanked you. He wanted you to count and the fact that it didn’t feel like his voice was getting any closer scared you. You unconsciously clenched around his cock and he dug his fingers into your hips. Keigo pushed another inch into you and squeezed your eyes shut.

“K-Keigo. I can’t. Please. You’re too big…” You pleaded him.

He clicked his tongue as he responded, “Baby, you’re barely halfway,” he casually commented.

HALFWAY?!

“H-HALFWAY!? KEIGO THERE IS NO WAY I CAN TAKE ALL OF YOU!” You cried out in desperation.

He is ten fucking inches… How does he expect any person to take his length?

“Sweetie, that’s why I’ve been going slow, so you can adjust. Just try to take two more inches…” He compromised.

You felt grateful that he was at least compromising a little. As you battled whether to agree or not Keigo pushed all the way in and you heard as his waist hit against your ass. You let out a scream as the pain was increased to a maximum. You felt him extremely deep. He suddenly brought you up against his chests as he leaned his head down kissing your neck.

“Oops…” He mumbled not sorry at all. You knew he wasn’t sorry.

“You’re not sorry Keigo, you fucking son of a bi- “His hand slapped over your mouth quickly to shut you up. He held it firmly as he gently rocked against you slowly. The first couple thrusts were gentle to get you adjusted to his size, but then they became rough and hard. You moaned against his hand as he picked up the pace.

“You love it, don’t you? Hm? My cock is covered in your juices which lead me to believe you love being stuffed with my cock,” Keigo comments. Such vulgar words being said out loud caused your face to heat up. His hand uncovers your mouth, and he pushes you down into the mattress with your ass up.

Keigo starts violently thrusting into you at a fast pace. Pitiful mewls fall from your lips as he continues to do so.

“Who do you belong to?” He questioned harshly as he rammed into you again causing a small cry to come out of you. Keigo twisting his hand into your hair and pulling on it causes your head to jolt back.

“Who... do… you… fucking… belong… to…” He gritted out in between pants.

“You.” He continues to impale on you as he wanted to hear his name fall from your lips.

“That’s right baby… Now repeat the whole thing with my name,” Keigo demanded. His hand tugged on your hair harshly as you let out a whimper.

“I belong to you, Keigo,” you mumbled out, tears on the brink of spilling out from your eyes. Keigo hummed as his grip on you didn’t loosen.

“Louder baby, I can’t hear you,” he teased. You swallowed your humiliation as you took a deep breath.

“I belong to you, Keigo.”

“Good girl,” Keigo verbally applauded as he released his grip on your hair. Keigo thrusted in and out at a steady pace. He would go all the way in which caused you to clench around his cock. Keigo leaned over not stopping his pace. Tears fell from your eyes and he groaned as you felt his cock twitch inside of you.

“Your tears turn me on so much more…” Keigo rasped out as he wrapped his hand around throat. He turned your head slightly as he licked off your tears as they continued to flow. Pants escaped his mouth as he picked up his pace, “I’m going to cum in you.”

“NO! You better not,” You quickly interjected. Keigo simply removed his hand from your throat and pushed your face down into the bed in response. His hands gripped around your hips as grunts left his mouth. You continued to moan into the bed as you finally realized that it had become pleasurable. His fingers digging once again into your hips just adding to the pleasure your body was feeling. He rubbed your now swollen bud causing you to cry out and clench around your cock.

Keigo groaned loudly before ramming into you releasing his seed into you. “Fuckkkk…” He rasped out as he thrusted a couple more times before pulling out.

You felt his hot semen come out and drip down your clit as you raised your head panting out. Your fingers were shaking tremendously and so were your legs. You rolled over on to your back and closed your eyes already going into a slumber; unfortunately, Keigo had other plans as his feather tickled your collarbone and suddenly cut the fabric your bra. The flimsy material exposed your nipples to him as the bra became extremely loose.

Your eyes shot open only to be met with his eyes extremely close, he dominated you in a deep kiss as his fingers played with your nipples. Twisting them, pinching them. You whimpered into his mouth as you were already exhausted from the last round. Keigo removed his lips from yours as he went down and took on of your hard, perky nipples into his mouth. Keigo sucked on it, biting down softly causing to jerk. You let out a small whine as your hands weakly pushed on his shoulders.

“Keigo, please. No more. I’m begging you,” Your voice came out so frail. He brought his face up and looked at you.

“God, baby... You’re so fucking gorgeous. Look how defenseless and exhausted you look…” Keigo smirked as he came closer and he lined his cock at your throbbing entrance, “Having you at my mercy, begging me to stop…” you felt his cock twitch and he pushed his head into your cum filled cunt. You let out a small cry, “It’s honestly so sexy… Nothing turns me on more than you begging and crying underneath me,” Keigo finished.

Your blood ran cold, you realized just how deranged and sick minded this number two hero was.

Keigo fully pushed himself in you and a guttural moan leaving his lips, “Look at that, you take my cock so good, baby.” The comment made you tense up, he was suddenly face to face with you and his hand went around your throat again, “I’m going to make you cry, beg, and sob.”

Your hands flew up to his chest, “Keigo, please don’t.” He smirked at you, his hands tightening around your throat causing an involuntary gasp escape.

“Begging already?” Keigo taunted as he started thrusting. At this point you just let whimpers come out, it was no use holding back anymore. “You’re such a good girl for me,” He breathed out in between pants.

This man was praising and degrading you at the same time and it made you wet. Keigo impales a little more harshly as you let out a small cry. He starts using his other hand to rub your clit and you immediately squirm.

“Look at that, still extremely sensitive,” Keigo commented as he released his grip from your throat and placed his hand on the side of you. You desperately wanted him to stop tormenting your clit, at this rate you would cry.

The sound of skin meeting skin, the sloppy gushy rhythm echoed throughout the room as you tried to think of a way to get him to stop.

Maybe I cou-

A harsh bite down on your neck caused you to scream. Liquid stung your eyes as you were forced to focus back on Keigo torturing your clit.

“Ah there we go, you’re back,” Keigo huskily whispered against your neck. Shivers ran down your spine and he continued to softly bite on random parts of your upper body. “There you go baby, focus on my cock filling your cunt up.” He brought himself eye to eye with you, “That’s all you can focus on… Like the little whore you are.”

A sudden flame ignited in you as you brought your hand down in attempt to slap him, but you caught your wrist just in the nick of time.

A low chuckle chilled you to the bone, “I knew you had some fire; it just takes a lot to ignite it,” He stated as if it were a fact. Keigo grabbed both of your wrists and pinned them down with one of his hands. You squirmed beneath him and he gave you a harsh thrust.

“Did it ever occur to you that you were the only one finding the red feathers?” Keigo questioned as he this time softly rocked against your hips. You looked in away in embarrassment, you knew you were the only one finding them, but it didn’t occur to you in a negative way.

“It’s been what?... two months now,” Keigo commented, with his other hand he used his fingers to rub your bud.

“Nnnghh…” Petty little moans escaped from your mouth as he rocked against your hips and rubbed your clit.

“Surely, you’re smarter than that, right?” He questioned in a mocking tone. His golden eyes staring into your own with a sly glint in them. “No… You’re just absolutely fucking naïve and innocent.” The last two words coming out harshly as he mercilessly ravaged your little cunt.

“Fuck… K-Keigo… Ngh...” You blabbered out as a few tears slip out your eyes. Keigo wastes no time in licking them up; He starts making circular motions with two of his fingers on your delicate clit. You clenched around his cock as you felt another orgasm approaching. Your wrists trying to escape a way out of Keigo’s grip.

You had no physical strength, it was gone. He was right. You are naïve.

“Two fucking months,” Keigo gritted out. The smacking of his waist hitting your most inner thighs leaving a faint stinging tingle. Your orgasm was right there, on the edge.

“K-Keigo, I’m going to c-cu- “You moaned out and he rubbed against your bud faster. You let out a loud cry as he continued thrusting through your orgasm.

He wasn’t far behind, in fact, the clenching of your cunt around him as you released was all he needed to cum. He released again all inside of you as you went limp underneath him. Little sweat beads trailing down his forehead as he rocked against you three more times to finish out his high.

Keigo removed himself from you and you weakly sat up, your eyes barely able to stay open.

“P-please no more… I’m begging you; my body can’t do it…” You whispered out. He brought you close and gave you a gentle kiss.

“I know. That’s enough for tonight… I’ll clean you up and then we can get some rest,” Keigo stated. He lovingly trailed his finger down your cheek already seeing your eyelids close.

“You’re mine forever.”

And you were all his forever because of a trail of red feathers.

[keijislove]

Hi babe! I was wondering if I could request a Tony Stark x daughter reader? With lots of angst and her being locked in her room because she’s being bullied for her darker skin

(I understand if you’re not comfortable with this)

Safe Place: Tony Stark X Daughter!Reader

I think this turned out a bit longer than I expected.

Sorry :(

I hope you like this, I don’t really have a lot of experience with this matter, so I hope I captured the emotions right!

I AM APOLOGISING IN ADVANCE, THE HURTFUL COMMENTS MENTIONED HERE ARE NOT ONES I WOULD EVER USE IN MY LIFETIME.

GIRL, YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE – YOU DON’T NEED DIMWITS LIKE RACISTS TO DEFINE BEAUTY. YOU WANT THE DEFINITION OF BEAUTY, GO LOOK IN THE MIRROR.

PUT A STOP TO RACISM.

WARNINGS: Slight EXTREMELY racial comments, mentions of death, toxic relationship, angst, Tony being a little... well, Tony.

Being Tony Stark’s daughter was nearly everyone’s dream. Well, everyone you’d come across at school, anyway. It seemed rational from their point of view – big house, big bedroom, expensive branded clothing, basically an overall exquisite lifestyle coupled with fame of being his daughter which was sure to earn popularity points anywhere and everywhere. A man rolling in that amount of money would make a great dad... right?

You thought differently. Which was one of the main reasons you did not tell anyone who your father really was and your teachers understood your predicament and played along to your story of being an ordinary girl with no scope for coolness whatsoever.

Your mother had met your father a long, long time ago – when Tony was still in university. Of course, he’d left her before he even knew she was pregnant, and they never saw each other again. You didn’t exactly love your life as his daughter. In fact, from what your mother had told you, he was (in your vision) a complete monster whom your mother had the sad misfortune to meet.

It was her untimely death that had forced you to go live with the man who was the reason you were born and the man who ruthlessly left your mother to fend for herself and a baby. You had tried for foster care, but the agents told you that your father was still alive and more than capable of taking care of you – being the famous Tony Stark and all.

So it would suffice to say that Tony was lowkey shocked when you turned up at his doorstep one day with a grudging expression and declarations of being his daughter. He actually didn’t believe you at first and asked you to piss off which confirmed your earlier assumptions about his character – asshole. After you’d snapped at him and showed him all the legal documentations stating that you two were blood-related as father-daughter after all, Tony was even more shocked than earlier.

Though he would rather die than admit it, he felt sad after seeing your fourteen-year-old self standing at his doorstep. He’d missed your birth, your first steps, your first words, he even missed helping you with homework in preschool – basically all precious moments you enjoy with a child. But you made it pretty clear that you didn’t want to be here – something that made Tony’s already overlarge pride swell like a bullfrog and stopped him from ever getting close to you. While you were busy thinking he didn’t want you, you overlooked a small detail – he took you in.

If anyone had the power to bribe an adoption agency to get rid of their kid, it was Anthony Stark, yet he never gave you away. The simple explanation (that he would never, in a million years, admit it to you) was that he didn’t want to lose you – around the only blood-related family he had left.

And so began your life as Y/N Stark. It functioned surprisingly well for your expectations. Pepper was really nice to you and those few occasions when the Avengers came over, you were able to talk to Natasha about ‘girl things’, her presence reminding you of the mother you had lost only too young. You sometimes even asked Bruce for help with homework, too proud yourself to go to Tony. Overall, you stayed out of his way while he stayed out of yours – an arrangement you were both satisfied with.

The worst part was that you never talked. Ever. You would wake up and walk to school, refusing Jarvis’ continued protests of letting you use the self-driving car, came home the same way where you did your homework and grabbed a snack before you ‘father’ came back upstairs from his little man cave in the basement and a small ‘good-evening’ passed between you two as you went your separate ways. This cycle repeated itself every day. Recently, your life at school hadn’t been going great.

You’d known that your skin tone was a notch darker than the others at your school – something you had gotten from your mother – and this was not something you really cared about. That’s when they started coming – the comments. What were originally small, snide retorts of ‘wash your face, ew!’ (A/N: I AM SO SORRY) had now escalated to them calling you obscene names you’d never heard before and asking you to leave ‘their’ school

Which was why, instead of being at school today, you were locked in your bedroom, sobbing into your pillow.

It had started out as a very unusual morning. After getting comments hurled at you left right and centre the previous day, you’d had enough. You’d woken up and declared to Jarvis that you were skipping school and he was to, under no circumstances, notify your father about this. After that you tried to eat some cereal, but the bubbling dread in your stomach made it taste like dry carpet, so you gave up and stomped into your room, locking the door before flinging yourself onto the bed and crying your heart out.

It was in times like these that you felt the need for something – a gaping hole in your chest. It seemed foolish to even admit it to yourself, but you really wanted someone like a parent. Someone who listened to your problems and comforted you accordingly, someone who actually cared about you. And since Tony Stark filled neither of these requirements, you gave up the foolish dream and sunk, once again, into your self-fashioned depths of misery.

-------

Tony casually sipped on his wine, putting one last screw into place to make the latest piece he was testing out. As he powered the device on, it vibrated for a moment before the words ‘model failed’ appeared on the screen Tony was examining.

He swore loudly and shoved it ungracefully aside before running his hands through his hair. There had been many an occasion where Tony seriously considered going to your room to just say something to you that wasn’t a monotonous ‘good evening’ or ‘the milk’s finished’ or something else like that. He wanted to talk to you. To you.

He wanted to get to know the real Y/N – what you were like when you weren’t too busy being bold and refusing to appear vulnerable. As if reading his thoughts, Jarvis’ voice filled the room suddenly.

“Sir, I do believe that Ms Stark is currently locked inside her bedroom. She refused to go to school just this morning.”

“What?” Tony exclaimed, “Why, did she tell you anything else?”

“Just this, Sir, along with a few obscene warnings of not informing you about this occurrence. If I recall correctly, Ms Stark told me she would rip out my sockets with her bare hands had I come to you.”

Ignoring the small smirk that was growing on his lips at the thought of you behaving exactly as he would, Tony wiped his tired hands on a nearby cloth before sprinting out the door and up the stairs to your bedroom.

He knocked on the door.

“Go away Pepper, not in the mood,” came your muffled voice. It was weak and raw – evidently, you had been crying.

Ignoring the poking feeling of dread bubbling in his stomach, Tony knocked again.

“Open up, kid, it’s me,” he shouted.

“Definitely not in the mood, thanks.”

Tony sighed. This was exactly what he had tried so hard to avoid –turning out like his own father. Not knowing how to deal with a daughter properly, he just let you go about your business as you wanted, hoping that it would yield better results than what his childhood had been like. Now, looking back at how much he’d neglected you, he suddenly realised that he had done the exact thing he was afraid of – hurt you.

“Y/N Y/M/N Stark, open the door. Please.”

Perhaps it was the please at the end or the way he acknowledged you as his living, breathing daughter for the first time that made you stagger limply over to the door and push it open.

Your eyes were puffy, red and swollen from bawling nonstop and your brows were knitted into a disapproving frown. It broke Tony’s heart to see you like this.

“Listening,” you sniffed, crossing your arms.

“Okay, why don’t you sit down,” Tony frowned slightly.

You gave another hearty sniff and led him to your bed where you flopped down and watched as he took a seat beside you.

You both sat in a very painful, deafening silence for the next few minutes.

“You didn’t go to school today,” Tony casually remarked as you played with your pillow, refusing to meet his eyes.

“I did,” you said simply.

“Wanna tell me what’s going on?” Tony offered.

“I really don’t,” you admitted as he burst out laughing and you gave a grudging giggle despite yourself.

“Seriously, kid,” Tony said in an undertone, “You’ve gotta open up a bit more. I mean, it’s been like what, two years since you moved here and you never bother telling me what’s going on. And look where that got you – come on, tell me what’s going on. Is it school?”

“Partially,” you quietly said to which he cocked an eyebrow.

“Completely,” you amended, sighing, “Kids, you know, they’re just being – well, mean.”

“Okay,” Tony nodded slightly, “You want to talk about it?”

“They... they make fun of me,” you admitted, “About – about my skin colour and stuff. And I know I’m being stupid, getting upset over this –”

“It’s not stupid,” Tony broke in, “It’s not stupid at all. Nothing gives anyone a right to talk to you that way.”

“Try telling that to them!” you burst out, final letting go of the pent-up emotions you’d been holding for days, “What did I ever do to them – it’s not my fault I look like this, maybe if I could choose what to look like, I’d choose something they want! Just about everyone seems to have a problem – what the hell do they expect me to do? It’s unjust, unfair, unsettling and unkind, but of course they don’t care, do they?!”

Tony didn’t even flinch throughout your entire outburst until you broke down and tears began rapidly pouring out of your eyes once more.

“Hey, hey, stop, listen to me,” Tony sternly said, seizing your shoulders and turning you to face him.

“You’re a Stark,” he said, gazing you dead in the eyes, “You are beautiful, you’re smart and you’re kind. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

This was too much for you to handle and you started sobbing again – sobs of partial happiness and partial guilt that didn’t look like they would stop anytime soon.

“Come here, kid,” was all Tony could say as he pulled you into a hug, allowing you to sob into his shirt while he stroked your hair, trying to calm you down.

“I’m sorry if I’ve ever been mean to you,” you whispered finally.

“It’s okay, kid,” Tony murmured, pressing a kiss to your forehead, “I’m sorry I haven’t been a great father all this time.”

You two sat in a now comfortable silence, occasionally clearing your throats or sniffling a bit before Tony finally spoke.

“If anyone says that to you again, I will have them cut up and fed to the fish in my house in Malibu.”

“Thanks, dad.”

[canadadrye]

I saw you were asking for requests, so could you do an Adam Davenport fic where the male or gn(but preferably male) reader gets in an argument with Adam for some dumb reason, and Adam gets all pouty, so reader gives him cuddles and kisses as an apology?

MY BIG IDIOT

adam davenport x GN!reader

request: yep!

note: okay i might have gotten just a bit carried away with writing this one- but it was just so fun!!

warnings: none really except some small fighting over something minimal, and my language ofc

word count: 0.9k

you had finally gotten a moment alone with adam. no chase, no bree, no leo, no one. you decided to spent this time doing the only sensible thing you could think of; watching a bunch of movies and eating piza. you put adam in charge of picking out movies while you called in a pizza for the two of you. you hadn't eaten anything yet because you got incredibly carried away with your work and stuff, so you really needed this. you headed back into the living room to see which movies adam had picked out for you to watch; and you settled on 'captain marvel' as the first one.

flash forward to the end of the first movie, you reach your hand into the pizza box to find nothing. you immediately look up towards adam, and what you see was not what you were wanting to. him with the last slice already 3/4 gone, an absolutely clueless expression drawn on his face. "what? is there something on my face?" he asked you, still not clicking in his mind that you weren't exactly happy with him. "adam, i wanted the last piece! i'm starving and i haven't ate all day!" you guess it came out a bit more aggressive than you intended, because the next thing that came out of his mouth was unexpected. "well gee, i'm sorry i upset you! you know you could at least try telling me these things before you get all angry with me!" you were honestly thrown back by his response, your boyfriend was usually a huge teddybear to everyone other than chase, but especially you. he'd never acted this way around you before and it was really pissing you off. in the heat of the moment, it didn't even cross your mind that it could possibly be your fault for acting hostile towards him in the first place. you didn't even bother responding to him, you just stormed off to the bathroom, slamming the door and locking it once in.

about 30 minutes or so had gone by and you were finally ready to confront him. you knew the fight was stupid and you shouldn't have gotten angry at him for something so small in the first place, but at the time it felt so big. you exited the bathroom and headed back to the living room, where you found a pouting adam sitting on the couch. you tried to approach him but when you entered his line of sight he just turned over to the opposite side. so when that didn't work, you just decided to sit down next to him. when you did, he stood up and made his way over to the kitchen and sat down at the bar. words couldn't make their way to your mouth, even if you wanted them to. you had no idea what to say, you hadn't ever gotten into an argument with him like this. you quickly made your way back to the bathroom, washing your face in hopes that some brilliant idea would pop into your brain. alas, that did nothing and you decided you'd just have to apologize the good old fashion way.

"look-" you still kept a bit of distance from him in case he was still upset. "-i'm sorry for the way i acted, okay?" you rubbed the back of your neck, hoping he would understand where you're coming from. "mhm, keep going" he had a sly smirk on his face, like he was getting some form of enjoyment from his. "and i was a complete jerkface-" he rolled his eyes "uh-huh, what else?" his smirk turned into a full smile at this point and it became exceptionally clear to you, he totally was getting enjoyment from this. "-and i'm sorry about being a big idiot, mkay?" he just laughed and shook his head. "well-" he made sure to extend the end of his words extra long, "-i can think of a few ways you could make it up to me" you exhaled out of your nose, shaking your head. "c'mere you dumbass" you knew exactly what he meant when he was talking about 'making it up to him'. "yay!" he exclaimed and pumped his fist up in the air victoriously. you pulled him over to the couch, allowing him to snuggle into you. you placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head, feeling yourself grow a bit drowsy. "you might be a big idiot-" he said sleepily "-but at least you're my big idiot" all you did was hum in return, a light smile on your face before you dozed off.

"you think we should wake them up?" leo asked to the others crowded around the couch. "no! let them sleep, guys" bree whined as she snapped a quick photo on her phone for later blackmail, but admittedly she was really enjoying looking at the passed out couple in front of her. "oh i so want to wake them up!" chase on the other hand, was having a very hard time not ruining the perfect moment. he really wanted to get payback on his brother for the most recent prank that was pulled on him. adam wouldn't admit it, but chase just knew it was him who did it. "he really pulled a good one didn't he?" mrs. davenport said as she passed into the kitchen to get something started for dinner. let's just say you guys woke up to an audience admiring the tooth-rottingly sweet moment in front of them.

[officialscaramouche]

May I request a reader who can't remember Scaramouche? like they have amnesia or under a spell or something like that. Thank you!

the ending was inspired by another amnesia fic I read a long time ago 🥰

pairing: gn!reader x Scaramouche

warnings: he says fuck I think once

word count: 1,241

next

You could barely open your eyes. You felt an incredible sharp, stinging pain on your left side and reached to hold onto it. A hand stopped yours and threw it back over the shoulder it originally sat on. Someone was carrying you. You rested your head on their left shoulder, your legs in their arms. Who was it though? You pried your eyes open with as much force as you could muster within your eyelids. “Don’t turn your neck!” The person carrying you shouted. In front of you, running behind the person carrying you was someone you knew very well. He looked scared, something that he never expressed before. He stared at you and muttered some words that you couldn’t hear, and reached for your hand that hung over the shoulder. His smile was the last thing you saw.

When you awoke you were in a tent— one that you often slept in. The tent was red with gold accents. It darkened into a deep maroon at the peak in which you stared at. You knew this tent, but why were you in it? You sat up, your abdomen convulsing from the pain that shot through your body. “Agh!” You cried out, clutching tightly to where it hurt the most.

Footsteps hurried outside your tent, stomping in the gravel. You heard quiet bickering and a soft tumble before the fabric of your tent flew open. You recognized the insignias he wore on his sleeves, marking him as not only a sergeant, but also the captain of your current deployment. His outfit was boyish, almost— a t-shirt, shorts that rose above the knee, and sandals. He looked like he was here on vacation, but his gear said otherwise. He had short, purple hair and two streaks of white on the back. He also wore a decorative piece on his chest, a circular piece with the electro element design in the middle.

“[Y/N], you’re awake,” he said in a hushed tone as he ran to your bedside. Other faces peeked in, one of them donning the badge of second lieutenant. “Please don’t sit up, or you’ll open your wounds.”

You looked at him dumbfounded. You didn’t know who these people were, or what assignment you were on, but you did know that both of them were your superiors. “Are you okay? Do you need something?”

“No, sir…thank you.” Was all you said.

“Okay, well lay back down. I’m going to check your injuries.” Your captain lifted up your shirt as he spoke. You slapped his hand away before he could peek underneath, pulling up the blanket over you to cover yourself.

“I’m…sorry Captain. Is there not a medic here?”

He grabbed your hand and held it away, so that he could continue observing you without your fighting. “You are the medic.” He spat, rolling his eyes. “Now let me look before you piss me off.”

So you were the team’s medic and you had gotten badly injured. But doing what? And when? “Um, Captain?” You asked, looking away as he undid the bandages wrapped around your chest. He hummed in response, not bothering to look at you as he was busy doing something else. “How did I get hurt?”

His hands stilled, and he brought your shirt down to look at you. “Do you not remember?”

The look in his eyes was familiar. He was so calm, and clearly had an attitude. He tried to come off as cool and collected, but his pupils trembled as he watched you, as if scared of your next words. “…No, sir. I don’t know what assignment I’m on either.”

Your captain stood and looked over his shoulder at the lieutenant in the entryway. They shared a silent conversation with their eyes before the taller man walked in. His hair was orange and his eyes were blue. He was the spitting image of what the average man looked like in Snezhnaya. “Hey, there soldier!” He greeted with a cheerful voice. “I’m Lieutenant Tartaglia! And you are…?”

He asked as if he didn’t know you, but you knew he was checking to see how much of yourself you knew. “My name is [Y/N], Lieutenant. I’m a specialist, sir, as a medic.”

“Okay, great! When’d you leave on this assignment, [Y/N]?”

“…Maybe…almost a week ago?”

“Okay, and what’s the last thing you remember before waking up?” You were quiet as you thought, the two men watching you closely. “If you don’t remember you can just say—”

“No, I can remember just give me a second!” The men share a knowing look, as if you were characteristically snappy. “I was being carried,” you began, your captain’s eyes lighting up. “And I was in pain…but that’s it.”

“And where do you live? So in case you die in our hands, we can take any pets into custody.” Your captain grabbed a fistful of the taller man’s shirt. “It’s a joke!”

“Uh…” you started, a finger to your lips. “I live in Liyue. At the harbor.”

“Okay, good! You’re not as bad as I was worried about,” he sighed, an obvious expression of relief on his face. He turned to the captain as he was heading out. “Okay, Scaramouche, we can try a couple of different things. I will see if I can clear a space for some hydro therapy. In the meantime, try to jog [Y/N]’s memory by talking about, like, how you two met or anything significant in your relationship. I’m going to send a letter back to base about seeing into some personal records. Sound good?”

Your captain, or now Captain Scaramouche, stared at the ground with a scowl on his face as he listened. He nodded, signifying understanding, and ushered him out of the tent. “Bye, soldier! I’ll see ya in a little bit, mmkay?”

You nodded too, waving bye from your cot. Scaramouche sighed when the tent closed shut, looking around the room nervously. He pulled up a chair and sat beside your bed, crossing his arms and legs. “My name is Scaramouche,” he introduced, coughing awkwardly into a fist. “I…am your captain.”

“Yes, I’ve figured as much. You wear the captain’s crest on your left arm. And the insignia of a sergeant on your right.”

“…Yes,” was all he said. After a beat of awkward silence he clears his throat. “Sorry. It’s like meeting you for the first time…except I’ve already met you and you already know a lot about me, and…”

“What kind of stuff do I know about you?” You asked, hoping to keep the conversation going. “Well…I, uh. You like to call me a workaholic, I guess.”

“Do you sing?” You asked, a bright, excited smile on your face.

“Ahem, uh…no. I don’t sing.”

“But I just remembered that you’re called the Balladeer! Doesn’t that mean you sing?”

“No! I don’t sing! Of all the things for you to remember…” He wiped his face with his shirt to quell the growing blush on his cheeks. It was weird asking him, you thought. It was like you had asked him this before.

“Wanna make a deal?” You ask, rolling over and leaning on your elbow.

“What is it?” He asked, peering down at you from underneath his shirt.

“If or when I remember everything, will you sing for me?”

He rolled his eyes, continuing to wipe his face. “Ugh…you always…fine. Only if you remember everything.”

You grinned. “Deal!”

[prettypinkpuddles]

Sally Face X Black Reader

♡︎𝙰/𝙽: 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝙼𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚜 𝚂𝚊𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜

♡︎𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜: 𝙻𝚘𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕-𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝙽𝚊𝙵, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚒 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚂𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝙵𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟶’𝚜-𝟸𝟶𝟶𝟶’𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚔....

♡︎𝚃𝚠𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐: 𝚂𝚌𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔, 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌, 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

“Hey! Close the door!” You squeaked and hid yourself from the burning brightness emitted from the opened door. A small shadow slid through the opening of the door and quickly shut it, the word ‘sorry!’ repeated over and over.

Your eyes quickly readjusted to the darkness and you saw Sal, holding his school bag and a gameboy.

“Hey, Mask Boy.” You wiggles your toes at him and he hummed. “Was school tolerable?”

He shrugged, opening his bag and pulling out an orange car and setting it on the floor. You smiled and reached down to it, rubbing your thumb behind its ear.

“Hi Gizmo!” You grinned at the plump cat and he purred and pushed himself into your touch. Sal chuckled and sat next to his cat and leaned onto your knee. He began rambling about how his day at school was, how boring classes were, Travis, and a new oddity in the school he discovered. You listened to him curiously, albeit getting a bit agitated about Travis and his infuriating antics.

“I’ll come to school with you tomorrow….” You mumbled. “I know I don’t go much anymore, just having you and Larry give me my homework and letting you turn it in, but I’ll go with you guys tomorrow.”

Sal nodded, holding his excitement behind his mask and simply saying ‘ok’.

“You’re smiling under that mask aren’t you?” You teased and he didn’t say anything, just a noise of embarrassment. You giggled and ruffled his hair, continuing with your game.

“Did you get a new character?” Sal asked.

You sighed, “Unfornately no. They just gave me a stupid 4star claymore.”

“Hey! Claymores are badass!” Sal defended with a happy tone.

“That’s why I’d be a bow or pole arm user. Light weapons.”

You scoffed playfully, “Like you could even lift one! I bet they weight like 60 pounds!”

“Nah, catalyst needs no weight at all. Just waving your arms around with attacks.”

“Is that why you main Mona?” Sal smiled, watching as you used Zhongli’s burst to destroy a bunch of fatui.

“Hey! Mona is gorgeous.”

Sal took hold of his cat, stroking his tail. “She’s also very mysterious.”

“Which makes her even better! It’s written in the stars!” You grinned and Sal rolled his eyes.

“Ninguang’s better.”

You began quickly mashing your buttons, trying to defeat the stupid abyss lector in time so you could pass. Sal began chuckling at your rising frustration and when you started shouting for Razor’s burst to recharge, he lost it, bursting into a fit of laughter. You got really close to the TV and began shaking the controller, unleashing a purple wolf made of electro at the hydro abyss mage.

“C’mon! Just dieee!” You groaned and kept slashing the oversized fluff ball until it disintegrated into red ash. The timer stopped and it showed you with two stars. You raised the controller in the air and smiled, falling back onto Sal and cheering for yourself.

“You really hate abyss mages, huh?” He smiled at you and you pouted, raising a middle finger to the screen.

“Fuck you, fuck ya daughter, fuck ya grandmother, fuck ya dead great grandmother. Fuck you, and all ya kids. And your ugly ass motherfucking black ass son!” You jeered at the teasing enemies, a great distain for them in your heart. Sal crawled to sit between your legs and watch you blow through the spiral abyss. He urged you to use your bursts at times and would cheer for you softly whenever you managed to gain three stars. He undid his pigtails and pulled his fingers through them, even using it’s length to try and distract you.

You played for hours, co-opting with Sal and Larry to fight bosses, help Larry with his trash character builds and unlock all the waypoints in his world.

☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾

You looked at the school’s name hanging above it’s entrance with annoying and a twinge of fear. You didn’t even realize how long you were there until a hand intertwined itself with your left one. You looked at Sal, a smile coming to your face and you walked inside. You waved to Maple and Chug, seeing them at Maple’s locker with a a notebook and a pencil. You didn’t bother to stop at your locker, deciding to carry your bag with you throughout the day.

“Hey Y/N!”

You looked to Ashley who was putting lipgloss on in her locker mirror. She turned to you and waved to you, walking up to you and Sal. You smiled at her and the three of you walked to your first classes.

When you sat down, you heard your teacher make a hum towards you. You looked up at him and he lifted his chin.

“I was wondering when you’d return, Y/N.” He croaked, his neck turning to look at the door. “I figured you’d drop out.”

A few giggles came out from the corners of the class. You felt an arm on your side, telling you to let it go but you tilted your head with a shit-eating grin, “And I thought you’d be fired, yet we’re both here so..”

Your teacher narrowed his eyes at you, which only made your grin grow with satisfaction. He began teaching, mostly boring stuff about biology. The only problem was it was so boring you felt like sleeping, until a buzz on your waist kept you awake. You pulled up your phone and read a text from Larry, asking you to bring the ‘stuff’ from your locker. You replied with an ‘ok’ and continued to pretend to pay attention. Your imagination began to wander, thinking of how big Bowser must be. At least 9 feet, but that’d make Mario an Italian midget…. And peach would be like 5’7.

Lunch was okay, but you didn’t eat the school’s lunch, not after the bologna incident. You watched as Sal came up to you from his geometry class and sat beside you. Larry and Ashley joined you. Larry gave you a look and you pulled up a grocery bag to the table. Larry smiled wide and untied it, pulling out a container of Chinese food. Ashley gasped and asked how he got it.

“Don’t worry I got us all food.” He reassured and pulled out a box of tacos for Ashley and a container of sushi for Sal.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were going to school today.” Larry said.

“You’re good. I’ll steal you guys’ food.” You giggled and immediately snatched a taco from Ash. She made a face and it made you snort. You immediately covered your mouth of embarrassment, your friends laughing at the noise.

“It’s ok, it’s cute Y/N. I promise.” Sal looked at you with warm eyes and you nodded shyly, biting into your stolen taco. Larry handed you a piece of drenched chicken bite and you took it, biting into it.

“Yknow, we should actually go out for lunch. It’d be more fun.” Ashley beamed.

“Yeah but I don’t wanna hear a teachers mouth about us leaving….” You rolled your eyes at the thought.

“What’re they gonna do? Tell us we can’t eat?” Larry laughed at his words and Sal shrugged.

“This isn’t too bad of an idea… putting stuff in one of your lockers.” He said and you nodded, wrapping your arm around him and pulling him to whisper in his ear.

“On your birthday, I’ll leave some applesauce and pizza for you in my locker. Your favorite brand and shop, ok?”

Sal nodded eagerly, his pigtail bouncing with happiness. The four of you looked around to see some kids leaving for next class and you decided to do the same.

“Hey, shithead!”

Sal sighed at the aggressive voice and turned to see Travis, an aggravated scowl on his face. You rolled your eyes at the dumb bully and started to pull Sal to your next class.

“What the hell do you want Travis?” He said, rather annoyed at these interactions with the boy.

“You think because your bitch is here you can act all hard in front of her?!” He shouted, which made you a little pissed. “Yeah, I’m talking to you, what?”

“Travis, you aren’t even worth my time.” You declared and turned away from him. A set of heavy footsteps came rushing towards you and Sal, a hand shoving you to the ground and a few thuds landed in your eardrums. You saw yourself on the tiles, and Sal on his knees holding his mask. You stood up and stomped toward Travis. He had a nonchalant look on his face, asking you what you were gonna do, that you wouldn’t dare hurt him. You whipped your hand across his cheek, pushing him back into the lockers. You stared daggers at him as you helped Sal stand and walked him to another hall. As Travis tried to get to Sal once more, you stepped toward him and pushed him back again, a look of rage on your face was enough to tell him to stop.

You looked at Sal once you were around the corner, trying to see if he was ok, but he hid his face. His mask was clutched to his chest and his fingers did their best to cover his scarred skin. You peeled them off, telling him to let you look and he closed his eyes in fear that you’d be disgusted. You rubbed his jaw, blood forming on his bottom lip and a gross slit on it. You wiped it gently, fear of opening the gash or hurting your precious Sal. You eyed the bruised lip, decided to lean forward and give the blue haired boy a soft kiss. He looked at you with wide eyes as you smiled sweetly at him.

You put his mask back on mad began to go to your next class but he stopped you.

“Why’d you…. Why’d you do that?”

You patted his head. “That’s what couples do. We’re no different, Sal. C’mon.”

He nodded and the two of you quickly rushed to class.

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You heard the door of your room open and turned to see Sal and Larry walk in. You nodded to them and they waved to you.

“Did you bring my food?” You asked and Larry put a bag of sweets on your dresser. You thanked him and Sal sat beside you as you clicked away at your mouse and keyboard. He watched as you looked at the cameras, flipped your bear mask on and winded up the music box.

“Hey… heyyyy, get back.” You ordered as you flashed the red fox. Then your fingers fumbled to pull the mask over your head and a broken down animatronic appeared in your office. You gasped held your breath, throwing the protective mask on, but to no avail. You died.

You groaned in frustration and reached for the box of sweetness, grabbing a soft cookie and biting into it.

“Why do you okay that game? It’s so scary..”

Larry mumbled. You smiled at his comment, saying the game wasn’t scary and that Larry was just a baby. He tried to defend himself, saying that the game was scary but when you started up the game and he saw the shiny new chicken move to another room, he shrieked.

You laughed as he proved your point and kept playing your game, trying to beat the night and advance. You listened to Sal and Larry go on about their school day and you laughed as you kept your focus on your game.

“Did Travis do anything today?” You asked and Sal shook his head. Larry gave you a look as you reached for another cookie, asking if something happened when you went to school. You shook your head and explained what happened with you and Sal.

“That little…..!” Larry fumbled his words from anger and you waved it off, telling him to calm down and to drop it.

“That blond turd won’t do anything. And if he does, I’ll kick his ass.” You declared. Sal smiled at your words, thanking you for your help earlier. You turned and smiled at him, “I’m your partner in crime. It’s part of my job description.” You turned back but saw a bright blue bunny with rosy cheeks jump for you, killing you. You groaned in frustration, hearing one of Larry’s screams of terror. Sal chuckled and apologized for distracting you.

“Alright you dumb animals…. Let’s see what you got.”

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Tell Me A Story

Loki x f(magic reader)

Summary: Stuck in an Asgardian cell for your crimes, you meet an intriguing fellow prisoner who you can’t help but start to feel something for.

Warning: angst, fluff (you’re not leaving sad on my watch)

Masterlist

The ground feels hard. And your head feels incredibly fuzzy, like waking up from a deep slumber by some rude acquaintance who can’t mind their own damn business. Not to mention the throbbing sensation emitting from the left side of your cheek like two annoying disturbances. Were you smacked twice?

What in the bloody shitsticks?

The light in this place is so bright too, you have to squint when opening your irises for the first time to really get a good look at your surroundings. With the light in this awful place too much to bear, you cover your eyes with your fingers to lessen the harshness from above. Soon your gaze trails up witnessed a clean ceiling of pure marble white.

Wait. Are you dead?

Adjusting to the brightness, you slowly bring yourself into a seated position on the equally as shiny clean floor. To your left is a bed and a small nightstand while your right is a see through golden tinged barrier showing the other cells and a single guard walking down the hallway. Cells? Cells!

A prison? You’re in a fucking prison. Shit.

Letting out a dramatic sigh, head in your hands, you suddenly hear a knock on the white section of the confinement hold that turns into loud pounding. Thud! Thud! Thud! And a second later the white disappears, in place shows the same see through golden tinge. A guard on the other side.

“You’re awake.” He says, voice casual as an old friend.

You give him a puzzled look before feeling your face, “I think so.”

He takes a step into your prison where a sword is held in your face, maybe not so much an old friend after all, “As protocol, I must ask you three questions.” Delves the guard, stance never changing.

“Go for it tough guy.”

He remains unfazed, “Do you know your name?” Easy.

“Y/N.”

“Do you know why you’re here?” Uh.

“Well it wasn’t for stealing a child’s favorite toy.” You muse before quickly changing your façade, “But yes.”

He scoffs unamused, “Do you know where you are?”

Now this question you don’t have an answer for so instead do you give him your sweetest most innocent face possible, “uh, maybe you could enlighten me?”

The armored man rolls his dark eyes, “You’re in the royal dungeons of Asgard, placed here by King Odin for crimes against our realm. For that. You will remain until otherwise noted by the King.” Barks the guard, you stare up at him with wide eyes. Shocked and bewildered that you’re stuck in Asgard of all places.

“I didn’t even have a fare trial!” You protest.

“You didn’t deserve one, filth.” He counters before sheathing his sword back into its scabbard and off he goes into the golden tinged door. Out of sight in an instant. Rude.

Leaving yourself very puzzled and irritated at the whole ordeal, you never even got a trial to speak your side of the story. Nothing. Now you’re stuck in this dumb shit of a cell with literally nothing to do and no one around to bother, oh wait who’s that across the room?

Jumping to your feet, you swiftly walk over to the glass; there stands a man in green and black attire, leather bound book in hand as his slender face focuses onto the pages. He’s rather handsome in all honesty, with that dark shoulder length hair of his and the thoughtful expression across his face. You’re now fully intrigued.

Then your mind swirls with a thought, you’re in Asgard. So, this must be prince Loki, the one who failed to conquer Midgard. Soon a devilish smirk crosses your features, “What are you doing down here? I thought princes were the ones to put delinquents behind bars?”

Loki’s face shifts from surprise to amusement as he keeps his eyes onto the pages, “Kings.” Corrects the Asgardian prince.

You smile, “Well this king can eat shit!”

He lets out a breathy snort before finally drawing his gaze up to you, his expression quickly diminishes from amusement into star struck fascination when those beautiful blues land upon your beaming mischievous face. Loki has never seen someone so magnificently enticing in his whole entire life. But here you are, whoever you happen to be.

The raven haired man sets the book onto his nightstand before sauntering over to the glass wall, “And who do I presume you are? My new source of entertainment.”

Waving him off like a blushing maiden, you pretend to get all hot and bothered by his sly comment, “Oh wouldn’t you like to know.”

Loki smirks, “I would indeed.”

You curl a piece of hair around your finger, gifting him a shy smile as you avoid his steely gaze. “Sorry.” You mutter, “I only tell men who can take over whole planets in under three days.”

He immediately loses his humored aurora, replacing it with a slightly taken aback yet somewhat pissed off one. “Ouch. But I can’t image you’re any clever if you happen to be stuck down here with me.”

You point up a finger, “On the contraire, my faults are less hefty then your own. So who really lost here?”

“From the looks of it. Both of us.”

You nod, “That is a truthful observation, but what has gifted us a sentence in exile are two entirely different sides to the relatively same coin.”

“Mine being, failure to conquer and rule Midgard. And yours being?”

“Fine. I’ll satiate your appetite.” He raises a brow as you trail your hand down the buzzing glass, “I may have tried to steal some pretty gems downstairs. Blah blah and I got caught by some lady named Frigga who’s a lot more skilled with magic then I had first realized and now I’m here. Granted I don’t remember getting to said “here” but alas my body remains.”

Loki smirks, “My deer mother got the best of you. How is she up in the real world these days?”

“Oh you know, told me she loves reading, doing the usual witchy stuff, and she hates you so go burn in hell for eternity you shit head little boy.”

Loki could have choked on his own spit, “Pardon me?”

“You heard me, she said she loves you. Is that not what you heard? I really thought I was being pretty clear.”

The Asgardian prince shakes his head, “Forget I asked.” Turning around once again to find his way onto the comfortable looking mattress, new book in hand.

You pout at the lack of attention, what did you say to annoy him? Was it the little shit head boy? Maybe he’s just having a bad day.

——

There he is. That incredibly attractive Asgardian prince of Mischief, just standing there. Reading yet another book in his beautiful greens and blacks and golds as he chooses to ignore you. The insanely gorgeous but deeply irritating woman across the cell from him.

You’ve been in here for about four weeks now and Loki has not cracked once. You’re really trying too! All he’s done is gift you with some telling facial expressions or the wonderful side comment to address your theatrics or harmless shenanigans.

All you want to do is get to know him better. And maybe along the way get the fuck out of here with a little help, and then preferably take the prince along for the ride. If it was only that easy.

Levitating in your cell just because you’re tired of standing all the time, you keep your usual unabashed stare-down with the prince when a random guard marches by. He looks from right to left and forward again before doing a double take over to you.

“Hey! Stop that!” He shouts, lance raised at your smirking face while you continue to float, “You can’t do that here!”

You simply roll your eyes, “Who has made this new rule law?”

The guard pauses for a moment, clearly indicating that he just doesn’t want you floating because he’s a party pooper. He swallows, “By king Odin.”

“By king Odin? Doesn’t his son fly?”

“Huh?” He glances over to Loki who’s not paying attention to you two in the slightest.

“Not that one.”

The guard makes a frustrated grunt before removing his lance away from your face, no matter the safety of the glass, “You can remain afloat but only under my authority.” And with that does he stomp off down the corridor.

Idiot.

You beam a victorious grin as he leaves your sight when a sudden slow clapping can be heard from across the hallway. Immediately do you snap your attention up to the prince who’s already sharing one of his infamous smirks, “Congratulations. You’ll now have an enemy down here. And it only took you a few weeks.”

You scoff, moving yourself to float casually on your back, “It’s about time too. Things were starting to get unbearably dull around here.”

Loki hums, “Ever try reading?”

You snort, “No, no I haven’t. Hmm, but I’d love it if you could read to me, since I don’t happen to have any books within reach. It’s only fair.”

Loki raises a brow, “Only fair?”

“Yes. I have the guards annoyed with me, so, they won’t care much about you. And. You get to read, but also to me as well.”

“That’s a possibly compelling suggestion.” Says the prince, mulling over your words.

“I thought so.”

You close your eyes as a couple moments pass before he speaks again, “But I must decline.”

“What!” You shout in bewilderment as he lowly chuckles, “I might just about die of boredom, you want me on your conscience when I pass into oblivion from lack of entertainment!”

Loki smiles at your adorable face, “Make your own fun.” He teases, though you don’t realize this.

Moving yourself into a standing position, yet still without touching the ground, you press your hands against the golden tinged glass, “Loki! You are a beautifully great annoyance and if I wasn’t stuck in here I would throw all your books about! And then….then I’d knock down your nightstand!”

He smirks, “Charming.”

You pout while your fists clench in irritation, “Fine! I didn’t want to listen to your loathsome voice anyways!” He gifts you with a proud half grin as you turn from him to magically throw your wooden nightstand across the room.

You land, reaching a hand out to launch the nightstand back across the room once more before repeating this action again and again until the whole flimsy thing combusts when it crashes violently into the closest wall.

Breathing heavily, you slowly turn to face the irritation watching you do all of this, “Feel better Y/N.”

Pursing your lips together, you release your tight fists, “Yes.”

He nods, “What would you like me to read?”

“Something joyful…….please.”

Loki shares a handsome grin before giving you a respectfully small bow, “As the lady wishes.” Loki shares a small glance with your curious face before turning to search for a book. He kneels down and soon picks out a book colored in a deep blue, something foreign written in golden cursive on the front.

You slowly return to the ground, this time seated criss crossed as you lean half of yourself upon the glass as you try and get as close to Loki as physically possible. Which is difficult considering the hallway’s short distance keeping your cells apart, but you try anyways. He opens up the book and quickly looks up to catch your gaze before smiling and looking down at the first page.

Loki reveals the smallest blush before clearing his throat, “The Fox and the Raven.” You smirk at his adorable face, how focused and deep in thoughtful concentration he becomes as the words flow off of his sly tongue like molten gold. You could listen to him all day.

“Once there were two beings, equal in skill and game. Best friends since childhood even, but there was one thing that drove a wedge in their long relationship. Another. This beautiful being was beyond compare to that of any god or goddess alike. And the two friends where undoubtedly in love with them.

It began one windy day by the river, the beauty stood, washing their hair by the waters edge with not a mind to mess with anyone in their head. The two friends saw them and smiled. “I shall win their affections.” Claimed the dark haired admirer, Tala. “Not you silly fox, I shall be the one to draw their heart to mine.” Spoke Essek with great confidence, his bestfriend in the whole entire realm.

They looked to each other with clear frustration sculpted into their faces, so, the friends came to an agreement. Whoever failed to win over the water nymphs heart, that friend must stay in their animal form forever while the victorious one could live on as they always have. Maybe it was cruel. Maybe not at first.

Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months as the two friends would speak with the water nymph as often as they could. Tala in raven form and Essek as a dashing fox. All was going well as they played their little game of love until the water nymph began to grow quit fond of the raven for his talents in the sky and witty personality.

So much so that on the next full moon, the raven revealed himself to his true form before making love to the joyful water nymph on the rivers edge. And so the very next day when the fox arrived to speak with the nymph, he was surprised to find Tala laying underneath a weeping willow with the nymph in his strong arms.

The fox recoiled with jealousy before his heart shattered in two, Tala smiled a triumphant grin as the fox turned away in disappointment before rushing off into the woodland. Never to be seen again.

So that is why you can never trust anyone who is truly dear to you, for love is a fleeting thing and can turn friends into beasts for something as silly and pathetic as a beacon of affection.” Finishes Loki in an almost sour tone as you sit there on the cell floor, feeling a bit off and out of place from that abrupt turn of events.

You frown, “I thought you were going to read me a happy story?”

Loki closes the book, “I did.” Blue eyes on you in an instant.

“No. You really didn’t.”

Loki gives you an almost dumbfounded look, “The raven got to keep his original form and make love to the water nymph what else is there to want?” He questions like it’s the most obvious thing in the entire world. Not.

“The fox is depressed now. That’s not very happy.”

“It was happy for those two, was it not?”

You roll your eyes, “It was. But a happy story should have a happy ending for everyone involved. That’s the point of a happy tale being told.” You counter as he lets out a frustrated sigh.

“Not everyone gets what they want in the end, Y/N. That’s just life, some are fine and persist while others turn and run with nothing of any significance still clinging to them.”

You sit there a moment in bewilderment, soon rising to float threateningly by the glass, “That’s ridiculous! A happy story should be fucking happy! Love is supposed to be kind and beautiful, not this wedge that turns people against one another and supports a game that shifts into jealousy and disdain for one.”

Loki hums, “Well it is just a story after all. Love does that because it isn’t truthful ever, it’s a fleeting thing without any weight that only causes pain and disappointment.”

Your brows soon furrow at these dark words, “Oh and what do you understand about love?” You hotly challenge, voice accusatory and fierce.

“That it isn’t real.” Mutters the prince with a casual shrug, though his face flashes with uncertainty.

You scoff, “Is it now? You think love is a simple lie? A trick from the universe to keep races existing until their worlds collapse?”

“Yes.” Nods the Asgardian, “That’s what I believe.”

You take a breath, feet slowly touching the cool tiled floor as you speak, “You have no idea what it feels like then. So how can you claim it to be false?”

Loki crosses his arms, “True love isn’t real because that just cannot be realistic in any sense Y/N. Same thing as feeling happy or when you sneeze….the feeling is a feeling like butterflies in your stomach when you get excited. But like every emotion given, it leaves and the feelings are dulled or just dissipate altogether.”

“You’re wrong.” You bitterly mutter, voice low and filled with a somber hurt.

“And how would I be wrong then?” He wonders, truly curious to see how on earth you are able to counter this. He doesn’t wholeheartedly believe in love, though his growing affections for you seem to have him conflicted. He still wants to know.

“It is like magic, to be in love.” You reply, a faint smile ghosting your lips as you press your hands against the glass, “It is bright and brilliant and beautiful. It does not come and go like a fleeting spark from a dying flame. Love, like magic, forms from within when let into someone’s vessel. It is a power that always remains no matter where the person travels, or how old they become. Love, in the end and always through existence will remain. No matter what.”

Loki could have shed a tear at your beautiful explanation, yet his stubbornness persists, “A fairytale. Nothing more.”

“A fairytale? A fucking fairytale!?” You shout, voice rising in fury, “You don’t know anything but the lies you tell yourself you heartless bastard! All I wanted was a happy story that made me smile before I’m executed! And you couldn’t even give me that you selfish prick of a man!”

Loki’s heart grows cold as a winters morning, he blinks, forgetting how to properly breath at your heated declarations. He steps closer to the thin glass, brows furrowed in puzzled apprehension, “You’re being executed?” He asks, tone low and thoughtful.

Face falling into a deep frown, you lower your head in shame, “I have been condemned to die for my crimes above. Guess they’re not so simple as I had first claimed.”

“What do you mean?”

You let out a telling sigh, “I didn’t try and take the queens jewels, I tried to murder her..”

“You what?!” Whispers the Asgardian prince, eyes wide in shock, “What do you mean?”

Your gaze keeps trained onto the floor, “I am…well, I was….an assassin. Who, ultimately could not force myself to murder your mother Frigga, so I let myself be caught and taken. It’s the least I deserve for the life I’ve led. This is just how it goes, and I’m ready.”

Loki’s mind races, he never even suspected such a thing coming from you. Sure you’re indeed a beautiful mystery of a person who enjoys levitating in her cell for the hell of it. But your appearance and pose never revealed someone capable of homicide as their profession, least of all you.

And now, his father is condemning you to death rightly so, but Loki can’t help but think you don’t truly deserve this fate. Maybe, just possibly, he’d feel like he was losing a close friend. Someone who he never had any intentions of developing these strange new feelings for.

“I won’t let him end your life.” Suddenly speaks the prince, “You didn’t kill her, you actively chose not to, so I believe he could sway his final decision.”

You let out a breathy laugh, “Wishful thinking.” Just as three guards dressed in their true Asgardian golds walk to the front of your cell. Loki swallows, they dissipate the golden tinged force field, leaving you with nothing but air to keep you from their clutches.

“Y/N.” Softly calls the dark haired prince, voice small and desperate, he didn’t think they would take you so soon but what does he truly know anymore? Your sad eyes lock onto his as one guard snaps metal cuffs against your wrists, and another around your throat before he ushers you out.

Loki can’t tear his eyes from yours the whole time, and even after you’ve been dragged down the hallway and out of sight. He thinks, maybe you’ll return and it was all a big misunderstanding, a simple nightmare and he’ll wake any second now. But he knows this is foolish thinking, you’re never coming back. And he’s beside himself.

Loki bows his head in silent anguish, fists clenched tight as his heartbeat begins to race when suddenly he releases his grip and a small blast of green magic emits in the aftermath. Just enough power to knock some books onto the floor in protest. He doesn’t pick them up.

In the following days, Loki would pace around his cell like a nervous lion. Reading book after book to help pass the time though he couldn’t stop his racing mind from thinking about you. Where were you now? What had they done to you? Did it hurt?

He didn’t know and what’s worse is the guards only seemed to mock him about it, claiming your life was worth more dead then anything else. It stung like a heated iron spear left too long in the hot coals, he missed you beyond compare. How did you make him feel this way? When did that happen?

He missed your mischievous smile, your alluring eyes of curiosity and concealed chaos. The way you spoke to him like a person and not just a prisoner, or even a prince who’s disappointed his whole kingdom. You didn’t care, sure you lived to tease and pester him relentlessly, but you didn’t truly care about his current status.

You drew the attention out of him without even needing to try, brought a smile upon his face weather he was aware of it or not, and made him feel genuinely excited about waking up the next day. You became everything to him and more, and Loki hadn’t even realized this until it was too late.

But now you’re gone. And he will never see another Y/N for as long as he is to live.

Loki sits with his back against the wall, hair undoubtedly a wild mess closely matching that of the room about him. Books, clothing, furniture, and other personal belongings lay around his cell like the aftermath of a furious hurricane. He didn’t mean for this to happen, but when he got word that his mother was injured in the attack by the dark elves and freed prisoners. He new it was his fault, he led them to freedom after all.

With his mother healing from her non fatal wounds, and the loss of his dear Y/N to the axe. Loki has been doing less then tremendous these past few weeks, clearly. The prince now closes his weary eyes, breathing steadily as a new presence makes itself known across the golden tinged glass. He doesn’t care to look.

“Well don’t you look sad.” Teases a familiar voice, not condescending but just enough to make him laugh if he felt like it.

He opens his eyes to find your smirking face, body safe and sound wrapped in a cloak of white and intricately laced gold. How absolutely beautiful you are. His brows furrow as he mutters, “You’re just an illusion.” Voice horse and filled with doubt.

You raise a brow, “So is this?” You ask in reference to the clean cut illusion Loki is controlling, “I think not. I can see right through it.”

He forgot about the illusion he’s been creating since his breakdown, of course you’d see right through it, “You died. And my mother is hurt.”

“So you lost control within yourself and chose self deprecation? And apparently…chaos.” The trickster god rolls his tired eyes which causes you to chuckle, “I see my passing onto greater things has weakened your ego.”

He scoffs, “Your ghost form does not amuse me.”

Taking a glance down the vacant hallway, you step right through the golden tinged force field like it’s nothing more then air. “Loki Laufeyson, I am not a phantom or a dreary pigment of your imagination you foolish prick. I am Y/N, Goddess of Chaos and Magic. And someone who has missed you deeply.”

Loki frowns, blue eyes focused up at your truthful face as he sighs, “I….I don’t think I understand what is happening.”

You approach his side before kneeling down to reach his level, you two have never been this close before, “My tale was true as the forming of this realm itself. But your mother saw me for who I am, not what I have been enchanted to do with my life. So she gave me another chance to live, and so I did. To protect her and guard her until she deems otherwise, that’s why I’m still alive and that’s why your mother still has a beating heart.”

Loki reaches out for your hand that you gladly let him take, “Those prisoners..”

“I killed them. Every last one of those fuckers and the damn dark elves who attempted to crash their ship into the great hall. Let’s just say, it didn’t go according to their plans.” You explain, pausing for a moment to share a longing look with the Asgardian prince.

The corners of his lips rise into a soft smile, a deeply relieved one while you look down at your laced fingers, “Loki.” You whisper before drawing your head up to properly look at him.

“Yes.”

“I’m still counting on a better story.” You muse as he lets out a breathy laugh.

“Unfortunately none of these books happen to provide a decent tale, my dear.”

You gently squeeze his hand, “In that case I’ll bring you all the books stuffed in that giant library. There’s bound to be a good one, something happy.”

“I’d like that.” Nods the prince.

You smile, “But I have to ask you one thing.”

“Of course.”

“Did you miss me?”

Loki squeezes your hand right back, “More then I’d ever missed anyone.” Reveals the dark haired prince as he reaches up to tuck a loose strand of hair behind your ear, though his fingers linger on your cheek a moment longer before he slowly pulls them away and into his lap.

You can’t help but snicker which causes his face to scrunch up in puzzled embarrassment. Immediately do you reach up to cup his cheek, “I felt the same way. And I think I might feel a bit more too, quit possibly a lot more. No. Yes definitely a lot more then I first led on from a few weeks ago in fact and all I must admit to you now Loki Laufeyson or Odinson..prince of Asgard I think I’d like to kiss you now if that’s okay with you.”

Loki blinks, did he hear you right? “oh.” He mumbles, clearly unsure of himself or whatever wonderful thing you just said.

You immediately remove your hand from his cheek, “Too soon. Sorry I just thought I read you right maybe I was wrong I can just leav….” You don’t even have a moment to finish your sentence when his lips press pleasantly against yours.

His hands hold your face while your own hands gently grip onto his forearms for support in your awkward positioning, with him sitting and you still crouched. But it matters not when his lips move in time with yours, he feels so lovely, like a hundred roses pressing against your skin.

Giving you that soft velvety feel, you could kiss him all day if he’d let you. Though soon enough the two of you must break for some air, and with that do you pull him to his feet while you float just inches off of the messy ground. Loki never once taking his hand away from yours.

“How can you….how can you do that?” Wonders the prince as he glances from the ground to your face.

You shrug, “How can you move things with your mind?”

He smiles, “I guess, I just can. A terribly lackluster explanation I know, but perhaps I’m not truly certain how either.”

“Well let’s not dwell on the unknown for too long, this moment right now is too sacred for anything else. And though I have to leave, I will return to you…..and next time with more books. Then you will have no choice then to read them all to me.”

Loki hums, “I don’t see a problem there.” Before whispering in your ear, “Maybe bring some wine, I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an evening.”

You share a bright grin, “As the spoiled prince asks, but it will cost you.”

Loki raises an intrigued brow, “Cost what?”

“A kiss. Before and after I do your bidding. Can you settle for those terms?”

Loki’s lips pull into an adorable smile, cheeks almost dusting pink at your new flash of boldness. He’s never met anyone quit like you in all his years alive. “I believe those terms are acceptable.”

You give him a wink, “Good. See you then.” And with that do you crash your lips against his for on more heated embrace before leaving one final kiss to his slender cheek and floating out of the cell you go. Stopping behind the glass to give your new lover one last fleeting look, “Miss me you prick.”

Loki smirks, “Always.”

[anabsolutetrainwreck]

i can hate you sometimes || h. styles

warnings: pre-covid, mentions of sex, swearing, kissing

word count: 2.2k

summary: you and harry have mutual friends, but that doesn’t mean you two are friends. but when harry gets caught in the rain and you’re the closest person he can turn to, it makes for a much more awkward night...

Though you could respect Harry’s artistic abilities when it came to creating music, you could barely tolerate him as a person. Likewise, he wasn’t at all too fond of you. You shared friends in common, which often unfortunately resulted in many a night out with him and your mutual friends.

Yes, Harry was a respectful man. That was perhaps the one thing you could say didn’t irritate you about him. Everything else, the subtle cockiness he played off as jokes; the incessant need to be centre of attention; the bloated ego, which left him thinking he was above everyone else, all of that stuff, you couldn’t stand. But he wasn’t going to stop you from enjoying time with your friends, so you continued to go out drinking with them or go out for big meals with them or on lavish holidays with them. Unfortunately, he had the same mindset. You were both very stubborn.

Going out with your friends when Harry was there seemed like a difficult task at first. But if you sat at the opposite end of the table or stayed fairly distant in a club, the night tended to run smoothly. The one time you’d been left alone was around a year ago when you and Harry had gone out for dinner with Sarah and Mitch. Sarah had gone to the toilet and Mitch had gone to pay the bill. It had been two or three minutes maybe, but it felt like long, excruciating hours. Days, even. You’d distracted yourself by finishing off your wine and trying hard to look anywhere but in Harry’s direction. He’d busied himself with his phone and trying hard to look anywhere but your direction. But, either way, it had been perhaps the most awkward experience of your life.

And now, on a quiet Sunday evening, you found yourself preparing some pasta. Your dog, albeit too big for his own good, was curled up in front of the fireplace. You had your laptop set up on your coffee table, your classical music playlist floating through your house.

It had begun raining heavily about five minutes ago. The droplets were pelting down on your large windows. You had some candles set up and a glass of wine waiting for you on the coffee table in your living room. It was the perfect romantic evening for one.

A knock on your front door took your attention from the boiling water before you. You quickly jogged through to your hallway, opening the door. And, much to your surprise and perhaps disappointment, you were met with the face of Harry Styles. “Can I help you?” you asked, staring at him expectantly.

He sighed, almost embarrassed to ask, but said, “Can I stop at yours until the rain passes?”

You looked him up and down. Stop at yours? Why did that send your stomach into a state of flutters? “Just get an uber,” you said firmly.

He winced, “My phone’s dead. Can you at least let me charge it so I can get an uber?”

You weren’t a fan of Harry (biggest understatement of the year), but that didn’t mean you were an utter asshole. Of course you would let him stop at yours for a little while. Anyone would, right? You sighed, making sure he knew this was a reluctant decision of yours, “Sure.”

He thanked you as he shuffled into your house. He removed his coat and hung it up on your coat rack. Quietly, he followed you into your living room. “Here,” you said curtly, passing him one of your spare chargers.

The entire exchange was even more awkward than last year’s meal with Sarah and Mitch. Benny, your dog, was quite clearly enthralled about the arrival of Harry. He jumped up at the brunette man, his tongue hanging loose. As you tended to your exuberant pasta meal, you could hear Harry petting Benny.

On the few occasions Harry had met Benny, he loved the dog. But, Benny was a dog after all and it was hard to hate a dog. Especially one as lovable and as cuddly as Benny. Harry’s footsteps became louder as he entered the kitchen, Benny, tail wagging, not far behind. It was only when you looked up did you notice Harry carrying your laptop with him. Your first instinct was to tell him to put it the fuck down; it was your laptop - you paid good money for it. But something seemed to stop you from snapping at the man, who was soaked from the rain, in front of you. Usually, you struggled with biting your tongue around Harry. He was just infuriating. “Can I please put something else on?” he asked, gesturing to the screen, which had Spotify open.

You shrugged. You weren’t that bothered if he wasn’t in the mood to listen to your collection of great classical records. It was his loss. Besides, your pasta was nearly finished and then  you’d dish it up and settle down in front of the tv. “Sure.”

There was a moment of silence after he’d paused to whatever piece was playing. “What’s this?” his voice came suddenly.

You knew exactly what he’d found. And you practically kicked yourself for forgetting you had it. It was your playlist, simply titled ‘sex’. A sex playlist. A playlist for sex. “I didn’t take you as the type to have a designated sex playlist,” he said, smirking.

“Well, there’s a lot you don’t know about me,” you grumbled, your cheeks heating up.

“Clearly. Some interesting choices on here, Y/N. Not as many of mine as I thought there’d be,” he said.

There was none. None of Harry’s songs on your sex playlist and, if he was being honest, it kind of irritated him slightly. The thought of you having sex to his voice was an enriching one. But what most definitely pissed him off, was the sight of a couple Liam Payne songs and a few of Zayn’s. “I didn’t think Sign of the Times was right for the occasion,” you shrugged. “Do you want some pasta?”

“If there’s some going,” he said quickly. “I do have other songs you know. Besides, Sign of the Times is a great sex song. Starts off slow, builds to a climax...”

You turned to look at him. Only then did you realise you were actually having this conversation with him. Still, you pressed on. “All songs build to a climax one way or another. It’s called a crescendo.”

“Yeah, I know what it’s fucking called,” he sighed. “I’m the musician here.”

“And yet you can’t appreciate classical music. Anyway, if you’re so convinced you have good sex songs, name a few,” you challenged.

He spoke as he followed you through to the living room. You set his bowl of pasta (you always had a habit of making your portions way too large) down on the coffee table beside the candles and wine. “Okay, Kiwi.”

You hummed in thought, “What if I want something a little slower? Like, Kiwi could totally ruin the mood.”

He shifted in his seat. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his phone light up, signalling it had at least a little bit of power. But now he was eating your fresh pasta and discussing sex songs with you, and frankly, he didn’t want to leave. “Woman? You can’t tell me you’ve never had sex with Woman playing,” he said.

“Well, I can. So I will: I’ve never had sex with Woman playing,” you replied; you liked this game.

“Okay, come on. She is the perfect sex song,” he said smugly.

Now this one tripped you up. Because you’d had sex to She before. It had come on when the guy you were sleeping with asked if he could shuffle his playlist. She had come on second, maybe. And those six minutes had been the best of your life. You told yourself it was just the guy you were seeing at the time, and he certainly didn’t mind the compliment. But, in hindsight, you realised it was probably the fact that Harry was singing about living in daydreams in the background. In that moment, the sex hadn’t even been at the forefront of your mind. It was his fucking velvet voice. “I wouldn’t know.”

He smirked, “You’ve had sex to She, haven’t you?”

“No.”

“You have! I knew it.”

“Piss off, Harry.”

You hoped your nonchalant replies would be enough to deter his attention from the subject at hand. But alas, he didn’t seem to pick up on it. That, or he was deliberately ignoring your tone. You were beginning to regret letting Harry into your house. And you weren’t afraid to tell him so. “I wish I’d just left you in the rain.”

He scoffed, “That’s not very nice, Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes at him, making sure he saw. God, you could really hate him sometimes. “Harry, we’re literally discussing my sex life. It’s none of your business. And a bit personal, don’t you think? You don’t even know my surname.”

You got to your feet and made your way through to the kitchen, placing your empty bowl in the sink. You could hear him behind you, you just wanted to turn around and tell him to give you a moment to yourself. He was like a puppy. Before you had the chance to do so, you felt him lean over, placing his bowl beside yours. He was so close. 

Turning around slowly, you were met with him. He was there, right there. You looked up at him. He wasn’t moving. You were torn between pushing past him, making sure he knew you were angry and staying for a while, basking in the sexual tension that was buzzing around in the air. “I do know your surname,” was all he said.

He was so close, his eyes exploring your face as if he’d never seen it before. Trapped between Harry and the kitchen counter, you’d fantasised about this moment for ages. Harry’s face a mere few centimetres away from your own. You could feel his breath on your face. It was warm, welcoming. “Do you?” you choked out. 

He nodded slightly. The revelation of Harry knowing your surname was almost surprising to you. You didn’t think he paid that much attention to anything that had something to do with you. Up until this point, standing in your kitchen, neither of you daring to make the first move, you’d thought he only knew your first name because he was obliged to. 

You both yearned the simple delight of the other’s touch. All the pent up sexual tension from the last years, longing looks disguised as glares of disgust and the little snarky remarks used as an excuse to talk to each other, all of that began unravelling at the seams. He looked at you and you looked at him, both of you daring the other to make the first point of euphoric contact. “Harry,” you forced out quietly, hoping he’d take that as a sign that he could touch you, kiss you, anything.

“What do you want?” he hummed gently. “What can I give you?”

“Just kiss me.”

You were also embarrassed that, after years of suppressing your enrapturing feelings, you were asking him to kiss you. And still, he didn’t touch you. It was like he was playing some sick game with you. And then the dreadful thought that he might just be doing all of this to give him a means to mock you in the future. If that was the case, he’d have the perfect upper hand over you. “Do you still wish you’d left me in the rain?” he asked, almost taunting you as he left you practically begging for his touch. 

You shook your head, “No, no. God, no. Harry, please.”

“Anything you want, darling.”

“Kiss me.”

“Only if you’re sure you want me to.”

“I do, Harry. Please.”

And when he was sure he had your definite consent, he didn’t waste another moment. He placed his large hand on your cheek, the tips of his fingers buried in your hair. His lips on yours was perhaps the most perfect form of ecstasy. As you wrapped your arms around his neck, tilting your head up to meet his, you were sure you’d travelled to some distant infatuating dreamland you only ever hear about. 

Reluctantly, you pulled away, panting slightly, “Don’t go.”

“What?”

“Don’t get an uber. Stay with me tonight.”

A smile crept its way up into Harry’s features. He tried to hide how elated he was that you’d proposed he spend the night with you. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips, which were parted slightly. All he wanted to do was indulge his need for your perfect taste all night. From the moment the sky went from the most divine lavender colour to the most starry black, to the moment it turned back to the most marvellous oranges and reds in the waking of the sun. “You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you to say that to me.”

part two.

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

Pressing Issues

*Dick Grayson x Reader

*Summary: Detective Dick Grayson has never been annoyed by another person as much as journalist Reader.

*Warnings: Swearing, talks of gun violence (relevant to a case Dick is working on), mention of robbery (case mention), cop stuff. Let me know if I missed anything.

*A/N: I made a post talking about this idea a while ago and finally wrote it.

Tip Jar

**********

When Detective Dick Grayson stepped on the scene, he didn’t expect anything different from what was told to him on the way there. He went about doing his thing - talking to the officers on the scene, chatting with CSI - when he heard his partner let out an exaggerated groan. Dick looked over, confused at the noise. His partner just rolled his eyes, nodding towards a woman with a press badge. “Man, why’d they send her?”

“Who’s that?” Dick asked. He’d never seen her before, but she was definitely attractive. He’d had a few press statements on other cases, and he never really saw the issue with the press. Maybe that was just from growing up around Bruce and all the media attention that brought, but the journalists he’d spoken to in Bludhaven had never been rude to him.

“That’s (y/n), she’s a monster.” His partner provided no further explanation as the woman walked up to them.

“I’m sorry, Miss, but you can’t be on the scene,” Dick immediately said. He was surprised the other officers didn’t stop her at the tape.

“Right, but those officers weren’t giving me any answers,” she told him. His partner let out a laugh.

“Grayson, you can deal with her, just get her out of the tape,” his partner said.

“Rodriguez, always nice to see you.” She smiled at his partner, but her tone was dripping with sarcasm. “Haven’t gotten any better at your job since the last time we spoke, have you?”

“Grayson, get her out of here.” Rodriguez lost any amusement he had with the woman, and Dick knew he should get the journalist out of there before things escalated even further. Dick led her away from the scene, right to the edge of the tape but away from the small crowd that were always nosing around scenes.

“Detective Richard Grayson, how can I help you out?”

“(Y/n) (L/n), lead crime journalist for the Bludhaven Gazette. I wanted to get a feel for the scene before we put anything out about it,” she explained. “Anything you can share about what happened?”

“Alright, well we have two males hit in a drive-by, one dead on the scene. We don’t know much about motives or anything, but we’re suspecting rival gangs based on the fact this happened in a grey-zone,” Dick told her. It would be vague enough to satisfy her readers, but didn’t put anything too speculative out there. She was shaking her head as she wrote down what he said. “Wait, what’s all that about?”

“What?”

“The head shaking? What, you don’t agree with the police statement?” Dick was trying to joke with her, but he was still confused.

“It’s not a grey-zone, but I wouldn’t expect the cops to know that,” she said, challenging him. Dick tried to think back to his nightly activities, trying to figure out if he missed anything with how the city was divided. As far as he knew, this area was unclaimed. “Right, so that’s it?”

“Well, yeah. We just got on the scene not too long ago.” She just hummed, and he wasn’t sure if it was in acknowledgement or disapproval. “Hey, what’s your beef with Rodriguez?”

“For a Detective, he’s shit at his job,” she told him, clicking her pen as she put it back in her bag.

“Care to elaborate?”

“A kid got snatched, broad daylight, and Rodriguez was the lead on the case. Gave up after a few days. I dunno where you’re from, but where I’m from, we don’t give up like that, especially on a kid,” she said. “I wrote articles talking about it, and Rodriguez doesn’t like me because I called him out on it.”

“Wow, you’re pretty cutthroat,” Dick said, whistling lowly.

“I just don’t give you guys any slack. Be good at your job and you have nothing to worry about.” She smiled at him before turning on her heel and walking away. He watched as she put her phone to her ear, probably talking to someone back at the office. She scared him a little, but he was always up for the challenge.

**********

Rodriguez was right. Dick was always down for accountability, but the way you brought it into his life was a bit much. Every time there was even the slightest hint of a development, you were there with your opinions about what he was doing wrong, and if you ever had any praise for him, it was so sparse he couldn’t even tell it was praise. He was just trying to look through some files to piece together your little cryptic ‘it’s not a grey-zone’ hint, when Rodriguez tapped on his desk.

“What’s up?” He asked, looking up at his partner.

“You got a visitor.”

“God, don’t tell me…”

“Surprise, your worst nightmare is here, Grayson.”

“Aw, I got a new nickname?” You asked Rodriguez as you dropped in the chair next to Dick’s desk. Dick had to stop the groan from escaping him, really not wanting to deal with you.

“She’s your problem now,” Rodriguez said, walking away. Dick almost wished he could go with him.

“Alright, (L/n), what is it now?” Dick asked, putting down his files.

“You have ID on one of the victims and it was a guy with no connections to anything on the Underground, but no progress on the shooter? C’mon, Grayson, I thought you’d at least be better than Rodriguez.”

“I’m working with what I have,” he huffed, fighting the way he wanted to roll his eyes.

“You’re not looking at all your options. Put away the gang files, they’re not the ones you should be looking at,” you almost ordered him. “I’m practically doing your job for you at this point. I gotta run, I have an interview.”

“You’re leaving the Gazette?” Dick was almost hopeful. That would definitely make things easier on him.

“No, smart one, I’m the one doing the interviewing.”

“Wow, who would’ve guessed with your shining personality,” Dick shot back, finally annoyed.

“I’m a ray of sunshine, just not with cops,” you said with your fake little smile before leaving him there. It took everything to not slam his head against his desk.

**********

Dick always thought he was good under pressure, but this was intense. With your little article that came out the day after you talked to him - apparently your interview was with the victim’s wife - public pressure was increasing on the department tenfold. He hated to admit it, but you were good at what you did. He was almost pissed off at himself after reading the article, and that was saying something.

He needed to close this case so he could get you off his back, and he needed to do it fast. Not only did you put pressure on the department, now his superiors were putting even more pressure on him. He knew you were cryptic with what you knew, but you wanted him to put together the pieces. When he was out for his nightly patrol, he was trying to piece together what little hints you dropped.

Dick had to admitted he was silently fuming as he sat on the rooftop across from the scene of the crime. After all, what did you know? It’s not like you had access to the databases he did, both legally and in the legally grey. What did she mean it’s not gang-related? It has to be, this is disputed territory right now. 

And of course something sketchy had to happen while he was doubting you. A black town car pulled up to the block, someone getting out of the passenger seat and scanning the area before going back to talk to someone in the back. Dick cursed as he grabbed his binoculars, trying to watch the scene closer to see if he could get any more information from the sketchy scene. He zoomed in on the man in the backseat, a guy dressed in an expensive-looking suit wearing sunglasses at night (like an asshole), silver rings adorning his fingers.

“No way,” Dick mumbled, taking a picture of the rings to send to Barbara later. One of them in particular looked familiar, but he couldn’t exactly place it. “How the hell did she…”

After whoever it was seemed satisfied with how the scene looked, the person got back into the car and it pulled off, the tires screeching in the quiet of the night. As soon as Dick finished his patrols for the night, he sent the picture off to Barbara. She called him as soon as she ran the picture. “Hey, where’d you see this guy?”

“By the scene of that drive-by a couple weeks ago,” Dick explained. “I recognize that big ring he’s wearing on his middle finger, but I have no idea where from. Can you help me out?”

“Yeah, that’s a Baglio family ring,” she told him. “I can’t get an ID on the guy, but you remember that Italian family we were having trouble with out here? Same family.”

“Damn, she was right then. Technically not gang related. Hey, does the mob count as a gang?”

“I mean, technically, but they aren’t really recognized as gangs when it comes to like popular recognition. Does that really matter, though?”

“It’s a matter of me being technically right, so yes.”

“You’re annoying, has anyone told you that lately?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Okay, good talk then.”

**********

Actually having a solid lead meant that he was able to close the case a lot sooner than he previously thought. Sure, he wasn’t able to actually bag whoever was in the back of the town car, but he was able to track down the shooters. At the press conference announcing the arrest of the shooters, he could see you right there in the front row with the other reporters. Dick caught your gaze for a second, and he almost missed the small nod of approval you gave him. For a moment, he thought he’d finally get on your good side again.

Then again, the peace could only last for so long. Every single case he was on, he could bet there was an article about it soon to follow. You’d appear at every crime scene, moving on from antagonizing Rodriguez to finding Dick and immediately bothering him. You’d drop your little cryptic hints when he was having trouble with cases, and somehow they’d actually be useful once he decoded them. The thing that probably bugged him the most was how you managed to get to his desk almost every day he was working on particularly difficult cases. You never let him get to the point of forgetting about cases, especially for the ones that involved people that stayed away from the Underground.

He could understand not wanting cases to go cold, but the fact that you were coming into the precinct every single day to bug him about developments was a bit much. Dick could handle a healthy amount of shit talking, but there was just something about your shit talking that got him on edge. Everything about you just got under his skin, and seeing you so often was really not helping that out. It got to the point where he started trying to avoid you just to keep his sanity.

“Grayson, (L/n) just got on the scene, you wanna run?” Rodriguez asked as soon as he spotted you talking to the officers at the tape. Dick quickly looked around, trying to find someplace he could disappear to. The only real option would be to go look like he was talking to the CSI team, but he didn’t want to disturb them actually doing their jobs. Before he could make a decision, you were already approaching.

“Grayson, stop running from me. You know I know where you work,” you called out to him.

“I should really get you banned from the precinct,” he shot back, a small frown on his face. 

“You know you’d get bored without me,” you said, rolling your eyes. “So, whatcha got for me?”

“Why are you talking like you’re on this case? Technically I don’t have to tell you anything more than the other officers told you.”

“So what I’m hearing is go ahead and write whatever I want.”

“For fuck’s sake-”

“Ooo, that’s the first time I’ve heard you curse. I like it. So, what’s the news?”

“It’s a robbery, one injured, but we have a couple witnesses and it sounds like we have a pretty solid perp description. We’re just waiting for the witnesses to meet with the sketch artist and then we’re sending out the sketch to the papers and news outlets,” Dick told you. “There, satisfied?”

“As a matter of fact, I am. Glad this one’s an easy one, I’d hate to have to write about you again,” you told him, turning around with a small smile on your face. “See you later, Grayson.”

“I sure hope not,” he decided to call after you. He could faintly hear your laugh, but the thing that caught his attention was the fact that you decided to flip him off as you walked away. Dick froze for a second, not sure if he should be highly amused or pissed off. He settled for somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards being pissed off.

When you put out your article, it was a simple, tell the details, share the perp sketch type of article. Dick was pleasantly surprised that there were no real call outs about him; as a matter of fact, his name was only mentioned once with the request that anyone who sees or has information about the suspect contact the tip-line immediately. He smiled at his laptop, taking the lack of criticism as praise. He was even willing to take the shit talking from Rodriguez, because as far as he was concerned, Rodriguez was just jealous that he never got this type of reaction from you.

**********

Dick didn’t realize he actually somewhat enjoyed your company - if he could call it that - until you stopped bothering him. You moved on from targeting him, bugging other detectives and officers about their open cases. He would hear complaints, as well as some pretty unsavory things, about you from the people you were bothering, and he was surprised about the amount of times he almost jumped to your defense. You were the biggest pain in his ass - constantly bugging him about his cases and making sure that he didn’t forget about your existence - so why did your disappearance bother him so much?

He got used to seeing you around the precinct (just not talking to him), but then he noticed when you stopped showing up. You didn’t show up to crime scenes, you didn’t show up to the precinct, you just weren’t there anymore, and that worried him. He tried asking around about you, seeing if maybe you were there and he just didn’t happen to run into you, but he met the same response: relief that you’d stopped coming around. It got to the point where he was checking the Bludhaven Gazette’s website to see if you’d written any new articles. Nothing.

Dick figured there’d be no way to really contact you; it wasn’t like he could just call your job and be like ‘hey, why isn’t this journalist bothering me anymore?’. He tried pushing you to the back of his mind, but he found himself still looking for you. It annoyed him - even when you weren’t there, you still managed to find a way to bug him. Before he knew it, a month had passed without seeing you. Then, as he was trying to schmooze up to a DA at the Policeman’s Ball, he could hear the telltale groan of another officer. You were there.

Sure enough, there you were in a black cocktail dress, a flute of champagne in hand, talking to someone he vaguely recognized from a different precinct. He wanted to excuse himself from his conversation just to see where the hell you’d been, but he knew he couldn’t risk it. He’d just have to find you later.

Then you slipped away yet again. Dick kept seeing glimpses of you here and there, but he could never catch up to you. It wasn’t until you went to the bar that Dick finally found his opening. You were talking to someone, but he didn’t really care at the moment. He slid up beside you at the bar, ordering a drink. He could see you straighten up at the sound of his voice, knowing he had your attention. As he took a drink of the whiskey in his cup, he turned to look at you.

You were a lot more done up than you normally were when you were working, but he couldn’t say he strongly preferred either. You looked amazing either way, just in different ways. “(L/n), funny running into you here.”

“Grayson,” you greeted, taking a sip of your own drink. “I can hardly believe this is an accident considering the way you’ve been watching me all night.”

That took him off guard, just enough to make him choke on his drink for a second. As soon as he regained his composure, he tried to figure out how to come back from his blunder. “Well, yeah. I thought I was seeing a ghost considering how you just disappeared.”

Not his best work, but you gave an amused smile so he would count it as a win. “Aw, you missed me.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. It was just weird not being bothered every second of my work day.” You tipped your glass back, the last of your drink passing your lips. He watched as you swallowed before putting the glass back on the counter, leaving some bills folded under it.

“Ah, I see. Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Grayson.” You stood from your seat, giving him one last look before turning to disappear back into the crowd. Dick would have to work fast if he wanted to catch up to you before you slipped through his fingers yet again. He paid for his drink and left a tip as fast as he could, scanning through the crowd for you again. You were about to disappear down the hallway towards the bathrooms, and he still had to make his way through the crowd as politely as possible while also avoiding conversation. Damn social conventions. 

You walked down the hall, wanting to escape to the bathroom for a few minutes to compose yourself, when you felt a hand around your wrist. You whipped around, not knowing who would be daring enough in a room full of police, just to see the last person you wanted to. “Grayson, let go of me.”

“No,” his voice was firm before he realized it must’ve been a little jarring to just get grabbed. “Sorry, but no.”

“What do you want?”

“Why are you even here?”

“It’s my job. I’m reporting on this damn thing,” you practically hissed, trying again to tug your wrist free from his hold. “Why do you care so much?”

“You’ve been MIA for a month and then suddenly you just appear here of all places? What gives?” He said, stepping towards you. You took a step back, trying to keep the distance, but your back just hit the wall behind you. You were forced to look up at him, the storm in his blue eyes surprising you. Why did it matter so much?

“I got sick, alright? My editor thought this would be an easy returner,” you snapped, trying to maintain your glare with him. It was a little difficult with how close he was to not get flustered, but you did what you needed to. “Why, did you miss me?”

You could tell that pissed him off by the smallest flare of his nose, but before you could take in the victory, he hit his arm on the wall above you. He kept it there, trapping you between his body and the wall. He wasn’t pressed against you just yet, but you wouldn’t be opposed to it if it was. “Why do you like pissing me off so much?”

He really didn’t see the opportunity he presented you with. You grabbed his tie the slightest bit, giving him the chance to pull away if he wanted to. When he didn’t, you used it to pull him down to your eye level. “Have you ever considered how fun it is?”

There was a moment of pure silence between the two of you, the faint noise of the party still going on just down the hall reminding you that you weren’t actually alone. Your gaze flicked down to his lips for just a moment, and then it was over. You don’t know who closed the distance first, but it didn’t really matter. The kiss was heated from the beginning, messy with tongue and teeth but you weren’t going to complain about it. Your hold on his tie tightened, pulling him closer to you. Dick’s arm moved from pressed against the wall above you, one hand fisting in your hair and the other wrapping around your waist to pull your body against him.

“God, I hate you,” Dick panted soon after he broke the kiss.

“Why do I get the feeling you don’t?” You tried teasing, even though your voice was a lot more airy than you would care to admit.

“You annoy the hell out of me.”

“I’m a journalist that doesn’t give cops any wiggle room, of course I do.” He rolled his eyes, making you smile. You pressed another kiss to the corner of his mouth. “But you still missed me.”

“I guess I did. Do you maybe wanna get out of here?” You raised your brow, knowing he had to know how that sounded. It took him a second, but it finally clicked. “Not like that! Get some food or something. You probably aren’t annoying all the time.”

“You underestimate me,” you joked, making him smile. He has a pretty smile. “But I’ll take you up on that. Just make sure you behave yourself.”

“You’re the one who kissed me!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” You freed yourself from his arms, making your way back down the hallway towards the exit. It took him a second, but you heard Dick following close behind. He pressed a hand to the small of your back, making sure you wouldn’t slip from his fingers again.

**********

Dress Inspiration

Permanent Tag List: @treatallwithkindness, @laic2299, @delaber

[barzzal]

between halls and thin walls → part four

summary: friends who fool around almost never works. almost.

↳ pairing: mathew barzal x you

↳ warnings: idiots, that’s all <3

↳ genre: fluff, angst, smut, roommates au, best friend’s best friend, friends with benefits, 18+

↳ length: series; part one, part two, part three, part four (6.7k), part five, part six

↳ masterlist: the barn

↳ track: my favorite part by mac miller, addicted by jorja smith, someone to spend time with by los retros

note: finally got myself to update this fic oml zzz quick psa tho, this will now be a six-part series! hope that’s okay and yenno as always, would love to hear what you think about this (validate me in the tags pls im lonely) happy reading babes! <3

“Yo, grandma. Haven’t you had too much tea to drink?” his voice echoes in the room as soon as he walks into it. You carefully set the cup down on the dining table and looked at him exasperatedly. 

“Haven’t you had too much care to give?” you snark back, earning yourself a disappointed look from him. 

“Really, y/n? That’s the best you’ve got?” he shakes his head at your appalling retort.  What a shame.

You were good at pissing him off to be fair. You just weren’t in the mood to throw teases back and forth especially now that you’re feeling particularly vulnerable.

The week has been far too dreadful for you and you know that you’re willing to grovel your way into the weekend to finally have the time to slack off, not worry about taking a bath, and just go crazy with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.

However, just like always, Mathew seems to never run out of ways to get on your nerves. 

He carelessly puts his stuff on the table, causing a fairly loud thud on the surface. 

You let out a deep breath, massaging your temple. 

“Somebody’s cranky.” he grins. Not necessarily the kind you’d want to see from him. 

You try to ignore him for a few minutes but you can’t help noticing how his build easily took over much of the space you’ve already been occupying. You irkingly look up at him, closing the book you were reading. You meet Mat’s eyes who just innocently looked back into yours. Waiting. Possibly plotting on yet another sophisticated way to toy with you.

“You’re a child.” you roll your eyes and return to your reading. He says nothing and instead rests his chin atop his enclasped hands, continuing to bother you with his ridiculously beguiling eyes. He presses his lips together before sighing dramatically. 

“What?” you snap, finally shutting your book down as you look at him. 

“I wanna go out.” he looks up at you in an effort to make his huge physique smaller than it really was. 

“Then go out. You’re a big boy.” you breathe. 

“You just said that I’m a child.” he coos, mimicking a five-year-old’s voice. 

“Stop that.” you glare at him. Mat props himself back and laughs, “Come on. I’m bored.” 

You open your book again just as you reply in a tone that Mat’s getting used to hearing. “Boredom doesn’t give you the right to pester me, Barzal.” 

And as an exchange, he speaks in the same tone rather mockingly, “And so is that attitude, Y/L/N.” 

“Come on, y/n. Let’s go out.” he now pleads, looking up at you with what seems to be his worst impression of a ‘puppy eye’.

“Fine.” you finally concede and you see Mat’s beaming smile instantly. 

“Where’d you want to go?” you ask as you take your reading glasses off.

“Dunno.” He shrugs, obviously teasing. 

On the edge of being irritated, you say, “Are you kidding me?”

“Grandma.” he mumbles before saying, “Do you have anything you want to do? And please don’t say book hunt.”

You suppress a smile and maintain your composure. “I’m craving for pancakes right now but I also wanna drink. Go to a bar or something.”

He nods in agreement. Already stitching his game plan.

“We can do both.”  he bobs his all too fine brows.

He didn’t have a hard time getting you on board with his spontaneity. You actually haven’t gone out in a while and the thought of a possible night out doesn’t seem to be so bad of an idea.

You’ve been with Mat to parties and while the two of you don’t mingle as much as the other guys did, he does know his way around the club. The dance floor, however, he tries. He really does.

For about an hour Mathew waited patiently in the living room as he scrolled endlessly on instagram liking a few photos and laughing at posts the fans tag him occasionally. His eyes were peeled away from the screen when he heard the door to your room click. His irises trail onto your body even if he didn’t plan to originally. 

Mathew, albeit dressed simply in his black turtleneck sweater and a beige overcoat exudes just about the right ‘swag’ (as per how he puts it) to stop you in your stupor. Although what you didn’t know was how you weren’t any different in his eyes. You were dressed quite nicely in a black lace bodysuit with a pair of blackpants accentuated by the black boots you usually wear on a night out. Your coat was slung on your forearm whilst you held your clutch purse in your hand so you could close the door with the other. 

“What?” you blink just as you look down to eye yourself. Feeling a tad self-conscious under his gaze.

Mat immediately breaks it off. He clears his throat, pretending to wipe off the non-existent dust on the accent table. 

“What?” he mirrors with an arched brow.

You shrug off his demeanor, snatching your keys from the accent table before putting it in your purse. 

“Have you called a lyft already?” he nods, absentmindedly scratching his temple. 

“You ready? You look— decent.” He says, trying to act casual and distant when he gives you the compliment.

Not noticing the unfamiliar look his eyes had, you return the compliment and say,  “And so do you. Good job for not looking like you came straight out of an H&M catalogue.” you wink at him with a grin. A thing which was then reciprocated by a deadpan look on his end. 

Before he could even come up with yet another clever way to come at you, you start walking towards the door, looking at him once as you motion the way by curling your finger.

“Haul ass, buddy.”

𖥸

10:15 PM 

Mat decided to bring you to the usual place he goes to when he wants to be alone and just enjoy a couple of beers while he chats with River, the bartender he eventually befriends after years spent drinking in solitude. 

The bar had a rustic feel filled with wine barrels in the corner of the room. The seats were leather (mind you, it wasn’t the kind that gets easily worn out through time) and everything looked new to you regardless of all the vintage stuff displayed articulately on the brick wall. A turntable was set on the table stacked with vinyl records, most of which were from the 70s to 80s underneath.

It was obvious that it wasn’t the kind people would know about. Aside from it being located at such a secluded street leading to the suburbs, it wasn’t the type of bar kids would want to hang out in. It only had a few customers and most of them wore suits and came with company. No one really gave a hoot when you walked in with Mathew, aka, the face of the New York Islanders. Which is basically the reason why Mat kept coming back to the place. He felt comfortable and at peace. Almost in retrospect to being at home hanging with his father. 

“I can’t believe this place exists.” you say, mouthing your thanks to River as he hands you both of your drinks. The man that’s definitely aged like fine wine smiles, nodding his head over to Mat who was doing the same before he headed back to mix another set of drinks. 

“Me neither.” he grins, reminiscing about the time he’s found the small pub by accident. 

“This place looks expensive though.” you whisper, making Mathew laugh. 

“Well, it kinda is.” he sheepishly chuckles. “River’s filthy rich.”

“Is he really?” your mouth falls and you look back over the build of the old man. The way his salt and pepper hair was neatly slicked back makes quite a compelling case for what Mat had just said. 

Mat eventually explains who he was. Apparently, he was just another bored fancy man who happened to love making people drop dead and drunk with his over the top mixes. His dark deep set brown eyes are quite of a crowd favourite too. Case in point, the group of ladies seated from across you and Mathew.

“Hey.” you absentmindedly call on Mat who had just sipped on his drink. “I know what we should do.”

“All right.” he puts the glass down, “Lay it on me.”

“Let’s fix you up with one of the girls over there.” you suggest, leaning towards his body so you could get a better view upfront. Mat does not move and instead follows your finger subtly pointing at the other end of the room.

“What’s with the sudden fixation of getting me bagged tonight, huh?” he smirks, shaking his head at the idea of having to go home with some random girl. You give him a side eye as you move away from him. 

“Fixation is an overstatement. We’ll be here long enough for us to get sick of each other.” you explicitly told him. 

Mat eyes you intently. Searching if there was even the slightest doubt in your eyes. 

Long enough to get sick of each other. 

He clears his throat instead and looks across the room. “Which one?”

A gleeful cheer erupts from you just before you look over the girls in question. “What’s your type?” you ask him, not sparing a glance.

Mat looks down on you underneath the bar lights accentuating your features. Your eyes had a certain glint in them that Mat still can’t get a grasp on. Something that was just enough to spark something inside him. He didn’t want to overthink it nonetheless. It must have been just the lights. 

Once Mat sensed that you were about to look at him he immediately turned his gaze forward, squinting his eyes a little pretending to check out the women you’ve been eyeing for the last minute. 

“I don’t really have a type.” he shrugs, casually taking the fragile glass to his mouth. 

You dismiss what he said at once, “Do I look like a child to you? Just answer it.”

Mat shakes his head, “I told you. I don’t have one. If we vibe then we vibe. Simple as that.” 

You did not believe him but you decide to drop it off. Instead, you look back and return to your new found mission. Across the bar, seated were three girls busy talking to each other. 

“Got it.” you tell Mat, nodding your head towards the clueless girl sitting right across from where Mathew was. “The one in the center.” you add. “The one wearing a white bodycon.”

“She’s pretty.” he nods, validating your taste as his potential wingman. “Nice smile.”

Your hand met a firm slap on the table as you went on cheering for him. “Well? Go then!” you give him a nudge, taking it back quickly when you feel a slight hesitation on his part, “Don’t tell me you need me to introduce you?”

He takes the remainder of his glass and shaked off the kick it had in his throat. “You just sit and watch, babe.”

You do as you’re told and lean towards the bar, your elbow carrying all your weight whilst you sip on your half-full martini. 

Mathew’s stance and the way he carries himself immediately caused the girls to notice him coming. Of course, you weren’t really surprised. You watch him approach her,– reading along the words leaving his mouth. There was an exchange of proper ‘hello’s’ as Mat introduced himself to the girls. He reaches out his hand and the curly noirette in the center gives him a firm shake. 

Mat’s eyes momentarily locked with yours just as you see their hands linger in the air— tangled long enough for him to make a quick segway. He winks your way as he sees you grin from your seat, shaking your head just after you felt the need to take a deep breath. A thing you assumed to be because of the drink. So, while Mat leads the girl to one of the empty booths and sits across from her, you call on River and ask for another drink. 

Mathew must have lost track of time by the second drink he shared with Zoe. He learns that she’s from upstate and was just on the island to visit her friends. She’s still working on her major at NYU; coincidentally in the same field as Lianna so that was one of the things they’ve talked about first hand. She wasn’t really into sports so Mat steered clear of his job because he didn’t want to bore her. 

“So…” Zoe smiles and tucks her hair behind her ear. “What’s the deal with you and the girl you’re with?” 

By the time she asked about you, only then did Mat remember who he was originally with. 

“Oh! She’s—” he looks over to where you’re seated only to find you laughing— no giggling with a man that was obviously a few years older than you. He’s wearing a neat black suit and a button down shirt with a couple of its first buttons opened. Zoe sees him frown, evidently losing his train of thought. 

She calls him with her sweet voice, “Mat?” 

“Yeah?” he absentmindedly answers, not wanting to take his eyes off of your hand that was now gently pushing the man’s arm whilst the two of you continue to burst into laughter. 

“Are you okay?” she asks.

What’s so funny? 

Finally, Mat hears Zoe’s distant voice that eventually took him back to his seat.

“Oh. Y-Yeah.” he apologetically smiles. “Sorry. What were you saying again?” 

She hesitates to ask about you after taking a quick glance your way upon seeing the way Mathew looked at you. Nevertheless, she decides to go for it.

“Aren’t you two together? I don’t want to come off strong here or anything. It’s just that I don’t want to get in between something if there ever is.” 

Mat looks at you one more time and as if you’ve felt his eyes all along you turn your way and meet his gaze. You shoot him a quiet smile, eyeing the guy sitting beside you, mouthing what he assumes to be an exaggerated “So hot!” on your end. He reciprocates your smile and gives you an approving nod.

Once you looked away, that’s the only time Mat finally answered the woman waiting patiently for his attention. 

“What?” Mat shakes his head wildly, blowing out air off his lips defensively. “No no no. We’re just friends. She’s my roommate actually.” he shrugs you off his mind and instead tries to put his entire focus on her. 

The remaining hours were spent with you and Mat getting along with your respective potential hook-ups. Not that it wasn’t the endgame either of you were hoping for at the back of your minds. 

He’s got to admit that Zoe was the kind of girl he’d be interested in. Another fact he’s kept a mental tab not to mention to you because he knows you’ll just get cocky. 

She was sweet and obviously eloquent. He knows she’s way smarter than he’ll ever be. But out of all those qualities, she was just as passionate at her craft as someone he likes to think he knows well enough. And that alone made a small smile creep on his lips. 

Nonetheless, despite all the aforementioned, Mathew found himself a bit more reserved than he usually is whenever he gets to meet and talk to his potential ‘lady friends’ as how you’ve put it countless times. He just wasn’t his exact self.  And he was beginning to question it. 

There were no fancy hockey plays thrown subtly into the conversation. Neither mentions of golfing nor over the top league events.  No butchered french pet names swiftly tucked in his sentences. And no endless questions that would eventually lead to something along the lines of ‘Do you want to get out of here?’

Well, not until Zoe’s friends got up their seats and she told him herself. 

“Hey. The girls and I are meeting up with some friends in Brooklyn. D’ya wanna come?” 

Mat’s eyes trail down to her hand now gently caressing his. He raises both his brows thinking of a possible ‘out’ because he wasn’t sure if it was a smart thing to leave you alone with a stranger. 

He hums, “Sure.” 

Zoe shows him a delighted smile before eventually sliding out of the booth to walk towards the bar she and her friends were formally seated. 

“I gotta use the restroom first. Please excuse me.” she gives him a nod before going back to chatting with her friends. 

You, on the other hand, see Mat leave the table aiming for an archway you presume to be where the loo was. 

“Hey,” you call the man whose name you’ve already forgotten. Your pause was long enough for him to acknowledge the chances that you actually did forget who he was. Obviously.

“Chris.” The man in his early 30s answers with a submitting grin. 

You shyly laugh, squeezing his forearm as you try to apologize for forgetting. 

“Would you mind if I use the restroom?” you politely ask. 

“No, not at all.” he replies and immediately stands to help you get on your feet. Gentleman. 

Once you are in front of the men’s room, you anxiously wait for your wingman. You hug your purse close to your chest. Not a whole minute after, the door finally opens and you meet Mat’s irises with quite a gleeful look. 

A look he wasn’t a fan of for he knew what’s about to come next. 

“Are you taking off?” you eagerly ask, almost hopping on your feet. 

Mat eyes you from head to toe, looking for signs that would stink from a drunk y/n. When he sees none, that’s when he decides to say that he was. 

“Mkay good. I’ll be on my way too. Chris is taking me to New Jersey.” you tell him, briefly looking through the archway to see if there were people listening.

Once you know you’re clear, you lean towards Mat, your lips dangerously close to the sensitive skin of his ear. Mat feels your heated breath sending a familiar tingle up his spine. “I’ll get to ride a yacht tonight.” you bite your lower lip and giddily smile as if you were a cheeky 16 year-old usually depicted in a coming of age movie. 

“Who’s Chris?” Mat, in spite of taking rounds observing you all night, finds the need to ask. “And why are you coming with him to NJ?” he further questions. 

“Uh– okay, dad.” you step back for a second. You let out a scoff, checking if he was being serious about it. “I thought we’re supposed to go get laid tonight? Weren’t you about to take off with that girl yourself?” 

Mat averts your gaze and starts to scratch the corner of his brow. “Well yeah. It’s just that— he looks sketchy.” he pauses, “plus… isn’t he a little too old for you?” 

You roll your eyes as you’ve already expected to hear the words from him. 

“He’s 31. He’s not that old.” you say rather defensively so you turn the ball back on his court. “And what if he was?  Didn’t you ask one of the moms out??”

Mat’s eyes widens and you try to bite back a laugh. He whispers with a biting tone, trying to save himself. “She didn’t look like one! I’m gonna kill Beau I swear to god.”

“Come on Barz. Don’t be such a killjoy. Text me if you need anything, okay? Wrap things up while you’re at it.” you say at once. Mat doesn’t get the chance to talk you out of such a stupid idea because before he even could, you’ve already planted a kiss on his cheek and started walking away. 

Mat waited for the sound of the heavy doors of the bar, signaling that you and your friend have gone, before stepping back to where Zoe was. She waves him near the coat closet. 

“Hi.” Mat greets her friends before eventually turning his attention on the unsuspecting lass. She meets her with a smile (just like what she’s been doing all night). The same smile, however, drops the second Mat opens his mouth. “Can I talk to you for a sec?” 

Zoe nods and willfully abides, letting Mat take her gently by the arm. 

“What’s up?” she innocently asks. 

“Something came up.” he says a little too fast than what he’d originally intended. He was going to let her down either way might as well get it over with and rip up the asshole band-aid. 

“Oh.” she says in a tone Mat knew that she completely understood. 

“No worries.” she looks at him with a knowing look in her eyes. “I’ll see you around then.” 

He gives her a kind smile and nods. “Take care.” 

Mathew walks towards the bar, catching River’s teasing grin whilst he cleans up after the bottles left on the center of the counter. 

“What?” Mat reacts defensively, taking a seat in front of the lone bartender. River faintly shakes his head to leave just enough curiosity in Mathew’s mind. 

“You’re such a tool, old man.” the kid says aiming for the cold beer River has put away for himself. River did not mind because he’s grown fond of the star player for the past years he’s spent going on late night drinks at his bar. Years that even justifies a proper amount of time for him to know the in’s and out’s of one Mathew Barzal. 

“I haven’t said a thing.” he shrugs amidst the already wide grin on his face. 

There’s wisdom in his eyes that Mathew has always admired. He wasn’t the guy who’d want to talk about what’s going on inside his head but with how River’s pub seems to be just the right place, he eventually concedes and takes a shot to pick on the old man’s brain.

“Come on, spill it out. I know you’re going to anyway.” Mat gives in, running his thumb on the moist label of the bottle. 

River wipes his hands before resting it atop the counter. “Well, it’s just that– I ain’t used to seeing you turn down ladies like that too often. And you’re definitely not one to stick around watching me clean up.”

Mat stays silent for a moment, as if to gather the exact reason as to why he chose to stay. He still has a long way to go before figuring that one out. He wasn’t exactly as sharp as he was on the ice.

“I don’t know, man.” he chuckles tirelessly, “I guess I wasn’t in the mood. That’s all.”

“You?” River shots a brow and dismisses him, shaking his head. When Mat doesn’t answer, he carefully picks on his choice of words and lays it down carefully for him. After all, Mathew should have known that River was old enough to not know what’s going on.

“Though I gotta be honest with you, hijo. Never imagined you’d bring someone here.” he starts. 

What must have been a shot in the dark for the old man was just enough to tear Mathew’s eyes away from staring at the water beads on the bottle.

“What?”

“The girl, Barz.” he says, banging on the head of the bottle to knock the cap off. “She a friend?” 

“What? Y/N?” Mat quirks his brows trailing off where River was exactly headed, “What about her?— Oh, her? Yeah, no. She’s just a friend.”

“She pretty.” he speaks in a sound accent, not wanting to let Mat know he’s growing to like catching the young lad off guard. Mathew nods casually despite the continuous blabbering. “She’s y/n. But yeah— I guess, she is pretty.” 

“Then what are you doing being just friends with a pretty girl?” River inquires, taking a sip of his beer. When he sees him trying to register what he’d just said he then adds, “Why not be with her? Date her?”

“Psh. What? Date y/n? That’s crazy.” Mat shakes his head furiously, “You’re crazy.” 

“What’s so crazy about that?” River takes offense, laughing at the child’s naivete. 

“I can’t date her. I mean— I won’t date her.” he takes the bottle to his mouth, taking a large gulp before continuing, “We’re in this weird relationship thing. A setup, actually, and it’s— it’s crazier than dating her. I swear, you of all people won’t get it.” 

“What makes you think I can’t?” he smirks, “I’ve had my fair share of crazy.” River points out despite the hesitation in Mat’s eyes. “I got all night, kid.” he adds, letting him have the floor to himself. 

“You really want in on this?” he second guesses, not wanting to bore the man with his personal life.

River leans against the brass counter just below the lit rack of vintage scotch displayed on the bar. He then gestures him to give a piece of his mind and Mat finally submits to his offer.

“We’ve been in a few… prior engagements,” he starts trying to find the appropriate word. “Well, sort of.”

River hums, not necessarily getting on the same page as him so he decides to be upfront about it.

“We’ve… slept together.” he confesses.

“So you used to date her?” the old man asks. 

“No.” he answers, “I told you we’re just friends.” 

With furrowed brows, River takes a minute. And once Mat hears an all too familiar “Oh.” he sees him break a chuckle, shaking his head at the thought of what Mat had just told him. “You kids have way too much fun these days.”

Mathew shrugs, “Hey, I warned you. Told you you wouldn’t get it.”

“Okay, make me understand something here. You two sleep together, fool around, do all that shit.” he says, “and you swear you’re not in a relationship?”

“Nope.” Mat answers with pride, popping out the word with a hard ‘p’.

“Huh.” River clicks his tongue, “How long have you two been… engaged?” 

He rolls his eyes when River uses his word, “About two months.” he answers shortly.

“Is she seeing anyone since you two started this thing? You know, casual dates, the ones I presume she’s been getting before you got her into this mess?” he asks him in a tone that only fathers would ever dare to use.

Mat thinks for a moment, trying to recall the last time he’s seen a guy pick you up for dinner besides the old man you’ve successfully bagged for the night. He firmly shakes his head no and simply says, “At least not in my recollection.”

River willfully nods, walking Mat right into the trap. “Well have you been seeing anyone lately?” he asks again, this time slipping a hint of assertion. He hears a crystal clear ‘no’ from the forward and that’s when he broke a goading grin. 

“And you’re telling me you two aren’t together?” he asks yet again, getting on Mat's nerves as he continues to flood him with biting queries, building up the final point he was about to break on Mathew.

“Rivs, for the hundredth time, no. We are not.” he clarifies. 

Mat watches River pour himself a glass of scotch, still wearing a smug grin. “Imma give you a piece of advice, yeah?” he smiles rather teasingly and doesn’t wait for Mat to rebut, “I’m a happily married man so I don’t know a single squat about dating nowadays, but if you’re telling me that you kids aren’t sleeping with anyone else but yourselves? Looks like a damn relationship to me.”

With his brows all quirked in confusion (and denial in the very least), Mathew gathers all his might just so he could refute whatever madness River was trying to inflict on him and screw him up in the head. But before he could even open his mouth, the sound of the heavy doors was all it took to tear up both River’s and Mat’s attention.

“Hi.” you say the moment you were welcomed by unsuspecting men talking by the bar. River acknowledges you by raising his drink, his gaze landing on Mat the moment yours did. 

“Hi.” Mathew mirrors you in an attempt to drown his already racing heart. A smile impending to break loose at any moment but he manages to suppress it. Instead of dealing with his adrenaline, he gestures for you to take a seat beside him. 

“Where’s the sugar daddy?” he laughs the moment you drag yourself from across the room, mocking every word he said. 

“His wife called when I got into his car.” you cringe.

“Oof. Lovely.” Mat makes the distinct expression on his face just before the two of you share a laugh.

“He’s not very smooth with adultery. He needs more practice.” you casually state sarcastically, clicking your tongue. 

As you find the narrative funny, you take a sip on Mathew’s beer. “How are you not drunk? You’ve been drinking way too much the entire night.”

“Well. I’ve got some things to think about—” he cuts himself off upon seeing your mouth ajar, “And no, you’re not allowed to ask because none of it concerns you.” 

“I wasn’t going to.” you dismiss him, excusing yourself to River which he gladly took as his cue to leave.

When he disappeared into the kitchen, you turned your gaze on your friend wearing another one of your mischievous grins, “Hey, wanna get pancakes?” 

“Y/N, it’s almost 3 AM.” Mat sighs, the tiring night starting to creep up to him. 

“So?” you question, swatting his hand away when you catch him checking on his watch. 

“Come on. Stop drinking that.” you insist and take the bottle from his hand before putting it over to the side. 

The two of you said your goodbyes to the lone bartender who was just starting to clean up again. River gives the two of you a nod of acknowledgement before landing a knowing look on Mathew. One that he’s thankful enough not to be discerned by you. 

As you walk alongside Mathew, he unconsciously places a hand on the small of your back— feeling it graze on the fabric of your coat as if to guide you towards the door in an almost romantic type of way. Perhaps, a way someone would behave if they were actually in a relationship. 

Mat notices your body tense but he doesn’t move an inch. Instead, his hand travels to the curve of your waist just as he leads you through the brass doors.

Once you’re out on the streets, he lets go.

𖥸

After almost half an hour of fighting over which diner is better to eat and get sober at, you and Mat decide to just try the new diner three blocks from your apartment. Being that it was an ungodly hour, the diner was good as closed when you got in. There were a few people inside and besides the student studying alone in the corner booth, the people lounging in the vacant seats were mostly just staff. Too bad they had to work the grave shift.

Mathew, who was rather preoccupied digging in his breakfast platter, gets interrupted when you call his attention. 

“So tell me,” you ask as you take a forkful of syrupy pancake into your mouth. Finally satisfying your cravings. You put the food modestly in the insides of your cheeks when you ask him a question, “What are you like on dates?” 

Mat disgustingly looks at you. You easily get what such a look meant and you immediately roll your eyes. You let your hand fall in mid-air amidst still holding a fork in it to prove a point. “I’m not trying to ask you out, dumbass. Don’t be so delusional.”

He puts his silverware down and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Why the sudden interest?” 

“Just curious.” you simply say.

He hums, thinking about how he pulls off a first date. He then clears his throat as he takes you down that road. “First, I’m not bringing her to a 24/7 Diner.” you nearly gag. “She deserves a formal one just in case there won’t be a second date.” he explains. 

You sit there, nodding your head every now and then as he further goes on the details of how he’s like on a date. “Of course, I’d put my best foot forward all the time. Talk about her stuff more than mine and make sure she has a good time.” 

“Have you ever had a bad first date?” you curiously ask. To which he only answers with a stubborn look on his face, the one only Mat Barzal could pull off. “What? me? I don’t do bad first dates.”

“Oh, fuck off.” you flick his forehead as you laugh. The sound of his laughter echoing in your ears, drowning all the existing noise inside the lone diner.

But as the laughter dies down, Mat catches your eyes as soon as it falls on his. And just like that, there it was again, the exact same glint it had back in the bar. This time, illuminated by the pink shaded light lining up the wall accents of the diner. 

When he realizes that he’s been staring for too long, he settles on turning the tables on you. 

“How about you?” he props in his seat, “What are you like on dates?”

“You know, apart from the fact that you’re obviously into old men.” he snickers and you throw a curly fry on his forehead.

“Excuse me, I don’t.” you say sticking up for yourself.

Mat takes the curly fry that has fallen on his plate and proceeds to eat it. “Sure you do.” 

You roll your eyes, finding it hard to suppress the fact that you might actually do. “There’s a reason why women like old men, chico.”

He leans back and answers with a level headed and quite teasing reply, “And why’s that?”

“Because they’re men.” you look at him with a jerky grin as you continue, “And men, especially of River’s kind, definitely knows how to eat his french fry.”

Mat’s mouth falls wide in disbelief, appalled that you’ve actually found a way to pick up a stone and throw it straight to his face just to rub more salt on the fact that you had to teach a 23-year-old grown man how to eat cunt.

 “You’re an ass.” he says, rolling his eyes. You let out a laugh and shake your head. You were proud of yourself, sure; but showing just that is far too much for a boy’s already hurting ego. Who would have known humbling this man was such a task. 

“I’m playing! You know how to now.” you tell him, “Thanks to me, of course.”

He scoffs and takes a bite off his pancakes, “Cocky.”

“But you still haven’t answered my question.” he reminds you whilst he wipes off his lips with a napkin. 

“There’s not much to tell. You know I’m not high maintenance.” you tell him, ignoring the fact that you haven’t been on an actual date for so long you’re almost sure you’ve forgotten how to be in one. 

“I know it’s cheesy and corny but I do think it’s still in the littlest things, you know?” you sigh. Trying to remember the last relationship (date even) you had wherein those little things, the ones that are merely the bare minimum, were actually given to you. 

“You know, it’s not much, really. Maybe just a good talk without having to watch him watch me talk all night when he’s really thinking about how I’d look naked, you know what I mean?” you laugh it off, “I know, it’s stupid.”

The arrogant man sitting before you was silent for once, profusely wanting to wash the pool of melancholy he sees in your eyes. There must have been a shit ton of guys who overlooked how great of a woman you actually are just because they couldn’t stop thinking with the head in between their legs even just for a second. 

Mathew knows. And he hates that he’s been ‘that’ guy at some point. Probably until now considering him thinking with his balls on was the very thing that got the two of you here in the first place.

You take a deep breath, smiling. “Anyway, that’s better than almost getting with a married man. Right?”

“Right.” Mat laughs, his gray eyes bright under all the lights as he plays with his silverware,— devoid of how much he looked like as if he was utterly and undeniably in awe of not just the energy of the woman sitting in front of him alone nor the fact that she was by far the most unbelievable woman he’s known, but most importantly, he’s yet to realize how much in deep he’s beginning to be for the woman she actually were. 

Just as she is. 

𖥸

You left the diner a good hour before the sunrise and what must have been a quick five minute drive if you had only taken a cab, became a twenty minute foot race between you and Mathew.

You knew that walking was a bad idea but somehow, Mat’s charm and persuasive antics had a better hold than you thought you had on your very capable cognition. 

As you drag your feet into the confines of the elevator in your complex, you hear Mathew chuckling behind you with a firm hand securely placed on your waist supporting your balance. 

“You know— and not just ‘cause I’m an athlete, can I just say that you’re in a very bad shape?” he says almost a whisper in your ear, his voice low and deep.

You roll your eyes, leaning on the steel cold mirror once he pulls away, “You do it in heels then tell me who’s in a bad shape.” 

“Fair point.” he chuckles yet again, shying away. He presses the number for your floor before resting across from you. As Mat watches you catch your breath, he jokes in the hopes of breaking the ice between the two of you. 

“So…” he clicks his tongue, playful eyes looking at you, “Wanna tap?”

Disgusted to your very core, you let out a scoff just as you shake your head. “You’re fucking sick.” you laugh upon meeting his dumb grinning face. Seconds into laughter, Mat’s silence kills off the humor. The two of you exchange glances, the smiles on your faces receding into quietude. 

Mathew didn’t want to end the night letting you in the apartment not knowing what he’s been feeling the moment you’ve let him drag you out for an impromptu night out. And stupid as it was, the only thing he could think of was to slide his foot across the enclosed space embracing the two of you, nudging on your boot. You on the one hand were rather puzzled as to what caused such language. You send him a mental query by arching a brow. He lets his head fall back on the cold metal surrounding the elevator finally deciding to speak his truth.

 “I’m glad we get to hang out now. You know, just like friends do.” he genuinely says. 

“Me too.” you say, smiling. “I really had fun tonight. Thank you.”

As you meet his eyes, you see a glimmer of softness in his gaze. 

“Good thing I got bored, eh?” he says with a smirk. 

“Good thing I came back for you.” you reply.

A quiet smile parts from his lips.

“Yeah. I’m glad you did.”

It was a few seconds when you and Barzy parted from your respective walls to meet the sliding doors as it opened on your designated floor. You were pulling him closer by the tie of his coat whilst his hand was instinctively placed on your hips letting him press his body on you. Your faces were inches from each other’s, evident of not wanting to prolong the totally unplanned foreplay that’s about to go down in a communal lift. 

But just like every film you’ve watched your whole life, the inevitable cliché befalls the two of you when the next words that filled the enclosed walls you’re currently caged in came from the man who has yet to miss a morning jog. 

“What the hell is going on here?”

[fruitcoops]

Hi, I love your blog so much! I recently got ankle lateral ligament reconstruction done, and as an athlete, it sucks so bad. I watched my basketball team play yesterday, and it felt really horrible to watch them lose by one point in overtime when I know I would have made a difference if I were on the court... I know you have lots of asks and prompts, but if you have the time and want to, could you possibly hurt me more than I’m already hurting with some angsty ankle injury stuff😩 like maybe Cap watching the Lions lose without him.

Thank you for all the awesome fics you write! Your blog is amazing!

Anon, this ask really struck a chord with me and I wanted to do it justice as best I could--going through a sports injury like that is the worst feeling in the world, and watching your teammates play without you just adds salt to the wound. Sending all the love and healing vibes your way, okay? Please keep me updated on how you're feeling if you feel comfortable <3

Combined with an ask for pre-Coops and Sirius' photo of Remus! SW credit goes to @lumosinlove

TW for canonical injury and mentioned scars (Remus)

Sirius felt a nudge at his arm and his irritation flared, but he did not take his eyes off the game. “Fucking hell,” he muttered as James missed yet another blatant pass. There’s three.

The next nudge was more insistent.

“What?” he snapped, sparing half a glance to his left and feeling his stomach swoop.

Remus raised his eyebrows and held the mouthguard out further. “Either put this in or unclench your jaw.”

You’re not my mother, Sirius almost snarked back, just to be even more of an asshole. He was cold from being at the rink without his gear, severely pissed off by the general bullshit happening on the ice, and the itch in the boot locked around his stupid fucked-up ankle was slowly driving him mad.

Remus offered the mouthguard again, and Sirius’ temper cooled by a few degrees at the soft encouragement on his face. Pretty, his brain supplied. He swallowed hard around his sudden dry mouth and shoved the plastic between his teeth, beating back the unruly emotions with a mental baseball bat. Nope. Not tonight. Focus on being angry.

Logan got distracted, and Finn paid the price as an enforcer slammed him against the boards; he bounced back immediately, but Sirius ground the mouthguard so hard it squeaked. “Tabarnak—”

“Come with me for a sec,” Remus said, raising his voice just enough to be heard over the angry shouts of Lions fans.

Sirius shook his head. What he wouldn’t give to be in the heart of the fight, letting off some of the steam that had been building with no outlet for weeks. “Game’s not over.”

Remus pressed his lips together, but said nothing; Sirius’ throat constricted as he looked at the scoreboard. There may have been three full minutes left on the clock, but the Lions had already lost—unless they pulled a miracle out of their asses, this game would be a stain on their record. Or if they just let me play.

Sirius sighed through his nose. The urge had been growing stronger the longer he stayed cooped up and restless, banging at the walls of his brain and bringing headache after headache.

“Cap.” The hand on the back of his bicep was surprisingly gentle and he closed his eyes as Remus gave him a light tug. “Come on. We can at least be productive instead of sitting here and stewing.”

He smells nice. How does he always smell so nice? Sirius stood and followed Remus down the tunnel, not even bothering to force smiles for the people pounding on the glass partitions. Don’t focus on the game.

Focus on his shoulders, something close to his heart suggested. You like his shoulders.

He scrunched his nose up at the thought—if he dwelled on the smooth, strong curve of Remus’ upper back for any longer, he would start remembering the one time he saw them bare, covered in sweat with scars that shone like moonlight and—

“Are you okay?” Remus asked, snapping him back to reality. Sirius jumped and concern flickered over the golden planes of his face. “You’re twitchy tonight.”

“Just…” He made a vague, aborted motion toward the ice before continuing toward the PT room, though he did not miss the worried look Remus shot him. Fantastic, now I look like a dick and an idiot.

“What’s going on, Sirius?” The door clicked closed behind them and Remus leaned against it with his arms crossed loosely as Sirius limped over to the table and sat down, pulling the mouthguard out. He stared at the floor and the hunk of plastic—don’t think about how nice his voice sounds around your name. Don’t.

He shook his head; through the door, the sounds of the game were faint. “They’re better than this.”

“Yep.”

“They’re all going to be angry tomorrow, which makes them sloppy.”

“Probably.”

“Coach will be upset.”

“No question.”

“It’s the Badgers.”

Remus made a face. “I know, right?”

“They’re a good team, but—” He tightened his jaw again and looked away.

“But we’re better,” Remus finished for him.

“Yeah.” Silence fell between them for a few moments, though it wasn’t uncomfortable. Being quiet around Remus was never uncomfortable, and Sirius was pathetically grateful for every scrap of it he could get. “I—the game would be different if I was out there.”

“Would it?”

“It would.” He had been going over every mistake for two and a half hours, placing himself in like a chess piece to stop the missed passes, fumbled pucks, and thoughtless plays. “They need me with them.”

The paper crinkled as Remus sat down next to him, and every one of Sirius’ senses went on high alert. “They need to you get better,” he said simply, those caramel-apple eyes making Sirius’ knees go weak. “Have you been doing your exercises?”

“Of course,” he scoffed.

“Good.” There was no defensiveness or indignation in Remus’ voice—guilt snapped, a firecracker behind his teeth.

“Sorry.”

Remus smiled wryly. “When you’re around injured hockey players all day long, you get used to a little bit of bitchiness.”

“I’m not bitchy!” Sirius spluttered. The poorly-concealed amusement on Remus’ face made mortification heat his cheeks. “I’m not!”

“Uh-huh.” The note of smug disbelief should not have been as attractive as it was. “Alright, lay down.”

Sirius swore he heard a few crackling noises as his brain short-circuited. “Quoi?”

“I’m not kneeling on freezing linoleum to check out your ankle, Cinderella,” Remus snorted. “Now get a wiggle on.”

“You have the strangest sayings,” he said as he laid back and stretched his leg out, bewildered and yet somehow relieved.

“And you—” Remus pulled the top buckle free. “—have no appreciation for the great American north.”

“I can take it off,” Sirius mumbled, feeling redness rise once again.

He cocked an eyebrow. “The boot? I might not be a muscle-bound athlete, but I’m pretty sure I can manage a couple strips of Velcro.”

“No, it’s—doesn’t touching people’s feet freak you out? Like, the sweat and everything?”

“If it did, I’d have to find another profession, because I’m damp all the time from you fuckers and you all seem to have a habit of breaking things below the knee. Bend.”

Sirius complied, drawing his knee toward his chest. His bare foot looked weird in the bright lights, pale and still swollen, but Remus was as golden as ever. You can watch from afar, he conceded when the cute little furrow appeared on Remus’ forehead while he felt around the bone. Just for a little while. “Your hands are warm,” he said before he could stop himself.

Remus glanced up, and his small smile caused a flood of butterflies in Sirius’ stomach. “Thanks. They’re usually pretty cold, so I’m glad I’m not accidentally giving you foot hypothermia.”

“Is that real?”

“No,” Remus laughed. Sirius wished he could keep that sound forever. “How’s that feel?”

“Uh, fine.” He blinked a couple times to come back to himself as Remus put light pressure on the sole of his foot. “Still fine.”

“You’re a lot more flexible than before. Things are healing well.”

A loud buzzer went off outside—Sirius closed his eyes as disappointment and frustration fired up once more. The crowd wasn’t cheering. The windows weren’t shaking. He didn’t even want to look at the TV to check the score. I should be out there, he thought for the umpteenth time. I’m letting them down.

“I’m sorry,” Remus said quietly as he worked through a few more exercises.

“Not your fault.”

“It’s not yours, either.”

Sirius wanted to believe him. “I’m the captain.”

“And you’re being responsible by doing this with me so you can heal faster.” People rushed past the door outside, but the PT room remained peaceful. Sirius stared at the plain ceiling and wished for a miracle. “They miss you.”

“Y’know, that’s not exactly making me feel better.”

“Sorry.” They lapsed back into silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

“Cool.”

Sirius chewed the inside of his lip for a solid two minutes, following Remus’ simple instructions without looking at him. He should have been out there with them, ankle be damned. It was basically healed anyway; they were just tying up loose ends, and maybe Remus needed to be a little less careful. “Is this really necessary?”

“I’m gonna give you five seconds to ask a different question.”

“I’m just saying, it feels fine and—”

“Time’s up.” Remus let go of his foot and Sirius only spared a moment to mourn the loss of his comforting touch before he caught the stormy, mulish stubbornness that took the place of Remus’ concentration. “Sit.”

“I am.”

He narrowed his eyes, and Sirius dragged himself upright with a huff. Arguing with Remus Lupin was about as useful as arguing with a brick wall, and that was coming from someone who won the ‘Most Stubborn’ superlative at their last end-of-year party. “First of all, ankles are annoying and the soft tissue will still be damaged even if the bone is healed. Second, it’s my job to fix you up so your boys stop whining to me about healing you faster. And third, I’m not giving up on you.”

Sirius paused for a long moment. “What?”

“I’m not giving up,” Remus repeated. His jaw set and he made direct eye contact. “I would love nothing more than to kick Snape in the kneecaps and let you go out there as soon as you can stand on your own, but that’s not what I’m here for. I’m here to make sure you’re ready to kick ass and take names no matter what that little shit was trying to do. So don’t you dare sit there and try to chicken out at the finish line, because I know you want this even more than I do.”

In his chest, Sirius heart was hammering like he had just run five miles. I’m not giving up on you. Sirius had never wanted to kiss him more. “Thank you.”

Remus softened with a slow breath. “We’re in this together, Sirius. You and me.”

“I know.”

“Then let’s get to work. Next time you play the Badgers, make ‘em regret this game.”

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

Sirius walked back toward the locker room feeling rather nauseous. The whole team leaked their bad moods into the air—Arthur had barely looked at them before sending them home with a quiet “we’ll talk more tomorrow”, the equivalent of an arrow through Sirius’ heart. I need a pick-me-up, he thought as the rest of the guys trooped out in a melancholy raincloud. He fist-bumped each of them, per tradition, but their responses were weak at best.

Ice cream sounded good. Maybe a milkshake. Oh, who was he kidding, he needed a solid hug and something other than ice to look at. Not for the first time, he contemplated getting a dog, just so the house wouldn’t be empty and dark when he returned.

Laughter rang out ahead and Sirius inhaled sharply, letting the sound roll over him. “I’m not kidding!” Moody chuckled.

“Bullshit,” Remus countered, still snickering. “There is no way—”

“I’ve been around here longer than you’ve been alive, kid.”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Remus groaned, though Sirius could hear the smile in his voice even from around the corner. “You only bring it up every goddamn day.”

“Brat.”

Sirius entered the room just in time to see Remus playfully knock the side of his foot against Moody’s; both were grinning. “Isn’t it past your bedtime, old man?”

Moody nodded to him. “Night, twelve.”

“A demain,” Sirius called, offering a slight smile as his eyes lingered on Remus. He was leaning back against the wall with stick tape in his hands—his hands, which never failed to make Sirius throw caution to the wind—and raised it in farewell. “See you, Loops. Thanks again.”

“No problem, Cap.”

He grabbed his duffel off the floor and slid his keys, wallet, and phone into his pockets as Moody and Remus resumed their conversation. He wondered how long they usually stuck around, and if they would oppose him staying—he wouldn’t interrupt, but being around people who weren’t going through the five stages of grief already felt nice.

An idea struck as Remus’ laugh raised goosebumps on his arms once again. With a careful glance over his shoulder, he slipped his phone out and snapped a picture before hurrying off toward his car. His breaths were shallow; that was such a creepy move, and surely one of them noticed—

No voices chased him. Nobody gave him strange looks. He waited until he was safely in the front seat of the car before unlocking his phone, and all the air in his lungs left in a rush.

The photo was perfect. It caught the lopsided tilt to Remus’ mouth, his slender-but-strong fingers, his long legs, the scrunch of his nose mid-laugh. Everything Sirius never let himself look at for long. He didn’t have much space left among the collection of paper memories on his dresser, but maybe if he put it in the back where nobody would see it unless they knew where to look…

He turned the car on. Later. He would print it out and deal with the taut rubber-band-ball of feelings later. Until then, he could settle for the imprint of Remus’ warmth taking away the pain in his ankle and the determination on his face as he promised to bring Sirius back from the personal hell he was living in. You and me, he had said, and Sirius wanted nothing more than to believe it.

[bakugohoex]

CONGRATS ON 1K!!! For the event, could you do Bakugo with Fluff #4??? It just seems so much like him

“because i’m fucking in love with you”

pairing: katsuki bakugo x female reader

cw: language, fluff, kissing

word count: 2500+

a/n: i have to write a levi oneshot now, bruh i might just go sleep, who knows what i’m going to do

summary: in which bakugo watches you get too close with another man and can’t help but let his anger take over seeing you with anybody other him

1k event masterlist

↞ back to my hero academia masterlist

Bakugo had many reasons to get angry on a warm summer day at the office. Being a pro hero had its ups and downs, the down being what was occurring today. Paperwork, he hated it with a passion, he loved the idea of fighting and defeating villains but the idea of writing it all up made his skin itch in disgust. Of course he had his sidekicks to help him, but they would never know the true extent of having to re-read over fights that occurred and signing it all off.

Bakugo still had other reasons that annoyed him, the weather had become broiling, his sidekicks were pissing him off and then there was you. You with your hero costume that looked tighter every time he saw it, you with the way you’d walk into a room and have everybody on your feet. You who had whipped him like a servant boy, he hated having to work alongside you. You had your own agency a couple blocks away from him, but ever since you both found out you took the same route. You’d come and annoyingly meet him throughout the day.

He hated it, and as he signed off on another report, his V neck not helping him at all, he heard the sounds of chatting from outside his office, that's when he saw it through the glass. The way you flaunted past the desks with your skimpy hero costume which he understood was for the best possible use of your quirk. But even then, it always cupped your body in just the right places. 

You seemed to have been waving at one of the new sidekicks Bakugo had recruited. He hated it, pen almost breaking from his anger, he watched as you didn't bother to knock only cascade inside with the looks of others following your pristine body. “What?”

“How rude, Bakugo! Is that any way to greet your favourite pro hero.” You mocked falling onto the chair with a hefty sign, he watched at how you were clearly out of breath with the way your chest heaved harshly. 

“Shut it, extra. What do you want?” He repeated.

You began playing with the stuff on his desk, he’d noticed how you always needed something in your hands and since he had always left a small jelly like plushie just for these moments. You happily put it in your hand pulling and stretching at it before looking up at him, “are you not coming for the patrol?”

“I got paperwork.” He signed as you saw the almost boxful of papers. 

“No fair, I'll just go on my own then.” You were about to stand up when he stopped you. 

“Get one of your sidekicks to go, idiot, help me with this.” He gestured to the paperwork that he knew wasn't the full extent as you both had decided to split it.

You gave another huff at him, “just because I’m organised doesn't mean i want to spend my Monday morning doing dreary paperwork.”

“I know you split it 70:30 so fucking help me.” He growled loudly making a shiver run down your spine. 

“So needy, Bakugo, let me just call them.” You gesture to your phone as you walked outside his office. You leant against the glass door, Bakugo’s eyes fixed to the way your ass and thighs had been pushed against the wall. He licked his lips as he stared longley at your body before hearing your sign. 

That's when he saw his new sidekick come up to you, of course he knew that the sidekick was only a couple years younger than the two of you. But he had a crush, the way his eyes lingered across your body, the way he passed you the coffee which you hadn’t even asked for. The way you laughed at his shitty joke, were you really flirting back with a man like that, Bakugo scowled before directing his eyes back to the paperwork. 

“I’ll make sure to come for you when I need some coffee.” You laughed at the boy as you opened the glass door. 

Bakugo heard the boy give a chuckle touching your arm as he let you go through the door. “Here do you want some?” You gestured to the coffee you had, noticing the empty coffee mug on the side of his desk. 

“No.” Bakugo muttered but nevertheless took the coffee and drank a large gulp of it. “Why don’t you get your little coffee boy to bring more?”

He was pissed not only had you let his stupid sidekick touch you, but you’d made him feel special as if he had your attention. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” You chucked the cup in the bin, going over to the box where you grabbed some files out. 

Bakugo didn’t make a remark instead letting you read over what had occurred and sign it off. “Bakugo.” You whispered halfway through your first file and already bored. “Bakugo.”

“What?” He questioned after he had seen you become more concentrated in the pen you held than the paperwork itself.

You stared at him with a bright smile, “we should get some lunch.”

“Y/n, it’s only half 10, it's a bit early for lunch.” He scowled, chucking the finished file into the complete pile.

“But I’m hungry.” You whined leaning against the cold desktop, it was white and probably made from marble, but it was the best bet of comfort you’d get from Bakugo’s office. 

“Go get some food then.” He muttered as you stood up all giddy. “Get me something as well.”

“Now who’s the hungry one.” You mocked as you happily skipped out of his office, he couldn't help but roll his eyes and give a slight smile to you. But that’s when he saw his stupid sidekick come up to you. His face faulted, his smile turning downwards as he watched you both converse and leave to the elevator.

“You really don’t have to come.” You spoke stepping into the elevator, you hated how vulnerable you felt with Bakugo, how easily he could stare at you and make you go weak at the knees. He was perfect, an amazing pro hero who was ahead of you in the charts by the couple of numbers. You were almost grateful that your paths had crossed and that you spent patrols together, but his sidekicks were a whole other thing. 

You knew the coffee boy had a crush; the whole department knew that. But how could you let a sweet boy down after all he did was such good things, how could you tell him you’d rather have his asshole of a boss than a sweetheart like him. “No, it’s fine, I was going that way anyway.”

“Oh why?” You questioned through the long elevator ride down.

“I had to buy some stuff for my sister's birthday and I'm on my break.” You nodded happily, not asking anymore through the uncomfortable silence as soon as the door dinged open, you both walked out, he had walked you to the bakery as you were craving a sandwich, he waited as you picked one you liked and one that Bakugo definitely likes. He didn't say a word until you spoke. 

“What are you thinking of getting your sister?” You asked walking with him into the store selling gifts. 

“What do you like, I mean girls like?” A heavy blush formed on his face as you began looking through the gifts. 

“I’d probably go for that drinks set, it’s cute if she of course drinks that is.”

He quickly spoke to ease your gaze, “she does.” He instantly grabs it going to pay, you didn't question his rash decision and you both walked back to the building. 

“I’m sure she’ll love it.” You smile out as you both step through the office again, Bakugo in an instant saw the two of you, bags in hand. 

“I hope so, thank you Y/n.” He smiles putting his hand on your shoulder, he goes in for a hug which you happily give, he was clearly nervous for his sister's birthday. Bakugo watched intensively, surprised at the hug as he stormed out of the doors of his office on a mission to grab you and take you with him. 

“Y/n.” He bellowed out. 

You both retreated from the hug, staring at the angry blond, “Bakugo, i bought sandwiches.” You happily smile out, rummaging through the bag to show him it, “and cupcakes.”

His face fell, a smile erupting that he didn't know he was even capable of, you looked so happy showing him the cupcakes with the pink frosting on them. “Come on.” He whispered watching you come beside him, his arm on your back guiding you inside. 

Bakugo guided you inside, watching you happily pull out the food, he saw how you moved the chair for visitors beside him making him move up. You were closer than he had expected, leaning across to grab the cupcakes and stuff one in your face. “You looked angry before?”

“I wasn't.” He muttered while taking a bite of the sandwich. 

“Don’t lie to me, what’s up?” You began to play with his other hand, he hadn't expected it but the way your hands had just met his own, the way you skimmed his veins and the rings that embodied his fingers. It felt like heaven, but your eyes gave a sense of doubt and resistance. 

“I...I just don’t like you spending time with that guy.” He spoke staring at you, your eyesight was on his hand still, the way you continued to play with his fingers before moving to the back of his hand. 

You took a sharp breath before speaking to yourself, “is it because of his crush on me?”

“You know about that?” 

“Of course I know Bakugo, I think everybody knows about it.” You whispered out softly.

“Is he your type?” Bakugo had gone against his words of jealousy, maybe if you admitted you liked coffee boy then he could move on more easily. 

You finally looked up at the blond, his piercing red eyes giving a look of caution, “he should be.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Bakugo moved his hand away from you, your unclear answer had made him a lot more pissed at the idea of you stringing both the men along. 

“I...I just mean that he’s nice y’know and he should be my type, but he’s not.” Bakugo’s anger seemed to calm down as he gave you a softer look. 

“Who is then?” Bakugo went to grab the cupcake you had bought for him ,taking a soft bite as the sweet frosting enchanted his mouth.

“You have frosting on your lips.” Bakugo went to lick it as you avoided his question entirely. 

“Y/n, who’s your type?” Bakugo repeated staring at you, in an instant you stood up not wanting to confess anything else. 

“I’m going to go see how my guys are doing.” You left him with no other word, he couldn't even stop you at how you almost ran away from the situation. Even if he had found out you didn't like the coffee boy you were now avoiding him which felt a lot worse.

Bakugo tried calling you but it went to miss call, he ended up finishing the rest of the paperwork and by the end of the day he knew you’d probably be hung up in your office, pushing yourself to do something other than talk to him. He began walking the short distance in the humid air, the sun was just about to set as he arrived at your agency. He always liked the vibe you had going on, even your sidekicks were okay, a lot better than his own. He was able to get inside with ease, walking the steps towards your office, he could see your shadow through the frosted glass. 

You seemed to be pacing on the phone to someone, but he couldn’t tell who until he was just in ear shot. “I can’t tell him that, he’s going to think these months have just been me being selfish.”

Bakugo couldn’t hear the other line but it raised more questions in the boys mind instead. He was careful about being unseen until he heard you continue. “He’s a fucking idiot, how could someone like him ever love me, I’m nothing special.”

He heard another long sign from you at the response from the other side before hearing you say your farewells and begin to pace about the room. Bakugo softly knocked against the door, hearing a come in as he walked inside, your office being as pristine as ever. You were no longer wearing your hero costume, assuming you had been on a patrol yourself at the tiredness that set in your eyes.

He saw you as a normal civilian at this moment, so sweet and innocent but you gave a glare. “How long were you listening in for?”

“I...I wasn't.” He stuttered out. 

“Bullshit, why the fuck were you listening into my private conversation?” You scowled again leaning against your desk.

Bakugo knew he was caught but in his idiocrasy decided to make the situation worse, “who’s the guy you’re talking about?”

“Why do you care?” You spoke stubbornly.

“Y/n, who’s the guy?” He repeated himself.

You faced the blond scowl on your face at his relentless pushing of an answer. “It’s nobody okay, I don’t even understand why you care so much?”

Bakugo’s anger rose at you hiding even more from him, how could he work alongside you if you were just going to keep him in the dark about some stupid guy that probably meant fuck all in the big picture. He knew this wasn't the true reason behind his anger though, he was jealous, some man you loved didn't love you back, and he was here with all his love to give.

“Because I’m fucking in love with you.” Bakugo shouted, the words spewing out without even realising. Bakugo’s eyes widened and so did your own, he looked at how your eyes had almost softened at the confession.

“You...You love me?” You questioned standing up to come closer to him. 

“I’m not repeatin…”

You quickly interrupt him, your bodies almost touching as your hand moves to his face making him stare right back at you. “I love you too.” You softly whispered before closing the gap between the two of you. His hand moved to your face guiding the kiss as he had to bend down to even meet you.

It was filled with passion and drive from the countless nights you both spent together in each other's office, the morning patrols together and even the galas you attended together as friends. Everything you both had wanted from each other had come down from a singular kiss in a small office in the middle of Japan.

A small moan escaped your lips, his tongue gliding in with such ease as he toyed with your own, almost sucking the spit and saliva that was across your own tongue. He let go taking a harsh breath and he brought your face closer to his, foreheads touching as he gave the softest look he possibly could. You stayed in his arms, just staring at each other with such love and passion, both knowing nothing could break you both now.

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