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#ice point laser hair removal
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I hate being poor.
If I wasn't poor I could put my sperm on ice so I could start hrt and still have kids with my girlfriend.
If I wasn't poor I could start hrt at all and still be able to eat.
If I wasn't poor I would at least be able to get laser hair removal done.
If I wasn't poor my partner wouldn't be in medical debt.
If I wasn't poor I could have a place to stay that I didn't pay rent at.
If I wasn't poor I could live in the city instead of just outside it.
Then I wouldn't need a car, which keeps me even more poor.
And maybe I could move to a state that didn't hate me for who I am.
But I am poor.
In a way I'm grateful. After all, I know what pain is like, so I have a reference point for the good in my life.
But somehow that doesn't make it feel worth it.
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Whether it’s about men or women, skin hair removal is necessary to keep it fresh and healthy – whereas waxing or shaving stands as the most debated point of the situation.
The most safest and advanced technology for permanent hair removal is Alma Soprano Platinum - featuring trio clustered diode technology, which stands as an edition of 3 combined laser wavelengths in a single handpiece that targets the tissues in-depth as well as anatomical structures.
Visit Website:
8 Reasons Why Alma Soprano Ice Platinum is the Best and Most Advanced Technology for Laser Hair Removal
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menzone800 · 8 months
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Farewell Fuzz: Unveiling the Best Laser Hair Removal Services in Burlington
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Burlington, Ontario, with its stunning waterfront and vibrant culture, deserves equally radiant residents. And what better way to boost your confidence than by saying goodbye to unwanted hair? Laser hair removal has become the gold standard for achieving smooth, hair-free skin, and Burlington boasts a thriving scene of clinics offering this transformative service. But with so many options, navigating the landscape can be overwhelming. Worry not, discerning Burlingtonians! This guide unveils the top contenders for the title of "Best Laser Hair Removal in Burlington," ensuring your journey to fuzz-free nirvana is as smooth as your soon-to-be-hairless skin.
Contenders for the Crown: A Spotlight on Burlington's Top Laser Hair Removal Clinics
Nina L'Allure Laser Hair Removal Studios: This Burlington gem, adorned with a 4.9-star rating on Google, prioritizes personalized attention and cutting-edge technology. Their experienced technicians wield the Soprano ICE Platinum laser, renowned for its pain-free In-Motion™ technology and suitability for all skin types. Bonus points for their luxurious studio ambiance and flexible appointment schedule.
Medisthetics Wellness & Laser Clinic: Inside Monarch Dentistry lies this hidden gem, boasting a perfect 5-star rating. Led by Dr. Monika Wasilewska, a medical doctor and laser hair removal specialist, Medisthetics prioritizes safety and efficacy. Their advanced laser systems cater to diverse skin tones and hair types, ensuring optimal results.
Laser Aesthetics: This Burlington institution, established in 2004, brings a wealth of experience to the table. Their team of registered nurses utilizes the Candela GentleMax Pro laser, known for its versatility and ability to treat even the most delicate areas. Laser Aesthetics' commitment to affordability and comprehensive consultations makes them a popular choice.
Burlington Medical Aesthetics: Nestled within the Burlington Medical Centre, this clinic combines clinical expertise with cutting-edge technology. Their star weapon is the Alma Soprano Ice Platinum laser, praised for its pain-free and fast treatments. Burlington Medical Aesthetics also offers specialized packages for men and teenagers, making them a well-rounded choice.
SkinLogic Medical Spa + Laser Clinic: This sleek and modern clinic prioritizes a luxurious spa experience alongside effective laser hair removal. Their medical-grade lasers, including the Candela GentleMax Pro, cater to a wide range of concerns, from unwanted hair to vascular lesions and acne scars. SkinLogic's focus on holistic wellness adds another layer of allure.
Beyond the Big Five: Additional Factors to Consider
Choosing the "best" laser hair removal clinic is a personal journey. While the clinics listed above represent Burlington's finest, here are some additional factors to weigh:
Price: Laser hair removal can be an investment. Compare package deals and consult with clinics for personalized quotations.
Technology: Different lasers excel in different areas. Discuss your hair type and desired outcome with technicians to find the perfect match.
Experience and qualifications: Opt for clinics staffed by certified laser technicians or medical professionals for optimal safety and results.
Consultation and aftercare: A thorough consultation and personalized treatment plan are crucial. Look for clinics offering comprehensive aftercare support.
Embrace the Smooth: Your Guide to a Hair-Free Future
With this guide in hand, Burlingtonians, you're well-equipped to embark on your laser hair removal journey. Remember, choosing the "best" clinic is about finding the perfect fit for your needs and budget. Schedule consultations, ask questions, and trust your gut. Soon, you'll be basking in the confidence of smooth, hair-free skin, ready to embrace the world with newfound radiance.
To know more about the "best laser hair removal in Burlington" "laser hair removal services" "facial services for men in Milton" "facial services for men in Burlington" "BarberShop Milton". we recommend you to visit the Men Zone Barbershop, as it is the best barber shop to get barbering services in Canada.
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5 Things to Consider Before Undergoing Laser Hair Removal
If one is tired of waxing, shaving, or epilating their body hair, they can consider undergoing the most effective solution for getting rid of unwanted hair, i.e., laser hair removal. The procedure utilizes a strong beam of laser light that targets the melanin in the hair and destroys the roots at the hair follicle’s base. One can get rid of hair from almost all areas of the body, including the arms, legs, back, stomach, bikini line, etc. But are you unsure if laser hair removal is the best option for you?
In this blog, we have tried taking insights from the laser experts at Dermaworld Skin & Hair Clinics, who are widely renowned for offering the best laser hair removal treatment in Delhi. The blog details a list of points that everyone must be aware of before beginning their laser hair removal procedure. The idea is to educate readers on the effectiveness of the procedure so that they can make informed decisions. Continue reading to find out more.
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Here are Five Things  to Consider Before Undergoing  Laser Hair Removal
1. Refrain From Getting Waxed & Use Razors
Avoid waxing, plucking, threading, or bleaching for at least four weeks prior to the first appointment. Since the laser needs to detect the follicles, do not remove hair from the roots by waxing. Instead, shave the area 24 hours before the treatment.
2. Inform the Doctor About Medications
It is vital to let the doctor or technician know about any medication one is taking. Antibiotics are light-sensitive, so if one is taking them at the same time they are undergoing laser hair removal, one can acquire burns that are difficult to remove.
3. Expect to Have Multiple Sessions
Although laser hair removal is considered the most effective option for eliminating unwanted hair, it does not work wonders in just a single session. One must be consistent in order to achieve the best possible results. The procedure requires several appointments, and one must adhere to proper before and after procedures. Also, it is important to understand that hair grows in cycles, and treating each location needs several sessions to catch all the hair at its ideal point of hair growth. The laser experts often advise 6 to 8 sessions, spaced 4-6 weeks apart.
4. The Procedure is Long-Term But Not Permanent
The results of a laser hair removal procedure on the body can be long-lasting. If the hair regrows, it is often thin and sparse. Some people who have undergone the procedure observe that the results are not permanent, while others observe that the hair has not grown back after ten years or more. 
5. There are Individuals Who are Not Suitable for a Laser Removal Procedure
There are a few people who are advised to avoid undergoing laser hair removal treatment. These include the following:
Pregnant Women: Women who are expecting a child should avoid getting laser hair removal. This is because there hasn't been any scientific investigation to confirm its safety. Until a woman has given birth and her hormones have stabilized, they should postpone the treatment.
Keloid Scars: One should steer clear of laser hair removal in the area if they have hypertrophic scarring or keloid scars. It's best to consult with the laser experts for more information regarding this.
Conclusion
Now that we have discussed a few things one must consider when undergoing laser hair removal, if one is interested in undergoing the procedure, one can schedule a consultation with the laser experts at Dermaworld Skin & Hair Clinics. The experts at the clinic use advanced technologies for lasers such as alma soprano and alma soprano ice to provide effective outcomes.
Also, the full body permanent hair removal cost in Delhi at Dermaworld Skin & Hair Clinics ranges between Rs. 7,500 and Rs. 15,000 per session. To avail the benefits of laser hair removal, visit the clinic today. The clinic is headed by expert dermatologist Dr. Rohit Batra.
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bodyandsoulclinic · 1 year
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Things To Consider Before Getting Laser Hair Removal Treatment
Good things require patience, due consideration and care to bring sweeter fruit. The same goes for laser hair removal treatment. If you are thinking or even planning to get one, then you must take some important points into consideration. Worry not, this article helps you to identify the things which you need to take care of.
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Takes Time
As just stated in the introduction of this article that good things take time to happen and ensure satisfactory results. As the number of treatments increases, your skin gets smoother. You will start to see the real difference right after the second treatment and by the fifth treatment, you’ll be blessed with baby skin.
Quick as Light
The best laser hair removal treatment is really quick and generally asks for 25-30 minutes. So, all the busy ladies, stay relaxed!
Caution for Those Who Love To Workout
This is for those who cannot function without exercising but you should hold your horses for about 48 hours post-treatment. It is advisable to avoid any activity that leads to sweating.
Works on All Kinds of Skin Tones
You would believe that if you have black hair and dark skin, the laser will have difficulties picking up the color of your hair, but this is not the case. The fact is that laser hair removal works on all types of skin tones.
Avoid When On Periods
You need to be more cautious during your periods and avoid undergoing laser hair removal treatment. Reason - The changes in hormones during the periods will make your skin more sensitive and treatment would be more painful.
Body & Soul Clinic - For the Best Laser Hair Removal Treatment
There will be no more razors. There will be no more waxing. Free yourself from daily shaving, time-consuming plucking, and costly waxing. You can now enjoy hair-free skin! Body & Soul Clinic uses Soprano XL/ICE laser system which uses the PainFree, HairFree technique solely designed to remove unwanted hair faster and more comfortably.
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kratijain06 · 2 years
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All about laser hair removal treatment: Benefits, Precautions, Recovery
Do you want to  get rid of skin hair ?
The most prevalent problem of today has a permanent solution here. One of the most often performed cosmetic procedures at laser hair removal center in Jodhpur . Extremely focused light from it enters the hair follicles.
Benefits of Laser Hair Removal?
Skin doctor in Jodhpur has suggested a popular cosmetic procedure that offers many benefits, including:
Permanent reduction in hair growth: 
The treatment is fast,
No down time: 
Suitable for all skin types: 
It eliminates the need for ongoing hair removal methods.
Precautions to taken before therapy
Before undergoing laser hair removal treatment, it’s important to take the following precautions:
Avoid sun exposure
Stop waxing and plucking
Avoid using creams and lotions
Wear protective eyewear
What to anticipate with laser hair removal?
A topical numbing medication is often used 20 to 30 minutes before the laser procedure to minimize the irritation of the laser pulses.
Protect the top layers of your skin by applying a cold gel or other form of specialist cooling device. This will make it easier for the laser light to penetrate skin.
After the procedure, you may be given ice packs, anti-inflammatory creams or lotions, or cold water to ease any discomfort.
Prior to your next therapy appointment, four to six weeks may elapse. Until the hair stops growing, the treatments will continue.
Risks and Recover
For a day or two after the operation, the region of your skin that was treated will feel and appear sunburned. Moisturizers could be helpful.
Bonus point: During the next month, your treated hair will fall out. Wear sunscreen throughout the next month to help prevent any temporary changes in the treated skin's color.
Get excellent care whenever and wherever you are  as we are in your city laser skin treatment in Udaipur has a well expertised trained by Dr Singhai. Our providers take the time to learn about what's important to you. Enjoy the security, privacy, and tranquility that a fantastic virtual healthcare experience brings.
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dearest-kibble · 4 years
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Can I request headcanons for yandere Bakugou, Todoroki and Deku where they have been leaving their darlings voicemails proclaiming their love and whatnot and seeing as they're not reacting badly to it, their darling must be happy. Turns out they haven't heard any of it because they don't know how to access their voicemail
Oh gosh oh gosh I love this concept??? Thank you for requesting! 
Okay so,,, these get a little unhinged real quick because i am in a mood so!
Tw: Dacryphilia, degradation, stalking, yandere relationships, unhealthy relationships,  (Maybe?? just in case,,,) dumbification, lots of cussing (Thanks katsuki.) They’re all pretty abusive,,, Midoriya’s gets a little n/sfw-ish? Like just motions of moans but,, to be safe also panty stealing. I love these boys so much so i’ll make them terrible,,, as a treat.
All of these characters are third years!
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So here now, we have a temperamental one.
And no, it’s not Katsuki.
It’s Shoto.
Half cold, half hot.
He’s easy to anger. If you say the wrong thing, well you’re in for it.
But, he likes you.
You’re always smiling at him.
He knows that you smile at others but there has to be something to smiling at him, right?
People tell him he’s handsome, they tell him he looks good. Women ask for his number.
So you smile at him because you like him.
So he’ll dote on you a little.
He has your number. He paid someone for it.
And he’s been leaving you just about the nicest things he could.
He loves talking to you, even if he doesn’t quite feel comfortable talking to you face to face.
And he just loves telling you how sweet you look for him. How cute your voice sounds and how he just loves you.
“I’ll make sure to marry you one day. You’ll have anything you want.”
“You looked so sweet in that outfit today, once we’re married, I’ll get you something like it. Would you like that? I’ll make sure you have the nicest clothing for when you walk down the isle, goodbye.”
“Your voice is stuck in my head, I can’t wait until I can hear your voice all day in our house together. Goodbye, I can’t wait to see you.”
“When we have a child, you’ll be a wonderful parent. I love you, goodbye.”
“You’ll marry me, right? Goodbye darling, say yes.”
And well, Shoto wasn’t being told to stop, but you weren’t talking to him.
At all.
And so, he tries to ask you about it after class, in the dorms when you two are in the common room.
Luckily for Shoto, you’re the only one there.
You send him a quick smile as you see him sitting in the corner, before you return to stretching.
It makes his heart stop - just for a few seconds - before hastily standing up and walking towards you.  
“Why haven’t you said yes?” He’s got that intense sound in his voice, like it’s as important as finding a villain.
“Yes to what?” You’re still stretching as you look up into his eyes.
It’s clear to him that you don’t have a clue. And really, that shouldn’t make him angry. It’s irrational to think that you’ve been deliberately ignoring him. But who doesn’t check their voicemail?
“The messages I’ve left you, why haven’t you responded to any of them, don’t you love me?” Shoto feels as calm as ever.
You’ve stopped stretching. Expression blank as you attempt to process whatever is going through your head.
“Of course I love you!” And your smile is back. Shoto nods, of course you love him, he can give you whatever you nee- “You’re one of my friends!”
Oh.
“Oh.” Ice begins to melt beneath his flesh
“I don’t know what messages you’re talking about though, did you ask Sero for my number? Class notes, right?”
You can’t not know how to check your voicemail. No one is that stupid.
“The messages I left you. You must’ve checked them.”
“I’m uhh..” You laugh a little. Normally it’d make him blush. “I don’t know how to check them. Sorry Todo...”
“You know exactly what I am talking about.” The look you give him is nothing but confused.
“I... don’t, could you explain it to me?”
“You wouldn't need this explanation if you just talked to me.”
“Sorry Todoroki, I didn’t know you wanted to talk.” You’re a good actor, because there's no way you didn’t know he wanted to talk to you, to marry you.
“I’ll show you.” He grabs you hand and yank you off the ground. “Give me your phone.”
“Wha-” You shiver.
“Your phone. Give it to me.” You hand it over without hesitation. “Good.”
It doesn’t take long for him to find the messages he left. 
“How do you know my password?” He ignores your question.
He opens the most recent message he left. Just this morning.
“Good morning. I want you to know, that our marriage won’t be a quirk marriage. I can’t wait to see what you’ll look like in the dress i have picked out, I love you. Goodbye.” 
“Todo-” 
“Shoto. I’m going to be your husband.” 
“I- give me some time to process-”
“You have had plenty of time to process. So you must’ve been ignoring me.”
“I haven’t!” It’s adorable how desperately you try to lie. You’re quite good at it. 
“Be quiet.” His voice is devoid of emotion. “You can’t go around ignoring your future husband like that. Now we’re going to have a nice, long chat about this in my room.
“But Todoro-”
“You will call me Shoto.” He sends a flare of ice up your arm.
“Shoto! You’re name is Shoto and I-” Your free hand scratches desperately at the ice. 
“Desperately trying to get me to remove the ice.” He gives you a cold smile. “Once you really learn your lesson, that won’t happen again. Got it?”
You nod. Tears dripping down your cheeks. 
“You wouldn’t be crying if you didn’t ignore me.” He pets your hair. “Now, I’m more than a friend to you, right love?”
“Of course Shoto! I love you more tha-”
“Then smile like you do.” You look like you’re helpless with those tears in your eyes though. 
You try, you really do but this is where your acting prowess stops. It’s not a cute, sweet thing like normal. No, it’s ugly and contorted.
“Try again.” Practice makes perfect. “That isn’t what I asked for.”
You wipe your tears with your free hand. He should’ve frozen them both. You’d have to learn to rely on Shoto sooner or later. You take a deep breathe and fix your face into that adorable little smile you gave Shoto.
“Was that so hard?” He brings a chilled hand to your face to wipe away a tear that had gotten away from you. “Come, we’ll talk in my room. Once your arm melts, we’ll see if you’ve learned your lesson.” 
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Katsuki only has your number for study sessions, he swears.
Your friends don’t believe it no matter how loud he yells.
Probably for good reason.
You’re not doing nearly as poor as Kirishima in terms of grades, and you weren’t a bad note taker either. So the fact that Bakugou still invited you to study and the fact that he seemed a little extra harsh on you?
Your friends find it a little strange.
But Bakugou also calls Kirashima “Shitty Hair” so it’s not really out of character for him to tell you how much of a dumbs you are for getting from point A to B in a different way than normal. 
Hell, Bakugou does it the way too.
He tells you it’s because you’re “A shitty extra who’s just trying to be better than me!”
Which, to be fair, checks out with how he treats the rest of the class.
So he’s fine.
Your friends are just a little paranoid that’s all.
And he can understand that. After all, who wouldn’t want to protect you?
He even leaves you little messages. He thinks they speak for themself.
“You got bruised today when you were trying that shitty new move of yours. Be more god-damn carful next time!”
“Hey. Why aren’t you at our study sessions? Shitty Hair isn’t as stupid as you and he actually understands the material. I’m stuck here for another damn hour if you don’t- Oi! Pick up the fucking phone you shit head!”
“Fuck, I went a little far with the last message. I saw your new cut. Did you get it from a shitty piece of paper? You’re a fucked up excuse for a hero if you got beat by a piece of paper. Don’t worry doll, once I’m with you, I’ll kiss it all better.”
He leaves countless messages a day. 
You haven’t even thought about them he bets.
Your brain might as well be a cows, you’re so fucking stupid. 
“Oi! Cow brain! Talk to me.” He doesn’t dare drag you over. You’re still delicate even if you have the mental capacity of a shrew.
“One second Bakugou, I’m going to talk to Mr. Aizawa about mastering my quirk.”
You haven’t even figured out how to master your quirk? So fucking useless. But he waits for about fifteen minutes outside the door. 
“We need to have a study session.”
“Why? I’m doing pretty well, aren’t I?”
“Not with that stupid burn mark you got from sparring with the laser extra!”
“Aoyama?”
“Fuckin Aoyama.” Little blond bitch is trying to hurt you. 
“I’m fine Bakugou, i’m going to be a hero I should get used to a few cuts and burns, with the villain climate,”
“The fucks a villain climate?” You don’t even know that climate is used for weather. You really are a stupid pig. Someone needs to save your bacon, huh?
“The way villains are at the-” Damn your eyes look like a deers’
“I know what a villain climate is!”
“So, you pulled me aside to study, right?”
“At least you remember that.” Any smart person would’ve figured out that was a lie though. “But you’re a fucking idiot for thinking that was the case. You’ve been getting my notes, you know how fuckin worried I am about you getting hurt.”
“You worry about me getting hurt?” Your mind really did move like molasses. 
“Pretty fuckin slow on the uptake there sweetheart.” 
“You’ve been sending me messages?” Oh fuck. You’re even dumber than a cow. 
“Are you completely braindead? I’ve been calling you a dumbass for months,” 
“I don’t know how to open my voicemail, not my fault technology is confusing baku-”
“No one is that fucking dumb!” 
“Bakugou, you’re yelling.”
“No Shit?! I wouldn’t need to be if you actually understood anything that I’m telling you! It’s not that fucking hard to understand you just open your damn phone, and click on those stupid ass red icons on the phone app.” If you weren’t so delicate and in need of keeping safe, he’d punch you.
“Oh uhh- Bakugou? Did you mean to play these?”
“Fuck no I didn't.” Maybe he’s a little obvious. But not so obvious that you’d pick up on it.
“I uhh really think I love you? Maybe it’s cause you're such a fucking dumbs that I can’t stand that you get hurt. It’s painful to see. Shit. I hate that I love you. Just die already.” Katsuki in the phone sounds like he’s gone soft. Can’t have that.
“Bakugou, it isn’t very heroic to tell someone to go d-”
“That’s the thing your shitty mind picks up on?” You’re such a cute little doll. “I just told you that I loved yo-”
“Even more of a reason to report you. Two pro heroes shouldn’t have a relationship, it’s unprofessional.”
“Your stupid ass really thinks you’re gonna be a hero? You can’t even go a round with Aoyama without getting a burn. Nah baby, you’re gonna be at home, well protected and away so that you don’t have a chance to fuck something up.”
“I’m going to be a hero Bakugou.”
“I tell you that I’m gonna keep you at home, away from everything and everyone and you’re concerned with being a hero? Dumb as hell.” 
“Bakugou, you seem to be especially mean to me-”
“Fuck it. You wanna get a shitty Lunch Rush meal?” Oh it’d be so easy to drug you up. You probably don’t even think about people who might drug your food. You're just a stupid little doll.
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Midoriya really likes stalking you, okay?
You’re cute, a real old family friend and really sweet too.
You were absolutely ecstatic when his mom held that dinner to celebrate his quirk’s manifestation.
He almost told you the truth about All For One.
Big developments should be shared with the people you love, right?
Course he never really got your number cause he’s a little bit shy, but.
You won’t mind if he finds it in your house, right?
He’s been there countless times before, so it’s not like this is anything big or new or a groundbreaking development. 
It’s just, he’s here at night now, and you’re asleep. And so are your parents. 
But he’s quiet, don’t worry! He’s not gonna wake anyone up. It’s a hero’s duty to make sure that others are okay, and that includes getting the proper amount of sleep!
So he makes his way around your house with a nervous shuffle. 
How can he be calm when you’re sleeping just mere rooms away? It’s very distracting with you on the bed, just splayed out for him to watch and look at while you dream. 
Sometimes you moan. 
He likes to think he caused that.
He’s a little disgusted to think it, but he’s a little pent up. All the time
And you just look so cute on top of that bed-
But he came here for a phone number, and he’s gonna get one. 
Besides, he’s going to be the number one hero, a symbol of peace! He can’t sully All-Might’s legacy with dirty thoughts!
So he finds your phone charging on a chest of drawers in your room. 
After a few seconds of watching you sleep.
And oh you look good in a tank top and shorts, eyes closed and-
He picks up your phone to distract himself.
You were really trusting, weren’t you? You didn’t even have a lock on your phone.  
He’d hug you if you wouldn’t wake up from his cold skin.
He’d do more than hug you-
Nope, not gonna think about that and Midoriya hates himself a little for looking through your drawer to find where you keep your panties. 
There a lot of pairs to choose from, colored, patterned, laced... So many, pretty kinds of panties.
He settles for a pure, white pair. It’s plain. You won’t miss it.
After he pockets the guilt-inducing panties, he once again sets his sight on your phone.
Once again, he opens it, tries to find where you’ve put your contact information, and quickly duplicates it for his own device,
“Goodnight Bunny! Sleep well!” Oh what he wouldn’t give to kiss you goodnight.
After that, he decides to send you a few messages. They’re quick, innocent, sweet. He almost recorded himself cumming in your panties.
That morning, he wakes up bright and early, with even more energy than normal. He send you a good morning message, and moves on to stretch before class. 
He isn’t late but the only notes he can take in classes are those about your sleeping habits.
You snore, you like to sleep on your left side rather than your right, meaning Midoriya is the little spoon, and you like to sleep in tank tops which means Midoriya has to start wearing them.
When lunch rolls around, before Midoriya meets with Iida and Ururaka he sends you a quick update.
He should probably return your panties,
After he washes them, of course. 
He returns that night to your house with a notebook he’s decided to dedicate to you and your shared love story.
He checks your phone again and debates playing the recordings back to you in your sleep, or waiting for you to find his sweet surprise.
You’ve always likes surprises, you’d love one from him!
He looks at your panty drawer again.
It takes most of his willpower not to take another pair.
“Goodnight! Sleep well bunny!”
He makes a swift exit and leaves another message.
He repeats the process for several days and maybe it’s his imagination, but you sleep with a smile on your face now!
He wonders if it’s the returned panties that did it, or his messages.  
Sunday is date night for your parents, and it’s U.A’s day off. It’s like the stars have aligned themselves for Izuku Midoriya and your love.
He’s going to ask if you like his messages and if you’d like him to start texting you.
After five days of sneaking in the night, finally Izuku can knock on your door and see the light shining on your perfect face.
He knocks on the door, dressed in casual clothes. 
You answer in an All-Might hoodie and Izuku imagines it’s his All-Might hoodie.
“Oh! Hey Midoriya! Parents are out now, would you like to come in?”
“Oh uh! Yes please!” Even if he’d imagined this playing out so much, he can’t help the nervous tick of his hands. He’s so so close to you.
The door stays open until Izuku walks through, It’s nice to come in the front, and not a window.
You begin leading him towards the kitchen, hang a left out of the foyer. 
“I just started some chicken nuggets, hopefully I made enough for you,” You spin around suddenly. “I don’t know why, but I don’t think I have your number.”
That means you haven’t listened to any of his messages then? Izuku’s smile drops.
“Oh it’s nothing personal, I just never thought of giving it to you before, agues i should’ve considering how long we’ve known each other. I didn’t mean to make you look so sad Doriya, here its...”
Would he have to show you his messages? Would he have to make you see how much he loved you?
But that... sounded so violent! So villainous. It wouldn’t be right.
“Hey..” You put a hand on his shoulder. It fits perfectly. “You got that Doriya?”
“Yes!” His smile isn’t hard to regain with your hand so warm on him.
“Nuggets are done too! How many you want?”
“Oh, I’m actually, not- that hungry.”
“Any reason?”
“In my-” What did should he  — that’s got to work. “In my most recent work-study, there’s this case where someone is leaving voicemails to their targets,” But that makes him sound more villainous  than he wanted to.
“Oh shit really?” You look very cute with your wide eyes. 
“Uhm, yes?” It’s a terrible lie and anyone could pick it up if they weren’t so good and kind and trusting - and oh no.
It just had to make him sound like a villain.
“I’ve been getting some voicemails recently, and if it’s evidence or anything, do you need to take a look?”
“No,” He can feel the sweat dripping from his face. “It’s ah, fine?”
“Midoriya, if I have evidence and I don’t bring it in, wouldn’t that make me an accomplice?”
“Technically-” But if you knew they were from him why would you think they were an accomplice- you thought he didn’t have your number. 
You hadn’t heard those messages.
“Do you know is it’s evidence?”
“Well I can’t actually open m voicemail but if it’s anything, you can teach me, right?
“Of course!” He offers a hand to take the phone. “You just -” He taps a few things, “There!”
And you two listen to them. Izuku has such a big smile on his face.
“Good morning! I hope you feel great today! I’m going to do the best i can today, and i know you will too! I love you!”
“I’m about to at lunch, i wonder what you’re having. Maybe one day, we can cook together? Love you, have a nice meal!” 
“I’m about to get ready to come see you tonight, if you want to, stay up! I want to kiss you goodnight! Love you Bunny!”
“What is this?”
“I’m a little embarrassed, but it’s like the voicemails said! I love you, morning noon and night!”
“Midoriya, have you — oh god is that where my panties went?” The anger in your voice hurts him. “Get out.”
“Bunny I-”
“Get out of my house Midoriya. Before I call a real hero.”
“I love you!” 
“You don’t love me, you like my panties and an idea you’ve cultivated because we were never really that close.”
“I’ve known you since i was-”
“Yes, you have, but it’s our parents who are friends - not us. If we were friends, by now I’d call you Izuku.” And like that the notebook of his brain that’s pages were being torn out and stomped on were being sewn back in by a practiced hand.
“You can call me Izuku, if you want.”
“Midoriya, i’m telling you, get out and I won’t report you. You could get your license revoked. You don’t want that.”
“But-”
“Leave.” The way you stood your ground was very admirable. 
He makes a mental note, you are trusting, sweet, kind and headstrong. 
He can work with those. 
He’s suddenly glad he only returned one pair of panties.
He’ll get to visit you again real soon.
-- 
HOLY SHIT DID THAT TAKE FOREVER TO GET Through. I rewrote Shoto’s part five time but im pretty happy with it. Overall I think Bakuboi’s is the best.,., and Izuku,,, my poor deku,,, yours is.... interesting. Anyway thank you for the patience of the requester! And for also requesting these three lovely lads. Oh boy,,, time for some smut coming up... 
871 notes · View notes
krillin-fanfic · 3 years
Text
Identity In Ink
Welp, I did a thing! Probably one of only two I’ll be able to do this month, but I DID IT! This one’s for the “Tattoo” prompt, and mostly 18-focused and a shortie, but it’s a concept I’ve discussed with people in the past: Basically, did Gero ever do anything to mark his creations, and if so, how would they deal with that. And this one just kinda flowed out. Feel free to show some love or leave feedback in the links too! FF.net link AO3 link Without further ado, here we go.
Sometimes, she couldn't help but let it bother her.
It was a small thing. Something hidden away, beneath clothing, able to be put out of sight, and thus out of mind. But since she'd moved here... since she'd spent more time with her husband on the beach... it was becoming harder to ignore.
"Hmm.." 18 stood in front of the bedroom mirror, her pajama shorts pulled down a bit as she gazed at her hip, fingers idly tracing the object of her discomfort. There, on her left hip, was a small tattoo of the Red Ribbon logo.
It really shouldn't have bothered her, she knew; she'd made her peace with that part of her life a couple of years ago, around the same time she'd finally allowed herself to accept she'd had feelings for her best friend. But still, it reminded her of a time when she hadn't been so free. Reminded her that everything she used to be had been stolen away from her. Reminded her of that twisted old man and his "experiments"...
"Hey babe, you ok?"
18 inhaled sharply and let go of the shorts, the elastic snapping back against her as she spun to face her questioner, her expression cool as ice. "Do I look like I'm in trouble, dear?"
Krillin frowned, tugging at the loose shirt that served as his pajama top. "Well... yes, honestly. You can fool a lot of other folks, 18, but I know when something's bothering you." He pointed at the mirror behind her. "Plus I kinda caught you staring at that for a while."
18 closed her icy blue eyes and exhaled sharply through her nose. "Picking up habits from the old man again, are we?"
"Hey now, come on," he protested. "You're my wife and the mother of my child, who is finally asleep, might I add. But I'm allowed to look in our bedroom."
18 crossed her arms and huffed. "Peeping tom."
Krillin laughed as he noticed the faintest hint of a smile on his wife's lips. "Okay, okay, my bad." He threw his hands up in mock despair. "Spare me, oh mighty goddess of Kame Island."
She opened one eye and peered at him. "Hmm... offer me tribute and I'll consider it."
Krillin took a step forward and stood on his tiptoes, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Is that better, mistress?"
18 felt her face flush. "N-no... not good enough." Her blush deepened as she felt his hand cup her cheek and bring her face to meet his, her heart skipping a beat as he began to place feather-soft kisses on her lips. She loved this feeling. It was almost enough to make her forget-
She broke off the kisses and sighed deeply again. "Okay... okay yeah, there is something that's been bothering me."
"Ahhh, I figured." He took her hand in his. "What's bugging you, hon? Is it that... mark again?"
She nodded. "Mhm. Just seems so dumb. I know that's not who I am, I know I'm more than that, but sometimes when I see it, it just reminds me of before. Back when I really thought I'd lost my humanity. When I thought it was too late."
Krillin frowned. "Babe, if it bothers you that much, we can try to do something about it." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand. "We can always see about getting it removed."
18 snorted. "Like we can afford that? Those procedures aren't cheap, you know. Besides, I doubt there are any places that do that who have a laser remotely strong enough to work on my skin."
Krillin shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose." He rubbed his chin for a moment. "Have you considered covering it up with something else, then?"
18 rubbed her forehead. "Maybe... I dunno. I'm not sure what I'd put there even if I could, really." She sat silent for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. "I think... I think I'm gonna go check on Marron real quick." She gave her husband a pat on the head as she headed out the door. "Back in a sec."
She tiptoed across the hall to her daughter's room, the door now adorned with letters spelling out the little one's name, turning the knob as quietly as she could. She only opened it wide enough to slip in, and shut the door behind her; no sense risking her baby girl waking up when she could see just fine in the dark, after all. She took the final two steps to the crib nestled in the middle of the room and smiled.
There lay her baby girl, sound asleep. Her blonde curls splayed out on her pillow, her tiny fist balled up on her chubby little cheek, little noseless face the picture of angelic calm as her tiny chest rose and fell with each breath. 18 reached out and brushed her other cheek softly, and sighed with content.
Little Marron had only recently reached an age where they'd felt comfortable letting her have her own room, and even then it was reluctantly. But between needing a larger crib, and frankly no small amount of frustration, they'd decided it was time. Little Marron hadn't initially been a fan, being quite fussy the first few nights; her father had been as well, and 18 rather appreciated the irony of her husband wanting a return to their intimacy yet also being grumpy about not having Marron with them. She understood though. Marron was one of the only two people whose mere presence seemed to have a calming effect on her. She could be in the worst of moods, but the moment that baby girl cooed at her, it all seemed to drift away as she got lost in those big dark eyes.
18 rested her cheek on her arm as she watched her baby sleep. Her baby. The idea had felt so impossible not so long ago. She'd been sure, positive, that all the alterations to her body would have made her unable to conceive. Gero hadn't seemed the type to leave behind anything that didn't fit his uses, after all. And it's not as if she and Krillin had bothered with precautions for well over a year without consequence. 18 allowed herself an admittedly lecherous smirk at the memories.
But then, one day, it'd happened. The news had shocked both of them, and been a source of both happiness and fear for them as well. But the moment their little bundle of love had come into the world, all that fear seemed to vanish in an instant. She's been so very small, with her mother's soft blonde hair and her father's eyes and features. There was no doubt she was theirs, and Krillin opined that she was the physical manifestation of their love. She'd initially snorted derisively and called him sappy, but as she held their little bundle, she couldn't help but quietly agree.
The tiny form in front of her stretched and yawned, and her heart melted. She was so sweet and innocent... so much so that 18 could find it hard to believe she came from her. She'd been meant to be an assassin, a killer, but now all she wanted was to protect this little angel. 18 smiled and leaned down, placing a feather-soft kiss on her baby's head before quietly opening the door backing out into the hall, gently shutting it behind her.
"She really is amazing, huh?" 18 stiffened and turned to see Krillin leaning against their doorway, grinning.
"Amazing is an understatement. Sometimes I still can't believe that we... that I-"
Krillin straightened and stepped toward her, shushing her. "You best start believing it, 18. She's ours." He took her hand and kissed it softly and smiled as she sighed, contentedly. "You feeling better now?"
"Yeah, I suppose so," she said, wrapping her arms around him. "Feels kinda silly now, letting something like that get to me as much as it did."
He rubbed her back softly. "Nah, it's understandable hon, believe me. So... any ideas on what you might wanna cover that up with?"
18 glanced over at her daughter's door once more. She was her second chance, the ultimate proof of her humanity. The center of her world. Her eyes fell to the plaque on the door, taking in the letters of her daughter's name. 'M-A-R-R...'.
She smiled. "Yeah... I actually do."      ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Once 18 had decided on her new design, Krillin had called up Bulma to see is she's had any ideas on how they could get this done; 18's skin was near-unbreakable, after all, and no normal needle was up to the task. Bulma had eagerly agreed to be of assistance and told them to come over the next day.
It had taken a moment for 18 to brace herself, going back into a sterile lab, laying down on a table, but the procedure had been shockingly swift, a matter of minutes, and it was over before she's realized. She handled it well, all things considered, though Krillin's hand was a bit sore by the time it was over. He smiled at her. "See? That wasn't too bad." He leaned over and gently pecked her nose. "I'm proud of you, babe."
18 nodded and hopped off the slab, walking over to the mirror to examine the new ink, as Krillin turned to speak to Bulma.
"Thanks for the assist, Bulma," Krillin said. "This really means a lot."
The blue-haired Capsule Corp heiress brushed her gloves off on her overalls and lifted her face shield. "Oh, no worries. I had a free day today, and I'd been meaning to test this puppy out." She patted the side of the machine. "I got a custom order from a dinosaur rancher asking for something capable of inking numbers into his livestock, but he never showed up with a test subject so I never got to see if it worked. Just a matter of coding in the design and letting the computer do its thing!"
Krillin blinked. "Wait, did you just use my wife as a guinea pig?"
The heiress chuckled and waved him off. "Don't think of it like that. I never would have offered to do this if I wasn't 100% sure it was safe."
"I gotta admit, I never knew there were dinosaur ranchers out there..."
"Oh... yeah." Bulma scratched her cheek. "I mean, there aren't anymore, but..."
He raised his eyebrows. Oh. I...oh."
"Yeeeeah." She laughed nervously. "Turns out there's probably a reason that profession isn't very common, huh?" She glanced over at 18. "So, whaddya think?"
18 gazed at the small tattoo in the mirror. The red ribbon had been altered to resemble a small red butterfly, and letters added in the same font to now read "MARRON". It was a minor change, but it suited her perfectly. Red Ribbon's mark had been a symbol of the humanity stolen from her; this would be a reminder of what had proven to her that they never had.
She felt Krillin's hand slip into hers and smiled, warmly.
"It's perfect."
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radiorenjun · 4 years
Text
 I Don't Need It
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• Pairing: Na Jaemin x Reader
• Genre: Angst, Comedy, Fluff
• Na Jaemin despised the idea of soulmates, he wanted to fight against fate for choosing his soulmate for him. Even if it means his stubborn childhood best friend wouldn't stop trying to make him accept about the similar tattoos on their wrists.
• Warnings: mental breakdowns, heartbreak, mentions of blood, science (ew), mentions of death, major angst, arguments, flashbacks, physical injuries, fighting.
• Wordcount : 9.4 k
• Masterlist here!
• Chapters: IX, X
• Song rec of the chapter : Start Over Again - New Hope Club
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“Shit, I didn’t think it would be this bad.” Hyuck exclaimed as they finally managed to drag Jaemin out of the arcade. “Why was his wrist glowing like that?!” Chenle exclaimed as Jaemin gripped his wrist tightly, trying to make the burning sensation subside. “Idiot, didn’t you pay attention to Science class?” Hyuck replied as they watched Jeno (who had ran off to the nearest  run towards them with a small packet of ice cream mochi in his hand.
“This was the only thing nearby, put this on.” Jeno handed Jaemin the cold packet, who thanked him softly and carefully placed the packet on the burning skin. “What’s happening to him?” Jisung asked, looking at his seniors as Jaemin leaned his back against the wall, slumping against it with a heavy sigh, trying to ignore the searing pain.
“I’m fine, really. It’s just a little wrist pain. It’ll go away sooner or later. I-” Jaemin muttered under his breath before Jeno cuts him off with a strict tone. “Shut up, Jaemin. You’re not okay,” he spoke sternly before running a hand through his hair in distress. “Hyung, what’s going on?” Jisung asked, in a more serious tone, truly concerned for their dear friend.
“It’s his tattoo. It’s burning his blood.” Hyuck explained, his usual teasing tone was now replaced with a serious one. His eyes staring straight at the glowing red skin as the younger boys stared at him in shock, Jaemin’s head shot up in surprise, eyes wide to see if Hyuck was messing him or not. “Hyuck, that’s not funny.” Jaemin let out a strained laugh, letting out a sharp hiss when Jeno pressed the cold pack harder onto his skin. “It’s not a joke, Jaems.” Jeno scolded softly.
“How is that even possible?” Chenle asked, baffled. Jeno rolled his eyes as he released his tight grip on Jaemin’s wrist, causing the younger boy to glare at him, pressing the ice pack against his wrist gently. “Guess someone never payed attention to Science class,” Hyuck muttered under his breath, receiving a punch on the shoulder from Jisung. “Get to the point, hyung.” he frowned.
“From what I remembered, that tattoo is connected to your emotions. It’s like the old red string soulmate theory. It’s the only thing that connects you with your soulmate. if you found your soulmate but they reject you or hurt you in any shape or form, the brain registers emotional pain of heartbreak in the same way as physical pain.” Jeno explains briefly, as Jaemin’s eyes widened at the new information. How come he’s never heard of this before?
“When the tattoo appears, it turns into some kind of blood vessel that connects to the emotional part of your body. And when you experience some form of heartbreak that’s caused by your soulmate, the tattoo somehow produces bacteria that burns your blood on your left wrist, hence the bright glow.” Jeno adds on, sighing, a hand going back to scratch the back of his neck. Hyuck nodded, “I knew this because Jeno gave me his science notes when we had that science test,” Hyuck exclaimed, putting a hand on Jeno’s shoulder who gave him a deadpanned look.
“There are some cases that the pains were so bad that they had to be removed.” Hyuck added on. “And let me tell you, it’s not a fun process to do so. It’s pretty rare, but they say if you’re not careful, removing it might mentally break them.” Hyuck unconsciously rubbed his own wrist, wincing at the mere thought of getting a part of his skin peeled off.
“So all this time. All the chest pains, all the wrist pains I’ve been enduring, was because I was feeling emotionally hurt by my own soulmate?” Jaemin asked in a rather hesitant tone, his pupils filled with disbelief. “Not hurt, per say. More like jealousy.” Hyuck concluded with soft shrug. “Jealousy?” Jaemin gaped, his mouth opened in disbelief. He didn’t know what to say. Or if he could say anything at all. It was all too much to take in.
“Yep. I don’t know if you noticed, but every time you see Renjun and Y/N together these days, you often glare at them as if you were going to have lasers shooting out of your eyeballs into Renjun’s skull.” Jisung joked, a small smile appearing on his face, trying to ease the awkward tension around them. “You need to seriously stop lying to yourself. If the world set you up together, you’re bound to develop feelings whether you like it or not, that’s how this fucked up soulmate system works.” Hyuck groaned in annoyance.
“You’re more stubborn than Jeno when his mom told him to not get a cat because he’s allergic to fur.” Jisung nodded in agreement. Jeno turned his head to the younger boy, letting out a soft, “what?” 
“Very funny, you two.” Jaemin rolled his eyes.
“Honestly, hyung, this wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t so stubborn bout going against fate.” Chenle huffed, leaning his arm against Jaemin’s left shoulder, looking at the older boy with sympathy in his eyes. “Wait, does this mean,” Jaemin paused as his mind drifted back to you, his brows furrowed in confusion and a slight tint of horror.
“All this time, y/n felt this excruciating sensation for two whole years?” Jaemin gulped. By the way Jisung and Chenle gazed at their older friends curiously, he assumed they didn’t know any of this. A part of him didn’t want to talk bout this in front of them. Yet, another part of him was too curious yet nervous to find out the answer, for his friends’ reactions had said it all. The two boys looked away sadly, bowing their heads to avoid eye contact with their best friend. Jaemin felt his heart drop into his stomach, your innocent smile flashing through his mind, causing his guilt to fill him up even more.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jaemin asked, guilt filling his veins like a running tap filling up a jug with water.
“We wanted to. At first, we thought you knew. That’s why we were rather hesitant when talking to you since that day,” Hyuck exclaimed with an exhausted sigh, biting his lip nervously, referring to your birthday. “Then when you said you almost failed science back then because you didn’t bother reading the notes we shared, we were about to tell you,” Jeno continued hesitantly, his own eyes filled with guilt, remembering how Jaemin hated the ideas of soulmates so much, he didn’t even want to listen to the teachers explanations when it comes to the soulmate system that he purposely didn’t study for the soulmate part of the topic for the test.
“But then,” Hyuck cut him off.
2 years ago
“Dude, you barely passed Science, what’s up with that?” Jeno gaped, seeing Jaemin’s low score displayed on the pin board their school had set up beside every entrance to each class for event posters and test scores. Jaemin shrugged nonchalantly, his eyes filled with disinterest. “This was like the easiest topic of the whole semester, how in hell did you get a 72?” Hyuck exclaimed in disbelief.
“I didn’t bother to study with this one,” Jaemin shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Dude, it’s about the soulmate system. The only interesting topic in the whole school year, it’s all basic knowledge.” Hyuck deadpanned, nudging Jaemin’s arm with his elbow. Jaemin rolled his eyes, groaning in annoyance. “So? I don’t want to know shit bout that lousy system.” Jaemin replied with pursed lips.
“Shit, man. That’s kind of mean. I bet you didn’t even know that if you hurt your soulmate you’ll-” 
“Haechan! Jeno!” 
The three boys turned to see you smiling widely at them, though the smile didn’t reach your eyes. You quickly jogged up to the two boys, grabbing the, by the elbows in each hand, gripping onto them tightly. “Hey Nana!” you greeted, giving your soulmate a loving smile who just sent you a small friendly smile and a small wave. “Sorry, do you mind if I borrow your friends for a bit? I got something to say to them,” you giggled nervously, tugging them backwards to say it’s urgent so that Jaemin couldn’t catch on.
“Where did you come from?” Jeno asked, raising a brow at you. You frowned slightly, “through the wall.” You replied in a sarcastic tone, causing Hyuck to let out a soft chuckle. “It’s really urgent. I really need to talk to you guys,” you spoke seriously, tugging them back as Jaemin raised his brow at you suspiciously. “What’s so urgent that you got to take my friends away from me, huh?” Jaemin teased, causing you to let out a soft laugh.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” you winked, giggling. “But we have class in less than-” Jeno was immediately cut off by your desperate tone as you tugged them back quite roughly. “It’ll just take a second!” you said nervously, eyes pleading at them to go with the flow. Hyuck and Jeno shared perplexed looks before letting you tug them away from Jaemin.
“See you in Chemistry, Jaemin!” Jeno waved at his friend, who waved back with a soft smile before turning to the other direction to get to his locker. You pulled Hyuck and Jeno around the corner, looking back to see if you were far enough from Jaemin. “What’s up with you Y/N? You look like my little sister when she told her teacher that I ate her homework.” Hyuck asked in a concerned tone.
Your smile from before dissipated into a rather exhausted expression, sighing as you leaned back against some random student’s locker. “You guys have to promise me to not talk to Jaemin anything related to the soulmate system.” you frowned, eyes boring onto theirs seriously. Jeno frowned, confused. “Okay. Why though?” he asked questioningly.
You looked back, making sure Jaemin was nowhere to be seen before hesitantly speaking. “He doesn’t know anything bout the soulmate system. Like, literally nothing.” you started, rubbing the back of your neck in distress, letting out a pained sigh. “He’s been that way ever since we were kids, you know that, Jeno. And it’s best if we keep it that way,” you explained.
“Y/n, no. You know full well what’s going to happen. You’re gonna get hurt, like physically hurt, y/n. We need to tell him,” Jeno shook his head, refusing boldly with Hyuck nodding in agreement. You sighed, smiling softly. “I knew you were going to say that. But really, I’m going to be fine. It’s nothing I can’t handle.” you waved it off with a light smile.
Hyuck and Jeno gave you uncertain looks. “I’m serious.” you huffed with a slight pout, “I appreciate you two caring bout my well being but I’m really going to be okay. Trust me,” you held up two crossed fingers from your left hand, grinning sheepishly. Hyuck and Jeno eyed the sore mark around the tattoo on your wrist, identical to Jaemin’s which was red as if it had been gripped tightly by someone. 
“Y/n, you’re gonna get even more hurt. You need to tell Jaemin, what if he stops being stubborn if you just tell him?” Hyuck tried to reason, feeling his own wrist sting by the sight of yours, wondering how painful it could be to feel such an awful sensation. You let out a soft shrug, “I don’t want to see him sad like that. I am his soulmate after all, soulmates are suppose to keep each other happy.” you smiled, though Jeno and Hyuck could see the sadness through your pupils.
“What’s the point in that? You’re just gonna keep him in the dark so he can be happy while you suffer in pain every day? That isn’t fair, y/n. It isn’t fair to you nor to Jaemin,” Jeno furrowed his brows, feeling frustrated with his stubborn friend. Why couldn’t he just get over the whole ‘I’m going against fate because this whole soulmate system sucks’ bullshit?
You gigged softly, looking down at the sore mark around your tattoo, caressing the balloon doodle with your thumb. “You two don’t fully understand. I want him to love me, but I don’t want him to love me just because he’s forced to.” you sighed, taking your two friends aback slightly. “Maybe one day-” you shook your head profusely, trying to shake the negativity out of your head.
“No, I know one day, he’ll love me back the way I love him. I just need to be patient with his stubborn ass. I’ll never stop trying until that happens. And when that happens, maybe none of us will be sad anymore.” the sad yet hopeful smile you plastered across your lips was enough to break Jeno and Hyuck’s heart. They wished you and Jaemin could have an easier plot to your story, wishing that you wouldn’t have to go through such a painful process just to make your soulmate happy. But love makes you do crazy things, and they knew they should respect your decision.
“How are you so sure? It’s been months, y/n.” Jeno asked rather hesitantly. But he needed an answer why you couldn’t just tell him. Hyuck nodded, he couldn’t find the courage to speak. Hell, Hyuck didn’t even know what to say to you, not when you were looking at him as if you were clinging on to your last hope of life. You gave him those sad smiles you only see in movies when a main character knows they’re in for a long painful ride through life.
“I’m actually not.” you replied shortly, putting your hands into the pockets of your jacket, “But this is what love does to me. It makes me feel as if I gave up on this, I’m going to have the whole world turned upside down. I guess I’m just that whipped.” you shrugged simply, kicking a crumpled ball of paper someone dropped earlier. “Love? What is love, really?” Hyuck asked in a rather bitter tone, recalling the hurt expressions you would always have whenever Jaemin wasn’t looking.
You paused to think bout it for a moment before looking at the two boys with a knowing look, “I don’t know myself. But it feels amazing to be in love, I want it to last as long as possible. Even if it might not work out for me in the end, I just want to at least cherish it while I can,” you grinned, giving them enthusiastic jazz hands.
“So, can you promise me that you’ll both keep this between the three of us?” 
“So you both actually kept it from me all these years?” Jaemin exclaimed, feeling anger overwhelm his whole body. Hyuck’s head shot up, “she looked tired enough, we couldn’t say no, you asshole!” he shot back defensively, jaw clenching tightly. “Telling you would be like taking her last bit of hope, she didn’t want to burden you with the thought, so she kept it to herself, you ungrateful douchebag!” he spat, his face red with anger as he stared back at his friend in disbelief.
“Oh, so you decided to let her suffer internally so I can feel like shit about it later on? Sure, Donghyuck!” Jaemin shot back, pulling the frozen pack to clench his fists by his sides. “Oh, so it’s y/n’s fault now, is it? That’s what you’re implying?!” Hyuck growled, letting out a groan of annoyance at his best friend’s stubborn self.
“You ass, you really can’t see how fucking stupid you’re being? She’s your fucking soulmate, for fucks sakes! Get your head out of your ass and wake up, if you just showed a bit of interest with the whole soulmate system then this wouldn’t have happened in the first place!” 
At this point, things were getting a bit too intense for the two boys, Jisung had to step forward and grip his senior’s shoulder, in case Hyuck tried to do something to Jaemin. “Shut up, Hyuck. You don’t even know what you’re talking about! You’re just one of those people who follows this fucked up soulmate system, you just don’t get it!” Jaemin took a step forward towards the older boy, jaw clenched tightly in anger.
“Yeah, sure, if this system is so fucked up, then what bout you, huh? What about you, Na Jaemin?” 
“What about me?”
“If this whole system is fucked up, like you say it is. Then what about you? Don’t you think it’s fucked up that you keep hurting your own childhood best friend for your own selfish purposes, you prick?”
“Hyung, I think thats-” Jisung attempted to coax Hyuck to stop before he did some permanent damage to their whole friendship, only for the older boy to shrug his hand away with a harsh scowl on his lips. “Shut up, Jisung. I’ve had it with this bullshit, it’s time he opens his fucking eyes and stop acting like a fucking brat.” Hyuck spat back at the younger, causing the poor boy to sigh in defeat.
“What the fuck is that suppose to mean?” Jaemin felt his heart ache, not in the way whenever he would see you or Renjun. It was a different kind of ache, it felt as if tiny sharp objects were slowly piercing through his heart. And Jaemin was afraid that he didn’t know how to make it stop.
“It’s funny how you just tossed away her feelings for your own for two whole years. You didn’t even know that she was hurting, right? You treated her like shit for two years: throwing away her cookies, her gifts. Taking her kindness for granted, rolling your eyes at her whenever she was in the room. Not to mention talking shit bout her behind her back.”
“I do not talk shit about her behind her back-”
“Oh, really? What about those times you complained how clingy she was? How she was suffocating you with her presence? How she was getting annoying day by day, huh? What do you call that?”
“I was just-”
“You were just what, Jaemin? You were just pissed off? Or was it because you didn’t think she was right behind you listening? Or is it gonna be another of your petty excuses?”
Jaemin couldn’t respond, he didn’t know want to say. He admits that what he’s done in the past wasn’t the nicest things, but he was just upset whenever he said those things. He froze in his place, unable to find the right words to respond. Or rather, he couldn’t respond at all.
“Oh, so now you have nothing to say? Just admit that you’re being irrational about this whole situation, Jaemin. It’s not that hard to admit that you’re wrong, you bastard. No wonder Y/n replaced yo-”
Before Donghyuck could finish his sentence, Jaemin pushed Donghyuck by the chest harshly in anger. Hyuck took a few steps back at the harsh impact, his scowl turning into a smug grin. “Shut up, Donghyuck.” Jaemin growled, shrugging off Jeno’s hand when Jeno stepped forward to gently coax Jaemin to let it go before they both do something that’ll get them in trouble.
“Did I hit a nerve? You know it’s true, Na. You just won’t admit it!” Hyuck growled, causing Jaemin’s blood to boil under his skin. Both of his fists were clenched tightly, ready to punch something. Or rather, someone.
“Stop it, Hyuck.” Jeno barked, his tone getting an octave lower. At this point, Jisung and Chenle were eyeing their elders cautiously, ready to drop their snacks to the floor in case a fight breaks out. “What? I’m not lying, aren’t I? It wouldn’t take a genius to know that Y/n basically replaced him with someone clearly better for her. I mean, Renjun’s would be a way better soulmate than your selfish ass, anyways.” Hyuck taunted with a proud glint in his pupils.
“Hyuck, stop it before you’re gonna regret something,” Jeno barked once again as Jaemin clicked his tongue, his jaw clenching tightly as the atmosphere thickens between the three boys. “If only Y/n wasn’t cursed to be soulmate with an asshole like you, then she didn’t have to put up with your ungrateful ass for all these years!” Hyuck exclaimed, raising his hands up dramatically to rile Jaemin up even more.
It all happened so fast.
In a split second, Jaemin launched himself onto Hyuck, grabbing the younger boy by the collar. “Take it back,” Jaemin spat in his face, tone laced with anger. Hyuck still had a proud smirk on his face, provoking the boy even more by his smug expression. “I’m happy she didn’t have to get stuck with you for the rest of her life despite being cursed for having the same tat-” 
Hyuck didn’t get to finish his sentence when Jaemin’s fist collided against the side of his face. “Jaemin! Hyuck!” Jeno ripped the two boys apart, holding Jaemin back before he causes a ruckus. Jisung and Chenle held Hyuck back as Jeno began to scold the younger boys, “Fuck off, Jeno!” Jaemin tried to shove Jeno off of him, but Jeno tightened his grip on Jaemin’s shoulder, holding him back tightly.
“Jaemin, stop it you’re making a scene.” Jeno hissed as Hyuck let out a cocky “Ha!”, getting out of Jisung and Chenle’s grip. “No, Jen. Let him go, maybe if he beats me up, he’s gonna realize how shitty of a human being he’s been.” Hyuck taunted with a sinister laugh, causing Jaemin to let out a harsh growl at his friend. “You little-”
“Hyuck, stop provoking him. Jaemin, calm down before someone calls security!” Jeno struggled to keep Jaemin at arms length from Hyuck, Jaemin’s pupils darted at the people around them staring, whispering and crying out for someone to get security. He felt anxiety crawl up his skin at the countless of eyes glaring at them, but one that truly caught his eye was your own figure walking out of the arcade.
You had a skip in your step with an enthusiastic smile on your face as you stared back at your friends, pointing at the nearest food court as you looked back at your friends. His eyes widened slightly when he saw one of your friends pointing towards the crowd around them, anger soon being replaced with a strong surge of panic.
Jaemin masked his panic with an incredulous scoff, shoving Jeno’s hand off of him with an annoyed huff before bumping his shoulder against Donghyuck who gave him a death glare as he stomped off to the parking lot as fast as he could, ignoring the eyes of strangers as he leaves his friends behind. 
“Son of a bitch!”
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Jaemin couldn’t be anymore thankful that his parents were away on a business trip for two weeks, they didn’t have to see their son experiencing a mental breakdown right before their eyes. Jaemin slammed the door shut as hard as he could, hitting his fist against the door in anger, swearing loudly as he vents his anger out on the white wooden door.
His fists were red with pain, but at that moment he couldn’t find it in himself to care. All he wanted was to block out the pain he was feeling deep down inside of him and let it out before it exploded inside him. Before the pressure broke him inside and outside.  
Eventually, the sound of his fists hitting the wooden door stopped. Jaemin took a step back, panting, his hair messy, his blood boiling, his heart racing in his chest, exhaustion filling his entire body. He collapsed onto the mattress of his bed, sighing out. Jaemin felt exhausted, mentally and physically. He felt like being stuck in his room for the rest of his life. He felt like he wanted to just disappear.
Jaemin turned over to his stomach, burying his face against the soft fabric of his pillows. His heart ached even more, his wrist wasn’t burning anymore but it still left a dull ache in it’s wake. And for once in his life he wasn’t covering his soulmate tattoo with his watch or wristbands. Jaemin’s glassy eyes stared at the small tattoo that got him into this big of a mess in the first place as his mind keeps spinning in his head.
The tattoo that was once a bright doodle of a small red balloon floating in the middle of two clouds had now transitioned into  a dim crimson red, the white color in the clouds and the bright red color in the balloon were barely visible. Jaemin assumed that was probably the side effects of either the pain killers he took or the tattoo releasing bacteria from the emotional pain in his chest.
Jaemin chuckled to himself, turning his head to see the half empty bottle of pain killers standing innocently on his desk. Laughing lightly to himself at how frustrated he gets whenever the pain wouldn’t stop despite taking the maximum dosage. “I’m so stupid.” he mumbled to himself, rubbing his face with his palms in frustration.
On second thought, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw your tattoo. Jaemin’s brows furrowed, at the thought. Come to think of it, you had been covering your own tattoo up these past couple months. Either with the matching friendship bracelet he got you for your 16th birthday, joking how you should cover your tattoo with it, hours prior to when your tattoo appeared. 
You wore it all the time since then. The charms on the bracelet were large enough to cover the small tattoo on your wrist. Were you using the bracelet as an excuse to cover the marks your tattoo left on your skin from everyone else? Was your cheerful demeanor a facade all this time to cover your pain from Jaemin so that Jaemin wouldn’t feel guilty for hurting you?
Everything was a mess.
Jaemin wanted this whole problem to just disappear.
He groaned as he sat up from his bed, eyes examining his bedroom. The distant nostalgic sound of both of your laughter echoing in his mind as he recalled the times when you two used to joke around and make each other laugh so hard you had to hold your stomachs. The memory of him flicking your forehead whenever you do something annoying to make him laugh. Pupils staring at the small pebble that sat at the corner of his desk, his mind fluttering back to the time when you were 15.
 “So I have a present for you.” you giggled, barging into his room and dropping your bag carelessly in the middle of the room. Jaemin looks up from his phone, raising his brow as a smile stretched across his face. “Is it food?” he asked, an eager smile stretching across his face as he watched you pounce on his bed with your arms stretched out like a starfish. 
You turned to your best friend, giving him a bittersweet smile before letting out an evil, loud, maniac laugh, leaning you head back for a dramatic effect, abruptly turning to Jaemin with a deadpanned expression before letting out a cold emotionless, “no.” 
Jaemin frowned, his bottom lip jutting out as he whined. “And here I thought you’d finally pay me back for all the peanut butter sandwiches I sacrificed every recess.” he complained under his breath, smacking your backside with one of the pillows behind him. You giggled, sitting up as you watched your best friend pursed his lips at you.
“You wish, Na Jaemin. That’s never going to happen, that I can assure.” you giggled, shaking your head as you snatched the pillow from his hands to lay it on top of your lap. “Then what did you get me?” he asked, a confused frown forming on his lips, leaning his head to the side in curiosity. You smiled simply at him, “close your eyes, first.”
“Why?” he eyed you suspiciously, watching as your right arm reached for something inside the pocket of the peach coloured hoodie you were wearing. “I swear if you get me one of those strawberry infused tea that the 6 year old girl from across the street constantly forces innocent bystanders to buy, I’m going to-”
You let out an incredulous scoff, putting your hand on your chest with an offended frown. “Preposterous!” You gasped dramatically. “I would never make my best friend suffer by buying him a disgusting drink made by a 6 year old who eats play doh for a living!” you exclaimed with an offended tone.
Jaemin gave you an incredulous look, leaning back on the bed with his arms supporting him as he raised a brow a you. “You literally made me try her special oreo, milo, peanut butter and jam, ‘expresso’ a few weeks ago.” he said, wiggling his index and middle fingers when he said ‘expresso’. 
You gave him an innocent dorky grin in response, “no regrets.” You hissed with a smug smile. Jaemin rolled his eyes at you, “I’m serious, I’m actually concerned. Knowing you, you probably hired some weird psychic witch to make a voodoo doll of me.” he frowned jokingly. Actually, he was half joking considering you were weird enough to convince him that you were secretly a witch from another dimension.
You giggled, putting the back of your hand on the top of your head as you wailed out dramatically like those people in theaters and soap operas. “Oh dear God, Na Jaemin has no faith in his oh-so-amazing best friend! What have their friendship become!” you cried out, scrunching your face as you pretended to cry in front of him, causing Jaemin to reach his hand out to pinch your cheek gingerly.
“I don’t think ‘amazing’ is a word I would use to describe this whole experience of being your friend since diapers.”
Now it was your turn to purse your lips, causing Jaemin to send you a charming wink, rolling your eyes in response. “Is that so? I think it’s time to finally terminate our friendship.” you sniffled, wiping an invisible tear as Jaemin let out a laugh your statement. “I’m kidding, Y/n.” he cooed in a high pitched voice, putting both his palms against you cheek and squishing them together to pucker your lips.
He snickered as you smacked his hands away from your face, “get your hands off of my face, you peasant.” you giggled before sitting up straight and giving him a serious look. “Now. Close your eyes!” you frowned, booping his nose jokingly. Jaemin raised his brow at you, pushing your finger away from the tip of his nose. “Fine,” he sighed, closing his eyes slowly.
He felt you tug down the hood of the jacket he was wearing over his head, feeling your palm pat against the fabric against his eyelids .”No peeking, Jaemin!” you exclaimed eagerly, your hands moving to pull his hands out from behind him. He rolled his eyes with a small chuckle when he felt your fingers pry his own open to spread out his palms. 
“Did you get me those old squishy stress balls you keep gazing at whenever we go to the mall?” he asked with a soft giggle when he feels you place something small and smooth in his palm. “I’m too broke for that, you know that, Jaemin. Now, open your eyes!” you giggled, he felt the bed sink, signalling you probably moved to lay down.
Jaemin placed the object in his hands in his left hand, his right moving to pull the hood over to the back of his head as he slowly opened his eyes and looks down at what you have placed in his palm. His brows furrowed in confusion at the grey object you had placed in his palm, his head shooting up to look at the cheeky grin displayed on your face. 
In his palms was a small pebble.
A fucking pebble.
He squinted his eyes at you to see if you were joking, but you just kept giving him the same cheeky grin. You weren’t joking in the slightest. You two stared at each other for the next 15 seconds. Your eyes wide as if daring him to speak and complain while his dared yours to explain what level of degeneracy your weirdness has come to. 
Jaemin clicked his tongue at you. 
“You got me a rock?” he deadpanned after a pregnant pause. You were on your stomach, gazing up at him with your face in your palms with a chesire grin spread across your face. “First of all, it’s a pebble. Second, it’s not just a pebble, it’s a pebble with-” Jaemin watched you lean over to flip the pebble in his hands around. 
“A picture of Doraemon!” you exclaimed cheerfully. Jaemin stared at the small cheap sticker of Doraemon winking at him, then stared back at you with a blank expression. He bit his lip to keep himself from bursting out laughing, watching you bite back your own laughs. “You got to be joking me. Please tell me you’re joking,” Jaemin threw his head back laughing, placing the pebble on his bedsheets in front of him as he applauded and laughed at the same time.
You shook your head as you wheezed, laughing loudly as you smacked your fists against the pillow you were laying on. “Oh you WISH I was joking. Hell no, dude, you’re gonna keep a rock as a momento of my iconic existence.” you shook your head, wiping the tears from your eyes as Jaemin stared at you incredulously.
“What the hell am I suppose to do with a rock? Also what’s with the sticker? It looks like some weird omen.” Jaemin snickered, he really couldn’t stop laughing at how stupid this situation looks. You shrugged innocently, giving him a teasing grin. “The sticker adds flavor to the pebble. I couldn’t find any permanent markers to decorate it with.” you shrugged, causing Jaemin to bawl out laughing, throwing his head back.
“Remind me why I’m still friends with you?” he chuckled. You puckered up your lips gingerly, “because you just married me.” you winked, causing Jaemin to furrow his brows in confusion. “Have you been eating to many candies again, y/n?” he asked, placing the back of his palm against your forehead. You huffed, slapping his hand away, eliciting soft giggles from your best friend.
“You accepted my gift, that means we’re married!”
“How so? What kind of weird nonsense have you discovered this time?”
“Hush, this is actually a really cute fact.”
Jaemin sighed, nodding his head as he gestured you to continue on. You grinned gingerly, “Did you know that when penguins propose to their mates, they give their mates a pebble? Like some sort of wedding ring!” 
There was a pregnant pause. Jaemin just giving you an incredulous smile, his cheeks flushed pink as he wonders how adorable this moment could possibly get. “Is this your way of saying you want to marry me or is this your way of calling me short?” Jaemin teased, his sweet wide smile never leaving his face as he leaned over towards you.
You raised your brows in surprise, a bright pink tint appearing on the soft skin of your cheeks. “Welp, this clearly backfired.” you muttered under your breath, causing Jaemin to let out an amused laugh. “What were you even trying to do here?” he exclaimed, stretching his arm out to gingerly pinch both of your pink cheeks as you whined out in embarrassment.
“I just want to pull a little harmless prank to make you blush. I clearly didn’t think this through.” you said, gripping his wrist as you try to pry his hands off of your cheeks. Jaemin giggled, his heart fluttering. “You’re getting weirder day by day.” He mumbled to himself, shaking his head profusely at you.
“Shut up, I thought it was cute and funny at the same time.” 
“Would you marry me though?”
“What?”
Jaemin gulped, shaking his head when he realised he said that out loud. “Would you marry me though if we had the chance?” he asked shyly, rubbing the back of his neck shyly with a bashful smile. You leaned your head to the side, pondering for a small moment, attempting to ignore the heat rushing through your cheeks. “Would you?” you mused, chuckling at your best friend who just gave you a dopey grin.
Jaemin shrugged, “I don’t see why not. It’s better than marrying someone you met because of a stupid birthmark.” he smiled innocently. You rolled your eyes at this. “Your resentment towards the soulmate system will always be an unattractive point. I hate to be the person who blows a candle, only to have the same lame soulmate mark as you.” you joked, causing Jaemin to smack you with the pillow beside him.
“Rude!” he exclaimed with a laugh. “What if you were that unfortunate soul?” he asked with a giggle, causing you to frown. “Well screw that, I’ll peel the damn mark off of my skin.” you shot back, giggling in between words as Jaemin pouted at your words, pursing his lips in response. “Wouldn’t that be ironic, though? We’ve been friends since diapers, I’d be damned if I have to spend the rest of my life with you.” you commented.
Jaemin stopped laughing, leaning back on his arms as he took a moment to think about it. “But wouldn’t it be better that way though? Like, you wouldn’t have to go through that awkward introduction phase when we could just move on to the honeymoon phase.”
You scoffed. “I’d rather barf in my cereal.”
You let out a loud ‘oof’ when Jaemin tackled you against the sheets to smack you with his pillow repeatedly.
Jaemin chuckled to himself at the memory, smiling sadly at how ironic yet cliche this whole ordeal was. He walked over to his desk, picking up the pebble from the space in between his books and stationary. He tossed the pebble in the air, catching it in his other hand. His eyes pausing at the old Doraemon sticker on the pebble, half of Doraemon’s face had disappeared. (Jaemin’s weird desires to peel things off had kicked it when he was tossing around the pebble in boredom)
His thumb glazed over the sticker, causing it to fall off of the pebble and to the carpet floor. “Shit!” Jaemin cursed, kneeling down to find the Doraemon sticker. ‘Y/N’s gonna kill me,’ he thought to himself with a chuckle as he picked up the sticker, it took him a few seconds for him to realize that you two weren’t friends anymore. ‘Right, she probably doesn’t care about some stupid sticker anymore.’ he frowned, sighing heavily.
He gently placed the sticker back on the pebble despite the fact that it couldn’t stick anymore, placing the pebble back on his desk as he stood back up on his feet, He looks back down when he felt his wallet slip out of the pocket of his jacket when he stood up. His heavy heart weighing down on him when he looks down at his wallet.
His wallet had fallen open, revealing the photo of you two when you were still kids slipped into the transparent pocket of his wallet. Jaemin picked up his wallet in between his fingers, his heart dropping to the pit of his stomach as he collapsed back on the mattress of his bed. He tucked his arm under his head as he turned over to his side, never keeping his eyes off of the picture in his wallet.
The picture was slightly blurry. Baby Jaemin was attacking you with his latest transformers action figure, his lips puckered to make dramatic sound effects. Baby you had your face scrunched in laughter, a hand outstretched to shove him away by his shoulder. You had a barbie doll in your free hand, protecting your barbie from his transformers figure.
Baby Jaemin’s cap was floating in mid air, having been knocked off of his head when you threw your doll’s hairbrush at the perfect moment. The one who took the picture was your grandmother, who truly believed that you two were soulmates since the dawn of time. Jaemin’s frown deepened at the thought of your beloved grandma. How she would use any given time to take at least one picture of the two of you together. How she would walk in the middle of your play time to five you two some cookies or treats she made.
 “Grandma, what’s a soulmate?” you asked in the middle of your play date with Jaemin. Your grandma smiled simply, sighing as she leaned her cheek against her palm. “Soulmate, huh?” she repeated as Jaemin sat beside you in front of her with a cookie in his between hands. “A soulmate is like..” your grandmother paused, eyeing the two of you as you sat side by side with cookies in your hands as you obediently listened to your grandmother’s words.
“To me, a soulmate is like a best friend. It’s the one person who knows you better than anyone else.” she explained briefly. “More than your own family?” Jaemin asked, chewing in between words, causing your grandma to chuckle. “Almost more than your own family,” she winked, grabbing a cookie of her own out of the container filled with chocolate chip cookies.
“It’s also someone who makes you a better person in life, because most of the times, they inspire you to be a better person. A soulmate is someone you can carry with you forever.” 
“Forever? Wouldn’t they get bored?” You asked with an innocent tilt of your head. Your grandmother smiled briefly, “well, would you get bored of playing with Jaemin, Y/n?” she asked, causing the both of you to look at each other. You shook your head with a bright smile, “never! Jaemin is my best friend!” you exclaimed, causing Jaemin to let out a loud cheer. “And y/n is mine!” he exclaimed, wrapping his tiny arms around your figure as he gingerly pressed his cheek against yours, causing you to giggle. 
“That’s good. Though, a soulmate will always support you and believe in you. They will stay by your side no matter what. They’ll always be there to make you smile.” your grandmother explained. “Does that mean a soulmate is someone who can make you happy all the time?” y/n asked, eliciting a soft chuckle from your grandma who just nodded simply. 
“Exactly my dear!” she exclaimed. “Gross,” Jaemin teased, scrunching his face in disgust at the thought. Your grandma chuckled, leaning down to fondly ruffle Jaemin’s hair. “Jae, you shouldn’t say things like that. I’m sure you’ll understand and change your mind when you’re older and more mature.” she spoke gently, making Jaemin scoff lightly, crossing his arms stubbornly.
“No I won’t! Just you watch, Grandma! I’m not going to have a soulmate when I grow up!” he exclaimed with a huff. You giggled as you hugged your barbie doll to your chest, “well I do! It sounds like a forever friend!” 
Jaemin raised a brow at you, tilting his head in confusion. “A forever friend?” he asked. You nodded eagerly, pulling your barbie doll away from your chest to play with it’s bendable arms as you continued to explain. “A friend that’s going to be with you forever and ever like Mr. Snuggles!” you exclaimed, pointing at the big teddy bear leaning against Jaemin’s power ranger action figure.
“I wish I could meet my soulmate now!” you exclaimed with a bright giggle. “I’m sure they’ll be the nicest person ever!”
At this point, Jaemin couldn’t hold back his tears. His heart aching like never before, but this time he didn’t bother grabbing the bottle of pain killers near him. He puts his wallet on his nightstand as he sniffled, his heart overwhelmed with different emotions all at one. Guilt. Anger. Regret.
Jaemin furiously wiped the tears from his face, his frustration growing by the second. “Fuck!” he cried out, sobs coming out of his throat as tears continuously cascade down his cheeks. He turned over to his stomach, burying his face in the soft fabric to muffle his cries and sobs.
They say karma hits back at the best of times. It was no different with Na Jaemin. Like what your grandma had said, he’d change his mind of his perception of this whole soulmate system. There was no point in fighting against fate. How could he be so selfish as to let the people he cared about get hurt? How could he be so foolish to take your kindness for granted?
Jaemin’s eyes screw shut tightly, trying to stop the flashbacks going through his head. He knew he couldn’t stop the nostalgic memories from flooding through his mind. After all, you two shared every moment of your lives with each other that it would be preposterous for the world to not make you two soulmates. This is what he wanted right? He wanted you to go away.
Now, he just wanted his best friend back. He wanted you to give him cookies again every week. He wanted you to sit next to him during every class you had together and make weird jokes or express abstract opinions of a certain topic. He missed those times when you two would go to the arcade to get the biggest stuffed animal in all the crane games you could find and play some Mario Kart afterwards.
He missed how you would sneakily wear his hoodie in the middle of class because you ‘were cold’ or ‘forgot to bring yours’. He missed blasting music loudly from his car radio as he drives you both to school, headbanging aggressively to the beat of whatever song was playing on the radio. The way you would comfort him by buying him desserts or cookies from the nearest bakery whenever he received a scolding from Coach or the former Team Captain.
Jaemin paused, remembering your bright smile when you stood in front of Renjun. That genuine smile you always used whenever he was in your line of vision. He sighed at the vivid memory, He moved so he was laying on his back, sniffling back his tears as his mind spun even more as he couldn’t help but think that maybe Donghyuck was right.
Whenever he was a jerk, Renjun was always there to comfort you. He was always there to help you whenever you were on the brink of failing a certain subject while Jaemin would always ditch you for practice or to hang out with Jeno and Haechan. Maybe it would be better if Renjun was your soulmate instead of Jaemin.
He’ll make you way more happier than he ever could. Jaemin’s heart clenched against his chest at the thought of you being in a romantic relationship with someone else. Though, who was he to complain if you and Renjun were secretly into each other? He knew it was very unlikely for a someone to fall for someone else that’s not their soulmate, but it wasn’t completely impossible for one to do so.
All that you ever wanted was to have someone by your side for the rest of your life to make you smile when you’re at your worst. Jaemin couldn’t even do that back when he broke your music box. What was the point in asking you to forgive him now if you wouldn’t even look him in the eyes without giving him an expression equivalent to what an injured puppy would at their owner?
You deserved someone like Renjun. 
Maybe Hyuck was right. You were cursed to be born with a soulmate like him. You were cursed to have the same stupid tattoo as he did on your wrist. You didn’t deserve to suffer that much emotional pain for such a long time for his sake. You didn’t deserve all the pain he put you through. And he knew he didn’t deserve to have you in his life.
Jaemin spent the rest of his day crying his eyes out. Finally letting out the pent up emotions that his actions had caused him, letting his heart scream out in pain as it tries to release the tension that came with longing for the feeling of holding your delicate heart in the palms of his hands. At that single moment, he never wished for anything so bad as he did when he wished he could start this whole soulmate ordeal over again.  
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sgtbradfords · 4 years
Note
Could you write a Chenford prompt with this “You’re always number one.” ? Thank you!
Ok anon, this one was so much fun to write! Thank you for sending me this prompt! I hope you enjoy :) Send me a prompt from this list!
The sounds of car doors slamming filled the parking lot, the hot California sun bearing down onto the asphalt.  “Someone please remind me why we’re doing this again?” said Nyla Harper as she and Lila met the growing crowd in front of the building.
“Because Nolan said it’d be fun and none of us disagreed.”
“It’s also a bonding experience.” Piped in John Nolan.
Tim Bradford rolled his eyes. “As if we don’t spend enough time out of work as it is.”
“Alright,” said Angela Lopez, gathering the groups attention as she walked out of the building. “We’ve got 2 hours booked for us to play as many rounds as possible with a twenty-minute break after an hour. Wesley and I took the liberty last night of dividing everyone into teams already. Should someone feel as though it’s unfair after the first game then we will redo the teams. Alpha squad will be Wesley, Jackson, Tim, Lila and John. Bravo squad will be Sterling, Lucy, Nyla, Henry and myself.”
“Question, can we change our team names?”
“No.”
“What are the rules?” asked Jackson.
Wesley raised an eyebrow. “Their rules or our rules?”
“Ours of course.”
“No removing your sensor to avoid being shot. Keep physical contact to a minimum. Climbing is allowed as long as you don’t get shot. If you are shot, then your vest will reset after thirty seconds. We have the room to ourselves so no worries about outsiders. An alarm will go off in an hour to signal the break. Most importantly, have fun. Everyone ready?” Angela told the group before moving towards the building.
“You’re going down Bradford.” Lucy gloated as they walked through the door.
“Is that what you think boot?”
Lucy scoffed “Think? I know. Remind me again who was Mid-Wilshire’s shooting champ this year?”
“There was a scuba diver!” Cried John.
“We know.” Voiced the group.
The group divided up into their teams, going into separate rooms to get their gear.
“Game starts in five.” Nyla said as she slipped back into her teams’ room after helping Lila into her gear. “The amount of trash talk coming from them… Don’t be shocked to see Lila and Nolan team up.” She told them as she began gearing up herself.
An alarm through their room, giving off the one-minute warning. Both teams lining up outside of their doors that led to the complex.
The next alarm sounded as the doors opened, the lights off and blacklight’s on making the place glow.
“Yippie ki yay Mother-“
“NOLAN SO HELP ME, DON’T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE.” Nyla yelled as she entered the room.
“-theresa!”
Each person began strategizing, Sterling being the first shot as Wesley rounded a corner.
Lucy was able to shoot John, who was helping Lila sneak under a platform, “Not fair Lucy!” he yelled as she ran away.
The first round went quick, the score almost even as the alarm blared, signaling their break, they congregated in one room, huddled around the TV screen showing points.
“How are they winning?” Cried Angela. “I know I shot Nolan at least five times!”
“It’s only by a few points honey.” Wesley smirked as he told his wife, taking a sip of water.
Angela glared, covertly flipping her husband the middle finger as Sterling wondered aloud. “How does a nine-year-old have more kills than me?”
Jackson laughed. “Because you play a cop on TV, Ster. Where as her mother probably gave her the good aim in her genes.”
“Wait, this says Tim and Lucy are tied as the top shooters.” Henry pointed out. “How is that possible?”
Everyone turned staring at the two as Lucy shrugged. “I told you, champion. Besides, I rarely win anything. Now Tim on the other hand, you’re always number one.” She said pointing a finger.
“Come on boot, Antonio won that one time!” he defended before explaining. “We do paintball once a month. Besides, Chen practically lives at the shooting range.”
“Only because you make me!” Lucy snorted before defending herself. “And I do have a life outside of work I’ll have you know.”
“Is that what you’re calling him? Because if I remember correctly, I had to buzz you in the other day at six in the morning wearing yesterday’s clothes because you ‘lost’ your keys.” Jackson pointed out causing her to blush. “And it wasn’t the first time either.”
Nolan propped his head on the fist of the elbow leaning on the table. “Tell me more tell me more did you get very far.” He sung.
“Shut up Nolan.” The group voiced as he raised his hands in defense.
The five-minute bell rang, half the group standing to head back to their room, Angela and Nyla moving to Lucy’s side as she began to put her device back on, shooting the test target in the room to check her gun.
“Is he a decent guy?” asked Angela.
Lucy smiled. “He is.”
“Have you done a background check on him?”
“I haven’t but I don't need to, he’s told me a lot.”
Nyla watched Lucy, her arms crossed over her chest. “You love him.”
“I do.”
Angela looked at Nyla before looking back at Lucy “Does he make you happy?”
Lucy looked at the two, her smile growing. “He does.”
“Then that’s all that matters.” Angela said. “If he hurts you, I hope he knows your family will help you kill him.”
Lucy laughed, “Not if I kill him first.”
The one-minute alarm sounded as each team re-assumed their entry positions.
Team Bravo was the first to strike in round two, Nyla taking Lila and Jackson down ten seconds apart.
Lucy quickly made her way to the second floor, finding the perfect corner that was dark enough to stay hidden with the help of her jacket hiding the glow of her target. She crouched down, keeping an eye out, watching the walkway that ran across the second floor, she knew Jackson was up here, having seen his white shirt go by in a blur as she made her way up from the first floor.
“Boo.” A voice whispered in her ear.
Lucy jumped to her feet, startled as she whipped around, pointing her gun at the person that was crouched beside her on the floor. “Didn’t your T.O ever teach you not to sneak up on someone with a gun?”
“It’s fake. And didn’t your T.O teach you to always stay aware of your surroundings boot?” retorted Tim as he stood, backing her further into the corner.
“How did you get there and how long have you been there?”
“Army crawled.” He said shrugging. “And not that long. So, who’s the guys ass I need to be kicking?”
“None of your business. But,” She told him, her tone playful as Tim stepped closer. “he’s about six foot four, blond hair, killer eyes.”
“Yeah? He sounds like a loser.”
“Well, someone has to counter his inner nerdiness.”
“Wanna play dirty?” he asked, as he moved closer, each hand grabbing for the belt loops of her pants as Lucy’s back hit the wall.
“Looks like we already are.”
“We are but,” he dragged out. “what if we teamed up to take down both sides?” he asked, leaning his body into hers.
Lucy bit her lip as she tilted her head back. “Conspiring to commit treason are we Sergeant Bradford?”
Tim moved his head down, his lips grazing hers as he whispered. "Conspiring to do something Officer Chen.” He said as he acted first, his lips capturing hers harshly, eliciting a moan from deep within as her body reacted to his touch. His fingers let go of the denim loops, hands slowly grazing the exposed skin where her shirt was riding up, causing her to shiver as she moved a leg, wrapping it around his backside.
“We’re going to get caught.” She said as someone yelled from the first floor. Tim moved his lips down her neck, his nose pushing her hair back as he sucked on the skin, a gasp escaping her lips.
“They won’t even know we’re missing.” He mumbled against her neck as his hands slid into the back pockets of her jeans, lifting her, pressing her harder into the wall as she wrapped her other leg around him.
“They’ll know when they see neither of us getting points.”
“We’re getting points.” He smirked, pulling back. “Just none they need to know about.”
Lucy fisted his shirt, pulling him into her in a hungry kiss, returning his earlier kiss with equal fervor before letting go, running her nails over his scalp as she grinded into him.
“Lucy!” Jackson yelled from the first floor, causing them to break apart. “I know you’re waiting for me!”
Lucy dropped down as Tim let her go. “How the hell did he get down there?” she asked, catching her breath as she grabbed her gun that was swinging by its tether.
“I guess you were distracted.” He told her, his tone light and playful.
Lucy moved around him, making the move to go after her friend.
“Wait.” he said as he pulled her back by the arm, twirling her into him as his lips found hers in the darkness, leaving her breathless.
Lucy moaned as she forced herself to pull away. “Later, we will finish this later.” She promised, retracting his hands from his waist as she stepped back. “And babe?”
“Yeah?” he asked stepping closer to her.
“Payback’s a bitch.” She told him as she pressed the trigger on her gun, the laser hitting the target on Tim’s chest.
Tim stood shocked as Lucy ran away. “What the hell Chen!”
Lucy’s laugh echoed off the walls as she ran down the stairs, taking out Wesley who was running up the steps “Oh Jackson.” She sung. “Wanna play a game?”
Fifteen minutes later the final alarm blared, signaling the end of the game.
“Alright, which team is ready to buy the brews?” Angela asked the group who stood waiting outside. “Drum roll please!” Lucy, Nyla and Lila, began beating their hands on their thighs.
“With 3400 points the winner is… Team Bravo!”
“In your face Bradford! Break out the money clip old man!”
Tim rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s antics before stepping closer, “Twenty bucks says Jackson will be wasted by the end of the night.”
Lucy looked at Jackson who was pouting. “Make it loser pays for ice cream after paintball next week and you’ve got a deal.” She told him sticking out her hand.
“Deal.” He told her accepting her hand, lingering for what was probably too long for ‘coworkers.’
The next week Lucy smiled, handing a twenty-dollar bill over to the cashier before glancing back at Tim who was trying to stop the topping avalanche that was sliding down his double scope of Oreo ice cream. “You ready?” she asked as she pocketed her change, holding out the hand that held no ice cream.
Tim smiled, hints of ice cream on his lips as he took her hand, walking out the door. “With you? Always.
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Text
Secret Santa fic!
Heya @all-eternity it was me all along! I hope you enjoy this :) very much looking foward to actually being able to follow you after this without looking sketchy lmao
Also shoutout to my lovely beta reader @keepersandqueens as if I don’t talk about Salas enough here lol
Warnings: underage drinking, drinking in general, hangover, drugs/medication mention (not abused, basic over the counter stuff dw), mentions of vomit (not described)
Pairings: Kam, background marelinh, ex titz
About: Kam coffee shop college au 
Word count: 5,205
Tag list (tell me if you want to be added or removed): @cadence-talle @ruewen-and-rising @lemontarto @a-lonely-tatertot @clearlyvacksen @percabetn @sewersewersewercouch @everyonehasthoughts @imaramennoodle @enbies-and-felonies @blxckh0les42​ @rainbowtay-11 @callas-starkflower-stew @impostertamsong @appalyneinstitute1 @stars-and-splendor @anna-without-an-e @mistythegenderqueermess @we-have-no-bananas-today @we-wont-dissapear @jadenightthewriter
Tam stumbled into his first 8 am class, anxiety making his heart feel like it was pounding out of his chest and stomach doing backflips.
If he could survive bouncing between foster homes, a short stint at juvie, and worst of all high school, he could survive college.
Well he thought he could until he saw a familiar person right next to the only available chair in the room.
God fucking damn it.
"Hey Bangs Boy!" Keefe waved him down, causing a scene. Tam had no option but to sit beside him, both because of the lack of chairs and the fact that everyone was now staring at him.
Not a great start.
"What a coincidence! I notice you still haven't taken my suggestions on your hair, I'm telling ya' you'd get all the girls and or guys and nonbinary pals with a man bun." Keefe looked smug at the fact he'd be able to taunt Tam for another semester, minimum. Tam was already making a mental note to check when he could swap out of classes.
"Keefe, if I knew you were going here I would've just gotten myself back in jail, oh wait, you were the one who got me in there in the first place." Tam shot him a look, praying that he'd suddenly develop superpowers and shoot lasers from his eyes.
"Hey, just because I came up with the idea...and helped with some of the execution, doesn't mean I'm responsible for you trashing your parents house. Besides, you were only in there for like 3 days max before you got out," Keefe said, shrugging as if 3 days in jail was no biggie.
"Most peaceful 3 days of my life," Tam sneered, turning back to the front of the room as the professor walked in.
"Good morning class!" the prof turned to the white board, writing his name. "I am Dr. Harding," he tapped it for emphasis.
The class was silent.
"And you say good mor..."
"Good morning Dr. Harding," The class said in unison, they all sounded tired and bored.
This wasn't going to be fun.
~*~
"Grande ice vanilla latte for...Hen-are-y?"
The man shot Keefe a look as he grabbed his coffee.
"Henry." He dropped a tip in the jar, fifty cents. How generous.
He had come in before, and never left good tips. Keefe made it a game to pronounce the names of anyone who wasn't a college student and left bad tips wrong, no matter how much they came in. It was a wonder he hadn't been fired yet.
As he turned preparing another drink, the bell at the top of the door rang. He ignored it at first until he heard a quiet, "Fuck," come from behind.
"Bangs boy!"
"Why are you here?"
"I work here obviously," Keefe walked up to the counter. "Now, what'll it be?"
Tam sighed. "Iced caramel macchiato with two extra shots of espresso."
"Size?"
"Venti."
Keefe whistled thinking about how much caffeine that was as he wrote down "Bangs Boy" on the cup.
"Alright, that'll be 5.75, may I ask why the insane amount of coffee? I believe I remember you saying caffeine makes you anxious in high school."
"Yes, but it also helps me focus, and I have a quiz tomorrow I haven't studied for."
"Fair enough," Keefe said, going to prepare the drink. "It'll be ready in five."
Tam nodded, walking off to the side and scrolling on his phone. Keefe made the drink, occasionally sneaking looks over at Tam. He didn't seem to notice, thank God.
Soon after, they finished the transaction.
"See you at class," Keefe said, he was trying to be genuine, but it came across more taunting.
Tam grimaced, muttered "Thanks for the coffee," and walked out the door.
~*~
The class fell silent as a disheveled Dr. Harding walked in, a pack of gatorade in one hand and bottle of tylenol in the other. He popped one as he sat down.
"Hello class it seems today I have the worst headache imaginable, just give me about 5 minutes of silence and we will go over your assignments."
Keefe leaned over to Tam's desk.
"Well, we know what he got into last night," he whispered. "Heard the bar on the corner of 5th was giving out two for ones for professors."
"Isn't that place run by the alumni?"
"Exactly. Gotta thank Alvar tomorrow, Fitz said it was his idea."
"Wait Fitz goes here too? Why did I not-"
"Boys!" Dr. Harding practically yelled. "I am tired of the racket." He put his face in his hands where his elbows rested on the desk, bald spot showing to the world.
"We were whispering!" Keefe made a 'what the hell' sort of gesture. Tam glared at him, hoping he could communicate 'I will kill you myself if you say another word' with just his eyes.
"Sencen, do I look like I care?"
Keefe winced a bit at the use of his last name. That was something Tam could understand.
"Look, boys," Dr. Harding stood up and turned to the chalkboard, writing something down. "If you all like talking so much, you'll love this next project."
He walked to the side, revealing the board, that read '10 page essay, due the 25th'
"With the person next to you, you'll be writing a 10 page essay on um...the importance of keeping your oil changed in your car. You'll then present it to the class. It's worth 25 points."
A student raised their hand.
"Luka?"
"Sir, I thought this was a psychology course?"
"It is. You are all excused."
With that, he left the room with his tylenol and gatorade in his arms. The students glared at Keefe and Tam as they all got up, muttering amongst themselves about the pure bullshittery of it all.
"So..." Keefe said, slowly standing. "Does the library tomorrow at 3 work? I have work until then, so it can't be any earlier."
"Yeah, sure." Tam promptly walked out of the classroom as fast as possible, he didn't know why but his anxiety was spiking. He tried to tell himself it was just because he was a useless gay that didn't know jackshit about cars, yeah, surely that was it.
Just a useless gay.
~*~
Tam waited at a table in the library, it was 3:05, Keefe was late.
He didn't know what else he expected from him, he always seemed to do stuff like this. At the same time, Tam didn't have the energy to be particularly mad at him. This was going to be the stupidest essay ever written in the history of man, might as well put it off.
The library door slammed open, and in came Keefe. He balanced a large stack of papers and books along with four drinks. He stumbled over to Tam and practically threw them down on the table.
"Sorry I'm late, I thought it would be nice to, like, get you a coffee, but I didn't know how much caffeine you wanted, so I got one decaf caramel macchiato, one normal, and one with an extra shot, and also hot chocolate for me."
He sat down in the chair by Tam, as if getting three different coffees for someone you were forced to do a project with was totally normal.
"Um...thanks, I-I can pay you back-"
"Don't worry about it." Keefe turned to him and smiled, bright and friendly. Tam was frozen. "Okay, now it's car time." Keefe turned back to the desk.
"Yeah."
They were silent for a while as they researched, Keefe going through his piles of papers and books and Tam on his laptop like any sane person would.
Tam finally worked up the nerve to talk.
"So um...this is out of nowhere, but I think you mentioned Fitz went here?"
"Oh, yeah." Keefe put down the absurdly large textbook that was set up in front of him. "He's my roommate, he uh thought it would be best not to tell you after everything, I guess."
"That's fine," Tam shrugged like he didn't care. "I'm over it."
He was, really. They only dated like 2 weeks, sure it ended with a...pretty big fight after Fitz claimed he wouldn't be able to date someone who had gone to jail and Tam reminded him it was his best friend that got him in there in the first place, but he was still over it. There was still something bothering him, nothing to do with Fitz himself but...something. He just couldn't put his finger on what.
"Alright, I'll take your word." Keefe shrugged, setting his giant book back up in front of him.
Tam felt the need to start talking again, but didn't. They were mostly silent for the next 40 minutes or so, just researching and the occasional word exchanged between them.
Keefe checked his phone.
"Shit," He got up. "Work emergency, I gotta go. Same time tomorrow?"
"Yeah that works."
"Chill, see ya' later."
"Bye."
Keefe waved (with a wide grin Tam would've called idiotic in high school) as he went out the door.
Tam found himself with a smile on his own face, he quickly stopped, hoping no one saw.
~*~
Keefe hurried into work, pulling his apron on as he saw the absurdly long line and a panicked Marella frantically making coffees behind the counter. She sighed with relief when she saw him.
"Thank God," She said as he stepped behind the counter with her. "There was a scheduling error, Forkle's useless at that stuff."
Mr. Forkle, their well-meaning but often mistaken manager, was out of town at the moment. The fate of the Starbucks rested on two college kids, what could go wrong.
And so they went, Keefe taking orders and Marella fulfilling them until there were no more to serve.
Marella, quite literally, threw in a towel she had wiped her face with. Promptly going to the back, presumably for her break. Keefe followed her.
"Alright, I think you can probably go back to whatever you were doing before this now if you'd like," said Marella, inspecting the small braids in her hair in the nearest shiny surface.
"Nah I was just doing a project with Tam for Harding's stupid class, he's probably left by now, I might as well rack up some overtime."
Marella turned back at him, clearly caught off guard at the name.
"Tam? As in my-girlfriend's-brother Tam? As in you-had-a-massive-crush-on-in-highschool Tam? As in dated-Fitz Tam? As in you-got-him-in-jail-"
"Yes! Yes! Why does everyone remind me of that, it was one time."
"When you get someone in jail, people tend to remember," Marella went silent for a second, thinking, before looking Keefe in the eye. "Wow, that must be awkward as hell, I mean seriously, if I were you I'd straight up file a restraining order just to avoid him. Maybe move to another country. I hear Estonia is lovely this time of year."
"Eh, it's not as bad as it seems. I mean it was awful at first, mostly because I tried to resume right where we left it on the taunting front, but I think it's ok now."
"Hm. Well good luck with that," Marella turned back to go to the front, but Keefe grabbed her arm to stop her.
"Uh, actually I need your advice on something. It has to do with Tam."
"Shoot."
"Well I was thinking of maybe, I don't know, asking him out or something? Look, yeah, it's an awful idea but is it 'he never wants to talk to me again' awful or 'he attempts to strangle me' awful?"
Marella looked him up and down, eyes uncomfortably cold, as usual.
"I mean, no hetero, but despite your annoying qualities you're a decent looking guy. Plus Tam's, like, super anxious according to Linh, so maybe he'll be too awkward to say no. You can probably squeeze at least one date in there."
"Wow, thanks Mare," Keefe mumbled, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Yes, I try. Also don't call me Mare."
"Alright Ella!" Keefe called as the front door's bell rang, signalling a new customer. Marella went off to take care of it, unable to respond she growled back at him.
~*~
Tap tap tap tap tap.
Tam glared from across the table.
Tap tap tap tap tap tap.
"Why do you keep doing that?"
Keefe looked up, muttered a simple "Fidgety" and went right back to it, tapping his pen against the table. Tam said nothing more.
Keefe had been quiet for this entire meeting, something highly unusual for him.
"Ok, seriously dude, what's up? I haven't seen you this quiet literally ever."
He only seemed to get more fidgety at this question, his bouncing leg shaking the library table.
"I...um..." he looked down, running a hand through his hair "I have a test I need to cram for and no one to study with and keep me accountable. Y'know, ADHD issues."
Tam didn't overthink for once in his life but the moment the sentence was out of his mouth he regretted it.
"I have a test too, maybe we could study together?"
Keefe smiled his annoyingly charming smile.
"Sounds good."
"Good."
Tam quickly looked back down at his computer, trying to look like he was still doing car research when in actuality he was processing he just actively offered to spend more time with Keefe Sencen.
If Linh found out about this he'd never live it down.
He didn't think he cared.
~*~
Dr. Harding walked through the classroom door, clearly much less hungover than his last appearance.
The students waited, would they get an apology? Any sort of remorse?
"Alright, who wants to read first?"
Apparently not.
Keefe raised his hand with too much confidence for what their essay looked like. Tam gave him a confused look. He had his scheming face on, never good.
"Mr. Sencen!" Keefe winced at the use of his last name by the doctor. "What an amazing start, it's only appropriate. One of you boys come up and present."
Tam gave Keefe a look of 'do you want me to do it?' Keefe just smiled and got up from his chair. This would either be really good or really, really bad. Tam was all too familiar with the scheme face.
"Doc, I did depart from the source material a bit here, hope you don't mind. And I use 'I' because Tam had no involvement in this, he deserves full points for his essay."
Keefe cleared his throat, the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.
"Doctor Harding deserves to get fired: an essay. (And it's only been a week!) Paragraph one, his drinking problem-"
"Sencen! Back to your seat now. I will see you after class, or I will not see you in my next class, understand?"
Keefe gave a thumbs up as he sat back on his chair with a thud.
A few minutes later, in the middle of another student's essay, he passed Tam a note with his loopy handwriting.
"The amount of comebacks I had for 'see me after class' is absurd but if I get kicked out there's no way Elwin is helping me pay tuition a second time."
Tam tried not to smile, certainly failing, as he wrote his response.
"Yeah I think the time you talked back to Miss Cadence she wanted to expel you. Lucky Principal Alina had a thing for pseudo-dad Alden."
"Oh God I haven't talked to him in a whiiiiiile."
"?"
"You haven't heard? Yeah, he sorta found out like ALL his kids were ell gee bee tees and freaked out. Della found herself a new gf though!"
"Sounds like a lovely extra punch in the gut for a queerphobe."
"Yep. Honestly I recommend looking through his Facebook sometime. Just a million rants about how the gays destroy everything, great entertainment."
"Duly noted."
At that point it seemed like the doctor started to take notice of their note passing, and they stopped quickly. Tam wouldn't be surprised if he did the whole high school read in front of the class thing with the way he had been acting so far.
Tam was 100% sure tenure was the only thing keeping this guy's job intact. Apparently being a drunk asshole wasn't near enough to get a person out of their position. He tried to ignore the professor's annoyingly smug face for the rest of the class.
~*~
Keefe sat in his usual spot at the library, Tam sitting across from him, his brown eyes dancing across the textbook page and lips mumbling along the words. He didn't have much to do, often finding himself just staring at Tam, quickly looking away if he seemed to notice.
Eventually he sighed, sitting back.
"Ugh, this test is in a week and I have so much other crap to do, I'll never get this all memorized by Friday."
Keefe silently thanked his brain for managing to get around the having to study thing. Yay, photographic memory!
"Oh, uh, well I'm free to study more tomorrow if that would help? We could do, like, flashcards or something."
Tam seemed to repress a smile. He did that a lot. Keefe always noticed.
"That's okay, I'm sure you have better things to do. The Starbucks is always pretty packed."
"Eh, sometimes you have to get away from Marella. She's mean to me."
"Not just you, once she told me if I ever made fun of Linh's cat's name again she'd make me cut off my own bangs."
Keefe nodded sagely. "The shorter you are the closer to hell. That's why you're worse than her."
"Hey!"
Tam flicked a stray rubber band at Keefe.
"I'm at least 2 inches taller than Marella...we measured."
Keefe thought up about 12 inappropriate jokes he couldn't make before flicking the rubber band back.
"Two inches only counts in roller coasters, none of which you can ride."
Tam stuck his tongue out before returning to his studies. Unlike Tam, Keefe didn't hide his smile.
~*~
Tam strolled into the Starbucks that Friday morning, no longer surprised to see Keefe working the counter. He could barely hold still in line as he thought about the amount of cramming he'd have to do in the next few hours.
When he reached the counter, Keefe said nothing, just busily worked making a drink.
He stuck it right out at Tam.
"One venti iced caramel macchiato with 2 extra shots of espresso because you have a test today in political science and still haven't studied everything and also a muffin because you probably haven't eaten today. On the house. Good luck with the studying."
Tam froze.
"I- um- th-thaks. Y-you too...sport."
Oh, you fucking idiot.
He quickly scurried out of the Starbucks with drink and muffin in hand. Wow, he had screwed that up.
But...
Keefe...
He...
He remembered his order and that he had a test and that he forgot to eat when he was stressed holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit-
Okay, deep breaths Tam, you got this. You can totally handle a frustratingly cute guy showing care for you this is fine...
Not fine, not fine, gotta tell Linh.
He called Linh with no forewarning. Despite the fact that she was currently across the country at a different university, and it was about 3 am for her, she picked up. He barely let her get out a groggy "Hello?" before explaining everything. She only seemed to think a moment before responding.
"Hm. Well it's good to know that college is going good for you. Do you need advice or comfort?"
"Yes."
"Well, first of all, everything's gonna be okay. And I know that doesn't help much but just try to remember we're eighteen, and it's not the end of the world. Second of all, try to ask him out or something. It doesn't have to be framed as a date, like Marella and I got together on a walk in the park, seriously it can be anything."
"Thanks Linh."
"No problem, also can you hug Marella for me?"
"If she doesn't try to kill me first, yes."
"Nice. Okay go do what you gotta do, also don't wake me up at 3 am again or else I'll sic Purryfins on you, I had just gone to bed."
With that she hung up and Tam continued on his way, still trying to not completely freak out.
~*~
Keefe stared blankly as Tam walked right out of the door. Marella appeared by his arm.
"So, how'd it go?"
"Well, he called me 'sport'."
Marella inhaled through her teeth.
"Yikes. Comfort, advice, or distraction?"
"Distraction, please." Keefe replied, absent-mindedly preparing a cup for the next customer.
"Uh, well I meant to ask you what ended up happening with that ass of a teacher, but I got a bit distracted at your attempt to woo Tam-"
"Hey I said distraction not reminder. But basically I just got a slap on the wrist because, and I quote, 'Your father is Cassius Sencen! He wrote half the books we use in this class, I'm sure he can straighten you out!'"
"There's absolutely nothing papa Sencen could do to make you straight, I'm pretty sure he tried that, and it obviously didn't work."
"He actually tried a few times and it most definitely did not. Lucky he doesn't have my number anymore or else I assure you he'd keep trying."
Marella laughed.
"Well, moving on from grade A assholes, I'm supposed to tell you there's a party tonight. I'll have to send you the address later, I have it on my phone though, I am told there's gonna be booze, so I'm going."
"Eh, I'll probably go. Just to get my mind off everything."
"Thata boy." She lifted her phone. "And my shifts over in three, two, one, and I am out of here! See ya' tonight Hunkyhair."
"That's Lord Hunkyhair to you."
She just rolled her eyes and clocked out, leaving Keefe to deal with both the customers and his own thoughts.
~*~
Tam sat in his dorm room alone, constantly refreshing his grades for the possibility that his 70-year-old professor would post the test results at 1:30 am.
His roommate was gone for the weekend, actually he was gone most of the time. Tam didn't think they'd even had a full conversation before.
He jumped as his phone began to ring, a call from Keefe of all people. He hesitantly picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Tam! Tam Tam Tam Tam Tam" Keefe's slurred speech was too loud for a phone call, Tam held his phone a bit away from his ear. "...fuck wait why did I call you..."
There was a long pause, neither said anything.
"Oh yeah! I needed to tell you something...but uh I uhm I forgot what it was."
"Keefe, where are you?"
"At a paaaaaarty, well, actually just outside a party because it was hot in there, but now it's cold out here so uh yeah."
Tam sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Okay, send me the address, I'm coming to pick you up. Wait right there and don't move."
"Okie dokie."
Tam heard a thud sort of sound and the rustling of grass from the other line before Keefe hung up and soon after got a message of his location.
After 20 minutes of walking in the cold, Tam came up to what seemed to be a frat house with Keefe sitting on the lawn in criss-cross, patiently waiting in short sleeves and basketball shorts, way too little clothing for the weather. His ruddy face smiled as he saw Tam approach.
"Tam! I remembered what I was going to tell you." He stood up, face falling right after. "Oh no wait I forgot again. Ooh! You need a drink."
Keefe grabbed Tam's hand, pulling him towards the house. Tam stayed in place.
"Hey, let's get you home dude."
Keefe pouted.
"I don't wannaaaa."
He slouched down, pulling on Tam's arm like a child having a tantrum.
Tam pulled him back up to his feet.
"C'mon, if you go to your dorm without fuss I'll buy you ice cream tomorrow."
Keefe seemed much more ok with going along with Tam with the ice cream deal. He pulled off his own coat and placed it around the very drunk boy, he didn't complain.
Keefe began humming some annoying song from the early 2000s that was playing from the house earlier as they walked back in the direction of the dorms.
Suddenly, Tam remembered something.
Fitz was Keefe's roommate.
Shit.
"Hey uh do you think Fitz is at your dorm?"
Keefe nodded confidently.
"Yep! Said he was gon' study. Wouldn't come to the party because of his 'reputation' or whatever."
Around reputation he did exaggerated finger quotes, nearly knocking Tam's jacket off his shoulders.
"Hm...in that case let's go to my dorm, ok?"
Keefe shrugged, apparently willing to go along with most things in his current state. Thank goodness Linh had made Tam bring extra pillows and blankets to college, he could sleep on the floor and just hope Keefe didn't get sick on him in the night.
It was ridiculously hard to lead Keefe back to his dorm. He tried to pull down his pants halfway there and Tam almost had to carry him up the stairs but soon enough they got there. He sighed with relief as he led his inebriated friend into the room.
"Okay, you can stay here for the night. I'll sleep on the floor."
Keefe plopped himself down on Tam's bed laying flat for only a moment before sitting up with a snap and a look of realization in his eyes.
"OOH! I remember what I was gonna tell you again!"
"Oh?" Tam said playing along, expecting him to forget again.
He patted the spot next to him on the bed, Tam continued to play along, sitting next to him.
"So Marella said that I should just tell you this, and it worked for her, so I'm gonna. And uh and you have to promise to listen 'cause I'm not sayin' it again."
At this point Keefe grabbed his face with both hands, staring right in Tam's eyes and squishing his cheeks.
"You're listening right?"
Tam nodded, mostly to shake Keefe's hands off his face.
"Okay."
Keefe took in an over dramatic breath as if he was preparing to preform in the Olympics before getting another grin on his face.
"I really like you."
"You really like me?"
He nodded mumbling "mhm".
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I like you. Like, like like you."
"Like...as a friend?"
"I said I wasn't gonna repeat myself. As a booooyfriend." At this point Keefe fell back on the bed, looking at the ceiling. Tam's cheeks were burning.
"How long have you liked me like that?"
"Mmmm..." Keefe seemed to ponder for a moment, "Prolly high school."
"Oh um...good to know. You should get some rest. I'll be down here if you need me."
"Alrighty."
Tam shut off the lights and Keefe started snoring quick. Tam could only stare up in the darkness, unable to sleep.
~*~
Keefe woke up that morning in a room he didn't recognize to a killer headache and dead phone.
He turned to the side, seeing a pile of blankets and pillows with a large gatorade, bottle of tylenol, and a note next to it. Suddenly last nights memories came flooding back.
Oh, shit.
He scrambled out of bed, headache and nausea hitting him harder as he stood up.
Despite the fact his head was spinning, he picked up the note from the ground and read it.
Hey, meet me at the reservoir around 6, we need to talk -Tam
F. U. C. K.
Had he really said all that stuff last night? Surely it was a dream, right?
Oh God.
He gathered his few belongings, plus the things to help the hangover, and left the dorms as fast as possible. Only having to stop once along the way to throw up in one of the campus trash cans, hopefully no one would notice.
Keefe didn't have anything to do and he really didn't want to face Fitz so he went about his day in last nights clothing. Then again, it was a college campus. Someone walking around with rumpled clothes carrying a gatorade probably wasn't that big of a deal for most people. By 5:30 he sat impatiently in the empty park where the reservoir was located, it was colder closer to the water.
Just as promised, at 6 o'clock he saw Tam approaching on the horizon.
~*~
Tam was damn near a panic attack as he walked around the park attempting to find Keefe. Eventually he found him, sitting on a bench still in his clothes from last night, face once again ruddy from the cold. He sat next to him wordlessly.
"So," Keefe started.
"So," Tam replied, looking down at his lap.
"Tam I-" Keefe turned to face him. "I'm sorry about everything last night, I probably just made everything super awkward. Not to mention it's a giant violation of the friend code to even have a crush on your best friend's ex-"
"Yeah, about that."
"What?"
"You're gonna maybe kill me for this but uh," Tam pulled on his bangs. "I sorta talked to Fitz about it, I figured you wouldn't and apparently I was right. He said he was okay with it as long as we were ok with it."
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
Tam sighed, "Perhaps."
Keefe once again wore that shit-eating grin of his.
"Can I hear you say it?"
"Why don't you have to say it?"
"Already said it last night! Your turn now. Why did you take care of me while I was drunk?"
Keefe stared at Tam excitedly waiting for the answer. Tam sighed.
"Because I love you, little shit."
"Ooh you said it-"
Tam smashed his lips against Keefe's, both quickly melting into it. After only a moment they pulled away.
"Agh, you taste like gatorade and vomit."
"Well you taste like salt so really what's worse."
"Definitely the vomit."
Despite this, Tam leaned back in. This kiss was a moment longer than the last, and when Tam pulled away Keefe chased it.
"Ok, look I'm sorry but you look like shit Keefe you have to go change." Tam removed his jacket, throwing it around Keefe once again and helping him up from the bench. Keefe laughed.
"Yeah, you're right. Ooh now that we're a thing you need a new nickname!"
"I do?"
"You do, how about 'Bangs Boyf' ooh or maybe you can be my 'provoked partner' or my 'snappy spouse' my 'agitated accomplice' perhaps."
"Do you just have these ready and prepared for any situation?"
"A magician never reveals his secrets."
"You aren't Houdini, you're an 18-year-old boy that currently reeks of frat party."
"Eh that's basically the same thing. I've seen some 18-year-olds at frat parties preform tricks Houdini could never dream of."
Tam sighed dramatically. "It's a good thing you're pretty, you know."
"Hey!" Keefe jokingly shoved him.
For the first time Tam's smile wasn't repressed.
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ecofinisher · 3 years
Text
Lady Frost and the Fire King - A familiar partnership - Chap 22
Chapter 22
https://archiveofourown.org/works/31330631/chapters/81632821
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13886468/22/Lady-Frost-and-the-Fire-King-A-familiar-partnership
Gabriel sat inside the office taking a look on the newspaper page to observe a video that showed the four superheroes that fought the Mindreader. Gabriel stopped as Lady Frost got close on the camera angle, then he zoomed into the image closer at the girl's face, then pondered about the familiarities he felt so have seen before.
"I have seen this face somewhere," Commented Gabriel, then he fast-forwarded the video at one point, where Lady Frost was caught by Ladybug and rolled down at the ground, then he encountered Cat Noir along with Fire King fight against the Mindreader. The adult zoomed into the image again close to Fire King's face, then noticed him grab on the iron bar, that belonged to Mindreader and Fire King glared angrily at the villain which surprised Gabriel. Gabriel changed the velocity to -1.25 then observed Fire King flinch his teeth and his eyes slowly change from brown into red along with his hair's fire getting higher. Gabriel got curious, then zoomed away a little seeing the fire-marks on his suit blink.
"What is that?" Asked Gabriel, then watched Fire King being pushed away by the supervillain and Cat Noir checked out the friend, which shook his head, then got up.
"Hmm is this part of his power?" Questioned Gabriel himself, then he received a mail from Nathalie Sancoeur with an attachment on it. Gabriel opened it, then showed a leaked video from the internet, that showed a teenage girl inside an interrogation room throwing a table away from her, shrieking the guard that had been seated across the table. Nathalie captioned a small sentence about it, which Gabriel read.
"This girl here is at the boarders between Belgium and France. She would be a good villain,"
Gabriel smirked and replied with a thumb up, then picked up on the corner of his computer the option with the surveillance cameras, then opened them up and spotted a person in one of the cameras to see a person inside the central park standing in front of the statue of the superheroes, then the adult zoomed into the picture to see the man scream at the statue as if he was scolding them, then Gabriel chuckled at the sight and had an idea. He grabbed the cellphone, then searched for Nathalie's number and called the woman.
"I'm sorry for bothering you right now, but I've spotted a second citizen, that seems to be angry at the superheroes. What do you think about akumatizing those two? Ladybug won't have a chance, than having her team split up to defeat both villains? Sounds great?…..Good, I'll be there in ten minutes, get ready," Responded Gabriel getting up from his chair leaving his computer unlocked.
Kai sat inside a cell on the bed looking at the broken tile on the edge of the cell and sighed.
"We're never getting out of here in one piece," Commented Kai, then got up to put his hands on the railing and look at another cell, where a man had his face leaning on the grids, almost falling asleep by standing, making Kai sigh. "Gerda, if there was a way to talk to you, I really would love to do it right now,"
The door of the corridor got opened up and Kai recognized Alfida's voice, then saw the girl being escorted along the corridor by two guards, which weren't pleased with Alfida's anger.
"I was promised, that you would help me find my friend, but instead you're wasting precious time with your stupid questions. How many times do I need to tell you they don't have a surname?" Questioned Alfida, then Kai got sad about Alfida not being able to control her anger at the moment.
"Tomorrow we can talk again when you're calmer. If you don't force yourself to behave it will get easier for both of us," Commented the police agent.
"Easier? You're the one making it hard for us," Complained the girl, then the man opened the door of an empty cell, then pushed her into it and locked her in.
"See you tomorrow," Said the guard leaving the girl back, which placed her hands on the grids beginning to shake on them hard.
"Do you think you can just feel relieved in leaving me here?" Questioned Alfida. "Don't worry, we'll be out of here in the next 24 hours with or without your help!"
Kai lied his back against the wall, then glimpsed at the ground, where the broken tile was with a few splinters, then Kai looked at the wall and had an idea, then got down on the ground to pick up a splinter and made a scratch on the wall, then smiled as he could use it to draw. Afterward, he began to draw on the wall, then gazed back at Alfida, which kept shaking in anger on the bars of her cell.
"Alfida, I've just got myself a great idea, Hopefully, this works on the wall as well," Kai stated then watched from above the window, covered with a net a black butterfly enter into the cell making its way to Alfida, then he smiled seeing the creature head towards his crush, then disappeared inside the headband of the girl making Kai shake his head and rub with his hands on it. He looked at Alfida, which stared with eyes wide opened.
"Alfida? Are you okay?" Kai asked watching the girl smirk and disappear into a dark cloud, making Kai drop his mouth and a prisoner beside him scream, then Alfida's clothing changed into an orange-colored overall and a skull as her helmet, which was attached to her headband.
"Alfida?" Asked Kai confused, then watched the tan-skinned girl bent the bars of her cell, then stepped out and all the arrested criminals yelled amazed by the akumatized villain's super strength. "Wha…?!"
Alfida distorted the bars of Kai's cell, then embraced him hard, making Kai gasp as he couldn't breathe, then he got dropped down by the villain as she heard the door got open and see a police agent, which aimed the gun at the akuma.
"Nobody move!" Ordered the agent making Alfida smirk and pick up Kai onto her shoulder, then removed his shoe making him squeak and threw it against the guard, which deflected the attack with his baton making it fly aside and hit on the fire alarm button, which automatically opened the cells to free the prisoners. "Oh oh," Commented the guard, then took out his walkie-talkie to call help and the arrested persons ran against the officer and carried him out of the corridor making Alfida laugh.
"Well that was cool I guess?" Commented Kai unsure looking at Alfida's strange form. "What happened to you?"
"Don't worry. Jailbreaker will protect you and help you find Gerda," Promised Alfida's alter ego, which dropped Kai on the ground and raced against the wall to crash against it causing it to break.
"Whoa," Kai commented surprised making Alfida smile and pick up Kai to held him bridal-style.
"Let's get out of here," Announced Jailbreaker running out of the jail carrying the raven-haired boy.
Gerda was sleeping in her bed, while Snowflake sat on the window resting as well, then heard a loud noise and woke up.
„Huh?" Murmured the spirit and looked through the window to see a black-colored supervillain with red neon reflectors on the suit pass in front of their road. On the hand, he had a watch, which had a small canon on top of it, which worked like a blaster shooting red-colored rays. Snowflake saw the rays causing dents on the vehicles he had been shooting at. Snowflake gazed at Gerda, then flew up at her face and squeezed her nose making the girl wrinkle her nose, then opened her eyes to see the spirit point at the window. Gerda yawned, then took a look out of the window to see the supervillain, then Gerda sighed and ran out of her bedroom into the corridor which was empty.
„I'm not sure if I should be mad, that you ruined my dreams with Kai or not,"
„You found him there?" Questioned Snowflake making the girl nod. „Oh,"
„Nevermind, we have to stop that villain there. Snowflake, freeze!" Shouted the blonde transforming into Lady Frost, which ran into the room, then opened the window to race the emergency stairs down and before she got to the ground she observed the supervillain turn around on the next corner. Lady Frost remembered, what she had learned the other time and used her powers to build a path for her to slide on, then moved further carefully avoiding falling down. She stopped beside a car, then glimpsed at the next road to see the supervillain aim at a car, that just drove off avoiding the villain to hit it. Lady Frost made herself a path on the ground to slide towards the supervillain, then heard familiar voices and saw on top of the buildings beside her Cat Noir show up along with Fire King, then the blonde superhero pointed at the road and Fire King jumped down bouncing on an opened roof shield to slid down at the road.
„Watch out the ice!" Warned Lady Frost watching Fire King get on top of her path, then she crashed against the friend stopping as he fell down on his butt. „Sorry!"
„I'm okay, don't worry," Announced Fire King getting up as Lady Frost held out her hand for him, then took it back as he was already up. „I think this is our fight. He uses his one arm to fire some sort of laser and..."
„It causes damage. I saw it already," Noticed Lady Frost, then the two ran along the road and turned around on the next road to spot Cat Noir deflect the blasts from the supervillain.
„Hey Blaster, destroying people's propriety is not worth on a failed driving exam," Joked Cat Noir, then his staff began to ring. „Bad moment, right now,"
„Your entire superhero team lack professionality! I have lost my family, because of your incapacity to handle the akuma monsters!"
„Wait a minute, no one had passed away at that time," Mentioned Cat Noir, then he did a backflip to flee the supervillain and landed beside Fire King and Lady Frost, which had watched Cat Noir step back. „Give me shelter, I have to attend this,"
„We'll do our best," Promised Fire King and threw a fireball against the supervillain, which blocked it with one blaster and Lady Frost got beside the fire-themed hero observing the situation. Lady Frost then sends an ice blast towards the feet of the supervillain creating an icy floor under him making him fall down and have one of his blasts almost hit Fire King on his face, but he managed to dodge it.
Lady Frost threw another ice blast at the villain, which destroyed it with his laser, surprising her.
„Fire King, Lady Frost, I've gotta go. I need to go to Belgium and help Ladybug out," Cat Noir announced. „I know you guys can do it," Commented the blonde watching Fire King give them a thumb up, while Lady Frost reversed back and Fire King ran towards the villain and created a fire circle around the supervillain shrieking him.
„When will you be back?" Questioned Lady Frost looking at the blonde.
„Soon enough. If you want I can tell Rena Rouge to show up in case you need help and we're not back yet," Offered the French superhero. „Maybe you two will get to know each other a little more," Commented Cat Noir wiggling with his eyebrows, then Fire King landed on his back with a fuming foot and jumped up, receiving another blast passing through his hair, shrieking him.
„Hey!" Complained Fire King, then created a larger fireball and threw it against the supervillain, which jumped away and the fire hit a car wheel, which made its tire burst.
„You two got this. Just be paw-sitive," Commented Cat Noir with a chuckle, making Lady Frost giggle and beside Cat Noir opened a portal, where Pegasus stepped out to show Cat Noir the entrance, where Ladybug passed by running away from a pirate-themed superhero.
„She's got super strength, watch out buddy," Warned Pegasus helping Cat Noir passing through the portal making Lady Frost curious, then she saw a raven-haired boy pass by screaming the name of the akumatized supervillain.
„Alfida!" Shouted the boy making Lady Frost drop her chin.
„Kai?" Commented Lady Frost questioningly, then the portal got closer and the heroine widened her eyes. „That can't be him or can it?"
„Watch out!" Shouted Fire King jumping against the superheroine, then he was hit by the blaster on his butt and crash-landed on the ground with her.
„Hey!" Warned Lady Frost, then Fire King got off her and stared at the supervillain, then formed between his hands a fireball, while Lady Frost took the opportunity to get up and watched the friend shoot the fireball at the supervillain. Blaster jumped aside while firing laser arrows against the fireball trying to stop it, but they disappeared inside the fire. Lady Frost froze the ground under the feet of the supervillain, which frowned and threw a blast against the blonde's arm, making her yelp, covering her hand.
„Argh!" Whined the heroine, then noticed she had a scald on her arm, then glared at the supervillain, which observed Fire King growl at the supervillain, which departed heading into another avenue, then Fire King looked at Lady Frost's arm.
„You've got hurt," Mentioned Fire King taking the girl's arm to look at it.
„It's okay, I just need to cool it down with some water," Mentioned Lady Frost, then looked around the place they were and turned her eyes up at the fire-themed partner. „I think I could use your help,"
„Sure, I'll do anything you need," Offered Fire King, then the ice-themed heroine used her hand to create a small, piece of ice and held it over her injury.
„Melt the ice slow over my wound," Asked the blonde watching the friend create a small fireball and approach it to the ice Lady Frost created, then together both watched it melt. The liquid that formed from the ice flew down of Lady Frost's hand down, dropping on the wound slow. Fire King neared his fire to the ice of the girl, to speed up the process and see more fluid drop on her arm, making the redhead smile. Lady Frost smiled as well, then looked up at the tan-skinned superhero, which was there assisting her. Lady Frost looked down at the melting ice, which was almost gone, then returned her eyes at Fire King, which had a smug smile plastered on his face and Lady Frost began to wonder about the current situation.
Lady Frost watched the entire ice disappear, then she moved her arm up to look at the wound and Fire King took a look at it as well.
„Shall we move on or cool it down again?" Questioned the redhead making the girl shake her head.
„Let's follow Blaster before he hurts anyone," Suggested Lady Frost making Fire King nod, then both ran along the street heading to the next avenue, where the villain last went.
Jailbreaker ran on the standing track at the highway along with Cat Noir following the girl a few meters behind.
The blonde approached the supervillain, which moved aside, then crashed against the fence, that split the highway from the other side and got on the other road, causing a car to brake hard. Jailbreaker grabbed the car before hitting her, then she moved it against Cat Noir, which got shocked and jumped behind the fence, that was still intact.
„Hey! Watch that cattitude!" Hissed Cat Noir watching Jailbreaker ran along the road, then the coming cars dodged her, while others broke during the situation. Cat Noir ran on the side of the highway, then shrieked as a car crashed on the back of another one, due to a late reaction and the blonde opened the door to the front driver to see him pass his hand in front of his face.
„Are you okay, Sir?" Asked Cat Noir making the man nod. Cat Noir watched Jailbreaker pass between two cars and pull them by the front columns of the vehicles causing them to crash with their front on each other, afterward she jumped over a car, that used the emergency brake, but crashed against the two cars anyway.
Cat Noir's staff rang, then he attended it to hear Ladybug.
„M'lady, I think air support would be nice. Jailbreaker is causing a bulk pile here," Cat Noir warned jumping up at one car. „Where are you?"
„I'm on a pedestrian path. I'll be there in a moment,"
„Good," Commented Cat Noir, then used his staff to catapult himself over a few cars, landing on top of an SUV to observe the cars, that had gathered together in the middle to dodge Jailbreaker.
Meanwhile outside of the highway Ladybug stood on top of an E-scooter with Kai holding himself at the back of the heroine gazing at the bushes, that blocked their sight to the highway.
„Okay, so Alfida won't remember anything after you catch the…...curcuma?" Questioned the blue-eyed boy.
„Akuma….Yes, wow you two are obviously not from here,"
„We went to look for my older sister. We have lost contact with her and we're trying to get back with her and move on in our new life,"
„Okay and from where did you two make your way up here? Germany?"
„Norway, actually," Corrected Kai.
„Oh Norway. To my ears, your names somehow sounded German to me,"
„Maybe some have the same name, I don't know," Commented Kai, then Ladybug pointed at the highway, which showed up in their sight and encountered Jailbreaker picking up a car, which she threw against Cat Noir, which shrieked and jumped away from the vehicle.
„We're getting closer, are you sure you can talk with her?" Questioned Ladybug making Kai nod.
„She won't harm me like that, right?" Questioned Kai making Ladybug shrug her shoulders.
„Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you and pull you out, when necessary," Promised Ladybug making the boy nod, then the two turned aside on top of a bridge, that crossed the highway and stopped to see Jailbreaker getting closer to them. Kai got down, then Ladybug attached her yo-yo around the boy and helped him up on the bridge, then gave him a thumb up. Kai stepped forward, then Ladybug hold tight on her yo-yo to help the raven-haired boy descent down to the ground and raised her hand in victory as he landed on the ground with his feet.
„Alfida!" Called Kai seeing Jailbreaker holding a delivery truck in her hands, then placed it down as she saw Kai.
„Kai! Where have you been?" Jailbreaker asked approaching Kai, which took a step back and looked up at Ladybug, which moved her hand giving him the sign to continue.
„I...I have found Luta again," Kai commented, then the weasel appeared sliding down on Ladybug's yo-yo to land on Kai's shoulders, then shut her eyes up in shock at seeing the supervillain. „Can you stop doing all this and come back to me?" Questioned Kai. „We planned to go together to Paris and look for Gerda. We're almost…..uhm not almost but we're close. We're almost in France, it's just a stone's throw away from here," Commented Kai, then Ladybug moved the thread, which Jailbreaker noticed.
„Actually you two already are in France," Corrected Ladybug. „Le labyrinthe belongs to France and if you'd like there are a few hotels for you to spend the night," Suggested Ladybug. „I'm not familiar with this place here, but there are for sure some good metro or bus connections to a train station and together you could continue your way to Paris,"
„Come Alfida, we promised each other to get there together in one piece. We've had many ups and downs until now and you see, we're in France!,"
Jailbreaker began to think about Kai's words, then smiled glad about their results, then she embraced Kai tightly making him cry. „Ouch!"
„Oh crap, I'm sorry!" Apologized Jailbreaker taking her arms away from Kai holding her hands close to her mouth. Cat Noir appeared from behind and used his staff to push the girl against the ground, then pressed his staff on Jailbreaker's chest.
„Meow," Greeted Cat Noir with a grin, then Ladybug landed on her feet beside Kai, then made eye contact with him,
„Quick, do you remember, where the akuma disappeared?" Asked Ladybug, then Kai pointed at the headband of the love interest and Cat Noir removed the headband, activating his cataclysm to destroy it.
„Well done!" Complimented Ladybug watching the akuma fly out of the headband, afterward Ladybug caught the akuma as Jailbreaker transformed back into Alfida, which looked up at the superheroes confused.
„You're alright!" Shouted Kai happy embracing the girl tightly, making her smile and pat the boy on the back.
„What happened? I felt so odd inside my mind," Alfida warned, then Ladybug held out a small charm at the raven-haired girl.
„Alfida, I'll hand you out this charm," Spoke Ladybug. „With this, you're safe from being targeted by an akuma again and cause mayhem," Explained the blue-haired girl looking at the number of cars, followed by Alfida, which warped her face in shock.
„That….was me?" Asked Alfida making the heroine nod.
„Don't worry. My miraculous ladybug will fix it soon, but before I have another villain to take care of," Mentioned Ladybug grabbing Kai under his arm to swing up at the top of the roof, followed by Cat Noir, which grabbed Alfida by her jacket, then retrieved the headband to the girl.
„I agreed with Pegasus to meet at the borders, he's waiting there for us," Ladybug mentioned watching Cat Noir get on top of the E-scooter with a curious look.
„I always wanted to try one of those," Commented Cat Noir, then kicked on the ground to roll on it forward to turn the engine on, then he drove away excited leaving Ladybug back which laughed at his reaction.
„Okay, I better get going before he gets hurt or worse," Commented Ladybug making Kai chuckle. „Be careful during your trip and make sure to not get in trouble," Commented Ladybug making the two nod, then Ladybug ran off leaving the two Scandinavian descendant teens back.
„Who the heck was this girl? Questioned Alfida, making Kai shrug his shoulders.
„Some sort of magician I think?" Responded Kai unsure. „I don't know. She just said, she was called Ladybug and was there to help,"
„Okay…..what are we going to do now? Just move on by feet? Rest somewhere?"
„What about looking for a hotel….according to her, that's a place, where we can pay to sleep,"
„That's probably expensive, but…..where do we find that?" Questioned Alfida.
„She spoke something about the labyrinth," Commented Kai walking away with the blue-eyed girl.
„A hotel in the middle of a labyrinth. 21Th century sure is weird," Alfida stated making Kai cackle.
Lady Frost made a wall out of ice to block the attacks of Blaster and they broke her wall, making her sigh at how long it seemed for her.
„Fire King, I could use some extra hand," Lady Frost warned walking backward, while Fire King ransacking a trash can. „King!"
„Un momento. I've found something, that could help us," Fire King commented making Lady Frost growl, then aim at the feet of the boy ice to freeze them. Fire King removed his head out of the can and shrieked as Lady Frost had frozen his feet.
„Are you serious?" Asked Fire King, then melted the ice off his feet making Lady Frost chuckle, then he saw Blaster aim his blaster against the superheroine and Fire King created a large fireball and fired it against Blaster, shrieking him and let the blaster fly against the boy, but the laser disappeared inside the fireball.
Blaster landed on the ground after he dodged the ball and looked up at the redhead.
„This really is turning into a deathmatch," Commented Blaster watching Fire King step forward with one frozen foot, then unfroze the other.
„Why are we fighting each other? We have no reason to kill you, nor do you,"
„I never had, no. This world has turned into a terrible place since all you superheroes showed up. You superheroes had the stupid need to assist the firefighters in evacuating the Ferris wheel, that no one of you took the time to realize, there was an accident happening on the other side of Paris on the highway. I lost my family because of that. They would have made it out if you or anyone else would have gone there on that time,"
„You lost your family as well?" Asked Lady Frost curious, making Blaster frown.
„As if you knew how the pain feels like after you lose someone you love,"
„I know very well how it feels like," Commented Lady Frost with a broken voice, then Fire King placed his hand on the girl's shoulder.
„You don't need to talk about it,"
„Maybe he would need to hear me talk,"
„Does he want it?" Questioned Fire King looking at the villain, which raised his arm against the duo and shot it towards the girl. Fire King pushed her away, then jumped as it passed behind his butt, narrowly touching him making him yelp. „No, he doesn't!" Complained Fire King, then shot a small fireball against the villain, which blocked it with his blaster. „Try to freeze his arm," „I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Commented Lady Frost building a wall in front of Blaster, which used his weapon to break it into small pieces.
„You were okay on using it on me, but you're afraid to use it on him?"
„I can't do much with my powers. He keeps breaking the ice," Told the blonde watching Fire King hold between his hands a slowly, large growing fireball to throw it at the villain, then Blaster jumped aside to dodge it.
„Lady Frost, you're able to use your power stronger. You just have to focus and think on what you're planning to do with it,"
„Alright," Commented Lady Frost looking at Blaster, which just blocked another attack from Fire King, then she frowned and held her hands open for a long while causing a breeze to come out from there, passing by the feet of the supervillain, which frowned and used his blaster to destroy the ice.
„Keep on working on it, I'll take him down," Pointed the redhead out making Lady Frost nod, which continued to build ice on the feet and Fire King ran against the supervillain, which noticed the redhead come along and moved his arm up and Fire King opened his fist with flames brewing up, then grabbed the corsage and destroyed it with both of his hands.
„It finally worked!" Commented Lady Frost, then watched the akuma flatter around her.
„Now Ladybug has to catch it….somehow," Mentioned Fire King watching the akuma fly away, then both widened their eyes in shock and began to pursue the creature.
Behind them opened the portal, where Cat Noir jumped out with an empty, DVD cover and whistled calling Lady Frost's attention, then threw the cover at the heroine, which caught and looked at the cover to see the title Snow Queen Fire & Ice on it and in the middle stood an image of herself as Lady Frost leaned with her back against Fire King.
„Where did you get this from? We have never done this before?" Asked Lady Frost, then Cat Noir pointed at the akuma.
„Use the cover to catch the akuma!" Warned Cat Noir watching Lady Frost open the cover, making Cat Noir roll his eyes and take it off the girl's hand and jumped up in the air with the help of his staff to catch the akuma.
„You're back!" Announced Fire King, then Lady Frost joined the two heroes.
„I could have done that too, if you would have let me take the chance," Lady Frost commented.
„Then why did you just stand there instead of acting?" Asked Cat Noir, making Lady Frost open her mouth, then close it again unsure what to respond. Fire King felt sad for seeing Lady Frost down, then placed his hand on her shoulder.
„There is no need to scold her or me for anything. We got rid of that butterfly and you caught it in that thing. Maybe she had no idea how to use that or if it was possible!" Mentioned Fire King crossing his arms, then from the DVD cover, the akuma flew out making the two boys step back watching the butterfly get up towards the portal. Ladybug appeared from the portal and caught the akuma with her yo-yo then used it to restore all the damage, that was caused and purified the akuma as well.
„See, everything is good," Commented Fire King looking at Cat Noir and Lady Frost.
Ladybug joined the trio and looked at the fire and the ice-themed superheroes.
„Is everything okay with you two?" Asked Ladybug making Fire King nod and Lady Frost shrugged her shoulders.
„I'm not sure, if I'm meant to be with you guys," Mentioned Lady Frost, then Ladybug caressed the girl on the shoulder.
„Don't say that. It took a little while for us to figure out how to take him down. You see in the end as we tried to work out together it went better," Fire King explained. „Forget this with that cover thing Cat Noir spoke about, okay?" Questioned Fire King placing his hand on her back.
„What did Cat Noir say?" Asked Ladybug glancing at the blonde superhero, which chuckled.
„I didn't mean to be rude, I assumed she knew what to do with the DVD cover, but she got wondering about her picture there on the cover," Commented the blonde.
„It's okay. I will know it next time," Stated Lady Frost, then the group looked down at the villain, that had turned back into his civilian form to see him sobbing.
„Can I speak to him?" Questioned Lady Frost. „I know, what's up with him,"
„Sure go on," Responded Ladybug preparing her yo-yo to obtain a magical charm, then observed Lady Frost get down on her knees.
„Hi. How are you feeling?" Asked Lady Frost watching the man clean his eyes and shrug his shoulders.
„I work at the car dealer near the highway and I heard about a terrible accident, that had happened at the highway," Began the man to say. „I didn't really have any curiosity to know, what was going on or who was there at the accident. Accidents nearly happen often every week and they're not always the same. Some are worse, some have good endings. What I….didn't expect was….," Stammered the man beginning to have more tears run down his face, then Fire King got down as well and gently cleaned the tears off with his thumb. „That one car, that got wrapped in the accident was my w….wife and my daughter Mila,"
„That's terrible," Commented Fire King quiet.
„How did you find it out?" Questioned Lady Frost caressing the man softly on the side of his head.
„I was driving home, then the traffic has been directed to another road and in the meanwhile Lyudmila's grandmother, you know…..my wife's m...mom called and informed me about what happened. I..I...I couldn't believe what I heard. I ….didn't know, what to do I…..I had heard on the radio, most of the firefighters and superheroes were around the ferris wheel due to an akuma attack and….and….at that time I got really angry and….and…..I wasn't thinking clear…..I ran into the square to let out my anger on the statue of Ladybug and Cat noir, then…...I don't remember what happened next,"
„Sir….." Questioned Ladybug, then gave the man the magical charm. „This will keep you safe from getting akumatized again. I really wish I could have been there to help them out. Sometimes…..there will be moments, that we can't be able to do everything. We may be superheroes, but at the same time, we're only humans like everyone else,we…."
„You can't do everything at the same time. You're right, I'm…..just fed up. I didn't even have the chance to see them one last time, tell them how much they meant to me," Stated the man beginning to cry, then Lady Frost hugged the man along with Ladybug.
„Mi'lady, I think, we should accompany him to a pastor or just back to his family," Suggested Cat Noir. „This is the best thing for him right now," „Will you do that?" Questioned Ladybug. „I need to charge,"
„So do I, but I'll do it somewhere in the alleys,"
„Sure thing…..Alley cat," Joked Ladybug making Cat Noir, chuckle then the heroine departed away with her yo-yo leaving the trio back.
„Okay, then I guess we'll wait here until you have returned charged," Commented Fire King looking at Cat Noir, which smiled.
„Thanks. I'll be back soon, „Announced Cat Noir running along the sidewalk disappearing into an alley, then Fire King looked at Lady Frost, which stood there looking at the widowed man a little sad.
„Lady Frost?" Spoke the redhead earning her attention. „You know, we've done good in the end and I think, if we both join each other one day or two for a training, we could get to know each other and learn how to work together. With the time we will be able to pass through these cases with no problems….or not many," Offered Fire King. „What do you think about it?" The brown-eyed superhero asked looking at the blonde girl, which pondered about his offer, then nodded.
„It's sort of thanks to you, that we got one step ahead. Maybe you're right and this will really help us both. Mostly me,"
„I'm not perfect either, but this will for sure be good for us, mostly for the others. I don't know why they picked us or what the destiny has seen in us to make us heroes, but there sure is a reason we're got chosen,"
„You're right, we can meet each other someday. If we're lucky this week,"
„Sure, I keep a space in my agenda for you," The Spaniard promised making Lady Frost nod.
„Thank you, Fire King," Answered Lady Frost giving the tall hero a hug, making him smile and close his eyes to reciprocate it.
„If you're okay with it, you can call me King or just Fire…..Well, Fire doesn't seem like a cool nickname, but maybe King does in a way," Stated Fire King making Gerda's alter ego chuckle.
„Alright, I stay with King," Commented the heroine. „I would allow you to give me a nickname as well, but I don't know one, that fits,"
„Frosty would work," Commented Fire King making the blonde snort.
„No, that's weird!" Complained Lady Frost getting off his new friend.
„I assume…..we'll figure one out," Commented Fire King. „Look, you probably have to go to school or work tomorrow. Go back home, I'll wait for Cat Noir. Make sure to get a good night of sleep," Wished Fire King making the girl smile.
„Thanks King. Good night," Wished Lady Frost, then she ran away leaving the redhead back, which watched the heroine leave with a big smile on his face.
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Final Fantasy prompts no 53
1. Cloud is immortal and has lived for tens of thousands of years. He has watched his friends and enemies get reincarnated over and over again. He would always interfere and save the day when things got bad, prompting legends and myths of a golden haired hero with glowing blue eyes who swore to return whenever the world was in peril.
But thats not the end.
He took great care to find his friends and keep an eye on them, watching over them as a guardian angel of sorts. When he came across Sephiroth again, he expected a battle, but seeing the dull eyes of a broken teenager staring up at him as he layed battered and bruised by his own parents? It made him realize that Sephiroth wasn't born evil.
The blond added Sephiroth to his list of people to protect.
Cloud often removed Sephiroth from the abusive households he was born into by exposing the parents for their crimes and harassing them as an anonymous individual.
Once the silverette was out of the home he would manipulate circumstances so that he would come to live with Zack or one of his other former friends.
Once he hit a certain age, he would find people Sephiroth was romantically compatible with and play puppeteer until one of them married the silverette. Cloud had done this so many times that he practically became an expert. Strangely, in the recent past lives the marriages ended in amicable divorce. He didn't know what he did wrong, so the blond began expiramenting with Sephiroths "types" again, trying to find a perfect match.
This life however, Sephiroth refused to so much as hold hands with someone romantically and Cloud is about ready to rip his hair out in frustration.
The man walked down a busy street, thinking about what to do next when Sephiroth himselfed grabbed his arm.
Startled, Cloud stared up at him.
"It's you." Sephiroth muttered reverently, as though he couldn't believe his eyes.
Cloud never made contact with these people, he had learned his lesson after the fifth time he lost Zack. He let them live out their lives, only interfering to stop something negative from happening. The blond never showed Sephiroth his face since his ninth life.
So how did Sephiroth know who he was?
2. Cloud nearly giving Denzel "The Talk"
3. Denzel accidentally calling Cloud "Dad", calling Tifa "Mom", and Marlene "my sister" until he was eventually like, screw it, and called them that without hesitation
4. Denzel got in trouble at school for beating up a group of boys that were bullying another kid.
He gets suspended and Cloud takes him out for an awesome ride on Fenrir as a reward, followed by fighting lessons from both him and Tifa, then ice cream.
5. Au where Hollander was murdered by Hojo long ago. Degradation is running rampant through Shinras SOLDIER program, killing several and weakening many more.
Genesis is determined to find a cure, after all, his life is on the line. He's eventually cornered by Angeal and Sephiroth, who pull the truth out of him, and begin aiding him in his search.
They discover AC Cloud, who is from a different dimension/timeline whose very body contains the cure.
Cloud was no longer human, and had developed new organs of unknown purpose, his body having disposed of the unnecessary organs such as lungs, gallbladder, and pancreas, and modifying the ones it kept, such as the digestive track. The catch? Now he needed to feed on large amounts of natural Mako every month to survive.
Genesis sees no problem with this and asks for the blond to save them. Cloud, however, refused, not knowing what was happening to him and knew spreading it would be the bad idea of the century.
Genesis doesn't take "No" for an answer.
Hojo finds out the blond was essentially a second Jenova and had a mini lifestream inside him and becomes desperate to get his claws on him.
6. Jenova haunts Clouds dreams, filling him with dread. Not because she was tormenting him, no. It was the opposite.
In the dreams, she held him like a loving mother. Her gentle embrace warmed him, her soft words brought him comfort, made him confide in her. That's why he was afraid.
Cloud was beginning to love her, and it terrified him.
7. Zack Fair is hereby prohibited from using any form of glitter or glue.
Why? It's Classified.
8. Au where Lazard freed Zack from under the nebilheim mansion, but also dragged him outside, leaving Cloud behind.
He lied to Zack when he woke up, telling him the infantryman was dead. He believed that Zacks chances of survival would be infinitely higher if he left the boy behind, which he would never do if given a choice. So Lazard made that choice for him.
So Zack made it to Midgar on his own.
Cloud was found by Sephiroth months later. The blond had no fight left in him and tried to merge with the other Sephiroth clone, unfortunately since his cells were mutated, Cloud could not merge with Sephiroth.
The silverette had planned to abandon this failed clone until Cloud nuzzle his face against Sephiroths gloved palm. From then on out, Cloud followed Sephiroth everywhere, doing the cooking and the laundry or whatever he could to make himself useful. He would beg the former General not to abandon him, as everyone else had done in the past.
That, admittedly pulled on his heartstings a bit. Sephiroth had also been abandoned and betrayed by his two closest friends. By the company and people he foolishly devoted his entire life to.
So Cloud stayed. His master taught him how to fight, how to care for his gear, and they bonded over shared experiences and silent companionship.
It was during that final battle, where Zack and AVALANCHE slew Sephiroth, that Cloud, hidden somewhere out of sight, swore vengeance against the man who pretended to be his friend, who he believed abandoned him and left him to rot in that hellhole after he had sworn for years that they'd get them both out, that he would save Cloud, (Cause that's what heros do!) only for him to murder the first person other than his mom to ever care about him.
Clouds body held both S and J-cells, and though they may be mutated, he could still call for Reunion. Something Zack couldn't sense due to him being an A-type SOLDIER instead of an S-type like himself.
The blond could cultivate the summoned J-cells and make them multiply under his care. He knew the best revenge was patience, after all, so long as Cloud lived, Sephiroth would never truly die.
All he had to do was stay hidden. Know one could know of him, not that they were looking for a supposedly dead man, even if they were, they would never find him in his hidden underground bunker since no one with more then three brain cells would go near the Northern Crater.
9. Sephiroth drops blatant innuendos and pickup lines all throughout his fight with Cloud, but the blond thinks he's just imagining it.
Seph actually manages to escape that time, but after the fight, his friends point out all the questionable things the silverette said.
Cloud wasn't sure if he should be relieved that he wasn't hallucinating it.
10. Tifa caught Denzel and Marlene "interrogating" a doll that was tied to a tree.
They were hitting it with sticks and yelling, "Who's your source?!" At it.
Needless to say, Reno is no longer allowed to around the children without adult supervision.
11. Kunsel began fiddling with a laser pointer, absent-mindedly tracing large slow circles on an opposing wall. He kept thinking back to all the laser pointer related incidents from the past few weeks until he noticed, much to his horror, that a few of his fellow SOLDIERS in the mess hall were tracking the little red dot with laser focus.
Pun intended.
12. Aerith had long since faded into the lifestream where she belonged, but that's not what this story is about.
Thousands of years have passed since the events of MeteorFall, and Gaia is nearly overflowing with mako energy.
Cloud felt as Gaia began remaking her WEAPONS, and couldn't help but wonder as to why. After about a year of searching he found Vincent again and asked him.
The truth was disturbing. Gaia's lifestream had outgrown the planet, and was preparing a new Omega WEAPON to suck the life out of this one and travel back to the "Mother planet"
Cloud eventually found out about Gaias plans for him by eavesdropping on conversation between Gaia herself and the Cetra from the "Mother planet". You see, Cloud has a unique relationship with the planet. He was modified using Jenovas Eldrich powers, and over time, developed his own. The blond allowed Gaia to use his body/very being as a sort of ward against all things Eldrich, and has worked spectacularly well.
Gaia planned to keep him alive as she traveled through the cosmos. That wouldn't be a problem, no the problem was that she planned to encase him in crystal and keep him there for the rest of eternity. When the Cetra mentioned breeding him so that other planets would have a ward, he nearly gagged.
He told Vincent about everything and admitted he was afraid. The only reason he remained sane all these years was because he could travel and have new experiences. He couldn't do that if he was trapped.
Vincent suggested a rocket, to which the blond revealed that Gaia herself always sabotaged the rockets and space programs. For obvious reasons. They were stuck and didn't know what to do now that it was literally them against the world. So when Vincent suggested reviving Mako energy and the SOLDIER program until they could find a way off of Gaia, Cloud didn't dismiss it.
13. Another summoning gone wrong Au where Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud who are in the normal modern universe and are lovers in a poly relationship, decide to mess around with a spellbook Zack picked up in a shop. They were saying spells out loud and making fun of them, they also did the wierd little ceremonies and made "potions" and had a good time.
Nothing happened, until they woke up the next morning to the chocobo frantically patting them awake with his hands, stunned silent.
There, in their king sized bed, were their trans-dimensional alter-egos, done up with swords and pauldrons and...is Sephiroth wearing a fetish outfit? Said silverette poked his alter-ego with a ruler a few times to confirm he was out cold.
What were they supposed to do now?
14. Final Fantasy 7 and LoZ: Breath of the Wild crossover
Cloud lands in a new reality, but he's too focused on trying to fight the new breeds of monsters and surviving the desert heat to ponder the situation for long
And then there's all those things that keep trying to electrocute him...Clouds not having a good day.
On the other hand he has plenty of things to take his anger out on.
Also, Cloud meeting a horse! Which are critically endangered on Gaia!
15. Genesis finds Cloud post DoC and begins taunting him, but gasps dramatically when he learns the blond has never tasted Banoran apples/apple products. He drags Cloud along to get a taste. Weirdly, they get along.
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elysianecho · 4 years
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Steve Rogers is a Klutz™
Summary: Getting shot by mobsters and finding Captain America and Spiderman on a roof in the span of one week is weird. 
Getting shot, meeting two Avengers, getting helped by one of those Avengers, and then meeting the rest of the gang?
"What is my life coming to?”
Pairing: Steve Rogers x cop!Reader
Warnings: Swearing, some blood, reader being stalked, mentions of gunfights, people falling off ladders. I think that’s everything? Let me know if I’ve missed something!
Word Count: 6593
A/N: This is might make it on time. This is a smidge late. I’m SOOOOO sorry, Anika! Please forgive me. Life is dumb. 
Anyway! This is for @anika-ann​’s 500 Celebration! You rock, girl! My prompt was: 
“Say something so we know you’re okay!” “Ow.” 
It will be bolded in the story.
This is a hot mess but: Enjoy!! :D
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~~~~~
Why was he here again?
“Okay, so, there’s been these guys that have, like, lasers and bombs and stuff—”
Oh, yeah. 
Steve watched as Peter explained what the latest baddies had been up to in Queens. Judging by the amount of arm waving Peter was doing, he was explaining through interpretive dance. He was in fact, listening to Peter, but he was also keeping an eye on their surroundings. According to Peter, the baddies were supposed to hit a bank near here tonight. 
“Listen, kid, ya gotta analyze what’s going on around you before you start to jump in. Otherwise you’re gonna miss—” 
“Like that door opening?” Peter said, pointing. Steve raised his shield and looked to the roof access door to see a woman step through it backward. She turned and stopped when she saw them. In all honesty, it wasn’t hard to miss Captain America and Spiderman on an empty rooftop.
She blinked at them. She held two brown glass bottles in one hand, a book and bag of chips  in her arms, and her phone was lighting her shocked face. 
Steve lost most of the ‘choose-your-fighter’ stance, lowered his shield, and extended a hand to show they meant no harm. Peter was muttering under his breath and looking from the woman to Steve. 
“I didn’t see anything. I didn’t hear anything. And I don’t smell anything either,” she said, removing an earbud, “Imma sit right over there and enjoy the sunset.” She moved to a corner and set her things down. Steve noticed a wince as she stood straight and pulled a folding lawn chair from a crevice and set it up. 
“What do you mean you don’t smell anything?” Steve asked, finally finding his voice in this weird situation. 
She sat down slowly, wincing, twisted the cap off a bottle and took a swig before she grinned at him. He expected alcohol, but the scent of sassafras hit his nose instead.
“Here’s a tip, Spidey,” she said, looking at Peter, “a little cologne goes a long way.” She popped a chip in her mouth and swung one foot at a time on the chair to get comfortable. 
Steve looked to Peter who was...smelling his armpit? He hadn’t even realized he was wearing an overabundance of cologne; the kid spent so much time at the Compound anymore it was just—. Steve sighed. It was normal. Great. A supersoldier got so used to someone wearing so much fragrance he became nose-blind to it. But a civilian? Who just happened upon them one night? No problem. 
“Also, friendly tip: if you’re gonna keep your ‘secret identity’,” she said with a wide grin and exaggerated air-quotations,  “a continuing secret, wear a different cologne when you’re in the suit.” Steve grabbed Peter by the shoulder and pushed him toward the far side of the roof. 
“If you’ll excuse us, ma’am,” Steve said, nodding to her. She gave a two-fingered salute and an ‘aye-aye, Cap’n’ as the two moved their position. 
~~~~~
It was three days later when Steve was trying to take a walk through the town that he got an odd feeling he was being followed. He and Peter had taken care of the guys they were after: low-level crooks with high-level weapons. A very bad mixture in Steve’s mind.  
But now, he didn’t sense danger necessarily, he didn’t hear anything menacing, and it wasn’t like it was a flock of teenagers following him again. That he could hear a mile away over rush hour traffic. Plus, the beard and longer hair helped him blend a bit more.
He kept his stride and turned down an alley to take a couple shortcuts to see if his tag-a-long could keep up. Two minutes later, down this alley, back onto the main street, and down another alley, the feeling was still there. Turning once more, he backed up against the wall and waited. Once his follower got close enough to the corner, he snatched them, forcing them against the wall. 
This was something he didn’t expect. 
A gasp, the sound of boxes falling, paper crumpling, and a wry smile followed by: 
"Well, hello to you, too, handsome."
Her again.
"Why are you following me?" he said, moving his hands over her sides and down her thighs. Call him paranoid, but two years on the run will do that to you. 
"Gun and permit are on the waistband," she said, her hands halfheartedly raised. She spread her legs, just to see how far Captain America would go to pat down a woman carrying her groceries. 
Which he finally took notice of when he had to move a bag of green beans to lift her pant leg.  She bit back a groan when he brought his hands up to her sides again and around to her back. 
She had to admit, of all the pat downs she's had in her career, this had to be her favorite: Exceptionally attractive man? Check. Very smooth, deep voice? Check.  Warm, rough hands that weren't too rough while gliding down her thighs? Check and check.
Ever since the pardon, Steve Rogers remained a sort of enigma. He still went on missions, which she witnessed just the other night, but he had pulled so far back from the PR world that people were trying to figure out if Captain America was the same person.
Steve ran his hands along her back and found the gun on her waistband and— 
"You're a cop," he said, exasperated, holding up her badge. She let her hands fall, smirk still on her face. "Why are you following me?" 
"Well, I was out getting groceries, which you probably smashed the eggs, by the way, thanks for that—" she said, taking her offered badge back. 
"Why is an off-duty cop getting groceries following me in broad daylight?" Steve asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. 
"Because I really just wanted to stare at your ass—I'm being followed, you doofus,"she hissed at him. 
"What?" Steve was instantly on high alert, listening more closely to passersby on the main street and all around. He chanced a peek around the corner to see if anyone had followed her. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. "Why didn't you just call for back up?"
"Long story," she said looking around as well. She pulled back when she saw people round the corner, only to be caged in by tree-trunk arms from an annoyed Avenger. 
"I've got time."
"I don't," she said, staring at him incredulously. 
Steve Rogers was one cocky little shit. He had the nerve to lean on his forearms, prop one elbow on the wall to rest his head in his hand, and cross his legs at the ankle. His face and body just inches from her own. God, he smelled amazing.
Late June was hot. Late June plus very close proximity to a very stubborn, very attractive supersoldier? She may as well be on the surface of the sun. She took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled slowly to calm her heart rate. 
"Come out, come out, Queenie. We know you're there." 
The sing-song voice came just around the corner from where she and Steve were standing. 
Her heart rate didn't stand a chance of slowing down. 
Steve's brow furrowed, and he regained some of his earlier tension. He watched her eyes widen and flit back and forth. It almost looked like a plea for help, but her gaze hardened; she was planning something. Probably something stupid. 
He pulled his phone out and set up the camera. Taking a picture— albeit blurry, sue him—he held it up for her to see. There were ten men looking around every corner, behind every doorway. 
She ran a hand down her face. There had only been four when she last saw them. They were getting smarter. 
She opened her eyes when the temperature dropped. Steve had moved back and was looking around the alley, formulating his escape plan. She reached for her gun, but his hand caught her arm and he shook his head, putting a finger to his lips as the men called out for her once more. They were getting closer. 
He pulled her further down the alley, groceries forgotten, both of them trying to be as quiet as possible. He stopped when he reached the fire escape and cupped his hands, eyebrows raised asking: you ready?
Oh Lord, she had to put her hands on him?
If she wasn't looking at him, she never would've heard his whispered, "Hey!" She shook her head and put her foot in his hands and one hand on his shoulder. 
Is this what it feels like to fly? He lifted her like she was nothing and she barely had to pull herself onto the fire escape. Though the stitches in her side still pulled and she bit her lip to stop the hiss of pain. 
Steve backed up to the opposite wall and took a running jump. His foot barely touched the dumpster, and somehow he managed to not make a sound when he landed on the escape. 
He just smirked and shrugged when he saw her bewildered face. She rolled her eyes. 
The voices were louder now, triumphant: they found her groceries. She silently mourned her ice cream as she and her cohort climbed. 
The rig was old and even though Steve wasn't making a sound, the metal was. He grabbed her elbow five stories up, making her stop. He had his finger to his lips again, then pointed below them. 
"I know you're here somewhere, Queenie, I just wanna talk to ya," one man said, adjusting his cuff links. He was the best dressed of all of them but Steve could see the outline of a gun in his suit jacket. 
"C'mon, ya don't wanna play with me anymore?" he said, as his men were still searching below and further on.
This guy was starting to creep Steve out. He still had no idea what this woman had gotten herself into, but the saccharine tone of his voice made him sick. 
"I'm real sorry, I hurt ya, sweetheart. I promise, I won't do it again," he was finally moving on from the alley along with his posse. 
They stayed still for another moment while he was still in view at the mouth of the alley. He stood looking out at the main street with his hands in his pockets. 
Steve motioned for her to continue. They were one flight away from the roof when Back in Black started blaring from Steve's phone. 
He scrambled to turn it off, but when he pulled it out of his pocket with such panicked force, it slipped. Right out of his hands and down. Clanging on the rail and singing all the way down to shatter on the unforgiving concrete below. 
He heard her move up the last flight, while he just cringed staring down at the broken pieces. Tony was going to kill him.
Great.
 The suit had walked over to investigate. And he looked straight up at Steve. 
Great.
"Hey! Sorry 'bout that! Butterfingers, ya know?" he said, waving, "Can ya do me a favor and just toss it in the nearest can? The wife's gonna kill me if I don't finish dinner." 
The suit just stared at him, disgusted. He reached in his jacket and Steve prayed that his companion had made it to the roof. He brought a pack of cigarettes out and lit one, walking away from the broken pieces. 
"Hey, thanks, pal!" Steve said, turning and taking the last flight two stairs at a time. He hopped over the ledge and found her on her back, hands on her face in annoyance, and a red spot on her side. 
"Are you bleeding?!" he asked, rushing to her and landing on his knees. He scanned the rooftop and the adjacent buildings looking for a sniper. What kind of trouble was she in, anyway?
"Am I?" she moved her hands and sat up. Her breath hitched and she laid back down. "Ah, yup, stitches probably ripped."
"Can I?" he said, gesturing to her shirt. She waved a dismissive hand and he slowly pulled her shirt up. She was right: the stitches under her breast had ripped and what he could safely assume was a bullet wound, was bleeding again. 
"There goes the bra…" she muttered, rubbing her temple, "and it was a cute one too."
Steve shrugged a shoulder as he reached in his back pocket for a handkerchief. He glanced around at the nearby roofs once more before turning back to apply the cloth to the wound. She was staring at him. Smirking.
"Did you just...agree that my bra was cute?" she asked, her smirk turning into a grin, eyes crinkling at the corners.
His gaze dropped to her wound again, brow furrowed, as he put pressure on the wound. A low hiss escaped her, but it was quickly replaced by the same grin. 
"Hmm. The eyebrow quirk and head tilt said you did. Name's Y/N, by the way," she said, getting him to glance at her. His hair was falling in his face and she couldn't help but think it just made him look extra handsome. "Figured you should know mine since I already know yours."
"Thought it was 'Queenie'," he said, a small grin playing on his face. The grin fell when her gaze hardened. 
"He shouldn't know it," she shook her head and ran a hand down her face. Before Steve could question, she waved his hand away from her side. She tucked part of the cloth under her bra and sat up with the help of Steve's large hand on her back. 
Steve moved back to give her some room before he asked, "What do you mean he shouldn't know it?"
"I dressed up one Halloween as a character named 'Queenie' and now that's what my whole precinct calls me. No one else calls me Queenie," she said.
Steve listened as she explained that she had been assigned to this particular precinct. Apparently due to suspicion that one or many of its members had close mob ties. Now she had proof, but no clue who to look for. 
They sat in silence for a moment before Y/N squinted and pointed over Steve's shoulder. 
"Hey, isn't that your buddy Iron Man?" 
Sure enough, it was. Steve turned back to face Y/N and just raised a hand in a lazy wave and sighed like an exasperated teenager about to get scolded.
Y/N grimaced at the loud sound of the Iron Man's repulsors. He dropped down at the edge and walked over, his helmet disappearing to reveal his face. It was a very annoyed face. 
"So you're just gonna ignore me now?" he said, stopping next to Steve and crossing his arms. 
"Tony, this is Y/N. Y/N, Tony," Steve said, gesturing one to the other. 
"Yeah, hi," Tony waved in Y/N's direction, then turned to Steve again, then back to Y/N, "Are you aware—you're bleeding."
The drastic tone change made Y/N blink. He spun his around to her so fast she thought his neck broke. She looked to Steve who had a hand over his face, but she could see his brows knit together as he shook his head. His shoulders shook in a silent chuckle.
"Wow, it is true," Y/N said, looking at Tony, "You really are a genius." 
Between the baffled look on Tony's face and the strangled laugh-turned-cough from Steve, her day was a whole lot better.
"Yes, we're both aware I'm bleeding. Captain Handsome over here was helping me avoid some trouble. This is a few days old, the stitches just ripped," she explained. Tony just quirked an eyebrow and a wide grin spread on his face.
"'Captain Handsome'? Oh that's definitely gonna be a thing, now," Steve's groan of disapproval cut through, but Tony paid him no mind, "Anyway, we need to get you patched up, and you were supposed to help set up-"
"Wanda's birthday, ah, shit!" was muffled as he ran both hands over his face and back into his hair. Y/N blinked.
"Captain America swears?" she said, looking at Tony who just shook his head in blatant disappointment. 
"Like a sailor. Romanoff's bringing the car around, so grab our invalid and bring her to the Compound. Romanoff, can you bring the car around?" Tony said, walking to the edge of the roof. Y/N tried to deny being taken with them, but Tony closed his helmet and blasted off. 
She looked to Steve who stood and held out a hand to help her up. Reluctantly (or not, he had very nice hands) she took it.
"Seriously, just drop me off at my apartment and I'll be fine. You've already helped enough," she said. 
Steve just shook his head and started leading her towards the roof access. "Not happening. I was already thinking about it, anyway.  Dr. Cho should have you patched up in no time."
Y/N groaned. How was she supposed to fight Avengers exactly?
~~~~~
Dr. Helen Cho has very kind eyes. But when she says 'go', even Steve Rogers moves. Y/N was introduced to her and then immediately directed (read forced) onto a table after her shirt and bra were (forcibly) removed and replaced with a hospital gown so fast the embarrassment didn't hit her until after Dr. Cho's machine was stitching her up. 
Or whatever it did. 
Y/N looked at her wound in the bathroom mirror. There was no scar, no trace of the bullet hole or the stitches. Still amazed at the technology, she lowered the borrowed hoodie and made her way back into the lab. Black Widow, or Natasha, was waiting with a small smile.
"I really want to thank you guys for everything, and I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I am! But I should probably be getting home…" 
Her smile tightened and her nose scrunched. "Mm, about that."
Y/N blinked. "Please tell me that doesn't mean what I think it means." 
Her smile twisted up a little more before she grabbed Y/N's hand and began pulling her back to where Y/N thought was the living room. 
This week was just getting weirder and weirder by the second. Natasha pulled her by the hand the whole way and Y/N made no move to let go either; it was oddly comforting, and Y/N didn't even realize she needed it. She briefly wondered what it would be like to hold Steve's hand. 
She immediately grabbed that thought, stuffed it in a box, put that box in another box, duct taped the whole thing, and buried it. 
Crushes on celebrities were fine. If you've met them, cool, good for you. If you've been as close as Y/N had, you should be commended and given 'The World's Luckiest Bitch' medal. 
But she didn't want to get her hopes up. Chances are they'd just be crushed. Probably under a star-spangled shield or something much more terrifying. Nope, she may as well crush those feelings now before they got out of hand. 
Natasha took her down several halls to see a lounge room where several were gathered watching what seemed to be Lord of the Rings. Y/N didn’t recognize any of them, but judging by all the lab coats strewn all over the chairs and various snacks, they were probably just on a break. 
A couple turns and an elevator ride up a few floors, Natasha's hand still holding hers, and down more hallways Natasha finally stopped and opened the door to a conference room.
Y/N was completely lost as to where they were in the building, but she wouldn't really need to know. She'd be going home soon anyway.
"Is that my apartment?!" 
Steve, Tony, and Bucky Barnes turned at the sound of her voice, but her eyes were locked on the screen behind them. 
Most of it was nonsensical gibberish to her, but the main picture was her apartment building. On fire. Specifically her apartment. And the one next to it, too, where she knew the couple next door. They had just had a baby.
"Tell me no one was in there," she whispered, her voice starting to shake, "Tell me no one was home, Steve, they had a baby. You tell me no one was home!"
She had moved around the table, volume rising with every step. Steve put his hands on her shoulders when she grabbed him by the shirt. 
"Mom and baby are fine, they weren't home," he said, voice quiet and calm, "Dad's in the hospital with a few broken bones and scrapes, but he'll be fine, Y/N."
Steve thought he would get lost in her eyes earlier, now it felt like she stared into his soul. She took a shaky breath in and out, closed her eyes, and breathed again. It was when she was finally able to release his shirt that Tony spoke.
"Looks like you didn’t make it out, though," he said, turning the volume up. She turned to him and saw some blonde news reporter stating that one person had been killed in the explosion ("Ex- explosion?" was whispered as Steve helped her to a chair and sat her down.) 
Her own face stared back at her. Her name was on the news. 
Blood rushed in her ears and drowned out whatever was being said, whether on tv or in the room. Mind racing, she tried to figure out what her next step should be: who does she call? Does she call anyone? Can she? Not knowing which of her supposed brothers and sisters she could trust. The proverbial brakes came screeching to halt when she heard—
“Hydra?”
Natasha had joined Bucky in looking at a file on the table and Tony was sitting on its edge; they all turned to look at her. When she stayed silent, Steve moved from behind her chair and leaned his hip against the table. He said her name, snapping her attention back to reality. 
“Did you say Hydra?” she asked. Bucky nodded. “No, no, no. We’re talkin’ Clair Vitali, yeah, he’s no small fry, but he’s not Hydra. That’s crazy! Sure he’s a megalomaniac, but he’s not that smart. He shot me in broad daylight and had the balls to follow me in broad daylight, but then again, he had the balls to follow me in broad daylight and he does have some pull up on high. I wonder if that’s how he got Roca’s territory…” 
Steve thought she was going to burn a hole into the table with how she stared at it. Bucky chuckled and looked at Steve.
“She talked herself into it,” he grinned, “Didn’t even have to show her evidence. But it does look like the explosives they used were from Hydra. Not just with your house, but multiple others.” Y/N looked up as the screen changed to show five other bombings. Ones she didn’t even know were connected to Vitali. “And I remember seeing him around Rumlow a lot.” 
Rumlow.
Something about that name rang a bell. A gruff laugh, dark hair, an easy smile, and honey colored eyes filled her mind. 
"Brock Rumlow?"she asked. They all nodded. She grimaced and muttered, “Glad I didn’t go on that date with him, then. Oh-kay! So. Now what? Hydra is way out of my league. How do we handle this?” 
Bucky’s eyebrows shot almost to his hairline and Steve let out a strangled “Date?!” as Tony just turned back to the screen and started talking to the air. To her surprise the air spoke back. Oh, yeah. He’s Tony Stark. AI’s are a thing here. 
She heard Natasha’s chuckle and chanced a glance at Bucky, his expression was locked on Steve who she did not glance at. She was far too invested on the screen; her eyes locked on a familiar face, she stood slowly. Steve said her name and she blinked. 
“Bottom right,” she said, pointing, “That’s Charlie and, Houser, our captain.” 
Tony brought it up front and center showing the captain standing straight, and her partner behind him, hands clasped and shoulders slumped. He looked truly dejected. Angry. He kept his eyes low while the captain gave his statement on her supposed murder. No, he didn’t say murder. He said death. Death. Like an accident. Like her home spontaneously combusted. Like she wasn’t hunted like a wild animal, beaten, shot, and thrown into the river. The blood in her veins boiled watching him give his speech. 
“This is a day of grieving for us all. This is such a tragic loss for this precinct, for this city. Officer L/N was a treasure; a hardworking—”
“That’s detective, you monumental bastard,” she spat. Tony turned with a raised brow and a smirk. “We don’t really get along.”
“—shows no sign of tampering, but we will dig further to get to the truth of this atrocity—” 
She wondered who gave him this false information and thought about what she was going to do to them. If the police had been in her apartment, they should know whether or not it had been a bomb or some sort of malfunction. 
And then her fire was extinguished. 
He sniffed. 
She watched as Charlie’s brow furrowed and for the first time he looked up at the captain. His hands clenched into fists before he moved them behind his back. The captain continued his speech, sniffing again. 
“That sorry, low-down, pig-headed—” she shoved the chair and stepped away from the table, taking deep breaths, almost panting. 
“Hey, easy,” came from Steve who put a hand on her shoulder, “What’s wrong?” She took another breath and held it for a beat, then two, sure he could feel her pulse racing. Her fists clenching and releasing, she let the breath go, slowly, controlled, before she turned to him. 
“He’s in on it. He’s the connection to Vitali. That sniff?” she pointed back to the screen, “That’s his tell. The man can’t play poker to save his life! And that bullshit story about me being, what’d he say? ‘A treasure?’ Ha!” She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair, trying not to think about how Steve seemed to be subconsciously rubbing his thumb in small circles on her shoulder. Taking another deep breath, she looked up at him once more. 
“And now that I know who the connection is, I have a good idea about who else is on Vitali’s payroll.”
~~~~~
Hello, Queenie. 
You wanna play?
Her eyes snapped open and her heart hammered in her chest. She sat up, gun raised, and looked around the room. This wasn’t her house. This wasn’t her house. 
Breathing became harder for her and her hand started shaking. But when the faint smell of a musky cologne reached her nose, she remembered blue eyes staring into her own. Her next breath was shaky, but she put the gun beside her on the bed. She’ll have to thank Natasha for giving her one of Steve’s shirts. 
Throwing back the covers, she swung her legs off the bed and made sure her legs weren’t wobbly before standing and walking out of the room. Ice cream was much needed. Now. 
Where the hell was the kitchen?
She tried to get a map in her mind, but, instead of directing her to her destination, it throbbed and refused to do any work. Forcing her feet to walk ten steps to her left, she faced her next obstacle. Waking the beast. 
She knocked three times. Silence. Three times more. 
“Fuckin— hang on!” 
Captain America swears like a sailor. She couldn’t stop the grin creeping on her face. Judging by the thudding and even more swearing, he was having some difficulty. Thirty seconds later the door disappeared and she flinched, stepping back.
Steve Rogers sleeps nude. 
In her peripheral, she could just barely see that he was holding a sheet around his waist. She didn’t dare to actually look, but tilted her head to see his face instead.
This was possibly the best decision she’d ever made. 
Steve Rogers with bed head. ‘World’s Luckiest Bitch’ indeed. 
She pursed her lips to keep the giggles from escaping. Sleepy, grumpy Steve was so cute. As she committed it to her long-term memory, he rubbed his face and let out a muted ‘shit’. 
“I thought you were gonna be Bucky,” he said, leaning on the doorframe. “What’s up? You okay?”
Oh, Lord, his voice. Abort mission. Abort. 
“I— uh, was gonna get some ice cream, but um, I’ll— I’ll just let you get back to sleep,” she said. Her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling too much. Gesturing to his attire, she couldn’t help but giggle, “Obviously you’re waiting for Bucky, so…” 
Confused even more by her laughter, the dolt looked down at himself, let out a louder ‘Fuck!’ and slammed the door shut. Steve continued his stream of obscenities as they both realized his sheet had gotten shut in the door. A short burst of laughter rang in the hall before she clapped both hands over her mouth. 
“Shut the fuck up, Queenie.”
Removing her hands and breathing, she took a moment to actually appreciate him. He now had on dark jeans and an unzipped jacket baring his broad chest to the world. He was really trying to kill her. And she would let him. 
But when he ran a hand through his hair, she was done. 
Giggle-drunk and trying not to be a thirsty hoe, she started towards the kitchen. Until Steve called to her again. When she turned, he was sporting that ridiculous smirk and pointing in the opposite direction. She threw her hands in the air, the shirt raising just enough to draw Steve’s eyes down to her bare legs. 
“Come on, Rogers, why are you keeping me from my ice cream? You owe like two gallons anyway,” she said, grabbing him the jacket and pulling him along. 
They finally made it to their destination after he had to grab her by the shirt and redirect her twice; he damn near strutted to the freezer and began naming off the flavors they had stashed away. 
“Seriously?” she asked, looking at his choice of butter pecan in disgust. 
“I already told you once, Queens, shut the fuck up,” he said, jabbing a finger in her direction. Ignoring the swarm of butterflies and heat rising in her face, she waved a dismissive hand and let loose an ‘aha!’ when she found the bowls. She frowned and stood on her toes because seriously, who puts the bowls on the top shelf? Fine.  
She did what needed to be done. She climbed onto the counter. Just being on her knees gave her the necessary boost to reach her goal. A shiver ran through her when a deep chuckle came from behind her. 
“Enjoying yourself?” Steve asked, leaning against the island. 
“Immensely,” she said, smirking, “Is the counter the only thing holding you up right now?” 
“At the moment, yes.” 
She giggled and handed him two bowls and hopped down, ready to devour the sweet, cold, goodness that was ice cream. 
Somehow this was right. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she felt...safe. Sitting in nothing but a borrowed shirt and her underwear with a barely-dressed supersoldier eating ice cream at God-only-knows-what time in the morning.  
“What is my life coming to?”
Steve looked up at her. They sat at the table, and for a long time were swapping funny stories about their teams. Her mind swirled with the new facts she’d learned just a few hours before, and even though she knew that the people she’d worked with for two years were not all they appeared, it still hurt. 
“Thanks, Steve. For everything.”
As if she needed another reason to swoon over this beast of a man, he looked at her with such sincerity and gave a crooked smile. She swallowed. 
“Anytime.”
Well that just won’t do. 
“Even at 3 o’clock in the morning?”
“Now wait a damn minute—”
~~~~~
With the Avengers on the case, it only took a day to gather enough information on her captain and several others that were in league with Vitali and Hydra. 
Now their plan was going into action. 
Despite her nerves about walking back into this building, she stood strong. Not to mention she had back up this time. 
Clair Vitali owned several hotels in New York. His reach spread much further than other mob families, and one by one, he seemed to swallow them up. She had very little knowledge of the layout of this building, but again, with the Avengers, impossible was simply not in their vocabulary. 
She and Steve were parked across the street in one of Tony’s mustangs. When she told him what hotel he usually frequented, he agreed that using a more high-profile car would be acceptable. 
“You sure about this, Y/N?” Steve asked. His gaze shifted from the hotel doors to her in the passenger seat. 
“A smidge,” she looked at him, “I just want this over with.” 
Steve nodded and looked back to the hotel. Vitali was here. She took a deep breath and got out of the car, but leaned back down to the window. 
“Besides, after being in a car with you driving, this’ll be a cake-walk,” she said, grinning. Steve opened his mouth to defend his driving skills when Bucky’s voice cut through their earpieces. 
“Punk, you wreck every vehicle you go into a fight with. Don’t start.” 
Four other voices agreed with him. Tony was going into his threat about Steve wrecking this car as Y/N started to cross the street. 
Blood pounding in her ears, she threw open the door and walked up to the front desk. The young man politely asked how he could be of service, despite his look of distaste at her attire. She flashed him a smile. 
“Actually, I was hoping to speak with Mr. Vitali,” she said. The look on this poor kid’s face almost made her laugh. He started to sputter and say that her request wouldn’t be possible; he was in a very important meeting and she might be able to schedule something in the future. She hummed and shook her head. 
“Unfortunately, it has to be now. I’m sure he’s missed me the past couple days and I just can’t leave him waiting any longer, sir.”
“Miss, I’m very sorry, but he doesn’t want to be disturbed—”
She sighed. 
“Alright. I didn’t want to play this card, but…” she laid her badge on the counter, pushing it towards the man. Whether or not he knew what his boss was really into, the color drained from his face. 
“You tell him Queenie’s here to play.” 
As he made a frantic phone call, she hopped up on the counter and sat, swinging her legs, making a call of her own. The voice that answered was hesitant. 
“...Y/N?” 
She smiled. 
“Hey, Chuckles. Listen, you’re gonna get a call about the Foundry Hotel in a few minutes. Bring back up. Don’t be surprised.”
“On it.”
She put her phone back in her pocket and waited. It didn’t take three minutes before grunts with guns surrounded the desk. Some actual patrons screamed and started to scatter, fleeing the building. Clair came swooping in and stood, behind his troops, grinning from ear to ear.
“I knew you’d come back to me, Queenie,” he said, “I was really hoping we’d have this little reunion at your funeral, but we can make this work—”
“Cut the bullshit, Clair, where’s Houser? I know he’s here.” She looked around the vast entry hall and into the restaurant where more people were huddled, being contained by more of the brute squad. “It’d be a cryin’ shame to kill me off and not celebrate your victory!” 
“You’re looking pretty good, sugar, you get all healed up?” Clair asked, chuckling. She nodded, still swinging her legs as if it was just another day at the park.
“I did. I found friends in high places. But you would know all about that, wouldn’t you?” she asked, jumping down. Some of the men shifted. “Being in league with Hydra and all.” 
Something glinted in his eye. She had him. 
Everything after that happened fast: bullets flew, glass shattered, people screamed.
The next thing she knew her ears were ringing. Everything was too bright, too loud. Too blurry. She couldn’t think straight. Couldn’t breathe. The only thing she saw clearly were piercing blue eyes. A voice cut through the fog. 
Queens! C’mon, just say something! 
~~~~~
 Wanda and Vision were due to be home from their island getaway in just a few minutes and everyone was running rampant around the living room. Streamers were hung from all over. A giant cake was being shielded by Bucky from Clint’s wandering hands. 
And some idiot put Steve Rogers on a ladder to hang the banner. 
“Hey, Queens, can ya tell me if it’s straight?” 
She walked away from the ladder and next to Tony to get a better view. And, boy, did she. Steve’s ass looked great in jeans. She hummed appreciatively. 
“Looks, great, Stevie. Now please get down, my blood pressure’s out the roof,” she said. She turned to Tony. “Don’t you have, like, robots or something to do this?” 
“I do, but this is payback for not helping sooner,” Tony said, sipping a lemonade. She nodded. 
“Really, Tony?” Steve started, “I told you, I dropped my phone! I was not ignoring you!” 
The two started to throw snark between them and Y/N just rolled her eyes. Steve tried to stop on the ladder and turn to look at Tony. He missed about two steps and got his leg caught between rungs. 
To say the look of horror on his face wasn’t funny would be an outright lie. 
The crashing and clanging drew everyone’s attention. Others asked if everything was okay and what happened. The two closest ran over and moved the ladder off  Steve. 
“Stevie,” Y/N said, lightly tapping his face, “hey, say something so we know you’re okay!” 
Steve just groaned and cracked an eye open to look at her. 
“Ow.”
Bucky called out, “Eh, he’s fine.”
Tony just laughed and walked away. An exasperated sigh made her slump onto his chest. He chuckled and leaned up to press a kiss on her hair. She raised her head. 
“I think I’ve got a new nickname for you,” she said. His smirk just grew. 
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Captain Klutz.”
62 notes · View notes
darkmindsotome · 4 years
Text
Frozen Jealousy
Fandom: Love365 Masquerade Kiss  
Pairing: Yuzuru Shiba X MC
Tumblr media
Word count: 3,046
Warning: NSFW Smut 
Written by: darkmindsotome 
Tagging @voltage-vixen as requested. prompt #1: Popsicle licking 
Darkmindsotome Masterlist
---
Frozen Jealousy 
It had been nearly a month or as a certain someone corrected me three weeks and four days since our last date that had been somewhere other than his place. Work had kept us both busy and I had just returned from a mission that took me to Hong Kong where I had to limit my contact with Yuzu to brief calls. Every time I heard his voice in my ear it made me miss him more. I missed his face and I could practically feel his breath in my ear as I struggled to remain focused on my job.
Now the moment was here where we could spend the day together and I was a bundle of energy. Hugo had given me a simple navy blue halter dress that buttoned all the way up the front. He had discovered it in a small boutique that reworked vintage designs and he said he simply couldn’t not get it for me. We ended up gossiping as he worked his magic styling my hair and doing my make up. In the end, it was almost as if he was more excited about this date than I was. Thanking him I made a dash from my apartment to our meeting place in town.
We said we would meet at a station and then I’d show him around the large park nearby, possibly go around some of its museums or the little zoo. I couldn’t help smiling thinking how adorable it would be to see Yuzu excited about one of the animals. For the length of time he had been in Tokyo it had surprised me when he told me he hadn’t seen much of it apart from the locations he went to for business. Although knowing my gorgeously intelligent boyfriend I really should not have been surprised that he had not looked into sightseeing as part of his relocation for work. He would have said it was an inefficient use of time that could be better spent further developing something at work and written it off as frivolous.
Speaking of inefficient uses of time, I checked my watch and realised that thanks to the catch up with Hugo I had left later than intended and was now running late. Knowing Yuzuru he was already going to be standing there waiting on me. His timekeeping was always impeccable and his schedules were so packed I had to book time alone with him. I shook my head and laughed at myself, what I once found to be so irritating was now simply one more part of the man I loved.
After passing through the ticket barrier I looked around and noticed him leaning against the entrance his hands holding his smartphone reading something completely unaware of the glances and looks he was receiving from the men and women passing by. His black hair shone in the sun like it had been polished and his earring twinkled. I smiled noting he had worn the outfit we had chosen together and not just appeared in his usual turtleneck and suit. The simple grey v neck t-shirt and buff tan leather jacket fitted him like they were custom made it was no wonder why so many people were checking him out. I swear he could wear anything and still look like a model.
“Yuzu!” I called out and waved to him. He turned his expressionless face in my direction slipping his phone into his pocket.
“You’re late.” His cold eyes scanned me like a laser. His voice was much softer than his words, not that I was going to point that out.
“I’m sorry I got held up at home.” Feeling terrible for making him wait even if it was only for a few extra minutes I gave him a rueful smile and apologised.
“Is everything alright?” He pushed off from the wall and came closer looking concerned.
If you had told me this cold, unapproachable and unreadable man could be like this I would have thought you were mad. Now though I knew all too well exactly how wonderful he could be. His words were much harsher than his actions, the chill of his countenance was still there but it protected a very sensitive and passionate man. My man.
“Yes, fine I was just catching up with Hugo and lost track of time.” Realising he had gotten the wrong idea I attempted to explain and was met with a partial sigh and a blank unreadable look after he schooled his expression.
“Mm. Come on let's go.” Yuzu took my hand causing my heart to skip a beat as he began walking briskly with me in tow. All I can say is thank god for training because if I was not an agent used to trying to run in heels, I would be in a lot of trouble right now. I wonder what got into him.
We went through the park gates and found a lot of people enjoying a relaxing weekend. When we had reached a quieter path that ran under some trees near a river he slowed his pace to match mine and stopped dragging me. The sun was high in the sky which felt wonderful but soon had us both showing the effects of the change in temperature.
I kept stealing glances at Yuzuru the fine mist of sweat glistening on his forehead and neck had my mind constantly venturing down the salacious path of remembering our times in bed together. The slip of our bodies together in harmony after becoming one and the way his hands never left me even for a moment as he stripped away my ability to think allowing me to only respond to him physically.
His eyes met mine and a small frown creased his forehead as he looked at me quizzically.
“What?”
“Nothing I was just thinking it's very hot out today.” I spoke quickly trying to ignore the ache that had developed inside me thanks to my rather vivid memory recall.
“Victoria said it is supposed to be the hottest day on record for the year so far.” He didn’t question my choice of topic, he just nodded in agreement adding to it by bringing up his AI invention. Knowing how he despises small talk I started to look around unwilling to test my luck further that he would continue to not notice my flustered state. There was a colourful sign for a small vendor that caught my eye.
“Hang on a minute.” I didn’t give him a chance to reply and darted off to get some refreshments for us both. When I returned, I had two popsicles in hand finding him waiting in the shade of some trees by the water and held them both out in front of him. “What one do you want?”
“I don’t mind I can just have the one you don’t want.” He shrugged as if he found this whole thing a bit pointless. To be honest, it annoyed me. He was so willing to try to please at times he ignored himself. I get he wants to avoid conflict and everything but there are times where he really didn’t have to worry so much.
“Nope, not happening. This is that ‘where do you want to eat?’ situation all over again and you said you would try not to do that again. You know you have preferences so pick one, I won’t be upset even its one I wanted.” I stepped closer still holding both popsicles out in front of me earning me an exasperated frown from him.
“You developed an annoying bug.” He still hadn’t moved to select one it was like he was stubbornly refusing to buckle to my simple demand.
“I’m sure you can find the solution later. Come on pick.”
“Fine.” He huffed and then took one of them from me waiting till I started to eat mine before doing the same. “Happy now?”
“Yep” I beamed a smile at him happy at my small victory.
“I really don’t get you sometimes.” He muttered a small smile playing on his lips that became wet as they wrapped around the popsicle. The flustered mess I was in danger of becoming before came back and hit me full force. The way his tongue came out just far enough to glide over the flavoured ice. How the natural fruit stained his lips in a new shade that had me wanting to taste them myself. I reminded myself that this was supposed to be a date and shifted my focus to my own popsicle hoping the cold treat would put out some of the fire growing in me.
We walked around eating the iced treats after a few minutes I felt something cold on my hand and realised mine was dripping. Without thinking I parted my lips and ran my tongue over the back of my hand chasing the liquid right up the side of the popsicle before putting it in my mouth to give it a hard suck in the hopes of removing enough excess juice from it to stop it dripping again.
I heard him stop in his tracks and when I turned to see what was wrong I nearly choked on the passionate look he was giving me.
“You did that on purpose.”
There was no time to react even if pulling away from him was the last thing on my mind. The sunlight vanished and I could feel the harsh bark of a tree against my back. We each still had hold of the sticks for the popsicles as he pressed himself closer. With the tree hiding us both he placed his free hand near my head effectively preventing escape, everywhere his body touched mine felt like burning.
“Did what?” I had a mind as to what he was talking about. It had only been a simple thing that had unintended suggestions attached to it but I couldn’t resist playing this deliciously dangerous game after being apart for so long.
“If you really don’t know then you’re even more dangerous than I give you credit.” Yuzu leant in covering my lips with his.
“Well, I am a dangerous woman after all.” My lower tone had the sweet kiss turn biting and passionate as his tongue ran along my bottom lip before plunging in to dance with my own.
Hidden from view we continued our little battle. Every kiss given was returned and every breath mingling became as hot as the sun. A soft thump on the ground gave us pause and I could see what was left of his popsicle had slid from its stick and fallen. Mine was probably not far behind it as the sticky sweet treat was melting much faster than before.
A wicked grin spread over his face, a look I knew all too well. It was part challenge part devilish as he took hold of my hand, now covered in melted fruit juice and began lapping it off my skin. I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he chased the drips with his tongue and paused only to give small nips and suckling on the inside of my wrist.
He looked at me from upturned eyes, those deep eyes of his drawing me into the bottomless void. Eyes I loved, the dry ice melting only to drown us both in passion. I started to become very aware of how suddenly restrictive this new dress was. My chest was heaving at the sight of the beguiling man in front of me all the things he was doing and all the possibilities of what I knew he was capable of.
“That’s it we’re leaving.” He stood up and pulled away from me, running his hand roughly through his dark hair giving it an unkempt look that was so unlike him.
“Where are we going?” I tried to pull myself together knowing that this was a public space and chastising myself for the fact I didn’t want him to stop.
“I’m fixing those bugs you developed right now.” He nearly growled as he struggled to keep his voice even and clear. I don’t think I’ve seen him like this before, the thrill of this new discovery had my heart racing even more as I allowed him to once more drag me along behind him.
The door to the hotel room that had been hastily acquired by the normally level headed Yuzu hadn’t even fully closed before I found myself locked in his strong arms. His mouth travelling along the nape of my neck as his clean scent like a winter’s night wrapped around me, claiming my senses.
“Mmm…. Ah… Yuzu wait.” I gave a small show of resistance that was certainly not up to my top-level agent credentials.
“Not happening I can’t” He was forceful and demanding, kissing me over and over alternating between soft and hard. His fingers roamed over my contours expertly hitting all the right places with just enough pressure to set my body purring like the engine on his beloved Bugatti.
“But…”
“You are far too good at generating a short circuit in me.” His voice was lower, far more sensual and his attacks were calculated. Not a single wasted motion, as to be expected from Mr perpetually logical with an eye for details and the skills to back up any action he desired.
“What?” Something was bugging me while I didn’t not want this to happen it just felt a little like something was off. Distractions in the bedroom are never a good thing, curse the mind of an agent and that dreaded gut instinct.
“I don’t see you for ages and we can only communicate via phone. That is fine work is work I knew what I was signing up for when I asked you to be mine.” He pushed me to the floor apparently the bed that was only a few feet away was too far. His fingers latched on to the buttons at the front of my dress popping each one roughly before exposing enough of my chest to push his hand up under my bra, cupping my breasts as his eyes burned with intensity. “But then you show up late and use another man as an excuse…”
“Wait! I already told you Hugo isn’t like that he’s…” My words were cut off as he squeezed hard on both my nipples at the same time causing my back to arch against the floor.
“Still a man. I suppose he picked this dress for you as well?” He moved his knee between my thighs with the little movement left to me I tried rubbing his leg with mine only to discover exactly how turned on he was and gasping. His hands don’t stop as they move to my back releasing the clasp on my bra and removing it skilfully as he shoved the top of the dress down to my hips. “And then you tease and torment me with that little display back there in the park.”
“Display?” It wasn’t fair he had me panting like an animal in heat, pinned beneath him and half exposed already while he had still failed to do more than shrug off his own jacket. I wanted him, I wanted to feel him. My hands travelled up to try to get a grip on his shirt to remove it only to be grabbed in his hands and have him guide them for me over the perfectly formed muscles of his stomach, pushing the fabric higher and higher until it was gone.
“You think I would miss such a thing? Or did you think I would be unaffected watching my girlfriend devour a popsicle so suggestively?” He was jealous and while it shouldn’t have been something I liked I actually did. A man of few words who showed even fewer emotions. Never said what he really meant and was hopeless with the human element in life. Yet here he was showing his raw emotions in front of me, my mouth watered as he dipped in to kiss me again.
“Mmm!”
He made quick work of removing my shoes and the rest of my clothing. I didn’t even notice him lifting me up to free the dress and underwear from my hips, my mind was in a total haze. He says I’m good at making him short circuit but honestly, when I’m with him it’s like a total system crash.
“You’re the only one that can make me feel like this.” Unbuckling his belt he slipped free of his trousers and took my hand once more guiding it over to rest on the throbbing hard length of him.
He hovered over me the heat rolling off him and over me making it feel like we were still outside in the baking sun. My hand travelled up his sides and found the same defined muscles on his back, drawing my fingertips over them as I tipped my chin to gain a kiss. As soon as our lips connected, I felt the familiar sensation of his fingers slide between my thighs. They alternated in direction and pressure targeting every nerve he knew would destroy me.
“Oh, God!” I cried out hips bucking against him making him groan into my mouth as he tried to reclaim my lips.
“Damn you’re sexy.”
“Yuzu?” We were both out of breath, panting and burning up. I could barely make out anything as my eyes started to burn with tears.
“I know.” Was all Yuzu said as he took one of my legs and placed it on his shoulder before plunging himself in as far as he could in one motion. “Ngh!”
“Ah!” The pressure from inside told me we were one and that was enough for me to start moving in time with him.
“Mmm ah MC!”
Our mingled breaths and voices filled the room with the scandalous noises of our lovemaking. I knew this would be the first in many rounds. We would talk and he would convince me, taking me over and over again. Matching his pace was all I could ever hope for knowing that this man was a human dynamo. I willingly gave myself over to the pleasure of being with him.
---
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thiswasinevitableid · 4 years
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47 for OT4, SFW or NSFW I love your writing! :))
Thank you! I went SFW for this one.
47: you overhear me complaining to my coworker about your ridiculous daily coffee order, whoops
“Oh christ, here he comes.” Duck mutters to Indrid as he pumps hazelnut syrup into a cup, “the one I was tellin you about.”
Indrid, stationed at the counter, tilts his head as he watches the windows, “would he be the one that looks like a lumberjack or the one who looks like a secret agent?”
“The second one. I dunno what it is, but his order drives me fuckin nuts. It’s super specific; dark roast, single origin only, heavy cream until it turns about that color” he points to the wall, “with a half pump of caramel and a half pump of vanilla. You’re gonna be that specific, just make it at home.” He’s busy putting a lid on  the drink and therefore misses Indrid’s hand waving. 
“I do, and it’s not that hard.” A deep voice makes him turn; the lumberjack, looking more amused than annoyed.
“And since you know my order so well already” the other man, smile, tight lipped, at him before turning to Indrid, “one of those and one large, black coffee.”
Duck starts the drink, making it as fast as he can so he can slink off into the back room. Shit, if the guy rats on him he could get in trouble, he’s already on thin ice after throwing out some rich kid for harassing the staff. 
Indrid takes the drinks, mouths, “go” and heads around the counter while Duck makes a bee-line for the supply closet. 
--------------------------
Indrid sets the cups down in front of the two men, then slides a plate with a large, hot monster cookie on it between them. 
“On the house, as they say.”
“This an apology cookie or a ‘don’t give us a bad review’ cookie?” The lumberjack smirks.
“Both.” Indrid says mildly, smiling and returning to his post.
 As he walks away he hears the deep voice whisper, “wouldn’t kick that one outta bed for eating crackers.”
A soft laugh, “Agreed. Pity his friend is an ass.”
When Jake and Hollis arrive a few minutes later to take over for him and Duck, he finds his boyfriend clonking his head into the wall by the break room. 
“Don’t worry, love, I smoothed things over.”
“Thanks. Just feel like a dipshit. Both for gettin overheard and complainin in the first place.”
“I assumed it was stress from waiting on interview results.”
“Yeah.” Duck pulls on his jacket, “still feel shitty though.”
“Come, let’s go home. I have some ideas for relaxation.” He purrs, kissing Duck’s cheek. 
“How may of ‘em are fuckin’-based?”
“Half.”
“Good, gives us some variety just in case.”
-----------------------------------------------------------
“We’ve paired you with another duo, if that’s okay?”
“Sure” Duck smiles at the Escape Room employee, takes Indrid’s hand as they follow him down the hall, “Aubrey says these are more fun in a group.”
“I look forward to--oh dear.” 
Duck turns to see the pair from the coffee shop last week. The lumberjack looks about the same, but the secret agent is dressed more casually than usual. His black hair is loose rather than slicked back, and he’s in jeans and shirt that reads, “Champ” with a dark outline of sea monster on the front. He almost looks cute.
“You’ve been  trapped in the lair of hostile, highly intelligent space aliens. You have an hour to escape. Good luck” The employee shuts the door, leaving the pairs to stare at each other. 
“Uh, hi. Again.” Duck waves awkwardly
“Hey.” The lumberjack waves back, “so, uh, this is hella awkward, right?”
“Yes.” The other three respond.
“Cool. Look, I dunno about you but I don’t wanna get dissected by aliens. So, bygones?”
The others nods and he smiles, “I’m Barclay, this is Joseph. My, uh, my boyfriend.” It’s distinctly odd watching such a large man blush like a schoolgirl. Joseph smiles, kisses his cheek, then looks around the room.
“Alright, we need to find the four symbol code to enter onto that pad. Spread out and look for places symbols might be hidden.”
They find the first one easily. Indrid’s eye for color and patterns helps them locate the second, and when a clue points to the third being high up, instead of having to construct a makeshift ladder or step-stool, Barclay simply reaches up and grabs it. It does not escape Duck’s notice that both Indrid and Joseph get appreciative looks on their faces when Barclay then moves a “cloning pod” out of the way all by himself. 
“I suspect the last symbol is hidden one something that is in...that hole.” Joseph points to the newly revealed wall lined with several cubbies, one of which has danger signs written all around it.
“Not it. Too close to a garbage disposal, and I have nightmares about putting my hand down that at the wrong time.” Barclay shudders.
“I would also prefer not to be the one to reach in; such elements often have a loud noise gimmick and I do not enjoy that.”
Joseph glances at Duck, blue eyes glinting with a not-entirely-friendly challenge.
“Fuck it, I’ll do it.” Duck steps forward and cautiously slides his hand in. Indrid’s instinct was right, as the whole starts vibrating with a loud, grinding sound. Indrid yelps, grabbing the other two men, who in turn jump and scream  in surprise. Duck grits his teeth, fights the urge to pull back, and finds a smooth tile waiting for him. When he removes his hand the noise stops, and he grins, triumphant, as he shows off the last symbol. 
“WHOO!” Barclay cheers and high-fives Duck  as Joseph punches in the symbols, stopping the timer on the wall, “shit, that was wild man, scared the living hell outta me and I wasn’t even  the one doing it.”
“Mmmm, my brave hero.” Indrid drapes his arms over his shoulder, kissing him.
“Sap.” Duck teases, kissing him back.
“You know, we make a pretty good team.” Joseph brushes stray hair off his face.
“Yeah. Would, um, would you guys like to go grab coffee or something?” Barclay looks genuinely hopeful, which is why, ten minutes later, Duck is sitting across from Joseph in a dark-wood coffee shop. Indrid has excused himself to wash his hands and Barclay is outside taking a phone call from someone named Mama.
Duck sips his coffee (black) as he watches Joseph measure cream into his mug.
“That explains it; guys who drink black coffee are always weird about guys who don’t.”
“Don’t Barclay drink his black?”
“Only when we’re out, when we’re at home he’s always making fancy coffee. Trying out new recipes. It works well. Or, um, mostly well. There was a green tea cherry espresso that was not his finest.”
“Eech. Heh, that reminds me of the time ‘Drid was so groggy he poured strawberry syrup into his coffee instead of caramel. Didn’t phase him one bit, but I felt like I was kissin a berry patch the whole day. Swear the man’s half moth or some shit from how much sugar he drinks.”
Joseph snickers, “sorry, imagining Indrid as a mothman is a funny image.”
Duck pictures it and giggles, which makes Joseph laugh harder. When they recover, he scratches the back of his neck, “Look, I’m sorry I was a dick about your coffee order. Just havin one of those weeks where everythin got on my nerves.”
“It’s alright. I’m not all that bothered by it. Not intellectually, anyway. Being particular or precise is something people have been, um, less than kind to me about in the past.”
“Nothin wrong with knowin what you like.”
Joseph glances out the window at Barclay, “No, no there’s not.”
----------------------------------
It becomes a weekly arrangement; the four of them meet for some kind of activity, then go to lunch or dinner. Duck learns many things over those weeks; that Barclay can figure out how to reverse engineer Indrid’s favorite cupcakes from a local bakery, that Joseph has a worryingly deep yet very endearing knowledge of bad horror movies. That while Joseph is terrifying during a trivia match, Duck can still wipe the floor with everyone when it comes to the science categories. He learns that Joseph is trans, like him, and that Barclay and Indrid actually went to the same high school but were two years apart and thus didn’t know each other. 
Right now, he’s learning that he’s not as good at laser tag as he thought he was. 
They went during the cheaper hours, mid-afternoon on a Sunday, and while all four of them are on the same team they’ve gotten separated in the neon-tinted darkness. 
He can tell the enemy team has spotted him, and is moving as fast as he can out of range, when a hand reaches out of a darkened turret and pulls him in.
“GAHoh, phew, scared the hell outta me Joe.”
“Sorry, it was safer than calling out.” The space is small, built for kids rather than two twenty-six year olds, and so Joe is pressed right up against him as he watches the door. He might be the only guy Duck knows who wears honest to god cologne, clean and minty smelling, and the scent wraps around him when Joe pulls him back against his chest to hide them from passing opponents. 
“Fuck, that was close.” He whispers.
“Don’t worry” Joe murmurs in his ear, voice huskier than normal, “you’ve got me to look out for you.” He breaks away as if nothing happened, pulls Duck’s body out into the glowing chaos, while his mind stays in the little room, wondering what the fuck that was.
------------------------------------
 “Can’t believe we got our asses handed to us by a bunch of eleven year olds.” Duck groans as they sit, licking their wounds along with soft-serve from a tiny shack that Barclay swears by.
“That one blonde girl is gonna grow up to be a sniper.” Barclay offers his cone (chocolate and sour cherry) to Joseph, who takes a prim bite.
“It may run in the family; I think her dad was the one with the ‘Go Army’ shirt.” 
“Oh, were we not supposed to be going easy on them?” Indrid cocks his head. The others stare at him in mute shock. 
“I’m kidding; I was utterly outmatched in there.” He grins before dragging his tongue up his cone (pineapple and marshmallow). When he reaches the tip he opens his mouth wider, taking it all in with a satisfied moan. He pulls off, stray ice cream dribbling down his chin until Joe hands him a napkin. Indrid thanks him, then proceeds to do the exact same thing, over and over, and Duck realizes neither of the other men have looked away from his boyfriend. Barclay’s legs are now crossed, and Joe’s cheeks are pink. Duck can’t really blame them--he knows exactly what Indrid can do with that mouth--but what’s stranger is he doesn’t feel jealous or annoyed. He knows Indrid sometimes struggles with looking, in his own words, “offputting.” It’s nice to see two other people catch on to just how hot he is. 
Then again, he kind of wishes Joe would stop staring and eat his own cone; he wants to see what his tongue can do, too.
---------------------------------------------
“Watcha drawin’?” Duck slides onto the couch next to Indrid.
“Just random images.”
“That us with Joe and Barclay?”
“I, ah, yes it is.”
“Like it a lot. Christ you’re talented, it’s like how much you like us is comin’ right off the page.”
“Is, ah, is that so? I hadn’t noticed, ah, oh dear, I just remembered I need to go call Jake about covering my shift.”
------------------------------------------
Duck: That new barcade is finally open, wanna come with us on Saturday?
Barclay: Wish we could, but we got a friends birthday that night.
Duck: No big, let us know if you want to catch a flick on Sunday
Barclay sets the phone down, not remembering it’s a group text until Joe pokes his head out of the bedroom.
“Shit, whose birthday is on Saturday? We need to get a gift.”
“Oh, uh, no, no one. Just, uh, didn’t feel like going out but didn’t want them to think I was, like, angry or something. Sorry, shoulda asked if you wanted to go without me, shit, that was rude.”
“It’s alright, I don’t mind time that’s just for us.” He crosses the living room, fiddles with Barclays hair, “but let me know if you want to see a movie Sunday, I’m happy either way.”
“Uhuh, will do.” Barclay nods, not really paying attention, as he imagines silvery hair in the dark theater and holding slender, cool fingers in his own.
---------------------------------
“Why do I get the feeling you don’t actually have that DVD to loan me?”
“I do” Duck shuts the apartment door behind Joe, “but we got some things to discuss first.” He waits until Joe is sitting next to Barclay (lured here by the promise of cookies) and across from Indrid (lives here, not that hard to lure).
“Look, I don’t think I really gotta point out how weird it is that we went from hangin out every week to not seein’ each other for near a month. But what I do gotta point out is why it’s happenin’.”
“We’ve all been busy?” Joe hazards.
“Yeah, but we all were busy before and we made time for each other. Now we, myself included, are cancelin shit.” He takes a deep breath, “Barclay, Joe, you both got a thing for ‘Drid, don’t you?”
Joe nods while Barclay blushes and mutters, “yeah.”
“And ‘Drid, you got a thing for both of them?”
His boyfriend shifts nervously in his seat, but nods all the same. Barclay looks genuinely surprised. 
“Well, you three ain’t the only ones realizin’ you want more than you got. Joe, I, uh, I really like you. As in wanna date you. So, uh, that’s where we’re at.” He sits down next to Indrid, who instantly takes his hand. 
“That’s...wait, don’t we all want the same thing?” Joe looks between them, puzzled. 
“You’d really be okay with me dating Indrid?” Barclay asks softly. 
“We’d both be dating him. And I’d be dating Duck as well as you two. Assuming that was alright with Indrid?”
“....You know, I think it is.” Indrid squeezes Duck’s hand, “I was afraid to admit how I felt; I didn’t want to come between you and Barclay, because you clearly love each other, and I couldn’t bear the thought of losing Duck. But I’ve also seen how happy he is around you, Joseph; there is no reason we could not all work things out to be happy as a, ah, polycule? Is that the term?”
“Think so.” Barclay relaxes, “fuck, I felt so bad thinking that wanting Indrid would fuck everything up, don’t know what to do with my self now that I’m not stressing about it.”
“I propose we order dinner and just...talk.” Indrid rests his head on Duck’s shoulder, “I think that will help us sort out where to go from here.”
Duck orders takeout from the Chinese place down the block as Indrid and Joe arrange the living room into a place where they can all sit together comfortably and Barclay grab drinks. Soon they’re gathered on the floor, working out logistics and boundaries and hopes and fears between bites of fried rice and chow mein. Joe keeps notes, curling closer to Duck as the evening goes on. 
There’s a part of him that wants to jump straight to sex, to pin Joe to floor and fuck him while his other boyfriends do what they want to him, to Duck, to each other. But this thing between them is a new leaf in spring, vulnerable and just beginning to grow. 
So, after dinner, they cuddle up on the couch and floor to watch the midnight movie on local T.V, hands tentatively finding each other and bodies gradually resting closer together in new configurations. 
He falls asleep on the floor, Indrid spooning him and Joe resting his head on his belly. Wakes up with Joe curled around him and Barclay cuddled up to Indrid, snoring softly. 
Duck slips out of the configuration, pads into the kitchen to start coffee. When Joe sneaks up behind him he gasps, snickers as the taller man kisses him good morning. Then he grabs two mugs, smiling to himself at his luck as he opens the fridge. After all, he already knows just how his new boyfriend likes his coffee. 
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