#if you all really are these poor broke victimized college students you say you are there’s no way you know anything about business models ok

[ghostpunkrock]

scrolled thru the watcher tag again I can’t help myself and it’s just making me sad and mad like the amount of people calling them greedy capitalists is so annoying literally none of you actually understand anything about political theory. they’re not landlords! they’re asking to be paid for their jobs! like do I think this paid subscription service launch at this time for them is a bad idea? Yes, I’ll say that now, but it’s not morally evil please get some perspective

[lils-writes-stuff]

A Thin Line

spencer reid x reader 

Best years part 4 | part three | part two | part one

summary: the team takes on a case in California involving home invasions. the reader has a surprise for her when they get back. 

warnings: normal criminal minds things, mentions of racism and sexism (are those warnings idk)

A/N: based on season 7 episode 15; this ones cute ngl 

“I think you should tell Spencer,” Penelope said turning in her swivel chair to Y/N who was sitting behind her. 

“Tell him what, ‘Hey Spence, guess what, this girl who tormented me through my college life has come back to haunt me.’ Yeah, okay,” she said, shaking her head. She took a sip of the coffee in her mug, “And besides, there’s nothing really to tell him, she could just be trying to scare me, she loves to play mind games.” 

“Well, you should at least tell him what’s going on, you’ve received two more notes from her since the night that you called me, and it’s been almost a month,” Y/N sighed knowing that Penelope was right. “And you guys have been going out for that long now, so I’m sure he’ll understand if you don’t want to tell him all about your past right away.” 

“You’re right,” Y/N said, her finger trailing along the rim of her mug as she thought about when she should tell him. 

“And you should also tell Hotch.” 

“Tell Hotch? Why would I need to tell him?” Y/N asked looking up at Penelope. 

“I think it would just be smart, you know in case something happens,” Penelope responded with a small sigh, remembering back to the whole Emily situation and what happened when she didn’t tell them.

“I’ll tell him if I get another note.” 

“Okay, good,” Penelope said, then she smiled and began to get really excited. “So, you have to tell me, how have you and the good doctor been doing?” 

Y/N giggled as she watched her friend get excited about her relationship. “It’s been going good, we’ve gotten to know each other a lot more on our dates, the other night we went to this museum, and at first I didn’t think that would be a cool place to go on a date, but then it turned out really romantic,” Y/n smiled as she thought back to the night of the date. Spencer’s hand grasping her’s as they roamed the halls of the museum. Her eyes trained on him as he spoke about the parchments in a case or as he explained in depth about the artifact on the wall.

“Oh my gosh, that’s so adorable!” Penelope exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Have you two kissed yet?” 

“No, we haven’t, but I’m not rushing this, I don’t want to rush it.” 

“Oh my- that is so mature, look at you, you're all grown up,” Penelope said, taking Y/N’s face in her hands squeezing her cheeks together. “I remember when you first joined the team, your 26-year-old self all antsy and ready to catch some serial killers. Now, look at you! 27 and so grown up I-” 

“I’m 28 actually,” Y/N corrected Penelope with a laugh. 

“Did we miss your birthday?” Penelope asked with a guilt written face. 

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it, birthdays are just days,” Y/N said trying to reassure her friend. 

“Don’t worry about it? You and Spencer both, he did the same thing awhile back on his birthday,” Penelope said referring back to when Spencer had turned 30. “And they’re not ‘just days’, it’s the day that you were born, they are wonderful days! We need to do something for it, when was it?” 

Y/N just shook her head with a laugh before standing, “It was last week, but we really don’t have to do anything.” She tried to explain to the bubbly woman in the chair. 

“No, we do, we are going to have dinner together as a family, and you are going to like it,” she stopped her rant when she saw her case alert go off and a text from Hotch. “Right when you get back from this case.” 

--------

   Y/N walked into the round table room smiling at her co-workers then making eye contact with Spencer. “Hi,” she said with school-girl glee as she took a seat next to him. 

“Hi,” he said back, the light blush on his face growing. 

“Y/N and Spencer, sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-,” JJ began to sing the schoolyard rhyme.

“Shut up,” Y/N said giggling looking at the blonde who just laughed at her. 

“Alright let’s get started,” Hotch said, taking his seat Derek and Emily following closely behind him. 

“San Bernardino, California,” Penelope began as everyone opened up their tablets with the case file. “Two home invasions in less than a week, only a block apart, exact same M.O… Both houses were burgled, power and phone lines cut, and they broke in through a back window.” 

“In each case, the entire family was shot and killed?” Spencer asked, eyebrows raised at the thought. 

“Yes, that is right. I present to you the Mitchells and the Lewis family,” Penelope grabbed her remote from beside her, pulling the pictures of the family up on the screen. 

“They took out the power and phone so what, they could feel isolated?” Y/N asked. 

“The alarm system wouldn’t work and they couldn’t call for help,” Rossi explained the probable reasoning for why the power was cut. 

“Most modern alarm systems have a backup generator and a cell phone connection to the security company,” Spencer said wondering why this didn’t happen in this scenario.

“Yeah, but the Mitchells had an older system, and the Lewis’ were behind on their account, so it was inactive,” Penelope explained. 

“An assailant was killed in each case?” JJ asked, looking at Penelope next to her.

“Affirmative, but the sheriff hasn’t I.D.’d them yet.”

“So both families were armed, and fought back and shot one of their attackers,” Emily said looking around the table. 

 “Is that a coincidence or a connection?” Derek asked looking over to Emily. 

“What concerns me is the frequency of the kills,” Hotch said looking up from his tablet. 

“Only four days apart,” Y/N said looking at the dates. 

“Alright, it’s a long flight, we better get going, wheels up in 30.” Everyone stood up and headed out of the room to grab their go-bags. 

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

“Brian Mitchell was an avid hunter and Matt Lewis was an Iraq war vet, so it doesn’t surprise me that they both owned guns,” Y/N said looking up from her tablet. 

“Last year, southern California’s inland empire ranked fourth in the nation in foreclosure rates. Typically, as the economy falls, the crime rates will rise,” Spencer said. 

“Times are tough, desperate people do desperate things,” Rossi said, agreeing with Spencer’s statement. 

“Greetings all,” Penelope said as she appeared on the screen. “Your herald bears tidings.”

“What you got, Mama?” Derek asked as he turned to the screen. 

“The sheriff I.D.’d both the dead home invaders,” Penelope began to type on her computer pulling up some of the files. “First up is Alex Collison, twenty. Made an impressive list of bad life decisions before he croaked, included but not limited to...possession, a couple of drug charges, a card-carrying member of the Verdugo heights boys.”

“They’re gang members,” JJ realized as she listened to what Penelope was saying. 

“Oh, he was, but slow your roll, home-girl,” Penelope said before she told of the next victim. “Because next up is Ronald Underwood, 19. Zero records, unless you want to count some volunteer work. Straight-A student, putting himself through school.”

“Not exactly the home invasion type,” Emily said. 

“Both from a poor area of town, grew up a mile apart,” Hotch said while he looked down at the tablet in his hands. 

“Hard to actually tell from the crime scene photos of how many assailants there actually were,” Y/N said as she swiped through the photos. 

“Well, if it was gang-related, there could be a lot of them,” Emily said looking at Y/N.

“The homes that got invaded were on the other side of town, a predominantly white area full of middle-class families,” JJ explained the demographics.

“Hey, guys,” Penelope said, bringing the attention to her. “The M.E. report just came in, both of them had high levels of oxycodone in their system.” 

   “That’s strange. Violent crimes like these are normally associated with stimulant drugs,” Spencer said puzzled as to why that was. 

“Like meth?” Y/N asked turning her head to look at Spencer next to her. 

“Yeah, like meth.” 

 “Underwood’s as straight as an arrow,” Derek began. “Collison’s a garden-variety gang-banger. I grew up with knuckleheads like that, high-risk break-ins, and oxy, that’s not their M.O.”

“Regardless, we need to get ahead of it. The press has got a community on the verge of panic,” Hotch explained. “JJ and I will coordinate with the sheriff’s office, I want the rest of you at the crime scene.” 

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

Y/N walked into the home of the Lewis’, inspecting all the blood on the walls. It almost felt like she could hear them scream for help and she so desperately wanted to go back in time and save them from all this. The shattered family photos and the torn-up house just made her feel so unsettled. 

 Y/N turned as she had finished with the room she was in and headed out meeting Emily in the hallway. 

“You alright?” She asked as she saw Y/N’s sad face.

“Yeah, just family annihilators, they always hit me differently, you know?” She said as they turned and walked down the hall towards the stairs. 

“Ballistics confirmed that the rest of the Lewis family was shot with the same 357,” Spencer said as he turned and watched Y/N and Emily walk down the stairs together.

“So if it was a gang, there was only one shooter,” Rossi stated after processing the information he had just received. 

“The second and third victims were Trisha Lewis and six months old Blake,” Emily said. 

Spencer shook his head at the thought of a six-month-old being killed. 

“The injury patterns suggest that Mrs. Lewis tried to shield the baby with her own body,” Y/N said with a sigh trying not to let herself get worked up. 

 “Matt Lewis was found right here,” Rossi said with his hands pointed to the floor. “Ronald Underwood just over there-” he pointed to the blood spot to his left- “Underwood was shot eleven times in the head and abdomen.”

“But Lewis himself only had a single gunshot wound to the head at almost point-blank range?” Spencer questioned.  

“How did someone get that close?” Y/N asked looking between Rossi and Spencer. 

“He could’ve been subdued first,” Emily proposed. 

“The M.E. didn’t find any signs of a blitz attack or struggle,” responded Spencer. 

“Well, it had to be an ambush of some kind,” Derek said as he inspected some of the walls with blood spatter. “Probably when he was confronting Underwood.” 

“But that’s almost impossible based on where the body was found,” Spencer said looking over at Derek. 

“It’s right in the middle of the room,” Emily said as she looked at the bloodstains. 

“It’s too out in the open to surprise somebody,” Y/N said agreeing with Emily. 

“Matt Lewis wasn’t shot here,” Rossi said as he pointed to the spot where the body was found. 

“No, but someone moved the body to make it look like he was,” Spencer said. 

“Forensic countermeasure designed to make us think that these guys died in a gunfight that never occurred,” Derek said as he realized what probably happened. 

“Bullet and blood everywhere, too messy for an accurate reconstruction,” Rossi said. 

“Okay, so the unsub gets the drop on Matt Lewis,” Y/N said as she pointed to where Matt Lewis was found. “He then kills the rest of the family, and then leaves behind a drugged-up patsy to cover his tracks?” 

“This wasn’t a burglary at all. There was a higher purpose here, they’re staging the crime scene as some kind of message,” Spencer said. 

“This guy’s trying to make it look like black kids from the hood are killing white families, in white neighborhoods,” Derek said. 

“Pretty powerful message,” Emily said.

“No kidding,” Y/N added as she shook her head. 

The five finished up in the house and decided to head back to the station

“You good?” Spencer asked her as they walked out of the house, noticing how she was looking a bit upset. 

“Yeah, yeah, I just can’t believe what happened in there really, family annihilators you know they just get to me, this one more than the others,” she explained to him. 

“Yeah, this one is sad, I get it,” he said as he looked at her. “But we’ll catch him like we always do, and if you’re lucky you’ll get to put the cuffs on him.” The last statement was a hope to make her smile because he loved her smile so much.   

It worked. 

A smile crept up to Y/N’s face. “I might just do that.”

-----------

 Y/N sat in the station the next morning. Head laying on her arms as she looked at the crime board on the wall. Another family had been killed last night, so they had been added to the board.

 She stared at the victims of the first two families, they looked so much like hers. She saw herself in the shoes of the young girls, the memories of her childhood overwhelmed her. She lifted her head up and rubbed her face with her hands lightly, not wanting to rub the makeup on her face off. 

The feeling of a warm hand on her back made her pull her face out of her hands. She looked beside her and saw Spencer as he sat down after taking his bag off, a coffee in his hand. 

“You didn’t bring any for me, I see how it is,” Y/N said with a fake hurt expression on her face as she leaned into the back of her chair. 

“Actually-” he pointed to her right side- “I did think of you.” 

Her heart fluttered, “You sure know the way to my heart Spence.” She grabbed the large coffee cup and took a sip from it. The warm liquid running down her throat soothing her. 

“Hey love birds, we’re about to give the profile,” Derek said leaning into the room they were in. The two stood up and made their way to where the rest of the team was.

 “We believe we’re looking for a white male, in his late twenties to early thirties,” Hotch said, beginning the profile. 

“Wait, wait, wait,” A deputy said quickly. “I’m sorry, I thought we were looking at black gang-bangers?” 

“The unsub has been staging the crime scenes to make it look like black gangs and undocumented immigrants were responsible,” Derek said to the deputy.

“Why would anyone do that?” The deputy asked. 

“We think he’s trying to create some racial conflict,” Y/N said hoping that was the best way to answer. 

 “In 1969, Charles Manson orchestrated the Tate-La Bianca murders, in the hopes of creating a race war between the blacks and whites that he referred to as Helter Skelter,” Spencer explained. 

 “A name he stole from a Beatles song,” Rossi added, the comment only being funny to the team since they knew that Rossi’s friends with Ringo.

“Members of the Manson Family left watermelon rinds at the scene of the crime and also painted panther paws on the wall in blood in the hopes of convincing authorities that the black panther was responsible,” Spencer continued on his explanation. 

 “Hate groups like the Aryan Nation believe that race war is not only inevitable but necessary,” Hotch said looking over the see of officers. 

 “Our unsub may be a member of one of these groups,” Emily added. 

“Aryan gangs have a strong presence in prisons, so he may be an ex-con or even possibly related to a convict,” Y/N said. 

“We think he may also be some kind of zealot,” Rossi began. “He believes his war is already being fought, and these murders are a mission to him.”

“And like a soldier, he is willing to put himself in harm’s way,” JJ added. 

“The unsub may also be vulnerable somehow, weak mind, or even lonely. His cause gives him a sense of power and belonging,” Spencer said giving more depth to who the unsub might be. 

“He’s physically fit enough to move dead bodies, so he’s probably young,” Derek said. 

“But not too young as to be impulsive,” Y/N added quickly.

“These attacks took planning and focus. So, he’s disciplined,” Rossi said. 

“He uses oxycodone to drug his unwilling partners,” Spencer explained. 

“He does this without killing them, which shows that he is knowledgeable about dosages,” Y/N said. 

“And oxy is expensive, so look at medical care professionals and caregivers, anyone with access to prescription drugs,” Emily said. 

“This unsub is dedicated and driven, it makes him especially dangerous. Surrender is not likely part of his strategy,” Hotch said as the profile came to a close. 

---------

“Hey Hotch, Y/N,” Derek said as he walked over to the two that were sitting at a desk going over some geographics to help Spencer with his profile. “There’s a mayoral race in town, and there’s a guy named Clark Preston all over the news.”

“Looks like he’s running a close second,” Y/N said as she looked at the tablet in Derek’s hand. 

 “Yeah, and check this out,” He scrolled down and clicked on the video. 

“These vicious home invasions are a sign of the times,” Clark Preston said in the video. “As demographics change, so do crime rates. Now we may not be able to slow the browning of America, but we can sure as hell take our city back. And if you elect me, I’ll lead that charge.”

“The browning of America?” Y/N asked with astonishment. 

“That’s a damn near hate speech,” Derek said as he looked at Hotch.

 “He’s using the murders to further his campaign and I guess people are rallying behind it,” Hotch said. 

“So what if our unsub is nothing like Manson? Manson never got his hands dirty, what if our unsub is more like his followers?” Derek proposed. 

“You think he’s being manipulated?” Y/n asked pulling her legs up in the seat she was sitting in. 

“Maybe even unintentionally, but either way, rhetoric like this could fuel his fire,” Derek said. 

“We should talk to Preston,” Hotch said, nodding to the tablet. 

“I already sent a car,” Derek told Hotch. 

“Good,” was Hotch��s short response. “Y/N, do you mind talking to him with us, your knowledge in political science might help,” Hotch said turning to the woman in the chair. 

“Sure,” she said with a nod. 

“I can’t tell you how happy I am you’re here gentleman,” Preston said, not even acknowledging Y/N in the room. “Maybe now someone will stop these savages, what can I do to help.” 

Derek looked at Y/N with one raised brow in question, after noticing that the politician in the chair wouldn’t even look at her. She just shook her head while she shrugged her shoulders and listened to what Hotch was saying. 

“We were hoping to talk to you about some of your rhetoric,” Hotch asked as he looked at Preston across from him. 

“My rhetoric,” Preston said, it wasn’t a question just him repeating what Hotch said hoping he heard him right. 

“We believe the recent murders maybe hate crimes,” Derek said walking closer to Preston. 

“Some of the things you say, well they maybe be construed as inflammatory,” Y/N said while she moved spots to stand behind Hotch.

“Agent Y/L/N’s referring to some of your recent campaign speeches and the references to the murders,” Hotch explained.

 “We believe that whoever’s responsible for these crimes is impressionable and may be responding to the vitriol,” Derek said. 

“You think I’m responsible?” Preston asked, turning to look at Derek. 

“Nobody said that,” Y/N said crossing her arms. Preston never even looked at her when she spoke. 

“If this person is motivated by racist sentiments, then what you are saying publicly may be affecting him,” Hotch explained making Preston turn his attention towards him.

“You’re profilers right?” Preston asked. 

“Right,” Hotch responded. 

“You study behavior, not actual facts,” Preston’s comment made Y/N sigh. “And then you come up with theories.” 

“It’s really, not that simple,” Y/N said as she looked at the man. For the first time, he looked at her, and then he rolled his eyes at her statement.

“I’m sorry, who are you a secretary or something?” The blood in Y/N’s body boiled with rage at the question. She then watched Preston turn to Derek, “I’ll bet you had to work extra hard to get in the bureau, didn’t you? Probably still have to prove yourself on a regular basis. I respect that. I wish there were more like you.” He took small pauses in between each statement.

The man stood up from his chair and began to head towards the door. “I’ll cut back my media appearances, for now. But I suggest you start proving some of those theories of yours. And get some of those hard-working men to arrest those punks doing this.” 

The way he said men made Y/N want to punch him so bad that she had to fit the urge to walk over to him and do just that. 

“You gentlemen enjoy your day,” Preston then let himself out, once again not acknowledging Y/N. 

 “We should check out his list of contributors and his staff, it might be somebody in his camp,” Hotch said standing up from his chair.  

“We need to check him out, too,” Derek said. 

“No kidding,” Y/N said stilled enraged by the man. “Did you see what he was doing? Or more like wasn’t, he wouldn’t even acknowledge my presence and than he dared to ask me if I was a secretary.”

“The guy is no doubt a racist and is also very sexist,” Derek said.

“Oh yeah for sure,” Y/N said as she walked over to Derek by the door. 

  “Come on Pretty girl, don’t let him get you all riled up,” Derek said to her as they walked out of the room. 

“I know, I know, it just makes me angry,” Y/N said as she and Derek walked over to the area where the rest of the team sat.

“What makes you angry?” Spencer asked as she sat down beside her. 

“Clark Preston, not only is he a racist, and let that be known when he spoke to Derek, but also he is majorly sexist,” she grabbed a paper cup from the middle of the table and then poured herself some water. “The whole time we were speaking to him, he didn’t even look at me, and the one time he did he rolled his eyes and asked me if i was a secretary.” 

“Are you serious?” Emily asked with disbelief.  

“That’s ridiculous,” Spencer said while he shook his head. 

“Uh-huh, you know Derek if he is a part of this, you know what would make me so happy,” She said as she turned to Derek. 

“What’s that?” He asked her. 

“If we got to arrest him, but I want to put the cuffs on him, just to let him know that a woman has power over him,” she said with authority.

Derek laughed before agreeing and promising her that if Preston was a part, they would do that. 

The team sat scattered at various desks around the station they were at. Y/N stood next to Emily and Spencer as they looked over some maps of the area. Rossi sat at a large desk to left and Derek in a desk behind them towards the right. 

“Hey, talk to me, doll face,” Derek said answering his phone to talk to Penelope, everyone’s attention now drawn to Derek and the woman on the phone. 

  “I got some dirt on your mayoral candidate, Clark Preston,” she spoke. 

“He’s a politician, that shouldn’t be hard,” Rossi said as he walked over to be closer. 

“Yeah, he’s a real estate lawyer who ran for city council last year and lost,” Penelope explained. “And he’s rich, as in if money was dirt he’d be filthy. He quadrupled his net worth in the last ten years, mostly from real estate.”

“So he managed to thrive despite the area’s economic downturn,” Spencer said in realization. 

“What do you mean by mostly?” Y/N asked leaning closer to Derek’s phone so that she could be heard. 

“Well, he is on the board of several financial institutions. Hedge funds, pension funds, oh, he likes to shuffle his money around. Even found some offshore accounts of his, I did,” she said giving what other dirt she could find on Preston.

 “You only do that if you’re trying to hide it,” Emily said.

“What about his staff and contributors?” Spencer asked the woman on the phone.

“Uh-uh. No, they’re clean,” she said.

 “Alright thanks, Garcia,” Derek said before he hung up the phone.“Preston’s a part of this, me and Y/N both think so.”

“Yeah you should have seen him in there,” Y/N said as she turned to Emily. 

“He’s sexist, racist, and a little shady, maybe, but a murderer?” Emily asked as she looked between the two.

“It may be just a feeling, but I know he’s in this, we just need to figure out how,” Derek explained.  

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

The next morning the team arrived to bad news, as another family was killed earlier that morning. Surprisingly this time, the guy the unsub would have left for the blame got away.

 “His names Ramon Gomez, he’s an undocumented immigrant from Mexico City and he’s pretty freaked out,” JJ said as her, Y/N, Derek, Spencer, and Emily stood in front of the room Ramon was in. 

“That’s pretty understandable,” Y/N said while she folded her arms over herself. 

“Was he able to give a description of the unsub?” Spencer asked as he looked at JJ. 

“Uh, just of the vehicle, his English is not that good,” JJ explained. “We put an APB out.”

 Emily nodded her head, then turned to walk into the room with Ramon in it. “Hole, mi nombre es Emily Prentiss,” she said to Ramon. 

The four others stood outside and watched as she interacted with the man sitting at the table.

“This poor guy,” Y/N said as she looked at the frightened man sitting at the table. 

The three beside her hummed in agreement as the continued to watch and somewhat listen to what Emily was saying to Ramon. He pulled his arm out showing scars on his arm. He then got a look of realization on his face as he remembered more.

Emily then thanked him and walked out of the room to the other four. 

“He remembers hearing a train and then loud music,” she said as she came to the four standing. 

“That’s something, let’s get started,” Y/N said and the five began walking towards the area they had been working in. 

“There are approximately two hours between Ramon’s abduction here-” Spencer pointed to one spot on the map- “and his escape here. He crossed the train tracks here. Now, given the time and distance parameters, there’s no way the unsub could have ventured outside this radius.” 

“Okay, so he said the train was close, and he heard laughter and loud music,” Emily said. 

“I looked at points of interest next to the train tracks and there really isn’t much. There’s a warehouse, a taco stand that would have been closed, and a bar called the drunken dog ” Spencer explained.      

“Why stop there? He need a drink?” Rossi asked. 

 “He doesn’t seem like the drinking type,” JJ said. 

“Yeah, he’s not impulsive or sloppy enough,” Y/N said sticking her hands into the back pockets of her pants. 

“I live to serve you, sir,” Penelope said as she answered Hotch’s call. 

“Garcia, what can you tell us about a bar called The Drunken Dog?” Hotch asked.

“Ooh, I like it already. Let’s see- uh- it’s been around thirty years. It was opened by a warehouse worker named Manny Gresham, upon his death six years ago it was bought by a hedge fund company called First Advantage.”

“Why would a hedge fund company want a bar?” Emily asked. 

“Let’s see. Well, they bought it for a song,” Penelope began. “And, poor man, his medical expenses bankrupted him, I guess that’s why-- shut the front door.” 

“What is it?” Y/N asked. 

“Clark Preston is on the board of First Advantage, which explains why the bar is on a shortlist of local businesses that support Preston for mayor,” Penelope answered.

 “Of course it is,” Y/N said as she sat down on the desk behind her.

“Okay we missed something, we need to go back over his staff and contributors again,” Emily said looking at Spencer beside her. 

“They all came up clean,” JJ said.

“Garcia, look up DMV records and find every registration in the area that matches the description on the unsub’s vehicle,” Derek said to Penelope over the phone. 

 “Okay, 79 names and I’m way ahead of you, none of them match anyone Preston’s team-” she stopped. “What the what? Oh. I’m good at my job. Pamela Mills donates monthly to Preston’s campaign. Her son Trevor, his car matches the description, and it’s registered in his name.”

“Got a photo and an address?” Y/N asked.

“Yes, I do. I also have a place of work for Trevor. He is a part-time messenger, I’m sending it now,” Penelope said pressing ‘enter’ on her keyboard aggressively. 

“Alright JJ, Morgan, and Prentiss take the workplace, we’ll take the house,” Hotch said dismissing everyone to go off. 

  ---------

“What do you have, Garcia?” Hotch asked as he sped down the road, lights on in case they were stopped. 

“Sir, I found the connection between the Mills family and Clark Preston. Ten years ago, the Mills were the victims of a home invasion. Robert Mills, the father, and 10-year-old Julie were killed. Pamela was raped, and now she has a lot of brain damage, that has left her in a near vegetative state,” Penelope said explaining the sad story of the family. 

“What about Trevor?” Spencer asked. 

 “He hid in the closet and when it was over, he called 911,” Penelope answered. 

“That’s why he stuffed that boy in the closet,” Hotch said referring to the last family that was killed.

“He was reliving his own victimization.” Y/N said in realization.

“He didn’t do that to the other children he murdered because he didn’t relate to them,” Rossi said. 

“Garcia was anybody convicted of the crime?” Hotch asked.

“Yes, a Ronnie Green and Carlos Jackson. Both African American, both serving like in Folsom,” Penelope said before she continued with her story. “And then after the murders, Preston, he financially supported the family almost entirely. “ 

“So they’re close, he’s known the family for years,” Rossi stated. 

“That must be how they’re paying Pamela’s medical expenses,” Spencer said. 

“Yeah, it would be really hard to cover with Trevor’s part-time messenger salary,” Y/N added looking to Spencer beside her. 

‘Yeah, I mean, it’s a top-flight policy,” Penelope said reading the health care bill.

“So Preston is playing the savior,’ Rossi said. 

“And it looks like that monthly donation, that Pamela makes to Preston's campaign, is her disability check,” Penelope added.

“My guess is Trevor authorized that because he feels beholden to Preston,” Rossi said piecing together why that would happen. 

 “He probably Idolizes him,” Y/N added. 

 “So Preston is manipulating the Mills family to further his own agenda, he’s behind everything,” Hotch said coming to the conclusion that Preston was part of it all along.

 “He took advantage of Trevor in a vulnerable state and made him trust and then brainwashed him,” Y/N said. 

“Turned him into a killer,” Spencer added. 

 “Uh, guys,” Penelope interrupted. “There’s something else, Preston bought the Mills home after the invasions.”

The tires came to a screeching halt as Hotch pulled up to the Mills house. The four hoped out of the car, taking out their guns and walked to the front door. 

 Hotch pounded on the door, “FBI!” 

When no answer came, Hotch pushed the door in and entered the threshold of the house. Y/N stood between Rossi and Spencer as they walked into the house. They then split up and looked around the house, Hotch and Rossi downstairs, Spencer and Y/N upstairs. 

  Y/N held her gun out in front of her as she entered a small guest room. She made sure the room was clear before walking out and meeting Spencer in the hall. 

“You find anything?” She asked while she holstered her gun on her hip. 

“Yeah, this note,” Spencer said as he inspected the note in his hand. 

“Come on, let’s go find Hotch and Rossi,” She said before they walked downstairs. 

 “He’s not here,” Y/N said as she walked into the room with Hotch and Rossi. Spencer close behind her. Pamela Mills was seen laying in the bed not moving but looking at the four by her door.  

“I found this in his bedroom,” Spencer said holding out the letter he found. “It’s addressed to her,” he said referring to Pamela.

“ ‘The price of peace is sacrifice, and I’m prepared to pay that price, no matter how high. I hope you’ll still love me.’ This is a goodbye letter,” Rossi said after reading the letter. 

“Or a suicide note,” Hotch countered. 

“He doesn’t profile as suicidal,” Spencer said in a hushed tone not wanting to disturb the woman in the bed. 

“No, but he knows this could be his final mission,” Rossi said. 

“He may want to go out in a blaze of glory,” Y/N said as she glanced at the woman in the bed. 

“It’s all about the election, he’s only got one move left, we need to secure Mayor Wennington, I’ll have the rest of the team find Hilary Ross,” Hotch said pulling out his phone to call Derek. 

They headed back out to the car and got an address for Mayor Wennington heading over to his house. Y/N walked up the front door, the three men with her following behind closely. 

“Mayor Wennington?” She asked when the door opened and a white-haired man in a loose-fitting tie answered.

“Yes,” he responded. 

“Hi, I’m Agent Y/N Y/L/N, this is Agent Hotchner, Rossi, and Dr. Reid, we’re with the FBI,” she said introducing the men behind her. 

“Is this about those recent murders?” The Mayor asked with concern. 

“Yes, sir, we have reason to believe you might be in danger, would you come with us,” she said gesturing to the car in his driveway, 

“Yes, of course, let me grab my coat,” he turned around and walked ten steps to a coat rack to grab his jacket before he headed out the door with them. 

“Yeah, Morgan,” Hotch said answering his phone while they walked to the SUV.

“We’re on our way to Hilary Ross’ house now, she’s still not answering her phone,” Derek said.

 “All right, call local police, he’s not going to go quietly,” Hotch ordered.

“You have Mayor Wennington?”

“Yeah, keep me posted,” Hotch said before hanging up. 

----------

The next day, Y/N pulled into Clark Preston’s campaign office parking lot with Rossi ready to arrest him. 

“You want to do the honors kid?” Rossi asked Y/N as they exited the vehicle they were in.

“Absolutely,” she said with a smile, her wish from the previous day coming true. 

“I hope this is a good enough birthday present,” Rossi said with a smirk looking at Y/N.

“Who told you? Penelope? I thought she would’ve dropped that by now,” she said with a laugh as she opened the door to the office.

The two agents walked back to the room where Preston was sitting. 

“Clark Preston you’re under arrest,” Y/N said as she walked over to the man sitting at his desk. She pulled him out of his seat and placed her handcuffs from her pocket on him. 

“For what?” He asked defensively. 

“For orchestrating the murders of the Mitchells, Lewis’, and others,” Rossi said as he and Y/N began to lead Preston out of his office. 

“What proof do you have?” He asked trying to find a way out of the situation. 

“Voicemails left by Trevor Mills,” Y/N said shoving him when he stopped walking.

“Voicemail messages? That’s ludicrous, that boy is mentally unstable, always has been,” Preston said. 

“Clark Preston you have the right to remain silent,” Y/N said, not only because she had to but because she really didn’t want to hear his pathetic excuses anymore.

“I’m Innocent!” He tried to protest. 

“And please feel free to exercise that right,” Rossi said grabbing Preston’s other arm as he tried to move out of Y/N’s grasp.

“Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law, you have the right to an attorney, if you can’t afford one, one will be appointed to you,” She continued as Rossi opened the door and led them out. 

--------

“Come on, Spence please tell me where we are going,” Y/N asked, her arm linked with Spencer as they walked down the street. 

“I can’t do that Y/N, you know that,” he said as he led her further down the road. 

“Can you tell me if this has to do with my birthday?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, come on, I told Penelope that we really didn’t have to do anything,” Y/N said as she shook her head. 

“Well, I learned that you need to let them have their moment with you, cause they’re the closest thing you’ve got to family here until you have your own,” Spencer explained to her as he looked at her with a smile.

Y/N sighed in defeat, knowing Spencer was right. 

“Oh look we’re here, can’t believe you didn’t notice where we were going before,” he said as he turned to Y/N’s favorite dive-bar in the downtown area of D.C. Spencer began to pull her inside but she stopped him before he could walk up the small stairs to go inside. 

“Wait- Spencer, before we go in, I have to do something,” she said pulling on his arm making him turn to her. 

“What is it?” He asked facing her with a curious look. 

She replied by placing her lips on his in a gentle kiss. It was a kiss that made both their stomachs do flips. His hands reaching up to grab her face as hers gripped the front of his coat. A year and a half's worth of bottled up feelings were expressed as Y/N deepend the kiss. 

“I just really wanted to do that,” she said to him after they pulled apart. A smile came on Spencer’s lips and he pulled her in again for a shorter but just as meaningful kiss. 

“I really like you Y/N,” he said face still close to hers. 

“I really like you too, Spencer,” she said back with a smile. “Come one let’s go in.” 

The happy couple walked into the bar seeing their friends standing in a corner to the left of the door. 

“There’s the birthday girl!” Penelope said as she saw Spencer and Y/N walk in. 

“Happy Birthday!” They all said. 

Y/N blushed as she approached the table, “Thanks, guys.” 

The team laughed, drank, and danced till the late hours of the night. Even Hotch laughed and gave Y/N a hug as they all danced to the music. A smile stayed on Y/N’s face the whole night as she danced with all her friends and drank happily. 

Spencer watched the woman he was beginning to fall in love with belt the lyrics to a Coldplay song that played through the speakers and dance with Penelope and JJ. Y/N looked over and saw Spencer staring at her at her and walked over to him. 

“You know it’s rude to stare,” she said with a giggle.

Spencer laughed, “I wasn’t staring.” The blush on his cheek told Y/N otherwise.

She quickly grabbed his arm and started to pull him onto the dance floor.  

“Oh no, I don’t dance really-” he tried to protest but Y/N wasn’t having it. 

“You do tonight!” 

She brought him to the dance floor Penelope and JJ yelling ‘Hi!’ over the music as they started to dance again. Y/N tried to help Spencer move less awkwardly and he eventually started to get the hang of it. Taking Y/N’s hand in his he spun her around and danced with her. A smile formed on their faces hoping the moment would never end.

tag list (let me know if you want to be added!!):

@throughparisallthroughrome​ @word-scribbless​ @nintendumbfuck​ @confused-and-really-hungry​ @justine-en​

[chris-evans-indian-fanfic]

Unhinged

One-Shot

This one-shot is my entry for @jtargaryen18 's super spooky Haunted House writing challenge! The prompt was - A celebrity haunted house for charity will be open one night only, Halloween night. You spent days trying to get a ticket online for the event. Thanks to a bad day on Halloween, you get there only a minute before the line closes. You’re the last person to go in and thinking that’s either really bad (everyone is tired or would be in a hurry to see you out) or really good (maybe you’d get some extra time with the one you came to see). You are never seen again.

I had extremely fun writing this story with Mr Freezy! 😍 I hope you guys enjoy it! Please click here to check out all the other wonderful entries!

Description: Villain!Reader meets Mr Freezy aka Robert Pronge and, let's just say they don't get along well.

Warnings: Torture, mentions of murder, non-consensual acts of sex, abusive language, dark theme. ONLY PROCEED IF YOU ARE 18+

Word count: 4300~

My Main Masterlist

I don’t consent to have any of my work published or featured on any third party app, website or translated. If you are seeing this fanfiction anywhere but Tumblr and AO3, it has been reposted without my permission. In that case, please do share the link and let me know.

…

You looked at the pale, lifeless face of a certain Mr Patterson. Skin shriveled up, eyes gouged out, side of the face smashed in and the mouth permanently set in a horrified expression, Mr Patterson laid on the table in front of you as his widow sobbed beside him.

"I-I can't ev-even look-k at hi-him," she croaked between her tears, "My sweet-sweetheart, who-o would d-do this-ss to yo-you?" she wondered rhetorically as she completely broke down in the arms of her daughter, a woman of closely your age.

The daughter couldn't bear to look at her deceased father as she consoled her other parent. She looked at you with sadness, "Can you, maybe, make him look, a little, a bit, presentable?" she inquired quietly, "It's not going to be an open casket funeral. But we, we just want him to, you know, look a little…like slightly, better."

You almost laughed at her face on the request, but years of working at a funeral home as a makeup artist to the dead had trained you not to gawk any client's requests.

You successfully suppressed your laughter, and instead donned a sincere expression, "I will surely try my best ma'am. I am sorry for your loss, please accept my condolences."

As the mother-daughter duo left the room, you turned to face Mr Patterson. "Condolences my ass," you muttered as you spat at his face. It was ironic how the majority of your victims found their way to the funeral home where you worked. Take Mr Patterson here for example, not less than 48 hours ago he was begging you to spare his life, and now, here he was, laid out in front of you, lifeless.

You considered him for a moment, then decided against wasting your good makeup on this pervert bastard. Or maybe he might have been innocent? Who cared, he was dead now. Maybe he was truly looking at the Halloween decorations hung around the house behind you that night, or maybe he was just ogling at you. It was dark so you couldn't get a good look. But hey, you had a suspicion that he was checking you out, so you obviously had to teach him a lesson!

You still remembered killing your first victim. It had been your piano instructor. That lecherous pedophile had forcibly pulled you down on his lap, stating that sitting on him will make you a better pianist. You had grabbed the nearest glass vase and brought it down multiple times on his head, until the carpet beneath was red and his screams were all but an echo in the living room of your parent's house.

Since then, murder had become an activity from which you rarely partook in, then turned in to a pastime, a hobby, a passion and now finally, it was as natural and as necessary as breathing for you.

It didn't matter whom you killed anymore. Whether it was an old man looking at his neighbor's Halloween decorations, a dull attendant at the supermarket, an enthusiastic door-to-door salesman, a college student listening to irritating music on their headphone, or an incessant toddler crying for attention in the store, you didn't care. Anybody who irritated you, or pushed your buttons in the wrong way, or just, was at the same place at the same time with you doing something you disapproved of in your mind, you made sure to dispose of them.

The world had enough idiots, you didn't need any more of them around you.

You quickly wound up your work and left. Halloween was tomorrow and you had to make a quick stop to a local celebrity haunted house that you hoped had already been set up. It was being organized by an NGO for some God knows what charity and the tickets had proven to be difficult to procure. So you had just decided to break into the establishment a night prior.

Unfortunately, the exhibit was still being set up when you reached the venue and so, you decided to try again tomorrow night.

🎃

"OMG I can't wait to see him!" the teenagers standing in the line for the exhibit squealed as you watched them from the shadows. You looked at them with disgust, open contempt. Bloody fucking teenagers, you thought as you regarded their extreme enthusiasm. Clad in rhinestone studded clothes which sparkled under the streetlight, all the teenagers were busy on their iPhones. You rolled your eyes as each girl went live on either Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok or God knows what app. Fortunately, they were the last group to be admitted inside the exhibit, and if you could just time everything right, then you could maybe pull this off.

Gingerly, you approached the one who was facing away from the group, her front camera facing her with the entrance of the exhibit behind her. You cleared your throat, "Hi, um, excuse me, could you please help me?"

The teenager looked at you and flashed a wide smile, "Sure what's up?"

You smiled in relief, this would be easy, "I think my car keys fell somewhere back there, and my phone died so I can't really find them. Will you please come with me? I could use your phone's flashlight."

"Oh sure absolutely! Hey guys," the teenager called her friends, "Let's go and help her find her car keys."

"Oh no no no that's not necessary," you said urgently as her other friends grinned kindly at you, "I really just need one person. You guys stay here and hold your position in the line. We will be back in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?"' inquired another girl from the group.

"Yes yes," you smiled back in a reassuring manner.

The teenager who came with you - Ashley - looked at the grass and sidewalk at your request. If you hadn't want to enter the haunted house so much, then you would have considered sparing poor Ashley's life. Meh, you thought as you slowly crept up behind her, life wasn't always fair.

"Hey Ashley, please look under this car. I think it might have gone underneath it," you requested with a sincere expression.

She nodded as she got on all her fours, "It's not here."

"Try inhaling a big whiff of air. The keychain has a strawberry scented air freshener on it. Maybe you could smell it?" you suggested, knowing full well that the cyanide sprinkled under the car by you would instantly kill Ashley.

Your plan worked almost too well. As she painfully writhed on the floor gasping for air, you took her smartphone, hid her hideous rhinestone phone cover in your pocket and headed towards the exhibit.

Ashley's friends were waiting for her at the entrance when you reached. You told them that she was on a call with someone and would join them soon. While they still waited for her, you showed the guard the e-pass on Ashley's phone and entered the haunted house.

You were thrilled at seeing your most favorite characters almost alive in front of you! The animated wax statues bore close resemblance to their movie counterparts. Whether it was the Ghostface from Scream, the creepy Annabelle doll, the weird guy in the hockey mask, the Nun, Pennywise the Clown or the long-haired lady from The Ring, they all looked truly horrifying and you were loving it!

As you ventured further, you were surprised to see Chris Evans' character Mr Freezy or Robert Pronge. The movie wasn't exactly popular, but you figured they had maybe included this character now that Evans was all the rage thanks to the uptight stick-in-the-ass Captain America character.

Mr Freezy was standing besides his ice-cream truck, inviting you to enter it in repetitive robotic movements. His face with his signature long hair and glasses smiled at you vacantly as you looked on.

You vaguely remembered watching this movie, hell, you had even copied the cyanide idea from Mr Freezy himself! Just when you squinted your eyes, hoping to remember more parts from the movie, you heard noises behind you.

"She came inside, Officer," said a voice that sounded like one of the girls from the group. Shit! They must have discovered Ashley! you panicked as you looked for a way out. The door ahead of you had been mechanically locked shut, and the voices behind you were growing louder by the minute. The bright lights flickered on and the animations of the objects around you completely stopped.

Except for Mr Freezy.

His movements increasingly sped up and his eyes grew wider. At first, you thought it might be a malfunction, but you were shocked when he whispered your name, "Enter the truck to escape. NOW!"

As if on auto-pilot, you opened the door and hurriedly stepped in. The dry ice engulfed you, the voices lessening in volume behind you. A moment later, the entire truck shook violently, causing you to blindly hold on to the sides and yelp in surprise.

Suddenly, someone pressed the brakes and you lurched forward. The dry ice cleared inside the van as you stumbled towards the driver's seat. You heard someone close the door and walk towards the back of the truck. A moment later, the backdoors of the van were opened by none other than Mr Freezy himself.

Your jaw dropped to the floor and he mirrored your expression, the pair of you taking in each other's appearances.

Your modern 21st century clothes were completely out of place in the 1960s America that was home to Robert Pronge. His blue eyes from behind his long curtain of hair seized you up as he recovered from shock.

"Who the fuck are you and what the hell are you doing in my van?" he broke the foreboding silence.

You cocked your head to the side, your brain unable to comprehend the reality of the situation. Did you just appear on a movie set? What sort of time-space travel bullshit was this?

"ANSWER ME YOU CUNT," Mr Freezy's voice was loud enough to break you from your reverie, but the strong, tall, well-built man hardly intimidated you.

Instead of cowering as he expected you to, you raised your eyebrow, "So you are one of those method actors huh? Sorry I appeared on your set unannounced Mr Captain Evans," you said with spite as you walked towards him and crouched down to be at his eye level, "I will be on my fucking way now."

"Mr Capta-what? Who the fuck sent you? How did you come inside my van when I locked it? You weren't in there when I left Atlantic Avenue. What the fuc-"

You punched him in the face before he could finish his sentence. Though you liked his deep, smooth voice, his incessant cursing and hostility had started to get under your skin.

As he stumbled backwards from the force of your punch, you looked around him and noticed the absolute absence of large lights, cameras, large crew and any kind of set whatsoever.

You jumped from the van and looked at Chris Evans again as you landed on your feet. He looked exactly like his character in the movie. But something didn't feel right. That's when you heard the small click of his revolver.

Before he could aim it at you, you hit his right palm that held the firearm and twisted it, effectively breaking it in the process. He screamed in pain and tried to move away from you, but you weren't done yet.

Pulling him towards you, your knee brutally met with his pelvis and you punched the air out from his stomach. He doubled down with pain, his eyes watering as he tried to regain balance. But one swift blow to the back of his head turned his world dark.

You were panting when Mr Freezy finally lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground. You looked around again. The streets were isolated and there were barely any houses lined on the sidewalk.

You felt around your pockets for your belongings, but found them empty. You waited around for a few minutes, hoping to get some sense of clarity for your situation as Mr Freezy drooled on the street.

Finally, you resigned and hauled his heavy ass back into the van in the passenger's seat. Desperate for some sort of explanation, you put your hands inside his pants' pockets. You were rewarded with his wallet, some keys and a bunched up paper with an address roughly scribbled on it.

The year on the license was 1963 and the city stated was Jersey City of New Jersey.

Just as you secured his unconscious body with the seatbelt, you took a close look at his face. Despite the creepy hair, he did look handsome. Afterall, it was Chris Evans! Or some sort of alternate-universe-reincarnation-asshole version of his. His soft plump lips looked a bit dirty, so you looked down at his crotch. The pants had riddled up when you had placed him on his seat, giving you a clear outline of his dick.

And my was it a sight!

His thick member was struggling against the uncomfortable position of the pants. The rotund rod was anything but flaccid. You squeezed and rubbed your palm over the semi-hard member, cherishing the disgruntled noises that escaped his lips.

After about 5 minutes, you decided to drive his van back towards the line of houses. You guessed you were at the outskirts of the city and right now, you needed to find how to blend in with the people.

Soon enough, you were deep within the city and found a dress shop. All the signs on the shops which you passed seemed to fit the 1960s, thus leaving no doubt that you had actually time traveled into the past, that too in a completely different timeline.

You considered breaking into the shop and stealing a few clothes, but then decided against it. You were absolutely against stealing. It was probably the only crime you couldn't excuse.

The only time you hadn't paid for your stuff was when you wanted to buy a yellow dress. The lady shopkeeper with kind eyes had told you that the colour purple suited you better than yellow, and insisted that you buy the same. Later that night, you had calmly walked over the old woman's dead body and grabbed the yellow dress that you had loved.

You looked at the dresses in the shop window and decided to come back tomorrow. That's when you noticed the sign "WHITES ONLY".

You went back to the van and grabbed the revolver. Three suppressed shots from the silenced gun destroyed the sign, the wreckage of which witnessed you breaking into the shop and literally stealing everything that was on the premises.

Two. There were two crimes you wouldn't excuse.

You turned the van around and headed back towards the outskirts of the city. It was almost morning by the time you reached the address that you had found scribbled in Mr Freezy's pocket. It seemed to be some kind of a cold storage facility in a dilapidated building.

As you managed to make your way to the second floor with his limp, but still heavy, body, you remembered seeing a similar storage facility in the movie where Mr Freezy stored the dead bodies of his victims.

Your suspicions were proven correct when you picked the lock and entered the room. You found the tub where he cut the bodies of his victims and the chains he used to tie their bodies with.

As you ventured further, you found the dead body of the girl who had been force-fed pufferfish. That you remembered well, because you had tried to buy one but couldn't get your hands on the costly bugger fish.

Looking around, your eyes fell on the chains again and an idea popped into your head.

🎃

Robert Pronge woke up to find himself naked, spread eagle on his table, hands and legs wide apart, tied to the table with secured chains. The worst part? Large chunks of ice were wrapped around his palms and feet, rendering them numb. Waves of painful, frostbiting cold passed through his body. Hardly any sounds escaped his gagged mouth as he feebly tried to recollect what had happened last night.

He vaguely remembered you, a strangely dressed woman who had suddenly appeared in his van and knocked him unconscious.

He tried to look around him, a painful but necessary moment, and he realised he was in his own facility.

After what seemed like a few hours, he heard the door open and the clickety-clack of a woman's heels came near him.

Still shuddering with cold, he looked at you with his hooded eyes, the blue irises filled with hatred.

You chuckled at him. This was going to be fun. "Good morning Robert. Or should I call you Mr Freezy? Do you have a preference?" you cheerfully asked him as he kept staring at you.

You were wearing a yellow dress with white polka-dots, and a small artificial bouffant completed your look. Basically, you were dressed like any other cunt in 1963.

"Oh silly me," you scoffed at yourself, "I forgot about the gag."

A slew of profanities escaped his plump lips as you removed the gag, "You fucking whore! Untie me right now you bitch. Who the fuck do you-aaarrgghhh!" He shut up mid-rant when you slapped his cold naked dick.

"I will not tolerate any bad language. Let's take it from the top, shall we?" you reprimanded him and gave him your name.

He tried to spit at you but failed, his body dehydrated with the cold.

"You have no idea who you have messed with bitch. When my friends find out-"

"Friends?" you asked him, feigning surprise, "I thought you worked alone. Or has Mr Freezy gone all softy for The Iceman?"

Watching Robert gulp in anticipation gave you immense satisfaction. You went away from him, the dull clang of the metal chains filled the air as you heaved and huffed. Finally, he heard you crank the lever and the metal rattled as something huge was hung upside down on the metal hook.

Richard's dull, muted musk reached his nostrils before his dead body came into view. His feet were secured on the hook while his lifeless eyes stared into nothingness. His arms waved around a bit before the metal conveyor belt was brought to a stop.

"See? Richard found you," you claimed excitedly as Richard Kuklinski or The Iceman's body slowly turned above Mr Freezy.

Robert went still. Too still. A different chill had now consumed his body, his heart. He recognised the ugly emotion. He was scared. Terrified. It had been a long time since he had felt this horrible emotion but now, he lay motionless consumed by it.

His desperation grew when he heard you hum lightly, "You don't own me, I am just not one of your many toys". He had to get away from this place, from you.

As soon as he saw you disappear inside the freezer storage, he started struggling against his bonds once again. But the chains did anything but budge. "Now now, that is no way to thank me for making sure you meet your friend,* you scolded him, returning with a heavy block of ice.

"Let me tell you-UGH," you irritably shoved aside Richard's limp body as you came to stand beside Mr Freezy's horizontal torso. "Let me tell you how this is going to work. I want the names and addresses of those dusty, old, poor excuses for flour sacks 'Mafia Bosses' who apparently rule this city," you emphasized with air quotes.

Mr Freezy regarded you carefully. He knew by now that you were dangerous, but even he had his doubts that you would be able to destroy the mafia families in New Jersey. "Rot in hell bitch," he managed to spit weakly.

You rolled your eyes, "Men. Why do they always have to be difficult?" you muttered as you placed the heavy block of ice on his chiseled abs, and he immediately started writhing with the cold. "What did I tell you about your language? Tut-tut, looks like someone needs to be taught a lesson."

And with that, you made your right hand travel down his stomach and towards his thick naked member. Upon the contact, Mr Freezy tried to still his body, but the unbearably cold chunk currently resting on top of him made it impossible for him to stop moving.

You played with the hair surrounding his trunk, twisting and pulling almost teasingly, your eyes searching for his, but unfortunately, Richard's body hung between the two of you, blocking the view. So Mr Freezy couldn't see you and you couldn't see him. But who said there was romance in maintaining eye contact?

You gently wrapped your fingers around his length, making him gasp. "Someone likes this huh?" you cooed as you sped up your gestures, his length soon hardening under your touch.

"St-stop," his command was almost a moan.

You laughed at him, at his pathetic state and at his measly little request, "I don't think you want me to," you teased him as his member was almost erect now. You increased the speed of your strokes, your hands applying more pressure to thick rod that was now bulging with veins.

His hips and thighs tightened, indicating that he was close to the finishing line. But you were not done with him. Not yet.

You completely stopped your ministrations and lifted your hand. A small groan escaped his mouth before Mr Freezy caught himself.

"N-now you lis-listen to me you bit-AARRGGHH" he tried to speak between his pants, but shrieked when you roughly slammed an ice cube against his penis.

"What did I tell you about the swearing?" you chided him as you pressed the ice cube further to his length and balls.

Mr Freezy started fighting his bonds again, and frankly speaking, his refusal to accept his fate had started to get on your nerves in a bad way. You decided to keep the chunk of ice between his legs and grab some early lunch.

You returned in about 2 hours, just to find him in the same position as you had left him. The only difference was that all the ice had now melted. Oh, and there were huge, deep, red cuts on his wrists and ankles, probably due to all the fidgeting.

He was still slightly shivering though. Eh, it wasn't your problem anyway.

"Let's try again shall we?" you asked him as you got a fresh chunk of ice from the freezer. Richard's body was still hanging exactly where you had left it when you reached for Mr Freezy's lollipop again.

He tried to shake his hips, his length dancing along with his movements, as if to discourage you. "No," he muttered through gritted teeth, "No. Stay where you are. Don't you dare don't you fucking da-"

He shut up as soon as you started stroking him again. "We need to do something about your swearing Mr Freezy. Is that the language you use when you talk to kids? Huh? Looks like I will have to teach you some manners."

He soon started feeling the knot in his stomach, ready to unwind at any second, but you stopped. Completely. Again.

Even though he was mentally prepared for the cold hard ice to be rubbed against his genitals, his body wasn't.

This continued for 4 times more before he gave up. As you tried reaching for him for the sixth time, he almost pleaded with you, "I will give you their names, addresses, fucking every detail you would want about the mob bosses. Just let me go."

You laughed at his admission. He nearly jumped out of his skin as your sickeningly sweet laughter filled the isolated room. "Do you really think it's about that now?" you asked him, am incredulous expression on your face, "Ooooh Mr Freezy. I can get that information from anyone! Sure it would be convenient if I got it from you. But that's not what all this is about."

"Wh-why?" he asked, as if he already knew the answer and was terrified by it.

"Because I like breaking strong men," you replied with a pleasant, innocent grin. "Now, let's get back to work. Hhmm?"

"No no wait. I can. No. I will give you whatever you want. You want me to kill for you? I will-"

"Do you think I need a handy boy?" you interrupted him. "You want to give me something? Fine. Then stop swearing!"

He nodded eagerly, "Done. Not a single bad word. I will stay quiet. I promise. Just let me go."

You regarded him carefully, "No," you shook your head, "I don't think you have learned your lesson yet," you claimed decisively as you headed towards his legs.

With what bare minimum strength that was left in him, he shook his body again, hoping to get away from you. "Stop touching me! Stop!"

"It's funny that your mouth says stop," you grabbed his member again, "but your dick says the complete opposite." You bent down to kick a wet stripe from his balls to the tip of his mushroom, giving it a gentle suck as you reached the tip.

Mr Freezy's breath hitched in his throat. While he felt filthy and dirty everytime you touched him, the organ between his legs was aching for your attention. A tear escaped his eye as he realised this was probably the end of his life, that he might never see his son again.

As you set to work on him again, the part of his mind which had refused to accept his fate, slowly started succumbing to your sinful torture. His rebellious spirit was only left with one thought now. To be afraid. Very afraid. Of you.

__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__--__

Permanent tag: @donutloverxo @notyourtypicalrose @just-one-ordinary-fangirl

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Taglist open! Just comment, send an ask or message!

[tyunniverse]

TXT x DISNEY Halloween Shorts 🎃 (4/5)

pairing: ot5 x reader

genre: fluff, crack, college au

warnings: light swearing

synopsis: there's a halloween event at your uni and a few students are in the mood for misfit.

yeonjun | soobin | beomgyu | taehyun | hueningkai

TAEHYUN | Sleeping Beauty (2.5k)

The sky had turned dark, not a single star in sight, covered by ominous looking clouds that helped set the atmosphere for tonight's grandeur. Sunset came about an hour ago. Everyone was scattered around enjoying the festivities, trying out different booths and events that were held by the different departments. But Taehyun wanted none of that.

The bags under his eyes and the ever present frown on his face made it obvious enough. He'd been working his ass off for days for their department's event— delegating tasks, going back and forth for supplies, decorating their venue, advertising, assisting a few students with their script— Taehyun could go on and on. He looks up at the venue from where he sat, frowning as he reads the sign he made and put up at the entrance: FRIGHT MANSION. He wasn't too fond of the name but everyone else thought otherwise.

The walls of the building had aged with time, sporting numerous cracks and holes. Amateur graffiti lined the entrance up until the doors that were previously barred shut. Taehyun figured there was probably more at the back but didn't care much to actually check. Moss and overgrown weed poked out of the ground, adding to the dilapidated building's charm. The place had a reputation of being haunted but Taehyun never believed in that, but it did turn out to be quite the efficient marketing scheme, drawing in daring students like moths to a flame. He'd wondered whose brilliant idea it was to get permission to use the old Nursing Department building. Oh, right. It was his.

The old wooden bench creaks as Taehyun lies down, propping his head up his backpack that he'd turn into a makeshift pillow. The leaves above his head sway with the breeze. The rustling of the trees made the chattering and screams from the inside almost inaudible. Almost.

Taehyun made full use of the bench that's situated farthest from the venue, taking the time to get some well-deserved shuteye before someone comes and ruins his beauty sleep over something stupid like someone's costume catching fire. The thought rings in his mind, the likelihood of that scenario was far too plausible for his liking. His eyes flutter shut, shuffling from side to side to find a better sleeping position before settling on the one he first had earlier.

A strong breeze sneaks up on Taehyun, making him wrap his arms around himself as he shivered. He recalls fumbling to wear anything he got his hands on before rushing back to school. A little thought would've been nice while putting on his outfit, by then he would've settled on a few layers of clothing rather than a simple loose sweater. Another blow of a breeze makes him frown.

No matter. He's slept under worse conditions.

"Sure is cold tonight, huh." You say, adjusting the box of glitter containers in your hands as you rush to catch up with your friend, Yugyeom, who was carrying less than you were. You curse the difference in length between your legs and his— Yugyeom's being longer than yours, allowing him to take larger steps. It didn't help that he was a fast walker too.

"Yup, sure is." He says, sparing you a glance. "Which is why we should hurry this up. I don't want to get scolded twice for being late with the delivery because of your tiny legs." And with a snort, he speeds up. You roll your eyes.

The crunching sound of dead leaves beneath your feet alerts the two of you that you're nearing the old Nursing Department building. A cool breeze rolls in, somehow cooler now that you were in an area with lots of trees. You've been here before, once, with Yugyeom. It was for a stupid college party dare he'd made with his friends, and he forced you to come with.

The two of you pass the wide opening, the path towards the building showing up in your peripheral vision. From where you were, you could see the brught graffiti plastered around the walls. A quick scan and you spot the one Yugyeom had made for the dare— a simple sign saying: GYEOM WAS HERE, huge enough for his friends to spot from afar the next day to see if he really did it.

You chuckle, remembering how dumb he looked when he accidentally sprayed some paint over his shirt. "Hey, Yugyeom, remember when—" A stronger breeze blows by before you could finish, whipping your hair in front of your eyes. This wouldn't have been a problem if your hands were free to remove the obstacle from your face.

"Shit." You curse under your breath when you stumble against something hard. You feel a little light-headed as your feet move to regain your balance, unfortunately the attempt doesn't do much for you as the contents of the box spills, the containers of glitter rolling away from you faster than you could catch up to Yugyeom. Speaking of your friend.

"Yugyeom, wait!" You let the empty box fall, your hands rushing up to brush the hair out of your face as you whipped around. The familiar clown outfit you'd been following since the beginning of the night was long gone. You almost felt a little betrayed if you hadn't remembered how he got chewed out the last time he was late because of you. "You're not even gonna help me pick these up?!" You yell, hands slowly rubbing against each other to combat the cold wind. As you expected, you're greeted with silence. Well, almost silence. You jump as you hear a blood-curdling scream coming from inside the building, your balled fists immediately shooting up in self defense. Not like it mattered. Punching a ghost in the face didn't seem possible in the first place.

The rustling trees greet you as you slowly flutter your eyes open, taking the time to adjust to the darkness before you can start to make out the form of the building, and on the second floor, light. You breathe a sigh of relief, a smile forming on your face as you remembered that there was a Haunted house event going on right here and now. Definitely made the place seem a lot less creepy, you thought.

A few sparkling dusts in the air catches your attention and you're immediately brought back to reality— the harsh reality of you getting yelled at by a fuming Jinyoung when he finds out that half of the glitter he had you buy was now spread all over the mossy landscape of an abandoned building rather than the cute little treat shop your class had worked hard to build. Yeah, good luck to you.

You feel the grass prick against your knees as you bent down to pick up the containers that still had most of their glitter on, taking two trips from where they spilled to the box that you'd left behind at the opening. There was no way you'd start carrying that thing around while you cleaned up. If any of the glitter spills again, you wouldn't know what to do. Well, you would, but it would be too much of a hassle to clean up after yourself all over again.

Lastly, you settle for the piles of glitter scattered around the area. Some were spread around in bundles, some were tedious to scoop up since they were scattered too far apart, and some were sticking to the moss and mud, to which you've decided to leave alone. You've never had a good relationship with moss and you tried your best to keep your hands and feet away from it as much as possible. Just the thought of feeling the nasty thing with your own hands had your skin crawl. So that's that, no touching glitter covered moss for tonight.

You continue your endeavors, following the sparkling trail until it led you to one if the benches. Specifically, the person lying down on the said bench. Even more specific, that person's face— his face that's covered with a pile glitter.

Another breeze comes swooping in and hold your hands close together. Your eyes widen when the pile of glitter that was resting comfortably on his cheek was now spread throughout his face. At this point, trying to get the glitter back wasn't even an option. You frown, crouching down to take a closer look at your poor accidental victim.

His hair was sticking out on different angles, his lips dry from the cold, his outfit loose and thin, completely inappropriate for the weather and arguably the spirit of Halloween. You couldn't help but compare your matching clown costume with Yugyeom to this guy's sorry excuse of a Halloween getup. But upon closer inspection, you recognize who this was.

You didn't know his name, just that he was the one in charge of the Haunted house event going on behind you. You'd run into him a couple of times while purchasing supplies downtown. He looked even more tired after each encounter. Looking at his peaceful resting face and how underdressed he was, you figured he must've reached his limit. He was tired, understandably so, and you just spilled glitter over his face. He wasn't going to be happy when he wakes up and gets some of this stuff in his eyes.

Another gust of wind blows past you and an idea sparks in your head. "Just gotta be careful."

There's a tingling sensation on Taehyun's face and it's certainly not welcome. For one, it broke his beauty nap. And two, there is no number two— irritation taking over his mind as he finds himself shifting his full focus on number one. At first, he decides to ignore it, trying to go back to sleep despite the uncomfortable feeling on his face. But then he notices something strange.

He tries his best to stay still, refusing to move and open his eyes. He realizes that the tingling sensation was quite similar to the breeze that kept passing by, except that it's smaller and somehow warm? He couldn't really explain. He just knows that it's uncomfortable and roaming all over his face. And that's when it hits him.

This place was rumored to be haunted.

Goosebumps spread all over his body. The sensation almost felt like there's someone breathing on his face. No, not breathing. Something stronger. The thought alone was enough for Taehyun's eyes to shoot open, quickly prompting him to get up until halfway, his lips brush against something soft and warm.

"HOLY SHIT." was the first thing he heard after being pushed back down on the bench.

His body stiffens, completely stunned. And he wasn't the only one. In front of him was a complete stranger in an unflattering clown suit, staring back at him with equal shock and terror as their hands cupped their mouth. Taehyun isn't quite sure, but he swore he saw a pink blush spread across your cheeks.

He eyes how your hands are still covering half of your face, slightly shaking. A breeze passes by, seemingly reminding you two that it was the main villain for tonight. Taehyun shivers in the cold and is then briefly reminded of the sensation earlier, a warm blowing. "You," He looks up at you, a concerned look on his face. "Why are you here? What were you doing to me earlier?"

"GLITTER." You scramble to your knees, trying to gather any left over glitter from before to show as proof. Managing to get a few, you quickly hold it up to his face. "I— well, you see. Glitter. Yes, glitter." You wanted to slap yourself for failing to be coherent during the time you needed it most. "I accidentally spilled glitter all over the place and some happened to land on your face so, yeah, I don't really know why I even did it in the first place but yeah.. I started blowing on your face to get the glitter off and— oh!" You grin once you realized that his face was now glitter free, well, except for his lips. "Looks like it worked out fine anyway."

Taehyun couldn't help but look at you as if you were crazy. Here you were dressed up as a clown and reacting to your own explanation. He sighs, the bench creaking when he moves to sit up properly. "So, you were behind that weird sensation on my face earlier?"

"Weird sensation?" Your brows raise. "Oh, the blowing? Pretty much, yeah."

"And the soft feeling.." Taehyun stops himself after piecing things together. His hand shoots up to his lips on instinct, his cheeks flushed as he watched you slowly stand up. "Did we?"

"Yeah."

"When I—"

"When you tried getting up."

The leaves rustle and one falls off its branch and lands straight on Taehyun's head. He brushes it off. "Sorry for that."

"No, no! I should be the one saying sorry. I accidentally spilled glitter all over you and even ruined your sleep. Your reaction was totally normal and it just happened coincidentally."

Taehyun could only nod. He had to admit, his mind wasn't 100% present at the moment but he could at least process what had just happened. He looks down, noticing the containers of glitter by your side. "Do you still need help?"

"With that?"

"Gathering the glitter."

"Oh, no. I'm actually done."

"Well, then what d—"

"Taehyun!"

Both of your attention shifts towards one of the windows on the second floor. There, a group of students were frantically waiving at Taehyun. He could sense it. The panic in their movements, how some of the staff were running around aimlessly in the hallway— he'd predicted it all earlier. He just thought nobody was careless enough to actually set their costume on fire in a venue that's only filled with fake candles, but they keep proving him wrong.

"I think they need you." You say, feeling sorry that he had to go back to his duties after everything that went on.

"More than I need them." Taehyun sighs, getting up from his seat. He doesn't bother to pack up his belongings, merely stretching out his body before turning back to you. He notices your eyes on his bag and he reassures you that no one's going to want to approach a shady looking bag in front of a creepy building at night. At least, not while he's around.

"Sorry again." You say as he slowly made his way to the building. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

Taehyun pauses. "What's the glitter for?"

"Oh, it's for our Halloween treat shop."

You blink as Taehyun turns to face you. You half expected him to smile or something, but he only continued to look at you with the same tired eyes from earlier. "If you want to make it up to me for ruining my sleep, then wait for me here."

"Huh?"

"We'll go to your little shop together once I'm done." He says, now smiling. "And you're going to treat me to everything I want."

[k-writer1998]

Stepping Back

Prompt fic: baker! seungmin x florist! reader

angsty fluff

w.c: 2.2k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seungmin you’re always so rough with the dough. If you keep that up the bread is gonna be tough again,” Felix pointed out as he passed by the boy’s workstation.

      With a groan Seungmin threw the dough back into the bowl right before the front bell rang. Felix shooed the boy to the front as he went to handle the abandoned dough. Seungmin and the kitchen never seem to get along yet how he ended up working at a bakery is a mystery. The pay was good and the work wasn’t that bad, except for the need to bake things and a few weird customers. The top of his list being the owner's niece who stops by to help her uncle tend to the plants in the bakery. As he puts it "her mom took all the gardening genes leaving plants to die under my care." She as a person wasn't weird, many would say she's endearing with her bubbly personality, the weird part is her "usual" she asks for every time she comes in. The usual is whatever was freshly made the night before but it took a bit for Seungmin to learn that so whenever her voice says "the usual" there is always the slightest hint of annoyance that jabs at him. Why she asks for those goods specifically was beyond him as he knew that usually it's Felix and him making those.

      If it hasn't been noticed yet, Seungmin was in a particularly foul mood today. I mean as a stressed college student who barely gets sleep he's never quite in a pleasant mood but today was more than usual as he has back to back exams and project deadlines approaching. The poor dough was the first victim and unbeknownst to all the second was the poor girl who walked through the door. As always she gave him a sunny smile before she said those four cursed words to Seungmin.

“I’ll have the usual.”

“You say that every time.” 

      Due to the stress, his self-restraint lacked as the comment fell from his lips naturally but Y/n was unfazed. Her smile stayed in place as she walked around the counter to grab the watering can and started to water the shop’s plants. If he didn’t have school consuming his mind then maybe he would have understood the meaning behind the little glances she stole at him or the light blush that danced across her cheeks when she locked eyes with him. Instead it only further annoyed him but the pushing force was the small giggle that escaped her lips as she took a bite.

“I get that you like to come here and make fun of me but could you at least make it not so obvious?”

      At his sudden burst y/n jumped before a look of confusion crossed her face. She had just giggled in glee at the realization that Seungmin had made this batch because as the baker’s niece, y/n had seasoned taste buds. Why was he so mad?

“Make fun of you? Seungmin I would never do that.”

“Yeah, okay,” he rolled his eyes as he turned to walk away but she got up and grabbed his wrist.

“Wait, I’m being serious. Why would you think that?”

“Just give it a rest y/n.”

“No, Seungmin-”

“Well obviously I can feel you watching me and half the time I bring your order you laugh at me. You order a “usual” as if there was anything usual about your order. If anything you just like messing with me and just hide behind the fact you’re the owner’s niece,” he snapped.

“That’s not the reason I- Do you really think that of me?”

      In that moment, as y/n looked at him with a pained expression, Seungmin snapped from his irritated state, guilt flushing his system instead. Both parties were frozen there for a moment. Neither of them knew the other well enough to understand that y/n hates being accused because of a misunderstanding and Seungmin will bite back if backed into a corner. Y/n was the first to drop her gaze and her hold on his wrist, sadly he didn’t know what else to do but to remove himself from the situation. Another beat passed before the weight that seemed to be crushing y/n released and she quickly took the chance to escape before the tears fell. Felix wondered why Seungmin flew past him in a flurry but catching y/n leaving in the same manner with the pastry abandoned on the table, and the fact he heard the male’s raised voice, it was easy to tell what went on. 

      After that she stopped showing up around Seungmin’s shifts and as the days passed the guilt grew. His nights were spent trying to figure out how to apologize, beating himself up, or wondering how much she must hate him that sleep wasn’t really an option. That took a toll on him though so one night as he and Felix were prepping for the next day and waiting for the oven to finish cooking the tart shells, Seungmin ended up falling asleep in the front. There was the slightest click as the lock opened and y/n slipped in, grabbing the bells to stop the soft jingling that would alert the boys. She just needed to grab her forgotten notebook, from when she came in earlier. She rounds the counter and sees it tucked under the register like her uncle said but she was not prepared to see the sleeping boy when she whirled around. She silently grabs her chest in surprise but when she noticed his gentle breathing, she relaxed. Her eyes softened, regardless of the fact she was avoiding him, she still missed him. Y/n's body moved closer before her brain had time to resist and squatted at the end of the table to be level with Seungmin. As she was fighting the urge to reach out and touch his hair, a voice called out which made her stand and snap her head in the direction of the voice.

“Y/n? What are you doing here so late?”

“ … I forgot my notebook when I stopped by to water the plants earlier.”

“How are you holding up?”

      Y/n knew what Felix meant by the question as his eyes darted past her to the boy who was still asleep. She looked down, her hands suddenly looking so much more interesting.

“It’s hard. I acted on my own whims, not even taking into consideration how he would feel…”

“I’m sorry he’s so dense, but he didn’t mean what he said. Even if he won’t admit it, his eyes keep looking for yo-”

“Felix don’t. Not the false hope…” 

      She cuts Felix off before she turns to look at Seungmin’s sleeping figure. Her hand moves to touch his hair but freezes mere centimeters away.

“Even this is too much. I like him so much it hurts,” y/n’s voice trembles as she hesitantly pulls her hand back and gives Felix a weak smile. “I’m sorry, I should go.”

      She quickly collected her things and exited the bakery. With a gentle shake of his head and a sigh, Felix went back to the kitchen to take the tart shells from the oven which left a guilty Seungmin to finally raise his head. He had woken up mid-conversation, meaning he heard the indirect confession and the pain behind it. The guilt he felt for snapping at her now grew by tenfold. The next few days Seungmin continued to wait to hear her cheerful voice enter the bakery but it never came. Felix, tired of watching two of his friends play this stupid game of cat and mouse, decided to step in.

“I seriously can’t with the two of you. If she doesn’t come here why don’t you go to her?”

“I- What are you talking ab-”

“Seungmin who do you think you’re kidding here? You miss having her around whether you admit it or not. You aren’t one to sit back and wait, so why are you doing it now?”

      Felix had a point and Seungmin knew it. He wasn’t one to let things fester like this and he wasn’t quite sure why this was different than any other situation. He wasn’t sure of what he felt towards y/n right now but he didn’t like where they currently stood. Felix said that he could watch the bakery on his own before pushing Seungmin out the door, leaving the boy no more room to hesitate. Running into a situation without a plan wasn’t like Seungmin but he liked the spark of spontaneity as his feet broke into a run. Before he knew it he had burst through the door of the flower shop, giving y/n quite the shock by both the loud entrance and the boy who caused it.

“Seungmin? Are you okay?” 

      Instead of answering, he struggled to catch his breath. Concern swelled her body as she rounded the counter and was beside the boy in seconds, looking out the windows in an attempt to catch a glimpse at what was apparently chasing the boy. The fact that she was hiding from him was thrown to the wind but it came back the moment she felt his hand on her shoulder as he stood tall. By then it was too late because she was now stuck in his grasp but as much as she started to panic so did Seungmin. He charged over here with no plan whatsoever and he had no idea where to start. As his eyes quickly scanned the interior of the florist shop his eyes landed on the bouquet in process sitting on the counter and everything clicked in his mind.

“I’m fine, didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just in urgent need of a bouquet.”

“Oh… what’s the occasion? You seem in a rush so I can pull something together really quick.”

“I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“Sounds like you caused trouble,” she responded with a small laugh as she went to grab a few flowers. “Tulips for forgiveness and new beginnings, a touch of ivy for support, and a few pink roses to show you appreciate them… How bad did you mess up?”

“Well they aren’t talking to me so I would say pretty bad.”

“Then we are definitely going to need to add some white orchids to show your sincerity.”

      As Seungmin watched her move around the flower shop he realized how much he missed seeing her in her element like this, even if he pretended to find her annoying. It was also a show of how little he truly knew about her other than the basic things he heard from her uncle, and there it was that guilty feeling again. He swallowed it down as he watched her put the seemingly odd array of flowers together. Y/n on the other hand felt the heat of his gaze on her as she worked and she realized how Seungmin must’ve felt when she watched him, it made her nervous. With a final tie of the ribbon Seungmin’s bouquet was finished and as she handed it to him she couldn’t help but ask. She justified her curiosity as normal questions she would usually ask customers.

“Here they’re on the house. Hope the person forgives you, who are they anyways?”

“No you have to let me pay,” he demanded as he pushed the cash into her hand before he shoved the bouquet back onto her. “I can’t let you pay for your own apology bouquet.”

      Her mouth fell agape as she looked wide eyed at Seungmin. She was able to recover her wits enough to shake her head in confusion.

“Why are you apologizing? I was the one who was making you uncomfortable at work.”

“You really weren’t. It’s no excuse but I was extremely irritable that day because of all the stress from school and I just so happened to take it out on you. Y/n you didn’t deserve me speaking to you like that, I’m sorry.”

      The sincerity in his eyes burned the blush onto her cheeks so she had to break the eye contact before he noticed. Looking down at the bouquet she had a bright idea because she still felt a bit apologetic for her own actions that day as well.

“Thanks… I’ll accept your apology but you have to accept this as well,” y/n held out a white orchid to the boy with a soft smile. “I am partially responsible cause I kept pushing you and that’s my fault.”

“Deal.”

      As they both smiled at each other, both holding their own flowers, the tension between them melted and something in Seungmin changed. Did her smile always make him feel like this? His hands felt clammy and his heart started to pick up speed as he felt warmth creep up his face. Apparently he was full of impulsive decisions today and this one really was the cream of the crop as the words tumbled from his lips. 

“Actually there was one more thing I wanted to tell you...”

I mean things work out… they just don’t know it yet.

[keeperofhounds]

Minority Report (Quirkless)

Hello, I am a college student studying abroad in Japan. I would like to share the similarities and differences between the United States and Japan. This is to expand and teach others about how Japan is like to people from the outside.

This story was inspired by @aconstantstateofbladerunner who wanted a story that expanded on the world of My Hero Academia. Note this story takes from modern day Japan, but as an American it might not be entirely accurate. 

Recently I bore witness to an event that shook me to the core, there was a student. Normally this wouldn’t matter if I were to describe him, I would go so far as to say that he looked like he had a bad attitude. You could see it with the way he carried himself and glared at everything as if it all personally offended him. Yet, I don’t want to focus on him, that student will be mentioned later. What I want to focus on is another student who was at that event on the same day.

At first glance you can tell the other student is nothing special. In fact he’s very plain with nothing special about him. I would even say that he might be shy with how he held himself, trembling, looking at the floor when the heroes were talking to him. Not that I blamed him those talks were actually scolding.

You see dear reader, this boy did something crazy, he went running towards a villain, and from what I heard that same boy was quirkless. Let me give you some context on what was happening before this kid came running into the scene, throwing his backpack and clawing desperately to give a victim breathing air.

Earlier in the day at around 3:30 pm (roughly the time when schools let out) a villain with a sludge like quirk robbed a store. Luckily the occupants at the time were not seriously injured after the villain left, in a stroke of luck All Might, the symbol of peace happened to be in the area and gave chase. At some point All Might lost the villain in the sewer system which can be described as long winded and confusing, which allowed the villain to find a hostage.

After some research after the story broke the hostage's name is Bakugo Katsuki, he is a middle schooler with a quirk that allows explosions to be set off from his hands. When he was caught, the student tried to get away as any reasonable would try to do in this situation, this in turn caused complications. The heroes were unable to find a way to extract with the sludge villains clutches.

I’m not going to focus on them, what I want to focus is on the other boy. Despite all my investigation I could not find the name of the boy in any publications about the incident. There was one thing that stood out however and it was the boys status. He was quirkless.

At first I was surprised, but then I was impressed, not unlike a blind person learning to play the piano, or a deaf person learning to sing. Although these might be poor comparisons given the situation it did answer some questions I had in mind, but also bring some more questions. I finally knew why the heroes were scolding him, but I also noticed they were praising the other boy.

Not to rub salt on a wound or blame the victim, but the boy made things worse not only himself, but the people around him. Not to mention the heroes stood frozen as a child ran into the fray doing only enough to give another time to breathe. It’s a small thing, but it mattered the most.

Knowing this, I would have expected people in the area to talk about what happened. News stations talking about how this kid brought enough time for All Might to swoop in and save the day, but nothing. They talked about the victim, they talked about All Might, they talked about the villain, but they never talked about the other boy. 

What happened? In the United States the local news stations are always about bringing up local heroes, even if it’s as simple as inviting a stranger into their home for thanksgiving after a mistaken phone call (the stranger accepted), but nothing in Japan. It was as if the other boy was erased from the narrative all together.

I was simple to figure out what happened, the people involved were embarrassed. I couldn’t fathom about what made this kid different until I really thought about it. While in Japan I noticed an unusual tell when it came to people introducing themselves, they always said their names, and the types of quirks they had. This was especially true with children when my co-worker brought them to work.

It really started to make me wonder, but I didn’t want to make any assumptions. I knew that Japan had some issues when it came to how they did things. I know the United States still has issues when it comes to descrimination and racism, but when you really look around there is something clearly wrong. In Japan not once have I ever seen or heard of any people without a quirk.

I asked a few of my co-workers in the college what was up with that, and they told me that they didn’t think that quirkless was still even a thing in this country. Which made me wonder even more, I didn’t like how flippant the dismissal was from my friend. Another stated that the hate speech on the internet they have found in chat rooms has increased.

According to NGO reports, incidents of hate speech against minorities and their defenders, in particular, on the internet, grew. The national law on hate speech applies only to discriminatory speech and behavior directed at those who are not of Japanese heritage and is limited to educating and raising public awareness among the general public against hate speech; it does not carry penalties.

Further research shows that “Quirklessness” is a disability in Japan, with similar protections to any other disability by law. The Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities prohibits discrimination against persons with physical, intellectual, mental, or other disabilities affecting body and mind and bars infringement of their rights and interests on the grounds of disability in the public and private sectors. The law requires the public sector to provide reasonable accommodations and the private sector to make best efforts in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other services. The laws do not stipulate remedies for persons with disabilities who experience discriminatory acts nor do they establish penalties for noncompliance. Other law mandates that the government and private companies hire minimum proportions (2 percent) of persons with disabilities (including mental disabilities) or be fined. Disability rights advocates claimed that some companies preferred to pay the fine rather than hire persons with disabilities

Nonetheless, persons with disabilities faced limited access to some public-sector services. Abuse of persons with disabilities was a serious concern. Persons with disabilities around the country experienced abuse by family members, care-facility employees, or employers. Private surveys indicated discrimination against and sexual abuse of, women with disabilities. While some schools provided inclusive education, children with disabilities generally attended specialized schools.

Mental health professionals criticized as insufficient the government’s efforts to reduce the stigma of mental illness and inform the public that depression and other mental illnesses are treatable and biologically based.

As I write this article, I am appalled at the complete lack of protections and descrimination faced by the minority. It’s as if they don’t exist in the eyes of the public and the government. There this one article written by a reporter, who covered a murder, but some how they spun it to make it sound like it was the victims fault. The victim was an elderly man who was attacked while on his way home with some groceries. Apparently there were many witnesses, but no one was willing to come forward.

Interviews stated that people assumed that someone else would help, that a hero would come to save the day. Others just didn’t care, assuming that the injuries weren’t as bad they looked. The perpetrators were never found and this murder became a cold case. To me this is clearly a hate crime, but to them it’s nothing, but another statistic in a growing trend.

I feel pity for that boy who ran, but at the same time maybe it’s better if people don’t know he’s quirkless. I bet life is difficult, I just hope that someone else see’s a good kid and sees what he has other than what he doesn’t. We need more people like him, because some people are too busy being full of themselves. 

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Sections of the text is not my own but taken from https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/japan/ (This in regards to italic passages)

If anyone has ideas on what should be brought up next, please leave a message. Not to mention any other reliable sources of information about Japan.

[mrsamaroevans]

02 | EVERYTHING CHANGES

Fandom: Law & Order: SVU.

Pairing: Nick Amaro x Reader.

Words: 1,608.

Warnings: Mentions of domestic violence.

A/N: English is not my first language, so, sorry if there are grammar mistakes or if the redaction is poor. *Gif is not mine*

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“The Ice Cream Shop”

Two months after, you were at the doctor’s office fifteen minutes before, begging him to tell your husband the baby don’t let him see its sex.

“Is something happening at home, (Y/n)?” He asked you. The doctor was the same that you saw with your past pregnancy, and he was so nice and kind to you since the beginning.

“Nothing” you shook your head and went out of the office to wait for Sean.

Your doctor followed your instructions, well, kind of. He said it was too soon to know the sex of the baby and Sean seemed to be satisfied with that. You went to your apartment, nervous about what could happen, but Sean just went to your bedroom to sleep. He said he was tired.

The next day, you had something like a double date with a colleague of Sean and his wife. You went out to have lunch somewhere downtown and everything was jokes and laughter.

“(Y/n)?” A feminine voice got everyone’s attention.

“Mrs. Amaro,” you said a bit surprised “It’s been a long time” you looked for a second to your husband and his friends to excuse yourself and stood up to hug the woman in front of you “Look… this is my husband, Sean”

Sean smiled and extended his arm to greet her.

“Oh, you two make a cute couple,” She said smiling, but at the same time, she looked a bit disappointed “This is Zara, Nick’s kid”

You looked down and saw the little girl who was smiling at you and waving her hand “Hey, you’re so gorgeous” you said, touching her dark hair.

“Thanks,” Zara said, hugging her grandmother’s legs “I like your hair”

“Oh, thanks” you smiled.

“Honey, I’m so glad to see you’re okay,” Cesaria told you and looked at your husband “You got a good one”

“I know” Sean nodded, smiling for the show.

“I let you keep going with your lunch, say bye, Zara”

The kid smiled at you and waved her hand again before walking with her grandmother to an empty table.

“Who is she?” Sean asked, trying to sound casual.

“Cesaria, a friend of mom” you lied, grabbing your glass of water.

“I’ve never heard about her”

“Yeah, well… they had problems so they didn’t keep in touch, but she’s been nice to me since forever”

Sean nodded and then, they changed the subject.

A couple of minutes later, you saw Nick getting into the restaurant and walking to the table where his mom and daughter were waiting for him. You saw Cesaria talking to him and then, he looked in your direction.

You smiled and waved your hand, praying for him to not walk to you. Nick waved his hand back at you and sat in front of his mother.

“Who’s that?” Sean asked you when he saw what was happening.

“Nick, her son,” you said and added quickly: “He’s a cop. At least that’s the last thing I heard”

Sean never talked about Nick or Cesaria again, it was like that event never happened and to you, that was better.

Two weeks later, you were again at the supermarket. Your cart was filled with items, you even grabbed a baby outfit —You had been saving money to start to buy things for the baby— that was the cutest thing you ever saw.

“It seems that we always found each other here”

You laughed when you recognized Nick’s voice, and turned to look at him. His cart was as full as yours “Or in restaurants…” you said.

“There too” he nods.

“You shouldn’t be working?” You asked, looking now at all the pasta brands on the shelf.

“We closed a hard case, my Captain gave me a few days off… it’s been two weeks that I didn’t do my groceries, as you can see”

You smiled “And what are your plans for these days?” You asked, trivially.

“Spend most of my time with my daughter,” Nick said, “By the way, she was obsessed with you…”

“Really?” You turned to him, leaving some packages of pasta in your cart “I don’t see why”

“She said you were pretty, she even asked my mom to invite you to dinner so you could play dolls with her” Nick smiled again and grabbed a package of pasta as well.

“Your daughter is so cute” you pushed your cart to keep walking through the hall “But I don’t think your wife would like that”

“Divorced” he corrected you. He raised his left hand and you saw no ring in it.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t know”

“Of course you didn’t,” he said, not even giving it a lot of importance to the subject “How you’ve been?”

“Fine” you shrugged, not having a lot to share, then, you sighed “Sean’s family is coming to visit and I’m going insane”

“You sound like you loved them” Nick teased and you laughed.

“They’re nice just… I mean… c’mon! We live in an apartment of two bedrooms, there’s no space… it’s stressful every time they come here… they’re from Florida so they always are complaining about the weather”

“But the weather here is nice” Nick agreed with you.

“That’s what I say, but… anyways, I have a week full of my in-laws. It’s going to be lots of fun!” You rolled your eyes.

Nick chuckled and you laughed too. He looked at you and remembered the times when you used to be together. You were just teenagers, but your relationship was so mature that for a moment, he thought you were going to marry and spend the rest of your lifes together.

Then, the problems in your house with your mom and stepfather pushed you to make the decision to go to college in Florida where your biological father’s brother lived. You wanted to be as far away as possible of them and that was your solution.

Nick asked you to stay, that you both would find a better solution, that you could move in with him, and it wasn’t that you were not ready for a big step like that, the thing was, that it scared you.

What if you two broke up? What were you gonna do? You were not gonna take a risk like that.

“There’s an ice cream shop outside, do you have time to go and catch up?” Nick asked you and for a moment you didn’t know what to say.

Those few seconds when you laughed with him felt so nice. It’s been a long time since the last time you felt that way with Sean and you missed those times when you were not worried or expecting him to lose control.

You looked at your phone to see the hour. It was early. Sean usually came home at two p.m and if you stayed with Nick for an hour, you still had time to go home to make lunch.

“Sure”

In the ice cream shop, you both laughed remembering a bunch of stuff that happened back at high school. How one of your friends had a crush with Ms. Simmons and how nervous he was every time he had to talk to her.

“They all loved you,” Nick said when you were talking about the teachers “As students, we all pass for a teacher who hates us, but I think you were the exception”

“What can I say? I was charming” you batted your eyelashes and he laughed “But… c’mon, you were loved by most of the teachers… you were a sweetheart…”

“Well, yeah I just didn’t want to make you feel bad”

You gasped and threw a paper napkin at him as you laughed. “So arrogant!”

“So, you lived in Florida all this time?” Nick asked once your laughs eased.

You nodded “I got married too young and Sean had a good job in there, there was no smart reason to come here” you explained as you were playing with the spoon “Then, Sean got a job offer here. He thought it would be nice if I was closer to my family…”

“It was?” Nick asked, a bit surprised. The last thing he knew about you was that you were running from your toxic family, and Sean thought it was great to go back to them?

“Well, after John died, everything was better” you shrugged “My relationship with my mother… I think is way better than before”

“I’m happy to hear that,” Nick said, being as sincere as he could and smiling at you “And, do you have kids?”

“No” you shook your head. You didn’t say you were pregnant at the moment, and also, you didn’t mention that you had a miscarriage, and the truth is that you didn’t know why “And I know we have to hurry up…”

“I wasn’t gonna say anything” Nick shook his head now, and you looked at him.

“Sorry, a bunch of people tells me that,” you said and sighed to change the subject.

Nick told you about his job; when he started and, talked about his colleagues. For the way he talked about everything, you knew he loved his job and at the same time, he hated it.

You always knew he was going to work in something like that. Nick was really protective, mostly with women and kids because of his abusive father and you knew that every victim that walks through the station’s door, will have justice because he���s there for it.

That day, you went back to your apartment, cooked lunch for your husband as you did every day, he got drunk while watching the match, and you... you were daydreaming about the next time you'll see Nick.

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Everything Changes Taglist: @xthe-dreamerx​

[ourkarlanicoleuniverse]

Sweet Nothing (MHA Staff AU Fanfiction)

Chapter 16

Warnings: Implied sexual harassment

Shouta Aizawa x OC (Mai Montoya, Pro Hero Zion)

If you want to read of the events before this chapter here is the Master List 😊

“Are you sure, Ms. Montoya? Is that allowed?” Todoroki spoke up, concerned if it will cause more problems.

“Yes, I am sure. There is no problem with me telling you a story.” I reassured them, “Now, like I said, even as a pro, there are times you cross the line when trying to do good.”

And with that, I told them.

It was the end of a week-long investigation and mission against a group of drug dealers and villains. Everyone in the agency was tired and finding ways to destress. On my way out of the building, I noticed one of the interns was being harassed by Gemini. She was a young girl at most seventeen, she had a quirk that wasn’t meant for combat, but her quirk allowed her to hack into any computer or technology we needed her to hack into. Seeing the way he harassed her, how small she was compared to him, her uncomfortable expression… it set me the wrong way because that’s how he made me feel. And to top it all off, he was trying his best to physically touch her skin to use his mind control quirk on her. To make her more compliant, as he would put it.

Anger rose within me. I couldn’t just let him get away with this. I couldn’t let him victimize her. So I put my gloved upon his neck and used my quirk on him to take his away. Afterward, I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him off of her, throwing him to the wall.

It wasn’t wrong what I did. It just went against my agency’s rules and contracts.

You can not use your quirk on colleagues.

It didn’t matter if he had done it numerous times. He was Gemini, the number one hero in the United States, and also my boss. So rules didn’t apply to him. But no matter my status, it did still applied to me.

“So yeah, I saved a girl from being a victim of sexual assault and harassment, but it ended up biting me in the ass because it was against my agency’s rules to use my quirk against a colleague. That’s why I got the license suspended for a year.”

“That’s not right. He was doing villainy. He’s not a true hero. He should’ve had his license revoked.” Todoroki spoke out quietly.

“It might be unfair, but it’s a lesson I learned the hard way that sometimes your anger can make you forget about the consequences of doing the right thing. Licensed or not. So I would highly suggest finding ways to learn how to think clearly when you are passionate, to avoid getting into trouble.” I paused for a moment to look at Iida, “And maybe we should have sessions about how you were more than willing to get rid of Stain because license or not, killing isn’t allowed. So don’t expect me not to be a little concerned about you intentionally wanting to murder a villain.” He looked shocked that I even suspected that he wanted to kill Stain, but then he thought for a moment to see that he never said that he just wanted Stain to be arrested or anything, just to be ridden of. I got up from the bed, “Alright, so I’ll leave you three to talk amongst yourselves and reflect on things. I’ll be speaking with the doctors that looked after you and will be calling your parents and caretakers with them.”

I left the boys to their own devices as I decided to text Aizawa what was happening. No response was given. He was probably busy patrolling. As I went to call parents, Iida’s mom was still in Hosu, so she could pick him up and take him home. Fuyumi was busy with her teaching job but assumed her father would take care of Shoto while he was in Hosu, so I had to leave Shoto under his dad’s watch again. Who broke my heart was Inko Midoriya, she was crying over the phone, and I couldn’t really do anything to stop it.

“I want him to follow his dreams, just seeing my baby get hurt over and over again is starting to really take a toll on me. And I can’t be there with him. I am very lucky to say that you actually do care about your students. Izuku speaks highly of you, so thank you for that. Please, stay with him over the weekend until I can make it to the hospital. I know it might seem like you’re favoriting him, but…”

I interrupted, “I have to stay with them until their parents arrive anyway. I don’t mind looking after your son. With his injuries, he’ll be here the longest, so if you can’t be here with him, I will gladly be here for you and keep you updated.”

There was a pause on the other line, “Thank you so much, Ms. Montoya.”

“It’s my job to care for them and help when I can. Don’t be afraid to ask anything of me. You won’t be overstepping.” I smiled, even though she couldn’t see me. I needed to let Midoriya know how this is affecting his poor sweet mom. “I know where you are coming from. My mom was a single mom and was always worried about me when I was in my hero training. So I will definitely advise your son to calm down and not push himself too much.”

“I don’t know how she did it.” The woman breathed out.

“Honestly? It was tough. She still worries about me.” I nervously laughed.

“Alright, well, thank you again. It’s nice to hear that you know where my worries stem from. I’ll let you go now to focus on the boys. Give them my support and let them all know. I hope they are all okay.”

“I will, Mrs. Midoriya. I’ll keep you updated on your son.” And the line was cut. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and I was transported back into time, listening to my mom’s frantic yelling at Nezu after my licensing exam…

“I told you to put her in the general course, Nezu!” My mom frailed her arms, her onyx curls bouncing in response. “Now look, she almost died taking this stupid hero licensing exam!”

“She did really well using her quirk. It allowed her to pass. And look! She’s perfectly fine. Her costume is a little wet, but she’s fine.” Nezu responded.

“The other students nearly drowned her! She wasn’t moving for two whole minutes!” There was another pause followed by sobbing, “I can’t take this. I tried my best to keep her safe for fifteen years. You don’t understand the sacrifices I made… I know I might not be the best parent or that I might seem irrational. But I know I am right about one thing. Her quirk. It’s not something that will bring her happiness. She will always be targeted for it, and I don’t feel comfortable with her having a career where she showcases it.” It’s not something that will bring her happiness…

I couldn’t help but laugh. She wasn’t wrong.

I felt a handset itself on my left knee, and I turned to see Gran Torino, “That boy, is sure, a lot of trouble. It reminds me of Toshinori.”

“Yeah. It makes you better understand why he chose him. His mom is super worried about him, though. It reminds me a little about mine.” I looked down at my feet, a little ashamed of all the crap I give my mom despite everything.

“Eh, your mom was holding you back based on her own fears of not being able to control everything in her life. Otherwise, she wouldn’t show any disdain towards everything you do.” And then there’s Gran Torino reminding me why I don’t have a good relationship with her in the first place. “Still, I have to admit, you wouldn’t be the person you are without her raising you in the first place, so she is a decent mom.”

“She’s not all bad.” I looked over at the old man who decided to sit next to me.

“Oh yeah, making your daughter feel guilty for using her quirk to help people because dear old mom and dad were going to come and find you. Even though you made friends with a long list of pros that would protect you. And then when you left for the U.S., she was angry, and even now, with the lawsuit and losing your license, she blames you for not standing by and letting everything happen. She’s nicer to others than you because she sees you as a little girl that doesn’t know anything about the world. Forgetting everything you ever went through... She doesn’t see you as a person.”

“She didn’t have the best upbringing herself. Plus, she was twenty in college when she had me, so it's hard for someone to be a parent when they’re barely an adult.”

“Doesn’t give her a right to be completely entitled and treat you like you’re lesser. This is why I chose not to have kids. I didn’t want to turn out like that and screw up my kids.”

Ding. Ding. DING. DING. I looked down on my phone to two text messages.

Unknown Number

I really wish I had you in bed right now, poppy. You were always the perfect little….

I didn’t bother reading the rest and blocked the number. It’s like he has a hundred phones.

Aizawa 🐛🐱

Are you with the students already? Gran Torino said he’d call you. Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be on my way soon to the hospital. I got stuck dealing with some villains. Hope this didn’t ruin your date with Vlad.

What a dork mentioning my date.

“You okay, Mai?” Gran Torino asked, trying to peer over at my phone.

“Yeah, I just need a new number. But Eraserhead said he’s barely on his way. Patrol got a little hectic.”

“I talked with Nezu about that. Is Gemini really still harassing you? Didn't leaving the U.S. become the best thing for him?”

“Why were you talking about that with Nezu?” I gave him a crude look.

“You don’t call me often, so I have to find some way to check up on you.” He matched my expression, “You’re my favorite kid I ever taught. Remind me so much of Nana.”

I took a deep breath. Nana Shimura. All Might’s predecessor, his mentor, his mother figure. He didn’t talk much about her to me, only little comments here and there. But with Gran Torino, it was different. Ever since the first day I met him, he always found some way to say I was like her. Unfortunately, I was never able to meet her. Sometimes I wonder if she would like me…

“You still wear your hair like hers when you’re too lazily to do your hair, I see.”

I chuckled a little as the old man ran his hand through the dark waves that didn’t fall into my bun, “I wonder if she would’ve liked me.”

Gran Torino looked at me, wholeheartedly, “With no doubt in my mind. She would’ve adored you, my little starlight.”

Time went on as I waited for Aizawa to come to check on the boys. Gran Torino got to speak with Midoriya alone before leaving himself. In the meantime, I was just with the two other boys showing them different movies on my laptop and talking more about either the incident or whatever came into mind. They seemed to calm down after a while and were finally able to relax, which made me more relieved.

We were in the middle of watching a movie when Aizawa barged in with his capture weapon in his hand and goggles on his head. “Alright, catch me up.”

I peered from behind my laptop screen in between the Todoroki and Iida’s beds, dumbfounded at the sudden intrusion. The boys looked just as surprised I was. Aizawa just stared at me like he was waiting for me to say something…. OH, RIGHT, I AM THE ONE HE’S TALKING TO, DUH! “Oh, me, sorry.” I uncrossed my legs and handed my laptop to Todoroki and let him and Iida continue the movie without me.

I walked out of the room and guided Aizawa to the hallway, “Everyone is fine for the most part. You know how our students are. Budding into things they aren’t supposed to because they want to be heroes. They ran into the hero killer, and they ended up injured, but luckily they are alive, so that’s all that matters. The police said that they’d make up a story saying that Endeavor took care of Stain so that the students don’t get charged with anything.” I mainly said everything in English and barely above a whisper to avoid eavesdroppers. I had Aizawa lean down to my level, his hair lightly tickling my lips as I whispered into his ear.

He then turned to look me in the eye. His grey eyes were looking strained and slightly redder than on most days. His face was inches from mine. “And their injuries?”

“Midoriya the usual, broken arms and was stabbed, Todoroki was the least injured, and Iida was paralyzed by Stain’s quirk and injured his left arm to the point that it’s possible that without the proper care he might not be able to use it again, but his mom is going to pick him up tomorrow and move him to heal at home with a private doctor, so I don’t think it’s a full concern right now.” His eyes were bothering me, so I instinctively went for his utility belt to grab his eye drops and handed the bottle to him, “Sorry, your eyes look really dry right now.”

My hand lingered a little too long as he took long to grab the eye drops in his palm, “Thanks. Did you come right away?”

I shrugged, “I came as soon as Gran Torino called me.”

“Did it interrupt your date? I’m assuming no because you’re not dressed up.”

“Excuse me?” I raised my eyebrows at him. I knew he didn’t mean anything by it. I just liked seeing his stoic nature get flustered.

“I… I … I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that you look like you were just lounging around at home.” He avoided eye contact with me and then proceeded to use it as an excuse to put in some eye drops.

“I know I was just pulling your leg. Now I wasn’t really interrupted or anything. The date was over by the time Gran Torino called.” I waved my hand at him to metaphorically brush off the date topic.

“Then explain the bruise on your neck.” He grumbled, leaning his head back.

“The what?” My eyes widened in horror. I’m going to kill Vlad. I ran to a hospital window to check my neck in the reflection. And the hobo was right. There was a dark spot right on the left side of my neck. More specifically, where I had a mole. I turned back to Aizawa, embarrassed and holding my neck, “Please tell me it wasn’t that noticeable…”

“If I noticed, I’m sure other people did too.”

“Shota!”

“What?”

“You’re not helping.” I moved my hair to go in and cover the blasted hickey Vlad left me. God, Gran Torino probably saw it… MY STUDENTS PROBABLY SAW IT…

Suddenly a rumble of laughter rang through my ears like smooth waves, “I’ve never seen you so embarrassed. You’re a grown woman. Calm down.” I couldn’t do anything but glare at him, “You look like an angry tomato, come here.” He put his eye drops back in their spot in his belt and then reached a hand out for me. I reluctantly took it, and he pulled me in.

I was flushed against him and felt everything. His breath fanning me, his heart beating in between soft motions or rapid-fire speed, his fingers tight around one hand while the other hand landed on the small of my back, setting ablaze to the spot. His eyes were soft and warm… just like in high school… god, what is wrong with me? I was just on a date with Vlad and having a really, really, good time with him. But now here I am near Aizawa, and suddenly all the feelings Vlad gave me, I feel it times a thousand with the sweet nothing Aizawa is giving me. This is bad. Really, really bad.

Suddenly, I felt a weighted material falling along my shoulders. It was Aizawa’s capture weapon being wrapped around my neck, “Normally, I don’t like wrapping people I care about in this thing because it’s for solely work and to restrain villains. But I don’t have a scarf on me, so it will make due for now to save you some more embarrassment.”

Care about… My mind decided to wander to the one question that haunted me for years. “Shota…”

“Hmm?”

“You don’t have to answer me or anything. But there’s a question that I always wanted to ask you.” I held the weapon in my hand, feeling the material contrast with my skin, and looked mindlessly at the ground, “What made you not want to talk to me for so long? I tried for a year after I left, and you never responded. I remembered five years ago, you said you didn’t want to be a burden, but I feel like it wasn’t that… Because you said you cared about me then, and you're saying that now. And if you did, it wouldn’t have mattered if you felt like a burden because you would’ve still tried, you know? If anything… I always felt like I was the burden. So, I just wanted to know the real reason.” My eyes were slightly stinging because I wanted to avoid crying. This shit with Gemini is really hitting me. He always made sure that I was nothing and just a burden. Same with my mom, too, I guess. So, part of me always felt that I fucked things up with Aizawa like I was just a pity party…

I felt the weapon get tugged a little, and I was met with the warm grey eyes again, this time with determination and desperation. He lightly placed his hands on either side of my face, “You have never once been a burden to me, Mai. I am so sorry if I ever made you feel like that. The reason for our friendship being broken for so long was my cowardly self’s fault. Not yours. If I knew you felt like that, I would’ve done my best to be a better person for you than I was.” He wiped a tear away from my cheek, “You’re an amazing person. I shouldn’t have ever let you go. I consider myself lucky to have you back in my life.”

I couldn’t help the feeling that was coursing through me. I never wanted to kiss someone as much as I want to kiss the man in front of me… Maybe it was just my emotions getting the best of me? I'm pretty sure he felt the same way because I caught his eyes, switching their attention to my lips before back to my eyes. I looked at him with anticipation. But we both knew nothing was going to happen again. It would’ve been wrong.

I decided I would be the one to break the contact. I delicately took his hands in mine and took them off of my face, “I have to go back in there with the students. Gran Torino is with Midoriya right now. He’ll go more into detail with you about tonight.”

“Mai… I really want...” He switched our hands so that he would be the one caging mine.

“Ms. Montoya?” We were both interrupted by one of our students. Our eyes followed the voice, and it was Midoriya with Gran Torino following behind them.

Aizawa and I immediately dropped our hands, “Yes, Midoriya?”

“Sorry if I interrupted anything. Just Gran Torino and I got to talking, and I have some things I wanted to talk to you about.” Midoriya was blushing as if he caught two lovers in bed or something. On the other hand, Gran Torino had a more knowing look as his eyes shifted between the two of us.

“Oh no, it’s okay, Midoriya. Come on, we can talk on the way to the cafeteria, and we can get something before it closes.” I motioned the boy over to me and just gave Aizawa an apologetic look as he walked over to talk with Gran Torino. To be very honest, though, I am pretty relieved for the interruption. I wasn’t really prepared to hear anything that Aizawa was going to say. We love avoiding the inevitable, don’t we, Mai?

—————————————-

Tag list

@multifandoms916 @inumorph @thatgirlwithcamera @mel-sanch

[159potterhead]

(this is answer to the previous ask. It's gonna be long. I'll try to give you the insight)

Yeah. I mean apart from me there's also this one other guy he's also regular victim like me coz he also broke a rule but he gets bullied by different seniors not the Michael guy gang. And it's not particularly about the gang or the group coz all those seniors are friends with each other so anyone can bully any junior. This guy has a job for calling me when those seniors ask to see me and this guy makes a run to the cafe coz those seniors wants to eat something. He's always running around here and there. I feel bad for him.

There are more than 200 peeps I guess. They had human ethics class when they called me but that time professor wasn't taking their lecture so most of them left but then too there were too many people in there. Yk I told you I'm in Biotech so like this we have all kind of subjects for major like physics, chemistry, maths, statistics, life science and many more and for all these branches we have a common subject called Human ethics which is compulsory for every one. So all of the branches together sit in one big classroom for this subject.

Tbh, I really don't know what that guy wants, I thought maybe I'll avoid him so I won't get in trouble but it happened opposite coz he got seriously pissed after that. That was the most embarrassing day of my life, I remember everything, I got very close to crying. And he never really talks to me but he called me in their class and was like, why are you avoiding me? And I can't say that to his face, so, I said, 'I was not.' And then he listed a few palce where I tried to avoid him and I had no answer to that, it's a long story but he bought that list of slangs that I once wrote and he told me to read the whole list (it has around 70 curse words half which I had to make up on my own. Initially it 50 but afterwards they increased it. I'll get to it later) He told me I had to yell those words until the person sitting on the last bench can hear me. It was brutal. And he was standing right on my head saying, 'I can't hear you,' I would have killed him that day. I got very close to crying. I only made it till 4-5 words. I skipped few days after that day it was the worst thing ever that's how everyone in his year got to know about me.

Yes! I tried to avoid him many times. If I saw him coming I used to changed my path and I think he noticed coz I wasn't subtle at all. And idk what's up with him coz he started playing hide and seek, if he noticed me changing direction or going the long way to avoid him he just used to take the short route and get there before me just to freak me out. And that guy is not even in my line of vision he's way taller than me and I freaked out every time when he used to come in front of me suddenly out of nowhere. I looked okay not a big deal from outside but from inside I always went in emergency mode, my hands used to get cold. Sue me, I have anxiety I can't help it and if someone will act like this I will feel a little afraid or intimidated yk. And after that task of reading the list out loud he stopped. So that was relief. I often think does these people don't have humanity or what. If I was a guy I would never do this to a girl. And yk this bullying part is also a reason why I'm done with guys. Don't be sorry, it's okay I had my fun in school, so I was kinda prepared for this.

I think you didn't get it. It's the weird universal rule going on from ages, we have to give respect to every senior even if they are from other branch. The rules are not made up by any college authority. It's just something that is going on among students, professors doesn't know a thing about it. There are many rules. We have two cafes over here and one of them is strictly reserved for seniors, a junior person cannot step a foot over there.

Yesss! You get me! That's why I was looking. I don't think it's peer pressure. I think that he thinks I don't respect him and I broke the rule. I think he got more confident after his friends knew. And I think his friends told people of his class that's why they all knew my name.

All my friends and classmates already knows about it. They can't do anything coz those people are their seniors too, and we are supposed to do as they say. One of my tired tried to help me coz she knew someone in the senior batch and that person talked to that Michael guy about me and guess what? They just doubled the slangs. And I had to prove my innocence and I bargained but then too I ended up writing 70. So there's that.

(it’s alright, write ten pages even if you’ve got to)

it’s all cause of those stupid rules!!😡 oh my, poor kid:(( y’all have feet, go and get your own food from the cafeteria! i’m starting to feel bad for him too, he’s just trying to get along with his college years, let him be!!

ohh, so you get stuck in the same hall for a whole lecture? that’s just nice🤦🏻‍♀️

yeah that makes absolutely no sense btw🤨?? baby noo😭 I wish I had been there for you!! umm we have nothing between us, I can avoid you if I want to?? jeez I wanna punch this dude so bad rn. ok srsly what is up with that list omg. YOURE JOKING????? HE MADE YOU DO THAT??? IS HE INSANE OR INSANE??!!? im so so so sorry!!!! that just sounds like an awful way to get introduced to the rest of the school, plus I can’t imagine the toll it had on you!!😭😭

???? what a creep??? I mean that’d be fine if it was a friend, but what the hell does he want?? you have a right to be intimidated, and it’s not your fault you’ve got anxiety, can’t he get it?!! either he finally saw that his actions are that of the devil and felt sorry for you and stopped, which I doubt very much. or someone in that class saw and made him stop afterwards. he shouldn’t be doing this to anyone, regardless!! this is your actual villain origin story against guys, and honestly, I can very clearly see why now. even though, this doesn’t mean that you deserved an ounce of it!

how is that supposed to be any better?? and fine I can show respect, but to the point of calling them maam and sir, is this a school or military grounds? yeah okay that reserved spot thing is passable.

ah okay... a shitty dude followed by shitty friends... how respectful.

honestly thank god I don’t attend your college, no offense. under whose authority am I to blindly do as they say, I don’t get it, I really don’t! oh that’s just great😫 props to them for talking to him though. that just sucks, I am incredibly sorry! :(((

🎶honey I'll be your shelter, I'll be the one to take you through the night. whenever you need shelter, I'll make everything alright, make everything alright🎶💕

[bonzhur]

"I have 4 brothers (one of them is younger and the two oldest are quite a lot older) so I was thinking maybe a Damian Wayne x reader (16+) where Damian and reader are secretly dating and Damian bumps in to the reader whilst they are both out with their siblings. Maybe a few of them know each other from school and they wanna hang out and Damian and the reader try and pretend they don’t know each other so their siblings don’t make a big deal about their relationship but maybe somehow they let it slip."

~♪~♪~♪~♪~♪~

Oh my gosh...

First off, I'm so sorry for not checking my asks, college and now this world wide issue. I'm so sorry!! *Bows* Please forgive me!!!

Second, I hope you can still enjoy this late reply, I'm really sorry ;-;

Guys, the keys for this story are these;

B1- Brother 1

B2- Brother 2

B3- Brother 3

Again, I am so sorry! P.S. details are lacking so I choose them for you... You'll see what mean later. Please enjoy this late reply, again, I'm so sorry!

~•~•~•~•~

I sighed as I sat on the mahogany bench, my sweat rolling down my skin as I tried to catch my breath.

"B1!"

The screech of my younger brother can probably be heard throughout the entire park, heck, maybe even Gotham. But I get how he's feeling, I'm ticked as well after all.

"What on earth gave you the great idea to drag me out of my bed to go jogging with you!" I turned my head to see B3 jabbing his finger at B1, who's just trying not to laugh. Yea, let's see that smug grin later when I beat ya for interrupting my sleep.

"What's wrong, lil bro?" B1 chuckled as he skipped a few feet away from him, holding his hands up in defense. "Not my fault you lack vitamin D and been hold up in your room with your video games, you and y/n both."

"Excuse you!" I immediately sat up and glare at my brother. "But my babies needed me, okay!"

A hand came suddenly and messed up my already bad bed hair. Not my fault B1 dragged me out of bed with no preparations, again whatever. I swatted the hand away, glaring at B2.

"Hey, I understand your struggle." He said with a look of understanding. "I bought you that switch with animal crossing remember."

I huffed and crossed my arms. Not my fault I got addicted to the game, not my fault it's one of the only games I can play with him.

A smile started forming on my face as I thought of him. Damian Wayne, son of billionaire Playboy Bruce Wayne, a student in Gotham High, and my absolutely hot boyfriend. Can't deny how toned and defined his body is~ And that ass is mine, so back off bishes! If only I can say that...

You see Damian may be my boyfriend, but we're in a secret relationship. Yea, sucks to be me alright. I do understand where he's coming from though. It's not about his image (he'd throw that away cuz he don't care) and definitely not his family, though he's adamant that I can't meet them yet (something about them never ending teasing and him not trusting they can keep a secret, also the fact that he wants to know how long it takes for them to figure it out). It's about me.

In Gotham High, I'm just a lucky smart kid, who got a scholarship. No one really pays attention to me, especially since there's more interesting people. So finding out a normal person like me is his girlfriend, let's just say it wouldn't end well. His fans would bully me relentlessly, people would assume I'm a gold digger or just a hoe. The rumours, the lies, the fights, the many ways this can go from great to worst. It's not the best situation to be, especially when Damian isn't always there to be by my side. Anything can happen and that anything scares both of us.

I groan as I quickly fixed up my hair into a high pony. It's bad enough that Damian doesn't go easy on me during training and now my big bro wants me to exercise in my rest day, not cool.

"let's just get this over with." I stood up, glaring at B1 as he innocently whistles. "I have a date with my bed and switch after this."

"So you're cheating on Pizza? With bed and switch? That's harsh." B2 cried as he clenched his hand over his chest, like the drama queen that he is.

"Maybe I should take Pizza out on a date later? Seeing as you're busy." B1 joked, fixing his black tank top like it was a suit.

"ha ha, very funny you two." Rolling my e/c eyes, I crossed my arms and walked towards them. "Now can we please just go?"

"fine, as soon as B3 stops complaining." B1 chuckled, causing me to sigh.

"I swear you three are making me loo-" All of a sudden, I felt someone bump into me and like dramatic girl, I nearly fell. But thankfully the culprit grabbed my wrist, saving me from the fall. I turn to the next victim on my list and was met with the mesmerizing green eyes of my surprised boyfriend. Shock dawned on my expression as I could only whisper. "Dami?"

"Habibti." Damian whispered back, I assume getting lost in my e/c eyes as well. Or maybe it was my sports outfit, who knows.

He pulled me up to stand and I was about to say something when I heard my brother called for me in the background. This snapped me back to reality and away from the Dreamland of Damian's eyes, pulling my hand back and stepping away from him. He did the same, now definitely looking at my outfit.

Now remember how B1 dragged me to the park for a jog. Well, it's extremely hot today and I'm not about to get out in the burning sun without a proper outfit. I.E. shorts, a tank top, running shoes, and my Batfam cap (a humor gift from B3. jokes on him, I love this hat). Now seeing how Damian is looking at my outfit, I can already tell what he's thinking, he's look at me with lust and want after all. Sweet Lord, if you're there. Please say me from this predicament I'm in. I want to walk please!

"Yo Dick, how ya been?" The voice of B1, surprised me as I turn to them. Eyes widening when I realized that Damian was with his brothers and sister. I think it dawned on Damian too, because now he moved more away from me. Sad but hey, secret relationship after all.

"Nothing much B1." Dick Grayson turned to me, eyes holding a flirtious glint when he saw me. "This your younger sister? Y/n?" He asked naturally, not like he ate me up with his eyes.

"Yea, she is." B1 said, like the confused idiot that he is. "Y/n, this is one of my old friends, Dick."

"Hi..." That's my poor attempt at interacting with people, brought to you by Social Anxiety and Depression!

"Name's Dick Grayson, this is my sister, Cass. My brothers, Jason, Tim, and Damian, who I think you met."

"Don't fool around, Grayson." Damian interrupted him. "I don't even know her."

"But you guys had a connection! Don't deny it!" Dick defended, while Cass giggled and Jason smirked at this, knowing a fight is near. Tim just went and laid on the bench, within seconds, he's asleep. Dude, the fu-

"Okay! Break it off." B2 said, pushing Dick away from Damian. "Me and my siblings have to go and finish our jog."

"oh, us too." Jason piped up. "Mind if we joined?"

"Sure, why not." B1 said instantly.

"wait, what?" Says my confused brain.

So during the jog, they explained how they knew each other, Jason to B2 and Dick to B1. Being from the same school and all that stuff, having a little fun reunion. Cass and B3 are watching Tim, who is barely awake but jogging too. I'm both amazing and confused at the same time. As for me and Damian, well..

We decided to jog the slowest, being at the back where none of them can see us or barely hear us. You can imagine how Damian teased me about my outfit and how after he's done with me, I can't stand for a week. Add some 'accidental' touching here and there, maybe a peck or two in secret. I'm actually surprised no one saw or questioned us.

Yea, that's how I felt until the end. Where Tim and B3 basically almost threw up because me and Damian are being too lovey dovey in the back.

"WHAT!"

Oh the chaos, how both B1 and Dick were celebrating about their siblings having a significant other, how B2 and Jason had a talk with each other about what to do if one of us broke the other's heart, and Cass being a sweet girl and congratulating us. She's the best.

At first, we tried to deny it, it's not like that, etc, etc. Then Tim pointed out that Damian called me Habibti, which we both, again, tried to deny it. Until Dick kabedons me and Damian attacked him. So now, they know that we're dating... Great.

Atleast now I can go to his house and be with him without fearing if his siblings see. Let me tell you, it was hella alot more fun than before.

~•~•~•~

First off, again I'm so sorry. Second, I literally typed this for an hour and a half. I need sleep.. Not my best work, please forgive me at that. It's been years or months since I last made a one shot and it's obvious in the fic, Atleast to me.

Thanks for reading this late reply post!

[bookscapadesblog]

Rules for Being a Girl by Candace Bushnell and Katie Contugno (SPOILERS)

I just finished this book about 20 minutes ago and boy do I have some things to say (a lot apparently judging by the size of this post sorry not sorry) That being said, do not read past the flames if you don’t want it to be ruined!

Honestly I’m just gonna jump right into this in a stream of thoughts

Right from the beginning, literally like page 2 this book was relatable when they introduced Bex as the cool and hot younger teacher that everyone had crushes on. If you didn’t have one of those at your school please tell me where you went because my middle and high school had at least 5 I can think off the top of my head

Page 4: Marin’s bf pinches her side when she walks up to their lunch table. Ok cool. My bf pokes me in the side and I do the same all the time. Totally normal.

AND THEN his friend is like “checking to make sure she isn’t getting fat?” And my mouth dropped open and I was like wtf that’s RUDE.

And then I thought about it and realized I have literally heard so many jokes like that from so many guys and it just registers a little differently when you’re reading it on a page.

Me going through my memory banks for every slightly sexist joke I’ve heard in my 25 years of life:

When Bex offers to drive Marin home I’m literally thinking that is so fucking weird why would he do that you’re an idiot you could lose your job

And then he tells her “hey don’t tell anyone I could get in trouble” and I’m like oh you’re a terrible person you know exactly what you’re doing 😑

As soon as Chloe started acting cold about Marin knowing Bex was writing a novel and hanging out with him during her sisters chess tournament I knew something was up. But was it just normal jealousy that her BFF got to hang out with the hot teacher 🤔

Ok. Ride offer #2. You’re literally asking to be fired dude. And then you’re going to take her to your apartment? That’s not weird or anything.

When Bex kissed Marin I was literally sitting there like 🤢 and her stream of thoughts are probably similar to every girl/women who has ever experienced unwanted advances from a guy

My heart was literally breaking when she was replaying it in her head and trying to think about whether she should tell someone but like “it’s just Bex it’s not that big of a deal” so then I was thinking about how this book better end with his ass in jail

AND THEN when she tried to tell Chloe and she basically victim blamed her and told her she was being dramatic and stuff I was like nooooo 😭😭😭 please support your friend

After finishing the book Chloes reaction made sense since she was being manipulated by the same disgusting POS. So now I hate him even more

The part when their principle brings up the poor girl to go through EVERY SINGLE uniform violation in front of everyone was awful

Personally I never had any issues with dress code but that’s because in high school (and still mostly tbh) I had zero fashion sense and was usually in jeans or sweats and a T-shirt 🤷🏻‍♀️

But just like in this book, the dress code was geared to “stop girls from distracting boys with their clothes” 😒😒😒😒😒😒😒

Marin’s editorial for the newspaper titled “Rules for Being a Girl” was spot on. Chances are if you’re a woman you’ve experienced every thing she mentioned at least once. I want to photocopy it and throw it at every male i come in contact with

Obviously Bex was not going to like it because he felt personally attacked by it. Which...ya know...if the shoe fits 🤷🏻‍♀️

And then her boyfriend was such a Dick about it and asked her if she was on her period and then she DUMPED HIM

I was over here like:

And then she calls Bex out for his list of short stories only having white male authors. Like YOU TELL HIM

Side note: this made me think of one of my favorite short stories from English class: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Very dark but very good

The part where Marin is helping her sister with her hair and get ready to go out and she convinces her to wear her glasses was so important to me. I’m a big sister too and I’ll be damned if I ever see either of my sisters changing themselves for a man

Ms. Klein is the teacher I would have wanted to be if I was any good at science. Unfortunately I am not so here we are...

Also would like to join a feminist book club (or any book club really) when we’re allowed to see real people again

I like that even though it’s only briefly mentioned, they bring up the fact that there is very little support for girls sports in high school (and honestly college and professionals too).

Gray is the cute, feminist bf every girl needs. He is so supportive. But also I LOLED when he got caught for watching the handmaids tale movie instead of reading the book

Marin’s parents were also so supportive of her and placed all the blame exactly where it belonged...on the pervy teacher

When Bex was investigated and didn’t get in any sort of trouble after Marin told the principle I was disappointed but not surprised which is sad

When Chloe got angry at Marin and started pulling away I kinda guessed that she was seeing Bex

When Marin didn’t get into Brown because of Bex I was so angry. And then he had the AUDACITY to say she tried to ruin his life?!? SIR YOU RUINED YOUR OWN LIFE TRYING TO HOOK UP WITH YOUR STUDENT

He deserved worse than her painting on his stupid car

Pushing Jacob into lockers? Yes keep going

Me at this point:

I was sad when she freaked out and broke up with Gray but understood where she was coming from but still I was like 🥺

Learning that Chloe had been in a relationship with Bex wasn’t a surprise but still sucked. Their editorial together was a powerful move since he was in charge of the school paper

I’m glad Chloe pressed charges and hope Bex, though imaginary, spends lots of time in prison and his life is ruined 🥰

Basically this was a great Women’s History Month read and I’d recommend it to any one and everyone. It does a great job of showing the subtle sexism women and girls experience that’s become so completely normal people barely bat an eye.

Anyway, girl power, ovaries before brovaries, chicks before dicks etc

[thatishogwash]

Tsukishima x Hinata “Real smooth... tripping over air”

AO3

Hope you like it @stacysmash! Thank you for all the requests!!

Tsukishima watched as Kuroo and Bokuto danced wildly on the dance floor, pulling poor unsuspecting victims into their orbit until mostly everyone in the reception hall was dancing along.  Tsukishima stayed in his spot over by the bar, far enough away that he wouldn’t be pulled out to the floor also.  Tsukishima may have grown and loosened up a bit since he was a teenager, and he could even be coerced into a dance or two but what they were doing involved too many flailing limbs and spins to be considered anything remotely dancing.

A head of vibrant orange hair caught his attention.  Tsukishima found himself finishing off his drink and wishing for something stronger.  It was a non-alcoholic beverage, he had decided to drive back to his brothers apartment after the wedding instead of having to get a hotel nearby.  Especially since he knew most of the hotels would be booked up from the rather extensive wedding party and invited guests.

Tsukishima slipped out a side door that led to balcony.  Below was a wide spread of foliage and flowers, the wooden arc still remained where the grooms had said their vows.  Tsukishima leaned against the railing and grinned as he remembered Sawamura choking on his words, how Kuroo had begged him not to cry because you know I cry when you cry and suddenly most of the guests were finding themselves wiping away their own tears.  Tsukishima should have known, his old captain had no problem showing his emotions and it was his wedding day after all.

Tsukishima was happy for them, no matter the snark he had shot out at Kuroo when he hugged him earlier that day.  They had gotten together during high school but had broken up after two years of long distance weighing on both of them.  For a while there it seemed as if they wouldn’t get together but years later Kuroo had accepted a job in Miyagi and had slowly won Sawamura back over.

“It’s a little much in there, isn’t it?”  Tsukishima turned and gave Sawamura a small nod, glancing behind him to the glass doors and the sea of people dancing together, most of them terribly and with no sense of rhythm.  Tsukishima’s eyes caught on a smaller form before he turned back around when Sawamura leaned against the rail next to him.

“What made you decide to give it a second shot?”  Tsukishima found himself asking despite having told himself that he wouldn’t bring it up.  But Sawamura had always been a strong and supportive figure, even for the short time Tsukishima had known him.  He never pushed Tsukishima, he always allowed him to find his own footing.

“We’re different people than we were at 19, a lot of the issues we had didn’t even have to do with each other.”  Tsukishima knew what it was like to be a broke college student.  He had gone to school in Tokyo himself and knew how expensive it was just to live there.  Sawamura had gone to school in Kyoto while Kuroo went to college in Tokyo, the distance and inability to see each other clearly played a huge factor.  “Having him closer definitely helped but I just came to the conclusion that my life is infinitely better with him in it, anything else we can work on together.”  Sawamura smiled, as if knowing exactly why Tsukishima was asking this question.

Tsukishima had dated Hinata for nearly two years in high school.  It had  been a surprise to most people who had known Tsukishima but in the same aspect, not really at all surprising to people who knew Hinata.  Not even Tsukishima was immune to his charms.

“So this is where my husband is hiding, already leaving me for a younger man?”  Kuroo asked as he stepped out into the balcony, immediately drawing himself to Sawamura’s side and pressing a soft kiss to his temple.  Sawamura’s cheeks flushed but he still looked pleased.

“And taller.”  Sawamura commented, which had Kuroo narrowing his eyes at Tsukishima, who had continued to grow in high school.  “I’ll be taking all the dogs and cats, you understand.”

“It was good while it lasted, right?”  Kuroo asked, playing along with a smirk.

“Meh.”  Sawamura shrugged but he grinned up at Kuroo, who was nuzzling Sawamura’s temple.

Tsukishima had been forgotten about and he found himself not minding as he stepped back into the reception hall, closing the door quietly behind him to give the newly weds some privacy.  It was their day but they had been pulled from person to person all night and Tsukishima knew that Kuroo had gotten in late last night from work so they hadn’t seen each other in a couple days.

Tsukishima thought of Sawamura’s words, how they were different people from when they were teenagers and the problems between them were mostly outside forces.  How he felt that his life was infinitely better with someone else in it.

Tsukishima’s eyes met a familiar pair, they looked dark from a distance but Tsukishima knew them for the light brown, almost gold they were.  Years ago he had known every inch of Hinata but he had a new scar on his chin and he had heard Tanaka mention a tattoo in passing.  

Tsukishima definitely wasn’t the person he was at 18.  He was more open and allowed himself to care, though he was always going to be an ass, he couldn’t and didn’t want to change that.  But he found himself wondering how different Hinata was, not just the outer appearance but inside too.  Did he still sing as he completed mundane tasks?  Did he regret dropping out of college to pursue a volleyball career?  How did he feel about doing that Men’s National Japan Volleyball calendar spread without a shirt on?

A smile stretched over Hinata’s face, it was the same too-bright one he had sported in high school but there was a mischievous edge to it, a knowing part that had Tsukishima stepping towards him before he had really given it much thought.  Even when Tsukishima had been full of bitterness and anger he had always felt a pull to Hinata.  He had fought against it back then but he was tired of fighting so he stepped forward.

And tripped.

Hinata’s laughter rang out in the room despite the noise flowing around them.  Tsukishima felt his face pull into a scowl as he looked up, ignored how his cheeks felt warm and thanked the universe that it was relatively dimly lit.

“Real smooth,” Hinata stopped in front of Tsukishima.  He was still short with too wide eyes and bright, wild hair.  “Tripping over air.”

“Maybe I was falling for you.”  Tsukishima found himself saying, watching with enjoyment as Hinata’s amusement slipped off his face as his mouth fell open.

“What did you just say?”  Hinata asked but Tsukishima shrugged and started walking away, hiding a grin as Hinata jogged to catch up with him.

“I said maybe I was falling for you and do you know why I said that?”  Tsukishima asked and Hinata shook his head.  “Because if you told anyone, no one would believe you.”  Hinata stared up at him in surprise before a surprised laugh fell out of him.

“Still got that bad attitude, huh?”  Hinata asked, punching Tsukishima in the arm.  Tsukishima leaned against the bar and pretended it hadn’t hurt.  Hinata was a professional athlete after all and even his half hearted hits stung.  Hinata suddenly grinned as he wrapped his hand around Tsukishima’s tie, pulling him down so he could whisper in his ear.  Tsukishima went willingly, his eyes going wide as Hinata said some rather crass things about what they could do in his hotel room.

“Where’s my son?  I asked the DJ to play our song!”  Bokuto shouted out from the dancefloor and Hinata hoped back a step, smile far too innocent for the filthy things he had just suggested.

“You know why I said that?”  Hinata asked as he took another step back, grin spread wide and beautiful across his face.  “Because if you told anyone, no one would believe you.”  He gave an honest-to-gods wink before he turned and walked away from Tsukishima.

Tsukishima reached up to loosen his tie before following after Hinata, willing to dance if it was with Hinata.

[tearsofwinter]

DnD Kirkwall Crew

@dovabunny challenged me to do an AU of the entire kirkwall crew, so I chose Dnd! It’s a bit based off a prompt I wrote: “ Fenris, Anders, and the rest of the gang play DnD. Their characters get into a duel because they are dead set on killing each other off. Many missed rolls later, their characters end up married with kids.”

Varric: 

Modern: A successful author, of course. I’m thinking he would be the type of person that wants to write 10 multiple endings and have it printed, and watch his fans go crazy while they argue which is the canon ending. He also writes his own fanfiction of his own series. 

DnD Role: Who better than Varric to be the GM? Master story teller. He enjoys putting all his friends through harrowing experiences and keeping them on their toes on whether they will or won’t survive. But Varric is also tenderhearted. He actually can’t kill off any of his friends, so they always make it to the end. NPCs though, they always die. 

Hawke:

Modern: A fitness trainer/body builder. Hawke is proud of her body and tries to show it off every chance she gets. She isn’t exactly a health nut, but she’s all on the latest trends on how to make herself buff in a safe manner. She’s cheerful and always cracking a joke. Most people peg her as an extrovert, but I’m thinking her being this way is compensation for something in the past? When she was younger, she was scrawny. Her family was poor. They lived off food stamp. Leandra had to get a job at a sweatshop in order to help with the family income. To battle with the helplessness Hawke felt as a child, she physically made her body stronger. 

DnD Role: Gold Dragonborn Warrior. “ Born of dragons, as their name proclaims, the dragonborn walk proudly through a world that greets them with fearful incomprehension. Shaped by draconic gods or the dragons themselves, dragonborn originally hatched from dragon eggs as a unique race, combining the best attributes of dragons and humanoids. Some dragonborn are faithful servants to true dragons, others form the ranks of soldiers in great wars, and still others find themselves adrift, with no clear calling in life.” Hawke didn’t care about the trait or abilities, or anything else. She saw dragon, she took it. 

Rest under the cut

Bethany

Modern: College student. Is studying education and child care. Beth wants to work with children. Carver often teases her, saying she lacks the temperament. He keeps bringing up the story when they were little and he got her so mad, that she pushed him out of the treehouse. He still has a scar on his head to prove it. He likes to call her Ms. Crunchem from Matilda. In response, Bethany goes to where Carver works, and chats up Merrill, telling her all the embarrassing stories of Carver’s childhood.

DnD Role: Like Carver, Bethany only plays on occasion. She actually can’t make it every Satuday, as she works at a volunteer group. When she does play, she plays the wandering Orc, a reoccurring boss the crew has to beat. “Orcs live a life that has no place for weakness, and every warrior must be strong enough to take what is needed by force.” Bethany may look sweet and humble, but she’s a beast at the game. She takes great joy almost killing off everyone with her awesome rolls. The gang has repeatedly ask Hawke to stop bringing her lol.

Carver:

Modern: Also college student. He has a part time job at an aromatherapy shop. He tries to use the money he earns to help with the family, but Hawke never allows him to pay for the bills, and instead tells him to use it for school. Carver can’t wait to be older, graduate, and find a well paying job so Hawke can stop shouldering all of the responsibility.

DnD Role: N/A. Carver refuses to play DnD. He thinks it’s a silly game, but somehow he always gets suckered into playing when Hawke manages to drag him over to game night. Since Carver’s appearance is rare, he tends to play the NPCs that Varric eventually kills off lol. The gang love ribbing on Carver.

In alphabetical order:

Anders

Modern: An ex-doctor. Used to work for the Red Cross. When he came back to Kirkwall, he worked at the hospital for a while, but when a surgery got botched due to the negligence of the head surgeon, they needed a fall guy. Anders unfairly got his license revoked. Now Anders works at a Big Cat sanctuary as a volunteer, and on his spare time, he goes to protests. 

DnD Role: A priest Tabaxi. “Hailing from a strange and distant land, wandering tabaxi are catlike humanoids driven by curiosity to collect interesting artifacts, gather tales and stories, and lay eyes on all the world’s wonders.” Fenris and Anders met because of Hawke and Varric. Hawke sometimes works at the sanctuary and invited Anders and Justice to game night. Fenris is a friend she made after a murder case Fenris helped solve and cleared her name. At first, neither Anders or Fenris were really into the game, until Fenris made an off handed comment about mages. After that, Anders kept trying to sabotage and kill Fenris’ character off. Since then, every single DnD night, Varric has to do one game for the Hawke and co, and a separate game for Anders and Fenris, who’s busying dueling each other. 

Aveline

Modern: Police officer. Slowly, she’s working her way up the ranks in order to become a detective. As much as she enjoys patrolling Kirkwall, she wants conduct investigations and solve criminal cases. Donnic has been asking her if she wouldn’t prefer working as a prosecutor instead. 

DnD Role:  Warrior Aasimar. “Aasimar are placed in the world to serve as guardians of law and good. Their patrons expect them to strike at evil, lead by example, and further the cause of justice.” Everyone was quite shocked when Aveline picked this role. Most of them assumed she would’ve picked human. But when Aveline read this role, she knew it was the perfect fit for her. Isabela rolled her eyes and said of course, manly hand chose the most justicey of justicey roles. 

Fenris

Modern: Works as a translator and a museum curator. In his spare time, Fenris writes. It’s how he met Varric. Both of them work for the same publishing company. Hawke was involved in an odd case where a word written in old Tevene was scratch into the wooden floor of the victim. Varric dragged Fenris in so he could translate it. They broke a few rules, but anything for writing material! What’s the most interesting detail is that Fenris is the author of Anders’ most favorite series. It’s a children’s book about cats, and it actually isn’t selling to well. But hearing Anders gush about it, kind of makes Fenris feel warm inside. All the money he makes from the books, he donates to the Big Cat Sanctuary Anders and Justice runs.

DnD Role: Goliath. “Strong and reclusive, every day brings a new challenge to a goliath.” Anders makes fun of Fenris for choosing this role. He says it must be because Fenris is trying to compensate for something. To which Fenris replied, “Why don’t you come and find out?” and then proceeded to try and roll for an instant KO on Anders’ character. However, he rolled a 1. Instead of smacking Anders’ character with a club, Fenris’ character ends up seducing Anders’ lol. 

Isabela

Modern: Sex therapist. It wasn’t her first choice of job. When Izzy got kicked out of her home at a young age, she worked as a thief, then later joined a gang. However, when a gang war broke out, and she almost died during a shooting, Izzy left that life behind. Her current job is because she was able to blackmail a former lover. He helped her forge some papers. The Ph.D hanging on her wall? Fake. However, her advice is always sound. Maybe it’s because of the hard life she had, but Izzy is always able to see the truth of the matter, and say what needs to be said. Her patients always values her blunt wisdom.

DND Role: Chaotic Good Human Rogue. “Humans are the most adaptable and ambitious people among the common races. Whatever drives them, humans are the innovators, the achievers, and the pioneers of the worlds.” It was a toss up between the human or Triton race ( Long-established guardians of the deep ocean floor, in recent years the noble tritons have become increasingly active in the world above), but the triton just seemed so stuffy, so she went with the regular ol’ human. Having Izzy play is always unpredictable. While she’s good the first 30 minutes and make smart decisions, after her 4th can of beer, she’s chaos unleashed. She is especially fond of teasing Aveline and Carver. 

Justice

Modern: The founder of Big Cat Sanctuary. Was knighted by the Queen of Ferelden. Like, he’s a legit knight. No one knows his complete backstory, it’s as if he appeared out of thin air one day. All they know is that his background is heavily guarded by the government. 

DND Role: Does not play. He keeps telling Anders he has no time to join their frivolous games. So since Justice won’t drive to Varric’s, sometimes Anders has the gang come to THEIR apartment for game night. Even though Justice refuses to play, he keeps coming in and out of his room to watch how the game progresses. He makes sure everyone has something to drink, and that there’s plenty of snacks going around. He’s a bit of a mother hen. 

Merrill

Modern: The owner of an aromatherapy/herablist shop. Everything is organic and hand crafted by Merrill. Diffusers, essential oils, bath bombs, homeopathic medicine, vitamins, plants etc can be found here. Hawke walked by this shop everyday to and fro from work, and the shop always smelled so nice that she finally decided to visit. Who knew that the shop also provided tea and yummy biscuits? It became her favorite place to go during lunch break. It’s thanks to Hawke that Carver got introduced to the job. It’s a bit funny. The shop barely ever has any customers, but not only does it manage to stay afloat, but also pays Carver very well. Carver wants to ask where Merrill gets the money, but he’s also afraid of the answer. What if she already has a lover and Merrill is actually a sugar baby? Carver will be devastated! ((Merrill actually runs an underground business of buying and selling artifacts. She’s taking back what belongs to her people, things that Orlais and Tevinter wrongly stole. Her shop is actually just a front)). 

DnD Role: Elf mage. Merrill cannot imagine being anything else. She’s proud of her heritage. She is a bit absent minded while playing the game though, and often forgets the rules. At first Varric and Isabela looked out for Merrill, and tried to help her get the hang of the game, but then one night they noticed when Merrill “rolled” the dice, she distracted everyone by accidentally kicking the table. By the time everyone righted everything, Merrill’s dice went from a 3 to an 18. Sneaky, sneaky. 

Sebastian

Modern: A foreign prince currently studying abroad. He ran into Bethany and Hawke during one of their volunteer sessions. Both of the sisters can’t get enough of his accent, so invited him to hang out with them. Rumor at the school is that he’s an exiled prince that got banned from court because of his frivolous and wanton attitude. Other rumors is, is that he saw the “Kirkwall Girls Gone Wild” TV ad, and wanted a piece of that action. Some hopefuls hope that they can snag the prince and become princess. They’ll be said to find out, Sebastian’s true goal at coming to Kirkwall was to study to become a clergyman. 

DnD Role: Human warrior. As a child, Sebastian never got a chance to play DnD, so when Hawke dragged him to play, he was quite overwhelmed by all the races, classes, and rules. So he chose the most simple and easiest one to understand. Seb is quite a newb though, and for some reason, Varric seems to dislike him. While the rest of the crew seem to always scrape by unscathed, Seb’s character is always down to 1 HP. 

This took me 2 hours to write. I hope you’re happy @dovabunny LOL

[dumbbelle]

robber!Minghao

In the end, Chan’s the one who says it best: “So… What you’re telling me is that you broke into Y/N’s house to steal a painting, and walked out having stolen their heart instead?”

Seokmin raises his hand for a high five. “Smooth man, smooth.”

Minghao Robin Hoods the frick outta his life, and quite literally bumps into you in the process. 

✄ Word Count: 3402 ✄ T/W: Swearing, attempted robbery, cute shit ✄ A/N: Heyo it’s Belle, I’m back with something that nobody asked for but I thought was necessary.

Masterlist

Contrary to what his best friend and roommate says, Xu Minghao insists that he’s a decent person.

(“And Mingyu can go fuck himself with his morals, the asshole’s the most notorious bootlegger you’ll find on campus”)

But honest, Minghao is a simple college boy.

He came to Pledis University when he was 18 as an international student, double majoring in Visual Arts, and Korean Language and Culture.

He’s there mostly on scholarship but he also has financial support from his parents, so he’s never really had to worry about his economic status.

He’s not the most social of kids but he’s also not the most introverted, so he always has just enough friends and just enough parties to attend as to not get bored.

But he gets bored anyway, because he’s always been an active child itching to do more.

So really, this whole mess started when he decides that he should pick up his old hobby:

Breakdancing

It’s mostly just a passing thought that comes to him when he comes back home for holiday and rewatches a VHR tape of an old b-boying competition.

But it lingers and every once in awhile he considers the possibility of him just quitting school and becoming a b-boy star like he once dreamed of.

After all, he was pretty damn good.

(He accidentally thinks this out loud during dinner and his mother throws her chopsticks at him)

Anyway, he returns to college for the new year and he’s almost completely forgotten about his old dreams.

Luckily enough (or maybe unluckily enough, depending on the perspective), there is a campus b-boy squad that he happens to stumble upon during his second-year clubs fair (as in, they barrelled into him with a flier and bombarded him with questions).

To be truthful, it seems pretty lame and Minghao’s sure that if he went underground, he could probably find a cooler scene,,,

But also, they said that there would be snacks at the interest meeting,,,

And so he makes the considerate decision to attend.

The interest meeting is where he meets Seokmin of all people.

The acting major makes a scene when he announces that he’s not there as Lee Seokmin but as Kang Hajoon, a lower-class high school drop out who finds his way through the power of breakdance.

(“Nobody knew who you were in the first place, dipshit–“

“–I said to call me Hajoon–“

“–Just sit down.”)

And people are snickering at Seokmin because they find his method acting lame.

But Minghao finds that lame so he proceeds to sit down right beside the boy and stare daggers at any jerk who directs a snide comment their way.

He hangs around just long enough so that he can decimate the rest in a b-boy demonstration, pretty much showing them all what they’re going to miss out on.

And then he gets up and leaves the meeting, Seokmin following behind him.

They grab some chips on their way out and properly introduce themselves.

“Hey sorry about all of that in there, Seo- uh, Hajoon. B-boyers usually aren’t assholes… Just them. Don’t let that bleed into your portrayal, you feel? I’m Minghao, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m over it. Thanks for what you did back there... It’s nice to meet you too. And you can call me Seokmin now, I’m done with Hajoon for the day.”

Which starts an odd, but well-oiled friendship.

Seokmin introduces Minghao to all of his friends, and that’s how Minghao ends up with an incredibly,, diverse,, friend group.

And by diverse, he means that he’s positive his friendship with them will likely result with him going to jail.

He should’ve realized it when the de facto leader Seungcheol introduced himself as “S.Coups” and made him sign a waiver of liability before joining the group.

It was scribbled on to the back of a receipt but yeah, it should’ve been a little concerning

But Minghao just kinda rolls with it.

And this is how he finds himself inducted into their so-called “League of Good Doers Doing Not So Good Doer Things”.

It’s a working title; LoGDDNSGDT for short.

(“What do you do, Seokmin?”

“I’m a recruiter!”

“… That’s fair.”)

It takes him a few months to solidify his role in the group (he’s the last to join), but in that time he manages to become especially good friends with Mingyu, so much so that he becomes his roommate.

Mingyu’s known for using his technical abilities to bootleg high quality concert footage, videos, textbooks, and whatever else you need.

(“We’re all just a bunch of broke college students with a bunch of broke college student needs. We’re just making those needs realities.”)

Also alcohol, he sells a lot of alcohol.

And though Minghao initially scoffs at this, it also makes him check his privilege a little

He’s always been fortunate enough to grow up with money and be smart, free to do whatever he wants when he wants.

Growing up, he’s had a lot of interests and a lot of phases, all of which he more than excelled in.

Gosh, there was even that one ninja phase…

THE NINJA PHASE

He’s eating a brownie that’s probably been laced with weed one Friday night as he watches tv with Mingyu and Seokmin when he remembers the ninja phase.

He remembers how stealthy he is and just how good he is at picking locks.

And so he decides to Robin Hood the frick outta his life, robbing the expensive belongings from the richer students and pawning their items off so he can donate to the poor.

He excels at this too, much to Mingyu’s chagrin (“the kid’s just fuckin’ good at everything!”)

It definitely alleviates him of his boredom, and he’s so subtle and precise with it that most of the time, people don’t even notice when things are missing.

He’s become some kind of town legend, and so many people idolize this mysterious robber that the authorities aren’t even too concerned.

He’s also somehow acquired this odd nickname?? The8?? They say it’s because you never know how his crimes begin or how they’ll end.

Like the only thing anybody knows about his victims is that they’ll be wealthy (but gosh, Pledis U has too many of those roaming the place),,,, but then next thing you know the underfunded art department will suddenly get a donation of a few thousand, or the Culture Club food drive will find a gazillion non-perishable cans when they come back the next morning.

Minghao likes to think he's spontaneous.

Now this is where you come in (“finally,” I can hear you sigh from behind your screens)

Unlike everyone else around you, you do not have the biggest crush on this mysterious figure.

(“Just for the record, ‘The8’ is literally the dumbest robber alias I have ever heard.”

“How many have you heard before?”

“Not. The. Point.”)

All he does is go around and undermine people’s hard work, invading their personal space and infringing on their privacy.

All so that he can make a quick buck.

And sure, maybe he’s not spending all that money on himself, but to make students feel unsafe and unprotected in their own freaking homes and dorms?

And to have nobody do anything about it?

Absurd.

It becomes such a constant source of ire for you that you rant about this almost daily.

But it’s like you’re the only one who understands the gravity of the situation.

Your closest friends are all about this guy, singing his praises and commending his selflessness.

Your junior, Chan, is particularly adamant about the quality of his character (you have no idea about his involvement with the LoGDDNSGDT, of course; after all, he also had to sign the receipt contract).

So you’re a party of 1 in the Anti-The-8 Movement.

He’s three months into it when he makes a rather stupid mistake:

He decides to rob you.

Minghao will later complain that anybody could’ve gotten the wrong idea.

He sees you for the first time in his Korean History class.

He doesn’t exactly know how he missed you before.

First of all, you’re fucking gorgeous

First of all, there is a certain air that you carry yourself with–

It’s poised and self-assured and kind of breathtaking.

You raise your hand to read a passage and even the way you speak is levelled and controlled.

You remind him of royalty some of the other wealthy kids on campus.

Probably trained to uphold a certain degree of eloquence so that you can one day take over your parents’ company and maintain good business relationships. 

And socialize at those hoity-toity parties with the little hors d'oeuvres.

His thoughts are confirmed after class when he overhears you talk with your friends.

You’re asking your friend to take notes in place for you when you go off to vacation with your family next week.

“Heading off to the island?” Your one friend chirps.

“Yeah, dad just finished a successful case and we’re celebrating.”

And wait, an island? These guys must be fucking loaded.

Your friend lets your name slip and it’s all starting to make a lot more sense.

Now he’s heard of your name around campus.

Your parents are lawyers who built an empire, opening up law firms around the country.

They’re known for being ruthless and never sharing their wealth.

In short, they’re prime targets!!

Minghao feels like it’s Christmas– this will be his biggest catch since that one kid who was the heir to the electric toothbrush company.

He trails you and your friends for a few minutes just to confirm the details and then he’s off to plan.

Fast forward a week later to when you should be going off to vacation.

But instead you come down with the stomach flu, and not a pretty one either.

You experience the full range of systems:

Vomit, fever, dizziness, fatigue,,, There’s no way your parents are letting you tag along on the trip.

And you’re too busy vomiting to argue.

So they ditch your ass and head off to vacation by themselves, once you assure them that you’ll be fine on your own.

After all, you are a certified GDI who can take care of yourself.

… Who just so happens to be dressed up in a onesie, cuddling a large teddy bear as you watch Netflix from your nest of pillows on the couch.

You’ve scrolling through your recommended feed when you hear it:

The door opening

And you have to wonder if the vacation ended early because who else… Would…

You gasp when you realize what’s going on, rushing to turn off the television as to eliminate all sources of sound.

All your nightmares are coming true, and you haven’t even fully developed a game plan to approach this awful situation.

Now you’re not dumb, you’re not gonna run headfirst into a situation where you don’t have the upper hand.

Instead, you’ll hide and discreetly notify the authorities when you activate the alarm system.

And so no, you’re not dumb,, 

But you are clumsy.

You’re trying to navigate your way to your bedroom, remote in hand as a backup weapon, checking over your shoulder at every possible moment.

Perhaps you’re checking over your shoulder a little too much, because next thing you know you’ve crashed into a wall.

Except the wall moves and you know that it’s definitely not a wall.

The wall makes a sound, a little grunt and you snap your head back around so quickly, you think you hear the whip of the wind.

The man in front of you is tall and skinny, and seems oddly familiar even with his ski mask on.

You don’t have too much time to contemplate this however , as you’re too busy trying to whack the heck outta him with your remote.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE YOU ASSBUCKET.”

It's all just too much, and you're surprised you haven't shat your pants because of how scared you are.

But,,,, The8 is kinda just taking it??? He's trying to block you of course (and mostly succeeding to, the jerk) but he's not trying to fight back. What kind of shitty robber…?

You're c o n f u s e d, which is why you stop to look up at him expectantly.

“You done?” His voice incites a whole new wave of panic to wash over you, and you raise your remote to start hitting him again but The8 quickly raises his hands in surrender. “Hey, hey now, I'm not here to hurt you.”

You're skeptical, of course you are. But you think back to all the gossip you’ve heard about The8, and realize that you can’t recall any accounts of violence.

This doesn't change the fact that this asshole is robbing you, so you use the remote to gesture towards his ski mask.

“Take it off.”

And he sighs, as if it's inevitable, but holds up a finger and starts to negotiate,,,, as if he has any right to in this current situation,,, and gosh, how is he so damn calm right now??

“Okay, but if I do, promise you won’t call the cops immediately.”

You don't know why you agree to his terms– you're sure it won't make a difference.

He’ll get the cops called on him sooner or later.

But if it gets him to cooperate… You agree with a swift dip of your head.

The tension in the room is palpable, and you have to remind yourself to breathe as he starts to take off his mask.

And oh fuck you know who it is you know who it is you know who it is.

You recognize him immediately as the cute guy in your Korean History class, the one you've had a crush on since forever and a half ago.

The one that's always hanging out with that group of loud kids…Chan's Precious Seniors

And somewhere in your subconscious, you're freaking out about the possibility of Chan being involved in a crime syndicate.

And further freaking out about how you’ve confided in Chan about your crush in Xu Minghao, who just so happens to be The8 and holy fuck you can’t believe it’s him.

You really don’t have much time to dwell, because the shock and overexertion of the situation starts gets to you, and you’re starting to feel dizzy. It’s like the fever finally catches up to you–

And then you’re falling, fainting–

The last thing you hear before you pass out is the startled cry of your name.

…

You wake up to the smell of broth, and the feeling of a damp cloth pressed to the top of your forehead.

Your headache is devastating, but you’re otherwise positioned comfortably

It takes you a minute to process that you’re back on your living room couch, low hum of the television sounding from somewhere to your right

You try to locate the smell of broth, which is when you meet eye-to-eye with a very timid looking Minghao

He’s more tense than earlier, as if he’s scared you’ll jump up right then and there to attack him

And you would, honest, but the broth,,, smells,,, so,,, good,,,

You motion for him to give it to you and he relaxes before quickly complying, letting you sit up before gently placing the bowl in your hands.

He settles into a stool beside you– one that definitely wasn’t there before, but it’s whatever.

You sit there in silence for a good couple of minutes, Minghao watching the drama playing on TV as you drink your broth.

It’s kinda nice

Minghao’s the first one to speak.

“Please don’t exert yourself like that if you’re sick. You could’ve had a heart attack or something.”

He sounds so small that you just manage to resist throwing the rest of the hot soup at him in the sudden bubble of anger that erupts from you in the form of a hiss.

“Um, my memory might be wrong here but wasn’t it you who broke into my house in the first place, assbucket?”

He chuckles at that, and you’re slowly losing that sliver of self-restraint.

“Assbucket, that’s a new one.” You notice that his accent is more prominent when he’s amused.

“You deserve worse, you assbucket.”

At that he really laughs, and you have to look away to distract yourself from how attractive the sound is.

“You’re cute, you know that?”

You’re not sure what to say to that, and Minghao can tell. He quickly changes tact.

“Listen, I get why you’re mad.” Oh, now wouldn’t that be the understatement of the year.

“But I promise I’m not here to hurt you. I-I won’t even steal anything from here anymore. But please, please don’t make yourself more sick because of me.”

And man, fuck Minghao for making it damn near impossible to call the police on his ass. You don’t say anything more until you finish up your broth.

“Why… Why do you do it?”

Minghao shrugs. “Just because.”

“Just because? You’re violating my home, Minghao. This is my private space, and you’re infringing upon it without my consent.”

Minghao furrows his eyebrows, as if he’s never considered it before. And God, why did it have to be him?

Minghao finally hums. “Would you miss it?”

W-wha… “Huh?”

Minghao nods towards an abstract modernist piece that hangs high up on your wall. “Would you miss it?”

Your silence is more than enough to answer his question.

“But I’m sorry, you know. I truly wouldn’t have come around if I was aware you’d be home. Aren’t you supposed to be on vacation?”

“. . . Minghao, that’s creepy. Don’t do that. Besides, how do you know my name?”

“How do you know mine?”

The fucker. You blush, shrugging and dropping the subject completely. You’re avoiding his eyes so much that you miss the fond smile on his lips. He’s about to say something when a phone sounds. You realize it’s coming from Minghao’s pocket and watch as he takes it out, curious.

Minghao checks his phone and immediately scowls, closing his eyes in what seems like exasperation.

“I… I have to go, so sorry. My roommate just did something unbelievably stupid because he’s unbelievably stupid.”

You refrain from asking; you really don’t wanna know.

“Will you be alright by yourself? I’m worried… I’ll try to stay longer if you don’t think you will… I mean, if you want. Or I can call someone to come or–”

Where was this bashful kid an hour ago? For the first time that evening, you let out a small smile. He sees it and is stunned, momentarily blinded by your beauty.

“I’ll be fine Minghao, go help your roommate.”

He nods, getting up to leave, but not before taking your phone from the coffee table. He holds it out so that you can unlock it, and you do, though the question hangs in your eyes.

“I-I’m not taking it, just wanted to give you my phone number. In case you start to feel worse. Call me or don’t... It’s whatever.”

And so you do.

...

Bonus:

Three months later, you’re recounting the tale to the rest of the boys during one of their weekly movie nights. (You don’t dare touch the brownies, Minghao tells you they’re fucked.)

In the end, Chan’s the one who says it best: “So… What you’re telling me is that you broke into Y/N’s house to steal a painting, and walked out having stolen their heart instead?”

Seokmin raises his hand for a high five. “Smooth man, smooth.”

Your boyfriend ignores it, though Seokmin stubbornly keeps his hand up and waits for anyone to complete the exchange. You tap your palm against his in pity.

“Actually,” Minghao starts, nuzzling his nose into your hair, “I would say Y/N is the one who stole my heart instead. Just had to fall straight into my arms like that… A true master of seduction.”

You giggle, turning your head to peck his lips. The boys groan, losing interest in your story and turning back towards the movie.

From somewhere in the corner, you hear Mingyu fake a gag.

(Perhaps it’s the brownies, you can’t really tell.)

Masterlist 

[baekhyunspizza]

Emergency Room

Member: Chanyeol

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1.7k

Synopsis: A late-night mishap lands you and an unexpected guest a visit to the emergency room. 

     “Another test, honey?” Ms. Lee asks with a sympathetic frown as I slide a tub of pistachio ice cream and a pack of Oreos across the counter. Her family owned gas station was conveniently located a two blocks from my dorm at the university, and it serves as my go-to consolement when I fall victim to the errors of Mr. Ko.

     “I just can’t catch break in my physics class. And I definitely didn’t need such a low test grade so close to Christmas. Mr. Ko couldn’t teach if his life depended on it,” I reply, the defeat clear in my voice. I actually went into the class feeling good about the material. But one poor exam and a fat red F later, I quickly learned that acceleration and velocity were not my forte.

     “Well, you tell Mr. Ko that if he keeps this up, he’s gonna have a very angry Hana Lee to deal with,” she says with a southern drawl, a teasing smile reaching her eyes.

     “I’ll make sure to relay the message. He’ll be quaking in his New Balance sneakers,” I laugh. Offering a small thanks to Ms. Lee, I grab my change and take my plastic bag from the counter. I check to make sure my barely-functioning keychain is securely attached to my belt loop, frowning at the little keys hanging onto the misshapen and cracked plastic ring. I wave once more in Ms. Lee’s direction before shuffling out of the store, a subtle chime indicating my exit.

     Small snowflakes begin to descend from the sky and I quietly thank myself for deciding to drive to the store instead of walk. Although the store is a mere two blocks from my dorm, I have enough street smarts to know that walking by myself at this time of night would be a stupid idea. That, and I’ve seen just enough episodes of Criminal Minds to make me incredibly paranoid. Just as I mentally applaud myself for my wise thinking, a warm, large hand covers my shoulder and I immediately stop in my tracks.

     “Miss,” his deep voice says.

     This is it, I think.

     It was actually happening. I knew my luck would run out eventually. I am going to die at as a broke college student, wearing my Mickey Mouse sweatshirt and my mom’s Levis from 1997. Holding a tub of pistachio ice cream.

     Why couldn’t I have an honorable death, like saving children from an oncoming bus or rescuing puppies from a burning building? I’d even settle for some sort of freak accident. But dying on a late night ice cream run is a little ridiculous. It sounds like something from a flopped murder mystery novel. I can see the newspaper headlines now. Girl Dies Buying Ice Cream from Abysmal Gas-Station. I can’t let myself die in such a humiliating situation. I have too much dignity. Clenching my jaw and balling up my fists, I wheel around on my heel and aim directly for the middle of his face.

     “What are you doi-” he asks with wide eyes, not being able to finish his question before my knuckles collide with his nose. Why don’t they emphasize how much socking someone in the face can hurt in the movies? I knew it’d sting a little, but I didn’t expect for my knuckles to feel like they were in split in half underneath my skin. Shaking out my hand to ease the pain, I look back to the man and see fresh blood gushing from his nose. His long, lanky legs stumble back and he bends over the waist, trying to avoid bleeding on his dark jeans and black converse. It drips onto the pavement in small crimson specks and I feel proud.

     Yeah, I did that. Go me.

     “Serves you right for trying to touch me, jerk,” I yell in his direction before hurriedly reaching for the handle to the driver’s door of my car.

     “You dropped this!” he hollers. The man waves a small object in his hand and I squint as an attempt to make out its shape. It catches the light of a nearby street lamp and glints a metallic pink color. Crap. Looking down at the keychain in my hand, I notice there’s only four keys instead of five. He begins to walk towards me with his palms outstretched in front of him. The universal sign of surrender.

     “I promise, I’m not gonna hurt you. You just dropped your key while you were fumbling with your bags so I was gonna return it to you,” he said, carefully pinching the petite key in between his thumb and index finger to avoid dirtying it with any blood. Up close, I see that he’s not a middle aged pervert. He’s probably only a year or two older than me. Wavy brown hair covers his forehead and his big eyes are wide with fear of being struck again.

     There have only been two other times in my life when I’ve been this mortified. Once, when I was five and had an accident on the first day of kindergarten out of nerves, and again when Bryce Taylor rejected me at the spring formal in eighth grade. But this….This might top the list. I probably just broke the nose of the guy.

     “I-I can’t believe I just did that I’m so sorry-” The words cannot come out of my mouth fast enough as I rush up to him and look up to examine his wounds.

     “Do you have anything to stop the blood?” he asks, turning his head to the side and spitting out crimson from his mouth. I rummage through my purse for anything that could possibly pause the continuous stream, but it’s a lost cause.

     “I don’t-I don’t have anything. Oh God it’s getting worse,” I start to panic as the flow seems to be getting heavier.

     “I’m driving you to the hospital.”

     “No, it should stop soon. I’ll be fine really,” he says looking at the ground, eyes widening at the large burgundy patches on the concrete.

     “No, we’re going. I’m not gonna be able to live with myself if I just leave you here with a broken nose in the snow,” I insist, leading him to my car. I unlock the passenger door and he ducks in, his height proving to be problematic inside my 1994 Honda Accord. Sliding into my seat, I ignite the engine and the vehicle roars to life.

     “I never got your name,” I say turning towards him.

     “I’m Chanyeol,” he replies, leaning his head back against the headrest.

     “Y/N. Sorry for breaking your nose,” I say sheepishly. Snow continues to fall outside, but not heavy enough to making driving difficult.

     “So...are you a student at the university?” he asks, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.

     “I’m surprised you’re being so cordial to me. But yes, I am.”

     “I figured I should get to know the person who’s driving me to the hospital. Maybe we can even be friends.”

     “But I broke your nose.”

     “I’m not one to hold grudges,” he says, and I laugh at his playful banter. I silently thank God for making him such a friendly individual.

     “Maybe. You should have my number, so you can send me any information about the hospital bill. I’d feel awful if you paid for it yourself since this entire thing is my fault.”

     “You think I’m gonna make you pay for the bill. I didn’t peg you for a jokester.’

     “I’m serious, I’d really feel better if you had it,” I insist, giving him my number in case he needs it.

     “Hey, Chanyeol?”

     “Yeah?”

     “Can you try not to get any blood on my seats? They’re leather.”

     “You broke my nose.”

     “Touché.”

--

     “Thank you, Dr. Nam. I would say I hope to see you again soon, but that wouldn’t exactly be the truth. At least, I wouldn’t want to visit again under circumstances like this,” Chanyeol says, shaking hands with the middle aged physician.

     “It’s my job, son. Maybe you’ll find a better way to approach young women at night,” Dr. Nam replies with a smile.

     “Fair enough,” Chanyeol laughs.

     I learned a couple of things about Chanyeol as we sat in the urgent care waiting room. He was a law student that grew up near the coast but moved to our small town this year to start settling down. He’s the only one in his family that decided to pursue their education and  go to college. He’s also an expert charmer.

--

     “So I never asked, but what was a pretty girl like you doing in a place like that old gas station?” he says, nudging my elbow with his. I look up from the magazine I’ve been reading to pass the time as we wait for his name to be called for a consultation with Dr. Bynes. I roll my eyes at his lame attempt to hit on me, but I smile at the corniness of it all.

     “Failed test. Needed some saturated fat and excessive sugar to ease the hurt. And what’s a pretty boy like you doing walking by himself late at night? Haven’t you ever heard of stranger danger?”

     “I’d like to not become strangers.”

     “I ruined your nose.”

     “Oh please. We both know my real moneymaker is my smile,” He flashes a thousand dollar grin at me and I laugh.

     “What’s so funny?” Chanyeol asks, confused by my source of amusement.

     “It’s just an odd sight. You smiling as your nose is broken and dried blood running down your face. That, and your tooth”

     “I’m known for my nice set of chompers.”

     “I chipped it.”

     “You did not,” he says, reaching for my phone and checking his front teeth in the reflection on my screen.

     “Guess the nose wasn’t enough.”

     “You know,” he starts, “you’re making it really hard to flirt with you.”

     “So what do you think? Could I pull off this look?” Chanyeol asks as we walk back to my car. His nose is covered in white bandages and all of the dried blood has been removed from his face.

     “I don’t know, Chip. The whole mummy vibe isn’t really working in your favor,” I reply, pointing to the gauze.

     “Chip?”

     “Your tooth.”

     “Does that make you Mrs. Potts?”

     “No way. She’s old.”

     “Well, I mean based on those jeans, I wouldn’t have a hard time believing you’re a mom of four,” I hit his arm and scowl at him.

     “Hey now, I don’t need you breaking my arm too,” he says as he pretends to wince in pain and rubs the spot where I hit him.

     “Dork.”

     He just smiles, chipped tooth and all.

[discostozier]

The Moment

Pairings: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Stanley Uris/Patricia Uris

Summary: “How do you even know that stuff?” He asked instead. In front of him, Beverly straightened. She appeared to think the question really carefully, just like she did on math exams. Ben looked at her, curious.

“Well, it depends on the person, right?” Eddie arched an eyebrow. She had a finger on her mouth and looked to be answering the question at the same time she was still thinking it over. “Maybe someone just suddenly knows, but I believe there’s a moment when you realize it”

Also on AO3

“So, guys…” With only hearing the tone on Beverly’s voice, Eddie felt a chill running down his spine. Judging by the way Stan was looking towards the redhead, he felt the same. “Tell me, how’ve you been?”

The question seemed so harmless that Eddie was about to answer it without really thinking. Thankfully, he had a lot of years of knowing Beverly that had trained him just enough to survive that kind of situation, at least for a little bit longer. Instead, he pretended to watch something really interesting across the room, just like he did in high school when the teacher asked a particularly hard question. In front of him, Beverly giggled, definitively enjoying everyone’s reactions.

“Easy there, I just want to know how you’ve been. Nothing out of normal” She said between laughter that eventually died down, but she never stopped smiling. “We haven’t seen each other for a long time, you know? At least not for talking”

Eddie frowned.

“But we gathered last week”

Beverly’s smile changed to something more… dangerous. Eddie knew that, in that moment, he had done something wrong.

“Well, yeah, but it has been so long since we talked, like, talk” She got her elbows on her knees just as she was speaking, making emphasis in the last bit of the sentence. She seemed to have them just where she liked, and it was just a matter of time to fall in her sweet smelling trap. He felt an itch in the palm of his hands, a sensation that urged him to grab his inhaler like a first defense. He was lucky, though, since he wasn’t her first victim. “Stan, how’s Patty?”

The change of tone was unbelievable. Without the little scene before, he would be defenseless against that sweet and charming tone that screamed innocence everywhere. Stan seemed to think the same as him, again, since he straightened in place, standing his ground.

Although, maybe, he was overreacting.

“Everything’s fine” Stan smiled, and his cheeks seemed to gain color. “In fact, everything’s really fine”.

“Oh!” Beverly chorused, visibly delighted. Eddie didn’t know Patty that well, but he knew that Stan was taking the relationship very seriously, and it had lasted longer than all the previous ones. The excitement the redhead was feeling was understandable, even himself was feeling a warm feeling of happiness for his friend. “You should invite her over next time”

“I don’t want to scare her, Bev”

Everyone laughed, with a nice silence afterward. Next to him, with that smile on his face, Stan seemed younger, like all of his worries were slowly fading away and taking the wrinkles with them. It was an image he always thought Stan lacked, so calm and smiling, forgetting his responsibilities just a bit.

(And he only thought of her…)

“So… you think she’s the one?” Beverly asked softly, getting Eddie out of his head. She looked like a kid again, excited for things that were not even for her. Although, looking at Ben sitting beside her, he was not sure about that last part.

Stan shrugged, but in his eyes Eddie understood: “Maybe, Beverly, maybe. I would like it to be, I have hope that it’d be, but I don’t want to say it aloud or else I’ll jinx it-“

Or something like that.

“How do you even know that stuff?” He asked instead. In front of him, Beverly straightened. She appeared to think the question really carefully, just like she did on math exams. Ben looked at her, curious.

“Well, it depends on the person, right?” Eddie arched his eyebrow. She had a finger on her mouth and looked to be answering the question at the same time she was still thinking it over. “Maybe someone just suddenly knows, but I believe there’s a moment when you realize”

“Like when you are oblivious to it happening until it’s too late?” Ben asked, speaking for the first time. He lowered his gaze, and it looked like he talked without knowing he had until it happened. Beverly nodded, with affection and tenderness in her whole face. For an instance, Eddie understood.

“Yeah” Her tone was so incredibly soft it got Eddie out of guard. It was full of a fondness she never used with Stan or Eddie or Mike. It was special, made just for Ben. “I’m one of those people, the ones that realize a little too late”

“How did you realize?” Eddie heard himself ask.

Beverly looked at him with a smile, and he saw that raw affection that seemed impossible. It left him astonished. She laughed a little, seemingly knowing that question was coming.

“Well, it was a few years ago, when we weren’t together yet.” She started telling her story with a carefree manner. Next to her, Ben jumped in his place a little and Eddie tried not to laugh. “It was October, when we celebrated Halloween together. We gathered a lot of crappy movies and a bunch of scary ones in Richie’s house, since his parents weren’t around for the night. We said we were kinda old to dress up and go trick or treating, but I think we just wanted to be together, free of homework and other things. I remember that we moved the screen to the living room, moved around a lot of furniture and made a pillow fort with all the sheets and pillows we could find to spend the night. We were ready for anything.”

Eddie remembered that night too. They had spent more than an hour moving the furniture until it was just right and everyone got a place to sleep. It was especially tiring, but at the end, it was one of the best nights of his life.

“I dunno why the hell you all went out, probably looking for something, but I cannot remember what” She laughed a little. “But Ben and I stayed alone in Richie’s living room for a few minutes. It’s nothing extravagant, but I recall talking about everything and anything, stupid things probably. Suddenly, that’s when I realized, all wrapped up like a burrito, and with Ben in front of me in a house that was not even mine. I realized that I didn’t mind being like that with him, at all. It was nice, and I caught myself thinking that I would like to do it again”

Her gaze was lost in front of her, absorbed in her memories. It was a moment so fragile and intimate that Eddie got scared of breaking with his breathing. She then smiled, and slowly, looked at Ben with that smile full of love, affection and everything good in the world. Ben gasped, with his eyes fixed on her too and Eddie turned his gaze away when he felt he was intruding. Next to him, Stan did the same.

“Wow…” He whispered.

“I know…”

A burst of laughter broke the silence. Beverly had a red face and her eyes were teary, with a smile so big it reached her eyes like the cherry on the pie. She was beautiful. Beside her, Ben hold her hands between his own and his skin was so flushed it matched her hair, but he seemed about to explode with happiness.

“Now I’d like to know what you have to say” She looked over to Stan. “Did it ever happen to you?”

Stan opened his mouth, closed it, thought the question over and then opened it again.

“It’ll sound cliché, surely.” He started with a mocking tone. “But I believe it was when we met each other, on the college club party. I was an exchange student from New York. I can remember her blue dress perfectly, just as our first chat. After the party, I was convinced she’d be my girlfriend”

And Stan was right, it was so cliché and typical it sounded straight out of a movie, just the kind that Eddie almost never watched because he prefered action movies, especially the ones with fancy cars. Beverly looked delighted.

“Surely she felt the same, right? Then she wouldn’t have said yes.”

Stan shrugged again.

“Maybe” He looked entertained with the whole situation, just a little bit flushed. He resembled a tipsy guy when they were only drinking soda. The beer would come next, with dinner and with everyone else. “What about you, Ben?”

Eddie felt like he dodged a bullet by miracle, his soul returning to his body. He turned to poor Ben, who had passed from a relaxed position to look like he had been caught doing something very wrong.

What did he do wrong? Being there, not talking first, fall in love…

“Well…” He shrank a little, probably wishing the Earth to swallow him whole, or to everyone to come back. Someone screaming “Murder!” would have work, too. “If the question is if I have had that moment…”

Everyone waited on the verge of the seat.

“… The answer is yes. Yes, of course”

Ben raised his gaze, and Eddie felt the same he did with Beverly. A shiver run down his spine and the hair on his nape stood on end. They seemed to release something special, some kind of energy that he didn’t know whether to admire or fear, especially when they were together. Sometimes, he needed to step back or to look away in case he went blind.

“If I remember correctly,” Ben said even when nobody asked his explanation. There was no problem, of course, but now Eddie felt like he couldn’t be the only one not telling anything about those moments. “It was when we were in school. It was not a specific moment, more like the total of those moments. Every time Bev spoke to me or touched me just by accident. Sometimes we got together for a project. At the end of the year, I was head over heels for her.”

There was a deafening silence.

“When you said was that?”

“Ah, I dunno. Probably in fourth or fifth grade” Ben said like it was nothing.

Stan whistled quietly.

“That’s compromise” Eddie whispered, Ben gasped, Stan nodded and Beverly sighed. She kissed her partner’s cheek and smiled against his skin. Eddie looked away again, feeling like an intruder.

“Oh my god, there are other people in the room.” He said when it was too much, making Beverly laugh.

“Then what about you, Eddie? How is everything going with our favorite buffoon?” Beverly attacked, and it was that exact moment he wanted to avoid with all the force in the world. Damn his mouth. He narrowed his eyes at her, but it just got her laughing again. She was red all over the face, but Eddie didn’t know if it was for her never ending laughter or if it was for her previous actions. Nevertheless, it bothered him a lot.

“As well as it can go with someone that makes stupid voices and has ventriloquism tendencies”

“So that bad, eh?” Stan mocked, and Eddie tried to kill him with his gaze.

“C’mon, Eddie. Don’t be like that. Everyone else said our Moment. What’s yours, Eddie?”

What’s your Moment, Eddie?

“I… don’t have a moment” He said, crossing his arms and falling onto the cushion pillows. Stan arched an eyebrow, challenging him, and Beverly sighed. Just as she was going to say that was a lie, and why it was a lie, the door opened with a loud sound.

“Honey, I’m home!”

“Speaking of the devil…” Whispered Stan.

“Ah? Were you talking about me? I know I’m everyone’s gossip but at least wait until I’m present.”

“So it gets to your head? No thanks” Someone said behind Richie. Mike entered the room with a bag full of plastic containers. At last was Bill, with even more containers and the keys at hand.

“I a-guh-guh-gree with Mike on this o-one. “He said, locking the door and heading to the kitchen to leave everything there.

“Ouch”

“Me too.” Eddie said.

“Double ouch”

After that, everything became a chaos of laughter and talking. Stan and Ben left the couch to help the new guests with the food. Richie left with them, with a bag of soda in one hand and a six pack on the other. Eddie watched him go until he disappeared behind the kitchen door and he could only hear his voice.

“Are you sure you don’t have a moment?” He raised his head after hearing Beverly’s soft voice. They seemed to share a secret, and for a moment, Eddie felt like he was in middle school, sharing secrets between recesses. He smiled at her and laid a hand on her shoulder, but didn’t answer her question.

“Better be going with everyone else, before there’s nothing left.” He said and raised from his place, extending a hand to Beverly, who didn’t need it but still took it. They walked to the kitchen, and in the way he could almost hear her thoughts. The problem was that he wasn’t ready to talk about it with such ease like Ben, Stan or Beverly. Just thinking about made him want his inhaler in hand.

Eddie Kaspbrak, in fact, had a “moment”. It wasn’t a very far away memory like Ben’s or a close one like Stan’s. It wasn’t simple like Beverly’s either, but it was his. And he probably would never tell it, not even to Richie in his deathbed, but if he were to tell the story, he surely would start telling that they were young, living the moment before it was too late.

“I was a fool. But Richie was even fooler, even more than before as unbelievable as it sounds. He had his head on fantasies and dreams to come true, while I had mine on a textbook almost every night, and waited impatiently the end of the year, and with that, the end of college. “ He would say with a nice and funny voice, and for an instant, he felt like he was telling the story to his children, or his grandchildren. Hallucinations, surely, he was still young to think about that kind of things.

“Looks like you’ve still got that head of yours in that book, Eds” Richie had said that night when they were still in college. Almost every day, at night time, Richie used to go to his house without further notice and climb through his window. Sometimes to talk, sometimes to bother him. Eddie was grateful when it was to talk since he could forget his duties for a moment, and liked it even more when he invited Eddie somewhere. He normally declined, because he couldn’t afford an attitude so relaxed so close to finals.

That time, be it by destiny or Richie’s insistence, he said yes.

They had walked down the street, leaving the car a few blocks before, just talking about everything and anything, enjoying the nice weather, and ended on the Kissing Bridge, again by destiny or any of Richie’s doing. Thinking about it now, though, it was ironic they ended up there, especially because that night was everything but romantic.

“Just worried about the exams, that’s all.” He said and looked back, thinking about going home and study for three more hours before going to bed. Some pills would help him sleep, maybe. “And you should, too”

Richie shrugged. Under the dim light of a lamp post he seemed even taller. Maybe even creepy.

“I firmly believe that you should have trust in your knowledge, Eds. I’m not really into stressing the hell out of me the night before a test. I don’t wanna grow old so fast” Richie said. If he was another person, Eddie wouldn’t have believed any of it but a nonsense, and that he was just fooling around and never doing anything. Sadly, Richie Tozier still was Richie Tozier, but just for a more mature audience: he still got A’s and B’s without a seemingly amount of effort.

Eddie snorted.

“I don’t like it when you call me Eds, y’know it, I don’t know why you keep doing it”

“Nah, you love it” Richie shrugged. He got on the railing of the bridge and sit down like it was the most comfortable place in the world. Eddie got a mini heart attack right there, thinking he would fall off. But since nothing happened, he got closer to the railing and laid on it beside Richie’s legs.

“Of course not” He claimed, but it only tasted like half a truth. When he looked over at Richie, next to him and with the dim light over their heads, he felt a tug in his stomach. It wasn’t romantic, it was ridiculous and even kind of scary, since Richie resembled a gargoyle with that position. But he still felt it. He looked down, not without seeing Richie’s cocky smile.

A silence fell afterward, and Eddie would treasure it for a lot of years. Those moments were weird with someone like Richie, and it felt special. It wasn’t awkward, it was nice and neither of them felt like breaking it. However, when he sensed a hand in his hair, he broke that silence with a little sigh. Richie gasped, like his reaction was the most interesting thing in the world.

He closed his eyes with a slight tremble all over his body. He pressed the railing with a lot of force, until he got white knuckles, and waited. And kept waiting, for something, anything, but it never came. Instead, he only heard a scream and a series of mix-up curses.

He opened his eyes, and this time he got a heart attack.

“Richie!” He screamed with the force his lungs could muster and looked over the railing. Down, just where the water and the dirt mushed together, Richie was sprawled and not moving. At all

“I’m gonna kill him,” He thought while going down in a hurry to his dying friend. “This time I’m gonna kill him”

Eddie kneeled beside him, getting mud on his pants. Richie seemed to have an unbelievable luck, though, as his head hadn’t hit any rock just by centimeters. Still, the water was getting dyed of a gross red and Eddie was getting panicked. He cradled his head with his right hand on his lap,

He jumped, though, surprised and relieved when Richie opened his eyes with his glasses crooked.

“I defeated Raleigh” Richie said with a raspy and deep voice. It was like he was doing one of his voices, one Eddie didn’t recognize. “I found the greatest treasure of them all.” Then he raised one of his hand and touch Eddie’s cheek with a soft stroke, and he fainted.

“Such idiot…” Eddie whispered, blushing furiously. He felt like his lungs were no longer working and that he was the one who fell from the Kissing Bridge. But now was not the moment to feel like a head over heels high schooler, since he needed to take Richie to the hospital, something that seemed very hard with the car so far away.

At the end, he was able to do it, even though he surely left behind a lung on the way. The path to the hospital was quiet until Richie woke up. He was half conscious, wet, and sprawled all over the backseat of the car. He grunted and held his head. Eddie immediately felt bad, but he was still mad at him for doing such a stupid thing to do like sitting on the Kissing Bridge’s railing in the middle of the night.

“You wouldn’t have a ciggie on you, right?” Richie asked and Eddie denied with his head without looking away from the road. He vaguely heard Richie slowly moving stuff around in the backseat, and then finally a lighter. He was pretty curious about where the fuck Richie got a lighter and a cigarette, but didn’t say anything about it.

However, when they were about to reach the hospital, he looked through the rearview one last time. He only looked over two seconds, maximum, but in those two seconds he felt a stab in his heart and an affection he didn’t know he could feel. He could easily tell the pain Richie was feeling, but he noticed his stance with detail, with his legs almost not fitting in the car and the way his wet clothes clung to his body in a way that could only be uncomfortable. He even noted the way he smoked the fucking cigarette, how his lips-

He gasped, and Richie didn’t hear him, thankfully. After that, his gaze never left the road, they had had enough accidents tonight. He only felt like breathing again until they reached the hospital, although he never used his inhaler.

Richie didn’t know, but that was an especial moment for Eddie. Maybe it wasn’t the moment he fell for the guy, like Ben or Bev or Stan, but it was the moment he was sure he could do it. He could give himself to this boy who loves making obnoxious jokes and didn’t know when to shut up, that had puppets too creepy for Eddie’s liking and his biggest dream was to be famous and in the show-business.

And he wouldn’t regret a single bit.