#in such a state of desperation trying to do homework i have returned to the salt and pepper diner challenge

[coldmilkchoices]

evil pomodoro method (salt and pepper diner challenge while studying)

[lelengerine]

pairing. chenle x reader

synopsis. you would have never guessed who'd be the one to stop the tears from falling when you flunked your finals

genre. academic rivals, mainly comfort with sprinkles of fluff, no pronouns are used for reader, lmk if i missed anything!

wc. 1.3k words

notes. i love chenle. that's it. that's the post. (someone hold me back from all of those pictures he posted on ig recently for tds... im no longer sane....) im also not sure why tags aren't working for me but i have given up so here we are!! likes and feedback are highly appreciated!

m.list

being competitive was something that came to you naturally—striving to excel in everything you do, yet it was clear academics grasped the highest regard. you’ve held onto the idea that hard work always leads to success, but no matter how much effort you put in, there’s always been one person standing right there beside you—or ahead of you, rather. 

zhong chenle. he was sharp, quick-witted, and never missed the chance to land a smirk when he bested you in an exam. 

to you, chenle wasn’t just competition, he was the one you so desperately wanted to surpass as if that alone would prove your worth, the one who always made you question your capabilities in the dead of the night when the silence engulfing your room was almost deafening. so when your final exam results were returned and you saw a grade much lower than you anticipated, the disappointment sank in your chest like a heavy weight. 

from the sullen look on your face alone, rumors were quick to spread that one of the top students of your batch received a low grade. you’d hear whispers shared around the room and could only clench your exam papers underneath your desk to conceal your frustrations. 

a silent scoff escapes under your breath. the same people who sucked up to you for homework answers when they forgot to do it themselves were now the ones pointing daggers at you with their murmurs. 

couldn’t they even try to be a little discreet with their gossip? have they got no ounce of shame?

and despite your thoughts of cursing them all, your lips refused to actually speak your mind. you plaster on a brave face throughout the day, dodging the thinly veiled comments from your classmates, but the pressure continues to gnaw at you and by the time you reach your usual quiet spot in the library, you couldn’t hold it in anymore. the tears you’ve been suppressing spill over, hot and unchecked, as you stare down at the test paper in your lap—now littered with wet patches and crumpled edges.

you don’t expect anyone to find you here, but then the sound of footsteps becomes too loud to deny, and you quickly wipe at your eyes, hoping to regain composure before whoever it is sees you in this state. you glance up, and for some reason it just had to be him standing in front of you, not with the smug expression you’ve come to expect, but with something softer, something that catches you completely off guard.

“are you… okay?” chenle’s voice is tentative, unsure, like he’s not used to asking the question. and you can tell, even in his hesitation, that this isn’t a question he’s asking out of obligation, but concern. 

you want to say something sharp, something to push him away. after all, why should you let him see you like this—vulnerable, defeated? but the words catch in your throat. the only thing you can manage is a stiff nod, though even that feels like a lie. chenle doesn’t press further. instead, he takes a cautious step closer, then another, until he’s sitting beside you, a quiet but solid presence at your side.

the silence between you is thick, weighted by everything that’s unsaid, but for some reason, it’s not uncomfortable. you sense chenle watching you, his eyes tracing the lines of your face as if he’s seeing something new in you. then, gently, so gently you almost don’t believe it’s happening, his hand lifts, and his fingers brush against your cheek, wiping away the tears that have clung to your skin. the warmth of his touch lingers, soft and careful, as if he’s afraid you’ll shatter if he’s not delicate enough.

“it’s okay,” he murmurs, his voice steady, soothing in a way that makes your chest tighten. “you don’t have to hold it in. just… let it out.”

it’s such a simple thing, but the way he says it—soft, sincere, as if he’s offering you a lifeline—breaks something inside of you. the tears fall harder, faster, no longer restrained, and for the first time, you don’t feel ashamed for crying in front of him. there’s no judgment in his gaze, no pity—just an understanding that feels so foreign coming from the person you’ve always considered your rival.

he stays silent, watching you, but not with the cold, competitive eyes you’re used to. there’s something different there now—an openness, a vulnerability that mirrors your own. when you glance up at him, his expression is soft, almost tender, and it makes your heart stutter in confusion. he’s never looked at you like this before.

“why are you here?” you finally ask, your voice raw from crying. “shouldn’t you be… laughing at me or something? isn’t that what rivals do?”

chenle lets out a soft laugh, but there’s no trace of mockery in it. it’s a warm sound, the kind that wraps around you like a blanket on a cold day. “i guess that’s what you think of me, huh?” he says, his eyes crinkling at the edges in amusement. “but i’m not here to make fun of you. you’re upset. and believe it or not, i don’t like seeing you like this.”

his words throw you completely off balance. you’ve spent so long painting him in one color—seeing him as nothing more than competition—that this softer, more compassionate side of him feels like uncharted territory. 

you don’t know what to say, so you don’t say anything at all. the quiet stretches between you, but it’s not awkward. in fact, it feels strangely comforting, like a ceasefire between two soldiers who’ve spent years fighting on opposite sides of the battlefield.

chenle shifts beside you, his gaze dropping to the crumpled piece of paper still clenched in your hand. his voice drops to a more serious tone. “i heard what people were saying today. about your grade.” he pauses, as if carefully choosing his next words. “they shouldn’t judge you. i bet your score is still higher than most of theirs. and even if it wasn’t… it’s none of their damn business.” his words touch you more than expected, and you’re not sure if it's because you’re still feeling sensitive. 

it’s as if he’s speaking from experience, like he knows exactly what it feels like to be in your shoes, and for a moment, the reality of your rivalry seems to fade, replaced by the stark realization that chenle is probably the one who understands you the most in this situation. he knows the pressure, the expectations, and even the crushing weight of failure.

and that realization brings a fresh wave of guilt crashing over you. you’ve spent so much time resenting him, seeing him as the enemy, that you never stopped to consider that maybe he was fighting the same battles you were. the tears welled up again, but this time they’re not for your fallen grades—they’re for the way you’ve treated him, for the assumptions you’ve made about him.

“i’m sorry,” you whisper, the words barely audible through your choked sobs. “i’ve been so awful to you…”

chenle’s hand brushes against your cheek again, this time a little firmer, more reassuring. “hey,” he says softly, his thumb wiping away another tear that slipped past, “we’ve both been pretty awful to each other, don’t you think? it’s not just you.”

his chuckle returns, and you can’t help but look up at him, startled by the sound. his eyes are crinkled again, and there’s something so genuine in the way he’s looking at you that it makes your heart flutter in a way you don’t understand. “besides,” he adds with a grin, “i didn’t know you could cry so cutely. who knew, huh?”

your face burns with embarrassment, and you quickly swipe at your eyes, trying to regain some semblance of dignity. “don’t say things like that,” you mumble, though you can’t quite hide the small smile tugging at your lips.

“got you to laugh though?” chenle points out with a snicker, but this time it feels different—lighter, as if the weight of years of rivalry is starting to lift. “let’s call it even,” he says, his tone playful but sincere. “you don’t have to feel guilty anymore. we’re both here, right? so, no more holding grudges. deal?”

you nod slowly, still feeling a bit shaky, but there’s a sense of relief settling in your chest. maybe things between you and chenle weren’t so black and white as you had thought. 

[bartxnhood]

love you need | s.h

shawn hunter x fem!reader

summary: you notice shawn distancing himself from you and the group until one night she shows up at your door hoping to talk it out.

warnings: angst! both shawn and reader have some self doubt.

a/n: this is my first time writing for shawn, and tbh it’s been a hot minute since i’ve rewatched bmw so😭 but i really miss shawn and i relate to his character sm. so i might start writing for him now, this is just to test the waters. enjoy !

requests open

not proofread

Copyright © 2023 bartxnhood. All rights reserved. This original work is not allowed to be reposted on any platform in any format.

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you stand at your locker rummaging through your books searching for your history book. “hey!” topanga hollers, followed by cory. you push you locker door inwards revealing the couple. “have you seen shawn?” cory questions, you simply shake your head and close your locker. “no, why?” you ask, leaning against the metal. “i haven’t heard from him over the weekend. totally unusual, normally i csnt get rid of him” cory answers, your eyebrows raised. now that you think of it, he hasn’t called or stopped by to see you either.

shawn was the type of boyfriend to check in occasionally, even out of school. he’d often surprise you with small gifts just to lighten things up if you were having a bad day. so this was out of character for him, if he was sick or something came up he’d always tell you or cory. something wasn’t right.

“wel..” you trailed off, furrowing your brows. “we can call if he doesn’t show. surely he wouldn’t not show up and not have a reason or tell us” the other two agrees and decided to let it go for the rest of the day.

but a day turned into two, and next thing you knew he never showed that whole week. you tried desperately to call but each time it went to voicemail. you felt frustrated, why did he disappear all of a sudden? why didn’t he tell anybody? you were high strung for the remainder of that week. snapping at people when you didn’t mean to but, nothing was as important as shawn was to you.

“did i do something to upset him?” you’re laying on topangas bed. she invited you over to work on a project, but after you stayed for dinner. “what if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore? what if he found someone else.” your mind is racing, why else would shawn not come to school or return your calls?

you hear topanga sigh, and came to your aide. “y/n, look at me” you sit-up, looking at her. she puts her hands on your shoulder, “he loves you, y/n. i’m sure he has a reason for why he’s been gone.” you groan, she was probably right but it didn’t your heart from aching. “now, cmon. let’s go eat dinner, okay? get your mind off things.”

it wasn’t unusual for you to be home alone as your parents were typically on work trips. you had your own little routine after school. you’d come home, make a snack, do some homework, maybe read for a couple hours, shower, then go to bed. but today was different, after doing your homework you were pretty exhausted so you had just planned on laying down. thank god you we’re graduating in a few months, the work was beginning to run you down mentally.

it seemed no matter how hard yo supplied yourself, you always came in last. you were barely making the grades to pass your classes, but you were trying so hard.

as you were entering the bathroom, ready to brush your teeth and wash your face you heard banging at your door. of course, you didn’t want to answer because who would be banging on your door at this hour? but, something told you to answer it. you cursed at yourself mentally, you were too nice for your own good and your kindness would be your demise. but when you opened the door you didn’t expect to see him. “shawn?”

“i’m sorry for coming here so late but i just didn’t know where else to go.” shawn states as he runs his hand through his hair. your heart broke just looking at him. it looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his eyes were so dark, he looked beyond exhausted. “shawn, you don’t have to apologize. you know you’ll always have a place here.”

shawn took a seat at the edge of your bed he feels like his heart has been ripped out, all he wants to do is sleep and probably never wake up again. “i just” he rubs his eyes. “i got left alone again, dad went out. i just i didn’t have the guts to face you.” he feels so little, sitting in front of you like this on the verge of tears. “oh, shawn..” you cup his face making him look at you. “it’s okay, you know i’ll always be here. no judgement, shawn. it’s just you and me” you offer a smile.

you see the tears swell in his eyes. shawn wraps his arms around you and rests his head on your stomach. “i’m sorry” he says just above a whisper. “shawn, you didn't do anything wrong. there's nothing to apologize for." you feel him shake his head against your, “no, y/n. i’m sorry i’m not good enough for you.” tears begin to fall from his eyes and he hold on to you as if you were about to be ripped away from him.

“i live in a trailer park, i have nothing to offer you, you could do some much better than me..i don’t deserve you, y/n. you need someone who can provide and give you what you need..i don’t know if i can be that person for you, y/n” you can feel his tears staining your shirt. you remove his arms from your waist as you fall to your knees so you could be eye level with him. “shawn. listen to me” you wipe away his tears, smiling sadly. “you are good enough for me. in fact, i often think you’re too good for me because sometimes i think you could find someone better than me.” now you begin to tear up, confessing all of your bottled emotions.

“shawn, i have felt this toward someone as much as i have you. you’ve saved me so many times and you probably don’t even know it. i promise, you are good enough. you’ll always be good enough,okay? i’ll always be here for you, just let me be the love you need.” tears begin to fall from your eyes, so now the both of you are a crying mess.

“don’t cry, i hate seeing your cry” shawn hums, he wipes away your tears and rests his hand on your cheek. you nod, “i know..” sniffling.

there’s a moment of silence between you two, a comfortable silence. shawn is staring at you. admiring you, puffy eyes and all. he realizes how in love he is, that no matter what life throws at him that he will always have you. shawn softly rubs the pad of his thumb over your check.

“i love you.”

you blink, a few seconds of silence fills the room. he hadn’t said that to you yet, in your years of dating he hadn’t said he loved you, once. shawn was too afraid to love anybody. afraid that he’d ruin the person he wants to love. shawn was like that most of his life, until you changed his mind.

“what?” you feel all the air leave your lungs, your emotions were all over the place now. from crying to now feeling this warmth in your chest as you heard him say the words you had been waiting so long to hear. “say it again”

“i love you, y/n.”

instinctively you wrap your arms around his neck, embracing him in a tight hug. “i’ve been waiting to hear that for so long” you sniffle. shawn rubs you back, you feel him nod. “i know, i should’ve said it a long time ago.”

hours later, after the both of you had spilled your hearts to each other, you offered him dinner but he denied claiming he just wanted to lie down.

you rested comfortably on his chest, he drew circles on your spine. both of you enjoying the silent. “i want to spend the rest of my life with you.” you say. shawn is taken aback, looking down at you. “what?” you look up, smiling softly. “i know we’re still young, but there’s no one else in my life i’d want besides you. i want to be with you forever.” you see him smile, and he tightens his grip around you.

“i like the sound of that…y/n hunter…that has a nice ring to it”

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 1

Episode 1: The Danger Begins Pt.1

~Henry's House~

~Third Person PoV~

It was another typical day in Swellview. As usual, Henry Hart, Charlotte Page, and Jasper Dunlop were at Henry's house, trying to finish their homework. Henry and Charlotte sat on the sofa, focusing on the algebra questions in front of them, but Jasper quickly grabbed their attention as he stood with his PearPad and read the latest Swellview news.

"Hey, did you guys see what Captain Man did yesterday?" Jasper said excitedly, showing the device to Henry, who was now ignoring the math he was supposed to be doing in preparation for the upcoming math test.

"Can we focus on algebra?" Charlotte was exasperated. She had always been the smartest of the three friends and preferred to get her homework done quickly and correctly, unlike the two boys with her. 

"There was a fire at a pet store, and Captain Man ran inside, right through the flames, and saved all the animals!" The curly-haired boy told the story to both of them. 

"And he didn't even get hurt!" Henry looked over at Jasper.

"Captain Man never gets hurt. He's a beast," He replied, returning his focus to the website on his screen.

"Y'know, someday when you guys are cleaning my swimming pool 'cause you failed this algebra test, then flunked out of school, I hope you remember this moment, 'cause I will." Charlotte sassed them both, knowing that she would be prepared for the test, but the boys would have nothing but Captain Man's heroic actions in their brains. 

Henry clicked on another advert and quickly skimmed over the advertised information. 

"Hey, here's a cool job I could do," He slammed his shoe onto the coffee table in front of Charlotte, even though she was still trying to work out her sums.

"Foot model," Henry stated, which caused Charlotte to look up at her blond friend with a confused and weirded-out expression.

"You guys, could we go over the list for my birthday party?" Jasper interrupted them with an excited tone from his place at the kitchen bar. 

"Sure." Henry gave him a friendly smile.

"No." Charlotte quickly shot down Jasper's request, looking up from her homework.

"No." This time, Henry changed his answer to match Charlotte's annoyed tone.

"But I invited 52 people, and nobody's texted back yet. What does that mean?" Jasper asked them with a confused voice.

"That people have been to your parties before?" Henry joked, looking at Jasper and recalling all of Jasper's disastrous parties he'd attended.

"Oh, come on, my parties aren't that bad." Jasper shrugged off Henry's comment, trying to defend himself, but Charlotte quickly jumped in.

"Christmas three years ago, 15 kids ended up in the hospital." The dark-haired girl said, remembering one of the worst ones.

"'Cause of your raw turkey." Henry chimed in.

"It was turkey sushi." Jasper tried to tell them, even though his actions couldn't logically be explained. 

"A boy almost died." Charlotte reasoned exasperatedly, trying to get to Jasper and make him see why giving people raw turkey is bad.

"Almost!" Jasper quickly retorted, putting a chip in his mouth, thinking he'd won the argument.

"Okay!" Henry threw his arms in the air. "First person who helps me find an after-school job gets this bowl of pine cones." He picked up the large bowl and offered it to his friends, which caused Jasper to gasp in excitement. 

"Wow. Why do you even need a job?" Charlotte asked with scepticism from the ridiculous offer of pine cones.

"Y'know, to learn responsibility, challenge myself..." Henry replied, listing all of his aspirational reasons, but Jasper was quick to interrupt him with the real reason why he was so desperate for a job.

"He wants money."

"I want money," the blond boy agreed, looking back at Charlotte, who was walking towards the kitchen. 

"Money's good." She agreed.

"Can we please talk about my birthday?" Jasper brought up his party again, much to the annoyance of his female friend.

"Am I gonna have to slap a boy?" she sighed sarcastically, but there was also some truth in her voice. Jasper annoyed her sometimes. The curly-haired boy at the bar looked back at her with panic, but the comment made Henry smile down at his computer.

"Henry, can you please tell me how in the wor--" Kris Hart, Henry's mom started as she appeared from upstairs and walked down the stairs. When she looked across the room, it was only then she noticed her son's best friends were also in the living room.

"Oh, I didn't know Jasper and Charlotte were here." She smiled, looking cheerful with her laundry basket under her arm.

"We're studying." Jasper smiled back.

"Are we?" Charlotte retorted, knowing they hadn't done much actual work.

"Mom, we're right in the middle of something." Henry tried to get her to leave, not wanting to have his mom around his friends.

"I'm not interrupting." She said, plopping the laundry basket down on the coffee table. 

"Okay, thanks."

"I just have a question about your underwear," Mrs Hart said, holding up a pair of blue underwear, which embarrassed Henry. 

"Mom!" Henry exclaimed with a horrified voice, as his friends were now laughing at what his mother was holding.

"I'd like to hear the question." Charlotte teased, walking behind Henry and resting her hands on the couch.

"What is the issue with Henry's underwear?" Jasper joined in, smirking at Mrs Hart to make his oldest friend blush. He, too, was now resting his arms on the couch with Charlotte.

"Mom!" Piper, Henry's little sister burst through the front door, stealing everyone's attention away from the underwear situation for a minute.

"Mom, I'm not okay," Piper shouted the phrase that she often did, making Mrs Hart turn around to face her. Henry also looked over, trying to use his big brother status tocalm his bratty sister.

"Piper, we're trying to study here." 

"I'm talking to my mother." Piper sassed back with irritation evident in her voice.

Henry decided he couldn't deal with her, so he rolled his eyes and looked back down at his PearBook.

"What's wrong, baby?" Mrs Hart looked at her only daughter with a sympathetic expression.

"Jessica unfollowed me!" The 9-year-old showed up again with an angry expression. She showed her PearPhone to her mom.

"No one cares!" Henry said back, clearly not understanding why the tiny issue so worked up Piper. He stood up with his laptop and walked off.

"Henry! Why would Jessica unfollow you?" Mrs Hart tried to keep the situation between her children calm. 

"'Cause she posted a picture of her with me and Allison, so I posted a comment that said, "OMG, you look gorgeous." Piper started to explain.

"Well, that's nice." Her mother interrupted in a pleasant voice.

"No. 'Cause Allison thought it meant she looked gorgeous, so she posted a comment that said, "Thanks, ILY." And so then Jessica got jealous and unfollowed me, and now I hate myself, and I'm gonna die!". The young girl failed to see how silly and superfluous her problem was, much to her mother's confusion. 

"I'll call Jessica's mom and talk to her." Mrs Hart reasoned, picking up her basket and walking off, which upset her daughter. 

"No! That's not okay!" Piper followed her mom, shouting at her from behind.

"Dang it! All these jobs say I've got to have skills." Henry slumped back into his seat at the kitchen table in defeat from not finding a job he liked.

"So? You got tons of skills." Jasper looked at him and tried to cheer him up.

"Name one." 

"You're a great dancer." Henry looked at him with a confused face. 

"Not I'm not." 

"You could take lessons," Jasper said back, waving his finger at his friend as he sat down on a stool.

"Oh my gosh." Henry suddenly looked worried and stood up from his chair.

"What?"Charlotte asked with a curious tone.

"I'm-- I'm not great at anything. This is tragic." He replied with a sad voice.

"Here, let me see." Charlotte wandered over to his computer and combed all the job adverts listed on the site whilst Henry was still complaining about himself.

"I'm just a big pile of average." He glumly exclaimed as Charlotte busily typed away.

"Okay, here's a job." Charlotte smiled with success, and Henry's attention was quickly on the screen as Jasper came up behind them.

"At a store called Junk-N-Stuff. It says, "Needed: part-time helper for various duties." Charlotte read out to the amusement of Jasper, who was giggling to himself behind her at the word 'duties'. The other two kids looked at him with a 'seriously?' expression on their faces before returning to look at the ad.

"And see? It says, "No special skills necessary." She added to Henry's delight.

"That's me. I've got to go get that job." Henry said with excitement, running towards the couch, grabbing the bowl of pine cones, and running them back to Charlotte in his hands.

"You get the pine cones." He said with a cheerful voice.

Charlotte took them from him with a bemused look on her face. Jasper looked disappointedly between them. He desperately wanted those pine cones.

"Sweet." Charlotte took them, rolling her eyes. After she had received them, Henry ran to the door, eager to get to Junk-N-Stuff before anyone else could apply for the job. 

Good luck, Hen!" Charlotte called after him sweetly.

"Thanks!" And with a slam of the door, he was gone.

"If you give me a pine cone, I'll lick my elbow." Jasper offered the girl, who looked at him like he was insane. He tentatively reached for one of them, only for Charlotte to smack his hand away sharply.

~Junk-N-Stuff~ 

Henry entered the store he saw in the ad. Immediately after he oped the door, a giant T-Rex head on the wall breathed fire, causing him to look at it in wonder and amazement. An Indian man sat at the cash register, suspiciously looking at the boy who had just entered. Another man, wearing dark clothing with a black hat, was busy browsing the wacky junk that was up on the shelves. 

Taking a closer look at the dubious man, Henry noticed that he had a distinct tattoo on his neck, but before he could properly inspect it, the man caught him staring.

"What are you looking at?" He said in a harsh voice, which caused Henry to stutter a little and look away.

"Uh, nothing. Just, uh, this turtle's butt." His answer seemed to make the man back off, and with a quick apology, he continued browsing.

Taking another look around the shop, Henry noticed the cashier was letting a huge Venus Fly Trap drink from an M-shaped straw. Clearing his throat, he introduced himself to the odd man. 

"Um, my name is Henry Hart. I'm here about the job." 

"The job?" The man said slowly, as the plant next to him burped.

"Um, did that plant burp?" Henry asked.

"Go back," The cashier said mysteriously, which confused the boy even more than he already was in the kooky store.

"Um, what? Come back?"

"Go back." He repeated, saying nothing more, not a single detail. 

"Where?" Henry pressed as the man continued to drink through the curly straw.

"To the back." 

"Oh, go to the back." The blond boy finally understood.

"Take the elevator down." The man explained very slowly.

"What floor?"

"Down." Was all the man had to say, which made the plant squeak, adding to Henry's bewilderment.

"You too." He pointed at the flytrap and started to make his way to the back of the store slowly.

Walking through the back, he came to a rusty-looking elevator, but the phone in his pocket started to ring before he could press any buttons.

"Hey, what's up?" He answered, finding it was Jasper on the line.

"Does my basement smell like chicken poop?" Jasper started with. Of all the questions he could ask, this was the one he asked when Henry was trying to get a job.

"Yes." He could hear Charlotte say in the background. He pressed the elevator button before replying.

"What?" 

"I'm down in my basement with Charlotte, and she says it smells like poop from a chicken." He explained.

"A sick chicken!" He heard his other friend exclaim in the background again.

"Uh, what are you and Charlotte doing in your basement?" Henry was so confused as he stepped into the elevator.

"He wants to have his birthday party down here in this chicken toilet." He could tell Charlotte was annoyed with Jasper again, and he continued to listen to them argue."

"This is my home." Jasper protested in an offended tone, and Henry wanted the conversation to end as he pressed the down button.

"Guys, I can't talk right now. I'm at a job interview, so I gotta go." The second his fingertip left the button, the elevator fell down the shaft, causing him to shout and scream in fear. As he continued to fall with the elevator, he could hear his best friends express their concerns over the phone, but he was too busy failing to reply.

When he finally came to a stop, the doors opened to reveal a bright room filled with cool gadgets and rock music playing loudly. 

"I'll call you back." 

~(y/n)'s PoV~ 

"So tell me again, why do you need a sidekick?" As usual, I asked Ray, who, was excitedly walking around the Man Cave. He turned to me and began to talk to me in his 'Captain Man' voice. 

"Because, my cute little helper, I realised I'm not getting any younger, and need help when I'm out doing cool superhero stuff." He came to a stop next to the couch where I was sitting and leaned on the back of it.

"Right, it's taken you 25 years to realise that." I retorted, which only made him roll his eyes at me. We often bantered with each other, being the best of friends, even though I've been in love with him for most of the seven years I've known him.

Y'see, I met Ray when he wanted a helper to look after the Man Cave when he was out and about as Captain Man, Swellview's beloved resident superhero. Gooch stays upstairs in Junk-N-Stuff, and I monitor the supercomputer for any emergency calls. I keep Ray in check when he lets his childish nature get the better of him. After being hired when I was 20, we worked to keep the safe city safe, and before I knew it, those beefy arms and that floppy brown hair had me head over heels. Not that I'd ever tell him. 

In the last few years, I've been determined to maintain a professional streak in our friendship. That and his constant interest in all the pretty girls Swellview has to offer; I've been firmly in the friend zone since I moved in. Now I'm at the ripe old age of 27, and it seems that Ray is insistent that he introduces a new face to the Man Cave. 

"Look, smarty pants, I put an ad online, and now I'm waiting for Gooch to send down an applicant." He had circled the couch and was sitting next to me while I was scrolling through a playlist of our favourite rock music.

"This ad you posted online. Can anyone apply for it?" I paused for a second after I processed what he said.

"Well, yeah, I guess. Anyone who saw it." I looked up at him with a slight scowl on my face. 

"Wait, so we could have any weirdo come down the elevator into your super-secret hideout, and you're going to give them a job? And, you're going to trust them with your identity?" He had that stupid, but the loveable expression on his face told me he knew I'd caught him out.

"Yeah, but I can always use the memory wiper." He smirked back, making me scoff and remove myself from his side. I climbed over the back of the couch and walked to the automatic snack machine for some popcorn. 

"Don't come crying to me when shit goes wrong, Raymond." I tried to tease him, but he had already put my headphones on his head and made the couch spin around the room. He was oblivious to the rest of the world, now jamming to some rock.

I was just about to order my popcorn when the elevator dropped, and a dazed, skinny, blond kid stumbled out. He looked around the Man Cave in amazement, quickly becoming confused when he saw Ray in his little music world.

'Huh, this could be interesting.' I thought to myself.

~3rd Person PoV~

The couch came to a stop, and Ray noticed that he now had a teen boy in his Man Cave. (y/n) looked on from the computer area, and the boy didn't seem to notice her, as Ray's exuberant personality quickly caught his attention.

"Hey! How are ya?! Cool. Thanks. Great to meet ya!" He exclaimed quickly, not giving Henry any chance to greet him back. He yanked off the headphones and chucked them to the couch, which caused (y/n)'s eyebrows to fly to her hairline, mainly because they weren't his to throw and also because he hadn't let the poor kid get a word in.

"I'm doing good. What's your name?" He said quickly, walking over to the boy and finally giving him a chance to speak.

"Um, I'm Henry Hart. I'm here about the job." To say how overwhelming the situation was, Henry did a good job of keeping his voice steady.

"Age?" Ray started his quizzing.

"13. I'll be 14 on my next birthday." Henry explained to the large man in front of him. 

"Ahhhh. So, you're ageing sequentially. I like that." Ray placed a hand on his chin as if he was thinking.

"Thanks." Henry looked a little nervous as Ray offered him his hand and enthusiastically introduced himself. 

"My name's Ray." 

"Hi, Ray." They shook hands, grinning at each other. 

"You ask a lot of questions." A baffled sense came over Henry as he took in Ray's statement. 

"I don't think I've asked any questions." Henry stuttered out, which made the woman observing the pair wander over. 

"Ray, you're confusing him. Hiya, I'm (y/n)." She came over to Henry, offering her hand and a calming smile, which he returned as he shook her hand. 

"Chocolate or vanilla?!" Ray suddenly asked, causing (y/n) to throw her head back with a sigh. He couldn't be serious about stuff like this, and asked the most ridiculous stuff, but secretly, she loved that about him. It was cute, not that she'd ever admit it. 

"Here we go." She braced herself for the weird questions Ray was asking poor Henry.

"Vanilla." 

'Not a bad answer.' (y/n) thought to herself. 

"Helicopters or kangaroos?" Ray pointed his finger at the teenage boy. 

'Oh god.' (y/n) continued to stay silent.

"Helicopters," Henry answered with a slight tinge of reluctance, but Ray still accepted his answer.

"Love it. Scrambled eggs or dynamite?" He walked behind Henry, who was struggling to answer.

"Okay, Ray, what have you been sniffing and should I get my first aid kit?" (y/n) joked. Any average person would think Ray was insane, but (y/n) knew that that was just Ray's way.

"Both." Henry's answer distracted Ray from his best friend's comment. His eyes lit up as he contemplated the idea, making the young lady smile at him with fondness.

"Maybe. Complete this sentence, "I'm sorry, mother, I didn't mean for my elephant to blank." Ray quickly came up with a random sentence for Henry, curious to see what he would say. 

"Uh, lick dad." Henry smiled as he thought of his parents in the ridiculous situation. He laughed along with Ray and (y/n) as they were all amused by the funny scenario.

Ray suddenly clapped his hands, and they all stopped laughing. 

"Well, that's not funny." He said with a frown on his face. 

"No." Henry's face had dropped too.

"Not at all." (y/n) muttered as she looked at Ray as he popped a 'special' gumball into his mouth and walked to the supercomputer. 

"Um, is this the job interview?" Henry asked, completely lost with what was happening.

"Just wait and see, kid." (y/n) smirked at him and went to where Ray was now sitting, but her answer didn't help him.

"Do you want it to be the job interview?" Ray asked.

"Um, what is the job?" Henry was desperate to know. Suddenly, Ray leaned closer to him with a very excited face.

"What do you think the job is?" He asked back.

"Hey, genius, stop answering questions with questions." (y/n) had a bored expression on her face, but Ray knew she was entertained by what was happening.

"Shut up!" He held a finger up in her face, which she slapped away, giving Henry a chance to answer. 

"Um, well, the ad said part-time helper, so I'm thinking maybe you need someone to help you, you know, part-time." Ray was squatting up and down as Henry moved his hands as he described his job interpretation.

"Do you ever dream about sleeping?" Ray asked in a severe voice, pointing the finger (y/n) slapped at Henry. 

"No."

"Good. If you did, you'd be dead." (y/n) said, giggling, which made Ray smile at her. Deep down, she had the same silly sense of humour that he did. 

Ray walked to the middle of the room, (y/n) understanding what he was about to do. Henry, however, did not.

"I'm so confused." Henry spoke truthfully, but then again, who wouldn't? The Man Cave always had that effect on people when they first came down, and when coupled with Ray's eccentricity, it made for a dazing experience. 

"David?" Ray started. 

"His name's Henry." (y/n) reminded him. 

"Can I trust you?" The large man looked intensely at Henry, who looked to (y/n) for reassurance. She gave a slight nod and a smile.

"Sure." 

"Can you keep a secret?" Ray continued.

"Totally," Henry said confidently.

"So I can trust you to keep a secret?" Ray moved back and forth as he enunciated each word, which made (y/n) look at him with impatience. 

"Yes, sir," Henry said curtly. Accepting his answer, Ray took a few steps back from the boy and woman, who were both waiting for his next move. (y/n) placed a hand on Henry's shoulder, not wanting the teen to faint or overreact from Ray's theatrics. Henry looked confused but didn't say anything as he watched the older man.

"I'm gonna blow a bubble," Ray explained to him.

"You're going to blow a bubble?" Henry questioned exasperatedly, clearly not understanding the situation. 

"And I'm going to blow your mind," Ray said excitedly, which fuelled (y/n)'s smile. 

He began to blow his bubble, (y/n)'s heart thumping for what came next. The bubble popped, and in a flash of light, Ray changed his civilian clothes to his super-suit, finally showing Henry that he was Captain Man. (y/n) eyes raked over him, admiring how his costume fit him, but before he could notice her staring she looked back at Henry, who was about to lose his mind in excitement.

"You're Captain Man!" He shouted, his hands on his head in disbelief.

"That's right, Henry." Ray replied in his 'Captain Man' voice, enjoying the attention. 

"Oh, hold on a second." His voice was a little embarrassed as he noticed his zipper was halfway down. His gloved fingers fumbled, trying to get the darn thing to do up properly.

"Stupid zipper. Always sticks. Com-- Ow! That's my skin!" He jumped up and down in an attempt to let the momentum fix the zipper, but it seemed to be well and truly stuck. 

"Come here, Captain Doofus, let me do it." (y/n) sighed and walked over to the man.

His hands, previously tugging on his costume, came up to rest just a couple of inches from her face. Her tongue poked out as she worked on wriggling the stubborn zipper up the jacket. From that angle, he could analyse her delicate features as Henry watched and saw the chemistry between the two. 

With a little more muscle and some help from an old bottle of oil, (y/n) was finally able to get the zipper to slide smoothly up Ray's chest. With one last pat to his pectoral, (y/n) stepped back in success.

"Who's a genius? All you need is a little lubrication." She bantered at him, putting the oil bottle on the couch table.

"Say until you believe it, small fry." he shot back. 

"Muscle beanstalk." She stuck her tongue out, which made Ray return the gesture.

"I-- I can't believe I'm standing here talking to Captain Man!" Henry still couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. This was a dream come true.

"Why, are you a fan? Do you like me? Most people like me but not everyone." Ray smirked at the thought of all the people who adored Captain Man.

"Yeah, I'm a huge fan." (y/n) was used to the praise heaped onto Ray, and over the years, she'd tried to keep him even a bit humble.

"Watch out, kid. You'll stroke his HUGE ego." She giggled at him and his enthusiasm.

"Oh man, I've gotta tell Jasper about this. He's going to freak when I tell him I'm standing next to Captain--" Henry reached for his phone in his pocket, but before he could start typing, Ray took his laser remote from his utility belt and zapped the PearPhone from his clutches. The burn from the laser on his fingertips caused him to drop the fried phone to the floor.

"I could've just taken his phone from him, but your way works too." (y/n) looked at the superhero, shocked that he'd just destroyed a teenager's most prized possession. 

"Sorry, but you can't tell your friends about this," Ray stated sheepishly, telling Henry his most important rule. 

"Yeah, sorry, kid, but he's right. You can't tell anyone about what you've just seen." (y/n) agreed, thinking that Ray's secret identity was the most essential thing in his life. The phone on the floor was short-circuiting on the floor as Henry went to grab it.

"Okay, but did you have to melt my phone?" He asked in irritation. 

"I'll get you a new one," Ray promised, which prompted (y/n) to reply with joy in her voice.

"Oh yeah, big spender, it's not like we need the money for other things. Stop destroying little kids' phones." She commented, leaning against the couch. 

"Hey, I'm not a little kid. But really?" His attention switched between the two. 

"No," Ray said shortly before walking across the room and sitting on the back of the couch across from where (y/n) was leaning. 

"So, Henry, tell me why you want a job." Now that was an interview question (y/n) that could get behind.

"Well, y'know, to learn responsibility and challenge myself," Henry explained, relating what he had said to his friends earlier, but (y/n) saw straight through the teenage boy, knowing exactly what all kids his age were after. 

"So, you want money?" She proposed, smirking as she guessed correctly. Every kid was the same; always trying to get enough to buy what every other kid on the playground had, and this guy was no different. 

"Lots of money." Henry quickly agreed with her because it was the truth. He did want money, and he was 13, and he wanted to buy what 13-year-olds buy!

In the middle of their conversation, the elevator dinged, and the doors opened to reveal an 'old woman' who staggered out into the man cave. Henry looked between the weird lady, the superhero and the young woman, wondering what on Earth could be happening now. 

Ray and (y/n) knew what to expect. They had arranged the exercise that morning, but regardless, (y/n) was nervous as to how Henry would cope with what was going to happen next. 

"Is this the ladies' room?" The 'woman' asked in a stereotypical British old lady voice. Henry was beyond confused now, but Ray maintained his calm demeanour.

"No, ma'am, you're not supposed to be down here." He said to the intruder, who started to look around. 

"What an interesting place." 'She' complimented.

"Thank you, but we're conducting a job interview, and you're very old, so can you please just get back in the elevator?" (y/n) pointed back to where the 'old lady' first emerged, and directed 'her' to leave, as according to the plan. 

"Oh, I'll just take me phone out of me purse and call me nephew." 'She' chuckled, rummaging through her bag.

"Great, I'll just turn around and look at something." 'Wow, smooth Ray, way to keep things subtle in front of Henry.' (y/n) mentally rolled her eyes as she lowered her gaze to the floor. 

As the 'British' woman searched through 'her' purse, the tattoo on 'her' neck was exposed, making Henry realise that something wasn't right. He remembered when he had first entered the store above the hideout and recalled the same tattoo on the scary man from before. Watching the man/woman scowl, he shouted at Ray and ran to the intruder to try and stop them.

"Captain Man!!" Ray turned around for the man/woman to blast him in the chest. He clutched at where he was hit and cried out in fake pain before falling onto the couch. (y/n) ran to him, pretending to tend to the wound. 

"Captain Man! You gotta stay with me!" She acted, trying to sound worried. Henry had begun to wrestle with the 'old lady' to get the blaster out of their hands. The 'old lady' hit him with 'her' purse, causing Henry to fall back from the impact. Taking advantage of Henry being on the ground, the 'woman' strode towards the pair on the couch, pointing the weapon at them simultaneously putting their fake boob back into place.

"Goodbye forever, Captain Man." They said in a more manly voice, as (y/n) tried to shield Ray from the laser, even though she knew he would be okay if he were hit.

Having recovered quickly, Henry saw the peril his possible bosses were in, and in the act of bravery and desperation to save them, he jumped on the attacker's back, causing the blast to miss Captain Man. They started to struggle across the room, but Henry clung to him.

"Get off of me!" The man swatted at him and spun around, trying to get the boy off.

"Quit talking like a British Lady." Henry quipped back, fighting the man with all his strength. 

"Stop pulling me wig over me eyes." The man complained in a fake British accent. Henry jumped off his back and opened the elevator door whilst they couldn't see. Ray was still 'injured' and (y/n) was still trying to help him as Henry slammed his body into the guy, causing him to tumble into the open elevator. Thinking on his feet, Henry pressed the button, sealing him in, allowing him to look over and see the supposedly hurt superhero and his helper.

"Captain Man!" He panicked, seeing his hero sprawled out. He sprinted over to where (y/n) was 'checking' his pulse and other vital signs, which worried Henry more.

"Is he okay?!" He was panting, but (y/n) stayed calm, feeling his steady pulse under her fingers, and she knew he was alright.

"Captain Man is always okay!" Ray suddenly sat up with a cheery voice and clapped Henry on the back, making (y/n) remove her fingers and sit back on the couch. The game was up.

The elevator opened, revealing the man removing his wig, but Henry was letting the sensation of relief wash over him.

"Nice work, Boris." Ray smiled at the man in makeup, establishing a friendly tone between them, which puzzled Henry.

"The boy did good job." Boris congratulated Henry.

"Woah, woah, wait, wait. You know the--" He started.

"That's Boris. He works for Ray." (y/n) explained to the younger boy, smiling because Boris was right. Henry had done an outstanding job.

"What?" Boris walked over to the three.

"How'd you know he wasn't really an old lady?" Ray looked down at Henry, wanting to know how he'd spotted Boris' real identity.

"Uh, 'cause of the tattoo on his neck. I saw it on him up in the store. And his boobs are too wobbly." (y/n) nodded along with Boris, liking how observant the kid was.

"True. Get those under control." Ray joked, looking at Boris with disgust. Giving him a mini salute, Boris took off into the back of the Man Cave.

"You've got a sharp eye, good instincts and --" Ray started.

"And a nice shirt, and you're brave." (y/n) interrupted with a grin on her face, watching Ray analyse Henry. 

"Thanks," Henry said appreciatively.

"Do you know how to make sandwiches?" Ray said, back to asking his weird questions.

"I do!" Henry realised, looking up at the superhero.

"Then you have all the qualities I'm looking for." He smiled down at him, making (y/n) smile too.

"But I--I don't..." Henry started, still confused, but he was beaten to it.

"You're the one, Henry." Serious moments like this allowed (y/n) to admire the older man in his real light. Yes, he was immature, but he was also a calm and brave man who took his job protecting people very seriously. 

"The one to make you a sandwich?" Henry still didn't get it.

"No, no, no, I have (y/n) to do that." Ray retorted, but (y/n) punched him on the shoulder with some offence.

"Last sandwich I'll ever make you if you keep ordering me about!" She punched him again so he'd get the message.

"Everyone gets old someday, even Captain Man. I can't do this forever." Ray wandered over to the supercomputer with Henry and (y/n) in tow. 

"Yeah, life gets real hard when you're pushing forty." The young woman decided to bite back at Ray. 

"Hey! I'm still young!!" He shouted without turning around at her, which meant he didn't see her smirking.

"Doing what?" Henry brought them back to the original conversation.

"Protecting SwellView from bad guys, bad things, bad smells." Henry looked confused at the last bad thing.

"Smells?" He queried.

"You want to be horrified?" Ray turned back quickly and dramatically. 

"No!" Henry rapidly said, not wanting to see anything too graphic.

"Watch this." Ray turned back to the computer, where his (your/colour/hair)ed friend pressed various buttons and controls to bring up a video.

The three watched as a small, but grown man in a baby's prison outfit grunted and danced weirdly in front of the camera.

"Who's the freak in the diaper?" Henry asked, clearly repulsed at what he was seeing.

"The Toddler, and don't let the diaper fool you, kid, he's pure evil." (y/n) said as the video got a close-up of the creepy criminal.

"Wow." Henry watched as the man-baby growled on the floor like an insane child. 

"I'll show you, now watch this secret video that was intercepted by my people who intercept secret videos," Ray exclaimed, making (y/n) question his logic, but she pulled the video up nonetheless with a few clicks of the control panel.

"You were supposed to bring me my applesauce two minutes ago." The Toddler said onscreen. His henchman tried to apologise, but the Toddler wouldn't accept it.

"Sorry, don't make baby happy." He growled, blowing a long raspberry in the henchman's face, but he was interrupted by another man in an adult onesie. 

"Toddler, good news. The radioactive Zenite is here." He said, and this seemed to put The Toddler in a happier mood.

"Really? Whoo-hoo!! That means we can begin phase 2 of my plan." The man-child said excitedly 

"Will someone wipe my face?" The tied-up man asked timidly.

"NO!" shouted The Toddler, making Henry grimace, but Ray and (y/n) kept their grave faces. The Toddler complained about how hard it was to blow raspberries in his minion's face, so he ordered the big one to make a device that could do it fot him. The sight of him getting saliva all over their faces made Ray groan in disgust, which prompted (y/n) to shut off the video before he was sick quickly.

"You see that?" he asked Henry.

"He's a maniac!" Henry agreed with the two.

"And there's more maniacs like him, all dangerous to the good citizens of Swellview," Ray explained as he walked back to the centre of the room, causing Henry to turn around and (y/n) to swivel on the chair she was in.

"Well, yeah, but we've got you to stop them," Henry stated, knowing how devoted Captain Man was to Swellview.

"True. But I'm not as young as I used to be." Ray sighed, feeling depressed over his age.

"I'm almost thirty-four!" He looked down in pity, but (y/n) snorted in laughter at how ridiculous he sounded.

"Hey, don't laugh! You're six years younger than me!" He said, pointing at her, but she continued to laugh. 

"I need help, and someday someone's gonna have to take over for me." Ray looked at Henry expectantly. 

"Like?" The kid still didn't get it, which made (y/n) spell it out for him, not wanting it to drag out any longer. 

"Like you, Henry." She said, walking over to them and gently placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you say, Henry?" Ray put his hand over hers.

"Do you wanna be my sidekick?" Henry scoffed in disbelief, his biggest dream about to come true, but first, he had to get his priorities straight. 

"How much does it pay?" He added in. 

"$9 an hour." Ray offered, which delighted the young boy. 

"Whoa!!" Ray shared his excitement. 

"I know, right?" 

"Not even I get that!" (y/n) told the young boy,

"That's 'cause you get to live here." Ray pointed out, and (y/n) nodded with a roll of her eyes.

~Junk-N-Stuff~

Back up in the store, Charlotte and Jasper had come to see if Henry had been successful with his job interview. They opened the door and were struck with the same sense of wonder that had filled Henry when he first got to look around the shop.

"Whoa!" The curly-haired boy gasped at the cool gadgets/junk on the shelves.

"Check this place out." Charlotte shared his amazement.

"Hey, look at this thing." The excited chatter from the two teens made Gooch press a button on the side of his desk, switching the computer down in the Man Cave to the security cameras placed throughout the store. 

~The Man Cave~ 

"Wow, a bucket of swords!" (y/n) saw two kids walking around the store.

"What are they doing here?" Henry said, not wanting his friends to ruin his chances of working with Captain Man. 

"Friends of yours?" Ray asked with his arms folded.

"Uh-huh." They all continued to watch the screen, seeing how Jasper was entranced by one of the items on sale.

"Jasper, please don't embarrass me." Charlotte pleaded with him, giving (y/n) the idea that this kid was strange. 

"Excuse me, sir." 

"He's gonna do it." this made (y/n) bite her cheek to stop smiling at the girl's reaction.

"Yes?" Gooch elongated in his Indian dialect.

"How much?" Why was this kid so interested in a rusty, old barrel of swords?

"Each sword is $100." Gooch named the price.

"No, no, no, how much for the bucket?" 'Okay, this kid is really weird.'

"The bucket?" Gooch didn't understand either, it seemed.

"That's not a bucket. That's a barrel." Charlotte tried to tell him, but Jasper didn't care.

"It's close enough to a bucket. I collect buckets." He said with a proud smile on his face. 'Who the hell collects buckets?' (y/n) thought in her inner monologue; she didn't understand modern kids' obsessions.

"Don't say it." Poor Charlotte always got embarrassed by Jasper and his antics with buckets.

"I'm a bucketeer." And he said it.

"Well, they seem like nice kids. The boy's a bit weird but nice." (y/n) mentioned, leaning her arm on Ray's shoulder and looking over at Henry.

"Yeah, their names are Jasper and Charlotte. I've known them ever since--" He told them, still watching what they were doing upstairs.

"Get rid of them." Ray interrupted him, as he didn't want any more kids discovering the Man Cave or causing problems. 

"I'll get rid of them." Henry quickly said and ran towards the elevator as (y/n) grabbed some popcorn from the auto-snack machine.

"You really have a way with children." (y/n) noted sarcastically, not loving how Ray spoke to Henry, but their attention was soon back on the screen and the bucket kid. Ray sat in the chair with his feet on the control panel, and (y/n) put her arms around his neck from behind, letting him reach the popcorn if he wanted it.

"Wow, what a bucket." 

"Huh, kid sure loves that bucket," Ray said, looking up at her.

"Can't we just give it to him? Might make him leave faster." (y/n) pondered with a piece of popcorn in her mouth, not seeing how Ray gazed up at her. 

"What? No! No free gifts to weird bucket kids." 

They saw Henry run in from the back room, and he went over to where Charlotte and Jasper stood next to the sword barrel/bucket.

"Hey!" He greeted them.

"Hey Henry, did you get the job?" Charlotte asked him hopefully.

"Yeah." Ray grabbed the popcorn bucket from (y/n's) hands and started munching away.

"Cool." Charlotte congratulated him.

"Does that mean I can get a discount on this bucket?" Jasper asked him, really wanting the barrel/bucket, which irritated Ray a bit.

"I still say we just give him the bucket." (y/n) said, which caused the man sitting in front of her to throw a piece of popcorn up at her face.

"Dude, it's my first day here. You-- you guys gotta--" Henry tried to make them realise that they needed to leave, but when it came to buckets, Jasper Dunlop did not give up easily.

"Excuse me, mysterious foreign man, do Henry's friends get a discount here?" Jasper asked a perplexed Gooch, who only shook his head, along with his flytrap.

"That plant just shook its head!" Charlotte noticed in disbelief.

"Wow!" Jasper ran over to where the plant was kept, wanting to see if it would move again.

"Will you get him outta here?!" Henry shook her by her shoulders, trying to get the message across.

"How much for the plant?" Jasper asked Gooch.

"Like Gooch would give Omar to some kid." (y/n) giggled, taking more popcorn.

The flytrap squirmed and squealed at the thought of being bought, but Gooch quickly calmed it down.

"The plant is not for sale." He said seriously as Henry tried in vain to get them to leave.

"Come on. I'll give you seven bucks for it and one Canadian loonie." Jasper emptied his pockets and put all his money in front of the cashier. Not liking that the kid still wanted to buy him, the plant opened its mouth and squirted Jasper in the face.

"Ahhhh, it spat in my eye!" Ray laughed along with (y/n) at the sight of Jasper with his face screwed up. It was pretty hilarious.

"Hey, that's my popcorn, don't eat all of it." She said, trying to take the box back, but Ray was too enthralled with the kids onscreen.

"I told you Canadian money upsets people." Charlotte chastised as Jasper panicked from the spit in his eyes.

"You guys, you've got to go now." Henry started pulling his friends towards the front door, not wanting them to upset anyone else in the store. 

"Wait, what about my bucket? I want the pretty bucket!" Jasper wouldn't let it go. Charlotte, too, was protesting why they had to leave so abruptly, but Henry still shoved them out of the door.

"Will you shut up about that bucket?" (y/n) heard Charlotte faintly shout from the street as Ray sipped on his drink that he reached for from the auto-snacker. 

"Come on, get up, Henry will be back down here any minute, and he needs a costume if he's gonna be your sidekick." (y/n) patted Ray's shoulder and walked over to the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, but first, I want a banana," Ray said to her.

"All you ever do is eat." She joked.

"Just wait for the kid." He told her. The elevator dinged, and Henry came back into the Man Cave. Ray grabbed his banana and sat down next to (y/n), who started to tell Henry about what they were going to do.

"In that room, you'lll find loads of costumes about your size. Try them on, and we'll see what's best." She smiled, and Henry nodded in understanding. 

~

"I gotta wear this?" Henry asked in horror, as he was wearing an American flag-inspired costume that was frankly hideous. 

Ray sat munching his banana, looking at the teen in deep thought as he took in the outfit.

"All good sidekicks wear costumes." He told him.

"Yeah, but not like that. Take it off, Henry." (y/n) hated how bold it was.

"Yeah, I agree. This is bad." Henry nodded with her, looking at himself in the mirror.

"I have more options." The superhero said with a mouth full of banana. 

~

This time, Henry was wearing a bright purple glitter jacket with matching pants and silver sparkly boots. It wasn't any better than the last outfit. He gave a twirl so the two adults could get a 360º look at the awful costume.

"The whole point of being a superhero is subtly. Why do you even have that?" (y/n) indignantly asked Ray, who was now eating another piece of fruit.

"Yeah, too sparkly."

~

The following costume wasn't any better, either. It was mainly red, with a hooded cape and a tight, shiny bodysuit. Nope.

"No capes!" (y/n) exclaimed. She hated them, knowing how they could be pulled and trapped during battle.

"Eh, it's a little Broadway." Ray wasn't keen on it either, this time eating some watermelon. 

~

Okay, this one made (y/n) laugh loudly at how silly Henry looked. It was bright gold and too tight as Henry shuffled towards them, and at least he could make the criminals laugh at it. 

"Too tight," Ray said, sitting on the couch with a half-eaten pineapple. 

"Uh, way too tight." Henry squeaked out.

"Oh man, I ate a lot of fruit." Ray moaned in pain from his full stomach, but (y/n) had little sympathy for him.

"I told you not to eat all of it, but did you listen? Noooo." She said to herself, which made Ray place a hand on her head to steady himself. 

~ 

This one was perfect. It matched Ray's suit, with silver, red and blue making up the jacket. Everything suited him like it was tailor-made. The two adults observing him smiled and nodded at the new costume.

"Hey! I like it." Ray said with glee as he stood up, his fruit-induced stomachache now subsided.

"I like it." Henry agreed. 

"But it takes a lot of time to put on." He mentioned.

"Which is why you'll be needing this special bubble gum." (y/n) said, holding out a tube and passing it to Henry, who didn't understand its significance.

"Special?" He said, feeling confused again.

"Read the instructions." She pointed out.

"Chew gum, blow bubble, fight crime." He read aloud, looking up at Ray.

"Now, you'll be needing one of these too," Ray said, kneeling in front of him and placing a bracelet on Henry's wrist. (y/n) took Ray's laser remote and lowered the lights in the Man Cave because Ray wanted the next bit of the conversation to be dramatic.

"What's this for?" The boy questioned.

"It means we're engaged." He joked, making (y/n) giggle at him.

"What?" Henry's eyes grew wider.

"He's kidding. It's how we'll contact you." (y/n) reassured him before he could panic.

"Why can't you just call me?" Henry asked.

"I melted your phone." Ray reminded him in a monotone voice.

"Right." Henry nodded along with him. 

"Now, listen closely. That wristband flashes." Ray started to explain. 

"It flashes." The teen understood.

"A triple flashing light means emergency, like "major sitch going down, so get here fast." (y/n) finished for him.

"Right." 

"A double flashing light means it's important." Ray continued.

"And what does a single flashing light mean?" Henry looked up expectantly.

"Just to, you know, shoot us a text whenever." (y/n) piped up in a casual voice.

"Got it." 

"Now, raise your right hand, spread your fingers. Turn your head and cough." Ray said, doing the same.

"Oh god, here comes the oath." (y/n) mumbled under her breath. Henry mimicked Ray's actions.

"What?"

"Haha, joke." (y/n) rolled her eyes again at Ray's childishness. 

"Place your left hand over your right lung, and repeat after me." He said as Henry slapped a hand over his chest. 

"I, Henry Hart--" Captain Man started.

"I, Henry Hart--" The teen repeated.

"Pledge to be an awesome sidekick to Captain Man--" Again, (y/n) rolled her eyes. Most oaths didn't go like this. 

"Pledge to be an awesome sidekick to Captain Man--" 

"And to never ever, ever tell anyone that I am Captain Man's secret sidekick." Ray focused his eyes on Henry.

"And to never, ever tell anyone that I am Captain Man's secret sidekick." Henry smiled back.

"You left out that last ever." (y/n) butted in with her humour.

"Ever." Henry finished.

"It is done." Ray ended the oath, lowering his hand.

"Feels good," Henry said, smiling at the two. However, before they could celebrate more, the alarm went off, telling Ray and (y/n) that there was an emergency. The lights went back on, and they ran over to the supercomputer.

"What's up, Gooch?" (y/n) said, sitting down and opening the camera between the Man Cave and Junk-N-Stuff. 

"Someone sabotaged the bridge over the Jandy River." He explained, looking worried.

"The bridge is down?" Ray asked in concern.

"Affirmative," Gooch confirmed.

"That means yes," Ray whispered to Henry.

"I think he knew that doofus." (y/n) whispered back.

"Situation?" Ray concentrated on the situation at hand.

"Cars in the water. Lives in danger." Gooch relayed the message.

"Understood," Ray said.

"Okay, from here to the Jandy River, tell them Captain Man's ETA is about 15 minutes, Gooch." (y/n) told the man before closing the link.

"Phase two of The Toddler's plan." The superhero said with his fists clenched in anger.

"Let's ride." He said to Henry, running over to grab a weapon from the bench.

"Wait, where?" Henry asked.

"We've got people in the Jandy River that need saving. Come on." Ray exclaimed in a hurry, running over to where the tubes came down. 

"You mean we're going there together, like right now?" Henry wasn't up to speed with what was going on.

"Yeah, get under your tube," Ray said to him, wanting to get out as soon as possible.

"Good luck!" (y/n) shouted over to them with a grin from her place at the computer. Ray returned her smile briefly before looking back to Henry.

"Ready?" He asked him.

"For what?" The 13-year-old asked, not knowing what was coming next.

"Up the tube!" Ray shouted after hitting his belt. The suction started, and he shot up the tube and out of the Man Cave.

"I don't know how to--" Henry panicked. He started jumping up and down, hoping his tube would do the same.

"Just tap your belt buckle." (y/n) explained. Henry did as she said, causing his tube to come down.

"Up the tuuuuuuube.." Henry shouted as he, too, was drawn upwards.

~(y/n)'s PoV~ 

I sat down in the Man Cave, just lying on the couch like I usually did when Ray went out. I was scrolling through my phone when the news flashed on the computer. Noticing it was about the Jandy River incident, I swiftly gave it my full attention. 

'--Take you live to the Jandy Bridge, which mysteriously collapsed over an hour ago." The female news anchor reported.

"Mysteriously, my ass." I snickered to myself. Like Ray, I had no love for The Toddler or any criminal. 

"We understand there are several people in cars in the water. People are injured." The on-scene reporter said.

'Come on, get to the Captain Man bit.'  I thought to myself, as I already knew all the details about the bridge collapsing.

I got up to grab some ice cream whilst they talked about the rescue operation. However, I soon ran back to my seat on the couch, nearly spilling the frozen dessert, when they finally mentioned Ray.

"Luckily, Captain Man arrived on the scene, leapt into the water, and saved the endangered citizens from drowning." I couldn't help but smile to myself at how selfless Ray was.

"And Ron, is it true that for the first time, Captain Man wasn't working alone?" The woman asked the reporter.

"Damn straight, lady! Go, Henry!" I shouted with a mouthful of ice cream, happy that Henry was being recognised for his actions.

"That's correct. It appears Captain Man has teamed up with a new sidekick, who apparently goes by the name Kid Danger." 'Huh, glad we discussed that one, Ray.' I monologued, but in truth, I wasn't angry or anything. 'Kid Danger' was a pretty sick name for a sidekick. 

"Well, once again, Swellview owes a big thanks to Captain Man and, apparently, Kid Danger." The news anchor smiled as the report ended, so I turned off the screen. As soon as I did, a tube came down with a filthy Ray, which made my eyes widen in shock and laughter.

"Sweet cheese, what happened to you?" I said, running to grab a towel from the back of the Man Cave. 

"Justice. That's what happened." He said from behind me in his Captain Man voice. I returned with a towel that Ray took from my hands and immediately wiped his face, letting out a sigh.

"Still no sign of the Toddler, then?" I asked sympathetically. He let out a long groan. 

"Dang it, no! That piece of filth got away as soon as the bridge collapsed." He said, tiredly going over to the computer chair.

"Don't sit down! You're covered in river gunge and debris and stuff." He looked at me with puppy eyes, which melted my heart, but I wasn't about to spend an hour getting the dirt and smell off the chair.

"Look at me like that all you want, but you need a shower 'cause you stink." I push him towards the sprocket, where our rooms and bathrooms were. 

"Leave your suit in the laundry basket, and I'll wash it!" I shouted to him, which he acknowledged with a wave of his hand behind his back. 

"Thank you!" I chuckled after him. For all his craziness, I wouldn't give up working with him for the world.

[justabooknerdposts]

Hey can i request Percy always saying can I ask a dumb question before actually asking something and Annabeth having enough and saying something Percy you are not dumb I don’t know why you have to always bring it up I love you and you’re not dumb and Percy just having self steem issues and being pessimistic but Annabeth being the best girlfriend ever

Hi! Great question and I like this idea, but I'm actually closed to prompts right now--too much going on in life to keep up with them at the moment. However, I kind of already did a scene like this in my story Study Break (follow the link if you want to read the full story), so I'm sharing that scene here!

From Study Break (posted on Fanfiction and A03):

The following Friday found them sitting on opposite ends of the couch in Percy's apartment. Annabeth's legs were tucked up under her and she was chewing on the end of a pen, trying to stay focused on her AP Government textbook, desperate to find any topic that might hold her interest long enough to write an essay about it. Percy had been sitting back with his feet on the coffee table, but now he'd set them on the ground as he hunched over his chemistry homework, nose wrinkled in concentration as he looked from his textbook to his notes and back again, occasionally muttering to himself. The noise of Sally and Paul getting ready to leave and go see a show drifted down the hall, reminding Annabeth that it was once again Friday night and maybe it would be nice to do something besides study. But she glanced at Percy, focused on his work, and decided not to interrupt him. Fighting back a sigh, Annabeth returned her attention to her own homework.

Ten minutes after his parents left, however, Percy swore and threw down his pencil. Annabeth jumped and looked at him as he dumped his chemistry stuff on the floor and cursed again. "I give up. I can't do this."

"What?"

Percy leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, his head in his hands. "I can't freaking do this. I don't get it."

"Chemistry?" Annabeth set her own book and pen down and cautiously scooted towards him. "Percy, I can help you. I mean, balancing equations is a pain and all but—"

"It's not just chemistry. Or physics. Or pre-calculus. Or whatever other stupid classes I'm taking." Because his face was still buried in his hands, his voice was muffled as he said, "I hate studying. I'm not—I'm not a good student. And no matter how hard I try, I'm not good enough."

"Percy—"

"I got my SAT scores back again. They went down." His shoulders slumped farther. His voice was almost inaudible as he said, "I don't know why I thought college was an option for me. I really am an idiot for thinking I could do this."

"Hey." Annabeth's voice came out sharper than she intended, but she thought maybe that wasn't a bad thing. "Stop it. Percy, look at me."

When he didn't, she moved until she was right beside him, then, as gently as she could manage, moved his hands away from his face and tugged him upright, though he still wouldn't meet her eyes.

So she took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. She hated seeing the shame etched on his features, especially when she didn't think he had anything to be ashamed of. "Nobody gets to talk about my boyfriend that way. Not even my boyfriend." She kissed him, hard. "Test scores aren't everything. Neither is New Rome. I mean, I know that's what we'd talked about, but if they don't want you, then screw them. We'll figure something else out. I've been researching other places, state schools and community colleges, and there are options."

Percy swallowed. "But I don't want to hold you back from—"

She kissed him again before he could finish that sentence. "No way. You don't get to pull that guilt trip on yourself because it's not true. And you don't have to be good at school to be good enough. Percy, you're—you're one of the best people I've ever met. Plus you're really good at a lot of things. Who cares if standardized tests and homework aren't some of them?"

He lowered his eyes. "I just don't want to let you down."

Annabeth ran her thumbs along the fine, fragile bones beneath his eyes, which wouldn't meet hers. Emotion briefly choked her, but finally she said, "Percy, you have never let me down. And I'm proud of how hard you've been working. You can do this." She kissed him once more, gently this time. "I believe in you."

He nodded, but his shoulders were still slumped, his attitude defeated. An idea crossed Annabeth's mind and she decided to go with it. Standing up from the couch, she held out her hand. "Come on. We're leaving."

Percy looked up then in surprise. "What? To go where?"

"Just trust me. Do you have Riptide?"

He raised an eyebrow, then pulled the pen out of his jeans pocket. "Don't I always?"

"Good." She hauled him off the couch and to the front door, stopping to grab her drakon bone sword, and their sweatshirts, on the way. "Don't forget your key."

Keep reading here

[plathfiles]

First Kiss

[Andrew Garfield Peter Parker x reader]

“Ugh! Why do you have to be so difficult!” You screamed at your math homework, practically throwing it across the room. You needed a break, so you decided sit on your balcony and get some fresh air.

You watched the city below you, your mind slowly calming down from the stress of your homework. You then saw a red and blue streak, swinging through the city. You smiled, recognizing the streak as Spider-Man. He had been around for almost a two years now. A while back he had disappeared, but he returned and continued to save the city.

Spider-Man had now disappeared into an alleyway and your gaze landed on the Empire State Building, it was beautiful and you loved living in New York.

Breaking you out of your day dreams, your phone started to ring from inside your bedroom, where your messy university homework laid. You went back inside and picked up your phone.

You smiled at the caller ID, “Hello Peter,” you said, running a hand through your hair and putting your right hand in the back pocket of your jeans.

“Hey, I’ll be over in a few minutes to study. I had to run a couple errands...” he trailed off, vaguely. You looked at your homework and then at yourself in the mirror, “Oh it’s fine, I was taking a break anyway,” you replied. He chucked, “Okay, see you in five,” he said, then hanging up.

You looked down at your phone, the picture of Peter you had taken in Central Park was your wallpaper. You blushed seeing his smiling face. Peter Parker was your best friend and your crush, but you know he didn’t feel the same way. Not only had he lost someone romantically close to him last year but you probably weren’t even his type.

In Peters eyes, you were exactly his type. He wanted to be more than just friends but he knew that some of his enemies knew who he really was, if they saw him getting close to someone he really cared about they could be a target. He didn’t want you to get hurt so he never asked you out or revealed his feelings. This was extremely hard for him to do, because you were so close, you always studied together.

Peter was mesmerized by you when you would study. The way you would chew on the top of your pen or pencil. The way you ran your hand through your hair when you were really concentrating. He loved everything about you and wanted so desperately to have you in his arms. But he needed to keep you safe, even if he knew you would never feel the same.

Peter had arrived just in time. You moved your homework to your kitchen table and made you and Peter each a glass of iced tea. Handing him the glass he mumbled a thank you. “So what question are you on?” Peter asked, looking next to you to see your paper. “Question five,” you huffed, the stress of the math problem coming back to you.

“Oh this is easy, you just have to find out how they got 243,” Peter explained. You looked at the problem again and it all became clear.

“Really, that’s it? Oh my god, you do, how the hell did I not see that before,” you laughed, taking your pencil and quickly solving the equation. Peter watched you as you worked out the problem, butterflies filled his stomach. You were absolutely adorable.

He giggled and you looked up, “What?” You asked, giggling yourself.

“Nothing,” Peter shrugged off.

You nudged him, “Oh come on, tell me,” you replied.

He shook his head, smiling, “I can’t, I want to but I can’t,” he admitted.

This made you more curious, “That doesn’t make any sense, Peter.” You said. “Just tell me,” you added.

“I think your laugh is adorable. I loved the way your eyes lit up when your figured out the solution to the problem. I think your the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and-,” he said, but you cut him off with your lips.

It was impulsive, yes, but he said all of those beautiful words with those big puppy dog eyes. How could you not kiss him. You began to pull away but he pulled you closer to him, kissing you back. It was sweet but then became passionate, like what happened after the ‘ they lived happily ever after’ title card.

You both pulled away for air, your lips swollen from kissing your best friend. “I’m-um, I didn’t mean to-wow,” you stuttered.

Peter nervously rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah wow is um-right yeah,” he said, trying to focus on something else besides your lips.

You both instinctively leaned in again and another mini make out session began.

“This is probably not a good idea,” Peter whispered in between kisses.

“Why not?” You replied, confused.

“Well, we’re supposed to be studying,” he said, but really he didn’t want you to get hurt for being close to him.

“You helped me understand the problem. I’ll look at my notes again,” you shrugged, leaning into kiss him again.

Peter couldn’t take the guilt anymore and pulled away, “I can’t, I’m sorry,” he said, grabbing his jacket and leaving.

You watched him leave your apartment in shock , what the hell had just happened.

Four Days Later

After the kiss Peter ignored you. He wouldn’t answer any of your calls or texts. Finally you decided to just go over to his house. Knocking on the front door, Aunt May opened the door.

“Y/n, it’s wonderful to see you. Please come in,” she said sweetly. “Thank you. I’m here to see Peter. Is he here?” You asked.

Aunt May nodded, “Yes, I believe he’s in his room,” she replied. You said thank you again, then walking upstairs to Peter’s room.

It was closed so you knocked, “Peter, it’s Y/n. I need to talk to you,” you said.

No answer.

“Peter I want to apologize for any inconvenience I caused,” you added.

No answer.

You huffed under your breath, “Peter Parker, I’m sorry!” You yelled. You then noticed the door wasn’t fully closed and you lightly pushed it open, “Peter?” You asked. But no one was in the room.

The window was open, “Unbelievable,” you mumbled, upset.

As you turned to leave, a red and blue streak swung into the room. It was Spider-Man. He didn’t know you were there and he took off his backpack and then his mask. He turned around and you came face to face with your best friend.

“Oh my god,” you said in shock. Peter’s eyes went wide upon seeing you.

“Y/n? What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Your Spider-Man!!” You shrieked. He shushed you and fully closed his door. “Yeah,” he replied, still confused.

“Why are you here?” He asked. “I wanted to apologize for upsetting you after we kissed,” you admitted, a little embarrassed but still shocked that your best friend was Spider-Man.

“Y/n don’t be sorry. I liked kissing you, it was one of best kisses I’ve ever had. I just can’t be with you,” he said.

“Why? Because your Spider-Man,” you scoffed.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“That’s bullshit, Peter. We like each-other, why can’t we be together?” You asked.

“You could get put into danger because of me. You could get hurt,” he explained.

You huffed, waking closer to him, “I am not a damsel in distress,” you replied.

Peter walked closer to you, “I never said you were. I just don’t want anything bad to happen to you because of me,” he said, putting his hand on your cheek.

“Nothing will happen to me. I’m staying, as long as you want me. I’m yours,” you said, embracing his touch.

“I want you,” Peter whispered, leaning into kiss you.

[inmegsmind]

'Stolen Glances, Short Skirts & Study Dates' - Remus Lupin x Female Reader (Part 1)

Authors Note: The rough plot for this is a popular Remus fan fic trope so I hope I do it justice and everyone enjoys :) Also I wrote this fic in second person narrative but gave the character a name as after my last fic I'm not a massive fan of writing using (Y/N) so i'm trying this out.

Description: After years of stolen glances and silent yearning, Remus Lupin couldn't believe his luck when Aria Belmont asks him to tutor you. Aria's request for tutoring began innocent enough but as time spent together develops deeper feelings and secrets are releaved, the end result is more than the two could have ever hoped for.

Warnings: Swearing, very tiny sexual reference if you squint, I think thats all for this part.

-

Remus can't exactly pin point the exact time where he had started to have a crush on you. He doesn't remember when he began to steal glances at you in class or in the Great Hall. Nor does he remember the first time he began catching his breath as he say you approaching, wondering if you were going to speak to him. You very rarely did though. Although, you did smile every time, which was a positive. Its not that you'd never spoken, you were in the same year and same house so you'd obviously interacted in the past, yet not as much as Remus wanted and he was so ready to change that. So you can understand his disappointment when he returned for your pairs final year to find out you had started dating some Ravenclaw boy over summer.

Remus was brought out of this day dream with a hard kick of the leg. Jumping and hissing out in pain Remus glared at his shaggy haired best friend, Sirius Black, who was smirking.

'Moooony, you're staring again' Sirius quietly teased which earned snickers from James and Peter. The boy felt his face heat up and he whispered 'fuck off' under his breath, returning his attention back to the homework in front of him.

'Hi Remus' the sweet sound of your voice broke the silence that had come over your table. All four heads of the Marauders shot up to stare at you in complete synchronisation, you had to try mask your laugh.

James took his turn to kick Remus in the leg, snapping him out of his state of shock. 'Uh Hi Aria', he nervously stuttered out, turning his cheeks tomato, which was only worsened by the boys quiet giggles.

'Would it be ok if I spoke to you privately a second please?' You whispered kindly, your fingers twiddling with the hem of you school skirt nervously. Remus slowly nodded agreement. Oh fuck, did she catch me staring and wants to tell me i'm a creep? Remus thought to himself as he rose from his seat, accidentally banging his knee on the table as he did so. Damn his long limbs.

He followed you away from his table to stand by a book shelf in the library.

'Is everything ok?' Remus asked nervously, looking at you expectantly as he pulled on the sleeves of his jumper.

'ohh yeah everything's fine. Well not really, see I do quite well in all my assignments but I just keep getting E's and I know you always get O's and for my last year I really just want to get that grade higher you know?' You explained cursing yourself for rambling on.

'you wan-t-t me to tut-t-tor you?' Remus stammered out and your heart dropped, you were scared he wouldn't want to do it. Remus however, could have only dreamed of an opportunity like this.

'Yes- well it doesn't have to be tutoring as such because I know you're obviously busy with your work too but maybe we could just study together sometimes' You spurted out, looking desperately up at Remus who desperately toward over you. You nerves began to ease as you watched a smile grow on his face.

'Yes of course!! Just let me know whenever you're free and i'll be there' Remus mentally slapped himself, way way to eager mate. However, the smile on your face assured him that he hadn't gone too far.

'Oh Remus!!' You threw your head back and let out a breath of release. Keeping that image for later, Remus thought to himself.

'Thank you so so much! I'll come find you later so we can work out when we can meet up' You gushed and he nodded in agreement, unable to wipe the stupid grin off his face. His heart pounded in his chest, eyes following the way your short school skirt swung as you sauntered out of the library.

Emerging from behind the book shelf, Remus was met with the smirking faces of the three other Marauders. They must of thought he was an idiot the way he strutted back over, retaking his space at the table. In unison the three boys raised an eyebrow at him but Sirius broke the silence. 'Well, come on, the anticipation is killing us' he declared eagerly.

'She just asked me to tutor her thats all' Remus shrugged trying to play it off cool. James gave a little gasp and a grin was plastered all over Peter and Sirius faces.

'Look at you trying to play it cool now as if you didn't strut back with that massive fucking grin' James teased and Remus rolled his eyes before punching his arm. James groaned and rubbed his sore arm 'Moony, your furry strength, ouch', 'oh shut up Prongs it wasn't that hard' Remus retorted.

'This is perfect for you Moony, get her alone, wow her with your intelligence and boom, next she's underneath you half naked' Sirius stated, giving his friend a nudge and a wink. Remus rolled his eyes before retorting 'Is sex all you think about?'

Sirius scoffed at his friends hypocrisy. 'I'm a young man Remus, of course it's all I think about and you wanna get off your high horse' Remus raised an eyebrow, challenging his friend to go on.

'Acting all innocent as if we all haven't heard you some nights, what else are you doing whispering Aria's name late when you're alone in bed' Sirius teased wickedly causing the table bar Remus to erupt into laughter. This was quickly silenced by Mrs Pince. Remus could tell how red his face was in that moment but he didn't let Sirius teasing ruin the happiness he felt.

-

Your heart pounded as you walked away from Remus, unsure as to why asking him to tutor you had been so nerve wracking. You'd always known him, been acquaintances at most, so it wasn't like you were asking a total stranger. Though admittedly he had become more and more attractive your years at Hogwarts had passed. Over the summer you were sure he'd grown at least 5inches, recalling how much he had just towered over to you. His arms and chest had also become more broad, you were curious as to how as you'd never known him to play Quidditch or any other sport. Then not to mention his face, he had the most handsome face. Every week it seemed to dawn a new scar, something you'd always guessed was the result of a failed Marauders prank. He was like an ever evolving work of art.

Lost in your thoughts of Remus Lupin, you didn't notice the towering figure that had stoped in front of you until you collided head on with it. Violently snapped from your daydream, you looked up to see the face of Donovan Cole, a Ravenclaw boy you'd hooked up with over the summer. Donovan was nice enough, he was good looking, good in bed and fun at times, but you weren't really too fussed on the idea of anything serious. You'd constantly reiterated throughout the summer how you didn't want a boyfriend or anything serious and you thought he'd understood that until you returned to Hogwarts. Somehow, by the time you'd got off the Hogwarts Express, your entire year had seemed to heard of your summer fling, they either assumed or been told by the man him self that you were an item. Since then you'd tried your best to avoid him in hope your peers and Donovan would get the picture.

'Hi Don' you greeted politely, flashing a small smile.

'You've been avoiding me haven't you' He jumped straight in with it, making your body cringe.

'I've just been busy thats all, we agreed it wasn't anything serious anyway' You shrugged.

'Yeah of course, I just wanted to know if you were free tomorrow'

'Uh I can't tomorrow - sorry' that response blurted out a bit too quickly, the irritation written clearly over his face.

'I'm getting tutoring so I'm doing that tomorrow, sorry Don, I'll let you know when I'm next free' You apologised before darting off quickly to the safety of the Gryffindor common room.

You begged the universe that Remus would be available to tutor you tomorrow.

[sondepoch]

HC: MC breaks a bone!

Demons can’t break bones. Neither can angels. Nope, from head to toe, they’re pretty much indestructible. So imagine everyone’s utter shock when you break a bone, and they’re reminded of just how weak the human body really is.

Word Count: 5.2k

SFW + mild violence + mild description of broken bones 

Characters: All Brothers + All Undateables + Luke

MASTERLIST

Lucifer

Boi flips out

So it didn’t actually happen while he was around, which is why he has so much trouble understanding what happened

You tripped on the steps outside Majolish? And you fell the wrong way??? And somehow, that was enough for you to break your ankle?!?!?!

Poor baby, he has no idea how he’s going to relay the information to Diavolo

When Mammon and Asmo sheepishly enter his study to tell him what happened, they’re highkey terrified for their lives - but learning that you actually broke a bone has him so shook that he doesn’t even remember to punish them, and he’s instead rushing to your room to see the damage for himself

He sees Belphie napping on your stomach and sort of assumes that everything is okay, and that his brothers were making a big deal out of nothing

Then he gets closer and sees the horribly twisted angle your left foot is in

Suffice it to say, neither Mammon nor Asmo returned to their rooms fully unscathed that night

Overcomes his natural hatred of Solomon to call him and ask for—brace yourself—help, and when the mage offers to cast a spell that will revert your body to its prior state, Lucifer insists on doing it himself, no longer trusting anyone else with your all-too-fragile body

Relocates your room to the first floor of the house after all is said and done

Asks Diavolo to move all your classes such that you don’t need to climb any stairs

Refuses to believe you when you tried to insist that bones breaking is fairly common for humans

Becomes super overprotective

Insists on helping you with everything

“Lucifer, I can walk down the stairs myself, you know.”

“Yes, I’m sure you can” - he says with a straight face, refusing to let go of your hand as he takes you down the two-step elevation outside the House of Lamentation

(Bonus:) One day he catches you and Levi looking at parkour videos and from that moment and onward he refuses to let you out of sight for any longer than is absolutely necessary

(Bonus bonus:) Catches you doing "parkour" in your bedroom, jumping from Beel’s shoulders to the bed, and then it becomes a new house rule that you’re not allowed to climb onto Beel’s shoulders

Mammon

He was with you when it happened, and the second he heard the crack, he screamed

Honestly, the most high-pitched, shrill sound you’d ever heard

You were more scared of the noise coming out of Mammon’s mouth than the awkward way your pinky was dangling

Only when he was done screaming did the pain actually set in, and then you were hissing viciously in an attempt to distract yourself, trying your hardest to blink the tears from your eyes because Mammon already looked like he was about to cry, and the Devildom really didn’t need two blubbering messes in one day

The one saving grace for you both was the fact that Simeon was nearby, and he used his Celestial magic to heal you (you both begged him not to tell Lucifer, of course)

Baby becomes even more possessive over you afterwards

Still can’t get over how easily it happened

“Are ya sure?” Mammon asks whenever you casually tell him you’re about to do something. Doesn’t matter if you say you’re folding paper cranes or planning on jumping off the roof of the House of Lamentation, he’s lost pretty much all faith in your ability to do anything without your human body breaking in the process

Oddly enough, he becomes much more touchy with you

Needs you to “prove to him” that you’re not injured by squeezing his hand

And then he just doesn’t let go

Oh, you’re holding hands? What? Who said that? Wait, can you prove that you’re not injured and squeeze his hand again? It’s for safety purposes. For safety.

Occasionally, though, he really does have you move your pinky just to prove to him that there weren’t any lasting effects

Overprotectiveness increases by 500 points

Starts to hover around your room a lot more, awkwardly trying to help (really, he’s doing his best) but often doing things much worse than if you simply did them yourself

Gets into a fight with his brothers whenever one of them handles you too roughly

“Hey!” He shouts at pretty much anyone who touches you “Ya gonna hurt my human!”

Will drop anything and everything if he ever sees you trip to catch your fall

Legit, he was once holding Lucifer’s cup of coffee and out of the corner of his eye, he saw you jump to flop on the couch. Cue instant panic mode: he turned into his demon form and all - literally throwing the coffee on Lucifer as he ran forward to catch your body before the couch could break any of your bones

Yeah, he got into a lot of trouble that day

Leviathan

Has officially decided that he’s never going outside again

Ever.

It happened while you were both at one of Lord Diavolo’s parties - you were trying to maneuver the crowds in search of him, actually, and another demon tugged you close and tried to force you to dance. You fought back, of course, frowning as you escaped the demon’s hold, but apparently, they pulled you back and your wrist just snapped

God, he doesn’t think he’ll ever forget the sound of your scream

The demon was punished severely, Diavolo made sure of that. But Levi didn’t care anymore - he just wanted to get you back home, safe and sound

In the following days, he never leaves your side

You have to switch to online classes, at least for as long as your wrist is healing, and Levi takes it upon himself to make sure that the assimilation process is as smooth as possible

You start taking all your classes together, remaining in the same room even if you don’t have the same subject

Homework is a little harder, since Levi usually finishes before you, but he waits for you to finish while he reads manga

Evenings are spent watching anime in his room and debating random topics (oh, and you both marathon the entirety of TSL a couple more times ;))

He even tries to let you get the video game experience, and he picks an RPG game for you both to play and lets you tell him what to do an how to move around, since your wrist is broken

It’s actually super fun because he knows where all the traps are and which ones you’ll like, so he subtly guides your character through the gameplay process to get the best possible experience, and you actually end up enjoying this more than playing solo

(As a joke, he once offers to let you play with him. As in, you use your nonbroken hand to control the left side of the controller and he controls the right side, but that turns out to be a hot mess and you both quickly abandon the idea)

Even after your wrist heals, the two of you continue to spend boatloads of time together

This boy even stops calling you “normie” at one point

Real subtle about it but he tries to convince you not to go back into society again. Like ever. 

“What if you get hurt again?” He asks when you tell him you’ve made plans with Asmo to go shopping

“Then we get to spend even more time together, all over again!”

Cue leviathan/blushingmess.exe

Satan

Probably the ONLY brother to have actually known that it’s possible for humans to break bones

Why?

He read about it in a book once

Still, that doesn’t stop him from visually flinching when he sees you writhing on the ground after being shoved into a bike rack by a lower-level demon, clutching your arm which is disfigured so awkwardly that the bone is popping out

His demon form manifests immediately, and he’s about to rip this demon to shreds when you desperately call out his name, and then he’s more preoccupied with helping you than he is with beating this demon to death

(Inwardly, though, he’s quite relieved that you stopped him from killing the demon immediately. Now, he’ll get to spend the next four millennia torturing the creature slowly, keeping it just an inch from death until he’s satisfied that the demon has paid for injuring you so severely. :))

Runs over to you immediately and pulls you onto his lap, quickly muttering an enchantment that will temporarily numb the pain

Proceeds to ask you whether you want him to use magic to forcefully heal you or if you want to heal the human way

Will respect your wishes 100% no matter which you choose

Throws himself into reading and studying human medicine as soon as the two of you get back to the House of Lamentation

By the end of the month, he’s an expert on human anatomy (and where human strength lies on a comparative figure to demon strength)

Takes it upon himself to watch out for you, threatening any demons who express behavior that isn’t excessively cautious

Starts walking with you and Mammon to and from school

Keep it lowkey, but the truth is that he doesn’t trust his brother to fully make sure that you’re safe so he takes it upon himself

Doesn’t really panic too much, he knows that you getting injured was more the demon’s fault than it was yours

Is actually very considerate of your feelings in all this

Consciously makes sure that he doesn’t treat you too differently, not wanting to make you feel like he thinks you’re weak. But he no longer trusts other demons around you, and after getting your permission, he casts an enchantment on you which prevents lower-level demons from touching you without your explicit consent

Smiles devilishly every single time one of them tries to shove you in the hallways of RAD and gets sent flying 30 meters backwards in response

Devilish smile intensifies when he finally gets around to kidnapping and torturing the demon who dared to push and injure you in the first place

Asmodeus

He’s worried about you for a good hour

Not to say he’s inconsiderate

No, he’s understandably concerned immediately after he sees you on crutches, and when you come home with a broken foot, he’s immediately hanging out with you and completely (read: barely) restraining himself from making flirtatious comments in case you’re still in pain

The second he realizes that you’re fine as long as you don’t apply pressure on it, a switch flips

Now that he knows that the fracture isn’t going to spread to the rest of your body and destroy you from the inside, he’s overwhelmed with how cute it is that you need his help to do basic stuff

And honestly, you kinda vibe with it

He’s the shortest brother, so you having to ask him for help to get things off the shelf because you can’t stand is a rarity, and he is living for it

He lives with six overlords of hell, so the feeling of someone asking (no matter how reluctant) him for help in simple stuff like climbing up or down the stairs is something he absolutely cherishes

The second he realizes how good it feels to do stuff for you, he’ll never stop

Will 100% put Mammon to shame in how frequently he starts hanging by your side

He thinks of everything even before you do, always making sure that when you guys sit down, you have everything you need to be occupied for hours: from water to nail polish to the latest gossip at RAD, this man will make it his life’s mission to be the perfect prince while you’re injured

Seriously spoils you

Even when you finally heal and get better, he doesn’t stop helping you

Actually has the nerve to start complaining when you try to do stuff on your own

“You’re going to hurt yourself! Let me do it for you!”

“Asmo, I’m microwaving popcorn”

It doesn’t matter if you shower him with 'thank yous’ or if you grunt in annoyance every time he sits down next to you with an item you were about to get up and look for, he knows you appreciate the things he’s doing and that’s all he needs

Effectively gives you the royal treatment, occasionally putting Barbatos to shame with how diligent he is in helping you out

It never stops, even months after you’ve made a full recovery

Then again, who are you to complain? ;)

Beelzebub

Suddenly becomes terrified of his own strength

He’s there as it happens, and the way your face immediately contorts in pain right before you bite your lip to stop yourself from screaming will really never stop haunting him

It doesn’t help that you get injured from something that would usually be considered child-safe in the Devildom - a small windup toy which your fingers had gotten stuck in before two of them snap completely

Man is by your side immediately

The pit in his stomach isn’t caused by hunger but by genuine fear as he watches Lucifer and Satan soothe you with magic

He wants to run over to you and wipe your tears away, but should he? How can that be a good idea? He’s easily 1000000000x stronger than that toy you were messing around with, and what if he accidentally hurts you?

He knew it was possible for him to kill you before, but now he realizes how easy it would be - so simple that he might not even realize it

Instantly steps back and begins avoiding physical contact with you, trying his hardest to be there for you emotionally but struggling because every time you ask him for cuddles, he awkwardly changes the subject and looks away

He only comes clean to you about his concerns after you get mad at him and plant yourself in his lap, wrapping your arms around his head angrily as you demand that he give you affection

“Beel,” You mutter, a light pout forming on your face. “The reason you’re strong isn’t just because you have the muscles, it’s because you have control. You’ve never hurt me before, and nothing you do will hurt me now, so stop being such a stubborn goof and hug me”

Cue very hesitant hug

But it’s a start, and he slowly becomes physically close to you once more

(Subtly tries to let you stay in charge, though. He’ll initiate hugs, but you’re the one to squeeze tightly, and he’ll simply follow your lead)

Decides that rather than being afraid of what his strength can do, he’s going to use it to his advantage - and he resolves to become even stronger so that if there’s ever anything that can cause you pain, he’ll be there by your side protecting you, whether it’s against a demon strong as Diavolo or another windup toy from Majolish

Gets into the habit of running his fingers over your hand after it’s done healing, checking for scars and making sure that you’re still completely healed

Slowly develops into handholding - and who is Beel to complain? If he’s holding your hand, he’s by your side, and if he’s by your side, he can better protect you, so there’s no problem there

Belphegor

Quietly blames himself

It apparently happened while you were alone, and you fell down the stairs in the House of Lamentation. But Belphie is 99.99% sure that you were only going up to see him, and if he had just been awake, this never would have happened

Not to mention, this was the second time he had caused you pain, and it wasn’t even intentional!

Boy can’t look you in the eyes properly after the incident

Starts forcing himself to stay awake and isolates himself in the attic

Only when Beel finally gets serious and asks him what’s wrong does he quietly confess his thoughts, and his twin is quick to relay the information back to you

Honestly, you’re lowkey relieved when you hear the reason 

You were beginning to think that Belphie was avoiding you because he had grown tired of your company, and the thought was sort beginning to break your heart

That doesn’t stop you from yelling at him for being inconsiderate 

“This is why you need to talk about your feelings, Belphie!”

“But— “

“No buts!”

Honestly, he’s kind of relieved to see you yell at him so animatedly despite the cast around your arm, it makes him realize that although you’re physically injured, you’re mentally fine

Is very hesitant about napping on you, especially since he knows that if he falls asleep and accidentally shifts into a position that hurts you, you won’t be strong enough to stop him

You flick his forehead and tell him to not to be stupid, insisting that he sleeps next to you like usual, and he very hesitantly leans on the shoulder of the opposite arm you injured

Becomes way more considerate, even when tired

Shift in your sleep? He’s awake, checking to make sure that you aren’t uncomfortable or in pain

Wake up and try to get a glass of water? No problem, Belphie will get it for you, just stay here and sleep tight

Hogging the blanket? For the first time, Belphie doesn’t even mind, he’ll just carefully snuggle closer to you, double-checking that you’re comfortable before drifting back off to sleep

Even after the cast comes off, he’s still conscious about how tightly he grips you and how much physical exertion you put your body through, always reminding himself that, above all, you’re human and your body can’t handle the things his can

Solomon

Groans

That’s right, thanks to an awkward fall, your toe is broken, and this wizard boy has to audacity to groan at the sight of you on the floor, tears in your eyes as you clutch your foot through your shoe

“As if those brothers don’t hate me enough as is,” He grumbles, lifting you to your feet and whisking you back to Purgatory Hall, where he goes full medic mode and inspects the damage

Tries his hardest to convince you to let him fix it with magic, but just last week, he accidentally turned you into a cat while attempting to place a strength enchantment over you, so you’re understandably hesitant as you refuse him

As expected, when the brothers find out, they put him through hell (pun intended)

For not being able to protect you while it happens (they ignore his complaints that it was technically you who fell and injured yourself) he is now tasked with your recovery

Aka he is your slave

You make him carry your books when you go from class to class, you make him buy you lunch from the cafeteria, you make him give you his lecture notes whenever you don’t feel like paying attention in class

Hell, if he weren’t such a god awful cook, you would probably make him take over your cooking duty, as well

“This is abuse” He huffs one day, sighing in irritation after you ask him to go fetch you a glass of water

“I’m sorry?” You ask, feigning innocence. “What’s that? Did you ask me to go tell Lucifer that you aren’t treating me properly?”

Grumbles under his breath in six different languages, cursing you out in each one of them as you wink at him

You’re almost sad when your toe finally heals, and he’s finally free

Thankfully, the two of you somehow grew used to each other after spending so much time together for so long, and (much to the brothers’ displeasure) you continue hanging out with Solomon long after you’re off crutches

Will tease you about it when it’s all over

He doesn’t forget about how you lorded over him for as long as you were injured, and thus takes it upon himself to make sure that you don’t get hurt again under his watch

(At least, that’s what he tells himself as he holds your hand to march you down the steps outside Majolish, not letting go even after the ‘threat’ is passed)

Simeon

confusedangel.exe

First and foremost, how did this happen??

He’s so concerned and shocked when you show up to RAD one day in crutches because you broke a bone on your leg

Didn’t know that was possible

Actually goes home and spends half an hour on the Devildom equivalent of Google trying to maneuver his phone and search up how common this is and whether it’s normal for humans

Accidentally opens the images tab and sees a bunch of super disturbing and painful-looking injuries, and he nearly drops his phone altogether

Instantly assumes that your injury is as bad as those, despite your constant reassurances that you’re fine as long as you don’t apply too much pressure

Lots of pampering

He’s suddenly available 100% of the time for you, no matter what he’s already doing or the time of day

Insists on helping you wherever he can, like holding your stuff for you at RAD, ferrying you from class to class without forcing you to don that heavy rucksack 

Even takes over the responsibility of walking you to and from school

He doesn’t quite understand that your injury is physical??

Like he can’t seem to wrap his head around the fact that you’re mentally unaffected by the injury, because angelic injuries are typically so difficult to induce and severe that they always cause some kind of trauma 

He’s always testing you - double-checking that you remember facts from old lectures, holding up fingers to test your sight, even asking you details about himself every now and then

That’s actually the story of how you accidentally told him that you thought his eyes were prettier than the sky and he still hasn’t forgotten it

Never really forgets about your injury, even after your crutches are long gone

Protectiveness goes up by 5000%

He suddenly becomes acutely aware of the fact that you’re surrounded by demons and, although the brothers usually mean well, he becomes impossible concerned for how you’re faring

He expresses his concerns to you one day really sweetly and you’re so touched because ??? How can someone be this pure???

To ease his concerns, you both start hanging out a lot more - when before you mostly hung out at the RAD library before parting ways, Simeon now invites you over to Purgatory Hall more often and you bring him back to the House of Lamentation so that he can see how safe you are with the brothers

Luke

Just like Simeon, there’s so much confusion going on inside this smol bean’s head

Are you really telling him that you??? the person who has taken it upon themself to be protective over HIM??? are so weak and fragile??? that tripping over a pebble was enough to fracture your jaw???

The roles in your relationship are suddenly reversed

(Or well, Luke tries to reverse them)

He does his best to be there for you instead of vice versa, insisting that you no longer need to save him from the brothers when they make fun of him for being like a chihuahua 

Lowkey, he actually earns their respect for how protective he’s suddenly being over you, but the baby can only go so far because - face it - he’s basically ten years old

Doesn’t let that stop him from shooting dirty looks toward any demon who looks at the bandages on your face twice

Immediately goes home and researches what kind of foods you can comfortably eat, and enlists both Barbatos and Beel’s help in cooking soft dishes for you that you’ll be able to eat, despite your injury

Does his best to help you where he can

Takes over your cooking duty at the House of Lamentation

Takes extra-detailed notes so he can lend them to you after class

Even goes as far as to get high-quality Celestial bandages with natural healing properties and gives them to you, hoping that everything he’s doing will make your recovery a little bit faster

He’s really come to look up to you as an older sibling, so seeing you injured (even if you don’t necessarily show the pain) has him seriously torn up inside, and it takes all his effort to keep a straight face every time he looks at you and sees the bandages on your face

If you’re even a little self-conscious about any scars afterwards, he will spend hours convincing you that you look fine (and in truth, he can’t actually see the scar anymore, so he’s being honest)

Long after you’re recovered, he will remember at the most random times that you’re so fragile despite always looking so strong, and it tears him up inside

Because of this, random, tearful hugs become the norm

Occasionally, one look is all it takes before his eyes are welling with tears and he’s burying his face inside your stomach, holding you tight and promising to “protect you to make sure that you never get hurt again”

Very innocent, very sweet

Never fully forgets ever again just how fragile humans are

Barbatos

Knew it could happen

Was sort of prepared for it to happen

Didn’t actually expect it to fucking happen

This is probably one of the only times where he regrets not using his powers to check and see what the future held - literally, it would have been so easy to have saved you had he known it was coming 

Went to Diavolo asking to switch timelines but the demon lord said no

Highkey becomes incredibly protective of you, just in super subtle ways

You suddenly find yourself invited to Diavolo’s palace much more often, and it’s Barbatos who now entertains you, bringing you there under the guise of asking you to “taste the new recipes” he’s attempting to perfect

Pfft, his recipes are already the definition of perfect - the only reason he’s putting that food in your mouth is because he cast a spell on it, and it’ll make your bones stronger

Dodges all questions when you ask about it, real slick

“Barbatos, isn’t this the same dish you gave Beel when we came here last month?”

“I’m afraid I have no recollection of what you’re talking about.”

“You know, the dessert you gave him after he asked you for the biggest banana spli—”

“Oh my, would you look at the time. Let’s get you home, now, before it gets too late”   

Used to walk in front of you when walking you around the palace, but he now walks behind you so that he can watch you in case you trip

I mean, why wouldn’t he? You managed to break your collarbone while jumping down the stairs in Diavolo’s palace - you clearly can’t be trusted to look after your own health

(lowkey also never leaves you unsupervised around Mammon again, who in hell thinks it’s a good idea to try parkour of all things in the castle of the demon lord??? and encourages it?????)

Finds it incredibly endearing when your injury renders you unable to do basic tasks

Like if you were a helpless human in his mind before, now you’re less independent than an unpottytrained demonchild, and Barbatos is living for it, especially since you’re too stubborn to ask the brothers for help, so you turn to him instead

Absolutely loves when you text him for help

[17:39] MC: barbatos?

[17:40] Barbatos: Yes? Are you in need of something?

[17:40] MC: ...i was walking around the House of Lamentation and i accidentally banged into the wall outside Satan’s room and there was a really big sound and it turns out that i knocked a bunch of his books off the shelf and he comes home in half an hour and please help he’s going to kill me if he sees what happened

[17:40] Barbatos:

[17:41] Barbatos: I’ll be right there.

Diavolo

Oh boy

This man has lived a long, LONG time and never in all those millennia has he been as pissed as he is now, seeing you sheepishly lean on Mammon for support with the nearly all of your leg hanging limp

What he can’t grasp is the fact that this actually happened in school

Like, it would be one thing if a demon had injured you out of spite - he could simply punish them for all eternity and eradicate the root of the problem

But for you to be injured this severely? In spellcasting class, no less?

Instantly fires the teacher who was careless enough to let you walk into a casting circle which almost obliterated you whole - and spends ages commending Satan for having the wit to save you before things got even worse

But that doesn’t stop him from using the full extent of his princely power to ensure your continued safety

Instantly moves you out of the House of Lamentation and into his own palace, ignoring Lucifer’s repeated requests for you to not be moved

“I need to make sure they’re comfortable,” He hisses to his right-hand man, almost to Barbatos’s amusement. “The healing process for humans is long, and I need to make sure that they get better without the distractions your brothers provide”

Makes it painfully clear that if you ever get injured again under an RAD teacher’s watch, nothing will be able to save them from the unforgiving flames of his wrath

Starts spending as much time with you as humanly possible 

He always stops by your room in the afternoon, generally to check on your well being and to inquire on how you’re faring, but those conversations always seem to wrap up late at night, long after you’ve both abandoned the original topic at hand and are lost in discussion over something else

One time, when he was feeling particularly guilty after looking at the painful swelling on your leg, he invited you back to his own room to sleep on his bed because - as the acting king of the Devildom - his bed is literally the most comfortable place in the world and he hardly uses it

You sleep in it once and can never sleep anywhere else again

For more reasons than one

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

(Reluctantly) offers to let you move back into the House of Lamentation once you’re completely healed, but celebrates like crazy when you tell him that you’d much rather stay with him, and it becomes SUCH an ego stroke every time you remind him how much you adore it in his palace

Lowkey grateful that you got injured because it was the catalyst that allowed you both to grow close

But will absolutely make sure that nothing of the like ever happens again

[artxyra]

The Story Of How Marinette Became Mamie Mars

Marinette had been in the Bahamas enjoying her vacation when she received the phone call. It was Bruce. Upon hearing her son’s, in everything but blood, voice, she had sat up on her lounge chair and swing her legs to the side. 

Bruce couldn’t speak coherently. That’s how much he had worried her. It’s not often that she would get a call from a panicking Bruce, especially on her vacation. 

“Brucie, honey, calm down and speak clearly.” Her voice was sweet enough to calm her son down. “Is Alfred nearby you?” She asks, knowing that her son’s surrogate father would be close. Then again, Alfred was scheduled for his vacation soon. 

“No, he’s tending the reason why I’m calling you. I may or may not have taken in a ward.” Bruce tells her, sounding off. 

The words slowly register in her mind. 

“I have a grandchild.” She squeals, so glad that she was sitting down instead of standing up. It’s already embarrassing that her squeal reached the others at the beach. Had she been standing, she would be dancing along with the squeal had she been standing up. “Oh Bruce, tell me about them? How are they adjusting?” 

“That’s the problem, mom! I have no clue what to do. Can you come home? I rather explain all this to you in person rather than on the phone.” She can sense the longing and desperation in his voice. It warms her heart that he still needs her. 

“Of course, I’ll be on the next flight out of here. Is there anything else that you want to talk about?” 

Bruce murmurs a yes. And they go into a discussion more about business rather than the newest Wayne addition.  

As Marinette books a plane ticket for the last flight of the night, she couldn’t help but think about her son’s ward. Never have Bruce expressed any thought about having children due to him being Batman. Though, she herself has thought about taking in another child. However, Marinette’s ability to have her body age slowly has been a blessing and a curse and keeps her from going through with it. It’s a blessing because she has a chance to look younger and experience more but it’s a curse as it means that she’ll live longer and see the people she cares about dying before her. 

Nearly six hours after booking her flight, she is on a three-hour flight to New Jersey. Her vacation ended the second her butt touched the seat of the plane. It was a lovely time off from everything in Gotham, her ever-growing business dubbed Miracles Designs & Crafts, and her duties as the guardian of the Miraculous, but family always comes first. 

“Alfred! It’s so good to see you again.” Marinette wraps her arms around the man. He returns the hug. 

“I as well, Miss Marinette.” He responds once the embrace ends, taking her bags and loading them into the car. Marinette pouts; she could have done it herself, but she doesn’t say a word. 

The drive was sweet as the two begins to catch up. Alfred enjoyed hearing about her adventures outside of the United States. Though, he fears what Bruce will say about her travel to Tibet. 

“So, tell me Alfred, what are your thoughts on our son’s ward?” She inquires, looking out the window. The sky never changes in Gotham, but it certainly is a vast difference from the sunshine and clear skies that she was experiencing in the Bahamas. 

“He’s determined.” Alfred states with a glance at her in the rear window. Marinette nods and continues to look out the window. 

Meeting her grandchild could have gone many ways, but him winging on the chandelier was not something she was expecting. He seemed to be mourning, like him swinging on the chandelier was holding him together. 

Bruce sends the boy a quick word then escorts her to the living room. The second the door closes, Bruce breaks down what happened. The boy’s name is Richard Grayson, but he likes to go by Dick. Of course, Marinette gasps upon hearing that, as she has never been around a person who calls themselves Dick. And that he was a part of the circus with his family until their demise. Dick has no family outside of the circus. There was also a chance that he’ll be the target for a mob boss. 

After hearing the basics of Dick’s situation, all she wanted to do was hug the boy and give him lots of love. The same as she has done for Bruce. 

“When can I officially meet my grandson?” She questions with a smile on his face. Bruce rubs the back of his neck and sends her a sheepish smile. Wrapping his arms around his surrogate mother, he guides her towards the double doors. 

“Hi, I’m Marinette, but you can call me Mamie, if you want.”

Dick looks up at her, swaying in place, “Mamie?”

Marinette chuckles. “It’s one of the French versions of saying grandma.” 

“Cool, but you don’t look like you’re old enough to be a grandma.” Behind them, Bruce fails at holding in a chuckle. Marinette purses her lip and keeps her eyes on Dick, even though she wanted to send her son a glare. 

“Yeah, I do, but don’t be fooled. I practically raised Bruce since he was eight. Now, what do you like to do for fun?” She nudges him to talk about himself, hoping that it will help from sending him down a mourning spiral. 

Bruce disappears after that, hunting down the person that sabotaged the tightrope and giving Dick his closure. 

Once Dick is asleep, Marinette finds herself in the cave, watching her son’s nonstop researching process. 

“You know spending time with Dick would really make him feel welcome.” Marinette pulls up a seat and sits beside him. 

“I can’t.  Zucco is out there, and if I can’t find him before he leaves Gotham…” Bruce trails off, turning his attention back to the screen. 

Marinette shakes her head, “At least try and get to know Dick before you do something stupid. There’s only so much that I can do, but I wasn’t the one that took him in, Bruce.” Marinette turns to Alfred and gestures her head towards Bruce. 

“I saw that, mom.” Marinette scoffs then gets out of her seat. “I promise that I’ll hang out with Dick before all this is over.” 

“And somehow, that doesn’t make me feel that much better. He’s your problem now, Alfie.” Marinette takes her to leave, grabbing a cup of tea from Alfred before leaving the Batcave.  

“Joy.” Alfred sighs, but there was an underlying hint of love there. 

Life with Dick in the household was an interesting transition, especially for Marinette. Usually, when she's here, it’s silent, as Bruce is either working as Batman or being for Wayne Enterprise. The only sounds were her and Alfred talking during their afternoon tea sessions. With Dick, the manor is full of laughter and ambitious feet, running around; practically, Mimicking the sounds of the past. 

With Marinette in the house, Dick didn’t feel so alone. Even though he didn’t have it in him to call Bruce dad yet, he'd definitely called Marinette Mamie on more than one occasion. When it first happened, she cried. Poor Dick, he thought she was upset or something. That day, she took them out for ice cream and to the gymnasium. 

Marinette did not hide her disdain when Dick became Robin. There were a lot of baked goods in the kitchen from her stress baking. It got so bad that Alfred had to ban her from the kitchen. 

Of course, once she did become comfortable with the idea of Dick out crime-fighting, she places strict rules in place so that Dick wasn’t out late at night on a school day or dealing with highly classed villains. Marinette had her fair share of fighting crime as a child, and she did not want to place that down on Dick. 

On top of that, she refused to have Dick going out at night in underwear in the name of pants. That was a big no-no in this household. 

Bonus: 

“Mamie Mars, has there ever been a time you benched Bruce?” Dick asks one day while Marinette was helping him with his homework. 

Marinette thinks for a moment. “Yes, it was within his first year of being Batman, actually. He challenged me and you know how I am when challenge, Dickie. Gotham was without their hero, excuse me, vigilante for about a month. Ladybird sure had a fun time in his stead.” She chuckles at the memory, causing Dick’s eyes to widen. He quickly finishes the rest of his homework.

-----------

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[ushijimacentral]

we're not moots but i hope it's okay to request :)) if it's not okay feel free to ignore this request!!

prompt 10 + kuroo <33

hi rae!

i've been super busy but I wanted to get to this as quickly as possible. here's a little drabble and feel free to request anything else!

and you don't have to be a moot to request stuff

summary: kuroo being a romantic dork

tags/warnings: fem!reader, prompt, study stress, saying “I love you”

wc: 562

a/n: a teensy bit self-indulgent since it’s coming up to exam time. this may or may not be review for my chemistry exam...

You and Me

"Hey," Kuroo said, plopping down next you in the café booth. Looking up from your books, you gave him a quick nod of affirmation and mumbled back.

"Hey,"

He smirked and looked at you as you sat hunched over your school books, desperately trying to learn the material. Your face was wrinkled with concentration and you looked utterly exhausted. Cute. "Is something wrong?" You asked, noticing the smile growing on his face. "I find your dedication to learn admirable." You scoffed. "You mean my desire not to fail midterms." Both of your eyes darted over to the door as you heard the bell ring, only to reveal another customer. "Guess the rest of them aren't here yet." Kuroo stated, scrolling through the study group chat on his phone. Sighing, you returned to your schoolwork, hoping to get a better understanding before the others showed up. 

You didn’t even notice Kuroo was gone until he came back with your drinks. “A drink m’lady?” He offered, doing a small bow. You rolled your eyes before accepting it, feeling the warmth of the drink in your hands. Kuroo’s phone buzzed and he picked it up. “Looks like they can’t make it," you groaned in response. "They were supposed to help me with my chemistry homework." You huffed, ignoring the offended look on Kuroo's face. "Well, since they can't make it, let me be your professor for the afternoon." He offered. "Do you grade on a curve?" He sat next to you in the booth. "Sure why not. Now, let's see what we have here..." He gently pried the book from your stiff hands, flipping through the pages. His hand lightly brushed against yours and you pretended not to notice the light pink on the tip of his ears. Cute.

"Are you struggling with the average atomic mass?" You nodded. "It's completely illogical." He chuckled. "Chemistry and math are always logical my dear." He tapped your hand with a pencil. "It's actually pretty simple. Take the isotope number, the turn the decimal into a percent, and add them." He explained, quickly jotting the formula down onto paper. Suddenly, the problem made sense and you quickly solved three problems. "Those are all right. Good job!" Kuroo congratulated. "Thanks for the help. You should explain everything to me from here on out." You giggled. "Really? Then I have another problem for you to try."

"Bring it."

You peered at the math problem he wrote on your paper.

9x - 7i > 3(3x - 7u)

You quickly solved it and arrived at the answer.

i < 3u

The realization of what he meant dawned on you but you continued to play dumb. "What's this supposed to mean Kuroo? It wasn't in my math book." You glaced over at his quickly reddening face and smirked. "Um, a practice problem?" He muttered. You felt a little sad but shook it off. "Alright then, what's the next-"

"I think I love you."

Now it was your turn to go red. "Really?" He nodded and swallowed. You paused and Kuroo felt his chest get tight. He thought it was all over until you began to laugh. It started off as a small chuckle and morphed into full bodied laughter. Reaching over your pinched his cheek. "You're cute Tetsuro." Handing him your textbook, you whispered in his ear. "Let's make this a study date."

[isthisthingeven0n]

hear you : a.h

after celebrating your promotion with hotch, it tragically ends in an accident with you hospitalised and comatose. yet, somehow you can hear everyone around you, wishing for you to wake up. (1.9k) 

all my links

hear you / every word 

(everything on my blog is my own writing. if it is shared on another page or website know it hasn’t been approved me unless specified. all rights reserved. - i have to start doing this as I had some shit on my other blog with plagiarism)

DO NOT STEAL MY WORK - IT IS ALL MY OWN WRITING

Everything that night occurred in an instant. No one had time to change what happened, even if you wished the events had happened in a different order.

If you hadn’t left the restaurant first and walked ahead whilst Hotch admired the fleeting moment. You were laughing giddily as you turned to face him, his arms were crossed over his chest as you danced, still joyful after celebrating your promotion. Perhaps if he caught up to you it would’ve been someone else lying on the ground.

Yet, as you lie on the ground, life draining from your gaze you can’t help but wonder; what if?

The events that lead to you strapped to a hospital bed lifelessly could have all been avoided. If the driver hadn’t drunk away his sorrows before picking up his children, families would still be together and one less hospital bed would be filled.

All you can hear is the monotone beeping of your heart monitor. The stench of antibacterial sprays and gels embed themselves into your nostrils alongside the fragrant flowers from Garcia that litter your private room. But out of everything in your environment, there’s one thing you’re still waiting on; to hear him, to hear Hotch by your side.

What you’re currently certain of is that you’re asleep, comatose. Yet, you can hear everything. This was the sort of thing you’d witnessed happen in TV shows, and you’ve listened to Spencer sitting beside you, explaining to Penelope that there have been no claims of comatose patients hearing voices. How they can hear movements or faint sounds, but no details of conversations. All you can do is wait whilst you remain trapped in your own thoughts, unable to react to anything said.

Your daily routine since being ‘awake’ is being checked multiple times a day by various Doctors and Nursers. They’re very caring as they monitor your heart rate, brain waves, temperature and your comfort levels. You listen to them report technical jargon to one another, and now you wish you paid more attention to Spencer last week after he visited his old Doctor.

Thankfully, you’re allowed to have visitors which makes all the difference- even if they are oblivious to the impact they’re making.

The first person to visit you tends to be Garcia, you can hear the urgency in her footsteps as her heels click against the lament flooring. She sits with you for a while before work, telling you about how Morgan keeps singing out of tune whilst she is on the phone to him. You wish you could laugh at the little things she describes, hearing about your family try and carry on without you.

Spencer stops by after work with JJ. You can hear how his voice cracks when he sits beside you, JJ on your other side as she rests her hand on yours. Spencer recites facts about comatose patients and if often interrupted by JJ with some happier news about Henry and describes the drawing she brought. You wish you could see it, feel the textures of the paint and cotton he used.

Yet, as much as you love your family, he still hasn’t been.

“Hey, baby girl.” You hear Morgan walk over toward you, pulling the ancient chair out as it squeaks against the floor. “Garcia tells me you’ve been on your own all day,” He begins and you internally chuckle. “and we can’t have that so I thought you’d love nothing more than your best man to come on by.” Morgan nudges your hand playfully and laughs to himself.

You’re desperate to laugh along, joke back like old times, tell him how much Penelope has been going on about their phone conversations and the workplace issues that have arisen.

“I know you haven’t seen him yet,” Morgan’s tone changes, the light-heartedness has dropped. “but he has been trying, trust me, we see it every day.” A sigh follows from him, and Morgan drops his head in his hands, thankful you haven’t had to witness the state Hotch has been getting himself into.

“He tries every day to come and see you, baby girl. He, he makes it to the entrance of the hospital and just,” Morgan knows exactly what it is, but he doesn’t want to tell you.

Sometimes, the silence is enough for you to figure it out. ‘It isn’t his fault.’ You want to yell out, scream at the top of your lungs, but you remain motionless, simply listening.

Hotch enters the hospital every day since the accident. He came in with you, running by your side as you were wheeled straight into surgery. He stood still as the doors slammed in front of him, taking you out of his sight.

“But erm, we found out about the guy who caused this. His name was Robert Kingshill.” Morgan starts, unaware that both Penelope and Spencer have already explained the details to you. You home in and out of Morgan’s explanation about how Robert was an abusive husband, his children both under 5 years. “He died on arrival.”

‘And no one will miss him.’

“Sorry to interrupt,” A new voice chimes in, one of the nurses who has been seeing to you; Savannah. She’s sweet, attentive and engages with your family. “I just have to check her vitals, I’ll be a few minutes at most.”

“Of course, do you want me to step out?” Morgan asks, his voice softening after he clears his throat. You can almost picture him sitting up straighter, flashing that signature Derek Morgan smirk.

“It’s okay, are we still on for dinner tonight?” Savannah asks, catching you completely off guard as your heart rate spikes. “Shit.” She mutters, watching as your heart rate relaxes once more, back to a normal pace.

“What was that?” Morgan speaks up, concern lacing his tone.

Savannah remains silent for a moment, too long for your liking. “Just a spike, they can happen now and then.” She brushes it off and steps out of the room, leaving Morgan with you alone once more.

*

“Do you think she can hear us?” Garcia asks as her hand remains in yours, holding it gently whilst Emily hovers by the window, watching as the rain falls against the window.

A loud disheartened sigh echoes. “I don’t know, Pen.” Emily states as she turns around. “But if she can, it’s kinda rude for her not to wake up.” Emily chuckles, and Penelope joins in for a second.

“If you can hear us, Y/n,” Penelope starts, and you can hear the shake in her voice. “we all love you, and miss you dearly.”

“We’re all still here, and will be until you wake up.” Emily adds as she smiles to Penelope, holding her hand out as she gladly accepts as tears fill her eyes once more.

Sniffing to herself, Penelope glances over to the empty doorway. “And, and Hotch misses you, Y/n. I know, I know he hasn’t been here yet, but he loves you, and Jack does too.”

The thought of Jack causes your heart to ache, how you miss that boy deeply in the evenings when you would go over. Jack would always ask for your help with homework or read with him before he went to sleep. Last month, he called you ‘Mom’ and you didn’t know how to react, neither did Aaron. But you let it happen, and carried it on.

Just as Jack felt he had a new Mom, he was at risk of losing her too.

“Come on, we ought to go, let her rest.” Emily states as she walks over to Penelope, taking her arm.

If only they could hear you. You were done with resting.

*

It has almost been a month. At least that is what you hear them say. Outside it has become colder, snow comes and goes, but it never sticks. With ease, you can now clearly differentiate the nurses and the doctors’ voices, even by the sigh after they do their checks. You’ve heard them discuss your frequent brain activity, which is a good sign. They’re now thinking you’re going to wake up, that it could be any day. But then again, they’ve been saying that for the last two weeks.

Another Doctor walks in and checks over you, nothing out of the ordinary as you wish he would stop humming that awful TV show tune. “You have a visitor this morning, Miss Y/L/N.” He states which is unusual, your visitors are never announced to you, they just sort of appear.

Your ears perk up to the sound of shuffling, quickly followed by a restricted sob, one you sadly could pinpoint; Aaron.

“Hi, Y/n,” Aaron quietly speaks up, his voice hoarse as the chair scrapes across the floor and he reaches out, taking your cold hand in his. “I’m sorry I haven’t been sooner.” He turns to business mode, forcing confidence even though he’s breaking apart, seeing you like this. “I just,”

‘It’s okay, Aaron. Take your time.’ You want to tell him, that it’s not easy, nothing about this is. But you simply listen as he exhales shakily and he takes lifts his other hand, enveloping yours into both of his.

A small sigh breaks the moment of silence. “Jack, he keeps asking about where you are. I’m running out of options here, Y/n.” He chuckles out of worry. “Jessica has been great, taking care of him and everything, I’ve barely left my office since the accident.” Hotch explains, seeing flashes of light illuminating you that night, like an angel. The excitement in your expression turning to pure terror as he ran toward you, but was too late.

Hotch was always too late to save the women he loves.

“I just, I need you, Y/n.” Hotch mutters. “I can’t lose you too, I just can’t.” Soft cries sound from him as the door opens, and he sniffs quietly.

“Sorry to interrupt, I’ll come back later.” Someone speaks up, and Hotch nods to them before returning his attention to you.

He tried not to stare at the evident wounds and scars that will line your skin forever. The stitches on your forehead from where you hit the ground.

Hotch will never forget how he held you in his arms as you were bleeding, eyes glazed over as he yelled for you to keep your eyes open.

“I know sometimes things aren’t always easy for us, with cases and barely having time to ourselves. But I really wanted that night to be special, you deserved a night to be reminded how wonderful you are.” Hotch chuckles dryly, looking around the room. “Look where that got us.”

‘It’s not your fault, Aaron.’ You scream internally, wishing you could just take hold of his hand, squeeze it tightly and never let go. ‘Please, just listen to me, please.’

“I know it’s taken me too long to get here, but I don’t know if I can do this, Y/n.” Hotch’s voice hitches as his hands begin to slip out from yours. “Reid mentioned how talking to comatose patients is supposed to help but er, I guess we’ll eventually find out.”

Rising to his feet, you plead for him to stay, to not leave you here alone.

“I love you Y/n.” Hotch calls out as he stands in the doorway, seeing your chest rising and falling rhythmically, remembering the days where you’d lie beside him in bed, enjoying the moment of tranquil before Jack wound run through the door, waking you from a deep sleep. “I promise I’ll be back soon.”

As Hotch turns the corner, he can’t stop the tears from falling as he collapses against one of the walls. Silent cries sound from his lips as a Nurse approaches him, but he brushes her off.

“Aar,” Your lips begin to part, a faint sound leaving them. But then silence returns, and you’re still trapped in your mind, wishing he could return.

PART TWO

[haikyuuuuuhypeeeee]

Chapter 7

⚠️WARNING: Mentions of previous characters' deaths, swearing, mention of unhealthy coping mechanism

• ────── ✾ ────── •

You gasp as you wake up, your eyes attempting to discern anything in the dark.

What the…

Not even two seconds ago you were playing volleyball back in the Aoba Johsai gymnasium. It was a silly two on three game, Oikawa and Mattsun vs you, Makki and -

Oh.

Oh.

Tears well up in your eyes, fast and hot. They flow down the side of your face, into your hair and the pillow. You do nothing to stop them, crushed by the sudden wave of sadness.

It was a dream. It was a freaking dream.

You’re alone in your apartment in the middle of the night. You’re a college student at Sendai Uni. You don’t play volleyball.

And Hajime is dead.

The sobs come out unconstrained, as you were too heartbroken to try to stop them. How could you, as it was the only way for you to let out the sorrow and anguish coursing through your blood right now.

C’mon Y/N, get yourself together. You will yourself to calm down, getting the sobs to subside. The tears don’t slow though, as you sit up to grab some tissues from your bedside table. You clean yourself up, sniffling and grabbing your phone.

It’s only just past 1am, and you can’t fathom the idea of falling back asleep. Not when there’s the chance of you falling back into that dream. Not when you can be fooled into thinking that you’re playing volleyball, still trying to receive Oikawa’s serves and laughing when Hajime yells at Makki to take this seriously -

Your eyes well up with fresh tears and you clutch a tissue to your mouth to muffle the cries that want to escape.

The only thing you’re sure about right now is that you don’t want to be alone. You can’t be alone, you just can’t.

You unlock your phone but staring at your screen you don’t know who you can call.

Ok, that’s not true. You have a lot of people you can call. Your parents, Oikawa, Mattsun, Makki, hell even your therapist gave you her cellphone to call if you need her. And you know that all of those people wouldn’t hesitate to listen to you and help you.

But do you want to call any of them?

This isn’t a life or death situation, and you don’t feel like you are a danger to yourself so it would be irresponsible to call your therapist. It’s the middle of the night and your parents still work so you don’t want to wake them up.

That leaves your friends, the people who honestly could still be awake and maybe even wanting to talk to someone. But Makki has Mattsun, and vice versa. Which would leave Oikawa, but honestly? He’s been more than unbearable lately, and you’ve been walking on eggshells around him, scared that anything you say will set him off.

So you’re here, laying in your bed with no one to call. And the one person that you desperately want to call is dead.

Sniffling again and wiping the fresh tears from your eyes you pull up your texts. Maybe you can send a funny meme to Makki and start a meme war - it’ll take your mind off your current predicament at least. But your eyes fall to the chat you have with Osamu, close to the top of your messages.

Huh, you didn’t really think of him.

Not that you wouldn’t want to talk to Osamu. He’s actually very funny, with his dry humor and easy banter. Your friendship, despite its more than unusual beginning, has blossomed into something you’ve come to cherish.

But you can’t bother him with this, no no. You guys can, and have, confide in each other about your struggles and your complicated feelings and emotions. But it’s mainly been small bits and pieces shared over coffee.

But it couldn’t hurt to text him, no?

You wouldn’t say anything about your dream. Maybe you can find a funny meme to send him, or ask a question about lunch tomorrow.

You methodically type out your message, finding a meme to almost perfectly capture your mood (but not too accurately.)

You send the text before talking yourself out of it. It wouldn’t surprise you if Osamu didn’t text you back - it’s late (or early, depending on your opinion) and he should be sleeping.

You sigh deeply, finding yourself back in square one. Square one plus a stuffy nose, aching head and absolutely broken heart. You close out of the messaging app and decide to find some show to binge while you wait for the sun to rise.

Your phone begins vibrating and you’re surprised to see what comes across your screen.

Osamu doesn’t text you back. He calls you.

You pick up the phone. “Hello?”

“I hope that photo isn’t a subtle request to have me come over and cook for ya.” The soft, calm voice coming through the phone makes your chest tighten. It brings a wave of relief because you’re not alone but drowns you in guilt at inconveniencing your friend.

You clear your throat and sniffle. “No, sorry.” Your voice cracks and you wince at how obvious it is that you were just crying.

Osamu picks up on your current state. “Hey, are ya alright?”

He sounds so concerned, the teasing lilt in his voice instantly dropped. Your eyes start to water again and you can’t stop the sob that escapes your lips in time.

“Hey, Y/N are ya okay? Where are you, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry,” you croak out. Your voice sounds horrible, extremely hoarse and tight as you try not to let more sobs spill out. Gritting your teeth helps keep them at bay but it does nothing to stop the flow of tears. You sniffle, loud.

“Where are you? Are you in danger?”

“No, no. I’m at my apartment. I’m okay.” You take in a shaky breath, sniffling again and clearing your throat. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.”

“It’s okay,” Osamu replies. He doesn’t sound as frantic as he did before but you can detect the worry in his voice. “I was still up so it’s no bother. I don’t even know why I called honestly. I think I just wanted to see what ya were doin’ up.”

“It’s fine, you can call me whenever,” you reply earnestly. “I….just had a dream.”

A split second of hesitation is all you’re allowed to mentally scream at yourself for breaking the one condition you set when you decided to text Osamu. “A dream?”

You nod, even though he can’t see you. “Yeah, and I’m sorry for bugging you because it’s not fair to you but I just have to tell someone or else I feel like I’m going to fucking suffocate. I know I should just call my friends but they don’t want to hear me go on and on and -”

“Hey, hey Y/N. Calm down and take a breath.” You listen to Osamu, taking a pause to breathe. Your head is now throbbing painfully and your throat feels wretched. “What was yer dream about?”

“I was playing volleyball with my friends and...Hajime.” You are silently screaming at yourself. You were not going to do this to Osamu, you were not going to burden your friend, who is already facing struggles of his own, with your problems.

But...he did ask what your dream was about.

“We were playing volleyball together,” you go on. “And it felt so real, like one minute I was in the middle of a play and the next I was waking up in my bed, searching for the ball. It took me a few seconds to realize that it was all a dream, and, and,” your breath hitches again and you feel more sobs bubbling out. Again you feel the grief take control of your body and you start crying.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay Y/N.” Osamu is trying to soothe you but it’s not doing much to calm you down. If anything the added reassurance was making you cry harder “It’s okay.”

It’s not okay. It’s so far from okay that you can’t even imagine how you would get to okay.

“I’m sorry,” you sob. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“Ya don’t hafta apologize,” Osamu replies. “Just let it out, Y/N.”

Oh boy, do you let it out. You cry and cry, curled up in a ball in your bed, lamenting the loss of your best friend and trying not to drown even more in your sorrow.

But you’re not alone, really. There’s not another person in the apartment with you, but you have Osamu on the phone right now. He’s reaching out to you, reaching through the dark and trying to get to you.

You’re not alone.

You feel the sobs subsiding as your breathing returns to normal. Your entire head is throbbing, you have no chance of breathing out of your nose and your eyes are painfully dry.

“Are ya alright?”

“Yeah,” you rasp out. “I’m sorry again, for that.”

“Ya don’t ever have to apologize to me,” Osamu says immediately. His insistence brings a small smile to your face. “If ya ever need to talk about yer dreams or anything, that’s what I’m here for.”

“Thank you,” you reply. Your voice is nasally but you try to get as much sincerity in it as possible.

“Of course, and ya can call whenever. I don’t sleep so there’s a good chance ya’ll catch me anytime.”

You pause in wiping your face with your tissues as you take in what Osamu is telling you. “You don’t…sleep?”

“Nah.” Osamu's nonchalant answer makes your cock your head in confusion. “I don’t think I can remember the last time I actually slept through an entire night.”

“So,” you pause, still not comprehending. “What do you…do?”

“I do my homework, I’ve got a job at the convenience store and I usually work the night shift. Sometimes I read or binge watch a new show.” He laughs. “Usually every three or four days I just pass out for 14 hours or so, and then repeat.”

“Osamu,” you chastise. “That’s not healthy.”

He laughs again but it’s not the light chuckle from before - it’s a hollow laugh with a hard edge. “Yeah, well it stops me from havin’ the kind of dreams yer havin’. The kind where I forget that my brother is dead.”

You’re taken aback from the harshness in Osamu’s voice. It’s the first time you’ve ever heard him sound like that. It could be considered in the same category as his usual tone - dry, sarcastic and nearly apathetic. But his regular tone is part of his sense of humor and how you two converse. You’ve never felt unease from those conversations, but now you do.

“And ya know what's worse than those little dreams?” Osamu doesn’t wait for input. “The worst is when I’m not even asleep and my stupid brain will give me random reminders from when my brother was alive. Like ‘don’t forget to wake up early and shower before Atsumu uses all the hot water!’ Or,” Osamu takes in a harsh breath, the noise making your phone speaker crackle. “Or the reminder to grab another sports drink at the store for Atsumu because he’s a scrub but he’s my brother and I love him. Or to save the mushrooms from my dinner even though they’re gross but Atsumu will trade his broccoli for them.”

Osamu blasts on, speaking fervently. Someone listening in would think he’s mad at you, but you know his frustration isn’t directed at you.

“But then I remember that I live alone, and I don’t need two bottles of sports drink and my plate is full of fucking mushrooms for no god damn reason.”

“And then, after feeling like the world’s biggest idiot for forgetting that my own twin brother is dead, I remember how alone I am.” He lets out another laugh, but it’s not light nor is it bitter. It’s worse, full of self-deprecation and pain.

You wait with bated breath, waiting for any sign on life through the phone. But when Osamu speaks, a small, broken voice comes through the line and nearly breaks your heart.

“It’s like - finding a life raft in the middle of the ocean but when you get to it it’s just a bundle of seaweed - it gets me every time.”

You inhale quietly. You want to reassure him but you can’t find the right words to say.

You can’t, because you know exactly how it feels.

The cold hard truth is that Iwaizumi Hajime is dead. There is nothing in the world that can bring him back, and there is nothing you can do to change that fact. Some days you can accept this fact easier than others.

On the easy days you feel most like yourself carrying a small rock. The weight of Hajime’s death will be something you will always carry with you. But on those easy days you can slip the rock in your pocket or hold it in your hand and carry on through life.

On the hard days it takes way more effort to lug the boulder around. You don’t know if you should drag it, heft it over your shoulder, tie a rope around it and yank hard. Sometimes you’re left to your own devices, sometimes your therapist or your parents can tell you the best way to carry it. Even your friends have stepped in to help you carry it, despite their own rocks to hold.

But the absolute worst days are the ones where you lose the rock, but you haven’t realized it. Where are you going to find it? In your pocket? Your bag? Will you trip over it?

Or will it come crashing down on you like an asteroid hellbent on wiping you out?

And it’s not even the impact that’s the worst part! Sure, this asteroid comes down on you with enough force to kill you, but the shockwave is what really destroys you.

When you have those moments when you forget that your Hajime is dead, the realization of his nonexistence is the asteroid’s impact on you. The cruel realization that his nonexistence is permanent for the remainder of your life is the shockwave.

This cruel one-two punch is devastating. It knocks you down and out, merciless in it’s destruction.

For what it’s worth, Osamu’s solution to dodging that one-two punch is not terrible, although it will have major consequences for his body and mind that he will have to face someday. But you can’t blame him for doing something to avoid the heavy blow.

It does destroy. It does make you feel like you’re drowning. It does nearly kill you.

“Ah, I think she fell asleep.” You’ve been quiet for so long that Osamu thinks you’ve fallen asleep on the phone.

“No, I'm here.” You murmur. “Sorry, I was just thinking.”

“Ah, a dangerous pastime.” Osamu jokes, but it doesn’t quite land. Could be from his full disclosure or from the strained laugh he gives at the end of the sentence.

“It is,” you agree. “But I was thinking about what you said.” He doesn’t respond, letting you continue. “And I just wanted to say...I get it.”

There’s silence on the other end. It’s so quiet that you fear for a second that Osamu has hung up the phone in anger, or maybe he’s drifted off to sleep. But then you hear another breathy exhale, a laugh from a person who is the furthest from laughing.

“Ya know Y/N? I think you’re the only person who does.”

You exhale and close your eyes. You find it hard to open them back up, pure exhaustion taking over your body.

“We’re still on for lunch tomorrow, right?”

“Of course,” Osamu answers. “But ya gotta rest now if ya wanna wake up in time for it.”

A small smile crosses your face. “Sure. Promise me you’ll try to get some sleep too?”

A noncommittal hum is the answer you receive, not ideal but you don’t push him. You feel brittle and fragile, and you’re sure he’s the same.

“Osamu, thank you.” You want to convey how thankful you are, not only that he called you tonight but for coming into your life at a time where you needed a friendly face. You know your gratitude doesn’t come close to covering the vast expanse of your gratefulness but you hope you’ll have time to show him.

“No worries, get some sleep. I’ll see ya tomorrow. Good night Y/N.”

“Good night Osamu.” Your eyes slip close, and you let yourself fall into a dreamless sleep.

• ────── ✾ ────── •

A/N: 😔😔 y’all this story is making me Big Sad and I wrote it. 🥲 Thank you so much for reading!!! I should probably mention that the time stamps in the chat and on the tweets and such are accurate - the story is moving right along!

Taglist Open! Please send an Ask with the request to be added to It’s [Not] Okay Fic & SMAU: @psycho-nightrose @camcam1617 @kamalymaly @toobsessedsstuff @shookykookie30 @roro-707 @qualitygiantshoepsychic @cerealfrdinner797 @ara-mitsue @gray-444 @tanakasimpcorner @rintarovibes @jellien @everytimeswift @bongofrito

[devilyn]

Heeeyyya! I'm a new lurker around, and I love your writing. Can I request a Tsuki drabble with prompts nos. 3, 6-7 from the fluff list? Ah! And if possible, 3rd year high school Tsuki please. 😊 I read that you do angsty ones better, so no pressure if you don't want to do this one. 😅😊

i apologize this took so long omfg i had such big writer’s block. 3rd year tsukki is my writing weakness LOL the tsukki I'm least familiar with 💀 but I hope I did alright!

Tsukishima K.

3. “Apparently all our friends have a bet going that we end up together.”

6. “I really want to kiss you right now” “Do it then”

7. “Are you flirting with me?” “You finally noticed?”

wc: 797

“Tsukki, I’m going home,” you called out from the entrance of the gym.

The middle blocker lifted his head up after hearing your voice, wiping the sweat from his face with the end of his shirt.

“Ah, wait,” he hurried over to you, the rest of the third years’ sharp eyes following his jogging form as he stopped in front of you. “Why don’t you wait for me? I’ll walk you home, we’re just about done.”

“Tsukki, you normally walk me home though,” Yamaguchi called out in a teasing tone, and Tsukishima rolled his eyes.

“You’ve never even offered to walk me home before!” Hinata’s shrill voice called out after and you watched as the blonde whirled around to glare at his friends.

“Okay,” you answered simply with a warm smile, following him further into the familiar gym. Yachi greeted you as you took a seat on the bench, and you offered your close friend a wave in return. Tsukishima took his place back on the court, and you pulled out your notebooks to start on some homework assignments while waiting for them all to finish.

Less than thirty minutes later, you heard Yamaguchi call for the team to gather, giving a brief pep talk before dismissing them all from practice for the night. A tall shadow fell over you as you packed up your books, and you lifted your head up to meet the golden eyes of your best friend.

“I’ll just change real quick, and we can go home,” he let you know, and you smiled innocently.

“No need, I don’t mind seeing you all sweaty,” you tease, and Tsukishima raised a brow. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you like this more often when it’s just the two of us.”

The blonde scoffed, and a familiar smirk tugged at his lips.

“Or, you can come to the locker room and watch me change,” he teased back, and you responded by hiding your laughter behind your palm.

“Are you flirting with me, Tsukki?”

“You finally noticed? I’ve been flirting with you since we were first years.”

You suddenly felt a heat rise to your cheeks at his sudden honesty, and you shooed your friend towards the other players making their way to the locker rooms.

“Get a room, Tsukishima,” Kageyama grumbled as he slipped past the two of you, and you giggled at the scowl that instinctively tugged at the middle blocker’s lips.

Minutes later, you two were on your way home. He walked strangely close to you, his hand brushing over yours once in a while. Your heart was pounding in your chest, and you were sure Tsukishima could hear it as well.

When did you fall in love with your best friend? It was all so cliche, but one day, you just woke up and realized your feelings for Tsukishima Kei were no longer platonic.

Gathering up all your courage, you slipped your hand into his and kept your gaze on the sidewalk in front of you. You felt the blonde tense, and out of the corner of your eye, you watched him raise his hand to his face. Unable to curb your curiosity any longer, you turned to look at him.

Maybe you shouldn’t have. Because the way he was trying to desperately avert his gaze from you and hide his rising blush behind his palm was so endearing, you thought your heart may fly out of your chest.

You may have giggled a little bit, because his head whipped back to glare at you as you bit back a grin.

“Yachi told me that the entire team apparently has a bet going that we’ll end up together.”

Tsukishima choked on the air he was breathing in, and your eyes widened as you turned to look at him.

“Tsukki--”

“Those idiots,” he spat out while trying to catch his breath.

There was a beat of silence before you asked, “Don’t you want to know who--”

“No,” he answered almost immediately, silencing anymore conversation on the topic of your friends’ bets on your potential relationship.

“What, you don’t want to date me, Tsukishima?” you teased, and he stopped in his tracks. Since his hand was still in your own, you stumbled backwards at the sudden movement. You turned your head, surprised, and looked back up at your friend’s serious expression.

“I really want to kiss you right now,” he stated, and you felt the heat quickly rise to your face. “Just to shut you up.”

“Do it then.”

You don’t know where the courage it took to say those words came from, but you were grateful. Because as Tsukishima finally leaned down to press his lips to yours, you felt those cliche sparks fly.

Ah. You really, really liked Tsukishima Kei.

[coltsbitch]

small world ~ colt grice x reader

colt grice x reader; 3.7k words; nsfw summary: colt didn’t purposely sleep with falco’s teacher

masterlist

Colt is a responsible person. He’s caring, polite, never late. All the qualities of a good person.

He is not the type of person to fuck his younger brother’s third grade teacher.

But let’s back track to that night.

Colt had finally given into Porco’s insistent pestering, who had even roped Reiner in to watching Falco for the night and let himself be dragged to a bar.

“Alright, who’s the prey for tonight?”

Colt grimaces, “I thought we were here to drink.”

Porco slaps a hand on Colt’s back, “How long has it been since you got laid?”

Colt rolls his eyes, and shrugs off Porco’s hand, “Kind of hard when you have custody of a nine-year-old.”

“Pokko, leave Colt alone.” Pieck sets down the drinks she retrieved from the bar, “We’re just happy you could come out tonight.”

“Thanks, Pieck.” It had been a rough year and a half for the Grice brothers, losing both their parents in one night and Colt having to drastically shift his life in order to care for Falco. Not that he’s bitter about, would give his life for Falco if he had to, but doesn’t make it any easier.

“But if you are looking for someone, I have a couple friends I could set you up with?”

Colt groans, dropping his head into his hand.

“Babe, he doesn’t need a relationship, he needs a fuck.”

Pieck raises her brow, “And what do you have against relationships, Porco?”

Porco’s eyes widen hearing his full name come from Pieck’s mouth, “Nothing! Nothing babe!” He pulls her into his lap, “Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”

Pieck scoffs before returning her attention to Colt, “So what’s new?”

The three spend the next couple hours catching up, Colt filling them on Falco, Porco making lewd jokes, and Pieck reprimanding him with swats to his head.

By Colt’s third drink Pieck’s eyes are dropping and she’s practically asleep on Porco’s shoulder, who’s trying to shake her awake.

“Such a light wight.” Porco is muttering, but there’s a lace of affection, “You don’t mind if we head out?”

Colt waves him off, “I’ll probably finish this last one and then get home too.”

Porco nods, “Let me know when you get home.” Colt smiles at his friend who underneath many layers of roughness, is truly a caring guy.

Colt watches as Porco practically carries Pieck out the door. He picks at the label on his bottle, wondering if Falco is asleep by now or if Reiner indulged him with too many sweets and might still be bouncing off the walls.

Colt downs the rest of his drink and moves to stand but is interrupted from his thoughts when someone slides into booth across from him.

“You get ditched too?”

Colt freezes, “I, what?”

You crinkle you nose, “Sorry, that’s probably weird. I just saw your friends leave and thought, that’s something we have in common.”

Colt doesn’t answer, can’t answer. Because here sitting in front of him is this gorgeous woman who quite literally came out of nowhere. And maybe it’s the alcohol making his eyesight fuzzy around the edges, but you look like a goddess with the neon lights of the bar hanging over you.

You bite your lip, hoping to still salvage this, “I’m ___.” You extend your hand, glad to see he is at least able to shake it back.

“I’m Colt. Sorry.” He shakes his head, “Just wasn’t expecting anyone else.” He gives an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, “Umm, so your friends left you?”

You settle into the booth, “Yeah. It was supposed to be my post break up girl’s night, but they all quickly found someone else to spend it with.”

“Sorry about the breakup?”

You wave your hand, “I’m over it. Cheating bastard wasn’t worth my time anyway. But what about you? You part of the lonely hearts club too?”

Colt laughs, “No, I mean, I guess I am. But it’s just been a rough year.”

You hum, and Colt’s thankful you don’t press further, not wanting to unload on the first pretty girl who’s looked his way in the last year, “Let me buy you a drink?”

Colt opens his mouth to politely decline, thinking about Reiner who’s waiting at his apartment for him to get back. But there’s something about the small smile on your face and shinning eyes that has him following you to the bar where you order two beers for each of you.

Now Colt will be honest, he knows he’s pretty helpless when it comes to flirting. Never quite sure what to say or how to say it. He’s watched his friends for years, even tried to get lessons from Zeke when he was in high school, but it’s all been for naught.

So with the way you’re laughing at all his jokes, even the one he knows aren’t that funny, and your knee that keeps knocking into his, or how you’ll accidentally place your hand on top of his before quickly pulling back.

There’s no way this is all in his head.

“I’m going to run to the bathroom really quick. You’re not going to bail on me, are you?”

“I’ll be right here when you get back.” Colt smiles. You bite your lip giving him a once over, causing Colt to flush under your gaze.

You nod and walk in the direction of the restrooms, and Colt throws a glance over his shoulder, seeing that you’re already looking at him as you push the door open.

What the fuck is he doing?

Colt needs to get home. He needs to prep Falco’s lunch for tomorrow, the laundry needs to be moved to the dryer, double check Falco’s homework, not to mention finish that project his supervisor has been hounding him for at work.

But Colt glances over his shoulder again and sees you still haven’t left the bathroom.

Fuck. Is he going to do this? That was a clear signal, right?

Colt flexes his hands a couple times before standing from his seat and making his way to the restrooms. It’s in a dark corner of the bar, and he double checks that no one is looking before pushing open the door.

You’re standing there with your arms crossed leaning against the sink. Your head pops up at the sound of the door opening and a grin splits out onto your face.

“Fuck.” You say, “I wasn’t sure if I was being obvious enough.”

Colt stands awkwardly, “I’m glad I wasn’t misreading it.”

You grab Colt’s hand and pull him into one of the stalls, locking the door behind you.

“What if we get caught?” Colt whispers.

You shrug, “I guess we’ll have to be quick.” You chew on your lip watching Colt process your words and the situation he’s found himself in.

He nods, face determined, looking like he’s about to enter a war or something. You giggle at his seriousness, threading your fingers through his belt loops and pulling him flush against your body.

Deciding the best way to move this along is to get right to it. Pressing your lips against his you wrap your arms around his waist, hands finding their way past his shirt, and you’re surprised to find the taught muscles that hide underneath.

Colt cups your cheeks and it’s sweet, the way he kisses you deeply. But that’s not why you seduced him into this grimy bathroom stall.

You sneak your hand down to his ass, gripping one cheek and giving it a tight squeeze, which earns you a desperate whimper and a sharp grind.

You let out a surprised laugh that turns into a moat when one of Colt’s hands lifts your leg around his hip and pins you against the stall. Colt pulls away to gasp and you use the opportunity to begin your assault on his neck.

He has to press his hand into the stall above you to ground himself, the kisses you trail along his neck not letting him think straight, but he needs to get this one thought out before he can continue anything.

“Wait, wait.” Colt puts a little distance between your bodies, “I don’t want you to think, I mean, I can’t commit to anything right now.”

You humor him with a smile, “Colt. I’m about to fuck you in a dirty bar bathroom, I’m not looking for a proposal or anything.”

“Oh, okay. Good, I guess.”

You roll your eyes, “You’ve never done this before, have you?”

Colt’s cheeks darken, “Made out with someone I met thirty minutes ago? No.”

You run your hand down his chest, and back up behind his neck, “I hope we’ll end up doing more than just making out.”

“Umm, right.” Colt grunted, “Uh, do you have a condom?”

You smile and pick up your purse dropped at your feet, pulling out the latex square. Colt reaches to take it from your hand, but you pull your hand back, “Let me.”

Colt swallows and nods, watching as you reach down to his belt, undoing the buckle. You work your speedy hands, unzipping his pants and pushing down his underwear.

You glance up as you’re ripping open the package, but Colt isn’t looking at you. His eyes are transfixed on where your one hand is resting close to his newly exposed cock. Taking pity, you grasp his shaft, giving a firm tug.

Colt shudders and thrusts into your hand, “Please.” He whines.

You roll the condom down his cock, rolling your thumb over the head when it’s situated, before turning around to face the door.

A beat passes and you glance over your shoulder wondering what the holdup is.

Colt’s cheeks are a dark pink as he stares at you.

“Well?” You ask, pressing your ass into his crotch.

Colt grabs your hips to hold you still. He doesn’t want this to be over before you even have your pants off.

The two of you work together to lower your jeans, pushing them down to your knees. He traces the line of your panties with a delicate finger, captivated by the pretty lace.

“Maybe if you do a good job, I’ll let you keep them.” You tease.

Colt chokes on a laugh, realizing you caught him in his transfixed state. He pulls down the lace to bundle with your jeans and can’t help himself when he reaches around your hip and dips a finger into your folds.

You moan at the contact when he brushes against your clit that’s been ignored all night. You don��t have anything to grab onto as he spreads the wetness along your cunt, so you ball your hands into tight fists.

“So wet.” Colt praises in astonishment, “Barely touched you.” He pushes two fingers into your cunt and thickness has you curling your toes.

“C’mon.” You whine, “We’re running out of time.” You’re really just desperate for his damn cock to fill you up already, but you don’t want to beg.

“Fuck.” Colt mutters, as if realizing he can’t take his time like he wants to, like you deserve.

Pulling your hips back and pushing you down a little, Colt lines himself up. The heat radiating from your pussy makes his head spin a little. But he pushes himself in slowly, inch by inch. And you have to stand there and take it, the door in front of you making it impossible to escape.

He lets out a groan when he bottoms out, and you squirm as his balls brush against your clit.

Colt’s arm wraps around your stomach, pulling you up against him as starts to thrust shallowly.

One of your hand flies to his arm, nails digging in when he hits a spot deep in you. Still bracing yourself against the door you let you head fall forward trying to suppress a groan.

Colt shushes you, kissing the back of your neck, “Need to keep quiet, right?” You nod meeting his thrusts, a particularly sharp thrust making you clench and Colt moans into your hair.

“I thought we needed to be quiet.” You tease.

Colt has a snarky comment on his tongue but holds it back when the door opens, sound from the bar spilling in. You both freeze. It’s pretty obvious what’s happening if someone were to look under the crack of the door, but you’re also in the last stall.

Both of your hearts are beating loudly in your chests as the sounds of someone washing off spilled beer on their shirt reaches you.

“Quiet.” Colt whispers in your ear that has you nodding along. But the thrill of getting caught reignites the flame in your core and you can’t even stop your body from rolling back on his cock.

“Fuck.” You harshly mutter, eyes rolling into the back of your head. The feeling only amplified when Colt shoves his fingers in your mouth, the same fingers that were deep in your cunt, now covered in your cream that’s assaulting your senses.

Your muffled moans test Colt’s patience while he waits for the person to exit the bathroom. And the second he hears the door shut, he’s slamming into you with a speed and power you didn’t think the blushing man had in himself.

“Such a tease.” Colt gets out between clenched teeth, his hands sliding down your front to rub tight circles at your clit.

You squeak at the sensation, unable to hold back your orgasm any longer, clenching and spasming around his cock that has Colt tipping over the edge with you. But Colt doesn’t let up, thrusting through his orgasm and still playing with your clit.

“Colt!” You yelp, having to rip his hand away from your body, unable to withstand the stimulation any longer. But he grabs your hand and locks it against the bathroom stall while he gives you a few more hard thrusts.

You cry out, tears filling your eyes while he slows behind you. Colt presses a kiss to your cheek as he pulls out, and you miss the fullness. You close your eyes, trying to catch your breath. You can feel Colt behind you trying to situate himself. Even going as far to pull your pants up for you too.

You huff out a laugh at his chivalry, “What a gentleman.” You tease, buttoning your pants, “I guess you don’t want my panties then?” You ask over your shoulder.

Colt blushes, which warms your chest, as if he wasn’t just balls deep in you, “So it was good then?”

You turn to press a kiss to his cheek, “Yeah, you did good.”

“Good.” Colt nods, “Umm, it was for me too.”

You smile at his awkwardness, “Good. So, did you want to finish our drinks?”

Colt’s face drops, “I should probably get home, actually. But maybe,”

“No worries.” You wave him off, ignoring and not dwelling on why that disappoints you a little. You unlock the door and step out of the stall, glad to see you’re still alone.

Colt follows you out and looks like he wants to say more but decides against it, “Right. I’ll see you around?”

“Maybe.” You look over your shoulder at the door, “I’ll go out first?” Colt nods, “Okay, well. Thanks again, for everything.”

Colt smiles and you feel a little weak in the knees and like you could go for another round all over again. Readjusting your purse, you press a quick kiss to Colt’s lips before heading out the door, not looking back. And Colt isn’t surprised when he returns to the bar to see you’ve already left, but none the less slightly disappointed at the fact.

Colt manages to make it home just a little after midnight. He quietly opens and closes the door, praying not to wake anyone. Reiner is sitting in the on the couch watching a silent television.

“Falco asleep?” Colt whispers, toeing off his shoes and hanging his jacket on the hook.

Reiner nods and flips off the television, “Crashed a couple hours ago. He was trying to stay up until you got home, but just couldn’t do it.”

Colt feels a brief flash of guilt but shakes it away.

“Thanks again. I know Porco roped you into it, but thanks.” Colt isn’t good at accepting help from others, especially when it comes to Falco, but his friends usually don’t take no for an answer.

“Don’t worry about it.” Reiner waves him off, “You have fun tonight?”

Colt shrugs, “It was nice.”

Reiner gives a noncommittal hum, eyeing Colt as he pauses at the door, “Might want to wash the lipstick off your neck before getting into bed.” Colt chokes on nothing as Reiner’s shoulders shake with laughter, “See ya later.”

The rest of the weekend Colt tries and fails to push you from his thoughts. Yeah, he was the one who made it clear it was a one-time thing, and maybe it’s because he hasn’t gotten laid in so long, but he’s really wishing he had at least asked for your phone number.

Monday morning he drives Falco to school, and he’s contemplating texting Porco about going to the same bar again this weekend, with the off chance you might be there again.

“Bye Colt!” Falco screams slamming the door. Colt winces at the sound, swearing one of these days that boy was going to break off the door. Out of habit he checks the back seat, and Colt has to repress a groan when he sees Falco left behind his superhero lunchbox.

Colt peers out the window to see Falco is already long gone, somewhere in the mess of children who are running around the playground for the few minutes they have before the bell rings.

He knows he’ll get a tearful phone call later if he doesn’t get the lunch box to Falco, so Colt resigns himself to being late to work and pulls into the parking lot.

Lunch box in hand Colt walks towards the playground, hoping that Falco will see him and make this detour faster than it needs to be. Colt is fiddling with the lock, making sure it’s secure which makes him walk straight into the playground monitor.

“Shit.” Colt mutters “Sorry, I wasn’t watching-” But the rest dies in his throat when he sees it’s you standing in the bright orange vest.

You’re just as surprised to see Colt standing in front of you. Thrown and honestly a little concerned as why the fuck he would be here at your elementary school.

“Colt?” You ask.

“Umm. Hi?”

You give him a once over, appreciating the button down and slacks he’s wearing today, also taking note of the children’s lunch box in his hands. A bit too old to be at this school, but also a little too young to have a child here, you think.

“Colt!” You both turn at the sound, and you realize it’s one of your sweetest students sprinting towards you, calling his name.

Falco comes to a halt, “Is that my lunch box?” He asks, grabbing it before Colt can even answer.

“You forgot it.” Colt is able to choke out, eyes jumping back and forth between you and Falco.

Falco follows his older brother’s eyes and realizes you’re standing with them. Somehow having missed the vibrant orange safety vest you have thrown around you shoulders, honestly making you a little self-conscious that this is what Colt is seeing you in after this weekend.

Not that you care what he thinks of you. You’re not looking for anything right now.

“Ms.___?” Falco pulls on your hand, “Do you know Colt?” You open your mouth, unsure how to respond, not like you could explain it to the nine-year-old.

“I’m Falco’s brother.” Colt sticks out his hand, which seems like an overkill to you since he’s literally been inside you.

“Oh.” You say, taking his hand, well aware of the Grice family situation. And your heart clenches at the thought, making a little bit more sense why he was so firm about letting you know Friday night was a onetime thing.

You’re spared from saying anything when the bell rings, signaling the start of school.

“Sounds like you better get to class.” Colt tells Falco.

Falco pouts, sad he wasted his last few minutes talking to his brother and teacher, “Okay.” But still takes the time to hug his brother, “Thanks for my lunch box!” Before sprinting towards the entrance.

You clear your throat, “Falco’s a good student.” Mentally face palming yourself for the awkward comment.

Colt’s eyes widen, “You’re Falco’s teacher?” You nod while Colt mutters out a curse, earning a giggle from you, “This is awkward, right?”

You nod, “A little.” You chew on your lip, unsure what to say, but realize most of the students have cleared out, and it’s probably not the best to leave your thirty students unsupervised for too long, “Well, I need to-”

“I know this-”

You both stop while the other tries to talk, quietly laughing. “You go.”

Colt rubs the back of his neck, “I know we both agreed to a one-time thing, but I think I’d hate myself if I didn’t ask for your number.”

Your mouth parts, “Oh.” And Colt flushes, “Umm.” You avert your eyes, “It’s just, your brother is in my class and I try not to mix personal life with work.” You stumble over your words.

Colt flushes further, “Right, sorry. That was rude of me to ask, especially here.” Colt glances at the ground.

You chew on your lip, still thinking it over. It’s not that you don’t want to see Colt again. But he is the guardian of one of your students and you just got out of long relationship, not looking to jump into another right away.

“Maybe I can get yours?” You offer, and Colt’s head shoots up, eyes a little wide, “I mean, incase Falco forgets his lunch again?” A small smile playing on your lips, holding your phone out.

“Right.” Colt agrees, typing his number in, “He’s very forgetful. And it’s not like he’ll be in your class forever.” Colt says but it comes across as a hopeful question.

You have to bite your cheek to keep from smiling too wide at his forwardness, accepting your phone back, “I’ll see you around Colt.”

[mercurysstars]

What it’s like to live like me.

Summary: this is more or less a prompt of how it feels to not be enough.

Warnings: Mentions of drinking, drugs, depression, slight PTSD.

A/n: if you ever need someone to talk to my Dms are always open! Just know you are enough and you are loved!

_

“That was definitely not the time I wanted to be tied up.” She says. She laughed along with everyone else with an easy smile on her face.

She made jokes to lighted everyone’s moods because she didn’t want anyone to feel how she truly did. She put on a front as a free, happy, careless girl who never let anything faze her.

No one saw how much of a toll it was taking on her and it was worth it she told herself. The three seconds of happiness she felt when she made someone laugh was worth it. Even when she went to her room at night curled up alone, her blanket being her only company.

“I’m going to get drinks. Anyone want one? Y/n?” Bucky raised an eyebrow.

She politely declined. Saying that she didn’t want a hang over tomorrow. What they didn’t know was the real reason she didn’t want to drink. They didn’t know that she was scared of ending up like her mother, who when in drunken state would say mean, vicious things. Telling her how worthless she is or how her life was ruined because of her or maybe she should go live with her father since she was so ungrateful.

Of course her mother would apologize the next day telling her she didn’t mean it and how she was just stressed from work. And Y/n would forgive her. Because no matter how much her mother would hurt her, she was all Y/n had.

Y/n watched as a girl walked up to Bucky while he was making a drink and as she laughed at whatever he said. No one knew her feelings for Bucky and she didn’t want them too. She didn’t want to be rejected. She didn’t want to lose one of her only closes friends. Even if he possibly did return her feelings She wasn’t naive enough to think they could last forever. And for her it was all or nothing. It was selfish. She was selfish. She wasn’t being harsh she told herself. How could she be too harsh if she deserved it?

She didn’t want to have a messy divorce like her parents. She didn’t want to come home after a long day at work to catch them cheating. She didn’t want to have a child out of desperation hoping maybe they’d stay. She didn’t want to have the midnight screaming match that woke up the neighbors. She didn’t want her husband to hit her after a disagreement. She’d rather be alone.

Sometimes Y/n had to put her mother to bed. Sometimes she have to cook, clean buy groceries, or get herself ready for school because her mother was either too drunk or too heartbroken to even get up from bed. 

She kneeled next to Peter rubbing his back as he threw up in the toilet. It was his first time drinking and he had a little to much. She told him it would be alright and that she was there for him. She told him everything she wished someone would have told her when she was his age.

She was always there to comfort someone after a mission or nightmare not matter how tired she was. She always made sure to tell someone thank you and telling them how much she appreciated them.

Y/n went to her room after walking Peter to his. Making sure to put a glass of water and Advil next to his bed for him tomorrow.

She slipped off her dress and looked into the mirror. She turned her body around inspecting it from each and every angle. What she saw made her want to throw up. There in the mirror was still the chubby kid from high school. The one boys would go to too ask for their friends number.

She was the one that could never eat in front of someone else without feeling like everyone was judging her. She was always make excuses when her friends wanted to go swimming say she was tired or she had homework.

Y/n tiptoed slowly down the hallway trying to stay quiet. She opened the window gently so she didn’t wake anyone up. Y/n lifted herself out of the window and onto the roof moving down carefully so she wouldn’t fall.

She leaned back on her elbows and looked up at the stars. To most people it was frightening how big the galaxy is and how small they are but to Y/n it was kind of freeing.

After a few minutes Y/n reached into her pockets and pulled out a blunt and a lighter. She put the joint in between her lips and brought the lighter up to light then end using her free hand to shield the fire from the windy night.

She inhale deeply holding it for a few seconds before blowing out through her nose. Y/n started to smoke her sophomore year when some kid after practice offered her a hit. She liked the high that weed gave her. It actually made her feel something. Even if it only lasted 30 minutes. Because She hated feeling so damn numb.

The window opened next to Y/n. She quickly blew out the smoke and tried to hide the joint just in case it was a drunken Peter wondering around out of bed.

But it was Bucky that peaked his head through the window much to her surprise. “Is this seat taken?” He questioned.

Y/n smiled and scooted over farther patting the seat next to her “Of course not. The more the merrier.”

Bucky climbed through the window and sat a few inches away from her she could the his body heat radiating off of him. He was wearing sweatpants and a shirt sleeve t-shirt.

Y/n went to put the blunt out but Bucky plucked it out of her fingers putting it between his thumb and index finger. He took a quick drag and flicked the ash off of the end.

Y/n’s eyebrows shot up in surprise “I didn’t know you smoked.”

Bucky laughed before taking another drag “I did a couple of time before basic. Though it was kind of hard because I knew Ma would have a fit if she found out.”

“Oh I can imagine it. Young Bucky Barnes fresh out of high school ready to rebel and see the world.” Sometimes she wonder what it would be like to wake up in another century. Everyone you know is dead. No one has expectations. And could start fresh being whoever you wanted to be.

The both laid their heads back and looked at each other. Bucky’s eyes were slightly dilated but had a small smile on his face. With it still in between his fingers he brought the blunt up to Y/n’s face. They held eye contact as she took another hit “Are you okay?”

Y/n turned her head slightly when she exhaled making sure to not blow the smoke into his face “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” She asked.

“You know I hear you come out here every night. After you think everyone’s gone to bed. Sometimes I think you just to be alone but we both know that’s not true.”

“I’m fine.” She forced out. Smiling at him to prove it. He didn’t look convinced.

He frowned at her. It wasn’t a look of pity. No it was more a look of sadness. She doesn’t know what caused her to do it but she reached out and brushed one of the curls that fell onto his forehead back. “You know I care about you right? I’d do anything thing for you.”

Y/n’s mouth went dry. She looked out at the sky to avoid eye contact. God how badly she had always wanted someone to say that. She all imagine him saying those exact words. But she never thought far enough ahead to what she would say back. Would she tell him how she felt? No, she didn’t want to get rejected. Would she tell him just to leave? Not that either because knew she’d probably regret it for the rest of her life. She sighed and hesitated before she asked. “Can you just stay.”

Bucky smiled and had a relieved look on his face. At first he looked like he was expecting her to decline. He pulled her into him wrapping his arms around her “Of course I will. I’ll stay for however long you’ll have me.”

[angel-riki]

Dazed & Dreaming {Ch. 3 }

summary: Y/N's life was always quite normal, some may even consider it boring. However, Y/N enjoyed her simple life and the little pleasures it brought. Unfortunately, that all changed the day she found out her best friend's biggest secret. Her discovery leads her down a rabbit hole of a new and confusing world she never knew existed. She must now navigate this new life filled with love, fear, and the supernatural. What awaits her down this path?

pairing: enhypen x reader (vampire au)

warnings: light swearing

word count: 1,658

chapters: [Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.4]

~~~~~~~~~~

God, the weekend can't come soon enough. You sighed as you strolled through the hall to go grab the books for your next class. As you approached your locker, you noticed Heeseung was there waiting for you. He was hard to miss since he towered over all of the lockers. Has he always been this tall? Your heart fluttered and you couldn't keep from smiling. He waved at you as you got closer.

"Hey, Y/N!" he said cheerfully.

"Hello," you replied, "What are you doing here? Not that I mind or anything!" You tried not to sound rude, you were just confused. Your schedules were completely different and his locker was in an entirely different wing than yours. Usually, you only saw each other at lunch.

"I just thought I'd come see you...I missed you," he admitted.

You were not ready for that answer. It was like he was trying to make you fall in love with him. Your face was burning up, you probably looked ridiculous.

"Oh, that's really sweet. I missed you too," you returned his kindness with a giggle.

Now, it was his turn to blush. He looked away from you, trying to contain his smile. It seemed like you had the same effect on him that he had on you.

Heeseung ended up walking you to your next class, chatting on the way. You were sad you only got to talk for a few minutes, but you'd see him soon since lunch was right after.

You set your stuff down at your desk and pulled out your books. As everyone settled into class, your teacher announced that today was going to be a work day. You were relieved because you had a couple of assignments you desperately needed to catch up on. You cracked your knuckles before getting to work. You managed to focus surprisingly well, considering Heeseung was taking up 90% of your thoughts. You ended up getting completely caught up with all of your assignments before the bell rang. Feeling accomplished, you packed up your books and headed to the cafeteria.

*****

You looked around for Jake and Heeseung like usual, tray in hand. You spotted them sitting with three other boys that you didn't recognize. Two of them were blonde and the other had black hair. Maybe they're those other boys that Jake and Heeseung talked about, you thought while heading to their table. Jake looked up from their conversation and noticed you approaching them.

"Hey, Y/N!" He smiled wide while motioning for you to sit next to him. The rest of the boys looked up and noticed you as well. You waved at them all, a bit intimidated. As you joined them, Jake introduced you all. "Everyone, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Sunoo, Jungwon, and Niki," he explained. You smiled at the new faces,

"Hello, nice to meet you all," you said with a gentle smile. Wow, they're all so cute, you thought. Were all of Jakes friends this good looking? The three boys stared back at you in awe.

"Wow, you're Y/N? Jake has told us so much about you!" Sunoo chimed in excitedly. He really reminded you of a puppy.

"Yeah, he talks about you a lot," Niki admitted.

"It's nice to finally meet you!" Jungwon added with kind eyes.

You became less tense as you heard their words. You were touched, Jake really talks about me that much? You looked over at him and you noticed his cheeks were dusted pink. Why does he seem embarrassed? You decided not to think into it too much as the boys carried on their conversation.

"Where's Sunghoon? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Niki asked, confused.

"He had lunch detention so he'll probably get here pretty late, if at all," Jake said. They all chuckled. None of them looked surprised, a few even rolled their eyes. This seemed to be a common occurrence.

Everyone continued on talking and eating for a few minutes before the boys suddenly perked up and began waving at someone. You turned around to see who they were waving at.

Oh no.

It was that strange boy you had run into in the hall last week. The universe just loved making you uncomfortable, apparently.

"Sunghoon, you're here!" Sunoo exclaimed happily.

"How did you get out of detention?" Jungwon asked.

"I got up and left." Sunghoon said like it was obvious.

"Didn't the teacher try to stop you?" Heeseung joined in.

"No, she went to the bathroom."

The boys laughed and shook their heads. Sunghoon sat down at the table as Jake began to introduce you once again,

"Sunghoon, this is Y/N-"

"Oh, we've met." Sunghoon cut him off, grinning as his eyes went to you. The rest of the boys looked slightly confused.

"Uh yeah, we're in the same english class. I didn't know he was a friend of yours," you chuckled nervously as you tried to explain yourself. You didn't want anyone to get any weird ideas since Sunghoon seemed like he was trying to imply something else.

"Ah, that makes sense," Heeseung said. They all nodded, understanding now.

"So, how did you get detention this time?" Niki asked, changing the subject.

"I didn't do my homework." Sunghoon answered.

"What class was it for?" Jungwon questioned.

"English."

Jake perked up at his answer. "Oh, you should have Y/N help you! She's great at english and you're both in the same class, it's perfect!'" He explained. You shot Jake a look for volunteering you.

"What a good idea, Jake." Sunghoon turned to you,  smirking with his tongue in his cheek. "Whaddaya say, Y/N?"

"Uh, yeah sure," You laughed awkwardly and accepted his request, not wanting to appear rude. Although you really did not want to.

"Great, I'll see you after school," he said, pleased with the way things were playing out. You weren't expecting to start today, but you weren't about to argue with him.

*****

The end of the day finally came as you checked the time and sighed. Time to go meet up with Sunghoon. You grumbled as you headed to the library. How did I let myself get roped into this?

You entered the library and looked around for the dark-haired boy. You noticed him sitting far off in a corner by himself. As you walked over to him, you realized he didn't have any of his books or work with him.

"Where are your books?" You asked, confused.

"Eh, I didn't feel like bringing them," he said, uninterested.

"Why would you ask for my help if you clearly don't want to do the work?" He was starting to get on your nerves.

"Because I wanted to see you, obviously," he said smugly.

You scoffed before sitting down next to him and pulling out your books for him to use. You weren't going to let him off this easy.

"Well lucky for you, I have my books with me. So let's get started," you retorted. He rolled his eyes at you. "Hey, you wanted this, not me." You said, holding your hands up defensively. He sighed and accepted defeat as you opened the book and began going over the assignment.

You had only been working for about 15 minutes but you were already over it. Tutoring him was like pulling teeth. You would put in the effort to thoroughly explain something to him, just for him to write down the most half-assed answer ever. And what made things even more frustrating was that you could tell he understood everything perfectly, he wasn't dumb. He was actually quite smart, he just didn't care and didn't want to care. You quickly realized he didn't actually even need your help. Your patience was wearing thin as he began tapping his pencil against the table rather loudly.

"Can you please stop that?" you asked, unamused.

"Anything for you, princess." The nickname dripped off of his tongue so naturally. Too naturally. You rolled your eyes and turned back to your book. Yet, your heart was beating faster than you'd like to admit.

You continued working, but after a while he stopped listening and just began staring at you. You didn't want to give in. You carried on while trying to ignore him. Sadly, you failed. You turned to face him, visibly uncomfortable.

"Are you even paying attention?" You asked.

"Not to the work, just to you." He answered honestly.

Why were your cheeks getting hot?

"Why do you keep doing that?" you questioned, irritated.

"Doing what?" He said with a teasing grin.

"Saying weird things," you said, "Do you like making me uncomfortable or something?"

"Yeah, I do. It's fun. Plus, you look really cute when your flustered." He stated simply.

You hated to admit it, but he did have an affect on you. You convinced yourself that it was just because of his good looks. There was no way you actually liked him, right? Right? Either way, you were not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had such an effect on you. You stood up and gathered your things, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. You were frustrated in more ways than one.

"Aw, leaving so soon, princess?" he asked.

"Yes. You're driving me crazy." You replied, already heading towards the library doors.

"Yeah, in a good way." He said, satisfied with himself.

You pretended not to hear his last remark as you left.

After exiting the building, you finally felt like you could breathe again. God, Sunghoon was suffocating to be around. Jake, why did you have to befriend such a jackass?

~~~~~~~~~~

Hello! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to pick up the pace and add some more ~romance~ hehehe. I also finally introduced all of the boys except Jay (don't worry he'll come into the picture very soon). Until next time!

~Elle <3