#it surprises me how every single one of the villains have black/dark nails when i tried looking for references

[maipiichii]

Bon Appétit!

[diaco1968]

Thrill

Shigaraki Tomura x f!Reader

WARNINGS! +18, lemon/smut, heavy NONCON!, Forced! , implied cheating, dirty talk and degradation, unprotected, yandere-ish

The sound of the sharp knock resonating off the walls of the otherwise completely silent apartment had you almost jump out of your own skin, a cold sweat immediately beeaking out all over your back despite the heavy warm blanket you were under. You muted the video even though you assumed it was already too late for the unwelcome guest not to have heard it. Another sharp knock and you knew your assumption was right. Either way you quietly slipped out from under your blanket, feet meeting the cold floor and worsening the already cold shivers rolling down your spine, no one had business visiting you at 3 in the morning. Reaching up you looked through the peep hole. The silhouette of a familiar person with light hair was visible but mostly blocked by a smear of something dark across the glassy cover making it extremely difficult to make out the face.

This time instead of the sharp knock, fingers almost gently rapped over the wooden door as if the person knew you were standing right on the other side, the rapping playing a familiar and serie rhythm. Eerie because you only knew one more person who knew this rhythm.

Your hand rose and your fingers wrapped around the doorknob all on their own accord. The rude knocking was his way of respecting you actually, cause you knew as well as he did that this flimsy door could not stand in his way if he had decided to come in already. Chills from your cold feet on the floor made the whole experience worse than it needed to be. With a quiet shaky intake of breath and a shake of your head to regain your stoic composure you pulled the door open slowly, enough space so that your whole frame was in the doorway and not more, one hand still on the door for emotional support.

And surely you needed that.

He was way more terrifying than you remembered him from last time. His white hair glowing and almost reflecting the moonlight that seeped inside the corridor from the window at the end, the white light engulfing and giving his form a ghostly appearance, with bright crimson eyes staring at you expectantly. And that was not the only crimson in the mix. A big splash of red was covering one whole side of his face as it had either dripped down from his own head, which was likely cause strands of his hair was also still dripping with crimson, or had sprayed onto him from some other poor soul, down his neck, disappearing in the black of his shirt, making it look even darker, all the way down to his left hip. He was leaning his bloodied hand on the doorway, looming over you with his nonchalant yet completely insane face, lips slowly parting into a smirk, knowing by the pale look of your face that he absolutely had not given you a choice for this surprise meeting.

"May I use your shower."

Your jaw went slack staring at him with an open mouth as you clutched the door unable to answer what wasn't really a request.

"Of course, what a dumb question."

He pushed off the wall and gestured for you to get out of his way as he pushed the door wide open, stomping right past you. Feeling way out of your comfort zone you glanced left and right in the corridor before succumbing to your fate and closing the door behind you, staring at the muddy bloody shoe prints going to your living room. You followed them and watched him kick his shoes off in the middle of the living room on the creme carpet, lean in to look at the pictures over the chimney, scoff then make his way over to the kitchen.

"That's not the bathroom-..."

He totally ignored you as he went to the fridge grabbing a cold beer, all the while making sure he smeared everything with the blood on his hands.

His eyes glanced sideways towards you as he chugged the bear in one go, putting the bottle on the very edge of the counter.

"Ahhh."

His eyes locked onto yours, beginning to show a slight bit of annoyance. And as his mouth split open into a wide grin he tipped the bottle over the edge. It hit the floor with a noise that sounded way louder to you than it should've before it shattered on the kitchen tiles.

"Oops. My bad."

Your eyes snapped onto him from where they previously were glaring at the broken bottle on the floor, grinding your teeth together in annoyance.

"The bathroom is the other way."

"I know."

You hissed out from your clenched teeth and he waved his hand dismissively, stepping over the glass and walking towards your bedroom. Of course he was going to use the master bathroom. What else. He stopped in the doorway to the bathroom and looked at you.

"Join me."

You crossed your arms over your chest this time glaring at him directly.

"I see no need for that. You're a big boy."

He faked a pout before shrugging his shoulders and stepping into the bathroom.

"Well I thought you wanted me gone as soon as possible. Apparently not, so I'm gonna take my time then."

You shook your head and sat on the edge of the bed, every single muscle in your body rigid from stress. How long could he take anyway?

Apparently too long.

An hour of chewing your lower lip and tapping your foot nervously later, you decided to check up on him. You knocked on the door but got no reply. Three times. So you opened the door slowly and carefully to peak inside. Unlike what you had imagined the bathroom wasn't filled with steam from the shower. But sure enough he was standing under the running water. You stopped yourself before you could rake your eyes down his body you went to close the door.

"Come on now, it's nothing you haven't seen before."

"Shigaraki."

You whispered in a scolding tone but didn't close the door, instead staring at his eyes.

"Eh? What happened to Tomura? Or the one I like more, Tomuooo~"

He attempted to mimick your voice with a whiny needy tone and remembering exactly what he was talking about you flushed bright red stammering.

"Oh my gosh... fuck off..."

He laughed, the sound taking you aback not recalling ever having heard him laugh.

"Fine, but seriously. I need your help."

He turned around to show you the half ass cleaned wounds on his back.

And of course you had to inspect so you stepped inside to take a closer look at the gashes. Two long angry stripes across his middle back, not bleeding anymore but spots of dried blood still sticking around them.

"No way I'm gonna blindly scrub at those. They hurt like a motherfucker."

You heaved a sigh finding the reasoning legit. After all you were used to seeing such wounds yourself. You grabbed a towel for the lack of a better option, finding out that he was too far inside the shower for you to reach. Not wanting to hear his retort on telling him to get closer you decided to step in and that's when the cold water ran over your hands and slid all the way down your arm inside your sleeve.

"Shit! Why so cold?!"

"Why not. Not how he likes it?"

You clicked your tongue annoyed and pressed the towel to his back a little too harshly making him hiss and glare at you from the corner of his eye. If you were completely honest it was a terrifying glare but you didn't budge and instead started to scrub away at the skin lightly enjoying the silent tease-less mood. Not for long though.

"Speaking of him. Where even is he?"

'As if you don't already know.'

You bit back your retort and settled for somthing else.

"We were and are not going to be speaking of him."

As if to emphasize, you scraped the towel a little harder over his skin and watched as his shoulderblades rolled and rippled right under the skin but he ignored it.

"We're not? Having a naked man in his shower makes you feel guilty?"

Your nails dug into the towel and you paused.

"Shut it."

"No. He is away working, not even dreaming of his little fiance being unfaithful to him. Trusts you a little too much, huh?"

"I said shut it!"

You growled and slammed the towel onto his back, right into the gashes. His shoulders twitched angrily and he reached back and grabbed you right before you could storm off angrily. A loud surprised gasp left you as your back got slammed into the wall, cold water from the shower pouring over you and soaked you to the bone in a matter of seconds.

"And I said no."

You tried to wriggle out of his grasp or wiggle away from under the onslaught of cold water to no avail.

"Fuck! Let me go!"

His hands grabbed at your wet heavy hoodie ripping it enough to make space to slip it off your shoulders and expose your chest then let it hang around your waist. With your hands still inside the sleeves you felt bounded by the tight heavy cloth unable to do anything but struggle in vain.

"He has no idea his fiance, the love of his life, is secretly a villain fucker, does he?"

"I am not!"

"The love of his life? Cause we both know you ARE a villain fucker."

"Stop!"

"Stop? But you don't really want me to, do you?"

His fingers wrapped around your neck tightly, pressing you harder into the wall forcing a squeak out of you before he shut you up by pressing his lips onto yours and his tongue shoving into your mouth, making you turn your head to the side with a cough.

"You don't want me to stop cause he doesn't screw you like I do,"

His fingers tangled in your wet locks like snakes slithering through the grass, tightening on your scalp with a fist full of hair and forcing your face back towards himself and running his lips over the side of your mouth.

"He doesn't grab you and force you down in your place like the little whore you are-"

"We were on a break! It was one time!"

"It was not one time."

He pressed you into the wall harder with his body, freeing his hand and grabbing your panties. The flimsy fabric turned to muddy dust and washed away down the drain. His hand immediately replaced it and cupped your heat roughly. And for once you were glad for the running water, you could not stand his comments on the moisture gathered between your legs otherwise.

"To your credit, you did try to be a good girl. You just couldn't stay away from me. It must be thrilling, huh?"

You pursed your lips staring at the ceiling trying not to focus on his fingers running all over you, as if he couldn't decide what to touch first. They ran from your sex to your hips, back to your ass then over your breast, pausing to enjoy the erect nipple rolling it harshly between his fingers, making you bite your lower lip.

"Tell me. Which one is your derive? Is it the thrill of being used like a fucktoy by a villain and not knowing if I would dispose of you afterwards?"

He slipped his hard cock between your thighs, tugging your hair down to expose the length of your neck to him, leisurely kissing sucking and nipping on the soft skin as you shut your eyes and opened your mouth to breath cause the water was now angled right in your face.

"Or are you thrilled by cheating on the poor fucker with his enemy and not getting caught?"

You started thrashing your arms and managed to free one before he pulled you over and slammed you back into wall by your neck again making you Yelp and cling to his wrist tightly.

"Is this really how you want to go? Half decayed and well fucked in his shower? And imagine he is the one who will find your body too... tragic."

He was bluffing... he was definitely bluffing... right?

"Is it?!"

He roared in your face, his voice echoing off the walls and you found yourself trembling in his hands, shaking your head no.

"Then be a good bitch like the horny little slut you are and cooperate."

You felt as if his words smeared over you and make your skin tingle with filth. He was right, you were not used to this kind of treatment. And your quivering legs and throbbing pussy was evidence enough that you did in fact find this thrilling.

Sensing your submission he freed your other arm from the hoodie, throwing it away before leaning down to hook his arms under your legs, picking you up and positioning you over his cock, the tip proding between your folds and poking at your hole. And unceremoniously thrusted himself all the way in, by letting you drop down onto his lenght. You gasped at the sudden stretch, arms flying from the wall to wrap around his neck to hold yourself steady as he stepped away from the wall, hiding your face in the crook of his neck.

"Mmm your tight cunt never ceases to impress me. Does he fuck you at all?"

"... please stop..."

He chuckled and grabbed your ass with your legs draped over his arms and he started moving you over his cock, the position had you unable to do anything except cling to him tighter and clenching constantly around his dick from the hard angle, moaning into his neck. You could see the goosebumps on his skin and it oddly managed to give you a satisfying feeling.

Untill all sense was drawn out of your head as he started thrusting into you while he moved you up and down, drilling into you deeper and deeper each time. You screamed as your whole body went rigid and hard shivers ran down your spine, your toes curling as you came hard with his cock still screwing into you roughly, your scream drowning out into a quiet gaping mouth.

"Fuck... you used to be way harder to please. Missed me a lot, yeah?"

His nails dug threateningly into your hips but you refused to reply.

He pressed your back on the wall again, moving your legs all the way up over his shoulders, not bothering to pull out while changing the position.

"Still stubborn I see. No problem. I know how to deal with you."

"You're a one night stand gone wrong!"

You spat as you glared at him. Should not have said that. Should. Not. Have.

His fist found its way back into your hair and he pulled it up to expose your neck again.

"Is that right?"

He leaned all the way over you as his hips picked up a bruising pace, slapping against your ass with each thrust with a loud sound. His lips latched onto your neck and he started sucking on the skin. Shocked you went to push against his shoulder and he tightened his fist in your hair, forcing you to grab his arm instead from the pain burning on your scalp.

"What are you doing?! Stop!"

He changed the spot and started sucking another deep purple mark on the other side, before moving lower and sinking his teeth into your chest.

You yelped loudly digging your nails into his shoudlers and in return he move his mouth again biting your other breast.

"Fuck! Fuck! Stop! He will see those!"

"That's the point you dumb cunt. And that's not all either."

Feeling your distress had you clenching around his cock again he moved his hand and started rubbing your clit roughly as you squirmed and struggled.

"I'm going to cum soon with your dirty pussy milking me like that..."

Your breathing was ragged and you were moaning on each thrust and he absolutely loved the way your face scrunched up im horror from the realisation. He leaned in to whisper into your ear.

"That's right. Now tell me, are you a dirty little whore?"

"Please! Please don't!"

You were now half sobbing as you pleaded and gripped onto his shoulders.

"Answer me then. Are you a cheating filthy fucking whore?"

"I am! I'm a cheating whore! Please!"

"Oh but you're not any whore. You are mine. Your thirsty little cunt is all soaked for me alone. Right?"

"Yes! Only for you!"

"Do you think of me when he fucks you?"

You hesitated and he did not like that, delivering a harsh wet spank on your ass.

"Ah! Y-yes!"

"Yes what?"

You were now definitely crying, tears streaming down your face as guilt and pleasure mixed into your system, clinging to him desperate for some little comfort.

"Y-yes I think of you.. when he... when he fucks me..."

"So you missed me a lot, didn't you?"

"I missed you a lot..."

"Address me properly."

"I missed you a lot Tomuooo~"

And with that he rammed himself into you one more time, warmth exploding in your lower belly as to your horror he spilled his load inside you. Your whole body went limp, dread and fear gripping your chest and your throat. He turned off the tab and it was all silent except the sound of the last few droplets hitting the tiled floor before the silence was broken by his evil chuckle.

"Good, cause I'm far from done with you."

[nakamoto-aesthetics]

Guardian Angel | Johnny

synopsis: on the way from a friends house you bump into a man who was trying to harm you but luckily a guy named johnny saves you before you were taken. from there you get to know him a bit and things get… interesting. (the synopsis makes the story sound boing but i promise it’s not :)

pairing: johnny suh x fem!reader

genre: angst, fluff, a lil smut

warning: something similar to human trafficking in the beginning (if you’re sensitive to that topic please don’t read this fic), heavy make out shesh, not proofread!, other than that there’s nothing i can think of

a/n: also remember that this is a FIC and not real life, please don’t welcome strangers into your home :))

word count: 4.1k

“where do you think you’re going in that cute little dress baby?” an unfamiliar voice is heard as you walk down the fairly dark street. you don’t say anything and continue to walk not paying any attention to the voice. there was no one else really around, barely any cars passing by, let alone people.

“I asked you a question, I expect an answer” the tone was firm, his footsteps getting faster and so do yours. you hurriedly pull out your phone, quickly forming a plan that involved some of your friends but that all crashed and burned once you saw the dead battery flashing on the screen. your heart sink and tears instantly pooled in your eyes, threatening to fall from your eyes. that was your only escape, what were you gonna do now?

you were just trying to get home that was all. maybe you should’ve let your friend drive you home but you didn’t because you didn’t want to cause your friend an inconvenience. you were beginning to regret that decision, all because of that small reason. at least you would’ve been home safe and sound but no, you decided to be the unselfish and independent person you are, and look where it got you.

“hey!” a hand grips your shoulder from behind and swings you around. “I asked you a question when I ask a question I expect an answer” the guy wasn’t a foreigner, he was most definitely korean. he seemed to be in his mid-30s, the age definitely showed. there were creases and wrinkles in some areas of his face and his clothes were all black including his shoes. you try to pull away from the grip but he only grips your shoulder harder, hurting you more than you would like to admit.

“maybe I need to refresh your short memory,” the guy chuckles lowly, his finger shifting your head up to meet his eyes. “where are you going in that cute little dress?” his eyes looked you up and down, his free hand gliding down your waist, slowly traveling to your ass. your face stayed straight the entire time even while tears fell down your face. you knew who had the upper hand power in the situation, you knew there was little you could do even if you didn’t dare say it aloud.

“still not talking? well maybe I should force it out of you huh?” he tilts his head. no, because the whole time you were creating a plan b in your head since plan a failed. there was no way you were going to allow yourself to be trafficked.

“well then, you made this choice for yourself. i’m sorry to do this sweetheart” his hands grope your ass and that's when you strike. you move your leg up to kick him in the balls but he’s faster than you, grabbing ahold of your leg before it collided with his area.

“is that what you were doing this whole time, creating that wack-ass plan? you didn’t think i’d see it coming that’s so cute,” he fake coos. “i’ve been doing this longer than you, i’m smarter and faster than you love” he throws down your leg and in the blink of an eye, you are turned around in his grip with an arm around your neck. your hand flies to his arm and you pull on it, not wanting to be choked to death.

“is there a problem over here miss?” another unfamiliar voice calls, making both you and the guy look over to where it came from. it was a tall guy with light brown hair. he had tan skin and different pieces of clothing put together that oddly worked. his eyes were a soft brown, not too harsh. he was… kinda cute if you were being honest. he was also In the process of taking his headphones out of his ears, for what reason? you didn’t know.

“there’s no problem here, keep on walking buddy” the male answered for you.

“I asked the lady not you” the new stranger spoke harshly to the trafficker and look at you once again. “are you okay?” he knitted his eyebrows. your eyes caught his, filling with tears, threatening to spill from your eyes. he nodded softly understanding how you were feeling through your eyes. he then looked at the male behind you.

“let her go, I don’t wanna hurt you” he said firmly.

“oh yeah, what can you do?” he looks him up and down and laughs at the guy, walking back to his original place, which was a block or two away.

“Im can do a lot” the stranger walks in front of you and the guy, making you both stop once again.

“listen man, this is my girlfriend. we’re just having a little disagreement aren’t we honey?” the guy tightens his hold around your neck. you open your mouth trying to suck in more air but his hold gets tighter. you tap on his arm in hopes that he’ll release you but he doesn’t. there was no way you were gonna agree with him.

the stranger doesn’t think furthermore and before either of you knew it, your head was being moved out the way carefully and a punch was thrown at the guy's face. you heard a crack of a bone and quickly moved away from the area, running out the man's hold.

it was like an action movie, the man was the villain and the stranger was the hero, and you were the one in need of help. the fight ended with the stranger still standing and the man now on the floor. he wasn’t moving but his chest was still rising and falling. he wasn’t dead although you weren’t sure what was gonna happen in the next few minutes but you weren’t gonna find out either.

“are you okay?” the stranger rushes over to you, sliding off his jacket and handing it to you.

“that won’t be necessary” you chuckle and wave your hand at his jacket.

“please, I insist” he places the jacket around you, not wanted to make you feel uncomfortable by touching you.

“thank you” you look down and smile softly.

“it’s no problem, I could never just walk by if I saw something like that” he smiles gently. “do you want me to walk you home? you know, to make sure you get there safe?”

“uhh… why not” you smile and begin to walk in the direction, he comes up beside you and walks along with you.

you pulled his jacket closer to your body for warmth as you kept your eyes glued to the sidewalk, scarred by what had just happened. you’ve never experienced something that traumatic before. you could’ve been snatched up a while ago if it hadn’t been for the guy walking beside you right now.

“thank you” your voice was quiet in a way it had never been before.

“anytime” he glances over to you, seeing your small frame wrapped in his jacket.

“I really do mean it, if you wouldn’t have been there I don’t know what I would've done”

“yeah, i’m glad I was there too. it hurts me to see things like that happen” he shakes his head. “I wish I could protect everyone around the world,” he breathily laughs. “that’s probably why I want to be a police officer” your ears perked up when you heard that. you looked up at him with surprised eyes and he looked at you nodding his head.

“it’s always been a dream of mine ever since I was a kid. when I read my first comic book I loved everything about it, I knew I wanted to be some kind of hero after that. I wanted my parents to buy me every single superhero costume so then I could feel like that character, with all the powers and stuff.” you breathily laugh at that, he notices and laughs with you. “anyways that’s enough about me, I wanna know about you” he looks attentively to you.

the conversation continues until you got home. you learned that his name was johnny and that he was 25. he grew up in his hometown chicago but his parents are both korean, and he moved to seoul for better job opportunities. you gotta admit, the guy was interesting and you wanted to know more about him, you thought he was pretty cool.

“so… this is it?” johnny stuffs his hands in his pockets and looks up at the house.

“yep” you look at the house and back to him. it got quiet for a few seconds, neither of you wanted to say bye to each other. johnny wanted to get to know you more and you wanted to know him more also.

“listen, I don’t know if the feeling is mutual but I wanna talk to you some more so how about this, I give my number and you get to choose if you want to text me” he offers and you instantly take it up. he smiles softly and enters his number in your phone. once you receive it back you see the name option blank.

“you’re not gonna name yourself?” you cock your eyebrow at him and he lightheartedly chuckles.

“I want you to have free will and set it as whatever you want. I want you to always feel like you have a choice when you're with me y/n” a smile was blatant on his face, allowing the corners of your mouth to pull up also.

“well thank you very much johnny,” you say, staring into his eyes, which seemed to catch the light from the streetlights in a way you’d never seen before. would it be weird to say that you wanted to get to know the sweet guy in front of you more?

“um.. i guess i should get going, it was nice meeting you y/n” his hypnotizing but kind eyes still staring into your soul. you never wanted to part away from them, from him. johnny was captivating, too captivating to let slip through your fingers.

“it was nice meeting you too. see you later johnny” you dismiss him yet his feet don’t move, they stay in place and so does he, looking at you with eyes of fondness. this continues for about a minute before you break the silence/slight sexual tension.

“uh- actually, do you wanna come in? i’m not going to sleep right away, honestly might have some trouble falling asleep” you shake your head, looking down and pretend to find your nails interesting.

“a-are you sure? i wouldn’t want to make you uncomfortable-” he seems caught off guard by your words, obviously snapping him out of whatever trance he was in.

“not at all, now come on. i’ll put on a movie and get some food and drinks. it’ll be good” you smile brightly, grabbing his hand without thinking and taking him up to your front door. you unlock it quickly and turn on the lights, stepping into your clean house.

“this is a very nice environment you have y/n” he looks around staying still in his place, nodding his head, seeming genuinely impressed with it.

“thank you, it took a bit of work to get to this point” you chuckle, taking off your shoes and then his jacket. “oh, here you go” you hold the piece of heavy fabric out to him. he utters a ‘thanks’ once he sees it and takes it.

“you can put your shoes there” you point to the shoe rack beside to door. “and your jacket can go there” you point to the coat racket right next to the shoe rack. he doesn’t say anything and does as you say.

“now make yourself comfortable i’ll be right back” you point to the couch and then walk away but not before you caught his eyes. damn those eyes..

“now why did she do that? i swear horror movie characters are so fucking dumb” you roll your eyes and johnny laughs, agreeing with you.

“i mean what would you do in her position” you look at him. the light from the tv illuminating him perfectly. it was dark everywhere else so the only light you had was from the tv.

“i would’ve saved the friend and then booked it not stand there like an idiot waiting for someone to kill me” he looked at you right back, giving you that same look from earlier but his eyes were a bit brighter, filled with joy.

“exactly! so why can’t she do the same?” you sigh.

“y/n it’s just a movie” he chuckles.

“i know, i know but they really irritate me yk? like why stand there knowing damn well a killer is in the house with you i mean it’s-“

“alright it’s time to turn this off” he backs out of the movie, returning to the netflix screen where you started.

“hey!” you look at him with confused eyes.

“you were way too into it, it‘s not good for your blood pressure.” he says and looks at the tv, going through the comedy section.

you kept your eyes on him watching the way his eyes watch the screen attentively. you nibble on your lip, beginning to get lost in your thoughts. he could be your friend, best friend, boyfriend... husband- too far y/n, too far. you just met the guy but you felt like you’ve known him for a long time. you could see him being a potential boyfriend honestly. it’s been a while since you’ve had a boyfriend, really only focused on work. it wouldn’t be a bad idea. johnny seemed nice and he was interesting in a way nobody has been before, you could stay up talking to him and it wouldn’t get boring ever. what if you guys-

“y/n?” his head turns toward you and he catches you staring back at him with your lip between your teeth. he smiles softly and that’s when you are dragged out of your thoughts.

“here” you say out of nowhere making johnny laugh harder than before, his head is thrown back and his eyes are closed, filling the atmosphere with his beautiful laughs. meanwhile, you sat there a little confused and startled, blinking multiple times.

“huh?” you furrow your eyebrows.

“nothing” he waves his hands continuing to laugh.

“yah!” you hit his arm playfully. “i was lost in my thoughts im sorry” you look down feeling your cheeks heat up.

“while staring at me? what were you thinking about?” he says after his laughter dies down.

“uh.. nothing important, what did you pick?” you look at the tv trying to change the subject and you’re thankful that it works.

“that was a great movie, what’d you think?” johnny looks over to you and you nod tiredly, letting out a yawn. “oh somebody’s tired” he says and you don’t know if it was because you were tired but you thought it was cute.

“i enjoyed it and yes i am tired” you lazily chuckle and rub your face.

“alright, i’ll leave-“ he goes to stand up.

“no-“ you say abruptly and grab his wrist and his eyes shift down to your hold on him. “i mean… no you don’t have to, it’s late and i don’t want you going home at this time of night” you checked your phone with your free hand, completely forgetting about your grip on his wrist.

‘4:08 am’

“damn it’s four already?” your eyes bulge out your head and look up at him, his eyes still watching the way your skin was touching his. “you mister aren’t going anywhere, wouldn’t want anything to happen to you” you move closer to him and he notices this. you take your hand off his wrist and interlock your arms, resting your head on his shoulder. maybe it was the sleepiness that put you in this position but you didn’t mind it one bit, too tired to care.

he seemed surprised tensing up almost immediately but relaxing once he realized what was really happening. you were like the little bear that found comfort in the big bear. johnny brushed the extra pieces of hair out the way, how was it that he’d just met you but he felt so connected to you as if you were a lifelong friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. he didn’t under but at the same time, he didn’t want to understand it. he’d rather just let whatever this was flow at its own pace.

“do you think we’re moving too fast?” you say out of nowhere, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“i was just thinking about that and i think we should just let it happen naturally. whatever happens, happens” he says in a sweet voice and caresses your arm gently with his free hand. “if it feels right then act on it right? anyways, that’s the motto”

you move your head to look up at him and nod, intending to catch his eyes and you do. you’re only inches away from each other’s faces, eyes shifting from his eyes to his lips and so do his before either of you knew it your lips collided. johnny holding your jaw between his index and thumb. you wrap your hands around his neck and sit up slowly shifting onto his lap. your heart began to race as you kissed him deeper, johnny too, feeling his heart pumping with adrenaline, moving his hands down to your waist and gripping it. you moan softly against his lips as his hands travel inside your shirt. he felt like pure ecstasy against you. his touch, his lips, his words, everything him felt so good with you.

his hands then slid down to your hips and he gripped them, continuing to kiss you like no tomorrow. he pulls away from your lips, you following his lips for more, and he chuckles; before you knew it his lips were on your neck, pressing soft kisses to it making you moan softly. when his lips found your sweet spot he attacked it, leaving a dark red hickey in that place. you began to move your hips against his, hungry for some type of stimulation down there. his hands fly to your hips and he rests his head in the crook of your neck, letting out soft grunts.

you bite your lip and pull him up to kiss his neck, one of his hands rest on your shoulder. once you find his sweet spot you do as he did and leave a dark red hickey. you pull back and look at it proudly.

“an eye for an eye” you wink at him.

“yeah, yeah” he smiles and pulls your face closer, kissing you again, this time using a bit of tongue. you moan instantly, letting him win and he explores your mouth as your hands glide down his chest, you could feel all of the contours and lines of his muscles and abs, letting you know he was fit. which only made him sexier. your hands slip under his shirt and you explore the area. he was too hot for you to handle, you could pounce on him again even though you kind of already pounced on him. he’s just too hot.

you pulled away abruptly and he looked at you with a confused expression. you smirked and stood up, him still looking at you, obviously confused. he reached for your wrist but you pulled it away and before he could say anything, with the help of his thighs you got on your knees. his confused expression was now gone as he watched the scene unfold, his jeans were so tight against him and you knew that. his hard-on wasn’t small either, it was actually pretty big, you could still see his print though it was dark and you wanted to help him out so you teased him by gliding your fingers up his thighs and then teased his dick by running your finger up and down his hard-on.

“stop t-teasing” he breathily moans, watching your every move.

you smirked, looking up at him and unzipped his jeans.

did you guys fuck? no. just oral sex, that was all you guys agreed to. johnny thought it would be a bad idea to have sex during the initial meet. he said it would be best to give it at least a few weeks. he truly did wanna get to know you some more as did you and that’s why you were okay with not going that far.

you slept in your room after you guys were done giving each other head. you’d given him a blanket to sleep with and a comfortable pillow instead of making him use one of the uncomfortable decor ones on your couch.

“thank you johnny,” you said as he grabbed his coat. you let him stay for breakfast, that you and him cooked together. (he wasn’t going to let you cook it by yourself)

“for what? i should be thanking you. i had fun” he says as he puts his coat on.

“because i had fun too. the most i’ve had in a long time so thank you for that”

“it’s nothing really, i’m glad i could reflect some light on” he laughs and slips his shoes on.

“i hope we could do that again” you hint your fondness toward him.

“of course we can you just gotta let me know. i’m always free” he looks at you with that look once again and you can’t help but let it slip out.

“why do you keep looking at me like that, you’ve been giving me the same look since you met me” you say softly so then it doesn’t one out harsh and you know it doesn’t when he responds.

“because...” he moves closer to you which makes your heart skip a beat. “i actually like you y/n, and i mean it. you’re so different from other girls i’ve met. i’m not just another handsome guy to you. you take an interest in the things i say and the stories i tell you, not many girls do and i thank you for that alone. thank you for listening to me.” he moves even closer to you, grabbing your hands which makes your heart begin to race. “so when i look at you like this, i’m thanking you.” he doesn’t say anything after that continuing to stare deeply into your eyes.

you felt so drunk in the moment, hypnotized by his eyes and soft words. you could already feel how head over heels you were gonna be for this guy, that's if you guys kept it up, which you think you will. the chemistry was way too strong for either of you to let go of.

“thank you” you whisper and he nods gently not breaking eye contact. “you should get going, i wouldn’t want you to be late for work. you still gotta get home in time to change out of these clothes... do you need a ride or?”

“kind of... only if it’s not too much trouble” he answers.

“of course it’s not, come on” you quickly get your stuff on and take him home.

“this is it” he says and you stop the car once you’re in front of the house.

“okay, i’ll see you later” you look over to him and he’s already looking at you. nothing happens for a few seconds but then johnny leans over to you and kisses you. you sigh into the kiss and grab ahold of his neck and kiss him back as his hand rests on your neck, he kisses you just as deep as last night but before anything serious happens he pulls away and lets a ‘text me’ roll of his tongue before he exits the vehicle and walks to his front door, unlocking it and walking inside. all without looking back.

you however, were in complete awe. he kissed you like that and then left. damn was he a good kisser, you could still feel the sensation of his lips on yours even after he was gone. you touched your lips and then smiled, pulling off.

bonus: later that day; the evening

you decide to pick up your phone and do exactly what he said earlier.

you: what was that all about earlier? - y/n

johnny🥰😫: so you decided to finally text me😊

johnny🥰😫: and what was what about👀

you: you know what i talking about. the kiss in the car

johnny🥰😫: you know, it was just a see you later kiss

you: mhm, okay mr. suh

johnny🥰😫: what?😂

you: imma give your ass a ‘see you later’ kiss and then walk away. see how it makes you feel

johnny🥰😫: bring it on then sexy, let’s see what you got

you: oh i’ll show you what i got👀

johnny🥰😫: are we still talking about kissing?😳

you: maybe, maybe not🤷‍♀️👀

NCT Masterlist

[valeskakingdom]

Request

Could I request a part 3? Jerome keeps the reader as his hostage for popularity and attention. Reader is really fond of the attention she gets as well and eventually sleeps with Jerome again? In the end she sees how Galavan kills him and is really sad?

Requested by @violentvaleska

For sure!! But again I gonna split this part in 2 because I noticed it would have been too long instead ahaha. I try to hurry with part 4!! Honestly, it's really cool to write oneshots!

And here it is:

Jerome x female reader (part 3)

Warning: mention of sex, depression and death

Word count: 3459

Gift credit: @jokersbabe27

"And here is our bedroom!" Jerome opened another wooden door and lead you into it.

You were irritated by his assertion 'our bed'. You weren't a couple or something. He just kidnapped and called you his property.

You examined the room. White pained walls, claret velvet curtains, a king size bed with while pillows and blankets, and some furnishungs. It didn't look that bad, much better than your little apartment.

"It's...pretty." You gave him a short smile hoping he would believe your faked comfortableness.

Actually you didn't feel well about that. You were around lunatics who either killed or are people...and you, you were the only sane one. You were clearly a victim for them. Sooner or later they would cause you problems.

You started to think about all the cruel things they could do to you in case, Jerome was not there: they could scare you away, haunt you for fun, or...leaving their sexual needs out on you. It was horrible, you literally lived in hell now.

The worse part was on it: you would be a loner if Jerome was gone. A nobody. Nobody would help you. Hell, they'd probably just mock at you that Jerome's property was just an anxious fool and that they couldn't understand what Jerome liked about you so much - you didn't even understand it. You were just a one off.

"But uhm...Jerome?" You turned to him.

"Yes, doll?" Jerome gave you a wide smile glaring at you with his big blue eyes.

"I need clothes... And all my clothes are in my apartment and-..." You knew you couldn't go back.

Not because of him and all your feelings for him- oh no, you wished you could go to your friend to forget the moment where Jerome frightened you to death. His permanent mood changes exhausted you a lot. On your way to his hostage, he made everyone clear that you were his property. No one was allowed to touch you nor to talk to you...They weren't even allowed to look at you. It was crazy. You should just belong to him, he was literally crazy about you.

So yeah, you couldn't go. If you went away, he'd chase you...and if he caught you, you'd probably end up dead.

"You don't need your old clothes, doll." He walked to one of the shelves and opened it: Lacy underwear, seemingly expensive but nice dresses, and some shirts with pants filled it.

"Uhm-..." Before you could say anything, you were interrupted by an older man in a black tuxedo and yelled dark brown hair.

You knew this man: Theo Galavan, the one coming into office of Gotham's major.

But what does he have to do with all the lunatics? And why were they living in his tower? It confused you a lot. In the TV, he seemed to be a good guy. Rich, clever, apparently cared Zabout all citizen's wealth. He wanted to safe the city, or even makes it a better place for everyone.

Your feeling told you though, he was the total opposite: a villain who wants to reign over Gotham.

Why else would he keep lunatics in his tower?! You thought.

"Jerome," Theo Galavan slowly stepped forward with a grin in his face, his hands were folded into each other "I see, you show our new guest her new hostage." He turned to you "I'm Theo Galavan, call me Theo."

"(Y/n)." You gave him a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry, you've been arrived during such ordinary circumstances." He placed his hand on his chest "It wasn't planned to scare you away. But I think we both know Jerome's little tick for an overdramatic show, don't we?"

"O-ohhh, yeah, uhm... it's... it's fine?...yeah," You stammered a little while trying "It was uhm... adventurous." You chuckled nervously completely ignoring his little question.

"Indeed," Theo chuckled darkly rubbing his palms, then he walked a few steps to Jerome and whispered something in his ear. You couldn't understand what he was saying though. You just felt uncomfortable about two people talking behind your back but right in front of you. You just could see Jerome nodding with a grin as both looked at each other. Something was wrong, that you can tell.

"Anyways," Theo turned around with a smile in his face "I leave you two alone now. Some privacy should be appropriated. It was a pleasure to meet you (Y/n) and welcome home." He shut the door and left our room before you could say anything.

"That guy's amazing, did I tell you? If you know him, you'll understand me. He's a big authority and-..."

"What did he tell you?" You interrupted him giving him a stern look "It was about me, wasn't it?" You didn't know where you've got that brave from. Maybe because you were a little scared about what exactly Theo whispered into Jerome's ear?

"I really hate it when some interrupts me..." Jerome grumbled giving you a death stare, his bearing was cramped and he clenched his fists; it looked like he was about to kill you every minute "It's very impolite to interrupt someone, don't you think?"

You couldn't say anything so you just nodded quickly in panicking and fear. More and more you just wanted to go home. You wished you never took the bus to your friend, instead you just could've ask them to hook you up then you wouldn't have been here.

You really didn't want to live like that: being frightened from your oh so called partner because he could kill you every time you were doing a mistake in his eyes.

"Good," but then his death stare and cramped bearing faded instantly and as always he gave you a warm smile "Now to answer your question..." Jerome grabbed your waist pulling you close to him, his nails were dug in your skin that it almost hurt a little "He and I made a little deal before I...you know...kidnapped you."

"And what for a deal?" You frowned confused.

"You should stay here telling nobody about him keeping me and the others here and so on...because if not he kills you." He chuckled louldy "Isn't that fun? He really thinks he can kill you."

You widened your eyes in shock and fear. You hoped you haven't heard it right. Theo will kill you if you lose any word about this here? You won't be able to go back to your home? To message your friends? Nothing?

More and more you felt like a prisoner...and more and more you felt like an object than a human. You were pressured, they decided everything for you... practically your only task was to entertain Jerome...however he wanted it.

"Don't worry, doll, he won't even dare to lay a finger on you." Jerome grabbed your cheeks softly and leaned his forehead against yours, his lips hovered over yours "Because I am the boss. Really no one wants me to be mad because you know... they'll end up dead."

He pressed his lips on yours roughly, his grip on your cheeks tightened. His tongue slipped into your mouth while he nibbled on your lower lip. You let out a little moan in arousal. As if it was a reflex you automatically wrapped your arms around his neck.

Jerome's hands wandered down; along your breasts what made you shiver and gasp, his hands stopped at your waist.

"I almost forgot the feeling when I touch your soft lips doll." Jerome interrupted the kiss and let out a sigh in arousal throwing his head back.

You blushed hard, a slight giggle escaped your lips.

With this kiss, Jerome calmed you down a lot. It let you remind of that one special night again: the butterflies in your stomach, the happiness... You could say, for a short moment you almost forgot about his craziness and him being a murderer.

On the other hand, you still felt strange about the whole thing. A criminal was obsessed with you, his obsession was that big that no one was allowed to do anything with you...and also that you couldn't go back to your friends... You didn't like it at all. Your friends were more important to you than Jerome. You knew them for years and him... You've just met once.

Jerome kissed you again deeply, then he made his way down your jawline to your neck. You let out a little moan as he kissed started to suck on your sweet spot. His hands travelled under your shirt up to your bra clip to open it. You unbottoned his shirt and ripped it off his body while he tugged your bra from your body. You felt him biting your neck, first slightly then harder. It hurt a little and you knew that you'd be marked sooner or later - but you didn't mind. You knew what was coming right now. It was exactly like the first time you two had sex.

Jerome ripped your shirt off from your body and then stopped every single actions. He was eyes you, he stared at every little part of your body. He was like a wild animal staring at its prey and just waited for the perfect moment to catch it.

It made you shiver, but you loved it anyhow. It was very new but you could get used to it.

"Oh, how I missed that view," Jerome bit his lip with lust still viewing your whole body "Time to make up that whole year."

Jerome grabbed you by your waist and literally threw you into the king size bed right behind you. He was so eager to rip your clothes from your body to feel all this pleasure he has felt one year ago. He wanted to feel your soft skin on his, to hear you moans every time he thrusted into you, he wanted to be into you. He couldn't wait for it, so violently he unbottoned your jeans literally ripped them off your body.

You blushed hard. You were excited, surprised, but still you felt uncomfortable. You wondered whst was happening now. Does he expect any dirty kinks from you? Calling him daddy? Any pet names? Or other ordinary kinks?

You hoped for the best, you hoped nothing would have changed and you could just go on.

Jerome grabbed your face again and kissed you deeply nibbling on your lower lip. While that he pulled down your panties and inserted a finger into your cunt. You let out a sharp moan and your hips bucked quickly through the strong intensity of him hitting your sweet spot. You couldn't help but digging you nails in the sheets of his bed and arching your back as he speeded up.

He was rougher with you than before, almost violently. It hurt and was fast but it felt so good at the same time. You started liking it even more than the soft stuff one year ago. Your pleasure was stronger and him being rough kind of turned you on.

Jerome inserted another finger into your wet entrance what let you moan a little louder and your hips bucked.

Jerome curled up his fingers inside you harder and faster what made you moan louder. You grabbed the sheets of the bed tight to handle this big amount of pleasure.

Your back arched as he hit your g spot for another time. There again, you had this incredible feeling, all the upcoming pleasure in your body caused you a cribbing feeling in your abdomen that spread through your limbs up to your shoulders - this time it was much more intense though. Your core was aching and you became needy for his cock. Indeed, you were well pleasured but you want more. You wanted him to bury his member inside of you, filling up every inch of your cunt, making you scream and cum over and over again.

All your sorrows and worries disappeared all of a sudden. You didn't do anything for it; You just had eyes for Jerome and how he'd make you done undome several times. You didn't care about whether the others would hear you or not, you didn't care whether you'd rip the sheets apart or vice versa. You didn't care about anything.

You bit your lip in pleasure after you let out a loud moan as you noticed you were close.

Jerome pressed his thumb on your clit while continuing to pleasure you making you gasp. Your moans became louder and it became harder to hold them back. They way he did it just made you feel so good.

"Close already, huh?" Jerome pressed his thumb harder on your clit rubbing it in circling motions "Come for me, doll." His eyes kept staring on you. He loved hearing you moan his name through all the pleasure he was giving you. It aroused him much more than usual. He missed you and all this - he really did. The things that happened in his cell were nothing compared to you.

"Ahh fuck!" Right after he finished his sentence you released yourself with a lot cry.

The sweat was dripping down your forehead, you breathed heavy and uneven, and your legs were shaking and felt weak.

It was amazing for you. You admitted to yourself how much you missed this and you now remembered how good he made you feel.

With his strength, Jerome turned you around on your stomach waisting no time.

You blushed hard being a little worried about what's coming next.

"On all four, kitten." You blushed harder and did what he said. You felt a little strange with that nickname, it was very new to you, and honestly you would have never expected that from Jerome. His first impression to was him being a soft guy who rather prefers the normal way of how sex goes like...and generally, he didn't seem to be a dominant and rough guy.

You heard him walking a few steps backwards taking something. You were a little afraid what was coming now. You were afraid that he was taking a knife or other kind of weapons to do with you some dirty acts.

"My, my, my...You have such a beautiful body, you know that kitten?" Suddenly you felt something cold and sharp wandering down your spine. It made you shiver and gasp. You knew it was a knife and you just waited until Jerome started to hurt you "How many boys might have touched you when I was absent?"

"N-no one...w-where-...." You stammered in fear hoping nothing bad will happen. You didn't know where he's got that from suddenly. Was he jealous? Was he 'scared' that you could have a boyfriend and that he needs to make a plan to kill him?

"You really want me to believe that?" Jerome unbottoned his jeans and grabbed your waist violently inserting his dick into your wet entrance "It sounds a little surreal, don't you think? Who would not betray a blood-thirsty and cold-hearted murderer who's busted in Arkham?"

He didn't move though. Instead he pulled pulled on your hair tight that your head fell back what are you moan again. But instantly, your breathe hitched as you felt a cold and sharp knife pressed on your throat. Now you were scared, almost panicking. You hoped he didn't slit your throat.

"You know, I'm not a fan telling me a lie." He pressed the knife harder against your throat. You cut feel how the sharp blade cut your thin skin. Your body shivered in fear, your pulse was running and your breath was uneven. It felt like every minute could be your last one, it was just a matter of time until he killed you.

"I-I would n-never lie to you." You stammered quickly "H-honestly, I j-just though about y-you..." It was the truth. You really did. The whole year where Jerome was gone you didn't even think of dating a boy or of a simple one off. You were too much stuck in your thoughts about him, how he was doing, what he has become...

"Is that so?" Jerome didn't really sound convinced what let you panicking more.

"Y-yes," You gulped because you knew what you had to say now: you had to say you liked him "You J-Jerome...the l-last year was...i-it was hard for me b-because-..."

"Because?" You felt how the blade was pressed deeper in your skin and slightly moved to make a longer cut in your throat.

"Well," You gasped as Jerome stopped moving the blade "I-I....like y-you..."

This was not completely true but not completely wrong, as well. You did like him, but the old him more. You weren't scared of the old Jerome, you liked him being soft and kind...not frightening with this permanent changing behavior.

He said nothing at first, you could just feel his grin against your ear.

He put the blade aside what let you sigh in relief. You calmed down a little seeing the blade on the floor.

"I know, doll." His head moved from your ear, his hands were both placed on your waist.

And again, he started to thrusted violently into your wet entrance. You swore with a loud moan and arched your back.

Immediately, Jerome speeded up permanently pushing you against him to drill his member deeper into your cunt. His nails were dug into your waist what made you biting your lip.

Your whole body felt weak with every thrust he did into you. You body shivered slightly through this overwhelming pleasure. Every thrust hurt more, each of your moans became louder. Your nails were dug into the sheets of the bed deeply but still the pleasure he was giving you was too much. You couldn't handle it.

You moaned louder, almost uncontrollably, then your body gave in and you slightly collapsed in the bed.

Jerome though didn't waist no time - he kept drilling his member into you, grabbed your hair and pulled you upwards by your hair again.

"Oh my God, Jerome!" You cried out in pleasure while your legs shivered.

"So eager for my cock, you little slut, aren't we?" Jerome grunted and speeded up a third time.

You moaned louder, almost screamed. You felt how your walls clenched against his cock - you were close. You didn't know whether you could hold it back. It all was too much for you. You felt a knot in your stomach that was built up. It hardened with every thrust Jerome did.

"Fuck, I'm gonna-...!" You almost screamed digging your nails deeper in the sheets of the bed as you came. You couldn't even finish your sentence. With a few more thrusts, Jerome came as well.

You both collapsed on the bed. He still laid on you not even pulling out his member.

Silence filled the room for a while, just your gasps for air broke it here and there.

You felt Jerome's warm breathe on your skin every time he breathed out.

You closed your eyes for a moment enjoying this half broken silence.

Many thoughts crashed in your head together:

You told Jerome that you liked him and he surely will take advantage of it. Maybe he wants to force you to violent things like shooting at people or hurting them otherwise? And every time, you refuse he'd tell you stupid stuff like but I thought you like me, doll. You kinda regret what you said because you knew it will have consequences.

Another point would be his now increasing obsession and possessiveness towards you. Now he had the final proof that you wanted to be his and no one could ruin him that. He could call you his property because you liked him which meant for him: you wanted to be with him, you wanted to be his queen of Gotham, you wanted to spread chaos with him. Everyone else was his rival.

But then you thought that on the other hand, it was okay to be his. Everyone knew crazy Jerome could probably be so no one wanted him to be mad, as he said. And so nothing would happen to you.

"Even better than the first time" Jerome rolled off of you staring at the ceiling for a while while taking deep breathes.

"I agree," You slightly chuckled.

"And doll, " Jerome grabbed your cheeks pressing his face against yours that his lips hovered over yours "Never forget who you belong to. We don't want things turning out bad, do we?"

"N-no." You shook your head fast.

"Good...because you're mine."

[vs-redemption]

I originally gave this idea to someone else awhile ago but I can’t find it anywhere anymore but I do remember it was a nice idea lmao and bc I love your writing I’ll give it to you as well!

Bacon bits Dabi x Polar opposite reader. And I mean this in literally every way possible. Like he’s all black leather, rough and tough and she’s all pink glitter, soft and sweet.

I love you!! - 🐱💕

From Cindy: Hello 🐱anon!!! Thanks for requesting this fun idea. At first I thought this was going to turn out to be kind of goofy, but then it ended up being kind of... sweet? I don’t know. Let me know what you think! I hope you enjoy it!

Opposites Attract (Dabi x Polar Opposite! Fem!Reader)

⚠️This story contains some spoilers about Dabi’s past ⚠️

Nobody was more confused about how Dabi had ended up dating someone like you, who was so completely opposite to his personality in every way, than Dabi himself. He knew very well that it made no sense, and logically, everything about you should have grated on his nerves. Somehow though, it didn’t. Somehow, you two worked.

If you were to ask anyone else in the League of Villains, they’d snicker behind their hand before telling you that Dabi had mommy issues. The way you doted on your boyfriend so sweetly would have been nauseating to all of them if it weren’t for the fact that you were just as kind to the rest of them too. You were always quick to rush to their aid whenever you saw one of them looking hurt or upset, while Dabi preferred to make fun of them or just ignore them altogether.

“Are you sure you should even be with Dabi?” Spinner would ask while you checked the bump he’d gotten on his head from driving like a maniac during one of their missions. “You could do so much better.”

Dabi hated whenever they tried to put ideas of leaving him in your head, and sometimes he worried there was truth behind their teasing. He wouldn’t go as far as to say he had “mommy issues,” but your soft and gentle nature did remind him of some of the less terrible times he’d had during his childhood with his sister and mother. That was as far as the similarities went though, and he knew none of the people in his biological family would ever go out wearing hot pink or carry a bedazzled phone case. The one thing he did agree with completely was that you could do better than him, but he was too selfish to ever bring that up.

“Look at this one, Dabi!” you smile while tilting your phone toward him, the light from the screen reflecting off his staples. “It’s so cute.”

Normally, Dabi wouldn’t be caught dead cuddling up in bed while scrolling through Instagram pictures of baby animals and cute latte art, but hearing your excited gasps and giggles calmed him down and kept his mind from drowning itself in the bitter hatred he felt toward the rest of the world. Honestly, Dabi envied your ability to find joy and happiness in such simple things. He hardly cared about anything anymore aside from the burning need to ruin Endeavor and all of hero society in general, so forcing him to spend time doing anything frivolous like that actually helped to keep him grounded in the present.

When you had first started dating Dabi, you’d tried to get him to expand his clothing style a bit to include more colors, but that didn’t work out very well. He’d gotten extremely annoyed when you started showing him some outfits you’d bookmarked on your phone that you wanted him to try, and he had rejected every single one. To get revenge for irritating him, he’d snatched up your phone and started looking up some outfits he’d like to see you try on. Of course they were all black and a couple of them even made you blush in embarrassment, causing him to smirk victoriously.

Even though changing his clothing style ended up being a bust, you had still somehow found ways to spend time together doing something fun you could both enjoy. One of Dabi’s favorite things to do together was dye each other’s hair. He’d been a little nervous at first, letting you in on the secret that his hair wasn’t naturally black, but now he really enjoyed letting you take care of hiding the bright white strands of his roots while he closed his eyes and relaxed under your touch. He returned the favor of course, and made sure to give you a heavenly scalp massage while working the color into your hair.

Another thing Dabi actually liked doing was painting your nails. It had surprised you because he was the one to suggest it first after hearing you make a comment about how difficult it was to paint with your non dominant hand, and how you always messed up the wet paint on the hand you’d already finished. Dabi didn’t mind helping you because it was another thing you could do together that also served as a soothing task that kept his inner demons under control.

“Does it always have to be pink?” he’d ask with a huff every single time.

“Yep!” You’d tell him cheerfully, “but I’ll let you pick the decals this time!”

Usually you made him choose from different types of glitter or rhinestones, but every once in a while you’d let him decorate your nails with little skulls or, when he was feeling especially sassy, blue flame stickers that you’d special ordered online to surprise him.

When Dabi really allowed himself to think about it, he knew exactly why he was dating someone so different from himself. It was because you were the first person to ever keep him around because you wanted him there, not because you needed him. The whole reason he’d even been born was to fulfill his father’s sick fantasy of surpassing All Might, and there was no way the League of Villains would put up with his dark, reclusive behavior if it weren’t for his powerful quirk and dedication to the cause.

At the end of the day, dating Dabi didn’t benefit you in any way. He was mean and grumpy, plus he was a villain which made it hard for him to support you the way a partner should. The only explanation he could think of for you keeping him around was that you truly wanted him to be there, and having someone who could validate his existence like that was something he’d craved since before he’d even been old enough to understand that concept. So, he would endure the snide remarks from other people and sit through as many ridiculous Korean boy band music videos as you wanted if it meant keeping you in his life.

[imagine-lcorp]

Take My Hand, Take My Whole Life Too (One Shot)

Request

Can I request something with a Paramedic reader attending to Lena's wounds after a car crash. Reader was on her way home from work still in her uniform when she sees the crash at night. Lena gets hurt and the other driver vanishes from the scene. R tends to Lena's broken arm or something. Drives them to the hospital, stays by Lena's side the whole time in the ER and then drives lena home. Lena is smitten by the woman in the uniform and offers R morning coffee since it took all night in the ER

A/N: Hello, my dears, back again with this one shot, as always thank you to the anon that sent this one, I hope I’m not to late (I know I am but pls forgive) and I hope that you like it! Let me know what you think, guys. I love y’all c: 

Lena Luthor x Paramedic Fem!R//Word Count: 2,540  -------------------------------------------------------

When people asked you what was the best part of your job, you would always say it was being able to help people. Which came with its own reward as you could meet some amazing people along the way. The downside of it, however, was that your work was never done. Especially in a place like National City, between the usual medical emergencies, the occasional super-powered villain wreaking havoc and the rare alien invasion, you always had to be ready for anything. Including the car crash you had witnessed while heading home.

It had been a relatively quiet day at the station, your shift had ended at midnight and the only thing you wanted then was to go home, grab some dinner, strip yourself of your uniform, and go to bed early as your day off was waiting for you the next morning. The last thing you had expected once you got off work was to go right back at it.

You had been waiting for the light to turn green at an intersection when a blur to your left startled you, followed by the sound of tires squealing and the loud crash of metal against metal. A moment later, you saw two cars ahead on opposite sides of the road. The black one had a broken windshield, and the driver side doors were dented from where you guessed the red one, with the bent bumper and broken right headlight, had impacted.

When you finally caught up on what was happening, you didn't waste more time. All thoughts about rest and relaxation were forgotten as you started to assess the scene. You turned your blinkers on and moved your car, making sure there were no other cars about to crash on you and close enough to have a better view of the damage. Unfortunately, you didn't get the chance to examine both cars further as you watched the red one take the road again and flee the scene. You stopped your car and got out to check on the people inside the black car.

Approaching carefully, you went to check first on the driver's seat. Inside the black car was a single person. The woman, probably in her mid-twenties, wearing a sleeveless dress, with dark hair, pale skin, and who looked strangely familiar, was lying back on her seat with eyes closed. You took your phone from one of your pockets and called the emergency number.

As you described what had happened to the dispatcher, you examined the woman's condition as best as you could giving them a picture, as clear as possible, about it. She didn't seem to move but her breathing was steady. The crash might have not been as severe as there were no signs of cuts or wounds visible. However, with the airbag in front of her already losing it's shape, you noticed her left arm had a purple bruise. You moved the rest of the airbag with care and grimaced as you watched how big it was. It could be a sing of fracture.

The call was quick and after confirming your location the dispatcher told you there was an ambulance already on its way. In the meantime, you did what you knew best.

"Miss, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?" You said before trying to move the woman. When you didn't get a response, you opened the door and tried shaking her gently in the shoulders. A pair of dazzling green eyes fluttered open, focusing with some difficulty on you. You put your hands on her neck and face for support. "Do you know what happened to you?"

The touch of your hands seemed to shake her a bit, her eyes closing and opening again as if thinking this was some kind of hallucination. Something you imagined was the effect of the shock.

"Oh, you're pretty." The woman said with a drowsy voice.

A little smile formed in the corner of your lips. It wasn't the first time you had received a compliment like that. She was also an undeniably beautiful woman and you would have responded accordingly, had it not been for the current circumstances. Now you feared she had suffered a concussion.

As she saw the little smile in your face, the woman's clouded mind cleared in an instant. Her eyes grew bigger with surprise. It wasn't a thought she was supposed to voice out loud. Her head had felt foggy, as if waking up after a long nap in a bed made of rocks and rusty nails and it didn't help that she had started to feel a little headache, making her almost incapable of forming orderly thoughts, until she realized what she had said.

"Thanks." You managed in the end. "What's your name?"

"Lena." She said with a grunt, like she was finally realizing where she was and what was happening. "Lena Luthor."

At the mention of her name something clicked inside your brain. Of course you recognized Lena Luthor. Besides being one of the richest people in the planet, she was a very active philanthropist. She had made great donations and participated countless times in the charities the hospital you worked in organized. You made a mental note to thank her after all of this but, in the meantime, you proceeded like any other case.

"Alright, Lena. My name is (Y/N) (Y/L/N), I'm a paramedic. An ambulance is already on the way, so I need you to stay with me, okay?"

All my life if you want, Lena thought along with some other things she was aware enough to keep to herself, only giving a small nod in understanding.

You started placing your hands in her neck, her shoulders, her back, and so on, asking if she could feel anything or if she was feeling any pain or discomfort. Most of the time the answer was negative as she only seemed to have a mild headache and some pain on her neck but, as the adrenaline and shock were wearing off, she slowly came to notice the the actual amount of pain in her body, especially in her left arm.

"Any pain here?" You said once you reached her arm.

She winced with a little yelp and for a second tried to pull her arm away.

"Sorry, sorry." You took her arm again in a gentler way, trying to move the rest of the airbag out of the way, placing her arm to a better position and your other hand under hers. "Okay, we are not gonna move from there. Can you feel your fingers?"

Lena nodded, trying to close her fingers around your hand. "Yeah, I can feel them."

"Okay." You moved your other hand, feeling her arm with soft touches. You still weren't sure if her arm was broken but anyway you needed to cover it. "I need to go get some padding for-"

"No, please." Lena quickly said. "I-I don't want to be left alone."

There was fear clear in her eyes and you almost hit your own forehead. For what you had heard around, most of the visits Lena Luthor had ever made to a hospital had been after a direct attempt on her life. With a crazy family and half the city against her, of course, she was scared.

"Alright, don't worry. Once the ambulance is here, we are going to give you something for the pain, get your arm splinted up and take you to the hospital. I promise I'm not leaving, okay?" You said with another little smile, reassuring Lena as much as possible.

"Thank you." She stopped holding her breath.

You tried to make some small talk as you waited, making more questions about trivial things to make sure she was alert and hadn't suffered brain damage. While doing so, you learned that Lena Luthor, for all the things the media some times tried to feed you about her and her family, was a nice person. She was answering every question you threw at her as best as she could, even making some charming remarks from time to time that you found kind of cute. Mostly, you were relieved to confirm she was in good shape.

The ambulance and police sirens could be heard on the distance and a moment later you had to step away to let the team of paramedics work. You recognized your coworkers as they came to your aid. You had to step aside to talk to the police about the incident, giving them the best description you could about the hit and run before some details faded from your memory and were glad to leave them to their own thing as you watched the other paramedics finally pull Lena out of her car.

They were moving her to the stretcher and towards the ambulance when you went to do a final check on her. She seemed calmer, probably thanks to the painkillers they had provided her, and a bit paler, which made you a little worried, but you were relieved to see her arm was already being taken care of. You had thought that was the end of your night and were about to leave Lena's side when she called you.

"(Y/N)?" She said as she was about to be loaded into the ambulance.

"Yes?" You frowned for a moment in confusion but got a bit closer to hear her through the sound of people moving around.

"Could you stay with me?" She asked with pleading eyes.

Somewhere, on the back of her mind, Lena knew this was nothing more than the effect of the drugs in her system. There was no other reason to keep you there, you had helped her so much, calling for help, attending her injuries, and making sure the medical team could take another look at her. And maybe that was the exact same reason she wanted you around for a little longer.

You raised both eyebrows in surprise, and the couple of paramedics did the same as they looked at each other and then at you.

"Well, I-" You hesitated for a moment but considering who was asking, and that the cutest puppy eyes you had ever seen were looking at you, you gave in. Part of you wouldn't admit it yet, but you had somehow grown fond of Lena in such a little time and you still had to thank her for all she had done. "Sure."

Since you couldn't just leave your car behind, you decided to follow the ambulance to the hospital where Lena was brought into the ER. She was placed in a bed and you sat by her side, waiting for the nurses to do a check up.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this." Lena spoke after an awkward moment of silence, realizing she may have overstepped your boundaries.

Considering her state of mind, she hadn't really thought this through but your presence seemed to soothe her better than the painkillers and that was all she had known at the moment.

"Don't be. I figured it was the least I could do for our biggest sponsor." You said this time with a bit of a tired smile, feeling the exhaustion of the night.

Your weary expression didn't go unnoticed by Lena who also didn't have the chance to ask what you had meant as the nurse and doctor entered the room. They started by asking her more questions and checking her vitals. When they noticed you there, still in uniform, the doctor figured you were one of the paramedics that had brought Lena and told you they would take it from there.

"She can stay, doctor." Lena's tone made it seem almost like and order. "She's a friend."

You were a bit surprised by her answer but both nurse and doctor nodded their agreement and moved on, probably because they knew by now who they were treating.

They moved Lena's arm again to take some x-rays and, through all the wincing and grunting, you instinctively took her hand in yours and you had no idea how much she appreciated the gesture. It had been a long time since another person had offered her a hand in comfort and even a longer time since she had let someone take care of her like this.

It was early morning when after all the necessary medical checks were done, you left the ER pushing a very tired and very beaten up Lena, with a cast in her arm, in a wheelchair through the hospital doors and into the chill of the night. As you pushed the chair outside, you took a moment, taking of your jacket and putting it over her shoulders.

"Here." You said and started pushing the wheelchair into the parking lot. "Now, we better get you home before it gets colder."

"Wait, (Y/N)." Lena said as you were approaching your car. "You don't have to, you have already done so much."

"It's okay. Like I said, it's the least I could do."

"For your biggest sponsor?" Lena asked.

"Yeah, I guess." You said remembering you wanted to thank her for that. "You may not remember but, last year, you made some big donations to every hospital in National City, Miss Luthor. Including the one I work for. That helped a lot of people so, yeah, this is just me trying to repay for all those you have helped."

"Then, if that's what it takes for you to take me home, I'll make sure to make more of those donations." Lena said, forgetting to keep those bits of inner thoughts to herself.

You stopped then, like finally realizing how unusual the situation was. An off-shift paramedic taking care of a car accident patient, accompanying her all the way to the ER, waiting all night beside her as her medical test were done, and taking her home afterwards, like it was the most natural thing to do.

You rounded Lena's chair and crouched in front of her. "It's not just the donations, Lena."

She got worried she had overstepped again but seeing the way your eyes were looking into hers, and the way you had said her name, made Lena feel secure once more.

"I cannot tell you how or why but I have ever done this with anyone I have ever met." You said with a sheepishly smile.

"Maybe we could discover it together." She tried. "Around a cup of coffee, once we reach my home? I mean, since you already have been with me all night. How does that sound?"

You seemed to ponder it for a moment and then you offered your hand. "Sounds like a good deal."

Lena took your hand in hers once more, closing what felt like the best bargain she had ever done in her life and hoping it would last exactly that.

"And now that I'm sure you don't have a concussion I can also tell you. I think you're pretty too." You saw Lena's cheeks turn red and didn't give her time to respond as you returned to the back of the wheelchair, with a grin plastered in your face and excited to star the new day with her.

[bozowrites]

Dare to Care

Imagine

↳ There is always going to be a drift in society and no one can fix it. 

Pairing: Bakugou Katsuki × Fem!Reader

TW: None.

Word Count: 1.7k

Part 1 // more to come...

A/n: I have a lot of asks but I got rlly inspired to write this last night. It’ll be multiple parts so if u actually like this u can be added to the taglist, just comment or dm me or whatever. Love you, darlings! 💞

In our society, there are separations whether we like them or not. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. And that’s what sucks. I want nothing more than to patch up the hole that was put between us and them. To fix the broken world that we’ve come to call home. It isn’t home. Nowhere is home when all is broken around you, and I’ve come to terms with that.  

There are the heroes, the civilians and the villains. Then there’s the rich, the middle-class and the poor. Simple words can create a huge drift in society.  

Some think they are above others for the simple fact they have a title. A hero. A well-known hero that all love and adore. And then some rich think they are better for the reason is they have money; they have the power to do whatever they want because of that money. Money buys you the things you need, even love, apparently.  

I grew up to solely believe this. I was beneath them and they were above all. I worked for what I needed as they got handed their things on silver platters.  

My mother worked two jobs on minimum wage every day and made just enough to pass us buy. Some stood pretty for a camera and made thousands—millions even! It’s ridicules, really. Or, maybe, that's just jealousy speaking.  

All I want is to be known as someone for working hard and give my single, hard-working mom, a break. To rest and never stress again. To take care of her. To never let her fear of being too little for me. I want to be her hero.  

“How many times do I have to say it? I didn’t order the this.” The woman of high-class spoke rudely. “I’m sorry, ma'am, but that’s what the receipt and your waiter told me.” Her lips scowl and her growl is more evident. This restaurant is full of people like her. Spoiled brats. “Well your waiter is wrong!” I sighed, losing grip of my temper slowly.

“Perhaps, one of the men behind you ordered it,” I said slowly, gesturing to the three men in matching tuxedos behind her. “You did leave the table to talk with a friend, I do believe. Just enough time for one of them to order something behind your back.” My tone was impatient and I knew this was no way to act, but people like her hit all the wrong nerves.

“Are you using that tone with me? And disrespecting my brothers?!” The pit of anger in the bottom of my stomach started bubbling. She thought she was so much better because her dad owned some company and held high status. She didn’t, just her father. He made the life he did through his hard-work, she just feeds off his hard-earned prize.  

And that’s what disgusts me.  

“Dear, they need you in the kitchen, I’ll take care of the rest.” Miss Masmai said with a gentle hand on my shoulder. She always did that. When someone was angry or upset in any way, she put a hand on their shoulder and spoke with a gentle tone. She was this sweet lady, near her fifties, who worked alongside her brother in this restaurant.  

“Thank you, miss.” I gave a knowing nod and left to the kitchen. It was obvious my anger was rising and Miss Masami knew that. She always saw right through me. I don’t know how, though I wish I did.  

“L/n, get angry again?” My co-corkers always did that. I was known to get angry quickly. I’d accepted that a long time ago, though it doesn’t feel good hearing people say it constantly. “Shut it, Tsukishima.” The tall blonde only smirked and continued away at cooking.  

My body felt exhausted. It was hard being an adult. I knew that since I was just a little girl. I didn’t get to play house and make endless friends—no—I spent every night crying in bed, hearing my mom mutter through the thin walls of how to pay the bills, how to feed me, how to get through the next month. It was painful. I always felt the drift between society and me grow. My life became consumed by the thoughts of suffering and never getting by. I let my little mind think that money divided everyone, I still believe it. Most people I meet do too.  

“L/n, can I speak to you?” I glanced over to Mister Masami. He has this dark glare. Unlike his sister, he holds no patience and doesn’t believe in second chances. Because of his sister, and only because of her, I’ve lasted as long as I have. He says I have anger issues. I don’t. It’s my lack of social skills mixed with bottled up fear and frustration.  

“Mister Masami? How may I help you?” I asked nicely, though he and I both know it was forced. He and I were never on good terms. “You’ve reached your last straw, you’re fired. They are important people who visit nearly every week, and you disrespected them.” I scowled. “Fine. Have a nice day, Mister Masami.” As I take off the black apron and toss it at him, I muttered, “Asshole.” He doesn’t respond, but I know he’s biting his tongue to re-frame from doing so.  

As I leave through the backdoor, I can hear some co-workers chuckling and talking among themselves happily. I didn’t know if it was over my leave or for something completely different. It didn’t matter, really.

It’s nearly midnight when I finish my shift at the local café by my apartment. I work three jobs (well two now), never really having time to myself. That’s the life of a poor adult, I guess. When I reached the age to be able to work, I did. Mom didn’t like it, of course she didn’t, but it wasn’t up to her. I wanted to help. She needed my help.  

There’s a sudden cold chill in the air. I’ve walked this path a million times before and I’ve never had this fear to walk this way. The sudden uncomfortable atmosphere around me is frightening. I glanced around, only seeing the dark streets. There were only three lampposts here and each was dime, giving only small portions of light. Even the street lamps in this poor area sucked.  

“Fuck you heroes!” A voice shouted. I felt my whole-body shake. I've seen the news of villain attacks, but I’ve never been in the same area or around long enough to see the action.  

“And fuck you villains!” The supposed hero shouted back. I leant against the brick wall, trying to keep myself hidden. I could see flashes and hear the blasts close by. It was terrifying. The closer the sounds came, the more my body shook. I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire neighbourhood woke up, actually, I'd be surprised if the entire neighbourhood didn’t wake up.  

The sudden flashes are crossing my eyes. The small blasts of explosions and the loud voices are ringing in my ears louder. I can feel the heat created by each and individual explosion. I don’t know if it’s the villain or the hero’s quirk, but I didn’t plan on sticking around to find out.

I let my feet run to my apartment as fast as one can, but it wasn’t enough. A cold hand grabbed my arm. I knew it wouldn’t be the hero’s, why would it be? There’s this sudden cold object put to my neck and my vision is set to a blonde staring at the villain and myself with glaring eyes.  

“Let them go, villain.” The tone he sets is cold. I can tell he doesn’t care about me. I mean nothing to a high-status hero. All he wants is to keep his legacy as a hero clean. He saved another helpless civilian, all will say. Doesn’t make him good. There could be so many other things the press and public don’t know, but all they care to see is the heroism he displays. Makes me sick.  

“Why would I? I think her blood would look real good in my hands.” Her voice is chilling to the ear and I can feel the breaths she takes. Her fingers are digging into my waist and a knife floats midair in front of my throat. I hate every part of this. Her nails are long, making blood seep through the fabric of my clothes. I can feel the warmness against my skin. It’s not a lot, but enough to hurt.  

I don’t say anything through all the banter they shout at one another. I only stand there and stare at the hero. He doesn’t spare me a glance or show worry. It really says something about himself. He doesn’t care about no one but himself. Maybe I was getting ahead of myself, but I’ve come to read others through their small actions and words.  

I was so in my head; I hardly felt the gash against my cheek as the blonde hero took the villain down. My mind processed slowly as I saw him pick her off the ground, her mumbles inaudible.  

“You good?” There’s no sympathy in his voice. There’s no care or worry. It was nothing but hero intake. He has to, he was an idol to lots. And what kind of idol doesn’t ask the victim if they’re all right?  

I can only nod wordlessly. Both his and my stare are blank. He still has the villain in his grab, but there’s this shift in the atmosphere. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t take the time to question it.  

“You’re bleeding.” He said, voice rough and toneless. I touch the burning cheek. I didn’t feel the pain at the start, but the more I thought of it, the more it hurt. How did I get cut? When? Why? “Oh,” I see the blood on my fingers. My side begins to hurt too. I remember the nails and blood. I don’t think he knows and that doesn’t bother me.  

I shrugged and said, “Uh, thanks. Bye.” I turned, having nothing left to say. I know he’s staring at me. I can feel the burn of his eyes on my head. He’s probably questioning me silently.

Why didn’t I fawn over him? Why didn’t I praise him? Why didn’t I stay to speak?

Most heroes get so into it, they forget the reason they became a hero. To save people, they say at the start. But, in the end, they want the praise and only the praise. When they don’t get what they desire, things don’t always go well for those around them.  

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Worthy of Everything (Part 3) - fic

Characters: Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne Summary: “I’ve got you, Damian. Now let’s get you home.” A/N: Location is based on that page in TEC 1029 where they show Damian reading the casebook. Also, can’t tell if Damian’s new uni is black or gray based on the three issues it’s been fully seen in so...have fun with my vague guess haha. Dick sends a picture of Damian sleeping with his pets to only Barbara, the only one that I can see in canon who has given a shit about Damian and his emotional state in the last year, to confirm that he actually found him. Damian still spends a lot of his time apologizing for things that aren’t actually his fault and it breaks Dick’s heart, but he helps as best he can. Purposeful parallels to part one huzzah!

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

~~

It was an old observation tower, in the historic district. Disused since the 80s, but not run down. Still owned by the city, if he was remembering correctly, and still got annual inspections, just in case it was ever needed to be reopened.

So the building was stable, just empty. And could see all of Gotham City.

Of course Damian would come here. It was so obvious. They touted that they were the family of the world’s greatest detectives, and it didn’t occur to a single one of them. Didn’t occur to Bruce.

They should all be ashamed.

Dick took a deep inhale, ignored the butterflies in his stomach, and the tears already threatening to mist over his vision.

God, he missed this kid. He missed his kid.

The threat of tears was the joy he wanted to feel, the joy he knew was coming. How long did he have that stupid amnesia? How long was he gone? Too long, no matter the actual number.

The butterflies were the fact that he knew Damian. Knew what he heard on that phone call. Knew Damian was a feral cat on a good day, always ready to run, always halfway gone even if he was standing there.

It’d been a few days since they talked, what if Damian changed his mind? What if he already ran? Dick could be walking into an empty building, abandoned again, and he honestly didn’t know if he could take that. Didn’t know if he could take losing Damian again.

To death, to amnesia, to Bruce – how many times has he lost Damian already? How many times could his boy be ripped from his fingers?

He swallowed the lump in his throat and moved forward.

Damian would be here. He had to be.

He walked up to the door, locked by a numbered keypad, and saw that it was propped open. That was a good sign.

He stepped inside, and stood there for a moment, listening. There was nothing, not even the skittering of rodents. No footsteps. No hints of life at all. That was a bad sign.

The stairs were off in the corner and Dick practically ran to them, taking them two at a time. He huffed as he reached the landing, looking both ways down the expanse of the hallway that curved in front of him. There were doors along the outer walls, ones that clearly went to the rooms that could see out to the city. A few doors on the inner walls, probably closets and bathrooms and the like.

That was fine. He’d search every one if he had to.

So he started with the one closest to him.

But the butterflies turned into moths as he walked, as he checked more rooms that ended up empty. More rooms that had no hints that anyone had been there. No beds or clothes or food wrappers.

Turned into birds as he got halfway around the circle, with sharp beaks and talons, ripping at his insides. He’s not here, his mind began to supply giddily. He’s already gone. Doesn’t trust you like he doesn’t trust Bruce.

No, he tried to fight back. He’s here. He knows I would never-

As he caught first sight of the stairs ahead, stomach dropping knowing he’d done a full lap, he heard a door close. A heavy door, like one to the outside.

He ran, believing it to be the door he’d come in, that Damian had just left. But as he reached the landing that overlooked the lobby, he saw the door was still propped open. He glanced to another set of steps nearby. Smaller ones, that went to a rooftop entrance. He was going to check there last.

“Damian?” He finally called. He’d waited on that, in case there were other squatters here, other villains. But now that there was a sign of life, a sign someone was here, he couldn’t hold back.

No answer.

It must have been him going on the roof, Dick decided, so he rushed to the smaller stairs, and took them just as quickly as he’d taken the first set. As he reached the door, he slammed into it, throwing it open.

But…there was nothing.

Again, no signs that anyone had been up here. But almost worse than that, no signs of someone leaving either. There was no claws of a grapple hooked to the roof. No tied off rope. Not even any potential scorch or tire marks from a potential vehicle, or hookup for a glider.

So…was it Damian coming back in?

He’d never left the doorway, so immediately just twirled back around on his toes.

There.

A door on the inner ring, one of the closets that he’d already checked, was open just a crack, but that was all Dick needed. Because he could see the dim light of the hall bouncing off a pair of eyes, the shadow of a face under a hood.

And just like the phone call: “I know you’re there, kiddo.” He smiled as he started back down the stairs, slower this time. “I can see you.”

Damian blinked, and seemed to almost shrink back, just a little.

“I’m not leaving.” Dick promised. “And if you run, I’m chasing you.”

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, the door opened just a little, like it was a twitch, or a hesitation, before pulling open completely.

Damian stood there, in an unrecognizable uniform. All dark grays and blacks, save for an almost white chest plate and silver boots.

But Dick didn’t care about that. He cared more about how tall Damian was now, and how he’d missed that growth. How Damian looked a little thinner than he remembered, and there were the starts of dark bags under his eyes.

“…You came?” Damian asked quietly, stepping forward.

“Of course I did.” Dick laughed. Those joyful tears were beginning to form in his eyes now. “You doubted me?”

He wasn’t hurt by the idea, and frankly didn’t blame Damian if he thought so anyway. He’d been hurt by so many people who claimed to love him before, Bruce and Talia number one on that list, why would Dick be any different?

“No.” Damian said simply. “I just…hoped you’d change your mind.”

Dick blinked, stepped forward. His heart broke as Damian took an immediate step back, but not towards the closet. Towards the steps to the outside.

“You shouldn’t see me like this. Shouldn’t want to see me like this.” Damian murmured, dropping his gaze. “Not after what I’ve done.”

“And what did you do?” Dick asked, already knowing. Bruce had told him. The prison under Mercy Hall. Potentially killing Brother Blood. None of it mattered to him.

That wasn’t what Damian confessed to, though.

“I killed Alfred. It was my fault.” Damian said, like it was an actual fact. And Dick instantly wondered how many times he’d been told that, that he believed it. Who told him that, that he believed it.

How many times Bruce told him that, that he believed it?

“No, kiddo. You didn’t.” Dick tried softly. “Bane did, and I know you had to watch. I’m so sorry that those bastards made you watch, but there was nothing you could have done.”

But Damian was shaking his head. “I didn’t try to help you.” He continued. “When…when you rejected us after you woke up, I…I guess I rejected you.”

“Convinced yourself I was gone, so it would hurt less. I get that.” Dick nodded. “I don’t blame you for that. I would have done the same thing. Hell, I did. Or do you forget that after you died, I left the country and pretended to be a spy, instead of confront the fact that you weren’t here and our family was in shambles?”

“I never visited, I never checked in. Even Father did that, in his roundabout way.” Damian sighed, but glanced up. His eyes looked so old. So tired. “I never came after you.”

“So?”

“So why did you come after me?” Damian almost sounded like he was begging, hands laid out in front of him. “Why did you waste your time?”

Dick blinked, then smiled. “Because I love you.”

Damian’s hands instantly balled into fists. “Well, you shouldn’t.”

“And like I told you before, you don’t get to tell me that I can’t.” He took a step forward, and was happily surprised when Damian didn’t step back. “And honestly? At this point, I’m going to love you out of spite. Just to annoy you. Just to be an asshole.”

He took another step forward, and they were only feet apart now. Damian just stared up at him.

“…I don’t deserve it.” Damian whispered. “Not after what I’ve done. I don’t deserve you.”

Dick took another step forward, and now they were chest to chest. Just like he was with Bruce in the kitchen. Only now there was no anger. There was only relief.

“Opposite, actually.” Dick grinned. Damian just stared up at him in wonder. “None of us ever deserved you, Damian.”

Damian blinked, and his eyes were instantly watery, his lip trembling against his will.

“…Grayson?” He breathed. And that was all Dick needed. He reached out and enveloped Damian into his arms. Held him as close and as tightly as physics would allow. Laughed when his tears fell onto Damian’s hood.

“I’m here, kiddo.” He murmured, holding the back of his head as Damian slowly returned the embrace. Squeezed as hard as he could. “I found you.”

Damian nodded, dug his nails into Dick’s back. “Thank you.”

“Titus and your cat are at my apartment waiting for you. So are a warm bed and a hot meal. Probably haven’t seen either of those in a while have you?” Dick asked softly.

“Too busy.” Damian admitted. And that’s why Dick never saw the remnants of food, or a bed. Because he didn’t sleep, didn’t eat. Focused too hard on work that wasn’t his. Just like his goddamn father.

Well, that was going to change.

“Well, not anymore you’re not.” Dick decided. He waited a moment, let them stand in silence for a second, then tightened his grip on Damian’s shoulders, buried his face against his hood. “I’m so glad I found you, kiddo.”

Damian didn’t argue this time. Just locked his hands together behind Dick’s back and repeated, “Thank you.” Another moment, and suddenly Damian tried to lean away. “…Father?”

But Dick didn’t let him. Refused to let go, refused to give Damian even an inch. “Not if you don’t want to.” Dick swore against his head. “We won’t see anyone else, not if you don’t want to.”

And that seemed to be it. Seemed to be the final bit of assurance for Damian to finally accept what was happening, whose arms he was engulfed in. He all but slumped into Dick’s hold then, and let himself cry. Let himself sob like he did on the phone.

Dick only smiled.

“I’ve got you, Damian.” Dick promised. “Now, let’s get you home.” A second, then an amendment. “Let’s get you to our home.”

Dick gathered Damian up in his arms, laughed when Damian grumbled about being carried, relished the feeling of holding his little brother again, of knowing he was never letting go, never losing him again, not this time – and they did.

[vegalocity]

Spicynoodleshipping 16/32

Prompt meme

16: Naughty kiss || 32. Getting caught in the act

Not only must you go to horny jail but I give you homework, hidden in this one is a secret in regard to the theatre AU, whoever finds it gets to suggest a musical for me to replace Singing in the Rain in AU canon bc i realized i can’t make those fucking dance numbers realistic with where i have the characters talent levels in this AU

--

“You know I get that Sandy couldn't figure out the giant puppet in time, but I'm not sure if the 'posion ivy' look really works for The Plant.” Red Son tugged at the neckline of the green bodysuit peering at himself in the full length mirror. He would be more perturbed if the 'poison ivy look' wasn’t exactly what Tang was going for when he'd presented the garb to Red Son. The skintight unitard was the same shade of vibrant green as they'd used on the plant puppets stem, with the lighter yellow green of the bulb on his sternum and shoulders for symmetry, vine patterns and leaves had been hastily yet sturdily stitched up and down the costume to make it look more plant like, and unfortunately, due to the tightness, and the 'strategic vine patterns which would make the best shadows against the lightning and has nothing to do with muscle emphasis don't be ridiculous Red' it didn't leave much to the imagination.

They weren't at tech week just yet, but it was looming overhead and he'd have to get comfortable with wearing the outfit underneath the more standard black hoodie and dark jeans required for an actor working a puppet for the small and medium Audrey II's. After they came up with a way to spare Sandy's sanity on the biggest puppet the idea would be that when the plant first starts speaking he'd be in a proper puppeteer's outfit, then when it gets bigger after killing the dentist he'd take his hair down and unzip the hoodie and roll up the sleeves to show a bit of green, and then at the end show up in full costume, move about freely since the only thing the giant puppet could do was open its mouth enough to make it look like it could swallow Audrey (some college girl who really needed the experience as Mei was needed on tech crew exclusively to make this whole thing work, Red Son had offered to be the one fully on tech crew this production but Mei insisted) whole.

“I compliments your hair!” MK speaks up from his own costume inspection, his was far simpler, just some meek nerd stereotype looking number, a pair of fake square glasses perched on his nose, and hair combed back all neat and perfect. “I think you look nice!” Red Son turned away, but it wasn't any use, granted MK could definitely still see his growing fluster in the reflection of the mirror.

“You look like if someone put Tang and Wukong in a blender and put whatever came out in an ugly sweatervest.” 

MK let out a huff “Red, don't be mean.”

“I never said you don't look good, if you interpreted that as an insult that's your problem... Though I was insulting that sweatervest, it's hideous.” He leaned in to properly examine himself from up close, Wukong had said it might be a smart move to employ some 'extra effects' to really make the look stand out, and in a morbidly amused way he wondered how his parents would react if they found out he'd decided he actually was fond of this place and these plays by showing up on stage in like... green lipstick and fake fangs or something.

He was wondering if he'd even have time to get home and pack his bags or if he'd have to be packed up before opening night when MK's arms sliding around his waist caught him off guard.

“You're a real asshole you know that?” his breath was hot against Red Son's neck, sending a shudder up his spine.

“We wouldn't be fucking if you weren't into it.” MK hummed in response, saying something that sounded like 'fair enough' before pressing his mouth to Red Son's neck, effectively ending the conversation there.

Red Son hummed and lifted a hand to press against MK's head, the other resting on one of his arms around Red Son's waist.

“Careful, if either of these costumes get messed up it'll be our heads.” he found himself lightly jabbing. MK didn't seem to pick up his amusement though, because he hummed against his neck and otherwise stopped his ministrations.

“Yeah we should probably get out of them...” he agreed, and THAT was what made Red Son's face fully flush. That... was not what he was suggesting.

But now the gauntlet was thrown down, and Red Son was helpless but to pick it up.

That hideous sweatervest went first, then the undershirt, then Red Son struggled out of the top half of the unitard, the sleeves and collar hanging around his hips when they reconnected. MK was backed into the counter before the long mirror and hopped up to sit on the ledge, his legs wrapped around Red Son's hips and for once his hair was soft to the touch, though the fake glasses pressed wierdly against his face, Red Son refused to pull away even if it was just to take them off.

Red Son bit down gently on MK's lower lip, just enough to draw a thin whine from him and let his hands wander across the exposed chest infront of him. MK kept his arms around Red Son's shoulders, though every so often he'd feel one of the hands splay across his back and try to somehow get them even closer together.

MK's legs tightened around his hips, grinding them together with a sharp motion, Red Son groaned lowly and felt MK's grip on his shoulders tighten, nails starting to dig in-

The unlocked door opened with a click that went off like a gunshot

“Alright boys, any concerns about the outfi-” Tang, of course it was Tang, who else would walk right into a dressing room uncaring of any changing that may be in progress because his brain is all full of fabrics and measurements?

His normally 'disinterested and unflappable' resting face was gone for once, though the only slightly surprised look it was replaced with implied this was neither the first time he'd caught two actors fooling around in the dressing room nor did he expect it to be the last.

“Well they must be uncomfortable if you're both so quick to be rid of them.” he snorted at his own joke before waving a hand “Get your street clothes on and I won't tell anyone. We're still in Pigsy's time increment for the bet, so if you guys can wait until next week to try again I'll appreciate it.”

And really was there anything to do then beyond do as instructed?

“Oh and Red Son?”

“Y...yes?”

“If I see a single leaf torn off of that costume I will not. be. happy.”

Apparently Tang was once their go-to actor for villains, and in that moment Red Son could understand why.

--

Send me stuff!

[theworldofanicca]

Bambi

Was there ever a time where the expression “Deer In headlights.” Ever really was used much against someone? Well. If you were named Bambi and had the wide shaped eyes that seemed to sparkle in any situation of surprise or wide eyed expression then yes. It was used quite a lot. Especially if you were short, 5′1, Quiet, shy little thing like Bambi Grand.  Quiet, shy, kept to herself Bambi Grand. Long brown hair, always wearing the over sized sweater that hung practically to her knees, tattered and worn but still fit somewhat nice blue jeans, large glasses, always carrying a book, sleeves that hung over those somewhat long nails and that clueless face of hers. It made many wonder how a girl like her....ever snatched the interest of a hero like- “Hawks! Look! It’s Hawks!” Ah...yes him. The Pro-Hero she had an absolute crush on and oddly enough had known in her younger years by another name. His Actual name. Though she had always called him Hawks even before he was a hero.  Bambi flinched as the group of essential teens and young single adults screeched like banshees at the fact that the winged hero was landing in their ‘range of grasp’. Cameras flashing and poor Bambi just wanted to enjoy her morning coffee where she would sneak off and curl up by her fireplace in peace and tranquility without so much of a disturbance but that was likely not going to happen.  Bambi snatched her coffee from the table she was sitting at outside and saw how the fans hovered around Hawks who was trying to spot her within his growing number of fans but Bambi, she was much to sneaky about getting away from the pro-hero. “Ah! Wait-” Hawks shouted as he saw the shy female duck away behind a corner and disappear. It happened almost every time it seemed.  But today he seemed determined not to loose her and shoving through the crowd of people and giving them apologetic smiles as well as quickly fired ‘see ya later’s to several, he was quickly rushing off to catch the female before she did completely get away. And it wasn’t that much of an effort considering Bambi never did seem to stray fast enough away.  “Hey deer. Where ya goin in such a hurry?” Hawks teased with a growing smile as the female he had finally caught up to and walked beside huffed bowing their head shyly as they shoved their nose into the book they had began to open. “Oh come on. Aren’t you happy to see me? I flew all the way to come see y-” “Not that I do not appreciate the effort you put into coming to see someone such as I....but I would kindly appreciate it if you did no such things. You stir up quite a commotion. I prefer my days quiet.” Bambi murmured as she knew he was staring at her again.  “That’s the longest I’ve ever heard you talk to me. And I just showed up. Are you warning up to me little doe.” Hawks grinned and Bambi instantly flushed at his tease. Oh dear. He just knew how to make her flutter didn’t he. Little Doe. It was a new nickname she’d not heard him use ever. Usually it was. Deer. Deerling. Or Shy thing. But now...Little Doe. “You went quiet.” Hawks observed as he saw her peer up at him but once he caught her jewel like blue eyes she instantly shifted her gaze downwards. Sapphire’s...always Sapphires with her.  “So what’s on the agenda?” Hawks asked her. “The weather is too cold. I wish to stay inside near the fire place.” Bambi told him softly and Hawks hummed in agreement. His eyes glancing over her form and his mouth dropped from a smile to a frown. “Where’s your coat little doe?” He asked her curiously. “Forgot it. I was only going to be out for a short while.” Bambi mumbled.  “Oh? That so?” Hawks hummed in amusement seeing her slowly shut the book and tuck it into her sweater pocket. His eyes glancing towards the direction they were walking in seeing her house coming closer into view. “You can stay...if you wish.” Bambi told him gently and Hawks chuckled softly. “Ever the polite one.” Hawks cooed and Bambi huffed softly as she made her way to the front of her house gently opening the door gesturing him inside. Hawks being quick to hang up his jacket but he paused as he saw the coat rack empty.  He specifically remembered she had at least two coats before and now there was none? Did she honestly give her coats away again. Knowing Bambi’s kind and generosity as well as her gentle and shy persona, Hawks can only guess what happened to that ‘forgotten’ coat. “Bambi. You sure you have a coat?” Hawks asked her as he stepped inside after shedding his jacket completely and then shedding his goggles and boots, sliding on the black slippers the female always left for him by the door.  “Is this gonna be one of those talks that you tell me-” “Please don’t tell me you gave away your coats again. Bambi you have to start worrying about your own health.” Hawks immediately cut her off knowing now that he didn’t have to ask her to come to the conclusion. “It was just some kid without a coat. He was practically starving and on the streets Hawks. I couldn’t just leave him without one. His coat was already trash anyways.” Bambi murmured gently. “I’m buyin you a coat as soon as I leave. You got gloves too or am I gonna have to get you some as well.” Hawks chastised the female who ducked her head at his gaze.  “What am I gonna do with you baby doe.” He sighed softly as he saw the look she was giving him. That wide eyed bright sapphire pleading doe look she always gave him when she thought she was in trouble and didn’t want him to be mad. God that look she always gave him pulled at his heart strings. “I’m sorry...I’ll try not to give this one away...especially if You’re gonna buy it.” Bambi murmured as she began to heat up some warm milk on the stove for hot cocoa.  “You better not. I’ll get you one. Gloves and hat included. I better not catch you without it.” Hawks told her gently as he saw her fishing for mugs in her kitchen. Her soft timid smile stretching on those adorable pink lips of hers. “So how’s patrol been?” Bambi asked softly as she turned to Hawks while she waited for the milk to heat up. “Boring. No one to talk to, villain activity is a low. And You still won’t accept that invitation.” Hawks bored tone switched from dull to playful towards the end.  Bambi instantly flushed a dark red as she thought about the specific invitation he was talking about. One that made her stomach flutter but also made her feel as if she wasn’t sure how to respond. “I....” Bambi stuttered and Hawks smiled cheekily. “You thought about it?” Hawks asked coyly. “H-Hawks....w-we talked about t-this.” Bambi began and Hawks chuckled. “Yeah so what. Let the Media talk.” Hawks began and Bambi groaned lowly.  “But I’d be nothing but a nuisance...I’m qui-” Bambi mumbled. “It doesn’t matter what you have and what you don’t. What matters is what you feel. And Don’t think I’ve not seen how you’ve been lookin at me Little Doe. Eyes like mine don’t miss looks like yours.” Hawks told her with a low chuckle. “I Know I’m askin’ a lot here baby but you’re perfect. And if no one can accept that at least I do. and I know you do to. So what’s the verdict?” Hawks concluded with a glance at the female who had turned her back to him once she heard the timer on the stove screech. 

Bambi chewed on her bottom lip as she poured the two cups of warm milk and gently mixed in the chocolate pieces as well as some marshmallows, turning back to Hawks who’s eyes locked with her own. Bambi gently set the cups on the counter between them and slowly began to smile shyly as that ever growing grin began to rise on his face. His fingers gently brushed against her face pushing that strand that always seemed to hide those eyes from him and he tucked the piece behind her ear. “So?” He asked her as he gently tapped her nose and Bambi gave him a soft giggle. “Yes.” Bambi told him confidently and Hawks grinned.  “I like the sound of that.” Hawks told her and Bambi laughed softly. “A bird and a deer. What an Odd combination.” Bambi hummed softly and Hawks chuckled. “Hey. You already agreed, so no take backs. Ain’t happenin. You’re stuck with me officially. And you’re not goin nowhere. You just be you.” Hawks told her softly as he saw that warm smile of hers nearly brighten the whole room. Who would of thought, that the hawk fell for a deer. But she was perfect in every aspect of every angle and way. And he’d of never traded it for anything. 

[marshmallow-phd]

Lies Untold

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Luhan x Reader

Summary: For generations, your family has been the protectors of mankind. You were considered one of the best and due to that reputation, you were sent on what could be the most important mission for the organization. Going under cover in a college to sniff out a particularly large and threatening wolf pack seemed easy enough. But when you meet one of the members, everything you’ve known since birth will be overturned and your loyalty to your family and heritage will be tested.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I Final

**

Ice ran through your veins. You could feel his hot breath against your neck. His very proximity was enough to churn your stomach. Your skin was crawling to get away from him. He’d had this effect on you since you were children. There was always something unnerving and unsettling about him.

Out all the people… no. You couldn’t lose your cool. You could still control the situation. You’d conquered your fear of him long ago.

“I don’t know what you’re blabbering about,” you hissed as you stood up from your chair abruptly, causing him to jump back. “I was fixing the files after finding there was a mistake in the information. We can’t exactly operate at an efficient level if we’re strategizing off of inaccurate information.”

Johnny raised an eyebrow, something sparking in his gray eyes. “Inaccurate information, you say?” Out of his pocket, he procured a folded up piece of paper. He held it up between his index and middle finger like it was the winning card of a poker game; his ace in the hole. “If the town was incorrectly named in the files, then why do your GPS coordinates have you going only to the town previously mentioned in the files?”

You always knew that Johnny was twisted. He crossed lines and went around orders. His disciplinary file had an above average amount of papers that had found a home there, but he was never really punished for any of his transgressions. Most of the council actually preferred his methods, even if they went against tradition and honor. And he had mastered hiding the more insatiable parts of himself from the elders. His greatest trick.

This, though… it was like he knew you weren’t going to go through with your mission. Or… he’d been planning something from the beginning….

“What are you getting at, Johnny?” Challenging him in this moment probably wasn’t the best idea, but you needed to keep him talking. Johnny was like the villain in a spy movie. Once he started on his speeches, he gave away everything.

“Entrusting you with this mission was a mistake from the start,” he sneered. “You’re too soft. You’ve never even slain your own wolf.”

“This mission wasn’t about killing,” you snarled back. Whether you were choosing to leave this life or not, being called soft or weak was still an insult. You’d been taught since you were little that being either one of those things would get you killed. “It was getting the book. That’s why you weren’t sent. You’re too reckless. All you think about is the kill. You never look at other perspectives.”

Johnny scoffed. “Other perspectives? You sound a little peace-loving, don’t you?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Slowly, a smirk grew across his lips. “Do I?”

Turning into the predator he really was, Johnny began to circle you, his eyes trained on your face. You tried hard to remain collected, to act bored or uninterested in his little game while in reality, panic was beginning to shake the very fibers of your muscles. Fight or flight was kicking in and either one would give you away.

“I don’t think I do know what you mean actually,” he hissed in a very snake-like fashion in your ear. He was directly behind you now and enjoying the game he was masterminding. “You forget, (y/n), I’ve seen you hesitate before..”

You elbowed him hard in the stomach, receiving a satisfying groan in return. “That was years ago, in a simulation. If that’s the best you’ve got, then maybe you should pick a new career.”

Before you could walk away, Johnny grabbed your arm and spun you around. His wide, round face was red from the strain it took to hold himself back. Controlling his temper was always a struggle for him and you might have just pressed the wrong button.

“I was born and bred to someday lead this section of the organization,” he growled, the grip on your arm tightening, forcing a wince out of you. “I am the only one strong enough to lead the next generation. You are weak and sympathetic. It makes me sick.”

“I am not,” you argued back desperately.

“Yes, you are. You don’t have the willpower to do what is necessary. But don’t worry. Because I have the will and the vision it takes to eradicate the world of those creatures. I will make sure that every single mongrel is wiped from the face of this earth and I’ll start with your precious monsters.”

“They’re not monsters!” The words were out from your lips before you could bite them back. By the sickening grin spreading across Johnny’s face, you knew you’d given yourself away.

Slowly, the real monster turned his head and glanced over his shoulder. “Is that proof enough for you?”

Suddenly the monitors on the walls flickered on, revealing the council sitting back at the conference table after you’d been told the meeting was dismissed. You were surrounded on all sides by the people you used to admire and look up to. Every member wore a cold expression, save your father. Disappointment and heartbreak were written all over his face.

“No judgement will be passed as of yet,” your father declared. His voice was much more powerful and indifferent than what his features showed. “We’ll investigate further. Until then, she’ll be held in the cells with the possible charge of treason.”

The monitors went black again, cutting off any possible argument you might have given. Pressed against the delicate skin of your neck was the sharp edge of Johnny’s favorite knife.

“Don’t try to fight,” he laughed. “There are more of us outside this room.”

You didn’t plan on fighting. Not right now. But of course he brought backup. He knew if it was simply one-on-one, you’d win. Johnny couldn’t hold his own in a long running match.

Knowing that you didn’t have any other choice, you let him lead you out of the main hall and across the grounds towards the holding cells while his loyal goons followed closely behind with Tasers crackling in their hands.

“(y/n)?”

Shit.

You kept your face forward, ignoring the cries of your baby sister as she ran towards you.

“What are you doing with her!” Alli shouted.

Johnny snarled at her. “Mind your own business, child!”

“I’m not a child!” she bit back. Turning to you, her fierce façade melted away to a desperation for answers. “(y/n), what’s going on?”

“Don’t worry about it, Alli. Everything’s going to be fine.” An empty promise. And she knew it. She maybe not have been an adult, but you couldn’t get away with simple generalizations with her like you could a child.

“Don’t lie to me!”

“Your sister is a traitor, how about that?” Johnny shoved Alli away, making you fight against his grip, but the knife was back at your throat and his slid the metal just enough to break skin. “Get out of here. If you want answers, find your father.”

Alli shot you one last pleading look. At your silence, she took off for the main hall. You weren’t sure if your father would actually explain anything to her, but you hoped he would keep her in the dark just a little while longer. For her own sake.

The only light that was given in the small, stable-like prison came from the high windows that would be just out of your reach. Concrete slabs made up the walls, impossible to climb with their smooth surfaces, and old iron bars speckled with red-orange rust created the doors to the five-by-eight rooms. Old, musky straw covered the dirt floors and several of the cells had worn wrist cuffs hanging from a heavy nail hammered into the walls. Thankfully, Johnny didn’t see a need to chain you up as he shoved you into one of the cells near the middle of the single-hallway building after patting you down for weapons. You hadn’t strapped any on you this morning, deeming it unnecessary. That decision still seemed right. If you were able to get out of here, you knew exactly where your weapons were stored, rather than being in the possession of Johnny. Again, that was if you got out of here.

“This is a truly enjoyable sight,” he snickered as he slammed the cell door shut. With a motion of his head, he led his posse outside, leaving you alone.

You slid down to the ground, not caring about the dirt and grime that was getting all over your pants. It wasn’t a surprise that you landed here. As soon as you’d gotten into Innie’s car, you knew there was a high chance that you’d be caught. You’d come to terms with the end and so now all there was left to do was sit and wait for your fate.

**

Luhan crouched down low in the shrubbery that outlined the compound. Buildings that ranged from large training facilities to personal homes were scattered among the grounds in no specific order. Hunters were wandering around in groups of three or four, the older ones walking stoically with their hands hand their backs while the more youthful hunters were loudly joking and shoving each other.

The sun was still too high in the sky for his liking, so Luhan waited - rather impatiently - for the better cover of night. He had no idea where you were or which house belonged to your family, but that was easily handled. He just needed to find a small hint of your scent. Surely you’d been gone long enough that he wouldn’t pick up old, confusing traces.

As soon as he had the cover of darkness and the compound seemed to have settled for the night, Luhan emerged from the forest and slowly walked along the cemented trails. He stuck to the shadows, but at the same time tried to look like he belonged so no one would question him from a distance. Taking several deep breaths, he tried to concentrate on finding your scent among dozens scattered around the area.

Finally locating it, he followed your trail to the largest building in the center of this place. He knew walking into what was obviously the headquarters for this branch of the organization, but he needed to find you.

And the front door was unlocked.

So, he opened it slowly, stepping inside and carefully, quietly closing it back up again. He scanned the long hallway, careful to look for any signs of movement. After a hundred feet or so, your scent came to a stop at a pair of double doors. There was no light shining out from underneath onto the carpet, indicating that the room wasn’t in use. Was it possible you were still in there?

Luhan decided to take the risk. He placed his palm on the shiny golden handle and pushed.

The room was empty. Great. Now he had to find the trail again.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise?”

Luhan whirled around. Leaning against the opposite wall was a cocky-looking hunter about his size twirling a knife between his hands. Luhan knew his eyes were giving off an amber glow, catching the smallest bit of light to give him better sight. This hunter knew what he was, anyway.

“It’s interesting that you came after her. Very revealing,” the hunter mused, not looking up at Luhan. He instead kept watching the knife as if it held the world’s secrets in its structure. “I thought (y/n) had just gone soft, unable to hurt the poor, unsuspecting wolves. But now that you’re here,” he pointed at Luhan with the knife, finally making eye contact with him, “I suspect that it’s much more than that. Is she, perhaps, your precious, fated mate? That would certainly explain a lot.”

Luhan let out a low, threatening growl. “Where is she?”

“In the same place all traitors go,” he shrugged. “But she won’t be there very long. Especially now that you’re here. Maybe we’ll be nice and kill you both together. Wouldn’t that be sweet? Just like Shakespeare’s stupid play.”

Luhan wanted to pounce. He wanted nothing more than to jump on this sick, sadistic hunter and rip his throat out for even thinking about hurting you. But before his muscles could twitch, the doors at the end of the hallway flew open, revealing a new group of hunters.

Shlink.

The knife the first hunter had been holding was now embedded into the wall near Luhan’s ear.

Well, shit.

Taking off in the opposite direction, Luhan burst through the doors, making it to the outside before the other hunters made it to their leader. Thankful for his supernatural speed, Luhan bobbed and weaved through the buildings. He couldn’t head back to the woods. Even though it was his territory, the place he was most familiar with, it would make getting back here nearly impossible.

From what he heard with his acute ears, the hunters were still a ways behind him. He glanced over his shoulder, but he couldn’t see where they might be looking for him. Up ahead, there looked like what might have been an unused building. The grass around the edge of overgrown and a few of the higher up windows were cracked or missing corner pieces. He ran towards the possible hiding spot.

He didn’t make it.

Strong hands stopped him in his tracks and yanked him off his course. He landed hard on his back against the wall of one of the steel buildings. The jolt sent a shockwave through his system, unnerving him for a few seconds as he shook the stars away.

“If we live through this, I’m going to kill you.”

Luhan blinked, his eyes widening as he made out the silhouettes of some of his pack members. Kris still had a good grip on Luhan’s shirt and his eyes were flickering red as he towered over him.

“Why the hell did you take off on your own?” Tao whispered harshly. Concern was evident all over his face, even in the low light of a crescent moon.

Luhan shoved Kris’ hand away. Guilt bubbled up in his stomach, growing worse when he saw that Minseok was among the tiny rescue party. “You shouldn’t have come for me. The more of us there are, the more easily we could be caught.”

“Well, we’re not going to be caught because we’re getting out of here,” Kris argued.

“No.” Luhan glared up at the alpha. “They have (y/n) locked up and they’re going to kill her. I have to get her out.”

Tao looked back and forth between Kris and Luhan, his uncertainty of who to follow apparent. Minseok, however, had no trouble on deciding.

“I’ll help you get her out.”

Kris’ looked down at the eldest wolf in shock. “You realize she’s the one who shot you, right?”

“Yes, I do,” Minseok nodded. “But at the end of the day, she’s Luhan’s mate. If getting her out means Luhan comes home, too, then I’m going to help.”

Kris tried to hold his ground. They all knew if he really wanted to, he could order them all back home. The only one who wouldn’t be able to obey would be Luhan. Only the mate pull was stronger than a true alpha’s orders. But Kris had always refused to be the person who forced his authority.

He sighed heavily, looking up at the twinkling stars before bringing his face back down. “Fine. We’ll get the hunter out.”

Luhan smiled, but the flickering, hope-filled joy only lasted a second as an ear-splitting scream cut through the air.

[imdoingthismspaintadventure]

Worm 2.6 - In which we meet up with the Undersiders

I showed up in costume.  I didn’t care if they thought it was rude or paranoid, I would rather be capable of surviving having a knife pulled on me than play nice.

I said it last update and I’ll say it again: Taylor’s being really smart while making a very dumb decision

I had caught a bus from the library to my house and put my costume on under my clothes.  Most of the armor panels of my costume were separate pieces, held in place by straps that ran into slits in the fabric of the costume.  Not all of them were, though.

I really appreciate how badass and complex her costume is, having made it 100% herself! It’s probably on par with some professional ones!

I’d made some of the armor part of the bodysuit, I’d made narrow, rigid sections of armor running along the center of my chest, back, shins, wrists, hips and the tops of my shoulders. so that when I strapped the larger pieces on, grooves on the underside of the armor would fit over them and help keep them from flopping around.

And now it seems she has improved it, keeping it both practical and protective. I love it.

I checked myself in the mirror before I left, and didn’t think anyone would notice unless I held a strange posture and they were paying a great deal of attention to what I was wearing.  I wore loose fitting clothes over the costume, – one of my larger pairs of jeans and a sweatshirt, and even with that, I felt painfully conspicuous

So she’s wearing casual clothes over her costume, and the costume is working right now as a kind of bulletproof vest while she goes to meet them, where she will presumably change to being fully suited. And going with civilian clothes and then changing out of view is a good way to protect her secret identity.

Taylor’s showcasing the appropriate amount of caution with this crazy plan.

I changed much the way I had the previous night, finding an empty alley, quickly pulling on my mask, pulling off my outer clothes, and stuffing the clothes into one of my dad’s old backpacks.  I’d hidden the backpack before I went patrolling last night, but today, I opted to take it with me.  I headed out the other end of the alley.

Aaand changed! Full costume mode now! The bug girl from the other day is back!

When I was a short distance away from the site of last night’s brawl, I sent a dozen flies out to scout.  I focused on what they were sensing.

I never realized just how excellent bug control would be for scouting ahead and cheking your surroundings.

I get the feeling this serial is going to ruin every other bug-based power in media for me, especially the ones that  use it only for  offense.

Bugs, it probably goes without saying, sense things in a very different way than we do.  More than that, they sense and process things at a very different speed.  The end result was that the signals my power were able to translate and send to me in a way my brain could understand were muted.  Visual information came through as ink blot patches of monochrome light and dark, alternating between fuzzy and overly sharp. Sound was almost painful to focus on, breaking down to bass vibrations that made my vision distort and high pitch noises that weren’t unlike nails on a chalkboard.  Multiply that by a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, and it was overwhelming.  When my power was new to me, I hadn’t been able to hold back. The sensory overload had never actually hurt me, even at its worst, but it had made me flat out miserable.   These days, I had that part of my power turned off a good ninety nine percent of the time.

This is actually really interesting! It seems her power let’s her see and hear through her bugs but doesn’t actually translate it to human terms

As such all she can see through one bug’s eyes are monochrome light and dark patches and all she can hear is distorted noises. And all of that multiplied by every single bug she has which amounts to a kaleidoscopic maelstrom of disruptive imputs that incoveniences more than helps.

It’s fortunate that she can turn that part of her power off, cause it could almost be crippling otherwise!

My preferred method of sensing things through my bugs was touch.  It wasn’t that their sense of touch translated much better than the hearing or sight part of things, but had more to do with the fact that I could tell where they were in relation to me.  I was acutely aware when they were very still, if they were moving, or if something else was moving them.  That was one thing that translated well.

Touch does work well though! So she can basically know where everything surrounding her is, based on where the insects she sent landed on; and she could also theoretically track the movements of people and their positions in relation to her. Not bad!

If she could interpret the other imputs she could have big brother-like control of all of her surroundings! I think this aspect of her power is far stronger than the pure offensive capability her swarm gives her.

So as I sent the bugs out to scout, the twelve sets of compound eyes first identified the trio as blurry silhouettes atop a larger, more defined shadow, backlit by a flare of white that had to be the sun.  I directed the flies closer, towards the ‘heads’ of the figures, and they touched down on skin. None of the three were wearing masks, which I deemed reason to believe Tattletale had been telling the truth.   They weren’t in costume.  There was no guarantee that the three were really Tattletale, Grue and Regent, but I felt confident enough to head around to the fire escape and climb up to the roof.

Huh so they did show up without their costume after all! That at least shows they are somewhat honest, even if it could still be a ploy. Seems like Taylor is going up to meet them!

It was them, no doubt.  I recognized them even without their costumes. Two guys and a girl.  The girl had dirty blonde hair tied back into a loose braid, a smattering of freckles over the bridge of her nose and the same vulpine grin I recognized from the night prior.  She wore a black long sleeved t-shirt with a grafitti-style design on it and a knee length denim skirt.  I was surprised by the bottle-glass green of her eyes.

So this is Tattletale then! Without her costume! She sounds very cute! I love that her vulpine grin is again the most defining characteristic. She changes her hairstyle in her civilian identity huh? That’s such a small detail but a realistic one, cause she is probably the one that has to hide her identity the most! The other ones all had full masks and other things to hide their identity, while she had a domino mask.

The smaller and younger of the two guys – about my age – was undoubtedly Regent.  I recognized the mop of black curls.  He was a good looking guy, but not in a way that would make me say he was handsome.  He was pretty, with a triangular face, light blue eyes and full lips pulled into a bit of a scowl.  I pegged him as having French or Italian heritage.  I could see where he would have girls all over him, but I couldn’t say I was interested, myself.  The pretty boys – Leonardo Decaprio, Marcus Firth, Justin Beiber, Johnny Depp – had never done it for me.  He was wearing a white jacket with a hood, jeans and sneakers, and was perched on the raised lip at the edge of the roof, a bottle of cola in hand.

Regent is european! Has a pretty face and a lean body, which seems like it’s not Taylor’s type, but she could understand how other people might fall for him. He’s currently chilling with a cola bottle on the roof which is a mood.

Interesting to see both Tattletale and Regent in such a casual way, after learning they were extremely misterious online.

Grue was startling in appearance, by contrast.  Taller than me by at least a foot, Grue had dark chocolate skin, shoulder length cornrows and that masculine lantern jaw you typically associated with guy superheroes.  He wore jeans, boots and a plain green t-shirt, which struck me as a bit cold for the spring.  I did note that he had considerable muscle definition in his arms.  This was a guy who worked out.

Grue is jacked up! Has a full-on superhero physique and jawline, even though he is a villain. He’s also black and rocking some badass cornrows!

He seemed the most straight-foward and direct of all of them last time, and was the one who approached Taylor.

“And she arrives,” Tattletale crowed, “Pay up.”

Regent’s scowl deepened for a second, and he fished in his pocket for a wad of bills, which he forked over to Tattletale.

“You bet on whether I would show up?” I ventured.

“We bet on whether you would come in costume,” Tattletale told me.  Then, more to Regent than to me, she said, “and I won.”

“Again,” Regent muttered.

Oh they are really fun

Seems like these two are the more playful ones of the group, and Tattle still seems really sharp with her guesses!

“It’s your own fault for taking the bet in the first place,” Grue said, “Even if it wasn’t Tattle, it was a sucker bet.  Showing up in costume makes too much sense.  It’s what I would do.”  He had a nice voice.  It was an adult voice, even if his appearance gave me the sense of a guy in his late teens.

And Grue seems to be the most careful and professional out of all of them.

Also this further supports my theory of Tattletale having some crazy mind power.

He extended his hand to me, “Hey, I’m Brian.”

I shook his hand, he wasn’t shy about shaking my hand firmly.  I said, “You can call me Bug, I guess.  At least, until I come up with something better, or until I decide this isn’t an elaborate trick.”

He shrugged, “Cool.”  There wasn’t the slightest trace of offense at my suspicion.  I almost felt bad.

I like Brian. I think he likes that Taylor is also being very careful. Also, are you really going to call yourself “Bug”?

“Lisa,” Tattletale introduced herself.  She didn’t offer me her hand to shake, but I think it would have felt out of place if she had.  It wasn’t that she seemed unfriendly, but she didn’t have the same aura of geniality about her that Grue did.

Lisa is a good name. Also yeah Brian seems effortlessly friendly.

With how nice they are being, it’s easy to forget these guys are teenage villains

“I’m Alec,” Regent informed me, with a quiet voice, then he added, “And Bitch is Rachel.”

“Rachel is sitting this one out,” Grue said, “She didn’t agree with the aim of our meeting, here.”

Alec huh? He’s still being quite reserved. Also seems like Rachel didn’t really care about meeting new possible members or was even against it.

Seems she really is antisocial, as her page said.

“Which raises the question,” I cut in, “What is the aim of this meeting?  I’m a little weirded out with you guys revealing your secret identities like this, or at least, pretending to.”

“Sorry,” Grue… Brian apologized, “That was my idea.  I thought we would make a token show of trust.”

Behind the yellow tinted lenses of my mask, my eyes narrowed, flicking from Lisa to Alec to Brian.  I couldn’t draw any conclusions from their expressions.

Huh, I initially thought this was a strategic maneuver but now I’m thinking that this was actually genuine.

“Why, exactly, do you need my trust?” I asked.

Brian opened his mouth, then closed it.  He looked to Lisa, who bent down and picked up a plastic lunchbox.  She held it out to me.

“I said we owed you.  All yours, no strings attached.”

Oh, are they repaying her for the accidental favor she did to them the other day??

Without taking the box, I tilted my head to get a better look at the front, “Alexandria.  She was my favorite member of the Protectorate when I was a kid.  Is the lunchbox collectable?”

Oooh new name!! She’s a member of the protectorate, like Armsmaster was! She seems to be a long-time member given that Taylor was a big fan when she was a kid.

Alexandria...makes me think of Alexander the Great or the Alexandrine syllabic meter, or even the library of Alexandria, which all give feelings of past glories and idealized might. It just sounds grand.

“Open it,” Lisa prompted me, with a roll of her eyes.

I took it.  From the weight and the motion of the contents inside it, I immediately had a pretty good idea of what it was.  I undid the clasps and opened the box.

“Money,” I breathed, caught off guard by suddenly having so much in my hands.  Eight stacks of bills, tied with paper bands.  Each of the paper bands had a number written on it in permanent marker.  Two fifty each…

Lisa answered before I had the number totaled up in my head, “Two grand.”

I closed the box and did the clasps.  With no idea what to say, I stayed silent.

Woah that is a lot!

They seem to indeed be succesful if they can throw around these kinds of gifts!

“You have two choices,” Lisa explained, “You can take that as a gift.  A thank you for, intentionally or not, saving our ass from Lung last night.  And maybe a bit of incentive to count us among your friends when you’re out in costume and doing dastardly deeds.”

Her grin widened, as if she’d said something she found amusing. Maybe it was the irony of a villain talking about ‘dastardly deeds’, or how corny the phrase was

Oh fuck Lisa 150% knows about Taylor’s heroic intentions, at least on that night. With how much fun she had at the suggestion of Taylor doing “dastardly deeds”.

Whether she knows about this whole new plan of hers is another story. but this is indeed alarming.

She elaborated, “Between territory disputes, differences in ideology, general power struggles and egos, there’s a rare few people in the local villain community who won’t attack us on sight.”

“And the second option?” I asked.

“You can take this as your first installment in the monthly allowance you’re entitled to as a member of the Undersiders,” Brian spoke up, “As one of us.”

Undersiders huh? Interesting name, very teen group. I imagine it in an urban tag style. I like it.

So her options are to either take the money and leave (and be on friendlier tems if they meet again) or join their group

Something tells me Taylor’s gonna pick number two here, with that whole plan she had. Ooooh boy.

I shifted my gaze between the three of them, looking for the joke.  Lisa still had a bit of a smile, but I was getting the impression that was her default expression.  Alec looked a little bored, if anything.  Brian looked dead serious.  Damn.

That seems very in character with how little we know of them. Lisa the playful, Brian the earnest, and Alec the laid-back.

“Two thousand a month,” I said.

“No,” Brian cut in, “That’s just what the boss pays us, to stick together and to stay active.  We make, uh, considerably more than that.”

o.o Holy shit.

Also they do have a boss!!

Lisa smirked, and Alec chuckled as he swished the contents of his coke bottle.  I made mental note at the mention of this ‘boss’.

Lisaa what are you thinking about!!

Also good on Taylor for catching that.

Not wanting to get sidetracked, I quickly thought through the earlier part of our conversation in the context of the job offer.

I asked, “So Bitch didn’t come because she was against the, er, recruitment?”

“Yeah,” Alec said, “We voted on it, and she said no.”

Yikes, if she joins, Rachel miight be a problem.

“On the plus side, the rest of us voted yes,” Brian hurried to add, giving Alec a dirty look, “She’ll come around.  She always votes against adding new members to the group, because she doesn’t want to divide the money five ways.”

“So you’ve done this recruiting thing before,” I concluded.

“Uh, yeah,” Brian looked a touch embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his neck, “It didn’t go well.  We tried with Spitfire, and she got scared off before we even got to the job offer.  Our fault, for bringing Rachel along that time.”

“And then she got recruited by someone else,” Alec added.

Seems like Brian really wants to recruit more people to their team and they have been trying without much success before.

Spitfire seems like an obvious fire-based power with that name. Seems like Rachel was toxic enough to make her reconsider and join another team.

uuuh considering your history at school are you sure you want to do this??

“Yeah,” Brian shrugged, “She got snagged by Faultline before we got a second chance.  We’ve made an offer to Circus, too, and she told us in no uncertain terms that she worked alone.”

“Taught me a few new curse words while she did it, too,” Alec said.

“She was pretty vocal about how she flies solo,” Brian admitted.

More people!

We got Circus, who has a potty mouth and likes to operate solo, and Faultline, who also recruits!

Umm, Circus makes me think illusion-based powers? Or like body contortion? Maybe?

Faultline could be earth-based, earthquake related and such

“So you’re going the extra mile, with no costumes as a show of trust and a cash bonus up front, to get me to join,” I said, as the pieces came together.

“That’s the gist of it,” Brian agreed, “Long and short of it is, especially with Lung taken out of action and the ABB diminished by his being gone, there’s bound to be some pushing and shoving over territory and status among the various gangs and teams.  Us, Faultline’s Crew, the remaining ABB, Empire Eighty-Eight, the solo villains, and any out of town teams or gangs that figure that they can worm in and grab a piece of the Bay.  If it comes down to it, we want firepower.  We haven’t screwed up a job yet, but the way us three figure it, it’s only a matter of time before we end up stuck in a fight we can’t win, with Bitch as the only one of us who can really dish out the hurt.”

WORLDBUILDING TIME

It seems that Lung’s defeat caused a power vacuum, and now there are a lot of villain groups trying to fill it.

-Faultline’s Crew, presumably led by the aforementioned Faultline

-The rest of the ABB (Bakuda and Oni Lee I believe? )

-Empire Eighty-Eight, which I have no idea what it is about, but it has Empire on the title so that doesn’t sound good.

-Random Villains

-The Undersiders (with their “boss” leading them? )

It sounds like the events of the other day caused a big mess!!

“I just don’t get why you want me,” I said, “I control bugs.  That’s not going to stop Alexandria, Glory Girl or Aegis.”

More names!!

Alexandria, which makes me even more certain that she’s really really powerful

Glory Girl, which sounds like she’s revered and mighty

Aegis, which probably has some sort of super-defense, based on that name

And yeah Taylor probably wouldn’t do much against a high-ranking hero, to be honest, discounting the fact that she doesn’t want to go that road

“You fucked up Lung,” Lisa shrugged as she spoke, “Good enough for me.”

“Um, not really,” I replied, “In case you missed it, you’re the ones who stopped him from executing me last night.  That just goes to prove the point I was making.”

“Honey,” Lisa said, “Entire teams of capes have gone up against Lung and got their asses handed to them.  That you managed as well as you did is fantastic.  The fact that the asshole is lying in a hospital bed because of you is the icing on the cake.”

Oh what??

I thought she only distracted and weaked his group! He’s in the hospital because of her? Because of the poison?

My reply stopped before it even left my mouth.  I only managed a dumb, “Hunh?”

“Yeah,” Lisa raised an eyebrow, “You do know which bugs you had biting him, right?  Black Widow, Brown Recluse, Browntail Moth, Mildei, Fire Ants-”

“Yeah,” I cut her off, “I don’t know the official names, but I know exactly what bit him, what stung him and what the venoms do.”

“So why are you surprised?  A couple of those bugs would be fucking dangerous if they bit just once, but you had them bite several times.   Bad enough, but when Lung came into custody they had him checked over by the docs, and the idiot doctor in charge said something like, ‘Oh, well, these do look like bug bites and stings, but the really venomous ones don’t bite multiple times.  Let’s arrange to check on him in a few hours’.”

OH GOD

Tayor did you almost poison him to death accidentaly??

This was a regenerative dragon of hell and you almost KILLED HIM!! With bugs

Your power is a lot more fearsome than I thought

I could tell where the story was going.  I put my hands over my mouth, whispering, “Oh my god.”

Tattletale grinned, “I can’t believe you didn’t know.”

“But he regenerates!” I protested, dropping my hands, “Toxins aren’t supposed to be even one percent as effective against people who heal like he does.”

Oh my fuck did you go absolutely ham on him because he “could regenerate”?

This is lowkey hilarious. You almost stomped Lung accidentaly! Granted you almost died later buuut..

“They’re effective enough, I guess, or his healing stopped working somewhere along the line” Lisa told me, “By the time they got to him, the big guy was just beginning to suffer from large scale tissue necrosis.  His heart even stopped a few times.  You do remember where you had the bugs bite him?”

I closed my eyes.  I could see my reputation going down the tubes.   One of the spiders I had been using was the brown recluse.  Arguably the most dangerous spider in the United States, more than even the black widow.  A single bite from a brown recluse could make a good chunk of the flesh around the bite blacken and rot away.  I’d had my bugs biting Lung in the more sensitive parts of his anatomy.

“Let’s just say that even with the ability to heal several times faster than your average person, Lung is going to be sitting down to use the toilet.”

Okay first off:

BROWN RECLUSES ARE A BIG FUCKING NOPE. Thank god I don’t have any over here

Second:

DID YOU JUST ROT HIS DICK OFF??

“Okay, that’s enough,” Brian stopped Lisa before she could go on, “Lung is going to recover, right?”

With the look Brian was giving Lisa, I thought she might lie, regardless of the truth.  She shrugged and told me, “He’s already recuperating.  Slowly, but he’s on the mend, and he should be in good working order in six months to a year.”

“You’d better hope he doesn’t escape,” Alec said, his voice still quiet but bemused, “Because if someone made my man bits fall off, I’d be out for blood.”

Oh god he’s gonna be so pissed.

If he ever escapes you would have a giant scaly dragon wanting nothing more than to turn you into ashes.

Good results for your first night out!

Brian pinched the bridge of his nose, “Thank you for that, Alec.  Way you two are going, our potential recruit is going to run off to have a panic attack before the idea of becoming an Undersider even crosses her mind.”

“How do you know this?” I asked, within a heartbeat of the thought crossing my mind.  When Brian turned my way with an expression like he thought he had said something to offend me, I clarified, “Tattletale, or Lisa, or whatever I’m supposed to call you.  How do you know this stuff about Lung… or about the fact that I was at the Library, or that the cape was on his way, last night?”

Yess, tell us about your precognitive or psychic abilities Lisa!

“Library?” Brian interjected, giving Lisa another dark look.

Lisa ignored Brian’s question and winked at me, “Girl’s gotta have her secrets.”

“Lisa’s half the reason we haven’t failed a job yet,” Alec said.

“And our boss is a large part of the rest,” Lisa finished for him.

Huh! so the boss is also a factor for success.

Interesting

“So you say,” Brian grumbled, “But let’s not go there.”

Lisa smiled at me, “If you want the full scoop, I’m afraid the details on what we do only come with team membership.  What I can tell you is that we’re a good group.  Our track record is top notch, and we’re in it for fun and profit.  No grand agenda.  No real responsibility.”

Huh so they are keeping the full details for when she’s an active member of the group. That’s smart of them.

Also are they really just a group trying to make money out of petty theft and heists. No hidden agenda? Not even of the boss? Hmmm...

I pursed my lips, behind my mask.  While I had picked up some info, I felt like I had a lot more questions.  Who was this boss they mentioned?  Was he or she setting up other teams of highly successful villains, in Brockton Bay or elsewhere?  What made these guys as effective as they were, and was it something I could steal or copy for myself?

The theory that their boss is playing sponsor to a series of low-level criminal groups could be true actually! I got a feeling that there’s something to this boss beyond what these guys said.

Also you’re already looking how to minmax their way of working into something that can work for you? You’re very good at finding uses for everything.

It wasn’t like I was signing the deal in blood or anything.  I stood to gain so much.

“Alright then, count me in,” I told them.

Oh god Wildbow was there a way to make that first phrase any more ominous?

Taylor what have you done?

[princess-of-luxure]

Masquerade [1]

Next >>

You moved to the capital city, Altadellys, in search of job opportunities. You had anticipated several significant changes in your life, but nothing could have prepared you for almost getting robbed in an alley, only to be saved by a mysterious masked vigilante. Their mysterious appearance throws your life into chaos, and you soon find yourself swept up in the high-stakes underground operations of a group of... supervillains?!

You didn't ask for any of this, but there's just as much excitement amongst the potentially lethal drama. As secrets hundreds of years olds begin to unfold before you, can you be the missing link in solving a dangerous mystery, or will you bring everything to ruin?

Fandom: Reigning Passions (Visual Novel) Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Relationships: Gen (so far) Characters: Lyris (Reigning Passions), Main Character (Reigning Passions), Amara (Reigning Passions), Piama (Reigning Passions), Hazel (Reigning Passions) Content Warnings: Attempted Robbery, Knives

Welcome to Masquerade! This is a reader-interactive story putting the characters of Reigning Passions into the setting of Villainous Nights. There will be choices for you guys, as the audience, to vote on, which can influence the direction of the story's plot (including the potential deaths of characters!) and also can influence who gets together with who. It's assumed that everyone is poly so don't worry if MC doesn't get together with your favourite LI - you've still got a shot! Plus, any characters with compatible sexualities can get together if you nudge them in that direction, so if you're a fan of, say, Amara and Xenia? Depending on the choices made, they can totally get together.

This is cross-posted on my AO3, which you can find here! You can cast your vote in the comment section there, or send me an ask/DM me here on tumblr! You can also vote in the replies of the appropriate tumblr post for each chapter.

Chapter below the read more.

Altadellys, you were finding, was bigger than you had ever imagined. Prior to moving to the capital city of Lysende, you had lived in a small town so remote it didn’t even have a name. Everybody knew everybody in your little community, but looking around the big city, you only saw the faces of strangers, not a single one sparing you a glance as they rushed to where they were going.

It was also far warmer in Altadellys than in your hometown, you noted as you shucked off your coat and tied it around your waist. The climate where you’d come from was so frigid that it was practically winter year-round, and you were eager to learn what a true spring or fall felt like, let alone a true summer.

“Alright, all you’ve gotta do is make it to Hazel’s place, and then she’ll walk you to your apartment,” you muttered to yourself, fishing around blindly in your bag. “She said it’s near Central Park, which shouldn’t be too hard to find, just follow the map.” Your fingers closed around the object you were looking for, and you pulled out your phone, attitude bright and chipper. “You’ve got this!”

These turned out to be famous last words, as you went to turn on your phone and found that the battery had died on the car ride here. “Shit,” you muttered, because, well, it was an appropriate word for the situation. Chewing your lip, you tossed your phone back into your bag and glanced around. To a local, you were sure finding Central Park would be no problem, but you weren’t a local.

Wait, a local! That’s it! Approaching a man in his late twenties walking a dog, you gave your friendliest smile. “Excuse me, could you—”

“Get lost, lady,” the man growled, and you flinched, drawing back. No one in your hometown behaved so aggressively, their voices dripping with venom as they bared their teeth in a snarl.

Swallowing your fear, you clutched onto the strap of your bag, trying to appear more confident than you felt. Maybe you had just gotten off on the wrong foot. “Sorry to disturb you, I just wanted to ask—”

“Didn’t you hear me?” The man jabbed a finger at you, and you stumbled back a few paces, squeaking. “I said, get. Lost.”

You hid your burning cheeks and frightened expression in the curtain of your hair, mumbling out apology after apology. After several minutes of this, you realized the man had left and was nowhere to be seen, so you lifted your head and took another look around. Every intersection was plastered with signs, but none of them seemed to point towards Central Park, and given your last interaction, the idea of asking a local suddenly seemed a lot less viable.

You fiddled with your hair as you took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves. Rather than being a beautiful new wonder, Altadellys now just seemed like a living nightmare. “It’s okay, you’ve got this,” you mumbled, your half-assed attempt at a pep talk doing little to restore your confidence. “It’s a big park in the middle of the city. If you just keep walking, you’re sure to find it eventually.”

After what felt like an hour of walking with no change in scenery, your faith in that assumption was beginning to waver. You wrestled with your steadily increasing anxiety as you stopped at the corner of an intersection. Warmth and mouth-watering scents seeped out from underneath the door of the cafe you were stood by, and your stomach rumbled as you found yourself wishing you were inside. God, what I wouldn’t give to be sharing a cup of coffee with Hazel right now.

“Hey there little girl, are you lost?” You nearly jumped out of your skin as you whirled to face the person who had spoken. Most of their face was obscured by their black hoodie, but you could still make out the leer that painted itself across their features.

You swallowed, taking a step back. The stranger took a step forward, and as you continued to try and put space between the two of you, you became hyper aware that they were backing you into a dark alley, out of sight from the rest of the world. “U-Um, no, not lost at all! Just… enjoying the scenery!” Why did my phone have to die now?!

“The scenery, huh?” You were pressed up against a wall now, the stranger’s hand pinning you up against the stone. You could hear your heartbeat pounding in your ears, your breathing verging on hyperventilation as you stared up at your assailant with wide eyes. “It would be a shame if that was cut short.”

Those last words were a whisper, as cold and smooth as the metal blade now pressed against your throat. You couldn’t even squeak, fear stealing the sound from your lungs. You began praying to every deity you could think of, even ones you weren’t even sure were actually from real pantheons, anything to get out of this mess.

“Robbing pretty girls in dark alleys?” A new voice made your heart jump—whether it was in relief or further fear, you didn’t know. It evidently startled your attacker just as much, the surprised flinch of their hand just barely nicking your skin. A single bead of blood welled to the surface, but you didn’t have time to process it before your assailant was being pulled away from you. You remained frozen in place, too shaken to fully comprehend what was unfolding before you.

When you finally came out of your shock, the first thing that occurred to you was holy hell was your savior attractive. His face was partially obscured by a blue-green mask, trimmed with gold and decorated with what were, as far as you could tell, real peacock feathers, but you could still see the steely glint in his mismatched eyes. One was purple, the other gold, and you would’ve probably wondered how in the world he got lucky enough to end up with that genetic combination if you weren’t so busy taking in the rest of him. He was certainly a striking figure, with long golden-brown and green hair, a simple but somehow still shockingly elegant suit to match his mask, and fingerless gloves revealing blue and pink nails (toxic masculinity who?).

All of this paled in comparison to the wings that emerged from the slit on the back of his suit. The shining green plumage made him look like some kind of majestic angel, or bird. Actually, considering the look of his mask, you were pretty sure he was going for the latter.

Your savior said something to the would-be robber that you didn’t quite catch, still feeling in a somewhat faraway daze. Whatever it was, it sent them running, the masked vigilante folding his arms and watching them go with a look of utmost contempt. When they disappeared from sight, he turned to you, approaching with slow, gentle footsteps, the concerned look in his eyes at odds with the easy smile that curled his lips.

“That was a pretty nasty experience. I wouldn’t want to be in your position,” he commented, his tone casual as though he was discussing the weather, and not the fact he’d probably just saved your life. His expression shifted as he came to pause in front of you, gaze flickering to your neck. “Are you okay?”

Numbly, you placed two fingers to where you’d been cut. They came away wet with blood, but even so, you could tell that the injury was shallow—you’d gotten incredibly lucky. “I’ll—I’ll be fine. It’s not serious.” Your voice quavered, barely able to force the words out.

Your savior didn’t seem entirely convinced. “May I see anyway?” he requested, and moving on autopilot, you tilted your head to show him the cut. He stepped closer, fingers brushing against your throat as he inspected your injury, and you tried to ignore how the simple contact sent shivers down your spine. After a moment that lasted both eternity and no time at all, he drew back, humming in satisfaction. “You’re right. It’s not that bad, you’ll survive.” Apparently content with your health, you saw a teasing gleam enter his gaze. “I’d do more, but my power isn’t exactly to do with healing.” He fluttered his wings once to prove his point, and that’s when the reality of the situation came crashing down onto you.

“Your power. You have powers.” The words came out in a breathless rush, and you were completely helpless to stop them. You clapped your hands to your mouth, but too late; you felt the heat rising to your cheeks already. Leave it to you to make an absolute fool of yourself in front of an attractive guy.

He didn’t seem to mind though, evidently amused as he folded his arms, shifting his weight to one leg. “Well, I sure hope so. If I didn’t, my entire life would be a lie.” With the danger gone, he bantered with you in the way one might banter with a best friend, nevermind that you’d never seen him before.

You had enough grace to not try to continue that thread of conversation. “What’s your name?” you blurted out, and as your question processed, you felt your blush darken. You know what? No more talking without permission from my brain, mouth.

Your savior chuckled, pulling you out of your flustered thoughts. “My name is a secret I’m going to take to my grave,” he replied, and yeah, fair. What else were you expecting? “However…” He leaned forward to whisper in your ear, close enough that you could feel his breath tickle your neck. “You may call me Peacock.”

In a single breath, he had drawn back, leaving you struggling to collect your scattered thoughts and calm your racing heartbeat. First things first. His alias was Peacock—unsurprisingly so, given his general aesthetic and the prideful smirk that curled his lips. He was evidently playing things up for the drama, and you couldn’t honestly say you minded.

“I’m…” You took a deep breath to try and scrape together at least some of your composure. Once you felt like you weren’t about to faint from the situation, you finally offered Peacock your name.

He repeated your name back to you, humming in curiosity as you nodded. “A lovely name indeed,” he complimented, and you felt your cheeks burn. So much for composure, but then again, he probably said that to all the girls he rescued. Seeing the intensity of his gaze, though, you weren’t so sure.

You almost missed when he started speaking again, too wrapped up in your flustered thoughts. “...you going, little lady?”

You were going to have to ask the pretty peacock vigilante to repeat himself. God, today just wasn’t your day, wasn’t it? “Sorry, could you repeat that?” you mumbled, burying your face in your hair and doing anything not to look Peacock in the eye. Even if he had very beautiful eyes. Goddammit, you were too bi for this.

Peacock laughed, the sound just as charming as everything else about him. Fuck. “I know I’m handsome, but you shouldn’t let yourself get distracted,” he reprimanded lightly, a teasing smile quirking his lips, and yup, you were going to die. You may as well just go dig a hole and lay down in it. “I asked where you were going.”

Okay, focus. If you manage to screw this up you may as well move back to your town because your pride will be completely gone. “Central Park,” you replied, finally lifting your face from your curtain of hair and clutching the strap of your bag. “I’m supposed to meet my friend at her place, but my phone died, but her house is near there so I thought if I just found my way there…”

You trailed off as you saw Peacock already shaking his head. “Altadellys is a big city,” he explained. “Bigger than you think. I could direct you to Central Park, but you’d still get lost trying to find your way to your friend’s place, and I can’t always be around to save you.” He paused, but before you had time to begin to panic, he was already asking another question. “Do you know where you’re staying?”

“Yes!” You turned your eyes to the sky, eyebrows creasing as you tried to remember the name of the building. “Spring Apartments.”

You’re sure you didn’t imagine the shock that briefly flickered across what you can see of Peacock’s expression, the way he was caught off guard if only for a moment. “Spring Apartments? You’re sure?”

You cocked your head to the side, uncertain as to what about your place of residence would elicit this kind of reaction. “Yes? Is there a problem with that?”

If Peacock’s gaze on you had been intense before, it didn’t come close to comparing to now. You had to fight the urge to hide yourself away from his scrutiny, unable to help but feel like he was committing every detail of your visage to memory. “Not at all.” His easy smile was back as quickly as it had vanished, leaving you feeling out of the loop. “I can take you there.”

“That would be nice, thank you—” You paused, blinking owlishly as his words fully processed. “Wait. Take me there?”

“Let’s just say that helping you will help me as well,” Peacock replied cryptically, as if that clarified things at all. Still, it was hard to be frustrated at his vagueness as long as that unbearably attractive smile remained. “Of course, that’s only if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m okay with it, but how—ah!” Your words dissolved into a yelp as you found yourself unexpectedly scooped into Peacock’s arms. His almost ethereal nature belied how strong he truly was, you realized as he held you securely against his chest, hoping desperately that he couldn’t hear the thudding of your heart. That really would be the icing on your embarrassed cake; the final nail in your flustered coffin.

“Sorry,” Peacock apologized, and this close to him, you could feel the rise and fall of his chest, his warm breath tickling your neck with each exhale. “I’ve never been one to walk in the front door.”

You didn’t have time to even begin to process that before Peacock took to the air. You let out a decidedly undignified shriek, burying your face against his suit and clinging to him like your life depended on it (which it technically did, but you were trying not to think about that).

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Peacock murmured, and between his soft voice and assured grip, you realized he wasn’t saying that just to comfort you. You really were safe in his arms, even as buildings and people blurred past beneath you. It was a surreal feeling, to be truthful, but one that once you got used to it, you couldn’t honestly say you minded.

It was over all too quickly, Peacock placing you down on the roof of the apartment building within minutes. “This is where I leave you,” he explained, flashing you another one of those damned smiles. “I trust you can handle things from here?”

“Well, unless the apartment building is as difficult to navigate as the rest of Altadellys, I should be fine,” you replied, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. Pride swelled within your chest as Peacock laughed at your joke.

“You’re quite the witty one, aren’t you? I like that,” he complimented, winking, and by some miracle you didn’t fall over then and there. “Keep me in mind? Who knows, maybe we’ll meet again.” He leaned forward slightly, and you stared up at him. Wow, his eyes are even more enchanting up close…

Your name fell from his lips, and this time you nearly did fall over. For a second, you wondered if he was going to kiss you, but instead he took a step back, leaving your heart thudding and your chest filled with a strange sense of disappointment.

There was silence for a brief second, before you took a deep breath. “Thank you for saving me,” you murmured, figuring you at least owed him that.

Peacock paused, tilting his head as he regarded you, a smile curling across his lips. It was different to the others, somehow—more real. “The pleasure was all mine, my lady,” he replied, giving a mock bow before walking to the edge of the roof. Before you could get another word in, he spread his wings and jumped, disappearing before you had a chance to call after him.

It took a minute to recover from the excitement you had just experienced, but you made your way inside from the roof stairwell, finding your apartment with blessed ease. I deserve this much mercy after the day I’ve had, you mused as you knocked on the door.

The door opened quickly, revealing a small and delicate-looking woman. Her most striking feature was the floral tattoos that swirled across her whole body, though the gorgeous flowers pinned in her white, yellow-tipped hair came a close second. Her white and pale yellow dress was deceptively simple, the flowers stitched into the opaque overskirt being the most complicated detail of the design.

“Hey.” You introduced yourself, putting on your friendliest smile. “Is this your apartment? If so, I’m your new roommate.”

“That’s today?” The woman huffed slightly, glancing around. “Damn it, Lyris…” She muttered a bit more to herself, leaving you feeling more and more confused, before she finally addressed you. “Oh, but where are my manners? I’m Piama.”

She extended a hand for you to shake, and you reached down to take it. “Nice to meet you, Piama,” you offered, uncertain what to make of your new roommate.

Piama cast an appraising eye over you. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

You blushed, not exactly embarrassed but still shy about being so easily placed by a beautiful woman. “Yeah. My hometown’s pretty far away.”

“That much speaks for itself.” Piama pressed her lips together, resting her chin on her hand as she considered you. “Your clothes are so last season, we’re going to have to do something about that.”

You had no idea how to respond to that. Initially, her words came off as rude, but the context implied she was only trying to help. “Um.”

Before you had a chance to come up with a more intelligent response, there was a melodic chime from Piama’s pocket. Pulling out a phone that looked more expensive that all your past phones put together, Piama scanned what was presumably a text before letting out a huff. “About time!” she complained as her fingers flashed across the screen. “I was supposed to go out with Lyris an hour ago! I called him four times and texted him like, fifty, and he just got back to me!” Putting her phone back away, she rolled her eyes. “This has been happening more and more lately. I’m starting to think he’s gotten a partner and hasn’t told me about it.”

Despite yourself, you couldn’t help a small laugh. “Well, don’t let me keep you. I can settle in by myself.”

Piama let out a relieved sigh. “Thank God. Lyris and I have been planning this for weeks, and I would die if I waited a second longer.” She paused, looking like a realization had just struck her. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of you, of course. You seem like a lovely girl, it just seems impossible to spend any quality time with him lately.”

You waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it, no offense taken.”

Piama flashed you a small smile, wishing you a quick goodbye before sweeping past you. You wasted no time entering the apartment, quickly finding an outlet to plug your phone into. With that done, you fixed yourself a cup of coffee before flopping on the couch, sighing deeply as you finally began to process the day’s events.

You’d arrived in Altadellys, only to find your phone was dead. Asking a local for directions had proven useless, and soon after that, you had gotten yourself hopelessly lost. You’d nearly been robbed in an alley, only to be saved by an attractive masked vigilante calling himself Peacock. He’d taken you to your new residence and then disappeared. You’d found your apartment and met your roommate, an extremely pretty woman named Piama, and had a brief conversation with her before she’d had to leave. Now, you were here, relaxing in your new home while waiting for your phone to charge.

A distinctive chime alerted you to the fact your phone was now alive again. Carefully grabbing it, you switched it on, seeing that you had five unread texts from Hazel. You wasted no time in unlocking your phone and swiping over to your messenger, finding that the first of the texts was from around two hours ago.

Hazel: Hey did you make it to the city safely?

The next message was about half an hour later, around about when your phone had died.

Hazel: Freckles?

Hazel: You’re starting to worry me

The next two messages were from around half an hour ago, and you can tell Hazel’s increasing worry from the fact they were typed with perfect grammar.

Hazel: Okay, this is totally weird for you.

Hazel: If you don’t message me within the next hour, I’m calling the police.

Guilt and affection mingled in your gut. Guilt that you’d made her worry so much, and affection over the fact that she cared that much for you. Placing your mug down, you quickly typed out a reply.

You: I’m fine Hazey dw

You: My phone died on the way here

Hazel’s response was immediate, and you wondered if she’d been waiting for your message for the past half hour or so.

Hazel: Holy hell don’t scare me like that Freckles

Hazel: Ppl are saying crime rates in Altadellys are higher than they’ve ever been

Hazel: I was worried you’d gotten murdered or smthin

You couldn’t fight back a chuckle, smiling as you responded.

You: Not dead yet, amazingly

You: I’m at my apartment now but getting here was a nightmare

You hesitated as you went to type your next message. You definitely wanted to tell Hazel about your encounter with the mysterious Peacock, but would she believe you? ...of course she would, she was your best friend! She’d definitely heard far weirder stories from you.

You: Hey I’ve got a kinda crazy story to tell you

Hazel: [eyes emoji] [eyes emoji] [eyes emoji] 

Hazel: You know crazy’s my middle name hmu

You: It might be too much to put in a text

Hazel: Np we can meet up in person

Hazel: I’ve been dying to see u again anyway it’s been way too long

You: Agreed

You: Text me your address and I’ll be there ASAP

Plugging the address Hazel sent you into your GPS app, you discovered that her place was only a ten-minute walk away. That was a small miracle; you didn’t feel like tangling with a taxi right now. Draining the rest of your coffee, you got up to place your cup into the sink and write a note for Piama explaining where you were going. Once your phone had charged enough to the point where it wouldn’t die again while you were out, you grabbed your bag and made your way out of the building.

Finding Hazel’s house proved to be blessedly simple now that you had directions, and soon you found yourself standing in front of it. It was modest only in comparison to the other houses along the street, one story with a moderate backyard rather than two stories at least with sprawling acres of land.

“Looks like just the kind of place Hazel would love,” you mused to yourself as you moved to ring the doorbell. As you waited, you noticed that the door also had a knocker in the shape of a lioness’ maw. Interesting—had it been there before Hazel moved in? You couldn’t imagine why she’d have both a doorbell and a knocker.

The door opened shortly, a wide grin breaking across Hazel’s face. “Freckles! It’s so good to see you again!” She wasted no time pulling you into a giant bear hug that nearly crushed your bones.

“Good to see you too, Hazey,” you gasped, hugging her back as best you could. “Uh, you’re kinda crushing me.”

“Whoops.” Hazel quickly let go of you, though she didn’t move back far. “Sorry. Kinda forget my own strength sometimes.”

You smiled, but before you could respond, a new figure appearing over Hazel’s shoulder stole your attention. Blonde hair spilled over her shoulders in waves, her golden eyes shining with a gentle warmth. She wore a simple red and white tunic that looked like it could have dated back to medieval times (and here you thought your fashion was out of date). “Hazel, who’s this?”

“Oh, this is my best friend from my hometown!” Hazel quickly introduced you to the unknown woman and—holy mother of God she was ripped. Lean muscles rippled beneath her clothes, and you were so distracted staring you nearly didn’t catch Hazel adding, “And this is Amara; she recently moved in with me.”

Callout to myself: too bi to function. You tried to push down the thoughts of how attractive Amara was to extend a hand for her to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Amara.”

Amara accepted your proffered handshake, her grip deceptively light. “You as well. Hazel has spoken highly of you.”

You felt your cheeks turn red as Hazel laughed. “‘Course I have! Gotta make sure everyone knows how amazing my best friend is.”

“Hazel!” you exclaimed, trying desperately to cover your darkening blush. First Peacock, then Piama, and now Amara. Were you the protagonist of a romance visual novel or something? If you met one more attractive person you were going to die—which was a problem because Altadellys seemed to be full of them.

“Hey, you never know, Amara might find you just as amazing.” Hazel winked conspiratorially and yup, this was how you died. There was no way Amara wouldn’t notice the obvious wingwomaning—

“Well, I wouldn’t know, but any friend of Hazel’s is a friend of mine.” —or not. Was Amara seriously oblivious to your evident fluster and Hazel’s teasing? Whatever, you would take what you could get. Your poor bi heart still hadn’t recovered from your earlier encounter with Peacock, anyway.

You took a deep breath, praying your voice wouldn’t wobble. “Likewise,” you agreed, shifting your weight awkwardly and flicking your gaze to Hazel. “Also uh, Hazey? Can I come inside or am I going to be standing on your front porch for this entire conversation?”

“Is something wrong with my porch?” Hazel teased. Amara’s brow creased with concern and she quickly added, “I’m joking, Amara, don’t worry. We’ve teased each like this since we were kids.” She stepped back from the door and disappeared into the corridor, calling behind her, “I’m gonna make drinks. You two get to know each other!”

Amara offered you a polite smile. “I apologize for this. Hazel is a dear friend of mine, but I remain bemused by her antics.”

She really was oblivious to Hazel’s wingwomaning. You weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth though, chuckling nervously. “Yeah, she’s always been something of an enigma, but you know how best friends are.”

Amara didn’t respond, and you began to worry you’d said something wrong by the completely blank look on her face. “Amara?”

Amara shook herself, her expression taking on the polite, friendly smile again. It didn’t reach her eyes, and you couldn’t help but feel you’d touched on a sensitive subject, though you had no idea what it was. “My apologies, I was lost in thought. Allow me to show you to the living room.”

As you followed Amara, you couldn’t help but note she carried herself with the posture of a soldier, complete with the famous Murder Walk™ that tumblr loved to talk about. That sent alarm bells ringing in your head and your heart panging with concern—what had happened to her to cause her to always be on her guard?

You knew better than to ask, settling into the cushions of one of the simple white couches in the living room. Amara sat across from you, studying you with a curious expression. “You are not from Altadellys?”

Somehow, the question made you feel less self-conscious than when Piama had commented on it earlier. “Yeah, I’m from Hazel’s hometown. What about you?”

“I’m not from Altadellys either,” Amara replied, confirming a growing suspicion. “I moved here many years ago.”

“Didn’t exactly embrace the lifestyle?” you guessed, gesturing to her clothes and praying your inquiry wouldn’t be considered rude.

To your relief, a genuine smile lit up Amara’s features, a soft glimmer in her eyes. “Not exactly,” she agreed. “I have never been able to immerse myself in the glitz and glam of the city, though I have nothing against those who do.”

“My roommate’s the complete opposite of you,” you mused, trying to latch onto this thread of conversation. “She’s stunningly beautiful, but in a way I feel like I’ll never compare to, you know?”

Amara considered you thoughtfully. “Sometimes simpler is better,” she remarked. “If it is of any comfort to you, I think you look wonderful just the way you are.”

You were saved from spontaneous combustion by Hazel reappearing, carefully holding three mugs full of hot, steaming liquid. If it were anyone else, you might’ve been worried about her spilling or dropping them, but you had complete faith in Hazel. “Coffee for me and Freckles, and tea for Amara!” she hummed, placing down two of the mugs before flopping onto the couch next to you.

“Thank you, Hazel,” Amara responded politely, carefully picking up her drink, blowing on it gently before taking a sip. You echoed the sentiment, retrieving your coffee and nursing it as your thoughts wandered in the direction of gay again.

“So Freckles,” Hazel interrupted, and you nearly spilled your drink as you were jolted out of your thoughts. “You said you had a crazy story to tell?”

“Oh! Yeah, I did, but…” Your gaze flickered hesitantly to Amara.

She caught the look and smiled, gesturing for you to continue. “I assure you, I have heard many extraordinary stories in my time. I promise I will not judge.”

Amara was so open and kind that you found yourself believing her without a second thought. You nodded and took a deep breath. “So like I said in my texts, my phone died getting here. I thought I’d just go to Central Park and find this place from here, but I uh…” You rubbed the back of your neck sheepishly, averting your eyes. “I kinda got lost.”

“Understandably so,” Amara said, and you glanced over at her, surprised at her input. “Altadellys is a city of enormous proportions. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, things could’ve gone seriously wrong,” Hazel agreed, concern painted across her features. “Seems like you hear about more and more robberies and people going missing everyday.”

You figured that was as good of a leadup to the ‘crazy’ part of your story as you were going to get. “I’m alright, but it was a close call. Someone tried to rob me in an alley.” You tilted your head to expose the faint scar on your neck.

“What?!” Hazel gasped. “Did you see what they looked like, Freckles? I’ll give them a piece of my mind for daring to lay a hand on you—”

“You should calm down, Hazel,” Amara interrupted gently, but you could see the concern and fury shining behind her golden eyes. “How did you get away?”

“I was saved by a masked guy with wings. He called himself Peacock,” you explained, scanning the pair’s faces for reactions. Hazel’s eyes were wide, her surprise evident, whereas Amara remained more composed, shock passing over her expression for only a moment before she closed her eyes, presumably lost in thought.

“Peacock, you’re sure?” Hazel checked, before shaking her head. “Who am I kidding, you said he had wings, that can’t be anyone else.”

“Yes?” You couldn’t help but feel surprise of your own at Hazel’s reaction. If she recognized his name—and knew about his powers—then just who was Peacock? “Do you know him?”

“Only by reputation,” Hazel replied. The look of awe on her face almost felt surreal. “After Fox disappeared, he took over as Altadellys’s protector of the night!” She struck a pose, then paused. “Okay, so I’m pretty sure he’s more active during the day, but details.” She chuckled to herself. “Seriously though, you’re super lucky, Freckles. Getting saved by Peacock is almost every girl’s dream at the moment.”

You picked up on the phrasing, unable to help quirking your lips at the subtle quip. “But not you?”

“Nah, I’m too much of a lesbian for that.” Hazel grinned, obviously amused by her own joke, before leaning in. “But what about you? Is he as dreamy as they say?” She waggled her eyebrows.

You knew she was only teasing you, but you couldn’t stop the heat that flooded your cheeks as you thought back to your interaction with the masked vigilante. Visions of those beautiful eyes and that breathtaking smile filled your mind. “Um…”

You were hardly subtle. Hazel caught on immediately, and she burst out laughing. “Oh my God! Freckles, you have a crush!”

“I do not!” you immediately defended yourself, already knowing it fell on deaf ears. “He’s as attractive as they say, okay? But that doesn’t mean I like him!”

Hazel wiped a couple tears from her eyes. “Sure, sure, you keep telling yourself that, Freckles. But man, you had one hell of a first day in Altadellys, didn’t ya?”

You really couldn’t disagree with that, though you were just glad Hazel seemed to have dropped the teasing about your non-existent crush on Peacock. Absently, your gaze slid over to Amara, who had yet to rejoin the conversation. You found her staring off at a black-and-white photo hanging on the wall—looking closely, you were pretty sure it was of her, along with a man you’d never seen before. A family member or best friend? I’d consider that it could be her boyfriend, but I get the idea she’s not into guys. But why is it in black and white?

“Freckles? Were you listening?” You jumped, embarrassed at having been caught zoning out. 

I’m really off my game today. “Uh, not really,” you admitted sheepishly. “Mind repeating that?”

Hazel rolled her eyes affectionately. “I asked how the job search was going.” Her tone was filled with the fond exasperation only a best friend could capture.

“Oh, that.” You sighed, wishing you had better news on that front. “Not well, honestly. None of the places I’ve applied to have even called me in for an interview.”

Hazel winced sympathetically. “Yikes, that sucks. I’d offer to help ya, Freckles, but I don’t think my line of work is exactly for you.” She gave a meaningful look at your less-than-impressive physique and you laughed.

“Probably not, but thanks anyway.” You ran your fingers through your hair, thinking. “It’s a problem, though. Rent isn’t cheap here—I’ll get kicked out pretty fast if I don’t find a job soon.”

Hazel gave a thoughtful hum. “Well, why don’t you apply for an internship at Optimus? Seems like your kind of place.”

“Optimus? Are you sure?” Amara’s sudden interruption startled you, and you glanced over at her. Her expression was completely closed off, betraying nothing about how she felt. You had to fight the urge to swallow, somehow feeling like you’d just stepped into a social minefield.

“I don’t really know anything about Optimus,” you confessed hesitantly. “Should I?”

“They’re the world’s foremost authority on powers,” Amara explained, still completely neutral. “They help connect people with places that need their powers the most.”

“They donate to a bunch of charities too, and help with a bunch of other stuff,” Hazel added. “It’s like, the dream job for everyone living in Altadellys, and the pay’s incredible.”

You exhaled softly, considering your options. Hazel was right—it did sound like a dream job. You’d been interested in powers since you were little, always wishing you’d been one of the lucky ones, but nobody with powers had been born in your hometown for generations. “That does sound amazing Hazey, but there’s no way I’m qualified for that sort of thing.”

“If it’s just an internship, I have a friend who may be able to help.” You gave Amara a curious look. “I can let him know. He’s a private man, but he’s reliable.”

You were burning with questions you wanted to ask about Amara’s friend, but given that she still had that blank look on her face, completely devoid of any emotion at all, you didn’t want to push your luck and risk her rescinding the offer. “I guess it’s worth a shot. Thanks, Amara.”

She nodded in acknowledgment, but gave no other response. Suddenly, Hazel gasped, bolting to her feet. “Oh shoot, I totally forgot! I was supposed to meet with a client like, ten minutes ago!” She turned to you apologetically. “Sorry Freckles, I gotta run. If you want, though, we can meet up in like an hour or so? There’s a cafe right around the block, Sweet Enchantments, it’s the best cafe this side of Altadellys.”

You chuckled, unable to pass up the prospect of hanging out with Hazel again after all these years. “Sure thing Hazey, sounds great.”

“Awesome, catch you later!” Hazel darted from the room. Amara stood as well, brushing off her clothes.

“I’m afraid I have places to be as well,” she apologized, and even though it didn’t compare to earlier, you were relieved to see a hint of genuine regret in her eyes. “Before I leave, however, perhaps we should exchange phone numbers.”

“Oh!” You were going to get a pretty woman’s phone number. Yeah, this was a first. “That’s probably a good idea, yeah.”

Amara didn’t stick around long after giving you her number, and you headed back to your apartment, feeling awkward hanging around Hazel’s house while neither of its occupants were home. To your surprise, you found Piama perched on the couch, deeply engrossed in some kind of nature documentary and sipping at a cup of tea.

“Hi Piama,” you greeted, gaining her attention. “Weren’t you hanging out with Lyris?”

Piama waved a dismissive hand. “We just went out to a nearby cafe,” she explained, and you couldn’t help but wonder if it was the same one Hazel had mentioned. “Besides, he needs to get his stuff out of your room.”

You raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Piama sighed, as though the reason Lyris’s stuff was apparently in your room was of great disdain to her. “He’s been half-living here for years,” she replied, turning her attention back to the TV. “He would have moved in, but he has a cat, and if his fur ball wasn’t the most annoying creature on that planet, I might’ve considered putting up with my allergies for him, but as it is, ‘Madame Whiskers’ has it out for me. Of course, I’m not going to ask my best friend to give up his cat for me, so now he lives on the floor above me while dumping half his stuff here.”

“Piama, who are you talking to? Is your roommate home?” a very familiar voice called from the hallway. You couldn’t quite place it until he stepped into the living room, and your jaw dropped as realization dawned on you. You wasted no time in appraising his physical appearance; his hair, his build, his general aesthetic, even his nails—everything matched up to Peacock. Even so, you might’ve chalked it up to a coincidence if not for his eyes. His damned eyes. His damned, beautiful eyes. Deep purple and breathtaking gold; even if your mind didn’t recognize them, your heart would’ve.

Peacock—Lyris?—was staring at you just as openly, and you could see the recognition and shock blooming across his expression as well. If Piama replied, you didn’t hear it, too swept up in the feeling of holy shit I’m meeting Peacock as a civilian and he’s my roommate’s best friend.

Your phone chimed, shattering the moment. You coughed to cover the awkwardness, quickly pulling it out and glancing down at the texts you’d just received.

Hazel: Client cancelled [rolling eyes emoji]

Hazel: U still wanna hang out at the cafe tho?

Oh, was all you could think as your fingers hovered over the keyboard, having literally no idea how to reply. Glancing up didn’t help, as you saw Lyris staring at you with the same shocked expression he’d had moments ago, Piama looking between the two of you in confusion.

Oh shit.

CHAPTER CHOICE

You're in a bit of a tricky spot here. You did say you were going to hang out with Hazel, but if you do that, the situation with Lyris is going to get... awkward. To say the least. Do you: A) Commit to going to the cafe with Hazel B) Stay to try and diffuse the situation with Lyris and Piama, and hopefully get some answers

[writer-and-artist27]

Don’t Leave Me

Note: Lang. I blame you for getting me on the Shinsō train. Because Shell Game 57 hurts. It really really hurts. 

Fluff, ONWARDS. With the one song I never thought I’d be using again, since it was originally Kei and Tomoko’s song in my head. But, well, might as well let someone else into Tomoko’s darker side. :p And the lyrics for the other song piece mentioned here come from this site. 

The connector and final nail in the “Another AU” pitfall Vy has fallen into! Everyone in UA and happy! Chronologically takes place after all my other Shinsō content. 

Mentioning @langwrites, @wingbladeweaver1357, and @hylianhick here since your OCs are mentioned, and @chiefladylightyay since you enjoyed the first Shinsō stories. Also @fangoverdang since you liked the short stories that started all this and I’m glad we met up again. :) Oh, and @lovingempress? Here’s more fluff with Tomo for you~

Enjoy. 

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

Before meeting Gekkō in UA, Shinsō thought he could go without friends. The path to becoming a Hero wasn’t easy, after all, and friends were just a bother back in General Studies. But these days, with a year in UA under his belt, he could never say that now. 

Today too, was no different. He could’ve gone home early, but it was the first sign that stopped him.

Said first sign of anything interesting was the echo of music ringing through his ears. It took a second for him to realize it wasn’t coming from the school’s loudspeakers littered throughout the hallway ceilings. It sounded like it was a piano solo, but it wasn’t a song he recognized. Whether out of curiosity or boredom, Shinsō didn’t know, but he followed the sound of the music along, craning his neck a bit more in the hopes of finding the source.

Thankfully, it didn’t take too long. The sign hanging above the door designated the upcoming room as the “Music Room”, and considering the piano was louder…

Shinso put his hand on the door and quietly pulled it open.

He was not expecting to see Hoshino at a grand piano of all things. 

With her eyes closed, she could’ve been a professional pianist with how her fingers flew across the keys. Her legs occasionally moved to press the pedals at the foot of the piano, and with the sound vibrating in the air, it created a scene he never really thought he’d see from her. Sure, Hoshino sang for him and Leonhart, and who knows how much else for Gekkō and Davy, but not play piano of all things while at school. There was no one else with her in the room, merely confirming his suspicion that the concert-level song was all her. 

Just listening closer made the song stand out more. Like it was a declaration of war on something or someone. Or it was a declaration of protection and love towards one person.

Shinsō mentally decided he liked the second idea better. It was more fitting of Hoshino anyways.

Once the last key faded, Hoshino took a heaving breath. Her eyes opened too, although slow, and she blinked them. “Okay,” she muttered, and if not for Shinsō being in the same room as her, he knew he wouldn’t have heard her otherwise. “The song’s good. Now for the actual singing…” 

Now was probably a better time than any to let her know he was there. Shinsō gently cleared his throat. 

As expected, Hoshino jumped. The noise out of her mouth was something akin to an anime character, his best approximation of it being nothing but a loud “FWAH!” that made his eardrums curl in on themselves. Ow. If not for the volume, Shinsō probably would have agreed with Davy’s earlier declarations on how it was cute. 

…Wait a second. 

What?

Hoshino then swiveled her head around for some kind of answer before rounding on him, and her blue eyes widened. Pink proceeded to color her cheeks. “S-Shinsō-san! Um,” her gaze focused in on him, her voice lowering, “s-sorry about the voice. I-I wasn’t expecting you here.”

“I wasn’t expecting you here either, Hoshino,” he said coolly, hiding his previous thought by taking a look at the piano bench. Hoshino, petite as always, was only taking up half of the thing. Shinsō raised a finger to point at the empty space. “Think I could sit next to you?”

“Um,” Hoshino blinked, still blushing. “Sure? If you don’t mind me fidgeting.”

“It’s you, Hoshino. I never minded.” And he meant it. Hoshino merely blushed brighter. Shinsō shrugged but went with it anyway, swinging his legs under the piano keyboard while still facing her. “Besides. What were you doing here?”

Hoshino’s blush died down to a lighter pink as a realization of sorts shined in her blue eyes. “Oh, that?” She giggles, a bit embarrassed, before ducking her head and muttering the response. Shinsō already knew that if not for him sitting right next to her, he probably wouldn’t have heard it. “I was practicing a song for Kei.”

“For—” Shinsō couldn’t help but feel surprised. “For Gekkō?” Then again, it made sense. Gekkō and Hoshino were extremely close, more so than Hoshino was with Leonhart (in spite of Hoshino happily calling Leonhart “Hika-chan” of all things). Weren’t Gekkō and Hoshino childhood friends or something…? “What’s the occasion?”  

Hoshino fidgeted with her fingers. “N-Nothing much, really. I just felt like it.” She rocked back and forth in her seat a bit, a fond smile on her lips. “Kei sometimes…” Hoshino paused, her gaze flickering between Shinsō’s hands and her lap. “She sometimes goes through things I’m not sure about,” Hoshino settled for quietly, reaching upwards to rub a bit of hair ribbon between her fingers. “We’ve known each other since we were little, but there are still times I know she doesn’t tell me everything. It’s just how she is. And I still can’t help but worry if she’s holding things back because it’s too dark and…” Hoshino paused. Her hand playing with her hair ribbon stopped too. 

Shinsō inclined his head. “Hoshino?” 

Hoshino jolted a bit in her seat before raising her head to give him a smile. Shinsō would be a fool if he didn’t see that it was obviously forced. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to ramble at you, Shinsō-san! I-I can stop, if you want.” She waves her hands in the air helplessly, and Shinsō aptly ducks his head so that she doesn’t actually hit him. “I… I just want to sing and tell her that she’s not alone. If that makes sense?”

Yep. It’s still the same selfless and sweet Hoshino. “Sure,” he says. “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk about it.” Shinsō leans back on the bench, looking up towards the ceiling in the hopes of giving Hoshino some room. “Gekkō’s weird like that. Being silent. So I get it.”

Without turning to her, Shinsō already knew Hoshino was giving him a doe-eyed, wide look. Like she wasn’t expecting him to understand her. “…Really?” she said quietly.

Shinsō reaches over, and without thinking, lightly taps the top of Hoshino’s head with the back of his hand. “Really,” he finishes, just in time with her newest squeak of “Ah!” The smirk was hard to hide on his face when she rounded on him with a pout. At this point, he couldn’t help it and Hoshino was leaving herself too open for teasing. “You have weird choices in friends, Hoshino. And Gekkō’s the worst at it.”

“Muuuuuu,” she goes, clearly very unhappy while still puffing her cheeks. Hoshino crosses her arms and rocks herself hard enough in her seat on the bench to bump shoulders with him. “Kei’s fine, I’ve lived with her for more than a decade, and last I checked, I’m friends with you, aren’t I?”

Shinsō laughs. “You’re nuts, but you’re fine too. Being friends with a guy who’s villainized for his Quirk.”

Hoshino blinks, then goes quiet again. “…Oh,” she says finally, then proceeded to lean on his shoulder.

That was not expected. Shinsō does his best to not recoil, staring into her hair. “Hoshino?”

The reply is just as quiet as the words that started everything. “You’re a Hero to me, Shinsō-san.” Hoshino is twiddling her thumbs now and even if Shinsō can’t see her face, he can see the tips of her ears and they’re pink. “It doesn’t matter what people said about your Quirk before. They don’t know you. You’re in the Hero Department now and, last I checked, you proved them wrong by every single scale. Plus,” Hoshino waves a pointer finger in the air while lightly rocking against him, “you could’ve brainwashed me in the entire time we’ve talked, and you haven’t done that now, have you?”

“N-No,” he says, and it surprises him on how easy it is to talk honestly to Hoshino now. Like a veil was lifted off them both, and he can breathe. It’s hard to care about his face burning because hearing those words is just nice in general. Hell, he can smell rosemary, and it takes a second for Shinsō to realize it’s Hoshino’s hair. Her shampoo? “I never intend to Brainwash unless I want to.”

“And there we go.” Hoshino huffs in a way that seems final before raising her head to meet his eyes in eye contact, and she’s pouting again. “So, please, don’t say depressing things like that again. You sound like Kei.”

“Sorry,” is all he can say in response. “Reflex.”

Hoshino still puffs her cheeks, opting to hit her head against Shinsō’s shoulder. As much as it stings, well, technically a little since Aizawa-sensei punches harder, Shinsō waits for her to speak. “You dork,” Hoshino says finally after a moment, scooting over to fully lean on his side. “You’re my friend, so no more self-deprecation.” She paused, and then Shinsō hears her mutter, “And this is why my friends need more music. No one believes in themselves, and it’s depressing.” There’s another pause, and then she mutters, “I know I do it too, but I don’t like hearing it from other people, especially people I care about. Muuuuu.” 

Shinsō scoffed and taps Hoshino’s head again. This girl was ridiculous. “You’re mumbling, Hoshino.”

This time, his underclassman doesn’t even flinch, merely giving him a dirty eye through her black hair before focusing back on the piano. “Don’t care,” she adds childishly. Shinsō doesn’t miss how her fingers linger over the black and white keys again. “I’m tempted to play something for you now.”

…Okay, out of all the things Hoshino could’ve said, Shinsō definitely was not expecting to hear that. Then again, this was Hoshino, the girl who made more homemade chocolate than her family could even provide for Valentine’s Day in their cafe when not swamped with work. He shouldn’t have been surprised. “I thought you were practicing for Gekkō,” he finds himself saying instead. 

“That doesn’t mean my other friends miss out!” Hoshino’s voice goes up by about a level or two in pitch. “And you’re important to me too, Shinsō-san! You deserve something nice!” She pauses before pressing a key and adds, a bit miffed too this time, “You already heard me play something for Kei. So I might as well give you a preview of your birthday present.” 

Shinsō can’t deny the fact that he’s blushing. Goddamn feelings. He turns his head away to break off their shared eye contact, but doesn’t push her away either. “I-I didn’t think you were looking that far ahead, Hoshino.”

Another bump into his shoulder. Along with an extra hard thunk of a head against the crook between his neck and shoulder, Shinsō blinks before glancing in that direction. Hoshino — Hoshino was actually snuggled up to him. What the—? “You’re someone I keep close to my heart, Shinsō-san,” was the whisper. “There’s no way I wouldn’t.” Before Shinsō could respond, she raises her head and he gets an eyeful of bright blue eyes. “And hey. You helped Kei and Jack-nii and Hika-chan a lot by being you. And,” Hoshino reaches up to lightly poke his forehead with a soft smile, “You helped me too. So you deserve something in return, don’t you think?”

Shinsō, for the first time in a long while, finds himself speechless. He stares at Hoshino for a second, then two, then for more until she fidgets and breaks off the eye contact. “U-Unless,” she stutters, “you want me to sing instead? I-I could do that! Or make cake, or, or…” Hoshino trails off, sitting back up and scooting away an inch.

“I-It’s fine,” he says finally, turning his head mechanically just to force himself to look at her. And, yep. Hoshino is blushing, even when not meeting his eyes. “A song preview is fine, Hoshino. Whatever you feel is right.”

Hoshino blinks, then sparkles. Too bright. Argh. “Piano and singing for you then!” she cheers, her voice high-pitched from the joy. “I hope you’ll like it, Shinsō-san!” 

Ugh.

How was she this happy?

Lub-dub, lub-dub. 

Better question.

His heart is beating hard. Is this how Davy felt when looking at Hoshino? Because this was new and Shinsō didn’t know if he liked it or not. The last time he felt like this, it was with Leonhart, and it was Leonhart. She wasn’t looking for relationships. So, why was his heart starting up again with freakin’ Hoshino? 

If this is turning out to be what he thought it was becoming, Davy was going to murder him. Little sisters were off-limits, last he checked. 

Double ugh. 

Before Hoshino can turn back to the keys, Shinsō pulls her back to his side with an arm around her shoulders. She squeaks, he says, “You can use ‘-kun,’ Hoshino.”

“F-Fweh?” she squeaks again, more confused. 

Shinsō sighs and taps Hoshino’s head with his other, not-hugging hand. “If you’re going to be putting on a concert for me after school, then you could at least call me by my name and not by some stiff honorific. Especially if I’m so ‘close’ to your heart as you say I am.” He doesn’t even know why his voice comes out irritated. Then again, he still doesn’t know what to make of Hoshino either. How does she say things the way she does and not die of diabetes? 

Oh, right.

Her Quirk is literally making chocolate with a touch.

There’s no way she’d be dying of diabetes when she makes diabetes.

And Hoshino’s looking at him again. “Then… Shinsō-kun?”

“Yeah?”

“Just trying it,” she says, then leans into him a bit more. The next try has his ribs creak. “Hitoshi… kun?” 

He tries not to jolt. “…Why are you going with my first name?”

“A-Again, just wanted to try!” Hoshino squirms in his hold, but doesn’t pull away, instead resting her fingertips atop the piano keys. Their closeness lets Shinsō feel her exhale. “A-Are you okay with that?”

Shinsō takes a breath too. “…Just play the song,” he settles for finally, bonking her head with his cheek. “And do what you want.”

“Th-Then,” Hoshino turns to look at him, blushing too. “Call me ‘Tomoko’ too, H-Hitoshi-kun. ‘Hoshino, Hoshino’ just makes things feel more formal.” 

Sure, she stumbled in delivery, but she still said his first name.  

Shinsō sighs and closes his eyes. If he looked into those blue eyes, he knew he might die. From embarrassment or something, and he had to stay cool. Somehow. “Alright then, Tomoko,” he says, even if he’s close to stumbling himself from how strange it sounds. “Hoshino” had stuck for far too long. First names, on the other hand, were going to be a new obstacle to overcome. “You win. Go play what you want now.”

He doesn’t need to see to know that Ho — Tomoko is sparkling. “Aye aye!” she says with what sounds like an extra salute, and he slumps as soon as her voice turns away from him. “One concert for a bestie, coming up!” 

The piano echoes in his ears first in a new melody before he hears Tomoko start to sing, and by then, Shinsō’s tempted to fall asleep. 

“Kimi o tsurete kakedasu yo (I brought you to run off with me)  

Dare mo oitsukenai basho e; (To a place where nobody can reach;)

Ima koso kanaeyou yo ano hi no yakusoku.  (Now it's time to grant the promise we made that day.)

Katasumi no shiawase no tsubomi,  (The flower bud of happiness staying at the corner,)

Giniro ni kagayaita,  (Shining with a silver color,)

Saitara misete ageyou!  (I will show it to you when it blooms!)

Mikaeshita arubamu no naka de.  (I looked back to the album.)

Sono koro mo ima mo sou,  (Whether past or present,)

Issho ni waratteru.  (We laughed together.)

Minami no hou kara somatteiku kisetsu.  (The season arrives from the south.)

Tadaima to itte ne,  (Saying "I'm back,")

Kitto sugu ni mukae ni iku.  (I'll immediately welcome you.)

Kimi o tsurete kakedasu yo  (I brought you to run off with me)

Dare mo oitsukenai basho e;  (To a place where nobody can reach;)

Ima koso kanaeyou yo ano hi no yakusoku.  (Now it’s time to grant the promise we made that day.)

Nee, zutto matteta yo kimi no koto o.  (Hey, I’m always waiting for you.)

Okaeri, watashi o mou nidoto oitekanaide.  (Welcome home, please don’t leave me again.)

Harukaze hana ga odoru, (Flowers dancing in the spring breeze,)

Yuudachi kasa o narasu, (Rain striking the umbrella in a shower,)

Gairoju aka ni somaru,  (Roadside trees dyed red,)

Watayuki sukuiageta.  (Scooping up fluffy snow.)

Kimi o tsurete kakedasu yo (I brought you to run off with me)  

Dare mo oitsukenai basho e; (To a place where nobody can reach;)

Ima koso kanaeyou yo ano hi no yakusoku.  (Now it's time to grant the promise we made that day.)

Kimi o tsurete kakedashita  (I brought you to run off with me)

Soshite egao o dakishimeta,  (And embracing your smile,)

Mousugu kanaunda ne ano hi no yakusoku. (It will be granted soon, the promise we made that day.)

Mata koushite tonari doushi arukeru koto.  (We are still comrades, advancing together.)

Nandaka tottemo ureshikute hashaide shimau. (I don't know why, but I feel happy and in high spirits.)”

Maybe later, Shinsō could work up the courage to ask Tomoko to record her songs. That way, Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t be pissed when he eventually comes by to their daily training session.

For now, he’d enjoy this. It wasn’t everyday he could nap peacefully against a friend.

By the time the song was long finished, Shinsō could’ve sworn he saw Tomoko smile. “Sleep well, Hitoshi-kun. You deserve it, you beloved friend of mine.” 

It was a good day.

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

“Where have you been?”

“…Around.”

“Shinsō.” 

“Don’t worry about it, Sensei.”

“It’s not because you became buddy-buddy with someone outside your class, is it?”

“…” 

“Do not tell me it’s Hoshino. We went through this with Leonhart and Gekkō already.”

“I have her songs recorded for you if the cats like it…?”

“Goddammit, Shinsō.” 

[skylanders-after-the-end]

Royal Showdown

The sun was burning down onto the bright yellow sand of the desert. A seemingly endless landscape with no sign of life. In the middle of it was a shimmering golden tank, rolling across the countless layers of sand, boarded by Sprocket. The Skylander has been travelling on the large island for hours looking for the Golden Queen. According to her tracking device, the villain was supposed to be nearby, yet there was nothing other than sand far and wide. After she passed another sandy hill, Sprocket looked through the periscope of her tank and spotted a blurry object in the distance. She thought that it was a mirage at first, but upon closer inspection, the engineer’s mouth formed a wide grin. It was a palace made of pure gold, similar to Golden Queen’s original home in the Golden Desert.

The Skylander drove up to the stairs leading to the glorious entrance. In the cool safety of the building’s large shadow, Sprocket jumped out of her tank and made it disappear. She observed the giant gate decorated with all kinds of ancient symbols and statues that Sprocket has never seen before. “This is it.” The goldling said to herself before putting her goggles on top of her striking red hair and entering the abandoned residence.

The Golden Queen has taken her rightful place on the throne inside the ancient palace. With a greedy smile, she slid her nails across a technological device which, even though it was highly advanced, was eons old. Almost manically she was tapping onto the screen, making a bright sound with each contact. The queen was certain that this would be her key to success, this would finally make her the sole ruler of the Skylands.

Suddenly the goldling heard something in the distance. An echoing explosion, and then another one. The tall woman arose from her chair and summoned two Arkeyan guards. “Go see what’s going on there!” The queen yelled and the robots followed her order.

When the guards reached the hall outside of the throne room, Golden Queen could see one of them being destroyed by bullets. Shockingly, the other one had a mine tossed towards him before exploding into pieces. Surprised and enraged, the queen grabbed her staff and prepared to face her enemy. What she didn’t expect is to see Sprocket walk through the entrance leading to the throne room. The queen gave the intruder a bewildered look before pointing her staff at her. “It’s you! That foolish Skylander that resisted my powers!”

“Still Sprocket to you.” The engineer replied sassily as she gripped her wrench tightly. “You may have tricked us last time, but you can’t hide from me!”

“I was never trying to hide.” Golden Queen laughed. “I was just biding my time until I found another way to destroy you Skylanders and claim all the gold for myself, and now I finally have!”

As much as Sprocket just wanted to beat the greedy woman down with her wrench, that was not the reason she journeyed here all on her own. “Listen Golden Queen, I didn’t come here to fight.”

The queen snickered. “For once a smart decision.”

Sprocket ignored her comment and went on. “Back on the abandoned island, you weren’t able to turn me into a golden statue. From what I’ve heard, that’s never occurred before.”

The Golden Queen’s confident smile melted into a frown. “Why are you asking me this? I know just as much as you do, it’s impossible!” She proceeded to aim a golden ray at Sprocket which once again showed no effect, much to the queen’s dismay.

The Skylander observed her hands and sighed with relief when she saw that she wasn’t frozen. “I tried to find an explanation, but nothing made sense! Perhaps because of that clone you created I somehow became immune, or maybe even my tech. I just-”

“It doesn’t matter!” Golden Queen shouted as her body emitted a bright light, indicating her rage. “I don’t need my powers to defeat some dirty engineer!” After a few moments of tension which the two enemies spent staring at each other with spite, the queen put another sinister smile on. “In fact, I will defeat you with your own weapons!”

Upon those words, the ruler grabbed the device which she was holding earlier and pressed a button. Behind her throne, the large stone wall parted in the middle and revealed an entire army of ancient Arkeyan Conquertrons standing tidily in rows, waiting patiently for their moment to conquer, as their name suggests. Sprocket tumbled into a state of shock. “My family just so happened to have made a deal with the Arkeyans eons ago, granting us hundreds of their Conquertrons. Now that I have finally discovered them, I will use them to obliterate you Skylanders once and for all!”

Sprocket was expecting to find an answer to her question when she came here, not that Golden Queen had the power to destroy every island in the Skylands if she desired. “No, this can’t be…”

“It certainly can.” The goldling kept her shimmering jewel eyes on Sprocket before deciding to unveil another shocking revelation. Only this time it was personal. “I’m sure you’re dying to know how I was able to fix and reactivate those machines. That’s because I received help from someone you might be familiar with.”

Before Sprocket could even begin to wonder who she was talking about, the queen pressed another button which created a hole in the ground near her out of which a figure emerged. The Tech Skylander had to take a close look. She didn’t want to believe her eyes at first, but her goggles never lied. “Uncle?”

The long lost goldling’s head turned into every direction before he finally laid eyes on his beloved niece. “Sprocket? What are you doing here!?”

The engineer moved her goggles onto her head as her eyes began to tear up, while her uncle Oscar was rather shocked to see her there. “What a heartwarming reunion.” Golden Queen interrupted the moment with another wicked laugh before grabbing the goldling next to her. “Kaos thought that he could get away with kidnapping one of the Skylands’ brightest minds, but I taught him better. Your uncle has been my prisoner ever since! My undead minions have always kept watch over him and eventually brought him here. He’s working for me, which includes the reanimation of the Arkeyans.”

“I had no choice Sprocket! She knew who I was, if I refused her orders, she would have hunted you down!” Oscar desperately explained the twisted situation, hoping that his niece could forgive him for aiding the queen.

“None of this is your fault, uncle.” Sprocket didn’t care about what he was forced to do, her anger was only directed at Golden Queen. “I’m just glad I finally found you.” Through the single tear escaping her eye, Sprocket was able to give her family member a smile.

“Enough of this!” Golden Queen’s patience was wearing thin. “Now that my army is set up and ready to attack, I have no use for either of you.” She grinned as her eyes slowly went from Sprocket to Oscar. “At least this time you’ll get to say goodbye.”

Golden Queen raised her hand and charged up another golden blast before she shot it at the engineer, creating a cloud of sparkling dust around him. “No!” Sprocket shouted and stepped forward as she watched the scene in horror. In the moment of the queen’s apparent triumph, something that no one expected occurred. The sparkling cloud vanished, and Oscar was perfectly fine!

“What!?” Golden Queen was glowing again as she stared at yet another failed attempt to freeze her victim. She couldn’t explain it to herself.

Sprocket’s horrified frown soon shifted into a bright smile when she realized that her uncle managed to resist the queen’s powers as well.

“It can’t be! This is impossible!” Golden Queen’s eyes shot between Sprocket and her uncle. What made them immune to her godly powers? Then she remembered something, and the answer struck her like a lightning bolt. “Unless…”

Sprocket stopped her flash of happiness when she spotted the look on the bewildered goldling’s face. Did she finally have the answer she was looking for? “Unless what?”

Golden Queen inhaled and stared at Sprocket. She threw her a look of blank shock and disgust. “There were some who were also able to resist my powers, a long time ago.” Golden Queen had to take another breath before finally revealing the truth. “While my parents turned into solid gold with a single touch, my siblings were immune to those powers. That’s why I had to banish them instead.”

Sprocket’s eyes went from Golden Queen to her uncle, and it didn’t take them long to figure out what that meant. “Wait, does that mean we’re your siblings’-”

“Descendants.” Golden Queen finished the sentence. “We share the same bloodline.” With utter disgust, the queen turned her sight back to Oscar. “And that means you will steal the throne from me, and my precious gold!” She grabbed her relative by the collar of his shirt and tossed him into the pit in front of the platform she was standing on, letting him fall down into the dark depths of the palace.

“Uncle!” Sprocket hurried to the edge of the pit as her uncle’s scream still echoed through the room, but Oscar was gone.

“I won’t let my family take away what’s rightfully mine.” Sprocket lifted her head to give the enraged queen a death glare. “You will not defeat me. Ever!”

And with that, Golden Queen slammed her staff onto the rocks beneath her feet which caused the floor underneath Sprocket to split apart and send her falling down the pit as well. The Skylander screamed as she fell deeper and deeper, until there was nothing left but darkness.

It was all black. Nothing to hear and nothing to see. Slowly a voice grew increasingly louder until the words became clear enough to understand. “Sprocket! Sprocket, wake up!” The Tech Skylander came back to her senses and opened her eyes. Her uncle Oscar’s worried face above her turned into a relieved smile. “Oh, thank the Ancients you’re alright.”

Sprocket pushed her upper body up and observed her surroundings. They were sitting in a pit flooded with sand and tall stone walls wherever she turned. Then she looked back at her uncle and lit up with joy. “Uncle!” She threw her arms around him before the man returned a warm embrace. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Me too kid, me too.” The engineers held onto each other for what felt like an eternity before separating with a smile. “Just look at you! You’re a grown woman!” Oscar had to comment on his niece’s new look. “And I see that you were able to escape the prison you called home.” The last time he saw her she still had long hair and wore tight dresses in favor of her mother.

“Heh, I sure did.” Sprocket completely forgot that her uncle doesn’t even know of her role as a Skylander yet. It made her feel some kind of sadness. She would’ve loved to share every little detail with him throughout her journey. “After the grand raid years ago it all went downhill. They couldn’t afford the luxurious lifestyle anymore and the town was ruined. Many people left, they practically fled. Even mother saw no reason for me to stay there, so she let me go. Of course, she would have preferred for me to get married to a wealthy lord and become a loyal housewife, but she finally accepts me the way I am and supports my dreams.”

Oscar only smiled lightly, but it was a proud smile. “I never thought I’d see the day where she changes for the better.”

There were hundreds of things Sprocket wanted to talk about, but she had to focus on what was going on right now. She turned her head around looking for an exit, but they were trapped. “We have to find a way out of here.” The Tech Skylander got on her feet and started to move all the golden junk out of the way in hopes of finding something that could help them.

“Sprocket, why did you come here?” Oscar lifted himself up as well and questioned his niece while she inspected a bunch of mechanical pieces. “You know how dangerous the Golden Queen is.”

“Well, she’s certainly less dangerous to us than anyone else.” Sprocket reminded her uncle of the fact that they were related to the queen which made them immune to her powers. “Can you believe that we’re members of the royal goldling family?” She stopped her search to give her companion a jarring look. “And I thought being a high-class goldling was bad!”

Oscar giggled. “I’m sure at least your mother will be thrilled to find out.”

The two goldlings laughed before they both continued to look for a way out. Besides some objects turned golden like pots, shackles and even some chompies, there wasn’t much for the inventors to work with. Suddenly, Sprocket noticed a shimmering light in the corner of her eye and turned her head to see a sparkling red jewel buried in the sand. “Hey, what’s that over there?”

The goldlings approached the mysterious object and removed some of the sand around it, just to see that the jewel was attached to some red and golden metal. “Wait, could it be?” Oscar recognized the shape and colors. However, the look on his face indicated that it wasn’t a good thing.

“Stand back.” Sprocket advised her uncle before she placed a mine into the sand nearby and moved away as it exploded, setting the object underneath partially free. After seeing what it was, the Skylander was in awe. “No way!”

The engineers were looking at the head of an Arkeyan Conquertron. It must have fallen down here eons ago and be forgotten. While her uncle had a bad feeling about this, Sprocket was certain that this was their way out.

“I can fix it! Then we can use it to get out of here!” The Tech Skylander didn’t hesitate and used her mechanical skills on the giant robot.

Oscar watched as his eager niece removed some metal plates to get a look at the machinery inside and do everything in her power to reactivate it. As happy as he was to see her living her dreams, he couldn’t let her engage with such a deadly weapon. “Sprocket, we should think about this.”

“Don’t worry uncle, I’ll have this rusty robot working in no time!” The engineer proceeded to remove a few bolts with her wrench and fiddle with some cables and gears.

“No Sprocket, listen. I’ve spent years fixing such machines for the queen, even those Arkeyans recently. If there’s anything I found out about them, is that they’re programmed to destroy, nothing else.” Sprocket slowed her work down while her uncle was explaining his worries, but nevertheless kept going. “We’ll find another way out, but please don’t activate that thing. Who knows what it will do once it awakes?”

Sprocket stopped typing in codes and reconnecting cables from another open part of the Conquertron. She turned her head to her uncle with a doubtful look. “But I can do this! I’ll just reprogram it so it does what we want it to. You have to trust me!”

“I trust you Sprocket but you’re meddling with things you don’t understand!” Oscar watched in fear as his niece returned to her work on the Arkeyan. “I can’t let you do this!”

Sprocket stopped again, only this time she didn’t look at her uncle. “You sound just like her.” Oscar had a worried look on his face before the goldling turned around with rage. “I’m sick of being told what I can’t do!”

Oscar carefully reached out to the angered Skylander. “Sprocket-”

“No, I’m going to fox this!” Filled with new determination, the Skylander got back to work. “Just because every other Arkeyan behaved like that doesn’t mean that this one has to be the same!” With an even quicker pace than before, she went on by dismantling the Conquertron and using her wrench and the energy stored in her left glove to get it working again. “I am going to show you that it can break free and it can be different, no matter what anyone says!” Oscar looked up in surprise when his niece suddenly began glowing in an orange hue. “I will prove that I’m not worthless! I can be whoever I want to be, and I can achieve whatever I set my mind to!”

Oscar had to take some steps back and cover his eyes while Sprocket was fully engulfed in a bright light and began to transform. The light ceased, and Sprocket reappeared with a new look. Her armor has changed from the royal blues to golden orange colors with gears around her wrists and an improved gas bottle on her back. Her wrench gained a striped pattern and golden bolts at the end, making it even more efficient than before. Her golden skin was now a shimmering platinum and she sported goggles with a dashed pattern on them.

While Oscar still had to process his niece’s unexpected transformation, she didn’t even bother to look at herself and instead went on with fixing the Arkeyan. Suddenly, as she was using her new wrench and powered up glove, the robot finally moved. Sprocket took that as a sign and directed the energy source on her glove at the machine. It unleashed a white beam of energy that surged through the bolts and gears of the Conquertron. The entire ground was trembling. The goldlings observed as the Arkeyan rose from the sand and stood in front of them in all its glory, breaking some pieces of the pit in the process. Sprocket wasn’t done however. Changing the beam from a white to an orange color, the Arkeyan began to transform as well. The red metal parts changed their shapes and turned into blue colors instead, only keeping the head red. The entire body was shifting and turning, resulting in an entirely new kind of Arkeyan, one that Sprocket created.

When she was done, the Tech Skylander turned around to face her uncle with a smile until she realized that she has changed as well. Before she could take a proper look at herself, the goldling glowed once more and returned to her regular appearance. “What was that?”

“I’m not sure.” Oscar approached his niece while keeping his eyes on the brand new Arkeyan in front of them and putting his arm around its owner. “But whatever it was, it’s gonna get us out of here.”

Golden Queen was reveling in her triumph. With pride and newfound greed, she looked over her army of Arkeyan Conquertrons. “Today, the Skylands will fall under my power at last!” She let out a manic laugh that echoed throughout the entire palace as the lifeless machines stood there, obediently waiting for an order.

That moment was interrupted by an earthquake which grew stronger with each second. Golden Queen turned around with fury as Sprocket’s Arkeyan burst through the ground in front of her throne. Using the jet engines it possessed on its feet, the Skylander was able to reach new heights and cause more destruction than ever before. “It’s over Golden Queen, give up or we will make you!”

The goldling queen was glowing in a radiant light. “Never! I will not be defeated by some peasants! I will have all the gold in the Skylands!”

Golden Queen ran towards her army of Arkeyans, when suddenly an energy blast was shot from behind her and blew up dozens of the robots. The queen watched in horror as Sprocket destroyed one row after the other, causing the palace to crumble down as well. All until there was nothing left that the Golden Queen could use.

“I tried to warn you, maybe now you’ll finally know when you’ve lost.” Even though the villainess has done terrible things and was too far gone to be redeemed, Sprocket and Oscar decided to spare her and instead leave the palace.

As the goldlings were about to exit, Golden Queen used the arm of one of the destroyed Conquertrons and turned it into liquid gold. She coated her right arm with it, making it grow drastically. After the modified Arkeyan blasted a hole through the ceiling and was about to fly off, Golden Queen used her enlarged arm to grab its leg. She dug her razor-sharp nails into the metal and attempted to drag the Skylander and her uncle down, but they wouldn’t let her win that easily. Sprocket pointed the robot’s arm at the queen and used a laser to cut her enormous arm off. As the goldling shrieked in pain and grabbed what was left of her limb, she gave the Skylander one last spiteful glare before they left through the ceiling and made the entire palace collapse.

Once outside, the Arkeyan turned around so that the engineers could take a look at the ruins. No sign of the Golden Queen nor her Conquertrons, she was finally defeated.

“She had it coming.” Oscar commented and gave his niece a smile, reassuring her that she did what had to be done.

“We can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” Sprocket added and sighed.

As they were observing the ruins, both goldlings noticed a strange light in the distance. Sprocket decided to get closer and what they saw left them speechless. It was a brown orb in the midst of the ruins, yet it wasn’t buried underneath the debris. Instead the rocks nearby were orbiting it. Neither of them knew what that was, but they knew that they couldn’t just leave it there. Sprocket extended the Arkeyan’s arm and grabbed the mystical object. She enclosed it inside a containment capsule and stored it safely. After taking another look at the destroyed building, the goldlings finally left.

Moments after their departure, another bright light shined through the debris. Suddenly Golden Queen’s shortened arm emerged out of the rocks. Using her ancient powers, she was able to regrow the rest of her arm and smash her hand onto a broken stone. She then pulled her upper body out. Her crown has fallen off her head and strands of her straight golden hair covered part of her face. Never before has she been this furious. “This is not over, Sprocket!”

[justkeeptrekkin]

For a ficlet prompt: masquerade! Today, I passed some really simple understated masks next to some hella gaudy bedazzled ones and started giggling.

This concept is amazing, thank you! It made me instantly think of a flamboyant Villain Mic. I hope you like, my friend. 

Shouta stands at the club door, music thudding through his body. Inside is one of the most exclusive gathering of villains in the city. It hosts his target, a highly dangerous criminal suspected to be liaising with the League of Villains. And whilst he absolutely hates that he’s the one who’s been chosen to track him, he admits that the fact he isn’t recognisable means he’s the most apt for undercover missions.

Not that he’d be all that recognisable anyway, with the mask. A simple black one that Nemuri lent to him- he really doesn’t want to know why she has it. And now he’s here, in front of a sleazy club, and he’s wearing it. Because this villain is dangerous and as much as he hates this kind of work, he’s got to be here.

Trouble is, the bouncer won’t fucking let him in.

He figures there’s little reason arguing. Clearly their intel is wrong. He’s got the wrong password to let him through past the public dancefloor and to the backroom, where his target is located. But breaking in isn’t an option. As it is, Shouta finds himself pursing his lips in frustration, feeling the eyes of drunk club-goers in gaudy masks- and possibly a handful of villains- watching him.

He’s formulating plan- the bouncer is about to remove him, by the looks of it- when he hears a familiar, shrill voice drifting from over everyone’s heads.

“OI! SHOUTA! IS THAT YOU?”

For a moment, he bristles, refuses to turn towards the voice. Present Mic is no stranger to him. He’s worked with him plenty of times as a source of information on other villains. He gives tidbits to the police, and as a reward, he isn’t arrested for his petty crimes. Nothing more than theft, defamation of wealthy public figures that probably deserve it. But he’s enough of a nuisance.

There’s something about him that sets Shouta entirely on edge, and he doesn’t really want to consider what that thing might be.

“SHOUUTTTAAA!”

He can no longer ignore him. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath to prepare himself, and peers around the bouncer.

Mic is grinning at him and waving enthusiastically from the top step of the club entrance, the neon lights lighting up the edge of his silhouette.  For the first time that Shouta’s ever known him, he’s not wearing sunglasses. Instead, he’s wearing the most absurdly flamboyant mask of anyone in the queue- it’s gold and bedazzled and has feathers sprouting here there and everywhere. Usually, it would probably blend into the ridiculous hairstyle he likes to don. Now, it seems he’s slicked back his hair, so it falls down his back in a cascade.

“Yo yo yo, it’s been forever my dude!”He saunters down the steps, lays a hand on the shoulder of the troublingly large bouncer- who narrows his eyes at Mic warningly. Mic, of course, either doesn’t pick up on the signal or ignores it entirely. Considering how intelligent Shouta knows he is, it’s probably the latter.

“Hey man, this is a buddy of mine, my plus one if you will- did you forget the password, Shou? You can be such a scatterbrain sometimes, am I right?”  

The bouncer heaves a huge sigh before stepping aside and letting Shouta pass. Before he has a chance to move, Mic has his arm linked with Shouta’s and is dragging him into the club like an excited schoolkid. And a part of him wants to argue at being manhandled like this, but he’s also happy to allow Mic to lead him to where he needs to be.

Although, in this case, he has no idea why he’s helping him. Shouta has nothing to offer him in return.

The public area of the club is already messy, floor sticky with spilled booze and masks abandoned in boothes. When Mic opens a back door, manned by another bouncer with a rather threatening rhino quirk, the atmosphere changes entirely. The room is half-lit, no flashing lights to be seen. There’s still music- fairly loud, but it’s slow and heavy. Some people are talking. Some people are dancing. Some people are doing a little more than that, by the looks of things, but it’s dark and Shouta can’t tell. It’s not nearly as frantic as the dance-floor next door, and yet there’s also a palpable feeling of unease in the room. The feeling that every movement is being watched by every single person occupying this room.

This is a writhing, dingy lair of villains, alright.

Mic pulls tighter on his arm. “Come on, Shouta, let’s dance.”“Absolutely not. And I’ve told you not to call me that.”“Would you rather I called you by your other name? Here? Are you super sure about that?”

He has a point, forcing him to call him Eraserhead, or even Aizawa here might be a bit stupid. But there’s something about them being on first name terms that makes Shouta uncomfortable. They may have been working together for a while now, but there’s no way he’d ever call Mic Hizashi. Because that would imply-

“So. We’re not dancing?”Mic pouts. Shouta stares at him.

“I’m here for a reason. Don’t get in my way.”

Mic’s eyes widen slightly behind the mask, calculating. He’s led them to the middle of the dance floor, and bodies are pressing up against him until they’re standing close, too close. There’s some low, throbbing song playing that Shouta doesn’t know and it’s far too warm in here, he realises. And he’s being pushed even closer to Mic, who merely stands there and watches Shouta with interest. And now that he can see him properly, he’s noticed the outfit he’s wearing. A sheer, mesh black top with an absurdly low plunging neckline. A shirt like that doesn’t even have a right to exist. And tight leather trousers- because it wouldn’t be Mic if he wasn’t wearing tight leather trousers.

He notices Shouta’s wondering eyes. “You like the outfit?”“It’s totally unnecessary.”“What, scared it’ll turn you on?”Shouta rolls his eyes and doesn’t deign that with a response. He’s far too close to the truth than Shouta would like to admit.

“Who is it you’re tracking?”“I’m not telling you.”

Mic grabs him by the upper arms, and Shouta stiffens at the contact. “Oh come on, I could help you!”“Not this time.”

For a moment, Mic pauses, and Shouta knows that the clever bastard is figuring something out.

“Why are you here, Mic. What are you doing somewhere like this.”He scoffs, a hand flies to his chest. “What is that supposed to mean?”“You’re a thief, Mic. Everyone here is-”

“I’m an amazing thief.”

“I don’t care.”“Yeah you do,” he says, stepping closer. “I know you care, deep down.”Shouta doesn’t appreciate the joke.

“You still haven’t answered my question.”Those eyes behind the mask flutter, as if he’s remembering that Shouta had asked a question in the first place. Then, he groans theatrically. “You’re so boring. Fine, let’s go over there.”And so Shouta finds himself being manhandled again, towards the edge of the dark room. Mic pushes him, and when Shouta comes to a stop and turns around to question him again, he finds himself trapped against the wall. Mic isn’t touching him- but he’s leaning close, head cocked and lips curled into a smirk.

“You want to know what I’m doing here? You still haven’t told me your side. What’s a place like you doing in a guy like this?”

“And I told you, I’m not telling you.”He sticks out his tongue. “Then I’m not telling you, either.”

“That’s not how this works.”“We’re on my turf now, Shouta.” Mic moves in closer, hand against the wall at Shouta’s side. Shouta tips his head back, keeps his gaze fixed on those green eyes behind the mask.

Mic isn’t touching him. But Shouta swears he can feel him. Can imagine his hands on him.

“This relationship only works because I’m the one in charge,” Shouta says, and even as he says it, he becomes less convinced. Mic snorts- apparently he isn’t convinced either.

“Are you sure about that?”“Tell me why you’re here, Mic.”“Tell me why you’re here, Aizawa Shouta.”

He says it in a low purr. Considering how grating his voice usually is, this new tone is… surprising. It’s interesting. And Shouta can’t help but be distracted by it all; his voice, his lips, the look in his eyes.

“I can tell you’re into this too, Shouta.”“I told you to stop calling me that.”

“You can call me Hizashi, you know. I think we’re at that point now, don’t you?”“No,” he says, a little too quickly. Has he been reading his mind?

“Ooo, defensive,” he sings like a teenager.

“Mic.”

Shouta lays his hands on his shoulders. And he’s just as surprised by the action as Mic appears to be- eyes widening and lips parting.

“Mic,” he tries again. “What are you doing somewhere like this.”And this time, he seems to have debate with himself, because he hesitates. Those brows pull together and raise to his hairline.

“I can’t tell you,” he says quietly.

Shouta feels something in him sink.

“You’re in trouble, aren’t you.”

He blinks at him, looks away. And then he grimaces, rolls out of Shouta’s space and leans his back against the wall beside him. Shouta watches as he props one foot against the wall, knee jutting out, and thrusts his hands in his pockets. He turns his head away.

“It’s complicated.”The words come out of his mouth before he registers them. “I can help.”

Mic snorts, but it’s not a real laugh. He shakes his head, picks at his nails. The music continues to hum through the floor and up Shouta’s body. He hasn’t even tried looking for his target yet. What is he doing?

Before he can consider, Mic adds, “You really do care, don’t you?”

There’s a light-heartedness to Mic’s voice that sounds like a joke. But Shouta knows that’s just a facade.

He doesn’t answer him.

“How did you get sucked into this? This is bigger than you can imagine, Mic.”He sighs, gesticulates vaguely but vigorously. “It’s complicated.”

“You said. But these people are really bad, Mic.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, you think I don’t realise that?” He demands, lips pulling into an angry snarl. “And, by the way, what makes you think that heroes are exempt from being ‘really bad’? What makes you think that you can trust the shitty capitalist regime you fight for? And what about the police forces? Your fellow heroes?”

Mic glares at him, eyes frighteningly wide and shining, and Shouta realises then that Mic knows something. He must know something about the Yuuei traitor.

He opens his mouth to speak, but Mic interrupts him. Naturally.

“You know it’s never as simple as just good and bad. Not everyone in here is evil. Some people… are. And sometimes you end up mixed up in that shit. It’s never black and white.” He pauses, and Shouta waits. Watches the way his slicked back hair pours down his back. Wishes he could see his face. Neither one of them seem to register that there are other people in the room. “You know, a lot of people mistake me for a hero. Since I’m more the, steal from the rich, give to the poor, type. But that still makes me a villain in the government’s eyes, doesn’t it? And then there’s you. Everyone assuming you’re a villain, first glance.”

Shouta frowns. “Nobody even knows who I am.”

Mic tuts. “Right, but I know for a fact that the people you’ve caught and had arrested thought you were a bad guy at first. I mean come on, man. The tired, red eyes? The scars? The outfit? It screams villaine extravaganza.”

Shouta snorts, shakes his head to himself. And then he looks back at Mic. Because this is a real conversation. This is the most vulnerable he’s seen him.

This is Hizashi.

“Point is,” he continues, “I know you know this world’s not so simplistic. You and I, we’re on the same page, when it comes to heroes and villains, you know? We’re neither. We’re in between the goodies, and the… really bad guys.”

Mic turns to him. He smiles. It’s painfully unguarded, and Shouta wishes things were different.

“I can help,” he says again.

Mic’s smile wobbles, and he shakes his head decisively. Shouta finds himself laying a hand on his arm, and Mic looks at him again.

And then, out of nowhere, Mic leans in and kisses him. Gentle and filled with emotions that Shouta can’t parse right now. He pulls away too soon, rests his hand on Shouta’s cheek for a moment.

“No, you can’t.”

He pushes himself off the wall. Shouta watches Hizashi disappear into the crowd, and feels everything he knows about himself crumble and break.