#it was the x-files poster if anyone is wondering

[lady-laureline]

Another ramblepost.

After mulling it over for a few months, I am ~97% sure I'm autistic. As this is the second neurodevelopmental label I've acquired after adhd, I'm somewhat more familiar with the whole revelatory process - i.e. the "so that's why I do that" and "no wonder this keeps happening" moments that are a significant part of why said labels feel justified (others have been explored & rejected).

I have all these little anecdotes about weird misconceptions that have kept me from spending time on the things I find worthwhile, such as feeling like I was too late to the party to be considered a legitimate part of a subculture, or taking my crappy memory as evidence that I don't care about this thing as much as I think I do. One notable moment was realising that I hadn't gotten myself a poster I wanted because of some subconscious narrative that personalised décor is for "real people".

All of this is to say that I've always been aware of several degrees of separation between myself and the general public, and not just because I wanted to be special.1 Growing up neurodivergent means you can never quite close that gap, and that shapes the way you interact with the world: studies on the social perception of autistic individuals basically say that being "a little off" is enough to ruin a first impression, which is, in turn, enough for most people to write you off as undesirable.2

×

And I'll be honest, I wasn't nearly as excited about figuring out my autism as I was about my adhd before I even thought to look at the evidence. The stereotypes are notably less palatable: at least adhd gets the manic pixie dream girl, but ask someone to describe an autistic person and there's still a good chance they'll default to a stubborn six-year-old boy with encyclopedic knowledge of the Cretaceous and zero interest in making friends.3

Even representation that is halfway decent tends to portray autistic characters without any inclination towards concealing their atypical traits, often lacking the self-awareness to even consider it, so people get confused by the thought of us operating somewhere between social grace and social oblivion. Then again, people also short-circuit when they see a wheelchair user stand up for 0.2 seconds.

Some things you don't understand until you're forced to. I'd be lying if I said I hadn't listened to someone's lived experience with unfamiliar symptoms while trying to conceal my doubt. There was a time when I wouldn't have believed my own claims, what with my warped sense of time and my hyperacusis, is thAt even a tHing lol

There's something I really want to pin down about trying to exist while everyone around you keeps sending you signals that your very perception of reality is just wrong. It messes with your head, undermines your identity. I've been working so hard at unraveling trauma bundle after trauma bundle, and I'm only just starting to believe I'm even allowed on this planet, you know? Some people aren't so lucky.4 I'd love to be at ease with myself without needing to justify it to some imaginary audience.

×

This brings me to my next point: cringe.

I am one of many who treat self-censorship like a necessary evil for the sake of appearing adjusted enough. Whether it's self-soothing with the hand-flappy thing, going off on a tangent about a topic of interest, or feeling the overwhelm creep into my nervous system, there are plenty of impulses and reactions that I've learned to stifle so that people will be more inclined to talk to me.

What's the problem with that, you might ask. Isn't learning to adapt a good thing?

I hear you, but this isn't adaptation, this is assimilation. We don't get to choose how our bodies process information, no amount of discipline that will rewire our brains to be "normal". We have a natural way of operating, but most of us have been moderating ourselves for so long that we don't even know what that is. We only know that bad things happen when the mask falls, when composure is outpaced by stress. Looking at it this way, it makes a lot more sense that the world only recognises autism at its worst.

Setting boundaries would ease the pressure, but when it comes to voicing smaller issues the assumption is that we're playing them up for attention. For those unprepared to imagine having to live with chronic discomfort, calling it a lie feels rational - which leaves us not calling for help, but embarrassing ourselves for some reason.

×

As a cherry on top, we still don't know what autism is, despite decades of research. Autistic brains are characterised by both hyper- and hypo-connectivity in different areas. There is consistency in certain functional deficits, however studies keep getting conflicting results while trying to map these out.5

While elusive in origin, our differences put us at measurable odds with the scattered demands of a modern environment. Sensory sensitivities are a giant handicap when we live in a flood of sensory information, and without the ability to develop the standard tolerance it becomes a constant battle to just feel okay on a day to day basis. But if we can outmanoeuvre the bad stuff, we can focus; and if we can focus, we can excel.6

I mentioned beforehand that a lot of the behaviours commonly recognised as autistic are linked to distress. My hope is that, with the growing awareness we're experiencing, we'll be able to normalise happier traits as well.

× × ×

1 Which I won't deny, but my secret teenage wishes had a lot more to do with being whisked away to the fairy realm than being bullied at school.

2 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5286449/

3 It's the "lack of empathy" in particular that gets under my skin. There are a whole bunch of steps between feeling an emotion and expressing it in a way that translates well. We're not always good at those steps - doesn't mean we don't care.

4 The suicide rate of autistic individuals is roughly sevenfold that of the general population. (International Research Priority Setting Exercise 2021, "Where do we go from here?")

5 https://embrace-autism.com/autistic-brain-differences-connectivity/

6 The other option is putting the bad stuff on hold - intoxication & other dissociative methods can offer temporary sensory reprieve. Without other accommodations available (as is all too often the case), this can easily turn into a destructive habit.

[frost-queen]

To his liking (Reader x Steve Raglan /W. Afton)

Forever tag:@missmelodramatic, @merlin-dahlia, @alex--awesome--22, @elllie-does-the-posts, @floatlosers, @merlieve, @queen-of-books, @glimmering-darling-dolly@denkisclown, @wildieflower, @meyocoko, @bubblybrianna, @justanothercoco@subjecta13-thefangirl, @m-rae23, @harleyquinnswifeyfrfr, @swampthing07, @melsunshine, @panhoeofmanyfandoms, @venomsvl, @the-uncoordinated-house-cat, @rosecentury,  @imagines-by-her,  @evilcr0ne, @vviolynn

A/n: This is my first time doing something for this fandom. I hope it is any good as I didn't have much time for my regular request so I whipped something up. Summary: In need of a new job you find yourself at Steve Raglan's office hoping he would find a job for you.[series]

Your knee trembled nervously. Sweaty palms rubbing against your legs. You had read the posters in the little waiting room numerous times. All silly adds with cheesy lines. Your gaze drifted to the left where an elderly lady was typing loudly in her computer. Her face hidden behind the big box of a screen. The smell of her coffee adding a new scent to the already muffy smelling room.

You seated yourself better, feeling that your bottom had been hurting from sitting on that darn wooden stool for what seemed ages. Four wooden stools lined up against the walls in order to wait. Beside the stool on your right was a small table with old magazines. At least dated from five years back. Looking back around you started to wonder why you were even her. Yet the answer was very clear.

This was your last chance. Your last chance at making a change. Rubbing your sweaty palms over your legs again, you let yourself slouch down in the chair. Just a few more minutes and you might call it off. Simply get up and walk out as you weren’t getting anywhere. Waiting for ages. Waiting for that wooden door to finally open and allow you to meet your future.

The clock ticking almost tauntingly by the minute. It was agonizing to wait this long. It was almost as if they were testing your duration. See how long you would stand with it before throwing in the towel. Sighing again you moved your bottom to the back of the stool, leaning forwards. Palms in your hair. The lady behind her desk kept typing loudly without a care or notice of you.

This was it. You had enough. Leg shaking nervously. You jumped up with a deep breath. At the same time you got up, opened the wooden door. No one standing in the door opening. It made you stare at the door wondering if anyone else before you would head out.

A slim figure wearing glasses opened the door more standing in the opening. – “Y/n Y/l/n just who I was expecting.” – he said moving a bit back to create an opening. Somehow you kept staring at him. He chuckled waving you over. – “Come, come don’t be shy. I don’t bite.” – he teased with half a smirk.

Walking up to him you saw the lady behind the compute follow your movement with her head. Her expression dull and neutral. Pausing briefly in the door opening you looked up to the man. He smiled invitingly at you. With one soft breath you entered more as the door got shut behind you. – “Please, sit.” – he offered gesturing at another one of those uncomfy chairs. You sat down looking around his office. He walked behind you across towards the coffeemaker. You kept your gaze in front of you, pressing your hands between your legs.

A name clip standing on his desk. Raglan it read. Steve Raglan. – “Coffee?” – you heard him call out. Humming loud you snapped out of your little thought bubble. – “Oh uhm no thank you.” – you answered moving your hands away. Raglan went to his desk, sitting down across from you. He set his coffee mug aside. He leaned a bit back taking a file from his desk. He opened it leaning fully back.

Taking a deep breath, he rubbed his finger over his beard and mouth. You kept a close eye on his expression. His seriousness when his eyes trailed over the words. The way you felt a bit shy around him. He took a soft gasp of breath leaning forwards to the desk, laying your file down. – “I’m going to be honest with you Y/n… may I call you Y/n?” – he asked looking over at you.

You nodded hesitantly with a flush in your cheeks. – “With your record of work, it won’t be easy to find someone that would like to hire you.” – he said making you swallow nervously. – “Yelling and cursing at a parent.” – he read out loud with a slight shake of his head. – “Calling them a pervert and kicking them in the…” – he stopped as his gaze went up to you. – “Delicate area’s.” – he added waving his hand down his stomach to show you.

“That is unacceptable behaviour Y/n.”  - he went on picking up your file again. – “He had it coming.” – you mumbled. Raglan curling up a smile. – “I’m sure he did.” – he responded as it startled you that he had heard you. – “I’m not hear to judge you Y/n but that wasn’t your first fall-out.” – he looked down at your file, flipping a page.

And another one. – “You have a history of being violent.” – his gaze flashed up to you. Was there a hint of a smile on him? Did your violent history amuse him? He placed the file down again leaning forwards as he folded his hands before him. – “It’s not going to be easy for you Y/n.” – his words echoing like doomsday in your mind. Were you done for it?

“So you got nothing for me?” – you asked trying to hide your fear of having nothing. Raglan licked his lips leaning back in his chair. – “I’m afraid so.” – he replied watching you closely. You broke. Leaning back to look up at the ceiling with the deepest sigh. You were ready to get up and walk out. What use was staying here if he had nothing to offer you.

Raglan picked up on your urge to get up and walk out. He got up making you freeze half way from getting up. You watched him go around the desk to come lean against the edge on your side. It made you sit back down eager to know what he wanted to say.

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. – “I might have something for you.” – he started sparking up your interest. – “The hours are brutal and the pay-check even worse.” – he went on. – “I don’t care.” – you said eagerly grabbing onto the railing of the chair. Raglan smiled. – “Ever heard of Freddy fazzbear’s pizzeria?” – he asked. You shook your head. – “It was a big thing in the eighties.” – he added. – “Before it got shut down.” – he finished looking down at you.

He looked briefly over his shoulder to your file on his desk. – “I read in your file you played dress-up for kid’s parties a few years ago.” – you hummed loud to acknowledge him. Raglan chuckled softly removing himself slightly from the desk. His hand grabbed for your chin, tilting your head back. His eyes locking with yours.

Somehow you didn’t push his hands away. Actually finding it mesmerizing how they held you. – “How do you stand against masks?” – he asked. – “Although it would be a shame to hide that pretty face of yours behind one.” -  You felt your cheeks burn up from his words. – “What do I have to do?” – you asked as he let go of your chin. – “Dress up.” – he spoke plainly. – “I…I thought the place got shut down?” – you asked to be sure you had heard him correctly.

 “You’d make a fine addition to the… family.” – he answered deflecting your question. – “The kids will love you.” – he muttered to himself. He took you by your hands making you stand up. – “What do you say Y/n do you plan on staying?” – he asked holding your hands dearly.

Having no other option you accepted. It didn’t sound that bad. Dressing up for some kids. As long as there weren’t any rude or perverse parents to test your temper. Raglan curled up a sinister smile.

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

Read more of my fics on my Masterlists!  

[sl-newsie]

Query: Q x 00 Agent- Ch. 15: Proceed

“Good morning, Eleanor,” a calm voice stirs me awake.

“Eleanor? Who’s-? Oh, never mind.” I open my eyes and find Q’s head upside-down above from me.

“You look pretty in the morning. Most people don’t.”

I roll my eyes. “Very funny. This face has enough scars and marks on it to be mistaken for a cement brick.”

Q takes my head in his hands. “That pretty face is one that I don’t want to share with anyone.”

I arch a brow. “Who are you, some sort of romantic all of a sudden?”

“I can be now since we’ve established mutual feelings of attachment. Would you like to freshen up before we head to work?”

“Suppose I should. Do you mind?” This is the first time I’ve asked to take a shower in someone else’s home.

“Not at all. It’s up the stairs, first door on the-” Q pauses. “Actually, would you like a tour?”

It’s sweet that Q’s already opened to the idea of showing me his apartment. He almost seems excited about it.

“I’d love a tour, Q,” I say with a soft smile.

The geek takes my hand and leads me up the stairs. The upper floor contains a small hallway with 3 doors. We head right and Q opens the first door to reveal a bedroom.

“This is me,” Q says almost shyly. “Just in case you need to come get me.”

Does this mean Q wants me over more often?

“This here’s the bathroom.” Q opens the 2nd door. “And down here-” We walk to the end of the hall and he opens the last door. “-is my home office.”

‘Office’ isn’t the term I would use. It’s more like a miniature version of his lab, only it has a few personal additions such as some science posters and scattered figurines. One might describe it as if it were a nerd’s hideout.

“This is definitely you, Q. Is this where you come up with all your brilliant ideas?”

“Sometimes, yes. Other times I’ll think of something at a random time of day and scribble it down. You can’t predict eureka moments like those.” Q walks back to the stairs. “I’ll leave you to freshen up. There’s some fresh clothes in the cabinet. We leave in 20 minutes.”

I’m finished in 10. It’s odd using someone else’s shower and even stranger when my options of soap smell like Q. A mix of mint, laundry soap, and something that almost smells like gunpowder. After pulling on one of his gray sweaters (I keep my own leggings on because his trousers are far too big) I go back downstairs to find Q being bombarded by all 3 cats.

“A little help?” He asks with a sheepish smile.

I smirk. “I petted them last night. Now it’s your turn, genius. Ready to go?”

He reluctantly pulls the cats off of him and grabs his messenger bag. “All set. I’m assuming you’re disappointed about being out of a mission?”

He’s right. Now that SPECTRE’s been taken care of there’s no new assignment. I should be gloomy about it.

“Maybe M will have some paperwork for me to do.” I shrug. “Or do a coffee run.”

Q goes through the careful process of resetting the alarm system and we walk out into a sunny morning. It’s a shame we have to spend today indoors and miss out on this gorgeous weather. Today would be a perfect day for a drive.

The CNS tower comes into sight. Now that C is- well, taken care of, I wonder what’s to become of the building. No doubt M already has a new MI6 location already being set up. Q and I walk through the office doors and give each other a subtle look of goodbye before we go separate ways. We both know that confusing a workplace relationship with a romantic one is bonkers.

“Morning, Levie,” Moneypenny greets me as she approaches with a file. “I’ve got some paperwork for you.” She gets a gleam in her eye. “Did you and Q have a nice evening?”

She’s suspicious, I’m sure of it. It’s like she wanted Q and I to get together. Cheeky. But I will not compromise my new relationship to give her the satisfaction.

“Quite tame, actually. Enjoyed some good food, played a few cards. I’m just glad to have gotten a good night’s rest.”

Moneypenny eyes me leerily but lets the subject go and hands me the file. “Bond checked in about an hour ago so he might come visit. Right now you just need to fill this out.” She gives me a wink. “There’s a rumor that M might have a new assignment for you.”

My heart quickens. “Really? No joke?”

“I wouldn’t tease about something like that,” Moneypenny laughs as she walks back to the office.

Finally! I can have my own assignment instead of chasing after Bond. I’ll admit his adventures are exciting but it’s nice to be in control of my own missions. The only downfall is that it means I’ll have to go another month without seeing Q; although  we both know this is bound to happen. 

It’s 4:00 now. That’s given a big window of time for Q to get some space from me. Being in a secret relationship is strange as it is and I don’t want to overstress it by complicating our workplace relationship. So instead of heading to Q’s lab to annoy him I go for a walk in the courtyard. It’s always fun to act as a civilian and watch the naive pedestrians go about their everyday lives. If they knew how much chaos there is in the world they would panic into anarchy. Though it is disturbing that we keep them in the dark. What’s best is for them to enjoy the peace rather than dwell on violence.

“Enjoying the peace and quiet?” Someone approaches from behind.

I don’t turn to face Bond and gesture to our surroundings. “It’s too quiet. After the mess we’ve had this feels unnatural. Do you think people could ever handle the truth about what we do?”

My old mentor sighs deeply and shakes his head. “Could you?”

“Couldn’t say. How am I supposed to forget what I’ve seen? I don’t think I could dispose of that much knowledge of bloodshed on someone. ‘Sometimes it’s more noble to tell a small lie than to deliver a painful truth.’”

Bond gives me a funny look. “Did you just quote Night At The Museum?”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t take you for a movie person.”

“It’s a very nice trilogy," I smirk. "We should have a movie night and I can show it to you.”

“Do you even have an apartment yet?” Bond asks.

I shake my head. “It’s on the list.”

Now Bond looks at his watch. “Better keep the list handy because you won’t have time to look for one. I’m here to tell you that you’re scheduled to meet with M in 20 minutes. He says it’s important so that most likely means you have a new mission, 0011.”

I get a giddy smile. “Yeah, Moneypenny mentioned it. What’s in store for you?”

“I’ve got a few ideas.” Bond gives me a sneaky smile.

There’s no use attempting to get more from that. For all I know he’s planning on blowing up another building. As we walk back I can’t help but feel happy that he can take a break. Not saying Bond’s due for retirement but I can step in to help carry the load if need be. After we say a quick goodbye Bond heads off towards the garage. Now to head to the elevator… or not. One little pop-in with Q wouldn’t hurt, right? No, I should focus on work. 

I head upstairs to meet with M, who seems much more laid back.

“Ah, good afternoon, 0011. I trust you know why I’ve summoned you here?”

“Yes, sir. You have a mission for me?”

“Affirmative.” M gestures to a screen across the room. “A few Siberian spies broke into a facility in northern Scotland. I need you to detain them and bring them here for questioning. Can I trust you to keep it simple and not make a mess?”

I stand to attention and nod. “Affirmative, sir. I will leave right away.”

The leader seems pleased and hands me a flashdrive. “Here’s the information you’ll need. I suggest you review any needed weaponry with Q before you depart.”

“Of course, sir.” For business and pleasure. 

With a new wave of excitement I quickly exit M’s office and hurry to the basement. It’s much more busy now that C’s not prying into everyone’s business. Maybe Q can actually get some assistance instead of being stuck down here by himself. I find the shaggy-haired geek scribbling some notes down at his back desk.

“You won’t believe what Bond just took,” he says without looking up.

I literally just saw Bond and he’s already causing trouble?

“Another new car?” I guess dryly.

Q lifts his gaze and points to the garage door. “Nope. His car.”

Sure enough, the classic Aston Martin DB5 is nowhere to be seen. 

“He always loved that bloody car.” I walk over to where my bike is leaning against the wall. “I’m afraid I have to use my vehicle now as well though I promise I will bring it back. Would you mind if I borrowed this afterwards to do some, ah, house-hunting?”

Q pauses, then gets up to walk over while avoiding my gaze. “Still looking for an apartment?”

“Yes. I can’t keep living at work even if I’m only here in-between missions. Perhaps I should just find a storage unit for my things and let Moneypenny take care of Cricket.” I shrug. “Aside from you there’s not much that ties me to somewhere.”

Now Q’s fidgeting with his hands. “Actually, if you’re open to it, maybe… You could move in with me?”

He’s serious? I could…? I’m not sure how to feel about this. After I joined the MI6 I’ve always relied on myself to make ends meet, to have a home. Can I allow enough trust to rely on him?

“That’s a big commitment. Are you sure?”

Q gets a lopsided grin. “You’re already staying with me and you haven’t found an apartment. Why not?”

If anything I thought I’d be the one to move our relationship along. It’s admiring to see Q so confident in our new situation.

“If it’s no burden to you-”

“That couldn’t be farther from the truth,” Q interrupts and takes my hand. “You’re anything but a burden, Eleanor.”

His words bring a smile to my face. “Yes, Geoffrey. I’d love to move in with you. On one condition.” I hold up a finger. “You allow me to take up half of the rent.” He goes to argue but I cover his mouth with my hand. “It’s only fair. I will not take no for an answer, Quartermaster.”

Q gives me an annoyed look while I still keep his mouth shut. Then he surprises me by kissing my hand, which I instinctively lower due to the unnatural feeling.

“Fine,” Q stubbornly agrees. “You can pay half the rent, even though your payment in affections is worth enough.” He pecks a kiss on my cheek. “I hope to mirror such emotions.”

I arch a brow. “Are you saying you love me?”

Q’s eyes spark and he leans in to back me against the wall, his face inches from mine. “Would you like a lecture, or a demonstration?”

Oh my. I thought being sent on a new assignment was going to be the highlight of the day; but nothing can compare to this new feeling of anticipation racing through my veins. My curiosity on Q’s idea of a demonstration is a new itch in my brain. I’m almost sad to have to leave.

I take a deep breath and hold up a hand to cress Q’s cheek. “Save it for when I get back, genius. Right now I’ve got to go catch a few rascals in Scotland.”

I see Q shares my disappointment but we both know our jobs must come first. Emotions will only make my task complicated. Right now I have to focus on proceeding to the task at hand. Pushing the struggle aside, I slide past Q to retrieve my motorcycle.

“M said to review weaponry with you before I go. Any suggestions?”

Q snaps back into his workplace demeanor and goes back to retrieve something from his desk. "You still wear the pendant tracker?"

"Of course."

"Good. Then we won't need to worry about losing contact." He hands me a small case. “Here, but be careful with it. These are potassium pellets, which means they react violently with water. Will really come in handy if you need to make a quick explosion, and since it’s Scotland you’re traveling to there should be plenty of water to use.”

I graciously take the invention and pack the case safely in the bike’s compartment. “Thank you, Quartermaster. I look forward to seeing your genius device in action.”

“Excited for another adventure, are we? Hopefully this time I won’t be dragged into it.”

I roll my eyes. “I’m starting to think you’re lucky to be stuck down here. Maybe someday I can be more than just an assassin Mata Hari.”

Q gets a serious expression and puts a hand on my shoulder. “You are far more than that, Eleanor. You’re an incredibly loyal agent with a damn good spirit. That and…” He pauses. “Your feminine qualities are rather fine as well.”

His unique ways of flirting are catching, I’ll give him that.

“That means a lot, Q. I promise I’ll try to get back quickly.” I press a kiss to his cheek and mount the bike, starting the engine before I can delay myself further. Lord only knows how this mission will go but I’m confident in my capability.

“I am the angel of death, the time of purification is at hand,” I mutter as the garage door slides open.

Q gives me the thumbs-up to depart. “Go give ‘em Hell, darling.”

[bigfootsmom]

Tagged by the beloved and wonderful @dijkstraspath 💗

shuffle your ON REPEAT playlist and list the first 10 songs

Nobody by Hozier

Sports by Beach Bunny

Knee Socks by Arctic Monkeys

Adios by JAWNY

Big God by Florence + The Machine

Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue) by Hozier

The Look by Metronomy

Japanese Posters by Rebounder

I’m So Bored by Sarah and the Sundays

Dream Girl Evil by Florence + The Machine

list your top 15 tv shows because it reflects your personality (these are in no particular order just as I remember that I like them)

9-1-1

Alex Rider

X-files

Hannibal

CSI

Star Trek (original series)

Daredevil

Ghost Whisperer

Gravity Falls

True Blood

Mandalorian

Our Flag Means Death

Stranger Things

I tried so hard but I couldn’t think of anymore :( I only counted tv I’m currently watching or have recently rewatched

I’m tagging @usersiren, @swiftietartt, @honestlydarkprincess, @morganofthefairies, @holdmygum, @lovebuck, @maygrantgf, @miserykites, @nymika-arts, @monsterrae1, @homerforsure, @loserdiaz, @princessfbi, @mellaithwen, @paranoidbean, and anyone else who wants to share!

[spinningwebsandtales]

Imagine A Quiet Moment With Soshiro Hoshina

(A/N:) I am a complete and total Kaiju No. 8 nerd!!! This series is so freaking good and I don’t think enough people know about it nor have read it! I love the artwork and all the characters! I really hope they make it into an Anime sometime cause I would love to see several scenes animated. So I had to write a little something something for my top fave character (which I really have several favorites). So this is the end result happy reading! ~Countess

Soshiro Hoshina X FemReader

Warnings: Suggestive themes

Dating THE Soshiro Hoshina was difficult, it didn’t help that he wanted to keep the relationship a secret. He claimed that it wasn’t very professional and while you could agree with him the biggest reason for him to keep such things from his fellow soldiers was he could be very jealous. He wanted to keep you to himself and had the odd imagination of someone wanting to steal you from him. All you could do was pat him on the head and assure him that you wouldn’t leave him for anyone else. Except maybe Kafka, though you were teasing when you told him that. Hoshina took it literally and was on his way to kill his subordinate when you stopped him and kissed him passionately. For teasing him you were trapped into spending hours cuddling on the couch in his apartment while watching movies.

After a particularly hard and deadly battle you limped into Hoshina’s office to see him bandaged and tired writing out paperwork. You locked the door behind yourself and scooted a chair by his side. He knew you had entered but he had yet to acknowledge you. While he preferred playing this work needed to be done because one it was important (the higher ups said so anyway) and two he didn’t feel like messing with it later. He rather mess around with you anyway. Filing the last piece he finally swiveled around and leaned forward pressing his forehead to yours.

“I thought I lost you today,” he mumbled.

“I thought I lost you,” you replied burying your hand in his black hair.

“I don’t ever want to feel that helpless ever again.”

“Soshiro you can’t be perfect all the time. There’s going to be moments where we can’t control things and things will go wrong. Especially in our fields. I mean we fight and kill monsters a hundred times bigger than we are. We are soldiers first and foremost this is what we do,” you kissed his cheek trying to comfort him.

“I just don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost you,” he sighed cupping your face in a large calloused hand.

“You would continue on for my sake and you would make it. It would hurt at first but I know you could make it through.”

“What about if you lost me?”

“I’d think finally! What took him so long to kick the bucket,” you laughed at his glare. “I’m kidding I’d be a mess.”

“And what makes you think I wouldn’t be.”

“Because I know how strong you are. I said that you would hurt at first but time does heal wounds or rather they scab over and you get used to dealing with them,” you cooed.

“Are you sure you aren’t a therapist wearing a Defense Force uniform,” Hoshina questioned getting up from his seat and tugging you upwards. You stretched your arms across his shoulders nibbling at his jawline. “A blind dog finds a stick every now and again babe.”

“Oh yeah,” he grinned.

“Shut up I’m too tired for your cheekiness.”

“I thought that was my whole charm that reeled you in.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Okay then was it my dashing good looks?”

“More like oh crap I feel so sorry for him I’ll date him to make him feel better,” you said dramatically.

“Now I know that’s a lie, c’mon don’t be shy you can tell me the truth,” Hoshina continued with wondering hands.

“Keep traveling downward and this conversation ends now and you’ll know nothing.”

“Yes ma’am,” he obeyed hands now resting on your hips.

“Truthfully I’ve had a crush on you forever. I had your poster on my wall in college, I didn’t wait to volunteer long after I saw you in action,” you blushed.

“Oh a groupie then. Never knew I had one of them.”

“I want to punch you so bad in the face right now,” your blush deepened.

“Apologies,” he held you tighter. “You know what will make me shut up.”

“I’m listening,” you cocked an eyebrow.

“Lot’s of kisses.”

“I think I’ll oblige you just this once.”

Hoshina leaned down capturing your mouth with his and that’s how you both spent the evening until it was time to go home.

[iznsfw]

Can you write write one when as a classmate with minju?

Sex Education

IZ*ONE's Kim Minju x Male Reader Smut

"Alright, everyone. That's it for class. Don't forget your books."

Finally. That was one extremely boring class.

It wasn't even supposed to be boring. It's sex ed class; isn't everyone eager to learn about how their body works, and explore what is considered a taboo subject? You should be immersed in this class as much as the other students, but you just aren't. You already know everything.

You say that as humbly as possible, but you don't have to because it isn't even bragging. No, really, you swear it isn't. You're the top student of the class; you automatically understand everything. It's kind of like a little superpower you have.

You know everything Ms. Hong is talking about, and understand what they mean. The upcoming sex ed test would just be like a piece of cake for you. Maybe pick a flavor, eat it in a while. Study the ingredients.

Immature giggles come from your classmates at the end of the class. The girls suddenly bare a little more leg to the boys. The boys enjoy the show. Ms. Hong, as usual, ignores everything as the class files out for vacant time.

You gather your books into your red backpack, sling it over your arm, and prepare to walk out like the rest. You wonder what's for lunch today. You hope the rice is hot enough.

"Hey, oppa!"

A soft cheerful voice stops you in your tracks.

You recognize that voice. You recognize it particularly more because it isn't heard too much by anyone.

You take a guess at who it is, and when you lift your head from the tiled floor, you discover that your guess is correct.

It's Minju.

She stands there in front of you with a soft beam on her innocent face, hugging her textbooks to her chest. Her strawberry-colored hair falls in curls and touches a little below the blades of her shoulders.

You smile. It's always a pleasant time with Minju. She's sweet to everyone. Every parent dreams to have a daughter like her. You bet that she couldn't even hurt a fly.

You suppose that's how she earned the nickname of "Minju Angel."

"Hi, Minju," you reply. You insert your arm through the second strap of your backpack and walk to the open doorway of the classroom. "How's everything going?"

You and Minju aren't very close. Nobody is. Minju doesn't have friends because students who want to be are too afraid to approach her. But it isn't because of anything harsh; if anything, it is because she's too pretty.

Minju's leather tap shoes tap in a rhythm against the ground as she catches up with you. Her hair bounces in the air. "It's going great! Except for one thing."

Enter one of the hallways of the school. Blue lockers line the sides of it, and posters promoting candidates for student government are plastered on the walls. By this time, only a few students are roaming in here. Most of them have gone to the canteen for a hotdog, and some might have went to the nearby mall to buy lunch.

When Minju's response reaches your ears, it surprises you a little. Kim Minju never talks about her problems. If she mentions it to you, it must be important.

"Oh? How can I help?" You stop walking to face her.

Minju's lips pull themselves into a pitiful pout. "I'm having a really difficult time with sex ed. I don't understand anything."

This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

Minju is one of the top students in your class alongside you. She is excellent at everything: English, physics, math, and just any subject you could name off the top of your head. If it isn't usual hearing Minju talk about her problems, the chances of her having a difficult time with her studies are even shorter.

But you can see how she would struggle. She is just as innocent as she looks. Anything that goes beyond pureness is unknown to her.

You hum thoughtfully. "That's alright," you tell her. "I don't get it too much either."

That is a lie. You understand everything. But who are you to deny Minju's pleading little face of anything?

Nobody.

You place a hand on her shoulder. "Tell you what, why don't I tutor right now about it? There's still two hours of vacant time. Just come with me to the library and I'll teach you everything. How's that sound?"

Minju's face is bright. "Really?" she asks you. She jumps up and down cutely. "You'd do that for me?"

"Of course! Anything for a friend in need. Come on."

+

Once the two of you enter the library, a rush of cold air-conditioned wind blows against you. You pretend not to see Minju's skirt uniform fly up in the air just to save her from embarrassment.

The library is a wide room with gray walls and a smooth tiled floor. Behind the librarian's counter is a shelf storing books of any kind behind a mini glass sliding door. There is even a little sign hanging on the desk that says "LIBRARIAN AT LUNCH".

Four wooden shelves stand a little far apart from each other. There are labels taped to the sides to help you navigate each section for the book you'd like to read, and behind the shelves are convenient tables to lay books on.

"It's cold here," comments Minju, looking around curiously. She rubs one of her thin pale arms as she follows you into one of the aisles of bookshelves.

"We'll only be here a short while," you assure her. "You're a fast learner."

You take a book from one of the shelves and open it to the back. Minju sits on one of the tables and props her elbows on her knees, placing her face into her palms, waiting for you to explain.

Lick your thumb and turn a few more pages. After more paging, you are met with a chaste drawing of a penis. You show it to Minju. "I'm sure you know what this is? Ms. Hong said—"

"No."

You are taken aback. 19 years old and with no idea of what a penis is? She must be bullshitting you.

But Kim Minju never lies.

She seems genuinely curious. Her eyes oggle at the drawing, as if trying to study it. She looks back up at you expectantly for explanation.

You remind yourself you're here to teach her, not to judge her of what she doesn't know. You hastily wipe the look of shock off your face and lay the book beside her on the table.

"That's fine. It's called a penis. It's a sex organ males have that grows through time. Or not, if you're unlucky." You laugh briefly at your own joke.

"Ohhh! What does it do?"

"It . . . . it grows in size and gets hard when aroused."

Minju raises an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

You swear to God.

Minju is the embodification of the ideal daughter of every parent. Pretty, sweet, intelligent and . . . innocent. So innocent that she's at the point of plain ignorance.

Doesn't every girl watch porn at some point in her life? Or read a sex scene from a book hidden behind a poster? You are starting to believe Minju has not.

She's so unreal.

Suddenly you're not an honor student anymore. In that moment you feel your maturity admired by everyone fade away piece by piece. You're just as bad as the other guys.

Your cheeks turn red. Heat fills your face although the air-conditioning of the library is well done.

You begin to laugh. It's a giggly, tight laugh, something you hear from the other boys in your class. Something you have never done before.

"Why are you laughing at me, oppa?" Minju is getting upset. "You said you won't make fun of me!"

"I'm—I'm sorry, Minju. It's not easy to explain something so . . . "

"I suppose it's alright," Minju says sullenly, hanging her head. "I'm just going to have to figure it out on my own."

Guilt eats through your being as you watch Minju sadly close the book. She places it back on its position on the shelf and starts to leave the library.

You're the biggest fuck-up in history.

You hit your head with your wrist. Why would you let your own self-awareness and maturity melt away like that? You were supposed to help a fellow struggling classmate understand something, and you failed because of yourself.

You swear continuously. Minju trusted you. She came to you for help because she knows you can assist her. And you failed her. It's not her fault she's been so sheltered that she doesn't know the basics of the body and sex.

You sigh, trying to hold yourself together. You shouldn't let yourself get so worked up about this. This is a lesson, something you can use to better yourself in the future. You should see it that way instead of moping about how you failed to tutor the kindest girl in the school.

But even that thought doesn't help make you feel any better.

You deserve this. You deserve all the agony in the world. All the pain and—

"Wait, oppa!"

"Minju!" You're surprised that she has returned to you in the library, but also relieved. You grab her by the shoulders and try to apologize. "Listen, I'm so sorry I—"

"No, it's alright! I just found out! It's been standing in front of me all along!"

Her face is bright again; the sullen look is completely erased from it. It almost convinces you that she has never felt any mood other than her usual polite and happy self.

"Really? What is it?" you ask her. You're eager to make up for your fuckery. "You could have just told me earlier—"

"Why don't you just show me your penis?"

Wait, what?

Before you could speak or explain, you feel Minju's small hand slipping itself underneath your pants and bringing out your dick into the open.

You're frozen. You know you should explain to her that it isn't like that. That she shouldn't just whip your penis out in public and that it isn't proper. Or even right.

But her hand is warm, contrasting the cold wind that blows inside the closed library. The cold just makes your dick harder. You blush furiously and fumble to explain.

"Minju, it isn't like this at all," you try to clarify to her. "Y-You shouldn't be doing this."

"Why?" Minju apparently doesn't understand. She stoops down to look at your dick better, but that does not help her either. "I can't really see from up here—oppa, is it okay if Minju—"

You swear that a frog is shoved down your throat. Your classmate—your sweet innocent Minju—is on her knees in front of you, hand wrapped around the base of your cock tightly as she raises it to view to her face.

"Oh, I understand better now!" says Minju cheerfully. She examines you with her big curious eyes. "Oh, oppa, your penis is really big. Has it—has it always stood up like that? I don't really understand anymore."

"Minju," you repeat, throat tight, "you shouldn't be doing this."

"You said that it gets hard when you're aroused, right, oppa? Is that why it's so hard right now?"

You swear that you almost blow when your classmate slides her hand up to the mushroom head. Every nerve on it is so sensitive, and Minju is so painfully oblivious to it.

"Is my hand making it like that?"

You nod in response. You're pretty sure you're dreaming right now. This is the stuff of Pornhub videos! You could already envision the title: "Innocent student jacks off sex ed tutor".

Oh, and the teachers. You could imagine them whispering among themselves, wondering how a polite, perfect girl like Minju could do such a bold thing in school. And to a fellow honor student too!

But you feel your concern about that slowly drifting away. All you could think about is Minju's hand rubbing you, and how it makes your cock throb with need.

"Oh! I heard it feels good. Maybe I should do it faster? Maybe you'll like that."

You would.

Minju hums thoughtfully as she paces up her handjob. She experimentally places her lips on your tip, swirling her pink wet tongue around it, making you jerk roughly into her small mouth.

"Mmph! Oppa, you need to be careful. You're so hard." Minju kisses your tip lovingly, giving it a brief lick before giving the sides of your dick open-mouthed kisses. The blood just keeps rushing to it, and you're sure you're gonna blow any second.

And then it happens.

Minju gasps in surprise as you come onto her face. You tell yourself to at least hold back for a few more seconds, but it just keeps going. Each thrust into her closed fist evokes white creamy cum from you that spurts onto her innocent face.

"Minju!" you groan. Her hand becomes a fleshlight; you involuntarily fuck it like it's the last time you'll ever experience a euphoric orgasm, face contorting in pleasure. "Minju, fuck!"

Wait. Wait. Minju?

Minju?

Minju!

Realization slaps you in the face. Could it be?

You focus your gaze to the girl kneeling in front of you. Horror squeezes your vulnerable heart in its fist at the sight: Minju on her knees, cum painting her face and drooling from her tongue.

"Oh my God." You say her name for a third time, but now it's not out of pleasure. It's because of fear making your fingers go deathly cold. You fall to your knees trying to wipe the stuff off her face, breaths coming in heavy, panicked pants. "I'm so sorry. We shouldn't have done that. Please forgive me."

"Don't worry, oppa! It's okay." She thumbs off a bit of the cum off her cheek and dips it in her mouth, much to your horror. "Mmm, yummy. You taught me a lot."

Minju gets up, sucking on her thumb fervently to taste every molecule of cum in it. Your heart lodges itself in your throat.

She smiles coyly at you. But her smile is unfamiliar; usually it's her small polite one, but now it's smug. Seductive, even.

Is this really Kim Minju?

She turns her back to you, hands holding onto the edge of the study table. Her skirt is short enough to offer a chaste view of her small plump ass.

"Now I want you to teach me what an orgasm is. Fuck me on this table right here.

You gulp. "Yes, ma'am."

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

The Long Con Part Four

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next Part Pairing: Marcus Pike x Reader Rating: T Notes: I hope y’all had a good week! 💕 Warnings: Cursing; f l u f f; me pretending that I know literally anything about art history Summary: Marcus was by your side at nearly every turn, and you could see the nerves dropping off of him more and more. 

Walter Pike was as welcoming as the rest of Marcus’ family, though you found him to be a bit more quiet in comparison to Jill and Marnie. Dinner that evening was on the Pike’s raised back porch - nice and low key. The porch overlooked the sprawling backyard that Marcus and Marnie had spent their childhood zipping around and skinning their knees in. Despite your earlier nerves, you felt welcomed and unpressured. Marcus was by your side at nearly every turn, and you could see the nerves dropping off of him more and more. That was, until Marnie diverted the conversation from wedding prep yet to be done to how the two of you had met. 

“Work,” Marcus answered automatically, sounding just a little pleased with himself. “Right, you said that, but how?” Jill asked. Before Marcus could flounder, you jumped in: “I grew up around a lot of artists, and a lot of those artists...Recreated works, let’s say,” You said, casting Marcus a small, reassuring smile, “I’m a bit of a specialist when it comes to forgeries. The Bureau calls on me to ask for help every once in a while, when a piece looks a little too good to be true-- Someone turns up with a crate of freshly painted Seurats, that kinda thing,” The Pikes chuckled, “They have me come in, take a look, see if I recognize the techniques used.” “Was this the Rose--Thing case?” Jill asked. “Rosepoint,” Marcus corrected, “And yes, actually. A Vermeer turned up-- Or it seemed to have turned up.” “It was a fake?” Marnie asked. “Unfortunately,” You nodded, “It was one of the paintings stolen from the Isabella Gardner Museum back in ‘90 -- The Concert. It’s a beautiful piece. It was found during a-- Drug bust?” You looked to Marcus to confirm, and he nodded, “Well, sometimes goods like that are held or traded as collateral for product.” “How’d you know it was a fake?” Walter asked. “There’s a painting within the painting of The Procuress by Van Baburen, and within that painting, there’s a man. His eyes are supposed to be directed down and a little to the right, at someone else in the portrait, but they were peering out of the portrait-- at the viewer, essentially. Sort of the way the girl with the glass does in Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party-- but the lighting in that portion of that painting is darker, it’s harder to read, and it’s not the focus. Anyway, I knew of a few people that would like to play...Pranks like that with their work, and would’ve been able to recreate that painting with that level of detail.” “Only two of them were in range at the time of the bust,” Marcus added, “One of them had the wrong types of materials anywhere in his workshop and trash-- we checked his credit card or bank statements going back years, and the other had… A workshop full of practice work on The Concert.” “I’m told that that’s what they call a ‘smoking gun’,” You teased, and Marcus grinned at you. “Her lectures are fascinating, too,” Marcus told his family softly, though he was watching you. That was one facet that the two of you hadn’t discussed, and you could tell from the ease with which he said it that he wasn’t lying. You gave him a sheepish smile before lowering your eyes. “Lectures?” Walter frowned. “Oh, I’m an art professor when I’m not using my X-Ray vision to fight crime,” You explained. “Did you ask her out immediately?” Marnie asked her brother knowingly. “Ah,” Marcus raised his free hand, rubbing at the back of my neck, “No, I...I took some time to get there. Well, you know when I got to D.C., Teresa and I were still together, and then parted ways. The Rosepoint case happened while I was undercover.” You felt Jill’s eyes dart toward you at the mention of Marcus’ ex-fiancé. You gave her a small smile and a nod, and she leaned back in her seat, relieved. You chuckled quietly. “I actually didn’t ask her out until a couple of months ago,” Marcus added, running his thumb over your knuckles, “After the Coleman case.” -- “Okay,” Marcus conceded with a sleepy mumble as he tugged his sleep shirt on, “You made a good point about running our story as many times as we did. That was...We were good.” “And we’re gonna keep being good, Marky,” You teased, reaching out and poking his nose. He chuckled softly, wrinkling his nose. “So, um…” He cleared his throat, “I have a few files that I brought with me, I figured I’d take ‘em downstairs and-- I’ll sleep down there. If anyone asks, I fell asleep down on the couch going over work, so we’re square,” He offered. Your brow furrowed as you watched Marcus stoop down and pull a couple of work files out of his bag. “...Oh,” You said after a moment. “Yeah. So I’ll see you in the morning.” “Okay. Night,” You smiled at Marcus as he left. Your smile wilted a little as he shut the door behind himself. You looked around his room, rubbing your hands over your arms. You still had to change into your pajamas, but you couldn’t stop yourself from looking around a bit first. The walls were a hunter green; two of the walls were lined with bookshelves that were crammed with books. There was a desk, and a reading chair by the window. Marcus had an ensuite bathroom as well, so you didn’t have to share with the rest of the family for the week. You sighed, glancing toward the door. You didn’t like the idea of Marcus sleeping on the couch. You weren’t sure if it was because he was uncomfortable, or because he was worried that you would be. You didn’t want to force the man out of his own bed. You glanced toward the full-size mattress. Maybe the two of you would’ve been...Close, but there was room enough for the both of you. -- You turned over for the umpteenth time, eyeing the digital clock. The menacing red numbers read 12:39. You groaned quietly, turning up to look at the ceiling. You groaned again, throwing the covers off. You opened the door and walked out of the room as quietly as you could, walking down the steps quietly. You could see Marcus laid out on the couch, under a blanket that -- really didn’t cover him. You crouched down beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey,” You murmured, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. Marcus took a moment to rouse before he opened his eyes. “Hey,” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep, “You okay?” “Come upstairs,” You urged softly, “I don’t mind sharing ‘long as you don’t.” Marcus took a moment to process that before he asked, “Are you sure?” You smiled a little and straightened, holding a hand out to him. Marcus pushed the blanket off and took hold of your hand, letting you tug him off of the couch and lead him up the stairs. He shut the door behind you, and the two of you slipped under the covers, and you settled down, head heavy on the pillow, the warmth of Marcus nearby.

--

The cheery chorus of Pike, “Morning!”s are a little jarring, but you gave them a sleepy smile and a soft, “Good morning.” Their chatter filled back in easily as you headed for Marcus. 

It was almost stunning, how soft and sleep-ruffled Marcus looked, leaning back against the counter. But you’d hardly blinked the sleep out of your eyes. Maybe it was because you were still half-asleep, maybe the morning light seeping through the kitchen curtains behind him was skewing your view. 

“Hi there,” He greeted. 

“Hi,” You mumbled, looping your arms around his waist and resting your head on his shoulder. You had woken up alone, and hadn’t wanted to seem rude by lingering in bed for too long. You sighed, closing your eyes as Marcus’ arms curled around your shoulders. “I was gonna bring you some coffee,” He admitted, “You sleep alright?” 

“Mhm.”

“Still want that coffee?” 

“All of it. Coffee pot and a straw,” You mumbled. Marcus laughed softly, turning his head and brushing his lips across your forehead. 

“Fresh pot’s being brewed now,” He told you, “Soon as it’s set, I will hand it right to you.”

“And a straw?”

“And a straw.” 

“Bendy?”

“I’ll see what I can find.” 

“Mmkay,” You sighed, tipping your head up to look at him. You found Marcus smiling down at you. He nudged his nose against yours sweetly, and you felt your stomach flutter with anticipation. 

The two of you had talked about this a couple of times since you’d reassured Marcus that you were fine with physical affection, and with kissing. Once, when you’d been at dinner, you’d thought Marcus might give you a kiss - just to sort of break the ice. You’d never worked your way up to initiating it yourself. 

But now Marcus was looking at you from under his lashes, his eyes warm, calming. His lips were close, and tempting. Marcus’ eyes searched yours for a few moments before he dipped his head, dropping a chaste kiss to your lips. You tipped your chin up, slipping your lips against his. You felt your eyes close as Marcus’ hand slid down your shoulder to smooth over your back. Marcus tilted his head to the side, the kiss deepening slightly, unhurriedly, as he cuddled you closer to him. You curled your fingers in the fabric of his sleep shirt, sighing quietly. 

You hadn’t noticed that the kitchen had gone quiet behind you. You hadn’t even noticed how engrossed you’d become in Marcus’ touch until you heard the thud of Marnie’s mug being set down in the sink beside the two of you. You startled a little bit, leaning away from Marcus and ducking your head, embarrassed. 

“Hi, Marnie,” You muttered. 

“With a kiss like that, it’s a wonder I didn’t hear anything go ‘bump’ in the night,” She teased, glancing between you and Marcus. You smiled a little as Marcus groaned, turning his head from his sister and pressing his face against your head.

“How’s the Air Supply poster?” You retorted. Marnie grinned. 

“You know what, it actually fell last night. Scared the shit outta me. Coffee’s ready,” She tacked on before stepping away from the counter. You nodded, muttering your thanks as Marnie pushed away from the counter. You glanced up at Marcus and found him searching your face. He leaned in, murmuring against your temple, “Was that okay?” 

Was he kidding?

Then again, with what you knew of Marcus Pike, no. He was not. You nodded, leaning up and pecking his lips.

“More than,” You reassured softly, “Now where do you guys keep the bendy straws?” Tag list: @hufflepuffing-all-day-long ; @spideysimpossiblegirl ; @blueeyesatnight ; @elen-aranel ; @yespolkadotkitty ; @artsymaddie ; @phoenixhalliwell ; @lunaserenade ; @winniedaboo  ; @empress-palpat1ne ; @randomness501 ; @nutmeg-20 ; @leonieb ; @the-feckless-wonder ; @lou-la-lou ; @captain-jebi ; @supernaturalgirl ; @naturenebula21 ; @evelynseventyr ; @giselatropicana ; @heatherbel ; @marydjarin ; @annathewitch ; @absurdthirst​ ; @hnt-escape​ ; @writingletterstothefire​

[20moonchild21]

𝗦𝗲𝗵𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵𝘁 [𝗯𝘁𝘀]

⇉ 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 18

[pairings]

JK x female!oc, Bunny!JK x human!female!oc, Jin x female!oc, Leopard!Jin x human!female!oc, Jimin x female!oc, white Tiger!Jimin x human!female!oc, Taehyung x female!oc, black Tiger!Taehyung x human!female!oc, Hobi x female!oc, Fox!Hobi x human!female!oc, Namjoon x female!oc, Wolf!Namjoon x human!female!oc, JK x Jin x Jimin x Taehyung x Hobi x Namjoon x female!oc

[warnings]

abusive past

[words]

4.2k

[author]

I am so glad to finally add Namjoon fully to the story. I just love him so much.

Like always, I can only recommend you to check out @starlightauroras-main story Inferiority Complex. It’s super cute and exciting to read. But recently, I found another Hybrid!reader story from @secretbangtnn. I definitely will stay excited for Until I bleed out! I hope so will you!

By the way, did you stream Butter? I have to admit that I was shocked when I saw JK‘s eyebrow piercing 😂 How did you like the song? Me personally, I love it. I also love to watch the behind the scenes videos. The boys put so much passion and effort in everything they do, it’s just amazing.

Stay healthy and safe!

Mꨄ

[chapter 17 ||| chapter 19]

Today had been an eventful day. Hope had finally been able to get Jimin’s and Taehyung’s adoption papers, so both of them could live with her officially. In that occasion, thy all had gathered together at the kitchen table in the evening, each boy with a glass of orange juice and Hope with a glass of sparkling wine.

“Okay, guys. I wanna say something.” Hope announced, as she stood up from her chair. “As you know, today we officially welcome Taehyung and Jimin in our family and I want to use this occasion to say a few words. You guys turned my life upside down ever since I met you, but I never regretted anything. I want to thank you, Jin and Jungkook, that you trusted me enough to stay and that you gave Taehyung and Jimin a chance to live here even though it was hard for you. I also want to thank Jimin and Taehyung for giving us the chance to show you that we are good people. And of course Hobi, thank you for always being so positive and funny. I – I really do love you guys.”

Jungkook was the first one who was standing up from his chair and walked towards the girl. He wrapped his arms around her smaller body, before he pressed a short kiss onto her lips. Time has already passed since their first kiss in the park and by now, it was no longer a big deal for them to share some small kisses in front of the others from time to time.

The small shade of red on her cheeks increased when Jimin was the next one to hug her tightly, before he pressed a longer kiss onto her cheek. The white tiger was still more carefully when it came to kissing in front of the others, but Hope didn’t mind at all. She gave him a small kiss back and let go of him.

Jin also came to give her a hug. The older boy was still hesitating to kiss her but instead, he wrapped his long tail tightly around both of their bodies.

“Ehm.” Hope pulled away from the leopard when Taehyung cleared his throat. “I also want to say something.”

Jin rubbed his head one last time over the girl’s neck, before he walked back towards his chair. All 5 people were now expectingly at the black tiger, who had stood up from his chair. The room fell silence for a few seconds, while he was looking for the right words to start.

“I – I don’t really know how to start.” He admitted, scratching his neck with his left hand. “I – I want to apologize to all of you. I gave all of you a hard time, even though you all were nothing but nice to me and my brother. Jungkook and Jin, I thank you for letting us stay with you even though I have not always been nice to you, and Jimin, I am sorry that I made you choose between me and the others. You were just trying to make new friends and be nice, but I gave you feelings of guilty all the times for doing so. I am sorry for that.”

Before Taehyung even had the chance to finish properly, Jimin had already stood up threw himself into his brother’s arms. Hope knew what hard times Jimin had went through. She had found him crying a few times, desperate and helpless because he had not known what to do anymore.

The girl watched as Jungkook stood up and walked over to the two tigers, before he wrapped his arms around the smaller one. He his nose against the white tiger’s fluffy hair and whispered something into it.

It had not been unnoticed by Hope how close all the boys were, despite all the troubles they had at first. Especially Jimin, who had wrapped everyone around his fingers with his sweet personality.

Hope loved to watched the three younger ones joking around together and with each other. She loved to watch Jin and Jimin cooking together in the evenings, and she loved to watch them interacting with Hobi as if they had known him for years.

“Hope.” The girl gasped when she felt Jin wrapping his arms around her from behind, before he placed his chin into her right shoulder. “You were snoozing out again.”

A shiver an down the girl’s spine when she felt the boy’s breath tickling her ear. She knew that by now, it was impossible to hide her redden cheeks every time one of the boys was hugging or kissing her. Even if you could, they would probably hear her heart beat with their extra senses. Hope sometimes had the feeling that they were enjoying those moments where she was struggling to hide her emotions.

Like a few days ago, when she had been sitting on the sofa, watching TV like usually. Hope had been laying between Taehyung’s legs with her back against his chest and her head laying on his shoulder. The black tiger had his tail wrapped around the both of them and his arms on her waist, before he had begun to rub his head against the sensitive skin of Hope’s neck after a while.

It had not felt uncomfortable at all. All the others boys had scented her before, so she was kind of used to it, but Taehyung also loved to tease. After some time, he had begun to bump not only his cheek but also his nose and lips against her skin. If that had not been enough, he had even let his teeth nibbing at her ear from time to time which had make the girl gasp sometimes. Taehyung had only chuckled, and also some of the other boys had seemed to enjoy that scene.

She sometimes wished that her body would not be some obvious, but deep down inside, those feelings were some of the most beautiful she had ever felt, and sometimes it made her wonder, if that was how love was supposed to feel like?

Namjoon laid wide awake in his bed this night. It was one of those days his mind keep racing and racing with thoughts, letting him no chance to find some sleep. A glance at the clock showed his that it was close to midnight, making him groan in frustration.

His room was only enlighten by the small lamp on his nightstand, and when he had looked over towards the clock, his eyes had also fell onto the small, square shaped object laying peacefully on the small desk. That girl – Hope – or rather her Hybrid had given him the small book.

Hope. A feeling he had not been feeling in a very long time. Since he could remember, he had been on his own out there, and at first, he didn’t mind at all. In his mind, there were several smaller pieces of memories when he was a child. Like all Hybrids, he had been bred and living in a laboratory a little bit outside if Seoul.

Being locked in a small cell, he had early been taught that in this world no one was truly caring for each other. Those scientist had only got him out when they had needed to make some new experiences with him. During those times, when Namjoon had felt nothing but pain and betraying, he had started distracting himself by taking in every small piece of information he could pick up and focus on that.

He had often read over those giant posters on the wall, showing off different anatomies of different kind of living beings. Quickly, he had figured out how a huma’s and Hybrid’s body was working, where every single bone was placed or where the different veins were running along. Somehow, he even had caught a glimpse on some Hybrid’s files that had been laying around on the desk that had been telling him for which purpose he had been there.

At first, it had hurt him that he only was a testing object for human to find out how sensitive his instincts were working during different circumstances, but then, that ever had been the only truth in his life. One day, he had accidentally overheard a conversation of two scientists talking about how the testing series would be stop soon and they would needed to get rid of all the participating Hybrids.

He had not known what that meant, but a few days later, he had been dragged out of his cell and brought to a large airplane. Those people had told him that they would fly to America to take place at an auction, but it had only been a large lie. They locket him up and drove into a small forest near the airport, and when night had been come, they had thrown him out of the car like he was just a pile of garbage, before driving away.

Still locket in the cage, the small and confused wolf had waited desperately, hoping that someone would come and pick him up from that cold place, but it had never happened. In the moment he had realized his situation, he had promised himself to never trust anyone again in this world. Luckily for him, he was smart and had been teaching himself enough to survive all by himself in the forest.

For several years, he had been able to hide until one day, he had been too careless while hunting. A hunter had spotted him and immediately had called the police to lock him up again.

Namjoon closed his eyes tightly when the memory of him being teased to the ground by a police officer. He had never meant to hurt anyone, but in that situation, he had not known what to do anymore. The emotions where running wild inside the now older wolf. It took him everything to keep himself under control right now and to not let the emotions take over his body.

Of course he was not stupid. He knew that after that incident there would be no chance for him to win his upcoming court date. Hybrids were absolutely not worthing anything to those creatures calling themselves human. They won’t ever let him win. They would lock him up again or even worse, they would put him to sleep for being dangerous. It was hopeless.

Hope. There was that name again. Laura had brought that small, blond haired girl up a few days ago. Another face that he had met, and another face that would be gone withing the following days. He knew it. He had seen it.

Laura had often brought some people with her in the past. Lawyers, psychologists, judges…but none of them had got him to talk. They all had given up on him without even trying, so why trusting that new girl now? He tried to convince himself that she was like anyone else, but something – a small little voice inside his head – was telling him that something about her was special.

Was it the tone of her voice that had caught his attention from the first moment she had been talking or rather the words she had been using? Or maybe her round, brown eyes that looked so innocent and trustworthy? Or the fact that she already had adopted 5 Hybrids that seemed to have a good life with her? Namjoon couldn’t tell at all.

Suddenly, he wondered how the small girl’s home must look like. Living with 5 other people, she must had a big apartment or even a house. But maybe all of her Hybrids had to live in one room or even in cadges. A shiver ran down his spine while thinking about this. She had not sounded like she would be cruel to them, but then, she was human. No one could tell what was really going on in her head.

He closed his eyes and thought about the past days instead and like the past minutes, his mind was occupied with thinking about that new girl. Somehow, Hope had convinced Laura to let him go outside for the first time in weeks. His heart had been beating so fast when he had felt the sun beams filling up his skin with warmth and energy. The white, clean room he had to spend his days in had been making him sick over the last weeks.

Hope had been with him all the times. She had not been talking much, but despite their lack of conversation it had never felt uncomfortable. In fact, Namjoon enjoyed those moments with, because it was the only time of the day he could escape his clean, white prison without anyone bombarding him with questions or even treatments.

He didn’t want to recognize it, but deep down inside he somehow had the feeling that his life was about to take a big turn. It was a feeling deep inside his guts that were suddenly telling him so. Whether it would turn out for good or bad he couldn’t tell yet.

Days after days went by since Hope had started working, and slowly, her boys and her had developed some kind of a routine to pass the day. But even thought her life had become a little bit harder and more stressful Hope had always made sure to not loose any time with her roommates. She would often try new recipes with Jin, or she would listen to different music with Jimin while talking about random things that came into their minds.

Even the relationship to Taehyung had become closer and closer. He now was like a peaceful house cat, always wanting to cuddle with someone which she thought was adorable. He was a good boy with good intentions, just like Hobi. The Fox had completely warmed up to all the boys and her by now, and he even had found his passion for dancing and music just like Jimin and Jungkook.

Speaking about the Bunny, Jungkook had been behaving all mystery again over the past days. Gladly not in a bad way, but he had often been in his room lately, stating that he had something important to do. He even refused to play video games with Tae a few times which was indeed pretty strange for him, because he usually would never miss a the chance to win against the black tiger.

When Hope had asked the boys about his latest behaviour, they all had just smiled, telling her that she would need to wait for the Bunny to show her himself.

“Movie night!” Hobi playfully yelled, as he let himself fall down onto the big mattress in the middle of the living room where Jungkook, Jimin and Tae were already waiting.

Since Hope was working eight hours a day, they all had agreed that one night of the week would be their joined movie night. On that occasion, they had placed a large mattress in front of the TV and had thrown all cushions they had found in the apartment onto that mattress.

The younger boys had already chooses the movie when Jin and Hope plopped onto the mattress with a large bowl of popcorn in their hands. As soon as the girl’s bum hit the soft fabric, the bowl suddenly was taken out of her hands by Jimin, and two strong arms were placing themselves around her upper body from behind.

Tae had pulled the smaller girl closer towards himself, before he nuzzled his nose into the sensitive skin of her neck, causing her to yelp slightly.

“Tae – “ She giggles when his hot breath tickled her skin.

Of course, the black Tiger didn’t stop. He just kept pulling her closer until it was almost impossible for her to escape his grip but not in an uncomfortable way. Hope always enjoed those gestures of physical affection that made her feel loved and home. Happily, Hope leant back against Tae’s chest, making him nuzzling his nose closer into her neck, spreading his scent over skin.

They stayed in that position for a little while longer, enjoying the movie that was playing on the big TV screen when suddenly Jimin started moving from the other side of the mattress. He pushed himself away from Jin’s arm and started crawling over the other boys towards his brother and the girl. Hope was just about to open her arms for the smaller tiger to cuddle up to her, but from one to the other second Taehyung suddenly shot up from his laying position. He pulled himself and the girl up, pulling his arms closer around her body and away from his brother, flashing him his sharp fangs and growling loudly.

Jimin on the other hand had jumped away with an enormous speed, before his ears shot up hight in the ear and his fangs showing up behind his lips as well.

“Taehyung!” Hope squealed in shock, as she watched Tae’s sharp fangs from the corner of her eyes, trying to break free from his strong grip. “What are you doing. Jimin, stop! Stop growling at each other!”

Slowly, she felt the arms that were squeezing her loosing up around her torso. Quickly, Hope turned around to look at Taehyung in shock. The black tiger had stopped growling and was now looking up at the girl again with innocent eyes. When she looked around her shoulder at Jimin, she saw him also looking around with big eyes again.

“I am sorry.” The younger tiger whispered, as he reached his arms out and pulled Hope into his embrace again, making her wrap her arms around his shoulders. Though she was not scared of Taehyung, having seen his sharp teeth reminded her of how powerful those boys were compared to her after all. “I – I didn’t mean to scare you. It was a primary instinct, I couldn’t control it. You just smelled so good…like me – I – Jimin – I am sorry.”

He gave one last kiss towards the girl’s forehead, before he carefully pushed her off of his lap and crawled over towards his brother, who was still pouting with his arms crossed above his chest. Hope watched in amusement, how Jimin tried to not gave in to his brother’s apologize, but when Taehyung pulled him into a tight hug and whispered something into his ear, Jimin quickly forgave him.

“That was scary.” Hope joked, as she placed her head on Jin’s chest, not wanting to interrupt the two tigers.

Jin just hummed in response, before he pushed his nose into the girl’s hair, while his younger brother laid his head into Hope’s lap.

“You sometimes make it difficult to share you between us, Hope.” The oldest boy suddenly mumbled into her hair. “Especially, when your body smells so pure. It’s literally calling for us to spread our scent over you.”

His words caused a heavy shade of red over Hope’s cheeks. She knew that the boys could always smell her scent, but she didn’t know that they really adored her scent that much.

“P – Pure?” She eventually stuttered.

“Hmmm.” Jungkook purred, as the girl’s hand drove over the base of his sensitive ears. “There is no other scent over you beside your own, because you never had a boyfriend before.”

“Y – You guys can smell that?” The girl’s voice was now holding a tone of confusedness and embarrassment, making Jungkook and Jin chuckle.

“When you are close to someone for a very long time, that person’s scent will cover your own scent, signalling for others that you are taken.” The youngest one continued. “Your scent isn’t covered by another one. Well, beside one of our scents since we are spending a lot of time together.”

Our of instinct, Hope wanted to lift the collar of her shirt to prove whether Jungkook was telling the truth or not. But to her disappointment, her nose was far from smelling a foreign scent on her body.

“Do I smell like all of you?” She innocently asked, before sinking her shirt that she was still holding in her hands.

“Depends on who you had physical contact with.” This time, it was Tae who spoke. “Right now, Jin’s scent would cover mine. The only way to have all our scents cover you would be to – well – mate with us.”

When he finished the sentence, he winked his eyebrows up two time, making the girl blush even more. Of course, she knew what he meant. Jimin had told her about mating and marking once they had talked.

Not wanting to extend that conversation, she turned her still blushing face away from the smirking black tiger and leant her head against Jin shoulder, who was also holding a small smirk on his lips.

Of course, she wasn’t stupid. She had noticed the way the boys had been talking and acting around her, noticed how they would use any chance to hug her tightly and rub their face against her neck, making her blush every time. Sometimes, she wondered, if this was how finding one’s mate was supposed to feel like. Especially, when she remembered the kisses she had already shared with Jimin and Jungkook and that made her heart race always again.

A movement in the corner of her eyes ripped her out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times, before she turner her head, watching Hobi shifting closer towards the trio. He fiddles with his finger for a few seconds, before he looked up at the girl with his deep brown eyes.

“Are you actually making any progress with that wolf in your company?” He shyly asked, laying his fluffy tail onto Jungkook’s upper body.

Hope sighed heavily. She would love to tell him that the were making big steps forward, but she couldn’t. Namjoon was still as closed as the first day they had met. The both of them would meet up almost every day, leaving the clean, white interrogation room and taking a long walk through the small park area. Every time in silence.

Normally, Hope would give him all time to open up all by himself, but unfortunately, his court day was getting closer and closer. Almost three weeks had past since she had met the tall boy, leaving only one week before she would defend him in front of the judge.

“To be honest, we are not making much progress.” She sadly said, sinking her gaze onto Jungkook’s floppy ears in her lap. “I mean, he seems to be much more comfortable around me by now, but his court day is coming up in only one week, and I still have nothing to defend him. I wish he would just open up to me.”

By now, all 5 boys were looking at the girl with sad eyes and hanging ears, while Hope was still crawling Jungkook’s fluffy hair, deeply absorbed in her thoughts again. She wanted to help Namjoon so badly. She tried to give him time and room, she tried to tell him stories about her childhood, hoping that he would tell her something about him too, but it had failed every time.

“What happens if he won’t talk to you.” Jimin whispered from the other side of the matrass.

“If he won’t tell me what exactly happened, I can’t proof that he is innocent.” She replied after a few seconds of silence. “I can’t proof that it wasn’t his fault he reacted this way, and then he is guilty. They will either lock him away forever, or if the judge thinks that he is too dangerous, they will – they will put him to – to s –“

She couldn’t finish her sentence and she didn’t need to. The boys knew what she wanted to say. When Hope had calmed down after a few minutes, she started talking again.

“But don’t worry.” She reached out her left hand to Hobi and her right hand to Jimin, squeezing their larger hands. “I won’t let this happen, okay? I will get him out there. Somehow.”

The room fell silence for another time this evening. The boys all knew what the wolf Hybrid was going though, because they all had went through the same. They also knew that Hope was serious when she said that she would do anything to help Namjoon, they really knew. But the were powerless. There was nothing they could do to help Hope or Namjoon.

“What if you would bring him here for once.” Jin suddenly suggested, making everyone’s head shot around.

“What?” Hope asked a little bit confused, pushing herself off his chest to look properly at the oldest boy.

“Well, he clearly lost his trust in human.” The Leopards continued. “But maybe he would talk to you, once he saw that there are still people who are fighting seriously for him.”

“He is right.” Hobi’s ears shot up highly, eyes sparkling with excitement. “We could show him how we are living here and that he can trust you.”

“We could show him our rooms – “

“ – and we could make him something delicious to eat – “

“ – or we listen to some music with him together – “

The boys were talking all at once now, bringing up all kinds of ideas to convince Namjoon to cooperate. It made the girl speechless and proud when she saw how eager the boys were to help the wolf Hybrid.

“You guys would really do that for him?”

[Inspirations ||| Recommendations]

@starlightauroras-writes

@wishesunderthestars

@agustdakasuga

@ditttiii

@angelicyoongie

[sisterspooky1013]

Only One Choice, Part 2, Chapter 18

Read it here on AO3 / Tagging @today-in-fic

“Autopsy bay, this is Trudy...yep, one second.”

Trudy shoves her rolling chair across the tiled floor, delivering the cordless phone to Scully with a flourish.

“It’s your man candy,” she says with a smirk, and Scully suppresses an eye-roll as she takes the phone.

“Hi, what’s up?” she greets. Now that he has his own office and more privacy (save for Monica, who’s a friend) he’s taken to calling her more often at work.

“Hey honey, you studied German, right?”

“Yes,” she answers, an expectant lilt to her voice.

“What does ‘unruhe’ mean? U-n-r-u-h-e.”

“Mulder...is this a work call or a personal call?” she questions in a lecturing voice.

“Work, it’s for a case we’re looking at,” he answers plainly.

She sighs, moving the phone to her other ear and turning away so Trudy can’t hear her.

“Mulder, we’ve discussed this. I don’t mind you calling me for help on cases, I don’t even mind looking over medical files for you. But if you’re calling me as a colleague, then I need you to address me as one.”

“Shit, sorry, let’s start over,” he says, and she hears the squeak of him shifting in his chair. She imagines him sitting up straighter, putting forth a professional image, and it makes her smile.

“Hi, what’s up?” she repeats.

“Hello, Dr. Scully, I was wondering if I could ask you to translate some German phrases that appear in a case Agent Reyes and I are investigating, if you have time to spare,” he says in his most distinguished, Special Agent voice.

“Of course, Agent Mulder, I’d be happy to help.”

———

The elevator dings, the doors opening to a quiet and nondescript hallway with a few lonely shelves lining one wall. She steps out, suddenly regretting her insistence that she could find her way to Mulder’s basement office without escort. She makes her way down the hall past a set of bathrooms, and finally arrives outside a closed door.

Fox Mulder

Monica Reyes

Only the names of the occupants, not their division, department nor area of expertise are included, presumably because anyone who ends up down here is already aware of what they are walking in to. She knocks three times and waits, smiling in relief when Monica appears on the other side.

“Hi, Dana, you found us!” she muses, then steps aside so Scully can enter.

It’s an odd office, in so many ways. Oddly shaped, with daylight basement windows and a glass-encased annex, the space is long and narrow which makes it feel big and crowded at the same time. The decor is odd; newspaper clippings and kitschy knick knacks on the walls and every available surface. She smiles at the sight of the house-warming gift she’d purchased for Mulder; a full sized poster of a UFO hovering over evergreen trees with “I Want To Believe” emblazoned across the bottom. Mulder had told her about one just like it he’d had in “the good old days,” and she spent the better part of a week tracking one down after they’d gotten word that the files would be reopened. Though they’ve only inhabited this space for a few weeks, it already looks very lived-in.

Mulder is sitting on the corner of his desk, remote in hand and a slide projector cart situated in front of him. On the wall across from it is a blown up image of a severed head, the eyes partially closed and the lips hanging open. Scully smiles at Mulder and then glances at the screen, frowning at the image but otherwise unaffected.

“Well look at you,” she says with pride in her voice, crossing the room to stand before him where he touches her waist and places a kiss on her cheek. “And who’s this?” she asks, turning again to the screen.

“This,” Mulder says, standing and moving closer to the image, “is Leonard Betts. Or it was, anyway.”

“What’s so special about Mr. Betts that he’s found himself in an X file?” Scully asks.

“Would you believe me if I told you that after Mr. Betts was decapitated, his headless body got up and walked right out of the morgue?” Mulder asks with a cheeky grin, and she glances at Monica, who just shrugs.

“No, I wouldn’t, I’m afraid,” she answers.

“Well, since seeing is believing, Reyes and I will be heading up to Pittsburgh for a few days to have a look for ourselves,” Mulder says as he turns off the projector and wheels the cart into a corner.

Scully’s heart sinks just a little. Mulder had set the expectation that there was quite a bit of travel involved with being assigned to the X files, but this is the first time he’s actually needed to be away overnight for work. Wanting to be supportive, she keeps her expression neutral, betraying nothing.

He approaches her, standing close so that their conversation feels private, even with Monica seated a few feet away.

“Tell Missy and Byers I’m sorry to cancel our dinner plans tomorrow,” he says with a sympathetic frown.

“Will you be home by the weekend?” she asks quietly, “I was hoping to celebrate your birthday on Sunday.”

He smiles sadly at her. The topic of his approaching birthday has been one they’ve both grappled with for slightly different reasons. He proclaims to have never cared much about his birthday, but knowing that it will mark one year since she walked down the aisle with Ethan makes her want to do something special, to reset the date, in a way. She wants it to be Mulder’s birthday, not the anniversary of the worst decision she ever made.

“Probably, but I can’t make any promises. I’ll do my best, okay?”

She nods, and he leans down to kiss her softly in the middle of her forehead.

“I’ll need to swing by the apartment to pack before we leave this evening, so I’ll see you in a bit,” he continues.

She bids Monica farewell and good luck, then rides the elevator back up to a world where headless bodies don’t roam the streets.

———

Mulder flies home Saturday afternoon, giving her just enough time to throw together a small birthday celebration at the Gunmen’s the following night. Sunday evening she’s sifting through her closet, deciding whether to dress up a little for his benefit. Mulder is lying behind her on the bed fully dressed, pretending he’s on standby to offer fashion advice but in reality he’s just staring at her as she walks from the closet to her dresser in her bra and panties. He has confirmed no fewer than six times that birthday sex is a tradition that she believes in, then suggested that it might be applicable on both the day of his birthday party as well as his actual birthday, which is tomorrow. He seems to be looking forward to that more than getting together with his friends.

“What do you want me to wear, Mulder? It’s your birthday, you pick,” she says in a defeated tone, feeling uninspired by everything she owns.

“What you’re wearing is great, just go with that,” he retorts matter-of-factly, and she looks down at her underwear before giving him a sarcastic sneer.

“I’m sure Frohike would love that,” she says, and he makes a face.

“Maybe just jeans and a T-shirt then. I honestly don’t care, honey, wear whatever you want. I’m just going to take it off later anyway.”

As he finishes speaking, there’s a knock at the door and he stands to answer it, stopping to give her a quick kiss on the crown of her head as he leaves the room.

She pulls out a pair of dark wash jeans and tugs them on, listening as Mulder opens the door and has a muted conversation with someone. It’s a little bit late in the day for solicitors, but they don’t seem to have any boundaries these days. She’s slipping her arms through the sleeves of a blue sweater when Mulder reappears in the doorway.

“Hey Scully?,” he says, his tone strange and unreadable.

“Hm?” she responds, slipping pearl studs into her ears.

“Someone’s here to see you.”

She gives him a quizzical look. “Who?” she asks, and he purses his lips in response.

With a mix of curiosity and trepidation she walks out to the front door, which is slightly ajar. She pulls it open and finds Ethan standing on the other side. Her stomach drops, a flush of adrenaline running from head to toe as ringing sounds off in her ears. She gapes at him, unable to take any kind of action.

“Hi, Dana,” he finally says, somewhat sheepishly. “Sorry to drop by like this, I just, um...I found a spare key to the apartment,” he says, holding up a single key between his thumb and forefinger. “I figured I should return it.”

“Oh,” she replies, then holds out her hand.

He places the key in the center of her palm and she closes her fist around it, then drops her arm to her side. They stand there awkwardly, an expectant feeling hanging between them. Though she’d momentarily forgotten Mulder was there, he suddenly appears by her side.

“I need to go run to the store for something, I’ll be right back, okay?” he says, locking eyes with her on the ‘okay.’ She understands it to be him asking if they need privacy, and if she’s comfortable being left alone with Ethan. She nods with a grateful smile.

After Mulder has retreated down the hallway, she stands to the side and gestures for Ethan to come in. He enters the apartment cautiously, looking around. She closes the door but stays near it.

“Looks different in here,” he remarks, standing behind one of the dining room chairs and resting his palms on it.

She nods and shrugs.

“Was that, uh...is that your boyfriend?” he asks, hitching his thumb towards the door.

Her shoulders drop, a pained expression falling over her face. “Ethan...” she begins, ready to ask him if he came here just to guilt trip her.

“Sorry, forget I asked,” he interjects, shaking his head. “I didn’t come here to give you a hard time, Dana, I promise. I just…” he looks around again, pulling in a deep breath. “You know it will be a year tomorrow, since...and I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry. For what happened, and also how things ended.”

She furrows her eyebrows. “What do you have to be sorry for?” she asks.

“I might have said the same thing earlier this year,” he says with a self-deprecating laugh, “but I’ve done a lot of reflecting since we split and I realized that I wasn’t paying a lot of attention to the signals you were sending me. In retrospect, it was pretty obvious that you were having doubts, and I just kind of crossed my fingers and soldiered on. And then after the wedding, you were so unhappy. I just chose not to see it, I guess. And that was wrong of me.”

She feels tears welling in her eyes and her throat becomes tight. She doesn’t trust herself to speak so she just nods.

“I recently started seeing someone,” Ethan continues, “and it’s pretty new, but it’s really made it clear to me that you and I just weren’t a good match. Not because anything was wrong, but...it wasn’t right either, you know?”

She nods again, crossing her arms over her chest as a tear spills over and runs down to her chin.

“So, anyway, I won’t take up any more of your time. I just think a lot about how things ended the last time we saw each other, and how angry I was, and I wanted you to know that I get it now. I understand why you did what you did. And I’m glad that you didn’t spend twenty years suffering through it just to prove a point. We both deserve better than what we had.”

Her face is now contorted into a grimace as she tries to keep from falling apart entirely, overwhelmed with relief and gratitude, and this opportunity to atone. Ethan moves to the door, pulling it open. As he steps into the hall, she clears her throat and forces out the only words she can muster.

“Thank you,” she squeaks, and he turns to look back at her.

With all the anger and resentment faded away, the grief and the guilt washed clean, she sees again the man she once loved very much, who was a good partner to her, even if he wasn’t “the one.”

She moves towards him and he opens his arms, enveloping her in a tight hug. When he loosens his grip, she steps back so she’s just inside the apartment, sniffing and wiping her nose on the back of her hand.

“Goodbye, Dana,” he says with a sad smile.

“Bye,” she says, and closes the door.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 3

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,600ish

Summary: The beginning of your intern year continues.

Warnings: man parts (lol) and talk about rape

You really tried your best, but you couldn’t get the image of a naked Dr. Steve Rogers on the floor of your living room out of your head. You had decided one night that, to help get the image out of your head, you needed roommates. The house that you had inherited was big enough and the longer you lived there, the lonelier it became. So, you created a ‘roommates wanted’ sign and posted it in the locker room before your shift.

You had several interns come up to you explaining why they would be the perfect roommate for you within the first few hours of your shift. It was annoying and you turned every single one of them down, being very particular about who was going to live with you.

“Why do you put up posters for roommates if you don’t want roommates?” Val asked as you, her, and Scott walked down a corridor.

“I do want roommates,” you defended. 

“And why can’t we be those roommates?” Scott wondered

“We’re just together a hundred hours a week, you want to live together too?”

“No,” Natasha responded, walking up to the group. “Ooh, you’re bringing bribes now?” She motioned to the cup of coffee in your hand.

“I need a place to live,” Scott rambled. “My mom irons my scrubs. I have to get out of there.”

“It’s not a bride,” you told Natasha before turning to Scott. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“But I can’t put down last, first, and deposit,” Scott argued.

“It’s totally a bride,” Natasha scoffed.

“I can cook,” Val added. “And I can clean.”

“No,” you stated. “I just want two total strangers who I don't have to talk to, or be nice to, and it's not a bribe, it's a mocha latte.”

“Clint, you’re running the code team,” Gamora ordered as you all walked up to her. “Y/N, take the trauma patients, Natasha, deliver the weekend labs to patients, Val, you’re on sutures, and Scott, you’re on scut.”

“Dr. Gamora,” you called. “I was hoping to assist you in the OR today, maybe do a minor procedure? I think I'm ready. Mocha latte?” You held the cup out for her.

“If she gets to cut, I want to cut too,” Natasha added.

“Yeah, me too,” Val joined in.

“I wouldn’t mind another shot,” Scott shrugged.

“And if everybody else gets one, then I do too!” Clint said.

“Stop talking,” Gamora demanded. You all fell silent. “Every intern wants to perform their first surgery, that's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whining. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, having the trauma patients taken care of, having the weekend labs delivered, and having someone down in the Pit, doing the sutures.” She swiped the mocha latte from your hand. “No one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy I'm Mary freakin' Poppins.”

“Mocha latte my ass,” Natasha grumbled.

“Why’re y’all still standing there? Move!”

Everyone moved, you heading to the elevator with a few files. You paused in your steps when you noticed who was waiting at the elevator. Dr. Steve Rogers. You took a deep breath, trying to calm yourself, before making your way to stand and wait next to him. When he noticed you, he tried to hide the pleasant smile that wanted to take over his face.

“New York has ferry boats,” he stated.

“Yes,” you replied, a bit confused.

“I didn’t remember that. I grew up here then left, now I’ve been living here for six weeks, and I didn’t remember there were ferry boats.”

“Well, Manhattan is an island.”

“Hence the ferry boats.” The elevator arrived and the two of you stepped onto it. “Now I have to like it here. I wasn’t planning on liking it here. I just moved here from the country. I’m supposed to not like big cities like Manhattan. But I have a thing for ferry boats.”

The elevators doors closed, leaving them alone in the elevator. He was leaning against the wall behind you as you stood in the middle, holding the files to your body. You hoped that he couldn’t hear your heart pounding in your chest. 

“I’m not going out with you,” you blurted. You don’t know if you were trying to tell him that or if you were trying to convince yourself that you weren’t interested.

“Did I ask you to go out with me?” He questioned. He paused before asking the next, “Do you want to go out with me?”

“I'm not dating you. And I'm definitely not sleeping with you again. You're my boss.”

“I'm your boss's boss.”

“You're my teacher. And my teacher's teacher. And you're my teacher.”

“I'm your sister, I'm your daughter,” he joked.

“You're sexually harassing me.”

“I'm riding an elevator.” He stepped towards you, you could practically feel him breathing down your neck. You spun around to face him.

“Look, I'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There's a big line.”

“So, this line. Is it imaginary, or do I need to get you a marker?”

You stared at him for a second, basking in all his attractiveness. It didn’t take you very long to go ‘screw it’ and drop the files you were holding and kiss him. Steve was a tad surprised but caught on quickly. When the elevator dinged, you quickly crouched down to pick up the files and rushed out of the elevator. Steve stood there, looking amused.

“We’ll talk later?” He called after you. You ignored him and he chuckled to himself. “Definitely, later.”

~~~

In between taking care of patients, you had interns begging you to let them be your roommate. You were slowly regretting the idea of roommates the longer the day went on. Thankfully, your pager rang and requested you down in the ER.

“You the surgeon?” A nurse asked as you entered the room.

“Yes,” you replied.

“We’ve got a rape victim. 21-year-old female found down at the park, status: post-trauma, she came in with a GCS of 6, BP 80 over 60, head trauma, unequal breath sounds, right pupil is dilated, and she's ready for x-ray. You ready to roll?” You were listening but also focused on the girl’s shoes. They were the same ones you had worn to work. “Hey!”

“Uh, sorry,” you stumbled. “Yeah. Call it in to clear CT, let them know I'm coming, load up the portable monitor, call respiratory for a ventilator, I'll get x-rays while I'm down there.”

You quickly learned that the girls name was Mallory and, just by you reading the scans alone, she would be needing surgery. Dr. Banner and Dr. Rogers were both called in while you were allowed to watch and hopefully assist.

“She’s going to spend a hell of a lot of time in recovery and rehab,” Dr. Rogers stated.

“If she survives,” Dr. Banner added.

“What is she, like, 5'2", a hundred pounds, she's still breathing after what this guy did to her? If they catch the guy, they should castrate him.”

“See how shredded her hands are? She tried to fight back.”

“Tried to?” Dr. Stark repeated, walking into the room. “Rape kit came back negative. She kicked his ass.”

“So, we have a warrior amount us, huh?” Rogers questioned. 

“Hell yeah we do! I just came in to tell you about the rape kit and to see if you needed me anytime soon. Can’t have the poor girl be reminded of the incident with so many scars.”

“Mallory,” you interrupted. “Her—her name is Mallory.”

“Mallory,” Rogers and Stark repeated. 

“I think I may have found the cause of our rupture,” Banner said, pulling out a piece of flesh. “What is this?” He held it up. “Does anyone know what this is?”

“Oh my gosh,” you gasped, with Dr. Stark snickering from the sidelines.

“What? Spit it out, L/N.”

“She bit it off.”

“Bit off what?”

“That’s his…” You swallowed. “His penis.” Shocked groans filled the OR. “She bit off his penis.”

“Told you she kicked his ass!” Stark exclaimed as Banner couldn’t toss the piece of flesh into the try fast enough. 

~~~

After the surgery, the penis was placed in a small cooler. You were tasked to bring it to Fury for the police. You knocked at the door of his office, where an older woman is in there.

“Hi, is the chief in?” You asked.

“He’s on his way,” she responded. “Is that it?”

“Can I see it?” You looked down at the box and then up again. “No, forget I asked.”

“Y/N, it’s good to see you,” Fury greeted as he entered, going to his desk.

“You too, sir,” you responded with a nod. “Listen, so they said to bring this to you,” you lifted up the cooler. “So…?”

“Yes, for the police,” Fury responded.

“Right.”

“When did the police say they'll come?” Fury asked his assistant.

“You know how slow they are,” she answered. “So, she’d better take it with her.”

“What?” You questioned.

“You have to take it with you.”

“Chain of custody rules,” Fury explained. “All medical matter in a rape must stay with the person who collected it, until it's placed in police custody.”

“You collected the specimen, so you have custody.”

“Custody of a penis…” You said.

“Yes,” Fury answered. “Until the cops come for it.”

“Okay. Well, what am I supposed to do with the penis?”

Fury simply shrugged before excusing you. You huffed, leaving the office with the cooler. You wandered the halls until you saw Clint working at a desk. You walked over, setting the cooler down and causing Clint to look up at you.

“What’s that?” He pointed to the cooler as he asked.

“Don’t ask, you don’t want to know,” you responded.

“I do want to know. Really.”

“You really want to know?” Clint nodded. “It’s a severed penis.”

“Okay… I didn’t really want to know.”

“Told you.”

“I didn’t know why I have to be the one who gets hugged,” Natasha complained to Peter as they walked up.

“Because, I don’t do that,” Peter replied. “Besides, you're the ovarian sister here.”

“Did you just call me an ovarian sis— an ovarian— since when has the possession of ovaries become an insult?”

“Y/N’s carrying a penis around in a jar,” Clint interrupted.

“Oh, from the rape surgery?” Natasha looked around.

“Yeah,” you answered. “And it’s not a jar, it’s a cooler.”

“Talk about taking a bite out of crime.” Natasha chuckled as she left.

You were suddenly lost in your head, unable to stop thinking about Mallory’s shoes. They were the same as yours. You had worn them to work today, which was weird. You never really wear them.

“You okay?” Clint asked.

“Yeah… it’s just… Mallory's shoes. The rape victim, Mallory, her shoes. I have the same ones. In my locker. And I normally never wear them, because they're not comfortable, but today I did, and she was wearing the same shoes, and it's just… stupid, and I'm tired, and forget it.”

“You know what you need?” Clint stared at you.

“No. It’s stick and twisted. We said last time was the last time.” Clint looked away. “You’ve been doing it without me?”

“Nancy Reagan lied. You can't just say no. Come on.”

“Do you know what would happen if anyone knew?”

“I'm doing it. You can come with me… or you can stay here, and be miserable.”

“Fine,” you tried to hold back a smile as you followed Clint. 

He led you to the nursery, where you two stood at the window and watched the babies. You laughed as Clint did some baby talk.

“You are such a woman,” you laughed.

Clint’s pager beeped before he could retorted. “It’s a code,” he sighed. “I gotta go.” 

He left, leaving you to sigh as you watched the babies.

“You are really cute,” you whispered as you looked at them.

As you watched them, you noticed at one of the babies was struggling. His face was slowly turning blue. You quickly entered the nursery, setting the cooler to the side before checking the babies chart. Then you sided your stethoscope to check on the babies heart.

“What are you doing in here?” A Peds Intern asked, walking into the room.

“There were no tests ordered,” you answered. “And the baby has a murmur.”

“I know.”

“He turned blue.”

“You're surgery, you're not authorized to be in here. Do you know how much trouble you can get into for this?”

“Are you going to do any tests?”

“It's a benign systolic ejection murmur. It goes away with age.”

“So you're not going to do any tests.”

“He's not your patient, he's not even on your service.”

“Are you sure it’s benign?”

“I'm a doctor too, you know. You should get out of here.”

Deciding you’d rather not get in trouble, you grabbed the cooler and left. You were stopped along your wandering by more interns who wanted to room with you. After having listened to three of them, you walked away, still unimpressed, and went to Mallory’s room. You were looking at her through the window when Dr. Rogers came up.

“Y/N,” he greeted. “I've called every hospital in the county. Sooner or later, the guy that did this is going to seek medical attention, and when he does, that penis you're carrying around is going to nail him.”

“Where is her family?” You asked.

“Doesn’t have any.”

“No siblings?”

“No. Both parents are dead. She just moved to New York three weeks ago. Welcome to the city.” When you didn’t give a response he turned to look at you. You were lost in your thoughts. “Y/N, you okay?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. I just… I just have to do something. I have to go.”

“Right. I’m going to sit with her.”

You nodded before rushing away to find Dr. Banner.

“Dr. Banner?” You called when you saw him.

“Mmm?” He hummed, turning to face you.

“There's a baby up in peds, I saw him have a tet spell, and I think I hear a murmur.”

“Mmm. Did peds call us for a consult?”

“Actually, no. They’re not doing anything about it—“

“So you want me to what?”

“If you could just go up and look at him—“

“Mm-hmm, not without a Peds consult.”

“Yeah, but—“

“I’m a busy man, L/N, and there are rules. Look, it’s not like I’m the Chief or something.”

Then he stocked off, leaving you frustrated. 

“Stupid rules.”

~~~

Eventually, you found a spot in the lobby to sit. Just waiting for the cops to show up.

“What’re you doing down here?” Natasha asked when she came across you.

“Just sitting here with my penis,” you responded. “What about you?”

“Hiding from Peter.” She sat beside you.

“I kissed Steve.”

“You kissed Steve.”

“In the elevator.”

“Oh, you kissed him in the elevator.”

“I was having a bad day. I am having a bad day.”

“Oh, so this is what you do on your bad days. Make out with Captain McDreamy.” You both stood up.

“Well, that, and you know, carrying around a penis just makes everything seem so shiny and happy.”

“Mmm. Clint said Mallory was wearing your shoes.”

“Yeah. It’s weird, right?”

“I think it’s weird that you care.”

“I think it’s weird.”

From outside, a car swerves. You and Natasha could hear it from inside, causing you to rush out. A man staggered out of the car, clothes soaked in blood, mainly around his crotch. He collapses. Other doctors and nurses followed you out and immediately began checking on him. You immediately knew that the guy was the owner of the penis you had been carrying around all day. The other doctors brought him into a trauma room. You followed, quickly calling security.

“So, what’ve we got?” Gamora asked as she entered.

“Take a look,” you responded.

“What?” She leaned closer. “Alright, let’s get him to OR 1. Y/N, you call the Chief and let him know we got the rapist.”

~~~

You and Natasha were in the OR with Gamora and Stark. They were working on the rapist.

“I saw Mallory,” you said, eyes on the operating table. “You can’t believe the beating that she took. And then to see this…”

“It's like that old saying, you should see the other guy,” Natasha said.

“Okay, kiddos, why are we not attempting to reattach the severed penis?” Dr. Stark asked.

“Teeth don’t slice, they tear. You can only reattach with a clean cut. If she wanted to slice him off with a knife…”

“Besides,” you continued for Natasha, “the digestive juices didn't leave much of the flesh to work with.”

“Right,” Gamora agreed, “so what do we do?”

“Sew him up minus a large part of the family jewels,” Natasha answered.

“And his outlook?”

“He'll be urinating out of a bag for a very, very long time,” Natasha added.

“Oh, too bad.”

“Shame.”

“I can’t imagine not having sex,” Stark commented. “I think that I would just end my life if I couldn’t do a round every day.” Everyone looked at him. “What? It shouldn’t be that surprising.”

“No wonder, Dr. Potts keeps turning you down,” Gamora said.

“I’ll get her one day. Just you wait. I’m going to marry that woman if it’s the last thing I do.”

~~~

You met with the police after the surgery where they told you that they couldn’t send their crime scene guy down for hours. Annoyed, you searched for your intern friends. You found them in the empty corridor, sitting on the beds.

“So, the police say that they can’t send down the crack crime scene guy for hours,” you told them as you entered, sitting down beside Natasha. “So I have to spend the night with a penis. Peter, don’t say it.”

“Ahh, it was too easy anyway,” Peter responded.

“Who here feels like they have no idea what they’re doing?” Scott asked. Everyone of you, but Peter, raised a hand.

“I mean, are we supposed to be learning something?” Clint wondered. “Because I don’t feel like I’m learning anything.”

“Except how not to sleep,” Val added.

“It’s like there’s this wall,” Natasha said, “and the attending and the residents are over there, being surgeons, and we’re over here, being—“

“Suturing, code running, lab delivering penis-minders,” you grumbled.

“I hate being an intern,” Peter stated.

Gamora walked into the hallway, looking expectant. All of you interns quickly got up and took your leave. All the others had things to do, so you found yourself in front of the babies again. As you looked at the baby you’re so worried about, you noticed the parents. Taking a deep breath, you decided to go up to them.

“Hi,” you greeted with a soft smile.

“Hi,” the mother greeted back.

“Is he yours?” You nodded to the baby.

“Yeah,” the mother smiled.

“He’s adorable… Have you noticed anything that would concern you?”

“No,” the father responded. “Have you?”

“Earlier today I noticed him turning blue.”

“Blue?” The mother repeated.

“Yes. I checked him and I heard a murmur.”

“We were told that the murmur was benign,” the father stated.

“I don’t think it is. I think—“

“You are so out of line,” the Peds Intern interrupted.

“She says the murmur might not be benign,” the father said.

“I think we should do an echo, to check,” you suggested.

“This is your career,” the intern said, going to get her resident.

“There’s really no reason to get alarmed,” you told the parents.

“What’s the problem?” The resident asked, coming back with the intern.

“If our baby is sick, we want him treated,” the mother ordered. “Now.”

“Who said your baby was sick?”

“Her,” the Peds Intern answered, pointing to you. “The surgical intern who has no business on our service.”

“Who authorized you being here?”

“I was just,” you began, “actually—“

“I did,” Dr. Banner came up from behind you. “Could you excuse us for a second?” Dr. Banner took the resident to the side, but not far enough for you to not hear. “Are you messing with my intern, Dr. Keener?”

“No, sir,” the resident responded.

Dr. Banner turned back to you and the other intern. “Give me the chart.”

“There’s nothing wrong with him,” the intern said, giving up the chart, “I checked.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

“You can guarantee that he is fine, you are 100% sure.”

The intern looked hesitant.

“How sure are you?” The resident questioned.

“I don’t know,” the intern responded. “75%.”

“Not good enough,” Banner said. “He’s my patient now. That okay with you, Dr. K?”

“Absolutely,” the resident responded.

“He can take our patient?” The intern asked.

“He’s an attending.”

“Which means I can do whatever I want,” Banner replied before heading to the parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I’m Dr. Banner, head of cardio. We’re going to run some tests and give you an answer within the hour. Excuse me.” He turned to you. “L/N.” He motioned for you to follow, which you quickly did. “I want an EKG, a chest x-ray, and an ECHO. I don’t have all day.”

“You’re a busy man.”

“I’m a busy man.”

You quickly ordered the tests then wandered the hospital more, since you weren’t allowed to do anything while you were watching the penis. After a little while, you found Dr. Banner again.

“Well?” You asked as you walked up to him.

“It’s a birth defect,” Dr. Banner replied. “Tetrology affirmed lower pulmonary artresia. You were right. I'm booking the OR for tomorrow.”

“Thank you for backing me up on this.”

“Whoa, whoa, wait, whoa. You were right. But if you ever pull a stunt like that again...going to the parents behind a doctor's back? Trying to steal a patient from another service? I will make your residency year hell on earth.”

He walked off and you smiled slightly to yourself. You made your way back to the babies, where you watched, from the other side of the window, Banner talk to the parents.

“His heart surgery is scheduled for the morning,” the Peds Intern told you. “I really did think I was right, you know.”

“I know. We almost never are. We're interns,” you responded. “We're not supposed to be right. And when we are, it's completely shocking.”

“Are you— I mean, being an intern, do you feel…”

“Terrified. 100% of the time.”

“Good, it’s not just me.”

“No.”

You decided, after finishing up with the babies, to go check on Mallory. When you arrived, you realized that Steve was still in there.

“How is she?” You asked, standing in the doorway.

“No change,” Steve answered with a sigh.

“Have you been here all night?”

“Mm-hmm. Yup… If I was in a comma, I’d want someone to be here. I know I would have people there. Having no one? Can’t imagine that.”

“I can.”

“Don’t you have any family?”

“I do. Just… I don’t think they’d come.”

Steve watched you carefully before speaking again. “So… we’re kissing but we’re not dating?”

“I knew that was going to come up.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like the kissing. I’m all for the kissing. More kissing, I say.”

“I have no idea what that was about.”

“Is it going to happen again? Because if it is, I need to bring breath mints. Put a condom in my wallet.”

“Shut up now.” Steve laughed. “There was this baby up in the nursery. He's brand new. No one's neglected him or damaged him yet. How do we get from there to here? She's wearing my shoes and someone's beat the crap out of her, and she's got nobody.”

Suddenly, Mallory’s machine’s began beeping. You quickly hit an alarm on the wall.

“Her ICP’s double, get an OR!” Steve yelled. “Put her in for a craniotomy!”

~~~

You waited outside the OR, still watching over the stupid penis, while Steve operated on Mallory. You were nervous for her and felt bad that no one was there for her. Once the surgery was over, Steve exited the OR, walking past you. When he noticed you were there, he turned back.

“Hey,” he greeted. “I, uh, I had to leave her skull flap off, till the pressure in her brain goes down.”

“She’s not going to make it, is she?” You asked.

“She’s going to be fine.”

“If she ever wakes up.”

Steve nodded. “If she ever wakes up.” You nodded, biting your lip as you looked away. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” Your pager went off. You looked down to see it was the Chief. “I’ve gotta go. That’s the Chief. Maybe I can finally get rid of this thing.” You lifted the cooler slightly.

“Yeah,” Steve chuckled. “Good luck.”

~~~

“So here is where you put the signature, down here, the initials,” Fury’s assistant pointed out on a paper.

“Mmm,” you hummed with a nod, taking the paper and pen from her. “Okay.”

“It just says that the penis was never out of your sight.”

“Of course.” You sighed and handed over the paper. “There you go. One penis.” You glanced at the clock and realized that it was time for the baby’s surgery. “Am I all done here? I kinda want to go watch a surgery.”

“Sure.”

You tried to rush, but not rush, to the OR Dr. Banner was working in. When you arrived, you found a spot in the back.

“We'll be using a medium approach for a trans-ventricular repair with a right ventriculostomy,” Banner explained. “Let’s open him up. L/N!” He looked around for you.

“Yes, sir?” You replied.

“Go scrub in. When we've finished cracking the baby's chest, I'll let you hold the clamp.”

“Seriously?” You tried to contain your excitement.

“Don’t make me change my mind.”

You rushed to scrubbed in. And, let’s just say, holding onto that clamp was a rush and just what you needed to help brighten your shift. After that, you went to watch the babies, Val, Clint, and Scott all joining you.

You let out a sigh. “Okay, fine,” you relented. “You guys can move into the house.”

“Yes! Yes!” The guys shouted.

“I can’t believe you caved!” Val laughed.

“I can’t believe it either,” you mumbled, trying to hide the smile.

~~~

You changed out of your scrubs and stared at the shoes in your locker. You couldn’t stop thinking about how weird it was that you had decided to wear those shoes today. With determination, you shut the locker on your shoes and went to the elevator. Steve was there waiting.

“So… it’s intense…” he started. “This thing I have for, ah, ferry boats… I mean.”

You smiled at him. “I’m so taking the stairs this time.” You walked off.

“No self-control,” he called after you. “It’s sad. Really.” He chuckled to himself as you continued to walk away. “Wow… this is so—“

“Weird. It’s weird,” Dr. Stark came up, ready to go too. “Like I said before, that look is bad news. And you—“

“Didn’t I already tell you to shut it Tony?”

“Fine.” Tony held his hands up. “But, seriously, don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face.”

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[lucrezia-thoughts]

Warm

Pairing: Max Phillips x gn!Reader (gender neutral)

Warning(s): fluff, cuddles, work gossip, love confessions

Summary: This was not how you expected your first office job to go...

A/N: I wrote this for the amazing @lunasblipsandblurbs!! It's based on an idea from @thekingofthegoats, I hope I did it justice for you!! Massive kudos to anyone who spots the line from Hamilton!! 💚

This was not how you expected your first office job to go. You'd expected stuffy clothes. You'd expected awkward small talk in the break room. You'd even expected cheesy motivational posters on the walls of the sales department. What you hadn't expected; however, were daily cuddle sessions with your boss.

When you'd submitted your application, you had fully expected to never hear from them again since you had no experience as a secretary. All your previous jobs had been retail positions. So, three days later, you were stunned when someone from the HR department called to schedule an interview for the following day.

After several internal freak outs, a rushed trip to the mall to procure appropriate office attire, and one hell of a long pep talk into your car's rearview mirror, you found yourself waiting outside HR to be escorted to your interview.

"Mr. Phillips is ready to see you now."

You plastered on, what you hoped was, a winning smile and followed the HR representative down the hallway to the office of the Sales Manager, Max Phillips. You still have no idea what was said during the interview because you were so taken with how handsome Max was. His dark eyes seemed to draw you in and before you knew it, his hand was on your back and he was walking you back to HR.

"I can't wait to work with you, sweetheart." He assured you and when he winked at you, you almost swooned.

After all the paperwork was filled and filed you were told to head back to Max's office to start your first day since this position worked the graveyard shift. Knocking on the door, your heart fluttered at the muffled, "Come in, sweetheart."

Max grinned when you stepped in and shut the door behind you. He urged you to sit in the chair across from his desk and gave you a few mundane tasks to complete for him. You were surprised that he rose from his chair when you did and walked around his desk to escort you to the door, but all thoughts of leaving left your mind when his hand brushed against yours. He was as cold as ice.

"Good lord, Mr. Phillips! Are you okay? You're freezing!" The words fell rapid fire from your mouth as you took his hand in yours without thinking and tried to rub some warmth into it. His deep chuckle pulled you from your frenzied attempt to warm his hand and you prayed for the floor to open up and swallow you whole as your eyes rose to meet his, embarrassment written all over your face. "Mr. Phillips, I-I'm so so-"

"Max, please." He grinned.

You swallowed thickly and nodded your head. "Max." You repeated obediently.

"Good." His grin widened. "I run cold, sweetheart, but you feel free to warm me up anytime."

You'd thoroughly expected things to end there, with him only having made that comment to make you feel less embarrassed...except that was only the beginning. Roughly an hour after you arrived for work each day, your phone would ring and Max would ask you to come into his office for one gratuitous reason or another, but it always lead to you warming him up.

At first, it was just rubbing his hands between yours as he'd tell you about different things he needed you to accomplish that day. Then it progressed to sitting on the couch in his office where he'd lay his head in your lap and you would cord your fingers through his hair and down to his neck as he confided his stresses in you.

By the time you'd worked there for six months, all he had to do was send you a message on the company's inter-office chat engine saying, 'I need you.' You'd immediately stop whatever you were working on, walk into his office, shut the door behind you, and set yourself down in his lap to warm him up.

When you'd worked there for about eight months you overheard two coworkers speculating about how long you and Max could get away with your affair. As you stumbled back to your desk, you realized three fundamental truths at the exact same time...

First, and most obviously, people thought you were sleeping with your boss. Second, also quite obvious but you hadn't considered it yet, offices were just as gossip filled and petty as school had been. And third, this one hadn't been obvious to you until now, you desperately wished they'd been right. You wanted Max.

You usually let gossip go in one ear and out the other, but your realizations kept their words replaying in your head. So, when Max messaged you like usual, you weren't fully paying attention as you walked into his office. Leaving the door open, you walked around his desk, not noticing the surprise on his face as you straddled his lap and buried your face into his chest.

"Sweetheart?" Max looked from the open door to you resting in his lap before he let one arm wrap around you. "What's this about?" He asked as his free hand lifted your chin to look at him.

"People think we're sleeping together." You mumbled as his eyes locked with yours. You hadn't actually intended to tell him your revelation, but something in his gaze compelled you to unburden yourself.

"And I want it to be true. I want you, Max...I love you." Your eyes widened as those last three words left your lips and you came back to your senses. You tried to pull away from him, but his arm on your back kept you in place.

"Sweetheart." Max grinned as his face moved closer to yours.

In a panic, you tried to backtrack. "Oh my god, I'm so-" But his lips connecting with yours cut your protestations off. You moaned as you felt his tongue at the seam of your lips and opened them to allow him access.

By the time the kiss was broken, Max felt just as warm as you. Pulling back just slightly, Max whispered against your lips. "I was wondering when you'd tell me you felt the same."

----

Link to Warmer

[omgrachwrites]

Teacher Trapped - Sharon Carter

Pairing: Sharon Carter x Female Reader

Summary: Your high school students are sick and tired of watching you and the music teacher, Sharon Carter pine for each other so they take matters into their own hands. Teacher au

Warnings: so much fluff, swearing, probably ooc

Words: 1724

A/N: I think you guys have realised that I no longer have a proper writing schedule, they stress me out so I’m just gonna post when I feel like it, so I hope that’s okay! I got this idea for this au when I was in work and I was so excited to write it! This is my first time properly writing for a female character and I’m sorry if I’ve butchered Sharon’s character. Hope you guys enjoy and please let me know what you think, I love you all! xxx

There came a knock on the door of your classroom as you finished the English Literature display for your 10th graders. Without looking at the door, you adjusted the Lord of the Flies poster and you called out, “come on in!” you expected that it was one of your students; some of them arrived early because it was the only time that their parents could drop them off. That was why you were always here so early, it turned out to be quite handy to get some extra work done.

However, when you turned to see whoever was lingering in the doorway, your cheeks flushed when you saw who it was, “good morning, Y/N,” the beautiful blonde woman smiled, she was holding a box of donuts and an extra cup of coffee. It was Sharon Carter, the music teacher and she also happened to be the woman that you had a crush on.

“Hi, Sharon,” you smiled, finally finding your voice, “what are you doing here so early?” you were probably imagining it but you could have sworn that her cheeks deepened ever so slightly with a blush.

“I’ve um got some work to do before the kids come in and I wasn’t sure whether you’d had breakfast or not. You’re always here so early,” she grinned as she placed the steaming cup of coffee on your desk and lifted the lid off the box of donuts.

You chewed on your bottom lip; you really shouldn’t be eating so much sugar this early in the morning. However, the gorgeous smell of the deep fried treat filled your classroom and your resolve considerably weakened, “oh go on then,” you smiled shyly when Sharon laughed, her eyes crinkling at the edges as she did so, “thank you,” you grinned as you picked out the one that had cinnamon brown sugar generously sprinkled over the top.

“You’re welcome,” Sharon shot you a sweet smile.

“God, that’s amazing,” you groaned as you took a bite out of the delicious treat.

Sharon flushed and looked away from you, running a hand through her long hair, “I’d better get going, I’ll see you later, Y/N.”

You felt disappointment ping in your chest but you pushed it away and offered her a small smile, “bye, Sharon.”

As Sharon walked out, a group of your students walked in and took one look at your flushed face as they made their way to their seats, “good morning, Miss,” one of them smirked.

“Morning guys, have you had breakfast yet?” you asked as you grabbed cartons of orange juice and protein bars out of your cupboard, it wasn’t much but you liked to make sure that all your students ate in the morning.

“Thanks, Miss Y/L/N,” one of the boys smiled before he piped up again, “do you like Miss Carter?”

“Of course I do! She’s an excellent teacher,” you felt butterflies in your stomach and you willed yourself not to blush.

“Uh-huh,” your students sounded unconvinced as they cheekily smirked at each other.

Over the next couple of days, Sharon came to see you in the mornings and you went to visit her too. It seemed as though yours and Sharon’s students were getting sick of the constant blushy smiles and the lingering pining looks that were exchanged between you and Sharon. Unbeknownst to the both of you, your students out their heads together and concocted a plan to get you both together.

On Friday afternoon, one of your students raised her hand, “can I use the bathroom, please, Miss?”

“Of course,” you smiled at her as you grabbed a laminated hall pass out of your desk and handed it to her, “there you go.”

“Thanks Miss!” she beamed at you as she got up from her seat. You completely missed the way she grinned with the rest of the class before she walked out into the corridor.

A couple of minutes later a boy that you recognised from Sharon’s class knocked on your open door, “can I help you?” you asked with a smile.

“Uh, Miss Carter was wondering whether she could meet you in the empty English classroom down the hall after school. She wants to go over some work with you.”

You silently questioned why a music teacher would need to go over some work with an English teacher but you didn’t read too much into it, “of course, thank you for the message.”

At the end of the day, you and Sharon both arrived at the spare classroom at the same time, you smiled as her brown eyes twinkled as she grinned back at you, “what work did you want to go over with me?” you asked.

Sharon frowned at you, raising an eyebrow, “I was about to ask you the same thing,” okay, now you were confused.

“What are you talking about? You sent one of your students to tell me to meet you here.”

She shook her head, “no! That was you! What the fuck is going on?”

It was at that moment that the principal Sam Wilson – your best friend – walked out of the room, grinning like a Cheshire cat, “it’s ready for you guys.”

You and Sharon exchanged a confused glance as you walked into the classroom and you gasped at what you saw. A desk had been set up with candles, two steaming plates of pizza and two wine glasses full of red liquid. Yours and Sharon’s students were standing behind the desk, looking nervous.

“What’s going on guys?” Sharon asked, trying to sound stern.

A jock stepped forward, “we were getting so sick and tired of watching you two pine for each other. So we took matters into our own hands and pooled our allowance together to get you some food and Principal Wilson helped us set it up.”

It seemed that Sharon was as surprised as you as you both stared blankly at the students; butterflies were wreaking havoc in your stomach. What if Sharon rejected this idea? You didn’t even know if she dated women. Though, you were touched that they’d spent their own money to ensure that you would be able to have a date with one another.

“You like her don’t you?” a girl piped up.

“Of course I do!” you both said in unison before turning to look at each other when you realised the question hadn’t been directed at anyone in particular. There was a ghost of a smirk on Sharon’s face but her blush contradicted it.

“Looks like our work here is done,” someone snickered and you and Sharon both snapped out of it and turned back to look at your students.

“Thanks guys.”

“You’re welcome, have a good time,” the jock that spoke up before waved at you both as the students filed out of the room, leaving you and Sharon alone.

“Are you nervous?” Sharon laughed, raising an eyebrow.

“Nope,” you lied, smiling at her as she gestured at the table.

“Then shall we?” you nodded and you both sat down. Searching for something to do, you reached for the wine glass and looked at the suspicious liquid in the glass and tentatively raised it to your lips. You winced and coughed slightly at the sweet taste.

“It’s Grape Kool-Aid,” you coughed and Sharon burst out laughing as she took a sip of her own before she smiled over at you so sweetly that you momentarily forgot how to breath.

“So, you date women?”

You nodded as you fiddled with your fingers, “I take it that you do too?”

Sharon smiled, “yeah, and I like you.”

Happiness fizzed through your blood when you heard that your affections weren’t one sided, “you do?” you asked lamely.

“Well, of course. I don’t bring coffee and breakfast to everyone you know, and you’re completely fucking gorgeous,” she smirked, raising an eyebrow and you felt yourself relax as your cheeks felt like they were on fire.

“Good to know, I like you too.”

“Good to know,” she mimicked you before her eyes flickered down to your lips, “fuck it,” she muttered and leaned over the table to kiss you.

You gasped against her lips as you cupped her cheeks, tasting the Kool-Aid on her lips as she wrapped a hand in your hair, tugging slightly, causing pleasure to run through your body. After a couple of minutes, Sharon pulled away and grinned at you, “see no need to be nervous anymore, because I know that you were, Y/N.”

Sharon’s kiss had seemed to work wonders and the both of you talked easily as you ate your delicious pizza, “who did you go to prom with?”

You groaned as you took another sip of your drink as you relived the memory, “I was a loner in high school, and there was no way that anybody was taking me to prom. So, Sam took me.”

“Sam Wilson?” Sharon laughed as she rested her chin on her hand as she listened to you.

You rolled your eyes as you nodded, “yeah well you know he’s my best friend, his girlfriend had just broke up with him so he took me to prom as a favour and he wanted to make his ex-girl jealous, safe to say that it didn’t work,” you giggled, “who did you go with?”

“I dated a guy throughout high school, we broke up in college, he was a dickhead,” she rolled her eyes, “and then I started dating women and I’ve never been happier,” she smiled as she reached over to take your hand.

You grinned as you linked your fingers through hers, “were you Prom Queen?”

Sharon scoffed, “nope, they gave the crown to the head cheerleader, sometimes the cliché is right.”

“How dare they?!” you gasped and Sharon playfully narrowed her eyes at you.

“Yeah, I was very offended,” she laughed before looking at you with a soft smile, her brown eyes were warm and sparkling, “I really do like you, Y/N; I’m glad that we get to do this.”

“I really like you too, Sharon,” you smiled with delight, “I’m already thinking about our second date.”

“A date that hasn’t been organised by our students,” Sharon laughed but as you smiled at each other, you both knew they were amazing students and you would be forever grateful to them for giving you this moment.

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

@smiithys​ @elayneblack​ @amelie-black​

[mirclealignr]

Photographed Memories | c.c

cho x fem!reader

number 17 from my sapphic drabble masterlist; polaroid pictures - requested by anon

warnings; fluff

word count; 700+

The day your mother gifted you a polaroid camera for your birthday, was most certainly one of the best days of your life. Just the thought of being able to instantly capture the moments that made memories was thrilling. Whether they were exactly perfect, or more of a reflection of what the moment was really like, it would never be forgotten, even with the fragility of age.

You weren’t supposed to take such modern items to Hogwarts, but you wanted to try anyway. Getting through the barrier was fine, and no one pulled you away during the first years’ sorting ceremony. In fact, weeks had gone by without anyone saying a single thing to you at all about the technological device hiding under your four poster bed. 

You suspected Dumbledore knew all about it, but he said nothing. In your mind, that was justification enough to take it from its hiding place, shove it in a picnic basket and invite Cho down to the lake.

“What is it?” She asked curiously.

“It’s a muggle camera. It’s instant. Watch!” You said eagerly, snapping a photograph before she could protest. 

She squealed, turning away quickly from the flashing light, but of course it was too late. You’d already captured her unearthly beauty in a memory forever. It printed slowly and you pulled it from the camera with a shy smile. If anyone could bring out overbearing modesty in you, it was her.

“There’s nothing there,” she pouted, now wishing to see herself in the silly, muggle, white, paper frame. 

You smiled at her fondly and took another while you were waiting. She giggled, turning away again and hiding her face. You waited impatiently for the next one to print out, before laying it out gently on the blanket beneath you. 

“You have to wait, then it shows the picture. So in the meantime…” you smirked, holding up the camera again. 

Her eyes widened, wondering how many you could take before you ran out of ‘paper’. Luckily for her, there were only eight left, but that meant eight more lovely pictures of her on a perfect picnic at Hogwarts. She inched away from you, carefully getting to her feet with a terrified smile on her face. The playful tension was wonderful, you never wanted it to end.

“Y/N?” 

You laughed, darting up and getting your camera ready. She squealed again and began to run down to the lake. You waited beneath the tree, ready to get the perfect shot. And as she turned around, the sun beating down on her jet black hair, her smile beaming and her eyes looking directly at you, you clicked the button on the camera that you knew would attempt to capture such beauty. But nothing would ever come close to the real thing. 

She laughed ever so sweetly, continuing to run down towards the lake. Three more clicks later and you finally spelled it beneath the tree and ran after her, choosing to live in the memory. Following the sound of your own personal paradise, you crashed into her, wrapping your arms firmly around her waist. You spun her around in your embrace, kissing her lips gently and letting yourself soak in this moment with her and the sun. She was a Summer’s day and Winter’s muse. How perfectly the world moulded to her and how lucky you counted yourself for the privilege to be a witness. 

“Beautiful,” you whispered.

And she blushed, like she always did, as if she couldn’t see her own beauty. How could she not see it, or was she really just so modest? No, she knew it. But even so, she had you to tell her everyday.

A race up the hill and a fall to the picnic blanket below, you filed through the pictures you’d taken, and the pictures you’d spelled the camera to take of you and her together. It began with Cho sitting beside you, running down to the lake, you running after her, your arms around her waist and finally, her lips against yours. And now, whenever you wanted, you could play those seconds back - those precious seconds that made up such a small, yet such a significant, part of your time together.

[snapdragon-mina]

Enchanted Pt. 1

Kuroo Tetsurou x GN!Reader

A/N: UHHHHH, here's my late entry for ✨the newest✨ POCuties Sever Collab Based on the movie version of Ella Enchanted

Warnings: No beta we die like men, a couple swear words here and there, mentions of death, attempted murder, and this is a Crack fic treated seriously. Part 2 will be out within a few hours of this.

Word Count: 2.8k

[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3]

----------------❌----------------

It all starts with a baby. A beautiful baby named (y/n) was born into a comfortable family. This baby cried a lot, wanting to be held by their mother constantly. She took good care of her baby alongside kiyoko, a household fairy. Everything worked out beautifully until a particular fairy godmother appeared. As desperately as the mother and kiyoko tried, they could not hide the baby from Satori (the only fairy godfather who gave god awful gifts).

As much as Satori tried to quiet the baby's crying, it would not stop. This gave him the perfect idea for a gift. He gave the child the "gift" of obedience. (y/n) would not be able to disobey a command given to them no matter what. Kiyoko absolutely hated the gift that Satori gifted the baby and begged him to take it back but he refused.

Despite the gift they were given, (y/n) grew up to be strong willed and determined. Once they discovered a girl being bullied for something as stupid as a name, they quickly took to standing up for her. The girl introduced herself as Yachi and they became best friends very quickly.

When (y/n) discovered the gift, they asked for Kiyoko to take it away, only to be told that she couldn't. But despite this, (y/n) always fought against the gift whenever they could.

When (y/n) was still a child, their mother grew very ill. As she laid in her bed, she told (y/n) to never reveal their gift to anyone. She didn't want her child to be taken advantage of. Before she passed away, she gave them her necklace to remember her by.

----💫----

Getting dressed, (y/n) put on their mother's necklace only to be interrupted by none other than Kiyoko. "(Y/n), your father wants to speak to you." She said before taking her leave.

(y/n) walked to their father's study only to receive shocking news.

"What?! You're married??"

"Look, she has money. It was either marry her or sell the house. She has two sons, so there's no doubt she's a wonderful mother-figure." He let out a sigh before continuing. "I'm sure you'll all be the best of friends, just... give them all a chance."

The next morning, three people arrived in a carriage. They were *not* pleased at the sight of the house.

(y/n)'s father greeted the three with a warm smile and two kisses to the woman's cheeks. "Welcome, my dear. These must be your sons?"

She nodded with a fake smile. "Yes, this is my dear Tooru, and my... other son, Tobio." The brunette just stared while the black haired one did an exaggerated bow. Just as this occurred, (y/n) walks out of the house to meet the three new people who were supposedly living with them now.

"You must be (y/n)." The woman said, giving them a once over. (y/n) bowed and greeted them with a polite "pleased to meet you."

After a short, awkward pause, the woman returned her attention to the father. "You have a wonderful home, but I recall you saying that you had a castle." she hissed out.

He shook his head. "No no, you must be mistaken, I said "A man's home is his castle"."

While their father and the lady talked, (y/n) introduced themselves with a smile only to be almost completely ignored.

Inside the house, the two brothers began setting up. Tooru putting up posters of a prince while Tobio explained.

"Tooru's president of Prince Tetsu's fan club." They grinned at each other only for their faces to fall into a scowl when (y/n) spoke.

"You must be aware that Tetsurou and his uncle are responsible for the segregation of the kingdom, right?"

With a judging look, Tooru spoke. "so? He's hot."

After looking around a bit the two were getting increasingly displeased with their surroundings. A small room, damn near nonexistent closet space, etc. "This won't work." The brunette spoke in a clearly disgusted tone. "We'll use yours. Show it to us."

Unable to disobey the command, (y/n) led them towards their room. Tooru narrowed his eyes and seemed to file that bit of information for later. Upon reaching the room, He was immediately disgusted. "It looks awful. There isn't any room here either. We're throwing out some of your clothes."

"what?! No. Get out of my closet." They went to attempt to force him away only for him to immediately demand that you get away from him.

As they backed up, He noticed the necklace and demanded that it be given to him. Unfortunately, (y/n) was forced to hand over the necklace.

Not a moment later, (y/n)'s father announced his business trip. They needed money and his work was the only thing keeping them afloat.

----💫----

During a heated debate in class is when Tooru figured it out. They'd been debating on whether king Kei had been a fair ruler or not. (y/n) was vehemently arguing in favor that he was not. He'd enslaved every other race and forced them to work in little stereotyped boxes. He'd made laborers and entertainers out of anyone non human. (y/n) *hated* it.

Tooru, on the other hand, thought that he was a wonderful ruler. He gave us free enterprises, humans don't have to work hard at things that *they* should be doing. They disagreed and when (y/n) insulted the prince. Tooru demanded that they apologize and admit they're wrong and when (y/n) did, it all clicked. (Y/n) couldn't obey a single command they were given.

----⭐----

"Do I really have to go to this mall opening?" Tetsurou asked his uncle as they sat inaide of an extremely expensive looking carriage.

"As heir to the throne, it's your responsibility. You're a public figure. You have to be seen." Kei told him simply.

"Yeah but you're the one in charge."

"Not for long. Your coronation is next week and you need to be out there with your people, Tetsu."

Seated next to Kei was Tadashi, who was something like Kei's closest companion. You would rarely ever see Kei without Tadashi.

Kei advised Tetsurou that keeping a good public image builds trust within a kingdom before telling him of the things that where apparently going on within the kingdom.

Of giants and ogres wanting to rebel against them and take them down but none of this sounded right to him.

"The giants have always been peaceful." Tetsurou said, confused as to why he was being told otherwise.

"The ogres were once peaceful as well. Until they killed your father in cold blood." His voice held a certain edge to it. "Before your father's gruesome death, I promised him that if anything happened to him, I would take care of you and the kingdom." Pushing up his glasses, a glare formed on the glass, shielding his eyes from view. "I have kept my promise, haven't I?"

Tetsurou remained silent for the rest of the ride, turning to face the window instead of his uncle.

----💫----

(Y/n) sat in the crowd next to Yachi, surrounded by hundreds of adoring fans of the prince as king Kei made an announcement.

"Thank you. It's wonderful to be in your... charming town of... Frell. Prince Tetsurou and I-" He was immediately cut off by the sounds of hundreds of people screaming at the mere mention of the prince's name. Kei decided to get the announcement done and over with. "And now it's with great pleasure that I introduce Prince Tetsurou."

Screams broke out again as the prince stepped into view. He waved as he walked out.

This was their cue.

Immediately, (y/n) and Yachi stood up on a fountain holding banners that read Say No To Ogrecide! and Stop Giant Land Grab!. The began chanting these words at the prince, catching his attention.

Tooru did not like this. He immediately ran over to the two protesting. "You're embarrassing us!" he hissed. "Go Home. Now."

Immediately, (y/n) began apologizing to Yachi as they left her there.

----⭐----

"Prince Tetsu, are you a fast runner?" A girl in the front asked him. He shook his head with a smile.

"Not really, why?" He immediately regretted those words. Because as soon as they left his mouth, the crowd charged at him; forcing him to flee.

He ran as quickly as he could until he ran into someone walking down a pathway. Quickly, he pulled them down and behind a stone wall.

"Prince Tetsurou."

"Please, call me Tetsu..." He trailed off, looking at the person he had just pulled down. "Sorry about that." He attempted to help them up, only to immediately be shot down.

"I don't need your chivalry and I definitely don't intend on bowing to you, either." They dusted themselves off and began walking away.

"Bow or not, that's your choice. Can't really do much about that other than have you beheaded, but that's a bit too much" he joked.

"Charming. Why don't you do what your people usually do? Steal my land and destroy my livelihood. Now if you'll excuse me." They continued walking away only to be forcefully stopped by him commanding them to wait and come back.

Groaning, (y/n) turned around and walked back to him, standing directly in front of him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"(Y/n) of Frell."

"(Y/n)... You're one of the first people I've met that hasn't immediately melted at the sight of me." He sounded astonished.

"It might've done you some good." They rolled their eyes and went to turn around and leave again.

Tetsurou paused and looked offended. "Wait, I've never stolen anyone's land nor their livelihood. I want peace in the kingdom as much as anyone."

(y/n) turned around with a scowl on their face. "So you have a new plan once you take the crown?"

"Well... Sorta... I can't reveal it though."

They scoffed in his face. "Yeah, thought so. Y'know you're all the same. You care more about your fancy club and next jousting tournament."

"I- well I've never been comfortable with having a fanclub. In fact... Your obvious hatred of me is kinda refreshing." He grinned.

"Obvious? I was trying so hard to hide it." They rolled their eyes and continued on their walk home. As they were walking they suddenly remembered leaving their bag. Any attempt to go retrieve it was immediately stopped by a simple "wait right there."

They were stuck in place as Tetsu rushed back to get it. Unfortunately, a carriage was rushing towards them. They called out his name but was only saved as they were inches away from getting hit.

"Are you insane?! Why didn't you move?" Tetsurou asked.

"Yeah... I would've... were it not for your apparent fascination with knocking me to the ground." They sat up. "This is the second time today."

"Yeah well I'll try to be more considerate next time you're about to get ran over."

"What makes you think we'll see each other again?" They raised an eyebrow.

"Won't we?" he asked.

"Nope."

Before much else could be said, Tooru stood in the middle of the path, seething. "Get over here."

Immediately, (y/n) got up and walked over.

"Shouldn't you be at home cleaning the fireplace?" Tooru let out a forced laugh before whispering to them. "Stop flirting. I'm going to be at his coronation."

"Yeah in the center of the table with an apple in your mouth." They muttered in response.

"Go back to the mall with Tobio."

(y/n) stormed off with Tobio in tow as Tooru stayed back to try to flirt with his royal highness.

----💫----

At the mall, (y/n) met back up with Yachi. "Where were you?" the girl asked. (y/n) explained their meeting with the prince and went on to say that Tobio and Tooru were there.

"Why do you always do what Tooru tells you to?" She asked.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No I don't."

"Tell the truth."

"Guess I do..."

A moment later the two were spotted by Tobio and Tooru. "(Y/n). take that for me." Tooru asked, pointing towards something on a stand. The moment they took it, something lit up in Tobio's eyes. It quickly devolved into demanding them to steal various items against their will until they got caught taking a pair of glass slippers.

It resulted in (y/n) getting chased throughout the mall by a guard.

----💫----

The moment their new step mother learned that (y/n) had been arrested for theft, she flew into exaggerated hysterics. "A felon in my own home!" she cried.

Kiyoko immediately came to their defense. "They were probably put up to it. The (y/n) I know, would never do this." She glared at the brothers. However, as Tooru looked out the window, He got an idea.

"Kiyoko's right, we were there. They were forced to and it isn't poor (y/n)'s fault at all." He sighed to his mother, leaving (y/n) and kiyoko confused.

"So, Who put you up to it?" The woman demanded as she looked away.

A devious smirk graced Tooru's face. "Tell her it was Yachi." He whispered.

"Y-" They quickly covered their mouth but that wasn't enough. "Yachi."

Kiyoko closed her eyes and let out a sigh. The woman immediately forbade (y/n) from ever speaking to them again.

It was then that Yachi approached the door with the intent to ask (y/n) about what had happened at the mall. (y/n) was forced to answer the door and tell their best and only friend that they never want to see her again.

Later that day, (y/n) cried to Kiyoko about how awful the experience was until they came to the conclusion that they absolutely had to find the fairy that cursed them and Kiyoko offered something that would help them.

She held a book in her hands and present it to to them.

"I'm not... The most talented fairy... But this book is my boyfriend, Ryuu..."

The book was a light pink and gold with a magic mirror in the center. It showed a face in it and the moment he was revealed, he greeted (y/n).

"I've never seen anyone like it."

"Well, It was an accident. I wanted to practice a spell that would trim his hair since it had grown out, but it... didn't go well. So now he's in a book." Kiyoko explained.

Kiyoko allowed (y/n) to take Ryuu along with them on their journey.

----💫----

They walked through a forest, holding Ryuu in their hands when they heard screams. An elf was stuck to a spinning wheel as a couple of people threw darts at him. The elf told them to kick their asses and they did just that.

He began commentating as they fought off the guys and eventually, they won the fight with the men retreating.

Immediately (y/n) helped the elf down and checked on them quickly. Fortunately, the elf was completely uninjured.

"I'm Shoyo!"

"I'm (y/n). Nice to meet you. Now if you're okay, it was nice to meet you but I have to leave."

That didn't sit well with Shoyo. He immediately began arguing and trying to convince them to eat with him until he succeeded. Convinced that (y/n) wouldn't make it through the woods alone.

Eventually they made it to a bar in an Shoyo's home town with only a minor distraction.

Inside of the bar, they both sat down to eat and so (y/n) decided to ask a question. "Why don't you like music?"

"Right because all Elves are supposed to love singing and dancing. I wanna be an athlete, not an singer or dancer."

(Y/n) nodded sympathetically. "Yeah I understand that. I'd forgotten all about the laws that restrict elves from being anything other than singers and other occupations like that."

----💫----

After convincing Shoyo to come with them, (y/n) walked alongside him calmly until they were caught up with a couple of ogres. (y/n) tried to convince the ogres that that they were on their side only for that to backfire horribly and end up with them being steadily lowered into a pot with Shoyo tied to a tree.

Extremely conveniently, Prince Tetsurou found them and fought off the ogres, freeing (y/n) and Shoyo. He backed one of them against a tree with a sword pointed at the ogre's neck. "Are you one of the monsters that killed my father?"

The ogre looked confused. "What? No no, you've got it all wrong. King Koutarou was a good man! We lived in peace during his reign, why would we ever want to kill him?"

Tetsurou pulled the sword away from the ogre but didn't seem to believe his words. "Leave. Find breakfast somewhere else."

The ogres agreed and quickly left the area. Tetsurou turned towards (y/n). "What are you doing here w with an elf for protection? Do you get off to near death experiences or something?"

"No. I had things under control." They lied.

"Yeah, sure you did. I see the score stands Chivalry: 2, Gratitude: 0." He said, back facing them.

They apologized and thanked him for the help before cleaning dressing a wound he'd gotten from protecting them.

"So... Where are you heading?"

"A giant's wedding. I have to meet my godfather."

"That's on the way back to me home, I'll come with."

"No thanks."

"Too bad."

[joonapeach]

you, me & a little bit of the future [mlb]

summary: Marinette expects some disaster on her first outing alone with Adrien. She just doesn’t expect that disaster to be her future self passing off a baby for her to take care of with Adrien.

alternatively… two idiots obliviously in love cooing over their daughter while acting like they have no idea whose kid this is.

author’s note: i spent my birthday writing mlb fanfiction because that is my biggest source of serotonin. also, if you follow me for bts and have no idea wtf mlb is - first of all, sorry. second of all - give me your brain bc i really wish i could rewatch this dumb show for the first time.

also reposted on ao3

[11.2k words of a fluff/humor and time travel x accidental baby acquisition trope]

If Marinette was still breathing by the end of today… she decided that she would give her life to worshipping Alya.

The girl was a magician, maybe even an angel. There was no possible reason for Marinette to be standing here in an empty museum, waiting for Adrien to fetch a bottle of water for her and yet… here she was?

“Alya, first of all, how did you make this happen?” Marinette squeaked on the phone, looking around to make sure she was out of Adrien’s earshot. “And second of all - I don’t know if I can do this!”

Alya’s familiar laugh came through the call. “Relax, girl! Adrien wanted Nino to go inspect his new wax statue with him but of course, Nino just needed a nudge from your greatest friend in the world to give up his invitation to you.”

Scratch worshipping just Alya. If Marinette hadn’t combusted by the end of this museum outing, she would worship both Nino and Alya together.

“I love you.”

“Try to tell that to Adrien today.”

“I will,” Marinette nodded with so much excitement that it was a wonder her head didn’t spin off. “I promise. I’ll make the most of the opportunity you’ve given to me. You’re the best, Alya!”

Alya only laughed, clearly amused by her friend’s joy. “Well, good luck and tell me how it goes!” she said before cutting the call.

Marinette sighed dreamily. Alone in a museum of art with Adrien, the greatest work of art she’d ever seen… it all felt like a dream.

She paused, quickly pinching herself. The pain registered a second later and she laughed giddily. This was no dream. It really was happening.

From the corner of her eye, she spotted Adrien walking towards her. A bottle of water was clutched in one hand as he waved with another. Was it possible to melt from someone’s smile? Marinette hadn’t thought it likely till she traced the curve of Adrien’s lips with her eyes just now.

“Here you go, Marinette,” he said cheerfully. He reached for her hand, putting the bottle on her palm. It was a relief that the water felt like ice to her skin because Adrien’s bare second of a touch made her scared of combusting.

“Th-thanks!”

“No problem! Thanks for coming today. I know it’s such a short notice since Nino cancelled in the morning, but I really wanted to see the wax statue with a friend,” he said softly. “I’m glad it’s you.”

Glad it’s you? How could anyone say such things to a person with that heartstopping grin and then be so oblivious to the world falling in love with them?

Marinette did her best to yelp out a semblance of a response, giving a toothy smile in the silences of the words she couldn’t find. It seemed to satisfy Adrien enough who only laughed and said, “come on!” as he dragged her through the empty museum.

Adrien’s hand. Touching mine. 

It really would be a miracle if she was still breathing by the end of today.

/

Things were going perfectly. Well, as perfectly as things could ever go in Marinette’s life.

In a total of ten minutes, their arms had brushed 13 times and he’d laughed 5 times at something she’d said. He’d given her his show-stopping, sincere smile 3 times and she’d come near to death from them 2.5 times - the 0.5 she subtracted was when she wasn’t looking and only caught sight of his grin at the very last second.

Despite the empty silence of the museum, Marinette was surprised at just how two people alone could fill the room. Of course, it helped that one of the two people was the equivalent to the worth of a country itself but still… something about the familiarity in Adrien surprised her. He’d left her speechless and lovesick but there was also a feeling in comfort in being with him.

There was only ever one other person she felt like that around.

“Hey Marinette, I’m just gonna go to the bathroom real quick!” Adrien said, with another friendly smile she chose not to look at it too closely. When she nodded, he ran off and she stood in the empty room.

Finally, her heart could take a break from racing.

She exhaled, looking around until a sudden flash of light almost blinded her. She jumped back, ready to say the words spots on at the sight of danger till she frowned at what she heard.

“Do you ever not make this more difficult than it needs to be, kitty?!”

Marinette stilled. She recognized that voice. Yet, it was still not as familiar as the one she heard next.

“You know I can’t paws an opportunity to be entangled with you, my lady.”

The other voice scoffed. “That was terrible, even for you. Now, get off me.”

There was a certain threshold of weirdness Marinette had learned to tolerate in her time as Ladybug. Evil butterflies around the city, mini talking God-pets, monsters popping up during her Physics class… that was all fine.

Hearing her own voice repeated back to her was not. This was treading on a new kind of weird.

Marinette hesitantly stepped forward, following the voices. Behind a big column, she could hear the two bickering people. She checked on Tikki in her purse, who was fast asleep. She couldn’t wake her up for a threat she still hadn’t confirmed.

“Now… she’s bound to be here somewhere,” the voice like hers said. “Chat, can you go bring Emma through another portal?”

“That’s an awful lot of faith you have in a fifteen year old girl to say yes without even asking.”

Marinette heard the amusement in her doppelganger’s voice. “I think I’d know my fifteen year old self better than you.”

Another flash of light came and suddenly, the conversation stopped. Marinette’s heart was back to racing, this time from apprehension as she looked behind the column. 

She was certain. This was not in the threshold of weirdness she could learn to tolerate.

An older, fitter Ladybug was staring her in the face. Her raven hair was bunched in longer buns around her neck and she towered over Marinette in height. Everything about her exuded confidence and the presence of… a real superhero.

The only telltale sign Marinette could find of her being a person was the awkward, gaping smile she gave.

“Um… hi,” Ladybug said, giving a stiff wave.

Marinette blinked. Then she screamed.

Ladybug raced forward, clamping her hand over Marinette’s mouth. “Oh my God, was I always so easily frightened?” she mumbled to herself in distress. “Marinette, it’s me. I mean- it’s you. It’s you-me. Hi.”

Hesitantly, the hand over Marinette’s mouth slipped away. “What do you mean you-me?” she narrowed her eyes, an urgent distrust in her voice. “Who are you?”

Ladybug’s voice softened. “I’m you. From the future, ten years from now. I’m twenty six year old Marinette,” she grinned, fluffing her two buns. “Pretty cute, right?”

Marinette’s guard didn’t lower. She backed away slowly. “I don’t believe it. You must be an akumatized person… or a trick from Hawkmoth! What do you want with me?”

Ladybug stretched her limbs. “I can’t even blame you for being on edge. I know how tense things were when I was your age,” she mumbled.

“Hello? Who are you?” Marinette repeated. She put her hands on her hips, trying to make herself look more intimidating. “If you’re really me then you should-”

“How’s the Adrien-in-white poster project going?” Ladybug sighed, asking with a resigned shrug. “Right about now, the new spring shoots must’ve come out, right? That shot of him in the white polo by the trees is the prettiest. The green background makes his eyes pop and makes him look like an angel des-”

“Descended from heaven,” Marinette blinked, breathlessly. “Oh my God.”

“Still don’t believe me? Around last month, you broke your phone and asked for three months’ allowance to get it repaired instead of just buying a new one because you told everyone you had some design files that you forgot to back-up, when it was really just saved photos of Adrien from-”

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” Marinette cut her off, red creeping up her neck and turning her face into a bright tomato. 

Despite her embarrassment, Ladybug only smiled wistfully. She ruffled Marinette’s hair. “Sorry to crash your date, little me,” she said with a grin. “But I have a huge favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

Ladybug nodded. “Yup. Straight from the future. Your twenty six year old self kinda depends on you right now.”

Marinette squared her shoulders. “What is it?” she asked determinedly. “Is Hawkmoth still causing trouble? What do I need to do?”

Ladybug laughed, suddenly looking sheepish. “Um… it’s a little less complicated than that,” she admitted. “You see… you- I mean, me… we kind of are in the midst of a little fight against a villain in the future. It’s crazy. We’ve been fighting for two days and he still won’t let go.”

“Do you need my help?” Marinette asked with confidence. A fight in the future… she could do that. Paris was her priority in any case.

Ladybug giggled. “Well, yes. But not in fighting. You see, in between all the battles, I keep having to go home and detransform because of a little thing. A very cute, little thing. Everyone is so caught up in the chaos of the city that I’m having trouble being Ladybug and Marinette at the same time. That’s where I thought little me could come in handy?”

Marinette raised her eyebrows.

“Little Mari,” Ladybug said with an adoring smile. “How would you feel about babysitting?”

Marinette’s jaw dropped. Her head turned left and right, scanning the empty museum before looking back at Ladybug. “Do I have to babysit Manon again on the only day I get to be with Adrien?”

Ladybug laughed. “Well, it’s not Manon this time. This kid’s a little younger. She’s almost one and she’s an angel. I think you’ll quite like her,” she grinned mischievously. “You see, it’s my daughter.”

Her daughter?

No words came to her mind except the phrase repeating. Her daughter.

Marinette was staring at a twenty six year old version of her, far more confident and chic than her and now, this woman had a daughter. Marinette would have a daughter in ten years. 

A wide smile broke out on her face. At sixteen, she only ever knew the kind of love she could see around her, for her parents, her friends, Adrien, for her partner… but now, one day, there’d be more to that. Suddenly, she couldn’t stop smiling.

“My… daughter?”

“Yup. Congrats future-mom. We’re quite a good mother if I do say so myself,” Ladybug smirked. “Though I’m pretty sure our husband is half the reason why we’re so good.”

Now, a blush spread across Marinette’s cheeks. A husband. Marinette couldn’t even imagine having a boyfriend, not with how tongue-tied she got around every boy she liked but somewhere in the future was a man she loved who loved her back. A man who was raising a child with her.

At her shell-shocked expression, Ladybug laughed affectionately. “I didn’t even tell you a thing about our daughter or husband but you look like you’re already on cloud nine. You really aren’t ready for the future yet. Good thing you have ten years to prepare.”

“Who… who is my husband?”

Now, a twinkle of amusement flashed in Ladybug’s eyes. “No cheating. All I’ll tell you is… he’s a lovely man. You love him very much. A bit embarrassingly much.” There was a hidden joke somewhere in Ladybug’s words but Marinette didn’t laugh, still too shaken by the prospect of being married with kids of her own.

“What’s… can I ask my daughter’s name?”

“I’m surprised you need to ask.”

Marinette couldn’t fight a smile. “Emma,” she laughed. “Well, I’m happy our future husband wasn’t against our suggestion.”

“Oh, he can’t refuse a single thing we say. You’ll see,” Ladybug smiled. “Well, hopefully at some point. If we manage to end the fight and keep Emma from crying all in a day’s work… so can I trust myself to take care of her?”

Marinette nodded excitedly. “Of course.”

“Thank you little Mari,” Ladybug sighed in relief. “You won’t believe how badly I needed this help.”

Was it possible to be starstruck by your own future self? Marinette felt she was hanging off every word Ladybug was saying, drawn in by the assurance and ease she spoke with. She wondered if this was how the rest of the world felt now when she spoke as Ladybug.

“Anything for you!” Marinette blinked with glittering eyes. “You must… you must be doing so well. Ten years and you’re… wow. That’s me.”

Ladybug giggled. “You’re doing well too, you know. For one, I’m glad you haven’t combusted on your date with Adrien yet.”

Marinette flushed, before blinking in shock. Adrien. “Wait! I have to tell Adrien I’ll have to cancel! So I can take Emma home while you-”

“Oh, I don’t think you need to do that. You can keep her around with him,” an entertained look passed in Ladybug’s eyes. “I think it’ll be good practice.”

“Practice for what?”

Ladybug cocked an innocent brow, suddenly distracted by her surroundings. Marinette was about to repeat the question till the familiar flash of light from earlier came again. Chat Noir came tumbling out of the portal, a baby strapped to his chest.

Marinette blinked. If she was looking at twenty six year old Ladybug then… this was twenty six year old Chat Noir.

She swallowed. The years had been- would be kind to her kitty… if she could still even call him that in the future. 

She was far too used to the flirty school boy under the name of Chat Noir but this was someone else entirely. For the first time in her life, Marinette found herself at a loss for words in his presence.

Chat’s eyes flickered from Ladybug, a glance filled with lasting adoration, to Marinette. A sudden amusement crossed his expression that Marinette had trouble deciphering. Somewhere between glee and satisfaction.

He inched closer, offering a hand to shake. “Well hello there,” he grinned before looking at Ladybug and saying, “you know, I almost forgot how adorable you were.”

Marinette squeaked. “You know who I am?”

“In the future, he does,” Ladybug reassured, poking Chat’s nose in an all-too-familiar way. “Don’t fret. He’s just playing.”

Chat looked almost offended by the statement. “I am not. I mean it sincerely. You were the cutest thing at sixteen.”

Ladybug cocked a teasing brow. “Is that really a thing to say about just a friend-”

Chat pressed a finger to Ladybug’s lips, throwing a smirk Marinette’s way. “You can’t be handing out spoilers like that for your mini-self. Look how innocent she is. We can’t deprive mini Chat Noir of the satisfaction when it all comes out in the open.”

Ladybug scoffed. “This is why I didn’t want you to accompany me. You’re just getting a kick out of seeing me like this, aren’t you?”

“Can you blame me? It’s hard to keep a straight face when I now know what’s really going on in the sixteen year old pretty princess’ brain,” he said with a wink.

Marinette’s heart faltered at the display of adoration and comfort between the two future selves of her and her partner. She and Chat were always close but this… this was new. The doting expression in Chat’s eyes when he looked at Ladybug wasn’t new but the reciprocated devotion in her own future self’s eyes was.

He was still in love with her, ten years later - that was easy to tell. But she wondered how to interpret the feeling that made her feel like suddenly, she was too.

Ladybug reached for Chat’s chest, unwrapping a small sleeping baby from the blankets. Ladybug pressed a loving kiss on the baby’s forehead before looking at Marinette. The two shared a silent smile.

Gently, the baby was placed in Marinette’s arms. Her heart paced at the weight of a life cradling against her chest. 

A sudden anxiousness pooled her thoughts. “Can I… do you really think it’s the best idea to give your kid to me?”

Chat was the one to answer. “It’s your kid too, Marinette.”

Her name, her real name, off his lips made her shiver. There was a future in which he called her by that. It sounded so pleasant to her ears that she almost wished that that future could be now.

“But… you know what I mean! Not sixteen year old, clumsy me! It’s your kid. The me who’s put together and… you know, can actually handle walking with a child and not tripping over air and-”

Chat’s laugh broke her rant. “The fact that you think you’re any less clumsy ten years in the future is adorable. I don’t think you’ll ever recover from that.”

“Chat! I’m right here!” Ladybug poked the tall, towering kitten away before turning to Marinette. “You’ll be fine. I promise. You can trust your future self’s judgment, can’t you?”

Marinette swallowed, glancing down at the girl in her arms. For the first time, she looked carefully at the daughter she would one day hold for the rest of her life. She was a beautiful sight. Her cherub cheeks stuck out in her sleep and strands of dark, midnight hair just like Marinette’s covered her face. She wondered whether her eyes were blue too, just like hers.

Marinette smiled. “Okay. I’ll do my best.”

Ladybug grinned, giving a squeeze to Marinette’s shoulder. “I owe you. Well, technically I don’t because future-you has a lot of good in store that current-you would never believe. But thanks,” she laughed. With ease, her hand slipped into Chat Noir’s as she walked away with a wave.

Marinette’s eyes zeroed in on the sight. At the last second, Chat Noir glanced back at her and a strange feeling leapt through her heart. He smiled. “Don’t worry Marinette. You’re a natural mother.”

The two disappeared in another flash too quick for Marinette to notice. She blinked, thinking of the words Chat had left her with and the intertwined hands… what ever was in store for her future with Chat? Surely… surely, what she was suspecting couldn’t be-

In her arms, the baby moved. Marinette stilled, glancing at her daughter as she woke from her nap. Her arms stretched and she showed a warm smile as soon as she looked up at Marinette. Emma.

“Maman,” Emma said happily. Marinette had never thought she’d find a word she loved the sound of more than Adrien. Now she had.

When she stared at her daughter, she memorized every small feature. This time, she got to see her eyes, wide and awake. While Emma had Marinette’s dark hair, her eyes were a deep shade of green.

/

Adrien had never considered himself a narcissist. But looking at the broad, tall body of his future self was making him reconsider his stance.

“Plagg. Are you seeing this? I’m so cool,” Adrien grinned excitedly, staring at the Chat Noir in front of him. “This is the best day ever.”

Chat grumbled, hiding his face with a few fingers. Even his fingers were big enough to cover his face. Adrien blinked at what ten years was going to do to him. Despite his title of a model, he hated to indulge in complimenting himself but at this second… he could only say that there was no way Ladybug could reject his twenty six year old self. Adrien grinned with the thought. He could wait ten years to woo his lady if this was the payoff.

“Can you listen, kid?” Chat sighed. “I don’t have much time to give you a pep talk before Ladybug starts panicking at why I’m not back yet,” he mumbled to himself.

Adrien could only laugh, still on a high. “You’re me! From the future!”

Plagg’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of diet plan is future-you on?”

“I don’t know, but isn’t it amazing?!” Adrien said with a grin. “Why are you here? Wait… you’re here to give me a message, aren’t you?”

Chat took a few seconds to stare his younger self in the face. Adrien wondered why it looked like he was on the verge of exasperation. “I wish I could give you ten messages. But even then, I don’t know if it’ll help your hopeless case,” Chat said with a snicker.

Adrien’s mouth dropped. “Plagg… is my future-self bullying me right now?”

Plagg shrugged. “I have no objections.”

“Listen,” a hand clamped down Adrien’s shoulder. Adrien squeaked an inhumane sound at the grip of his future self’s hand. “You know that girl you have a crush on?”

“Ladybug,” Adrien nodded with a lovesick smile.

Chat’s lips tightened into a thin line, unamused. “This is gonna be harder than I thought,” he sighed. “Was I really this oblivious?” he mumbled to Plagg, completely ignoring Adrien’s distraught confusion.

Plagg laughed. “Oh, this isn’t being oblivious. This is just denying the truth. You love acting like you have no idea. I hope you’re a bit better in the future, for my mental health’s sake.”

“Plagg, shouldn’t you be siding with the version of me that actually belongs in your time?!” Adrien whined. “What’s this about?”

Plagg and Chat shared a look. Chat fought a small smile before trying again. “Alright buddy. See, in a few minutes, I’m gonna head back to the future - we’re in the middle of an epic fight, you’d love it - and I’ve left my daughter to babysat by you. It won’t be too long… maybe three hours. Actually, make it four. I should take my wife out on a date after and thank her for putting up with me despite how stupid I was at sixteen. Can you manage four hours?”

Adrien gulped. In just one sentence alone, words like ‘wife’, ‘daughter’ and ‘future’ had left his mind in shock. He wasn’t sure which part to start with, when so much information had been thrown his way in a moment’s breath.

“I’m married?!”

Chat grinned proudly. “Happily.”

Adrien’s eyes brightened. “Am I married to Ladybug?”

Chat’s smile grew with delight. “Even better,” he sighed dreamily. “You’re married to the girl you have a crush on.”

“That’s Ladybug!” Adrien spluttered excitedly.

Chat sighed, part in amusement and part in resignation. “Even if I spelled it out for you, there really is no hope,” he mumbled. “But anyway. Just make sure Emma stays safe, okay? We’ll be back soon so there shouldn’t be any trouble. Not with Marinette taking care of her anyway.”

Adrien’s eyes widened. “Marinette? You’re giving her to Marinette?” he coughed out the question. “But she’s my daughter!”

Chat bit the inside of his cheek to fight a smile. “Well, that’s all the message I wanna give. Marinette’s going to be outside with a beautiful little girl and you just have to babysit for a short while. Whatever Marinette says, listen to her, okay? She knows best.”

Chat turned but Adrien quickly grabbed at the man’s hand. Was that rock he was gripping or really a human’s body under a suit?

“What?”

“Well… that can’t be all. There’s so much I have to know!” Adrien blinked innocently. “Like… does Ladybug end up being my first girlfriend? How long do I wait to propose to her, because honestly, I think I’d propose as soon as I’m eighteen, and am I a good dad? Do I quit modelling? And what the hell do I eat to become as buff as you?”

Chat hid the growing smile on his face. He gave a finger salute to Plagg before turning to open a portal. With one leg through the flashing light, Adrien yelled out in haste, “aren’t you gonna give your younger self any advice?!”

Chat laughed, looking back for only one last second. “How about you just try to figure out who’s the girl you have a crush on first, buddy?”

/

Maybe Marinette was a natural mother. It would explain why she was already ready to give her life for a girl she’d only known for minutes now.

At sixteen, Marinette was always sure she wanted kids but that dream always used to be a small piece of her bigger dream with Adrien. Her dream of kids and a hamster and a house in the South of France for them to retire together. Now with a glimpse into the future, her own plans didn’t look like they needed to be so small anymore.

Her future self hadn’t mentioned Adrien at all, apart from just casual teasing. What did that mean?

“What do you think, Emma?” Marinette cooed at the girl in her arms. “She didn’t seem to care much about Adrien but she was looking at Chat like he was her whole world… does that mean my future self isn’t in love with Adrien anymore?”

“Maman,” Emma said in response with a smile. Marinette’s heart softened.

She chewed on her lip in thought. She was holding a child she would eventually have with a man she’d call her husband… and unlike her sixteen year old self’s aspirations, her twenty six year old self hadn’t mentioned anything of Adrien being that man.

Was Marinette missing something? Was Adrien really not the boy for her?

But… her heart belonged to him, she was sure of it. There was no wedding, no kids, no house she could picture that didn’t have him in some way.

Marinette remembered how Ladybug’s touch lingered on Chat’s body, almost too fondly and affectionately to be considered the same as the relationship present-day Ladybug and Chat had. Like an ice-cold realization being dumped over her, Marinette froze.

“Oh my God Emma,” she said breathlessly. “I end up with Chat Noir.”

Emma giggled, mumbling something that Marinette chose to interpret as affirmation. Unable to stay stoic from Emma’s adorable smile, Marinette burst out in laughter.

“Oh my God,” she repeated. “That sneaky kitty… he must’ve done something. Did you see how future Maman was looking at him, Emma? She was saying his teasing was annoying but then she was touching him every chance she got… am I going to be like that? Me and… my Chat Noir? Is he going to be my…”

Marinette couldn’t bring herself to say the word. Fate truly had a twisted turn if she eventually gave into Chat’s wooing and was just as lovesick for him as he was for her. The thought made her giggle but her heart fluttered.

“He’s gonna have a field day with this one, little Emma. If he finds out I met our married versions, he might die of excitement before we get there,” Marinette laughed, brushing Emma’s hair from her face. “I wonder what it is about Chat that makes me finally fall in love.”

Marinette cradled the baby girl close to her, letting herself indulge in the guilty thoughts of love she would usually shut off for her loyalty to Adrien. “You know what the crazy part is, Emma? Little Maman doesn’t even have a problem with any of this. It would’ve been nice if it was Adrien but… I think I get it now. Adrien’s a crush but to really be with someone, I would want it to be my other half.”

Marinette sighed. Were her feelings so fickle? Suddenly, her heart was warm with the thought of a friend she never once considered before. It felt less like two years of feelings for Adrien had dissipated but two years of feelings for Chat Noir had come to the surface after seeing her daughter.

“What do you think, Emma? Is Chat a good papa?” Marinette giggled, joking with her daughter who only nuzzled into Marinette’s chest. She held her tighter, only turning around when she heard her name called.

“Marinette!”

The smile on Adrien’s face was so blinding that Marinette almost had to step back. The boy was definitely not this happy when he’d ran off to the bathroom.

Their eyes met and Marinette flushed from the sheer joy in his smile. He looked down, his gaze landing upon Emma.

“Oh! Adrien- um- this is… well, it’s a bit tough to explain. You see, I kind of just got asked by my… my aunt! My aunt came and dropped off my daughter- her daughter. My niece! She’s a bit busy so I just have to keep an eye out for her for a few hours and… you don’t mind, do you?”

Marinette watched Adrien’s eyes carefully for a flicker of annoyance at the sudden responsibility. She could only find warmth.

Surely, a boy couldn’t be this happy from having to babysit someone else’s kid?

He inched closer, giving a soft smile to Emma. For a second, Marinette forgot how to breathe. The sight of her first love and her first daughter meeting made her forget words.

“What’s her name?”

“Emma,” Marinette answered softly. Emma reached out for Adrien almost instantly, ready to be carried by him even at first glance. The familiarity she held for Adrien almost worried her when she remembered that there was a strong chance that Adrien and her remained friends in the future… Emma was likely recognizing her Uncle Adrien from another time.

“Can I hold her?” he asked hesitantly and Marinette nodded with a smile.

Adrien cradled the girl to his chest with a gentleness Marinette didn’t expect. It was hard enough seeing Adrien so out of reach every single day of her life but seeing him hold her daughter almost like… like she was his…

Marinette gulped painfully.

The future was beautiful and kind, but there wouldn’t be this. There wouldn’t be a beautiful, young man who got to be Marinette’s first love yet also hold the title of her daughter’s father. Still, she smiled. She had ten years to come to terms with it.

“Hello Emma,” Adrien laughed, a soft finger touching her cheeks. “You probably don’t know me yet but… I’m going to do everything I can to take care of you for as long as I can,” he grinned, almost too fatherly for Marinette’s comfort.

“Papa,” Emma said with a giggle.

Marinette’s heart squeezed. She didn’t blame little Emma for her confusion - Adrien did share the same hair and eyes as Chat that it might’ve thrown off the little girl. But she didn’t correct her daughter. She had a lifetime of parenting to do with her partner, so she’d let herself have today to pretend that it could’ve been her first love.

As she walked away in the museum, Adrien trailed behind with Emma in his arms. He said something to the little girl that Marinette didn’t quite catch fully. It sounded an awful lot like, “yes, Emma. It’s your papa,” but Marinette laughed. Her wishful thinking deluded her too much for her own good sometimes.

/

At sixteen, Adrien knew he was nowhere ready to be a father. He could hardly understand what it meant to be a good son, to be enough to earn the affections of his own father, to be able to start thinking about how to be a good father.

And yet… was it supposed to be this easy?

Adrien was scared his daughter would repulse at the first sight of him but she came willingly into his arms. She rested with ease, her eyes widened at everything around her - eyes he noticed looked an awful lot like his mother’s -  and she laughed at the lame jokes he whispered in her ear, despite not understanding a word.

The apprehension Adrien felt in his chest was gone. This was slowly becoming the best day he’d had in a while.

Just as Emma kept calling him Papa, she called out for Marinette as Maman. At first, Marinette’s face paled when she saw Adrien hear it.

“Oh… uh, my niece, she… well, I look a lot like my aunt, haha! So, you know… she gets us mixed up. That’s probably why she calls you Papa too. You look an awful lot like her father. He’s got the… the same blond hair. And eyes. Even the smile at times,” Marinette blinked, her words trailing off.

Adrien only smiled. His eyes flickered between his daughter and Marinette. Her hair was exactly like Ladybug’s, smooth and dark like the night but it was also just like Marinette’s. He could tell what spurred his daughter’s confusion.

Yet, he still wondered… Why was Marinette the one who his future self had entrusted Emma to? Was it a decision that future Ladybug - his wife! - and his future self made together? Adrien chewed on his lip, unable to answer the question.

What had Chat Noir said before bolting for the future? Marinette knows best?

Adrien glanced at Marinette, the softness in her eyes when she looked at Emma and thought Adrien wasn’t looking. With the gentleness with which she cared for Emma in just a few moments, Adrien couldn’t deny that he had no problem trusting his daughter to her either. Marinette was always kind and there wasn’t a person in the world he thought higher of. 

Except for Ladybug. But it really couldn’t get better than that.

“So what should we do now?” Adrien asked. “We checked out my wax statue so that’s done.”

“Well… I guess I should take Emma home. My aunt will be back after a few hours and I’m sure you have things to do so-”

When Marinette came to take Emma from Adrien’s arms, he backed away protectively. She blinked, frowning at his behavior.

“Adrien?”

“Uh… Sorry. I’m a little attached to her,” he forced a laugh. Glancing back at his daughter, he smiled. Chat Noir had said that she’d be his for four hours so why would Adrien have to give her up now?

His lips tightened. As trustworthy as Marinette was, was it fair to give babysitting privileges to her rather than Emma’s father? Did future Ladybug trust an old friend more than she trusted her own young husband?

At that second, Emma burst into sudden tears. Adrien blinked, taken aback by the shrieking sound but before he could do anything, Marinette swooped in and took Emma in her arms. She wrapped her arms around the girl softly, moving her as gently as the wind and whispering quiet words in her ears.

How was Marinette so… natural at this?

He could see just why Marinette was the right choice to babysit, with her soft heart and tender touch and yet… the thought still stung. Ladybug was his wife in the future but she thought more of a friend than she did of him, despite all his love?

How was the future Chat Noir so content with this? Adrien frowned, revisiting every word Chat had said in their short conversation to scrutinize it. His future self hadn’t had any problem with Marinette either - he’d told Adrien to willingly let Marinette handle it all. 

When he spoke of his wife, he wore a smile that made Adrien think the future was perfect but surely, this was not the perfect he settled for. His future self had said he was happily married but in what world did a father have less right to his child than a friend of his wife’s?

A bitter taste crawled up Adrien’s mouth. He looked at his daughter to find some peace but when he did, all he could see was Marinette grinning and spinning the girl around. Emma now smiled, looking at Marinette with so much love in her eyes that Adrien wasn’t sure what to think next.

His wife… Chat had never said it was Ladybug. Perhaps Ladybug had dropped off his daughter in the past but Chat had never said it was his daughter with Ladybug. All he’d said was that he was happily married, to a girl even better than Ladybug, and to follow Marinette.

Adrien swallowed. Marinette brushed Emma against her cheek and laughed with a sound worth the brightness of a thousand suns. There was no girl on Earth who held that much love in her heart for a stranger’s baby. Not even Marinette, for all her goodness, could conjure up so much affection for a child she didn’t know.

A stirring feeling shook Adrien’s heart. Pretty Marinette, kind Marinette, Marinette with the shyness of a school-girl but the heart of an everyday superhero, Marinette with the passion of a youthful girl but the love of a woman who’d lived a long life… Marinette, the girl he’d buried his feelings for, for the fear he’d never be good enough to earn her affections back.

That Marinette… She was his future wife.

The smile that spread on Adrien’s face made him look like a fool, but he knew now that he was the same lovesick fool as the future Chat. This right here, in the comfort of the space between Marinette and him, and the daughter they’d one day have, was his family. He would find a family in this girl.

He had already found a family in her. Future Chat knew well enough, telling him to open his eyes and figure out the girl he had a crush on. Of course, Ladybug was his first love, built on admiration and respect, but Marinette was his future. She was the girl he’d become worthy of and the girl who’d give him a home after all his searching.

He blinked back the stinging feeling of tears. When he walked closer to Marinette and Emma, he smiled and rested his hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Hey Marinette,” he whispered gently, so not to distract her from their daughter. “Is it okay if I babysit Emma with you today?”

“Hm?” Marinette raised her eyebrows. Adrien fought the urge to brush down her forehead to smooth the crease. She smiled with a welcoming glance. “Of course you can Adrien.”

He grinned. “I guess we can go get ice cream. What do you think about that, little Emma?”

The girl only clapped, excited to see her two mini-parents together again. When she called Marinette Maman again, Adrien couldn’t hide his smile. 

/

Whatever it was Adrien was doing to both her heart, and Emma’s, Marinette wished he would stop.

It was hard enough in the simple moments of Adrien carrying Emma and Emma calling him Papa, but now Adrien was doing even more to seemingly fit in the gaps of her life that belonged to Chat Noir.

For one, his smiles were becoming far too frequent and brightening for her. She started the day off at the museum by counting every time he laughed and grinned at her but now, it was an endless supply that she lost track of. 

Not to mention… the hand holding.

Was Marinette truly counting the times their hands had brushed this morning? Because now, Adrien left no steps unturned to hold her hand in the streets of Paris. The three of them went around the city, stopping at little monuments and pretty spring sceneries, all together. It was too much like a family for Marinette to handle.

This was her future family and Adrien was creeping in. He was taking selfies of the three of them at every turn, spending money at random stalls for jewelry and snacks for Emma and he was even… blushing around Marinette?

“Here,” Adrien coughed, looking up at the distracting view of an empty sky. His hand was holding out a small box. “It’s for you.”

Marinette frowned, taking the box. Adrien was no stranger to giving gifts but Marinette was a stranger to the blushing, nervous delivery with which he handed her this gift. Inside was a small necklace with a flower charm on it.

“I just got it from the stall so it’s nothing spectacular, I know,” he laughed awkwardly. “But just to remember today. And I promise, I’ll get you a lot more great things in the future.”

“Oh Adrien, it’s lovely. You didn’t have to get me anything at all,” she blinked. For the sake of her racing heart, she chose to ignore the promise he attached at the end.

Adrien only gave a smile. When the three of them sat down at the bench near Andre’s ice cream stall, Marinette could only cry for relief from the relaxation.

“Wow. Carrying a baby across the city is more of a workout than I thought it’d be,” Marinette sighed. “Kids are a lot of work.”

Adrien nodded, taking Emma from Marinette’s arms. “Well, you don’t need to worry Marinette,” he smiled. “I think you’re a natural mother.”

Marinette’s breath hitched in her throat. The weight of Adrien’s words hung in the air and if she inhaled, she knew she would feel the effect of them crashing against her lungs.

Was today supposed to feel like a goodbye? Was it the reason that Emma appeared today, of all days? To guide her to Chat Noir… and to give her words from Adrien that she would carry forever?

Adrien thought she was a natural mother. It meant one thing to hear it from the man you’d marry but another thing to hear it from your first love. Marinette couldn’t help her heart from singing, from the thought that Adrien saw her so highly. 

“Marinette?”

“Huh?” Marinette blinked.

Adrien laughed, brushing his hair from his face. “Oh, I was just saying… aren’t you glad there’s a long time till we have kids?” he rubbed the nape of his neck.

“Absolutely. I’m going to spend a good long while enjoying being sixteen,” Marinette smiled, biting the inside of her cheek. “But then… I think I’m also excited. To work towards getting married.”

Adrien blinked, suddenly flustered. “Do you… do you already have someone in mind?”

Marinette laughed. She was glad Chat could never hear the words she was about to confess to Adrien. Although maybe one day, when the two of them were married and in-between battles, she might confess that she realized she was in love with him on the first date with the guy she’d rejected him all this time for.

“Yup,” Marinette said with a smile, thinking of the kitty’s wide eyes and dramatic flair for romance. “I’m going to marry my best friend.”

Adrien coughed and Marinette noticed the tips of his ears turning red. “Wow… that’s… that’s really sweet, Marinette,” he said, fighting a smile off his lips.

“I know. We’ve gone through so much together that I think that the rest of our lives together will be a fun ride,” Marinette laughed. Before Adrien could reply, Emma suddenly began wailing, mumbling for an ice cream.

“Oh, I’ll take her,” Adrien said with a charming smile. “You should rest after carrying her all day.”

“No, Adrien, it’s fine-”

“We’re babysitting together. Let me handle it,” he said, pushing her gently down. Marinette didn’t protest any further, watching Adrien carry Emma down the bridge to Andre’s.

She was sure he’d make a great father one day. While it was a shame it couldn’t be to her kids, Marinette still smiled at the thought that somewhere in the future, Adrien would be there with her.

/

Adrien pinched his nose.

How the hell did future Chat battle villains with a daughter? Did he leave her alone with Marinette and run off? Did Marinette know about her husband’s crime-fighting identity? Adrien had a million thoughts running through his mind as he stared up at the blob of a monster, terrorizing the city.

He was certain there wasn’t much that could be done. If he were a little smarter, like his future self, he’d pass off the responsibility of his daughter to someone he could trust. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option today.

Adrien searched the racing crowds desperately for Marinette, looking for any sign of her. For the first time, fear struck him cold at the thought of her safety. She wasn’t far from where the monster had appeared from… would she be okay?

Adrien shook the thought. She was strong. He was sure she’d be fine, wherever she was but… if only she were in sight. He hadn’t quite crossed the bridge with his wife-to-be about his secret identity but now he desperately needed Emma’s mother to handle her while he transformed.

“Papa,” Emma said, blinking.

“I know, Emma. I don’t know where Maman is… do you think Marinette would eat me alive if she saw Chat Noir fighting an akuma while holding her baby daughter?”

“Adrien, you’re worrying about the wrong Marinette. Do you really want to be on the end of future-you’s punch if anything happened to his daughter?” Plagg piped up.

“Hey! She’s my daughter too.”

“She’s his daughter. You’ve been too oblivious and stupid to deserve such a cute kid,” Plagg grumbled, flying around Emma with a kind of affection that Adrien had never seen from his kwami before. “Wow, she really looks like you.”

“And Marinette. She looks like Marinette too.”

“A little less oblivious now, are we?”

“Plagg, please. Back to the problem. What do we do?”

Plagg sighed. “Well… what else is there to do? Ladybug’s already out there fighting the akuma, Marinette’s nowhere in sight and you’ve got a daughter you can’t leave in the middle of a Paris alley. I’ll let your suit wrap her around your chest… just don’t bring me in the wrath of future Ladybug and future Chat Noir when they ask why Emma is covered in akuma goo.”

Adrien buried his hands in his hair. There was no wonder his future self was far more blindly trusting of Marinette. Marinette would be taking care of their daughter, far from akumas and danger and Adrien… Adrien was here, taking her into battle with them.

“Well?”

“I don’t want to hurt Marinette. I love Emma but…” Adrien cast a glance to the akumatized victim. “I can’t let my lady down. I’m sure they’ll understand.”

“For the record, I had nothing to say or do with this decision, I am a mere bystander-”

“Plagg, claws out!”

/

Trust Chat Noir to make the day Marinette was ready to give her heart to him as Ladybug the only day he arrived at an akuma fight ten minutes late.

“Took you long enough!” Marinette yelled as she bounced back on the ground from the akumatized victim’s shot of what seemed like jelly goo. “The akuma’s in his stick by the way!”

Chat nervously laughed, giving a hand to Marinette on the ground. “Um… my lady, I know we always fight as a duo but would you be opposed to an adorable sidekick today?”

“What are you talking ab- OH MY GOD! Chat, what the hell is she doing with you?!”

“Well, you see, there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything-”

“Why is she with you?!” Marinette bellowed, trying to take her poor daughter from the strapped blankets around Chat’s chest. The grip of the straps was far too tight though. Marinette could almost cry. When she’d said she wanted to see her Chat look more like the Chat from the future, she’d meant his height or big build… not in the way they both appeared with her daughter strapped to their chest in danger.

“Look, my lady, listen, I couldn’t leave her in the streets! She has a better chance of being protected like this than if I’d leave her on a bench somewhere!”

“Why couldn’t you leave her with Adrien?!”

“Papa?”

“Not now, Emma!”

Chat blinked. “How do you know her name?” he said slowly. “And how do you know she was with Adrien? Oh my God, did future Chat Noir pay a visit to you too?!”

Marinette buried her face into her palms. Was he really the partner she was supposed to raise Emma with? She was glad that there were years to go before the two of them would reach that burden because right now, she was almost guiltily wishing fate had been kinder to her and put her in Adrien’s path instead.

“Chat, now is not the time! Please! We need to break the akuma and figure out how to keep Emma safe. Please just… just be safe with her, okay?”

Chat nodded, blinking. “Of course I will. She is my daughter after all,” he said with a smile down at Emma. His black-leather clad gloves gently caressed the girl’s cheek, careful of his sharp claws.

Marinette stilled. So wrapped up in the chaos, she forgot she was witnessing the sight of her daughter with the man she’d one day call her husband.

In her mind, Chat Noir had always been a little bit of a child himself, chasing after love and thrill like a lost boy. There were countless times she doubted his sincerity in his fluttering feelings for her.

And yet… Now, when she looked at him, none of that doubt was there. All she saw was a boy with radiating love in his eyes, a gentle heart, one that had been begging for her to be careful with him all this time because his affection was never insincere. It was just that he had so much to give.

Marinette blinked back the pooling tears in her eyes. He looked at Emma with so much love and when his eyes came to her, his gaze only softened.

“Are you crying?” he asked, puzzled. 

Marinette quickly wiped the tears away under her mask. Now was not the time. “You… you’re gonna be a great father one day, kitty,” she settled for saying, running away towards the akuma without a glance back. Though he was out of earshot, Marinette still let herself say to the world, “I’m so glad you’re going to be the one for my kids.”

/

Adrien was fighting an akuma, with his future daughter wrapped to his chest, and his future wife somewhere out there in Paris. And first love had just told him that he was going to be a great father out of the blue.

Were all of the world’s gifts being given to him today?

“Chat, the light pole! If you cataclysm it, we can trap him!”

Adrien blinked, looking up. “Um… my lady, I would never be opposed to anything you suggest except- I don’t wanna give Emma vertigo by climbing all the way up there!”

Ladybug sighed. “Well, it’s not ideal to bring a daughter along in an akuma fight. For now, I’ll hold onto her while you go!” she said before mumbling, “we better find a way around this when the time comes. I might kill you if you bring Emma along into a fight in the future.” 

In a quick swap, Adrien was now watching Ladybug cradle his daughter to her chest. His first love and his future daughter. He hated how his heart fluttered.

Before today, it was her he wanted to be a husband for. He dreamed of holding their children, of living together and growing old by each other’s side… Adrien hoped that the part of him that clung to that fantasy would go away soon.

He feigned a laugh. “Of course I won’t. I’ll leave her at home with my wife.”

Ladybug stilled, and amongst the chaos of Paris behind her, he could see her body freeze. Suddenly, she was glaring at him. “Like hell you will!” she pompously snapped. “You should be the one staying home taking care of her!”

Adrien blinked. “Then who will save Paris?!”

Adrien didn’t know what he was doing that only seemed to flame Ladybug’s temper. “I’m the one who purifies akumas anyway! You should be the one taking care of the kid!”

“I- I don’t understand!” Adrien threw his hands up in the air. The sudden argument between him and Ladybug made him feel like they were having a lover’s spat, but he tried not to dwell on that thought. “Why couldn’t my wife just take care of Emma while I’m out here?”

“Chat, if this is how you plan to be in the future, I swear I will make sure there is no Emma!” Ladybug argued. “I am not staying home to babysit Emma while you get to fight!”

“No one said anything about you having to babysit! You can fight!”

“You said you’ll leave Emma alone at home with your wife!”

“Yes! My wife!”

Ladybug blinked in confusion. “Well, your wife doesn’t want to stay home to babysit!”

Adrien buried his face in his hands. The city would burn to the ground at this rate, while he would still be stuck in a conversation he did not understand. He watched Emma’s eyes go from Ladybug to his as if she were lost on who to listen to.

“I don’t see why Marinette would have any problems taking care of Emma,” Adrien sighed exasperatedly. His body instantly froze after saying the words.

He’d just told the name of his future wife to a partner who had no idea about his identity… Adrien’s throat dried up. Had he just fucked up everything?

He swallowed, risking a glance at Ladybug. She mirrored his expression of shock and he mentally braced himself for the scolding of his life from her.

“You… you- did future Chat go and tell you my name?!” she groaned, shaking with a frightening temper. “I thought that was off limits! Future Ladybug didn’t even tell me anything about you! I had to figure it out all on my own that we were going to get married!”

Adrien stilled. Whatever confusion he was facing before, it only seemed to get worse now.

“M- married?” he sputtered out, suddenly coughing. His head echoed the chaos ensuing in the city around him. The logical part of his brain told him to get back to work, save Paris… every other part of him told him that he was stepping on unchartered territory right now with Ladybug and he shouldn’t dare move.

“This is a mess. Emma, did we mess everything up?” Ladybug mumbled, looking down at his daughter.

“Ladybug… wait, I think- I think there’s been a misunderstanding,” Adrien cut in, awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck. “I’m… I’m going to marry Marinette.”

Ladybug blinked at him as if waiting for him to say something more. For a moment, only silence passed between the two. They both seemed to be waiting for the other to finish their unfinished words.

It was in this silence that Emma’s voice became the loudest. She looked up at Ladybug, laughing and reaching for her dark hair to grab. “Maman.”

Adrien glanced between his daughter’s familiar gaze at his first love and his first love’s hair that looked an awful lot like his future wife’s. Despite the tense atmosphere, Ladybug still smiled softly at his daughter as she continued to call out for Maman.

Adrien burst out laughing. Maybe he’d be a great father one day. But he sure as hell wouldn’t stop being an idiot.

/

Chat would make a very strange husband, Marinette decided. One second, he was yelling at her that she would have to stay home to take care of Emma and the next, after a very visible mental breakdown of laughter, he was back on his game.

Once the two of them had gotten past the weird argument, it took only a few minutes for Paris to return to normal and a little butterfly to fly away, harmless and pure. All in a day’s work… with a baby wrapped around her chest.

“Sorry little Emma,” Marinette sighed, rubbing her suit-covered fingers over her daughter’s cheek. “Maman took you into a fight. You must’ve been so scared.”

Emma only giggled. 

“Well, you don’t really need to be scared. We’re just kids right now, but I promise once you come, Maman will be an even better superhero. And Papa too… if he ever sorts his head out. We’ll be good parents,” Marinette blushed before adding, “we’ll be a good husband and wife too, don’t you think?”

Marinette couldn't get sick of the bright, green eyes of her daughter. They really were beautiful.

Behind her, she heard Chat Noir’s feet land on the ground. He mumbled pleasant greetings to the Parisians walking by before coming to her.

“So,” he began. A new kind of smile Marinette had never seen before was playing on his lips. “Crime-fighting husband and wife?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. There it was. The smugness she knew she’d have to handle from the second she realized that the man she ended up with was Chat Noir. “This just sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

His glee was painted across his face. He couldn’t stop grinning. “On the contrary, I think it’ll be quite the dream. You, me, our kwamis and our little kids. Aren’t you glad future-you finally decides to fall for me and have that life?”

“I don’t know. Doesn’t sound like much is in it for me.”

Chat fought a cocky grin. “Well, you get a piece of twenty-six-year-old Chat Noir and I think you’d quite like him, my lady.”

Marinette had to hide her flushing cheeks by looking down at Emma. “I’m stuck with sixteen-year-old you right now. Let’s start one step at a time, okay?” Marinette mumbled. “We have a long way to go before we become good parents.”

Chat laughed. “Me maybe. But you’re a natural mother, bugaboo. You’ll be great.”

Marinette giggled. What was that her future self had said? That she’d be a good mother, but her husband was half the reason why. She wouldn’t tell Chat that now, but she was starting to think it might be true. He’d done something risky today but he had her back as always.

In unison, both of their Miraculouses beeped, reminding them of their time limits. 

“Oh! Gotta go,” Chat glanced at his ring before looking up at Emma. “Will you be able to handle her?”

Marinette smiled. “Papa’s done enough,” she teased, poking him away. “I’ll be fine.”

Chat laughed, pressing a kiss onto Emma’s forehead. “See you when I see you, little bug,” he whispered to the happy baby before looking at Marinette with a mischievous smile. Marinette almost jumped from the sneaky kiss he pressed onto her forehead too.

She still felt his lips on her skin, long after he’d leaped across rooftops away. Cradling Emma carefully against her, she sneaked into an alley quickly to de-transform.

“You did great Marinette! You took down the akuma and took perfect care of Emma,” Tikki smiled. “Chat Noir’s right! You really are a natural mother.”

Marinette laughed. “Thanks, Tikki. Adrien said that too- oh my god! Adrien!”

Tikki hid a knowing smile before going back inside her purse. Marinette instantly took off, running back to the bridge where she’d last seen Adrien leave with Emma. The poor boy… he probably was frightened to death, thinking he lost Emma and Marinette in the crowd.

Standing in the middle of the bridge, Marinette panted. “Oh Emma,” she chewed her lip. “You don’t think he’ll be too panicked, will he? Adrien?”

“Papa?” Emma only asked in response, blinking widely.

Marinette laughed. “Not Papa silly. You just saw Papa. Do you already miss him?”

Emma pouted, nuzzling her face into Marinette’s neck. “Papa.”

Marinette sighed. “Is this how it is in the future? Do you like Papa more than me?” she grumbled playfully. She didn’t think she’d even mind if little Emma gave all her devotion to Chat.

The two laughed together till Marinette heard her name called. As she turned, she hated the way her heart skipped at the sight. Adrien came rushing down the bridge, two ice creams clutched in his hands and a wide smile on his face. It was a scene she thought she’d recall in every dream from now on.

Ten years Marinette… you have ten years to get over that.

“Sorry! I went to get ice cream, then the akuma happened, then Emma-”

“It’s fine, Adrien!” Marinette forced a laugh. “You’ve been a great help today with Emma anyway!”

Adrien’s smile slipped into something softer. She almost wished she didn’t have to see it.

“Papa!”

“Hey Emma,” Adrien laughed, giving the ice creams to Marinette before taking Emma into her own hands. “You weren’t scared, were you?”

Emma shook her head happily. She nuzzled affectionately into his touch, still calling him Papa. 

“Sorry about her,” Marinette smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “Looks like she likes her Papa more and you remind her of him.”

Adrien nodded, biting back a smile. “Well, that’s okay. I think her Maman already has someone who loves her far too much. It isn’t fair for her to get all of Emma’s love too.”

“Hm?”

Marinette blinked. That smile on Adrien… Why did it look both new and familiar at once? And why was he leaning in with a glint of amusement in his eyes, as if this were something ordinary between the two of them? And why, despite every better part of herself, was Marinette’s heart racing from being the focus of those eyes?

“Wouldn’t you agree, future wife?”

The ice creams dropped. Two cones sat planted in the ground and Marinette squeaked. The smugness she’d seen minutes ago on Chat’s face now appeared on… on Adrien’s. He laughed, sharing the joke with Emma in his playful stare. Her first love, the love of her life, and her future daughter… all in one sight.

“Adrien!”

“Uh oh Emma, your Maman is mad at me,” the boy laughed. Marinette chased him down the bridge but when she caught him, it was Adrien who pressed his lips to her forehead this time. 

/

“You took… our daughter into an akuma fight?!”

“Hey! She’s our daughter too. And don’t tell off Marinette,” Adrien pouted, jumping in front of Marinette from the towering Ladybug who had her hands on her hips. Hips he was having a hard time looking away from.

Adrien couldn’t tell Marinette - he wouldn’t dare - but while ten years would make him as Chat Noir just a bit more handsome, ten years would make her deadly.

He had to gulp a heavy breath when she appeared in Marinette’s bedroom, with her own Chat Noir on her tail. At first glance, he almost tripped from Marinette’s sofa. When he shared a look with his future self, his future self only feigned an innocent smile, fully aware of the inner workings of sixteen-year-old Adrien’s mind and how the stunning woman had short-wired it.

“I am allowed to tell myself off, Adrien,” Ladybug sighed. “Move away.”

“No way. It wasn’t her fault anyway!”

Ladybug shared a look with Chat. “Were you always this stubborn?”

Chat grinned. “Only when it comes to you,” he said with a wink and then with a glance at sixteen-year-old Marinette, “and her too, I guess.”

Adrien frowned. “Hey! Flirt with your own Marinette,” he grumbled, shooting daggers at his future self. For as hard as Adrien had worked to disguise his starstruck reaction to the future Ladybug, Marinette had put no effort into the same for the future Chat Noir. Her eyes were glued to him this whole time. Every time he moved or turned and the muscles strained against the suit, Marinette turned a little bit redder.

Adrien wasn’t sure whether to be jealous or flattered.

“Like I can’t see you ogling me,” Ladybug muttered before looking at Marinette. “Anyway. I’ll take Emma back now. While it wasn’t… ideal for you two to fight with her on hand, I know why you did it. Thank you for taking care of her.”

Marinette beamed. “Thank you for letting me have her today. I… I’m gonna work really hard,” she promised, her eyes bright and glittering. “To become a mother and superhero as good as you.”

Ladybug smiled, but before she could respond, the two boys answered in unison, “You’re already good.”

Marinette blinked, looking between Adrien and Chat. “Wow. This is trippy.”

“Tell me about it,” Ladybug sighed, before glancing at Adrien. “Thanks for taking care of her- well, me, Adrien. There’s gonna be a lot of tough times in the future but there’ll be a lot of good too.”

With a look at Marinette, the words came out of Adrien before he could stop them. “I think they’ll all be good.”

Chat sighed, picking up Emma. “I would make fun of you. But I’m exactly the same. Guess we’re even,” he grinned, offering a fist. When Adrien reciprocated, his fingers stung from the sheer force of a simple fist bump.

“Seriously man, what are you eating?”

“Nothing healthy. My wife’s family owns a bakery after all,” Chat said with a wink at Marinette. He turned to open a portal and Adrien squinted from the flash of light.

“Thanks for babysitting kiddos!” Ladybug smiled with a wave. Adrien could hardly wave back before the two of them were gone and the room was left with him and Marinette and their two sleeping kwamis.

And a hundred or so posters of Adrien.

“I really thought you’d be more into me,” Adrien mumbled in the empty room. “But you couldn’t stop gawking at Chat Noir!”

Marinette scoffed. “You weren’t slick about your staring at Ladybug either.”

Adrien rubbed the nape of his neck. “I was just… looking at how your suit would change. Very interesting, you know.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. You have less spots in the future. It’s fascinating, right?”

“I guess. Your tail was longer too.”

“Is that so?”

“Yep.”

Adrien bit back a smile. “Well thank you for admitting you were checking out my future ass, Marinette.”

Instantly, he dodged the pillow thrown his way by her that he’d anticipated. Her face was flushed and he couldn’t get enough of how adorable it was. He’d have to soak it all up before she became all cool and confident like she was in the future.

With all the laughing and pillows being thrown around, Adrien didn’t hesitate in grabbing Marinette’s waist and pulling her closer to him. The two were wrapped together now on the couch and while the proximity was familiar, the racing heartbeat he felt at being so close to her was new.

“You really have Emma’s eyes,” she muttered, staring at him.

“You have Emma’s hair.”

“You have Emma’s nose,” she answered with a playful flick of it.

Adrien smiled, letting his eyes wander down her face. “You have her…” he trailed off, bashful of even saying the word.

Someday, he’d have a kid with this girl. But for now, he couldn’t even bring himself to get past the initial awkward shyness of two sixteen-year-olds around their first loves.

“What do you think?” Marinette asked hesitantly. “Of our… Our future together?”

Adrien grinned. “I love it.”

“Do you really think I’ll be a good mother one day?” she asked, suddenly leaning in closer. Adrien was sure she could hear the hitch in his heartbeat, pressed against him like this.

His partner, his best friend, his first love, the love of his life… how did he get so lucky? All in a day, he’d found all these people with just a little bit of the future.

Adrien brought his lips to Marinette’s cheek and pressed a kiss at the corner of her lips. “I think you’ll make a great mother,” he kissed the other corner. He leaned back for a second to share a smile before pulling her close enough that no distance remained. “But I think you’ll make an even better wife.”

[marshmallow-phd]

Catching Rain

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Wolf!AU

Pairing: Minseok x Reader

Summary: You were more than satisfied with your life. You attended a nice college, had nice friends, a nice boyfriend. That’s what your life was: nice. You weren’t looking for anything more, so what were you to do when this seemingly harmless boy walked into your life and turned your nice little world into one much more dangerous?

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I Epilogue

**

On closer inspection, the house in the middle of the field was quite pretty. Simple, white, well kept. A secondary building with metal walls sat adjacent to the house – a garage, perhaps. Waiting on the porch was the man from earlier. Baekhyun. Now you remembered his name. He was joined by a few others – Chanyeol, Sehun, and one you didn’t know – who stared at you in curious wonder. Their eyes were wide and investigative, as if you were the supernatural creature and not Minseok.

“Looks like the cat’s out of the bag,” Baekhyun said with a snicker.

“Or pup, in this case,” said the one you didn’t know. Black hair that fell over his forehead and an upturn sat in both corners of his lips, though he wasn’t smiling.

Minseok merely shook his head as he pushed past them into the house. The screen door shut with a loud slam. You flinched at the noise. Chanyeol sighed as he glanced at you. “Would you like something to drink?”

“Yes, please,” you nodded. He motioned for you to follow him inside.

Through a short front parlor and a cozy living room, he led you into the kitchen where you stood awkwardly. The only noise came from the water flowing from the refrigerator spicket. The ice clinked as it moved around the glass. Your eyes wandered across the large, open space. Sunlight poured in from the windows in the two outer walls. It gave the whole room a yellow hue despite the white and light gray coloring of the cabinets and backsplash. Whoever had last designed this room had done so in a way to make it feel bigger and open, welcoming even. You wondered if there must have been a woman living here to give the finer touches. Minseok hadn’t mentioned anyone beyond his male roommates. The thought of a woman living amongst them made you slightly jealous, but you shoved it aside when Chanyeol held out the glass for you.

“Thank you,” you murmured before taking a sip.

He nodded shyly. His foot tapped lightly against the hard wood floor with his hands shoved into his pockets. He looked everywhere except for at you. Feeling eyes on you anyway, you glanced over your shoulder just in time to see several crops of hair disappear from the hallway entrance.

You scoffed. “You guys act like you’ve never seen a female before.”

“Not one like you.”

Minseok stepped into the room wearing a t-shirt with frayed edges where the sleeves had been cut off and a pair of basketball shorts. As angry as you were with him, the distrust still very much apparent, you were fighting the urge to run to him. What was this stupid, conflicting feeling? Making eye contact with Minseok, Chanyeol ducked his head and hurriedly left the kitchen.

“So,” you crossed your arms after putting down the glass and leaned against the counter, “is this the part where you explain to me what the hell is going on?”

“I will, but not here.”

“No, you don’t get to do that!” you snapped. “You didn’t want to tell me in the forest, so we came back here and now you don’t want to tell me here?”

Minseok shrunk back. “I just meant down here. Can we go upstairs? Away from where the others can hear?”

That suggestion could be accepted. Actually, you felt a little bad for exploding, but could you really be blamed? Given the information dump you were steadily receiving today? “Oh. Okay. Lead the way.”

Minseok’s hand twitched at his side, but he kept it in check as he turned and headed back up the stairs. The top spilled out into a hallway lined with doors. This space wasn’t as bright as the kitchen. Different shades of dark brown covered the wooden floor and plaster walls. No windows gave view to the outside making you feel trapped. “This one’s mine,” Minseok said. He held on to a handle of one of the middle doors and waited for you to come closer before pushing it open. When you saw what lied beyond the door, you nearly smiled.

On the walls were posters of famous soccer players and indie movies you’d never heard of. The bed was made with military precision, not a creased comforter or half-strewn pillow in sight. Against the far wall under a singular window was a desk. The notebooks were stacked in the top right corner, the edges so straight a ruler wouldn’t be able to find fault. Pens and pencils occupied a small cup to keep the rest of the desk clear.

“Not what you expected?” Minseok asked as he closed the door.

“Yes and no.” You stole a glance at him over your shoulder. “It’s very… neat.”

Minseok smiled shyly. He shuffled over to the bed and sat down. If he expected you to take the spot next to him, he was wrong. Instead, you chose the chair. A precaution for yourself.

Neither of you knew where to start. Who was supposed to talk first? What part should even be considered the beginning? Unable to continue in this awkward silence, you jumped in feet first.

“You can really… turn into a wolf?” The words felt like glue in your throat. Creatures like that belonged in fairytales and fantasy films, not a college campus.

“Yeah,” Minseok said. “We all can. All nine of us.”

“All nine.” Oh, great. A whole pack of them. “Even the one’s I met?” Stupid question. He’d already answered that, technically. But Minseok simply nodded instead of calling out the redundancy. “So, were you all bitten or-” You felt ridiculous basing the current situation on myth and legend, but what else did you have to go on?

“We’re all born this way. You can’t be like us from a bite or a scratch. It has to be in your DNA.” He snuck a peek before beating you to the next question. “The moon doesn’t really influence us either. I mean, its easier to see by at night in the forest, but it doesn’t force us to change. We can do that whenever we want. Witches have more of a connection with the giant rock in the sky.”

“Witches! They’re real, too? What else is real? Vampires? Dragons? Goblins?” What kind of world had you stumbled into?

Minseok flinched. “Maybe we should stick to one subject at a time.”

“Right.” That was probably best for your sanity. “So, if you have to be born like,” you gestured to him, “… this, does that mean both of your parents were, too?”

“Just my dad,” Minseok said. “Females wolves are extremely rare.”

“Well, that’s sexist.”

“Hey, we didn’t make up the rules. It’s genetics.” He scratched the back of his neck, twitching his lips from side to side. “I guess I should say that silver doesn’t bother us either.”

Why did you feel relieved at that random fact? It didn’t matter, as that wasn’t the most pressing issue to you. “Earlier you mentioned that it wasn’t you killing the campers-”

“It wasn’t any of us!”

“I believe you.” The words tumbled off your lips. And you realized that it was true. You couldn’t twist the nervous, sweet guy in front of you into a mindless killer. The way he was explaining everything slowly, cautiously, giving you time to understand. He wasn’t hiding anything from you. Not anymore. “I’m just confused when you said it was an omega?”

“Its just a ranking system within a pack,” he explained. “Alpha, beta, MR, omega. Junmyeon’s the alpha of our pack, he’s in charge. Yixing and I are betas, second in command. We help enforce Junmyeon’s word and keep an eye on the younger wolves who like to cause mischief.” He chuckled, as if remembering times when said mischief occurred. “The rest are all MR – Mid-ranking. They all have their own duties should they be needed. Well, except for Jongin and Sehun. They’re the youngest wolves so they get special treatment most of the time. Its okay, though. They kind of make you want to take care of them, the way they are.”

You nodded filing all the information away for later recall. “And the omega?”

“A wolf without a pack. Nine times out of ten they were kicked out for defying the alpha, for putting their own interests ahead of the pack. Without that structure, a lot of them turn feral.”

“Nine times out of ten?”

“It’s extremely rare, but sometimes a wolf will choose to never join a pack in the first place. It’s nearly unheard of though. We’re too social of creatures. Nine-point-five out of ten would probably be a better number.”

You couldn’t help the laugh that came out. Of course he would bring up math in a time like this. Minseok laughed along with you. Eventually, though, it died out, along with the smile that had been growing on his lips. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

Picking up on his mood, you tilted your head to the side. “I don’t think anything else could take me by surprise at this point.” Minseok stared at you pointedly. Your stomach began to sink. What other little secret could he possibly be harboring at this point? You didn’t think anything could be as shocking as his shapeshifting abilities.

“Have you ever heard the expression ‘wolves mate for life’?” he asked cryptically.

“Yeah?”

“Well-” he shifted, crinkling the perfect comforter in the process. “We don’t know why it happens. Junmyeon thinks its nature’s way of compensating our ‘otherness’ while Jongdae just thinks it’s another level of torture.” An uncomfortable laugh. “But, um, every wolf has their own mate. Just one, that they stick with for the rest of their lives.”

Unable to keep looking at him, you leaned forward, resting your elbows on your knees. “So, are you saying that you all get to pick whoever you want as your mate and that’s it? You claim them because of what you are?”

“No!” Minseok jumped to his feet. Swallowing visibly, he cleared his throat, but remained standing. “No, we don’t get to pick. It happens out of nowhere. Our mates are chosen for us before either is born. And we can meet them under any circumstances. Some favorable, some… not so much.”

You looked up at him “What are you trying to say, Minseok?”

He walked up to you, each step hesitant, each step full of fear. Crouching down, he sighed as he looked into your eyes. “What I’m trying to say, (y/n), is that… you’re my mate.”

At first, you only blinked. The words had to be soaked in one at a time before you could piece them together and understand the sentence as a whole. “I- what? How do you even know?”

Reaching out, Minseok took ahold of your hand. You didn’t fight it. The electricity was practically singing between your skins. “Really, all it takes is one look. A few seconds of eye contact and the pull takes hold. But this feeling we both get when we touch, its confirmation. And then there’s this.”

He pulled your hand closer, pressing your palm against his chest. The heat transferring through the thin fabric was enough to make you sweat, but that wasn’t the point of this exercise. It was the rate of which his heart was beating. As he stared at you with awe, his heart sprinted as if it were in second place of a race and needed to pass just one more runner to win.

“Every time I see you, this happens,” Minseok whispered. “It doesn’t matter how good my day has been, its always better when I’m with you.”

“We haven’t even known each other that long.”

“It doesn’t take long, apparently.”

You frowned, confused. “Apparently?”

A small smile pulled up one corner of his mouth. “I’m the first one in the pack to find my mate. The first one to experience this.”

The first…. You wanted to laugh at the romantic angle your brain was seeing this.

A knock came from the door. Minseok stood up, reluctantly dropping your hand before answering the intrusion. “Yeah?”

Several roommates were standing in the hall, all peering around Minseok to get a better look at you.

“Kyungsoo said it was time for dinner,” one of them said. “And that he could hear your mate’s empty stomach from downstairs.”

“And it took all of you to come tell us?” Minseok questioned as he folded his arms. He shifted to block more of the doorway, shielding you from their stares.

“It was an important job,” another one said.

Minseok looked back at you before sighing. “Tell Kyungsoo that I’ll be down in a second.”

“But-”

The door was shut before the argument could be finished. The rush of footsteps faded in the background until it was only the two of you once again.

“Are you hungry?” Minseok asked. You nodded sheepishly. “You don’t have to go downstairs. You can stay here and I’ll bring it up to. Kyungsoo’s a good cook so whatever he made will be delicious.”

“Actually, I’ll go down with you,” you said, to the surprise of both of you. Everything Minseok had told you was still sinking in. There was too much to process and completely comprehend, but the pieces were fitting together. And you were curious about life here. If you really were meant to be his mate, maybe you should know where that road led. It was the right at the fork. You’d uncovered a sign that gave you a clue to where it was headed. You wanted to follow it.

Minseok waited patiently as you stood up and walked towards him. He let you out the door first. There was a moment where your fingers brushed as you passed. You could feel the muscles in his hand tighten. He wanted to take your hand again – and you almost let him. But you held back. There was still something stopping you. Or, rather, a who.

The noise hit you halfway down the stairs. Being told that nine people lived together and truly witnessing it were two very different concepts. There was no order that you could see. Most of the boys sat around the table, conducting multiple conversations at once that overlapped that you had to wonder how they could understand each other. A few sat in a small booth off to the side in a world of their own. It was the kind of breakfast nook you’d only seen before in home magazines. Two boys stood at the counters, their backs to the chaos behind them.

One of them – sporting a very well put together look and black rimmed glasses – turned and smiled at you and Minseok. “There you are. Glad to see you came down.” He held his hand out to you. “I’m Junmyeon.”

“The alpha,” you said as you shook his hand.

“I see Minseok told you most of it,” Junmeyon said.

“Pretty much everything,” Minseok corrected.

You felt your face contort as you tried to pinpoint where you’d seen this man before. “Wait. Aren’t you a professor?”

Junmyeon laughed. “Yeah, I am. In the literature department. Folklore, to be exactly. But I’d prefer if we kept this between us.” He sent you a wink to show he was teasing. Behind you, Misneok growled, making you jump. “I’m just playing, Minseok.”

“And I’m sure he’ll be playing when he rips your head off,” the other stove-top occupant stated. He held out a plate for you piled high with food. There was no way you would be able to eat all of that. “I’m Kyungsoo, by the way.”

“(y/n),” you greeted back. “It’s nice to meet you.” Taking the plate, you tried to hand it off to Minseok.

“No, that’s yours.”

Not wanting to be rude, you said between gritted teeth, “I can’t eat all of this.”

Minseok pinched his face as if debating on something. “Fine. We’ll share.”

“Are you sure about that?” Junmyeon asked. “There won’t be any left over for seconds. You know that.”

“It’ll be fine.”

Shaking his head, Kyungsoo held on to one side of the plate and added another scoop of rice and meat each. “Just in case.”

After thanking him, Minseok guided you over to the table with a hand hovering over your lower back. Even without the contact, you could feel the heat coming from his palm. Or maybe it was just your imagination filling in. Minseok pulled out a chair for you on the empty end before sitting next you. It was obvious he’d purposefully placed you away from the others.

“Possessive much?” Baekhyun snorted as he dug into a plate of his own.

“I’m sure it’s just instinct.” The comment came from one of the more slender boys – Boys? Wolves? You weren’t sure how to address them properly. Maybe later. Your brain needed a break. The one who had spoken had a very pointed face, but in a way that was still handsome. You weren’t sure if you’d seen him before or not.

“That’s Yixing,” Minseok said. “And the last one to meet, I guess, is Jongdae.”

Jongdae turned out to be the curled-lip one who still wasn’t smiling. In fact, he was the only one not in some level of a cheerful mood as he sat in the breakfast booth. He barely looked at you while everyone else was. Some were even blatantly staring at you as they shoveled in food to their mouths.

“You should eat.” Minseok picked up a fork and stabbed a slice of marinade-covered meat, holding it out for you to eat like a child.

“I can do that myself, thanks.” You took the fork and chewed slowly on the meat. It was good. More than good, really, so you took another bite and another. Soon, you were full, though there was more than half a plate left. You scooted the plate over to Minseok. “Okay, your turn.”

“You’re done? Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m stuffed.”

Minseok didn’t reach for the other fork he’d grabbed, as if giving you a chance to change your mind. When you made no such move, he dug in. You smiled at the way he ate, enjoying every bite with satisfaction. At the sight of every plate being empty, Baekhyun stood up. “I’m going to watch a movie,” he announced.

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea!” Jongin said.

Yixing asked, “Which one?”

Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever’s new. (Y/n), want to join us?”

Minseok cut in. “I don’t know if that-”

“I’d love to!” You turned to Minseok and gave him a cheeky smile. It felt a bit defiant. Perhaps he wanted to explain more to you or spend time with you alone in general, but you wanted to know how this group operated together. You wanted insight to their normalcy. Getting to your feet, you picked up the plate, but Junmyeon reached over and took it from you.

“Don’t worry about this. We’ll clean up.”

“But-”

The alpha wouldn’t have it. “You’re the guest. Shoo.”

More than happy with that argument (dishes weren’t your thing by a long shot), you followed the cluster of excited men to the living room. They crashed on nearly every surface – the couch, the chairs, the floor, anywhere they could fit. Minseok approached Jongin and Sehun who had taken a corner of the long couch.

“Move,” he ordered.

“But we were here first!” Sehun whined. Jongin look over to you and then got up without a word, sitting down on the floor with his back against the coffee table.

“Sehun….”

“You’re really going to kick the youngest off the comfortable seat?”

You tried to break up the awkward exchange. Well, it was awkward for you since you were the reason for the discussion. “It’s fine, really. I can sit on the floor.”

“You’re not sitting on the floor,” Minseok told you. To Sehun, he said, “I’m the eldest and she’s a guest. Please move.”

For a second nothing happened. Then Sehun huffed. “Fine.” He got up and joined Jongin on the floor. He lied down on his stomach and pulled out his phone, over it already. You felt bad but saw no point in arguing. Minseok let you sit first and then, once again, sat between you and Chanyeol, who happily occupied the other side of the couch.

Baekhyun flipped through a streaming service until he landed on a superhero movie. Everyone cheered at the choice, then quieted down as he pressed play. Someone turned out the lights so only the glow of the television remained.

Sitting shoulder to shoulder and leg to leg, you were hyper aware of Minseok. Arms crossed over your stomach and fists clenched, you told yourself repeatedly not to reach for his hand or lean on his shoulder no matter how heavy your eyelids were getting. Erik may have hit pause on your relationship, but there wasn’t much of a discussion of lines. You didn’t know the rules of that scenario and what was and wasn’t allowed. But as your tiredness grew, your willpower weakened. After a few bobs, your head landed softly on Minseok’s shoulder. It was too comfortable to move. It felt too nice, too right. Like his shoulder was the one you were always supposed to lean on. And that was when Minseok made a move of his own.

Holding your head up, he adjusted his arm so it was now draped over your shoulders. Your head rested against his chest when he laid you back down. Something vibrated against your cheek. Was that… purring? No, it had to be the booming from the movie. Right?

It didn’t take long for you drift into sleep. The movie was one you’d seen before so you couldn’t use that as an excuse to stay awake. You weren’t sure how long it had been. A slight bopping motion roused you. In the shallowness of your conscious you made out that you were being carried. Carried up stairs… and into a bedroom. While still holding you, that person managed to pull back the covers and tuck you into bed. As the arm slipped away you grabbed hold of the wrist. Through the slightest slits in your eyes you could make out Minseok’s silhouette.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered. “Go back to sleep. I’ll take the couch downstairs.”

“No. Stay.”

He froze at your request. “Are you sure?”

“Please.”

Even in the darkness, you could see him smiling. “Okay.” Shutting the door, he peeled back the covers once more and slid in beside you. Happy wasn’t even close to how you felt when he pulled you in close to his chest. You drifted back to sleep with a smile on your face.