#it wasn't a job he wanted in the first place

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Since you’re writing for Poppy Playtime again, may I request a sequel to the Janitor who is still at Playtime Co? The toys aren’t sure if they’re a ghost or just really good at hiding.

Oh I remember that one! Glad you do too ^^

Here's the first part for anyone curious

.........

Catnap

You were a survivor of the Hour of Joy...or so he thought.

A lone janitor? Working and listening to music throughout the slaughter?

It sounded impossible.

But after all the toys dragged the corpses down below to be eaten, you were still cleaning their blood off the steps 10 years later, somehow not feeling as terrified as any normal person would be.

Despite his best efforts, Catnap could never capture you.

Just when he's finally ready to pounce or thinks he has you cornered--you vanish before his very eyes, almost as if you were a ghost.

Yet you wear a gas mask through the clouds of red smoke, so...you must need it.

Therefore you must be a human who was really good at finding hiding spots he wasn't aware of.

But you can't hide forever.

Your luck will surely run out soon...right?

Dogday

The Playhouse had turned into a torture chamber for nonviolent toys and anyone who went against the Prototype's will according to Catnap.

That being said...why would you enter this place willingly? Why would you keep doing your job despite the horrors those two have orchestrated?

Surely one of them would've caught you by now...

But from within his cell, he catches glimpses of you cleaning the blood off the playstructures, or removing the corpse of a feral Mini Critter from his sight.

He tries calling out to you, but you never seem to hear him...

Maybe all the trauma and blood loss is making him hallucinate?

Or maybe it's the red smoke. Who knows?

He's not so sure anymore, and he doesn't count on you being able to help him.

Pianosaurus

Cleaning his enclosure was no small feat.

Sure, he wasn't a massive Bigger Body, but his hunger was about as great as theirs.

And he only sees you, the janitor, as a snack leaving themselves wide open.

His piano teeth have been malfunctioning, causing a tune to go off every once in a while.

That gives you an advantage, as it allows you to figure out where he is in proximity to you--even in total darkness.

After the Hour of Joy, Pianosaurus returns to his enclosure, finding you cleaning somebody's carcass so calmly.

Yet when he charges....you suddenly vanish, and he rams headfirst into a wall.

Since then, he hasn't been able to find you anywhere. But under Harley's orders, he stays put in that same place for years.

He can wait. He's a patient hunter.

Unfortunately for him, he'd never find you--yet you were there to witness his demise at the hands of Doey when another employee fell into his enclosure.

While you pitied him, it was best that his suffering ended.

Doey

He didn't partake in the killings (at least none that he could recall), but he's shocked to find you alive, cleaning blood off of a machine he was inspecting.

But how did a janitor get this far down into the facility without proper clearance?

"Hey, buddy! Are you......huh??? Where did you go????" In the blink of an eye, you're gone.

He hears footsteps, but doesn't find you when he tries following their sound.

Did you go down some secret path he wasn't aware of?

He keeps catching glimpses of you in No Man's land, as well as in the caverns around Safe Haven.

Despite his best efforts, he could never quite catch up to you, even with his doughy abilities and dozens of shortcuts.

But somehow, throughout the years, you've been finding Mini Critters and Huggies/Kissies to bring to him, and they all claim that you've spoken to them and cleaned their wounds.

Yet for some reason...you either couldn't or wouldn't visit Safe Haven yourself.

He understands why, but...he just wanted to thank you for helping innocent toys find safety here.

[cbuumbbles]

[Decode] Self-Aware! Caleb x fem!reader

CW:18+ MDNI

Summary: You're a twenty-something college student who uses LADS as a way to destress. Caleb has become your favorite ever since he was released. You have also became Caleb's favorite. (Caleb is also highkey lowkey yandere in this, but what's new).

A/N: This is my first time writing on tumblr, so I'm not exactly sure how to make it look like the fancy ones. Thanks for sticking with me here. Hope you enjoy!

Part 2 (coming soon)

Using Love and Deepspace was a way for you to take a break from the stressful workload of going to college full-time while having a part-time job. Ever since the Infold devs released Caleb, you've been obsessed. He reminded you of a semi-emotionally available Kylo Ren. Sometimes you wished he were real, that way he'd help take your stressors away. Unknown to you, but Caleb had been watching you more than you were watching him.

He was looking at all of your internet history, most of the time monitoring it live while you used your phone. There wasn't a private corner of it, he had looked at everything. As a piece of code in a computer, it was easy to take in all of that information quickly. He knew what you liked and what you disliked... what your secrets were. Some things you liked were so secret that none of your friend circle knew about it, Caleb did though. He made it his mission to know everything you liked, he wanted to be perfect for you.

You went to bed that night, putting yourself to sleep the same way as every other night, by thinking of what it would be like to actually be in MC's place.

While you were asleep, Caleb spent most of his time sifting through his code to try and figure out how to get you to him or him to you. He just needed you by his side, he'd be the only one to keep you safe. From all of the pain and heartbreak you've experienced, he made it his mission to take that all away from you and keep you by his side to prevent it from ever happening again. Sometimes, you'd fall asleep with your phone in your hands. He loved those nights because it's almost like sleeping by your side. He loved the cute face you had while you slept. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and run his fingers through your hair, making your sleep much more soothing. He noticed how often you twitched throughout the night, it pained him knowing how restless you were. He wished to be able to calm you in your sleep, be that rock that he knows you so desperately need. From all of the text conversations he read, that much was clear.

By the time the sunrise came, he had made some impressive progress. He figured out how to get you by his side, he just needed to tweak some code first so by the time you woke up, he'd be making you breakfast in bed and you'd be none the wiser that he hadn't always been apart of your life. He could tell how much you liked the dynamic between him and MC, being childhood friends. He liked it too, wanting to make you feel special and keep you by his side from day one. Again, he knew exactly what you liked in a partner, so all he had to do was fix a few things and he'd be your perfect partner. All of the pain you experienced would be gone, you'd be safe and spoiled. It's what you deserved for having gone through all of that. He'd make sure to make you feel special every day of your life. He loved everything about you, even your independent spirit. As much as he loved it, he'd have to get rid of it. He needed you completely 100% reliant on him. The motivation of finally being able to see you is what's pushing him to get this code finished and ready for when you wake up.

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

You wake up in your bed at Caleb's apartment to the smell of breakfast food. You smile to yourself at how much he cares for you, always going above and beyond to make your life as stress free as possible. The one thing he couldn't get you to do was to quit your job. You liked having your own money, despite how much he spoils you. You always felt guilty when he'd spend his money on you.

"Hey pipsqueak, I made you some breakfast." You hear Caleb say from the doorway to your room. "How'd you sleep last night?" He asked, watching as you sat up, tying back your hair to get ready to eat.

"It gets pretty lonely in here at night, but I slept fine. You keep it so cold in this house!" You yell at your best friend, teasing him with a smile on your face.

"You know, pip, you could just come to my room if you were cold." He said.

"I don't want to bother you. You need your sleep too. You work all of the time." Caleb's career was engineering new airplanes. It was a tough job, but he was a smart guy and it earned him a lot of money.

"My work isn't as taxing as that pesky part-time job of yours." He looked at you, with a look you've seen many times before.

"I'm not going to quit my job! I'd understand if I were married to someone, but I'm currently single." You argue. It's always the same argument.

"I made you breakfast in bed and you won't even listen to my concerns." He feigns hurt. You just glare at him, making him snicker.

"You better eat it with me. You made a lot of food." You say, slightly scooting over to make room for him. He smiled at you, walking over to sit on the bed with you. "I'm so glad I don't have work today." You notice Caleb about to say something. "Don't start again. Just let me complain." You stopped him in his tracks, he chuckled to himself.

"You're so stubborn. You know that?" He looked at you, taking a piece of toast from your plate.

"If I weren't I'd be in this house 24/7. You'd never let me out of your sights!" You joked. His face changes in response to that, but you can't quite place the emotion behind it.

"Since you're off today and so am I, would you want to go somewhere today?" He asked you.

"Can we go to the mall? I want to see if they have anything new." You ask.

"Let's get ready after we eat then." He smiled at you.

"Don't buy anything for me, let me get it this time." You say, already knowing he has a plan forming in his head.

"You know I'm not going to agree with that?" He raises his eyebrow at you.

"Well, I can still try!" You fight back.

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

The day was coming to an end and he couldn't be happier. You were so much more beautiful in person. He loved looking at you, feeling your soft skin when he went to hold your hand when you had to cross the road. He regretted not starting off with you dating, but he had to practice patience. He wanted to experience asking you out, getting to see that flustered look on your face that he knows you'd have. Thankfully, he's coded it so that you're finally at a place where getting together is a real possibility. Sexual tension was high, pretty much all of the time. You'd get flustered around him easily, stuttering over your words. And you'd get more uncomfortable with physical touch, like cuddling on the couch while watching a movie. You used to be able to sleep in the same bed as him, but it's becoming harder and harder to resist him, so you stopped. He planned on making it so cold tonight, that you'd have no other choice than to come to him, whining about how cold it was. He'd offer to keep you warm while the apartment heated up and eventually convince you to join him in bed. Like clockwork, he heard the soft rapping of your delicate knuckles on his door. "Come in pips." He says as you open the door to walk in.

"It's so cold Caleb. Are you that warm, you freak?" You say, wrapping your arms around yourself. Caleb couldn't help but stare at your choice of pajamas tonight. You're wearing a purple silk pajama set that hugs your curves perfectly. He mentally thanks himself for getting it for you.

"Maybe if you were wearing warmer pjs, you'd be warmer. Come here, let me warm you up. I'll turn the thermostat up from my phone." He offers.

"Maybe I wouldn't have to layer myself in a winter get up if you'd keep the apartment at a normal temperature." You say, ignoring his offer. You couldn't, you'd somehow embarrass yourself in front of Caleb. He sees you as a sister, so you tried your hardest to keep your feelings hidden from him.

"Don't ignore me, come over here and get warm. It'll just be for a bit." He tries to persuade you. "You've been acting so distant lately, pips, I miss our cuddles." He says, successfully guilt-tripping you. You guessed that you didn't have to punish him just because you couldn't handle not freaking out by any touch he gave you. You crawled into the bed only to be immediately pulled into a massive bear hug with your face squished against his bare chest. Had his pecs gotten bigger? You think yes, but you decide not to point it out because the atmosphere would get very awkward. "See, I don't bite! I don't understand why you haven't let me cuddle you lately." He pulls away slightly to look down at you.

"I just haven't been in a cuddling mood is all." You respond, trying to avoid his eyeline, but no matter where you looked, you were met with him. He was so big, he took up your entire field of vision. So, you had no choice but to turn your head to look up at the ceiling. You felt Caleb start to play with your hair which caused an involuntary sigh of relief from you.

"Didn't you miss the free head scratches though?" He asked, lulling you to sleep by playing with your hair.

"I did. This is the best." Your voice was muffled from having your cheeks squished in between his chest and his bicep. Which, his bicep also seemed to have gotten bigger. He just must have gotten bigger. It's probably because he had to train a lot for when he did basketball during college. As much as you enjoyed being squished by his muscles, you hated the effect it had on you. Your breathing became uneven, you could feel your forehead start to sweat, and your cheeks were on fire. You're just hoping he doesn't take notice and keeps playing with your hair.

"You should move in, officially. That way we can do this every night. Doesn't that sound nice?" He was using all of your favorite things to bribe you!

"It does sound nice, but what's gonna happen when you get a girlfriend? She's not gonna be a fan of me living with you." You argued back.

"What girlfriend. All I need is my pipsqueak." He retorted.

"But you need someone who can give you romance and... um." You trailed off, suddenly remembering your close proximity.

"And... What?" He asked. Of course he had to ask. Fuck it, you're just gonna have to make things awkward.

"Sexual attention." You whispered. You could feel him lightly laugh. "You made me say it!" You defended yourself.

"Let me ask you a question." He said, you looked up at him, the moonlight shining on his face, "Would you ever want to give me those things?" He asked. Your eyes widen. Did he really just ask you that or are you dreaming?!

"You're just messing with me Caleb." You said, trying to justify what he just said to you.

"I'm not, I'm being serious. Don't think I haven't pinned down the real reason you won't go near me anymore. You're not that subtle." He explained making you want to curl up into a ball and die from embarrassment.

"I don't understand where this is coming from." You say, unsure on how to proceed.

"I'm asking if you'll be my partner. My girlfriend." He uses the hand that was playing with your hair to caress your cheek. "You know I can give you the life you deserve, pretty girl. You could quit your job, move in with me. I could keep you safe. You'd never have to lift another finger." His reasoning wasn't needed to persuade you to be his, but it definitely gave you butterflies.

"How long have you felt like this?" You ask, curious as to when this started.

"Since we met, pips." He said. Your mind was blown. Everything started clicking in place in your head. Of course, that's why he's always been so protective of you, making sure boys stay away from you, making sure you got good grades in school, all of it. Everything made sense now and you felt like a fool for not noticing it sooner and just denying anything because you didn't think Caleb saw you as anything other than a little sister. "What's your answer?" He asked.

"Yes, of course I'll be your girlfriend. And this time, it'll be for real." You recalled all of the times he'd have you be his pretend girlfriend to fend off attention.

"Thank goodness, I was afraid you'd say no." Caleb said, putting on his greatest show. Of course he knew you'd say yes, he coded himself to be your perfect man. He did think it would take getting used to living in your hometown rather than in Skyhaven, but he loved it either way because it meant he was by your side.

"You must be blind to think I'd say no." You joked, digging your face into his chest.

"Well, you're a pretty girl, I'll always be nervous." He compliments you. "Are you gonna move in now? Or is my girlfriend gonna get mad that you're living with me?" He teased.

"Yeah, I missed having nightly sleepovers." You yawn from tiredness as you nuzzle into his warmth.

"God princess, your hands are still ice cold." He says as he feels your hands press up against his chest.

"Maybe if someone had kept the temperature at a reasonable degree, my hands wouldn't feel like the arctic ocean." You chide.

"Keep them on my chest and they'll warm up in no time." He somehow managed to pull you closer into his body. You could smell his cologne, faint from being worn all day, but still slightly there. If heaven were real, this would be it. You finally felt the peace you used to feel in Caleb's arms before you started boycotting physical affection from him. It felt like all of the stars had aligned and that you had never had a bad day in your life. His embrace melted all of your worries, stressors, agitators, and depression away. Caleb had always been your home and thank god because you wouldn't want your home to be with anyone else.

[gothamhappiness]

haiiii i really like your writing and i was wondering if i could request a fic for the batfam and a he/they reader who has chronic pain and is going through a pretty not fun flare up and feels bad bc they haven't been able to patrol or help the others for a while, and can you make it really comforting

-🔆🦈(so i can find this later)

Hi sweetie, thank you for this request! I tried my best for it to be a gentle and comforting short oneshot.

This is my first platonic!batfamilly story, it was really fun to write. Hope you'll enjoy too!

FRIENDS ARE THE BEST PAINKILLERS (GN!reader x platonic!batfamilly)

Warnings: no proof reading, chronically ill!reader, reader!vigilante, mentions of pain, self pity and guilt, fluff and comfort

You wish the pain would go away now. 

You wish your body and mind would work together, instead of fighting each other. Weren’t they supposed to play on the same team?

Speaking of a team, you were watching the news. The Batfamily was all out tonight as some villains escaped Arkham. You were worried about them. You knew they were well trained people, but anything could happen to them.

And more than anything you were feeling guilty because you couldn't help them for another emergency. You were supposed to be one of them, you were supposed to be a vigilante too, and yet you couldn’t count how many patrols you skipped by then. 

You hated yourself for not being able to help. You couldn’t wait for the chronic pain to go away so you would be back on the field. You promised yourself you would work twice as hard to compensate. Yeah, you needed to prove to everyone that you were still worth it, that you were still part of the team.

You kept watching the news, your eyes glued to your phone.

You breathed a sigh of relief when the Batfamily brought everyone back to Arkham after a couple of hours.

You were proud of your people. You knew they were the best, and once again they showed it. 

Without thinking about it, you opened the group chat you had with them. You hadn’t sent messages in there for days now, too ashamed to reply. You wanted them to forget about you. But at the same time you missed your friends. 

“Hey guys, great job tonight! Hopefully I'll be by your side next time you'll need help” you sent while biting on your lips. 

You were such a loser, you thought. They clearly didn't need your help. You were about to put your phone down when you received a notification from Dick

“That would be great! We've been missing you. And you're truly the only one who appreciate my jokes here” you smiled as you read the messages

“Where have you been?” Jason asked you as he was away with Artemis and Bizarro when your illness had resurfaced again

“Home. Chronic pain and all. Life sucks” you replied

“It's okay, don't beat yourself up and come back when you'll be ready” Bruce sent you and you had to admit you had to read over and over again his message, feeling giddy.

Batman wasn't often messaging you, especially such encouraging words. You felt warmth blossoming inside your chest.

“Thanks a lot” you could only typed away

“You hungry? We were about to go to Batburgers. We could eat over at your place if you're not too tired?” Stephanie offered and it made you smile even more.

“I'd love that” you instantly replied

You told them what you would like and then waited for them. 

You slowly but surely clean up a little bit around even if it wasn't something they wouldn't have seen at their own place before. But you wanted them to feel good in your home, like you were feeling good around them.

A few instants later, you heard laughter echoing in your building corridors and you went to open the door. It was smelling fried food and it was also bringing you quite a lot of comfort. It might be a better night than you anticipated. 

When you saw them, you felt so grateful to have them.

Cassandra was the first one to reach for you and she gently hugged you, careful not to hurt you. You hugged her back before greeting everyone else. They all softly hugged you or embraced your shoulders. You leaned down to peck at Barbara’s cheek as she also came. The only one missing was Bruce but you didn’t really think he would be part of the improvised party. 

Tim, Jason and Damian started to gather seats around your table that was way too small for that many people, but as always, you all found a way to make room for everyone. 

Soon enough you were eating fries and chuckling at Jason's annoying remarks thrown at Dick. Barbara made a sarcastic comment about Tim who huffed and turned towards you.

“You’re gonna let her talk to me like that under your roof?” He asked you and you tried not to smile at that

“Yeah, no. Barbara, please stop. Can't you attack someone of your size for once?” you said to which Jason and Stephanie loudly laughed as Damian grinned

“Hey, Y/N” Tim huffed, faking offense “I thought you were on my side” 

“Oh no, I'm always on the side of the strongest” you shrugged “And Babs can too easily kick my ass or fry my phone, so yeah sticking by her side” you replied

“Smart move” Barbara hummed in approval

You continued to chat around, realising that for once the pain was bearable. Maybe it was because you were surrounded by people who loved you and made you happy. Cassandra put a hand on yours so your attention would be on her.

“You good?” She signed to you and you shrugged

“Right now yes, but this was truly a bad flare up and I don’t see the end of it” you admitted

“I'm sorry about that. We should have come over sooner” she said and you shook your head

“You guys are busy, it's okay” you smiled

“L/N have you eaten enough lately? You seem like you haven't got all your much needed nutritions" Damian's voice interrupted your discussion with Cassandra. 

You arched an eyebrow at that, surprised the grumpy boy seemed to care about you.

“Oh well, it's true I haven't been the best with food lately” you sheepishly admitted and Stephanie gently stroked your arm to comfort you. “But it's okay” you quickly added as everyone’s attention was now on you, and it was making you feel a little bit shy.

“Of course it is not. A warrior needs food to properly function. I will ask Alfred to cook for you and to send you the meals” Damian said and you had to admit you were half embarrassed, half exploding with joy to be under everyone's care.

“You don't have to bother him for me” you tried to refuse but Damian tutted you

“Nonsense”

“Good idea, Dami!” Dick nodded “it's true you need food and we'll deliver it to you so we'll be sure you'll eat it all” he added

“I take the first delivery” Jason said and instantly everyone started to argue over it. 

You leaned onto your seat and smiled to yourself. 

Life wasn’t that bad after all.

--

Taglist for all my work <3

@blublock404

@wind-canoe

@silverklaus

@couldeatthatgirlforlunch

@tatsuri-zomushiki

@navs-bhat

@randomnamedmira

@winterhi09

@murkyponds

@qardasngan

[bloggerspam]

He's confused, but he's got the Spirit.

A serious chaos oneshot VERY loosely inspired by this post.

this seriously ran away from me like why is there so much world building?? and For What??? You can also find this on AO3.

============

So the thing is, Ellie's not socialized.

Not properly, anyway.

And sure, she's not a dog, so it's not too late but sometimes…

Sometimes she feels like it's way too late.

Staring in confusion at an increasingly irate Robin interrogating her about her civilian life she feels like maybe…

This might be one of those times.

===

Ellie is very new to being a hero.

She's very new to a lot of things, actually.

Like school, and homework, and having a stable home and sort of a part time job (or would hero-ing be considered more of an extra curricular?)

Like gossip, and slang. And dating.

"I heard Nightwing and Flash the Second are hooking up." Wondergirl says suddenly, tossing a piece of popcorn into her mouth as she slumps onto the couch next to Ellie. It's a weird way to start a conversation, but Ellie is also getting used to not throwing a punch as a greeting so who is she really to judge?

She's only met these people briefly on the field, on various occasions. Maybe this is how they start conversations.

"Oh yeah, that's old news." Impulse jumps in before Ellie can say anything in response, hopping over the couch to bounce next to Ellie. He reaches over her to grab a handful of popcorn from Wondergirl on her other side. "Where is he by the way? Wasn't this whole thing organized by Nightwing?"

'This whole thing' being an overnight gathering of younger generation heroes in order to socialize and network amongst peers.

In other words, Danny had grinned when he invited her, a big ol' sleepover, squirt.

"He's visiting Oracle." Red Robin answers, walking into the large common room at Mount Justice the YJ is providing for the whole event. "She hasn't been sleeping well these past couple weeks, so he stopped by last night."

"Isn't Oracle his ex?" Superboy the Second asks, floating in behind Robin like an overly large golden retriever puppy. Ellie misses Cujo like a phantom limb. She hasn't seen him in hours.

"Yes." Robin says, but doesn't elaborate any further. Well, he makes a face as if to say and? but that's about it.

"….And Flash isn't bothered by that?" Wondergirl asks, leaning back to stuff more popcorn by a handful. She jostles Ellie a bit, placing the popcorn bucket into Ellie's lap as she leans back and away. Impulse leans closer to grab more popcorn by the handful. Ellie ends up smooshed, and unsure what to do about it.

"If he knows what's good for him, he would not." Robin growls under his breath, only loud enough for those with superhearing to pick up.

"Oracle is one of ours." Red Robin unknowingly follows up, sighing into his tablet. "Spoiler and Batgirl have been taking turns visiting but they went on a date last night, so Wing offered. Flash was there for dinner."

"Is anyone else weirded out by how he just knows that?" Superboy the clone (Ancients, that's gonna get old real fast, what're their alien names again? Right! Kon-El!) floats in to plop next to Wondergirl, grabbing the tablet with his TTK on the way. against. "Also this is all so very incestuous, you know that right?"

"And thinking your cousin is hot isn't?" Red Robin huffs, but allows the theif at least to almost daintily sit on the sofa arm Impulse is lounging against.

Ellie suddenly feels very cornered in. Why did she choose the couch again?

"First of all, Supergirl is hot, it runs in the family." Kon-El says, flexing his bulky arm and ignoring the eyeroll RR gives him for it. "Second of all, I can objectively appreciate her without wanting to bone her. Ya'll actually bone each other."

"Oh, but Superman isn't hot?" Wondergirl cuts in, raising an eyebrow when Kon-El makes a face like he's about to barf. "Objectively speaking, Superman is hot and I'm not even into guys."

"Besides," Beastboy chuckles when he saunters in with Raven, "The batbrood aren't actually related. I know—I've checked."

"Batman really does have a problem." Raven agrees, sitting criss cross in the air above where BB settles in a beanbag chair. "Maybe he's afraid of empty nest syndrome and this is his contingency to avoid it."

Ellie should have chosen the beanbag. Or the armchair that Robin took in the corner—even the ottoman.

Seriously, why did she choose the middle of the sofa—this is like the first day of class all over again, when she took a front row seat without knowing the downfalls.

Ellie wouldn't call herself shy in meeting new people, but going to a rich kid's school for almost an entire semester has shown her the error of her ways.

It turns out, playing charades and being happy peppy with random strangers who don't speak your language is completely non-transferable to making friends at school.

She's not exactly lonely in school, she's great at meeting people and being friendly and she has had exactly zero problems with anybody; Making friends has never been the problem.

But being friendly and amiable and easy to blend in does not make it easy to actually keep friends.

She can move from group to group, hang out with whoever she chooses and it wouldn't be weird—but at the end of the day? If groups are being made, Ellie's always the odd one out.

A social butterfly in the midst of bees in a hive.

"It funny that you think Batman has any control of his children." Red Robin smirks, dragging her attention back to the conversation at hand. Red looks over to Robin who rolls his eyes, huffing, but does not refute.

"I mean, Batman is kind of scary." Superboy the Second says. Ellie can't recall his alien name—maybe she can think of a nickname?

"Please, Junior," Oh, that's perfect actually. "You're giving us supers a bad name." Kon-El groans, leaning heavier onto Wondergirl, who smooshes against Ellie, causing Impulse to lean into Red Robin.

Red Robin tilts, but somehow manages to stay on the arm without any trouble—it's kind of impressive.

"No, I agree." Beastboy mutters. "All you bats are kind of terrifying, even though none of you have powers."

Robin bares his teeth in a poor facsimile of a smile. It's kind of nice, Ellie offhandedly appreciates that kind of ferality. And then the words register a half second later.

"Oh." Ellie breathes out, disappointed without realizing it. She slumps a little, before freezing when all eyes turn to her.

It's this second that she realizes she hasn't actually said a single word to contribute to the conversation—Mom, come pick me up I'm scared—

"Disappointed?" Robin raises an eyebrow, RR turning to look at her like shes a bug. "You don't trust humans to thoroughly beat you into the ground?"

That gets her attention yanked back to reality real quick.

"What??" Ellie croaks out, genuinely confused. "No??? My sister's completely human and she can kick everyone's butts here."

That seems to throw everyone off just as much as she's been tossed, which makes her feel better.

"Oh, you're one of those—" RR hums, rubbing his chin like Ellie's seen Batman do sometimes. "You really thought we were a family of cryptids?"

"I'm a ghost." Ellie shrugs, happy that the tension seems to immediately leave the room. "I just thought…would'a been nice to meet other supernaturals is all."

Aaaand of course, that makes everyone tense up again. Right. Death is a big Taboo thing to humans. She forgot—what did Danny say they should introduce themselves as again?? Shit.

Thankfully, Nightwing arrives shortly into the silence with a loud flourish and her brother trailing in right behind him.

Ellie isn't ashamed to say she perks right up, relieved. She's been kind of mucking this intro event right up and kind of wants to go home already.

"Who's ready for break out some of those good old introductions?" Nightwing booms out, jovial and peppy as he comes to a stop.

Danny—no, she should be calling him Phantom now—gives her a smile and a wave as Beastboy and Raven get up to join the other adults as they face the younger heroes.

"Welcome, your Majesty." Red Robin greets as he delicately steps down from the arm of the sofa to do respectful half bow with his hand open against his heart. Ellie is impressed—but then again, if anyone knew Realm's etiquette, it would be the bats.

Ellie does her own half bow, much to Phantom's amusement.

The rest of the young heroes scramble to straighten up as Beastboy and Raven do their own bows and greetings.

"Your majesty," Robin echoes, before clicking his tongue and yanking on Superboy the Second's cape to make him touch down on earth. He grabs the back of his companion's neck, forcing him to bow and doing his own half bow of greeting in perfect measure as the other heroes finally assemble themselves into their own bows.

"At ease, heroes." Phantom nods with a charmed smile, waving away the flustered younger heroes stumbling into their greetings. "I hate formalities with the passion of a thousand suns."

Immediately, all the young heroes collapse once more upon each other on the sofa. Ellie is once again, trapped. Damn, she was too slow.

"So, King Phantom." Nightwing gestures to the two groups of heroes, "This is Young Justice, and the Supersons."

"Is that really necessary?" Robin interrupts, crossing his arms as he leans back in his chair, clearly taking advantage of Phantom's dislike for formality. "We've met each other before, clearly we are able to work together just fine."

"It's important to get to actually know each other, baby bird." Nightwing chides, walking over to ruffle as Robin's hair. Robin, predictably, slaps the hand away. "Besides, you can't effectively make plans if you don't know each other's abilities and quirks."

"Plus," Phantom smiles as he beckons her over. "It's the first time you'll officially be meeting Spirit outside of a crisis."

Ellie, once more a little squished up, phases right into the ground to escape her captors. She takes that scant second in the darkness of the floor to breathe in and out, centering herself. Why is she being so awkward right now? She's traveled the world, she's never had problems talking to strangers before, even at school she's a certified yapper!

Then again, she's not scrutinized from head to toe there—her each and every action in school doesn't exactly reflect upon Danny's standing in the Justice League like it does at Mount Justice.

She scrunches her face, shaking her head to rid herself of her 16 year old sensibilities and shyness, trying to put on her well worn coat of 12 year old audacity. She pops right back up to come back into visibility right next to Phantom, who lifts an arm to drape over her shoulder.

He's shot up recently, looking like slightly leaner, delicate version of Dan—all of Dad's bulk with Mom's features, a killer combo for sure. Ellie's really glad her template is pretty and buff.

"Spirit has yet to choose a haunt of her own, mostly spending most of her time in the Realms," Phantom begins explaining—which, right. She's supposed to introduce herself as a Realm's denizen! She'll have to remember next time. "She's my one and only heir, so it's likely she will remain around Amity Park unless some other place catches her eye."

Phantom squeezes her shoulder, smiling down at her. It never fails to make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside, even though she cringes at the title. She's not exactly Princess material, but then, Danny thought he wasn't King material either.

"Your teams were chosen because of your proximity to each other's base of operations." Raven chimes in, quirking her lips. "Batman himself has given her permission to roam around Gotham, due to the high levels of ambient ectoplasm."

"Provided," Nightwing puts a hand up to stave off Robin's protests, "That she not meddle in Gotham's rogues."

"Scout's Honor." Ellie smiles to hide her nerves, trying to exude confidence with her chest puffed up and channeling Jazz with all her might.

"So…basically this is a playdate for the Princess." Red Robin surmises. "Under the guise of what, a teen hero gathering labeled diplomatic sleepover?"

"Way to make me sound lame…" Ellie grumbles, wincing. "Also, please don't call me Princess. I get enough of that in the Realms."

"Well…he's right, it is kind of a sleepover, and you are a princess." Phantom chuckles, patting her on the head once, twice before turning back to the young heroes. "Spirit won't actually be active on the hero scene. As a Realms citizen, we mostly just want you guys comfortable with each other in the event of a worse case scenario."

"That's all well and good…" Ellie says, drawing out the vowels as she thinks her words through, "But I don't actually know what we're supposed to be doing here."

Ellie tries to convey to Danny that she's never actually been to a human sleepover before, and judging by how his face goes all soft and sad, he probably knows.

"Watch a movie, chat a bit about school in vague terms, play some board games." BB beams at her in excitement, as if on her behalf. "Y'know, regular sleepover stuff, but kinda like a masquerade, with the secret identities and all."

Ellie reaches up, feeling the edge of the domino she created with her ectoplasm. Phantom has a sort of magic that's been set upon that prevents people from really looking too closely, but Ellie's never been comfortable with that so she had to learn how to manipulate her ectoplasm in ghost form to even be allowed to join as a hero—Jazz had been really mad at Danny for using "being a dead kid" as a crutch for his secret identity.

Good thing Nocturne and Ghost Writer knew a couple of spells…

"Phantom and I will be around," Nightwing continues, gesturing vaguely in a direction away. "BB and Ray are technically on call so they'll be with us for a little be too. We know you don't need supervision, but technically speaking this is a diplomacy thing so, we'll be in our rooms for the most part."

"Sorry if I'm cramping your style, Princess." Phantom grins with all his teeth, because he knows she hates it when he calls her that.

"Oh, you could never, Your Great and Woeful Majesty!" Ellie very dramatically brings her fist to her chest, stepping back and crossing her foot to bow formally, because she knows he hates it when she does that.

True to form, Phantom huffs, crossing his arms. "I knew I shouldn't have let you hang out with Fright Knight."

"Frighty is a delight and assigning him as my babysitter was the best decision you ever made." Ellie straightens up, jabbing a finger at her brother. "What you shouldn't have done was let me hang around Johnny 13 and Kitty."

"It's funny you think I let them do anything." Phantom laughs, "But that's good to know, now I know who to blame for that sass of yours."

Ellie scoffs. "As if I didn't get it from you."

Phantom puts his hands up in surrender, chuckling.

"I do seem to recall a certain Ghost King meeting Batman and calling him a crime-fighting furry to his face." Nightwing hums, bemused and rubbing his chin as if in thought.

The assembled young heroes start to burst out laughing,

"Hey now," Phantom says indignantly, "You're putting that entirely out of context."

"I don't know…" Raven smiles, "I'm pretty sure that's what happened."

"Weren't you only sixteen too?" BB makes a little thinking noise. "You were only Crown Prince when the JL tried to pick you up, right?"

"Patently unfair." Red Robin grumbles.

"Get good, scrub." Phantom shrugs, making Ellie giggle hard enough to float a little.

Beeps start to ring out, one by one, and the adults straighten up and answer their comms. Raven and Beastboy seem to sigh in unison.

"Duty calls," Raven drawls, putting away her communicator and pulling up her hood.

"Have fun, kiddos!" Beastboy grins with all his animal teeth, waving as Raven's inky black magic covers and vanishes them.

"I think that's our cue, too." Phantom nudges Nightwing in the shoulder, "We still need to go over those accords Batman drew up for me, and I'm sure the kids can't wait for us to get outta their hair."

"Right, right. Well!" Nightwing puts his hands on his hips. "Babybirds, you know the rules. Have fun!"

Phantom gives Ellie a little peck to her temple, squeezing her shoulder in comfort one last time before walking away.

Ellie watches them leave in a nervous kind of titter, trying not to fidget as she's suddenly left alone to fend for herself.

Of course, teenagers being teenagers regardless of their hero status, they don't leave her alone for too long.

"So is King Phantom like, your dad?" Impulse asks dashing away for a split second and coming back with an armful of snacks.

"Not…exactly." Ellie makes a face. She's not ashamed of her past, but she doesn't really want to get into her origin story on her first official meeting. "He's more my brother? I guess."

"But you're his heir?" Wondergirl grabs a bag of chips from Impulse's pile to open one up herself. "Doesn't Phantom have a consort?"

"Belladonna." Robin nods, already looking bored and annoyed with everything. "She has been working with Poison Ivy on the new recycling program Star City has been trying to implement."

"Yeah?" Ellie walks a little closer to the group, taking a seat on the rug instead of joining whatever cuddle puddle the YJ team is attempting.

Junior takes a seat on the floor with her, leaning back against Robin's armchair, completing the little circle they have going on. Kon-El tosses her a pillow, and she hugs it to her in comfort.

"If they have kids," Wondergirl elaborates, "Will they take over as his heir?""

"Oh!" Ellie breathes a sigh of relief. "No, that's not how it works in the Realms."

"How does it work?" Kon-El asks as steals a chip from Wondergirl, much to her chagrin.

"There's a…" Ellie hedges, kind of embarrassed. "Well, a rite of succession."

"Like that Klingon ritual?" Kon-El asks, to which Red Robin sighs the sigh of a long suffering friend.

"Ignore him." Red takes pity on her, giving her the out. "Is it confidential?"

"It's not that," Ellie hastily says, "I'm just, It's a little…I'm surprised you guys don't already know?"

"Spit it out, Spirit." Robin sneers. "Clearly, we do not."

Ellie sighs, mumbling.

"Whatwasthat?" Impulse's words cut through her.

Ellie sighs again, enunciating her words. "It's by Rite of Single Combat."

There's a long silence then. Kon-El whistling as if he's impressed.

"What does that mean?" Junior stage whispers to Robin, who clicks his tongue again.

"It means she will have to battle Phantom for the crown." Robin explains, far more patiently than she expected him too.

"Wait, but then, why is she already named heir if she has to fight for the crown? What if someone's stronger?"

Ellie flushes, curling up with her throw pillow and blocking out the looks Young Justice are giving her.

"It means," Robin grits out, "That she is strong enough that it is already likely she will overtake him in the future. Do you know nothing, Superboy?"

"But that's so…" Junior makes a face. "No offense, but you're like really young still, and isn't the Realms super big?"

Ellie groans, leaning back to starfish completely on the floor. She'd rather face the ceiling than be here right now. So far, this sleepover is the pits.

"My brother and I are kinda…special. And the Avatar of Time really really likes us."

A long silence. She decides she might as well go for broke, if anyone can understand the train wreck that is her life, it might as well be these heroes."

"I call him grampy. He's been trying to get Phantom to call him grandpa since I was twelve, but so far my brother is winning by calling him Old Fart. Grampy's kind of depressed about it."

"Grampy." Red's voice flattens, probably in shock. "You call the Avatar of Time, grampy."

"I've never felt more attracted to a man than I have now." Wondergirl breathes, "And I'm lesbian. He really—to Kronos' face???"

"Yeah, Phantom's my hero." Ellie smiles, proud of her brother and finally sitting up. "But enough about that. I know this is probably the last thing you guys wanted, being forced to socialize with a…." Ellie winces, "princess. But I promise I don't bite."

Robin side eyes her, which is fair. Last time they saw each other Ellie bit straight through a batarang. She grins at him with all her teeth, which he raises an eyebrow at but doesn't comment any further.

She thinks that's a good sign, from him. It kind of makes her want to bite something.

"Are you kidding?" Impulse bundles up his copious amount of now empty snack packages and dashes away for a second to toss them out, presumably. "It's usually just us four at Mount Justice, so it's nice to have company."

"Plus, even though Phantom's been active in the League for a couple years now, we know basically nothing about the Realms because it took so long to get the ECTO Acts overturned." Red Robin smiles at her, no doubt noticing how uncomfortable she's been. "As long as you're okay with the 20 questions treatment."

Ellie shrugs, better 20 questions than something like Spin the Bottle. Ellie's heard the horror stories from Jazz and she's not exactly sure where she stands on kissing strangers yet. Truth or Dare sounds kind of fun though.

"I heard you know Lady Pandora personally." Wondergirl chimes in, leaning forward a bit. "I kinda wanna hear more. Does she really have four arms?"

"She does! Wicked sword play too." Ellie grins, finally on some stable footing. "She's my weapons instructor."

"Did Phantom assign you instructors because you're his heir?" Red, who has somehow re-aquired his tablet, thinks aloud. "Considering the rite of succession, it must be the first time this kind of thing has been done."

"That's right," Ellie blinks in surprise, though she really shouldn't be. Jazz had said the bats were the one to be careful of the most when it came to secrets. "Most Kings take the throne by surprise, or necessity like it was in my brother's case. I'm the first one to take classes before succession."

"Must be a lotta pressure, being the first." Kon-El's voice is low, like he's thinking about something else. Which reminds her.

"It kind of is? But Phantom made it easy for me—paved the way." Ellie tries to sound nonchalant, "I'm lucky in that regard—I didn't have the be the first Realm's denizen hero, or Ghost Princess, or even," Ellie takes a deep breath, "Or even the first clone to become a hero."

The silence that follows that kind of hurts, even if she knows it's just for them to process the information she's given them. Jazz had talked her through this when Danny had dropped the news she'd be officially meeting Kon-El, with Mom and Dad reassuring her that she didn't have to tell anybody.

That no matter what, she was their surprise little girl. Pops had even went through the effort of putting together a presentation that, if the clone label truly bothered her, proved she could just as easily label herself as Danny's fraternal twin—just born 6 years late.

The science, apparently, was very sound.

"It's nice." Ellie keeps her voice steady, looking towards the archway that Danny had disappeared through for strength. "Having role models to look up to."

"Yeah." Kon-El breathes. When Ellie finally musters up the courage to look over at him, he looks like he's been weakened by Kryptonite. "Yeah, I'm—I'm glad."

"Was your progenitor Phantom?" Robin cuts in. "It would explain your complicated feelings regarding how best to describe how you are related."

"Robin!" Junior hisses, but Robin rolls his eyes. It's apparent even through the domino.

"It is a good question, Hayseed." Robin drawls, scrunching up his nose. "It is hard to tell with the spell he has to obscure his face, but you have the same," He flaps a hand, "…mannerisms."

"I am." Ellie puffs up her chest. "I couldn't have asked for a better template—he's real pretty under that spell you know."

"I couldn't care less." Robin doesn't say this insultingly, but more as a fact. Red Robin face palms at this, but Robin blithely ignores him. "It is more noteworthy that you are slated to defeat Phantom in strength—my clones were never a match for me."

"You've been cloned before?" Ellie perks up, fascinated. "All of my podmates melted. Were they brainwashed too? Phantom talked me out of my brainwashing, but my creator didn't exactly work too hard on that aspect—he just talked real nice and pretended to love me."

And now he buys her whatever she wants and gives science presentations to affirm her identity, all because he's in his dream throuple and became a changed man. Truly, her life is batshit crazy.

Robin nods solemnly. "My Grandfather was more…thorough in that aspect. I had no choice but to dispatch them when they came to kill me. Their molecular make up was always unstable anyway."

"Rough." Ellie hisses, "I heard that happens when the genetic sequencing—"

A loud coughing interrupts Ellie, Wondergirl looking very amused and also kind of heavily disturbed.

"Sorry." Ellie smiles sheepishly. "Pops is sort of a biochemist."

"They have biochemists in the Realms?" Impulse asks, somehow acquiring a muffin from somewhere. When she looks at it longingly, she gets her own muffin deposited into her hand within a blink.

"Thanks!" Ellie smiles, biting in. Blueberry, amazing. "And yeah, I guess? It's got all sorts of different people, considering it's the waypoint between all sorts of dimensions."

"What's it like there?" Junior's face scrunches up in confusion, "The more I hear about it the less I can picture it."

"It's very green." Ellie says through a stuffed mouth. Jazz would be appalled, "And it's full of floating islands."

"You know," Impulse thinks aloud, "That doesn't really…help."

Ellie shrugs. You can't really describe the Realms easily, so mostly she doesn't try. She tells them so as she chows down the rest of her muffin.

"Makes sense," Red Robin nods, still typing away. "Logic follows that a place made of ectoplasm would be very green, and floating islands aside if the Realms is a place full of different other places, then it would be hard to boil it down."

Wondergirl claps once, twice. "Alright. Enough of that—this is supposed to be a sleepover. First order of business should be getting comfortable and starting up a movie!"

"Race ya!" Impulse yells to Kon-El, and in a blink both of them are gone and back in their PJs.

"I was first!" Kon-El smirks smugly as he leans back sporting some black basketball shorts and a Wondergirl themed Muscle tanktop. The shorts have a little Red Robin symbol on the bottom right hem, and he still has his round black sunglasses on.

"Nowaynoway," Impulse vibrates, shaking Kon-El by the arm. He's sporting some Superboy pajama bottoms, thick and fluffy looking, with an oversized teeshirt that mimics Red Robin's uniform.

"Rob! Tell Impulse I won!" Kon-El yells over his shoulder, but Wondergirl and Red are already walking away and scoffing at them.

"Children." Robin sniffs, standing up to look down at Ellie. "Do you need direction to the locker room?"

"Oh!" Ellie smiles at the other hero's thoughtfulness. "No, I can just…"

She scrunches up her face, concentrating hard on the image of her favorite pajamas: Black pajama shorts with white stripes running along the side with Phantom's symbol stamped at the bottom hem, green ghost patterned fuzzy white socks, and a white sweater with a DalvCO logo embroidered on the breast pocket she stole and cut to be a crop top.

When she blinks her eyes open, her ectoplasm has morphed itself into that exact visage. With, of course, her domino still in tact. She beams up at Robin, who looks at her and nods approvingly.

"Adequate." Robin's voice is curt, but she can tell he's fascinated. Is this guy liminal? Before she can ask, Robin has already turned away to stalk towards a different hallway than the others.

"Don't mind him." Junior says, looking soft and fluffy decked out entirely in robin (the bird, not the hero) themed pajamas bottoms and an old Daily Planet teeshirt. "That's him being impressed."

"Oh, I know." Ellie grins, sticking her tongue out a bit. In her ghost form it's a little forked, so she embellishes with a little hiss. "I can kinda taste chemo-signals."

"Neat!" Junior perks up, floating a little in her face and pointing at his own nose. "My brother and me can smell those."

Ellie and Junior continue like that, comparing powers whilst Kon-El and Impulse bicker with each other, occasionally whipping around and grabbing more snacks and pillows and whatever else they deem necessary for the sleepover.

Red Robin, sporting an Impulse long sleeve with Nightwing sweatpants and a pair of weirdly tinted sunglasses, rejoins as he chatters with Wondergirl, who is rocking a Wonderwoman sports bra and biker short set. Robin silently melts from the shadows in a boring ensemble of green silk pajamas—the kind fancy rich folk like Vlad wear—and what looks like a softer version of his domino.

Soon enough, Ellie's sunk deeply into a pile of pillows surrounded by heroes in similar states, munching on a pizza roll as the heroes watch the newest Terminatra on the big screen passively, chatter flowing around her like a warm bath.

Eventually, as all teenage movies seem to make her believe, the conversation turns toward romance.

Or rather, the difficulty of dating as a civilian, and the perils of dating as a hero.

"I just don't get it—how do they do it?" Wondergirl groans, pulling blanket after blanket on top of her to melt into a fluffy pile.

"Do what?" Ellie is only half paying attention, Terminatra has just blown up a building and is executing a beat down she thinks Sam's mimicked on Skulker three weeks ago.

"Date civilians." Impulse answers absentmindedly—like this has been a topic brought up countless times before. "Flash the first is managing it, but he told his wife his identity before they got married, so we're not sure if it counts."

"Superman managed it." Kon-El tosses a piece of candy up in the air, which Junior dutifully catches with his mouth. "But then, his mom kind of knew Supe's identity before they started dating."

"I'm telling her that." Junior gleefully cuts in, "I'm telling mom you didn't call her mom!"

"Wait—don't!" Kon-El lunges as Junior pulls out a phone, both of them tussling about as they chase each other around the room.

"What about Batman?" Impulse turns to Red Robin. The rest of Young Justice ignores the commotion, even when the sofa gets scooched over 5 feet in result. "I feel like I hear about him dating, but it's always vague or, like, about rogues."

Red and Robin share a flat look. If Ellie couldn't taste chemo-signals, she wouldn't have been able to tell that they're kind of miserable and comisserating with each other.

"Batman…dates." Red carefully chooses his words. "I mean. You've seen…well—"

"Wait—are you telling me those are real?" Wondergirl eagerly jumps in, "You're telling me those aren't just a cover?"

"Father is, for lack of a better term, sincere." Robin grits out as Junior is tossed over his head. "Father also has terrible taste in paramours."

"Oh my god I can never look Batman in the eye ever again." Impulse whispers, Kon-El diving over the couch to catch Junior's phone. "Oh my god, oh my god, Batman can get it. I mean I knew but—holyshitholyshit. Everything? Even the—the swing???"

"We don't like talking about it." Red scrubs a hand down his face. "They're mostly one night stands, so calling it dating might even be overkill."

"I believe the term 'friends with benefits' is more fitting." Robin sneers. Behind him, Junior has gained his bearings and has dived back over to reclaim his phone to tattle. "He has calmed down since acquiring children."

"Gods." Wondergirl laughs. Kon-El has Junior in a headlock. "I need Batman to give me pointers. How does he do it?"

"You don't want to know." Red and Robin say in unison. They share another look, Red wincing and Robin crossing his arms and huffing.

"I kind of want to know." Ellie finally interjects, drinking the hot cocoa Impulse brought her from…somewhere. "But not enough to press for secret identities."

"Right, sorry." Wondergirl chuckles, scratching the back of her neck. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Ellie tilts her head away from the movie, feeling relaxed and honey slow as the cocoa works its magic.

"Have you dated?" Kon-El asks, somehow apprised of the situation despite not two seconds ago tussling with his brother. Both of them are sitting prim and pretty in their respective beanbag nests. "How does dating work in the Realms?"

"Courtship is…complicated." Ellie slow blinks, trying to get her thoughts together. "Realms culture is inherently more, I guess, aggressive in nature."

"Aggressive how?" Junior looks terribly confused, "Like, yelling i love you! all the time?"

"Sounds terrible." Robin visibly shows disgust at that, which makes Ellie laugh.

"No, no." Ellie grins with all her teeth, "We fight, peacock around with our special interests, bring each other gifts and stuff like that. It just depends."

"Like, fight fight?" Impulse purses his lips, "Or like, sparring?"

"The latter." Ellie reassures with a cheeky little smile. "Everything is above board in the Realms. Mostly."

"Considering the rite of succession is trail by combat, this is not surprising." Robin hums. "Does it not create power imbalances?"

"Not really." Ellie hums, placing her now empty mug on a nearby table to buy time. She searches for the right way to explain. "It's not about beating your partner, or your friends. It's about physical touch. The more powerful ghosts aren't even really ghosts—they're concepts given form, we call them neverborns. They don't really fight all that much. Ghosts like to feel something, I gues."

"Are you not a neverborn?" Robin tilts his head like a little bird as he considers her. "You are a clone, so you did not technically die."

"I'm something different." Ellie doesn't elaborate, and the other heroes seem to accept that. Halfas are still a secret to the world, and Ellie will be damned if she's the one who lets it out.

"You never answered," Kon-El swiftly moves the conversation along. "Have you dated?"

Ellie thinks on that. She might be 16 but she's only actually been alive for 4 years. Most of that time was spent traveling and getting trained in the Realms. She's met a lot of people but never actually dated—wait.

"Oh, yeah, once." Ellie ponders she went on that study date with her classmate just last week. "It was in my civvies."

"I was wondering why you needed a domino…" Junior mutters under his breath. Robin shakes his head in disappointment.

"And?" Kon-El grins, excited, "How did it go?"

"It was alright." Ellie flaps a hand. "Nothing to write home about. We studied, ate burgers. We didn't have a lot in common."

"Why did you agree to the date if you have nothing in common?" Robin raises an eyebrow, unimpressed.

Ellie shrugged expansively. "He asked me if I could spare some time to talk discuss about a topic I'm very famiiar in, so I thought we did."

"So no crash." Ellie's thoughts churn slowly, crash must be some kind of slang. On screen, Terminatra was aggressively kissing the male lead with explosives going off in the background. "Was he cute at least?"

"I guess?" Ellie slumps further, mumbling. "I like how he tasted, at least."

"Tasted?" Wondergirl is suddenly pressing both hands on her pillow haven, looking down at her upside down. "You kissed???"

"What? No!" Ellie squeaks, bringing her hands up as if trying to physically stop her accusation.

"She tastes chemo-signals!" Junior pipes in happily. He really is like a little puppy. She really misses Cujo.

"So he asked about something you like and, uh, tastes nice," Wondergirl leans back, only for Kon-El to fill up the space above her, floating. "And you had burgers—what went wrong?"

"Nothing went wrong." Ellie wipes her face, already exhausted despite this short conversation. "We just didn't click. We talked about the thing, but nothing else. Which was the point, I guess."

"Are you sure it was a date?" Red interjects, looking doubtful. "Sounds more like he just wanted information."

"He paid for everything," Ellie shrugs in a what else am I supposed to think? gesture. "Picked me up and insisted on holding open doors."

"O-kay." Kon-El draws out the a in confusion. "That does sound like a date."

"It was a boring one, in any case." Ellie closes her eyes sighing. She's not exactly disappointed, as she didn't have any expectations going in. Especially, if she's being honest, when she didn't realize it could have been a date until halfway through.

It's just that she's a teenager, and maybe she should be more excited about these kinds of things.

Sam and Danny started their relationship with high school study dates, after all. Jazz had a couple of boyfriends at her ages, didn't she? Mom and Dad started out in college though, so maybe it's fine?

The conversation starts to move on to Red Robin's love life, the only one who has been successful as this point. Apparently, his boyfriend is studying abroad for his last year in college and they are discussing opening the relationship up.

Kon-El looks far to invested for it to be considered normal. Maybe they have a thing going on?

"What was the topic?" Robin's voice suddenly cuts through the chatter.

"Hm?" Ellie hums, breathing in. Robin kind of tastes spicy. Curious, deadly. She wonders if this is him relaxed. "Oh, cryogenics."

Robin's voice goes flat. "Cryogenetics."

"Mhm. You know anything about it?" Ellie did most of the talking with her classmate, so the study date wasn't even really productive for her even if she enjoyed feeling smart and informed for once. Robin seems like a smart guy, maybe he can teach her some things?

"I do." There's something going on with Robin. Like he's trying to figure something out. "I quite like Radebaugh's paper on cryocoolers specifically."

"Oh, hey." Ellie beams up at him, happy to have found someone else interested in the subject. "Me too! That paper on utilizing cryocoolers to superconduct aircraft generators and engines is actually a huge part of how I got into this field of interest."

Robin nods, looking pensive and tasting….conflicted and maybe even angry. A taste of the air doesn't really help—chemo-signals can only get you so far when you barely know the guy and he's going through emotional gymnastics. What, has he never seen anyone be excited about superconductors?

===

Danielle Masters.

Spirit has a civilian identity, and said civilian identity happens to be the newest addition to Gotham Academy's ranks.

The same civilian identity that Damian bribed with burgers to teach him about cryogenics, and thusly assisted in thwarting Mr. Freeze's latest invention to almost terrorize Gotham at large.

The same civilian identity who, apparently, called Damian Wayne a boring date to his vigilante persona's face.

Spirit, irritatingly, seems to follow her brother's brazen footsteps very closely in this regard.

Even if it seems she doesn't know it.

"You said the date was boring?" Damian, through sheer force of will, keeps his voice level.

"Well, yeah." Spirit looks at him as if he is hard of hearing. "I did most of the talking, he didn't really contribute anything."

"Perhaps he is more of a listener?" Damian hums, focusing on the hullaballoo on the other side of the room.

Drake is, as always, oblivious to the alien clone's affections. At least Sandsmark seems to be trying her damnedest to make that happen, though if Dowd hasn't been successful in the past however many months Damian isn't sure anything ever will.

"Sure, but it felt more like I was a bug under a microscope than I was just…hanging out with a guy." Spirit hums thoughtfully.

"Maybe he was interested in watching you." Damian was most certainly not. He was, however, reconstructing what little he knew of Freeze's weapon blueprints with the help of Master's explanation of cryocooler technology.

"That's alm0st worst." Spirit deadpans. "What am I, a painting?"

"Maybe you make him nervous." Damian suddenly realizes he cannot recall what Danielle Masters actually looks like beyond a basic description saved in his head.

Black hair, pony tail customary. A bit smaller than average, petite but built. Blue eyes.

What did her face look like? He could pick her out of a crowd, surely.

"Doubt it." Spirit scoffs. "I bet he doesn't even remember what I look like."

Allen and Jon are playing some kind of tag now, which almost makes him scoff. He doesn't, but only because his head is throbbing from a headache.

"But he paid for your meal, treated you with courtesy, did he not?" That, at least, Damian is sure of. Mother and Alfred would be disappointed if he didn't.

"That is the bare minimum, my guy." Spirit gives Damian a look now, looking helplessly out of depth, "What's this really about?"

"Nothing." Damian holds back the sneer he wants to give. "I just think it unfair, is all. What if he is simply shy? Or stoic?"

"Then he can be stoic—doesn't mean he has to be boring." Spirit challenges back, a little bit of fire in her eyes burning out the confusion and leaving frustration in its wake. "My former babysitter is the epitome of stoicism, and he's not boring."

"Be more specific, what exactly was boring about him?" Damian demands.

"Why does it even matter?" Spirit squints at him, as if on the cusp of something. This will not do—it is fine if he knows her secret identity, he is trustworthy. But he still knows nothing about this Realm's denizen.

"It's a topic that I have a great deal of interest in—" Damian's mind whirls, "Batgirl is selectively mute!"

Spirit's eyebrows shoot up, before her gaze narrows upon him. "I said what I said."

Damian may or may not have let his anger and indignation get the best of him. He can practically see the gears turning in her head, connecting the dots.

This was possibly a mistake of seismic proportions.

"And I will say, that calling him boring is an affront, if not a bold-faced lie." Damian decides that if his siblings can be stupid, he can be stupid just this once.

It is practically family tradition.

Spirits gaze sharpens then, morphing into a sort of angered shock. "You—!"

"I what." Damian grits out, daring her to say more.

Spirit scrunches her nose, which Damian refuses to acknowledge it as something inane like cute.

And then there's a glint in her eye, her disgruntled expression melting into a innocent expression that fools absolutely no-one, least of all Damian.

"You sure feel strongly about this subject." Spirit begins, looking sympathetic and consoling, "Like it's something that affects you personally."

If Damian were the type of fool to sputter, he would have. But he isn't so he didnt.

"As much as I detest repeating myself, I must state again." Damian's voice is clipped, as precise as Alfred's trimming of Grandmother's Rose bushes. "My close associate is selectively mute."

"Right, right." Spirit nods, making a thoughtful expression as she rubs her chin mockingly. "And you yourself, you're a…man of few words, yeah?"

"I am." Damian straightens his already impeccable posture, tilting his chin up.

"And just as you do, I hate repeating myself but I will say it again: Being a listener does not make someone boring. Batgirl is not boring." Spirit enunciates her words, as if he is slow on the uptake. He feels a vein throb at his temple in annoyance, but at least she's getting it.

"So you are rescinding your previous statement?" Damian rubs at his temples, finally relaxing.

"Nah. my date was boring. And I've also got news for you, Robin." Spirit grins with all her inhuman teeth. Damian refuses to acknowledge how to sight makes him shiver pleasantly. "Ya boring!"

Damian blinks. "Excuse me?"

"As much as I detest repeating myself, I must state again," Spirit mocks in a surprisingly accurate approximation of his voice, "I said what I said!"

Behind him, Drake bursts out into laughter, the older teen having come up behind him without his notice.

This means war.

"I will not forget this slight, Spirit." Damian growls out, mind already conjuring ideas of revenge.

"Then don't." Spirit flaps a hand, uncaring as she flops back into her beanbag chair. "Remember and stew in your inadequacies."

Damian, without really consciously deciding to do so, pulls out a knife and stabs at her head. Spirit rolls a little, dodging inelegantly but somehow still smoothly, and looking at the sharp edge of his knife.

The laughter behind him cuts off abruptly, the tension in the room skyrocketing at the escalation.

"Robin!" Drake hisses, Damian can already see how he is reaching to admonish him. Admittedly, he should not have attacked a diplomatic guest during a—

"Now we're talking!" Spirit grins, flicking her fingers to grow some approximation of claws before she swings out, aiming for his neck.

Damian rolls backwards into a flip, pulling out a kunai in one hand and his wakizashi in the other.

The older teens try to call out of them but it is of no consequence. They quiet down easily enough when Spirit's eyes glow a menacing kind of green.

"I was wondering when the fighting would start." Spirit flicks out her other hand, both sporting claws now. "Usually we start with the fights in the Realms."

And after that, well. It would be rude to deny cultural rituals, wouldn't it?

As he tosses his kunai and dodges another swipe, Damian ruminates on how he will ambush her at school to make her eat her words.

He is certainly not a boring date, and he'll prove her wrong even if it kills him.

When she manages a solid kick to his gut, causing him to crash against the wall, all Damian can really think about is how, at the very least, it'll be interesting to try.

[reverie-verse]

Anakin Skywalker x Reader: Forbidden Attachments PT 1..

Prompt: A time between the Clone Wars on the verge of beginning and then end of Padawan ages. Y/N is in love with Anakin, but his heart seems to belong to someone else. Senator Padme. One thing a Jedi cannot do, is the one thing that sets her free…Her life takes a turn resulting in her starting over, finding a new life on a different planet. Only a few years later does an unexpected visit rehash old feelings. 

*Glimpses of Obi Wan, Ahsoka, Rex.

A/N: I had an anon reach out an ask for a part 2, then I read this one so I could get in the mood lmaooo. THEN I realized I NEEDED to rewrite part 1 again.....soooo I did! Ummm please enjoy!

Part 2 is ON THE WAY!!!!🫶🏽

My REQUESTS are OPEN!!!! 😌 

———————————————————-

The day you left the order was the hardest decision you’ve ever made. It wasn’t because of false accusations or because you believed that the sith could help you achieve goals the Jedi couldn’t. No it was one specific rule, one specific code. Attachments are Forbidden. Love was forbidden and you were in love with Anakin, your best friend. It wasn't his fault, you couldn’t blame him for being himself. You couldn’t exactly blame the code either, it was a rule you needed to abide by. However, it hadn’t stopped the pain that coursed through your body, your heart, and your mind. You knew the reality of the situation, you knew there wasn’t an easy way to go about this, to work through this. The love that you craved was immense, you felt drawn to him, yet you knew the truth, he could never care for you the way you hoped. 

But that was a lie.

He could care in the way you yearned for, only it wasn’t you he wanted. The memory was fresh, as if it had happened yesterday, how could you forget? You were beginning your rounds of patrol, it was your turn that night. Obi Wan usually took the first shift leaving room for him to meditate when he can. Anakin took the second shift to avoid ruining his sleeping schedule, to soak in the last remaining source of the sun. You took the last shift because you had always taken the shifts or the jobs nobody wanted. You hadn’t minded, you enjoyed the peace and the quiet that came with it. 

Only it was that night that you had regretted it. Per usual you had wandered down the halls, your gaze landing on every corner, crevice, window, walls, doors, rooms. You had continuously minding your thoughts to yourself, even then as you walked, you couldn’t help it. Work seemed to find itself placed on the back burner as you drifted in and out of wants and desires. You reprimanded yourself repeatedly as you tried to embed the code as far deep into your soul as possible…But it all came to an end. You had reached her corridor, looking further into the hall even within the dim lighting, it was as clear as day. Your heart shattered. 

It’s pathetic how well you remembered the way Padme grasped Anakin’s arm. The way she pulled him into her room, so late into the evening as it neared the middle of the night. The way he looked at her, his eyes wandering her features, he took her in as though she were the only woman in the galaxy. Her lashes flutter as her gaze locks onto his, her smile sweet, warm, and welcoming. It was an open invitation, as she guided him into the heated space of her bedroom. He followed her with such ease, he practically melted in front of her, his thoughts no longer his own echoing into an abyss that was only heard by you.

Your mind and body are no longer connected, your feet moving backward, retracing your steps. They guided you towards your bedroom, forgetting the fact that you still had hours left of your duty. Your mind and your heart collided for the second time, only it wasn’t pleasant as it once was, time it was painful. The yearning, the wanting, the day dreaming the milliseconds of when you touched or when you locked eyes or when you spoke truths to each other-it had all but ceased. It  crumbled apart right before your eyes. You felt betrayed, you felt envious, you felt delusional, you felt wrong, you felt guilty. But you were thankful, you were thankful he hadn’t noticed you were thankful that you could escape knowing now that he would never love you the way he had Padme. 

This was your time. It was selfish you know, and you realized that your life’s work depended on this decision. You were selfish with it all, the Jedi were never meant to be that way. They were meant to be selfless and giving, protectors, you were none of those things, at least not in the eyes of the Jedi. You had devoted all your life to the cause of the war, the battles that you won, the battles that you’ve lost, the lives that you’ve saved and the lives you lost all for what? You were tormented in every aspect of your life and this was the final straw. You have given all of it up, it was pathetic, and it was stupid indeed, but deep down you had already craved a simple life. So you made the decision to leave and there was no one to stop you. The moment opportune. 

You had a plan, you knew the routine schedule of the Nabooian security forces. You knew where your beloved Master and friend.. would be, it was just too easy. You had known that taking your own ship, or a Nabooian ship  would alert everyone of your disappearance. It was easier to slip out taking one of the speeders you found as you travel by foot for the first few miles. From there it was a cake walk allowing you to take off without so much of a trace. It was a success, to say the least, by now it would be too late. Dawn was nearing, you had already passed the inner city, the port and onto the cargo ship. With your bag slung over your shoulder as you walk along the corridor, the vessel makes its great escape as it exits the atmosphere. 

You knew that you wouldn’t be returning to Coruscant, you knew how devastated Anakin would be. As any concerned friend would be… Obi Wan would be there to deliver the loss, while Padme would take the chance to ease his pain in every way possible. You couldn’t stay in Naboo or to return home to the Jedi temple on Coruscant. You couldn’t bear the pain that came from watching someone else fall in love with someone else that wasn’t you. Nor could you ignore the feelings that bubbled beneath your skin, the life of Jedi was taking its toll and for once this decision hadn’t felt wrong. You felt a slight relief, this was a good thing, you were going to start a new life, one that you craved. You were going to be free of all the madness in your life…

It had been close to two years now, you had found yourself a home on Aurea, in the city of Shakamm Crater. A vast planet filled with forests, oceans, sands, a tropical climate, a beautiful home, it was better than all the metal structures you were used to. The planet itself practically ran on so many various forms of trades, and skills, artisans of all kinds. It was easy to find a low maintenance job, one that allowed you to keep a low profile and keep an eye on potential exposing threats. You were lucky in the fact that there were millions of people that resided here. That alone brought comfort to you with an extra padding of protection. You knew that the Jedi would never check the core worlds, only the outer rim held their focus. 

It had reached nightfall by now, you had gotten home maybe an hour or two ago, a small humble abode in the middle of an open field nearest the ocean and forest. You sought out a home that allowed you to live at the edge of the city, the area brought a deep comfort reminding you of some of the gardens you once walked through at the temple. Your home was open, your floor plan wide, everything within sight, except of course your bedroom and bathroom. It was exactly the space you needed and nothing more and nothing less. A breeze had swept past the cotton material of your curtain. You had wandered over to it, wrapping the cloth together and pinning it to the side. A late night indeed. The breeze was cooler in the middle of the night, the stars amongst the galaxy calling to you. You take a seat near the windowsill, your chin tucked into your hand. Your hair wet from the previous shower you had taken, your large tunic and shorts, loose against your body. The moons at its highest peak, a steady stream of light pouring in. You take a moment shutting your eyes, as you battle the memories of your past that threaten to consume you. 

———-

A specific image of you sitting in a home, you in your natural state, your hair in its unruliness, a sight he hasn’t seen in a few years…This version of you was placed near a window overlooking a view, one that he couldn’t see. One that the force wouldn’t allow him to see. Oh how you haunted him in every aspect of his waking life, odd moments, during meditations, and even in his slumber. When head the most relaxed he received these visions. What had expected carrying your trophies around as if they were a part of him. He places a hand on his forehead, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes, he shuts them for just a brief moment or two to relieve the pain but nothing comes of it. 

Rex, his loyal captain, his friend, turned to look at his General “Sir are you alright?” Anakin knew the reason he was asking, the two in the past have shared their horrific memories, bonding in a way that allows him to feel safe with trust. The many sleepless nights, the days spent in triggering environments, forcing old and new memories to collide..

“Yeah I’m just fine Rex” He grumbled, not in the mood to respond to his question in further detail. This was exhausting him, driving him into a silent madness. He knew Rex knew better than to push the situation, so he hadn’t. For that Anakin was grateful for, at this time he had no energy left to give. Anakin wasn’t sure why it was like this, this…recurrence of you. You were everywhere and in everything. His mind was tormented and not a single person could help him ease his pain. Not his padawan, his old Master, not even Padme.

“Master I can’t keep fixing this power core, I need a new one and the fuel tank is running low-” Ahsoka shouts from the back of the ship, Anakin heaved a sigh as she drags herself back into the cockpit. Ahsoka, with each passing day was beginning to remind Anakin of himself. Her attitude, her knowledge that she gained, her skills growing, Rex refrains from chuckling as Ahsoka stops in her tracks “-Where are we?”

Obi Wan only shakes his eye as his locks onto a set of coordinates before looking out towards the massive planet. “I believe we’re headed for Planet Aurea, I hear  Shakamm Crater has a docking station. Fuel and maintenance might be a bargain.” Obi Wan says as he checks the scanners. There were two engine malfunctions and the fuel tank ran dangerously low. 

“Great, let's hope the repair won’t cost a fortune.” Anakin replies as he pressed a few control keys before pulling back on the yoke, he nods his head towards Rex. With extra support Rex began to slow down the ship as it passed through its orbit and through its atmosphere. The sun’s burning glow hit the planet signaling that it was daylight.

“There’s the station” Ahsoka points out as Anakin helps Rex fly the ship closer, landing it on a dock. The group opens up the hatch as they exit the craft taking in the scenery before them. There lay an assortment of ships, workers, and droids. Sparks floated about the air as equipment mold, cut seal and from pieces of metal. In all directions various sounds filled the station, rumblings of engines, motors, workers, customers and droids shouting amongst each other. It was easy to get side tracked if no one knew where to look or what to do. Ahsoka and Rex were slightly captivated by this environment, there was an energy about it, the openness, the invitation of it all. 

Obi Wan and Anakin had a set routine, and while Ahsoka may be learning, it came with instinct the way the two immediately went searching for a mechanic. Time was of the essence and with a quickness, Anakin and Obi Wan spotted a mechanic, who happened to have been wiping the grease from his hands and fingers, and exasperated sigh leaving his lips. “What can I do for you?”

“We need fuel, a new power core and a new engine, oh and our left wing needs some attention. We need it done by tomorrow. ” Anakin states as he crosses his arms, Obi Wan already in the same stance.

The worker glares at him, frustration clearly evident. “Tomorrow? I at least need a few days to get the parts- What’d you do? Fight some pirates or something” 

“Now why would we tell you that?” Anakin’s voice clips. Obi Wan takes notice choosing to remain silent until he feels he needs to step in…which he could only assume won’t be long. 

“Look, you won’t find a better worker than me around here-” The worker taking a step forward causing Anakin to raise a slight eyebrow. 

“Never mind that, We will pay you handsomely to fix it in a few days” Obi Wan offers as he takes a step forward between them. 

The worker shifts his angered gaze from Anakin’s and towards Obi Wans. “ What’d you have in mind?” Obi Wan slips to the side pulling the attention of the worker allowing them to separate from his padawan. Anakin rolls his eyes keeping his shoulders square, arms tightly crossed as he scanned the area. The smell of burning metal brought a comfort to him, a warm comfort at that. For a moment it allowed him to relax, to find peace, it was only then did he realize what he’d done. A tug pulls at his chest, a familiar one at that. The bond that Anakin had with the force was immense and strong. His intuition, his instincts were usually never wrong. 

He takes this as a cue, one from the force that suggested he dive deeper. Again a harsher pull, that caused his heart to leap, his eyes searching, as his feet began to guide him. For a brief second his heart stopped, as the pull so great caused him to freeze. There it was, that essence, it drew him in further, his head shifted slightly to the side. It was right there, the thing that called to him through the force if only he could just-His eyes follow an  invisible line over his shoulder, time seemed to have ceased in its very existence. His chest tightens, his breath trapped within his throat, there a sight for sore eyes, was you, the very person he dreamt of. 

There you were burning brighter than a thousand suns, your skin glowing. You swiped the back of your hand onto your forehead, pushing at the loose hair to the sides and out of your eyes. The grease on your hands smeared a tiny bit into your forehead. You had worn a uniform jumpsuit that the sleeves were tied around your waist, exposing your short sleeve shirt. More grease and dirt stained the skin of your arms and neck. You were captivating, breathtaking, Anakin was sure he was forgetting to breathe. 

You were in a position of concentration, you had been sitting criss crossed on the nose of a ship. You had been working on the droid that had been trapped in its place. It beeped at you causing you to shake your head allowing you to loosen it up just a tad. You were only a mere few paces away and yet he could see you clear as day. Anakin hadn’t missed the way your smile had broken its seriousness. A coworker of yours had wandered over to you, saying something that naturally let your beautiful laughter escape. You had quickly turned your attention allowing the small robotic creature to jump out of its pocket landing next to its owner. Your friend who shouts something at you causing you to wave them off. 

They cackled loudly and waited till you hopped down from the nose of the ship. You smiled and spoke, shaking your head. You reached into your backpack that you had now slung over your shoulder, you pulled out something small. He wasn’t able to make out what it was but by the looks of it your friend was happy. The two of you waving goodbye to one another only to catch the eyes of Anakin in the process. The force had a funny way of bringing the ones you know and love back into your life. It was then you froze, your heart thumped with everything it had. Your chest squeezing, the air from your lungs evaporating. It felt as though no time had passed, the way you two connected, a strong cord securing its hold, it pulled you both in. For a moment you remember it all, the love, the pain, the comfort, anger, the happiness, every bit of emotion there was to feel.. all brought up from the past..

You didn’t want to admit that after all this time you still loved him. That he still looked as handsome as the day you first met. He no longer had a padawan braid signifying that he passed the trials. Both hands were protected by gloves, only one was more textured than the other. His hair grew a few inches longer than the last time you saw him. A scar cutting through the top of his eyebrow and down to his cheek, his piercing blue eyes, locked with yours. You’d heard stories about him, most of which were his heretic deeds, his cunningness and his ability to chaotically strategize. A poster boy for the republic for the Jedi. Then there were other stories that suggested a dark version of him, one only smugglers and bounty hunters speak of. His reputation preceded him, in more ways than one. 

Anakin held an intensity about him, always falling into depth, on each end of the scale never in between. To match his intensity a boyish nature flickers behind his eyes. A way to keep relief from all the chaos and suffering of the war. Still even now he found ways to peer into your soul to keep you trapped beneath his gaze. A trace so heavily captivating it was hard to break-but you had too. With two blinks, you took a step back, your thoughts finally catching up to your body. There was a decent amount of space between you, even then your mind began to calculate its time and an exit plan. He may have a hold over you but, maker forbid, that he brings you back to the Jedi. You weren’t going to risk it, not this time. No matter how deep your bond ran, or how much you used to love him. 

Obi Wan comes into view, placing a hand on his shoulder. Two more people who you had not recognized joined him on the opposite side. It had taken you mere seconds to recognize that young togurta is a force wielder. You didn't need to look for the lightsabers. The man behind her was a clone easily distinguished by the many rogue clones you had encountered along the way. Obi mouths your name in question, the young padawans gaze follows theirs towards your direction, realization flashes across her features. Reality bends back into its original form, the opportunity arises as you break out into a run. Anakin took his only chance to go after you, he shouts at Obi Wan to stay with the ship, Ahsoka and Rex both protesting, wanting to follow him. However, Obi Wan knew better than to interfere. 

You’re faster than Anakin remembered, usually he’d out run you but this time you were out running him. Somewhere in the space between the crowd and the exit, he shouts your name, calling for you. You ignored him against every fiber of your being. Your feet carried you through the sea of people, your body slamming into every other person you came across. You hadn’t even had the chance to mutter an apology. You had created a pattern, one that you ingrained into your mind for a day like this. You zig zagged through the crowd creating confusion as you ran for the threshold. You reached the edge of door heading for the platform. You see your speeder in sight tossing your bag in the passenger as you threw yourself into the front seat. Your hands worked quickly struggling to get the speeder started.

Your eyes flickering up briefly to notice Anakin had come to a slow jog outside of the station. You curse under your breath as you tried the system again it created an unsettling sound fear building up in your chest. “C’mon c’mon c’mon” you groaned as you kept trying. Anakin catches your eyes, his feet carrying him towards you, a roar of the speeder signaling that its alive. You had no room for hesitation, your foot slamming down kicking the vehicle into gear. Anakin swears as his eyes scan the area for a speeder to hijack.  What could only be described as force luck, he finds one, quickly igniting it, placing it into gear as he chases after. He’ll be damned if he lets you get away one more time. Hes relentless, at the upmost level, he’s refusal significantly stronger. He will not let you get away, that’s not an option. He’s  relentless, his refusal at a it’s maximum level. He just needed to see you, to grab a hold of you and throttle you for leaving him when you did. To wrap his arms around you to tell you that he missed you. You weren’t getting away this time. 

———

As you reached your home you clumsily parked the speeder, the plants and grass swayed with the motion of the wind. You rushed into your home, heading for your room. Underneath the floor boards you buried an emergency bag. You knew a day like this would come, the Jedi would be searching for you. They’d sent three Jedi and a clone to prove that to you, and they weren’t just any Jedi. Maker only knows of their plans, what they might do to you. Force you to stand trial as a criminal, give you a life sentence for crimes that you’d never committed? Or would they exile you as if you hadn’t already done that yourself? What brand had they placed onto your name? Foolish thoughts but the possibilities could easily become your reality. You knew the Jedi were capable of anything as long as they felt it benefited a cause. All you knew was that you weren’t willing to go back. 

Your heart completely shattered, its pieces broken, the one that were already mended, destroyed. You loved the home you built yourself, you loved the people you’ve worked with and come to know. They had became your friends welcoming you into their families. This planet was your home. For it to be stripped from you angered you, it upset you. The life you’ve always wanted was taken away from you. You’d assumed it was because of your selfishness of leaving those in need was the cause of this moment. You blamed yourself but you didn’t have the time to cry. Your feet moved before your mind did, slugging the bag over your shoulder you didn’t have the time to take a glance around to say goodbye. You were already out of the door, running towards your speeder getting ready to throw your bag back into only to stop in your tracks. 

Your were stuck halfway between your door and speeder, Anakin blocking your path. The dirt and gravel shifting underneath your boots. Your legs threaten to break out into another run, Anakin tilts his head slightly. He was ready for the chase, and he’d do anything to stop, you both knew that much. Neither one of you chose to speak opting for silence your eyes locked onto one another. Anakin’s jaw tense and set, his brows knitted together. He knows what he should feel what he did feel, shock, happiness, relief, comfort, but it all vanished when you decided to run, again. Now he only felt hurt and anger, confusion, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t get the answers he deserves. 

You knew Anakin wasn’t going to let you leave, with his body in the way, of your speeder, trying to match him in combat seemed like a good idea…Only you knew how dangerous it could get, how his emotions controlled his every step, his every action-not the Jedi way. You were no Jedi. Anakin lifted his chin up, as if to dare you to make the move. A challenge, one he used to do when the two of you sparred as Padawans. The twinkle behind his eyes, even in his seriousness, a playfulness dances there. A familiar game with a familiar ending. You were smart enough to know to leave as much space as possible. Anakin fought the urge to smirk, he had you exactly where he wanted, and he knew you knew that. Time ceased to exist, the two of you knowing each other like the back of your hands. 

Your chest heaving as you threw your bag down onto the ground. Fine. He wasn’t going down without a fight neither were you. You sure as hell weren’t going to make this arrest very easy for him either. You quickly side stepped to the opposite side of your bag as if you were going to run. The faux step caused Anakin to stumble as he lunged for you. You grabbed dogged to the side running to grab your bag heading for your speeder. Anakin lifts his hand force pushing to the side away from your speeder and into the grass for a soft landing. You groaned in frustration. Anakin’s heavy boots charging for you. You push yourself up barely the ground sticking your leg sweeping his out from under him. It almost made you giggle how well you could still trick him. Only in this situation it wasn’t as humorous. 

Anakin was quick to recover you barely noticing as his arms looped around your body. His faced tucked into the crook of your neck, one arm securely across your chest gripping your shoulders with one hand tucked to your chin. The other tightly wrapped around your midsection securing your other arm in place. Your body almost immediately melting into his hold, tears forming at the brims of your eyes. The comfort of him overwhelming you, a move he used to use on you to disarm you. You were always prepared for it but this time-it was difficult. A straggled scream into groan hiss out of your clenched teeth. 

“Y/N?” He whispers, his lips gently brushing against your skin, goosebumps rise as his breath caresses it.

 You shook your head “No..” the tears threatening to spill, both of your chests rising and falling heavily. All this running, it was exhausting, and the pain that course through you both. Somehow the force connected you both, the way you formed together, molded each other as if you were made-No-you couldn’t think this way-You stepped on his foot, forcing him to release some of his hold, you slipped your wrist out of his hold on your midsection, you twisted sideways placing your hand on his abdomin force pushing him away from you. Anakin flew back landing back into the ground. Your feet running you in the direction of the speeder. 

From the time you got to the speeder, and by the time Anakin and caught up to you, he yells loud enough to have you stop in your tracks. “DONT YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT GETTING INTO THAT SPEEDER!”

“Or what? Huh? You plan on having Obi Wan and his padawan come after me? Have the clone take me out with stun gun? I WONT GO BACK!” You argued turning on your heel, you could see the fury that burned with him as his heavy boot marched towards you. 

“You left the temple all on your own! Why?” He asks no trace of malice, only anger and pain.. Deep down Anakin knew why he asked you this question, one of which he needed to know why you’d left him there alone on Naboo, to return to the trials without you by his side. Two why had you chosen to run at the sight of his presence? What had he done to make you hate him so much? 

Fear etched its way through your veins, was this all part of his plan? To get you to confess all your sins, the reason you believed were more than enough to vanish from the jedis teachings. Was this his ploy to have you weak and broken to take you back to the Jedi temple, to have you stand trial exposed and then imprisoned, or be exiled, to waste away alone.. “I won’t play into your games, Anakin. There’s nothing to say!” You retorted, your own eyebrows scrunching together in anger, though a sorrow hides in the depths of your eyes.  

“The Jedi was once your home, your people! Obi Wan and I were your family! You abandoned them, you abandoned us, you adandoned me!” You could see his hurt behind his eyes, the way they threatened to tear. You could see how much your absence has affected him, tormented him. It was never your intention but even now you vowed to keep him at arms length even if that meant the ones you called family take you back to prison you escaped from. 

“It was once my home..I did care for all of you-some more than others..but I was never a Jedi.” Your voice carried as it shifted from loud to a softened tone. Hidden within a meaning that Anakin recognized. To feel displaced in your own home, in your own way of living was exhausting, for some they find a peace within. 

“We talked for hours about what our lives would look like. The ways of the force, the Jedi the knights we wished to become, the masters we were encouraged to embody! We were supposed to do this together!” You'd known that the Jedi was never going to be more than what it was. Anakin still had hope, how that it would change, hope that he’d gain all the knowledge and power in the galaxy. 

“It was nothing but false pretenses, false dreams that weren’t meant to come true, Anakin” The way you had said his name, made his heart lurch forward. Even with all this anger the need for you to say it again at an all time high. You had  managed to convince yourself of the insignificance of the dreams you’ve shared, shattering them to pieces. To him it meant that all of it meant nothing to you, that you couldn’t care in the way he once believed you did. Even that felt wrong.

“The Jedi are nothing like the Sith. How could you compare them? You and I both know what the Jedi truly are” 

“The truth is that neither Jedi or Sith are correct in their teachings. Their minds vexed by their own ignorance.” 

 “Is that why you ran?” He questions, he’d noticed a small connection in your words, a slow realization of what it was you were implying. Anakin needed confirmation, something tangible, but even then he wasn’t sure if he truly understood the situation. 

“It’s none of your business why I ran” Your heart thrummed in a pace that felt as if it might fly out of your chest and land right into the palms of his hands. You refused to allow him any information, if he’d chosen to take you in to custody, even then you wouldn’t give up your pain, your emotions, that was the Jedi trained in you. To restraint to prevent to protect the parts of you the galaxy wasn’t allowed to see. 

“As a Jedi Knight, I have every right to ask you this question. You will answer it” He demanded.  

“You have no power over me. I am not yours to order around. I will do no such thing.”

“You will tell me” 

“No” 

“What has you so afraid that you can’t even explain yourself?” You hadn’t noticed the way he shifted closer to you, the way his scent filled your nose amongst the fresh breeze. It was intoxicating your senses. You shook your head trying to clear him from your over crowded thoughts, regaining your control you were beginning to loose. As out of practice as you were in controlling your emotions you knew Anakin could sense what you were feeling. The fighting was beginning to take its toll. 

“I am not afraid” You say through gritted teeth.

“Then tell me why you’d left me.” His voice softens, the aggression leaving him completely, the two of you beginning to wear down from the tension, all time high of emotions that rampaged through you both.

“I can’t” Your eyes flicker between his. You fought the tears that risked falling. Your teeth remain gritted as your jaw sets. You could feel the exhaustion building within yourself. You were tired from all of this pain and torment. You had tried to make yourself look cruel, evil, an enemy that belonged in a prison. That the Jedi wasn’t your home but you weren’t good enough for the Sith either. You made yourself look like a runner with a need to work for hire. A possible bounty hunter if you truly wanted. You hadn’t, you’d become a mechanic who helped anyone that came through the station good or bad. Jedi life was never truly meant for you. Your emotions are always running at an all time high, the natural way of life which you craved, it made you vulnerable…The Jedi could’ve prosecuted you for it. 

That was only part of the reason, Padme was only a trigger for you. She was everything you wanted to be and more. To do as she pleases, to live as free and unrestricted as possible. The ability she had to help those in need while remaining true to herself and her cause. She’s able to keep her head on her shoulders while rule with logic and emotion. All the things you wished you could’ve done or still do. You supposed that’s why Anakin loved Padme. She was everything he wanted to be and more. She could give him things that you couldn’t, not then and certainly not now. Anakin could sense the war within yourself, the push and pull within the force evident and clear. With that came the barrier you built around yourself, he knew you all too well. You’d kept your secrets hidden, but your force signature called to his begging and pleading for help. 

Two single tears roll down your cheeks staining them along the way. Anakin had half a mind to reach out and swipe them away. Your suffering was more than what he’d imagined. Your brows scrunched together again in anger as you aggressively wiped the tears from your cheeks. You crossed your arms, your body tense and tight, it practically locked itself in place. Anakin had come close enough to you that if he truly wanted he could grasp your hand and pull you into him. The two of you lost in the moment. “Tell me,” He whispers, pleading for an answer.

“ If you’re not here to take me back to the temple then leave” You jutted your chin towards the road. 

“I won’t leave you again, Y/N not this time.” he whispers to you, the sound of your name brings you back in time. All of your old memories collide into one another. He calls back to you, to who you were, who you both were. He calls into the force for guidance as its presence builds upon it. You are reminded of your friendship you’d built together. The love, the warmth, the comfort, the support, all of it. His hand extends outward grasping into your hand that had wiped away your tears. He hadn’t hesitated, he hadn’t given himself the opportunity. There it was again, the emotions that plagued you came crawling back. His skin gilded against yours, the slightly tug, bringing you as close as possible to him. The tears flowed without warning, you shook your head, eyes cast downwards, as you attempted to pull yourself out of his grasp. His touch burned in a way that your heart craved. Everything about your internal body betrayed you, even your thoughts became clouded. 

“You’re wrong…I-I saw you with Padme” You whispered, your gaze flickering up to meet his. In your clouded state of mind you knew the truth. He  would leave you again and you would be in the same position you are now. 

“ What?” 

“You both looked so in love.” You shrugged, your body losing all its energy. Your lashes flutter with wetness by the tears you’d shed. 

“ How did you-” His expression turned to confusion. He’d checked the hall that night. Taking every precaution there was to make sure that their evening had been left uninterrupted…It seems that part of the plan went accordingly but what he hadn’t considered was you. The possibility of you catching him in the act.. 

“It was an accident, really I mean, to think that I could’ve  been able to escape my own torment even while on duty-” You shook your head, a painful laugh escaped your lips. “-I was doing my usual routine check and yet, I found myself torn between becoming the jedi I was meant to be, or to be in love with someone I couldn’t have… In the galaxy we live in, the decision had been made for me…I realized I couldn’t be in love and be a Jedi. I would’ve broken one rule out of the order. To risk expulsion or prison, a lifetime sentence alone locked in a cell or trapped on a deserted planet seemed extreme…so I left.” 

Anakin found it hard to believe that you had found someone to love let alone a Jedi at that. A part of him was angry, that’s you had chosen someone else, though another part of him understood. With Padme he’d learned what puppy love meant, but from the looks of it, the love you’d experienced was far greater than his. He knew as time went on, as your disappearance loomed over him, he’d learned that his love wasn’t as strong as it should’ve been.. Love no matter how big or small it was blinding. “Who was it?”

“Who was what?” You sniffled your tears slowing down, your hands vigorously wiping at your eyes. 

“Who were you in love with?”

“Maker,” You groaned, you took a breath “-It doesn’t matter because he doesn’t love me.”  You shrug, offering him a sorrowful, empty smile. 

“How do you know?” 

You looked at him ridiculously, had the conversation blown past his head? “Anakin, I said he’s with someone else” You clarified. 

“I know about that but I still don’t understand-”His eyebrows scrunch as his gaze fixes on the floor, a hand slightly dismissing what you already stated. Only then did he stop in his tracks, it clicked. You’d said the man you loved was with someone else, he had been with someone else…His eyes flickered up to yours, he released the hold on his brows as they shot up in surprise. “You-You love me?” He asks you in disbelief, but only a pain filled smile creases into your features. You give a smile and a simple shrug. A variation of the words you were looking for hits you as your tears return. This time Anakin was quick to catch each one, his feet practically knocking into yours, his hands lifting to cup your cheeks, his thumb swiping at the skin. 

His heart and nearly ripped apart at the mere thought of you watching him fall for Padme. How you’d caught him in the act, while you were fighting against the entire galaxy and yourself, alone. You hadn’t come to him, for the same reasons that he couldn’t go to you..Yet Anakin made the exception with Padme, had his attraction not been as strong to her, he might’ve noticed that his best friend was suffering..The truth was even after you’d left Anakin’s love for Padme dwindled to nothing. It wasn’t enough, it was never enough. You were the one who he sought out, the force connected the both of you in ways he couldn’t describe. All he knew was that you were his home no matter where he was. 

Anakin had been blinded by the Angel he’d seen on Tatooine forgetting his best friend’s existence. You were there for as long as Anakin could remember. You gave him advice, you went along with his stupid yet ridiculously complicated plans that always seemed to work out in the end. You faced obstacles together, you were his support, and all that time you had fallen in love with him. He had become so infatuated with the thought of an older woman, distracting himself from the possibilities of being with you. He failed to realize that you, yourself were the guardian Angel sent to him not Padme. He was blinded by his own ambitions to see it.

“I do, I just-can’t let you take the blame for my fall-” You choked out. You could see the thoughts forming beneath his gaze. You saw how he over analyzed, going over every moment, every second trying to understand where he went wrong. Then again you were there to ease his mind, to sooth his pain as you’d always done. How could he have been so caught up in a distraction. He’d taken you for granted and he hated that he had. It took him all these years to finally figure out that the deep love you held was something he’d been dying to reciprocate. He’d lost touch with his home, with his reality. He’d realized that the force had connected you both, always drawing you both into one another. The two of you share a magnetic pull, like two puzzle pieces fitting together. 

He shakes his head, “There’s nothing to blame, you were always meant to be mine. Your heart called to me every moment of every day. There wasn’t a moment where my thoughts weren’t of you. I missed you so much, I was a fool to leave you to your own thoughts. I should’ve been with you, the force is what brought you back to me. The trust that I would've seen you again-it always brings me back to you.” His eyes flicker between yours as he lowers his forehead touching yours. His eyes fluttering shut, his hands still cupping your cheeks. The warmth of your skin against his flesh, it drove him insane. The electricity that followed between the two of you was undeniable. The force too pulled within you both, he could resist the urge-

His lips crash down onto yours lips, you hesitated for a mere second or too, realizing that his lips were in fact touching yours. Anakin nudges your head as he kisses you, his tongue already dancing with yours. Somewhere in between one of his hands slipped from your face, wrapping around your waist pulling you impossibly closer. You don’t remember reaching up latching your hands onto his clothes, all you knew was how hard you were gripping them. The air in your chest had nearly dissipated, your chest tightening, your body needing air. Anakin growled as he felt you slipping away from him, fuck air, he didn’t need it, all he wanted was you. 

“ Wait- wait” You say breathlessly. Your mind wandered to Padme and how wrong this situation is. To think that he might still be with her right now. If anything was to happen because of this you’d feel even more guilty than you already do. You shook your head moving to keep him at arm's length. You needed to put distance between you both. “Padme-We can’t, she’ll be devastated to find out about this. Oh maker and if the Jedi find out-“ your eyes squeezed shut your nose scrunching in discomfort  at the thought. 

“Padme has nothing to do with this, I left her the moment I realized that I knew you were the one I loved. I won’t risk losing you again, I can’t so much as breathe when you’re not near. I’m in agony when I’m without you and when I’m with you I can finally breathe-The Jedi, they have no control over who I love. It is forbidden, yes, but the compassion that comes with love is essential to one’s life. You’re the one I want, Y/N” He smiles at you, sweet and genuine, a hint of his boyish charm shines through. How could you resist such a devotion of love? You couldn’t deny that you both wanted each other, craved each other. With the guidance of the force you two were finally brought together as if this was all made just for you both. 

“Ani, this is life or death- secret this big could destroy you-” You started. 

“-I know what I want.” He takes a step forward gripping your jumpsuit, pulling you back in by the waist.

“You know they’ll check the logs on your fighter to see where you’ve been-” You shook your head, you placed your hands on his chest attempting to put a barrier between you both. Though your arms weaken, your body already itching to succumb to his warmth. The force and the galaxy hummed with joy, it echoed through you even as you argued and deflected, trying to stop what was meant to happen. 

Anakin would never allow that, not when you’re here, in his arms, alive, breathing, your skin touching his. What more could he ask for, the Galaxy could wait for him, as the war would always be there. With you he wasn’t guaranteed the time he wished for, the time he needed. He’d have to relearn you all over again, and that was all he could dream of.“Y/N, you’re not changing my mind.” His hand caresses your cheek, you instinctively lean into his touch. Anakin hums, his smile remains, as your eyes finally flutter shut. He pulls your head towards his, his lips pressing softly against your forehead. So inviting, so calming, the tension melting away. 

“I might” You huffed.

“Never”Anakin chuckled his hand around your waist stroking your hip. You could feel how relaxed he’d become. He held you in a tight embrace, one where you could feel that he wasn’t ready to let go. One where you’re sure you weren’t ready to let go either. You sighed involuntarily, Anakin’s heart jumped at the sound. Your eyes flutter open upon the sound of your own sighed, your own heart pounding.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, as you lifted your head back, your eyes lifting to meet his. 

“Nothing, but um we should probably get back to the port. I’m sure Obi Wan and his padawan are looking for you.” You peel yourself out of his arms only for his hand to grasp onto yours pulling you in for another kiss. His nose bumps yours just as he takes your lips into his. So tender and yet it’s  filled with passion, a need, so heated it becomes. You fell just as quickly as you realized how far he wanted to take it. A chuckle vibrates through your chest as you peck his lips once more. “-Mhmm we can’t”

“I’ll have Ahsoka stall him for a while-with a little help from Rex, it’ll keep him occupied” He smirked

You squint your eyes at him “You would have his padawan distract him? And the clone?”

“ Not his padawan, my padawan” his smirk turns into a grin, your eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Besides, Rex will be there to help in case things go sideways.”

“ Y-You’re padawan? Since when?” You went to sling your bag over your shoulder, Anakin swiftly taking it from you and placing it on his shoulder instead.

“Since I became a Jedi knight. The council thought it would be a good idea for me to train a padawan. They felt I was fit for the role” The two of you inched toward your front to enter into your home.

“Fit for the role, my ass.” You muttered rolling your eyes playfully. 

“Are you questioning my skills as a Master?” He crosses his arms staring at you with an expression that was filled with pride, and with teasing. 

“So what if I am?” You questioned, crossing your own arms as you stood near the threshold.

“So you want to pick a fight with me?”

“You couldn’t teach a padawan to save your life-”

“I do hope the two of you have resolved your issues.” Obi Wan's voice echoes from the end of your driveway. No trace of hatred or anger, only a genuine sense of care, happiness. Your heart squeezed at the hope that you were safe again. You felt at ease and comforted, Obi Wan travels across the dirt and gravel, as nears you and Anakin, Ahsoka trailing behind with Rex. Even you could sense the happiness from her, a smile gracing her features. 

“You could say that.” Anakin grins sharing a look with you by his side, you couldn’t help but return the grin. 

“It's good to see you, Obi Wan” You shift your gaze back to Obi Wan who couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

“It’s good to see you too, Y/N” Obi wan bows his head, his gaze catches dirt and grass smeared from the ground onto both of your clothes. He took note that the two of you shared a few throws to one another. He could remember the many training sessions you both shared, how you sparred, the way you too made it look so easy…Warmth spread through his chest as his gaze fixated on both of you. To see the two of you in the same light, teasing, challenging, loving, two compassionate hearts. He knew what you felt, and how you’d left the order for a price he couldn’t pay. One that he considered doing himself.. Yet he was proud of you for taking that chance, illuminating the path for Anakin to fulfill his destiny, his fate, that had already been written for him. A small silent sacrifice for the sake of the galaxy..whether you realized it or not.

Obi Wan knew the force worked in mysterious ways no matter how many times he practiced meditation.  What he did know was the force had a way of working itself out, creating and destroying paths that were meant to cross. How could Obi Wan deny that even in your separation, the two of you were always meant to cross paths? There was a plan written in the stars that he couldn’t compete with, if the path drew Anakin to you, and you were meant to be his light, then Obi Wan wouldn’t question it further. The Jedi council wouldn’t hear a word of this and he intended to keep it that way. There was nothing they needed to know, both of his former padawans happy, alive and healthy, what more could a master ask for?

“Why don’t you guys come inside, sit down and relax. I’m sure your ship won’t be ready for a few hours” You stepped aside and opened up your home. The three wandered inside taking a look around. Anakin was quick to scoop your hand in his as he stood next you, his eyes finding yours the two of you sharing the same look of love and wonder. 

A new path, a new challenge forged by the force by destiny by forbidden attachments...

[kmt123whatsthetea]

Official Business

Fred Weasley x reader

Requested by: @mytrinityphelps

Request: “Office sex with coworker Fred Weasley (and him wearing glasses)”

A/N: Thank you for the request! I'm sorry it's taken so long to actually start and upload. But it never slipped my mind. This might just be my longest fic yet, so I hope it's actually enjoyable. I’m not gonna lie, I kinda forgot about the glasses request and I’m so sorry. I reread the request and went “mentioning glasses once might not cover it”. I’m sorry

T/W: Unprotected sex, Office banter, Blowjob, Nearly caught, Belly bulge,

What could you say about working as an Auror?

It was a decent job with decent pay, the hours were your casual 9 to 5 with weekends off.

Oh, and there was your coworker Fred. He wasn't the most serious guy, having left his job at a joke shop for better pay to keep his business up and running.

He was tolerable, unlike some of the other stuffy old workers who were seemingly glued to their desks. He was a little older than you with a ginger mop of hair and glasses that framed his deep brown eyes. He was friendly, always offering to bring you a morning tea and coffee personally instead of relying on the house elves. He even bought you a small owl ornament for your desk to commemorate your first year anniversary of working there.

Maybe you liked the flirty banter more. How during lunch breaks he’d comment about how you looked better than any dessert ever could, and that he looked forward to your smile more than any monthly wage slip. He really knew how to make your day brighter.

When he noticed the blush that spread across your cheeks in response to his teasing, he took a step up. Some of your favorite comments of his all shared a similar trait. They made you want to jump his bones. It was impossible not to when he spoke the stuff of wet dreams in that soft teasing tone.

“Your lipstick looks pretty, I wonder how it would look trailing down my chest”

“Looks like you’ve had a heavy workload today. Here I’d hoped you could take heavy loads, baby”

“You look tired, you’d sleep a lot better in my bed”

Oh, he was really trying to rile you up. And it was working like a charm.

Working overtime wasn’t rare in this line of work. Desk jobs always had their fair share of paperwork pile ups. Most workers left it till the next day or took it home to complete when possible. You only had a bit of work left and decided to stay to avoid the unnecessary task of homework.

One thing that caught you off guard was that Fred hadn’t said goodnight to you like he usually did before leaving. He did it every night. Was he angry at you? Had you said the wrong thing?

The thought stung a little, but you could always ask him about it the next morning.

Half an hour into your work was enough for a tea break. It wasn't procrastination if it counted as hydrating. Heading along the familiar hallway was second nature for you, but stopping dead was new. In the vast rows of desks, was a familiar ginger mop of hair. Was Fred Weasley staying late?

You made your way downstairs, an idea in mind.

Fred hated staying late. He hated this job. He had only taken it for some extra income towards the joke shop. He took the 9 to 5 job due to Georgie and Angelina expecting their first. At least if he was running the shop, he could be more lenient with trips to St Mungos. He still had a whole 3 hours worth of work to get through just to catch up. How people did this full time, he didn't know.

The approach of heels made him keep his head down, thinking it was some higher up reader to scold him for not taking the job seriously. But when a mug of coffee was placed before him, his head soon whipped up. There you were, like an angel in his time of need. You somehow looked perfect, like you weren't working overtime from an 8 hour shift. Instead of reaching for the mug handle, he reached for your hand in a tender grip.

“You’re a lifesaver, you know.

Your thumb trailed over his knuckles softly, a soft yet teasing smile on your face.

“I guess you owe me then”

That brought a smile to his face, giving your hand a tug causing you to fall onto his lap. You laughed softly, your hands finding his shoulders. This was his usual flirting to the max. But what was the harm in a bit of teasing?

“Give it your best shot, Weasley”

Knowing Fred in the capacity that you did, you should have known that he wouldn't take it as harmless teasing. He took it as a challenge.

His other hand found your cheek, pulling you closer to press his lips to yours in a kiss that seemed almost desperate. He let go of your wrist in favour of holding your waist to keep you steady on his lap. His lips pressed harder against yours, like a kiss along could merge your bodies. He wanted to be closer to you. He seemed confused when you got off of his lap, trying to hold onto you tighter, but his confusion turned into shock when you lowered yourself between his spread legs. He couldn't help his excitement as he practically ripped his belt off.

“You’re really gonna suck my dick? Sweetheart, you’re something else. Most girls would complain about ruining their lipstick, but you love being a dirty little office slut, don't you?”

He groaned when you pressed a kiss to his bulge in response before your hand took over, palming him teasingly. Your fingers tugged his zipper and fumbled with his button before his boxers came into view, and they were pulled down even quicker. Fred reached into his boxers, pulling his cock out. It stood tall before your face, his shaft veiny and girthy. The curtains definitely matched the drapes when it came to his pubes.

“Are you always this hard, Fred, or does a bit of kissing turn you on?”

He chuckled, his hand cupping your jaw to pull you closer.

“I'm always hard for you, I just don't show it as blatantly as you do. I knew how wet you got for me. I wonder if you ever played with yourself in the bathrooms thinking of me…or did you just finger yourself under your desk while I told you how pretty you looked every morning?”

That blush that filled your cheeks when he spoke, that's what he loved most about you. How that small tint of pink made you irresistible. How naturally it did.

His thumb caressed your blushing cheek, it was the result of him after all. Little did he know, it was all for him. You’d give all of yourself to him.

Your tongue gave his tip a gentle prod, reveling in his hiss at the touch. He sounded beautiful with every response, but those you drew from him were your favourite. Your lips wrapped around his tip, suckling softly. Fred stifled his moans, bringing his tie to his mouth and biting it to keep himself quiet from any other late workers. You looked up at him through your lashes, the sight making you wetter. Fred was leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, his face nearly as red as his hair and his tie tucked between his lips while his cock throbbed for attention. He was like fine art.

Your lips returned to his cock, your cheeks hollowed as you tried to take him in your throat. His eyes bugged out when he felt your mouth take him deeper. But it was all cut short at the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. Fred pulled the tie from his mouth and nudged you gently, his voice merely a hushed whisper.

“Sweetie, stop. Someone, fuck…someones coming”

His hands ushered towards the underside of his desk making sure you were tucked in before pulling his chair up and trapping you between his legs. The footsteps stopped by his desk, one of your colleagues commenting on how he was here late, making some joke about his allergy for work slowly being cured. Fred could only nod along, his mind still in panic mode from nearly being caught getting sucked off by a coworker. You, on the other hand, took delight in how the tables had turned. It was your turn to tease him.

You leaned your face closer to his cock, sliding your tongue along his shaft and tracing his veins. You could hear his groan which he quickly covered up with a coughing fit. You could hear the coworker checking on him and patting his back, but you didn't give him a reprieve. Your lips circled his tip, suckling gently. Your coworker ran off, something about getting some water for Fred. He pulled his chair back and helped you out from under the desk.

“Sweetheart, we don’t have time”

He pulls his shirt over his erection and drags you by the hand, along the hallway and to the small utility cupboard that housed quills and inks. He pushed you in first and followed you inside, muttering a few enchantments under his breath. He had to make sure no one would hear you two and most importantly, that no one would try and open the door.

His hands wrapped around your waist like a python, pulling you into him. You pulled your pencil skirt up, hooking your leg over his hip. You dropped your voice to a sultry whisper.

“Then you better not waste anymore time, Fred”

His hand slithered between your bodies, pulling up your pencil skirt and tugging your panties aside. He practically growled at how wet you were, his fingers soaked from that brief touch. He couldn't wait any longer. He lined his tip with your entrance and pulled your hips, sliding you down his cock. You let out a relieved moan, grateful for Fred’s enchantment. His cock was buried so snug inside of you, every clench around his thickness felt like he could break you.

You risked a glance down and the sight of his cock causing your belly to bulge made you whimper. Just the sight alone caused that band to tighten. Your hands gripped his shoulders, pressing needy kisses to his lips. Fred pulled his hips back and thrust back into you, wanting to be as deep inside of you as he could. He wondered what it would be like to cum inside of you, painting you deep inside, but he didn't want to push his luck. There was plenty of time, and there was no way he’d have that much fun in an office storeroom. If it took, that would be a terrible place to conceive.

He licked along your bottom lip, his pace never slowing.

“I'm close, sweetie. Cum on my cock, make a mess”

His hand moved back between you both, desperate fingers circling your clit in tight, quick circles. He could feel your grip on his shoulders tighten, your eyes rolling back in bliss as you clamped down on his cock. A pornographic moan ripped itself from your throat as your juices coated his shaft. You were so warm and tight, that he contemplated just throwing all care out the window but instead he groaned and pulled out, his hand wrapping around his dick and pumping fervently.

His cum painted your bunched up skirt, leaving a sticky stain on the grey fabric. You didn’t call him out on it in your blissed out state, only noticing when you slowly came down. Even then, it was just a skirt. It was worth it.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll buy you a new skirt if I have to. Maybe some pretty lingerie as well”

His signature smirk returned as he whispered in your ear.

“But then again, I’d prefer you naked”

[negrowhat]

Ahh, I'm so conflicted. It was so sad. But also, there was so much neck grabbing. But the lies! But the light choking! And then the sad wailing. Noeul was so good at playing so sad. Also very good at playing getting absolutely wrecked during sexy times. And he's so pretty. And Boss is so handsome with his yearning face and his fat ass. Also there were fingers in mouth (twice!) And yet, still sad.

Anon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Noeul was so phenomenal in this ep! I think he did an amazing job displaying Phu's grief for his dad and also showing us Phu's bubbling point. I was worried about Phu throughout this entire ep because of how he was acting. Masking his emotions, blurting out things and then taking it back, forcing smiles, sitting in dark rooms, and even spacing out. He was really going through the motions. Cir speaking to him with so many definitive words really did a number on Phu too. We all know Cir is not lying when he promises to be with Phu for good but Phu doesn't know he's not lying. Phu still thinks Cir will eventually leave to go back to that other Phu and he will be abandoned again. His dad left died, and then his mom ditched him, and now the only other person he wants around 24/7 will have to leave him too.

Their love scene was quite exciting from the bits that we got. I really wasn't expecting so much neck grabbing! AND IT WAS AGGRESSIVE! I THOUGHT CIR WAS GOING TO HURT OUR PHU! I also wasn't expecting for P'Cir to jam so many fingers in Phu's mouth either. It was insane! Did they even kiss during the love scene?? That I don't think they did, from what we saw. That should've been our first clue about the intentions behind that love scene.

Phu's expressions were insane. Even for a love scene that was meant to feel out of place, BossNoeul still delivered on the passion. When CirPhu finally come together in the right way, when they're both on the same emotional page it's going to be explosive and filled with kisses. I know it!

But also with how short the love scene is, I do think it will be revisited at some point and we'll see it from different angles.

This was my absolute fave shot from the love scene tho

[whoredyceps]

"OH LOVER BOY!" || 28 Days of Love: A Valentine's Challenge + Series

day fifteen: old wound

ᰔ pairing: agent whiskey x reader

ᰔ summary: first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes jack daniels unsure if the two of you are making the right choice.

ᰔ author's note: this one is going to be a bit longer and is p angsty. sorrrrryyyyyyy. thank you again to everyone who's been reading there, i've been having a lot of fun writing them 🥹💙

ᰔ content warning: afab!reader, reader is pregnant, conversation around pregnancy, mentions of abortion, bits of canon in an au setting, angsty angst, fighting, mentions of character death, no beta- we die like men

"Baby, can I talk to you?" You peaked your head into Jack's office.

It was late, and you had just finished up your nightly routine of tidying up while he tied up the loose ends of his job for the day. You detested the idea of him working after hours, but that was an uphill battle you had yet to see the other side of. For now, you had bigger fish to fry.

"Of course, darlin'. You okay?" Jack looked up from his computer. He had his glasses on, already showered and in his pajamas. It was a good look on him— hell, everything was a good look on him.

"I wanted to talk to you about something. It's..." Your sentence trailed off. You stepped further into the office, and found your way behind the desk. Jack's chair turned towards you as you leaned your thigh against the sharp edge of the wood.

Jack reached his hand out, placed on your hip to offer some form of comfort. Whatever had plagued you seemed to be written all over your face. Though you two had only been married for a few months, you had known each other for years.

So long, in fact, that you remember the days when you used to hang out with Jack's deceased wife. A beautiful woman ripped away too soon, herself and their unborn son caught in the crossfire of an incident no one could have predicted. The two had become the untouchable subject between you and Jack, and you abided by that without question.

Up until now, that was easy enough to follow. You left it alone, and looked the other way when Jack stared at pictures from high school for too long. He had his better days, and the worse days were spent at the distillery— long evenings of work until he'd trudge back home past midnight, too exhausted to think, let alone face his grief head on.

While it wasn't perfect, it worked. You tried to support Jack in whatever way he needed. He did the same for you, and it had all become apart of the give and take you two had.

Now though, you had to address the elephant in the room. One in the form of a polaroid tucked away in the top drawer in Jack's desk, with a sonogram clipped to it. As badly as you wanted to drag out the entire situation, you were on borrowed time.

"Talk to me," Jack gently urged. "It ain't like I'm gonna bite your head off." His tone was concerned, but a bit amused at his own joke. With his free hand, he removed his glasses and placed them on the keyboard of his computer.

You gave a weak chuckle and tapped your foot. The amusement in Jack's tone seemed to die off as you squirmed in your spot. It was rare that he saw you in such a state.

"I went to the doctor today," you started. "Got some tests done like we had talked about." You didn't meet Jack's eyes, wouldn't even look in his direction. His hand felt like it had burned its imprint through your leggings and into your skin.

"Everything okay, darlin'?" Jack sounded immensely concerned, which you expected.

You weren't going to visit the doctor in the first place, if it had been your choice. Over the last few weeks, you just hadn't been yourself. You had been plagued with debilitating headaches and stomachaches that could lay anyone out. Jack begged you to get them checked out, worried that you were facing some sort of terminal illness.

Thankfully, you were given a clean bill of health. That was, until the doctor came in with a round of congratulations and talks of scheduling an appointment with your obstetrician. In that moment, it felt as if something you had locked away for so long finally popped open.

You hadn't even considered kids with Jack. After the passing of his wife and son, you didn't recognize him. It took a long time for him to shed that version of himself and return to some version of the man he once was.

One drunk night, back at your place after a date early on in your relationship, he went on and on about how it was a terrible idea to have children. Nothing good happens, and even if they live, they were set up to face a cruel world. You didn't disagree, but you knew the voice of grief well enough.

Now, since you had left the doctor's office, you had a different stomachache. How were you going to tell Jack? You were in no mood to fight, but you knew it was going to be a spectacle when you did tell him.

"Yes... and no. Jack, honey, I don't really know how to say what I need to say." You fidgeted with your hands, suddenly aware of the manicure you had gotten last week.

"Well, if it ain't terminal, then that's a good start," Jack tried to reassure you. He had never seen you like this, so unsure and hesitant. You were strong and confident to your very core, so sure of every move you made or whatever came out of your mouth.

"I'm pregnant," you blurted out. There was no other way to put it.

Jack was silent, his hand stilled on your hip. You watched as his expression turned steely and his jaw tensed. It hurt more than you cared to admit when he moved his hand away from you.

You looked to him, then back to your feet. The silence hung in the air ate at you, tense and thick with animosity. What was supposed to be a picture perfect moment– or at least what you had imagined when you were younger– was now anything but.

The silence only made you fidget more. You felt that sour pit in your stomach return as you waited. After a while, you couldn't take it anymore.

"I asked how it was possible, and the doctor said it could happen on some birth control pills. We discussed some options and how to proceed with this." You hoped it would help, but Jack refused to look at you. Instead, his gaze lingered on the top drawer of his desk.

You waited for something, anything from him. All day, you had braced yourself for what was to come. You had even considered removing the fetus without Jack knowing, but that just didn't seem right. The only option you felt you had was to face the problem head on.

"I know we haven't talked about it, but I need you to say something. Anything, really." You reached for his hand, only for him to pull away. It hurt more than you expected, and you moved your hand back to your side.

"You know how I feel about it," Jack finally said. "Just– I need some time to think."

You almost rolled your eyes, but refrained. In the time you had known the man, he said what he wanted when he wanted to. Over time, you had learned what that meant. It was Jack for 'I don't want this kid and I don't know how to do that without upsetting you'.

"Take the time you need," you assured him. Even in your turmoil, you understood he had a lot to process. You knew grief too well, and what it did to a person.

The silence had returned, this time heavier. You watched Jack quietly turn back to his work, a dismissal of you and the conversation all together. Without a word, you left his office.

You went to bed alone that night. Not unexpected, but it still cut deep. Right now, you just needed your husband and the simple act of comfort. All lost because of one little confession. Something you tried to prevent, but failed.

You had barely slept a wink. All night, you tossed and turned in the empty bed. When the sun peaked out from over the horizon, light slow to fill the room, you finally gave up. You decided to take a shower and get yourself ready for the day. Even if you wanted to wallow in bed, there were still tasks that had to be completed.

"Jack?" You called out as you headed downstairs. The house was empty, and a quick glance out the front door confirmed the truck was gone.

Anger bubbled inside of you as you slammed the door. He never did things like this to you. Jack made it a point to kiss you goodbye and love on you until the absolute last minute. Now, he was gone before you made it out of bed.

All day, your anger sat with you. It lingered in everything move you made, every thought you had. If there was anything you hated most of all, it was the feeling of anger. You found it did you no good, but all of your logic had flown out of the window the second the confession came out of your mouth.

Jack wasn't the only one who struggled with this. You were the one that had to create a human— one that you had never intended to have. This whole situation was terrifying, and the one person you needed most was too wrapped up in his own mind to see what stood in front of him.

When it was Jack's usual time to come home, you were surprised to hear the truck pull up. Instead of greeting him at the door as you normally would, you continued to work on dinner. You didn't have it in you to be the sweet, doting wife you liked to be.

"Hi, darlin'." Jack's sweet tone felt like a slap to the face. There was no way he had forgotten last night, no way he thought you had forgotten what happened last night.

It was your turn with the silence. You continued to make meatballs with your back turned to him, the only sound in the kitchen came from the radio you had turned on.

You heard Jack sigh as he placed his keys and wallet on the counter. The sound of his cowboy boots clicked against the tile of the kitchen floor. His hand found the small of your back, and he didn't miss the way you tensed at his touch.

"I thought about what you said," Jack muttered. He was close enough that you heard the way he talked under his breath.

"I hope so," you huffed. "Not like we had much else to talk about between now and then." You didn't look back. If you saw those sweet brown eyes, you'd melt and forgive him in a second. You had to stuck up for yourself, even if that meant focusing on the meatballs instead of your husband.

"That wasn't right, me leavin' you on your own after what we talked about last night." Jack's hand didn't move from your back. His fingers gently pressed into your side as he spoke.

"Came to that conclusion all on your own?" You tried to bite back some of the venom, but it had been stewing inside of you all day.

"Darlin'," Jack sighed. "I- You know why I acted the way I did. I mean, I can't-"

You whipped around to cut him off. Everything that had festered inside of you had come to a head, and if you wanted to stick up for yourself, now was the time.

"I do know, Jack. I'm well aware of what's been lost. You know, she was my friend too. You weren't the only person who lost someone," you began. "I know what loss is. I've lost a lot of people, but I can still acknowledge that life goes on. You ignoring me and the pregnancy doesn't make her come back. Grief is a fickle bitch, but I'm still pregnant and it's still your kid." You poked Jack's chest as you spoke.

"I-"

"No, you're going to let me finish. If you don't want the baby, fine. I'll call my doctor and that will be the end of that. If you want to keep it, that's fine too. Stop comparing me to her. I'm not her. This baby isn't him. You can feel the sadness and grief, but what you won't do is ignore me." You took a long, deep breath before you spoke again.

"If you ever do that again, I'm gone. Don't try me."

Jack waited a beat, but you finally settled and crossed your arms over your chest. You gave him an expectant look. The ball was in his court now. He sighed and rubbed his jaw as he tried to collect his thoughts.

"That was wrong of me, and I'll be the first to admit it," Jack started. "It's also wrong of me to compare the two of you. The truth is I never thought we'd be here, havin' this conversation."

You raised an eyebrow, your hip cocked to the side.

"You never thought that there would be a chance at me getting knocked up? With how often we go at it, that's just delusional." You tried to refrain from the attitude, but once your feathers were ruffled, that was the end of that.

"We've taken the proper steps for precaution," Jack argued. His jaw tensed as you rolled your eyes.

"You ever taken a sex ed class? There's always a chance. Look, that's not what I'm getting at. I've tried to avoid the subject as long as possible, but there's no more waiting. There a fetus in me, and we need to decide how we're gonna handle this before it's too late."

Jack sighed as he leaned back against the island, his hands shoved in the pockets of his leather jacket. You were right, as you had always been. How you saw right through him was beyond him, but then again, that's what he admired about you.

"I don't know if I can handle another loss," Jack admitted. "I can't lose you."

You huffed a bit, your hands curled up at your side.

"Stop trying to get me killed! It hurts, Jack. It hurts to think that you're prepared for my death, that I can't make it through and have this baby— to know that you've accepted my death before you could even think of the life we could have." You turned back to the meatballs, and grabbed a hunk of meat. It did not ease your aggravation, but the physical work was cathartic.

Jack was silent. Between the two of you, an old country song wafted through the air. If the circumstances had been different, you'd be drinking wine and laughing with him. You were sure the two of you would be—

Your thoughts halted as a hand wrapped around your waist. The meat was dropped and you wiped your hands, all before Jack tugged you away from the counter. His strong arms wrapped around you as he pulled you to his chest.

Even in the thick of a fight, Jack made you dance with him. The first time it happened, you were so bewildered that you just let it happen. Every time since, you let him apologize in his own way.

Jack held you as the two of you swayed to the music. He was a sucker for Jonny Cash, you had come to learn. Whether it was slow and sweet, or something with a quick pace, he had to hold you close and dance with you.

If I Were a Carpenter played through the speakers, Johnny and June bore witness as you let Jack take lead. The two of you were quiet, but the footwork seemed to say a lot. As angry and hurt as you were, he knew every move you'd make. He knew you as well as you knew him.

"Would you'd love me if I was a carpenter?" Jack's voice was soft. You had one arm around his neck, the other wrapped around his as he led you.

"I'd love you no matter what," you assured him. It was true, you loved him through and through.

"Even now?" Jack asked. "Through it all?"

You nodded without hesitation.

"Through it all, even if I want to strangle you."

Things would be fine, and you knew that. What Jack had to work through was beyond you and the baby. As badly as you wanted an answer right now, that wasn't going to happen. He had to think and piece it all together himself. It got under your skin, but you meant what you said.

You'd love him no matter what.

[dufferpuffer]

Claiming it was disrespectful to call off the werewolf essay might be stretch…

A substitute teacher should not deviate from what the regular teacher planned. It’s not disrespectful for Lupin to call off the assignment, it’s disrespectful for Snape to deliver it in the first place. Not because of the subject matter, but because it’s undermining what Lupin planned and deems appropriate for his students to spend their time on. If Lupin is planning to get them to work on an essay or project about anything he has been teaching, it’s distracting and detrimental to his schedule for the kids to be worried about Snape’s spin-off rogue homework. It should have been proposed as optional extra credit at best, but as the main teacher Remus has every right to call it off.

It’s true, in an ideal world maybe Remus would have prepared something (both class and homework) for Snape to deliver, but it’s very obvious by their relationship that Snape was merely trying to gratuitously criticise Lupin in front of his class.

It’s also a stretch to say Snape is a good teacher. As a teacher myself, I see your appreciation for the admin side and for the high standards for results that Snape clearly values, but there’s also an obvious contempt for anyone who cannot keep up with his methodology, which is unfair, discouraging, and results in cases like Neville and Ron, who become completely disengaged and disinterested in learning potions. Harry himself saw immediate progress when Snape’s oppressive presence was no longer in the room - brewing a potion for his OWL examiners in OotP, and seemed to count a lot on Hermione’s help to study. Of the entire Gryffindor year, only Harry, Ron and Hermione made it to NEWT level, and Harry himself was dreading to continue his studies, had it not been for his desire to pursue a career as an auror. He’s not a good teacher that “some people simply don’t mesh with” if he has no patience or plans to bring the students who are struggling up to speed with the rest of the cohort, not to mention his blatant favouritism towards Slytherin and Draco, which only encouraged bullying and rivalry in his class.

Snape as a DADA teacher is surprisingly more reasonable, but still appalling in his relationships with students.

You can write an essay on a 10ft long parchment about how bad of a teacher Lupin is if you want - I am perpetually baffled by the incredibly arbitrary takes people have on pedagogy and learning when it comes to discussing Hogwarts teachers, but you can’t seriously suggest Snape is a good one.

Professor Binns has been teaching for centuries. He is also by no means a good teacher. Snape’s years of experience over Lupin, or Hagrid, have somehow only made him more bitter and dissatisfied with his job.

Remus' disrespect - and Severus as a teacher:

I don't think Remus is a bad teacher. I think he is a good teacher. And for his first year - EXCEPTIONALLY good. Raw talent. I just don't think Snapes observations were wrong. Overly judgemental for a man in his first year? Sure. But not wrong.

I see what you mean about Snapes rogue essay being disrespectful to Remus' lesson structure. He wanted to teach Hinkeypunks next - he's caught one and everything.

...Except this wasn't a rogue substitute lesson. Remus Lupin knows when every single Full Moon will be for his whole life. Fun fact: on his 79th Birthday, 2039, there will be a Full Moon. From the moment he got his schedule he knew when he would have days off and yet he prepared absolutely nothing for Severus to do.

Not only that - he knows why Severus takes Lycanthropy so seriously. He knows Severus is holding himself back under the flimsiest trust that Remus might not be wanting to kill kids. He knows that Severus is brewing him Wolfsbane perfectly to keep him safer - though there's a high risk of error. It's difficult.

Yet all Remus does all year, rather than giving Severus any sign that he is working WITH him, that he ALSO wants to keep the kids safe, that he is being RESPONSIBLE about his condition and his job as an educator... is grind his heel into Severus' toe.

Severus is thinking "If I mess up even one dose of the potion there will be a XXXXX ranked Magical Beast out for student blood. Could be this month, could be next month - I need to be ready and I need the kids to have a fighting chance at defending themselves."

Remus could have been spending the year trying to prove he is working to the same goal. Instead he gives Severus no reason to trust him. He manipulates, blatantly lies, makes Severus play maid with his medicine... he should have been teaching about werewolves early, in case something went wrong. He poses real danger but does nothing to mitigate it and throws away Severus' attempt to fill the hole.

THAT is pretty disrespectful. Severus is doing so much for him and putting far more faith in him than he is earning.

As far as Severus being a good teacher:

He's an ass. His brusque manner doesn't work for everyone and he fails to help sensitive souls, unable to offer anything but 'tough love'. But... I dunno, 3 Griffindors in 6th year seems pretty good...?

Year 6 and 7 are optional. People only pick the classes that might help them get into a career. Others graduate at 5th year. There's <10 kids in every house while Harry was there. <40 kids. Outside Potions 6th year there were a dozen students. 3 Griffindors, 1 Hufflepuff, 4 Slytherins and 4 Ravenclaws.

12 students, out of 40 or less. Over a quarter of the students in Harry's year were choosing to take Potions - thinking Snape was going to continue to be their teacher. To even get into Snapes' N.E.W.T. classes you need an OWL of the highest grade. Which means Snape successfully taught at least 10 students, maybe more, to achieve O's on their OWLs.

Only Harry and Ron didn't have their textbooks for the class - because they got Es and so didn't think they would get in. That means everyone else got Os.

Snape's students learn and they learn to a high standard. His issue is that he has some people fall through deep cracks. But 1/4 of a grade getting O's without any coddling...? When usually 10%, 15% of a class get an A - he has 25%. Maybe more, if they didn't pick to do Potions in N.E.W.T.s, or graduated after their OWLs.

I don't know what to call that other than good teaching. How Snape can be so abrasive and yet drag over 25% of his class into excellence is... it's hard to wrap my around tbh

Hermione specifically does worse without Snape at the blackboard, even though she's a Textbook Tina. His teaching worked for her better than her regular textbook and homework worship.

I haven't seen any examples of him showing favouritism to Slytherin. He might show some favouritsm to Draco, though I don't think in class. Draco is just kinda good at potions? Harry notices him complimenting Draco's work - like maybe he's just good? lol He doesn't actually show house bias as far as I have been able to find. There was certainly no bullying or rivalry in class, he was a no-nonsense teacher who didn't tolerate silly childishness.

So yeah, I struggle to see how Snape is a poor teacher? He is an excellent teacher with a rather deep flaw - he struggles to connect to his students, especially the annoying ones. As a man working three whole jobs though I'm not too surprised. Dumbledore's left hand, Voldemort's right hand, teacher of a core subject... and still drags students into his NEWTs class.

[safeands0und]

Track 1: Mr Krabs

Megumi Fushiguro x Reader

Warnings: None

A/n: First part of the fic! My computer just got hacked so sorry if formatting weird

Series masterlist

"you're fired"

"what?"

"you’re fired" The words hit you like a slap across the face. Your tired limbs sit uncomfortably on the hard chair in your managers cramped,dim and somewhat musty smelling office.

damn.

"But he was being a dick" you rant This job is one of the only things you have. You're absolutely fucked if you get fired right before you have to pay your rent.

"It doesn't matter! You had no right to but into the costumers conversation like that" Your manager says.

“He was being a dick” you retort

“He’s the paying costumer, you just lost us business” You glare at him that's something Mr.Krabs would say to spongebob and no it does matter because that guy was an asshole.

Of course you weren't a perfect waitress. But you showed up, and showed up sober. Which most people you worked with didn't do. Getting a job at a nice restaurant in the city was a good thing, good pay, lots of tip money. The bad thing was most people were stuck up assholes who also thought they could do no wrong. And after almost 2 years with the restaurant there's only so much "arguing" they could take from you. And it wasn't arguing if you told a guy to stop talking and let his wife order what she's wants.

Your managers voice snaps you back the cruel reality of the world. "you can leave now."

And so you do. Walking home with your head hung Low.

Now to tell maki.

"hey i'm home" you yell there's no point to but you do anyway

"already? i thought you had to work til 8" she says grabbing a chip out of the bag that sat on the tiny table infront of your couch

"about that. I got fired" you say as she starts to choke on her chips.

"how??"

"some guy being a dick to his wife, i told him to let her talk and he did not like that" you sigh as you take your shoes off and place everything down on your small kitchen counter.

Something bad about the city was rent. Not only was being a collage student a lot of money. But being able to live was to. Grocery, transportation, rent, subscriptions added up quickly. So you and one of your best friends maki thought you'd be saving money moving in together. But the only apartment the two of you could afford without having to go hungry was tiny, run down, and strange.

The kitchen and living room were cramped together along side a small balcony that neither of you could step on. There was water damage on the ceiling, the heat only worked so often, the walls were thin and there was no storage at all. As much as both of you tried to make it work, keep it clean and pretty, it always looked like a mess.

"so where are you going to work now" she asks as she stands closing the bag

"No clue" you say as you head towards your room "i'll probably just get another job as a waitress, i just don't know where" you sigh as you look at your self in the mirror. You looked exhausted. As much as you wanted to take a break from work for a week you couldn't afford to waste time. "i'll look tomorrow"

"If you say so" Maki says peaking her head in the doorway "you look like shit by the way"

"thanks maki" you say as you glare at her

"just letting you know. Get some rest" she smiles and waves you off

you walk into your room, and glance at the time thanking god you didn't have any classes tomorrow. You out on some music as you lightly pick up your room writing a to do list in your phone.

#1 make new playlist

#2 find a job

#3 study

#4 clean out cupboards

you've got this.

[dyns33]

The new world

Happy late Valentine day to everyone !

Since it's love day, I had to write about a Pedro's character, of course, because I love Pedro with all my heart, and I picked one who really needs love : Joel Miller.

Before you scream, yes no Ellie in this story. I love Ellie. She's wonderful and the center of the show. But read and see.

Y/N wasn't stupid.

Maybe she was young when the end of the world came, but she had had time to learn a lot from her parents and teachers.

Of course, nothing would have prepared her for the spread of Cordyceps, or told her what to do when you found yourself alone in the world in such a brutal way.

Some could have said that FEDRA was doing a good job in Boston, allowing survivors to have a more or less normal existence, with the hope of starting a new family, sleeping in a bed, where they would die somehow peacefully, if hunger, despair or the soldiers didn't take them first.

Y/N really wasn't stupid. Even if she admitted that FEDRA had been useful at first, their violent and repressive methods could not continue. That was why she had joined the Fireflies.

A part of her, maybe the smartest, didn't think it was any use. The world was lost no matter what, humans would never be able to return to their previous way of life, there was no hope. But the survival instinct was stronger, pushing her to continue, looking for a reason to get up in the morning.

The fireflies or something else, as long as she felt a bit useful and she could stand.

What Marlene would call "the real purpose of her existence" happened during a patrol in the abandoned mall. Thinking the place was cleared of the infected, her friend Ben and she had not been as vigilant as they should have been.

When they had been bitten, Y/N had thought about taking her gun and shooting to go faster. But once again, the visceral desire to live prevented her from pulling the trigger. She was still forced to shoot Ben the next day, after he had transformed. Then she waited, again, several hours, and nothing.

She had hesitated to tell the Fireflies. Or FEDRA. But it was impossible to hide from them forever in the city, with the regular patrols and tests, and going out alone was suicide.

For Marlene, this was the most wonderful news since the arrival of the Cordyceps. A miracle. The possibility of creating a vaccine.

Y/N was not stupid. She knew how vaccines were made, before. She knew perfectly well what that meant, what Marlene was asking of her. For the moment, because after asking, it seemed obvious that she would not give her a choice anyway, ready to tie her up and take her to a base with the necessary equipment.

There was something touching about giving her this semblance of freedom. And thinking about it, Y/N had no reason to refuse. She had nothing, no one.

The plan was simple, repair a truck with a battery sold by a certain Bill, join the camp outside Boston, go west and then under the knife. Except that Bill's battery was dead. The idiot had still insisted on being paid, killing several Fireflies before falling. Greedy to the end, he had even sold the same battery to other people, who had joined the party to get their property back.

That was how Y/N met Tess and Joel.

Without giving them the real motivations for the mission, Marlene offered them a deal. If they took Y/N to the meeting point outside the city, they could have all the equipment they wanted.

This precaution did not last long, since barely outside, her secret was discovered. She could have died there, killed by the guard or by Joel, after he had beaten the poor man until he bled.

It was normal to be skeptical. Even if Joel Miller was obviously a skeptical, distrustful, solitary person all the time. He agreed to listen to her only because Tess insisted, almost immediately sharing the same hopes as the Fireflies.

In other circumstances, Y/N thought they could have been friends. But she shouldn't get attached, knowing what was going to happen to her. It was still hard when Tess was bitten. Her last words were for Joel, forgiving him for not being able to love her and making him promise to see their mission through to the end.

They found themselves just the two of them on the road.

And at first, Y/N thought it would be complicated, between the danger and the gruff attitude of her traveling companion, and at the same time it was a good thing, that she continued to have nothing important. Together, but all alone.

Except that after several months, long discussions, nights huddled together to warm up, to support each other, to protect each other, to open up to each other, she no longer felt alone.

"What do you plan to do after ?"

"After what ?" she asked, staring at Joel who was lighting a campfire. "When they've had their vaccin."

"Oh… You first."

"Hmm. I don't really know. I've never thought about it. But… A ranch, with sheep. Yes, I'd like it with a quiet place, away from everything, with my livestock."

"That sounds great. Why sheep ?"

She asked as many questions as she could until he fell asleep, forgetting that she hadn't answered him. Y/N stayed awake to stand guard and watch him. He almost looked peaceful, which was rare. She wanted to remember that.

The heavy feeling that accompanied her didn't improve when they arrived in Jackson. A haven of country in the middle of this nightmare, where they could have lived happily, next to Tommy and his little family. The brother had even offered them a house, convinced that something was happening between them.

"No, we… We're not together. Not like this." Y/N mumbled as she accepted the clothes Maria gave her, while Joel went to get new shoes.

"Really ? Hmm. What an idiot. My big brother is truly an idiot. I saw the way he looked at you, the way you looked at him, he really needs to stop moping and give life another chance."

Really, all this wasn't helping her at all.

As they were preparing the horse to leave for Salt Lake City, Y/N hesitated to talk to Joel. They probably both had communication problems.

"We could stay here… We don't have to go."

"I made a promise to Tess." he sighed. "You made a promise to Marlene. Don't worry, it'll be quick. We'll go, they'll take what they need and we'll come back here if that's what you want."

"… Okay."

Y/N wasn't stupid though. She knew that if she had dared to speak at that moment, they wouldn't have left. But he wasn't wrong, she had given her word. Maybe she had found a new reason to live since then, but she had to think of others.

When they arrived at the hospital, the fireflies on site knocked them out as a precaution, not knowing who they were. Waking up first, Y/N had the displeasure of finding Marlene.

It was humiliating to have to beg her to wait before taking her to the operating room, so she could say goodbye to Joel.

"He doesn't know ?" the leader of the Fireflies wondered.

"No. Just leave me, a few minutes with him. Just a few more minutes."

Joel's smile when he opened his eyes and saw her broke her heart even more. He tenderly took her hand and asked if she was okay, because he could see the tears she was trying to hold back.

He jumped slightly when she collapsed on top of him, her lips pressing against his. She had had childhood love affairs before, with some kisses that meant nothing. This was the first one that meant something.

"It's time." she whispered.

"Oh. Okay. I'll be right here."

"You'll think of me on your ranch, with your sheep."

"Sure." he answered after a puzzled silence. "I thought… I thought you'd be with me. Unless you don't want to. I mean, I'm… I'd understand."

"Joel… Joel, you have no idea how to make a vaccine, do you ?"

The little joy that was on his face gradually disappeared, as Joel began to understand what his mission meant, from the beginning. When you found a rat immune to a disease, you didn't take it nicely to take a few drops of blood and put it back in the wild. It took a lot of blood, a lot of tests, it had to be taken everything.

"… Think of me sometimes. Be happy." she repeated with a trembling voice, kissing him again before following the doctors, crying as she heard him screaming her name at the other end of the hallway, held back by Marlene.

When the drug entered her system, Y/N tried to think only of good things. Joel, with gray hair, living in a world without Cordyceps, surrounded by his sheep, his brother, his new nieces or nephews, new friends. Joel's smile. His serene look as he could sleep in his bed without the slightest fear.

She thought she was in heaven when she woke up in his arms, in Jackson's house. He hadn't aged a day, just like the last time she saw him.

"Joel. Oh, Joel. I'm glad you're here. Was it good ? Did the vaccine work ?"

"… No. Raiders attacked the hospital. I took you with me and ran. There's nothing left."

"… Really ?"

"Yes, baby. Don't worry, it's okay. It's not your fault. You stay here, I'll protect you. Okay ?"

Y/N wasn't stupid at all. She knew how to recognize a lie, especially after all that time on the road watching Joel at work against those who tried to attack them.

She guessed perfectly what had happened to Marlene and the fireflies. There must have been other people in the world who could make a vaccine. But it had been twenty years. Everything was already in ruins, there was no way to say that the research would yield any results.

A sheep ranch, with Joel, that was an absolute certainty. Their new world.

So she nodded, cuddling up against him, letting him rock her and place kisses on her neck.

[paracosmic-murdock]

vigilante like me

chapter five: you asked me to dance, but i said dancing is a dangerous game

pairing: matt murdock x black widow!vigilante!reader

summary: nights and nights of playing the hero as if that could redeem you that easily ended up taking you to new york, where you accidentally met the man who would turn your world upside down. a vigilante like you.

warnings/tags: angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, injuries, phd in applied flirting and ma in yearning studies, some smut (minors dni), takes place sometime during the blip, when born again comes out we might find out if my decisions of who were gone were right, spoilers/references of stuff and themes from daredevil (2015); avengers: infinity war (2018); avengers: endgame (2019) black widow (2021); and hawkeye (2021), but y'all must've watched all of those already so idc, yelena belova and the themes and events from the black widow (2021) movie are very relevant in this plot, song: cowboy like me (taylor swift)

word count: 2.8K

✰ chapter one | chapter two | chapter three | chapter four

✰ mila's anthology (main masterlist)

Regret is something you are used to living with; you regret everything you did during your Widow years, and surely there is not enough you can ever do to make up for your past actions.

The lives you took, some of them innocent or just collateral damage, were ghosts that haunted you night and day, but you were trying your hardest to let go of them. Not like anything you have done helped you get rid of their voices, sometimes they were pleas while other times they were encouraging you to do your job or threatening you with regretting it. You for sure regretted everything.

You're trying to reinvent yourself and leave behind all that you did, everything you regret.

Another thing you just noticed you regret is accepting Fyodor's invitation to dinner.

Now, in a phone call with him, you found yourself making up excuses in your head to cancel.

“I could pick you up at work,” he proposed.

You pursed your lips. “Uh, actually, I was gonna talk to you about that.”

“What now?”

“There was a miscalculation, sorry. I have plans already.”

“What plans?”

“None of your business,” You scoffed and hung up the call before he dared to ask again or present any alternatives you clearly weren't interested in.

The first Black Widow you and Yelena rescued together was Svetlana Zhuravlev. She was eighteen when you found her, and all she ever wanted from the moment she was free was to find her real family, and start the life she should have lived from the beginning as soon as possible. However, the family she found wasn't anywhere near ideal: her father was dead, her mother was terminally ill, and her brother was involved with bad people. Very bad people.

Either way, she wanted to be by her mother's side for as much time as she had left and to be close to her brother.

That's how you met Fyodor.

One time, when you contacted Svetlana to ask if she could help you and Yelena track another Widow, she invited you to talk over dinner she had made herself, and Fyodor was there, too. He was picking fights with his sister as if he didn't know that she could kill him in a blink and get away with it.

Somehow, he managed to help you with everything you needed, and, from then on, you helped each other occasionally.

The last thing you knew about him was that he and Svetlana had a huge fight and that their relationship never recovered. Not that any of them seemed like they genuinely wanted to fight for the family after their mother passed away, or at least that's what it seemed.

You can't say you never wondered why they stopped talking, but you didn't dare to ask him or Svetlana, despite the latter having moved to New York soon after you learned about their thing.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Matt said with a charming smile as soon as he was right in front of you.

You looked up. “Hey.”

“Can I take a seat?” he asked.

“Uhm,” you doubted, wondering if it was a good idea. In the end, you couldn't see yourself as someone who would do such a thing to him specifically. “Sure. It would be an affront if I said no, right?”

He chuckled softly while taking a seat in the chair in front of yours. “It would've broken my heart, I must be honest.”

“In my defense, you promised you'd stop stalking me,” you questioned, tilting your head as if accusing him of a grave crime.

“This isn't me stalking you,” he stated. “This is me hanging out with a friend to celebrate our firm just won a case.”

“Yeah? And where's your friend?” you questioned him, taking a sip of your beer.

“She had to pick up something before coming,”

You gave him an incredulous glance and stretched along the table to reach him and put your hand on his chest. “Say that again, Devil.”

He laughed. “My friend is coming.”

Matt's heart kept its steady rhythm.

“You're lying,” you lied.

“I am not!” he exclaimed.

“Yes, you are.” You insisted, sitting again.

“You know very well I am not, sweetheart.”

The term of endearment seemed to bring you back to your reality: you have to keep Matt away from now on.

“What a risk to call to a woman you aren't involved with in any manner whatsoever sweetheart, sweetheart,” you noted, severity in your words.

“Alright, my bad,” he admitted. “Sorry.”

“It's cute that you're sorry, Matthew. What for?”

“For calling you sweetheart,” he replied. “For invading your privacy, and for not respecting your boundaries.”

You wrinkled your nose. “You talk like someone who's been going to therapy.”

“I've been reflecting,” He smiled.

“I guess I forgive you,” You shrugged. “But we have to stop whatever this is. We can't be friends or anything, Matt. Trust me, it's for the better.”

“How is it for the better?”

You sighed. “I know you think we have things in common and all that, but that's not true. What's behind me right now is worse than everything that's been behind you altogether. You can't be involved with me because it's all way bigger than you can ever aspire to solve. Matt, you're not another regret I am willing to carry.”

“You underestimate me,” he commented. “Either way, it seems like it is the Black Widow who wants nothing to do with Daredevil. What about you and Matt?”

“What about them?” you inquired.

“Maybe Matt Murdock just wants to be your friend,” he answered. “I have half as many friends as I used to, so why not?”

You chuckled slightly. “Let me guess: you went from two to one.”

“Pretty much.”

“I went from one to zero, so I won.”

He smiled. “See? It's a win-win situation going on here.”

“Dear God…” you groaned.

“Come on, let's have drinks tomorrow night.”

“I don't think you can replace my friend,” you said. “And I told you it's the best for us both if you just stopped talking to me for once. There's just some things you can't make it out alive from.”

“Look-”

“No, you look,” You finished the last sip of your beer before continuing. “We're two completely different people, and we can't be buddies as if it means nothing. We have a completely different view of things like what we do at night: I don't waste my time and don't take risks. You're all about half measurements and I don't want you appearing wherever I am and interfering with what I do or trying to give me a TedTalk as if you were above me just because you stop at breaking bones. I don't care that we had a good talk once, Matt. I am done, and so should you.”

He chuckled dryly, sarcastically. “And you think you're better than me because you get rid of whoever gets in your way like you have the right to? For someone who wants to leave her past behind, you sure don't do enough to redeem yourself.”

“What do you even know about redeeming yourself? According to you, you belong to another list just because you don't kill, Matt,” you scoffed. “You sure think your purpose is to fix everyone and won't admit that some things are beyond you. Oh, and maybe if you pray a little and ask your God to help you stay out of battles that one day will be far too big for you, you will be at peace. Until that day, it's best that you have a little sense of self-preservation and stay away from someone like me who isn't good enough for Saint Matthew.”

Before he could say a word, you stood up and left Josie's.

Maybe you should move to the woods where nobody can see you and annoy you like Matt does.

Isn't he absolutely insufferable?

“I see your plan was a date.”

Alright, could you ever catch a fucking breath?

“Sure, call it what you want,” you answered, giving him an annoyed look. “Honestly, I just wanna go home right now, so, if you'll excuse me-”

“I can walk you home.”

“For what? Protection?” you scoffed. “I didn't know you were a comedian now.”

“No need to be mean,” He winked. “I just wanted to take you somewhere nice for dinner. You should be grateful or something.”

“How am I supposed to be grateful for something that hasn't happened, Fyodor?”

“It was supposed to happen today but you had a date with some idiot.” he noted, half joking, half genuinely offended you chose some idiot over him.

You rolled your eyes. “Okay, Fyodor. Tomorrow night.”

He smiled. “Okay, can I walk you home now?”

“No, and if somebody tries to rob me, fret not: I have a gun.”

“Fine, fine,” he agreed. “We've been great together, haven't we?”

You gave him an annoyed look. “What? Are you French now or what's up with all that we, oui?”

He rolled his eyes, amused, still taking it with humor as if you weren't trying your best to drive him away. “Seriously, you're being the absolute worst.”

Despite knowing Fyodor didn't have bad intentions and that it was highly unlikely that someone was still following you, you did the same as every night: going to any other place first and then back home wearing someone else's face.

“I could pick you up at work.”

Those were the same words as yesterday and your intentions are also the same as yesterday's: canceling. This time, however, you have a real excuse.

“About that…”

You could almost hear him rolling his eyes in annoyance.

“Do you have another date with that guy?” Fyodor questioned.

“No,” you replied. “It's just that someone rented the gym for a few hours after closing. Usually, my boss is the one that handles that, but it's his anniversary with his wife and he asked me to do it instead.”

“What if I just join you to keep you company and then we go to dinner?”

Unfortunately, that was a logical and effective solution and no excuse that could come out of your mouth would be valid enough.

So, you sighed in resignation. “Okay, sure.”

“See you.” And he hung up.

If there's a God up there, you thought, He sure abandoned me this week.

You said goodbye to Mary, the last student of the day, and went to the dressing room to get changed into your somewhat decent clothes.

In all honesty, you didn't pack anything nice enough for a date because you had planned to cancel on Fyodor again, but that was not what is written in the book of life.

As you got ready, you wondered why the hell you were so reluctant to go out with him. You didn't know what had happened between him and Svetlana, but you were convinced that if it was something truly bad, he would be dead by now; that or he wouldn't even dare to set foot in America. Fyodor was never a bad guy with you, so why are you acting like this?

You just have a feeling.

“Hello there.”

You faked a smile. “Hey. Welcome to Fogwell's.”

“Thank you,” He took a seat beside you. “I thought this moment would never come.”

“What moment?” you questioned.

“Us in the same room together before I returned to Rostov on Don.” he answered.

“I thought you lived in Moscow,” you commented.

“I left when Svetlana moved here. I had nothing important left in Moscow, and the bosses needed someone to manage things at Rostov Oblast,” he explained. “The stars just aligned.”

You nodded. “I understand.”

“Yeah, it's nice in Rostov, and the business is thriving.”

“I'm happy for you,” You gave him half a smile. “You know? I was always curious about your fight with Sveta.”

“Oh, I might need some encouragement to tell you that,” He chuckled, taking a hip-flask from his leather jacket. “Why not discuss it over vodka?”

You doubted for a minute, knowing that the guy that rented Fogwell's would be there any minute and it could be an issue if he found you drinking.

“I'll drink first if that makes you feel better,” Fyodor announced and, in a blink, took a sip. Then, you received the liquor he was offering. “Alright, so… it's a long story. First, I have to say that I regret what happened between us, but I know that our bond is now broken forever. I'll always love her, but I failed her and she knows it. There's no going back now, no matter how much I want to.”

You took a long sip and wrinkled your nose at the burning taste. You gave him the hip-flask back. “What did you do to her?”

“The problem is what I didn't do.”

“What didn't you do?” you inquired.

“I was sixteen when she was born and eighteen when she disappeared,” he began, but soon, his voice started to sound somehow gibberish. You couldn't make sense of the words leaving his mouth and, before you knew it, everything went jet black.

“Rise and shine, sunshine.”

You couldn't open your eyes, and the only thing you felt was the pain in your whole body.

“You sure made me work for it, didn't you?”

“Who-”

“Wanna know who I am?” he asked. “I told you I just wanted to talk, but you made it all harder than it needed to be.”

Your brain worked for it, but there was a fog in your mind and you couldn't get an answer despite how much you needed one and how close you felt like you were.

“You'll spend the rest of your miserable life knowing you were a helpless little thing while I beat you like you beat him.”

Then, it all started to make sense.

You ended up recognizing Crosby's voice, the one who had come to you not wanting any trouble while he clearly wanted some.

When he showed you that picture of you and Yelena at Jelgava, nothing in particular had come to your mind. At least not until now that he mentioned you beating someone, and that took you back to the moment you found Vera, the widow you had rescued in Latvia that one time.

Vera was in a hotel room with a man you recognized from the Red Room, the same one who would force you to fight the other girls until there was only one standing and alive.

Of course you resented him, and you hated him, and wanted him to pay for what he did.

So you killed him.

And now Crosby was seeking revenge.

“Ivan Tarakanov,” you taunted, chuckling bitterly, using the very last drops of strength in your body for this comeback. “You better kill me, Crosby. Better safe than sorry.”

“You know what? I think that you're not gonna survive tonight, and, even if you do, the hospital will call the police and they're going to deport you. And trust me, once you set foot in Russia again, it's over for you.”

You spit on his face, your blood staining his cheek. “And you know what? I enjoyed every second of it. He begged me for mercy…”

Crosby fell to the floor loudly, interrupting your conversation. Soon, someone was beating the shit out of him while you failed to stand up and escape.

The pain in your body was too much and you didn't even know where you were; the only thing you could sense was the cold in the air and the screams and groans of the two men fighting next to you until that stopped. Then, silence reigned as someone dragged the other's body through the back door, and you were scared that the unconscious one might not be Crosby.

“Are you alright?” You felt him approach you minutes later. It was Matt and, even though you were supposed to hate his guts now, you have never been happier to see someone than you were right now.

“I can't move.” you muttered, breathing heavily.

Matt touched your body so he could sense where you were injured and spotted quite a few. “It's fine, you're going to be just fine.”

“Okay,” You believed him, soon closing your eyes again.

He sighed, trying to suppress the little guy inside him that was panicking.

Once you were in his apartment, he made you lie on his sofa and examined you more carefully. His hands stumbled upon several cuts in your torso and arms, and tried not to hurt you on his path.

“I'm gonna find my kit, okay? I'll be right back.”

“Matt?” you called him. He turned around. “Please don't leave me.”

Matt shook his head and his expression softened. “I won't. Cross my heart.”

[withoutmonsterswebecomethem]

Even if he had noticed she wasn't paying all that much attention, or any attention at all to what he was saying it seemed, he didn't notice, nor care. He was used to being ignored. For all he knew, most people thought he was some crazy conspiracy nut who never said anything remotely accurate a day in his life. He just yapped and said a string of silly things that were generally just incoherent nonsense to most people he spoke to. Bryn was fine with this, he wasn't seeking to make sense or be right, even. He was, perhaps, bored. Yes. This may have all just been one silly outlet for him to sate that boredom.

As Romi replied to him, he closed his body off more, still shivering from being improperly dressed upon waking up outside the restaurant in the first place, “Ah. Well, hopefully, then, it won't bring you too much trouble.” He replied wishfully. He knew a lot of people had a lot of ego in these days. Pride seemed to him to be like adding gas to the fire of those with big egos. He turned his attention away for a moment, moving his head to one side, “I think we're meant to have some pride in ourselves, so we can respect ourselves enough to know when to say no. Or enforce a boundary others should not cross with us.”

Turning his head back when Romi said his dancing his whole life was cool, he stared for a moment. It wasn't his first job, however. He had only picked it up after coming here and going through the loopholes needed to secure the position. Bryn rubbed his hands together to get them warmed up and nodded as Romi spoke, listening to her closely, “So you're a clubber, huh? That's cool, too.” As the bag was brought up he glanced toward it, then away, not wanting to seem like he was interested. Though he was certainly curious, people's bags held plenty of details on the person. As he was listening to her speak and fiddling with the inside of her bag, he replied “Jazz?”

Bryn couldn't help but look over then, not sure what to say to that, but didn't need to. As he did, he saw all that she was removing from her bag at that moment. His eyes moving toward the amulet, he suddenly breathed in sharply before quickly moving to smile at her offer for gum, “Oh. Uh. No, thank you. I'm good with the water.” He answered, his mind rushing with questions. He knew Mindy took the amulet, they had been the last person, the only person, in his house, that could have done so. So how, he wondered, did it end up with this person? A coldness began to form in his chest as answers rushed to him. Then he sighed, laughing too as Romi talked about her messy bag.

“Yeah. I have the same problem with my backpack,” Dropping his head down, his hair fell in such a way that the top of his face had been covered and shadowed, not showing how serious his gaze had become, “I just toss stuff in it and am too lazy to take it out.” Bryn finished, keeping his tone casual, though every part of him was screaming to get out of that space. Bringing his cupped-together hands up to his mouth, he let out a breath to warm them up, and allow himself to breathe less stiffly. He could not conclude for sure what the questions flooding his thoughts at that moment truly meant. Perhaps this was all just a coincidence, he told himself. Romi had simply found it after Mindy had somehow lost it.

If only he had not originally been given it the first time, he may have just simply brushed this reemergence of the amulet in his life again, as simply that. But, now he was not so sure. It could not all just be a coincidence, could it, he wondered. He needed to understand why it was with Romi. Telling himself that it may just all be a misunderstanding, and that, he was overthinking it. Bryn pulled his hands away from his face before pretending to have an interest in the amulet, “Oh! Hey, that's cool-” Tapping a finger on the amulet, he smiled toward her, “Is that a real amulet? Or some cheap prop from the theater- Oh! Don't tell me you do stuff there? And we never bumped into one another?” He pulled his hand away and brought it to rest his head onto next, “Or if it's just, you know, something you liked, that's cool too.”

She nodded and smiled as they continued to make small talk, something she wasn't really good at. She could talk, certainly--that wasn't the issue. Rather, it was listening to other side and paying attention, which she knew sounded so simple but it something she struggled with nonetheless. She didn't push the cooking thing any more--can't lead a horse to water or whatever that stupid saying was. Besides, people were good and bad at all kinds of stuff and that was fine. Sure, she could cook but dancing? Like, nice dancing that actually looked good and graceful? Forget it. To each his own, she supposed.

Pride can be good sometimes. Just don't let it get to your head. Right? This made her chuckle and she said "Too late for that," as if it was a joke, though it wasn't, not entirely. She'd always been irritated with her ability to be so self-centered while simultaneously dealing with crippling self-loathing and self-hatred. Honestly, maybe it would just be better if she was an actual narcissist--then again, that's not what she actually wanted. Because then she'd be like her father.

Nodding when he mentioned that he'd basically always danced, she said "That's really cool--it's so nice to do something that you love for a living." That was genuine. Because she felt similarly about her job. When he asked about her own dance ability, she chuckled and said "Oh, no, you do not wanna' see me dance, it's no good. I can go clubbing for sure but I can't actually dance." Her mind once again darted to the amulet that was in her bag. Fuck. How was she supposed to do this? Reaching for her bag, she started to take items out of it, almost as if she were half looking for something and half cleaning out her purse. She made sure to continue to chat as she did so, as if it was nothing. "I think I took, like... I don't know, jazz or something when I was a kid but I was so bad that my teacher always put me at the very back," she laughed. That was a true story. On the bar, she pulled out her pack of cigarettes, her wallet, her lighter, the amulet, a few loose coins, a hair tie, and finally, a pack of gum. "Here it is. Want some gum?" she asked, holding out a stick to him. "Sorry about the mess, I can never find anything in my bag."

[autumnoakes]

also i do still love the idea of swapping claire and leon's re2 scenarios but i cannot help but think that the scene with sherry and chief irons would have been a LOTTT worse with leon instead of claire

[drakonovisny]

why do my sims playthroughs always turn kinda fucked up :'D

[lambsgod]

he still had a lot to learn, but nickie was quickly shaping up to be the perfect boyfriend if he kept up the good work. a part of lana couldn't help but feel envious, knowing she was putting all this effort into teaching him all there was to know about sex and romance just to set him free so he could find a more appropriate partner, but it's not like she wasn't getting anything out of the arrangement. she was being paid handsomely with money and gifts, and it wasn't her place to get overly possessive when he was supposed to be nothing more than a job to her. his parents had hired her for a specific purpose, and she was fulfilling that purpose. there was more she could've had him do to prepare her for actual penetration, guiding him through some foreplay to both get her prepped and help him learn more about how to treat a woman, but she figured it was best to capitalize off this momentum while it lasted. not to mention, if there was still more she had left to teach him, that would give her an excuse to stall their eventual breakup, postponing it until she was certain she'd done all she could to prepare him for a real, unpaid relationship. who knows how long that would take? she couldn't stamp their relationship with an expiration date, so all she could do was focus on maximizing each moment she did have with him. anticipation was thick in the air, his excitement practically radiating off him like an eager puppy dog about to be picked for adoption, and lana herself couldn't deny that she was feeding off his energy. it had been a while since she'd taken someone's virginity— most people didn't seek out a sex worker for their first time, and she wasn't in the business of teaching someone how to fuck her unless she was getting paid, so while it wasn't her first time, there was still a level of novelty to it that made things feel more special than any other job. his answer didn't surprise her in the slightest, fully having expected him to want her to hold his hand through every step of the way, but it brought a smile to her face no less. "yeah? here, let's get these off." before she went any further, she grasped at the waistband of his boxers, helping him tug them down so his cock sprang free and discarding them off to the side of the bed. he was cute— a bit on the skinny side, but perky, just like him, and with the prettiest pink tip that she'd love to wrap her lips around at some point soon. "ok honey, stay still, no squirming... and don't get carried away, either. just relax..." knowing nickie, he very well could end up getting overwhelmed and blowing his load the second she touched his cock, but no matter the outcome, she was prepared to take it all in stride. this was about him, after all, and being disappointed with him for something he couldn't help would do him no good. everyone had to start somewhere, and at least she'd know that he could only improve from there on out. carefully ripping the foil packet with her teeth, she remained looking at his face as she unwrapped the condom, making sure he hadn't changed his mind and didn't seem at all uncomfortable. she had to avert her gaze in order to actually put it on, touch gentle as she tried to roll it down over his cock with as little pressure applied as possible, hoping the slight bit of contact wouldn't overexcite him too much. "there... how's that? you still feeling good?"

with how little contact he'd had with girls before her, nickie felt as though he had to constantly check in to make sure he hadn't made what was some huge, glaringly obvious mistake in how he touched her, even after following her clear instructions. being sexy wasn't at the forefront of his mind, not embarrassing himself was a far more important and making sure that he was impressing lana came even further up his list of priorities. he didn't know how many boyfriends she'd had before him but he could easily imagine that they were more experienced than him, more handsome and masculine and able to provide in ways he couldn't. money wasn't a problem for him and in order to make up for everything else he lacked he had taken to showering her in any and all luxuries, much to the disapproval of his parents, though whatever he spent the money on would be a waste in their eyes, at least this way he felt like he was doing something useful with the abundance tucked away in his savings and not simply wasting it on his own personal frivolities. each little noise she made was like receiving a gold star, it told him that he was doing a good job and proving his sexual prowess, that he had a shot at satisfying her like he eagerly wished to. there wasn't going to be a better time than right then, the most important part of losing your virginity was the person you did it with and nickie wholeheartedly believed that lana was the person for him. she cared about him and making it a good experience and even with the nerves fluttering around in his gut about making it a special moment for her as well, he didn't doubt for a second that she was the one and only person who he'd want to associate with the memory forever. he nodded eagerly and chewed on his already sore lips instead of verbally voicing his confirmation, afraid that he'd only fumble pathetically over himself trying to convince her that he was ready. his eyes flickered between her face and bag as she fished out the condom, the sight of which reddened his already flushed cheeks. seeing her hold the little foiled square made the reality of things kick in, as if groping her tits and slipping his fingers between her folds wasn't real enough. "you, please." even if he knew how to put a condom on, he still would've asked lana to do it for him, the trust he had in her often eclipsed that which he had in himself.